But unhappily, when now a faint gleam of encourage-ment was appearing, a fierce civil war again broke out.King Pomare had forcibly removed the national idol calledOro, a mere shapeless log six feet long, from the districtAtehuru, where it had always been kept; and the nativesof this district, with other tribes, went to war to recoverit. Providentially, there were twenty-three English sea-men on the island, most of whom had recently escapedfrom shipwreck; they came together to the house of themissionaries to make common defense against the rebels.With their aid the missionaries pulled down their chapel,to prevent its being set on fire or used as a place of refugefor the enemy, cut down their breadfruit trees, and madea stockade around their house. Four brass cannon, ob-tained from a wrecked ship, were placed in the upperrooms of the house; and by turns the seamen and themissionaries stood guard. The rebels at length, seeingthe preparation for defense, desisted from the war.
In 1803 King Pomare died; and his son, Otu, be-came king, and assumed the title, Pomare II. The firstPomare had been a most vicious and inhuman savage.It was estimated by the missionaries that during hisreign of thirty years he had sacrificed two thousand humanvictims as offerings to his idols. Pomare IL. at first ap-peared to be little better, and committed so many acts ofviolence that in 1805, after eight years of apparentlyfruitless labor, six missionaries removed from Tahiti toHuahine ,
On the 6th of November, 1808, another rebellionbroke out; and finally Pomare was defeated, the house