96 
POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES. 
and rumours of war not only prevailed in Tahi¬ 
ti, but invasion threatened Eimeo. This island 
the Missionaries considered only as a tempo¬ 
rary residence, till they should be able to resume 
their labours in Tahiti, or establish a mission in 
the Leeward Islands, and therefore recommended 
him to defer it. But he replied, u No, let us not 
mind these things, let it be built.” 
Shortly after this important event, which may 
justly be considered as the dawning of that day, 
and the first ray of that light, which has since shed 
such lustre, and beamed with such power, upon 
these isles of the sea, two chiefs arrived from 
Tahiti, inviting Pomare to return, and resume his 
government, promising an amicable adjustment of 
their differences. The interests of his kingdom 
appeared to require his concurrence with their 
proposal; and, on the thirteenth of August, in 
less than a month after the pleasing event referred 
to, he sailed with them from Eimeo, followed by 
the chiefs and people from the Leeward Islands, 
and most of the inhabitants of Papetoai and its 
vicinity. His departure, in this critical state of 
mind, was much to be regretted, as it deprived 
him of the instructions of his teachers, exposed 
him to many temptations, and much persecution. 
Pomare, in infancy, had been rocked in the 
cradle of paganism, and trained under its influence 
through subsequent life. His father Pomare, and 
his mother Idia, were probably more infatuated 
with idolatry, and more uniformly attached to the 
idols, and every institution connected with their 
worship, than even the priests, or perhaps any 
other individuals in the islands. He had been 
early initiated in all the mysteries of falsehood and 
abomination connected with the system, and had 
