310 POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES* 
When the exercises were ended, they con^ 
gratulated each other on the news they had 
heard; said it was good, and added, “ Let us all 
attend to it; who is there that does not desire 
eternal life in the other world ?” They afterwards 
made many inquiries about the Sabbath-day, 
prayer, &c. and asked if they should not be visited 
again. We told them it was probable that, before 
long, teachers would come and reside permanently 
among them. 
On our way home, we called on Maaro, whom we 
found very ill. One of his children was also sick, 
and seemed near dying. We regretted that we 
had no medicine proper to administer to either. 
The wretched picture of uncivilized society, 
which this family exhibited, powerfully affected 
our minds. Maaro’s house, like that of the chiefs 
in general, was large, and accommodated many of 
his friends and dependants. On one side, near 
the door, he lay on a mat which was spread on 
the ground. Two or three domestics sat around, 
one of them holding a small calabash of water, 
and another, with a kahiri, was fanning away the 
flies. Near the centre of the house, on another 
mat, spread also on the ground, lay the pale 
emaciated child, its features distorted with pain, 
and its feeble voice occasionally uttering the most 
piteous cries. A native girl sat beside it, driving 
away the flies, and holding a cocoa-nut shell in 
her hand, containing a little poe, with which she 
had been endeavouring to feed it. In the same 
place, and nearly between the father and the 
child, two of Maaro’s wives, and some other chief 
women, were seated on the ground, playing at 
cards, laughing and jesting over their game. We 
tried to enter into conversation with them, but 
