POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES. 
403 
laud; he had met our friends and relatives there, and had 
been enabled to satisfy them in a variety of points, of 
which, though of confessedly minor importance, they 
were anxious to be informed. He had left them, and 
returned direct to us ; and the simple fact that we were 
conversing with one w^ho had traversed scenes long 
familiar and vividly present to our recollections, and one 
who had mingled in the society of those dearest on earth 
to us, appeared to shorten the distance by which we were 
separate, and to remove the most formidable barriers to 
intercourse. We had a thousand questions to ask, and 
the evening was far too short for the answers of half of 
our inquiries, or the perusal of our letters. 
Mingled and intense are the emotions with which a 
lonely sojourner in a distant and uncivilized part of the 
world, receives a packet from his native land. This is 
especially the case when the symbol of mourning appears 
on the exterior of any of his letters. The unfolded sheet 
is sometimes put aside, as the eye, in its fir&t glance over 
the lines, has been arrested by a sentence conveying 
tidings of the departure of some dear and valued relative 
or friend. 
Notwithstanding the painful sensations occasioned by 
the knowledge of the fact, that some dear object of the 
heart’s attachment or esteem has been for months con¬ 
signed to the cheerless grave; epistles from those we 
have left in our native land, produce emotions more 
powerful, and satisfaction more elevated, than any 
other circumstance besides. Letters sent home by those 
in distant climes, may convey all that undiminished 
affection prompts, but they awaken no recollections 
connected with the locality, the companions, and the 
circumstances of those by whom they are written. The 
