CAPTURE OF THE DUFF. 41 
anes had been led to indulge, in connexion with 
the seeond visit of the Duff, were destroyed by the 
arrival of the Albion in Matavai bay, on the 27th 
of December in the same year. Her commander, 
Captain Bunker, brought them no letters from 
England, but conveyed the melancholy tidings of 
the capture of the Duff by a French privateer. He 
also delivered from Mr. Harris, who was settled in 
Norfolk Island, a letter acquainting them with the 
murder of three of the Missionaries in the Friendly 
Islands, the departure of one, the flight of the rest 
to Port Jackson, and the total destruction of the 
Tonga Mission. Their own circumstances were by 
no means prosperous: they had heard but once 
from England ; they were expecting every day the 
arrival of the Duff with cheering tidings and addi¬ 
tional aid ; but the intelligence now received, not 
only disappointed their hopes, but depressed their 
spirits, and darkened their prospects. In the 
letter sent at this time to the directors, they 
express their anxiety to hear from England, their 
conviction of the facilities that would be afforded 
towards the establishing the gospel in Tahiti and 
the neighbouring islands, if they were joined by a 
body of Missionaries and an experienced director, 
and recommended that a surgeon and several me¬ 
chanics should be included in the number of those 
who might be sent. 
The Albion had scarcely sailed, when large 
fleets of canoes, filled with fighting men, arrived, 
and the island was agitated with the apprehension 
of hostilities between the king and chiefs. The 
removal of Oro, the national idol, from Pare to 
Ateliuru, was the cause of the threatened conflict: 
ammunition was prepared ; a large assembly of 
chiefs and warriors met at Pare; and it was daily 
