European vegetables.

Mr. Wilson gave me a cordial welcome to his neat and simple dwelling,
and presented to me his wife, an Englishwoman, and two children, besides
two Englishmen, whom he named as Messrs. Bennet and Tyrman. They
belonged to the London Missionary Society, and had left England three
years before to visit the Missionary Settlements in the South Sea.

The chief Missionary, to whom the others are subordinate, is named Nott,
and lives in the capital where the King resides. He is now far advanced
in life. He has made himself master of the Tahaitian language, and was
the first who ever wrote it. He has translated the Bible, a Prayer Book,
and some Hymns; and has printed a Grammar of the language, under the
title of, "A Grammar of the Tahaitian Dialect of the Polynesian
Language. Tahaiti: printed at the Mission Press, Burder's Point, 1823."

He also first instructed the Tahaitians in reading and writing, which
acquirements are now tolerably common among them. I am sorry not to
have known Mr. Nott better, and therefore not to have it in my power to
judge of the man as well as the Missionary. His character stands very
high. Wilson, also an old man, has now lived twenty years in Tahaiti; he
was originally a common sailor, but has zealously devoted himself to
theology, and is honest and good-natured. Including Nott and Wilson,
there are six Missionaries in Tahaiti alone, and only four among all the
other Society Islands. Each Missionary possesses a piece of land,
cultivated by the natives, which produces him in superfluity all that he
requires, and he also receives an annual allowance of fifty pounds from
the London Missionary Society. This Society has also sent Missionaries
to Tongatabu, one of the Friendly Islands, and to Nukashiva, lately made
known to us by Krusenstern.

Besides these English Missionaries, some native Tahaitians, after
receiving a suitable education, are sent to spread Christianity among
the islands of the dangerous Archipelago. In Russia, a careful education
and diligent study at schools and universities is necessary to qualify
any one to be a teacher of religion. The London Missionary Society is
more easily satisfied; a half savage, confused by the dogmas of an
uneducated sailor, is, according to them, perfectly fitted for the
sacred office.

It was now church-time, and Wilson requested me to be present at the
service,--an invitation which I accepted with pleasure. A broad straight
path