PREFACE. 
IX 
ture, Christian experience, and general con¬ 
duct, of the converts ; the proceedings of the 
Missionaries in the several departments of their 
duty; the administration of the ordinances of 
Christianity ; the establishment of the first 
churches, with their order and discipline; the ad¬ 
vancement of education ; the introduction of arts ; 
the improvement in morals; and the progress of 
civilization. 
During an absence of ten years from England, 
the author made copious notes of much that came 
under his notice, and, while residing in the South 
Seas, kept a daily journal. From these papers, 
from the printed and manuscript documents in 
the possession of the London Missionary Society, 
(to which the most ready access has been af¬ 
forded,) from the very ample communications by the 
Missionaries in the islands, especially his respected 
colleagues, Messrs. BarfF, Williams, andOrsmond, 
and from information derived by daily intercourse, 
for several years, with many of the natives, who have 
been identified with the most important events of 
the last thirty years in Tahiti, the present volumes 
have been written. He has studiously and con¬ 
stantly endeavoured to render the accounts accu¬ 
rate, and trusts they will prove, not only interesting, 
but useful. 
