First edition: a handsomely bound copy of one of the most important works on the history and ethnology of the Society Islands, by one of the most perceptive of the missionary travellers in the Pacific. This is 'une des sources les plus abondantes pour l'histoire de l'ancien Tahiti…' (O'Reilly-Reitman). Forbes notes that "there are occasional references and comparisons between Tahiti and the Hawaiian Islands throughout the text, all the more important since Ellis was a resident of both island groups". Robert Southey, who reviewed it on publication, enthused that "a more interesting book we have never perused"

First edition: a handsomely bound copy of one of the most important works on the history and ethnology of the Society Islands, by one of the most perceptive of the missionary travellers in the Pacific. This is 'une des sources les plus abondantes pour l'histoire de l'ancien Tahiti…' (O'Reilly-Reitman). Forbes notes that "there are occasional references and comparisons between Tahiti and the Hawaiian Islands throughout the text, all the more important since Ellis was a resident of both island groups". Robert Southey, who reviewed it on publication, enthused that "a more interesting book we have never perused"

The work begins with Ellis' account of his voyage in which he visited Rio de Janeiro, Sydney, and New Zealand. He was in Tahiti from 1816 to 1822, during which time very little seems to have escaped his notice. A very popular and influential work, its publication 'went far to redeem the character of missionaries in the eyes of those who had thought of them as ignorant and narrow minded men' (Hill). After his time in Tahiti Ellis went on to Hawaii; he published his works on both islands once he was back in England.