only of the Egyptian, but of him who ventured health, property, and life, in the one daring object of his chosen labour. All that now remained to him was a little mound by my side, and the simple unostentatious monument bearing his name; presenting, indeed, a wide contrast to the huge piles of Memphis and Thebes. Near this grave is another, containing the remains, as I learned from the monument, of a Mr. Hill, who came in a vessel, the John Cato, to trade with the king of Benin. Every thing seemed to promise his realizing a fortune in this enterprize; but he was taken ill of the fever, and died. Between these two graves was buried the mate, John Johnson. The evening was far advanced before the grave was completed; we therefore approached the spot (a little band), to perform, after the manner of the country of the dead man, the duty of interment. There were none of the insignia of mourning; no hearse with its nodding plumes and painted escutcheon, or even decent train of sable mourners we stood round the grave, about six in number, the corpse on one side, whilst I officiated as chaplain. Having no Prayer-book, I endeavoured to recollect as much of the burial service as possible. The audience were attentive beyond measure; all was hushed and silent. The sun was resting on the extreme verge of the western horizon; it seemed to linger a moment, to throw its last golden ray upon the pale countenance of the departed, and cheer the hearts of the little group that surrounded his remains."

CHRISTIAN ISLANDS IN THE SOUTH SEA.

HUMAN VICTIMS IN HEATHEN TAHITI.

CHRISTIANITY has gloriously triumphed in many of the islands of the South Sea; and far more glorious triumphs await the missionary labourers among the vast groups of islands, whose debased inhabitants are yet immersed in pagan barbarism. The following account, from Williams's Missionary Enterprizes, cannot fail to delight every reader; and while it is known that the devoted author is about to return to the scene of his labours, having a ship placed at his disposal, with a view to colonize those islands with Christian instructors, none can refrain from praying that the gracious gifts and consolations of the Spirit may be possessed abundantly by this servant of God.

"On the eve of a war, human victims were invariably offered. Perhaps a correct idea of this dreadful system may be suggested, by a brief relation of the circumstances under which the very last Tahitian victim was slain and presented to the gods.

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"Pomare was about tofight a battle, which would confirm him in or deprive him of his dominions. To propitiate the gods, therefore, by the most valuable offerings he could command, was with him an object of the highest concern. For this purpose, rolls of native cloth, pigs, fish, and immense quantities of other food, were presented at the Maraes; but still a tabu, or sacrifice, was demanded. Pomare, therefore, sent two of his messengers to the house of the victim whom he had marked for the occasion. On reaching the place, they inquired of the wife where her husband was. She replied, that he was in such a place planting bananas. Well,' they continued, we are thirsty, give us some cocoa-nut water.' She told them that she had no nuts in the house, but that they were at liberty to climb the trees, and take as many as they desired. They then requested her to lend them the O, which is a piece of ironwood, about four feet long, and an inch and a half in diameter, with which the natives open the cocoa-nut. cheerfully complied with their wishes, little imagining that she was giving them the instrument which, in a few moments, was to inflict a fatal blow upon the head of her husband. Upon receiving the O, the men left the house, and went in search of their victim; and the woman, having become rather suspicious, followed them shortly after, and reached the place just in time to see the blow inflicted, and her husband fall. She rushed forward to give vent to her agonized feelings, and take a last embrace; but she was immediately seized, and bound hand and foot, while the body of her murdered husband was placed on a long basket made of cocoa-nut leaves, and borne from her sight. It appears that they were always exceedingly careful to prevent the wife or daughter, or any female relative, from touching the corpse; for so polluting were females considered, that a victim would have been desecrated by a woman's touch or breath to such a degree as to have rendered it unfit for an offering to the gods. While the men were carrying their victim to the Marae, he recovered from the stunning effect of the blow, and, bound as he was in the cocoa-nut leaf basket, he said to his murderers, Friends, I know what you intend to do with me. You

are about to kill me, and offer me as a tapu to your savage gods; and I also know that it is useless for me to beg for mercy, for you will not spare my life. You may kill my body, but you cannot hurt my soul; for I have begun to pray to Jesus, the knowledge of whom the missionaries have brought to our island. You may kill my body, but you cannot hurt my soul.' Instead of being moved to compassion by his affecting address, they laid him down upon the ground, placed a stone under his head, and, with another, beat it to pieces. In this state they carried him to their savage gods. I forbear to make any comment upon these facts, and leave them to find their own way to the hearts of my readers, and to show them how much the heathen need the Gospel.

"One of the assassins, whose business it was to procure human sacrifices, sailed with me in my last voyage; and 'not only confirmed the foregoing statement, but detailed many other transactions, equally tragical, in which he had been engaged.

"But painful as the incident is, it is a relief to know that this was the very last sacrifice ever offered to the gods of Tahiti; for soon after it occurred, Christianity was embraced, and the altars of the savage gods ceased to be -stained with human blood.

"I may also add, that this individual was selected, because, to use his own simple phrase, he had ‘begun to pray to Jesus:' and perhaps it is not too much to hope, that, while his mangled body was being presented to the sanguinary gods, his spirit was entering into the presence of that Saviour, to whom, amidst much ignorance, he had begun to pray.

"Whosoever calleth upon the name of the Lord, shall be saved.'"-Rev. T. Williams's Missionary Enterprizes.

CONVERSATION WITH RIROMAIAVA, A SOUTH SEA ISLAND CHIEF,

By the Rev. John Williams, Missionary. ·

I prepared to retire to rest: but though it was past midnight, and I was excessively fatigued, I was kept from reclining upon my welcome mat by the conversation of one of the most interesting and intelligent young chiefs with whom I had yet had intercourse. His name was Riromai

ava.

He was nearly related to Malietoa, and esteemed by the old chieftain so highly, that he consulted him upon every subject of importance. He had just then returned from a journey, and was impatiently waiting my arrival.

"On entering the house, to my surprise, he saluted me in English, with How do you do, Sir?' I instantly replied, Very well, I thank you, Sir, how do you do?' 'O,' he answered, 'me very well, me very glad to see you, me no see you long time ago, me away in the bush making fight. Oh! plenty of the fight, too much of the fight! Me hear that white chief bring the good word of Jehovah; me want plenty to see you; me heart say, how do you do? me heart cry to see you.' He further told me that he had become a Christian, and added that his sincere desire was to know and love the word of God. Upon inquiring whether he had learned to read, he replied, 'that he had been trying for several months, but that his heart was too much fool, and that he had not yet succeeded.' I encouraged him to persevere, and told him that the knowledge of reading was so valuable, that no labour could be too great in order to its acquisition. He assured me that he would persevere, and never be tired until he mastered it. After this, he asked me a variety of questions about England, the usages of civilized society, the principles of Christianity, and numerous other topics, which convinced me that he was worthy of the esteem in which he was held, and of the reputation he had obtained. Perceiving that I was overcome by fatigue, he retired, after requesting me to take a meal at his house in the morning, before I sailed for Manono and being so much interested with his intelligent conversation I accepted his invitation. In the course of the morning he gave me a fearful account of the cruelties practised in the late war: and having stated that very many of the women, children, and infirm people were burned, he exclaimed in a pathetic manner, 'Oh, my countrymen! the Samoa-man too much fool, plenty wicked; you don't know. Samoa great fool: he kills the man, he fights the tree bread-fruit tree, cocoa-nut tree no fight Oh! the Samoa too much fool, too much wicked.'

us.

"He then inquired very affectionately after Mrs. Williams and my family, and being informed that I had two sons, called John and Samuel, and that the age of the latter was about that of his own little boy, he begged that he might be allowed to give him that name; to which I consented he further entreated me to fetch Mrs. Williams,

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and reside at Samoa, as he greatly desired to be POTO (that means very wise), and had never, till then, met with one who could give him all the knowledge he desired. In reference to Mrs. Williams and the children, he asked me 'if Williams' woman and Williams' boy did not grieve very much at my being so very far away from them, for so many months upon the sea? 'Yes,' I replied, but Mrs. Williams is as anxious as myself that the poor heathen should know about Jesus Christ and salvation, and, therefore, willingly makes the sacrifice.'

"With tears in his eyes, he then exclaimed, 'We plenty sorry for them, they must have plenty of cry for you all

these moons.'

"After exchanging presents, I took my leave of this intelligent young chief, promising to give him as much of my company as my numerous engagements would afford. He told me that his patrimonial estate was at Upolu, that it was a most beautiful settlement, but that having been beaten in a late war, he was obliged to take refuge with his relative, Malietoa. He expected, however, soon to be reinstated in his possessions, and hoped he should be able to obtain a wise missionary to instruct him."

"Mr. Editor,-I have transcribed the above, to enable you the more easily to transfer the interesting account to the pages of the PILOT, that the perusal may be beneficial to its numerous readers. I was a constant reader of the Sailors' Magazine, and am a rather eager reader of the PILOT; for whatever concerns the spiritual, and eternal, (and not disregarding the temporal) interests of British sailors, interests me, because I feel a true attachment to the well-being of that large and important class of my fellow-men and fellow-subjects.

"It appears that the chief, Riromaiava, although he had not then conquered the difficulties which lay in his way in learning to read, had so well improved his opportunity, that he had acquired his knowledge of English from a sailor, who had been left at the islands sick, and who is represented to have been a very decent, well-behaved man. What a way has Providence thereby opened for enabling an enlargement of this young chief's future knowledge, and, perhaps, incalculable usefulness.

“I hope that I am not mistaken in my hope, that some of the nautical readers (and others not nautical) may have to pass through their minds some such thoughts as these: