PO L YN ESI AN RESEARCH ES. 
44 ] 
treasurer and secretaries chosen. By this time the 
shades of the evening began to gather round us^ and 
the sun was just hidden by the distant wave of the 
horizon^ when the king rose from his chair^ and 
the chiefs and people retired to their dwellings^ under 
feelings of high excitement and satisfaction. There 
was so much rural beauty and secluded quietude in 
the scene, and so much that was novel and striking in 
the appearance of the people, momentous and delight¬ 
ful in the object for which they had been convened, that 
it was altogether one of the most interesting meetings I 
ever attended. 
Mahine, and the Leeward or Society Island chiefs, 
who had been present at the formation of the Tahitian 
Missionary Society, were desirous that Huahine, 
although it had not been equally favoured with faci¬ 
lities for receiving the gospel, should not be behind 
any of the Windward group in the efforts of its 
inhabitants to sustain and to propagate it. In a few 
months after their arrival, therefore, they proposed that 
a society, upon the plan of that established in Eimeo, 
should be formed in Huahine, in aid of the parent 
society in London. We were anxious to aid in the 
accomplishment of their design | and a day was fixed, 
on which a public meeting was to be held for its forma¬ 
tion. In the forenoon of the 6th of October, 1818, 
Mahine, and the Missionaries of Huahine, Tamatoa, and 
those of Raiatea, Mai, and numbers from Borabora, 
repaired to the chapel, followed by crowds of the people. 
The place was soon filled, and a far greater number 
remained outside than were assembled under the loof. 
In order that as many as possible might hear, directions 
were given to take down one of the ends of the house ; 
3 L 
