POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES. 
513 
When the greater part had reached the chapel yard, 
Mr. Barff addressed the spectators, and I offered a prayer 
to the Almighty, that the mournful event might be 
made a blessing to the survivors. The body was 
then deposited in the tomb, the pall left on the coffin. 
The father, the widow, and several other friends, entered, 
took a last glance, and retired in silence, under strong 
and painful emotion. When we withdrew, the servants 
placed a large stone against the entrance, and left it till 
the following day, when it was walled up. The tomb was 
whitewashed, and a small coral stone placed perpendicu¬ 
larly, at the end towards the sea, on which was inscribed 
in the native language, this simple epitaph, Taaroarii, 
died October 25th, 1821.” On the following Sabbath, 
the solemn event was improved, in a discourse from 
2 Kings XX. 1. 
I never saw persons more deeply affected than the 
friends of the deceased had been during his illness, 
especially his excellent father, and his wife. For many 
days prior to his death, the latter sat by his couch, sup¬ 
porting his aching head in her lap, wiping the cold per¬ 
spiration from his brow, or refreshing him with her fan, 
watching with fondest solicitude his look, and aiming, if 
possible, to anticipate his wishes. It ended not with his 
decease. She scarcely left his body until it was interred, 
sitting on one side, while his aunt, or some other relative, 
sat on the other, through the day; and when overcome 
with fatigue and watching, falling asleep in the same 
station at night; yet I never heard the least murmur or 
repining word against the dealings of God. It was but 
the excess of sorrow, on account of the bereavement. 
Two months afterwards she became a mother, and, during 
our continuance on the island, Mrs. Ellis was considered 
3tj 
