566 
POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES. 
habitation of the individual whose favour he was so 
anxious to obtain. Here he appeared the subject of 
deepest melancholy, and, leaving the other members of 
the family to follow their regular pursuits, from morning 
to night, day after day he attended his mistress, perform- 
ing, with apparent satisfaction, offices of humiliating 
servitude, and constantly following in her train whenever 
she appeared abroad. 
His friends interested themselves in his behalf, and 
the disappointment, of which he was the subject, became 
for a time the topic of general conversation in the settle¬ 
ment. At length she was induced to accept his offer; 
they were publicly married, and lived very comfortably 
together. Their happiness, however, was but of short 
duration, for his wife, for whom he appeared to cherish 
the most ardent affection, died a very few months after¬ 
wards. 
Another instance of a rather different kind, subse¬ 
quently occurred. A party of five or six persons arrived 
in a canoe from Tahiti, on a visit to their friends in the 
Leeward Islands. Though Borabora was their destina¬ 
tion, they remained several weeks at Huahine, the gnests 
of Taraimano. During this period, a young woman, one 
of the belles of the island, belonging to the household of 
their hostess, became exceedingly fond of the society of 
one of the young men, and it was soon intimated to him 
that she wished to become his companion for life. The 
intimation, however, was disregarded by the young man, 
who expressed his intention to prosecute his voyage. 
The young woman became unhappy, and made no 
secret of the cause of her distress. She was assiduous 
in redoubling her efforts to please the individual whose 
affection she was desirous to obtain. At this period I 
