360 POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES. 
account given by a chief, who has lately visited 
Tahiti. He simply confirmed the testimony given 
by others before, that the natives of that island 
have undergone a very great change. I asked if 
they never fought now ? “ Fight!* r said he, “ they 
are all become Missionaries.” The natives who 
listened to him, said, they should like to go there, 
and live at Tahiti, but that their own island would 
never leave off its present customs/**' 
It was a favourable circumstance attending the 
change that has taken place both in the Society 
and Sandwich Islands, that each island had its 
chief; and that in some instances several adjacent 
islands w T ere under the government of a principal 
chief or king, whose authority was supreme, and 
whose influence, in uniting the people under one 
head, predisposed them, as a nation, to receive the 
instructions imparted by individuals countenanced 
and protected by their chief or king. Persons of 
the highest authority not only patronized the Mis¬ 
sionaries, but frequently added to their instruc¬ 
tions, their commendation, and the influence of 
their own example in having already received 
them. 
In New Zealand there is no king over the whole, 
or even over one of the larger islands. The people 
are generally governed by a number of chieftains, 
each indeed a king over his narrow territory. A 
desire to enlarge their territory, augment their 
property, increase their power, or satisfy revenge, 
leads to frequent and destructive wars, strengthens 
jealousy, and cherishes treachery, keeps them 
without any common bond of union, and prevents 
any deep or extensive impression being made upon 
them as a people. This necessarily circumscribes 
* Missionary Record, Oct. 1830. 
