106 
POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES. 
pass in its accustomed channel. As it was not during 
the rainy season that we were there, it was dry; the 
sides were walled, and the bottom neatly paved 3 but in 
the rainy season, when the water is constantly flowing 
through, its effect must be rather singular on the minds 
of those sitting near it during public worship. 
One end of the building was used by the inhabitants 
for divine service every Sabbath 3 the other parts are 
only occupied at the annual meetings of the Tahi¬ 
tian Missionary Society, or on similar occasions, when 
large national assemblies are convened. In 1822, when 
I last visited it, the roof had already begun to decay. The 
labour of keeping so large a place in repair, would be 
very great 3 and the occasions for its use so seldom 
occur, that, no repairs have been made since the king’s 
death 3 and the exposure being constant, it will not pro¬ 
bably last many years longer. The texture of the palm- 
leaves composing the thatch, is not such as to resist for 
any protracted period the intense heat of the climate 3 
and the heavy rains accelerate its destruction. 
It has appeared matter of surprise to many, that the 
natives should desire, or the Missionaries recommend, 
the erection of such large places of worship 3 and I have 
often been asked, how we came to build such immense 
houses. The Royal Chapel at Papaoa, however, is the 
only one of the kind in the islands. It originated en¬ 
tirely with the king, and in its erection the Missionaries 
took no part. The king, determined in his purpose, levied 
a requisition for materials and labour on the chiefs and 
people of Tahiti and Eiineo—by whose combined efforts 
it was ultimately. finished. The Missionaries were far 
from approving of the scale on which Pomare was pro¬ 
ceeding 5 and, on more than one occasion, some of them 
