offer of transportation to the island of tubuoi—apply to the governor for permission to go—troops on parade—suite of queen pomere—call on the governor—conversation in three languages—directed to come again next day—put off by the governor—latter refuses the permission asked—his prejudice against the mormons—demands a statement of their doctrines—not required of other denominations—writer's interview with the governor—return to huaua—other elders requested to assemble there—bitterness of protestant ministers—natives comment on mormons learning their language quickly.
during my stay at tiara, news came to brother pratt that a schooner from lurutu was at papeete, and that the captain had proffered to take us to tubuoi free of charge. on receiving this message i returned at once to huaua. brother pratt requested me to visit governor bonard, and see if we could get permission to make the trip, it being near the time when we were to call on him again. it was necessary for us to give him eight days' notice of our coming, and as the vessel was to sail in ten days, there was no time to lose.
on august 9th i set out, two native boys accompanying me. when we reached hapape, we saw there about four hundred soldiers. then we met governor bonard and staff, and after them saw queen pomere and suite, all in their military dress. it was difficult to tell which made the finest appearance. on our arrival in papeete we were told that the troops had gone out on dress parade and review, preparatory to sailing to the island of huhine, to settle some trouble between the natives of that island and some shipwrecked foreigners. it was late when we reached papeete, and we went to the house of a native named didi, staying over night; he was very kind to us. i also met with the owner of the lurutu vessel, who told me he would take us to tubuoi free of charge, if we wished to go. he seemed very friendly toward us.
the next day, august 10th, i went to see the governor. i met a sentinel at the gate, who ordered me to halt. then he called for the officer of the day, who told me to wait till he gave notice to the governor. the officer went in, and soon returned and beckoned me forward. i advanced past a second sentinel, when the officer ushered me into the presence of his excellency, who rose from his seat and met me. when we had shaken hands, he very politely bade me to be seated, and then said pleasantly: "do you speak english?" this question being answered in the affirmative, he said, "me speak lete." then we entered upon a conversation. as i understood a little french, and both of us could speak a limited amount of tahitian, we made a jargon of one-third english, one-third french, and one-third tahitian. then we laughed heartily at each other because of our novel attempts in the three languages. the governor invited me to call next morning, when his french captain, who could speak english, would be there. then, with french politeness, he bowed me out and off.
next morning i went, and met the governor going to church. he said he had forgotten it was sunday, so i would have to wait an hour or two, and come again. this i did, being stopped by the sentinel as before, going through all the ceremonies of the previous visit, and being ushered into the same room. i met the english-speaking captain, to whom i made my business known. said he, "the governor declines to grant your request." i was not disappointed, for i was well satisfied from what i had learned the day before that that would be the result, but as the talk had not been very conclusive, i had called for a clearer understanding, hoping the governor might yield when he understood us better. in this i was mistaken, however, as it seemed the governor was thoroughly filled with prejudice against even the name of mormon elder.
i asked governor bonard his reasons for detaining us where we were. he said that in the first place he had no proof that we were good men, and he wished to know what we would preach, and what our doctrines and faith were. i told him that we preached the gospel which jesus christ and his apostles preached, and could produce our credentials, if he desired to see them. he said no, he did not wish that of us; neither did he wish to interfere with religious matters, but it was for peace in the country that he wished us to stop there; for if we and everybody who desired it were allowed to set forth new doctrines among the people, and get them divided among themselves, they would be fighting, and it was his place to keep the peace. said he, "before you go from this island, i wish to know more about your doctrine." i told him that was what we wished him and every good man to know, and to embrace it if he would. then he said that he desired the mormon elders to get together, and make a declaration of what they would preach and how far they would obey the laws. i replied that that was just what we wished to do, but if he refused us the privilege of going to tubuoi we did not know when we could get together. said he, "you had better write to your friends at tubuoi, and have them come here. your faces are strange to me, and you are from a foreign country. we have no proof that you are good men. the doctrine you preach is new to me and if you will gather all your white brethren, and make a declaration of the doctrine you preach, and how far you will obey the laws of the land, signing your names to it, then, if i accept of it as being good doctrine, you will have liberty to go anywhere you wish, and have our protection." my answer was that we had no objection to acquainting him with our doctrine. i asked him if he made the same requirement of other denominations that he did of us, and received the information that he did not. upon this, i inquired why he made it of us, and he stated that there had been some difficulty already with b. f. grouard. "well," said i, "did you not acquit grouard?" "yes," he said, "but we would like to look further into the matter, and if possible prevent further trouble." they had lost two good seamen going after grouard, and one fell overboard on the return trip, but they succeeded in rescuing him.
when i found that i could not prevail on the governor to allow us our liberty, i left and visited the captain of the lurutu. with him i boarded his novel vessel. it was of very frail construction; all the stays and braces were made by hand from the bark of a tree called by the natives burson, and resembling somewhat the basswood of the eastern and middle states. the captain said he sailed by the sun by day, and at night by the moon and stars, but in cloudy weather by instinct, or guess. i asked if they did not get lost sometimes; he said no, they were well acquainted with the sea. they had been three years in building the schooner. it would carry about forty tons. the crew conveyed the products of their island three hundred and sixty miles to tahiti principally, but occasionally to other islands. to me the vessel appeared a frail craft, and wholly without comforts, for white men at least.
having satisfied my curiosity about the strange craft, i returned to huaua on august 11, and reported results to president pratt, who wrote immediately to the different elders to come and sign with us the document the governor had suggested. the mails were so irregular and uncertain that we had not the remotest idea when our release would come, for if ever our letters were received by the elders, it might be three or even six months before they could get a passage to tahiti. thus the reader can see that we were doomed to tarry almost as prisoners in the little valley of huaua, which was only about eighty rods wide by one hundred and fifty in length, being bounded on the south by high, steep mountains, that were almost impossible to cross, at least by a white man not accustomed to climbing them; and on the northeast the open sea rolled and surged upon the rocks and the sandy beach, to within fifteen rods of where we slept, our heads being not more than ten feet above high water mark. this was not all; for the protestant ministers were very bitter against us, and so prejudiced that it was useless for us to try to enlighten them in regard to ourselves or our faith. they seemed to spare no pains in spreading their venom among the people, and in every way possible intimidated the natives so that our friends were but few, though our enemies had no power over them. with the aid of a book, however, we could improve in the language, and did so to the extent that when we had been there five months the natives who were not of us said, "surely the lord is with the mormons, for in five months they speak our language better than other foreigners do in five years. no one can learn our language like the mormon elders unless the lord helps them." thus encouraged, we bore our imprisonment the best we could.
