ENCOURAGING PROSPECTS. 239 
dence of the desire, on the part of the Society at 
home, to relieve them from every distressing anx¬ 
iety as to their successors, and to afford every aid 
in the prosecution of their important and extend¬ 
ing work. To us it was a matter of gratitude and 
satisfaction. With some who had now arrived, 
we had parted nearly two years before in our 
native land ; others we had left among strangers 
on a foreign shore; but we were now, in the pro¬ 
vidence of God, brought together under circum¬ 
stances peculiarly encouraging ; and not only per¬ 
mitted to enjoy each others' society, but to com¬ 
bine our energies for the advancement of that 
cause to which our lives were devoted. 
The arrival of so large a reinforcement enabled 
the Missionaries to make arrangements for re-occu¬ 
pying their original station in Tahiti, and estab¬ 
lishing a Mission in the Society, or, as they are 
usually termed, when spoken of in connexion with 
Tahiti and Eimeo, the Leeward Islands. It was, 
however, thought desirable that no division of their 
numbers should take place until the vessel, the 
building of which had been commenced soon after 
the return from Port Jackson, should be finished, and 
the works prepared for the press were printed. 
The vessel, in the building of which the Mis¬ 
sionaries were engaged when we arrived, had been 
undertaken jointly by them and the king, at the 
recommendation of the Governor of New South 
Wales, and of the Rev. S. Marsden. The king pro¬ 
posed to find materials, and the Missionaries labour. 
By this means it was hoped they might be enabled 
to instil into the minds of the natives a spirit of 
enterprise, and induce them to build ships for 
themselves. It was intended to employ the vessel 
in the pearl-fishery, among the Paumotu Islands 
