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died in 1818, the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions sent the First Company instead, men l i k e Hiram Bingham, Asa Thurston, and Elisha Loomis. He was converted completely to C h r i s t i a n i t y and by the time of death had mastered English and Latin, common arithmetic, geometry, and was learning Hebrew. Because of the strength and fervor of 'Opukahaia's determination to bring C h r i s t i a n i t y to Hawaii, the mission f e l t obliged to undertake forming the F i r s t Company and sent it out in 'Opukahaia's place. One of 'Opukahaia's l e t t e r s frames t h is f r u s t r a t e d commitment: Malo cannot be fully appreciated, however, by reading his written work without assessing his lifetime as a period of immense c u l t u r a l upheaval: 1) The conquest of Oahu by Kamehameha in 1795 (Malo was two years old); 2) The ceding of Kaua'i to Kamehameha by Kaumuali'i in 1810 (Malo was seventeen); 3) The death of Kamehameha I in 1819 and overthrow of the kapu system in the same year (Malo was twenty-six); I hope the Lord will send the Gospel to the Heathen land where the words of the Savior never yet had been. Poor people worship the wood, and stone, and shark, and almost everything [as] t h e i r gods; the Bible is not t h e r e , and heaven and hell they do not know about i t . I yet in t h i s country and no father and no mother. But God is friend if I will do his w i l l , and not my own w i l l . 9/ David Malo, born in 1793, commenced h i s studies for Christian ministry at 3 0 years of age. He spent the previous 30 years immersed in ancient culture preparing for the priesthood. Converted in 1823 in Lahaina, he began writing the Mo'olelo Hawaii (Hawaiian A n t i q u i t i e s ) , a h i s t o r i c a l description of ancient mores, after 1831, in the company of other i l l u s t r i o u s Hawaiian peers at Lahainaluna Seminary. Before h i s death in 1853, Malo finished other writings that have been l o s t . Had he not written the Mo'olelo Hawaii, a ll t h a t has been included about ancient r e l i g i o n in t h i s Report would never have been a v a i l a b l e . Although converted, Malo s t i l l accepted the task of writing about the past he had come to r e j e c t. 4) The a r r i v a l of the First Company of American missiona r i e s in 1820 (Malo was twenty-seven); 5) The conversion of Malo at Lahaina in 1823 (Malo was t h i r t y ) ; William E l l is arrived in Hawaii with Tahitian converts who spoke fluent English; 6) Malo entered Lahainaluna Seminary in 1831 (he was t h i r t y - e i g h t when he commenced his s t u d i e s ) ; 10/ [See footnote for explanation of curriculum at Lahainaluna Seminary.] 7) The f i r s t p r i n t i n g press at Lahainaluna Seminary published the f i r s t Hawaiian language newspaper, Ka Lama Hawai'i (The Hawaiian Torch) in 1834 (Malo was forty-one); 8) The Hawaiian Magna Carta, or Declaration of Rights, was promulgated by Kamehameha I II in 1839 (Malo was f o r t y - s i x ); 243