we learned, that Capt. Buckle encouraged his men in all that they did, and even went so far as to promise them arms, in case they needed them, in the accomplishment of their object.

The appearance of the people during this commotion, was far better than could be expected under such circumstances. In the midst of the danger, the princess sent to know if we would take passage with her in a double canoe for Morokai. When she found that we preferred staying in Lahaina, she dispatched a man after our babe, saying, she would take care of him in the fort, where no evil could befal him. Whenever I walked out, if the natives saw a foreigner, even at a distance, they at once collected around me, and threw themselves into a posture of defence.

There has never been a period in our lives, on which we had more occasion to look back with gratitude to our Heavenly Benefactor, than the one of which I have now been speaking. Not a hair of our heads has ever yet been injured. We have never yet felt forsaken, or alone. We have never yet wished ourselves out of this field of labor, and toil, and persecution; but we have wished, and longed, and prayed, for one associate, who would help us when we are feeble, advise us when in doubt, hold up our hands when we faint; who would teach the people when we are away, take care of us when we are sick, help to guard us when we are assaulted, go with us to the throne of grace; and, in fine, share with us all our toils, all our sorrows, and all our joys. The value of such associates, we have learned by happy experience, and we have also learned what it is to be without them.

Natural Phenomena.

not on the same day, an earthquake was felt in different parts of Hawaii. Of this, however, you will have particulars from those who witnessed them.

About the middle of the same month, a comet was discovered by the natives, in a south-west direction, and at a little distance from Taurus. I did not see it until it had passed much farther to the south, It passed so rapidly, that, in a few weeks, it was entirely out of sight. This, however, could be seen so much better in the clear atmosphere of New-England, than at these islands, that I need say no more about it.

On the 27th of the same month, between 10 and 11 o'clock, A. M. a meteoric stone passed between Lahaina and Kanai, towards the west, or perhaps, W. N. W. I heard the report distinctly; but being within doors, I did not see the light. I took my glass immediately to look for a vessel, supposing the report that I heard, to be the firing of cannon from a ship at sea. There was no vessel in sight; but while I was looking, I heard the natives cry "Akua lele," (flying god.) On inquiry, they told me, that they had seen a streak of light passing horizontally through the atmosphere, in the direction above mentioned. I have since been told by some fishermen, who were fishing near Morokai, and about twenty miles from Lahaina, that the Akua lele fell in the Morokai channel. In describing its

fall, they said, "the quantity of water thrown into the air, was very great; a ship, with all its sails spread, is very small." There was a rumbling noise heard for a considerable time after its fall, which, perhaps, might have been occasioned by the heated stone, falling into the water. It is probable, too, that a part of the same passed on, and fell at Oahu, where pieces were collected by the natives, and sold to the Russian discovery ship. A small fragment is also in the hands of the missionaries, and from them you will probably receive a more fuli account of it. From the accounts of the natives, it appears, that this phenomenon is not of rare occurrence here, though most of their stories respecting them, are very ridiculous, and it is difficult to decide what is, and what is not, to be credited.

salvation." He had one friend like minded on board, and thanked God he could find "teachers of righteousness" in this dark corner of the world.

The Spirit of the Most High, my dear M., is not only breathing, as we hope, on the spiritual chaos of this dark and unformed land, but is also, we now and then have reason to believe, moving on the face of the waters, by which we are surrounded, agitating and new creating the hearts of some of the many who traverse their surface, by the irresistible mandate, "Let there be light." Every season for the return of the whale ships to the islands, brings to our knowledge the case of some one at least, who, amidst the general and unexampled dissoluteness of his companions, is groaning under the galling chains of sin and guilt, and sighing for the liberty and blessedness of the Gospel, or who is rejoicing in the hope of having already been brought, through grace, into all the freedom of the sons of God. Within the last week, besides having two or three personal interviews, I have received two letters from an interesting young man, an officer on board a ship now in the offing, in the former situation. He came to the islands a month since, a perfectly careless and thoughtless sinner; but it can now be said of him, "Behold he prayeth;" and he is about commencing his voyage to the coast of Japan, with a bosom filled with thoughts and emotions never known before. In one of his letters, he says he has found it a fearful thing for a guilty, convicted, and altogether prayerless soul, to venture into the presence of a just and holy, and justly offended God: a feeling experienced, perhaps, by all, in greater or less degree, who have attempted to pray, after being suddenly arrested in their sins by the conviction of the Spirit of God.

In confirmation of the truth of the statement above, I will mention an incident, which has just taken place. While at dinner, to-day, a common sailor called, as he said, for "a word of counsel for the good of his soul." The ship to which he belonged did not intend anchoring, but he obtained permission to visit us for a moment, while the captain was transacting a little business on shore. They had been on their voyage nearly two years, and it was now 14 months since, to use his own expression, "he left off the life of a

I called this afternoon, in company with Mrs. Stewart, to see a young American sailor who is ill, and whom I have visited regularly for some time past. He is one of the many infatuated beings, the licentious inhabitants of the island, who desert their ships to wander among without a home and with scarce a subsistence. He suffers exceedingly, and is entirely destitute of every comfort:his bed is a dirty mat spread on the ground, with a piece of native cloth for pillow. We do all in our power to prea covering, and a block of wood for a food, and necessary attentions; but we vent his suffering for want of medicine, have become so familiar with sights of misery which we cannot even attempt to alleviate, that we are often compelbanish them as quickly as possible from led to turn from them with a sigh, and our recollection. This is indeed a land of disease and death, and, in many respects, of inconceivable corruption and horror. This lad, like many others who live at ease in sin, while their health and strength are continued, now, that he is in a situation of agony and of danger, is overwhelmed with guilt, remorse and shame, and with trembling and tears supplicates the counsel and prayers, which, in other circumstances, he would have disregarded, and perhaps scorned.

ed, and to be tenderly and fervently Such are to be pitied, to be instructprayed for; but I doubt whether any one can discharge the duty without the lively fear, that if it is the hour of death, it is eternally too late for their salvation; and that, if they recover, their fears and their penitence will be only as the morning cloud and early dew; and that of them it will be said, according to the proverb, "the dog is turned to his own vomit again, and the sow that washed to her wallowing in the mire."

was

The following extracts bring to view the mutually interesting intercourse, which subsists between the missionaries and intelligent strangers who visit the islands, and the feelings which the latter entertain towards the missionaries, and the views which they have of the importance and success of their labors. The first refers to the officers of the Russian ship Pretpriatie, Capt. Kotzebue. Mr. Hoffman, of whom Mr. Stewart speaks with peculiar interest, was a mineralogist, connected with this ship. He conversed much with the missionaries, and made excursions in company

with them to explore the islands and examine the natural curiosities which they present.

While at my writing desk this evening, Mr. Hoffman left on a sheet of paper, the name of his ship, and a list of her officers, as a little memento of his visit. This gave rise to some remarks on the character of Capt. Kotzebue; among other things, Mr. H. stated, that he was a very great admirer of Washington. During the morning, in looking over some papers preparatory to my visit to Honoruru, I found in the folds of one of my pocket books, a sprig of evergreen, which I had plucked from a tree on the humble tomb of our illustrious countryman, when I visited Mount Vernon, in 1821. I immediately handed it to Mr. H. saying, "If captain Kotzebue admires Washington, even this trifle will be thought acceptable by him."--but the moment he knew its origin, with enthusiastic earnestness, though not without evident embarrassment at the liberty taken of directing it from the person mentioned, he exclaimed, "Nonnon, Monsieur,-non Kotzebue-moimeme, moi-meme." No-no, Sir-not Kotzebue-not Kotzebue-myself! myself!-to which I most readily assented; and added as a testimony of my personal regard, what I had before designed for that purpose, a neat pocket edition of the Testament in French, the language in which we had attempted to hold most of our conversa

tions.

As to language, we had no little amusement since the arrival of this gentleman, who speaks very little English, in the difficulty Mr. Richards and myself have found to avoid combining the Hawaiian, which has so long been our daily study, with the French and the Latin, to which we have been obliged to have recourse for an interchange of ideas. At first we could scarce form a sentence, without the unwelcome intrusion of some one of the many words, which, by constant use, have become almost as familiar as our native tongue; and we have often been made to blush, by the impossibility of calling to memory the corresponding word in the language we wished to speak. We had almost persuaded ourselves, that there is something soft and pleasant in the native tongue; but the mistakes we have made by occasionally joining a word from it, to those which are confessedly classical and polished, have sounded so uncouth and inharmonious, that we are compelled to pronounce it barbarous. It is true, there are many words of real beauty in the

Vocabulary already collected, and the idiom of the language is said by those best acquainted with it, to admit of great elegance and sublimity in figures of speech, &c. &c. but as a whole, its sounds are certainly rude and seemingly unformed, in comparison with the sweet and flowing tones of the French, or the fulness of the more rotund and dignified Latin.

The missionaries and their wives were repeatedly invited to dine, or take tea, on board the Pretpriatie. They also attended public worship on board, which is thus de

scribed.

There is a public service every Saturday evening, and we were gratified by the opportunity of witnessing the ceremonies of the Greek church. They consisted of the services of the rubrick, prayers, lessons, chants, the offering of incense by the priest, (who officiated in an embroidered mantle of green, crimson, and gold)-the kissing of the Bible and of a cross, at the close of the service-held by the priest to each individual after the benediction. There was no exhortation, nor any thing in the form of preaching. During the ceremonies, which occupied more than an hour, the crew stood six abreast, three on the starboard and three on the

larboard side, in regular lines from the altar to the bows, and observed the greatest order, and seemed to listen with suitable solemnity to the worship. The officers, among whom we took our places, formed a group immediately behind the chaplain, and by their apparent reverence and devotion, set a commendable example to the crew, Their full, deep-toned voices, and in some instances, good taste in singing, added much to the effects of the chants and anthems, the chorusses of which, in two or three cases, were very fine.

Though in the whole there was a striking want of that simplicity, which we believe characterized the primitive church of Christ, still we could but regard with tender interest and complacency, a scene in which so large, so youthful, and so noble a company, publicly and solemnly testified their remembrance and fear of God, instead of uniting in the shameless exhibitions of debauchery, which too often, by day and by night, scandalize the Christian name of ships at anchor at these islands.

At parting with the officers of this ship, Mr. Stewart makes the following remarks:

We were last evening called to part with our Russian friends of the Pret