$32 POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES* 
give ; yet it was one of the happiest periods of my 
life. It was cheering to behold the people so pre¬ 
pared to receive the sacred volume, and anxious 
to possess it. I have frequently seen thirty or 
forty canoes from distant parts of Eimeo, or from 
some other island, lying along the beach ; in each 
of which, five or six persons had arrived, whose 
only errand was to procure copies of the Scrip¬ 
tures. For these, many waited five or six weeks, 
while they were printing. Sometimes I have seen 
a canoe arrive with six or ten persons for books; 
who, when they have landed, have brought a large 
bundle of letters, perhaps thirty or forty, written 
on plantain leaves, and rolled up like a scroll. 
These letters had been written by individuals, who 
were unable to come, and apply personally for a 
book, and had therefore thus sent, in order to 
procure a copy. Often, when standing at my 
door, which was but a short distance from the sea- 
beach, as I have gazed on the varied beauties of 
the rich and glowing landscape, and the truly pic¬ 
turesque appearance of the island of Tahiti, four¬ 
teen or eighteen miles distant, the scene has been 
enlivened by the light and nautilus-like sail of the 
buoyant canoe, first seen in the distant horizon as 
a small white speck, sometimes scarcely distin¬ 
guishable from the crest of the waters, at others 
brilliantly reflecting the last rays of the retiring 
sun, and appearing in bold and beautiful relief 
before 
“ The impassioned splendour of those clouds 
That wait upon the sun at his departure.” 
The effect of this magnificent scene has often 
been heightened by the impression that the voy¬ 
agers, whose approaching bark became every 
moment more conspicuous among the surrounding 
