...PKT.LETTER/LIVERPOOL/DE  23/1852', carried from New York by Cunard "Europa".  Gill reports arrival of the Barque "John Williams" in March with a letter from home.  The Revd Gill Butt has arrived and the writer expects soon to leave for RAROTONGA where a meeting will decide his future movements.  The Congregations have increased with "some of the most depraved and obdurate, the vilest of the vile now attending church.  Many young men left the islands in 1849 for allurements of employment and gain in California....".  AN INTERESTING EARLY LETTER FROM THE COOK ISLANDS - PROBABLY UNIQUE, SENT TO GB ACROSS THE USA UNDER ARTICLE 5 OF THE 1849 US/GB POSTAL CONVENTION.