ACQUISITION OF THE LANGUAGE. 277 
iicable, the best means of converting the heathen ; 
and though the other departments of labour have 
not been neglected, this has been regarded as the 
first great duty of a Missionary—according with his 
very designation, the principal design of the insti¬ 
tution under whose patronage he is engaged, the 
practice of the apostles and first Missionaries, and 
the spirit as well as the letter of the Divine com¬ 
mission, whence he derives his highest sanction, 
and anticipates greatest success. Preparation for 
this service has therefore been regarded as de¬ 
manding particular attention. 
After our arrival at Huahine, in addition to the 
preparation of their dwellings, Messrs. Nott and 
Davies had been employed in preaching to the 
people, and preparing the Gospels of Matthew and 
John for the press. In the schools, Mr. Barffhad 
been much engaged, and Mr. Orsmond, prior to 
his removal to Raiatea, had assisted in the instruc¬ 
tion of the people, not only of Fare, but also of the 
adjoining districts. 
The indolence of the South Sea Islanders has 
long been proverbial, and our minds were not less 
affected on beholding it, than those of other 
visitors had been. We were convinced that it was 
the parent of many of their crimes, infant-murder 
not excepted, and was also a perpetual source of 
misery. The warmth of the climate, the spon¬ 
taneous abundance with which the earth and the 
sea furnished, not merely the necessaries of life, 
but what was to the inhabitants the means of 
luxurious indulgence, had, no doubt, strengthened 
their natural love of ease, and nurtured those habits 
of excessive indolence in which they passed the 
greater portion of their lives. 
These habits, so perfectly congenial to their 
