212 
VOYAGE TO THE 
that the first in which a vessel from the civilized world 
touched there, the superstitions of ages were overturned, 
and the knowledge of the true God brought among a docile 
and, generally speaking, innocent people. From the ac¬ 
count of the missionaries, the ancient religion seems to have 
been the same with that of the Sandwich Islanders. 
On our return to the beach, one of the missionaries at¬ 
tended us. As we retraced our steps through the wood, 
the warbling of the birds, whose plumage was as rich as it 
was new to us—the various-tinted butterflies that fluttered 
across our path—the delicious climate—the magnificent 
forest-trees—and, above all, the perfect union and harmony 
existing among the natives—presented a succession of agree¬ 
able pictures which could not fail to delight us. 
The only weapons we observed among the inhabitants 
of Mauti were spears, of the same make and variety as in 
the other South Sea isles. They possessed few ornaments; 
and those who had their ears bored stuck a small leaf, rolled 
up, in the orifice. The greater number wore straw hats, 
and were more clothed than in the adjacent islands. They 
were hospitable and kind to us; and we gave them some 
knives, scissors, fish-hooks, and printed cotton, with all of 
which they seem much delighted. Their number is con¬ 
sidered as amounting to between two and three hundred. 
