380 POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES. 
there, it was dry; the sides were walled, and the 
bottom neatly paved; but in the rainy season, 
when the water is constantly flowing through, its 
effect must be rather singular on the minds of those 
sitting near it during public worship. 
One end of the building was used by the inha¬ 
bitants for divine service every Sabbath; the 
other parts are only occupied at the annual meet¬ 
ings of the Tahitian Missionary Society, or on 
similar occasions, when large national assemblies 
are convened. In 1822, when I last visited it, the 
roof had already begun to decay. The labour of 
keeping so large a place in repair would be very 
great; and the occasions for its use so seldom 
occur, that no repairs have been made since the 
king’s death ; and the exposure being constant, it 
will not probably last many years longer. The 
texture of the palm-leaves composing the thatch 
is not such as to resist for any protracted period 
and the intense heat of the climate. 
It has appeared matter of surprise to many, that 
the natives should desire, or the Missionaries 
recommend, the erection of such large places of 
worship; and I have often been asked, how we 
came to build such immense houses. The Royal 
Chapel at Papaoa, however, is the only one of the 
kind in the islands. It originated entirely with 
the king, and in its erection the Missionaries took 
no part. The king, determined in his purpose, 
levied a requisition for materials and labour on the 
chiefs and people of Tahiti and Eimeo, by whose 
combined efforts it was ultimately finished. The 
Missionaries were far from approving of the scale 
on which Pomare was proceeding ; and, on more 
than one occasion, some of them expressed their 
regret that so much time and property should be 
