ward and volunteered to return on shore.

"Whether the natives spare me or kill me, I will land among them," he
exclaimed. "Jehovah is my Shepherd--I am in His hand." Clothed in a
shirt, with a few yards of calico in which he had wrapped some portions
of the holy Scriptures, the intrepid pioneer landed alone among a host
of heathen warriors, who stood on the reef with their spears poised
ready to hurl at him. He had not trusted in vain. He persevered, and
soon a powerful chief, Tinomana, turned to the truth, and burned his
idols.

Again Mr Williams came to Raratonga--this time to remain for many
months, to see Christianity established, to erect a large place of
worship, and to perform one of the most wonderful tasks I have ever
heard of a man single-handed doing. It was to build in three months a
schooner of eighty tons, without one single portion of her being in
readiness. He taught the natives to cut down, and saw, and plane the
wood; then he erected a bellows and forge for the smith's work, which he
performed himself; a lathe to turn the blocks, a rope-making machine,
and a loom to manufacture the sail-cloth. All the time he laboured, he
taught the wondering natives in the truths of Christianity. In three
months from the day the keel was laid, this prodigy of a vessel was
safely launched, and named "_The Messenger of Peace_." She proved a
seaworthy, trusty little vessel, and from island to island, across many
thousand miles of water, she was the means of conveying numerous
missionaries of the gospel of peace to their benighted inhabitants.

First, several islands of the Hervey group were visited by her, and then
she sailed for Raiatea; whence, after remaining some time, she once more
sailed with a party of English missionaries and native teachers on a
long voyage, calling at the Hervey Islands, then at Savage Island, where
an unsuccessful attempt was made to land teachers. Next, she called at
Tongatabu, already occupied by missionaries of the Wesleyan Missionary
Society. Then she steered north for Samoa, known as the Navigators
Islands. Here Mr Williams and his companions met with a most cordial
reception from the chiefs and people, and teachers were soon established
on several of the islands. The Wesleyans had before sent some
missionaries to Samoa, but in a truly Christian spirit, worthy of
imitation, they agreed to yield the group to the care of the London
Missionary Society, while they devoted thei