Revised Jun 22 2021
The return of Bishop Selwyn to the Island is thus narrated:—
Thursday, Sept. 4th. At three P. M. a sail was announced off the Cascades. Towards evening she was ascertained to be a schooner, no doubt the vera SOUTHERN CROSS.
Friday, 5th. The schooner off the settlement, with the flag of peace flying at the main! One of our canoes went on board: it being somewhat rough, the schooner went round to the Cascades, where the Bishop landed, being pulled on shore by a boat's crew of Solomon Island natives, some of whom had rings in their noses, but quite tractable, they understanding and obeying every direction of the good Bishop with alacrity, so rapidly had he obtained an influence over them for good. As soon as he landed, he was furnished with a horse; and I, on another, accompanied him back to the settlement. In the evening the Bishop examined a class of catechumens preparatory to confirmation. During the day some half dozen Solomon Islanders, under the charge of a young man belonging to the Bishop's establishment, landed at the Cascades, and came over. They had rings in their noses; and the lobes of their ears had been perforated, and the holes so widely extended, that they hung down like loops of Indian rubber, into which your hand might be inserted without difficulty; otherwise they had nothing of a ferocious appearance. They were decently clad, and displayed little curiosity or wonder at houses or their contents, or the horses or cattle which they for the first time saw. They were, however, objects of curiosity, sympathy, and attention to our people.