100 POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES. 
affairs, and the uncertainty of the result, to which 
the present agitation, and the approaching national 
assembly of chiefs and people, might lead ; and 
though his friends added insult and reproach to his 
misfortunes, he remained stedfast. 
The communications between Tahiti and Eimeo 
were now frequent, and the repeated accounts of 
Pomare’s persevering and laudable endeavours to 
enlighten the minds of his subjects, were not the 
only cheering tidings they received. Mr. Bicknell 
went over in a vessel bound to the Pearl Islands, 
and in a few days returned, with the pleasing 
report that a spirit of inquiry had been awakened 
among some of the inhabitants of that island, and 
that two of those they had formerly instructed, had 
occasionally met to pray to God. In order to 
ascertain the nature and extent of the desire 
which had been excited, and to confer with the 
individuals under its influence, Messrs. Scott and 
Hayward, having been deputed by their compa¬ 
nions to visit Tahiti, sailed over from Eimeo, on 
the 15th of June, 1813. Although the king was 
residing in Matavai, they landed in the district of 
Pare, and, proceeding to the valley of Hautaua, 
they learned that the report was correct, and that 
in the neighbourhood there were some who had 
renounced idolatry, and professed to believe in 
Jehovah, the true God. 
On the following morning, according to the 
usual practice when travelling among the people, 
they retired to the bushes near their lodgings, for 
meditation and secret prayer. The houses of the 
natives, however large they might be, never con¬ 
tained more than one room; and were generally 
so crowded with people, that retirement was alto¬ 
gether unattainable. While seeking this, about 
