About  this  time  Tamatoa,  the  old  king  of
Raiatea,  died.  His  last  words  were,  "  Beware
lest  the  gospel  be  driven  from  these  islands."
In  1831  John  Williams  again  visited  Rarotonga,
and  from  that  place  started  on  a  voyage  among
all  the  islands  of  the  Hervey  group.  "  The
natives  cling  round  him,  and  he  seems  really
one  with  them,  "  said  the  missionaries  who  went
with  him.
On  his  return  to  Rarotonga  he  set  to  work
to  finish  his  translation  of  the  Bible  into  the
native  tongue,  but  he  was  interrupted  by  a
fearful  hurricane,  which  hurled  down  one  thou-
sand houses  and  helped  the  sea  to  pick  up  the
poor  little  Messenger  of  Peace  in  its  arms  and
wash  it  several  miles  inland,  dropping  it  at  last
in  a  hole  five  feet  deep.  Some  of  the  natives


52  HEROES  OF  THE  SOUTH   SEAS.
declared  that  the  storm  was  the  fault  of  the
Christians,  and  made  that  an  excuse  for  going
back  to  their  old  ways.  Others  comforted  them-
selves with  the  thought  that  the  Bible  was  left  to
them  at  any  rate.  Mr.  Williams  diverted  their
minds  by  putting  them  to  work  to  repair  dam-
ages, but  it  was  a  month  or  two  before  the
Messenger  of  Peace  could  be  dug  out  and  again
set  afloat.  When  once  more  in  the  water,  Mr.
Williams  took  the  boat  over  to  Tahiti  to  obtain
provisions  for  the  hungry  Rarotongans,  whose
crops  had  been  destroyed.
