FL14369309

[Drawing TAHITI 1767-78]
Matavai and Point Venus, site of the first London Missionary Society mission.

After they arrived in Tahiti, things became difficult. The Tahitians welcomed the group
and offered them presents of cloth, fruit and pigs which were rejected because the missionaries
would not trade on the Sabbath which day it was. Instead they offered a Divine Service complete
with hymns and a sermon which lasted an hour and a quarter on the text "God is love." The
Tahitians were amazed and had to be brought to order for talking and laughing during the hymn
singing - they had very little interest in the gospel. The Tahitians were a happy, carefree group
whose behavior was at odds with the dour and cheerless behavior of the missionaries which
was emphasised by their dress - black top hats, black frock coats, black boots and trousers for the
men and dark sombre respectable dresses for the women which covered them from head to foot.
Nevertheless relations were quite amicable as the two cultures tried to understand one another.
The missionaries tried hard to establish a settlement on familiar lines. An orderly timetable for
daily activity was devised and the artisan missionaries attempted to use their skills to grow
familiar vegetables, build buildings and yards for their animals well as conduct regular
devotions. The Tahitians plied the new arrivals with gifts and were very generous with
provisions.⁴¹ The Tahitians saw the Europeans as a source of muskets to be used in tribal warfare
and ridiculed all attempts to involve them in preaching or in prayers. Having to rely on the
unreliable Swedish interpreters to get their message across was extremely irksome for the
missionaries and it became obvious that they themselves would have to become fluent in
Tahitian. Misunderstandings arose over exchange of gifts and meal times, which the Tahitians
shared uninvited with the missionaries, became nightmares. The missionaries were appalled with
some local customs namely infanticide, homosexual practices, immorality, human sacrifice and
sorcery. Very little progress was made in getting the Tahitians to change their ways. The

⁴¹Ibid., p.162.

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