406 
POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES. 
in which he may, perhaps, have been a teacher—but espe¬ 
cially the Christian church of which he may have been a 
member. It should not be confined to a bare reply to 
letters, but should be regular and constant. 
Sometimes we have been six, nine, or twelve months 
on the island of Huahine, and during that, or a longer 
period, have seen no individual, except our own two 
families, and the natives. At length, the shout, E Pahi, 
e Pahi, A ship, a ship,’' has been heard from some of 
the lofty mountains around our dwelling. The inhabitants 
on the shore have caught the spirit-stirring sound, and 
^^A ship, a ship,” has been echoed, by stentorian or juvenile 
voices, from one end of the valley to the other. Numbers 
flock to the projecting rocks, or the high promontories, 
others climb the cocoa-nut tree, to obtain a glance of the 
desired object. On looking out, over the wide-spread 
ocean, to behold the distant sail, our first attempt has 
been to discover how many masts she carried j and then, 
what colours she displayed; and it is impossible to 
describe the sensations excited on such occasions, when 
the red British banner has waved in the breeze, as a tall 
vessel, under all her swelling canvass, has moved towards 
our isolated abode. 
We have seldom remained on shore until a vessel has 
entered the harbour, but have launched our boat, manned 
with native rowers, and, proceeding to meet the ship, 
have generally found ourselves alongside, or on deck, 
before she has reached the anchorage. At the customary 
salutations, if we have learned that the vessel was direct 
from England, and, as was frequently the case, from 
London, our hopes have been proportionably raised; yet 
we have scarcely ventured to ask the captain if he has 
brought us any tidings, lest his reply in the negative 
