Page:Williams and Calvert, Fiji and the Fijians, New York, 1860.djvu/246

 216 FIJI Aim THE FIJIAJSrS. ing on their side, and sailing about to levy tribute under the orders o^ the Chief. Thus they gained influence, and the possession of property in Fiji, while they owned no actual government, and led comparatively lazy lives. In the former -part of the present century, there were sev- eral distinct colonies or establishments of Tongans on Lakemba, and others of the same race were found residing on the adjoining islands. In some respects the Fijians were gainers by the visits and residence of their foreign guests, who introduced pigs, fowls, and muscovy ducks to increase their supply of food ; axes, hatchets, chisels, plane-irons, and knives, to supersede the clumsy tools with which they had hitherto worked; calico and prints for comfort and adornment; and whales' teeth, with shells and other articles, which enriched the people with in- crease of their primitive currency. But it was a far greater boon than any of these that the Tongans at last brought with them, which at the same time awakened and satisfied new desires ; began to lift up the people from their almost hopeless degradation ; enriched them with an imperishable wealth ; and set in motion a renewing and elevating power, which has already changed the aspect of Fiji ; pressing forward in spite of all resistance ; triumphing over treachery, persecution, and bloodshed ; smiting the structure of a false and horrible religion, and proving its rottemiess in its ruin ; lead- ing tens of thousands from among the foulest crimes and deepest social wretchedness into virtue and domestic comfort ; and, in short, carrying out, in the only sure way, the work of civilization. After a while, there were found among the Tongan sailors who visited Fiji, some who had become converted to Christianity at home ; and these, on arriving in the strange land, zealously set about making kno^^Ti what they themselves knew of the Gospel to their own relatives, and then to the Fijians. Thus was the Christian religion first introduced into the group. In the Friendly Islands, the dreadful state of Fiji was known and mourned over ; and when, in the year 1834, the little Tongan church was blessed with that remarkable working of the Holy Ghost, when thousands not only turned from the profession of idolatry, but became truly converted, and showed afterwards the outward signs of a changed heart, and when the King and Queen together sought and found pardon through Jesus Christ, — in the midst of their holy enjoyment and grat- itude at Tonga, Fiji was remembered with sympathy, and an earnest desire sprung up both among the people and their Missionaries to send to that group those who should teach its savage inhabitants the Gospel of Jesus. The newly converted King, George Tubou, with all the