When these islands were first discovered, in 1678, they were estimated to have a population of about one hundred thousand. It is a most singular fact that the group was not again visited, as far as known, by any ship from the civilized world, until 1778, a hundred years afterward, when the Astrolabe and La Perduse touched there and the captain and part of the crew of the former were barbarously massacred by the natives. When visited by the missionaries, in 1830, from frequent wars among themselves, the population had decreased to less than sixty thousand. The missionaries found two white men here. One of them was Mr. Daniel French, who remembered me when a child, to whom I have previously referred. The Rev. John Williams revisited them in 1836, in the Messenger of Peace, a small vessel of about ninety tons, built by him at the Society Islands out of cocoanut and bread-fruit trees. He was accompanied by a number of missionaries for this station, among them Mr. Harris.
The constellation of the Pleiades, though small its stars and pale their light, is of wide fame. They are called by Jack before the mast "The Seven Sisters," though there are really fourteen of them. Their appearance on the horizon in December is hailed with shell- music and rejoicing by the natives in these latitudes.
Having completed our survey of all the islands of this group, on the 10th signal was made for the squadron to get under way. Our anchor was soon catted, and sails hoisted to catch the gentle breezes of the Pacific. In a short time the beautiful port of Upolu was far in the distance. On the 12th we made Uea or Wallis Island.
