498 
POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES. 
were prepared, after the manner of preparation for a 
feast in England. Seats, usually native-made sofas 
or chairs, were arranged along the sides of the tables, 
and all the children in the school, about two hundred 
and forty, dined together. 
The Missionaries, and many of the parents of the 
children, were present—delighted to witness the cheer¬ 
fulness of the boys and the girls, as they sat to¬ 
gether, and unitedly partook of the bounties of Pro¬ 
vidence. Mr. Darling, the indefatigable Missionary 
of the station, remarks, ^^This was on the very spot 
where Satan’s throne stood, and where, a few years 
ago, if a female had eaten but a mouthful, so sacred was 
the place considered, that she would have been put 
to death.” What a spectacle of loveliness and peace 
must the platform have on this day exhibited, when 
compared with the scenes of abomination, absurdity, 
and cruelty, that had often been presented, when the 
very materials of which it was composed had formed 
part of an idolatrous temple. The children afterwards 
walked in procession through the settlement, halted 
at each of the extremities, sung a hymn, and then 
repaired to the chapel, where a suitable address 
was delivered to them by the pastor. These annual 
examinations and festivals are not peculiar to Buna- 
auia, but are instituted in other stations of the Geor¬ 
gian group. 
In the Leeward or Society Islands the remembrance 
of these exercises are among the most pleasing recol¬ 
lections I retain of my intercourse with the people. 
In Huahine they are usually held at the close of the 
public services connected with the Missionary anni¬ 
versaries. 
