'Good-bye, my dear Uncle.

'Your affectionate and grateful nephew,

'J. C. PATTESON.'


'Savages are all Fridays, if you know how to treat them' is a saying
of Patteson's in one of his letters, and a true one. In truth, there
was no word that he so entirely repudiated as this of savage, and the
courtesy and untutored dignity of many of his native friends fully
justified his view, since it was sure to be called forth by his own
conduct towards them.

The chiefs, having a great idea of their own importance, and being
used to be treated like something sacred, and never opposed, were the
most difficult people to deal with, and in the present voyage there
was a time of great anxiety respecting a young chief named Aroana,
from the great isle of Malanta. He fell into an agony of nervous
excitement lest he should never see his island again, an attack of
temporary insanity came on, and he was so strong that Mr. Patteson
could not hold him down without the help of the Bishop and another,
and it was necessary to tie him down, as he attempted to injure
himself. He soon recovered, and the cooler latitudes had a
beneficial effect on him, but there was reason to fear that in
Malanta the restraint might be regarded as an outrage on the person
of a chief.

The voyage safely ended on the night of the 16th of November. Here
is part of a letter to Mr. Edward Coleridge, written immediately