"It was at this juncture that a band of missionaries arrived from the
United States, sent out by the American Board of Missions. They were
cordially welcomed by the king, most of his chiefs, and the people.
Schools were established, churches built, and in a few years the whole
of the people became nominally Christians, many of them really so; and
civilisation advanced with rapid strides. Among no people, probably,
has it made so much progress in so short a time. Still, I believe that
among the Society Islands, at Raratonga, and other islands of the Hervey
group, true Christianity more extensively prevails.

"The people of Savage Island, who were said to be among the fiercest and
most barbarous of the natives of Polynesia, were converted much in the
same way as those of Raratonga, and they are now simple-minded
Christians, earnest, quiet, and well-behaved.

"In the large island of Tongatabu, and its adjacent islands, great
disappointment was encountered by the first missionaries, who were
ultimately driven away. In 1820, the Wesleyan Missionary Society sent
missionaries there, and by their means the king, George, and the whole
population have professed Christianity. The two societies together have
laboured in the beautiful islands of Samoa, to the north; and there also
Christianity has been generally established.

"Wonderful, also, is the change which has been brought about in a few
years in Fiji, a large and beautiful group of islands lying to the west
of Tonga. The inhabitants are nearly black, and a very fine and
intelligent race of men; but they were even more addicted to cannibalism
than the New Zealanders, and their customs were of the most revolting
and cruel description. Thackombau, the greatest chief among them, was
also a fierce cannibal. Fully aware of the character of the people, a
band of Wesleyan missionaries landed on their shores, and by great
perseverance have succeeded in bringing over a large number of the
population to a knowledge of the truth, including the king himself and
all his family; while the practice of cannibalism is almost, if not
completely, extirpated.

"The numerous groups of islands to the north of New Zealand are known as
Melanesia. The Presbyterian and London Missionary Societies have for a
considerable time been at work in some of these islands. It was on one
of them (Erromanga) that Williams met his death, and that Mr Murray and
some native missionaries were murdered,