cult to preserve specimens of botany, and still more so of entomology; but the shells, though rare, beautiful, and valuable, are easily preserved. Of these I shall take such as may be available for the chapel-bazaar, and a few, perhaps, of the most beautiful and valuable, for other purposes. The harp-shell is found in great perfection among the islands: the Nautilus, and a few of the orange cowrie, with many other valuable shells, are found by the natives on the reefs: we cannot find them, but must depend on those who have had time and opportunity for such tedious pursuits; and they sell them at a price by no means trifling. Ships of war from America and France often call here, and buy such things at a random price, and to the astonishment of the natives themselves. Our ships of war very rarely call, though by doing so they might accomplish much good, and make a proper impression on the native mind. But, while science brings the American ships of war, and a zeal for planting Popery, where we have prepared the way, brings the navy of France into these seas, there has yet been no inducement strong enough to bring British men-of-war into this group, or, if they have come, the natives did not know them. One would think that the murder of so many white men, and the horrid cannibalism of Feejee, where so many Mission-families reside, might be sufficient to induce a call from ships of war now stationed in the vicinage of these islands; but what are these considerations to officers who love their anchorage and the port? Beside, who and what are these Mission families? Mere sectaries! Who ever dreamt that they were subjects of Great Britain ? We know that the Gospel needs not the aid of great guns; but there are times when refractory white men may be restrained by the presence of a British authority; and even the natives themselves may receive a wrong impression when other navies give countenance to those who are of their nation, while the English Protestant Missionary, living where war and cannibalism are the common practice of the people, is not favoured with the countenance of any part of the navy of his country. The Popish Priests know

well how to avail themselves of such an argument, for the purpose of lowering our Missionaries in the eyes of these warlike barbarians.

19th. The wind is from the north, and the heat is, therefore, intense. Multitudes of the native women and young people are on the reefs and in the sea,

gathering sponge, and bringing it to me,

about twenty large pieces for an empty quart bottle. A good boiling is required to extract the particles of salt from the sponge. The day may come, perhaps, when this, with many other articles, will lay the foundation of a brisk Feejeean trade, to be carried on with civilized countries. The wicker-work baskets of Feejee are strong, handsome, and useful, beyond any that I have seen at home or abroad. They sell a good one for two yards of calico; a mat of good firm texture, and about eight feet square, will cost the same. In such articles of manufacture this people excel. The clubs and spears of Feejee are very neatly formed, and awfully ponderous. Their bows and arrows also are excellent; but they know how to put a good price upon them. I have not purchased many, as they give the best they have to those they love; and who are so likely to stand high in their esteem as their benefactors?

20th. We have been fully engaged to-day in sketching our plans for the Auckland school, to receive the children of Missionaries in these seas; and also in laying down an educational scheme for Feejee; and the rules for civil government, which shall be recommended to the consideration of the Christian Chiefs, at a period as early as may be necessary.

21st.-How the Missionaries can study, or exercise themselves, in this oppressive climate, is scarcely conceivable; yet they do both, and complain not but those who are newly arrived feel greatly distressed, until they become seasoned against the heat and the musquitoes. I not only feel very much inconvenience from the heat, but the perspiration flows down over my bald head, and the evaporation from the rolling stream as it passes down over my face while writing, spreads a dense mist over the spectacle-glasses, so that I am unable to proceed, until I have cooled myself by a plunge into the water.

The old store at Vewa having been joined to the printing-office, and both having fallen into decay, a new printing-office is now being erected under the eye of the Missionaries. A tribe of natives from the neighbouring large island is engaged for this purpose: they are to find the material, and build the house, trusting to their employers for a righteous compensation when the work is all completed. This, I am happy to say, they readily and uniformly do in Feejee, where our credit stands sufficiently high to secure their full confidence.

This house is erected of strong timber,

for the frame-work, and of the large and long bamboo which abounds here, for the side-walls and roof: the lower part is thatched with the leaves of a tree, and the upper with the sugar-cane leaf, fastened to small straight canes. The whole looks very well, both within and without, and will stand firmly for six or seven years.

The size of this office is twenty-one feet by twenty-two, and the entire cost, except the windows and door, is £2. 10s., in Mission property. The number of men at work is sixty, and the time they take is three days.

We have a stone-built house, and one of timber, in Vewa, erected, of course, by white men. We shall forth with get title-deeds from the King, or Chiefs, as the best thing that can be done under the club-law system: but in case of a war, deeds, lease, and all may be destroyed.

We shall, however, feel it a duty in every place to set apart a piece of land for Mission purposes, and pay for the fee-simple thereof, to the amount of from three to ten acres, at a price averaging a pound an acre. This may now be done in Feejee without any difficulty; but who can say what may be hereafter !

22d-Our Missionaries here are hardworking men, and men of all work. They rise early and translate the Scriptures, or prepare other good books: they teach the natives useful arts, and guide them in all they do: one part of the day is devoted to native schools, and another to the schooling of their own children. They preach the Gospel to all who will hear it, morning, noon, and night. They administer medicine to the sick, and settle disputes for all parties. They are consulted about every important enterprise, and have their hand in every thing that is going on. They are lawyers, physicians, privy-councillors, builders, agriculturists, and frequent travellers on the high seas in the frail native canoes. They are men,

"Whose path is on the mountain-wave,

Whose home is on the sea!"

They study hard, that they may give a faithful translation of the word of God; several of them daily read Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, for this end; beside their constant application to the perfecting of their knowledge of the native language, in which they preach and converse daily with ease and fluency. These things they do in the ordinary course of their regular labour as Pastors of the flock of Christ; beside the oversight they are obliged to take of their own domestic affairs, where the busy housewife plies

her care, and where the tedious natives crowd around.

Such is a very faint picture of the de voted men employed in these Missions, of whom it would be wise to say, what we often hear said in a very different sense, They may do to go abroad; they may be fit for the Mission-work.” Whoever has been tempted to think that inferior men are good enough to send out as Missionaries, cannot have estimated the cost of sending them, the mighty obstacles they have to overcome, the versatility of gifts and graces they need, and the untold evils which must result from an unqualified standard-bearer. Let no young Superintendent propose, nor any Quarterly-Meeting pass, a candidate for the Christian ministry, of slender abilities, and questionable qualifications, under the absurd and inexcusable impression that such a man, though not fit for the home work, "may do to go abroad." Our work abroad requires men of all the wisdom, courage, and piety that can be obtained. No man is too good for the Mission-work. This field will give full scope to all his energies and powers, no matter how much they may have been cultivated, improved, and refined. If possible, the man who is to spend his life in learning a strange language, and in raising and ruling new churches, far away from the wise counsel of his fathers, should have his full time in one of our admirable Institutions, and there be instructed in those things which may prepare him rightly to discharge the duties of the pastoral office. These are not mere probabilities: I write the observations which are pressed upon me in my every-day movements, in the discharge of my duties, among the South-Sea Mission-Stations.

To show how thoroughly an English. man may become inured to the heat of the tropics, I set down the casual remark of Mr. Hunt, made to me last evening, when the perspiration was oozing from every pore, as we stood under the vertical "The house," said he, "which the natives have constructed, will not admit any air, and will be very warm and comfortable."

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23d. We have just learned that a whole town has embraced Christianity, near Bua, the new station for which we are to sail next week. It seems that this people have heard one of our simple Native Teachers propound the Gospel to them, and they have in a body thrown away their heathen gods, just at the moment when we are preparing to take Mr. and Mrs. Williams there, more fully to

explain to them the way of salvation. Who can deny that the finger of God was here? Here are a people prepared of the Lord, and here is a Missionary prepared for this people. Neither party knew what the other was doing; but the Lord was present with both, giving seed to the sower, and bread to the eater. "Go, preach the Gospel to every creature, and, lo, I am with you alway to the end of the world." It is in this way that his work appears unto his servants.

Bau will surely lotu before long; and then, Mr. Hunt says, full one hundred thousand souls will be waiting for the word of life at our hands. It is estimated that in Feejee there are three hundred thousand souls, who at present bid fair to be cast upon us for religious instruction. I have sometimes heard comparisons instituted between our different Mission Stations, and the palm given to those where the multitude was greatest. True it is that all souls are the Lord's; but we do not see him always saving men in the greatest numbers, where they are the most densely crowded. There are some places where the people receive the word of God with all readiness of mind, and multitudes there are added to the Lord. Where he works, the Mission prospers; and the prosperous Missions ought not to be lightly esteemed, seeing that the Lord hath delighted to honour them. The Friendly Isles and Feejee are of this happy number. The triumphs won here are truly illustrious. Such cannibals and bloody men are seen fully saved! yea, suffering the loss of all things for Christ's sake! They flee to Vewa that they may enjoy quiet from without, and read the New Testament, which is now complete in the Feejeean language. Several of these men are Chiefs of high rank among their countrymen, whom they long to instruct in the things concerning the kingdom of God. To train them for this purpose, a native Institution is in operation here, and the angels with their trumpets are preparing to sound. These are the things which Christ, by the power of his Gospel, is doing in poor Heathen Feejee. And who hath despised the day of small things?

In one of the distant towns, where we have two hundred members, it happened that the Chief of the place was also the Priest.

He was taken ill, and did all in his power by enchantment and by Feejee medicine; but, when all had failed, he sent for some medicine from the Missionaries, which issued in his recovery. He then said, "I tried my god, and he

could not help me; but your God has cured me. I shall, therefore, lotu at once. He did so; and many of his people are being instructed, in order that they may be saved. Mr. Hunt related to me a second case, very similar to the foregoing, where the Priest was brought to receive Christianity by reason of a cure which had resulted from his taking medicine prescribed by the Missionaries. And even imperial Bau has changed its haughty tone towards us, since some of their children, and others, have been cured of sore diseases in this way. This is just what one might expect from such people, influenced by the kindness and benefits received at the hands of Christ's messengers; and it shows that medicine for the body should be liberally supplied to mere Heathen Stations, and that, in the hands of careful and duly prepared men, such medicine may prepare the people to hear of the spiritual remedy that saves the soul of the vilest offender.

24th. The Lord's day. I preached to a full and well-behaved congregation of Feejeeans; and the word was devoured by them. They seemed to bow before the Lord, and fully to enter into the spirit of Christian worship. There is evidently a great work now in progress here, and I expect soon to "see greater things than these." The brethren are repairing to their respective Stations as fast as the vessel can take them, and are encouraged to expect that happy effects will crown the labours of this year. They are full of zeal and hope themselves, and are, I believe, likely to be extensively useful in their respective islands and Circuits.

Mr. Hunt is appointed to translate the Old Testament into Feejeean; and Mr. Lyth to read and revise the manuscript: it will then be seen by as many other brethren as can conveniently inspect it, and immediately pass through the press, so as in three or four years to be completed. This is a great work, and God has provided for it, by giving us instruments, who seem every way qualified for its performance in a manner the most creditable to themselves, and satisfactory to all concerned. The New Testament, now in print, gives very general satisfaction.

The Stations of the Missionaries in Feejee are already so extended, that to visit them all, I have to perform a voyage of about seven hundred miles. In a year or two more we shall, by God's blessing, have taken possession of both the centre and the circumference of the entire group. In all parts the seed is

beginning to grow, poor Somosomo excepted; and even there we are by no means without hope that what has been cast into the ground, and buried there, may one day spring up, and ripen to the Gospel harvest.

25th. A female came this evening, with several other sick persons, in the usual way, to be cured of her disease. It appeared that her arm was disabled, and rather painful from the extraordinary course which this poor silly Heathen had adopted. The case was this:-One of her fingers had become painful, and she had proceeded in the most deliberate manner to cut off the finger next to it; but, as the pain in the diseased finger did not abate, she cut off another finger; having now only two left, and one of them diseased. The pain, however, had left the finger, and settled in the arm, when she came to Mr. Hunt to be cured. Such a thing, I am informed, is by no means unusual among the Feejeeans. They use the knife very freely upon themselves when affliction overtakes them. Medical knowledge has done much to prepare the way for the truth in these islands; and, as Mr. Lyth is a Surgeon, most of the brethren have taken a leaf out of his book.

One of the most painful and barbarous facts connected with any Mission family in these seas, has just now come to light. Our excellent young friends, Mr. and Mrs. Watsford, who have been at Ono, one of the out-islets, during the year, have come in for their full share of domestic trial, arising from the want of servants. The natives there have no idea of serving in a family, where all their time would be occupied, and where everything would appear new and strange. The King of Ono, however, sent one of his young daughters as a child's-maid; and this girl has showed herself a thorough Feejeean for cunning and cruelty, in which these people surpass all others that I am acquainted with. Her cunning led her to invent such strings of lies as really surprise one; and all of them tended to ruin the character of Mr. and Mrs. Watsford. To this vile practice she added the most shocking cruelty, about which there can be no mistake; for the whole affair has been openly confessed, and too clearly demonstrated, to admit of any question. It appears that she intended to murder the babe of Mrs. Watsford, and to conceal the fact. Her plan was to avail herself of those times when the child was cross, to hug it in her arms so strongly as to crush its frame together! She proceeded in this

work to a sad extent, and was then discovered, and made full confession. The babe is not dead, but seems to pine away, and shows great difficulty of breathing. No doubt the injury is considerable; but whether, under the judicious treatment of Mr. Lyth, its life can be preserved, time will show. I fear the effects will remain co-eval with life.

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It is a fixed opinion in the minds of our Missionaries, that men in their wild, Heathen state are generated with a more depraved and vicious nature, than is the case in Christian and civilized countries. I am not aware of any reason why this may not be the case. Human nature is fallen and corrupt all the world over, and there is none that doeth good, no, not one; but does it therefore follow that there are no degrees of wicked men, and of vicious natures? Mr. Fletcher observes that oak-trees are oak-trees all the world over, but some grow more crooked than others. The oracle says, that "the wicked shall wax worse and worse." And analogy says the same: take the wild fig, and compare it with the same shrub and plant in your garden. the same with the crab-tree and the apple; or, compare any wild shrub, flower, or tree with those that are cultivated and trained. Go from the vegetable to the animal world, and compare your domestic poultry with wild-fowl, wild rabbits with tame ones, wild cattle with tame ones, and so examine any other analogies: then say whether the wild ones do not come forth as the inferior and degraded offspring of the wild families, and cannot be elevated to the higher condition of the family, until, like them, they have passed under cultivation. The state of the poor Heathen is awfully degraded, and has strong claims upon Christian pity and benevolence; and those who devote their lives to the Missionary work should have a place in the prayers and other kind offices of all churches and good men every where, and at all times.

The King of Vewa sent one of his men to-day, begging Mr. Hunt to give him a piece of pork for his dinner! Both the Queen and himself are professed Christians, and bear the fruits of faith and love; but they are not very wise in their economical affairs. The command of Feejee riches is very great; but still they are often without a meal when they are hungry. The King's name is Melchisedek, and his history will vie with that of the most bloody of his race; but in the arts of cunning and deception he stands unrivalled in the annals of

Feejee. The conversion of such a warrior might be expected to excite the wrath of his compeers; and it did so for a long time, during which the haughty Chiefs of Bau meditated the destruction of Vewa; but, it seems, the Mission established there was its wall of defence: and is it not true of all God's servants that He is a wall of fire round about them? How else could our Missionaries live in Feejee ? It is the common remark of all the white men in Feejee, that they are only safe when they are under the wing of the Missionaries. Some live, therefore, as near the Mission premises as they can; and so gracious is the Lord, who hath redeemed all men, that a few of these runaway sailors come under the influence of divine grace and truth, both at Tonga and Feejee. I am glad to find that our brethren, for the most part, treat this class of persons with kindness, and afford them many helps, which they could not obtain elsewhere. By such means the Christian Minister is most likely to win souls, and to exalt his Lord and Master.

26th. This morning, a case of printed calico, a private order of Mr. Williams's, which had been lying some time in the store here, (because it was not safe to have many things at Somosomo, where he lived,) was found drenched with wet, in consequence of the bad roof of the common Mission-store. Many of the articles are stained and spoiled. These things, being his barter, are of great consequence to him. Not long since, a case of axes was lost at Somosomo, when they were in the act of landing them. In this way our brethren have their patience exercised, by losing their supplies just when they are most needed. When the case was opened, Mr. and Mrs. Williams were both present, and preparing to move to their new Station at Bua; but not one syllable of complaint or of murmuring escaped their lips they meekly submitted to their loss as to one of the light things which they were accustomed to, in bearing the burden of the Lord in Feejee.

I have a full opportunity of observing how the Mission-families live; being at their houses from month to month. Their table presents pork and yam, with water, (the best they can get, but often far from good,) and pork and yam again, with tea and sugar, as the main stand-by comfort of their frugal board. Poultry and fish are obtained, now and then, and bread-fruit when in season. Missionary's suit in general consists of a thin pair of cotton trousers, and a calico

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coat, (beside his usual linen,) and over all a wide-brim straw hat. They neither dress in costly array, nor fare sumptuously at any time; but, having food and raiment of the plainest kind, they are there with content, and pursue their high and holy vocation, preaching the Gospel, the whole and pure Gospel, justification by faith, and entire sanctification or perfect love, holiness brought into the heart by the Holy Spirit, received by the earnest, praying penitent, through simple faith in Christ, exercised in full expectation of a present salvation. These things they teach and exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine; saying, "Save yourselves from this untoward generation." And the Lord works with them, and signs follow in them that believe.

28th. The heat is so great here today, that my going into a cold bath in the shade was quite agreeable at first; but, after a little, I felt a desire to be refreshed with a lower temperature; a thing that could not be, for I had got into the coldest element, in the coldest place to be found. The old hands say,

The weather is very hot now; but we can bear it very well, feeling little inconvenience, and suffering no injury.' What a kind Father is "our Father!"

The brig returned from Lakemba and Ono, to which places she had conveyed Mr. Calvert and Mr. and Mrs. Hazle. wood. On entering among these Vewa reefs, she struck the bottom, but did not stick fast. This navigation is really very difficult, and especially as the helps by good charts are few, and other marks of direction to the mariner, such as buoys, beacons, and lights, are not in existence.

From Ono the news is cheering; but owing to the rough sea, many things designed for Mr. Hazlewood could not be landed, and going without them for one year must be his hard lot. A change of clothes must be reckoned among the articles of which he is minus. Many of his things, such as furniture and supplies from New-Zealand, are broken and spoiled; partly, perhaps, through the frequent landing of them from place to place, and partly through the carelessness of the seamen who did the work.

The smashing of the poor Missionaries' property is really frightful, and must be reformed. The many voyages we have to make, the want of packing, in some cases, because the vessel cannot wait so long, and the habits of seamen, all contribute to make us suffer very heavy losses.