THROUGH HAWAII. 
339 
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 prevented, were 
missionaries permanently residing among them. The 
natives are sometimes exceedingly deceitful and trea¬ 
cherous in their dealings with foreigners, and the 
conduct of the latter is not always such as to in¬ 
spire 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 oif and on, five or six large hogs 
in a canoe; they were hoisted in, when, instead of 
returning the stipulated articles, the captain threw 
down into their canoe a bundle of old iron, principally 
iron hoops, cast loose the rope by which they held on 
to the ship, and sailed away. The natives returned to 
the shore; a council was held, in which it was agreed 
to take revenge on the first ship that should arrive. In 
the interim, however, a missionary from one of the So¬ 
ciety Islands, whom they had long known, visited them, 
and being made acquainted with the circumstances, 
dissuaded them from their purpose, promised to make 
up their loss, and thus, in all probability, the death of 
several innocent persons was prevented. 
