INTERVIEW WITH POM A RE. 155 
leave of the friends at Mount Hope, and, accom¬ 
panied by the chiefs from Huahine, proceeded to 
Matavai, where Pomare resided. It was near 
noon when we arrived, and, soon after landing*, 
the messengers waited upon the king, told him 
they had been sent by the chiefs of Huahine, to 
request Teriitaria to return, and reside there—and 
expressed their conviction that he would approve 
of the same. He replied —Ua tia ia ia oti ra 
May e tai ai, “ It is agreed—but let May be over, 
and then go alluding to the annual meetings 
held in the month of May. 
I took up my abode with Mr. Nott, and spent 
the whole of the week in revising, with him and 
one or two of the chiefs from Huahine, the laws 
which had been prepared for that island. In this 
revision we endeavoured to correct what was de¬ 
fective in those already published in Tahiti and 
Raiatea. This employment occupied a number of 
hours every day. It was a matter of importance : 
I was anxious that their laws should be framed 
with the utmost care, and felt desirous that we 
should avail ourselves of Mr. Nott’s familiar ac¬ 
quaintance with the character of the people, and 
his observation on the effect of the laws on the 
inhabitants of Tahiti and Eimeo. I wished also 
to consult with Mr. Davies, but he was too far off. 
Mr. Nott stated, that the greatest defects he had 
observed, arose from the power vested in the 
hands of the magistrate to punish according to his 
own discretion those who were convicted. In 
consequence of this, the same crime was followed 
by different punishments, in different parts, or by 
different magistrates. In order to remedy this, 
the punishment to be inflicted was annexed to the 
prohibition of the offence. The laws, it was 
