POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES. 
233 
some violent convulsion in society must follow. The 
Missionaries could not view these things with insensi- 
bility^ as they saw what they had to expect^ should they 
fall into the hands of those who had been guilty of such 
wanton cruelty; their support was^ however^ derived 
from the conviction, that their God was governor among 
the nations, and that the Lord omnipotent reigned. 
Towards the close of the year 1813, one of the early 
scholars departed to the world of spirits, under the 
consolation that pure religion imparts in the hour 
of death. He was often heard to say, while confined 
to his couch, when he saw his former companions going 
to the school, or the place of worship, “ My feet cannot 
follow, but my heart goes with you.’^ He did not pre¬ 
tend to know much, but he knew that he was a sinner, 
and that Jesus Christ came into the world to save 
sinners, and this knowledge removed from his mind the 
fear of death. 
Early in the same year, the number of pupils, and 
of those who professed Christianity, considerably in¬ 
creased in Eimeo, and favourable intelligence continued 
to arrive from the adjacent island. 
The report of the increase of the Christians, and their 
advancement in knowledge, &c. had already circulated 
throughout Tahiti; the minds of many were unsettled, 
and numbers were halting between two opinions. Upa- 
paru, a chief of rank and influence in the eastern part 
of Tahiti, with his wife, and twelve or thirteen of his 
people, came over to Eimeo, in order to receive 
instruction. The inhabitants of the Leeward Islands, 
whose encampment he passed when on his way to 
Papetoai, strongly persuaded him to join their party, 
and carry the flag of the gods to Raiatea, entreat- 
2 H 
