EARLY Sunday morning, on the 8th of September, 1878, the islanders were greatly surprised at seeing a British man-of-war to the north of the island. As the mist and light rains that partly hid the ship from view cleared away, she was seen standing in toward the land, with the evident intention of communicating with the shore. The one boat that the islanders possessed was soon launched and on its way to the ship. After a short stay it returned, accompanied by others from the ship; which was H. M. S. _Shah_, the flagship of the admiral commanding the Pacific station. A large crowd from the ship came on shore, and as they came in time for the morning service, the still unfinished meetinghouse that was being built at the time was furnished with seats formed by boards laid across boxes, to accommodate the congregation, whose number was doubled by the addition of the visitors. The chaplain of the ship, Rev. J. Reed, took part in officiating. The people greatly enjoyed the pleasure of having Admiral De Horsey and his officers join with them in their worship and service, and would have been pleased to have them remain through the afternoon, but the admiral was anxious to leave on the evening of the same day, so their stay was unavoidably short. However, he afterward kindly yielded to the request to remain until the next day, to afford the people opportunity to get some fruit and other things for their visitors, as they felt that they could not conscientiously allow themselves to do so on the Sunday. Having decided to prolong his stay, the admiral gave an invitation to all the islanders to come on board at eight the next morning to visit his ship and have breakfast there. Most of the people availed themselves of the kind invitation and were ready at an early hour for the anticipated pleasure. The day opened calm and dull, with occasional light showers of rain, which, while they dampened the garments, failed to damp the spirits of those who visited the ship. Breakfast was laid on a long table in the cabin, and at the appointed hour a large party sat down with the good admiral to partake of the bountiful feast he had ordered.