There is one thing not a little singular in the early history of Christianity here.

About six years ago, the few who believed the word of God at Ono were violently persecuted by the Heathen; but in the midst of the storm, their numbers kept increasing, until they concluded that they would take up arms against their enemies. They did so; and the Heathens fled before them to their strong fortress on the mountain. The Christians followed, and took the town. Scarcely any one fell on either side; and, instead of killing the vanquished, the Christians ran to the others, fell on their necks, and wept over them. These, in turn, were so affected by this new and extraordinary treatment, that they fell on their knees, and lotued at Aforetime, they would have been eaten. Now, they are not merely preserved alive, but also wept over by their conquerors. The fear of them fell upon the Pagan warriors; Christian love bowed their hearts as the heart of one man ; and Christ was glorified both in the conquerors and in the conquered. How wonderful will be the history of his conquests in that day, when he shall appear in the clouds of heaven, and every eye shall see him, and every knee shall bow before him!

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The Rev. John Watsford, with his wife and two children, came on board, on their way to the District-Meeting, and to their new Station. These very excellent persons are the fruit of our Mission in New South Wales, whence they were taken out four years ago. more efficient Missionary than Mr. Watsford will not often stand forth, as, at once, a fruit of our Missions, and an ambassador sent to the Heathen.

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Sunday, Sept. 12th. We made Lakemba, and I preached in the chapel in the afternoon; Mr. Calvert interpreting to a most attentive congregation. At Ono the natives partake much of the Tonga character, dress, and colour; but here we were met by the dark skin, almost entirely without covering, of the unmixed Feejeean race. They appear less lovely in their features, and far less symmetrical in their form, than the Tongans; but they are more willing to lend a hand, and upon an intimate acquaintance show a keener intellect, than the Friendly Islanders. The Feejeeans are comparatively an industrious people, and they are polite and obliging in their manners, far beyond all that I have seen in these seas: but their nude appearance, and their strong all odour, make them

thoroughly disgusting to persons newly arrived.

13th.-Lakemba from the sea commands unqualified admiration. Its wood, and hill, and dale, and sunny shore, cannot fail to strike the eye of him who has a taste for the beauties of landscape. Yet this fine and picturesque island has many a barren hill, most of its flats are bogs, teeming with swarms of musqui. toes and stinging flies; and, worse than these, the miasma, arising out of the swamps, cannot fail to be more or less injurious to those who breathe its atmosphere.

The island is high, and measures about thirty-five miles in circumference, with a population of about fifteen hundred, of whom two hundred and fifty are Christians, whose children are trained with care and in the fear of the Lord.

Mr. and Mrs. Calvert gave us a very kind welcome, and showed us a Mission house and premises, which sufficiently established their reputation for good taste, sound judgment, and untiring industry. Their children also were such as the children of a Christian Minister should be, "in all subjection, with all gravity."

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Accompanied by Mr. Calvert, I visited the King, another Eglon, rolling in fat, and surrounded by many wives. lives in a very large house, in which a fire warmed the family, while I could with difficulty bear the temperature without any fire: my friend Calvert, however, enjoyed it: such is the force of habit. I saw nothing but sombre wretchedness at this palace of a Pagan. Through Mr. Calvert I lectured to him on the truths of Christ, faith, and eternity; to all which, he, and those who were with him, listened as though they tolerated, rather than enjoyed, what was said.

This chief city of Lakemba is another Venice intersected with water in all directions, which cannot be healthy under a vertical sun. I was sorry I had not brought my powerful microscope, that I might inspect the abounding animalculæ, which inhabit these stagnant waters. Several of the King's household attend the services, and some are members of our society; but this mighty cava drinker sits still, and treats Mr. Calvert pretty well.

From the top of a hill we could see several of the islands comprehended in the Lakemba Circuit, where we have many members. Many more lie so distant as to be far beyond the horizon of view, and all have to be visited in the feeble native canoes. The number now

visited is considerable, and on each of them we have native Teachers and Christian churches.

I consider that the Mission at Lakemba has been conducted with sound judgment and considerable success. A colony of godless Tonga natives is a drag upon our wheels at this place, and a Romish Priest will not afford us much help, unless it please Divine Providence to make the wrath of man to praise Him, and the rest of wrath to be restrained.

We left Mr. and Mrs. Malvern here, at least for a season, that they may have the valuable aid of Mr. and Mrs. Calvert, and with them take part in the work of this very extensive Circuit, as soon as they shall have sufficiently studied the native language to be able to communicate with the natives.

15th. I sailed for Vewa with the Missionaries, to attend the DistrictMeeting. This island is a mere insignificant speck in the Feejeean group; but it is very near the large island that measures three hundred miles round, and is the key to a very dense population. Beside which, it is within sight of Bau, the imperial Heathen city, with which a daily intercourse is maintained. It seems that the great Chiefs of Feejee prefer living on small islands, near the large land.

We landed at nightfall, and were received by the families of this interesting Mission with a most cordial welcome. Messrs. Hunt and Lyth came on board, while Mr. Jaggar prepared for us on shore. We were now surrounded by man-eating, dark-coloured, and almost nude, men and women, whose appearance made nothing in their favour, and whose history scandalizes human nature. In addition to what they were born in, they possess a fine set of white teeth, and a large, bushy head of hair, which some of them take great pains to set off to advantage. One has his natural hair set up and powdered grey, like a Judge, another spreads it out like a forest oak in full foliage; while a third has the front white and the back part jet black. Surely the beau ideal of hair-dressing must reside in Feejee. They have an apology for a belt round the middle, and the rest of their covering fits exactly as tight as the skin.

The productions, however, of its rich soil are procured by the natives to an extent which fully satisfies them; and a population estimated at three hundred thousand might be multiplied ten-fold without exhausting the resources of these islands. But should emigration ever flow to Feejee, even after the Christian Missions, now being planted with so much hopefulness, shall have changed the character of this people, it is more than probable that the first generation of bold adventurers would fall a prey to the many devouring jaws of destruction, which could not but await them in such a country and in such an enterprise. The Christian Missionary lives, wherever God sends him. From the beginning the natives say, "This lotu is a great thing!" and the Lord puts the fear of it upon the public mind. These selfdenying men never interfere with the secular affairs of the natives, and are men of strict integrity and benevolence of character, devoted to the good of the people. This they plainly see and readily acknowledge. These servants of the Lord go forth in the name of their Master, and He is with them as a wall of fire round about, and concerning them He says, "Touch not mine anointed, and do my Prophets no harm." These are their circumstances, and sufficiently explain the secret of their safety: but are these the circumstances of those who emigrate to foreign lands for purposes of civilization? Most certainly not. They may be, and often are, very respectable persons; but they are mixed, and their objects will, sooner or later, clash with the wishes of the natives; and other causes, arising from intemperance, want of caution, ignorance of the language, inordinate love of gain, and heedless breach of native law and usage, will cause their defence to depart from them;

then it is too late to repine that they had begun in ignorance a career that must end in a beacon to warn those who succeed them. Who can number the white men slain in Feejee? Nor has this ceased; it still goes on the intervals are brief between these cases of violence and destruction. How grateful should we be for the preservation of so many Mission families during a period of nine years! Not one of them has been injured, though they have stood in the front of danger, and in the midst of devouring cannibalism, all these years! At the same time they continue in jeopardy every hour. While I am writing these lines, there are canoes in sight, proceeding to murder certain persons of this place; and any

The country presents a fine appearance, from its richly-wooded and uneven surface but, like New-Zealand, its hills and gullies are too rapid and precipitous to be easily travelled over, and will, in this respect, bid defiance to the plough and to the wheel-vehicles of old England.

boat's crew of white men landing at the opposite island, about seven miles away, would be immediately cut off. This they meditate in consequence of five men of their number having been shot by the natives, two days ago, at the instigation of a white man resident at Vewa; so the natives assert. Such to this hour is the insecurity of human life at Feejee!

Sunday, Sept. 19th.-Mr. Calvert preached at eight o'clock to a very wellbehaved native congregation, who evidently entered into the spirit of religious worship. The well-built native chapel was quite full. The Feejeeans observe better order and more solemnity than most congregations that I have seen. At eleven o'clock, I preached in the same chapel to the Mission families, and the crew of the brig. We were all professing Christians, and, being met under rather peculiar circumstances, the interest of the occasion was somewhat strong and lively. Our friends were glad to see us among them, and shame upon us if we did not cherish a deep interest in these heroic servants of the Lord! While those fine spirits, Messrs. Hunt, Lyth, Calvert, and Jaggar, with their wives, stood before me, with the junior members of the Mission, I could not but reverence and honour the men whom God had so greatly distinguished in this scene of activity, danger, and usefulness. In the afternoon, Mr. Watsford preached to the natives with a fluency and effect that astonished me. His swarthy audience was not merely impressed, but rivetted to the subject, so well handled by their Preacher.

Elijah Varani, the second Chief of this place, and a thoroughly Christian man, has just told me that he has been negotiating, with the few Heathens left in Vewa, for the 'Mburi, or god-house, of this town. Most of the people are become Christians, and, among them, all the Priests save one, and he has run away. Varani remarked to the Heathen, that they could now have no service in the temple, and that he and his Christian friends would like the use of it for the purpose of reading the Scriptures and repeating the Catechisms.

"The appropriation of it in this way," Varani said, "will give your gods an opportunity of being avenged on us, if they are able, for driving them out, and bringing in another worship. Let them try what they can do," said he; "and be assured we are not afraid of them." So the matter is settled: the temple is now for the use of the Christians. I went to see it, but found little to interest, and nothing to

admire. Its situation is good, and great pains have been taken to make it showy; but still it bears all the dingy gloom of Heathenism through every part of the interior. Thank God, this scene of devilish imposture will now be lighted up by the oracles of divine truth and mercy.

30th.-From Varani I learnt the true state of the case in reference to five murders, which have just now taken place. The report is, that a Manilla man, living here, had a wish to obtain a barrel of oil which the natives of the coast, seven miles hence, had found drifting toward their shore. He went and made an offer for the oil, but was refused. He then went to Navingi, a Bau Chief, and, presenting him with a musket, requested that the people having the oil might be compelled to give it up to him. The Chief sent to them to do so; but they refused. Another party was sent to demand the oil, and, if it should be refused, to kill the people. They did refuse; and five unoffending people were at once murdered. The white man, as the natives call him, was the cause of this outrage, as the natives assert; and the friends of the deceased who survive say they will be avenged on white men, the first that they can lay hold of. The Manilla man has given out that Varani told him to do as he has done. The falsehood, however, cannot stand before the well-established character of Varani. But should a crew from the "John Wesley" be found on their coast, no doubt every one of them would be put to death: and this is by no means impossible, as the vessel has gone to Uvalau for the purpose of taking in ballast, and can know nothing of this awful state of things. Such is life in Feejee!

31st. I learnt from my friend, the Rev. John Hunt, several facts illustrative of the Feejecan character, but they cannot be recorded: "for it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret." There are, however, some others which I will venture to put on paper, under the head of

HORRIBLE CANNIBALISM IN FEEJEE.

It is by no means a rare occurrence for a number of natives to fall upon a fishing-party, and kill as many of them as cannot escape. The following case occurred not long ago: seven persons were clubbed in a most brutal manner, near the spot where I write. Their heads were crushed by heavy blows, and their bodies mangled with axes. When the men had done, the boys began, and did as they had seen the others do in the work