424 
POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES. 
When I consider thy heavens^ the work of thy fingers^ 
the moon and the stars which thou hast ordained ; what 
is man^ that thou art mindful of him^ and the son of 
man^ that thou visitest him 
The ,canoe at length reached the shore j we seated 
ourselves in its stern^ and^ advancing pleasantly along 
for seven or eight miles, reached our habitation about 
midnight. 
The island of Huahine had, in common with the 
others forming the leeward group, been visited by 
Mr. Nott, who had travelled round it, preaching 
to the inhabitants of the principal villages. The 
Missionaries who had been expelled from Tahiti, had 
reinained here sonfe months prior to their final depar¬ 
ture for Port Jackson; but at these periods only a 
temporary impression had been made upon the minds 
of the people, which had in a great degree, if not alto¬ 
gether, subsided. After the abolition of idolatry in Tahiti 
and Eimeo, and the subsequent adoption of Christianity 
by their inhabitants, Mahine, the king of Huahine, 
had sent down Vahaivi, one of his principal men, with 
directions to the chiefs to burn the idols, demolish the 
temples, ^ and discontinue the ceremonies and worship 
connected therewith. This , comniission was exe¬ 
cuted, and not only. ; were ^their_ objects of worship 
destroyed, their temples, thrown down,, the houses^, of 
their idols consumed, and idol-worship no longer prac¬ 
tised; but the rude stills employed in preparing ardent 
spirits from the sugarcane, and other indigenous pro¬ 
ductions, were either broken, mr hid under ground. 
Intoxication, infant murder, and some of the more 
degrading wices, indulged under the sanction of their 
superstition, were also discontinued. 
