268 
POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES. 
niece of the principal raatira in the island, and 
tendered proposals of marriage. Her family admit¬ 
ted his visits, and favoured his design, but the 
object of his choice declined every proposal he 
made. No means to gain her consent were left 
untried, but all proved unavailing. He discon¬ 
tinued his ordinary occupations, left the establish¬ 
ment of the young chief who had selected him 
for his friend, and repaired to the habitation of 
the individual whose favour he was so anxious 
to obtain. Here he appeared subject to the 
deepest melancholy, and, leaving the other mem¬ 
bers of the family to follow their regular pursuits, 
from morning to night, day after day, he attended 
his mistress, performing humiliating offices with 
apparent satisfaction, and constantly following in 
her train whenever she appeared abroad. 
His friends interested themselves in his behalf, 
and the disappointment, of which he was the sub¬ 
ject, became for a time the topic of general conver¬ 
sation in the settlement. At length the object of 
his attachment was induced to accept his offer; 
they were publicly married, and lived very com¬ 
fortably together. Their happiness, however, was 
but of short duration, for his wife, for whom he 
appeared to cherish the most ardent affection, 
died a few months afterwards. 
Another instance of rather a different kind, sub¬ 
sequently occurred. A party of five or six per¬ 
sons arrived in a canoe from Tahiti, on a visit to 
their friends in the Leeward Islands. Though 
Borabora was their destination, they remained 
several weeks at Huahine, the guests of Tarai- 
mano. During this period, a young woman, one 
of the belles of the island, belonging to the house¬ 
hold of their hostess, became exceedingly fond of 
