| 45 French protectorate over these (Chain) islands, a Catholic mission was established on Anaa, at the village of Tuuhoza, where there are some stone chapels; but notwithstanding the zeal of these propagandists, they have not made much progress till recently."
Brn. Pratt and Grouard labored here, and at Tahiti and Touboni for eight years; during which time they carefully and fully taught their converts the doctrine and the order of the church, and impressed upon them a very high and pure code of morals, which they have not forgotten to this day. Finally, the Papists, finding that they could make no headway so long as the American elders stood between their flocks and them, they influenced the government to order them away.
At this time there were between fifteen hundred and two thousand Saints, distributed over some twenty islands. A persecution now commenced, a few particulars of which we here give. First: The protectorate compelled the white elders to sign a paper in which they obligated themselves to receive no support whatever from the natives, and in which they were otherwise oppressed. Next, a charge of sedition was preferred. Then their meetings were inhibited. Then all religious exercises, even to the family altar. Of course obedience to such orders had to be enforced.
At the time that Bro. Pratt left (May 15,1852), there were a great many of the Anaa brethren in prison at Tahiti, and thirty-eight confined at Anaa. Their crime was for holding meetings after they had been forbidden by the authorities. They were diligently watched, and were forbidden to read, sing, or pray. Those at Tahiti were then compelled to work on Queen Pomare's road, and some of them were whipped so severely that they were sent to the hospital. Such was the wretched condition of the Saints at the time that their spiritual adviser, the man to whom they were attached beyond degree, was compelled by force to leave them to their fate. After he left, their persecutions became even more severe. They were forced to the Catholic Church by the bayonet. In resisting this six lost their lives! The protectorate soon found that the Papal church had given them a very troublesome job, and one that promised to last a good while, and finally, after due consideration, they released the brethren and sent them home.
At the time when this mission was established, there was no foreign market for the products of the islands, and their only market was at Papeete, where a part of the whaling fleet occasionally recruited. Now, all this is changed. The settlement of California by the Americans, and the opening of the port of San Francisco, together with the wonderful impetus given to trade in Australasia, have created an active trade with Polynesia.
The products for export of Toubonia are cocoanut [coconut]-oil, fungus, and ship timber. Of the Tomotou group, Chain Islands: pearls, mother-of-pearl, cocoanut [coconut]-oil, beach-le-mar, fungus, marine shells, and coral specimens. Of Tahiti: oranges, bananas, pearls, tamarinds, cocoanuts [coconuts], oil, coffee, sugar, and cotton. The cotton plant is perennial, and needs replanting
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