242 
POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES. 
Numbers of the vanquished fled to Eimeo^ where they 
were received by the king^ or protected by the chiefs^ 
who had taken no part whatever in the wars that were 
now desolating Tahiti, and who determined to observe 
the strictest neutrality; or, if they acted at all, to 
do so only on the defensive, should invasion be at¬ 
tempted. 
Besides the refugees, who in consequence of defeat 
ill Tahiti had taken shelter in Eimeo, numbers who 
had secretly embraced Christianity, and feared ultimate 
destruction from the idolaters, although religion ap¬ 
peared to have no influence in the present commotion, 
came over to Eimeo, and joined the Christians. The 
aggregate of those whose names were written down as 
such, amounted at this period to nearly four hundred, 
and the pupils in the school were between six and 
seven hundred. Want of books alone prevented its being 
very considerably enlarged. 
Notwithstanding the Bure Atua had escaped the ma¬ 
chinations of their enemies, and the murderous counsel 
of the idolaters had issued in their own defeat, yet it 
was impossible, that, amidst the agitation which prevailed 
in Tahiti, the adjacent island of Eimeo should remain 
free from apprehension and disquiet; and although the 
king had sent repeated messages of a peaceable ten¬ 
dency to the conquerors, and had received assurances 
that there was no feeling of hostility towards him and 
his adherents, yet they knew, by past experience, that 
no reliance was to be placed on such professions, and 
were not without daily fears that a hostile fleet might 
disembark an invading army on their shores. 
When the queen and her sister went over to Tahiti, 
Pomare undertook a journey round Eimeo, purposing 
