March 5th 1797

Yesterday was a national holiday, celebrating 220 years since the first European missionaries arrived in Tahiti. A day celebrated with vigor by the Maohi Protestant Church, and definitely a turning point in the history of the islands. For better or for worse, the Christianization of French Polynesia had a profound impact on the Polynesian culture.

Above is an engraving of the Duff  a vessel belonging to the London Missionary Society arriving in Matavai Bay near Point Venus, Mahina, a location that Cook's first expedition, before them, had used to observe the transit of Venus in 1769.