CHARACTER OF POMARE. | DSO: 
any of the Missionaries. His earliest letters or 
notes, the first ever written by a native, were from 
Eimeo. In 1805 he wrote a letter to the Mission- 
aries. In 1807 he wrote one to the Missionary 
Society, which being the first despatch ever for- 
warded by a native of those islands to Britain, is a 
great curiosity. , 
The Directors had written, advising him to 
banish the national idol, to attend to the instruc- 
tion of the Missionaries, and to discountenance 
those sins which were so rapidly depopulating his 
country. In reply, he wrote a letter in the native 
language, which the Missionaries translated; he 
then copied the translation, and both letters, signed 
by his own hand, were forwarded to London. He 
expresses a determination to banish Oro to Raiatea, 
wishes the Directors success in their efforts to in- 
struct the people of Tahiti, which he calls a bad 
land, a regardless land. He desires them to send 
a number of men, women, and children, to Tahiti, 
to send cloth, and then they will adopt the English 
dress; but tells them, that, should he be killed, 
they will have no friend in the islands.” ‘‘ Come 
not here after I am dead,” was his expression. He 
also requested them to send him all the curious 
things in England, especially those necessary for 
writing, and, after enumerating pens, ink, &c. 
eoncluded his request by stating, ‘‘ Let no writing. 
utensil be wanting.” He signed his name, ‘“ Po- 
mare, King of Tahiti,” &c. superscribed his letter 
to ‘‘ My Friends the Missionary Society, London.” 
Sedentary occupations and amusements appeared 
more congenial to Pomare then active pursuits ; he’ 
found an agreeable occupation in braiding the. 
finest kinds of cinet with the fibre of the cocoa-nut 
husk ; writing, however, was his chief employment 
