358 POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES 
State, and the necessity of habitual preparedness 
for the eventful change which awaits all man* 
kind. While we were talking, the moon arose, 
and shed her mild light upon the valley; her 
beams were reflected by the rippling stream, and 
the small lakes beautified the scene. All was 
serene and still, save the chirping insects in the 
grass. The echo of the cloth-mallet, which had 
been heard through the day in different parts of 
the valley, had now ceased. Though generally a 
pleasant sound, especially when heard in a solitary 
valley, indicating the industry of the natives, it 
had on this day, which was the Sabbath, called 
forth the most affectionate solicitude for the in¬ 
teresting people of the place ; and we could not 
but desire the speedy arrival of that time, when 
the sacred hours of the Sabbath should be em¬ 
ployed in spiritual and devotional exercises. That, 
however, is not to be expected in the present cir¬ 
cumstances of the people ; for 
66 The sound of the church-going bell. 
These valleys and rocks never heard; 
Never sigh’d at the sound of a knell, 
Nor smiled when a Sabbath appear’d.” 
And, probably until this day, their inhabitants had 
not been informed, that “ in six days they should 
labour and do all their work, and that the seventh 
is the Sabbath of the Lord their God,” which he 
requires them to sanctify by sacred worship and 
holy rest. 
On the morning of the 18th, we were desirous 
of witnessing the interment of the person who died 
last night, but were disappointed; it was, most 
of their funerals are, performed in secret. A few 
particulars, relative to their mode of burying, we 
have been able to gather from the people of this 
