POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES. 333 
subsequent visits the islanders received from Cook; but 
its frequency and avowed perpetration was such as to 
attract the attention of the latter. Captain Cook’s 
general conduct among the natives, notwithstanding the 
harsh measures he deemed it expedient to pursue to¬ 
wards the inhabitants of Eimeo, was humane; he took 
every opportunity of remonstrating with the king and 
chiefs, against a usage so truly merciless and savage. 
When the Missionaries arrived in the Duff, this was 
one of the first and most affecting appendages of idolatry 
that awakened their sympathies, and called forth their 
expostulation and interference. Adult murder some¬ 
times occurred ; many were slain in war; and during the 
first years of their residence in Tahiti, human victims 
were frequently immolated. Yet the amount of all these 
and other murders did not equal that of infanticide alone. 
No sense of irresolution or horror appeared to exist in 
the bosoms of those parents who deliberately resolved on 
the deed before the child was born. They often visited 
the dwellings of the foreigners, and spoke with per¬ 
fect complacency of their cruel purpose. On these occa¬ 
sions, the Missionaries employed every inducement to 
dissuade them from executing their intention, warning 
them, in the name of the living God, urging them also 
by every consideration of maternal tenderness, and 
always ojffering to provide the little stranger with a 
home, and the means of education. The only answer 
they generally received was, that it was the custom of 
the country ; and the only result of their efforts, was the 
distressing conviction of the inefficacy of their humane 
endeavours. The murderous parents often came to 
their houses almost before their hands were cleansed 
from their children’s blood, and spoke of the deed with 
