338 POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES. 
dense population, and the favourable reception we 
have met with, all combine to give it a stronger 
claim to immediate attention than any other place 
we have yet seen, except Raima* There are 400 
houses in the bay, and probably not less than 
2000 inhabitants, who would be immediately em¬ 
braced in the operations of a Missionary station 
here, besides the populous places to the north and 
south, that might be occasionally visited by itine¬ 
rant preachers from Waiakea. 
In the afternoon I preached in front of the house 
where we held our worship on the last Sabbath. 
There were three Marquesians present, who arrived 1 
here but a few weeks ago. 
It is truly distressing to hear so frequently of 
the murderous quarrels which take place between 
the natives of the Marquesas, and other islands in 
the Pacific, and the crews of ships visiting them; 
which, we think, would be in a great degree pre¬ 
vented, were Missionaries permanently residing 
among them. The natives are sometimes exceed¬ 
ingly deceitful and treacherous in their dealings 
with foreigners, and the conduct of the latter is 
not always such as to inspire confidence. The 
Missionaries in the Society Islands have often been 
the means of preventing the consequences to 
which the misunderstanding of the natives and 
foreigners would in all probability have led. 
Once, in particular, about four years ago, a captain, 
who had never visited them before, and has not 
been there since, touched at a small island to the 
south-west of Tahiti, bargained with the natives 
for a number of hogs, agreeing to give in exchange 
for them tools or clothing. The natives carried to 
the ship, which was lying off and on, five or six 
large hogs in a canoe; they were hoisted in, 
