CHARACTER OF POM A RE. 
253 
any of the Missionaries. His earliest letters or 
notes, the first ever written by a native, were from 
Eimeo. In 1805 he wrote a letter to the Mission¬ 
aries. In 1807 he wrote one to the Missionary 
Society, which being 1 the first despatch ever for¬ 
warded by a native of those islands to Britain, is a 
great curiosity. 
The Directors had written, advising him to 
banish the national idol, to attend to the instruc¬ 
tion of the Missionaries, and to discountenance 
those sins which were so rapidly depopulating his 
country. In reply, he wrote a letter in the native 
language, which the Missionaries translated; he 
then copied the translation, and both letters, signed 
by his own hand, were forwarded to London. He 
expresses a determination to banish Oro to Raiatea, 
wishes the Directors success in their efforts to in¬ 
struct the people of Tahiti, which he calls a bad 
land, a regardless land. He desires them to send 
a number of men, women, and children, to Tahiti, 
to send cloth, and then they will adopt the English 
dress; but tells them, that, should he be killed, 
they will have no friend in the islands.” “ Come 
not here after I am dead/’ was his expression. He 
also requested them to send him all the curious 
things in England, especially those necessary for 
writing, and, after enumerating pens, ink, &c. 
concluded his request by stating, “ Let no writing 
utensil be wanting.” He signed his name, “ Po¬ 
rn are, King of Tahiti,” &c. superscribed his letter 
to “ My Friends the Missionary Society, London.” 
Sedentary occupations and amusements appeared 
more congenial to Pomare then active pursuits; he 
found an agreeable occupation in braiding the 
finest kinds of cinet with the fibre of the cocoa-nut 
husk; writing, however, was his chief employment 
