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POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES. 
God, on the presentation of food in Eimeo, hearing this, 
and pointing to the feathers, said, Are those the mighty 
things you so extol, and with whose anger you threaten 
us ? If so, I will soon convince you of their inability 
even to preserve themselves.’^ Running at the same 
time to the spot where they were fixed, he seized the 
bunches of feathers, and cast them into a large fire close 
by, where they were instantly consumed. The people 
stood aghast, and uttered exclamations of horror at the 
sacrilegious deed; and it is probable that this act in^ 
creased the hatred already rankling in the bosoms of the 
idolatrous party. 
The individual who acted so heroic and con¬ 
spicuous a part on these occasions was Farefau^ a 
native of .Borabora, but attached to the household of 
Pomare-vahine,^ with whom he had arrived from the 
Leeward Islands in 1814. When he reached Eimeo, he 
was an idolater, but soon became a pupil in the school; 
and, in the close of the same year, desired that his 
name might be recorded among the converts. He 
occupied a prominent station in all the struggles between 
paganism and true religion; and maintained an un¬ 
blemished character, and an unwavering profession, 
through the varied scenes of that unsettled period. 
He engaged with diligence in teaching the inhabitants 
of the remote and rocky parts of Taiarabu the cate¬ 
chism and the art of reading; and after a lingering 
illness, during which he enjoyed the presence and 
support which true religion alone can impart, delivered, 
as he expressed himself on the last day of his life, 
from the fear of death, and having his hopes fixed or 
relying on the Son of God as the only Saviour, he died 
in peace, at our Missionary station in Afareaitu, on the 
