158 POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES. 
ing of the battle, and were informed, by the 
wives and relatives of the defeated warriors, that 
Pomare and the chiefs had, without any exception, 
sent assurances of security to all who had fled. 
This intelligence, when conveyed to those who had 
taken refuge in the mountains, appeared to them 
incredible. After waiting, however, some days in 
their hiding-places, they ventured forth, and singly, 
or in small parties, returned to their dwellings; 
and when they found their plantations uninjured, 
their property secure, their wives and children 
safe, they were astonished. From the king they 
received assurances of pardon, and were not back¬ 
ward in unitedly tendering submission to his autho¬ 
rity, and imploring his forgiveness for having 
appeared in arms against him. 
Pomare was now, by the unanimous will of the 
people, reinstated on the throne of his father, and 
raised to the supreme authority in his dominions. 
His clemency in the late victory still continued to 
be matter of surprise to all the parties who had been 
his opponents. “ Where/' said they, “ can the 
king and the Bure Atua have imbibed these new 
principles of humanity and forbearance ? We have 
done every thing in our power, by treachery, stra¬ 
tagem, and open force, to destroy him and his 
adherents ; and yet, when the power was placed 
in his hand, victory on his side, we at his mercy, 
and his feet upon our necks, he has not only spared 
our lives, and the lives of our families, but has 
respected our houses and our property !” While 
making these inquiries, many of. them, doubtless, 
recollected the conduct of his father, in sending 
one night, when the warriors of Atehuru had gone 
over to Tautira, a body of men, who at midnight 
fell upon their defenceless victims, the aged rela- 
