POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES 
CHAPTER I. 
Early voyages to the Pacific—Interest in behalf of the 
people excited by the published accounts—Formation 
of the Missionary Society—Sailing of the Dufi— 
Arrival off Tahiti—Notice of a Roman Catholic mis- 
sion—Opinion of Captain Cook on the formation of a 
settlement in Tahiti—Cession of Matavai—Departure of 
the Duff—Influence of the mechanic arts on the minds of 
the people—Comparative estimate of iron and gold— 
Difficulties attending the acquisition of an unwritten 
language—Methods adopted by the missionaries—Pro- 
pensity to theft among the natives—Efforts to prevent 
human sacrifices and infant murder—Resolution of the 
missionaries relative to the use of fire-arms. 
THE circumstances of the South Sea Islanders, 
their habits, imstitutions, ceremonies, &c., de- 
scribed in the preceding volume, represent the 
state of the inhabitants of Tahiti and the adjacent 
isles at the time of their discovery, and during 
a period antecedent to this, the extent of which 
it is not easy to ascertain. Such, also, was 
their state, without any other alteration than a 
knowledge of the use of fire-arms produced, for 
a number of years after the visits of Wallis, 
Cook, and Bligh. Accident, so far as Captain 
Wallis was concerned, made us acquainted with 
their existence. The advancement of knowledge, 
the benefit of those interested in scientific research 
II. B 
