50 
SANDWICH ISLANDS. 
that the work was partly done to their hand, and that, the 
old faith being destroyed, they had only to begin to build 
up the temple of a purer creed. In April 1820, the ship 
bearing the mission, which consisted of six families, arrived 
in the harbour of Oahu. There were two clergymen, two 
lay teachers, a physician, and a farmer, with their wives, 
besides two young natives who had been brought up by the 
mission as teachers in the United States. 
Their landing was at first opposed. Many persons of 
the different nations trading to Oahu represented, and not 
without good grounds, that the missionaries would probably 
interfere with the government of those Islands, that the 
influence they would undoubtedly gain might be dangerous, 
and advised the king to refuse them permission to land. 
After eight days’ deliberation, however, Tamehameha II. 
determined to admit them ; his desire of obtaining teachers 
in the pule , or worship of Europeans, and pala palci , or 
reading and writing, overcame all other considerations; 
besides, he said, as they were so few, it would be easy 
to dismiss them in case of misconduct. He assigned to 
them a piece of ground for a church near his own residence, 
and gave them houses and gardens sufficient for all their 
wants. One of the first objects of the missionaries was to 
obtain a knowledge of the language of the Sandwich Islands, 
