as good as dead now. He is to be _buried alive_.'

"I now remembered having heard that it is a custom among the Feejee
islanders, that when the reigning chief grows old or infirm, the heir to
the chieftainship has a right to depose his father; in which case he is
considered as dead, and is buried alive. The young chief was now about
to follow this custom, and, despite my earnest entreaties and pleadings,
the old chief was buried that day before my eyes in the same grave with
his four strangled wives! Oh! my heart groaned when I saw this, and I
prayed to God to open the hearts of these poor creatures, as he had
already opened mine, and pour into them the light and the love of the
gospel of Jesus. My prayer was answered very soon. A week afterwards,
the son, who was now chief of the tribe, came to me, bearing his god on
his shoulders, and groaning beneath its weight. Flinging it down at my
feet, he desired me to burn it!

"You may conceive how overjoyed I was at this. I sprang up and embraced
him, while I shed tears of joy. Then we made a fire, and burned the god
to ashes, amid an immense concourse of the people, who seemed terrified
at what was being done, and shrank back when we burned the god, expecting
some signal vengeance to be taken upon us; but seeing that nothing
happened, they changed their minds, and thought that our God must be the
true one after all. From that time the mission prospered steadily, and
now, while there is not a single man in the tribe who has not burned his
household gods, and become a convert to Christianity, there are not a
few, I hope, who are true followers of the Lamb, having been plucked as
brands from the burning by Him who can save unto the uttermost. I will
not tell you more of our progress at this time, but you see," he said,
waving his hand around him, "the village and the church did not exist a
year ago!"

We were indeed much interested in this account, and I could not help
again in my heart praying God to prosper those missionary societies that
send such inestimable blessings to these islands of dark and bloody
idolatry. The teacher also added that the other tribes were very
indignant at this one for having burned its gods, and threatened to
destroy it altogether, but they had done nothing yet; "and if they
should," said the teacher, "the Lord is on our side; of whom shall we be
afraid?"

"Have the missionaries many stations in these seas?" inquired Jack.

"Oh, yes