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A RESIDENCE
IN THE
SANDWICH ISLANDS.
BY C. S. STEWART, U. S. N.
Late Missionary at the Sandwich Islands.
Islands fair,
Which lie like jewels on the Indian deep,
Fed by the summer suns and azure air."
FIFTH EDITION -ENLARGED.
INCLUDING AN INTRODUCTION AND NOTES,
BY REV. WILLIAM ELLIS,
FROM THE LAST LONDON EDITION.
BOSTO N:
WEEKS, JORDAN & COMPANY.
1839.




ENTERED, according to an Act of Congress, in the year 1839, by
C. S. STEWA.RT,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Massachusetts.


MARDEN & KIMBALL, PRINTE RS,
No. 3 School Street.




TO THE
HONORABLE SAMUEL L. SOUTHARD,
OF NEW-JERSEY,
SECRETARY OF THE NAVY, ETC. ETC.
DEAR SIR:
You are one of the few friends for whose perusal the
manuscript, now committed to the press, was originally written;
and I avail myself, with great pleasure, of its publication, to
acknowledge the kindness of your friendship at a period of
life when the guardianship of the wise is most essential. To
the affectionate and parental counsels received from you, in
early youth, I attribute benefits which must ever make your
name dear to the best feelings of
Your attached friend,
THE AUTHOR.




OlkrgA, "I 




*"*,  ^ sr I. '; *,.
ADVERTISEMENT TO THE FIFTH EDITION.
IN placing before the public a revised and enlarged
edition of the following work, the author would gratefully acknowledge the kindness of the patronage which
has long made a fourth American reprint of it necessary.
He is happy, too, in believing that the appearance of the
volume will be peculiarly welcome at the present moment, when the lively interest, so long and so justly
cherished by the Christian community for the Sandwich
islands, is receiving, in the providence of God, a new
and heightened impulse, by tidings of unprecedented
displays of His mercy and grace, in the hopeful conversion of multitudes of sinners on those distant shores.
It is yet scarce twenty years since the American
churches first projected the enterprise of introducing the
blessings of Christianity and civilization to that people -
then a nation of open and gross idolators, degraded, not
only by all the pollutions of paganism, but doubly cursed
with vices and scourges of destruction, imported and.
widely spread through the population by dissolute and
reckless visiters from Europe and America.  That the';
enterprise was of God, seemed clearly demonstrated at
its very commencement, by events at the islands, in prep1*




Vi.      ADVERTISEMENT TO THE FIFTH EDITION.


aration for the arrival and favorable reception of the missionaries, which nothing short of His overruling wisdom
and omnipotent power could have achieved; and, from
first to last, the manifestations of His spiritual presence
and direct aid in the accomplishment of their objects,
have been multiplied and unfailing. Still, from the earliest establishment of the missionaries there to the present period, books of travel and voyages have not been
wanting in which their success has been denied, and
every good result of their labors more than questioned;
while, at the same time, a part of the periodical and
newspaper press, in various quarters of the world, has
been unsparing and unwearied in its defamation of their
motives, qualifications, influence, integrity, and entire
reputation.
It is in view of these facts, that the present reprint
has been deemed especially desirable and important. As
a daily and private record- for the period of near three
years —of the early history of the mission, it necessarily unfolds, in its details, the motives, objects, and whole
policy of the missionaries, and exhibits without disguise
the nature of their influence, the character of their instructions and the amount, at the time, of their success;
while, in connection with the Introduction to the London
edition, by the Rev. Mr. Ellis, and the Letters subjoined as an Appendix, it will also present, in a degree at
least, the cause and true source of the opposition and
detraction which have, at all periods, been so determinately and unremittedly manifested.
This volume, thus enlarged, is designed to be the first
of a uniform series, of which a reprint of the " Visit to
the South Seas," with similar additions, will constitute




ADVERTISEMENT TO THE FIFTH EDITION.     vii.
the second and third, and a new work the fourth -the
whole to furnish an exposition of the origin, progress,
present state and prospects of the mission, as an enterprise of philanthropy and piety, and of the islands as a
nation, in the faithfulness and accuracy of which the
public may confidently rely.
HUDSON SQUARE, NEw.YoRK,
APRIL 4, 1839.     j








ADVERTISEMENT.


In leaving the United States for the Sandwich Islands, I bade farewell, as I thought, to my country forever;
and felt it a duty to transmit to those most deeply interested in my destiny, a minute account of the scenes
and events of a voluntary exile.  With this view, the
following journal was addressed to the lady of J. M.
Bowers, Esq., of Bowerstown, Otsego county, New-York,
in the expectation of its being read by other family connexions and personal friends.
In the number of the last was the Rev. Dr. Green,
during whose presidency of the College of New-Jersey,
I was a student at Nassau Hall; and to whose ministry of
the Gospel, in the grace of God, is to be traced the origin
of the principles and affections which resulted in my becoming a missionary to the heathen. By this gentleman,
extracts from the manuscript were introduced into the
pages of the Christian Advocate, of Philadelphia; others
appeared in the Herald of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, at Boston; and both
gave rise to various and repeated applications, on my arrival in America, for the publication of the whole in a
connected form.
It was believed that a record of facts and circumstances, made, at the time of their occurrence, for the gratification of private friends only, and necessarily unfold1*




X.


ADVERTISEMENT.


ing the motives, feelings, pursuits, and success of those
engaged in the missionary enterprise, would have a salutary influence.  To prepare a document of the kind
for the public eye, so as to guard, on the one hand,
against an obtrusion of points too private and personal
for general perusal, and, on the other, against an obliteration so fastidious as to take from the work its original and appropriate character, was a delicate task. But
the prospect of an advantage, however slight, to a cause
to which I have devoted my life, has been sufficient to
lead to the experiment.
The original manuscript was written under every disadvantage of place and circumstances, and its highest
pretension was that of a true delineation of scenes and
characters, as they passed before me. In assuming a
printed form, it can prefer no other claim. The only alteration I have made, in a hasty and interrupted revisal of
the original, is that of collecting, in some cases, under
a single date, remarks and facts upon the same topic
found under several; and, in one or two instances only,
that of adding, from other memoranda, matter never transmitted to America, the introduction of which became necessary for the elucidation of subjects which, otherwise,
could be but imperfectly understood.
Trusting to the kindness of my readers, on the point
which has given me most anxiety - the extent of erasure desirable - without other apology than the explanations given, I cheerfully place the volume in their hands.
HUDSON SQUARE, NEW-YORE, x
JANUARY 1, 1828.




CONTENTS.


ADVERTISEMENT TO THE FIFTH EDITION, -.. -----           5
ADVERTISEMENT,   -. -..-                        9...  g
INTRODUCTION; -   - -...-                          17
CHAPTER I.
Historical Sketch of the Sandwich Islands, -.-.-       25
CHAPTER II.
Pass Montauk Point, and lose sight of Block Island; Gale in
the Gulf Stream; First Sabbath at Sea; Speak the ship
Penn; Thoughts on Missions; Arrangement of time;
Moonlight at sea; Visit the shipWinslow; Crews of American whale ships; Black-fish; Manner of taking whale;
Pass the Cape de Verd islands; Scene after a squall; the
dolphin - its beauty when dying; Waterspout; Phosphoretic light- its cause.. -   - -         34
CHAPTER III.
Cross the equator; Slave Ship; Flying fish; Beauty of the
weather; Speak ship Hebe; Alarming squall; Gale off
the Rio de la Plata —interesting incident at its close;
Whale; Reach the Brazil Banks; Preparations for Cape
Horn; Make Staten Land, and arrive off the Cape.  -  48
CHAPTER IV.
Passage round Cape Horn; Seriousness of the crew; Speak
the brig Tiber; beauty of the sky off Peru; A Sabbath at
sea; A sailor's definition of faith; Monthly Union of
prayer; Make the island of Hawaii; Evening scene. - -  59




Xii.


CONTENTS.


CHAPTER V.
Morning view of Hawaii; First visit from the islanders;
Sail by Maui; Kahulawe, Lanai, and Molokai - their distant appearance; Make the island of Oahu-its beauty;
Anchor off the port of Honolulu; Visit on shore, and interview with the missionaries; Worship at the chapel;
Excursion to Waikiki; Native Costume; Thames enters
the harbor; Presentation of the reinforcement to the king
and chiefs; Description of the palace, and the principal
chiefs; Historical notice of king Kaumualii; the prime
minister Kalaimoku; Visit of the king to the Thames -
his letter to Capt. Clasby; Services of the first Sabbath;
Establishment on shore; Departure of the Thames. - -  69
CHAPTER VI.
Festival in honor of Kamehameha; Car of Kamehamalu;
Fete of Pauahi; Prince and princess; Songs and dances;
Hints on the native language; Examples in orthography
and orthoepy; Peerage of Hawaii; significance of names;
Unnatural affinity of the chiefs; Government; Revenue
of the king; Resources of the chiefs; their personal appearance; Customs, manners, dress, habitations, households, employment of time, and moral character. - - -  90
CHAPTER VII.
State of the common people; Kalo - its nature, and manner of cultivation; Native cooking; Poe - manner of
making and eating it; Occupations of the men; manufacture of native cloth - its variety and colors; Manufacture of mats; General character of the common people;
Foreign residents - their influence; Visits to Kaahumanu
and Kapiolani; Chief women of rank; Scenes on the Sabbath; Supper of the king; Designation to Lahaina, on the
island of Maui. -   "-. -                           110
CHAPTER VIII.
Voyage to Maui; Arrival at Lahaina; View from the anchorage; Reception from Mr. Butler, an American resident;
First Sabbath at Maui; Commencement of instruction;




CONTENTS.                      Xii
Kindness of Kalaimoku and Keopuolani; Description of
Lahaina; Practicability of missions; Native manner of
building; Hula-hula, or native dance; Custom of conferring names; Reflections on the general aspect of things at
Lahaina; Erection of a chapel; Arrival of Liholiho -his
revelry; Scene at evening prayers; Decision of Christian
character in Keopuolani; Presentation of a tax to Liholiho; Case of opthalmia; Conversations on the Sabbath;
Occupation of the mission house; Arrival of the chiefs;
Description of the kukui tree, and torches of the nut;
Dedication of the chapel. -. —                    - 132
CHAPTER IX.
Illness of Keopuolani; Custom of wailing; Auna, a Tahitian chief and missionary; Death of a foreigner by drowning; Arrival of Mr. and Mrs. Ellis; Customary outrages
at the death of a high chief; Alarm occasioned by the
fainting of the queen —her baptism- death and character-evidences of personal piety, and dying thoughts;
Customary expressions of grief by the people; A wailing
scene; Former mode of burial; Introduction of Christian
funeral services; Erection of a monument to the queen;
Unhappy instances of the influence of foreigners; Visit
to Oahu; Voyage in native vessels; Introduction of Christian marriage; Arrival of Mr. and Mrs. Thurston; General council of chiefs- and embarkation of Liholiho and
suite for England. -  - - - - - -                    159
CHAPTER X.
Exposure to fire, and other disadvantages of native houses;
Situation in times of sickness; A first instance of punishment for theft —the prevalence of this vice-cases of
adroitness in the perpetration of it; Notices of the chiefs
Kaikioewa and Keaweamahi - and of Puaiki, the blind
man; Treatment of a maniac; general traits of cruelty;
Crime of infanticide; An eclipse of the moon, and apprehensions excited by it; Visit from missionaries; Sports of
the surf; Increase of interest in the arts of reading and
writing; Domestic improvements among the chiefs; An
2




xV.CONTENTS.
evening scene; Encouragements of the missionary life;
The pule anana, or prayer of death; General fears of superstition. -- - -       --  -                      182
CHAPTER XI.
Tempestuous weather; distribution of hymn-books; Situation in a storm; Ramble towards the mountains; Intelligence from America; Native manner of expressing attachment; Pali, or precipice of Kolau; Tragic fate of a party
of warriors; Meeting for religious conversation; Gratitude
for instruction; Vineyard of Mr. Marini; Visit to a salt
lake; Death of Kaumualii - his character - funeral; Instance of superstition; Burning of the chapel; Visit to a
sick sailor; A ride to Waikiki; Ruins of an he-iau, or
idolatrous temple; Excursion to the mountains; Scenery
in Oahu; Description of the bread-fruit; Funeral of an
American; Visit to Mr. and Mrs. Ellis.  - -      - 204
CHAPTER XII.
Palace of the prime minister; Rebellion at Kauai; Fate of
a rebel chief; Return to Lahaina; Prevalence of drunkenness; Moku-moku, or boxing matches; Native games;
Introduction of schools among the farmers; Proclamation
of laws by Kaahumanu; Domestic Scenes; Temperature
and climate of the islands; Visit from Mr. Hoffman of the
Russian corvette Pretpriatie; Mr. Chamberlain; Anecdote
of Mr. Hoffman. -......                     234
CHAPTER XIII.
Voyage to Oahu; Visit on board the Russian corvette Pretpriatie; Services of the Greek church; Departure of the
Pretpriatie; Intelligence of the death of the king and
queen in England; Alarming illness of Mrs. Stewart;
Arrival of a British consul; Arrival of H. B. M. ship
Blonde; Landing of governor Boki and party; Presentation of lord Byron and suite to the government; Landing
of the bodies of the king and queen - and funereal procession; Contemplated voyage to Hawaii; kindness of
lord Byron.      - -  - - - - -                     262




CONTENTS.                      XV
CHAPTER XIV.
Voyage to Hawaii in H. B. M. ship Blonde; Evening scene;
Beauty of the district of Hido; Enter the harbor of Waiakea; Removal on shore; Morning view of Mounakea;
Visit to a fish pond- and to the cascades in the river
Wailuku; Chapel, and style of native building, at Hido;
Journey to the volcano of Kilauea; Encampment at evening; First view of the crater; Exhibitions of the night;
descent into the crater - passage across its bottom - ascent; New eruption; Departure - return to Byron's bay. 275
CHAPTER XV.
Increased illness of Mrs. Stewart; Re-embark on board the
Blonde; Return to Oahu; Departure of the Blonde; Arrival of the ship Fawn; Determination to embark for England; Farewell visit to Maui; Peculiar situation of Mr.
and Mrs. Richards; Outrage of a British whale ship; Heroism of Mrs. Richards; Departure from Maui; Embarkation for London.. -..  300








INTRODUCTION.


BY THE REV. MR. ELLIS, OF LONDOt,
FROM THE FIRST ENGLISH EDITION,
IN the course of the last eight or nine years, public attention, in
Europe and America, has been frequently directed to the SANDWICH ISLANDS. The demolition of the ancient temples, the destruction of the idols, the renunciation of the national religion in 1819,
and the establishment of a Christian mission among them early in
the following year, were events remarkable and important in the
estimation of all who take an interest in the propagation of Christianity throughout the world. The discovery of vast numbers of
sperm whales, first in the northern Pacific and afterwards on the
coast of Japan, has occasioned an increase of the shipping accustomed to resort for repairs and refreshments to the Sandwich Islands, to so great a degree that, instead of a few uncertain calls, not
less than one hundred vessels touch at the islands in the course of
a year. The visits they have received from Capts. De Freycinet,
Vasselieu and Kotzebue, in the French and Russian ships of discovery which have recently traversed the Pacific, together with the
more subsequent ones of Lord Byron and Capt. Jones in British
and American vessels of war - the peculiar facilities afforded by
their local situation to the important and growing commerce which
the establishment of the South American states has now opened
between the western shores of the new continent and the eastern
parts of India and China -have naturally attracted the attention
of Europe and America, and probably rendered a settlement
among these interesting islands an object of desire with more than
one maritime power of the present day.
In addition to these circumstances, a project so bold and patriotic as that of the rulers of a people, with whom we had been accustomed only to associate ideas of all that was degrading in igno3




xviii


INTRODUCTION.


rance and ferocious in savage life, traversing a distance greater
than half the circumference of our globe in order to visit and behold for themselves a country whose fame had long reached their
distant and isolated shores — with the sincere desire to improve
the condition of a nation which Providence had committed to their
government and care -justly attracted no ordinary attention.
The dignified propriety of their manners, and the mild benevolence of their dispositions, were not less agreeable than their complexion, language, native costume, and the varied productions of
their country which they brought, were curious and strange. The
interest produced by their visit was evinced in the general sympathy awakened by their illness and death, and by the apprehension,
almost universally entertained, that suspicion would arise in the
minds of the affectionate people whom they had left behind that
they had fallen victims to some unfair treatment in England, and
perhaps had suffered in revenge for the death of Capt. Cook, who
had been murdered half a century before on their own shores.
The costly and delicate respect shown by the British government
to the bereaved nation, in despatching the Blonde frigate, commanded by a nobleman, to convey the bodies of the king and
queen that they might be deposited in the sepulchres of their ancestors, and that the nation might have the melancholy satisfaction
of paying the last tribute of affection to the remains of their departed rulers, tended in no small degree to give a salutary direction
to the sensations to which their sudden decease had given birth.
These combined circumstances have secured to the Sandwich Islands a greater degree of attention than had been manifested since
the announcement of their discovery, or the publication of those
fascinating accounts of their natural beauty and the interesting
circumstances of their inhabitants, which were at that period given
-to the public.
The pleasing and, in many instances, decisive change that has
-taken place in the moral and religious state of the people is by no
means the least important circumstance connected with the Sandwich islands. It has furnished occasion for grateful acknowledgments to Almighty God from all who duly appreciate the benefits
conferred by our holy religion on any nation by which it'i received, whether barbarous or civilized. It has afforded fresh encour.
agement to all interested or engaged in its propagation throughout




BY THE REV. M.  ELLIS.


the world, and has augmented the evidence already possessed of
the adaptation of Christianity to improve the condition of mankind, and its tendency to elevate their intellectual and moral character and to ameliorate their present condition, whilst it inspires
them with the hopes of immortality.
The writer of the following sheets is one of a small body of
missionaries from America, whom the most disinterested benevolence led to those islands for the purpose of attempting to communicate to the unenlightened minds of the inhabitants the principles
of human knowledge and inspired truths.   Although allied to
families of the first respectability in. America, and favored with
the fairest prospects of realizing all he could desire in his profession at home, he relinquished them, and devoted himself to the
service of his Saviour among the heathen:
Denied to self, to earthly fame
Denied, and ea'rthly wealth, he kindred left,
And home, and ease, and all the cultivated joys,
Convenient and delicate delights
Of ripe society.
Between three and four years he had resided in the islands,
principally in Maui, had acquired the language, became familiar
with the habits and character of the people, and having surmounted the difficulties inseparable from the first period of a mis.
sionary's residence among uncivilized heathens, was looking forward with confidence to years of delightful occupation and extensive usefulness, when the distressing illness of Mrs. Stewart became so alarming as to leave no doubt that the only hope of life
was in her immediate removal to a colder and more congenial climate. No means of conveyance to the United States were at that
time at hand; and the symptoms of her disorder became so urgent, that the least delay threatened to be fatal even to the faint
hope they were allowed to indulge.
At this critical period, a British ship, the Fawn, bound for London, providentially,put into Oahu for refreshments; and the master, Capt. Dale, generously offered M.r. Stewart and his family a
gratuitous passage to England, where they would meet with every
facility for proceeding to America. In April, 1826, they arrived
in London; and although Mrs. Stewart's health was materially
improved by the voyage, it was deemed expedient that she should




XX


INTRODUCTION,


endeavor in some degree to recruit her strength before embarking
for her native country. This circumstance, while it detained them
from their friends in America, afforded the directory and officers
of the Missionary Society, with many other friends of the missionary cause, an opportunity of becoming acquainted with Mr.
and Mrs. Stewart. I shall only add that the result of this intercourse was an impression most favorable to the character of the
visiters, which is still varied and delightful to the recollection of
many.
Their arrival excited mingled emotions in my own mind. I
could not but sympathize with them under an afflictive dispensation, the bitterness of which I had myself so fully tasted; yet
the feeling of regret on this account was somewhat counterbalanced by the satisfaction I enjoyed in their society during
the interesting period of our public anniversaries in May. Mr.
Stewart and myself attended most of the public meetings together,
and in the proceedings of several we both took a share; a fact
that brought powerfully to my recollection the services similar in
kind, yet very different in their accompanying circumstances, in
which we had so often unitedly engaged in the Sandwich islands.
After about three months residence in England, Mr. Stewart
with his family embarked for America. He has since been employed in visiting, on behalf of the American Missionary Society,
different sections of the United States, and advocating the cause
of Christian missions. A residence in her native land has somewhat improved Mrs. Stewart's health; but while both are anxious
to resume their labors at the Sandwich islands, it is by no means
so far established as to afford any immediate prospect of embarcation.
During the period of Mr. Stewart's residence in the Sandwich
islands, events transpired there of deeper interest and higher importance than those that had happened in any former period of
their history; and his letters respecting the Sandwich Island Mission,* which have appeared in Mr. Orme's Defence of the Missions
in the Pacific, are so clear and satisfactory, that they must have
predisposed all by whom they have been read, to feel interested in
the perusal of whatever, in connection with these islands, may
proceed from his pen.
*In answer to the London Quarterly Review. For these letters see the Appendix to this volume.




BY THE REV. MR. ELLIS.


xxi


Respecting the establishment of the first permanent mission in
Hawaii and Maui; the conversion, baptism, and death of Keopuolani, the first Hawaiian convert; the first admission of natives to
the Christian church; the remarkable and general attention paid
to instruction; the character of the present young prince and princess of the Sandwich islands; the determination of the late king
to visit Great Britain; the flagrant outrages of several Europeans
who have visited the islands; the first intelligence received by the
natives of the death of the king and queen; the arrival of the
bodies of the deceased sovereign and his consort; the honorable
conduct of lord Byron; the circumstances connected with the
visit of the Blonde; and the eruption of the great volcano, which
took place during an excursion, which, in company with lord
Byron and a party of officers and gentlemen from the Blonde, he
made to this grand and stupendous natural phenomenon - Mr.
Stewart has furnished a mass of information that cannot fail to be
deeply interesting.
I have read his journal with great pleasure, and doubt not it
will be very favorably received, even should my warm attachment to the writer have led me to found a partial opinion of its
merits. Of this, however, the public will decide. For myself, I
must confess I esteem the friendship I formed with Mr. Stewart
and his family in the Sandwich islands, among the happiest of the
many pleasing events connected with my transient labors there.
The striking resemblance between our circumstances has also united our hearts. We have both, from the same painful cause, beene
obliged to leave interesting and important fields of labor. Mr.
Stewart on his way home spent some time in Britain, while I
could only reach England by way of America. We have both
been engaged, since our return, in promoting the interest of the
missionary enterprise; are at length both favored with some faint
hopes of resuming our labors; are cheered by the anticipations of
meeting again in our former stations, and combining our efforts in
promoting the best interests of the inhabitants of Hawaii, with
those of our colleagues who have been privileged to remain on the'
field.
The progress of Christianity among the people, and their grad~
ual improvement in morality, intelligence, and civilization, have'
not been less decisive and encouraging since the departure of Mr.
3*




xxii


INTRODUCTION,.


Stewart, than they were during his residence in the islands. Since
his return, the instruction of the inhabitants has produced so rapid
an advancement in the acquisition of useful knowledge as to
awaken feelings of astonishment and delight. On the island of
Maui, in the year 1826, not less than eight thousand scholars received instruction in the schools; and it was presumed that, with
a larger supply of books, the number might be increased. Forty
schools existed in Hawaii; and the missionaries, in writing to
America, express their conviction, that had they the means of extending their schools, ten thousand might in the course of the year
be taught to read with facility and correctness the word of God in
their own language. Early in the same year, sixty-nine schools,
containing between two and three thousand scholars, attended a
public examination at Honolulu. And during the preceding year,
1825, seventy-eight thousand and four hundred spelling-books and
tracts had issued from the press. In January, 1827, the schools in
the same island contained eight thousand, three hundred and three
scholars. The translation of the Gospel by Matthew was finished
about the same time, and, having been revised by the missionaries,
was sent to America, where it will probably be printed by the
American Bible Society, and forwarded to the islands; twenty
thousand copies of which, it is estimated, may be advantageously
distributed among the people of Hawaii alone.
The progress of a work so decisive in its nature, and so extensive in its influence, affecting not only the religious, civil, and political institutions of the people, but changing entirely the principles and habits which had heretofore marked their intercourse
with those by whom they were occasionally or periodically visited,
would, it was natural to expect, be branded with opprobrium, and
resisted with virulence, by those whose interests it would oppose
and whose inclinations it would restrain. This has been the case;
and, indeed, had it not been so, the moral change that has taken
place in these islands would have wanted one of the strongest
demonstrations of that unequivocal origin and character under
which it now appears before the world. Some account of the na'ture and causes of the opposition to that process, which is now
rapidly transforming the face of Hawaiian society, will be met
with in the following sheets.  Numerous additional instances
might be cited, were it necessary, to show the influence of mis



xxiii


BY THE REV. MR. ELLIS.


sionary efforts in restraining the vices, and proportionably diminishing the miseries, of the people. But I am convinced that those
recorded in Mr. Stewart's volume, with others already before the
public, will be sufficient to remove whatever erroneous impressions
may have thereby been made from any minds open to conviction
and influenced in reference to missionary efforts, only by the simple declarations of honest truth. I was recently informed by an
officer, who, in his majesty's ship Cornwallis, visited Hawaii some
few years ago, that not less than four hundred females came on
board the vessel on the night of her anchoring in one of the harbors;
but such is the change since that time, that when the Blonde art
rived, not one female ascended her sides. Yet so violent has the
opposition been in the islands, that the persons and the lives of
the missionaries have only been safe under the protection of bodies of armed natives, by whom their dwellings have been surrounded and defended.
The most injurious misrepresentations have also been circulated
both in England and America, by those of whom better things might
have been expected; and it is greatly to be regretted, that a leading literary journal,* in our own metropolis, should have so far
indulged its prejudices as even to hazard its claim to public confidence in the correctness of its communications, by giving its authority as the verification of a document bearing the marks of
improbability and self-refutation on the very front of its assertions.
It will be evident that I refer to the fabricated letter from Boki,
the chief, and which appeared in the beginning of 1827. Convinced, as soon as I saw the letter, that it had not been written by
the individual whose name was appended to it, I communicated to
the editor my reasons for believing he had been mistaken, at least,
in supposing it genuine. In the following number I received a
public reply, asserting "that the letter certainly did come from the
Sandwich islands," -which I had never questioned- and stating
at the same time, "that its genuineness neither has been, nor is,
doubted either by the officer of the Blonde who received it, or by
his Captain."  This statement being at entire variance with a communication I had received from lord Byron personally, I wrote to
ask his lordship's opinion, and received shortly afterwards, in reference to that part of my letter, the following reply:
* London Quarterly Review.




xxiv


INTRODUCTION.


"'You ask my opinion respecting the letter said to be written by
our friend Boki, and signed with his name. I have no hesitation
in saying, that I do not believe Boki either wrote or dictated that
letter. It is not his manner of expressing himself, and you are
aware that he can scarcely form his letters. I do not mean to say
that the letter did not come from the islands; but it certainly was
manufactured by some other person."
This answer, which his lordship has so obligingly returned, is
decisive, and shews.most distinctly the snare into which the editor
of the Quarterly Review has fallen on this point, as well as on
other matters in relation to the Sandwich islands. I should not
have alluded to these facts, but from the connection in which they
stand with this volume; and from the republication of the suppositious letter from the islands in other periodicals, and the daily
papers, and the extensive circulation thus given to it through the
country. It is therefore an act of justice to give the public the
means of correcting any erroneous opinion which may have been
formed; although, to every unprejudiced mind, the letter itself
would convey an antidote to the poison it was designed to instil.
W. ELLIS.
HOXTON COLLEGE, }
APRIL 2, 1828.




A RESIDENCE


IN THE
SANDWICH ISLANDS.
CHAPTER        I.
HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE GROUP.
THE Sandwich Islands are situated, in the Pacific ocean,
between 18~ 50' and 22~ 20' north latitude, and between
154~ 53/ and 160~ 15' west longitude from Greenwich.
They are about 2800 miles distant from the coast of Mexico on the east; about 5000 from the shores of China on
the west; and 2700 from the Society Islands on the
south.
The islands are ten in number, stretching, as may be
seen from a chart, in a flattened curve, E. S. E. and W.
N. W. in the following order: HA-WAI-I, MAU-I, MO-LO-KINI, KA-HU-LA-WE, LA-NAI, MO-LO-KAI, O-A-H-U, KAU-AI, NIHAU, and KAU-LA.
HAWAII, the most southern and eastern island, is the
largest of the group. It is about ninety-seven miles long;
seventy-eight broad - covering a surface of 4000 square
miles,- and containing 85,000 inhabitants.
MATI lies north-west from Hawaii, and is separated
from it by a channel twenty-four miles wide. This island
formed by two mountainous peninsulas, connected by a
narrow neck of low land, is forty-eight miles long, and at
its greatest width twenty-nine miles wide. It covers about
600 square miles, and is supposed to have a population of
20,000 people.




HISTORICAL SKETCH


MOLOKINI is a barren rock, rising only fifteen or twenty
feet above the level of the ocean, at a distance of four or
five miles from the western shore of the southern peninsula of Maui. KAIHULAWE lies in the same direction from
Maui, six or eight miles beyond Molokini. It is only
eleven miles long and eight broad, and has but few inhabitants.
LANAI is situated twenty miles north-west from Kahulawe, and ten or twelve miles directly west from the northern peninsula of Maui. It is seventeen miles long and
nine broad, covering about 110 square miles, with a population of 2000 or 3000.
MoLoKAI lies west-north-west from Maui, and is separated from it by a channel ten miles wide. A passage of
about the same width divides it on the south from Lanai.
Molokai is forty miles long and seven broad, covering 170
square miles, and containing three or four thousand inhabitants.
OAHU lies twenty-seven miles north-west from Molokai,
is forty-six miles in length and twenty-three in breadth,
with a surface of 520 square miles, and a population of
20,000. It affords the best harbor in the group, and is the
most fertile and beautiful of the islands.
KAUAI is seventy-five miles north-west fromn Oahu. It
is thirty-three miles long and twenty-eight broad, covering
520 square miles, and has about 10,000 inhabitants.
NIHAU lies south-west from Kauai fifteen miles, and is
twenty miles long and seven broad. The number of its
inhabitants is small. KAULA, situated seventeen miles
south-west of. Nihau, like Molokini, is an uninhabited
rock, visited only for the eggs of sea-fowl which frequent
it in great numbers, and there hatch their young.
These islands were discovered in the year 1778, by
captain James Cook of the British navy; and from him, in
honor of earl Sandwich, then first lord of the admiralty,
received the name by which they are at present designated.
The tragical and lamented death of this celebrated navigator at Hawaii, in the succeeding year, caused their existence to be made known to the civilized world with an excitement of feeling that deeply stamped the event on the
public mind.




OF THE SANDWICH ISLANDS.


No foreign ship visited the group again until the year
1786, when the ill-fated La Perouse touched at Maui; and
about the same time two vessels, engaged in the trade of
the North-west Coast, procured refreshments at the island
of Oahu. These were early succeeded by several others;
and in 1792 and 1794 by the expedition under the command of Vancouver.
At the time of their discovery, the four principal islands,
Hawaii, Maui, Oahu and Kauai, were governed by separate and independent kings; but within the ten years preceding Vancouver's visit, KA-MEHA-MEHA -originally a
chief of inferior rank, possessing only one or two districts
in Hawaii, a man, however, of ambitious spirit and great
powers both of body and mind -had, by his talent and
prowess, not only secured to himself the sovereignty of his
native island, but was then pushing his conquests to the
islands of Maui and Oahu. During the sanguinary conflicts attending this usurpation, some of the chiefs, apprized
by their intercourse with the few ships that had then been
at the islands of the importance of guns and fire-arms in a
time of warfare, and sensible of the superiority that would
be given to the party who could gain the possession of a
foreign vessel, had made treacherous and violent attacks
upon several traders, and in one instance were unhappily
successful in seizing an American schooner, and in putting
her crew to death.
Kamehameha, too wise not to perceive the bad policy of
attempting in this manner to avail himself of the advantages of his visiters, adopted a course directly opposite;
and by his unwearied kindness and every pledge of friendship, endeavored to secure their confidence and good will.
This policy in an especial manner characterized his treatment of Vancouver; and in 1794 he formally ceded to this
commander, as the representative of the British nation,
the island of Hawaii, in expression of his respect for that
government and a desire to have the protection of its power. In return, Vancouver aided this chieftain in building
a small vessel, which was of essential service in his future
expeditions; and in the course of the succeeding year, by
the death in battle of the king of Oahu, he became the
uncontrolled master of the windward islands. The king




28


HISTORICAL SKETCH


of Kauai and Nihau, intimidated by the success and invincible power of Kamehameha, despatched an embassy
to him, on this event, with a surrender of himself as a
tributary prince; and- the supreme government of the
whole group became thus established in the hands of the
conqueror.
This great political change, with the known kindness of
the king to foreigners, opened the way to a safe and increasing intercourse with the American and European nations. The number of vessels, especially American merchantmen, touching at the Sandwich islands, soon became
very considerable; and the discovery of the protected and
excellent harbor of Honolulu, in the island of Oahu, which
had escaped the vigilant search of Vancouver in his survey of the coast, caused them to become to ships in general, traversing the north Pacific, a place of resort for undergoing repairs, obtaining water and other refreshments.
Sandal wood, an article of value in the Chinese market,
was discovered in the mountains of the different islands,
and soon became the means on the part of Kamehameha
of extensive commerce with foreigners. The articles of
barter first given in exchange by traders were of the rudest
kind: such as pieces of iron hoop, nails; coarse cloth, &c.
&c. Then knives, hatchets and axes; guns, muskets and
ammunition; and eventually whole cargoes of rich American and Chinese goods, and vessels of various sizes, from
small schooners to brigs of upwards of a hundred tons
burden.
By this intercourse with the inhabitants of other nations; by the partial introduction among the chiefs of European and Asiatic manufactures; by the erection of fortifications; and by' the purchase, equipment and. management of ships, promise was given of at least a degree of
future civilization.
Early in the present century, the natives began occasionally to enter into the service of foreign vessels as seamen, and in this manner several made their way to the
United States. In the number was Obookiah - more correctly Obukahaia -an individual whose name and character is now extensively known, and whose wanderings
were made, in the wise providence of God, to result in conse



OF THE SANDWICH ISLANDS.


29


quences of unspeakable importance, not only to himself,
but to his whole nation.
This lad arrived at the city of New York, in the year
1809, and shortly afterwards became an inmate, at NewHaven, Connecticut, of the family of the commander of the
ship in which he had made his voyage. He was naturally of an observing and inquisitive mind; and the wide contrast presented by civilized and Christian people with the
ignorant and degraded idolaters of his own nation, made
a deep impression upon him. Having learned the design
of the extensive edifices of Yale College, he frequently
visited the grounds of that institution, and was at length
discovered weeping at the entrance of one of the buildings.
The cause of his tears was ascertained to be a sense of his
own ignorance, and an anxious desire for instruction. A
gentlemen of intelligence and piety immediately received
him as a private pupil. He made rapid advances in knowledge - became a sincere convert to Christianity - and,
fired with zeal for the salvation of his countrymen, began
to qualify himself to return to his native islands for the
purpose of making known the existence of the only true
God, and the redemption that is in Jesus Christ.
The character of Obukahaia was early reported to the
American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions,
a society formed in the year 1810 for the propagation of
the gospel among the heathen. This information led to
the establishment of an institution at Cornwall, Connecticut, called the " Foreign Mission School," for the education of pagan youth found on our shores, preparatory to
their being returned as teachers to their respective countries. Here Obukahaia was placed; and other Sandwichislanders were found and entered on the same foundation.
Among them was a young chief, George Tamoree, or
Kaumualii, son of Kaumualii, the tributary king of Kauai.
Eight or ten years previously, his father had sent him,
when only nine years old, to America to be educated. The
sea-captain who had charge of him had 'been provided by
the king with the means of meeting the necessary expenditures, but dying suddenly within the year of his arrival,
without designating these funds, they were lost in the
wreck of his own fortune. George, permitted to wander
4




30               HISTORICAL SKETCH
from a school at which he had been placed, enlisted in the
naval service of the United States. On his discharge, at
the close of the late war, he was discovered at the navyyard at Charlestown, Massachusetts, identified as the son
of Kaumualii, and removed to Cornwall for education.
Obukahaia, unhappily, as was thought, for the proposed
introduction of Christianity at the Sandwich islands, died
before completing his course of instruction, in February,
1818. But the event excited so great and so general an
interest in the American churches, that by it the way became more speedily prepared for sending a Christian mission to his native shores than might otherwise have been
the case; and in the autumn of 1819, a company of missionaries under the patronage of the American Board of
Commissioners for Foreign Missions, embarked from the
city of Boston for that destination.
It consisted of the Rev. Mr. Bingham and Rev. Mr.
Thurston, ordained ministers of the gospel; Mr. Ruggles
and Mr. Whitney, catechists and teachers; Dr. Holman a
physician, Mr. Loomis a printer, and Mr. Chamberlain an
agriculturist, all married men. And of the Sandwich islanders, John Honolii, Thomas Hopu, William Kenui and
George Kaumualii. George was returned to his father by
the missionary society, as a passenger only, without any
official connexion with the mission family.
The affecting death of captain Cook, and the massacre
of several other foreigners at a later period, had deeply
impressed the public mind with a belief that the Sandwichislanders were more barbarous and sanguinary than most
other islanders of the Pacific. The unvarying testimony
of voyagers who had visited them, when consulted in refierence to the contemplated mission, had been -" The natives are too much addicted to their pagan customs ever to
give them up. They will never abandon their sacrifices.and kabus. The missionaries may attempt to convert
them, but they can never succeed; they will be robbed and,driven away, even if they escape violence and death."
It was with just reason, therefore, that the society under
whose auspices this enterprise had been projected, waited
with deep solicitude for the period when they might hear:of the arrival of this devoted company at their destination,




OF THE SANDWICH ISLANDS.


31:


and of the character of their reception by the people.
Seventeen months elapsed before this anxiously desired
moment came. But though the suspense had been long,
it was broken by sounds of gladness which yet vibrate joyfully on the ears of many who look for the coming of the
kingdom of God.
The missionaries had not only made the islands in safety, but the first word of intelligence that reached their vessel was in the astonishing and, to them, overwhelming exclamation, " THE GODS OF HAWAII ARE NO MORE! -KAMEHAMEHA IS DEAD- LIHOLIHO IS KING - THE KABU IS ABOLp
ISHED -AND THE TEMPLES AND IDOLS ARE DESTROYED! "
Liholiho, the eldest son of the conqueror of Hawaii, had
ascended the throne, and the very opening of his reign
had been marked by a measure which is without a parallel
in the history of the world. A pagan king, unbidden and
uninstructed, had in a day cast off all the gods of his people, and by a single stroke of boldness, overthrown a superstition which for ages had held a degraded race in the
bondage of fear.
The idolatry of the Sandwich-islanders was of a form
peculiar to the Polynesians, called TABU, or kabu, from an
appendage to the ordinary worship of images, expressed
by that term, so singular in its nature as justly to give
name to the whole system. The kabu, though intimately
connected with the services of religion, did not consist of
any fixed and unchanging observances, but was uncertain
and arbitrary in its requisitions. It was an instrument of
power, in the possession of the priests and king, whichl
might be made to assume any shape which interest, passion, or even caprice might dictate, and to extend to all
things civil as well as religious. And every breach of kabu being punishable with death, it was a system under
which the people were governed as with a rod of iron.
The word itself has generally been considered by foreigners as synonymous with the English word prohibition.
But its literal and peculiar meaning implies a consecration.
Thus the priests, the king, the chiefs, who claimed descent
from the gods, and the temples, were kabu. So also an
animal, or cluster of fruit, or other article set apart for sacrifice-and a day, week or month, appropriated to the
worship of the gods.




32


HISTORICAL SKETCH


The kabus varied greatly, both in extent and duration.
Sometimes a single tree, or a single animal only, would be
made kabu, and at others a whole grove or herd; sometimes a single house, or piece of land, or fishing-ground;
at others a whole district, or even island. Sometimes the
kabu would be limited to a day, at others would continue
for weeks and months.   Kabus of time varied in the
degree of rigor with which they were to be observed;
sometimes requiring only a cessation from ordinary work
and amusement; at others an entire seclusion, when to be
seen abroad was death. Every fire, too, must then be extinguished; every sound, even to the crowing of a cock or
barking of a dog, prevented; and the silence and desolation of death be made to reign throughout the whole extent of the kabu, whether of district or island.
But though thus various in its features and changeable
in its forms, there were points in the kabu which were
general and unalterable. One of these was the kabu of
all the best kinds of food for sacrifice to the gods, and for
the use of the men: the women were thus excluded from
the use of hogs, fowls, cocoa-nuts, bananas, several kinds
of fish, &c. &c. Another was a kabu excluding the females from the houses of the nmen. A woman was not
permitted to enter the habitation even of her father or
husband, nor to eat in company of any man. These were
the points, a breach of which, Liholiho determined to
make the signal for the abolition of the whole, and for the
downfall of idolatry.
Having secretly consulted the high priest and principal
chiefs upon the subject, and gained their consent and cooperation, he made a great entertainment, in the month of
November, 1819, to which all the foreign traders, mercantile agents, and residents, then at the islands, were invited,
together with the whole company of chiefs. Two long
tables, one for males and another for females, in conformity to the kabu, were spread in an open bower, around
which a great concourse of common people assembled.
After the food has been served up, and all the company had
taken their seats, the king, evidently much agitated, arose
with a dish of the food denied to females in his hand, and
walking first round the table of the men, as if to see that




OF THE SANDWICH ISLANDS.


33


all were properly provided, hastily turned to that of the
women, and seating himself between two of his queens,.
began to eat with them from the dish he had carried. At
this, the whole astonished multitude burst into the exclamation, AI NOA! AI NOA! (ai, food- noa, common, or gen —
era], in contradistinction to ai tabu -food sacred.) The
high priest himself rushed to fire an adjoining temple;
and messengers were instantly despatched in all directions
to perpetrate a similar conflagration. In a very few days,
every heathen temple in the group was mouldering in
ashes; and the idols, which had not shared the same fate,
were cast useless on the beach, or reserved merely as ob —
jects of curiosity.
That it was the pleasure of the king, thus to cast off the
kabu, and to abolish idolatry, seemed sufficient to satisfy
the minds of the people. One ambitious young chief of
rank, however, attempted by it to excite the natives to a
rebellion, in the hope of securing the sovereignty to himself; but, in this he was unsuccessful; his party was defeated, and himself and wife slain in battle, in the winter
of 1820.
The causes which led Liholiho to a determination so
bold and so important, are not fully known: but probably
were, a conviction of the falsity of idolatry, derived from
an intercourse with foreigners and from the indifference, if
not contempt, they may have manifested for the gods and
sacrifices of his nation; a knowledge of the destruction of
the idols at the Society Islands, by a people known to him
to be altogether like his own; and strong attachment for
his queens, who were restricted in their privileges and enjoyments by the kabu. Whatever may have been the immediate cause or causes of this singular event, the pious
heart will recognize in it the hand of Him who doeth all
things according to his good pleasure, and who only can,
"IN THE WILDERNESS, PREPARE THE WAY OF THE LORD: AND
MAKE STRAIGHT, IN THE DESERT, A HIGHWAY FOR OUR GOD."
The intelligence thus communicated from the shore prepared the missionaries for a favorable reception by the
king and government. They were early and happily established on the islands of Hawaii, Oahu, and Kauai; and
with such prospects of immediate and wide-spreading use4*




84


COMMENCEMENT OF THE VOYAGE.


fulness, that the first communications from them to their
patrons were accompanied by an earnest application for
more missionaries.
This application was repeated again and again, and, in
the year 1822, was complied with by the American Board
of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, in the selection of
a reinforcement, consisting of three ordained ministers:
the Rev. Mr. Bishop, Rev. Mr. Richards, and the writer
of this sketch; two licensed preachers, Mr. Ely and Mr.
Goodrich; Dr. Blatchely a physician, all married men; Mr.
Levi Chamberlain, agent for secular affairs; Betsey Stockton, a colored female of education and piety, who had attached herself to Mrs. Stewart as a domestic and assistant
missionary; and three Sandwich-islanders, from the foreign mission school at Cornwall — Stephen Pupuhi, Richard Kalaioula, and William Kamahoula.
Their embarkation took place on board the ship Thames
in the harbor of New-Haven, on Tuesday the 19th of November, 1822; immediately after which, the following
journal was commenced.
CHAPTER        II.
VOYAGE TO THE ISLANDS.
Ship Thames, at sea, Nov. 22, 1822. The letters of the
20th instant, sent on shore by the pilot, will inform you,
dear M —, of the manner in which the first day of our
embarkation was spent. Our ship, from the gentleness of
her motion, seemed less willing than ourselves to exchange
the smooth waters of the Sound, and the rich and cheerful
landscapes along the shores of Connecticut and Long Island,
for the troubled bosom and unbroken horizon of the ocean;
and it was not till yesterday morning, at day-break, that
we passed Montauk Point, and gained the open sea.
A few hours afterwards we lost sight of Block Island, the
last land in view; without scarce noticing it, however, from
the excessive sickness which had already seized.most of our




GALE IN THE GULF STREAM.


35


number. H- is extremely ill, so much so as to be almost
entirely insensible; but I have escaped altogether, and thus
happily have it in my power to devote my whole attention
to her. The wind yesterday was fresh, and the sea rough;
but to-day the weather is much more boisterous. Since evening we have had heavy squalls, with occasional dashes of
rain, and there is now every appearance of an approaching
gale.
Saturday, 23. After taking reef on reef, and furling sail
after sail, during the night, it became necessary this morning, from the violence of the storm, to heave the ship to, and
let her drift with the wind. The scene is new and terrific.
The dead-lights are in: and besides the gloom thus thrown
over all below, the cabin has been made still more comfortless by a heavy sea which broke over the ship, and poured a
torrent of water down the companion-way. Everything
not strongly lashed is driving from one side to the other,
while we ourselves, some seated on the floor, some on
trunks and boxes, and others braced in our berths, are
are obliged to cling to whatever is within reach, to prevent
being dashed about in the same manner. The wind howls
dismally through the spars and rigging, and every wave
that rushes along the sides of the vessel, or breaks above
the bulwarks and thunders over our heads, seems to threaten destruction.
At 9 o'clock I went on deck. I had anticipated a scene
of grandeur, but its sublimity and fearfulness far surpassed
my expectation. No description can convey a just impression of it to your mind. Imagine for a moment, the hills
of Otsego to be rolling in every direction, with high and
broken swells over the lake and valley. Just so monstrous
appear the billows that rage around us. We are in the
gulf stream, and the current and storm being in opposite
directions, the waves are not only high and heavy, but
irregular in their course, and so rapid in succession, that,
before the ship in her descent is half way down the abyss
between them, the next sea often collects to a tremendous
height above her bowsprit, over which it appears impossible for her to rise. Still she as often mounts its threatening waters, and rides in triumph on their summit. But
the labor is excessive, and, as she plunges from the top of




36


SABBATH.


one wave to the gulf below, and after a momentary pause
rushes again to the height of another, every timber groans
in the effort, and at times she trembles to her keel, as if
foundering in the struggle.
I was above, when she made the most fearful plunge we
have yet felt. Several of the crew were, at the time, securing the flying-jib-boom, and, with the bowsprit and
whole head of the ship, were instantly buried in a mountain of water. An involuntary shriek, as their hats were
seen sweeping topmast-high on the passing wave, expressed the fear that they too were hurried to destruction.
But happily they maintained their hold, and, though
bruised and breathless, escaped a watery grave.
Never before have I been so deeply impressed, as in this
conflict with the elements, with the insignificance of man
as a creature, in the sight of Him who " commandeth the
winds and the waves, and they obey him." A momentary unbelief would persuade me to think myself too unimportant an object to share in the protecting power of
such a Being. How happy for us the assurance, that every hair of our heads is numbered, and that without Him
not even a sparrow falleth to the ground! All the fortitude of the Christian is requisite, to preserve an ordinary
degree of composure, amidst the terrors of the Almighty,
as thus displayed in the wonders of the deep; how is it,
that the careless and ungodly sinner can behold them, and
not tremble!
Evening. The storm has rapidly abated, and we are
again under sail; but the sea is still dreadfully high, and
almost every wave washes our decks.
Sabbath, 24. The weather continues too tempestuous to
allow of any religious service; and our Sabbath and sanctuary must be those of the heart alone. But though denied
the peculiar privileges of the day, we are cheered by the
persuasion, that we are not forgotten by our already distant friends, who have gone up to the courts of the Lord,
renewedly " to be satisfied with the fatness of his house,"
and "to drink of the river of his pleasures."
The remembrance of Sabbaths in a Christian land, now
past to us forever, has been accompanied by recollections
of home of the deepest tenderness. For the first time




THOUGHTS ON MISSIONS.


37


since we sailed, I have felt the reality of my separation
from all I have held dearest on earth; and, as the conviction has pressed itself upon my soul, friend after friend
has crowded on my imagination, till I have escaped agony
of heart only by hurrying my thoughts to that world of
gladness where there will be no more separation, and from
whence " sorrow and sighing shall forever flee away." 0,
how happy, how glorious the hope of an interminable
meeting there! Would to God that all the objects of love,
on whom the warm remembrance of this day has rested,
had secured this hope to their souls ("as an anchor sure
and steadfast;" then, though widely dispersed, we should
pass safely through all the tempests of life, and ride securely together, at last, in the haven of eternal rest!
Tuesday, 26.  We have to-day been gratified by an
incident, always cheering to those at sea, that of speaking
a ship homeward bound. Animation beamed from every
eye, as the cry, " Sail ho!" echoed from voice to voice.
A fine ship, under full sail, is a noble object, and we
watched our mutual and rapid approach with delight. She
proved to be the William Penn, of Philadelphia; and, as
we rushed past each other, we requested to be reported,
"All's well- a week at sea," and followed her with our
best wishes and prayers.
Saturday, 30. Another severe gal of wind compelled
us to lay-to the whole of Thursday night, and part of yesterday. Confinement to the cabin, and the tossing of the
ship, has greatly increased HI —'s sickness. She has
indeed been very, very ill; so much so, as even to excite
at times, serious apprehensions of the result. She has
scarce opened her eyes, or spoken a word, since we gained
the open sea; and has suffered more in that period than
in all her life before.
This has led me to reflect what my thoughts and feelings will be when I shall see her enduring all the privations of the missionary life-should she be spared to
meet them. When I look back a fortnight, and view her
as she then was, healthful, blooming, and animated, with
happiness beaming on every feature, and behold her now,
pale, emaciated, and spiritless, from a sickness which
might have been avoided, I am ready to ask myself,




38


THOUGHTS ON MISSIONS.


" Could it have been my duty thus to expose one so delicate and refined, and so unused to fatigue and hardship?"
Something within me would answer, ' No, it could not."
But it is not the spirit of the Christian, nor of the minister, nor of the missionary; all these, more promptly and
more decisively exclaim, " It could and it is."  Yes, whatever I myself, whatever H ---- may suffer, I am fully persuaded that I have done right, and that she has done right,
in forming the determination and in pursuing the measures
we have. We are not on a warfare at our own charge;
nor do we undertake to build, not having counted the cost.
We have engaged in this enterprise, not from a sudden
impulse of unenlightened enthusiasm, but from a long
process of reasoning, which we trust will bear the scrutiny
equally of philosophy and religion.
Did self-enjoyment constitute the highest object and
blessing of our present existence, in "the elegant sufficiency " of an American home, with
c Friendship, books,
Ease, and alternate labor,"
we could have been so well satisfied as scarce to have
wished for a change, even to that "better country" whose
fullness, only, can meet the desires of an immortal spirit.
But while such is nbt the case, and, next to the salvation
of our own souls, the glory of God and the good of man
ought to be our chief concern, we most willingly bid farewell to all the charms of civilized life, and welcome the
simplicity and rudeness of a missionary hut, if thereby we
can most fully achieve these great ends of existence.
If the Bible be true —and where our souls can confidently repose, every minor good may be securely trusted
- we fear no evil in this measure, except that which may
arise from the deceitfulness of the human heart. To me,
the duty involved in Christian missions to the heathen, is
clear as the sun at noon-day; and to deny it, is, in my
opinion, at once, to oppose the whole spirit and genius of
our faith, as well as expressly to reject the authority of the
scriptures. Unto the Gentiles the gospel of Jesus must be
preached. On whom, then, does the obligation of this necessity fall? I answer, on those ministers of the cross,




THOUGHTS ON MISSIONS.


at least, who can devote themselves to the work without
neglecting or forsaking a prior and superior duty incompatible with the undertaking; and who are not disqualified
by physical or other causes, from entering upon it. Of
this number, after a careful and, I may add, at the time,
unwelcome examination, I proved myself to my own conscience to be one. And what reason could I plead, why
an exemption should be granted to me?   Could I say:
" My attachment to my family and friends, to my home
and country, are too strong - I cannot tear myself from
them? "  The same argument might be equally urged by
all others; and he who trusted in it might justly apprehend the righteous judgment of Heaven on the heart that
loved the objects of its earthly affection more than it feared its Maker. Could I plead the too great sacrifice of the
indulgences and elegancies of life? In so doing, by what
data could I discriminate between a supreme attachment to
these and " that friendship of the world which is enmity
with God; " and how well might I dread the sentence,
"Thou fool! this night thy soul shall be required of thee."
No plea could stand the test, and it was only left for me to
say, " Lord, here am I; send me."
This surrender was not made, I admit, without a struggle; not the struggle of a day, nor of an hour, but of
months: and a struggle of agony too; but, thanks be to
God, it was that also of triumph; and from the moment of
victory, all within my own bosom on this point has been
peace.
Both myself and H   -- have acted in this matter only
in conformity to the precepts of the gospel, to the dictates
of reason and conscience, and to the leadings of the providence of God. We may find that the hand that guides
bears the rod to afflict; still we will fear no evil; blessings rich and satisfying will arise in the path of duty, if
not in one form, in others perhaps less expected, but not
less full.
With these views of the subject, and they are those of
our inmost hearts, we cheerfully turn forever from the
comfort, the social happiness, and refined enjoyments we
might so fully have secured in our native land, and welcome with contentment the self-denial and privation, the




40


ARRANGEMENT OF TIME.


toil and care we have in prospect. Whatever else we lose,
we make sure, we trust, of
"useful life,
Progressive virtue, and approving Heaven:"
treasures too rich to be exchanged or forfeited for all the
fleeting and unsubstantial pleasures of the world. When
we recount our sufferings, then,- when we give a candid
statement of our situation, however afflictive it may be,
do not think that we consider it strange that such things
have befallen us, but that, deeming the service we perform
as done unto the Lord, we even "count for joy" the trials
that may await us in its accomplishment.
Our humble friend B-     daily proves more and more
kind, affectionate and faithful. She has been most thoughtful and assiduous in her attentions to H-, and we regard her as an invaluable acquisition to our family.
Monday, Dec. 2.  N. lat. 36 deg., W. long. 49 deg.
The weather now is delightful; the air as mild and balmy
as that of a morning in May. The sea too is less disturbed than at any time since we came out. Indeed, until
Saturday we were in a constant gale. You can scarce
imagine the difference made in everything by the change.
Before, we could scarce see two hundred yards for the
green billows heaping in mountains around us; now we
can look in any direction to a distance of many miles
over a beautiful surface of deep blue, variegated here and
there by the snowy curvings of a breaking wave.
Contrary to my expectation, I find no difficulty in profitably employing my time on board ship. In this I am happily disappointed; from what I had heard of sea-life, I
was fearful the voyage would prove almost a blank. We
are quite systematic in our regulations as a family. The
bell for rising is rung in the cabin at sunrise, and that for
morning prayers at half past seven o'clock. We breakfast
at eight, dine at one, take tea -at six, and have evening
worship immediately after the setting of the first nightwatch, that all the crew may attend.
The establishment of regular worship has been a source
of much satisfaction; and the respectful attendance of
the captain, officers and crew, gives us sincere pleasure.
When the weather permits, the evening service is held




VISIT TO THE SHIP WINSLOW.


41


on the quarter-deck; and it is sweet indeed, to hear our
hymns of praise floating on the breeze, and to listen to the
voice of prayer, addressed from the midst of these mighty
waters, to Him who protects, and who only can defend
and bless us.
Our other religious services are, a prayer-meeting in
the forenoon of the Sabbath, and a sermon in the afternoon. Bible classes have also been established among the
sailors. We cannot but hope, and do most fervently pray,
that these means of grace may not be lost on the souls of
those by whose skill we are enabled to bear the glad tidings of salvation to the distant islands of the ocean.
Dec. 4. We are at present nightly enjoying a lovely
exhibition: that of moonlight at sea. At this season of
the year, even in these mild latitudes, the queen of night
ascends her throne through dark and wintry clouds floating on the horizon; and for the last few evenings, I have
stood, hour after hour, gazing at her as she has burst in all
her glory from behind one or another of these dark masses, or from her concealment has fringed their edges with a
splendor equal to her own.
"Nor undelighted, in the solemn noon
Of night,"
have I watched her progress through the sky, while the
mild radiance above and the playful reflection below have
presented a scene of tranquility and peace unrivaled but
in a vision of fancy. Then, too, our ship as she hastens
on her course, looks more majestic than in the day; her
lofty masts seem from the deck to tower among the stars,
and her full, swelling sails, tapering to their very tops, add
no small degree of the beautiful to thesublime.
Dec. 9. Five days ago, we fell in company with the
ship Winslow, of New-Bedford, bound, like ourselves, to
the Pacific. We are still sailing ~within a short distance
of each other. Arrangements were made for a religious
service on board of her on the Sabbath; and the novelty
of an excursion, in a small boat in the midst of the Atlantic, was assigned to me. I was accompanied by captain
Clasby and Mr. Chamberlain, and preached from the text,
"My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not."  The
5




42


MANNER OF


whole ship's company, neatly dressed, attended on the
quarter-deck, and appeared interested in the exercises,
The crews of American whale ships are generally composed of respectable young men, of a class altogether superior to ordinary seamen. Intelligent, active and enterprising, they cannot be regarded with indifference; and I
rejoiced in the opportunity of preaching to these the unsearchable riches of Christ. May it not be in vain! but
may they hear, obey, and live! At the close of the sermon, Mr. Chamberlain furnished them with a quantity of
tracts, and we returned to the Thames in time for the afternoon worship.
For the last few days we have been perfectly becalmed.
A very heavy swell is at the same time rolling from the
westward, giving to our ship a long, sluggish motion, almost as fatiguing as that in a gale.
Dec. 19.  N. lat. 24 deg. W. long. 20 deg. During
the last week, my taste for sea life has greatly increased;
principally, perhaps, in consequence of the rapid and almost entire recovery of H ---.  She is quite herself again.
The weather, too, has been delightful; the sky clear and
mild, the wind fresh and fair, and our progress rapid and
exhilarating.
Dec. 23. Just after breakfast yesterday, a shoal of large
fish, a species of whale - Physeter Catodon - called blackfish by the crew, were descried close to our ship. H
and myself were walking on the quarter-deck at the time,,and had a full view of them as they tumbled and spouted,on their way, directly under the stern. Not less than fifty
were in sight. Three of our boats were lowered and
manned in a moment, and a chase after them commenced.
At the distance of half a mile, we saw the darting of a
harpoon; immediately after the water dashing high in the
air; and then the boat oars "apeak," rushing with astonishing velocity after the animal to which it was fastened.
From a defect in the iron, however, this one was not secured.  Shortly after, the first officer struck another, which
instantly spouted a column of blood ten or fifteen feet high,
and began plunging in the agonies of death. He threw
his immense body almost entirely out of the water, and
while dying, thrashed the waves until he was covered in
a bed of foam.




TAKING WHALES.


43


All hands were engaged in towing the prey to the ship,
when another shoal appeared just under our bows. A boat
was quickly in the midst of them, as they sported along
unconscious of danger; and one of the largest became
alarmed only in time to receive a harpoon fully in his side,
as he plunged round to escape it. He sprang once nearly
his whole length into the air, and then diving into the deep
was soon out-of sight; but the swiftness with which the
boat cut the waves after him, and the purple stream that
marked its wake, told that the blow had been true. The
boat continued to be hurried with the speed of a race-horse,
first in one direction and then in another, for more than
half an hour before the creature died.
With some exertion, both were brought alongside the
ship, and hoisted upon deck. They were of one size,
about twenty-one feet long, fifteen feet in circumference,
and each weighing nearly three tons. The blubber was
immediately cut off; and after reserving the livers and a
few steals, for the crew, the huge carcases were launched
again into the deep.
Unaccustomed to such feats, the whole scene was to us
an exhibition of singular intrepidity. The process in taking a whale is precisely the same. The boats for this
purpose are of the most light, and apparently fragile construction, formed to move with the utmost rapidity, and to
ride even on the crest of a wave. The harpooner stands
erect on the bow, with a firmness and gracefulness which
practice only could secure, while the boat bounds from
height to depth and from depth to height of the swelling
sea. At a proper distance, his eye fixed on his victim,
he darts the instrument with a force, which would seem,
inevitably, to throw him from his narrow foot-hold into the
water, while the floundering animal, writhing in the desperation of death, puts the boat in constant jeopardy.
The danger is by no means imaginary; many boats are
destroyed, and many lives lost, in whaling voyages. The
line, hundreds of yards in length, to which the harpoon is
attached, is coiled in a tub in the fore part of the boat, and
permitted to run off according to the power and speed of
the whale to which it has been fastened; while one of the
boatmen stands with a hatchet to cut it off, at a single blow,




44         PASS THE CAPE DE VERD ISLANDS.


in case it should become entangled, as the delay of an instant, might prove fatal, and the boat be irresistibly taken
down by the animal. It not unfrequently happens, that an
arm or leg of some of the men is caught in the line, as it
glides with the quickness of lightning from the tub, and,
should not the limb be at once severed from the body by it,
the wretch is, in a moment, hurried to an irrecoverable
depth.
Our crew are engaged to-day in trying the blubber:
for which purpose all whaling ships have a fixture of two or
more large boilers and a furnace, on the fore deck. The
oil of the blackfish is principally used by curriers in dressing leather: that now preparing is for our lamps, there
having been a mistake in the quantity of spermaceti put
on board the Thames for the voyage.
Dec. 24. For the last fortnight we have been anticipating the pleasure of touching, for a day, at one of the Cape
de Verd islands; and, for the time, had almost lost sight
of our more distant destination. Last night we supposed
ourselves so much in the neighborhood of them, that we
fully expected to hear the cry, " land ho! "early this morning. But instead of land, we have a heavy breeze, high
sea, and thick and gloomy atmosphere. The uncertainty
of our real distance from the group, the impossibility of
getting an observation, and the threatening aspect of the
weather, made the captain so doubtful of the prudence of
running towards land, as to consult the passengers on the
subject. We, of course, begged him to follow his own
judgment; when, with one more inquisitive look to the
windward, and an expressive shake of the head, he gave
the command, "Up with the helm, and square the yards! "
and, in five minutes from the first suggestion of sailing by,
without our promised visit, we were running before the
wind towards the equator, at the rate of ten miles an hour.
A principal desire for stopping, had been, to send letters to
America: and when I saw the ship actually about, and, in
imagination, the land for which we had been so eagerly
looking, fading in the distance, I felt a momentary regret
and disappointment.
Saturday, 28. After a most rapid run of several days,
we, this morning, reached "the swamp," as the captain




SHIP AFTER A SQUALL.            45
calls the calm and rainy latitudes between the north-east
and south-east trade winds, a few degrees north of the
equator. Clouds and tempests seem gathered before us,
having indeed, in point of gloom, the appearance of some
of the dismal swamps of our own continent; and we begin to apprehend the proof of a geographical description I
have seen stating that " the regions of the equator are given
up to calms and rain-thunder, lightning, and waterspouts."
Evening. A violent squall has just swept over us; and
before our sails could be secured, the lee bulwarks of the
ship were nearly under water. Everything had an aspect
more like that of a gale in the gulf stream, than at any
time since. The wind rushed so loudly through the rigging, as to require a full exertion of lungs in the captain
and mates to cause their orders to be heard, and the rain
poured in torrents. Both wind and rain continue, in an
abated degree~ and the ship is still reefed down so as, insea-phraseology, to be "all snug."
There is something in this state of things that produces
a pecular effect on my mind, and one which, you may be
surprised to hear me say, is that of enjoyment. The low
and scudding clouds-the driving rain-the sullen heavings of the ocean, and the roaring of the water at the
prow-the rapidity with which we dash from wave to
wave, while our lee-gunwales are almost buried in the deep
- though they give, to all without, the aspect of sufferingand of danger, induce a musing mood which I have found*
delightful. Everything on deck, too, has a like tendency:
nothing generally is heard, but the creaking of the masts
and yards, and the rattling of the cordage, while the officers, in their watchcoats, and tarpaulin caps, stand at
their respective posts, and the sailors shelter themselves,
fronis the worst of the storm, under the lee of the boats or
weather bulwarks of the ship.
A situation of personal comfort, however, as well as a,
sense of safety, is essential to this kind of enjoyment: it
is the contrast, indeed, thus afforded, that yields the principal pleasure. Feeling ourselves free from inconvenience
and harm, we triumph over the ragings of the tempest; and
5*




46


THE DOLPHIN.


forget the case of those who, unlike us, have no refuge
from its fury.
Armstrong describes the same feeling, in reference to
sleep, under circumstances familar to every one -
0o when the growling winds contend, and all
The sounding forest fluctuates in the storm,
To sink in warm repose, and hear the din
Howl o'er the steady battlements, delights
Above the luxury of common sleep."
Monday, Dec. 30. Within the last two days, we have, for
the first time, had sight of a dolphin —one of the most
beautiful of the inhabitants of the sea. The general length
of this fish appears to be about two feet. In its shape it
bears little resemblance to the representation of it seen on
vases, and in marine emblems and armorial bearings, but
is very similar to the white salmon-trout of the Otsego.
When swimming in the water, its colors appear exceedingly delicate and beautiful. The head, back, and upper
part of the sides, vary from the hues of burnished steel to
that of deep azure and mazarine blue, shading off towards
the under parts in pea-green and light yellow. The head
fins are ty blue, and those of the tail pale green, terminating iyellow.
The dolphin is seldom taken with a hook and line;
but, only a short time ago, one was struck with a harpoon,
and brought on deck, and we all hastened to witness the reported splendor of its colors when dying.  We found
them to be as truly beautiful as they have been described;
consisting of rapid transitions from the deepest purple, approaching to black, through blue, green, gold of different
hues, and several shades of silver, to an almost snow-white,
and then to purple again. The sight, however, was painful, from a kind of sympathy with the beautiful sufferer:
we could but feel, that the gratification of our curiosity
was at the expense of its life.  The, colors soon became
less and less brilliant, and in five minutes entirely disappeared. A large shoal of the boneto were sporting round
the ship in company with the dolphin; they are a very
active fish, and frequently threw themselves several feet
into the air.




A WATERSPOUT. - PHOSPHORETIC LIGHT.


47


In a waterspout, we have also had one of the phenomena characteristic of the region in which we now are. It
was at too great a distance to be seen very minutely. The
end nearest the ocean was scarce perceptible, though the
agitation of the water under it was very evident; the upper extremity terminated by a tubular expansion -similar
in form to the large end of a trumpet-in a heavy black
cloud.  The part clearly visible was about 300 feet in
length, and the cloud not less than 1500 feet in height.
There was a shower of rain, almost immediately afterwards, of the largest drops I ever saw. It is perfectly
calm, and the ocean glassy as a mirror, which made the
appearance of the rain, as it struck the surface of the water, singularly beautiful: as far as the eye could reach the
whole sea seemed a plain of glass, studded with diamonds
of the first magnitude.
Ten o'clock at night. The exhibitions of the day have
been followed to-night by a phosphoretic scene of unrivaled
splendor and sublimity. We had often before observed
luminous points, like sparks of fire, floating here and there
in the furrow of our vessel; but now the whole ocean was
literally bespangled with them.  Notwithstanding the
smoothness of the surface, there is a considerable swell of
the sea; and sparkling as it did on every part as with fire,
the mighty heavings of its bosom were indescribably magnificent. It seemed as if the sky had fallen to a level
with the ship, and all its stars, in tenfold numbers and
brilliancy, were rolling about with the undulation of the
billows.
The horizon, in every direction, presented a line of uninterrupted light, while the wide space intervening was one
extent of apparent fire. The sides of our vessel appeared
kindling to a blaze, and, as her bows occasionally dashed
against a wave, the flash of the concussion gleamed half
way up the rigging, and illumined every object along the
whole length of the ship. By throwing any article overboard, a display of light and colors took place, surpassing
in brilliancy and beauty the:finest exhibition of fireworks.
A charming effect was produced by a line coiled to some
length, and then cast into the water at a distance; and also
by a bucket of water dashed from the side of the vessel.




VOVAGE.


The rudder too, by its motions, created splendid coruscations at the stern, and a flood of light, by which our track
was marked far behind us. The smaller fish were distinctly traceable, by running lines shewing their rapid
course; while, now and then, broad gleamings, extending
many yards in every direction, made known the movement
of some monster of the deep. But minuteness will only
weary, without conveying any adequate impression of the
scene: it would have been wise, perhaps, only to have said
that it was among the most sublime nature herself ever
presents.
The cause of this phenomenon was long a subject of
speculation among men of science, but is now satisfactorily
ascertained to be sea-animalcule of the luminous tribe, particularly the species medusa. The medusa pellucens of Sir
Joseph Banks, and the medusa scintillans of Mr. Macartney, emit the most splendid light. The degree and brilliancy of the exhibition are supposed to depend on the
state of the atmosphere and sea. A more grand display
than that which we have witnessed, probably seldom, if
ever, takes place.
CHAPTER III.
VOYAGE.
Monday, Jan. 6. Several days ago we took a fine
breeze from the south, which has proved to be the regular
trade-wind. The "swamp " was much less formidable than
we expected. We have had but little rain, only a short
calm, and no thunder-storm, though 1" the artillery of the
heavens " has been heard, almost constantly, at a distance.
We crossed the equator, yesterday morning, in longitude
24 deg. west. The heat, though great, has not yet been
very oppressive: the mercury, in Fahrenheit, in the shade,
has ranged from 79 to 83 deg., and in the sun stands at
116 deg.
Thursday, 9. S. lat. 8 deg. 34 mmin., W. Ion. 27 deg.
Early to-day, a sail was discovered with signals for speak



SLAVE SHIP. - FLYING-FISH.


49


ing; and we bore down to her. It was a Portuguese vessel, of very indifferent appearance. Our captain put the
Thames so close alongside of her, that an apple could have
been thrown on her deck. The commander could not
speak English, and hailed through one of his crew. He
merely wished to know our longitude; and informed us
he was bound to the western coast of Africa. With the
knowledge of her destination, the horrors of a slave ship
at once rose on the mind; and the probability of her errand to that land of wretchedness, took entire possession of
the imagination.  The sighing of the captive, and the
groaning of the oppressed, seemed already to be heard
from her hatchways; and, as we dropped into her wake,
gazing at her black hulk and bloody waist —colors well
suited to her character-I could not add, to the farewell
wave of the hand, the customary ejaculation, "God speed
thee! "
Never before do I recollect to have been so deeply impressed with the enormity of this trade. I involuntarily
shrunk from the sight of men who I believed to be engaged in its cruelties; and felt no inclination, as on similar occasions, to watch the lessening sail till it should sink
beneath the horizon. Instead of impressions of beauty,
before received from the same object, every look brought
with it associations of human misery. Oh! what perversion of feeling, what destitution of principle, must there be
in the heart that can, in the light of the present day, convert the ignorance and debasement of those who, though
sunk below the level of their race, are still "bone of our
bone and flesh of our flesh," into reasons for subjecting
them to still greater degradation!  Surely, if anything
on earth calls loudly for the righteous judgment of God,
it is the prosecution of this trade; and sooner or later,
the retributions of a just avenger must fall on those who
thus make the heavens echo with the moanings of the
bereaved, and the earth rich with the tears and blood of
the enslaved.
Jan. 22. S. lat. 33 deg, W. long. 51 deg. For some
time past, the ocean around us has been enlivened by immense numbers of flying-fish - exoccetus volitans. This is
a beautiful animal, six or eight inches in length, and of slen.




50


FLYING-FISH.


der and delicate form. Until now, I had an impression
that it received its name from springing in the air for a
moment only, and then sinking into its native element;
but within the last fortnight, flocks of forty or fifty, and
even a greater number, have risen about our ship, and
flown yards before descending again. When in this situation, a person ignorant of their nature could not distinguish them from birds of the same size. The large transparent fins, which they use in flying, have every appearance of wings; and when in a direction opposite to
the sun, their whole bodies are of a most dazzling silver
white.
But in this case, as in that of the dying dolphin, we have
been led to commiserate as well as to admire. At most
times, when these little creatures thus take flight, it is only
to escape from some devouring enemy in close pursuit.
We have often caught a glimpse of a boneto darting
through the water under them, as they have skimmed
along its surface; and once, after watching with delight
the lengthened course of an uncommonly beautiful fish, as
time after time it dipped for a moment, but scarcely touched
the waves before it rose again, and seemed to exert every
power to pursue its rapid way, we saw it fall directly
into the jaws of some ferocious monster, which, as if
doubly ravenous from the chase, leaped partly out of the
water to receive it.
They seem peculiarly ill-fated; not unfrequently, a
flight from the enemies in their proper element, exposes
them to the rapacity of others equally destructive; and
they become the prey of gulls, cormorants, and other seafowl hovering over the water for food. In their serial
course, they often also come in contact with vessels, and
fall helpless captives on the deck.
Since taking the south-east trade-wind, we have had
most charming weather. The beauty, both of sea and
sky, has been such as to attract constant observation'; and
the perfect clearness of the atmosphere, except a rich bed
of clouds floating on the most distant horizon, is peculiarly
pleasant, after the gloomy heavens of the " thunder-storm
latitudes." We are all in fine health and spirits, and truly
happy. Everything, within and without, indicates pros



DEVOTIONAL IMPROVEMENT.


51


perity and peace; and, occupied with a variety of useful
employments, we have yet known nothing of the ennui so
often complained of at sea.,We are not without evidence of a more interesting and
important kind, that the blessing of God is upon us. A
very visible change has taken place in the general deportment of our crew, and a great increase of seriousness is
observable at the seasons of worship. Beneficial consequences are following our bible classes.  While they enlighten the mind on the subject important above all others,
they give an access to the heart and conscience, which
could not otherwise be readily secured; and the happy influence of which is already manifest. Another exercise,
connected with evening prayers, the repetition by each of
the missionaries of a single text of scripture, indiscriminately chosen from the bible, has been attended by a salutary effect. The practice was adopted from the inconvenience of reading at night on the quarter-deck, and has
been found more successful in arresting the attention than
the ordinary manner of introducing the scriptures at such
services. There is something peculiarly impressive and
solemn in the sound of so many different voices successively proclaiming, amid the darkness that covers the deep,
the words of eternal truth.
Our Sabbaths also have, of late, increased in interest.
There is now, generally, during the Sabbath an order and
quietness in every part of the ship, becoming the character
of the day. The officers and crew, like ourselves, are occupied with their bibles and other appropriate books; and
in meeting the various duties of this happy institution, we
often experience the truth of the assurance, " they that wait
upon the Lord shall renew their strength."
Our evenings, coo, are greatly conducive to a spirit of
devotion: the vast expanse of water around us, almost insensibly leads the mind to the eternity of which it is so
often made an illustration. The mild splendor of a tropic
sky, here adorned by the coss - " the emblem of redeeming love "- and the serenity of everything within observation, seem better suited to emotions of seriousness than
the glare of day; while the general silence of the ship,
broken by
" No noise but water - ever friend to thought,"




&n


DANGEROUS SQUALL,


leaves the mind to the free use of every contemplative
power. It is a time in which I delight; and often, after
most of our company are wrapt in sleep, I ascend the rigging, till even the footsteps of " the patrolling watch " are
lost in the dashing of the water, there to gaze on the
heavens, "the work of the Almighty, and the moon and
stars which he hath made;" and, in view of their magnitude and sublimity, with the psalmist, to exclaim, " What
is man, that THOU art mindful of him? or the son of man,
that thou visitest him? "
Thursday, 23. S. lat. 34 deg. W. Ion. 51 deg. 30 min.
Spoke the Hebe, of Philadelphia, from Buenos Ayres,
bound to Rio Janeiro and Lisbon. The Thames was running under a press of sail before a strong breeze, against
which she stemmed her way, close hauled, with doublereefed topsails only. She was but two days from port;
and having been newly painted, looked as fresh and fair as
the fabulous being whose name she bears.
Evening. The most tremendous squall we have yet
encountered has just swept by. H- and myself were
taking our usual evening promenade on deck, when our
attention was suddenly attracted by a singular appearance
of the sky; and we had scarce directed an inquiring look
to the captain, before the gust came raging upon us. The
officers had time only to exclaim, "All hands on deck!
hand the royals - and the top-gallant-sails too! - clew up
the mainsail! mind your helm-quick! quick! "- while
all became vociferation and confusion among the crew -
when the wind struck us a full broadside, and instantly laid
the ship almost on her beam-ends. Everything cracked,
in her struggle against the blast, and she shot forward like
a race-horse, with her gunwales in the water, and the sea
on her lee towering yard-arm high.
All the furniture in the cabin was completely capsized,
and those below, thinking the vessel going down, rushed
on deck with looks and exclamations of horror. For some
time, I thought every successive moment would see us
engulfed in the flood, which literally yawned to receive us.
But all the halliards having been let go, and the helm
seized by an experienced hand, the ship was got before
the wind, and somewhat eased, till the violence of the gust




GALE OFF THE RIO DE LA PLATA.


gave place to torrents of rain, accompanied by lightning
and thunder. The foundering of a ship must indeed be
horrible. I was not greatly agitated myself; the most unpleasant sensations I experienced, arose from the terror of
others; for there were many a pale face and trembling lip
among both crew and passengers. Whatever the degree
of danger may have been, the scene was of a character
deeply to fix upon the mind thoughts of that event by
which, sooner or later, we shall all be made to stand before
the bar of God.
Jan. 25.  S. lat. 37 deg. W. long. 52 deg. 48 min. At
twelve o'clock last night, a gale commenced, and in an
hour's time we were compelled to lay-to, under a stormstay-sail only. The howling of the tempest, plunging of
the vessel, and trampling and hallooing of the sailors, effectually prevented our taking any rest. The first person
from the deck, this morning, reported the wind to be a hurricane, and the waves mountain high: which we were
ready to believe, without ocular demonstration. One or
two only of the passengers attempted to take breakfast.
While at the table, a sea struck the ship along her whole
length, from the quarter-deck to the bows, and threw her
nearly on her beam-ends. She lay trembling under the
stroke, till I thought she would never rise again; and the
water came pouring by the hogshead down the companionway and through the steerage hatch. Everything was
swept from the table, though secured in the manner usual
in such weather; and some of the family, mattresses and
all, were thrown from their berths into the cabin.  On
deck, one of the boats was stove, and the ship, in its whole
length, was washed by the wave.
The gale continuing to increase, and the sea to rise at a
fearful rate, it became necessary for our safety, to have the
upper yards and masts sent down. The seamen were
obliged to mount to their very tops, a distance of seventy
or eighty feet from the deck, to unloose the rigging; where,
Upon the high and giddy mast,
In cradle of the,,rude, imperious surge,"
they were swung, every successive minute, with incredible velocity, through a space of little less than ninety feet;
6




54


AN ANXIOUS SINNER.


while an inevitable grave yawned beneath them, should
the slender yard, to which they clung, give way, or they
once lose their footing. The unnatural sound of their
voices, as their screams to make themselves heard below
were caught by the wind and borne away on the tempest,
came to the ear like the shrieks of the dying; and I
dared scarce look up for a moment, lest I should see some
one, in despite of every effort, thrown into the raging sea,
where no power of man could have brought him rescue.
Anticipating the expression of hopeless horror, which the
wretch thus perishing must give, I often involuntarily closed
my eyes, in the fear of beholding the agonizing reality.
The storm raged till evening with unabated violence, and
produced greater anxiety than any we had before experienced. A tempest, such as this has been, is indeed indescribably sublime; but too dreadfully terrific, when at its height,
to allow of much enjoyment. When it begins evidently to
abate, and hope tells you that the worst is known, you are
left to the indulgence of unmingled and enthusiastic admiration; and may gaze with delight at the ever-varying
scene, as wave after wave rears its monstrous head, and
"casts its foaming honors to the clouds."  But, till this
change does take place -while every successive blast
blows harder and harder, and each billow threatens, more
surely than its precursor, to bury you under its weight -
it is impossible. Thoughts of fear must check, if they do
not take entire place, of the higher feelings of admiration.
But though the day has been one of gloom, it has been
*marked by a circumstance, which has given me more genuine satisfaction than anything since we left America. In
the dusk of the evening, while leaning, alone, against the
railing of the quarter-deck, feeling in my own mind something of the desolation of the scene around me, rmy arm
was gently touched by some one on the spars behind: it
was R-, one of the hardiest of our crew. As my eye
fell upon him, I at once anticipated his errand; and can
scarce describe my emotion, when I ascertained it, indeed,
to be the jailer's query -" W1 at: must I do to be saved? "
Perceiving me alone, he had stolen from his station forward, to say that his spirit, like the troubled sea, could
-find no rest; and to beg to be directed in the way ever



AN ANXIOUS SINNER.


55


lasting.  His words were few, but his look, while he
trembled under his guilt as a sinner, and earnestly supplicated an interest in my prayers, spoke volumes. So unexpected, though greatly desired and prayed for, was this
event, that I almost doubted its reality. This state of feeling had been induced by a private conversation, on the
subject of religion, immediately after the recitation of the
bible class, on the preceding Sabbath; and he had scarcely
eaten or slept during the whole week. Everything in his
appearance manifested sincerity and contrition. I would
not be too sanguine, yet cannot but hope that the Spirit of
God has begun in his heart that good work which shall be
performed "until the day of Jesus Christ."  "A little
leaven leaveneth the whole lump;" and, should but one
of this crew be truly converted to the faith and practice of
pure religion, through the example, the persuasion, and the
prayers of that individual, all his companions, ere the voyage is completed, may be turned to the Shepherd and
Bishop of souls.
Notwithstanding this incident, our spiritual state, as a
little band far separated from all the world, may be best
understood from the lines of a favorite hymn:
"At anchor laid, remote from home,
Toiling, we cry, ' Sweet Spirit come! "
Thursday, 30. The latitudes in which we are now sailing, are by mariners called " the variable," in contradistinction to those which have the regularity of the trade-winds.
You would think them well named, had you, with us, experienced the succession of gales, strong breezes, and
calms, through which we have passed during the last week.
The changes have been so sudden and so extreme, as
deeply to impress on my mind the propriety and force of
illustrations of the uncertain scenes of life by images from
the sea. Any one familiar with its various states, knows
it to be, indeed, " smooth and deceitful," yet " troubled and
tempestuous " above all objects in nature.
After a calm which presented the whole ocean as a bed
of glass, we have now again so much motion, that I am
necessarily seated a la Turc, with my whole writing establishment in my lap. It is quite chilly - a November after



56


WHALE. -- BRAZIL BANKS.


noon; and with the mercury in Fahrenheit at 52 degrees,
our cloaks and caps are once more in requisition. On
deck, the flying clouds, with dashes of rain, and cold
blustering intervals of sunshine, remind me of a day late
in autumn at Otsego, when the fresh wintry blasts first
come howling down the lake.
Friday, 31. This morning, during a calm, we had the
first full view of a whale.  From daybreak till eight
o'clock, many had been spouting at a distance; but this rose
immediately at the bows of our vessel. The noise made
by the suction of the water round the animal, and by its
spouting, rendered the usual exclamation, " There she
blows!" unnecessary, in attracting our attention to the
spot; and we all hastened forward to catch a sight of so
welcome a visiter. We were fully gratified; for it continued to play on the surface of the water, within a stone's
throw, for more than an hour; and at one time lay alongside of us for some minutes perfectly still, and within a
few yards of the ship. It was about eighty feet long, and
proportionably large: its spout, appearing like pure and
beautiful steam, was projected, by a single puff, nearly
twenty feet into the air. The animal was of a species
called fin-back — Balcna Physalus - a kind too fleet and
powerful often to be attacked by whalemen. It disappeared by diving head-foremost, and casting its broad
flukes perpendicularly out of the water.
Monday, Feb. 3.  S. lat. 45 deg. 30 min. We are now
on the Brazil banks; had soundings at sixty fathoms on
Saturday afternoon. The difference of depth in the water
is plainly visible to the eye; the color having changed
from deep blue to that of a beautiful light green. At four
o'clock yesterday morning, we fell in with the whaler
Britannia, of London, cruising on the banks, and sent letters on board of her, to be transferred to the first ship she
should meet bound to America. Some of our number improved the opportunity to distribute tracts, which were
gratefully received by her crew.
Thursday, Feb. 5.  S. lat. 51 deg.  All hands have
been actively engaged to-day, in putting the vessel in trim
for Cape Horn, The upper yards, masts, and rigging,
have been sent down; and the ship dressed in a complete




SINGULAR ASPECT OF THE SKY.


57


suit of new sails, of the stoutest texture. These preparations look formidable, but seem justified by the general aspect of the weather. Just before night there was a very
peculiar exhibition on sea and sky. For half an hour before and after sunset, the whole heavens, except a quarter
of a circle, in the west, which was perfectly clear, were
covered by dense and unusually lowering clouds. The
elevation of the unshaded arch was not more than five
degrees; and under it, on the farthest horizon, a mass or
line of vapor extended, so greatly resembling a distant
coast, that had we not known it to be impossible, not all
the power of vision, aided by our sea glasses, could have
satisfied us that it was not the American continent.
The rays of the sun, entirely shut out by the heavy
canopy above, came to us only in splendid reflections from
this fairy realm, and presented a succession of mountains,
and groves, and spires, and turrets, and towers, and even
steamboats and lighthouses, all in the richest coloring, and
glittering with silver. For some minutes, the splendor of
the sight momentarily increased, drawing from us enthusiastic admiration: when the sun suddenly bursts from behind its dark drapery, and in an instant the whole mass of
clouds, over and around us, were changed, in all their
ponderous forms, from the blackness of night to the brightest crimson; while the sea, before shrouded as in a funeral
pall, gleamed with the mingled reflections of purple and
gold.  The transition seemed one of enchantment; but
our admiration was not unaccompanied by emotions of awe.
The lowness and thickness of the clouds made the reflections of their color so strong, that the sun, though perfectly unobscured, glared with a fiery and unnatural light;
which, as it gradually faded into the sickly shades of an
eclipse, marked the sails and rigging, and every countenance with a hue of death. Minds that soar above the
power of superstition, might have felt a momentary apprehension from such unusual omens; and while sea-birds,
which delight only in the drivings of the storm, screamed
around our masts above, or silently gazed at us as they
tossed on the waters below, I could but exclaim", Dark gath'ring clouds, involve the threatening skies;
The sea heaves, conscious of th' impending gloom6*




58


MAKE STATEN LAND,


Loud hollow murmurs, from the deep arise -
They come- the spirits of the tempest come!'7
Feb. 7. Our apprehensions of heavy weather have not
been realized; and we are making most rapid progress,
with clear sky and fair wind. We have been amused today by vast numbers of whales sporting near us on every
side, and often thrusting their broad backs entirely above
water, as they rushed past with the velocity of race horses.
These also were fin-backs.
Saturday, Feb. 8. We were roused this morning, at
six o'clock, by the cry, "Land ho!"  Staten Land, seventy miles distant, being in sight. Points of Terra del
Fuego were also seen during the forenoon. At mid-day
we arrived directly opposite Staten Land; and passed New
Year harbor, at a distance of ten miles. The mountains
are lofty and broken, and fantastic in their contour. Many
of their summits were spotted with white, but whether of
snow or rock we could not determine. The whole island
appeared thickly covered with brush-wood, of low growth;
though one of our seamen, who has visited it for seal,
says the trees, to the water's edge, afford good timber.
The whole coast is iron-bound and precipitous, consisting
of cliffs towering many hundred feet, against whose slippery bases the surf constantly breaks fifteen and twenty
feet high. Everything wears an aspect of profound solitude, not a living creature being seen but the sea-fowl
wheeling round their inaccessible nests, or diving to the
waters below.
Knowing the island to be uninhabited, we were surprised,
on a nearer approach, to see a column of smoke rising at
the entrance of New Year Harbor. It was probably from
the fires of persons left by ships, for the purpose of catching seal. While accounting for it in this manner, I could
but wonder at the inconsistency of those who condemn the
missionary to a heathen land as an enthusiast and a madman, and yet look on such as these, who, for a little worldly gain, banish themselves for months and years to the most
lonely and inhospitable climes, as praiseworthy examples
of enterprise and hardihood.
After passing the most eastern point of the island, and
directing our course along its southern shore, it assumed




VOYAGE.                   59
new and interesting forms; and its entire outline became
more and more outr?. Were I to send you a sketch of it,
you would almost believe me sporting with your credulity.
The whole seemed but a range of obelisks, pyramids,
domes, castles, and towers, which even a dull imagination
might have transformed into the gigantic works of the fabled race, said to have inhabited the southern regions of
the neighboring continent. As the evening approached,
the whole became empurpled by the rich tints of the "sunset scene," so often the subject of the artist's skill, while
many points of rocks, from the water's edge to the highest
peaks, either from ice or water or metallic composition,
glittered with the brilliancy of diamonds. It is cheering,
after having been seventy-nine days at sea, thus to have our
horizon once more broken; especially as it is accompanied
by the assurance that we have very nearly reached the
grand climacteric of our voyage - CAPE HORN.
CHAPTER        IV.
VOYAGE.
Thursday, Feb. 20.  S. lat. 57 deg. 30 min., W. long.
70 deg. 30 min. Immediately after finishing the preceding
page, nearly a fortnight ago, we were assailed by the fierce
winds of the Cape. We had just fallen asleep, after an
uncommonly mild evening, when the rushing of an impetuous storm, followed by the alarming cry, "All hands on
deck! "- thundered with stentorian voice, down the maindeck and forecastle hatchways - effectually roused us from
our slumbers. It was more than an hour before the ship
could be snugly hove to: and we have been in one uninterrupted gale ever since, making but little headway in our
passage. Some apprehension existed, at one time, of our
being too much in the neighborhood of the Diego Ramerez,
a cluster of rocks thirty miles south of Hermit's Island, on
which Cape Horn is situated. But we shortly afterwards
ascertained ourselves to be well to the westward of them;




60


CAPE HORN.


and, on the morning of the 16th, at four o'clock, made
Cape Noir, an island near Cape Gloucester, on Terra del
Fuego, twenty miles distant. WG wore ship immediately,
and had only time to clear the coast, before the wind, blowing '" dead on shore," increased to a perfect hurricane, and
for the last forty-eight hours has driven us with irresistible fury far eastward again. Here we still struggle with
the elements.
H   -- often says, "With what terror would our friends
witness our situation!" At the very extremity of the globe,
surrounded by an immense waste of angry waters, whose
surface is unceasingly swept by wind and hail and rain
and snow, our only earthly hope a few hundred feet of
timber, which the ingenuity of man has formed to float on
the ocean; liable to many accidents, and hourly exposed
to a frightful death, it would not be surprising if the bursting of the tempest above and the roaring of the deep below, should sometimes make us " fearful and unbelieving."
But they do not. We have an unshaken confidence that
all will be well; and behold the terrors of our way without other emotions than those of gratitude and hope. We
often view our good ship with a kind of sympathy: dismantled of much of her loftiness, and reefed and furled
almost to bare poles, she looks, in her conflict, desolate as
a solitary oak, writhing in the contentions of a winter's
storm.
Saturday, March 1. S. lat. 52 deg. W. long. 82 deg.
After a tempestuous passage of 21 days, by the aid of a
a few hours fair wind, we find ourselves completely round
Cape Horn. The whole ship's company, passengers and
crew, appear like captives just liberated from a gloomy and
uncomfortable prison. You will not be surprised at this,
when informed that we have scarce seen the sun for three
weeks, and the moon but once, though she is now some
days past her full. Not one of the officers or crew have
had dry clothes during the whole of the time; the deck
has been constantly deluged, and the cabin dark and cold;
for we have had no fire, though the mercury has stood as
low as 34 degrees and 36 degrees. Our nights have been
restless, from the violent motion of the vessel and the
groaning of her timbers; and our days spent in stupidity




SERIOUSNESS OF THE CREW.


61


and idleness, if an involuntary loss of time deserves to be
called by that name. We could do nothing but wrap ourselves in our cloaks, hold on to anything within reach, and,
whether sitting up or lying down, roll and pitch with our
laboring bark.
Notwithstanding these facts, this part of our voyage has
by no means been uncommonly tedious or uncomfortable.
The prevailing winds of this region are heavy gales from
the west, the direct course to be steered in passing the
Cape, and ships are often detained by them three times
the period we have been, and meet weather far more dangerous and severe; so much so, that many vessels, after
striving in vain for weeks here to make a passage into the
Pacific, have been obliged at last to bear away for the Cape
of Good Hope, and make their voyage across the Indian
ocean.
There is great cause for gratitude, that we have thus
passed this dreaded goal, and are permitted to pursue our
way without disaster or longer detention. Our crew have
all been kept in life, where many a poor sailor has found
a cold unfathomed grave; and our ship has rode in safety
where not a few have met an untold fate.
Ilarch 4.  S. lat. 48 deg., W. long. 84 deg. If the affections of my heart are ever roused to an enthusiasm of
joy, it is when I see a young man in the fullness of his
health and strength, turning from folly and sin to the love
of God. Such a sight I have lately had the happiness to
witness in G. I have had long and repeated opportunities of conversing with him on the salvation of the soul;
and for some time past he has been deeply serious. More
than once I have seen him stretched at full length in his
state-room, apparently under the influence of thoughts and
feelings bordering on agony. The same emotions have
been visible in his countenance and manner, as he has
walked his nightly watch on deck; and he now stands,
before the whole ship's company, as one who is confessedly
of a broken and contrite spirit in the sight of his Maker
and his Judge. I cannot but believe that in him we have
the faithfulness of the promise, that the Spirit should be
sent "to convince of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment."




62


SERIOUSNESS OF THE CREW.


My interviews with R -—, since the gale off the Rio
de la Plata, have been frequent. He continues greatly interested for his own salvation. On two nights, recently, I
have spent a part of his watch on deck with him, and at
both times, by the light of a waning moon, have seen
tears roll in torrents down his hardy cheeks, while he has
spoken of the things that relate to his eternal peace.
To some of his shipmates he has become an object of
ridicule, while others seem to be like-minded with himself.
Shortly after passing Staten Land, he came to me one
morning, with a very animated look, saying, "0 Mr. S —,
I have much hope of C -; he is greatly troubled, has
knocked off swearing, and is constantly overhauling his bible. He used always to swear when reefing in a gale;
but on Saturday night, we were on the lee-yard-arm of the
main-topsail together for half an hour, and, though it blew
a hurricane, and we could do nothing with the sail, he
never swore a word. Let him only cut cable, and swing
from the fellows in his watch, and I shall not fear for
him!"
I do not wonder that the angels of Heaven, who know
all the bliss of true holiness, rejoice before the throne of
God, at the repentance of a sinner on earth. When I look
on these rough sons of the ocean, and know that the breath
so lately spent only in profaneness and sin, is now addressed to God in prayer; and that from some secluded
part of the ship, they daily and nightly offer the sacrifices
of penitence -sinful as they have been, I at times feel
ready to clasp them to my bosom, as those who shall yet
be purified, even as Christ is pure. Oh! that their number may here be increased, till every soul, by the renewing
of the Holy Ghost, shall "be made meet for the inheritance of the saints in light."
March 6.   G  -- is rejoicing in the possession of a
Christian's hope. He requested an interview with me last
night, during his first watch; and as I approached him in
the dark, fell on my neck, with emotions that denied him
utterance. It was sometime before he could tell me of the
new affections that had taken possession of his bosom.
So great and so entire a change had taken place in his
views and feelings as to constrain him to believe that unto




SERIOUSNESS OF THE CREW.


63


him " old things had passed away, and all things become
new," and that he was " in Christ Jesus a new creature."
After an interesting and exciting conversation, I left him
as I found him, rejoicing in the fullness of hope; and praying in my own heart, that the affection throbbing within
his manly breast, might prove to be the commencement of
a joy, which in the world to come, shall "rise immeasurably high."
A short time since, R- - was in great despondency,
and said to me, " I know not what to do! I have read
my bible, and have prayed; I have tried for weeks and
for months to be religious, but I cannot; I have no true
repentance, no real faith, and God will not hear my
prayers; what can I do? I feel that my soul will live
forever; and without the grace of God, I know it must
eternally perish." But to-night I met him with his bible
in his hand, and his very heart in his face, when his first
words were, " 0, Mr. S-, I have found the right way to
believe; it was the righteousness of Jesus Christ I needed.
Now the whole bible is not against me, as it used to be,
but every word is for me; because I see and feel how God
can be just, and yet justify an ungodly sinner."
Monday, MIarch 10. This evening, while walking the
deck, I happened to cast my eyes into the steerage, and
could not refrain from wishing that some of those whose
hearts are interested for the salvation of seamen, and who
are active in their exertions to promote it, could have stood
by me for a moment. One person only was there, and
for the time I wished to see no other: it was C   reading his bible. The lamp was suspended from the upper
deck, at too great a height to admit of reading by it when
seated on the floor; and too much fatigued by a hard
day's work to stand, he was kneeling, and reading with
an attention and solemnity that seemed to absorb every
thought and feeling. He did not change his position in
the least, till the bell rang for prayer, a full half hour from
the time I first observed him, while his attitude, countenance, and whole appearance, gave strong testimony that
he was searching the Scriptures for " the words of eternal
life."
K —    and N —   are deeply affected by the change in




64


ENTER THE PACIFIC.


their friend G —; and there is a seriousness from the
quarter-deck to the forecastle that forces itself on the observation of every one. Even M -, who seemed to be
so far given up to evil as to have no one to care for his
soul, is filled with wretchedness as a sinner. And while
conversing with him, I have seen " rivers of waters " fall
from his cheeks into the briny deep, as he has hid his face
on the gunwale of the ship. And what, my dear M-,
shall we say to these things? Whose is the power that
has produced such impressions on the feelings of these
hardy sailors? And what influence, but the breathings of
the Holy Spirit, could thus have melted their hearts into
penitence?
March 12. At two o'clock, p. M. descried a sail; and
soon afterwards recognized the red banner of Britain. She
proved to be the brig Tiber, from Valparaiso, bound to Valdivia, eight days out. Captain Clasby asked, before coming up with her, whether any one of us wished to board
her; but we all declined, - which I greatly regretted,
when, after passing, and being nearly beyond hearing, her
commander, in his farewell words, reported the " U. S.
ship Franklin, 74, Commodore Stewart, at Valparaiso."
I would have been delighted, in obtaining more particular
information from our friends of that ship.
Monday, March 24.   S. lat. 15 deg. W. long. 96 deg.
In the midst of more important thoughts, I have omitted
to mention that we have entirely left the region of winds
and tempest, and long ceased to ride upon " the mountain
wave." We are now ploughing a widely-extended plain,
under a press of sail, at the rate of ten miles an hour;
and instead of the chilling blasts of the Cape, are fanned
by a breeze balmy as the breath of May. When we first
sent our top-gallant sails and royals up, and again spread
our broad studding-sails to the wind, we almost feared, after seeing the ship so;,long staggering and reeling to and
fro like a drunken man, under close-reefed topsails only,
that she could not bear so great an addition of height and
breadth; but she hastens on, with all her accustomed
stateliness and beauty; and with so much steadiness, that
we are scarce sensible of the slightest motion. The contrast in our whole situation is so great, as to produce a pro



A SABBATII AT SEA.


65


portionate exhilaration of spirits; and with a sailor's life,
in its most favorable aspect, before me, I have been led
with Byron to exclaim"Oh who can tell, save he whose heart hath tried,
And danced in triumph, o'er the water wide,
The exulting sense, the pulse's mad'ning play,
That thrills the wand'rer of the trackless way,
O'er the glad waters of the dark blue sea! "
For some time after entering the Pacific, we almost
doubted the appropriateness of its name: the experience of
the last three weeks, however, has fully satisfied us on this
point; but for the deep blue of the surface, we might fancy
ourselves to be sailing on the placid bosom of a lake. We
are now off the coast of Peru; and have been greatly delighted with the beauty of the sky and clouds, which is
here very peculiar, and I should think scarce rivaled in
any other part of the world. Towards evening, and early
in the morning, I have seen, at the same time, clouds of
almost every color, in different parts of the heavens; and
of hues I seldom beheld there before -for instance, a rich
and perfect green, amber, and carmine- while the hemisphere round the rising or setting sun has been one blaze
of glory. Last night, the tinge on the ocean added greatly
to the effect of the scene; it was of perfect blood color, occasioned by the reflection of a fleecy veil of crimson clouds,
stretched over a greater part of the heavens; the appearance was so extremely singular, as to cause us almost to
shrink from it, as from something supernatural.
Monday, March 31. I never knew a Sabbath on land
such as yesterday was here. Even the sky was of a purity not often noticed before; and the eye, in its vision,
seemed capable of reaching the very limits of space. Not
a cloud was visible; the white bosom of a tropic bird here
and there was only to be seen, appearing, in her lofty soarings, like a flake of snow against the blueness of the heavens. About the ship, scarce a sound was heard from the
opening of the morning till the close of day, but the rippling of the water as we sailed through the deep, or the
voice of worship as we bowed before our God. All on
board appeared to feel, as well as know, that the day was
sacred to its Maker; and when I viewed the neatness and
7




66


FAITH DEFINED BY A SAILOR.


order of everything, and witnessed the quiet and solemnity that prevailed, I could almost fancy that I saw "HOLINESS TO THE LORD " inscribed on the clouds of canvass
spread to the breeze. Our public services were delightful;
and what Christian would not have felt them to be so, when
the bright tear of rapture might be seen starting in the
eyes of some, and that of sorrow trembling in those of
others; both of whom, till of late, " cared for none of these
things."
R —    is one of the happiest of creatures. All lie says
is worth twice its real value, from th a manner in which it
-is communicated. He, last night, related to me a conversation he had with C —  a few days since. C-     came
to him, with a spirit greatly troubled, and wished to know;in what manner he had obtained the light and liberty he
appeared to enjoy, adding, " I believe the bible to be true,
and every word of it to be from God. I know that I can;be saved only by redemption of Jesus Christ. I feel my
misery as a sinner, I believe everything, but how am I to
Jbelieve so as to be saved? I want faith, and how am I to get,it? " R -   told him it was just so with himself once: " I
did not know what faith was, or how to obtain it; but I
know now what it is, and believe I possess it. But I do not
know that I can tell you what it is, or how to get it. I can
tell you what it is not: it is not knocking off swearing, and
drinking, and such like; and it is not reading the bible,
nor praying, nor being good; it is none of these; for, even
if they would answer for the time to come, there is the old
score still, and how are you to get clear of that? It is not
anything you have done or can do; it is only believing,
and trusting to what Christ has done; it is forsaking your
sins, and looking for their pardon and the salvation of your
-soul, because he died and shed his blood for sin; and it is
nothing else." A doctor of divinity might have given poor
C —    a more technical and polished answer, but not one
more simple or, probably, satisfactory.
Tuesday, April 8. N. lat. 3 deg., W. long. 115 deg.
We have bidden adieu to the southern hemisphere, most
probably forever. We recrossed the equator on the night
of Saturday, 5th instant - three months, to an hour, after:having passed it in the Atlantic.




MONTHLY CONCERT.


67


The last evening was devoted to the observance of the
monthly meeting for prayer, a service not expected to recur
again till we shall have left the Thames. It was an exceedingly interesting hour.  While the burden of our
petitions, in unison with the appointment, was, "Thy kingdom come! " the objects, and the end, of the missionary
cause rose with all their moral sublimity on our view and
caused us to sing with delighted animation the fine hymn,
" Glorious things of thee are spoken,
Zion, city of our God!"
A set of verses composed by Kristnu, the first Hindoo
convert at Serampore, also formed a part of the exercises,
and while we chanted its simple stanzas, we could not but
hope that similar knowledge and piety might yet characterize the productions of some who, through our instrumentality, should be turned, like him, from " darkness to
light, and from the power of satan unto God."
Every association connected with the peculiar services
of this day, consecrated as it is by those who look for the
salvation of the world, must produce a happy influence on
the heart believing that " the fervent effectual prayer of the
righteous man availeth much;" especially on that of the
missionary, who, however unknown, however solitary and
destitute, still feels that he is included among the scattered
bands for whose special blessing the followers of Christ,
unitedly, thus
" Bend the knee and lift the hand in prayer."
We were joined in this worship by all the officers and
crew off duty, some of whom, we trust, have found access
by the same spirit to our common Father and God. It
was with no ordinary feelings of gratitude that we beheld
so many of these rough but interesting men uniting with
us, not only by an external attendance, but, as we believe,
with the warm affections of the heart. Often during the
evening I saw tears of joy glistening in the bright eyes of
R —, and could readily imagine the language of his soul
to be, " If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand
forget her cunning; if I prefer not thee to my chief joy."
Friday, April 11. N. lat. 8 deg. 30 min. W. Ion. 134




68


HAWAII IN SIGHT.


deg. This date has been marked, my dear M —, by an
incident which will invest it, to those most nearly allied to
us, with a deeper interest than any other I have yet recorded: the birth of a son to our dear H-. The captain determined that the young stranger should be by birth,
as fully as possible, an American, and master C —  first
saw the light under the proud wavings of our national
banner.
April 15. About the period of the last date we entered the north-east trade winds, and ever since have been
rushing onward before their freshness at the rate of more
than two hundred miles a day. Should we continue to be
thus prospered, we shall in a very short time make the
land of our long expectation.
Thursday, April 24. It is even so -the island of Hawaii is before us. For two or three days past we have
had many indications of being in the vicinity of land.
Several times, yesterday, we imagined we could trace the
outlines of a mountainous coast, but were as often deceived by the heaping of clouds only on the horizon. During
most of this morning we were subject to the same illusions. The fixedness, however, of clouds and mist directly before us seemed to indicate the attraction of high
land; and, at three o'clock this afternoon, as this thickness
began to rise from the face of the ocean, the broad base of
Hawaii, shrouded in Egyptian darkness, came peering
through the gloom. The reality was too certain to admit
of a question, and was accompanied by sensations never
known before.
In my own heart, with the joy there was a mingling of
pain: the signal was given, as it were, for separation from
those in whom I had become deeply interested, and many
of whom are in a state the issue of which may be deeply
connected with destinies of eternity. The first tumult of
feeling was quickly succeeded by something that insensibly led to solemnity and silence. Several of the crew
were seen to brush an unbidden tear from their eyes; and
from one, as he turned away after a first gaze and hastened below, I overheard the exclamation, " Land indeed it is
- and the last and saddest sight I wish to see! "
As the evening approached, the overshadowing mist and




HAWAII.


69


vapor slowly rose higher and higher, disclosing first the
cultivated lands along the shore, some fifteen or twenty
miles distant, and then woodland regions above, with here
andl here a projecting cascade. As the scene increased in
interest and beauty, the language of our hearts was, " Hail
and welcome!" And, after tea, becoming grouped along
the gunwale of the ship next the land, we almost insensibly joined in singing the appropriate hymn,
"O'er the gloomy hills of darkness,
Look, my soul, be still, and gaze."
We had scarce finished the first line, before we were en-.
circled by officers and crew, with a seriousness that bespoke
a participation in the sentiments on which we were dwelling. Some of their bosoms throbbed, I doubt not, with
affections known only to the pious mind. The last rays
of a glorious sun were gleaming from the west, and a fullorbed moon rising upon us in the east; before which, the
haziness on the land suddenly gave way, without leaving
a trace of the gloom which an hour before had overshadowed the whole island, except a light drapery of clouds
on the highest point of the mountains. The change was
too sudden and too remarkable not to be noticed; and we
could not but hope and pray, that the greater spiritual gloom
which we knew filled the land, might as speedily flee away
before the mild light of the Gospel of Salvation.
CHAPTER        V.
ARRIVAL AT HAWAII.
Friday, April 25. The appearance of Hawaii, thi's
morning, was exceedingly beautiful. We were within a
few miles of the shore; and the whole of the eastern and
northern parts of the island were distinctly in view, with
an atmosphere perfectly clear, and a sky glowing with the
freshness and splendor of sunrise. When I first went
on deck, the grey-of the morning still lingered on the lowlands, imparting to them a grave and sombre shade, while
7*




70


A CANOE.


the region behind, rising into broader light, presented its
precipices and forests in all their boldness and verdure.
Over the still loftier heights, one broad mantle of purple
was thrown; above which, the icy cliffs of MOUNA-KEA, at
an elevation of some 16,000 feet, blazed like fire, from the
strong reflection of the sun-beams, striking them long before they reached us on the waters below. As the morning advanced, plantations, villages, and scattered huts,
were distinctly seen along the shore; and columns of white
smoke began to rise here and there from the early fires of
the inhabitants.
At nine o'clock, the breeze being light, a boat was sent
off from the Thames for refreshments. Not long afterwards the deck of our ship echoed with the cry, "A canoe
-a canoe!" and one of the rude barks of the natives
was seen rapidly approaching us. Every eye was instantly fixed on it with intense observation; and I hastened to
assist H  --  from her state-room to the cabin windows, to
view the uncultivated beings with whom we are to spend
our lives. A first sight of these degraded creatures was almost overwhelming: their naked figures, wild expression of
countenance, their black hair streaming in the wind as they
hurried the canoe over the water with all the eager action
and muscular power of savages, their rapid and unintelligible exclamations, and whole exhibition of uncivilized nature, gave to them the appearance of being half-man and
half-beast, and irresistibly pressed on the thoughts the query
— " Can they be men — can they be women? —do they not
form a link in creation, connecting man with the brute? "
This indeed seemed to be the general impression; and the
officer heading the boat sent to the shore, on his return, exclaimed as he ascended the deck, " Well! if I never before
saw brutes in the shape of men, I have seen them this
morning! " and addressing himself to some of our company, added, " You can never live among such a people as
this, we shall be obliged to take you back with us! "
Other canoes soon arrived, and many gathered round us
to gratify their curiosity, and dispose of fish, water-melons,
bananas, sugar-cane, and sweet potatoes. They remained
an hour or two, and notwithstanding our first impressions,
greatly commended themselves to us by their artlessness




PASS MAUI, LANAI AND MOLOKAI.


71


and simplicity, and an apparent sprightliness and intelligence of mind. They seemed rejoiced to know that more
missionaries had arrived, and on hearing it, addressed one
another with great animation, exclaiming, " Mikanelemai/cai, maikai - nui, nui maikai."  "Missionary - good,
good -very, very good."   They informed us that the
missionaries at the islands were all well, and were with
the king and chiefs at Oahu.
- At twelve o'clock we entered the channel between Maui
and Hawaii, and ran close along the north shore of this last
island. Everything here exhibited great poverty. The
mountains were covered with clouds, and not a tree or
shrub was to be seen. The whole surface of the country
was spread with dark rocks; and the little grass perceptible was scorched and sun-burnt. The huts seen scattered
along the beach, looked more like the sties and kennels of
pigs and dogs, than the abodes of men: and the whole appeared something like the Hawaii I had pictured to my
mind's eye, when I first seriously thought of devoting myself to the missionary work in these islands. Yet the
sight made me almost draw back from a home so barren
and so miserable.
In the evening, Hawaii and Mouna-kea again at a distance
affored another of the sublimest of prospects, while the
setting sun and rising moon combined in producing the
finest effects on sea or land. The mountains were once
more unclouded, and with a glass we could clearly discern
immense bodies of ice and snow on their summits.
Saturday, April 26. We sailed rapidly during most of
the night, and had the prospect of reaching Oahu early
this morning; but a fine wind left us and we are now slowly advancing along the western sides of Maui, Lanai and
Molokai, with the promontories of Oahu still far before us.
All the islands in sight have a mountainous and rocky appearance, not very interesting at a distance, except from
the wild and romantic outlines which distinguish some of
their number.
Hawaii rises on every side from its broad base in gradual and unbroken ascent, till, like a patriarch, it overlooks
the. whole cluster to which it gives name. The only irregularity in its outline is occasioned by three wide-spread



72


MAKE THE ISLAND OF OAHU.


ing pyramids or cones, forming the summits of the same
number of mountains: Mounakea on the east, Mounaloa on
the south, and Mouna-Hualalai on the west. The height
of Mounakea is estimated at 16,000 feet, that of Mounaloa
at 14,000, and that of Hualalai at 10,000 feet above the
level of the ocean.
The eastern peninsula of Maui forms one unbroken
mass, rising 10,000 feet high: but the western end is divided into separate mountains; and though not so lofty as
the eastern promontory, is thus in its outline much more
romantic and beautiful.  We have particularly admired
three lofty peaks near this extremity of the island, which
the natives on board say are immediately behind Lahaina,
one of the most fertile and beautiful districts in the group,
and the proposed site of a new missionary station.
Kahulawe is a mass of uninteresting and barren rock,
at an elevation of a few hundred feet only, above the sea.
Lanai is five or six thousand feet high, and so regular in
its contour that it might be described by a segment of a
circle; while Molokai, immediately north of it, like the
west end of Maui, is broken into lofty peaks and spurs of
mountain, jutting boldly into the sea, and imparting to the
island an appearance of great wildness and sublimity.
At anchor, off the harbor of Honolulu, Monday, April
28. At twelve o'clock on Saturday night, by the light of
a full moon, we made the south-east end of Oahu, five
miles distant. Nothing can surpass the wild beauty of the
promontories forming the headlands of this part of the island; and I was detained on deck for several hours, gazing
at them with delight, as the ship lay off and on, waiting
the approach of day.
At sunrise, we were close under Diamond hill, a principal point on the south side of the island. It is the crater
of an extinguished volcano, the bare shell of a decapitated
mountain, whose bowels have been exhausted by fire.  It
is of a circular form, many miles in circumference; and
rises almost perpendicularly several hundred feet. Its
sides everywhere look like seared walls; and are fluted
and furrowed from top to bottom by the washings of watercourses, as if by artificial workmanship. They are also
surmounted in many places by a kind of moulding, of




ANCHOR OFF THE PORT HONOLULU.


73


equally singular formation; and again by blocks and piles
of jagged lava, having in their elevation the appearance of
the parapets and battlements of a dilapidated castle. A
more unique object of the kind can scarce be imagined.
Immediately on rounding this point, the whole of the
south side of Oahu burst on the eye in beautiful panoramic
view; presenting, first the bay of Waikiki, encircled by
heavy groves of the cocoanut and other luxuriant trees,
then an extensive and perfectly level plain, stretching four
or five miles along the shore and a mile or two inland.
A variety of hills skirt the sides of this rising, first in gentle undulations, and then more abruptly, till they run off
in lofty and pointed ridges to a range of mountains dividing the island in the direction of the coast, and crowning
its centre with two or three elevated peaks. Some of
these hills near the plain are covered only with a smooth
greensward, gleaming in the brightness of the morning
with all the softness and richness of velvet; others are
sprinkled here and there with single trees and clumps of'
various-colored foliage, from the darkest green to that
which seems almost white; and all, as they rise to the
mountains, become clothed with a rich woodland verdure.
At the farther end.of this plain, three or four miles distant, lay the town of Honolulu: to which a fort. with its
floating banner, the American consulate, the mission
house, and a cluster of masts in the harbor, gave something of an aspect of civilization. Directly inland from
the town, at the foot of the mountains, another old crater
was distinguished, planted with a battery of guns, from
which also the flag of the nation was waving. Beyond
Honolulu to the west, lay a wide extent of open country,
apparently under good cultivation; and terminated, at a
distance of ten or fifteen miles, by a noble chain of mountains, the middle of which is marked by a fine stretch of
table land.
At eight o'clock we cast anchor in the open roads, within a mile of the shore and town; and I took a moment for
more minute observation;  There was much of natural
beauty before us. All was in a glow of brightness; but
there was a want of life and elasticity that forced itself at
once on the notice: a stillness - not the stillness of the




74


VISIT THE SHORE.


Sabbath, though it was the day of God -but the stillness
of a torrid clime, whose enervating and depressing temperature was plainly to be seen in the strong vibrations of a
heated air. While I gazed on the thickly crowded huts
of the natives, seeming so many sunburnt ricks of hay,
and saw with a glass their naked inhabitants, lounging
about in listless inactivity, I felt that I had reached a
strange land —a land far different from that in which were
the habitations of my fathers, and where till now had been
my home.
At nine o'clock, Mr. Bishop, Mr. Richards, and myself,
with the natives William Kamahoula and Richard Kalaioula, accompanied the captain on shore. We rowed half
a mile along the coral reef by which the coast is here
bound, and on which the surf breaks some hundred rods
from the beach, before coming to the narrow opening forming the channel into the harbor. The entrance is short;
and we were soon in the midst of ten or fifteen ships,
principally American and English whalemen, and some
five or six of the native vessels, brigs and schooners, all
anchored near to the beach, and some at moorings on the
shore.
The bay is small, not more than half a mile long and a
quarter broad, but deep and perfectly safe. Its wtestern
side is lined by marshes and fish ponds, stretching northward till they meet a small river at the head of the harbor,
by which the congregated waters from the mountains are
poured into the sea. The town of Honolulu lies on a
point, formed by the eastern side of this river and the curvature of the beach as it sweeps again towards the ocean,
and presents to the view, first the establishment of Mr.
Marini, a Spanish settler, consisting of a stone dwelling
stuccoed and whitewashed, with other buildings of similar
construction, enclosed by a wall of coral and mud; then
the residence of the American consul, a wooden house
two stories high with covered verandahs and venetian
blinds; several mud store-houses; a small building of wood
belonging to the chiefs, and the fort of mud, covering an
acre or two of ground, furnished at an elevation of ten
or twelve feet with embrasures, and surmounted by small
guns. Immediately behind these, thickly crowded and ir



QUEEN KAMEHAMALU.


75


regularly built huts of mud and grass, the habitations of a
population of five thousand natives, are seen in a straggling grove of cocoanut trees; and beyond, the beautiful
and richly cultivated vallies of the interior enclosed by
mountains of great height and wildness.
Perceiving a low stone quay on a point under the fort,
and near a cluster of native buildings, we were about to
land on it, when a party of islanders exclaimed, t" kabu!
kabu! " and informed our interpreters, William and Richard, that the largest of the houses was the residence of the
king; and he had prohibited any one from landing at that
place. William replied," New missionaries have arrived,"
when they ran to the palace; and a fine looking young
feamale, in a European dress of pink satin, with a wreath
of yellow feathers on her head, made her appearance. It
was Kameha-malu, the favorite queen of Liholiho. She
expressed her regret that the quay was kabu; and politely
requested us to row to a spot on the beach nearer the
town, to which she pointed, and where she would meet us.
By this time she was joined by a gentleman whom we
afterwards found to be Mr. Jones, the American consul;
and taking his arm, they proceeded together to the place
appointed. On landing, we were introduced to her Hawaiian majesty by this gentleman. She received us very
cordially; and after bidding us welcome to the islands,
consigned us to the care of Mr. Jones, and returned to the
point. The queen appears about twenty or twenty-two
years of age; and though well formed, is tall and masculine in figure. Her countenance is open and intelligent,
with fine black eyes and hair; but her features are too
broad and flat for beauty; and her complexion that of a
dark mulatto, the general color of the islanders.
The news of our arrival soon reached our missionary
friends; and after waiting a few minutes at the consulate,
we had the happiness of receiving the warm salutations of
Mr. Loomis, and the Rev. Mr. Ellis, an English missionary, under the patronage of the London Missionary Society. Mr. Ellis has been many years at the Society islands, and is but recently established at this group. His
experience in missionary labor, and his acquaintance with




76         WORSHIP AT THE MISSION CHAPEL.


the dialects of the South Seas, make him a most valuable
accession to the mission here.
Thronged by a crowd of chattering and noisy natives,
who expressed their pleasure at our arrival, by hooting and
dancing, and running along our path, we proceeded immediately with these gentlemen to the mission-houses, situated on the plain, half a mile from the village: here we
were introduced to the rest of the family, consisting of the
Rev. Mr. Thurston and Mrs. Thurston, Mrs. Bingham,
Mrs. Ellis, and Mrs. Loomis. Mr. Bingham was absent
at Waikiki, three miles distant, attending religious service
with a large party of chiefs, at a temporary residence at
that place.
At eleven o'clock, Mr. Thurston preached in English at
the mission chapel, to an audience of about one hundred
foreigners —sixty of whom were captains, officers, and
seamen, from the ships in port. The hour could not be
otherwise than deeply interesting to us: the chapel in
which we worshipped was the first ever erected on the ruins of idolatry in this land; and though of the simplest
and rudest construction, being entirely in the native style,
it was on this account beautiful and lovely in our eyes.
We had completed a long voyage, and were permitted to
tread the shores of our destination under circumstances of
peculiar mercy; and now bad the privilege of paying our
vows of gratitude to God from one of his peaceful temples, though in the humblest form. I can never forget the
excitement with which I entered its lowly roof, trod the
matted ground, its only floor, and looked at its unbarked
posts and rafters, and coarse thatch of grass: primitive as
everything appeared, I felt that it was a house of God, and
one of the happy gates of Heaven.
On returning to the mission house, we had the pleasure
of meeting the Rev. Mr. Bingham. The report of our arrival had reached Waikiki, and one of the queens of Liholiho had been sent with him as a messenger from the
chiefs there, to request a visit from us at their afternoon
worship; and after dinner, we accordingly proceeded to
that place.
The queen, in a dress of white cambric, rode in a light
wagon, drawn by a troop of natives, who hurried it along




VISIT THE CHIEFS AT WAIKIKI.


77


with great rapidity; and was followed by a train of attendants, one with a spit-box, another with an umbrella,
some with fans of cocoanut leaf, &c. &c. Among the rest,
one bore two feathered staffs, six or eight feet in length,
with handles of ivory and tortoise-shell; these were carried as badges of rank. We ourselves made the excursion on foot; first over the large open plain to the east,
which is entirely without trees or cultivation; and then
through successive groves of the cocoanut and plantations
of the banana. We found the chiefs encamped in slight
bamboo bowers, under a grove of cocoanuts by the seaside, and near the bay of Waikiki.
The party consisted of Keopuolani, the queen dowager,
and mother of the present king; the prince Kauikeaouli,
her son, a lad nine or ten years of age; the princess Nahienaena, his sister, two years younger; Kaahumanu, the
favorite queen of Kamehameha, and her present husband,
Kaumualii, king of Kauai and Nihau; his son Kealiiahonui; and Kalaimroku, or Mr. Pitt, as he is usually called,
prime minister both to the former and present king, with
two or three hundred of their favorite attendants and followers. The chiefs were all under one lanai, or rude
bower, the floor being spread with several thicknesses of
mats, on which some were seated, a la turc; others lounging, and some lying down, with their heads resting on
round pillows of silk velvet, damask, and morocco. Behind, or near each one, a servant sat or kneeled, fanning
his master or mistress with a fan made of the leaves of
the cocoanut, and holding in the other a small round bowl
of dark polished wood, filled with the leaves of an aromatic vine for a spittoon. Another servant sat or stood near
each chief with a kahile or feathered staff, which he constantly waved, to keep off the flies. They were all dressed
in European costume, and each had a small spellingbook and slate on his mat with him. They greeted us
with much kindness of expression and manner; and seemed interested in the improvements they are making, and in
the religious services of the day. They wrote their own
names on their slates, for us to read, and secure the right
pronunciation; and requested us to leave ours with them,
for the same purpose. They repeatedly shook hands with
8




78


THE THAMES ENTERS PORT.


us, reiterating their joy at our arrival, saying, they were
glad too, that we had come on the la kabu, the Sabbathday; appearing to view this circumstance as a propitious
omen.
The servants, and rest of the common people, were all
in the native dress. That of the men consists of a mna^o
or girdle, eight inches or a foot in width, and nine or ten
feet long, twisted round the loins; and a kihei or rnantle,
usually about six feet square. This article is worn by tying two corners of the same side together, and then pass-,ing the head and one of the arms through the opening
thus made: leaving one arm and shoulder bare, with the
knot resting on the top of the other, and the folds of the
kihei hanging down to the knee, both before and behind.
The drapery thus formed, is graceful, and not unlike the,toga of the Romans. The female dress consists of a pau,
a roll of cloth, several yards in length, and one in width,
worn in the manner of a petticoat, by wrapping it round
the figure from the hips to the knee; and of a kihei also,
*usually of a larger size than that of the men, and worn as
a long shawl, over both shoulders, or over one only. The
full costume of malo, or pau, and kihei, forms a becoming,
-and, in some degree, modest dress; but the kihei is seldom
used, except in the cool of the mornings and the evenings;
and as generally seen, without it, the exposure in both sex-es is disgusting.
At sunset we returned to the ship, much gratified with
our trip on shore. We again passed the palace without
seeing Liholiho: and I am sorry to state the reason,*he was intoxicated, in which condition he has been four or,five days, since an annual feast in commemoration of the
death of his father, and of his own accession to the throne.
Harbor of Honolulu, Tuesday, April 29. The Thames
*was towed into the harbor this morning at sunrise, by twenty well-manned whaleboats; and was brought to anchor.opposite the establishment of the king, within a stone's
throw of the fort. Our companions disembarked almost
immediately, and took possession of native houses, prepared
for themr in the missionary enclosure. It is thought most,prudent for H —, to defer removing to a grass hut as
long as possible, and captain Clasby having kindly insisted




PRESENTATION TO THE GOVERNMENT.


79


on our retaining our accommodations with him, we shall
remain on board the Thames till she is ready to proceed
on her voyage to the coast of Japan.
It was signified early after our entrance into the harbor
to-day, that some of our number would be expected by the
king to wait upon him soon at his residence. Four or five
of the gentlemen, including myself, therefore landed immediately; and were introduced to his majesty and most
of his court. Liholiho was much indisposed, being just
on the recovery from his late debauch. He was stretched
on a couch of silk velvet, and naked, except a strip of
chintz thrown loosely round his waist. Several servants
were fanning him, and one of his queens giving him a cup
of tea. He looked exceedingly stupid; and so much the
worse for his excess, as to be a brutish object, as he tossed
his arms and legs about in all the restlessness of a fit of
nausea. He was too ill to do more than signify his pleasure
at our arrival; and to request the whole company to call~
upon him and the rest of the chiefs, on their way from the
ship to the mission house.
Accordingly, at eleven o'clock, we all went on shore for
the purpose of a formal presentation to the government.
The palace stands on a stone quay, within a few feet of the
water. It is a large and fine house for one of the kind;
perhaps fifty feet long, thirty broad, eight feet high at the
sides, and thirty at the peak of the roof. The exterior is
entirely composed of a thatch of grass; and in its whole
appearance is strikingly like the Dutch barns seen in many parts of our country. There are two large doors, one
at each end, and several windows without glass, but furnished with Venetian shutters, on each side of the house.
This is the only native building in which I have observed
windows. The interior, making one apartment only, is
neat, well finished, and elegant for the Sandwich islands.
All the timbers, the side posts, a row of pillars supporting
the ridge-pole through the whole length of the house, and
the rafters, are straight and substantial, and all beautifully
hewn. The cinet or braid&'~  ed from the shreds of the
husk of the cocoanut, by whifh the whole are fastened together, exhibits boths kill and taste in its manufacture and
arrangement. The furniture is rich, consisting, besides




80


QUEEN KAMEHAMALU.


handsome mats with which the ground is everywhere covered, of three or four large chandeliers of cut glass suspended between the pillars running through the centre of
the building, of mahogany dining and pier tables, crimson
Chinese sofas and chairs, several large pier glasses and
mirrors, some tolerable engravings, principally of naval
engagements and battles in Europe, likenesses of distinguished persons, &c., and two full-length paintings of Liholiho, taken by an artist attached to the Russian squadron of discovery under the command of commodore Vaseclieff, which not long ago visited this group.
The king was much in the same state as when I saw
him after breakfast. Most of the other chiefs, all the
principal personages of the kingdom, including the party
from Waikiki, having assembled, made a highly respectable appearance; especially the favorite queen Kamehama]u. She was seated on a sofa, at the middle of a long table covered with a superb cloth, having a writing-desk
open before her, and a native secretary at each end of the
table, recording the names and taxes of the inhabitants of
a.district who were paying tribute. These were entering
in single file; and, passing along the table on the side opposite the queen, they deposited their dollars before her,
and left the house at another door. Every twenty or thirty of them were preceded and followed by a couple of the
king's body-guard, armed with muskets and in a kind of
uniform. The only dress of Kamehamalu was a loose
pink slip. She left her writing-desk on the entrance of
the missionaries, but immediately after receiving them, resumed her seat, excusing herself from farther attentions on
account of the public business in which she was engaged.
Her manners are dignified and graceful; and her whole
appearance that of a well-bred woman, having an unaffected expression of conscious and acknowledged rank.
She is a woman of business, and appeared well versed in
that before her. She has ordered a roll-book to be opened,
in which the names, residence and tax of all the nation
are to be registered, and it lite superintendence of this
that so much occupied her a  ion.
Kaahumanu is one of the most powerful of the female
chiefs, and attracted particular obervation. She joined
< ',f;~;- M




KING KAUMUALII.


81


the company after our arrival, and entered the house with
much of real majesty in her step and manner. She was
dressed in the native female costume. The pau or under
garment consisted of about twenty yards of rich yellow
saiji, arranged in loose and graceful folds, with a full end
hanging negligently in front; the upper robe was of purple satin, in as profuse a quantity. It was cast over one
arm and shoulder only, leaving the other exposed, and
flowed in its richness far on the ground behind her. Her
hair was neatly put up with combs, and ornamented by a
double coronet of the exquisite feathers so often mentioned
in accounts of these islands; colors bright yellow, crimson
and bluish green. She appears to be between forty and
fifty years of age, is large and portly, still bears marks of
the beauty for which she has been celebrated, but has an
expression of greater sternness and hauteur than any other
islander I have yet seen.
The young princess Nahienaena came, seated on the
left shoulder of a stout man, her feet resting on his arms,
folded for this purpose across his chest, and having her
right arm round his head and forehead. This is the way
in which she is usually carried; and is always followed
by a train of twenty or thirty boys and girls, principally of
her own age. Her dress, like most of the others, was in
the European fashion; and of black satin trimmed with;
broad gold-lace, with black satin hat and feathers. She is
a pretty and well-behaved child, not as an Indian, but according to our own ideas of the characteristics of childhood. The prince was also present in a round coat and
pantaloons, of black silk velvet. They have both learned
to read and write, and are among the most attentive and
docile pupils of the mission.
My mind had been strongly prepossessed in favor of
Kaumualii, king of Kauai, before I left America. The
sending of his son George to the United States to be
educated at the early period he did, spoke well for his
intelligence and foresight. The deeply affecting interview,
described in the journal of t e missionaries, which took
place between them on the return of the son, after a protracted absence of fifteen years, and when the father had
long thought him dead;. the warm reception given by Kau8*




82


LIHOLIHO S EXCURSION TO KAURI.


mualii to the missionaries themselves; the active part he
took in the establishment of two of them in his own island;
and the liberality, uniform kindness, and patronage extended to them afterwards, - had exceedingly interested me.
A knowledge of later events connected with his history,
has excited a still deeper interest for this distinguished
chieftain.
Kaumualii, though an acknowledged tributary prince to
Kamehameha, virtually remained the undisturbed sovereign of Kauai and Nihau, paying only a yearly tax, of his
own levying, to the supreme king. Liholiho, on the death
of Kamehameha, felt some uneasiness lest Kaumualii
should throw off his allegiance; and the apprehension was
still farther excited by the receipt of a letter from George
Tamoree, shortly after his return from America, addressed
to him as " king of the windward islands ": a limitation
of title by no means pleasing to his majesty, the sovereign
of the group. With characteristic promptness and enterprise, he immediately determined to visit the "leeward
part of his dominions; " and made the voyage to Kauai
under the following circumstances of singular boldness and
intrepidity.
Proposing an excursion to Pearl river, a favorite fishingplace on Oahu, twelve or fifteen miles west of Honolulu,
he sat off with a party of high chiefs in an open sail-boat,
for this destination. On reaching the mouth of the river,
however, finding the wind fair for Kauai, or its supposed
situation - he had never visited or seen the island - he
refused to land, and avowed the determination to bear
away for the leeward group.
Against this the chiefs all strongly remonstrated, urging
as decisive objections, the width of the channel, near a
hundred miles, its roughness in a fresh wind, the danger
of attempting the voyage in an open and crowded boat,
without provisions or water, the uncertainty of being able
to fetch an island entirely beyond sight, and the smallness
of their number in case Kaumualii should prove hostile.
But fearless himself, equally of the elements and the
prince, contrary to all their wishes and expostulations, he
bade the helmsman put the frail bark before the wind; and
spreading one of his hands, with the fingers widely ex



KING KAUMUALII.


tended upon the gunwale, laughingly said, "There is your
compass - head her by this point! " touching the finger he
believed to be in a line with the destined course!
Almost immediately, the boat was twice nearly capsized
and filled by the breaking seas; and with one voice the
chiefs exclaimed, " We must go back! " —but firm to his
purpose, the king replied, "No! bail out the water and
sail on; if you return with the boat, I will jump overboard
and swim to Kauai! " They therefore reluctantly obeyed,
and began with their calabashes to free the boat from water, a labor they were required constantly to renew, as they
were hurried to the midst of the channel. Fortunately,
just before night, they descried the island far to the leeward: of them, and veering their course, before daybreak
next morning, made a successful but hazardous landing.
The spirit manifested by Kaumualii on the occasion, was
entirely amicable. As soon as apprised of the arrival of
Liholiho, he went forth to meet him with cordial salutations of friendship, resigned his best houses for his accommodation, and immediately despatched a brig and schooner
to the seat of government, at Oahu, to make known the
safety of the king, and the place where the residue of his
suite and household might join him.
At an early period the two kings, surrounded by their
respective chieftains, were found engaged in the important
topic of the sovereignty of Kauai and its dependencies:
a point which, for the time, led to an exhibition of Roman
magnanimity on the part of both.
The moment the subject was introduced, Kaumualii,
with evident emotion, turned to Liholiho, and said, —
" King Liholiho, hear! - while your father, Kamehameha,
lived, I acknowledged him to be my king. He is now
dead: you are his rightful successor, and you are my king!
I have abundance of muskets and ammunition, and many
subjects at my command; these, with the vessels I have
bought, with my fort and its guns, and with my islands,
are yours. All are yours. Do with them as you please;
and make what chief you choose governor here!" a deep
silence followed this full surrender of power, and all awaited with solicitude the reply of the young monarch. In a
few moments, with a kind and generous smile, he said,




KING KAUTUALII.


"Kaumualii, I have not come to take from you your island.
I wish not to place any one over it: keep it yourself; take
care of it as you have done; and do with your vessels and
all your possessions as you please!" a shout of joyful approbation from all parties followed; and Kaumualii retired
from the circle with a smile of contentment and peace.
It seems, however, that there was a want of sincerity on
the part of Liholiho, in this apparently ingenuous contest
of princely disinterestedness; or at least circumstances afterwards induced him to change his views of the subject.
For, after being entertained for several weeks by Kaumualii with great kindness and hospitality,* Liholiho invited
him, on the arrival, from Oahu, of his favorite brig, the
Haaheo o Hawaii, or Pride of Hawaii- the splendid Cleopatra's Barge, formerly of Salem, Massachusetts -to go
on board of her for an hour or two one morning; and as
soon as they were well seated in the cabin, secretly gave
orders to have the anchor taken, and to bear away for
Oahu, thus making a captive of his royal guest! A principal chief in the party of Liholiho was left behind, to take
the government of Kauai; and Kaumualii, thus treacherously torn from his island and queen Kapuli, to whom he
was warmly attached, was compelled by the government,
on his arrival at Oahu, in order to throw a veil over the
real motives for this procedure, to marry the imperious
dowager Kaahumanu. In her chains, and I am told they
are far from being silken bonds, he is still securely held.
He has a fine figure, though not so large as most of his
fellow chiefs, with a noble Roman face, a style of feature
very uncommon among the islanders, and when he could
feel and exclaim, "I am monarch of all I survey! " must
have looked indeed like a king. But now the expression
of his countenance and his whole manner indicate a pensive and dispirited mind; he feels himself to be a prisoner
of state, and, though still called king of Kauai, knows that
he will never again enjoy the government of his favorite
island.
The dress of kings will be as interesting to you as that
*See a well written and interesting journal, by Rev. Mr. Bingham, in the August number of the Missionary Herald, for 1822.




KALAIMOKU.


85


of queens and princesses; and since Liholiho appeared
en savage, I will mention that of Kaumualii. It consisted
of a black silk velvet coat and pantaloons, buff kerseymere
waistcoat, white silk stockings, splendid gold watch, with
seals and rich ornaments, &c. &c.
Kalairnoku, or Mr. Pitt, the prime minister, is another
individual extensively known to the civilized world. He
is a man of very superior powers, and of great political
sagacity. From his youth he has held a pre-eminent rank
in the nation, both as a counsellor and a warrior. He,
too, is a fine looking man, apparently between fifty and
sixty years of age; and was dressed in a suit of lead-colored silk camlet, with white Marseilles waistcoat and white
stockings.
He has been notorious for his dissipation, especially for
intemperance in drinking; and when intoxicated he was
often guilty of the most wanton outrages of various character. Happily, through the instruction and persuasion of
the missionaries, he has of late entirely abandoned this
habit: it is now many months since he was known to be
in a state of inebriation. He avows his belief in Jehovah
as the only true God; and uses all his influence, as an
officer of the government, in favor of the external observances of Christianity. By his personal example, also, he
supports the missionaries in their efforts to secure the moral reformations they are anxious to achieve.
He is fond of jesting, and at times is very playful in his
conversation. Not long since, accompanied by one of his
most intimate friends, he took tea with Mr. Ellis. After
partaking to their satisfaction of this beverage, they both
turned their cups upside down, and placed the spoons
across them. Mr. Ellis asked the reason for this. Kalaimoku answered, "It is so with the foreigners, when they
wish no more; " to which Mr. Ellis replied, "Perhaps with
sailors in the forecastle it is, but gentlemen merely leave
the spoons in the empty cups."  A few evenings after, the
same two chiefs were at Mr. Ellis's tea-table again.
When Kalaimoku had finished, he was careful to leave his
spoon and cup in the manner Mr. Ellis had mentioned, as
customary in good society; but his more negligent friend,
forgetting the previous conversation, arranged his as in




86


VISIT FROM THE KING.


the former instance; on which, Kalaimoku laughingly said
to Mr. Ellis, "You see that fellow still belongs to the forecastle, - he has turned his cup up again! "
There were many other high chiefs present: Boki,
governor of Oahu, the brother of Pitt, and Liliha his wife;
Naihe, the national orator, or hereditary speaker in the
councils of the chiefs; Kaikioewa, the guardian of the
young prince, with Kapiolani and Keaweamahi their wives;
Hoapili, the husband of Keopuolani, and step-father of the
king; Naihi Kukui, or captain Jack, as he is familiarly
called, the commander of the native fleet; with many other
inferior chiefs of both sexes.
We remained more than an hour, during which our public papers were presented, our commission from the Misrionary Society, instructions, and certificates of American
citizenship; each one of us then made some present of
trifling value, such as a silver pencil-case, &c. &c. to different individuals in the group; and took our leave, satisfied with our reception, and the general kindness manifested towards us.
Friday, May 2. We have to-day been favored with a
visit from his majesty. At one o'clock, Kehikili, a chief
of rank, and a punahele or intimate companion of the king,
came on board the Thames, to apprise us of the intended
honor. About two hours afterwards, Liholiho, and Kinau
one of his queens, a sister of Kameha-malu, and Kalaimoku, with a crowd of attendants, made their appearance on
the stone quay. The boats of our ship were immediately
lowered, and brought them on board under flying colors
and a salute. I could scarce believe the king to be the
same man whom, as the intoxicated Indian, I had seen
with disgust three days before. He was perfectly sober.
and in fine health and spirits. There is nothing particularly striking in his countenance, but his figure is noble,
perhaps more so than that of any other chief; his manners
polite and easy, and his whole deportment that of a gentleman. Both himself and minister were drest in full suits
of handsome broadcloth of navy blue, well fitted, and fashionably made; with round beaver hats and Wellington
boots.. The party remained about two hours, and, after
partaking of some refreshments, left the ship under an



LETTER OF LIHOLIHO.


87


other salute. We have also had a visit from Mr. and Mrs.
Ellis, Mr. and Mrs. Bingham, and Mrs. Loomis.
May 3. The king has very handsomely expressed his
good will to the mission by refusing to take the customary
harbor fees from the commander of the Thames. Captain
Clasby has received the following letter from him on the
subject:
E. CAPT. CLASBY.
Aloha oe.    Eia kau wahi olelo ai oe. Maikai no
oe i kou haavi ana mai i ka kumu hou. Aole oe e uku i
ke ava- aole akahi.
Aloha ino oe.       LIHOLIHO IOLANI.
TO CAPTAIN CLASBY.
Love to you.   This is my communication to you.
You have done well in bringing hither the new teachers.
You shall pay nothing on account of the harbor-no,
nothing at all.       Grateful affection to you.
LIHOLIHO IOLANI.
He remitted the harbor-fees in like manner on the arrival of Mr. Ellis from the Society Islands; making a sum
of one hundred and sixty dollars, which, in the course of
three months, he has generously relinquished from a regard to the mission. lolani is a favorite name which he
often attaches to his common signature.
Monday, 5. The Sabbath was distinguished by the reception of the reinforcement into the mission church; by
the administration of the Lord's Supper; and by the baptism of our son. The hours for public worship with the
natives are ten o'clock in the morning, and four o'clock in
afternoon. Mr. Ellis preached in the native language in
the morning to a crowded congregation, including the king
and all the chiefs, from the text, " How beautiful upon the
mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings,
that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good,
that publisheth salvation!" At 11 o'clock, when the services mentioned above took place, Mr. Richards preached in
English to a large congregation, from the words, " The God




88


THE KING AND CHIEFS AT CHURCH.


of Heaven, he will prosper us, therefore we his servants will
ariseand build." The chapel was thronged with the chiefs
in rich dresses of silk, velvet, damask, satin, crape, &c.,
who seemed interested in the ceremonies, though scarce
any of them understood a word of English. There were
a large number of respectable looking foreigners also present -the whole audience making not less than four hundred- gathered to this humble temple by the sound of the
"church going bell," which, until within the last three
years,
"These valleys and rocks never heard.'
Liholiho attended all the services of the day. He was
still sober, and I can readily believe what is said of him to
be true when so - that he is one of the most interesting
characters in the nation.  He looked remarkably well,
and spent half an hour at the mission house before the
worship in the chapel began. In a suit of dove-colored
satin, with white satin waistcoat, silk stockings and pumps,
he appeared both in dress and manners the perfect gentleman. I have been led to notice the dress of the chiefs
more particularly than I might otherwise have, done, from
my surprise at finding such richness of material, such variety of changes in their wardrobes, and such taste in the
selection and arrangement of colors; I doubt not it will be
equally a surprise to our American friends.
Kameha-malu saw H —      and C —, for the first time
yesterday; she claimed C —   as her own son immediately, and would let no one take him from her arms during
the time she remained. She has been to see them on
board the Thames already this morning, and amused herself and us by writing and reading both in English and in
the Hawaiian tongue. She does not understand English,
but has learned to pronounce and read it with tolerable accuracy. She is fond of study; puts her knowledge of
writing to daily use, in sending notes and letters to the
different missionaries and such of the chiefs as have learned to write; and is very assiduous in her efforts to make
greater attainments than she has yet secured.
Mission house, Monday, May 12. Early this morning,
the ship so long our happy home, cleared the harbor, and




DEPARTURE OF THE THAMES.


89


bore away upon the open sea. We watched the receding
sail with sensations of deep feeling until she became a
speck in the horizon, and for myself, I may say, until that
speck wavered against the sky in the uncertainty of the distance, and was at last lost to my sight in the starting tear
of a farewell benediction.
We ourselves disembarked on Saturday, and became
the inmates of an Indian hut within the missionary enclosure. Our friends would probably think our situation
worthy of deep commiseration could they see us as we
are. Our house might easily be erected in the smallest
room in yours, my dear M, it being only fourteen
feet long and twelve broad, three feet high at the eaves,
and nine feet at the peak of the roof. It is composed of
poles and a thatch of grass, in the native manner, having
no floor, but the ground spread with mats; for windows
three holes are cut through the thatch, without sash or
glass; and a door, without bolt, lock, or bar. In this little
cabin, H    and myself, C-   and B —, with all our
personal luggage, are stowed. The trunks and boxes containing the latter are rather a convenience, however, than
an incumbrance; for with the exception of a bedstead
and a cot, they constitute the whole of our furniture, and
form our only tables and chairs, articles of which, in proprid forma, we have neither. Still I can assure you, we
are most truly contented, and feel ourselves even more
comfortably accommodated than we could have anticipated
on first landing in this heathen country; if light hearts
and bright faces are signs of happiness, we are not without good proof that with us there is, at present, a fulness
of that blessing.
Yesterday I preached my first sermon in these distant
islands, to a large and attentive audience; among whom
were most of the officers and crew of the Thames. Some
of those, of whose serious impressions on our voyage we
thought favorably, much to our sorrow have shewn, since
our arrival in port, that " the root of the matter " was not
in them.  Their goodness, "as a morning cloud, and as
the early dew," disappeared under the influence of temptation and the power of sin. Among the number, however,
there is one only in whose moral integrity we had placed
9




90


ESTABLISHMENT ON SHORE.


confidence. The rest, by their steadfastness in the midst
of a licentiousness that can scarce have a parallel, and
which is so universal in its influence as, almost without
an exception, to sweep into its deadly vortex visiters of all
ranks and of every age - have greatly rejoiced our hearts,
and encouraged us with fresh confidence to commend them
to the love of God and to the word of his grace, hopingthat ever after, as now, they will be kept from the evil that
is in the world, and eventually attain unto everlasting
life.
Before Captain Clasby took his leae, the passengers of
the Thames addressed a letter to himi and to his officers,
expressive of their gratitude for the unwearied kindness
and attention received from them during the voyage -a
mark of respect and good-will to which they were richly
entitled.
May 14. It has been determined in a full meeting of
the mission, that before occupying any new station an exploring expedition shall make a tour through the island of
Hawaii, visiting every place of importance, and bringing a
report to the mission at Oahu. The Rev. Mr. Ellis, Rev.
Mr. Thurston, Rev. Mr. Bishop, Mr. Goodrich, and myself, form the deputation appointed for this purpose. We
are to embark in the first vessel that sails for that island;
and as that may be in a day or two, with the information
of this appointment I will close the journal of my voyage
to the islands.
CHAPTER VI.
TEMPORARY RESIDENCE AT HONOLULU.
Mission house at Honolulu, May.15. A scene was acting at the time of our arrival to which I would for a moment revert: an annual feast in commemoration of the,death of Kamehameha, and of the accession of Liholiho to
the throne. My notice of it, however, must be principally
from  the statements of others-it having commenced




FEAST IN HONOR OF KAMEHAMEHA.


91


three days before the Thames reached Oahu, and though
it continued for a fortnight, the only day afterwards distinguished for much parade was one of special religious
observances at the mission house.
On the first day previous to our arrival, the king gave a
very large dinner, well served in a lanai, or bower, where
tables were laid for two hundred persons. The missionaries were invited; and Mr. and Mrs. Bingham, Mr. and
Mrs. Ellis, and Mr. Loomis, attended. The foreign residents of respectability, and the officers of the numerous
ships in port, were also of the party. All the natives present wore the European costume. Black had been given
out as the court dress, and every article of that hue in the
place, satin, silk, crape, velvet and cloth, was immediately
bought. Those who were not fortunate enough to secure
any of these, purchased pieces of black silk handkerchiefs
and had them made into dresses.
Kamehamalu, in satin and lace, sustained the part of
mistress of ceremonies. She personally saw that no one
of the company was in any degree neglected, and extended her kindness even to those who had no claim to special
civility. For instance, seeing a crowd of American sermen without the guard, who to the number of two hundred surrounded the bower, she immediately gave orders
to have refreshments served to them.
While at table, a procession of four hundred natives,
the inhabitants of eight districts of Oahu, passed before
the party and deposited a tax, in kind, at the feet of the
king. They were all dressed in white native cloth, and
made a handsome appearance as they marched in single
file; each district led by its headman, or overseer, carrying a large torch of the kukui, or oil nut; and all bearing
before them various articles, the produce of their plantations, neatly wrapped up and tastefully ornamented with
green leaves. This procession was the only thing in the
entertainment not designed to be in imitation of foreign
customs; such as the style of dress, manner of cooking
and serving up the provisions, the discharge of canon, the
music, &c.
The ceremonies of the last day were altogether Hamaiian in their character, and highly interesting as an exhibi



92                THE CAR OF STATE.
tion of ancient customs, which it is probable will soon be
lost forever in the light of civilization and Christianity,
now rapidly dawning on the nation. The most intelligent
and influential of the chiefs and people already speak of
the " time of dark hearts," and I believe are sincerely
desirous of abolishing every unprofitable practice which
had its birth ina the ignorance of former days.  In this
abolition, much connected with the late celebration will be
included - a fact which gives a double interest to its
scenes, and leads us to catch at them as at the relics of
paganism. There is much reason to believe that a taste
for these ceremonies among the chiefs will be so far lost,
even before the lapse of another year, that they will never
be repeated, and that the notes now taken of them will
prove to be a record of the last striking features of heathen usages at the islands on such occasions.
Kamahamalu on this day was, as usual, a conspicuous
object. The car of state, in which she joined the processions passing in different directions, consisted of an elegantly modeled whaleboat, fastened firmly to a platform
or frame of light spars, thirty feet long by twelve wide;
and borne on the heads and shoulders of seventy men.
The boat was lined, and the whole platform covered, first
with fine imported broadcloth, and then with beautiful patterns of tapa or native cloth, of a variety of figures and
rich colors. The men supporting the whole were formed
into a solid body, so that the outer rows only at the sides
and ends were seen; and all forming these wore the
splendid scarlet and yellow feather cloaks and helmets of
which you pave read accounts, and than which scarce
anything can appear more superb.
The only dress of the queen was a scarlet silk pau, or
native petticoat, and a coronet of feathers. She was
seated in the middle of the boat, and screened from the
sun by an immense Chinese umbrella of scarlet damask,
richly ornamented with gilding, fringe, and tassels, and
supported by a chief standing behind her in a scarlet malo
or girdle, and feather helmet.  On one quarter of the
boat stood Kalaimoku, the prime minister, and on the
other Naihe, the national orator - both also in malos of
scarlet silk and helmets of feathers - and each bearing a




SPLENDID PAGEANT.


93


ahile, or feathered staff of state, near thirty feet in height.
The upper parts of these kahiles were of scarlet feathers,
so ingeniously and so beautifully arranged on artificial
L;ranches attached to the staff as to form cylinders fifteen
or eighteen inches in diameter and twelve or fourteen feet
long; the lower parts or handles were covered with alternate rings of tortoise-shell and ivory, of the neatest workmanship and highest polish.
Imperfect as the image may be which my description
will convey to your mind, of this pageant of royal device
and exhibition, I think you will not altogether condemn the
epithet I use, when I say it was splendid.  So far as the
feather mantles, helmets, coronets, and kahiles had an effect, I am not fearful of extravagance in the use of the epithet. I doubt whether there is a nation in Christendom,
which, at the time letters and Christianity were introduced,
could have presented a court dress and insignia of rank so
magnificent as these: and they were found here in all
their richness, when the islands were discovered by Cook.
There is something approaching the sublime in the lofty
noddings of the kahiles of state, as they tower far above
the heads of the group whose distinction they proclaim -
something conveying to the mind impressions of majesty
unequaled by the gleamings of the most splendid banner I
ever saw unfurled.
The queens Kinau and Kekauonohi presented themselves
much in the same manner as Kamehamalu; but instead
of whaleboats, had for their seats double canoes. Pauahi,
another of the wives of Liholiho, after passing in procession with her retinue, alighted from the couch on which
she had been borne, set fire to it and all its expensive,
trappings, and then threw into the flames the whole of her
dress, except a single handkerchief to cast around her. In
this she was immediately imitated by all her attendants:
and many valuable articles, a large quantity of kapa, and
entire pieces of broadcloth, were thus consumed. This
feat of extravagance was induced, however, by a nobler
motive than that which once led a more celebrated and
more beautiful queen to signalize a festival by the drinking
of pearls. It was to commemorate a narrow escape from
death by fire, while an infant: a circumstance from which
9*




94


YOUNG PRINCE AND PRINCESS.


she derives her name - "Pan," all or consumed- and
" ai,"fire. Her house was destroyed by an explosion of
gunpowder, which became accidentally ignited. Five men
were killed by it, and Pauahi herself was much burned.
The dresses of some of the queens-dowager were expensive, and immense in quantity. One wore seventy-two
yards of kerseymere of double fold -one half being scarlet, and the other orange. It was wrapped round her
figure, till her arms were supported horizontally by the
bulk; and the remainder was formed into a train supported by attendants appointed for the purpose.
The young prince and princess wore the native dress,
malo and pau, of scarlet silk. Their vehicle consisted of
fourfield-bedsteads, of Chinese wood and workmanship,
lashed together side by side, covered with handsome native cloth, and ornamented with canopies and drapery of
yellow figured moreen. Two chiefs of rank bore their
kahiles; and Hoapili and Kaikioewa, their step-father and
guardian, in scarlet nalos, followed them as servants,the one bearing a calabash of raw fish and a calabash of
poe, and the other a dish of baked dog, for the refreshment
of the young favorites.
From the parts I myself saw, I can readily believe that
the whole procession, from the richness and variety of
dress and colors, wreaths of flowers, evergreens and feathers, cloaks, helmets, kahiles, and splendid umbrellas, must
have formed an interesting spectacle, even to visiters from
civilized and polished countries.
The king and his suite made but a sorry exhibition.
They were nearly naked, mounted on horses without saddles, and so much intoxicated as scarce to be able to retain
their seats as they scampered from place to place in all the
disorder of a troop of bacchanalians. A body-guard, of
fifty or sixty men in shabby uniform, attempted by a running march to keep near the person of their sovereign,
while hundreds of ragged natives, filling the air with
their hootings and shoutings, followed in the chase.
Companies of singing and dancing girls and men,
consisting of many hundreds, met the processions in different places, encircling the highest chiefs, and shouting
their praise in enthusiastic adulations. The dull and mo



SONGS AND DANCES.


95


notonous sounds of the native drum and calabash, the wild
notes of their songs in the loud choruses and responses of
the various parties, and the pulsations, on the ground, of
the tread of thousands in the dance, reached us even at the
missionary enclosure. But they fell on the heart with a
saddening power; for we had been compelled already from
our own observation, as well as from the communications
of others, necessarily to associate with them exhibitions of
unrivaled licentiousness, and abominations not to be told.
I can never forget the impressions made upon my mind,
the first few nights after coming to anchor in the harbor,
while these songs and dances were in preparation by rehearsal and practice. With the gathering darkness of every evening, thousands of the natives assembled in a grove
of cocoanut trees near the ship; and the fires round which
they danced, were scarce ever extinguished till the break
of day, while shouts of revelry and licentiousness, shouts
of which till then I had no conception, and which are
heard only in a heathen land, unceasingly burst upon
the ear.
The necessary and frequent recurrence in my writing,
of the names of persons and places, and other words in
the native tongue, leads me to anticipate the perplexity
you may feel in the pronunciation of them. A remark or
two on the principles of the language, and a few hints on
its ortheopy, will enable you with facility rightly to pronounce any word or phrase that may be introduced.
The language, as you know, w'as exclusively oral till
after the arrival of the American missionaries: a first effort by them, was a reduction of it to a written form.
They found it to be simple in its elements, and capable of
being represented in its sounds by a selection from the
Roman alphabet. Its peculiarities consist in a predominance of vowels, an entire rejection of double consonants,
and of all sibilant, nasal, and guttural sounds, and the invariable termination of every syllable and word by a vowel.
The Hawaiian alphabet consists of fourteen letters: five
vowels, a, e, i, o, u, and nine consonants, b, d, h, k, 1, m, n,
p, and w. That no letter should be silent, and that every
letter should have one undeviating sound, were made radical principles in the written language.  The English




96


96        HINTS ON THE LANGUAGE.


sounds of the consonants were retained-; but important
advantages. led to the adoption, for, the vow els, of the
sounds given to them in the principal languages of the
continent of Europe.  To pronounce any word in their
tongue correctly, therefore, it is necessary only to' learn
the proper sounds of the vowels and dipthorigs.
a is sounded ah, as in man, mat, marrye has the sound of a in fate, mate, date.
i has the sound of ee in bee, or i in marine, machine.
o is sounded as in no, note, mote.
ui has the sound of oo as rude, rule, and ruin.
The principal dipthongs, are
ai, sounded as in aisle.'
an, sounded ow, as in VOW.
oi, sounded as in oil.
on, sounded like o, followed closely by oo.
By way of illustration, I will add the correct orthography and orthoepy of the names of the islands, and places
of the present, and contemplated missionaryr stations.
NAMES OF THE ILANDS.
Spelled.                Pronounced.
HA-WAN-,                  Hah-wye-e.
MAU-I,                    Mow-ee.
MOLO-KINqI,               Molo-keene.
KAHIU-LAWE,               Kah-hoo-lahway.
LA-NAI,                   Lah-nye.
MOLO-KAI,                 Molo-kye.
0-A-HE,                   0-ah-hoo.
KAU-Al,                   Kow-eye.
Ni-HAU,                   Nee-how.
KAu-LA,                   Kow-lah.
MJISSIONARY STATIONS.
HONO-LELU,                Hono-looloo.
WAJ-MEA,                  Wye-mayah.
LA-HAI-NA,                La-hye-nah.
EAI-LEUA,                 Ky-looah.
KA-AVA-LOAI               Kah-ah-va'h-loah.
WAI-A-KEA,                Wye-ah-kayah.I




HINTS ON THER LANGUAGE.


The name of the largest island is not Owhyhee, as generally written since the time of Cook, but Hawaii,. The
0 is satisfactorily ascertained to be the sign of a case
only- that of the nominative in answer to the question
who or what - and not a part of the proper name. The
islanders say, No Hawaii, I Hawaii, Mai Hawaii, as well
as 0 Hawaii, forming the regular declension of the noun
Hawaii: thusNom. 0 Hawaii,             Hawaii.
Poss.  No Hawaii,          Of Hawaii.
Obj.   I and Mai Hawaii,   To and from Hawaii.
The language is radically the same as that spoken
throughout Polynesia, at the Marquesas, the Society and
Friendly islands, and at New Zealand. It is soft and harmonious in its sounds, and, so far as a knowledge of it has
been acquired by the missionaries, is found to be more copious, forcible, and systematic in its construction, than had
been expected.
May 18. Our constant intercourse with the king and
chieftains, forming his court, will make an outline of the
" peerage " of Hawaii desirable, if not indispensable, to a
right understanding of the relative rank, situation, and offices of the different individuals we meet.
The whole body of chiefs may be divided into three
classes, or grades of rank: the first, consisting of the
royal family and those most intimately connected with it:
the second, of those holding hereditary offices of power
and the governors of the different islands; and the third,
of the rulers of districts, the head men of villages, and all
inferior chiefs. The individuals included in the first two
grades are usually called "high chiefs; " and those in the
third, "small," or "low."  The high chiefs are few in
number, and closely allied both by blood and marriage:
forming, in fact, but one family. Still, they are filled with
the pride of birth, and, even the highest, tenaciously prefer the slightest grounds of precedence.
Rank, as a right, is hereditary as well in the female
line as in the male: the dignity of the mother, as well as
that of the father, fixing the grade of the child. The individual who, at the present time, takes rank above all oth



98


HINTS ON THE LANGUAGE.


ers, is a female-Keopuolani, one of the wives of Kamehameha, and mother of Liholiho, who, both by father and
mother, is the last lineal descendant of the ancient kings
of Hawaii and Maui, and boasts the unmingled blood of
royalty immemorial. She was taken captive by Kamehameha in his usurpation, and espoused by him from a
motive of policy, that his children might have an hereditary right to the throne from their mother, as well as a
right by conquest from himself.
The following scale will exhibit the number, grade, and
respective offices of the generation of chiefs now living.
CHIEFS OF THE FIRST RANK.
KEOPUOLANI, queen-mother: wife of Kamehameha, and
grand-daughter of Karaiopu —the Terreoboo of Capt.
Cook - king of Hawaii.
LIHOLIHO, or KAMEHAMEHA II., the king. ) Children of KeKAUIKEAOULI, the prince.             opuolani by
NAHIENAENA, the princess.            Kamehameha
KAMEHAMALU. A    Queens of Liholiho: the first three
KINAU.        being the daughters of his father KameKEKAULUOHI. I hameha, by Kalakua of the former royal
PAUAHI.      |family of Maui, and the last a niece of KaKEKAUONOHI.   raimoku, the prime minister.
KAAHUMANU.     Queens-dowager, wives of Kamehameha.
KALAKUA.     These are sisters, and grand-daughters of
NAMAHANA.    the last king of Maui.
KAUMUALII, ex-king of Kauai, and a husband at present of
the queen-dowager, Kaahumanu.
KEALIIAHONUI, son of Kaumualii, and also a husband of
the dowager Kaahumanu.
KAPULI, ex-queen of Kauai, and formerly wife of Kaumualii.
KALAIMOKU, or WILLIAM PITT, the prime minister, originally a chief of the third class only, but now ranking
with the royal family, and virtually king.
LEALEAHOKU, only son of Kalaimoku.
CHIEFS OF THE SECOND RANK.
KAIKIOEWA, the guardian of the prince.
KEAWEAMAHI, wife of Kaikioewa.




HINTS ON THE LANGUAGE.


99


HOAPILI, guardian of the princess, and present husband of
the queen-mother Keopuolani.
NAIHE, the hereditary counsellor of state and national orator.
KAPIOLANI, wife of Naihe.
[All these chiefs are the descendants of leading families
under the ancient kings of Hawaii; and still hold large
hereditary possessions in land, with great influence over
the people.]
KUAKINI, or JOHN ADAMS, governor of Hawaii.
KEEAUTMOKU, or Cox, governor of Maui and its dependencies, Kahulawe, Lanai, and Molokai.
[These two chieftains are sons of a former prime minister
of Hawaii, grand-sons of the last king of Maui, and brothers of the queens dowager, Kaahumanu, Kalakua, and
Namahana. The name of Adams was given to Kuakini
when a child, at the time the presidential chair of the United States was filled by our venerable countryman of
Quincy. The governor considers the name a great honor,
and prefers it, in being addressed, to any other.]
BOKI, governor of Oahu, and brother of Kalaimoku, the
prime minister.
KUINI, or LILIHA, the wife of Boki.
MAIHINENUI, governor of Kauai and Nihau, and sister of
the ex-king, Kaumualii.
WAHINEPIO, a sister of Karaimoku, and mother of the
young queen, Kekauonohi -belongs to this grade, and
also,
KAHALAIA, her son, by a brother of king Kamehameha.
CHIEFS OF THE THIRD RANK.
KAPIHE, or NAIHEKUJKUI, commander of the king's vessels.
KEKUANAOA, superintendent of sandal wood, and king's
treasurer.
HANAUMAIAII, head man of Waikiki in Oahu; KEOUA, of
Lahaina, and AUAE, of Wailuku in Maui; KAMAKAU,.
of Kaawaloa, and MAALO, of Hilo in Hawaii; &c. &c.
To this class belong several other chiefs, who are not in
office, such as KAIKO and KEHIKILI, brothers, descended
from the kings of Maui, and the last the husband of Wah



100


HINTS ON THE LANGUAGE.


inepio, sister of Kalaimoku. Both are puna-hele, or bosom
companions of the king; by which distinction Ii, Kalaikoa,
Hinau, Puaa, &c. &c., of this grade, are also known. To
this grade, Laanui, an interesting young chief. husband of
Nanmahana, one of the former wives of Kamehameha, also
belongs; and many others, who are known only as small
chiefs.
The chiefs of the last rank are the most numerous, but
are as inferior in consequence to those of the two former,
as an English esquire or baronet is to a royal duke, or noble earl, or marquis.
All the persons included in this catalogue have a variety
of names, here, the substitute for a string of titles. I have
used the most favorite, and those by which the respective
individuals are commonly addressed.  The chiefs frequently change their names, or assume new ones from
passing circumstances.  For instance, Paa-lua, " twice
blind," is now a name of Kalai-moku, often used by himself and others, and perhaps that to which he is most partial. It was assumed in the following manner: When Kamehameha died, the prime minister expressed his loss in
the death of his friend, by saying that he had lost an eyepaa-kahi -blind in one eye, or once blind; and chose that
word for a name. Within the last year a favorite wife,
the daughter of Kaiki-oewa, died; when he proclaimed
himself paa-lua, blind in both eyes, or twice blind, and he
is now known throughout the nation by the name of Paalua.
All names of persons are significant. Keopuolaini is literally, "The gathering of the heavens, or of the clouds of
heaven."  Kameha-meha, "The lonely one."  Kamehamalu, a name assumed by the queen after the death of her
father, "The shade of the lonely one."  Kaahu-manu, "The
feather mantle."  Kalakua, "The way of the gods."  Kapio-lani, "The captive of Heaven."  The names of the
chiefs are prohibited, or kabu, to the commoners.
The motives which lead to a choice of names for their
children, among the common people, may be estimated by
the following fact. One of the pupils of the mission, belonging to the family of a chief, is named Wai-lepo-lepo.
His father was a personal attendant of Kamehameha.




UNNATURAL AFFINITY.


101


The king called on him one day for a drink of water; the
man, in his haste to procure it, took into the calabash that
which was not perfectly pure; and the king, as soon as he
tasted it, dashed the whole, calabash and all, at the head
of the fellow, exclaiming, " wai-lepo-lepo!" "dirty-dirty
water! "  On going to his house, the servant found a newborn son, which he immediately named Wai-leo-lepo,a phrase not likely to be forgotten by him, even without
such means of remembrance.
From the schedule of rank given, the complicated, and
in some instances shocking, affinity of the chiefs may be
learned. All of the first grade, except the prime minister,
besides their present relations, are cousins to each other by
blood. Keopuo-lani was at once the cousin, niece, and
wife of Kamehameha. Three of the wives of Liholiho
are his half-sisters; and one was also the wife of her stepfather, and his own father Kamehameha; and Kaumualii,
the king of Kauai, and his son Kealiia-honui, are both at
present the husbands of Kaahurnanu. Kapiolani also has
two husbands.
There appears ever to have been close alliances by marriage among the chiefs of the whole group: but till the
conquest of Kanehameha, each island, and often different
districts of the same island, were subject to separate and
independent kings, and the whole government had more of
the feudal form than it now has. All the chiefs being descended more or less directly from former kings, the jealousy and rivalry peculiarly incident to an uncivilized state
might make the stability of the present dynasty doubtful,
but for a balance of power kept by the opposing ambition
and conflicting interests of the two connexions next in
rank and influence to the reigning family: those of the
Maui, or Adams family, as it is sometimes called -consisting of the governors of Hawaii and Maui, and the
queens dowager —and the prime minister's, or Pitt family. These share equally in the favor of the king, and in
the honors of the nation: and such is the equality of their
power, that an attempt at revolt or usurpation by either,
could not be successful, so long as the other remained faiih- i
ful to the king. That they should combine to overthrow
the royal family, is scarcely possible: for though in such
10




102


GOVERNMENT.


case they might be successful, the interests of one only of
the parties could be promoted, while the other would have
hazarded everything without the prospect of an advancement. The certainty therefore is, they will both remain
loyal; and so long as that is the case, the present government must be permanent.
This balance of power we consider a happy circumstance; for by it, far greater facilities for the achievement
of our enterprise are afforded, than could be otherwise be
secured.  The most formidable impediments yet experienced to the success of missions in the Polynesian islands have arisen from the rivalship and wars of the petty
kings of independent districts and islands.
The government is a despotism; and the rank of the
king and of the chiefs, hereditary. All rights of property
and power are vested in the throne, and are at the disposal of the king, whose will and word alone are law;
though in important measures he usually takes the sentiment of the chiefs in council. The appointments of office,
such as governors of islands and districts, commanders of
forts, &c. &c. are made only by the king.
The support of the king is by an annual tribute from all
'the islands, rendered at different periods by different districts and islands, as his majesty may direct. It consists
of the produce of the country: hogs, d6gs, fish, fowls, potatoes, yams, kalo, bananas, melons, &c. &c.; of articles
of manufacture: canoes, fishing-nets, kapa, mats, birds'
feathers, unwrought hemp, &c. &c.; and, since the introduction of trade with foreigners, of sandal-wood, and occasionally of specie. Besides this tribute, however, the
king has power to levy any extra tax he pleases, and even
to appropriate to his own use, by direct and unintimated
seizure, any personal possession of a chief or other subject. Not unfrequently the whole growth of a plantation
is thus borne off by the servants of his household, without the slightest apology or compensation.
The revenue of the throne has been greatly augmented
of late years, by the charges placed on the port of Honolulu. The pilotage, both on entering and leaving, is one
dollar.a foot on the draft of each vessel; for an anchorage




REVENUE OF THE KING.


103


in the outer harbor sixty, and in the inner harbor eighty
dollars.*
The exaction of harbor fees originated in a circumstance
somewhat peculiar. Kamehameha in his shrewdness early
discovered that the foreign merchants trading with him
were making large profits on the sandal-wood shipped by
them from the islands for the Chinese market; and determined himself to send a cargo of wood to Canton, in a
ship he had just purchased. She was laden with a large
quantity of this article; and despatched under the command of English officers, with a native crew, and Kapihe,
or Captain Jack, as supercargo. It was not for the interest of foreigners that the voyage should prove successful;
and by some means, fair or foul, when the ship made her
appearance off the islands on her return - the broad pennant of her commander and the Hawaiian flag floating as
triumphantly in the breeze as if she bore the richest freight
of damasks and crapes, nankeens and china-and the
king in his gladness quickly boarded her, all her cargo was
found to be a bill of charges amounting to three thousand dollars! In the items of the bill were pilotage and
anchorage, and custom-house fees to a large sum; and
when told that maritime states in other countries derived
large revenues in this manner, he immediately said, "Well
then, I will have fees for my harbor too; " and from that
time the harbor at Oahu has been taxed in the amount
mentioned.
The king and highest chiefs have a singular mode of
raising money, and one I presume entirely peculiar to
themselves. It is by building a fine new house; and on
taking possession of it, to refuse an entrance to any one
without a present in cash, proportionate to the rank and
property both of the giver and receiver. The kabu on the
house of the king at the time of our arrival, was of this
nature. Many of the chiefs presented- fifty, sixty, and
eighty dollars; merchants, sea-captains, and foreign residents, twenty and thirty; and every servant of the household, even his pipe-lighter, at least two dollars.  The
*Since the visit of H. B. M. ship Blonde, in 1825, the charge
has been considerably reduced.




104


APPEARANCE OF THE CHIEFS.


whole sum thus collected amounted to several thousand
dollars. A few months ago the mother-queen raised eight
hundred dollars in the same manner.
The governors of islands and chiefs of districts are entitled, by their offices, to an exercise of all the prerogatives of royalty in their respective limits. They each,
like the king, have their annual tribute from llie people;
and, like him, hold the lives and property of all under
them at caprice.
All the chiefs have large landed estates under the king;
and derive their support from yearly taxes upon them.
Like the king and governors, they lsave every right, even
to that of life, over the occupants of their plantations, and
all their people.
The nobles of the land are so strongly marked by their
external appearance, as at all times to be easily distinguishable from the common people. They seem indeed in size
and stature to be almost a distinct race. They are all
large in their frame, and often excessively corpulent; while
the common people are scarce of the ordinary height of
Europeans, and of a thin rather than fill habit. Keopuolani, the mother of Liholiho, and Kaumualii, king of Kauai,
are the only chiefs arrived at years of maturity, I have
yet seen, who are not heavy, corpulent persons. The
governess of Kauai, theisister of Kaumualii, is said to be
remarkably so; Namaharma, one of the queens of Kamehameha, is exceedingly corpulent; her sisters, Kaahumanu
and Kalakua, nearly the same; and her brother Kuakini,
governor of Hawaii, though little more than twenty-five
years old, is so remarkably stout as to be unequal to any
exertion, and scarcely able to walk without difficulty. This
immense bulk of person is supposed to arise from the care
taken of them from their earliest infancy; and from the
abundance and nutritious quality of their food, especially
that of poe, a kind of paste made from the kalo, an esculent root, a principal article of diet. They live on the
abundant resources of the land and sea; and, free from
all toil and oppression, their only care is, "to eat, to drink,
and to be merry."
Many of those whose corpulency does not amount to
deformity, are among the noblest figures imaginable. Ke



FOOD OF THE CHIEFS.


105


hikili, or "Thunder," a chief of the Maui family, though
a savage in countenance, in form and muscle is a perfect
Hercules. Kealiiahonui, of Kauai, has a handsome face,
and in the classic drapery of a yellow satin malo and purple satin kihei, presents as perfect a model of manly beauty
as ever challenged the efforts of pencil or chisel. Many
of the common people, too, have great beauty of person,
though on a less noble scale. Only a few mornings ago,
in walking on the plain, I met a young man, eighteen or
twenty years old, whose figure struck me as one of the
most admirable I ever beheld. His black eye sparkled
with youth and spirit; and every motion was free as the.
wind, in which his light mantle flowed gracefully from
his shoulder. As with firm and elastic tread he hurried
past, a bright smile accompanied his salutation, "Aloha
oe," Love to you: in returning which I almost involuntarily said, "Aloha no ia oe, e Apollo," Love indeed to you,
thou Apollo!
Besides a profusion of melons, cocoanuts, bananas, sugarcane, &c. &c., some of which they are almost constantly
eating, the chiefs have regular meals of baked dog or pig,
and pickled or raw fish and poe, four times a day: one as
soon as they rise in the morning; another at ten or eleven
o'clock, A. M.; a third about four in the afternoon; and a
fourth at nine or ten in the evening.
Their food was formerly served in wooden dishes and
calabashes; but now generally on china brought by the
merchants from Canton. It is placed on the ground, before the group for whom it is designed, who, lounging on
their mats in the attitude of the ancient Romans, partake
of it with one hand, while they recline upon the other.
Servants separate the meat with their hands, wiping them
occasionally in their mouths or', on their naked arms or
legs; after which, all eat from the same dishes, using
their fingers in place of forks and spoons.
Whatever pets the ladies may have, whether pigs or
dogs, and most have one of either, share from the common
dishes without disturbance, unless perhaps they should be
so ill-bred as to put their fore-feet, as well as their noses,
into the food, when a gentle tap may remind them of bettet manners.
10*




106


CUSTOMS AND MANNERS.


The pets of the nobles, of whatever kind, have in many
cases unlimited privileges. There is at present attached
to the palace a hog of this character, weighing four or five
hundred pounds, called Kraahumam, after the haughty
dowager of that name, which is permitted to range at
pleasure, within doors as well as without; and not unfrequently finds a bed amorng the satins and velvets of the
royal couches.
The chiefs, male and fenale, are at once known, not
only by their size, but by their walk, general air, and manners. In these respects, there is as marked a difference
between them and the "maki aieana," or ignoble vulgvs,
here, as there is between the courtiers of St. James or the
Tuilleries, and the peasantry of England or France. A
consciousness of natural superiority, and the pride of adventitious distinction, imbibed and nourished from their
earliest childhood, give them an ease of action, and an unaffected dignity of deportment, that would distinguish them
as persons of rank, in whatever company they might appear. You must not understand from this, however, true
as it is, that there is anything Chesterfieldian or artificial
in their breeding. They are still uncivilized heathen, living not only in all the simplicity, but in all the vulgarity
of untutored nature: and while I can sincerely say, that
in them "I see much that I love, and more that I admire,"
I munst in candor add, " and much that I abhor."
Many of them, besides large landed possessions, have
considerable wealth in roney, accumulated by the sale of
sandal-wood; and in large quantities of rich foreig.n manufacture. When the missionaries arrived in 1820, the
usual, and indeed only dress, except in the case of one or
two individuals, was the native costume; but now most of
the chiefs constantly wear a part or whole of the European
dress: the females, on ordinary occasions, a loose slip,
with the native pau or petticoat over it, and the men, a
shirt or wrapper.
On Sundays and holidays, and all occasions of ceremony, they appear in full dress, after our fashions, and frequently of the richest material. There are several good
tailors among the forign reesidents, and the clothes of the
men are generally well and fashionably made. The men




WEALTH AND DRESS.


107


also often send their measures by the trading ships to Canton, and have ready-made dresses brought back to them.
Only a short time since, the king received four hundred
garments at one time in this way.
The females do not look so well, or so much at ease in
their dresses, as the mren; though the ladies of the mission
have much of their leisure occupied in sewing for them,
and in teaching them  to cut and sew for themselves.
Kameha-rnalu has become quite skillful in this respect;
and I doubt not that others will imitate her example, and
here, as in other parts of the world, the sex will claim its
prerogative to precedence in all matters of taste and fashion. Some of the ladies of the court, I am told, have talked already of eating less poe than they have done, that
their persons may be more delicate and their clothes sit
better.
The houses of the chiefs are generally large for the
kind of building — from forty to sixty feet in length, twenty or twenty-five in breadth, and eighteen or twenty in
height at the peak of the roof. The sides and ends, as
well as the roof, are of thatch, and the whole in one apartment. They are generally without windows or any opening for light or air, except a wide door in the middle of a
side or end. In the back part of the house, the personal
property and moveables, such as trunks, boxes, calabashes and dishes for water, food, etc. are deposited, while the
mats for sitting, lounging, and sleeping, are spread near
the door.
Every chief has from thirty to fifty and an hundred personal attendants, friends, and servants, attached to his
establishment, who always live and move with him, and
share in the provisions of his house. All these, except
the bosom friends, or punazaele, have different offices and
duties: one is a pipe-lighter, another a spittoon-carrier, a
third a kahile-bearer, &c. Others with their families, prepare, cook and serve the food, &c. All the former, from
the bosom friend, or punahele, to the pipe-lighter, eat from
the same dishes and calabashes with their master, and form
at their meals a most uncouth and motley group. In every respect, indeed, as well as in that of eating, the household servants of the whole company of chiefs, from the




108


HIABITATION AND ATTENDANTS.


king to the petty headman of a village, seem to enjoy a
perpetual saturnalia.
The formation of this establishment takes place immediately on the birth of a chief, whether male or female.
A kahu, or nurse, is appointed, who assumes all the care
of the parent, and directs the affairs of the child until he
is old enough to exercise a will of his own. Thus, often,
very little intercourse takes place between the parents themselves and the young chief-the former not unfrequently
residing at a different district, or on a different island.
The present prince and princess, who are both children,
have each separate houses and a large train of attendants;
and though their guardians of state reside near them, they
are left very much to their own will, or to that of their
kahus, or nurses.
I have seen a young chief, apparently not three years
old, walking the streets of Honolulu as naked as when
born, with the exception of a pair of green morocco shoes
on his feet, followed by ten or twelve stout men, and as
many boys, carrying umbrellas, and kahiles, and spitboxes, and fans, and the various trappings of chieftainship.
The young noble was evidently under no control but his
own will, and enjoyed already the privileges of his birth
in choosing his own path, and doing whatever he pleased.
This portion of the inhabitants spend their lives principally in eating and drinking, lounging and sleeping; in
the sports of the surf, and the various games of the country; at cards, which have long been introduced; in hearing the songs of the musicians, a kind of recitation accompanied with much action; and in witnessing the performances of the dancers. They are not, however, wholly
given to idleness and pleasure. It is customary for the
male chiefs to superintend in a degree, any work in which
their own vassals, at the place where they are residing,
are engaged, whether of agriculture or manufacture. The
female chiefs, also, overlook their women in their appropriate occupations, and not unfrequently assist them with
their own hands.
A great change appears about to take place among the
chiefs in the general manner of employing time. The
palapala and the pule, letters and religion, as presented by




EMPLOYMENT OF TIME.


109


the missionaries, are happily beginning deeply to interest
their minds;:tnd books and slates, I doubt not, will, as is
the fact already in individual cases, soon universally take
the place of cards and games, and every amusement of
dissipation.
These general and desultory remarks will give you,
dear M ---, some idea of the external character and
state of the nobler part of the nation, for whose benefit
H-     and myself have sacrificed the innumerable enjoyments of home. As to their qualities of heart and mind,
they in general appear to be as mild and amiable in disposition, and as sprightly and active in intellect, as the
inhabitants of our own country. Ignorance, superstition,
and sin, make all the difference we observe; and though
that difference is at present fearful indeed, still we believe
that with the removal of its causes, it will be entirely done
away.
Notwithstanding the dreadful abominations daily taking
place around us, drunkenness and adultery, gambling and
theft, deceit, treachery and death, all which exist throughout the land to an almost incredible degree, such has already been the success attending the eflbrts at reformation
made in the very infancy of the inission, that we are encouraged by every day's observance, with fresh zeal to
dedicate ourselves to the work of rescue and salvation.
No pagran nation on earth can be better prepared for the
labor of the Christian missionary; and 0no herald of the
cross could desire a more privileged and delight-ful task
than to take this people by the outstretched and beckoning
hand, and lead their bewildered feet into paths of light and
life, of purity and peace; nor a greater happiness than to
be the instrument of guiding, not only the generation now
living, in the right way, but of rescuing fron wretchedness
and spiritual death millions of the generations yet unborn,
who are here to live and here,to die, before the appointed
angel " shall lift up his hand to Heaven, and swear that
there shall be time no longer."




110        POVERTY OF THE COMMON PEOPLE.


CHAPTER        VII.
TEMPORARY RESIDENCE AT HONOLULU.
Thursday, May 20.  An opportunity of making our
voyage to Hawaii has not yet been presented.  I am
anxious to commence the contemplated tour, though every day more and more persuaded, from what I find to
be the state of the common people, that it will be attended with great privation, and, with much to annoy and to
disgust.
This class of the inhabitants constitutes at least one
hundred and forty-nine thousand of the one hundred and
fifty thousand supposed at present to be the population of
the group. In external appearance, and manners and habits of life, the kanakas, or common natives, present a strong
contrast to the chiefs; and are indeed a wretched people,
subject not only to a total blindness of mind and heart, but
also to the most abject poverty. If the former are the objects of an interest to the missionary approaching to admiration, the latter are of a compassion that sometimes borr
ders on agony; and in beholding their degradation, an
the near approach they make to the level of the brute, I
am often ready
i to blush,
And hang my head, to think myself a man."
The greatest wealth they can boast consists of a mat on
which to sleep, a few folds of kapa to cover them, one calabash for water and another for poe, a rude implement or
two for the cultivation of the ground, and the instruments
used in their simple manufactures. Kalo, potatoes and salt,
with occasionally a fish, constitute their general food, while
all else that they grow, or take; and every result of their
labor, goes to meet the series of taxes levied by the king
and his governors, and their own respective chiefs.
The spontaneous production of the islands is very limited; and labor at all times of the year is necessary to the
support of life. In this respect this group differs widely




KALO - ITS NATURE.


111


from the Society and other islands of the South Seas,
where, eight months in twelve, the natives have only to
pluck their food, principally bread-fruit, from the trees overhanging their habitations. Their growth of the bread-fruit
here is confined to a few districts on one or two islands,
and where found, yields a very partial supply of food, at
any season.
Kalo, an article which I have repeatedly mentioned, is
the principal food of the Sandwich-islanders, and to the
whole nation answers the double purpose of vegetables and
bread. The genus of plant to which it belongs is the arum;
a root growing in many parts of America, and generally
known there by the names of the wild, Indian, and French
turnip. The kalo is the arum esculentum of botanists;
and is used in many other warm climates as a vegetable.
It here occupies most of the cultivated ground, especially such as is capable of being overflown by water; and the
planting, irrigation, and necessary care of it, forms the
most laborious part of the native farming. The islanders
have arrived at great skill in the cultivation of this plant;
and perhaps their mode of growing it, considering the
general face of the country, scarce admits of improvement,
unless it be in the implements with which they work. The
beds in which the kalo stands are usually square or oblong
of various sizes, from that of a few yards to half an acre.
These are formed with great care; first by excavating the
earth to a depth of two or three feet, and converting the
dirt thrown out into strong embankments on every side.
The sides and bottom are then beaten with the woody ends
of the cocoa-nut leaf, which are broad, and, when dry, exceedingly hard, till they are impervious to water: after
which, the tops of the ripe root, by which the plant is propagated, cut off just below the formation of the leaves, are
set out eighteen inches or two feet apart, in a thin layer of
soil and dried grass, and the water let upon them till the
leaves float on its surface. The roots are kept thus covered with water, till they become fit to eat: a period of
from nine to fifteen months, though they continue to grow
for two years or more, and improve in quality to the end
of that timre.
The leaves of the kalo are large and heart-shaped, and




112


NATIVE COOKING.


of a light green color.  The root is of a regular oval
form, from four to eight tinches in length, and from six to
twelve in circumference. In its natural state, whether ripe
or unripe, both the leaves and root have all the acrid pungent taste of the genus of plants to which it belongs; but on
being thorougohly cooked, either by baking or boiling, it becomes mild and palatable, without any peculiarity of taste,
more than belong to good bread. It is compact, and, both
before and after cooking, white, with a slight tinge of purple on the exterior; when poor or unripe, the color throughout is a dull lead.
The natives prepare it for use, first by baking it in the
only manner practiced among them. This is by digging
a hole in the ground a foot or two deep, and five or six feet
in circumference, and placing a layer of stones on the bottorn, upon which light wood is piled and a fire kindled.
Other stones are laid upon the fire, and by the burning of
wood the whole becomes ignited. Those on the top are
then drawn off, and the halo, or potatoes, or fish, pig, or
dog, &c. closely wrapped in the leaves of the banana, or
of the ki-dracwena teiminalis, growing in great abundance here - is laid on the hearth of stones still remaining
at the bottom, and immediately covered with the rest. A
little water is poured on the pile to create a steam, and the
whole hastily buried with earth, by which the heat and
steam are kept from escaping, and the article in the umai
or oven, becomes baked.
The kalo, after being thus cooked, is in the next place
made into the favourite poe.  The process in this is simple,
though so laborious as to be performed by the men. It is
merely by beating the kalo upon a short plank of hard
wvood, slightly hollowed in the middle like a tray, with a
stone something in the shape of a thick and clumsy pestle,
wvetting it occasionally with water, and moulding it till it
becomes an adhesive mass like dough. It is then put into a calabash, diluted with water till of the consistency of
paste, and set aside for fermentation. This soon takes
place, and the poe is fit for use in a day or two, though
preferred when four or five days old. It is eaten by thrusting the fore-finger of the right hand into the mass, and securing as much as will adhere to it in passing it to the




POE — AND MANNER OF EATING IT.


113


mouth, with a hasty revolving motion of the hand and finger. The only name of the fore-finger is derived from
this use of it, "Ka lima poe," "the finger poe or poe finger."
The second finger is often also used, and not unfrequently
the thumb at the same time. This is the usual mode of
eating it - a dozen or more from one calabash; but I have
seen the calabash taken up with both hands, and applied
to the mouth as in drinking; and thus passed from one
to another, round the whole group.
Hard or dry poe is kalo baked and beaten in the manner
described, but not moistened with water. It is not much
eaten in this state; but is packed in small bundles, and
bound in leaves, to be diluted and formed into soft poe at
pleasure. In this manner it will keep without injury for
months; and makes a principal article in the sea stores of
the native vessels.
We find the kalo a pleasant vegetable. It is most excellent when cut into slices and fried, after being baked or
boiled, though less nutritive than in the form of poe.
Next to kalo, the sweet potato is a principal article of
cultivation. The yam also is grown; but chiefly at the
leeward islands, Kauai and Nihau. Indian corn has been
introduced, and will probably become extensively an article of food. Other esculent plants, cabbages, onions.
pumpkins, squashes, cucumbers, beans, radishes, &c. the
seeds of which have been brought by the missionaries and
other foreigners, are becoming abundant: but they are
cultivated almost exclusively for the refreshment of ships,
and the tables of foreign residents. Sugar cane, and a
great variety of the plantain and banana, are indigenous,
and occupy a considerable portion of every plantation.
The cane, however, is used by the natives only as a fruit.
Water-melons and musk-melons were introduced by Vancouver, and are now abundant everywhere.
In the cultivation of the ground, the making and care of
artificial fish-ponds, a part of the possession of every chief,
may be included. These are constructed much in the
manner of the kalo plantations; and after the water is let
into them, are filled with young fish from the sea, principally the fry of the grey mullet, a fish of which the
chiefs are particularly fond.
11




11,4


MANUFACTURE OF CLOTH.


The building of houses, construction of canoes, naking
of fishing nets, wooden dishes and bowls, &c. are labors
assigned to the men; while the manufacture of cloth in
all its processes, and the platting of mats, &c. fall to the
department of the women.
The cloth is of tedious manufacture. It is formed from
the inner bark of the mourus papyrifera, or paper mulberry, here called wauki, and cultivated for this purpose,
in regular groves on every farm. The plant is kept trimmned to a single shoot, from its earliest growth, to secure a
stem unbroken by branches; and when it has attained the
thickness of an inch or two, and the height of ten or twelve
feet, is cut down for use. The bark is taken off in a single piece, by a longitudinal incision from end to end; the
exterior coat scraped off; and the interior of each piece
spread out, and rolled together in its length, and left till it
has acquired a flat surface. The whole is then placed in
water, till it becomes covered with a mucilaginous substance; after which it is laid on a plank, and beaten with a
short square stick of hard wood, to the tenuity desired.
Its length and breadth are increased at pleasure by the addition of the bark; and should any part become too thin
before the whole has received an even texture, the difficulty
is obviated in the same way. After the whole is of the
texture and size required, it is laid in the sun to bleach and.
dry.
The wooden sticks or mallets, used in beating, have one
side smooth, another coarsely grooved, the third very finely furrowed in the same manner, and the fourth more or.less closely checked in squares or diamonds: and thus,
according to the side used in beating, a corresponding
figure is given to the body of the cloth. That beaten with
the plain side, is smooth like paper; that with the coarse
groove, has something the appearance of dimity; that with
the close, more like corded muslin; and that with the
check, like the web of fine diaper.
The thickness of the different kinds of cloth is various.
I have seen females with mantles of it, as thin and transparent as Italian crape; which, at a short distance, it.greatly resembled.  That generally used for malos and
paus, is more compact, like paper. The kiheis of the men




MANUFACTURE OF CLOTH.I


115


and covers for sleeping, are still firmer and thicker, and
are composed of several sheets of the former, spread with
a gelatinous wash made from the gum of a tree, and then
beaten together. There is a kind still superior in texture
and beauty, worn by the chiefs both for malos and paus:
it is made of the best bark, and is as thick as morocco, to
which, stamped with the brightest colors, and glazed with
a composition having the effect of varnish, it bears a striking resemblance. The kapa moe, or cloth for sleeping, is
the largest in size; each sheet, ten of which, fastened together at one end, form a bed-cover, being as large as an
ordinary counterpane.
The kapa is naturally of a light color, and capable of
being bleached till perfectly white. Much of it is worn
in this state; but the greater portion is stained with a variety of dies, extracted with much skill from different indigenous plants. The colors are often very beautiful, principally green of every shade, from the lightest to the
darkest; yellow, from a dark salmon to a straw color; red,
from a rich crimson to a delicate blossom; purple, from a
dark plum through all the hues of lilac to a light dove;
brown, from chocolate to fawn; and black and white.
The cloth is dyed with one of these plain throughout, and
worn thus; or is again stamped with several others, in an
endless variety and combination of figures. These they
devise with much ingenuity and taste, or imitate skillfully
from those on imported articles.
The pattern intended to be impressed upon the cloth is
cut on the inside of a piece of bamboo. The bamboo is
then dipped into the color prepared, carefully transferred
to the kapa, and pressed closely upon it with the fingers
and hand; it is then returned into the dye again, and
again placed upon the cloth, till the whole piece is covered
with the figure and color or colors.
The best made and colored kapa is little inferior in
beauty to most common calicoes and chintzes, but so perishable in its quality, as to be an expensive article of clothing. Some kinds are saturated with the oil of the cocoanut, to make them more durable and to shed water; but
even these quickly wear out, and require to be renewed
every few weeks. That which is not oiled does not allow




116


MLANUFACTURE OF MATS.


of being washed; and a new suit is necessary once a
month. An immense deal of time and labor must therefore be requisite to meet the demands of the whole population.
The manufacture, by the females, next in importance to
the making of kapa, is that of mats, which form the seats
of the islanders in the day and their beds at night. The
lounges and beds of the chiefs are generally eight or ten
feet square, and consist of many thicknesses of these, from
a dozen to thirty and forty, and even a greater number.
The materials of which they are made are of two kinds;
one, a species of rush, and the other, the leaves of the
hala, a palm, the pandanus odorotissimus. Those of the
last article are most valuable, as they are much the most
durable, and admit of frequent washing, which the rush
mats do not. Both kinds are woven or braided by hand,
without the aid of frame or instrument; and though often
twenty feet square, and even larger, are finished with great
evenness of texture and regularity of shape. Some of the
hala mats are very coarse; and others of various braid, to
the very finest and most beautiful specimens of matting I
have ever seen. These last, however, are generally small.
finished with a deep fringe at the ends; and carried on
the arm of a servant, after his chief, to be spread on other
mats, on which he may choose to sit. I have observed
one of this kind, in the trainfof the young princess, of a
braid almost as delicate and even as that of a Leghorn
hat, and of the most beautiful whiteness.
The rush mats are soft and pleasant, and many of them
very fine. The leeward islands, Kauai and Nihau, are
most distinguished by the manufacture of these. They
are there ornamented, with much taste and ingenuity, by
stained grass, of a rich and glossy brown, interwoven with
the body of the mat, or wrought on its upper surface, in
the manner of embroidery, in a variety of figures, such as
diamonds, stars, stripes, waving lines, &c. &c.
Besides being engaged in these manufactures of cloth
and mats, the females, especially those attached to the
households of the chiefs, spend much time in making articles of ornament; in the braiding of human hair for necklaces; trimming and arranging feathers for wreaths and




IND)OLENCE OF TIME P'EPLE.


117


kahiles; polishing tortoise shell and the ivory of whale's
teeth, for finger rings, and the handles of feathered staffi,
&c.
Notwithstanding the variety of apparently necessary
employment falling both to men and women, few of either
sex devote more than four or five hours of the twenty-four
to work. Though unavoidably more laborious than many
other Polynesians, they partake of the indolence of character incident to the inhabitants of tropical climates, and
sleep and lounge away more than half their time, while
much of the remainder is given to amusement and pleasure. It is, however, difficult to determine how far the
Sandwich-islanders partake of this indolence, from the fact
that there is no motive for industry presented to them, beyond the fear of starvation, and a dread of the displeasure
of their chiefs.
One of the strongest inducements to labor -that of a
right of property -is entirely -unknown. Were not this
the case, the profit which every farmer might derive from the
visit of ships for refreshments, would soon cause the face
of the country to assume a new aspect. But this means
of emolument is a monopoly of the king and chiefs; and
only proves a new source of oppression to the people, by
increasing their toil, without adding to their possessions.
Two-thirds of the- proceeds of anything a native brings to
the market, unless by stealth, must be given to his chief;
and, not unfrequently, the whole is unhesitatingly taken
from him. In two or three instances, when conversing
on the beach with the officers of the ships, I have seen money just put into the hands of a native, by them, for a
bunch of fruit slipped from under his kihei into their boat,
taken directly, and openly, away, by some one appointed
to detect any traffic of the kind; and whose proceeding
was not for a moment to be questioned or resisted.
Nor is there greater inducement to industry, from motives of immediate personal enjoyment. Any increase of
stock, or growth of a plantation, beyond that necessary to
meet the usual taxes, is liable to be swept off at any hour
and that, perhaps, without any direct authority from king
or chief, but at the caprice of some one in their service.
An instance of this kind lately occurred at Oahu, which
11*




118 -


OPPRESSION OF THE PEOPLE.


will shew the extremity, if not the extent, of these depredations. The poverty of many of the people is such, that
they seldom secure a taste of animal food, and live almost
exclusively on kalo and salt. A poor man of this description, by some means obtained the possession of a pig,
when too small to make a meal for his family. He secreted it at a distance from his house, and fed it till it had
grown to a size sufficient to afford the desired repast. It
was then killed, and put into an oven, with the same precaution of secrecy; but when almost prepared for appetites
whetted by long anticipation to an exquisite keenness, a
caterer of the royal household unhappily came near, and,
attracted to the spot by the savory fumes of the baking
pile, deliberately took a seat till the animal was cooked,
and then bore off the promised banquet without ceremony
or apology!
Such is the civil condition of the mass of the nation.
Their only birthright is slavery; and its highest immunities cannot secure to them a right of life, much less any
inferior possession. Surely to such, the messages of salvation must prove indeed "' glad tidings of great joy."
May they receive them with thanksgiving; and, through
them, become free in the spirit of the gospel, and rich in
the inheritance of eternal life!
May 22.    Last night I strolled a mile through the
marshes and fish-ponds, along the beach south of the mission house. In attempting to give you a sketch of my
walk, you will almost think me sporting with your
credulity, by a picture of poverty and filthiness too degrading to be real. The largest hut I passed was not
higher than my waist; capable only of containing a family like pigs in a sty, on a bed of dried grass filled with
fleas and vermin. Not a bush or shrub was to be seen
around, or any appearance whatever of cultivation.  It
was the time of their evening repast; and most of the people were seated on the ground, eating poe, surrounded by
swarms of flies, and sharing their food with dogs, pigs and
ducks, who helped themselves freely from the dishes of
their masters.  The tout ensemble was almost too disgusting to be looked on; and while gazed I could but exclaim,




119


LOATIHSOME DISEASES.


" Can this be man?
Bone of the bone and flesh of the flesh of him
Whose majesty dignifies and crowns creation's planAnd without whom, 'twere wild profusion all,
And bootless waste? "
The hope of enlightening and elevating such seemed
almost rashness; and I turned from them more than ever
persuaded that nothing less than the power which first
spake light from darkness can scatter the gloom in which
they are enveloped.
I should be doing injustice to your wish and expectations - of having the manners and habits of the people on
points capable of being touched, and there are not a few
that can never be mentioned, presented to you " living as
they rise "-were I to pass in silence subjects whih,
though not the most pleasant that might be selected, daily
and hourly obtrude themselves on the observation. Among
these is the pevalence of a most infectious and loathsome
cutaneous disease-not altogether unknown in our own
country. This contagion is so common, and I might say
universal here in all ranks, as to be without reproach, except in the eyes of a foreigner. I was somewhat startled,
a day or two after our arrival, to have the question put to
me, "Whether I had any thing to cure the itch? " immediately after shaking hands with a high chief whom I at
once perceived to be greatly infected with it. The etiquette of the court seemed to require this manner of salutation; and I thought it would be impossible for me to escape the disorder, even for a week. I learned from the
older missionaries, however, that they had shaken hands
with thousands with perfect impunity, and thus far I have
myself been equally fortunate.
It must be less contagious than the disease known in
America by the same name, and appears, also, to be less
irritable and troublesome. Most of the chiefs are at present free from it, but the common people are everywhere
greatly infected. Few seem to regard it as an evil, or
take any measure to divest themselves of it. Like most
other diseases, its introduction is attributed, by the natives,
to foreigners; though I suspect it has existed among
them to " a period to which the memory of man runneth
not contrary."




120


FILTHINESS OF THE PEOPLE.


Not to mention the frequent and hideous marks of a
scourge which more clearly than any other proclaims the
curse of a God of purity - and which, while it annually
consigns hundreds of this people. to the tomb, converts
thousands while living into walking sepulchres —the inhabitants, generally, are subject to many disorders of the
skin. The majority are more or less disfigured by eruptions and sores, and many are as unsightly as lepers. The
number, of either sex or of any age, who are free from
blemishes of the kind, is very small; so much so, that a
smooth and unbroken skin is far more uncommon here
than the reverse is at home.
I am not physiologist enough to say to what cause this
fact is attributable; perhaps to a very free use of salt in
eating, in conjunction with the habit of constant sea-bathing. Kalo, too, when in the form of poe, though of easy
digestion, has probably a great tendency to grossness of
blood. Whatever the cause or causes may be, the effect
certainly detracts much from the good appearance of the
people.
Another subject, which I would notice from the same
reason that led to the introduction of the preceding, is
nearly allied to it, according to our ideas, in point of oftensiveness. A clue to this may be given without a mention
of names, by referring you to the spirited effusion of a
genius, beginning
"Ha! whare ye gaw'n, ye crawlin ferlie?"
Had the bard of Ayr lived on these coral-bound shores,
the novelty of the sight at least would never have induced
him to immortalize by song, the excursions of one of that
disgusting race. In our humble kirk, in place of one on
"Miss's Bonnet," dozens may at any time be seen sporting
among the decorated locks of ignoble heads; while, not
unfrequently, a privileged few wend their way through the
garlands of princes of the blood, or triumphantly mount
the coronets of majesty itself!
As to the servants of the chiefs, and the common people, we think ourselves fortunate indeed if, after a call of a
few minutes, we do not find living testimonies of their visit on our mats and floors, and even on our clothes and per



FOREIGN RESIDENTS.             121
sons! The bare relation of the fact, without the experience of it, is sufficiently shocking. But the half is not
told; and I scarce dare let truth here run to its climax.
The lower classes not only suffer their heads and kapas to
harbor these vermin, but they openly and unblushingly eat
them! Yet so fastidious are they in point of cleanliness,
that an emetic could scarce be more efficaciously administered than to cause them to eat from a dish in which a fly
had been drowned! So much for the force of custom and
the power of habit.
They have, by some, been called a cleanly people in
their persons and food; but with these facts in view, which
cannot be denied -and to which may be added, long and
dirty nails, like the talons of birds, &c. - it is difficult to
allow them a right to the epithet, notwithstanding the practice of spending hours together in the foamings of the surf'
or the dashings of the mountain torrent, and the punctilious observance of the ceremony of washing, at least the
fingers, before and after their meals.
May 24. When last in Schenectady, I was particularly
requested to make inquiry respecting Anthony Allen, an
African, residing on this island, once the servant of a gentleman of that city. He is quite a respectable man, and
has a very neat establishment, consisting of a dozen houses
built in the native manner and covered with mud: one for
sitting and sleeping, one for eating, another for a storehouse, another for milk, a kitchen, blacksmith's shop, &c.
&c. He owns large flocks of goats and a few cows, and
supplies the tables of many of the residents with milk.
He also keeps a kind of boarding-house for seamen. By
these means, and the cultivation of a small farm which he
holds under Hevaheva, the ex-high-priest, he obtains a
comfortable support for himself and wife, a modest native,
and three children. He has been very kind to us in sending melons, bananas, several kids, and a regular daily supply of milk from his goats.
His plantation is two miles from the mission house, on
the plain towards Waikiki. The road to it, although the
plain is uncultivated and entirely unshaded, affords the
most pleasant walk in the immediate vicinity of Honolulu.
The mountains are too distant to be reached in an hour's




122


FOREIGN RESIDENTS.


ramble, and the shore is lined only with fish-ponds and
marshes. Everything short of the mountains is sunburnt
and dreary. There is not a tree near us, much less groves,
in whose shade we might find shelter from the heat of a
torrid sun; no babbling brooks, no verdant lawn, no secluded dell or glade, for the enjoyment of solitude and
thought; indeed, nothing that ever formed part of a scene
of rural delight.
The number of foreigners residing at the islands is far
greater than I supposed. Four American mercantile houses-two of Boston, one of New-York, and one of Bristol, Rhode-Island-have establishments at this port, to
which agents and clerks are attached. Their storehouses
are abundantly furnished with goods in demand by the islanders; and at them, most articles contained in common
retail shops and groceries in America, may be purchased.
The whole trade of the four probably amounts to one hundred thousand dollars a year- sandal wood principally,
and specie, being the returns for imported manufactures.
Each of these trading houses usually has a ship or brig in
the harbor, or at some one of the islands; besides others
that touch to make repairs and obtain refreshments, in
their voyages between the north-west, Mexican and South
American coasts, and China. The agents and clerks of
these establishments, and the supercargoes and officers of
the vessels attached to them, with transient visiters in
ships holding similar situations, form the most respectable
class of foreigners with whom we are called to have intercourse.
There is another class, consisting of fifteen or twenty individuals, who have dropped all connexion with their native countries, and become permanent residents on different
islands; and who hold plantations and other property under the king and various chiefs. Of these, Marini, a Spaniard, interpreter for the government; Rives, a Frenchman,
private secretary to Liholiho; Law, a Scotchman, the
king's physician, all of Oahu: Young, an Englishman,
and Parker, an American, of Hawaii, and Butler, an American, of Maui, are the principal and most known. Marini
and Young have been at the islands more than thirty years,
and were companions and counsellors of Kamehameha.




FOREIGN RESIDENTS.


123


The former has accumulated much property, holds many
plantations, and owns extensive flocks of goats, and herds
of cattle; and is said to have money in fund, both in the
United States and in England.
He has introduced the grape, orange, lemon, pine-apple,
fig and tamarind trees, but to a very limited extent, and
seemingly from a motive entirely selfish; for he has perseveringly denied the seeds, and every means of propagation, to others, and been known even secretly to destroy a
growth that had been secured fron them without his knowledge.  A considerable quantity of wine is made yearly
from his vineyard; and his lemons and pines, by sales to
ships and in the town, bring quite an income. He has a
numerous breed of mules, and several horses, some twenty
or thirty of which have within a few years been brought
from the coast of California, and are now rapidly increasing. Flocks of beautiful doves, also an importation, are
domiciliated at his establishment; and some few miles
from the town, along the coast, there is an islet covered
with the burrows of English hares, belonging to him.
Besides this class of foreigners, there are between one
and two hundred runaway sailors and vagabonds scattered
through the group, wanderers on the earth, the very dregs
and outcasts of civilized life. These, and I am sorry to
say too many others, who, from their birth and education
in a Christian land, ought to be examples of rectitude and
morality, are the greatest corrupters of this wretched people, and present the most formidable of obstacles to the
moral influence of our teaching. Fancying themselves, in
this remote part of the world, free from every restraint of
God and man, instead of attempting to turn the heathen
from their darkness, they encourage them in sin, even become pioneers in iniquity, and the instruments of doubly
sealing them, as we fear, in the gloom of spiritual and
eternal death.
When the first missionaries reached the Sandwich islands
in the spring of 1820, an effort was made by some of the
foreigners to have their landing and establishment at the
islands forbidden by the government. With this view,
their motives were misrepresented by them to the king and
chiefs. It was asserted, that while the ostensible object of




'124


JEALOUSY OF THE GOVERNMENT


the mission was good, the secret and ultimate design was
the subjugation of the islands and the enslavement of the
people: and by way of corroboration, the treatment of the
Mexicans, and aborigines of South America and the WestIndies, by the Spaniards, and the possession of Hindoston
by the British, were gravely related. It was in consequence of this misrepresentation, that a delay of eight
days occurred before the missionaries could secure permission to disembark.
In answer to these allegations, the more intelligent of
the chiefs remarked, "The missionaries speak well: they
say they have come from America only to do us good: if
they intend to seize our islands, why are they so few in
number? where are their guns? and why have they brought
their wives?"  To this it was replied, "It is true, their
number is small: a few only have come now, the more
fully to deceive. But soon many more will arrive, and
your islands will be lost!"  The chiefs again answered,
"They say that they will do us good; they are few in number; we will try them for one year; and if we find they
deceive us, it will then be time enough to send them away."
And permission to land was accordingly granted. Mr.
Young, I am told, was the only foreigner who advocated
their reception.
The jealously of the government was, notwithstanding,
greatly awakened; and all the movements of our friends
were closely watched: the king even was led to believe
that the digging of the cellar, and the laying of the foundation of the mission house, was the commencement of a
fortification, of which the spaces left for windows were the
embrasures.
By the close of the first year the missionaries had so
far proved to the government the purity of their motive,
and the integrity of their character, that the question of
their longer continuance was not agitated. Some of the
chiefs had already become interested in the instructions
commenced in English, and in the services of Christian
worship, regularly observed on the Sabbath, and occasionally at other times. The partial acquisition of the language of the country, the formation of an alphabet for the
native tongue, the elementary lessons in reading and wri



TOWARDS THE 5MISSIONARIES.


*12S


ting which immediately followed, and chiefly perhaps the
PREACHING OF THE GOSPEL, had by the end of the second
year confirmed to the missionaries the confidence of the
rulers, and began to secure to them decided marks of
friendship.
A first effort at opposition having proved thus unsuccessful, another soon made its appearance. The object in
this case, was the defeat of the moral influence of Christianity: and the extremity to which some of the foreigners
pushed their point, and of the means resorted to for its accomplishment, you may judge from the fact, that the pupils
of the first female school collected at this place, by Mrs.
Bingham -after being clothed, and brought with much
care and attention to habits of neatness and propriety in
their persons, and made themselves to be deeply-miterested
in various useful instruction - were borne off openly and
forcibly by them, to become their mistresses, while the instructress herself could answer the appeals made to her for
protection, only by her tears!
Still the moral influence of Christianity has been felt;
and I am persuaded its glorious progress cannot now be
stayed. A chief object at present with those opposed to
the mission, is the blasting of its character abroad. A
vessel scarcely comes to anchor, before the ears of those
attached to it are filled with slander and falsehood, in reference to the influence exerted by us.  Even Captain
Clasby had scarce reached the shore, before he heard the
lowest abuse heaped on our associates; and was told by a
leading resident, that his passengers should not be permitted to land; that the nation was already nearly ruined by
the worthless set of fellows we had come to join!
When a strange ship arrives, and the officers complain
of the extravagance of the harbor-fees, this impost is immediately declared to be exacted by the advice of the missionaries: the high prices of articles of refreshment in the
market, is assigned to the same cause; though we ourselves are now living almost exclusively on sea biscuit, salt
beef and pork, brought from America, two or three years
old, and scarce ever taste a banana or melon, because we
do not feel at liberty to purchase fresh provisions and vegetables - much less fruit - at the price demanded by the
12




126


PREJUDICE OVERCOAgE.


chiefs. Equally untrue is a whole catalogue of charges,
by which we are represented as the worst enemies of our
countrymen, and of all foreigners; and the basest of men,
both in principles and morals.
The minds of many visiters at the islands are by these
means so strongly prejudiced against us, that they do not
call at the mission-house; and in some instances, after a
casual introduction, have, on meeting us in the street,
passed in haughty silence, and even betrayed a sneer of
contempt. And when they take their departure, they bear
wvith them to the coasts of Mexico and Peru and Chili, or
to Canton, England, and America, the most erroneous impressions of our influence here, and not unfrequently the
lowest slanders on our characters.
When I speak thus of the opposition with which we are
obliged to contend, you are not to understand that all foreigners- residents or visiters — are of the character represented. Some of every class are warmly and decidedly our friends, and have our high respect for their rectitude
of character, and our sincere gratitude for many favors;
and, inconsistent as it may appear, even those most embittered in their feelings against our object, treat us personally with respect, and often with great kindness. Scarce
a week passes, in which donations of a liberal and important character are not conferred on one or another of the
family; and we are often made to feel the obligation of
civilities which we have not the means of returning.
The scale of prejudice which was made to bear so
heavily against the missionaries on their arrival, has now
iot only gained its balance, but is beginning to settle with
ominous bearing against those who attempted by it to prevent the establishment of the mission. The haughty and
powerful queen Kaahumanu was at first exceedingly jealous of the teachers; and it is only within the last few
months, that she has paid a regard to instruction of any
kind. She long persisted in her refusals to attempt to
learn to read and write, and was but recently induced for
the first time to lay aside her cards for a few minutes, and
to repeat the alphabet after a missionary: since then, she
has, however, become an assiduous scholar; and has made
her books and slate the principal sources of amusement.




KAPIOLANI, HER CHARACTER.


127


Within a day or two, I called upon her in company with
Mr. Ellis. Soon after entering, she asked Mr. Ellis for a
blank book he had promised to give her; he was obliged
to tell her he had not yet made it; and added, "I fear you
will think I am deceiving you, by delaying so long to fulfill my promise "- when she hastily interrupted him, saying - "Aole!  aole! ua pan komakou manao ino i ka poe
mikanele - ka wahahe wale no kahaoli! "- " No, no! -
ended are our evil thoughts of the company of missionaries- false or deceitful only are the foreigners! "meaning by foreigners, those who had originally misrepresented and traduced the character of the missionaries.
She expressed her full determination to serve Jehovah
and keep his law, and in the course of the conversation,
requested Mr. Ellis to write her__a-orm of prayer for grace
at meals, adding, " I know that all things are from Jehovah,
and that it is well to give thanks to him for every favor,
but without some direction I shall perhaps make crooked
work of it."
The same morning we for a moment visited Kapiolani.
She is an exceedingly interesting character: and from
having been addicted to the grossest intemperance and dissipation, has become perfectly correct in her habits; and
is invariably serious and dignified in her deportment. I
first saw her at the mission house on the morning of our
arrival; and was so forcibly impressed with the neatness
of her dress, and the propriety of her whole appearance,
as to be led to inquire who she was, and whether she could
be a Sandwich-islander. She is deeply interested in the
success of the mission; is herself an indefatigable scholar;
and shewed us a very handsome writing-desk and table,
for which she had just given seventy-five dollars.
Monday Morning, 26. The Sabbath here is a most interesting day to the Christian and missionary. The number of decently dressed heathen who flock to the humble
temple of the only true God; the attention and seriousness
with which many of them listen to the words of eternal
life proclaimed in their own language, by the ambassadors
of Jesus Christ; the praises of Jehovah chanted in this
untutored tongue-neccessarily produce a lively and joyful impression on the pious mind. Of this I saw, a pleas



128


SCENES ON THE SABBATH.


ing instance only two Sabbaths since. An officer from one
of the ships in port, a serious young man, spent the interval between the English and native s6rvices with me
at the mission house. As the congregation began to assemble, he accompanied me to the door of the chapel, intending to take leave when the exercises should begin, as
he was unacquainted with the language, and had been already longer from his ship than he designed; but after
standing a few minutes, and seeing hundreds of natives
assembling quietly and seriously from various directions,
he suddenly exclaimed, while tears glistened in his eyes,
"No! - this is too much - I cannot go till I worship with
these heathen."
It is also an interesting day to the passing strangerfor on the Sabbath, the real state of the people, struggling
from barbarity to ivilization, is more observable than at
any other time. { Any one of the fabled beings represented,
as half man and half beast, would be an appropriate emblem
X of the present national character; and an emblazoned Ceni- taur would, in the view of a herald, furnish his Hawaiian.
i majesty with a very intelligible coat-of-arms.
'Recollecting of how late a date the first improvements
here are, there is certainly much to admire; but more in
one sense, at which to smile. This fact is conspicuous to
the simple looker-on, in nothing more than in dress - the
variety and grotesque mixture of which is indescribable.
The king, queens, prince, princess, and all the highest
chiefs, are, at church, always well, and often richly and
fashionably, dressed. But when grouped -which is always the case - with the " Royal Guards," and the several retinues of the chiefs, they present a most incongruous
and ridiculous spectacle. The dress of the guards, which
is intended to be a "uniform," appears to be the cast-off
regimentals of half a dozen different nations, and I had
almost said, of as many different centuries. Some suits I
think bear strong evidence, prima facie, of having passed
through the honorable hardship of the Revolutionary War
of America; and I have been half tempted to recognize in
others, the parade clothes of the "Bowerstown Artillery,"
the object of general admiration, when, as a boy, I first
visited the wilds of Otsego. You may judge how these,




SINGULAR DRESSES.


129


or the like, would appear —a coat and cocked hat, for instance on a native " sans culotte; " or a hat and pantaloons
without a coat or shirt; or a hat and shirt alone; all of
which varieties may be seen. Some of the officers, however, appear very well, in full new suits of blue, with lace
and epaulettes of gold.
There is sometimes, also, an odd mixture of materials
in the dress of the chiefs; for example, a rich suit of Canton crape, satin, or silk velvet, with a sailor's check or red
flannel shirt, and parti-colored woolen cap, and perhaps
one coarse stocking and shoe. I have seen a female, of
high rank, and monstrously large, going to church in a
loose slip of white muslin, with thick woodman's shoes,
and no stockings, a heavy silver-headed cane in her hand,
and an immense French chapeau on her head!
On Sunday, too, there is a display of equipage, not seen
every day. The chapel being near a half mile from the
village, some of the grandees ride to church: their carriages, to be sure, belong to " the birth-day of invention"especially the state coach of the late king, which, I presume,
was once a tinker's wagon. Kaahumanu and Kaumualii
always come in this; the young queens, usually in one
more modern and airy, of the kind called Dearborn in America. These vehicles are always drawn by twelve or
fifteen natives; their horses not having yet been broken to
the harness.
Whether the nobility, here, have been told that those
who wish to be considered most genteel, in America, do not
go to church till after the services have commenced; or
whether the newly introduced duties of the toilette occasion the delay, I cannot determine; but the most stately do
not generally arrive at the chapel till some time during
the first prayer, which consequently is disturbed by the
rumbling of their chariot wheels, the hooting of the rabble
that hurry them along the plain, the bustle of alighting,
and the parade of entering. You could not avoid smiling
were you to see with what dignity some of these saunter
up the aisle.
I have been led to these little notices, protracted much
beyond my intention when I commenced this date, by the
observations unavoidably, and almost unconsciously, made
12*




PRAYERS AT THE PALACE,


yesterday. I witnessed them all, in the detail in which
they are given; and, afterwards, in grand assemblage, by
a single coup d'cil, when the meeting was dismissed: with
the addition, however, of the lofty umbrellas, and proud
kahiles, on the favorable side; and of a party of naked
horsemen on the other, who were flying in the distance,
mounted without saddle or bridle, except a string of twisted grass, with looks made doubly wild by the streaming of
their long hair and ragged kapas in the wind behind.
One or two of the missionaries attend family prayers, at
the king's residence, every evening. Last night, at nine
o'clock, I accompanied Mr. Ellis and Mr. Chamberlain to
this service. Liholiho was just commencing supper, in
a large lanai, or bower, by the side of his house. The table was well laid with blue china and cut glass, for about
twenty persons; and besides the lamps and spermaceti candles which were burning on it, was surrounded by a glare
of torches of the kukui or oil-nut, which, tastefully wrapped in green leaves, made a splendid appearance. The king
was seated at the head, with one of his queens on his left,
and a favorite chief on his right side. There were about
half a dozen others at the table. He immediately ordered room for us to be made on the left of the queen, and
begged us to help ourselves to whatever we chose of the
variety of soups, meats, and vegetables before us, and to
excuse his doing the honors of the table, being "pololi loa,"
" very hungry," and having just filled his plate with rich
turtle soup.
Some of the chiefs do not cook their food on the Sabbath; the king is aware of this, and himself sometimes
follows their example; but last night, everything was
smoking fresh from the cookhouse; and by way of apology, he remarked, that the hot supper was not prepared for
himself, but on account of the "mai," the sick person - Kamehamelu being indisposed - but that everything on the
table was killed the day before.
Our own practice is to have our dinner, for the Sabbath,
except the vegetables, cooked on Saturday. The preparation of food in the native manner, especially the making
of poe and baking of meats, requires the attention of several hours; and the missionaries, in their instructions, have




DESIGNATION TO LAHAINA.


131


suggested to the chiefs and people, the propriety of preparing their food for the la kabu on the proceeding day.
The remark of the king was made, from a knowledge of
our opinion on the subject.
After taking a cup of tea, and waiting till his majesty
had completed half a dozen courses, we retired from the
table, at ten o'clock, to the palace; where the principal
part of the chiefs were waiting for the ordinary worship.
Nine o'clock, P. M. This has proved a much more important date than 1 anticipated when I wrote in the morning. The mission was informed yesterday, that the king's
mother is going to Lahaina, on the island of Maui, to reside permanently there; and is extremely desirous that
some of the missionaries should accompany her. Mr.
Bingham saw her last night on the subject. She said she
must have a teacher, to speak the "good word, and pray
to God with her; " that she would do everything in her
power to make those who might accompany her comfortable; and would delay her voyage, that there might be time
for them to prepare to sail with her in the Cleopatra's
barge.
A meeting of the mission was, consequently, called this
morning, when it was determined, that it was expedient to
occupy a station at Lahaina immediately. After agreeing
that the choice of persons should be made by electing one
by ballot, and allowing him to nominate his colleague, the
votes were taken. Very unexpectedly to myself, I was
the individual elected, and immediately named Mr. Richards for my associate: we, consequently, are all in confusion, packing up our baggage for a permanent residence on
Maui, instead of a visit to Hawaii, and a tour of the island. We are to embark on Wednesday.




132


EMBARK FOR LAHAItNA


CHAPTER        VIII.
REMOVAL TO THE ISLAND OF MAUL
The Cleopatra's Barge, at sea, May 30,1823. On Wednesday, the 28th, Mr. and Mrs. Richards, H —  and myself, B —  and C -, with William Kamahoula, and
Mr. Loomis, who makes the voyage to see us established
at our station, embarked with the queen 'Keopuolani for
Maui.
Our designation was so unexpected, and departure so
sudden, that we had scarce leisure to turn a thought on
the separation about to take place from our fellow laborers,
or to cast a glance of anticipation at the possible trials
that might await us, in a distant and solitary district of
the islands. The topsails of the barge had long been unfurled as a signal for sailing, before we had completed our
preparations, and the last package was scarcely secured,
before the farewell hymn and benedictions of our friends
were sounding in our ears, and we hurried to the open bosom of the Pacific.
Left to the deliberate contemplation of our position, we
almost trembled at the responsibility resting upon us, and
at the arduous duties in prospect. Every thought was
exquisitely awake to the life on which we had now actually entered. Months indeed had passed since we bade
adieu to our country, home, and friends; but during a voyage of 18,000 miles, we had still been surrounded by those
we loved; and for the last few weels, though on heathen
shores, we had been calmly reposing in the bosom of a
band of intelligent and affectionate Christians, without a
participation of their labors and their cares. Such, however, was no longer the case; our eyes now rested only on
the uncivilized beings with whom we were to dwell, and
our ears were saluted only by the sounds of an unknown
and savage tongue. We were fully alive to the contrast;
and, in the anticipation of the privations and trials, by
which we believe the work in which we are engaged
must be accomplished, we could scarce refrain exclaiming,




KINDNESS TO THE MISSIONARIES.


133


"Farewell ease -farewell comfort -farewell every worldly joy."
But with these feelings there was no mingling of despondency. No, in the kind providence of God, every circumstance attending our situation is too auspicious to admit the indulgence of any unbelieving fear of the ultimate
success of our enterprise.
We had been on board scarce an hour, before the polite
and kind attention of those under whose immediate and
express patronage we had embarked, made us almost forget that we were not still in the bosom of beloved friends.
Our hearts became more than ordinarily elated, in the belief that " unto us is this grace given, that we should preach
among the gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;" and
in the evening, while a splendid moon gave a softened
beauty to the receding promontories of Oahu, and brought
to light the distant shores of Molokai and Lanai, overtopped by the loftier heights of Maui, we found ourselves
almost involuntarily chanting, in the confidence of hope,
the favorite anthem:
"t Wake, Isles of the South! your redemption draws near:
No longer repose in the borders of gloom," &c.
Previous to our embarcation, we had but little opportunity to judge, from personal intercourse, of the degree of
civilization to which the chiefs have attained in minor
points, and were somewhat surprised at the ceremonious
attentions paid us. Immediately on reaching the vessel,
we were informed that the after-cabin was appropriated exclusively to our use; though there were not less than two
hundred persons on board, many of them high chiefs, with
their particular friends; and we had hardly cleared the
harbor, when the steward waited on us, to know what we
would order for dinner, and at what hour it should be
served.
Mr. Allen had sent us a fine ready-dressed kid, with
some melons, for our passage; and Mrs. Bingham had
kindly prepared coffee and other refreshments; but our
table has been so regularly and comfortably spread, that
our basket of cold provisions remains untouched. This
attention is the more noticeable, because the trouble is en



134


ARaRIVAL AT LA"AINA.


tirely on our account, all the natives eating their favorite
dishes on their mats on deck. Kalaimoku, from courtesy,
very politely took his seat with us the first time we sat
down to meal, but excused himself from partaking of the
dinner, by saying that he had eaten above.
There was something also in the attentions of the king
to his mother, when leaving Honolulu, that had a pleasing
effect on our minds. This venerable old lady was the last
person that came on board. After we had reached the
quarter-deck of the barge, she appeared on the beach, surrounded by an immense crowd, and supported by Liholiho
in a tender and respectful manner. He would let no one
assist her into the long-boat but himself; and seemed to
think of nothing but her ease and safety, till she was
seated on her couch, beneath an awning over the main
hatch. The king continued to manifest the utmost affection and respect for her till we got under way; and, apparently from the same filial feelings, accompanied us fifteen
miles to sea, and left the brig in a pilot-boat, in time barely
to reach the harbor before dark.
We are now becalmed under the lee of Lanai, within
less than a mile of an inaccessible precipice several hundred feet high, the base of which is lashed with heavy
breakers. We had the hope of reaching Lahaina to-night,
but now fear that we shall not before sometime to-morrow.
Lahaina, Island of Maui, Saturday Evening, May 31.
After a very rough but splendid night, at sunrise this
morning the wild mountains that overhang the district of
Lahaina were in distinct view, and we advanced rapidly to
the anchorage. The settlement is far more beautiful than
any place we have yet seen on the islands. The entire
district, stretching nearly three miles along the sea-side, is
covered with luxuriant groves, not only of the cocoanut,
the only tree we have before seen except on the tops of the
mountains, but also of the bread-fruit and of the kou -a
species of cordia, (cordia sebestena) an ornamental tree,
resembling at a distance a large and flourishing, full, roundtopped apple-tree -while the banana plant, kapa and sugar-cane are abundant, and extend almost to the beach, on
which a fine surf constantly rolls. The picture presented




PLANTATION OF MR. fiBTLER.


135


is purely Indian in all its features, from the bare and lofty
trunks of the cocoa-palm, with their tufted summits nodding like plumes in the breeze, to the thatch of a rude hut
here and there peeping from beneath the broad leaves of
the plantain and the richness of more lowly growth - the
whole forming a delightful foreground to the noble exhibition of mountain scenery in the distance.
On coming to anchor, Kalaimoku expressed his regret
that there was no house at the disposal of himself or queen
suitable for our accommodation: and wished us to procure
a temporary residence with Mr. Butler, an American established here, till houses could be provided for us by Keopuolani. Under the guidance of Mr. Loomis, Mr. Richards
and myself accordingly landed for this purpose.  We
were soon met by Keoua, the governor of Lahaina, to
whom I delivered a letter of introduction from his friend
Laanui at Oahu, and proceeded in search of the plantation
of Mr. Butler.
We found his enclosure pleasantly situated about a
quarter of a mile directly in rear of the landing-place, and
were received by him in a kind and friendly manner.
-when acquainted with our object in coming to Lahaina, he
proffered every assistance in his power, and tendered his
best house for the reception of our families. His civility
greatly prepossessed us in his favor, and made us almost
forget that we were in the land of strangers. He returned
to the barge with us, to bring the ladies on shore; and early in the afternoon our whole number were comfortably
and quietly settled in the midst of his luxuriant grounds.
The thick shade of the bread-fruit trees which surround
his cottages, the rustling of the breeze through the bananas and the sugar-cane, the murmurs of the mountain
streams encircling the yard, and the coolness and verdure
of every spot around us, seemed, in contrast with our situation, during a six months' voyage, and four weeks' residence on the dreary plain of Honolulu, like the delights of
an Eden; and caused our hearts to beat warmly with
gratitude to the Almighty Being who had brought us in
safety to the scene of our future labors, and had at once
provided us with so refreshing an asylum.
Before dark, the chiefs had all our effects landed and




FIRST SABBATH AT LAHAINA.


secured in the storehouse of the governor, while our private baggage was brought to the house we occupy by the
attendants of the queen. Nor did their attentions cease
here. Early in the evening, a supply of ready-cooked
provisions with vegetables and fruits, abundantly sufficient
for the Sabbath, were sent to us by different individuals.
Mr. Butler hospitably prepared our first repast; and,
though somewhat fatigued, we are now ready to retire to
rest, prepared for the suitable observance of the holy day
on which we are bordering. May it be the beginning of
many blessed Sabbaths to the degraded inhabitants of Lahaina!
Sabbath, June 1. Early this morning a messenger
came to inform us that Keopuolani, the princess, and chiefs,
were waiting for us to come and worship with them. We
accordingly hastened to the beach, to erect an altar to the
true God, where heretofore idols only have been served.
Our temple was the work of the hands of the Almighty.
Its only pillars were those that support the foundations of
the earth, and its canopy the broad, arch of heaven. But
we doubt whether a purer flame of devotion would have
glowed in our bosoms, had we knelt before the Lord on
pavements of marble, or addressed his throne from the
midst of carving and gold. About three hundred and fifty
persons had encircled the tent, pitched for the temporary
accommodation of the queen, in a grove of kou trees near
a brick building now used as a storehouse, but once the
residence of the late king when he visited Maui. We
have seldom witnessed a more orderly and attentive audience.
A portion of scripture was read from the Tahitian version by Taua, a Tahitian Christian, assistant missionary
to Mr. Ellis, who is attached to the retinue of the queen
in the capacity of private instructer and chaplain-after
which other appropriate services were performed. The
chiefs desired to have the services repeated in the afternoon; and the queen requested us not only to worship
God with her thus on the Sabbath, but to attend prayers
regularly with herself and daughter every morning at sunrise and every evening at sunset.
Monday, June 2. Our schools have to-day been com



COMMENCE INSTRUCTION.


137


menced, one at the establishment of each of the chiefs in
company with the queen, and one also at the house of Keoua, the governor, making six in number: that of Keopuolani and Hoapili, her husband; that of the princess Nahienaena; of the young queen Kekauonohi, a wife of Liholiho; of Wahinepio, the sister of Kalaimoku, and Kehikili her husband; of Kaiko and his wife Haaheo; and
of the governor.
Our pupils consist of the chiefs and a few of their particular favorites. The rulers have, from the first arrival
of the missionaries, opposed the instruction of the common people in reading and writing, saying, "If the palapala -letters- is good, we wish to possess it first ourselves; if it is bad, we do not intend our subjects to know
the evil of it:" and thus far a kind of kabu has existed
against any but religious teaching among the commoners.
And the whole number of islanders who have learned,
and are learning to read and write, does not amount to
more than two or three hundred; about fifty of whom are
now under our direction.
It may not be readily understood how we can teach in a
tongue of which we are almost entirely ignorant. The
rudiments of the language are so simple, that after once
learning the sounds of the letters and dipthongs, there is
no difficulty in pronouncing any word correctly, or in mechanically reading any sentence. So that we are fully
competent to instruct in reading and spelling the few
sheets in print, and in writing.
Several are learning the English language; but the
combination of its sounds are so foreign to the genius of
their own, and some of its letters so utterly beyond their
powers of enunciation, that, as Kaahumanu says, they do
indeed make "crooked work of it; " often exclaiming, in
their attempts to acquire it, "ua like no i ka pohaku ""it is just like a stone! "
Keopuolani is indefatigable in her efforts to learn to read
in her own tongue. It is but a few months that she has
been interested in the object of the mission; and being
aged, she has great apprehensions that she may not live
till, as she herself expresses it, she "has learned enough
of the good word- of God - and of the right way to go
13




KINDNESS OF KEOPTOLANI,


to, Heaven." Her influence is so great that in this respect, and in every other, her example is very important.
Her character has for some time been free from the reproaches of heathenism; and she appears sincerely desirous of fully imbibing the spirit, as well as of observing
the forms of Christianity. Kalaimoku and Keoua dined
with us to-day. While at the table, the prime minister informed us that Keopuolani had given us a plantation adjoining that of Mr. Butler; and directing the governor to
put us in possession of it, by shewing the boundaries in
the presence of its tenants, according to the custom of the
country, he took his leave with a pleasant aloha, and the
salutation, "much happiness to you all on the island of
Maui."
We have since ascertained that the plantation is his
own; and that it is to his liberality, probably with the
knowledge of the queen, we are indebted for the kindness.
By the word plantation, as used here, you are not, my
dear M   —, to understand what its acceptation in America
would convey, an estate of five hundred or five thousand
acres; but an extent of land more contracted than your
kitchen-garden at the Lake lands, consisting of a collection of kalo beds, interspersed here and there with a few
rows of potatos, a little sugar-cane, and some irregularly
planted banana, and cocoanut, or bread-fruit trees.
Such are the limits and appearance of the ground given
to us; the soil is, however, exceedingly rich, and may be
formed into a beautiful garden.
Tuesday, 3. After evening prayers at the queen's, we
took leave of Kalaimoku and his party, who shortly after
went on board the barge, to return to Honolulu.  Mr.
Loomis also left us. The only object of Kalaimoku in
visiting Lahaina, was to escort Keopuolani, who, being the
highest chief by. blood in the nation, receives every mark
of honor and affection from the government and people.
At this interview he appeared: more kindly disposed. than
ever, repeatedly taking us by both hands, as a. token of
peculiar tenderness, and pressing them to his bosom. He
told us that the queen would continue to provide for us as
she had. done. Our table has been bountifully furnished
every day from her stores. This morning she said- to




DESCRIPTION OF LAHAINA.


139


William, our interpreter, " Have they hog still?" " Yes."
"Any dog? "   "No eat dog."  "Any potatos?"  "No.'
"Any melon?"   "No."   On which an order was immediately given, and two men despatched to us heavily laden
with potatos and melons. Pigs, hogs, fowl, and goats,
have been sent constantly by one person or another. No
congregation in America could in this respect have received a clergyman, coming to administer the word of life
to them, with greater hospitality, or stronger expressions
of good-will.
Thursday, 5. Found leisure this morning to take a
cursory survey of the settlement in which 1 am now a
spiritual instructer. The first view of it from the sea and
anchorage gives too favorable an impression of its beauty;
and the appearance of great luxuriance which it exhibits
does not expose the rude and imperfect cultivation of the
natives.
Lahaina is situated on the north-west end of Maui, and
lies between two points projecting slightly into the ocean;
one on the north and the other on the south, about two
miles distant from each other. These, in their respective
directions, terminate the view of the beach.
The width of the district from the sea towards the mountain is from one half to three-quarters of a mile. The
whole extent included within these boundaries is perfectly
level and thickly covered with trees and various vegetation.
The taste, skill, and industry of an American gardener
might convert it into an earthly paradise; but now it everywhere appears only like the neglected grounds of a deserted plantation. There is no uniformity or neatness to
be seen, and almost everything seems to be growing in the
wildness of nature. The bread-fruit trees stand as thickly
as those of an irregularly planted orchard, and beneath
them are kalo patches and fish-ponds, twenty or thirty
yards square, filled with stagnant water, and interspersed
with clumps of the kapa tree, groves of the banana, rows
of the sugar-cane, and bunches of the potato and melon.
All these flourish exuberantly from the richness of the soil
alone, with but little attention or labor from the hand of
man.
It scarce ever rains, not oftener, we are told, than half a




:140


DESCRIPTION OF LAHAINA.


dozen times during the year; and the land is watered entirely by conducting the streams, which rush from the
mountains, by artificial courses, on every plantation. Each
farmer has a right, established by custom, to the water every fifth day. The pathways, which are very narrow, are
usually along the sides of these water trenches.
The number of inhabitants is about two thousand five
hundred. Their houses are generally not more than eight
or ten feet long, six or eight broad, and from four to six
high, having one small hole for a door, which cannot be
entered but by creeping, and is the only opening for the
admission of light and air. They make little use of these
dwellings, except to protect their food and clothing, and
to sleep in during wet and cool weather; and most generally eat, sleep, and live in the open air, under the shade
of a kou, or bread-fruit tree.
The land begins to rise rather abruptly about threefourths of a mile from the sea, and towers into lofty mountains, three rude elevations of which, immediately east of
Lahaina, are judged to be four thousand five hundred, or
five thousand feet, above the level of the ocean. From the
first swell of the rising ground, almost to the summits of
these mountains, there is nothing to be seen but the most
dreary sterility and sunburnt vegetation, intersected by
gloomy ravines and frightful precipices.
Every part of the island seen from Lahaina wears the
same forbidding and desolate aspect; and after passing
either point, the eye is met only by a barren sand-beach,
occasionally interrupted by heaps of black lava, to which
the wild dashings of a heavy surf add double gloom.
So far as our observation extends, this description is
characteristic of the whole islands. Instead of being the
sunny and elysian fields which the imagination of many
make them, they in fact are only vast heaps of rocks in
the midst of this mighty ocean, with here and there, at long
intervals, a rich and luxuriant valley and plain thronged
with inhabitants. The outlines of the whole group are
wild and romantic, and the thick and ever-verdant forests,
which crown the heights of nany of the mountains, give
them a refreshing appearance. But to an eye accustomed
to the varied beauties of an American landscape, to its




IMINS OF A HEI-AU.


141


widely cultivated fields, its stately groves, its spreading
lawns, and broadly gleaming rivers, its gardens and enclosures, its farm-houses, country-seats, villages, domes and
spires, a more melancholy place of exile could scarce be
selected than the Sandwich Islands.
The islands of Lanai, Molukai, and Kahulawe, are in
full view from Lahaina; the two former to the west and
north, and the last to the south; and, at the distance of
fifteen or twenty miles, are as dreary as the gloomiest imagination could paint them. Almost constantly enveloped
in lowering clouds, they are as emphatically the dark
mountains of the natural, as they are figuratively those of
the intellectual and spiritual world. We here look in vain
for those beauties in nature with which we once feasted
our admiration to enthusiasm; for
"Objects find we none,
Except before us stretched the toiling main,
And rocks and wilds in savage view behind."
The south point of Lahaina, however, presents one subject of glorious meditation: the ruins of an Hei-au, or
idolatrous temple. While wandering over this now confused heap of stones, I involuntarily shuddered at the
thought that they had often been bathed in the blood of a
human sacrifice: a fearful truth. But, 0 how joyful, how
inexpressibly animating, the association now inseparably
connected with it!The altar and idol in dust overthrown,
The incense forbade, that was hallowed in blood;
The priest of Melchisedec here shall atone,
And the shrines of Lahaina be sacred to God!"
Yes -we confidently believe that the stifled shrieks of a
devoted human victim will never again break on the midnight silence of these groves; and that the only sacrifice
that will ever here be offered, will be that of " a broken
and contrite heart," which thou, 0 God, wilt not despise.
Saturday night, June 7. The first week of our residence at Lahaina is completed; and few missionaries have
ever been more highly favored in forming a station, far
from every abode of,, civilization and piety, than we have.
13*




142            DESIRE FOR INSTRUCTION1
The Lord hath dealt kindly with us, by disposing the
hearts of the queen and chiefs to the most friendly and
generous attentions.
Our table has been constantly and bountifully spread by
our benfactress, who, clothed with regal power, in this respect literally fulfills the promise, "Behold, I will lift up
my hand to the gentiles, and set up my standard to the
people, and kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and queens
thy nursing mothers." Preparations are already made for
the speedy erection of our dwelling-houses; and timber is
collecting for a chapel and school-house, all by the liberal-'
ity of the same interesting personage.
And where is the civilized heart that will refuse its
warm approbation and zealous support to the attempts that
are making for the benefit of those who appear so anxious
to receive it? Who, after witnessing scenes which have
become familiar to us, will say, " the heathen cannot be
enlightened? " Who will assert that instruction to these is
thrown away, when, morning, noon and night, they may
be found, in groups of from ten to thirty persons, spelling
and reading and writing; and, whether in their houses or
in the grove, whether strolling on the beach, or, I might
almost add, sporting in the surf, making their books and
slates their inseparable companions?
If, after the shortest and most imperfect tuition, many
are capable of composing neat and intelligent letters to
each other, now almost daily passing from island to island,
and from district to district; so far from judging them not
susceptible of attainments in the common branches of education, we need not fear to encourage a belief that some
may yet rejoice in the more abstruse researches of philosophy and science. They can be civilized - they can be
made to partake, with millions of their fellow-beings, in all
the advantages of letters and of the arts.
Nor is there more doubt that they may be converted to
Christianity. They eagerly seek our religious instructions
and prayers; and morning and evening, with seriousness
and solemnity, surround the altar of the great I AM. The
approach of the Sabbath is anxiously awaited; and so
careful are they not to infringe its duties or defeat its object by unnecessary labors, that they prepare their food be



MESSENGER PROM THE QUEEN.


143


fore its commencement with more punctilious care than
many in our own country who are thought to observe it
with superstitious particularity. We do not say this of
the nation, for, alas! gross darkness covers the people, and
thousands are everywhere perishing in the depths of ignorance and sin; but of those only who have received the
most constant and direct influence of the mission. If it
can be said, however, even of a few - and in its full extent it can be - who will not admit that all are alike capable of receiving and obeying the precepts of eternal life?
We thank God more warmly than ever, that of his good
pleasure he excited within our bosoms the desire " to forsake houses, and brethren, and sisters, and father, and
lands, for his sake, and for that of the gospel; " and that
we have the prospect of living and dying beneath the dark
mountains of Maui.  If ignorance of the world and of
our own hearts do not deceive us, we had rather hear the
warm and constant "aloha," aloha nui," "aloha nui roa,"
"maikai, mnaikai,'-" love to you," "great love to you,"
" very great love to you," "good, good," - of the crowds
of these ignorant and degraded immortals, with the cheering prospect of conferring on them blessings temporal and
eternal, than to receive the loud huzzas of an American or
European populace, shouting the plaudits of a hero or a
monarch.
Wednesday, 18. A messenger from the queen came to
our cottage very early this morning, desiring Mr. Richards
and myself to go to the beach, to make a definite selection
of a situation for the missionary establishment. On going
down, we found the timber on the ground, and a large
number of men, from a distant district, waiting for directions where to put it up. Keopuolani and the young princess both accompanied us to the site we had before partially chosen. It is a bank a few yards from the sea, elevated about six feet above the level of the water, and at
present promises greater retirement than any spot in the
section of the district in which the queen wishes us to
reside. Its only advantage is a peculiarly fresh sea-breeze.
As soon as we expressed our preference for it, the mern
began digging holes for the corner posts, making each
house twenty-three feet long, and fifteen feet wide, with a




144         HILA-HULA, OR NATIVE DANCE.
space of fifteen feet between them. The posts are about
as thick as the arm of a man; and after being fastened in
the ground, are about five feet high. The whole number
on each side of a house is seven. The tops are exca*
vated, to admit a pole about an inch in diameter, which
extends horizontally the whole length of the building, and
to which the posts are all lashed with strings made from a
small but strong vine.
The rafters are as numerous as the posts, and nearly as
large, and are fastened to their tops with strings. The
principal strength of this joint arises from an extension of
the outside of the post, two or three inches above the
larger and inner part, which is received into a corresponding notch made in the-end of the rafters.
The upper ends of the rafters rest on and are lashed to a
ridge-pole, supported at each end by a long post reaching
from the ground to the peak of the roof. Between the
corners and these middle posts there are others parallel to
them, diminishing in length according to the inclination of
the roof. These complete the frame of the building. The
next business is to prepare a foundation for the thatch.
This is done by lashing small round sticks, at intervals of
five or six inches, horizontally, to the posts of the sides
and ends, from the ground to the ridge-pole; to these the
thatch of grass is tied by strings made of the fibres of the
cocoanut husk.  In the best built houses, between the
sticks and the grass there is an inner thatch, or lining, of
the leaves of the sugar-cane or banana.
Our kind patroness remained on the ground till we ourselves left it for breakfast; and constantly addressed us,
and spoke of us to the people by the affectionate appellation of "sons."
The ship Dawn, of New-York, touched here on the Sabbath, and sailed again for Oahu. The same day the Boston, Capt. Joy, of Nantucket, arrived, and is still at anchor
off Lahaina. After dining with us to-day, Capt: Joy took
Mr. Richards and myself to his ship.
When returning, towards sunset, we observed an immense crowd of people in the grove, near the establishment
of Keopuolani; and hundreds of others hastening from
every direction to the same spot. A hula-hula, or native




CUSTOM OF CONFERRING NAMES.


145


dance, was performing in honor of the arrival of the queen
and princess.
The dancers were two interesting girls, ten years of age.
Their dresses were 'of beautiful yellow native cloth, arranged in thick folds and festoons from the waist to the
knee; with wreaths of evergreen and wild flowers on
their heads and necks, ornaments of ivory on their wrists,
and a kind of buskin round the ancles, formed of dog's
teeth, and loosely fastened to network of hemp so as to
rattle like the castanet in the mtntions of the dance. The
musicians were six men, seated on the ground with large
calabashes before them, which they beat with short sticks.
The sound of these, accompanied by that of their voices
repeating the song, constituted the rude music. The girls
occasionally joined in the song, and often were the only
singers, continuing the subject in duet, and at- times by a
solo. The motions of the dance were slow and graceful,
and, in this instance, free from indelicacy of action; and
the song, or rather recitative, accompanied by much gesticulation, was dignified and harmonious in its numbers.
The theme of the whole, was the character and praises of
the queen and princess, who were compared to everything
sublime in nature, and exalted as gods.
The chiefs, seated in front of the performers, were so
intent on the exhibition, that we scarce expected to gain
their attention. Keopuolani, however, ordered the performance to cease the moment the sun began to set; and
commanding the crowd to be seated and keep silence while
she worshipped God, beckoned us to come to her sofa; and
we proceeded with the usual exercises. The number of
persons present was not less than two thousand; to whom
-and to many for the first time — the words of eternal
life were proclaimed, and that Name made known, which
is the only one, "under heaven, given among men, whereby
we must be saved."
June 19. Hoapili, the husband of the queen, called at
our cottage this afternoon, to request the acceptance of his
name for our son C —; a mark of great friendship, and,
in this case, of honor and condescension, according to the
ideas of the islanders. An exchange of names between
adults, is one of the strongest pledges of affection: and




146


ENCTSAL US.t OMET..


the conferring of his own name, by a high chief, whether
on an individual in infancy, as in the present case,,or in
manhood, imparts a dignity here not surpassed by that of
"the spur" or "garter" in more polished monarchies.
The event was formally announced to the chiefs and the
people at evening prayers, and a servant despatched with
a very appropriate present for ".the young Hoapili,"-a
large bucket full of arrowroot: an article spontaneous in
its growth, prepared to some extent by the natives, and by
them called pia.
June 20. In all external things, here, there is a sameness, morning, noon, and evening, day and night, that, accompanied as it necessarily is by an utter want of society,
would prove insupportable, I should think, to every civilized and intelligent resident but a missionary. True, the
weather is perpetual June; we have no rain, no storms, no
lowering clouds, and all immediately around is perennial
verdure; but there is a death-like silence and want of animation in everything; a stillness of desolation that drowns
the spirits and destroys the elasticity both of body and
mind. There is nothing to be seen or heard of those things
which enliven the most retired situations in our own country; no chirping birds, no gamboling flocks, no lowing cattle. Even the few natives, who are at the same time at
work on their small plantations, cause no interruption to
the general silence; no sound of industry is created by the
rude implements with which they cultivabte the ground;
and their labor is unaccompanied by anything like " the
ploughboy's whistle," or " the reaper's song." In fine, little
besides the shoutings of a midnight revel, intimates life,
much less contentment and joy, among the dwellers of the
land.
But our object, and our hopes, buoy us above the influence of this oppressive peculiarity, and impart a contentment and cheerfulness which often rise to undissembled
joy.  In contrast with this our chosen lot, fancy sometimes sketches scenes which might have been our ownin which
"An elegant sufficiency, books, friendship, ease,"
are still combined with




LRF.Ctio OF A CHAPE.L.       14


147


", Useful life,
Progressive virtue, and approving Heaven."
But I would not exchange my situation and prospects,
with the temporal and eternal interests of this people, connected with them —slight as they may be —for all the
earthly enjoyment the most fascinating of these could se:
cure. Even while I cast a momentary glance at them,
my better judgment tells me - and I doubt not tells me
true - that the enchantment by which they are surrounded
exists only in " the visions of romantic youth;:" and that
any supposed addition to the happiness now in my possession, which the world could make, is but imaginary and
deceitful. Little as I have ever experienced of the ills and
disappointments of life, I know that were I to- realize such
scenes in their highest charms, of them I should be compelled at last to exclaim,
" Oh! what, in truth, is mortal pleasure but
The torrents smoothness, ere it dash below!"
Monday, June 23.   The first humble temple for the
worship of Him "who dwelleth between the cherubims,"
ever founded between these dark mountains, has to-day
been: commenced. While we remarked the cheerfulness
and: animation with which the numerous natives engaged
in the work, performed their task-though it has cost
them already imany days of hard labor in the mountains,
and, will detain them::still many more from their families
and plantations -while we heard one and another, on every side, saying to us as we passed, "Ke hale a ke Akua,"
"ke.pale pule," "maikai," "nui maikai," - the house of
God," "the house of prayer," "good," "very good,"our thoughts and our hopes hastened us through the spiritual darkness of the present time to that period of light
and gladness,." when the Lord's house shall be established
on the tops of the mountains, and shall be exalted above
the hills, and all nations shall flow unto it."
Evening. A sail was descried this afternoon, in the
channel between Lanai and Molokai. Soon afterwards,
five guns fired in rapid succession - the private signal of
Liholiho — announced the approach of his majesty. The
brig. came to an anchor just as we. had finished evening




148             ARRIVAL OF LIHOLIHO.,
worship with Keopuolani; and Mr. Richards and myself
accompanied Kekauonohi and Nahienaena to the beach,
already thronged by the common people, to receive him.
He landed in a small boat with a single chief, and saluted
us in a polite and friendly manner. After embracing his
queen and the princess, he took one under each arm, and
hastened up the beach. The parting of the mother and
son, when we left Honolulu, had interested us so much,
that we felt desirous of witnessing their first interview after a month's separation. The chiefs had assembled, and
were formally seated on their mats in a large circle, before
the tent of Keopuolani, waiting the approach of their monarch. He entered the circle opposite to his mother, and
where Wahine-pio, the sister of Kalaimoku, and mother
of his youngest queen, was seated.  Dropping on one
knee, he saluted her; on which she burst into tears; and
springing from her mat, led him to that of his mother.
He knelt before her, gazed silently in her face for a moment, then pressed her to his bosom, and placing a hand on
each cheek, kissed her twice in the most tender manner.
The whole scene was quite affecting. I scarce ever witnessed an exhibition of natural affection where the feelings were apparently more lively and sincere. The king
is a fine-looking man, and graceful in his manners; while
gazing on him, the queen's heart seemed to float in her
eyes, and every feature told a mother's joy.
Tuesday, 24. On going to the beach as usual this mqrning at sunrise, we found every indication of a scene of
revelry just ended. Liholiho had taken possession of'his
mother's establishment; and, instead of the orderly and
pleasant group which had uniformly before been waiting
our arrival, we saw the ground everywhere strewn with
the bodies of men and women, who evidently had sunk
unconsciously to sleep, amid the vapors of the bottle.
Several empty liquor-cases, of brandy, gin and rum, stood
on a large mat in front of the tent in which the king was
sleeping; and bottles, drained of their contents, were dispersed widely around.
None of our former party, chiefs or people, were to be
found. At eleven o'clock we repeated our visit; but all
was riot and debauchery; and not meeting with any of




SORROW OF KEOPUOLANI.


149


our pupils, we quickly turned from so melancholy a scene
of licentiousness and intoxication.
At sunset we again went to the beach. The wild and?
heathenish sounds of the song and the dance were distinctly to be heard long before we reached the place of our
customary worship; and the tent of the king was still the
centre of revelry.
On arriving near the crowd, Taua, the private chaplain
of the queen, quickly approached us, saying he had been
sent to await our arrival, and to inform us that Keopuolani
would attend prayers at the residence of her daughter, to
which she had removed. This was a pleasing message to
us; and our satisfaction was greatly increased on entering
the lanai of the princess, to find the whole of our pupils
assembled -even Kekauonohi, the young queen.
Never can we forget the appearance of Keopuolani.
The countenance and manner of no pious Christian mother
could have manifested more real anguish of spirit in witnessing the dissipation of a beloved son.  As we approached, her eyes filled with tears, and with a voice almost inarticulate from emotions ready to overpower her,
she lifted her hand, and pointing to the scene of intemperance and debauchery, exclaimed, 'Pupuka! pupuka!"
" Shameful! oh shameful!" and throwing herself backward with a convulsive sob, hid her face and her tears in a
roll of kapa, against which she was reclining.
Our hearts were deeply touched; and our spirits at once
assumed an elasticity that caused them to rise to a height
proportionable to the depression under which they had labored. With an excitement of hope never known before,
we commenced the evening sacrifice. Taua seemed to
partake deeply in our feelings, and exercised a spirit of
prayer that would have elevated hearts far more insensible
than ours were at the time. While he affectionately presented the queen herself before the throne of God, and
fervently besought the outpourings of the Holy Spirit upon
her, we could scarce resist the belief that the strong principles of moral rectitude which she had uniformly manifested, and which were then so strikingly displayed, were
but the dawnings of that light which would securely guide
her immortal spirit to the realms of everlasting day: and
14




150


DEFEN'CE OF THE MIvSSIONARIES.


touched with sympathy, as for a fellow child of God, we
were constrained to mingle our tears with those of the parent, while he proceeded most humbly and importunately
to supplicate the forgiveness, reformation, and eternal redemption, of her son. Before bidding her good night, she
earnestly begged us to pray for the king; and on our replying that she must also pray for him, she said she constantly did, but that they both needed our prayers.
We afterwards learned that early in the morning she
had reproved Liholiho for his habits of dissipation; warned
him of the temporal and eternal consequences of them;
and finding that he disregarded her advice, withdrew to
the house of her daughter, where she was joined by the
chiefs, except those he had brought with him.
Seeing how much his mother was devoted to her spelling book, and how deeply interested she was in all our instructions, the king, under the influence of his unhappy
indulgences, said to her, " You study too much, - it is not
good; you are old, and it is well for you to study a little
only." To which Keopuolani replied, " True, I am indeed
an old woman; soon I shall die: therefore I must learn
soon, or I shall die before I obtain the good thing I desire."
The king advised her to throw off all the restraints of our
instructions, saying, " The missionaries are not good: they
do not permit us to drink rum, nor to do anything we formerly did: their teachings are false and evil; their prayers
are not good. Let us return to our former customs; let
us now, as we formerly did, drink a little rum together."
The queen answered, " Why do you call my teachers evil?
They are good only, and great is my love for them. Good
is their prayer, evil only has been ours. Did you not in
former times tell me that the teachers were good, and beg
me to regard their instructions, and cast away the customs
of our old religion? So I have done; and I know that I
have done well. Are not the missionaries the same, and
their instructions the same? But now you disregard the
new religion, and wish me to do so likewise; but I will
not. I will never forsake my teachers. I will obey their
word. Come you therefore with me; for never will I take,my dark heart again! "
Two or three other chiefs, fond of dissipation, added




DISSIPATION OF LIIHOLTO.


151


their persuasions to that of the king, and said, "We have
just discovered from the poe haoli," —company of foreigners — " the thing that is right respecting the missionaries.
Part of their teachings are true and good. It is well to
attend to the palapala," —reading and writing-" but
there is no good in the pule," - religion -  in the prayers
and the preaching, and the Sabbaths. In India, we are
told, they have the palapala; and are so rich that all the
people in England and America go there for property;
but they keep their stone and wooden gods still. It will
be well for us, then, to secure the palapala, for it will make
us rich; but let us cast off the pule, - it is of no use! "
From Taua, Keopuolani quickly ascertained the true state
of India, and replied, " The inhabitants of India are still
pagans. They are in the darkness of heart which forrnerly was ours. If you wish, like them, to keep your
black hearts, and to be heathen, and to live like the people
of Satan, then live so, -cast off prayer and the Sabbath;
and when you die, go and dwell with Satan in-a world
of misery: but leave me to myself, and trouble me no
longer!"
Thursday, 26. This morning Keopuolani sent word to
the king, that unless he reformed, "c he would die and go to
the fire," which had such an effect, that he has ceased to
indulge to excess, and has commenced a course of medicine: his usual practice, when his better thoughts and resolutions gain a triumph over the power of temptation.
In passing his tent at eleven o'clock, H —   and myself called for a moment. He was tossing on his couch,
groaning in all the horrors of a recovery from his debauch,
and scarcely capable of saying, " aloha." Pauahi, the only
one of his queens who has accompanied him from Oahu,
was seated, a la turc, on the ground, with a large wooden
tray in her lap. Upon this, a monstrous cuttle fish -sepia
octopus, an animal of the molusca-vermves tribe -had just
been placed fresh from the sea, and in all its life and vigor.
The queen had taken it up with both hands, and brought
its body to her mouth; and by a single application of her
teeth, the black juices and blood, with which it was filled,
gushed over her face and neck, while the long sucking
arms of the fish, in the convulsive paroxysm of the opera



152


NATIONAL CUSTOMS.


tion, were twisting and writhing about her head, like the
snaky hairs of a Medusa. Occupied as both hands and
mouth were, she could only give us the salutation of a
nod. It was the first time either of us had ever seen her
majesty; and we soon took our departure, leaving her,
as we found her, in the full enjoyment of the luxurious
luncheon.
Friday, 27. The Cleopatra arrived this afternoon with
the queens Kamehamalu and Kinau, and two or three hundred attendants on board.
Monday, 30. Reached the beach this evening just in
time to witness an interesting sight, the presentation to the
king of a tax levied on a district on the windward side of
the island. The procession consisted of one hundred and
fifty persons, led by the headman or overseer of the district. They were all neatly dressed in new kapa, and
walked in single file; the first twenty men bearing each a
baked pig or dog, ornamented with green leaves. These
were followed by fifty others, carrying thirty immense calabashes of poe, twenty of which were suspended, each on
a long pole, and carried by two men, and ten others on the
shoulders of the same number of men. Then came females, to the number of seventy or eighty, each with a
large package of kapa, or native cloth, on her shoulder.
The whole was deposited in front of the royal tent, and
the company, with hundreds who followed them, seated
themselves in a circle at a respectful distance, apparently
with the expectation that the king would present himself.
In the course of half an hour he left his tent, and paced
the large mat in front of it for fifteen or twenty minutes.
He appeared with dignity, and we could not but remark
the similarity of his air and whole appearance to that of
persons of rank in our own country, whom we have seen
exhibit themselves in the same manner, to gratify the curiosity of the populace. He took not the least notice of the
throng, and conversed with us as if there had been no persons present but ourselves.
July 1. Witnessed another triumph of the respect and
attachment which the chiefs feel for the new system over
former habits of folly and dissipation. On going to prayers,
we found the whole court with an immense crowd of com



A CASE OF OPTItALMIA.


1.53


nmon people assembled at a dance. The collection was altogether the most numerous and noisy of any we had seen.
The dancers were females, eighteen in number; the musicians, seven men. They continued to dance some minutes after we entered the circle, but when the usual period
for prayers arrived, notwithstanding a manifest and most
eager desire of the multitude for the continuance of the
amusement, Kamehamalu, beckoned to one of us to proceed
to the lanai of the princess, and taking the arm of the
other, was herself the first to break up the circle, and put
an end to the dance. She was immediately followed by
all the principal personages, the three other queens, the
king, the princess, and chiefs, and by many of the natives.
We seldom have so great attention as was given to the
religious exercises that followed.
July 4. We were made happy by the arrival at Lahaina this morning of our highly valued friend, Rev. Mr.
Ellis. He came from Oahu in a schooner with queendowager Kalakua, and is on his way to Hawaii. The
other gentlemen of the deputation have gone direct from
Oahu.
Having heard an infant near us cry much during the
day, and on making inquiry learned that it was sick, after
tea this evening, accompanied by the ladies, I went to
see it.
'he disease was one of the eye; the inside of the lids
were protruded on the cheeks, and swollen to the bigness
of pigeons's eggs, while they throbbed almost to bursting
with inflammation. The balls of both eyes were entirely
hid. This had been the condition of the child for seven
days, without an application of any kind, or even the least
covering to protect the irritated organ from the light and
wind, or from the flies which constantly lit on the almost
excoriated surface. The hut of the parents could only be
entered by stooping on our hands and knees, and was too
small to contain more than two of us at the same time.
They had no light, nor an article of any kind necessary to
be used in attending to the infant. Their all consisted of
the kapas they wore, the mats they slept on, and the calabashes from which they ate and drank.
This is by no means a solitary case of suffering, that has
14*




154


SERVICES OF THE SABBATH.


come to our knowledge. Within three days, two other infants have been brought to our yard, in most distressing
situations; one with a shocking wound on its arm, from
a cut by a broken bottle, and the other almost expiring
with the croup. Both are already in a state of safety;
and probably have been rescued from death by the prompt
exertions of B —, who took them immediately under her
care. Indeed, we seldom walk out without meeting many
whose appearance of disease and misery is appalling, and
some so remediless and disgusting that we are compelled
to close our eyes against a sight that fills us with horror.
Cases of bpthalmia, scrofula, and elephantiasis, are very
common.
Saturday, 5. The king and his queens, and many other
chiefs, sailed for Molokai.
Monday, 7. All the public services of the Sabbath were
performed by Mr. Ellis. His afternoon sermon led to a
very serious and affecting conversation among the chiefs,
on the subject of the eternal destiny of their ancestors and
former heathen friends. The fate of the rebel chief, who
fought and was slain, at the accession of the present king
to the throne, in defence of idolatry and the kabu system,
was particularly adverted to. They questioned whether
he could possibly be in a state of happiness, since he died
in the cause of the false gods; and also inquired whether
the greater guilt of having worshipped idols was theirs, or
that of their parents who had instructed them to do it. All
agreed, however, in saying, that now they had received the
true light, if they did not walk in it, their guilt would be
much more aggravated than that of their forefathers, who
had lived and died in heathen darkness.
On our way to attend public worship, we found several
persons at work. Mr. Ellis inquired of one, "Whether
Kalaimoku had not given orders to the people not to work
on the Sabbath? " He replied, "He has, but I am working
secretly, and Kalaimoku will not find it out."  " That may
be," said Mr. Ellis; " but there is a greater than Kalaimoku, the living and true God, who always knows what you
are doing; and he can punish you, though Kalaimoku may
not,"  "Well," answered the man, "he will not be angry
with me for watering one bed more, and then I will stop."




MISSION HOUSES.


155


Another, who had ceased to work at a wooden bowl, after
speaking to him in the morning, we found with it again as
we were returning home in the evening. On speaking to
him a second time, he said he had " been to hear us pray,
and thought he might go to work again."  We replied
No, and told him he must not work during the whole day.
"Not work when the sun gets into the sea? "  No, not till
to-morrow: on which he with much good nature said,
"Well, it is good - let it be so;" and put away his work.
Wednesday, 9. Mr. Ellis embarked this morning in the
brig Ainoa, for Hawaii. I should have accompanied-him
but for an indisposition with which I have been affected for
some days, and which has disqualified me for undertaking
the fatigue and hardships of the tour.
Mission house at Lahaina, August 12. I have been ill
for a month past; but within the last week have so far
recovered as again to be engaged in the duties of the station. On the fifth instant, Mr. Bingham arrived from
Oahu; and on the seventh, our families removecd from the
plantation of Mr. Butler to the mission houses prepared
for us by Keopuolani on the beach.
These are of one size and one appearance, standing
side by side with the ends towards the sea, and a few
yards only from the beach. The doors are at the ends towards the ocean, the eaves being too low to allow of their
being at the sides. A rude piazza of poles and the leaves
of the sugar-cane extends in front from house to house,
forming an open passage in which we are protected from
the sun. The exterior of both buildings is precisely that
of a long low hay-stack, such as is frequently seen in an
American barn-yard.
Perhaps I can convey to you some idea of the interior
of ours. On entering the door you have the whole house,
in one apartment, before you; the sides, ends, and roof to
its peak presenting the small unhewn timber of which it is
constructed, in its original coat of bark, and lashed together by strings of mountain vine: and'then the thatch
of grass fastened to the sticks by ties of the same material.
Its only floor is the ground, strewn with dried grass, and
covered with mats of native manufacture. On the right
of the door stands a pine cupboard, containing such table




156       FURNITURE OF THE MISSION HOUSE.


service as we have; and on the left, a chest of the same
material, with the provisions of the day. Near these articles, on either side of the house, and opposite to each other,
are large flat-topped trunks, spread with cushions of our
own make, and covered with the figured and variegated
mats of the country, forming two settees, or divans, for
which the thatch, against which they stand, makes very
tolerable backs. Immediately adjoining each of these, are
the portable writing-desks of H   and myself, elevated
on packing boxes covered with native cloth, and standing
under square holes cut in the thatch, on each side of the
hut, for windows, but unfurnished with sash or glass. A
curtain of coarse check, drawn or undrawn at pleasure,
here crosses the house, behind which, on the one side, is
our bed, surrounded by curtains to keep off the wind, and
surmounted by a kind of canopy of mats to defend it from
the rain in wet weather, and from the lizards which harbor in the grass of the sides and roof, and not unfrequently
fall upon us. Opposite this is a large packing box for a
dressing table. The only remaining article is a book-case
of unpainted deal, against the further end, containing my
library; with a window on one side, affording a view of
the interior settlements and of the mountains behind, and
a door on the other, the entrance to B.-'s apartment.
Thus you perceive that our whole accommodations,
huts, furniture, and I may add food, will compare in rudeness and simplicity with the meanest abode of cleanly and
industrious poverty at home. We have succeeded in procuring boards for two tables, have two whole chairs, and
one with a broken back: the fourth moveable seat, making the whole number belonging to the establishment, is of
our own workmanship, a three-legged stool, such as that
on which
"the immortal Alfred sat
And swayed the sceptre of his infant realms."
To the same age belongs our little cabin of grass, with
ground floor and unglazed windows; but the poor thatch,
through which, on every side, " appears the broad glare of
day," is better suited to this region of perpetual sunshine,




ARRIVAL OF THE CHIEFS.


157


than it would be to latitudes where is nightly heard "the
freezing blast" that " sweeps the bolted shutter."
I make these loopholes by which you may peep in upon
us, not in a spirit of complaint, for I rejoice to assure you
that days of happiness, bright as any I have ever yet
known, have been spent by me on these distant shores;
but that you may see that ours is no princely establishment, according to the calumnious reports of some, in
which we dwell in luxury, and lay up treasures for our
children, from the charities of the church.
Tuesday, 19. Ship Mentor, Capt. Newell, of Boston,
from the north-west coast, touched on her way to Oahu.
The Champion, Captain Preble, also of Boston, was at anchor here two or three weeks during my illness. From
both we have received expressions of great kindness.
Thursday, 21. Descried a number of sail, in the early
part of the day, approaching Lahaina from the leeward of
Lanai; and judged them to be the Kauai fleet, bringing
Kaahumanu and king Kaumualii, who were expected from
Oahu. In the course of the afternoon, three brigs and two
schooners anchored in the roads. They were exceedingly
crowded with people, so much so, as to have not only the
decks, but the chains, bowsprit, and tops, filled; and to
cause the natives, as they passed our yard, constantly to
exclaim, "pau loa mai! " " every body has come."  We
soon ascertained that a large number of the chiefs, besides
Kaahumanu and Kaumualii, had arrived; Kalaimoku and
suite, Naihe and Kapiolani, Laanui and Namahana, Auna
the Tahitian chief, and his wife, &c. An incident occurred
in the landing of the crowd, which will illustrate the amphibious habits of the islanders. Besides the boats of the
vessels, several double canoes were engaged in transporting the people and their effects to the shore. These are
formed of two single canoes of the same size, placed parallel to each other, at a distance of three or four feet,
and lashed firmly together by transverse pieces of curved
wood, making a flattened arch over the water between the
canoes. Other pieces of wood are fastened longitudinally
on this arch, constituting an elevated platform for the passengers and luggage, while those who paddle and steer
occupy the bodies of the canoes at the sides, A boat of




158


TORCHES OF THE KUKUI NUT.


this construction left the schooner, anchored near a mile
from the shore, with a heavy load, and had proceeded but
a short distance before it filled with water and sunk to the
surface. A shout of merriment, along the whole beach,
first apprised us of the circumstance; and we reached the
door in time only to see the passengers, chiefs and servants, male and female, plunging into the sea, and composedly striking for the shore with one hand, while with the
other, each elevated above his head some article or package he did not wish to become wet.
Those who had the management of the canoe remained
to free it from water, and to return it to the beach. This
they did, by all placing their weight upon one end of it, by
which means the opposite end was lifted into the air, and
the water poured out; when, by a quick and dexterous return of themselves into the sea, the end elevated suddenly
descended to a level again, and the whole canoe was partially relieved from her burden. By repeating this manceuvre two or three times, the greater part of the water
was turned out, and the rest easily removed with a calabash.
Not unfrequently in making a passage from one island
to another, their canoes become filled by the breaking of a
sea; in which case they arc in the same manner restored
to a manageable condition: a part of the company swimming about with the luggage above water, while the rest
prepare the boat for the continuance of the voyage.
Auna and Laanui took tea with us; after which, accompanied by Mr. Bingham, we called on the rest. They
were partaking of a profuse supper of baked meats, soups,
fish, poe, ship bread, and tea; and scattered along the
beach, in temporary accommodations, surrounded by hundreds of the splendid torches of the kukui nut, made quite
an imposing appearance. Kamehamalu was seated at her
writing-desk in the open air, preparing a letter, by the light
of the torches held by several servants, to be sent express
to the king, now on the windward side of Maui, to inform
him of the arrival of Kaahumanu and Kalaimoku. They
were all in high spirits, and seemed greatly to enjoy the
meeting which had taken place. Prayers were made at




DEDICATION OF THE CHAPEL.


159


their particular request, with separate groups, in three different places, before we returned home.
The kukui tree —aleurites triloba-is very abundant
on the mountains. Its leaves are large, of a very light
green, the under surface almost white; and bearing large
bunches of white flowers, the contrast afforded by it, with
the dark green of other mountain growth, has a very pretty effect, both when viewed near and at a distance. The
nut of this tree was the principal substitute for candles
among the islanders before the introduction of oil by the
whale ships. It is nearly as large as a Madeira nut, to
which it bears some resemblance. It is full of a rich oil;
and after being slightly baked, is formed into torches by
stringing thirty or forty nuts together on a rush; and enclosing four or five of these strings in the leaves of the ki
or hala. After being lighted, before one nut is consumed
the flame communicates to the oil of that next below; as
the flame expires, the shell of the exhausted nut is struck
off, till the whole is consumed.
Sabbath, 24. Thinking it a favorable opportunity for
opening the chapel, while Mr. Bingham and so many of
the chiefs are with us, we had the house prepared yesterday, and gave notice that the public services of the Sabbath would be held in it. Mr. Bingham accordingly
preached a dedicatory sermon; text, " This is none other
but the house of God, and this is the gate of Heaven."
Seldom have we seen any house filled with a more crowded and attentive audience. The chiefs appeared greatly
interested in the sermon and exercises. May it prove
the birthplace of many souls, and an entrance to Heaven
through which multitudes shall be added to the ransomed
of the Lord!
CHAPTER IX.
RESIDENCE IN MAUI.
Mission house, Lahaina, Sept. 2, 1823.  Queen Keopuolani has been unwell for some days.  It is a custom




160


ILLNESS OF THE QUEEN-MOTHER.


among the chiefs to assemble at any place where one of
their number of much importance is ill; the least indisposition of a very high chief will thus call the ke poe n'
Alii, or company of chiefs, together. The illness of Keopuolani, though not supposed serious, has occasioned despatches to be sent by several native vessels, for the high
chiefs on all the different islands.
Thursday, 4. When we rose this morning, three vessels, two schooners and a brig, were approaching Lahaina.
Just after breakfast, one of the schooners came to anchor,
and brought to us Mr. Ellis, on his return from the tour
of Hawaii. The deputation have had a most interesting,
but fatiguing journey; and a slight glance at the journal
and drawings of Mr. Ellis, makes me regret more than
ever the necessity that denied me the pleasure of accompanying him. The rest of the gentlemen have gone direct to Honolulu in the brig Becket. The other vessels
were the Waverly and the Waterwitch, from Oahu, bringing the chiefs sent for by Keopuolani.
Shortly after these had landed, I went to the residence
of the queen, and witnessed one of the most striking peculiarities in the customs of the islanders - that of wailing. There were not less than fifty chiefs around the
couch of the queen, and twice that number of their attendants, all weeping aloud with an apparent sincerity and
depth of feeling that could not be witnessed, considering
the present occasion of it, without exciting sympathy in
the spectator. The young Kahalaia, a nephew of the late
king, was the only one of the number just arrived who
entered the house after I did. He is one of the most stern
and forbidding of the chiefs, but the general inflexibility of
his character seemed to give way at the scene; and after
kneeling and saluting the sufferer respectfully and tenderly, he struggled for a moment with a convulsive emotion,
and then " lifted up his voice," and wept in a manner that
would have touched any heart.
To us these wailings appear extremely barbarous, though
I doubt not they are precisely the expressions of sorrow
made by the most refined and polished of the ancients;
and I never witness them without being reminded of the
mournings of the people of Israel, as spoken of in the




AUNA, A TAHITIAN CHIEF.


161


scriptures. Shortly after I reached the house, Mr. Bingham and Mr. Ellis came in, when Kalaimoku immediately
commanded silence, and requested that prayers might be
made. I was affected with the propriety of the proposal,
and have scarce ever before felt more interest in a hymn
and prayer, with the natives, than in those which immediately followed.
While at dinner, Mr. Hunnewell, the first mate of the
brig Thaddeus when she brought out the pioneers of the
mission, and who has resided on the islands as a commercial agent ever since, came in quite ill; he is an amiable
and highly respectable young man, and has become justly
dear to the mission, from his unwavering friendship in the
midst of much opposition. We were happy to have it in
our power to secure to him a quiet room and bed, which
he so greatly needed.
Saturday, 5.  The Waterwitch, commanded by Mr.
Hunnewell, left us for Oahu, to bring up Boki, on account
of the increased illness of the queen. For the same reason the barge has sailed for Kailua, to bring governor Adams.
Monday, 8.   The exercises in the chapel yesterday
morning were conducted by Auna, the Tahitian chief, an
assistant missionary to Mr. Ellis. He is a noble-looking
man, a graceful speaker, and an enlightened and zealous
Christian. In the afternoon I preached through Honolii
as interpreter. This morning, the Ainoa, a native brig,
arrived from Hawaii, bringing Mr. Harwood, a young
American, who has resided some time with the mission
family at Honolulu, and who accompanied the deputation
on their tour through Hawaii.
Tuesday night. We were so much exposed to depredations by theft, that the queen sometime since appointed
a trusty servant to take charge of our yard, as keeper and
guard of the articles necessarily in daily use. This evening, while at tea, we were alarmed by the hasty entrance
of this man, exclaiming, "Ua make loa Keopuolani," —
" Keopuolani is dead."  After interrogating him, however,
we found that she was only more ill, and would soon die.
Mrs. Richards, H —, and myself, immediately hastened
15




162


ILLNESS OF THE QUEEN4-MOTHER,


down, though dark and late. We found the house, which
is very large, crowded with the chiefs, who had assembled
from all their different abodes, and were seated, in silence
and sadness, as near the queen as they could press. Her
couch was surrounded by Hoapili her husband, the king
and favorite queen, prince and princess, king Kaumualii,
Kaahumanu, and Kalaimoku.
Many of these were bathed in tears. The queen seemed
very feeble, and could scarce speak.  She reached her
hand to the ladies, however, whispering an affectionate
"' aloha," adding, " maikai, maikai,"' "good, good," in expression of gratitude for their coming out at night to see
her. But what most delighted us was, the low, but expressive sentences which immediately followed, while she
continued still to press their hands, - "Make make au i ke
Akua," "I love God; and shortly again,- "Aloha izo
iau i ke Akua, ' "Great indeed is my love to God! " She
was too feeble to say more, but seemed in a state of
mind to give much stronger testimony to the excellency
and power, even in death, of the religion we had brought
to her.
The cause of the sudden gloom and alarm was not any
very material change in Keopuolani, but the opinion of Mr.
Law, the king's surgeon, that she could not recover; and
the declaration that he could be of no further use to her.
The king asked me whether it would not be well for him
to despatch a vessel immediately to Oahu for Dr. Blatchely,
of the mission; to which I answered in the affirmative, being myself unwilling that any means of saving so valuable
a life should remain untried. A pilot-boat sailed, in a few
minutes, with Honolii, as the king's messenger, to bring
Dr. Blatchely.
Wednesday morning, 10. At twelve o'clock last night I
was awakened by the young Kahalai, with a message from
Kalaimoku, that the queen was worse, and they wished
me to come down. I found the whole company much agitated; and although Keopuolani had recovered from the
spasm which caused them to send for me, I remained till
daybreak with her. She had two or three attacks, which
I thought she could not survive. She bears her suffer-;;ngs with much fortitude and patience, however; scarce a




A FOREIGNER DROWNED.


163


sigh escaping her lips, while all around her are drowned
in tears.
The chiefs are most assiduous and indefatigable in their
attentions. None of them left her, or slept for a moment
during the night; even the little prince and princess never
closed their eyes. The kindness and attention of Kameharnalu is particularly observable; she watches every look
and motion, and anticipates every wish. I have scarce
ever had my feelings of sympathy more deeply touched
than on seeing her and the king, and Hoapili, bending over
the queen whenever she appeared to be in peculiar agony;
their strong desire, yet inability, of rendering her any relief, was deeply expressed in their looks, and manifested
itself in renewed bursts of tears.
It was a profitable night to my own mind; everything
was calculated to confirm me in the importance of being
prepared to meet and struggle with the king of terrors. I
thought of the sufferings the Son of God endured for the
salvation of sinners: and the lively view of them, connected with their necessity and their end, caused me to mingle
my tears with those that were flowing from all around me:
and ramy prayer was not only that this gentile, lately made
acquainted with the knowledge of God, but that I also,
nurtured and brought up in the admonition of the Lord,
might be saved.
Thursday, 11. Yesterday and to-day the surf has been
excessively heavy, and often by its beauty and sublimity
has attracted our attention and admiration. But the dark
wing of death has been over it, and its loveliness for a time
is shrouded in gloom. At eleven o'clock this morning the
long-boat of the brig Ainoa was overturned in attempting
to land by the usual passage, and four white men narrowly
escaped drowning, while a fifth sunk to rise no more alive.
The report flying among the natives, Ke haoli make loa i
ka nalue, " a foreigner is dead in the surf," collected a number of foreigners on the beach, by whom exertions were
made to restore him to life, but without success. The
spirit had fled through the foaming surges to the world of
retribution! Mr. Butler humanely had the corpse removed to his enclosure, from whence in the evening, attended by most of the foreigners then at Lahaina, we bore




164


ILLNESS OF THE QUEEN-MOTHER.


it to a more decent grave than is the last abode of many
an inhabitant of Christian lands whose destiny is to die
among the heathen.
Friday, 12. The pilot-boat New-York arrived at noon
with Dr. Blatcheley and Mr. Richards; the surf is still
very high and dangerous, but they landed safely about
two o'clock. Dr. Blatchely thinks the queen will not recover.
Governor Adams not having arrived, two additional vessels have been despatched for him.
Monday, 15. At midnight a messenger came for Dr.
Blatchely to visit the queen.  I accompanied him to see
her. She was very ill, but the fear of God seemed to predominate over every other feeling. When a little wine
and arrowroot were recommended to her, she desired that
Auna, the Tahitian, might be called to speak " the good
word, and to make a prayer."  After she had taken the
refreshment, she appeared more easy, and Auna, in compliance with her request, at the suggestion of the king,
proceeded to address Keopuolani and those present on the
subject of religion. He continued his remarks for half an
hour, and concluded with a most spiritual and fervent
prayer.  This converted pagan is a correct and stable
Christian. He was long a deacon in a church in his native island; and, I have no doubt, has been instrumental, under the blessing of God, of enlightening the mind
of this dying chief unto salvation, through faith in Jesus
Christ.
It was a profitable hour to my own spirit, though I could
understand but little of what was said. I knew the subject, however, and saw that every word, and every look,
and every gesture, sprung from an eloquence of soul that
originated only in a lively sense of the reality and importance of the things of eternity.
Tuesday, 16. This has been an interesting and memorable day. Last night the Paragon, Capt. Coles, of Boston, from Oahu, anchored among the vessels now here.
Mr. Hays, captain's clerk, landed at eleven o'clock, and
informed us that Mr. and Mrs. Ellis and Mr. Ruggles were
on board. They came on shore at eight o'clock this morn



HEATHEN CUSTOMIS.


165


ing, and called immediately on the queen; but finding her
in a deep sleep, passed on to the mission house.
The arrival of Mr. Ellis was most opportune. The dying hour of our kind patroness and friend was evidently
fast approaching; and " hoping" as we do, " in her death,"
we were anxious that something further might be elicited
from her conversation by one more familiar with the native language than ourselves, that would prove an encouragement to our hearts and a blessing to the immortals who
with the deepest interest hung round her dying couch.
After an hour, Mr. Ellis and myself again called to see
her. She was still asleep. The king, Kaahumanu, and
Kalaimoku, immediately and urgently requested that she
might be baptized, saying that it was her earnest and special desire, and that she had only that morning begged
" to be washed with water in the name of God.", The king
told Mr. Ellis, they did not wish her to be baptized because they thought she could not be saved without it, but
because she was a Christian, had the true faith in her
heart, had given herself to Jesus Christ long before she
was sick, and because all the people of God were baptized,
and she had herself so earnestly requested it. Mr. Ellis
told them he would consult Mr. Richards and myself on
the subject, and when she awoke, would converse with and
baptize her.
The certainty of her death had spread universal alarm
among the people. She was known to be the highest
chief on the islands; and, according to former and immemorial customs, the death of such has ever been attended
with all kinds of extravagance, violence, and abomination.
On such an occasion, every restraint was cast off, and all
were in the habit of following the impulse of any and every wild passion that might seize them. Rights of person
or of property were no longer regarded; and he who had
the greatest muscular powers, committed whatever depredation he chose, and injured any one he thought proper.
Even the chiefs lost their ordinary preeminence, and could
exert no influence of restraint on the excesses of their subjects. It was the time of redressing private wrongs, by
committing violence on the property and person of an enemy; and everything that any one possessed was liable to
15*




166


VISIT TO TfE QU EEN-I OTHER


be taken from him. Their grief was expressed by the
most shocking personal outrages, not only by tearing off
their clothes entirely, but by knocking out their eyes and
teeth with clubs and stones, and pulling out their hair, and
by burning and cutting their flesh; while drunkenness,
riot, and every species of debauchery, continued to be indulged in for days after the death of the deceased.
Reports of these usages, and intimitions of the danger
to. which we should be exposed from them, were brought
to us from every quarter, both by foreigners and natives.
We felt very little apprehension, however; for we were
confident that ourselves and families would be inviolate,
however great the excesses among the natives might be.
About four o'clock, while on the way with Mr. Ellis and
Dr. Blatchely, a third time to the queen's residence, I met
Mr. Jones, the American consul, who arrived this morning in the Paragon, with one or two other gentlemen, and
we returned to the mission house. The conversation soon
turned on the anticipated scenes of violence; the gentlemen seemed fully persuaded that there was great cause for
apprehension, and were just offering their boats and ship,
as a refuge for the ladies in case of extremity, when Richard Kalaioula rushed in, in breathless terror, exclaiming,
"The queen is dead!"   We immediately:snatched our
hats, and were involuntarily hastening down the beach,
when, observing the natives flying by hundreds in every direction, through fish-ponds and kalo patches, over
walls and fences, apparently in a state of half destraction,
bearing with them calabashes, kapas, and whatever of
their property they had caught. up in their flight - while
the whole heavens rung with lamentations and wo —I returned without delay to our enclosure, fearing an alarm to
the females, who were alone.
In a few minutes, Mr. Ruggles also came up, confirming
the statement of her death, and adding that great excesses
had already commenced. Just afterwards, however, while
the confusion and alarm seemed everywhere to increase,
Mr. Ellis came running to the house, with the information
that she was not dead -had only fainted - had revived
again-and that the chiefs were importuning him, in the
strongest terms, to baptize her immediately. We all went




BAPTISM OF THE QUEEN-MOTHER.


167


down. The orders of the king and Kalaimoku had restored quietness, to a degree; and we found our friend so
far revived as to breathe regularly, and yet not so much
so as to speak intelligibly. An interested and interesting
group of foreigners, missionaries, and merchants, and
chiefs, near relatives and friends, surrounded the dying pillow, and waited a few moments, hoping that the fluttering
spirit might still be roused entirely from its lethargy ere it
quitted its earthly tenement forever.  But there being
little prospect of. this, Mr. Ellis proceeded at length to administer the sacred ordinance which entitles all who receive it to the name of Christian. It was a most impressive moment and a most solemn place; and our prayer
was, that it might be none other than " the house of God
and the gate of Heaven," to the immortal soul hovering on
the borders of eternity.
Thus the highest chief of the Sandwich islands, after
having given satisfactory evidence of a renewed heart,
'and of sincere love to Jesus Christ, was initiated into the
visible church of God; and, in the course of an hour after,
as we hope and believe, joined the invisible church above,
having triumphed over the power of death and the grave.
It was not without good and abundant reason, that we
entertain this belief. It is but a year since Keopuolani began to manifest much interest in the object of the missionaries, or to pay much attention to their instructions; but
since that time, the evidences that her heart was deeply
touched by the power of grace, have been decisive, and
in many instances truly affecting. The rejection of every
practice which she discovered to be inconsistent with the
principles of Christianity, an irreproachable external deportment, a cheerful and rigid compliance with every observance of our religion, the habit of constant secret prayer,
of regular family worship with her household, and strong
attachment to the services of the day of God, her proclamations amongst the people against their former vices, and
her rebuke of sin when detected; all confirmed us in a
belief of the sincerity of her attachment to Christianity,
expressed in her daily conversations.
For months, at least, the predominating thoughts and
feelings of her mind and heart appear to have been those




168     DYING TESTIMONY OF THE QTEEN-MIOTHER,
connected with the eternal destiny of the soul. Long before coming to Lahaina, she said to Taua, her private
chaplain, when conversing with him on the subject of religion: " Great is the fear of my heart, that I shall never become one of the people of Jesus Christ: I have
followed the customs of my country, and have been of the
company of dark hearts; my thought is, that I shall soon
die: and great is my sorrow, that the teachers of the good
way did not come to us in the days of our childhood!"
And afterwards-' I know their word to be true; good
indeed is the word of God; and now I have found a Saviour and a good King, Jesus Christ, the Lord.
We have been informed by Taua, that since her establishment at Lahaina, messengers have arrived for him at
midnight, to come and pray for her. On going to her residence, he has found her, with a few attendants, waiting
his arrival: as he entered, she on one occasion said, "I
am sorry to call you from your rest; but my thoughts are
upon God, and I cannot sleep. I am old, soon I shall die,
and great is my fear that I shall not know enough of the
right way to go to Heaven. Speak to me of the good
word of God that my dark mind may be enlightened." He
has thus spent hours at a time, in conversing and praying
with her and her immediate attendants, while all the rest
of Lahaina has been wrapt in sleep.
After praying with her on one of these occasions, she
said, " Now tell me something of Jesus." In complying
with this request, he made choice of the last scenes in our
Saviour's life: the trial before Pilate, the condemnation
and crucifixion. He spoke of the scourging and crowning with thorns, and of the leading away to execution;
but when he came to describe the nailing of the body by
the hands and feet to the cross, she burst into tears, and exclaimed, " Oh! stop - I can hear no more; I and all my
people, like the murderers of Jesus, are wicked and cruet!"
One morning, as I approached the grove in which she
resided, to attend the customary worship of her household,
I observed her seated on a sofa, with one of her hands
pressed upon her bosom, apparently absorbed in deep and
painful thought. On arriving near, I heard her voice in an
under tone, and caught the words, "Ke ahi! ke ahi aole




PIETY OF THE QUEEN.


169


pio! ke ahi a a loa!"-"Fire: inextinguishable fire:
everlasting fire!" to which were added the exclamations,
"Oh the sorrows of the wicked! they will cry for water,
0, yes, they will cry for water! but there will be none:
no, none at all - not even a drop for the end of their
tongues!"- a train of thought, which, as I afterwards
discovered, had been induced by meditations on the darkness of her own life, and fears of the just punishment of
sin.
From the time her illness assumed an alarming aspect,
she was unceasing, so far as her strength allowed, in her
Christian counsels and exhortations to the chiefs, individually and collectively.  When Kalaimoku arrived from
Oahu, she said to him, " Great is the love of my heart for
the good word of God, by which my mind has been enlightened. The word of God is true; it is a good word,
and Jehovah is a God of goodness. Great is my love for
him; great is my love for Jesus Christ, his Son. I have
no desire for the former gods of Hawaii -they are false.
My desire is unto Jesus Christ; and I have given myself
unto him. My thoughts are much upon my grandfather
Kalaiopu, my father Kauikeaouli, and my husband Kamehameha; they lived not to see these good times, and to
hear of the salvation of Jesus Christ. They knew not
Jehovah, the true God. They died trusting to the false
gods.  I exceedingly mourn and lament that they saw
not these good times of salvation! Do not you neglect to
pray to God; cease not to regard the Sabbath; commit
no sin; and love Jesus Christ, that we two may meet in
Heaven."
Her conversations with other chiefs of rank were of a
similar character. She addressed the king in the following manner:  "I am now about to die; I shall soon leave
my children and my people, and these lands; and I wish
now to give you my last charge;? and after recommending to him a mild and kind government of his subjects,
added-" Protect the missionaries, and treat them kindly.
Walk in the straight path which they point out to you.
Regard the Sabbath, - serve God, - love Jesus Christ, -
and attend to all the good word; follow not the example




170


DYING THOUGHTS OF THE QUEEN-MOTHER.


of the evil, when your mother is gone, but follow that of
the good, that we may meet in Heaven."
She expressed great solicitude for the prince and princess; and repeatedly commended them to the care of the
chiefs, especially in reference to their morals, and to the
instructions of the mission.
This morning, before she fell into the stupor, Auna and
Taua approached her couch, and asked what her thoughts
were. She replied, " I remember the word of my teachers.
I pray greatly to Jesus Christ to:receive me. I am about
to die; but it is not dark now, as it would have been had
I died in former days. Pray for me; let all the missionaries pray for me. Great is my love to them, great is my
love to you. My thought is, that I love Jesus Christ, and
that he will receive me to his right hand. Great is myt,
desire to be washed with water, in the name of God, before I die. I have given myself to Jesus Christ: I arm
his; and I wish to be like his people! "
Mr. Ruggles informed us that when a son of Kaumualii
died at Kauai, the missionary houses were guarded by
sixty armed men, till after the burial of the body; and
suggested the propriety of requesting a guard on the pressent occasion. Mr. Ellis accordingly spoke to Kalaimoku
on the subject. He answered that there was not the least
necessity for it; that we need not entertain any appreheinsion whatever; that Keopuolani had long before forbidden
every heathen practice at her death; and that the people
had received the strictest orders against all their former
customs, except wailing.
Wednesday, 17. At nine o'clock last night, we went to
hold prayers with the mourners. Instead of the anticipated confusion and riot, we found all still and orderly along
the beach; except here and there a group, and a very large
assemblage near the residence of the queen, who lifted up
their voices and wept aloud. All that we saw excited our
sympathy, rather than any horror or disgust. The nearest
relations were still beside the corpse, and presented an affecting spectacle; especially the little prince and princess,
who appeared entirely inconsolable. Hoapili, with one of
these on each arm, pressed me also to his bosom, exclaim.




WAILING SCENE.


171


ing, " Keopuolani, our friend, is gone to Heaven; and we,
alas, are left alone."
Prayers were held with them this morning also; when
the royal family, for the first time, made their appearance
before the multitude collected round the house of death.
They were greeted with the loudest expressions of grief;
and, though unaccompanied with personal violence, the
scene was really frightful. I could plainly see how the
enthusiasm, to which the people wrought themselves,
might be heightened to a frenzy that would know no law.
The king and Kalaimoku were convulsed with weeping,
but did not, like rest of the family, wail after the manner
of the heathen.
During the whole day, while preparations for the funeral were making, everything exhibited signs of wo. The
whole district sent forth one uninterrupted sound of lamentation; while large companies, from different settlements,
were covering the beach in sad procession, and rending the
heavens with their cries. Minute-guns have been fired
since daybreak, and all the vessels at anchor, fifteen in
number, have their yards canted, and wear their colors at
half-mast.
Many things that I have witnessed, have again called to
my mind the ancient customs of the Jews in times of affliction, not only the " lifting up of the voice," and weeping
aloud, but " the rending of the garment," " the clothing in
sackcloth," "and sitting in dust and ashes."  Here, all
disfigure themselves by the coarsest, and most ragged and
filthy attire of old mats and kapa; while in many cases
their heads are covered with dust and sand.
On meeting any high chief, they prostrate themselves
on the ground, and redouble every expression of grief. I
never witnessed such a scene as took place on the arrival
of governor Adams, this afternoon; especially when the
high chiefs and mourners came from the house in which
the corpse lay, to meet him. I was near the governor, at
the time surrounded by not less than five thousand of the
natives, who seemed to become absolutely frantic, and
ready to fall into any act of desperation that might cross
their minds. Their wailings were indescribable to one




172


FORMER MODE OF BURIAL.


not present; and the noise so overwhelming, that the
minute-guns could scarce be heard through the din.
The word which they pronounce in wailing, is "au-we! "
"au-we " "alas! alas"- prolonging the sound of the
last syllable, sometimes for many minutes, with a trembling and agitated shaking of the voice. The tones in
which it is uttered by different persons, vary from the low~est to the highest key, and from that which is most plaintive, to that which is most shrill. There being no uniformity in the time of beginning or ending the word, the confusion and discord thus created is terrific. The attitudes
of figure are as various as the tones of voice.  Some
stand upright, casting their arms and faces towards heaven,
with the eyes closed and mouth widely distended. Others, instead of throwing their arms upward, clasp their
hands and place them behind their heads. Some bend forward, their faces almost to the ground, and their hands
placed against their knees, or violently pressed into their
sides, as if in excruciating internal agony; others clench
their hands into the hair on each side of their heads, as if to
tear it out by the roots; and all seem to emulate one another in attempts at the most hideous grimaces and painful
distortions, while torrents of tears flow from their heads to
their feet.
The governor and chiefs, after approaching within eight
or ten yards of each other, stood at least fifteen minutes
wailing in this manner with the multitude around them,
before they embraced, and entered the house.
Thursday, 18. Everything being in readiness for the
funeral of our departed friend, she was, at two o'clock today, deposited in a substantial mud-and-stone house, lately
built by the princess. This is the first Christian funeral
of a high chief that has ever taken place in the islands;
and will probably be a precedent for all future burials
among the heads of the nation. How different the rites
of her sepulture from those of her fathers! They, since
time unknown, have been dissected in secret by their nearest friends; their flesh has been burned and cast into the
sea, with many idolatrous observances; and their bones
carefully preserved and worshipped; while she calmly
awaits the resurrection in the decent habiliments of a




FUNERAL.


173


Christian's tomb.  So anxious was Keopuolani on this
subject, that, when in perfect health, she charged the
king to allow of none of the former practices at her death;
stating, that they all belonged to the time of " dark hearts;
that she had lived to see the light; had cast off all their
former customs; had surrendered herself to Jesus Christ;
and wished her body to be given to his people - the missionaries —to be buried according to their direction, and
wherever they might think best.
In consequence of this charge, Mr. Ellis had the arrangement of the funeral, which was conducted with the
greatest order and propriety. The concourse of people
was very great, amounting to many thousands; but there
was no greater irregularity or disturbance than there would
have been among the same number in a Christian land, on
a similar occasion. The bell rang at twelve o'clock for
the commencement of the religious exercises, which were
held in a grove of trees near the queen's residence, the
chapel being too small even for the chiefs. We all attended in mourning; and after a hymn, prayer, and sermon,
by Mr. Ellis, the procession, led by the American consul,
was formed. The mission family walked next to the foreigners, who, to the number of thirty or forty, followed
Mr. Jones. Next came the household attendants and favorite servants of Keopuolani, headed by her own steward
and that of her daughter; then the corpse, covered with a
rich pall, the bearers of which were the five queens of Liholiho and the wife of Boki —a daughter of Hoapilieach carrying a beautiful black kahile; then the nearest
relatives and highest chiefs, followed by a procession of at
least six or seven hundred persons, principally chiefs of
various ranks, with their favorites and friends.
All in the procession were dressed in the European
style, and generally in black, with appropriate badges of
mourning.   Among the attendants of the chiefs, there
were a few scarlet and yellow feather mantles and capes;
and a considerable company of females dressed in scarlet
paus, trimmed with black, with black shawls, closed the
procession. The bell tolled, and minute-guns continued
to be fired until the body was deposited in the place appointed for it. The relatives and high chiefs encamped
16




174


LORD'S SUPPER.


immediately around the house, and are now busily engaged in erecting temporary booths, designing to live near
the body for some time to come.
It is a great joy to us, to have the dust of one so justly
dear committed thus decently and honorably to the tomb.
Such a funeral, one that would have appeared respectable
even in a Christian country, is a great triumph over the
deep-rooted superstitions and abominations of this nation
on such occasions; and deserves to be recorded as a remarkable epoch in the mission. I am persuaded it has
given a death-blow, among the chiefs, to their former burial
rites and ceremonies. It is viewed in this light both by
natives and foreigners, inimical to our influence. Such
have openly spoken of it as a triumph which they would
most gladly have defeated, and which has roused much of
their hatred and abuse. Some of the chiefs most favorable to the innovation, have suffered much ridicule and sarcasm for abandoning the customs of their fathers, and
adopting the ceremonies of foreign nations. One, who is
of a character to exult in the riot and debauchery of former
times, and who looks on the restraints of civilization and
piety with a malicious jealousy, ever since the death of the
queen, has addressed a serious and dignified compeer,
either in ignorant or willful blasphemy, by the word " Jehovah." Such, however, is far from being the feeling of
any one of much consequence or authority; and only today, after the crowd had dispersed, Kalaimoku was heard
to say, as he took his seat by the king, " What fools we
have been, to burn our dead and cast them into the sea;
when we might thus have committed their bodies to the
tomb, and have had the satisfaction of still dwelling near
them.
Sabbath, 21. Mr. and Mrs. Ellis, Mr. Ruggles, and
Dr. Blatchely, with all the Tahitian and most of the Hawaiian church members, being at Lahaina, we felt desirous
of improving their visit by the celebration of the Lord's
Supper. Accordingly that ordinance was observed to-day.
We were happy to have so large a number to join us in
exhibiting, for the first time on the island of Maui, the
symbols of that "broken body" and " shed blood," through
which only there is remission of sin and acceptance with




MONUMENT TO THE QUEEN.


175


God. The house was crowded, many of the chiefs and
natives being present, besides a considerable number of
our own countrymen, who, though born and brought up
"under the droppings of the sanctuary," still, during the
solemn feast, stood afar off " in the court of the gentiles,"
thus confessing that they had no better " part nor lot in
this matter" than the heathen by whom they were surrounded.  If ever I have felt pain of heart since I came to
the islands, it has been in seeing those who are comparatively " the children of light," sojourning of choice in Mesech, and dwelling at ease in these tents of Kedar, "having no hope, and without God in the world."
Wednesday, 24. The whole district, men, women and
children, to the number of some thousands, have been daily engaged this week in carrying stones from the old hei-au,
or idolatrous temple, on the south point, to the place where
Keopuolani is buried, to build a monumental wall around
the house in which she is deposited. Headed and assisted
by their chiefs, male and female, of every rank, they have
engaged in the work with much spirit, and pass and repass
our door in troops of a hundred and more at a time, singing their rude songs with as much merriment, as with bitterness last week they seemed to wail.
In their feelings they are like children, subject to sudden and violent excitements, and easily diverted by an opposite cause to a corresponding extreme, whether of grief
or joy. The nearest relatives of the queen, except her
husband and the king, Kaahumanu, and Kaumualii, are.
engaged in this servile work, and themselves each erect
her monument, with as much merriment as they would
form a festal bower. The high chiefs engage personally
in work of this kind, to evince their respect for the deceased, and to encourage their people in the labor. They
are all followed by their kahiles; and I have smiled more
than once to see a queen or princess royal carrying a
large stone, while a stout man, behind her, has borne nothing but a light feathered staff, to proclaim the dignity of
his mistress.
Ten o'clock, p. M.  Scarce ever were-my feelings more
deeply wounded, than they have been this evening. During the fortnight of Keopuolani's illness, the king was per



10{            DISSIPATION OF LIHOLIRO.
fectly sober. His heart seemed touched by the exhortations of his mother, and open to the persuasions of the
missionaries, to forsake every evil habit, and seek the
favor of God. His sensibilities were greatly excited by
her baptism, death, and burial; and he resolved to abandon the habit of intemperate drinking. Apprized of this,
some of the foreigners here present determined to achieve
a triumph over the mission, as they considered it, by the
defeat of an object so desirable and so important.
With this view, two or three successive dinner parties
were made by them, one on the Sabbath, which Liholiho
was importunately urged to attend; but anticipating the
design, he perseveringly declined. Other attempts were
made to draw him into their company, but all proved unsuccessful until this morning, when he was induced to visit
one of the ships, under the pretence, on the part of his seducers, as we are informed, of shewing some remarkably
beautiful specimens of goods. After being some time on
board, refreshments of various kinds, and liquors, were
served; but of the last, the king refused to partake. A
bottle of choice cherry brandy was then produced, as a
liqueur incapable of intoxicating, and which, having never
seen before, he was led to taste, and to taste again, until
he requested a bottle of it to take on shore, —a favor
quickly granted. The result has been, that as Mr. Ellis
and myself went down the beach at sunset, we saw the
king seated in front of his tent under the full excitement
of strong drink; Pauahi, in a disgusting state of drunkenness, by his side; a woman in a similar condition,, and
almost naked, dancing and singing before them; and twenty
or thirty others, of both sexes, with cases of gin and rum
at hand, beginning a dreadful revel.
As we approached the circle, Liholiho immediately said
to us, in a kind and self-condemning tone, " Why do you
come here?"   To which Mr. Ellis replied, "We have
come to express our sorrow for the sad condition you are
in, and to reprove these, your guilty people, for encouraging you to destroy yourself, both body and soul:" upon
which he dismissed us with the answer, "You are good
men, you are my friends, but, eia no ke wahi o debelo!"this is the place of the devil-" and it is well for you not




VISIT TO OAHU.


177


to stay here!"  The individual who has been thus successful in his end, has since boasted, not only that he has
made the king drunk, but that he will keep him so, if he is
obliged to send a vessel to Oahu expressly for more cherry
brandy for the purpose!
But the sorrow of the evening did not rest here. At
the request of the chiefs, we have attended prayers with
them at the establishment of Kaahumanu, every evening
about eight o'clock. On going down for this purpose tonight, we saw a considerable collection of persons gathered
round governor Adams, as he was seated in the open air,
surrounded by servants with torches. The bright glare of
these presented the party in strong light to us, while we
ourselves were shrouded by it in double darkness. In
front of the governor was one foreigner upon his knees,
making a mimic prayer, in imitation of a missionary;
while another was writing, in large letters on a slate, and
presenting to him for perusal some of the basest words in
our language! As may be supposed, the recognition of
our presence threw the company into some confusion; and
one person hastily brushed his hand over the slate, but not
until the indignant eye of Mr. Ellis fully told a knowledge
of its contents.
Friday, 26. Since the exposures at night, which I underwent during the sickness of Keopuolani, I have been
quite indisposed. A change of air may be beneficial, and
as there is much important and interesting business before
the mission at Honolulu, I have been persuaded to accompany Mr. Ruggles and Mr. Hunnewell, this afternoon, to
Oahu, in the Waterwitch.
Tuesday, October 28. I sailed for Oahu on the expected
evening, now more than a month ago, and after a passage
of nine hours, was at the mouth of the harbor of Honolulu,
which we entered at sunrise. No opportunity to return
occurred until last Saturday, when the young prince came
up with about seventy of his attendants, in a small pilotboat. I never suffered more, than on this passage of fortyeight hours, being exposed during the night to very heavy
rains, and during the day to a burning sun, from which I
could find no retreat. I did not leave the deck for a moment; for though a part of the small cabin and a berth
16*




17        FIRST CHRISTIAN MARRIAGE
were assigned to me, and reserved for my use during the
whole time, the crowd and heat below were so intolerable
that I preferred lying in the rain and water on deck to
enduring them, even when the showers were most heavy
and sun most powerful.   At five o'clock last evening,
the captain of a whale ship recruiting here, kindly took
me in a boat from the schooner, before she had come to
anchor, and brought me to my rustic but neat and happy
cabin.
Nothing of particular moment occurred while I was at
Oahu. It is the season at which the whale ships visit the
islands, on their way from Japan to the American coast,
and I had the pleasure of seeing the captains and officers
of nearly thirty ships in that business. The harbor looked
quite like a busy port; besides the whale ships, there were
several merchantmen there, some discharging their cargoes,
just arrived from Canton, others from the north-west coast,
and from the United States; some taking in sandal-wood
for China, while others, hove down, were stopping leaks,
&c. Two small vessels also were on the stocks, building,
to sell to the government.
The distribution of the missionaries to the several stations took place before I returned, and arrangements were
happily made for occupying two new stations —Kailua
and Waiakea - on the island of Hawaii.
Mr. and Mrs. Thurston sailed from Oahu the evening
before I did, for Kailua. The brig in which they were,
anchored here during the night; and we had the happiness of receiving and welcoming them at our establishment
to breakfast this morning, after the severe trial of a voyage
of four days in a dirty, crowded native vessel: trial, I say,
for I have known none equal to that of the voyage I last
made, since I have been a missionary. A gale in the gulf
stream, or passage round Cape Horn, in a decent vessel, in
point of comfort and enjoyment, is not to be compared
with it.
The most important event at Lahaina, during my absence, was the marriage of our friend Hoapili, the husband
of Keopuolani, to Kalakua, one of the queens-dowager,
mother of Kamehamalu, the favorite wife of Liholiho. I
received the information of it in a letter before I left Oahu,




OF A CHIEF.


179


in which it is said, " Hoapili was this day joined in holy
wedlock to Kalakua; they were married in the chapel, by
Mr. Richards. A large audience attended: the ceremony
was solemn, and. would have honored any land." This is
a most happy innovation on the former habits of the people; it is the first Christian marriage ever known among
the chiefs, and the second ever solemnized at the islands.
Like the funeral of our late patroness, it will stand as a
precedent, which I doubt not all friendly to the mission
will readily acknowledge and be anxious to imitate.
Polygamy is an evil that will probably be among the
last eradicated from the nation; but whatever has the least
tendency towards its abolition, is desirable and gratifying.
Had Hoapili followed the ordinary custom on such occasions, immediately after the burial of Keopuolani, or even
before, he would have taken one, two, or more wives, without any form or ceremony; and, in fact, she was scarce
deposited in her tomb, before there were five candidates for
his hand, from among the highest females in the nation,
he being one of the most wealthy and respectable of the
chiefs. But he at once declared that he designed to follow the practice among Christians, of deferring his marriage for some time, and then taking one wife only, being
married to her publicly in the house of God. This was
also the wish of Kalaimoku, which of course was earnestly recommended by the mission, and has happily been
accomplished. Both parties were fully instructed, by Mr.
Richards, in the reciprocal obligations of the marriage contract, as understood and entered into by the members of
Christian churches. Thus, my dear M   -, are we enabled to take courage in our labor of enlightening and christianizing this people; hoping for a bright day of glory,
and rejoicing even in this, " the day of small things."
Six or eight ships have touched here for refreshments,
and two yet remain. Many of the officers and men were
kind in their attentions to the mission family; and some
of them appeared to be of the number who love and serve
God. It is a joy indeed, to meet, in this land of pollution
and sin, those who exhibit the light, the purity, the blessedness of the Christian character. 0 that every wanderer
<o'er the mountain wave," and every " dweller on the deep,"




COUNCIL OF THE CHIEFS.


might speedily become a light and a blessing to the dark
places of the earth!
Monday, November 30.   Mr. and Mrs. Thurston remained with us one week, and then left us in fine spirits,
to take their station and unfurl the banner of the cross on
the rocky shores of Hawaii. I admired the spirit with
which Mrs. Thurston, after bidding us farewell, sprang into
a rude canoe with her two children; and I watched them
with a glass with lively interest, as they were paddled
through the breakers to the open sea. No preparation appearing to have been made on board the brig, to hoist her
on deck in a chair, which is usually done, she intrepidly
mounted the 'ship's quarter by the manropes, and stood
ready to wave us a distant farewell, before many others
of the same refinement could have determined even to attempt ascending to the quarter-deck as she had done.
A few days afterwards, the brig Arab, Capt. Meek, of
Boston, from Oahu, paid us a visit of a day, and then
passed on to Kailua, where the king had gone in the Princess Mary, an English whale ship. The Arab returned
in about a week, bringing Liholiho and his train, when it
first began to be stated that he would speedily embark for
Great Britain.  In a few days a grand council of the
chiefs was called at this place on the subject; when we
had the pleasure of again entertaining our beloved friends,
Messrs. Bingham and Ellis, who had been requested by
the heads of government to attend the meeting, and who
arrived in the whale ship L'Aigle.
It was soon determined that the king should embark for
England in the L'Aigle, Capt. Starbuck. Kamehamalu,
governor Boki and Liliha his wife, Kapihe and Kekuanaoa, are to accompany him, with Manuia his steward, and
a few male servants.
The whole body of chiefs, together with the king, was
most earnest in their desires for Mr. Ellis and his family
to accompany the party, and offered a large sum for his
passage: at one time they even made his going a sine qua
non; and determined, in case Capt. Starbuck would not
accommodate him, that the king's barge should be fitted
up for the expedition. Mr. Ellis himself was desirous of
making the voyage, principally on account of the very




DEPARTURE OF THE KING.


181


critical state of the health of Mrs. Ellis; but Capt. Starbuck declaring that he could not possibly take him, the
king and chiefs were obliged to assent to his remaining.
We all regretted this, for we wished the king to have had
the benefit, during his absence, of so wise and in every
respect competent a counsellor; but most especially from
a regard to the welfare and happiness of Mrs. Ellis and
her family. We fear she cannot long survive, without
some change of the kind; and desired that after eight
years of missionary toil and suffering, she might be restored to the bosom of her country and her friends; though
the loss of Mr. Ellis's services at this time would be most
sensibly felt by the mission in all its branches.
The king embarked from this place on board the L'Aigle
on the eighteenth instant. At the time, and for two days
before, we were almost stunned with salutes from the squadron at anchor before our door. He left us with no inconsiderable display of the " pomp and circumstance " of royal
embarkation.  Signals for sailing were made from the
L'Aigle early in the day, in which she was followed by all
the vessels, ten or a dozen in number-excepting the
American brigs Arab and Owhyhee, and one or two small
schooners; but all waited till the L'Aigle should lead the
way, which was not till near sunset. As soon as she had
well cleared her moorings, the whole squadron was in motion, and, with a fine breeze, " filled away " beautifully,
amidst columns of smoke and fire, and a roar of cannon,
that the waters and mountains of Maui probably never before heard.
We have just learned that the king left Oahu on Thursday last, the 27th. We are happy that he has actually
undertaken the visit, and believe it cannot fail of benefiting himself and nation. We think the party a good specimen of the chiefs: Boki is an amiable man, though far
inferior in talent and character to his brother Kalaimoku;
and Kamehamalu, one of the most noble and interesting of
the nation.




182


NATIVE HOUSES.


CHAPTER X.
RESIDENCE IN IAUI.
Mission house, Lahaina, December 3, 1823. We have
for some time past been favored with the society of Dr.
and Mrs. Blatchely. They occupy a new house in our
enclosure; and were exposed tQ a serious accident last
night, by the momentary touch of a candle against the
thatch of the house, in passing through the door. The
flame spread rapidly; but, by prompt exertions, was fortunately extinguished.
The greatest danger to which we feel ourselves exposed
is from casualties of this kind. It seldom rains at Lahaina,
and, in a short time after erecting a house, the grass thatch'
becomes perfect tinder; and in case of fire, unless suppressed at the instant it commences, the loss of the building, and of everything it contains, is inevitable. The rapidity of the flames scarcely admits the rescue of life, much
less of property.
Native dwellings are objectionable in many respects.
The wind, dust, and rain find ready access to ours in every
part; and not only put us to great inconvenience, but often
greatly endanger our health. The leaves of the sugarcane with which they are lined, and the grass and mats
forming the floors, are secure and appropriate harbors for
the mice, fleas, cockroaches and lizards which infest this
land, and by which we are greatly annoyed. But, were
the buildings ever so comfortable for the time being, their
frailty would be an objection: the thatch must be frequently repaired, and the whole house entirely rebuilt every third or fourth year.
We are at a loss to determine what the materials of
our permanent dwelling shall be. If constructed of wood,
every part must come from America, the islands affording
no timber for house-building, that is accessible, or to be obtained for a reasonable price. If of stone, the lime and




WANT OF A PHYSICIAN.


183


lumber necessary to finish them must be procured in the
same distant country; for the expense of burning lime
here at present, would be greater than the cost of it in
America, and its freight to the islands.
Dec. 6. Two days ago we had the happiness of receiving Mr. Ely and Mr. Whitney to our habitations. Mr.
Ely returned to Oahu again to-day: and was accompanied
by Dr. and Mrs. Blatchely. They sailed in the Arab,
Capt. Meek, to whom we have been indebted for much politeness.
Dec. 15. Immediately after the last date, I was seized
with a violent illness, from which I am now but just recovering. Mrs. Richards also suffered an alarming attack;
and B-    was at the same time confined to her bed. Our
situation required the unremitted attentions, night and day,
for near a week, both of Mr. Richards and H —, on
whom the care of Mrs. Richards's infant, as well as that of
C —, necessarily devolved. Mr. Richards was obliged
to be physician as well as nurse; and spent many anxious
hours in searching medical authorities, while alarming
symptoms called for immediate relief.
We have deeply felt the importance of an additional
physician to the missionary establishment at the islands.
One physician cannot possibly meet the necessities of families so widely dispersed as we are. The extreme stations
are more than four hundred miles apart; and in any case
of emergency, it would be impracticable to secure at one
of these the services of a practitioner who might be at the
other.
But the want of a physician is not at such times the
only cause of anxiety and distress, - is not all that makes
the difference between a chamber of sickness in a heathen
land, and in the habitations of our fathers. Our nearest
friends, instead of hanging on our pillows with kind and
assiduous attention, are obliged to exhaust themselves in
the lowest drudgery, without an assistant to share even the
hardest of their labor. No kind friend calls, to sympathize with us in our sufferings, or to relieve, during the
watches of the night, those who are overcome by the fatigues of the day. Our establishment affords few of the
articles which at home are considered indispensable to the




184


PUNISHMENT OF THEFT.


comfort of a sick room; and when the violence of disease
is removed, we have no delicacy to tempt the fastidious
appetite of an invalid, or cordial to revive the drooping
spirits of the languid and the faint.
We mention these facts, not to complain of the privations of which we are sensible; for through the grace of
God, we do sincerely esteem them the "light afflictions"
that deserve not to be named, in comparison with the everlasting benefits we trust we are securing to the heathen;
but only to exhibit to you the various and true shades of
missionary life.
Dec. 17. Mr. Whitney, who returned to us on the 14th
instant, from a visit to Mr. and Mrs. Thurston, sailed,
again this evening for Oahu.
Dec. 27. On the evening of the day on which Mr.
Whitney arrived at Oahu from Kaui, a trunk, containing
his clothes and papers, was stolen from the hall of the mission house at Honolulu. No knowledge of the thief was
obtained until within a day or two, though suspicion rest-'
on the attendants of some of the chiefs who were at the
house in the dusk of the evening. This morning a messenger from Kaikioewa, the guardian of the prince, came
before sunrise to inform me that Mr. Whitney's trunk had
been found in the possession of a follower of the young
chief, and to request me to be present at the examination
of it, previous to its being delivered to the care of the mission. On my arrival at the establishment of the chief, the
trunk was produced, and as much of its former contents as
couldbe found, replaced. It was then formally given up,
in presence of a large assembly of the people, of the
prince and his guardian, including all their personal attendants, male and female; while the culprit was, with
judicial solemnity, publicly reproved by Kaikioewa, and
punished by dismissal from the service of Kauikeaouli.
In the course of the investigation, it was ascertained
that the kahu, nurse, or chief personal attendant of the
prince, was accessory to the theft. He was immediately
called, and ordered to bring forward the personal effects of
the chief, of which he had the care, for inspection, preparatory to his dismissal from his situation. In the course of
the morning, the clothes, furniture, books, &c. in his pos



PREVALENCE OF THEFT.


185


session were examined; and after an inventory of them
had been taken in the presence of all the high chiefs, they
were delivered, as insignia of the office, to another petty
chief, while the former kahu was disgraced by a public
expulsion from the household of the lad.
We were much gratified with the manliness and resolution of the prince on this occasion. He is only nine years
old, was strongly attached to his kahu, having been carried
in his arms from his birth, and wept much when parting
with him; still he said he must go, or by and by it would
be thought that he himself was heva, guilty, and that if he
kept thieves in his train, it would be said that he ordered
them to steal.
This is the most decisive measure ever taken by a chief,
for the suppression of theft; and will doubtless produce
a happy effect.  Formerly, the chiefs themselves were
greatly addicted to this crime; but, finding it disgraceful
in the eyes of foreigners, left the commission of it to their
attendants; most of them, it is said, have until lately taken
with them in all their visits, persons expressly for the purpose. Not long before our arrival, one of the missionaries
suffered so much from the depredations of a high female
chief, in the habit of visiting his family, that he openly
turned both her and her husband from his house.
The islanders are exceedingly expert in the achievement of theft. Not many weeks since a chief of rank,
with two or three servants, called for a few moments at
our establishment. The attendants remained about the
door, while their master entered the house. On a clothes
line, in open view, three or four French silk handkerchief1
of very peculiar pattern and colors were hanging; although all the doors and windows were open, and some of
the mission family in sight the whole time, on the departure of the company, one of the handkerchiefs was missing. We could however scarce suspect them; for it
seemed impossible that any one of their number, in the
short time of the call, and under such circumstances of
exposure, could be guilty; but not long afterwards an
islander, who had been within a short time at the residence of the chief, on another island, seeing me with an
article of the same kind, exclaimed in admiration of the
17




VISIT TO THE CHIEFS.


colors, " 0, that is a very handsome handkerchief —just
such a one as our chief wears! "
We are constantly losing, in this manner, articles of
greater or less value; in two or three instances, clothes to
a very considerable amount have been taken from trunks,
the locks of which are broken while the persons have been
sitting upon them, and apparently deeply interested in conversation with some of the family. In these instances,
however, they were dressed in large kiheis, which give
concealment to their movements, and afforded a cover for
the booty in their retreat.
The remedy of the evil is with the chiefs; if they really
discountenance this vice, which we believe many now do,
and punish it, when detected, with promptness and determination, as in the present instance, stealing will soon be
unpopular.
Sabbath, Jan. 4, 1824. The services of the chapel today have been distinguished by the baptism of the infant
son of Mr. and Mrs. Richards, and by the administration'
of the Lord's supper. The day has been one of peace and
blessedness; and the language of our hearts that of the
Psalmist, "We will give thanks to thee, 0 Lord, among
the heathen, and will sing praises unto thy holy name."
Jan. 7. Our customary visits to the chiefs this morning were more than usually pleasant. We found them at
their several establishments intently occupied in their
studies, and uncommonly solicitous for instruction. We
were particularly gratified with the appearance of our
friends, Kaikioewa, the guardian of the young prince, and
his wife Kea-weamahi. The former was reclining on a
neat Chinese sofa, earnestly engaged with the few pages
yet printed in the native tongue, and the latter seated at a
very handsome cabinet with book-case top, writing a letter.
Besides these two pieces of furniture, which would be
neat and ornamental in any common parlor, there was
another sofa in the room, a very large mahogany dining
table, two circular tables of the same material, with an
elegant escritoir on each, a handsome card table and dressing case, and a large and expensive mirror. The whole
house exhibited a degree of neatness, comfort, and convenence, not often found in the dwellings even of the highest




EXEMIPLARY PIETY OF PUAIKI.


187


chiefs, and excited a pleasing hope of seeing still greater
improvements in the externals of social and domestic life.
They were both clothed in loose dresses made in the
European fashion; and in their persons, more than in the
furniture of their apartment, presented a strong contrast
to the appearance they made but a year or two since, when
seen only in unblushing nakedness; and when they knew
no higher subjects of thought or occupation, than to " eat,
drink, and be merry."
These two are among the most amiable of our friends.
Their deportment is at all times modest, dignified, and
interesting; and their whole character, so far as we can
gain the knowledge of it, so consistent with Christian
propriety and purity, that in our intercourse with them we
almost forget that they have been heathen.  They are
assiduous in their attention to every means of instruction,
are never absent from the services of the chapel, and not
unfrequently are seen bathed in tears, under the preaching of the Gospel of Jesus CLrist. May they be found
among the first fruits of Hawaii!
Friday, Jan. 9. While at tea this evening we heard a
herald passing through the district-the manner in which
all the general orders of the king and chiefs are communicated to their vassals-making a proclamation to the
people. On inquiring of the native boys in our yard, we
learned that the object of it was to inform the people that
the next day but one would be the Sabbath, and to command them to have all their food prepared on the morrow,
and not to break the commandment of God, by working
on the " la kabu," sacred day. Heralds have very frequently been sent out on a Saturday evening, to give intelligence of the approach of the Sabbath, and to command its observance; but this is the first time we have
heard it notified so seasonably, as to take all excuse from
those who disregard it.
Jan. 12. There is, perhaps, no one in the nation, who
has given more uninterrupted and decisive proofs of a
saving knowledge of the truth as it is in Jesus, than Puaiki,
a poor blind man. No one has manifested more childlike
simplicity and meekness of heart-no one appeared more
uniformly humble, devout, pure, and upright.




EXEMPLARY PIETY OF PTAIKL


As a singer, he formerly occupied in the retinue of a
high chief, the place of " the blind bard " in the baronial
hall. When "the setters forth of strange gods" arrived,
and began to preach in the language of the country, he
requested to be led to the chapel; and ever after, with the
return of the Sabbath, groped his way to the house of
God.   He soon became deeply interested in the glad
tidings which proclaimed sight to the blind, relinquished
his situation as musician, and from the most indefatigable
inquiry and attention, quickly made himself so familiarly
acquainted with the outline of Christian belief and practice, as to become an instructor and chaplain to others.
Only a few weeks before the Thames reached the islands,
Keoua, governor of Lahaina, then on a visit at Oahu,
appointed him his private chaplain, and brought him to
Maui with him in that capacity. He was the first to welcome us on our unexpected arrival here, as we stepped
upon the beach; and testified his joy by the most cordial
shaking of our hands, and by bursting afresh every few
minutes into the exclamation, "aloha loa no! "-" aloha ino loa! " " great indeed-very great is my love! "
He is always at the house of God, and there ever at
the preacher's feet. If he happens to be approaching our
habitations at the time of family worship, which has been
very frequently the case, the first note of praise or word
of prayer, that meets his ear, produces an immediate and
most observable change in his whole aspect. An expression of deep devotion at once overspreads his sightless
countenance, while he hastens to prostrate himself in
some corner in an attitude of reverence. Indeed so peculiar has the expression of his countenance sometimes
been, both in public and domestic worship-especially
when he has been joining in a hymn in his own language
to the praise of the only true God and Saviour-an expression so indicative of peace and elevated enjoyment,
that tears have involuntarily started in our eyes at the persuasion that, ignorant and degraded as he once had been,
he was then offering the sacrifice of a contrite heart, and
was experiencing a rich foretaste of that joy, which in the
world to come shall terminate in " pleasures forever more."
Puaiki was the first convert of the mission I ever heard




EXEMPLARY PIETY OF PTJAIKI.


189


pray. The accompanying circumstances were peculiarly
interesting, and conduced to the deep impression made by
it on my mind. Mr. Richards and myself, having discovered that there was a number of natives in our vicinity,
called by their fellows, the " poepule,"-" praying people,"
from a habit of secret prayer, as well as an attendance on
the exercises of social and public worship, sought them
out, and assembled them to the number of twelve or
fifteen, for the purpose of inquiring into their state of
mind and feelings, upon the subject of Christianity; and
of instructing and encouraging them in the belief and
practices of religion.
Our object will be best understood by a specimen of the
kind of questions put to them, and the answers given in a
particular case. Of an interesting young man, Mr. Richards asked, " When did you first hear the word of God? "
"' At the time Mro Ellis first preached on his arrival from
the Society islands." "' What did you think of what you
heard?"  " I had no thought about it."  "What were
your thoughts of it, when you first had them? "  They
were evil only. I did not like the law of God, for my
heart was set on every wicked thing. I loved every sin,
and was wicked in all my ways." 7" When did you begin
to think more favorably of the true religion?"  When
I came to Lahaina to live, after the king had sailed for
England," stating in addition, that it was by coming to
the chapel that he began to love the word of God; that
now his love for it was very great; that he hated all his
former ways, and loved everything that was good; and
concluding by saying, " Great is my compassion for the
dark hearts, that have been kindling a fire to the devilsome of the people had recently been sacrificing to their
former gods by the burning of animals, &c. &c.-and
strong is my prayer, that God may forgive them their sin,
and enlighten them by his spirit!"
In the statements of many others there was a simplicity
of language and manner, and an artlessness and sincerity
that affected the hearts of all present. The countenance
and gestures of some spoke even more for them than their
words; and of a majority of the number, we were led to
entertain very favorable hopes.
17*




190


THE BLIND MAN.,


At the conclusion of the meeting, we called upon our
blind friend to address the throne of grace. The request
was unexpected to him: but in a ready compliance, he
evinced a pathos of feeling, a fervency of spirit, a fluency
and propriety of diction, and above all a humility of soul,
that plainly told he was no stranger there. His bended
posture, his clasped hands, his elevated though sightless
countenance, the peculiar emphasis with which he uttered
the exclamation "0 Jehovah!" his tenderness, his importunity, made us feel that he was praying to a God not
afar off, but to one who was nigh, even in the midst of us.
It was a prayer not to be forgotten: it touched our inmost
souls, and we believe would have touched the soul of any
one hearing it, not an utter stranger to the meltings of a
pious spirit.
One such hour, one such testimony to the efficacy of
the truth, in turning " from darkness to light and from the
power of satan unto God," repays us tenfold for all our sacrifices, and makes us more than willing perseveringly to
endure the toil, the privation, the care-the hundred
known and unknown trials, that sap the spirits and the
constitution of a missionary in a pagan land. At such
times, could the continents and the oceans that separate
us from the sight of the people of God, be thrown into
the back ground for a moment, leaving these actors and
these scenes to speak for themselves, they would feel more
than compensated for all their liberality, and all their
exertions to have the glorious gospel of Christ preached
to the heathen: and giving thanks to God, would rejoice
in fresh efforts to evangelize the world. If the poor blind
Puaiki, is the only one of this nation, who has gained a
true and ready access to the throne of grace, by Him who
is " the way, the truth, and the life," and knows, from his
own blessed experience, the breathings of the spirit that
cries <" Abba, Father," unto God, 0! at how cheap a price
has his immortal soul been enlightened unto everlasting life, through the instrumentality of the churches of
America.
He is poor and despised, in his person small almost to
deformity, and in countenance, from the loss of his sight,
far from prepossessing; still in our judgment he bears on




CRUELTY TO LUNATICS.


191


him "the image and superscription" of Christ. If so,
how striking an example of the truth of the apostle's declaration: "God has chosen the foolish things of the world,
to confound the wise; and the weak things of the world,
to confound the things which are mighty; and base things
of the world and things which are despised hath God
chosen, yea, things which are not, to bring to nought
things that are; that no flesh should glory in his presence.
Evening. Scarce a day passes on which we are not
most painfully reminded, that we dwell among the habitations of cruelty. We have been much grieved this evening, by seeing the attendants of the young prince stoning
a lunatic on the beach. It is the customary way of treating such objects throughout the islands, and the manner
in which they here usually terminate a wretched existence. Kaikioewe sent a message to reprove them, and bid
them desist from their inhuman sport; not, however, till
by the barbarous practice the poor creature was much
bruised and lamed.
The afflicted and the deformed of every class are objects
of ridicule and contempt, if not, as in this case, of persecution. The helpless and dependent, whether from age or
sickness, are often cast from the habitationN of their relatives and friends, to languish and to die, unpitied and uxnattended. An instance recently came to our knowledge,
in which a poor wretch had thus perished within sight of
our dwelling, after having lain uncovered for days and
nights in the open air, as we are told, most of the time,
pleading in vain to his family, still within the hearing of
his voice, for a drink of water! And when he was dead,
his body, instead of being buried, was merely drawn so
far into the bushes as to prevent the offence that would
have arisen from the corpse, and left a prey to the dogs
who prowl through the district in the night!
But the truth of the apostle's description of the heathen,
that they are " without natural afection, implacable, and
unmerciful," is found most fully, here, in the prevalence
of the abhorrent and tremendous crime of infanticide. We
have the clearest proof, that in those parts of the islands
where the influence of the mission has not yet extended,
nearly, if not quite two-thirds of the infants born, perish




192


CRIME OF INFANTICIDE.


by the hands of their own parents before attaining the
first or second year of their age!
The very periods, when the infant of a Christian mother
is to her the object of intense solicitude, and of the deepest
anxiety in times of sickness, suffering, and distress, times
at which the affections of the parental bosom are brought
into the most lively exercise, are those when the mother,
here, feels that in her child she has a care and a trouble
which she will not endure: and instead of searching into
the causes of its sorrow, or attempting to alleviate its pains,
she stifles its cries for a moment with her hand, hurries it
into a grave already prepared for it, and tramples to a level
the earth under which the offspring of her own bosom is
struggling in the agonies of death! As I see and hear
and learn all the abominations and cruelties of a heathen
land, my soul often melts within me; and I cannot but
think, how little a majority of the inhabitants of Christian
countries are aware of the extent of their obligations to the
gospel, for many of the domestic and social blessings they
prize most dearly. Happy indeed is the people whose God
is the Lord!
The perpetration of this crime is by no means confined
to cases of sickness, or of deformity, or of distress: not
unfrequently it is provoked by the simple necessity of half
an hour's additional labor a day for the support of the
child until it can seek its own living; and sometimes
merely because its helplessness would interfere, for a period, with the freedom and pleasure of the mother! In
view of a crime so relentless as to sink the guilty perpetrators of it below the nature of brutes, and which still
forms but one of a fearful catalogue, I am often led to exclaim, "Oh! can there be for such a redeeming and enlightening power? Can these ever be transformed into
beings of purity, of tenderness, and of love?"  Lord,
thou knowest! Thou didst say, " Let there be light; and
there was light: " and thou hast said, "As truly as I live,
all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord!"
Thy power will yet make true thy word: The isles have
waited for thy law, and the abundance of the sea shall yet
be converted unto Thee!
Jan. 16. Last night there was a beautiful and almost




ECLIPSE OF THE MOON.


193


total eclipse of the moon. We had just retired to rest,
when an alarm was given by the natives in our neighborhood. Loud and lamentable wailings were heard in various directions, while the half-suppressed and plaintive
murmurings of those who with hurried footsteps passed to
and fro, gave indications of something new and afflictive.
Hearing a voice in our yard, I inquired the cause; and
was answered that " the people thought the king was dead,
because the moon was dark." This was the first intimation we had of the eclipse; and on looking out, at once
saw the sublime, but innocent cause of the alarm.
Considerable numbers had gathered round our fence,
and we heard nothing but the exclamations, "( mahina mai!
mai nui! "- the moon is sick, very sick! " mahina pupuka no! "- an evil moon, evil indeed! " ua pau ka mahina
i Ie akua! "-the gods are eating the moon!-uttered
in tones of deep anxiety and distress. All agreed in considering it an omen of- great calamity to the nation. The
king had died at sea, or would soon die; or the prince,
princess, one of the queens, or some member of the royal
family would soon die: for the moon had formerly appeared just so, before the death of several great chiefs!
A young Englishman, of considerable intelligence and
nautical information, residing with Kalaimoku, told us this
morning, that he attempted to explain the cause of the
phenomenon to the chiefs. They seemed rather sceptical,
however, and, as an insurmountable objection to the truth
of the rotatory motion of the earth, pointed to tne opposite
island, and said, " The world cannot turn round, for Lanai
is always exactly there! "
While we lamented their ignorance and superstition, we
could not but be amused by many of their ideas and expressions on the subject. The more enlightened, both
chiefs and people, have some correct impressions of the
matter, and have made great sport of the credulity of others, calling them " ka poe naau po," -the dark-hearted
party. The whole circumstance forcibly brought to mind
the appropriate and prophetic lines -
"They dread thy glittering tokens, Lord,
When signs in heaven appear,
But they shall learn thy holy word,
And love, as well as fear."




194


VISIT FROM MISSIONARIES.


Monday, 19. At three o'clock yesterday morning, we
were roused from sleep by the voice of our friend Mr.
Ellis. On giving him admittance, we found him to be accompanied by Mr. Chamberlain, and quickly learned that
they were only two of a party of, thirteen from Honolulu,
on their way to Hawaii, in the schooner Waterwitch, Mr.
Hunnewell, master, to occupy a new station at Waiakea, in
the district of Hilo. Dr. and Mrs. Blatchely, and Mr. and
Mrs. Ruggles-and children, landed immediately after; but
the rest, Mr. and Mrs. Goodrich, Mr. and Mrs. Ely and
child, and Mr. Hunnewell, not till after daybreak.
The knowledge you have of our establishment, its accommodations, &c. '&c., may excite some curiosity as to
-the manner in which we discharge the rights of hospitality on such occasions. Fully aware, from our own experience, of the fatigue and exhaustion attendant on a voyage
of two or three days in a small and crowded schooner, a
first object in this case was to secure an opportunity of
rest and sleep to our friends. To do this it became necessary to relinquish our own beds, and spread them anew
for the females and children; while the gentlemen formed
couches upon our trunks and the floor; and thus all were
soon soundly asleep.
Another point of importance then presented itself, in
the refreshment of food that would be requisite when they
should awake. The coming day was the Sabbath. Our
dinner for that day, as has always been the case, was prepared the day previous, but consisted of a piece of salt
meat and a small loaf of bread, sufficient only for ourselves, and was entirely inadequate to the entertainment
of our guests. Mrs. Richards and B —   were both too
unwell to leave their beds, and every arrangement of course
devolved upon H-.
After a few moments consultation, it was determined,
that though the case was one which would warrant a departure from our regulations in reference to our cooking
on the Sabbath, still, rather than be under the necessity of
explaining the reasons to the natives for a deviation, whatever preparations were requisite, should be made immediately. I accordingly roused one or two of the boys living with us, with orders to kindle a fire and kill half a




OBSERVANCE OF THE SABBATH.


195


dozen ducks, which our yard very opportunely afforded;
and taking charge of master C-  myself, left his mother
at liberty to repair to the kitchen.
This is a part of our establishment which I believe I
have omitted to describe. It consists of a few loose stones,
on one side of our enclosure, upon which a kettle, &c. is
placed over a fire kindled on the ground between them;
and is covered with an awning of cocoanut leaves elevated
eight or ten feet upon four poles. A principal article in
its furniture is a baking-pan without a handle -a sad defect in a land without blacksmiths or iron -and which consequently can scarce be moved but at the risk of burnt fingers. Notwithstanding this and other disadvantages, however, before the dawning of the day, three successive pairs
of ducks were dressed and cooked, an adequate supply of
potatos and kalo baked, and the whole enclosure restored
to as much order and quietude as if we had been asleep
the whole night.
The morning was one of the most delightful we have
known, fresh and rich in all the splendid tints of sunrise.
Our admiration was especially excited by a full and distinct view of Hawaii, which we had never seen before
since our arrival at Lahaina. In genera, the atmosphere
is not sufficiently clear to enable us at a distance of eighty
or a hundred miles, to trace even the faintest outline of
land in that direction; but now, for an hour, while the sun
was near the horizon, we saw its broad mountains rising
in purpled majesty from the deep, while the icy summit of
Mounakea glittered like a cluster of brilliants in the sky.
This unusual addition to the beauty of our scenery,
bringing five islands, besides Maui, into distinct view from
our door, connected with the arrival of our friends, and
more particularly with their immediate destination to
that island, bearing the richest of conceivable blessings to
regions, which for ages unknown have been covered with
the thick darkness of paganism, gave rise to emotions of a
most pleasing and animating character.
The day, too, was uncommonly interesting. An immense concourse of people at the native meetings, gave
Mr. Ellis an opportunity to disseminate the word of life;
and our own worship could not but be enlivened and




SPORTS OF THE SURF.


warmed by the presence of so many of our fellow-laborers.
"How good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the dew of Hermon, and as
the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for
there the Lord commandeth the blessing, even life forevermore."
At nine o'clock this morning they reembarked to pursue their voyage, not without having partaken, as we
trust, in the quickening influences with which the visit has
been accompanied to our own spirits.  Our prayers follow them.  May they be permitted safely to arrive at
their destination, and triumphantly to unfurl the banner of
the cross!
Jan. 24. The surf for some days past has been uncommonly heavy, affording a fine opportunity to the islanders
for the enjoyment of their favorite sport of the surf-board.
It is a daily amusement at all times; but the more terrific
the surf, the more delightful the pastime to those skilled in
the management of the board.
For this amusement, a plank of light wood, eight or ten
feet long, two feet broad, decreasing to a sharp edge at the
sides and ends, which are rounded, and having the whole
surface finely polished, is necessary; and forms an article
of personal property among all the chiefs, male and female,
and among many of the common people.
With this plank under the arm, they leave the shore,
and wade or swim into the surf. On meeting a roller,
they dive under it with their board, to prevent being carried back by its power; and thus make their way beyond
the reef to the smooth surface of the sea, -at Lahaina, a
quarter of a mile from the beach. They then wait the approach of a heavy wave, place themselves at full length
flat upon the board, with the face downward and the head
and chest elevated above the forward end, headed for the
shore. In this attitude they take the breaker, mount upon
its crest as it towers above the reef, and with the arms and
feet skillfully keep their poise in the swell, so as not to be
sufficiently forward to be overwhelmed by its combing, nor
so far behind as to lose its impetus; and are thus hurried,
with the velocity of a racer, on the rolling summit, their
erected heads only appearing above the foam until they are




DEMAND FOR BOOKS.


197


cast on the beach, or slip from the board in time to escape
striking upon the sand.
They then make their way out again, and return in the
same manner. Hundreds at a time have been occupied in
this way for hours together, while the waves are breaking
on the reef apparently twenty or thirty feet high. Riding
upon the surf in a canoe in a similar manner, is also a
common and favorite amusement.
Another pastime of the natives, where a spot of ground
adapted to it can be found, is the tropical counterpart of a
winter sport of boys in our country, that of sliding down
hill on a sled.
The smooth sward of a suitable declivity is made to answer, in a good degree, the advantages of ice and snow,
for this purpose; and throwing themselves forcibly, at the
proper place, in the manner.of the boys in America, upon
a long narrow sledge, having light and highly polished
runners, with their breasts pressing on the forepart, they
often succeed in making a descent of one or two hundred
yards at a single slide.
Jan. 31. For the last fortnight there has been an unusual and increasing demand for books in te native language. We distributed fifty this morning, before breakfast; and since then, three times that number have been
called for. But our stock is entirely exhausted, and we
have been compelled to send away hundreds of persons,
with the promise of a supply as soon as a new edition
shall be printed. Some new excitement in favor of the
palapala, appears to have been produced on the minds of
the chiefs and their attendants; and though we are ignorant of any particular reason for it, we trust the first cause
is, the power of Him, in whose hands are the hearts of all
men.
Feb. 2. Immediately after breakfast we made our customary visit to the chiefs and found them, with one exception, busily engaged in their studies. The queens and
princess were writing at their desks, and their favorites
and attendants, seated on the mats around them, were
equally engaged with their slates and spelling books. The
chiefs have lately, for the first time, manifested a special
desire to have their immediate followers instructed. In18




DOMESTIC IMPROVEMENTS.


deed, till within a few weeks, they have themselves claim,
ed the exclusive benefit of our instructions. But now
they expressly declare their intentions to have all their
subjects enlightened by the palapala, and have accordingly
made application for books to distribute among them.
In consequence of this spirit, we have to-day been permitted to establish a large and regular school among their
domestics and dependents. We have always had several
scholars at the establishments of different chiefs, amounting in the whole perhaps to fifty individuals, under regular
tuition; and Mrs. Kichards, H —, and B -, besides
instructing the boys in our families in their own language,
have daily taught a few persons in English at our houses.
But we have never till to-day had a regular systematic
school, except with the chiefs, and the special favorites in
their respective trains. The school formed, was entirely
from the household of the young prince; and was held in
a neat and spacious house prepared by him for the purpose. The names of twenty-five boys and young men
were entered as scholars. The young chief himself presided as head of the school, under our superintendence.
Feb. 6. Yesterday afternoon we walked half a mile
south of the mission house, to visit our friends Kaikioewa
and Keawearnahi, who have taken possession of a new
establishment in that part of the settlement; and to call on
Auwae, a chief lately arrived at Lahaina from the windward part of the island. The inland walk to their plantations is the most pleasant in the district, passing, shortly
after leaving the beach, through a large and beautiful
grove of the cocoanut, and then through a succession of
plantations, so thickly covered with bread-fruit trees, interspersed with a great variety of luxuriant vegetation, as to
appear a continued and well-planted garden.
We have seen nothing, in the domestic improvement of
the natives, that has pleased us so much as in this visit.
Both chiefs have many acres enclosed, which is not common: Kaikioewa's, by a high mud wall; and Auwae's by
a neat and substantial fence of sticks. The entrance to
each is by a painted cottage gate. Their houses are
larger and better built than those of most of the chiefs;
indeed, we have seen none, but that of the king at Hono



DOMESTIC IMPROVEMENTS.


199


lulu, that can compare with them, either in the excellence
of the materials, or in the neatness of the construction.
We were also particularly pleased with the accommodations
for their servants and people. These, instead of having a
part of the chiefs house, which is not uncommon, or of
having rude and dirty booths immediately about the doors,
still more frequently the case, have neat but small houses,
not more than six feet by four on the ground, and about
four feet high, built regularly along the walls and fences.
There are not less than a dozen such in Auwae's yard,
which, peeping from under the thick foliage of the kou
trees in the enclosure, add greatly to the beauty of the
scene.
Keaweamahi is equally engaged in making improvyments in her department; and we found her with an interesting group of female attendants, busily occupied in
preparing a superb satin counterpane for a quilting frame,
which an American carpenter, in the employment of her
husband had made her. Being, however, entirely ignorant of the manner in which it should be done, she was
well pleased to have the ladies give her a half hour's assistance.                -*
This evening Auwae and wife returned our call. They
came in while we were at the tea- able, but could not be
prevailed on to join us. We could not but be amused at
the evident reason —the poverty' of our board in their
eyes. A plate of toast, with a little force-meat, were the
only articles besides the tea-service on the table, which,
for half a dozen persons, when compared with the variety
and quantity of food placed four times a day before the
family of a chief, appeared to them a most scanty repast.
They said but little while they remained, but in exclamations of sympathy at what they conceived to be our unavoidable hunger: "Aloha ino ia oukot,"-" great is our
compassion for you,"-burst repeatedly from their lips;
and they hastened their return, to send us some fish and
potatos immediately.
Feb. 7. The favorable auspices in reference to the
schools, mentioned at the commencement of the week,
have since greatly increased; and we have the happiness
of stating, that, in addition to the school of the young




200


INCREASE OF SCHOOLS.


prince, each of the chiefs now has one similar, under his
special superintendence.  The number of schools thus
formed is ten, including in the whole nearly one hundred
and fifty scholars. Applications have been made for the
institution of several more, and we soon expect to have at
least five hundred persons under regular tuition in this
district.
The brig Neo came to an anchor this morning from
Hawaii. The commander brought a present of oranges
and a letter to. H   from our friend Kapiolani, the wife
of Nai'he. She earnestly entreats that books and slates
may be sent to her people at Kealakekua, of which Naihe
is hereditary chief, where she has lately returned, after an
absence of two or three years at Oahu. Having herself
been greatly benefited and enlightened by the instructions
of the missionaries, she says she has great sorrow in her
heart for the ignorance of her people at Hawaii; for they
are "Nui loa naau po"i-" very dark-minded."
Feb. 9. Mr. and Mrs. Richards, in company with
Kalaimoku, sailed in the brig Ainoa this evening, for a
short visit to Oahu.
Feb. 11. A delightful evening; one of the very few
that are here marked with the higher splendors of sunset.
The west is filled with rich and brilliant tints, the reflections of which give a softened beauty to the rugged heights
of Lanai and Molokai; while they cover the bolder mountains of Maui with purple, and line the crimson clouds,
that overhang them, with the deepest shades of amber and
gold. Every object was so uncommonly lovely, that on
my way to evening prayers, I involuntarily stopt, to give
utterance to the emotions of admiration I felt at the beauty
and serenity of land, and ocean, and sky.
The natives themselves seemed to partake in the quietude and peacefulness of the scene, and instead of finding
them, as is usually the case at this time of the day, sporting in the surf or singing and dancing on the beach, they
were seated in numerous groups, studying, conversing, or
musing in silence. Two schools within a short distance
of each other, each containing twenty or thirty scholars,
were reciting to native teachers, while their respective
chiefs, seated in large chairs, were presiding over the ex



,ENCOURAGEMENTS.


201'


ercises. The monotonous sound of another, within the
fort, was distinctly heard; while the distant hum of a
fourth came across the water of a large fishpond, immediately in the rear of it. With such objects and sounds in
full view and hearing, the transition of thought from the
natural to the moral state of things around us, was easy,
and almost unavoidable; and I never recollect having felt
more calm and sober joy in the contemplation of my character as a missionary to the heathen, than at that moment.
In anticipation of what, we hope, the intellectual and
spiritual condition of this people, in comparison with their
former paganism at no very distant period, will be, I could
scarce avoid exclaiming, "Lo! the winter is past; the
rain is over and gone: the flowers appear on the earth;
the time of the singing of birds is come! "
Sabbath, Feb. 22. The most interesting circumstance
of the day, is an application for baptism from Kaikioewa
and wife, from another chief and wife, Toteta, a Tahitian
in the family of our patron Hoapili, and from our friend
the blind man, or Bartimeus, as he is sometimes called by
us. This is the more notable, from the fact, that there is,
and has been, no external circumstance that could operate
as an undue excitement to anything of the kind. Evewj
thing in the characters of these persons, as far as we can
ascertain, sanctions the hope, that, through the knowledge
of the truth as it is in Jesus, they have been turned from
darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God;
and are proper subjects for the administration of the ordinance, the benefits of which they are desirous of receiving.
Such hopes, and such causes for high expectation, from
this people, give sweetness to the missionary life. The
number of those, of whose saving conversion from sin to
holiness we entertain even the faintest hope, is small indeed; but in the midst of a generation "filled with all
wickedness," though few, they are conspicuous and lovely.
It is a glorious consolation to us in these " ends of the
earth," to know, that, had we not forsaken things most
dear, to bear the lamp of eternal truth in this darkness,
these very individuals, now so indescribably interesting,
would still have been groping in the thickest shades of
spiritual death, and stumbling on the dark mountains of
18*




202


A SORCERER.


sin. What cannot the word of God perform on them in
whom it "worketh effectually! " How changed are these!
Unto them the gospel has been preached, and by it they
have been transformed into new creatures; have become
gentle, temperate, industrious, modest, chaste, sober, devout-yes, even devout and holy. Such, at least, in our
eyes they appear, and such we fully believe them to be.
Feb. 28. In returning from a walk before breakfast this
morning, I witnessed, for the first time, a rite of sorcery.
My attention was attracted by a collection of persons near
the path along which I was passing. On approaching
them, I saw in the midst a small mat covered with several
thicknesses of kapa or native cloth, on the top of which
were placed two very large leaves, of a plant called by
the natives api-arum costatum. These seemed to have
been prepared for the occasion with much care, each being nicely divided through the stem, half the length of the
leaf, and one placed exactly over the other. They were
firmly held by a man kneeling at one end of the mat,
while the sorcerer kneeling at the other, and holding two
of the divided stems in each hand, muttered his prayers
over them. A few of the persons present, besides those
immediately engaged in the ceremonies, were solemnly
and intently occupied in the subject before them; but the
greater number seemed disposed to make sport of it, and
turned to m ewith the exclamations, I ino, pupuka, debelo,"
" wicked, foolish, devilish."
On inquiring what was meant by it, they answered, that
some one had stolen the tobacco-pipe of the man holding
the leaves, and that the sorcerer was discovering the thief,
and praying him to death. When reproved for their superstition and wickedness, they became evidently confused,
and some unlucky movement of the leaves being made,
the principal performer said the effect was destroyed, and
ceased praying, apparently in a fit of vexation.
There is no superstition perhaps more general and. deeprooted in the minds of this people, than the belief that certain persons have the power, by prayers and incantations,
to destroy the lives of others; and many, doubtless, have
become victims to their credence in this device of darkness.
A person who has fallen under the displeasure of one of




EFFECTS OF SORCERY.


203


these " kanaka anana," or sorcerers, is told that his power
is exercised over him, and that he will die. He himself
believes in the efficacy of that power —thinks perhaps
that he has known many instances of it.   Anxiety isawakened; his mind becomes filled with pictures of death;
he cannot sleep; his spirits sink; his appetite fails; and
the effects of his imaginary fears become the real causes
of the evil he deprecates. Finding his health and strength
affected by these natural but unperceived causes, he considers his fate inevitable; refuses all nourishment as unnecessary and unavailing; pines, languishes, and dies, beneath the influences of his own ignorance and superstition.
The less enlightened of the people think no one dies a
natural death, and resolve every instance of mortality into
the effects of this pule anana, prayer of sorcery, some other incantation of  similar kind, or into the equally insidious influence ofsecret poison.
Of the power of this superstition we had a proof in a
native of our own household. A thief was put to flight
from the mission yard one day while we were at dinner:
this lad joined in the chase, and seized the culprit, but lost
his hold by the tearing of his kihci, or outer garment. The
thief was greatly exasperated, and immediately engaged a
sorcerer to pray the boy to death.
Information of this reached the lad in the course or the
afternoon; and we soon perceived that he was troubled by
the intelligence, although he attempted with us to ridicule
the superstition.
The next morning he did not make his appearance with
the other boys; and, on asking the reason, they said he
was sick. We asked the nature of his illness; to which
they replied, "Mai no i ka pule anana paha," -" sick
from the prayer of sorcery perhaps." On going in search
of him, he was found lying in one corner of his house, pale
with fear, and trembling like an aspen leaf, and discovered
that he had not slept during the night. Satisfied of the
cause of his illness, and that the whole arose from terror,
we compelled him, notwithstanding his declaration that he
was too ill, to come from his retreat; diverted his mind;
set him at work; and, before noon, he was as full of




204


RECOLLECTIONS OF HOME.


life and spirits as ever - laughed at his fears, and began
to defy the power of the pule anana!
The whole race are subject, from ignorance and superstition. to a bondage of terror. Not only do the eclipse
and the earthquake, the burstings of a thunderbolt and the
eruptions of a volcano, fill them with apprehension and
dismay, but even the darkness of the night is to them the
covert of demons going about " seeking whom they may
devour;" and the least unusual sound that breaks its silence, interpreted into prowlings of spirits ready to destroy.
As the wind has sighed through the tops of the cocoanut tree in the stillness of the night, or the sounds of the
surf, breaking on the reef, have bellowed along the shore,
I have seen fear gathering on the faces of the natives of
our household, while with troubled and inqusitive look and
half-suppressed breath, they have exclaimed, "He Akua!
He Akua aole maikai! -" a God! - an evil God" And
I have known the simple and plaintive notes of an Eolian
harp attached to a window of the mission house at Oahu,
so in this manner to affect the mind of an islander belonging to the establishment, as to make it necessary - although the harmless cause of the sound had been explained
to him- to remove it to enable him to sleep.
CHAPTER XI.
RESIDENCE AT LAHAINA.
Mission house, Lahaina, March 1, 1824. There has
not been a period, my dear M ---, since H —   and myself left America, when the privilege of writing to those
we love-of making known to them the particulars of
our situation and of imparting the thoughts and feelings
of our hearts -has appeared more precious than at present, when, from the absence of Mr. and Mrs. Richards, at
Oahu, we are left entirely alone on one of the specks of
desolation that constitute this solitary group. The want




TEMPESTUOUS WEATHER.


205


of all society, except that of our own little family, predisposes us in an unusual degree to frequent recollection of
home: and we have never, perhaps, thought more, spoken
more, and felt more, concerning yourself and family, and
the many other objects of our lasting attachment and
warm remembrance, than at the passing time.
The weather, too, to-day is of a character to recall to
our minds scenes in which we have often had a part,
when a gloomy sky and driving storm have shut us within the walls of our houses, and, by interrupting the ordinary engagements without doors, have made us, in an especial manner, dependent on the family circle and fireside
for pleasure and amusement. Indeed, the present aspect
of everything without is one principal reason why I have
taken up my pen: it is so totally different from all we
have witnessed, except in one or two instances, since we
arrived at the islands, that it is more worthy of notice
than anything that is just now taking place.
Instead of my own language, however, I will make use
of a few lines from a Sea Sketch, which occurs at the moment to my mind. They are highly descriptive of the actual state of things around us, and will convey, I think, a
correct and lively image of the scene:
--  "Dark and portentous clouds o'erhang the sea,
While here and there upon the surgv tide,
With bellied sails, the vessels - dim descried -
Against the opposing blast toil heavily;
On sullen wing, the sea-gull wheels away
To loftiest rock, beyond the utmost swell
Of billow, lashing high its dizzy spray;
The wild waves curl their bleak and foamy heads
Tumultuous murmurs through the ocean caves
Ring dismal; while the gloomy tempest spreads
Athwart the joyless deep; the showers down pour,
Toss the rough main, and drench the sandy shore."
We have before us the reality of every image here presented; and none in more conspicuous and beautiful exhibition, than " the vessel" on the "surgy tide," with "bellied sails," against the "opposing blast."  The young
prince is slightly indisposed, and, notwithstanding the violence of the storm, a schooner has been despatched for the




206


SITUATION IN A STORM.


chiefs at Oahu, and is plunging her way through the channel under a press of sail that buries her almost in every
wave she meets.
Monday, March 8. Mr. and Mrs. Richards returned
from Oahu, in the Haaheo o Hawaii, on Saturday morning. Mr. and Mrs. Bishop came with them. They have
been passing the winter at Kauai, with Mr. Whitney; and
sailed this morning for Hawaii, as permanent associates of
Mr. and Mrs. Thurston at Kailua, the principal town of
the island, and the residence of the governor. Kalaimoku
and Kaahumanu, who are the regents of the islands in the
absence of the king, despatched the barge to the windward
expressly for the purpose of returning Mr. Mrs. Richards
to Lahaina, and of carrying Mr. and Mrs. Bishop to their
station at Hawaii- a mark of kindness sufficiently indicative of their good-will to the mission.
Until the present time, the hymns used in the native
churches have been in manuscript. An edition is now
printed, and Mr. Richards has brought a quantity for distribution at Lahaina. The knowledge of their arrival has
spread rapidly through the settlement, and our houses are
thronged with eager applicants for them.  The richest
treasure could scarce be received with greater enthusiasm
than these " himeni paiia," - stamped hymns, as they are
called.
March 13. Late at night. The tempestuous character
of this month is as marked here as in most other parts of
the world, notwithstanding the general and almost uninterrupted serenity of the rest of the year. I am now writing
in the midst of one of the most violent storms I ever witnessed. For the first time since our residence on the islands, the "artillery of heaven" is playing so near our
dwellings as to turn the admiration we have felt in its
more distant peals, into momentary terror. An incessant
glare of lightning breaks through the chinks of the door
and windows and the various loopholes of our ho.se,
while the wind and rain rush upon us from every part of
the roof and sides, and threaten our hut with instant destruction. The water, to the depth of a foot, is running
in a rapid current through B-  's room, forming a small




ANCIENT CRATER.


207


wing to ours, and Mr. Richards's house is entirely overflowed.
The raging of the tempest as it rushes from the ocean,
the tumult of the waters, the thundering of the surf on the
reef, and its heavy lashings along the shore, the wrenching, bending, and cracking of our huts, as the gale sweeps
over and around them, make a total of circumstances that
would present rather a gloomy picture to our friends who
have known the desolating storm only by the sound as it
" howl'd o'er their steady battlements." We are seeking a
partial refuge from the rain under our umbrellas; and
H   -- has been sitting for hours with C — in her arms,
watching the'motion of the rafters in the contentions of
the wind, ready to make an escape with him from the ruins of our cabin.
March 18. Our friend Hoapili, in a call after dinner
to-day, told us that some of his men, who had just come
from the m-wnintains, reported a ship in the Molokai channel. Feeling disposed for a ramble, I took a glass, and
proceeded up the mountain two or three miles, to ascertain
in what direction the vessel, said to be in sight, was proceeding. I soon descried the sail, and perceived it to be
the native brig Waverly. Finding myself in the vicinity
of a couple of lofty mounds, that form a prominent feature
in the scenery to the north of Lahaina, I extended my
walk to them.
They form the opposite sides of an ancient crater, still
bearing strong marks of the action of fire, though the bottom is covered with grass. On the top of the highest eleevation, there is an irregular enclosure, with a number of
large conical heaps of stone at the corners and along the
sides. From its situation and general appearance, I judged
it to be the ruins of an hei-au; in which impression I was
soon afterwards, confirmed by the melancholy evidence of
several skulls, and various bones of the human body, but
partially buried beneath the fragments of lava with which
the area was covered.
In returning, after descending a precipice of fifty or
sixty feet, I followed the windings of a deep and romantic
glen, scarce a hundred yards wide, filled with kalo, sugarcane, and bananas; and through which the largest moun



208


INTELLIGENCE FROM AMERICA.


tain stream that waters the plantations of Lahaina, makes
its rapid course. Both sides are overhung by monstrous
ledges of black rock; in many clefts of which, whole families are living without any defence from the weather, by
night or by day, but such as nature has provided.
Before I reached home, the Waverly had come to an
anchor. Shortly after, Capt. Smith and Mr. Dana, of Honolulu - who have chartered the brig for a voyage to the
Society islands and New-Zealand-called on us; and,
much to our joy, put into our hands a large packet of letters and papers from America. They were brought by the
Parthian, Capt. Rogers, of Boston, arrived within a few
days at Oahu. You may judge of the interest with which
they were received, from the fact that the tea-table, at
which we were just taking our seats when the gentlemen
entered, remained in statu quo until after ten o'clock.
Disease and death, it appears, are still carrying on their
work of destruction among those we have known; and
dispensations, which with the most touching eloquence say
to the lover of the world, "Turn ye, turn ye at my reproof,"
and to the child of God, "This is not thy rest," have filled
the halls of some with sadness, and hung the habitations
of others with the tapestry of wo. If we needed anything
to reconcile us to the sacrifices we have made from a sense
of duty, we could find sources abundant, in some of the
intelligence brought us by this arrival, in most striking
and melancholy lessons on the folly and danger of any
course of conduct that centres in the pleasures, the riches,
the honors, or any of the perishable gifts of the world.
We are still blessed with health, strength, spirits, and
the happiness that springs from a prospect of continued
life and usefulness; while some, who thought and spoke
of us as little better than idiots, for removing far from all
possibility of an advancement in life, and throwing ourselves away in an enterprise so wild and visionary as they
considered that in which we are engaged, have already
been suddenly arrested in their aspiring career; and while
" seeking great things for themselves," have been cut down
like a summer flower, and now lie withering in the grave.
Their visions of worldly honor and of earthly joy are fled
forever; and an eternity which recognizes nothing as




GOVERNOR COX.


209


praiseworthy or honorable in itself, that the world calls
good or great, is their all. Such instances, though melancholy in the extreme to the mind that is accustomed to follow the naked spirit to the bar of God, still are salutary in
their admonitions. They teach us the end of " the pride of
life," and shew what vanities wealth and honor are, when
compared with the salvation of our own souls or the spirit'ual benefit of our fellow irnmmortals: and in view of them,
we cannot but thank God that grace was ever given to us,
if such is the happy fact, to withdraw the supreme affections of our hearts from the things that are " seen and temporal," and to elevate and fix them on. those which are
"unseen and eternal."
Sabbath, 21. The audience at the native service this
morning was unusually large, attentive, and solemn. The
sermon was on the judgment, and many seemed deeply affected by it; especially our friend Keaweamahi, the wife of
Kaikioewa. She shed tears frequently during the preaching, and when we closed the worship by singing a version of
the hymn, "Lo! he comes with clouds descending," burst
into an uncontrolled fit of weeping. Anna, the Tahitian
chief, led the exercises of the afternoon, before embarking
on board the Waverly to return to the Society islands, on
account of the health of his wife. He is a noble example
of the power of the gospel on the heart and character of a
pagan. His wife is a very handsome woman; and in her
general appearance and manners remarkably like one of
the most polished females I ever saw.
Friday, 26. This morning a squadron of native vessels passed, with the body of governor Cox, who died this
week at Oahu, bound to Kailua, where the corpse is to be
deposited. All the principal chiefs who have been residing here, excepting Wahine Pio, at present governess of
Lahaina, went some time since to attend him in his illness;
and have now gone to Kailua to the funeral.*
*NOTE, (from the. first London edition.) Governor Cox was the
son of Keeaaumoku, the warlike and ambitious chief of Kailuan.
and the northern part of Hawaii, who was commander-in-chief of
Kamehameha's forces in all his war campaigns; and was succeeded by Kalaimoku, as prime minister in the government of the isl,
ands. He appears to have been a man of adventurous, daring, and
19




210


GOVERNOR COX.


Thursday, April 8.   The John Palmer, Capt. Clarke,
an English whale ship; the Hydaspes, Capt. Paddack;
the Cyrus, Capt. Folger; the Martha, Capt. Pease; the
John Adams, Capt. Joy; and the Hesper, Capt. Chase;
sanguinary character; was a principal agent in elevating Kame.
hameha to the throne of Hawaii; and in the battle of Keei, the
assassination of Keona, and the subjugation of the other islands
he bore a conspicuous part. His family comprises by far the most
powerful portion of the aristocracy of the islands. He left four
children, namely, Kaahumanu, the queen-dowager of Kamehameha, (in whom at present, with Poki, is vested the regency of Hawaii) Piia, and another of Kamehameha's queens. Kuakine, the
present chief of Hawaii, and governor Cox, who bore his father's
name, and was called by the people Keeaaumoku, literally the
Island-climing Swimmer, - from ke, the; a, swimmer, or to swim;
ee, to climb, as upon a rock, or up a ship's side; and moku, an island. Under Keopuolani, Keeaaumoku was governor of Maui; in
person, and in disposition, he resembled Kaahumanu more than
any other member of the family; and, prior to the frequent attacks
of disease that he experienced during the last years of his life, appears to have possessed in some degree the enterprise which
marked his father's character. He was among the first to sanction
the residence of the missionaries from America, and uniformly befriended them. On our arrival in 1822, we found the steward of
his household was a native of the Society islands, a brother to the
wife of one of our native teachers. This procured us an introduction. He was the first to desire instruction, to establish a school
for the instruction of his people, and establish family worship in
his house. The illness that immediately preceded his dissolution,
was painful, and somewhat protracted; at first some of the chiefs
imagined he was suffering from sorcery, but afterwards imbibed
more rational ideas. I visited him daily during his illness, and
hope and fear alternately occupied my mind respecting him. I
sometimes found him engaged in ejaculatory prayer: "Lord, thou
knowest my deeds from my youth up: thou knowest my sins;
Lord, forgive them: save me by Jesus Christ the only Saviour! "
were some of the expressions I once heard him use. He wished to
be baptized when near his end; this, however, we thought proper
to decline, lest he or the natives should think there was any saving
efficacy connected with such Christian rite, in regard to the soul's
acceptance with God, irrespective of that moral purity, or cleansing
and sanctifying, of which it is the appointed emblem. He died on
the 22d of March, while I was engaged in the act of prayer by his
bedside, and we hope his spirit entered. the abodes of rest and happiness. -William Ellis.
Matheson, in his " Narrative of a Visit to Brazil, Chile, Peru,
and the Sandwich Islands, in the years 1821 and 1b22," gives the
following account of a visit to his establishment.




INTERESTING SCENE.


211


all American, have left us to-day, after a visit of a fortnight.  We have received many expressions of kindness
and friendship from  them; and saw them take their departure with regret.
August 5. This morning I went to Coxe, intending to purchase
some goats. I expected to find him as usual, either sleeping, or
smoking, or drinking, or busy trafficking like myself. The door of
his hut was half open, and I was about to enter unceremoniously,
when a scene too striking ever to be forgotten, and which would
require the hand of a master painter to do it justice, suddenly arrested my whole attention.
About a dozen natives of both sexes were seated in a circle, on
the matted floor of the apartment, and in the midst of them sat John
Honolii, the Hawaiian catechist. All eyes were bent upon him;
and the variously expressive features of each individual marked
the degree of interest excited by what was passing in his mind.
So absorbed, indeed, were they in their reflections, that my abrupt
appearance at the door created for some time neither interruption
nor remark-. -The speaker held in his hand the gospel of St. John,
as published at Tahiti, -and was endeavoring, by signs and familiar
illustrations, to render its contents easy of comprehension. His
simple yet energetic manner added weight to his opinions, and
proved that he spoke, from personal conviction, the sincere and
unpremeditated language of the heart.
The chief himself stood in the back-ground, a little apart from
the rest, leaning upon the shoulder of an attendant. A gleam of
light suddenly fell upon his countenance, and disclosed features on
which wonder, anxiety, and seriousness, were imprinted in the
strongest characters. Hle wore no other dress than the malo round
his waist; but his tall athletic form and bust seen bending over the
other's shoulders, and dignified demeanor, marked at one glance
his rank and superiority over all around. One hand was raised instinctively to his head in a pensive attitude. His knitted brows bespoke intense thought; and his piercing black eyes were fixed
upon the speaker with an inquiring, penetrating look, as much as
to say, " Can what you tell us be really true?"  I gazed for some
minutes with mute astonishment, turning my regards from one to
the other, and dreading to intrude upon the privacy of persons so
usefully employed. At last the chief turned round, and motioned
with his hand in a dignified manner, for me to withdraw. I did so;
but carried away in my heart the remembrance of a scene to
which the place, the people, and the occasion, united in attaching
a peculiar interest.
I learnt afterwards that Coxe had promised to build a schoolhouse and present it to the missionaries for their use: a donation,
which, considering his acknowledged love of money, affords no
mean proof that his inquiries into the truth of the new religion
had not been altogether fruitless.




212


LAANUL.


Wednesday, 14. Laanui, who is particularly desirous
of conforming to the customs of civilized and Christian
society, called on us this morning. He arrived only a day
or two since from Kailua, where he has been to attend the
funeral of governor Cox; and expects to sail for Oahu this
evening. When taking his leave, he laughingly said that
it was not his farewell call-that towards night, when he
was near sailing, he would come again to say aloha, and
to wail: referring to a custom of the natives of weeping
aloud when they meet and part. It was, however, only
in pleasantry, for he has long ceased to wail on any occasion.
In continuation of the conversation, he remarked that
the Hawaiians thought us a very cold-hearted people, because we only shook hands and nodded our heads at each
other when we met or separated. Whereas their love was
so great, that they always touched noses and wailed. Narnahana, his wife, one of the queens of Kamehameha, he
said, wailed still, but he himself had not since the teachers
came. "I knocked out my teeth too," he added, putting a
finger in the place where two of his front teeth were missing, " when Karmehameha died, so great was my love for
him! I then thought it was very good; but when the
light came, I found it to be very bad: and there was great
sorrow among the rest of my teeth for the two that were
gone, but I could not make new teeth." '"Naau po, nui
loa elieli " " dark was my heart - very, very black '"
Thursday, 15. Keaweamahi, who is making a dress of
fawn-colored satin, under the superintendence of H-,
and at present spends the greater part of the day with us,
asked this morning with great simplicity, " from what part
of America sailors came - whether they did not worship
idols —and had never heard of God?"  The question
does not speak much for the character of some of our
countrymen, even in the estimation of the heathen; and
made us sigh to think of the depravity of example, that
could call forth the query from this interesting pagan.
Thursday, 22. Capt. Wilds, of Boston, lately arrived
at Oahu in the Parthian, came to Lahaina yesterday. It
has been requested that I should join Mr. Ellis at Oahu,
while Mr. Bingham and family make a proposed visit to




REMOVAL TO OAHIU.


213


Kaui: and Capt. Wilds having very politely offered a
passage to myself and family, we shall probably go to Honolulu on Saturday.
Mission house at Honoulul, island of Oahu, Monday, 26.
H -, myself, C —, and B3-, embarked with Capt.
Wilds on Saturday afternoon, and landed at this place yesterday morning, just after breakfast. All our friends are
in health except Mrs. Ellis, who has long been suffering
under severe and protracted disease.
Tuesday, April 27. The day being unusually fine, Mr.
Bingham proposed after breakfast, this rnorning, that I
should accompany him to the pali, or precipice, of Kolau,
about seven miles in the interior. Nothing short of the
testimony of my own eyes could have made me believe that
there was so much of the " sublime and beautiful" in the
vicinity of Honolulu. It seemed like enchantment, to find
myself transported, in the short space of an hour, from the
dusty plain, stagnant pools, dreary beach, and various desolations of the seaside, to the freshness and verdure, luxuriance, and bloom, of a woodland region, where the eye
rested only on objects of grandeur and beauty, and the ar
caught no sounds, amid the solitude of the forest, but the
chirping of birds, the murmurs of the mountain stream, or
the dashing of the distant cascade.
The path we took led up the valley immediately in the
rear of the village. As this gradually contracted from a
width of three to that of one mile, the scenery became
more and more picturesque and delightful, until at a distance of five miles from  Honolulu, it far surpasses anything I ever before beheld. The mountains are so lofty and
so graceful in their outlines - so rich and beautiful in their
foliage, so diversified by dark grottos, projecting cliffs and
spouting waterfalls, while all below presents an exuberance
of vegetation almost incredible - that I cannot but think
it among the finest of the exhibitions of nature, in a state
of undisturbed simplicity and wildness. Such was the
character of the scenery for the two last miles of the walk,
while our path led successively through glade, copse and
dell, and was frequently, for long distances together, entirely embowered by the interlacing branches of the spreading hau-tree, a species of hlibiscuzs.
19*




214


P ALI, OR PRECIPICE OF KOLAUo


After ascending from one of these dank passages, Mr.
Bingham suddenly cautioned me against the violence of the
wind we should meet. At the same time the rushing of
heavy blasts was heard, intimating, like the roarings of a
cataract or the mutterings of a volcano, an approach to one
of the more sublime of the phenomena of nature; and on
abruptly turning the angle of a projecting rock- with an
admiration approaching to terror -I found myself balancing, in strongly conflicting currents.of air, on the brink of
a precipice little less than a thousand feet in perpendicular
descent, without the parapet of a single stone to guard
against the fatal consequences of a false step. Immediately before us, at the foot of this tremendous offset, in most
perfect bird's-eye view, lay a widely extended, cultivated,
and thickly inhabited country, against whose distant shores
the peaceful billows of the Pacific were rolling in ever-varying and snowy brightness, while farther still, the blue
waters of the ocean rose in gradual ascent, until, apparently
midway between heaven and earth, they met the sky, in a
haziness that rendered either distinguishable from  the
other, only by the regularity of a scarcely discernible horizon.
To the right and to the left, within a stone's throw of the
rock on which we stood, two richly covered pyramidal peaks
rose many thousand feet above our heads; while beyond
them, on either side, summit after summit of mountains,
whose broad bases were planted in the valley below, appeared in long perspective, until, with a semicircular sweep,
both chains terminated in the sea by bold and romantic
headlands, rendered more picturesque by a partial continuation of detached cliffs and islets. In full view behind
was the beautiful valley through which we had ascended,
gradually sinking, from the very spot on which we stood,
to the now miniature town and port of Honolulu, beyond
which again rose " the illimitable sea."
The sublimity of the whole was not a little increased by
the almost overwhelming sounds of the trade wind, as it
swept along the mountains,,which resisted its progress to
this narrow pass, and through which it rushed with irresistible velocity and power, bearing in its broad current and
whirling eddies, leaves, sand, and even pebbles. Such




PALI,: OR PRECIPICE OF KOLAU.


215


was the effect of this, that though everything far and
near" gleamed in the brightness of a cloudless sky and
noonday sun, I could scarce resist the impression that we
were standing amid the ragings of a tempest: an illusion
not diminished by the harsh screams of the sea-gull and
cry of the tropic bird, as they passed us, on rapid wing, to
the lofty peaks above, or hastened again to sail in the
calmer regions beneath our feet.
None but an atheist could have kept his thoughts from
rising to that Being of majesty and of power, who " founded the earth, and hung it upon nothing," -" who formed
the mountains and created the winds," - "who shut up
the sea, and said, hitherto shalt thou come, but no farther;
and here shall thy proud waves be staid." And in the
lively contemplation of the marvelous wisdom  and omnipotence that overlooks and upholds the mighty wonders
of the universe, we could not but feel the force of the
humbling interrogative, " 0 LORD, what is man, that THOU
art mindful of him; or the son of man, that THOU visitest
him?"
After gazing on the various objects of grandeur and
beauty by which we were surrounded, till our eyes were
fatigued, we made a short descent by a narrow footpath,
by which, climbing from rock to rock, and from cliff to cifi,
you may reach the plain below. Having gratified our
curiosity in this manner, by what I considered a dangerous
experiment, we returned to the summit; and in the cleft
of a rock, where we were shielded from the wind, partook
of the refreshments we had brought with us.
Before commencing our return to the village, I tried my
pencil on the scene, but the merest outline is all I can ever
make of the sketch; to give anything like the distance
and the depth necessary to produce the required effect,
would demand more than a master's skill.
The battle that decided the fate of Oahu, in' the conquests of Kamehameha, and by victory in which he became sole monarch of the group, was fought in the valley
leading from Honolulu to this pass. The king of Oahu,
after a desperate conflict, fell bravely at the head of his
army. Upon which a complete rout ensued. One party
of more than three hundred warrors, fled towards this




216


RELIGIOUS MEETINGS.


precipice, and were pursued so closely and with such relentless purpose, as to have been plunged, without an exception, from the tremendous offset to the depths below!
Saturday, May 1. At two o'clock this afternoon, I accompanied our highly valued friends, Mr. and Mrs. Bingham, with their children, to the beach, where they embarked on board the whale ship Washington, captain Gardiner,
for Kaui.
Monday, 3. By preaching to the English congregation
yesterday morning, I commenced the discharge of the
regular duties which will devolve on me during my residence here. These duties will be, an English sermon on
the morning of every Sabbath; a sermon in the native
language at Waikiki, in the afternoon of the same day;
another at the same place every Wednesday afternoon:
the instruction of twenty or thirty native teachers, in reading, writing, and singing three afternoons in the week;
and an attendance with Mr. Ellis every Monday evening,
at a meeting for religious conversation with chiefs and
people.
The meeting of this kind to-night was opened by a very
spirited address, to about a hundred persons present, from
the powerful chief Kaahumanu. She was followed in
much the same manner by Kalaimoku; after which, the
whole company entered into a free and promiscuous inquiry on the subjects of three regular sermons, that had
been preached in the chapel since the preceding Monday.
It was encouraging and delightful to see the deep and tender interest with which so large a company, from the very
highest to the most obscure of this people, entered on the
discussion, and listened to enlargements upon the things
of eternity. To be the guides of such, from the darkness
and death of paganism, to the light and glory of the religion of the cross, is indeed a happy privilege. The missionary has privations, cares, and sorrows, that no one can
know but by experience, and such as often prostrate him
in the very dust; but when successful, he has also a consolation and a joy, and if perseveringly humble, faithful,
and devoted, will doubtless meet a reward, which might
make even an angel covet his office.
To see, as I have but lately seen, an interesting, intelli



GREAT CHANGE OF CHARACTER.


217


gent, and youthful chief who but a year ago was a drunken and debauched idolater, but who now gives good evidence of an entire change of character and of heart, come,
and, with an expression of the highest benignity and tenderness, exclaim, " aloha, aloha nui, aloha nui loa!"
1" love to you, great, very great love to you "- while starting tears, and a faltering voice, interrupted farther utterance; and to have the ftll conviction, that this declaration
of his affection arose simply from an overpowering sense
of gratitude to the man who had made him acquainted
with the words and brought him to the light of eternal
life, would be sufficient to make the coldest Christian that
ever felt an emotion of genuine piety, the supporter and
and advocate of missions, and the warm and zealous friend
of the heathen.
Monday, May 10. Being all in good health and spirits,
we succeeded this rorning, soon after breakfast, in forming a party to visit a principal natural curiosity of this
island; a lake or pond, in which large quantities of salt
are continually forming. The distance to it in a direct
line from Honolulu is four miles: but the path we took
made the walk about six, before we reached the banlk of
the lake. Our whole number consisted of nine: H-/
and myself, C — and B —; lr. Chamberlain and Mr.
Harwood; Kobert H-aia, an. islander educated at Cornwall; and two natives, to carry provisions for the day.
We had scarcely passed a hundred rods from the village,
before we found something new to admire in the vineyard
of 3Mr. IMarini. After crossing a small streamn, which
bounds it on one side, our path led us the whole length of
another. It is well planted and cultivated, and yields
grapes sufficient to mnake considerable quantities of wine.
Along the fences in some parts, are bushes of the damask
rose in full bloom, which appeared to fine advantage, in
contrast with the pale yellow blossotms of the cotton tree,
with which they are interspersed. The vineyard is also
skirted with pine-apples, in different stages of maturity,
from the first swollen pulp to the ripe fruit. Shortly afterwards we crossed what is called the river: the congregated body of fresh water, which makes its way, after passing
through the various plantations of the valley, to the sea.




218


VISIT TO THE SALT LAKE.


A short distance before it enters the harbor, it is several
rods wide, and a number of feet deep; but where we
passed it was divided into two streams, and, as we stept
from stone to stone entirely over it, deserves there, at
most, only the name of brook.  Such are most of the
rivers on the Sandwich islands.  On leaving this stream,
our path led to the west; and for the first mile lay through
an uninterrupted succession of kalo plantations.
After passing the kalo ground, we entered on a barren
and dreary plain, with scarce a sign of vegetation. This,
at the end of two miles, terminated abruptly by an almost
perpendicular descent of near a hundred feet into a small
but beautifully verdant valley, filled with several large
groves of cocoanut trees, and refreshed by two or three
cool and babbling streams. On the smooth sward, finely
carpeting the grove through which our path led, we partook of some refreshment, and rested during the heat of
mid-day. The scenery from this place to the lake, was
altogether more interesting than any we had before met.
The deep and winding dell through which we pursued our
course, was cool and pleasant from the noisy brook that
swept under its precipitous banks, and imparted luxuriance
to the vegetation with which it was covered. Enormous
and misshapen cli.s of dark rook appeared everywhere
around us; and on our left for the greater part of the distance, an unbroken ledge, more than a hundred feet high,
overhung our heads. The ascent from this ravine was
very steep, and on reaching the top we found ourselves at
a sufficient elevation to command a view of the greater
part of the leeward side of the island, including the port
and town of Honolulu; and, immediately before us, the
o object of our search- the Salt Lake.
This is between two and three miles in circumference,
having a few feet of water only in its greatest depth; and
from the entire incrustation of its bottom and shores with
salt, at the distance at which we first saw it, appeared precisely like a frozen pond in the spring, with the water
standing on the snow and ice, before it has become completely broken up. After descending from the hill, we followed the southern shore of the lake for some distance,
and collected many beautiful specimens of the salt, as it




RETURN FROMV THE SALT LAKE.


219


had formed on twigs, grass, and pebbles, over which the
water had flowed. The impregnation of the water, is
exceedingly strong, and the crystallization so rapid, that
from this natural work alone, immense quantities of salt
might be exported. It has no outlet, and is supplied with
water by a very small stream from the rocks on the western side.
Besides the supply of salt from this pond, and others
of a similar kind, the natives manufacture large quantities
from sea water by evaporation. There are in many places
along the shore, a succession of artificial vats of clay for
this purpose, into which the salt water is let at high tide,
and converted into salt by the power of the sun.
On our return we met Kalaimoku and his retinue in the
valley of cocoanuts. He had just landed from his barge,
having come by water, and expects to remain some days
in the vicinity of the lake, to superintend the preparation
of four hundred barrels of salt, for a Russian brig now in
port. Three dollars are to be given for each barrel. He
seemed much pleased, though surprised to meet us, especially H -, on so long a walk; and very politely offered
us refreshments of wine, &c. We accepted a melon and
a few cocoanuts, the water of which is a favorite beverage,
when warm and fatigued.
Before we reached the kalo ground in the valley of
Honolulu, the wind had risen, and showers of rain occasionally reached us from the mountains, which were
buried in clouds, and we were glad to take the shortest
path to the village. In doing this, however, we came near
to increasing our fatigue and exposure, for the path led to
the deepest and widest part of the river; on reaching
which, no one could be prevailed on, though the opposite
bank was covered with natives, and their canoes were
stowed all along the shore, to ferry us over without a payment in dollars. It was in vain we told them, " of silver
and gold have we none; " and after waiting some minutes
to see if our evident fatigue and anxiety to cross would
not touch the sympathy of some one, we were about taking
the only alternative of walking a mile round, when the
wife of a young chief, who was one of H  -'s pupils in




220


DEATH OF KAUMUALIL


English at Lahaina, happened to come to the bank, and
immediately ordered a canoe to bring us over.
Wednesday, May 26. Have just returned from witnessing an affecting scene in the dying moments of the
kind and amiable chief, the warm friend and patron of our
mission, king Kaumualii!  He expired this morning at
nine o'clock, after an illness of a fortnight. He was not
thought in a dangerous state till within the last day or two.
On monday morning he made his will, and yesterday at
twelve o'clock became insensible. I visited him almost
daily during his sickness, and only on Saturday evening
made one of a sad group of friends who followed him, as
he was borne on a sofa through a loudly wailing multitude,
from a small frame house, in which he was taken ill, to a
larger and new one, which had just been completed for
Kaahumanu: but even then, I had little thought that he
would so soon be in the world of spirits.
Mr. Ellis and myself were sent for, early this morning,
to attend him in his dying moments. Mr. Ellis remained
about an hour; and as Kaumualii seemed to have revived
a little after offering prayer, he returned to the mission
house. A few moments only, after he left the room, the
king without a struggle breathed his last: and I had the
melancholy satisfaction of smoothing his features after the
hand of death had passed across them.
The moment it was evident that he was in the very last
agony, Kaahumanu ordered the door fastened and the
window curtains dropt, and began preparing the corpse for
exhibition to the people, who had assembled in multitudes
about the house. A Chinese lounge, or settee, was spread
with a rich mantle of green silk velvet, lined with pink
satin; on this the corpse was laid, the lower extremities
being wrapped in loose and heavy folds of yellow satin;
while the chest and head were without covering, except a
wreath of feathers placed round the head, so as to pass
over and conceal the eyes. The splendid war-cloak of the
king composed of red, yellow, and black feathers, was
spread over the arm of the settee at his head, and a large
cape of the same material and colors occupied a corresponding place at his feet. The crowd without had in the
meantime received some intimation of the event; and re



CHARACTER OF KAUMIUALII.


221


doubling their lamentations, were rushing from all directions towards the windows and the doors, so that it was
difficult to keep them closed; as soon therefore as the
body was thus laid out, the curtains of the windows in the
room were again drawn up, and an indescribable scene of
wailing ensued.
The death of scarce any other chief could affect us so
deeply and sincerely. My first interview with Kaumualii,
the day we arrived at Oahu, inspired me with a feeling of
respect that I have scarcely known for another native, except our patroness at Lahaina. He always appeared more
civilized, more dignified, more like a Christian, than any of
his fellows; and I can, with the strictest veracity, say of
him that which I can hardly do of any other in the nation,
that I have never heard from him a word, nor witnessed in
him a look or action, unbecoming a prince, or, what is far
more to his praise, inconsistent with the character of a professedly pious man. His high features and slightly stooping shoulders, gave him a patrician and venerable look.
His manners were easy and gentlemanlike, and as a
" royal captive," to those acquainted with his public and
private history, he was truly an interesting object. A
shade of melancholy was always traceable in his countenance; and when visiting him, I have often beenjremind.
ed, by his case, of the early history of the amiable king
James the first, of Scotland.
The introduction of the religion of salvation in this
perishing land, has not been, as we trust, without everlasting benefit to him. He professed to have the hope of eternal life through the redemption of Christ, and his last days
were marked with a peace which we believe to have been
that of the righteous man. Mr. Ellis was greatly gratified
with his conversations during his illness, until he became
insensible. His body is to be carried to Lahaina, to be
deposited, at his special request, in the same sepulchre with
Keopuolani.
Thursday, 27. Spent this morning with Kaahumanu
and the nearest relatives of the deceased, and at their request took a sketch of the corpse as it lay in the full dress
of a British hussar. Mr. Ellis succeeded at the same time
in getting an excellent profile likeness of the face.
20




222


FUNERAL OF KAUBIUALII.


Friday, 28. At nine o'clock this morning all the members of the mission family now at Honolulu, went to the
royal residence, to attend religious services before the embarkation of the funeral party. There was a very large
assembly of chiefs, foreigners, and common people. At
ten o'clock, the coffin, covered with black silk velvet and
enveloped in a rich pall of the same material, was carried
into the open air in front of the house, in the midst of the
encircling crowd. The chiefs, dressed in full mourning,
surrounded the coffin: Kaahumanu and Kealiiahonui taking their seats near the head. The mission family and
the foreign residents occupied the verandah, into which
the doors and windows of the second story open; while
Mr. Ellis and myself stood in the front door below. After
a hymn and prayer, Mr. Ellis preached from the words,
' "Be ye also ready."  The services were closed by singing
a native version of Pope's "Dying Christian." The corpse
was immediately carried on board a pilot-boat, followed by
the nearest friends and Mr. Ellis, who accompanies them
to Maui.   They chose the pilot-boat as the best sailer.
Several schooners and brigs, filled with people, followed
during the morning. Everything was conducted with the
propriety and order of a Christian burial, and testified to
the benefits derived from moral and religious instruction.*
* NOTE, (from the first London edition.)  The illness of Kaumualii was but short. During its continuance I visited him daily,
and: engaged some hours of most delightful conversation with him.
He was not, even when in perfect health, so loquacious as the generality of the Hawaiians are; and although he was abundantly
supplied with every article that could conduce to his comfort, there
was not only an habitual dejection on his countenance, but, unless
on topics unusually interesting, an apparent aversion to conversation. When. he spoke, his words were few, but weighty and judicious. I have every reason to believe he was, in the strictest acceptation of the term, a true Christian; every evidence afforded
distinct apprehensions of divine truth, with lively and permanent
susceptibility of its influence, and a uniform, upright, honorable,
and irreproachable life was furnished by him after he became acquainted with the gospel. The last evening of his life, he observed, with visible satisfaction of mind, that he was resting on
Christ, that he thought only and constantly of him, and that he believed he was not by him forgotten. His last hours were remarkably tranquil. I accompanied the chiefs with the corpse to Maui on




ACCUSATION OF SORCERY.


223


Since I have been at this place, I have often made a retired walk on the side of Punch Bowl, or Fort Hill, a place
of study in the cool of the morning and evening. As I
was walking backward and forward there this afternoon,
with a paper in my hand, a small party of natives approached, and charged me with being a wicked man for
praying their chiefs to death; that Kaumualii was dead
by my prayers; that I was killing Kalaimoku; and soon
there would not be a chief left on Oahu. I explained to
them their mistake, as to the object of my frequenting that
spot, and the inability of any one, by prayer or incantation,
to take away the life of another. But they said my words
were "falsehood only; " and an old woman hurried off to
a quarry, where a number of men were digging stone for
a large house Kalaimoku is building, and bade them go
and kill me at once, or Kalaimoku would be a dead man.
They only laughed at her, however, and Kalaimoku himself, who was near, on his way to see me, joined heartily
with them. It seems the place I had thus occupied, was
the site of an old idolatrous temple, and of course intimately associated, in the minds of the less enlightened of
the people, with the superstitions of the kabu system.
Sabbath evening, 30, nine o'clock. About an hour since,
we were alarmed by the ringing of the chapel bell, and on
reaching the door, discovered the south end of the building
in one entire blaze. Being entirely of grass, in five minutes the whole was on fire, but not until, by the prompt exertions of a few foreigners and natives, every article of any
value, such as the bible, lamps, pulpit - which was moveable- window and door frames, and seats, were removed.
The loss was trifling, as to real value; the house was very
old and shabby, and, to be used at all much longer, would
the 28th; and on the 30th, which was the Sabbath, his interment
took place at Lahaina, in a style somewhat similar, though less
imposing, than that in which Keopuolani's remains had been conveyed to the tomb. Kaumualii and Keopuolani agreed, prior to
her decease, that directions should be given to have their bodies
deposited side by side together in the grave, that they might rise
together in the morning of the resurrection. This was complied
with, and the body of Kaumualii was placed by the side of his late
departed friend. - William Ellis.




224


VISIT TO A SICK SAILOR.


have required rebuilding. The chiefs have determined to
build a stone chapel, as soon as Kalaimoku's house is finished; but to have a house of the kind destroyed by an incendiary, is painful. Suspicion, as to the perpetrator of
the deed, has fallen on a drunken man, who was reproved
for improper behaviour during the service this afternoon,
and who was heard to threaten to burn the " hale pule,"
house of prayer. Others say it has been destroyed by way
of retaliation for the death of Kaumualii, who they think
was the victim of our prayers. Whichever may have been
the cause, it originated only with the father of evil. We
could not see it sink into ruins without an emotion of sadness, especially as it fell by the hands of baseness. Many
of the natives wept aloud, I doubt not with most unfeigned
sorrow, and the air was filled with the exclamations, "Aloha
ino! aloha ka hale pule - ka hale 0 ke Akua! auwe! auwe!" "great is my sorrow, great my love for the house of
prayer, for the house of God! alas! alas! " uttered in most
piteous tones. The class of native teachers who are at
present under my instruction, were most of them quickly on
the ground, and carried all the articles rescued from the
fire, within the walls of the mission yard; they manifested
much indignation at the wickedness of the " kanaka naau
po " - dark-hearted fellow -who had done the deed.
Monday, 31. Namahana, her husband Laanui, and several of the chiefs, were at the mission house before sunrise
this morning, to sympathise with us for the loss of the
chapel. They design punishing the culprit, if he can be
discovered, and have already given orders for the erection
of a new and larger house of worship, without any suggestion of the propriety or necessity of it, from us.
Monday, June 7. After the monthly prayer-meeting
with the natives, H —   called with me this afternoon to
see a young American sailor who is very ill, and who I
have visited regularly for some time past. He is one of
the many infatuated beings who desert their ships to wander among the licentious inhabitants of the islands, without a home, and with scarce a subsistence. He suffers exceedingly, and is entirely destitute of every comfort: his
bed is a dirty mat spread on the ground, vith a piece of native cloth for a covering, and a block of wood for a pillow.




A RIDE TO WAIKIKI.


We do all in our power to prevent his suffering for want
of medicine, food, and necessary attentions; but we have
become so familiar with sights of misery, which we cannot
even attempt to alleviate, that we are often compelled to
turn from them with a sigh, and banish them as quickly as
possible from our recollection. We dwell in a land of disease and death, and, in many respects, of inconceivable
corruption and horror. This lad, like many others who
live at ease in sin while their health and strength are continued, now that he is in a situation of agony and of danger, is overwhelmed with guilt and shame, and with trembling and tears supplicates the counsel and the prayers,
which in other circumstances he would have disregarded,
and perhaps scorned.
Such are to be pitied, to be instructed, and to be tenderly and fervently prayed for; but I doubt whether any
one can discharge the duty without the lively fear that
if they recover, their tears and their penitence will be only
as the morning cloud and early dew.
Tuesday, 8. It is quite sickly among the natives at
present. Two chief women died on Sunday; one here,
and one at Waikiki; and from the daily wailing heard in
various directions, it is probable there are many deaths
among the common people. Before breakfast this morning, Namahana and Laanui, with their retinue, called for
me to accompany them to the funeral of the chief at Waikiki.
After a cup of coffee we set off, and even the object of
our excursion, and the deep mourning dresses of most of
the party, did not suppress a smile, provoked by the appearance we made when brought in the scope of a single
coup d'ceil. The queen, seated on a mat, completely filled
the body of the small wagon in which she rode. She was
drawn by a pony, which, in size and weight, could stand
no comparison with her majesty; while Robert Haia,
perched on the foreboard, immediately over the little horse,
acted as charioteer. Laanui, who is a tall stout young
man, bestrode a nag equally sorry and diminutive in his
appearance as the one in harness, but far more restless and
stubborn in his movements, without saddle or bridle, except one of twisted grass; his feet, while not engaged in
20*




RUINS OF A HEI-AU.


beating the ribs of his beast, dangling just above the surface of the ground. He was richly and fashionably dressed,
but, for the benefit of the air, in the labor of his arms, legs,
and feet, necessary in the management of his horse, or
from a fear of injuring it by a fall, he had committed an
elegant cap of velvet and gold to an attendant and rode
bareheaded. Three or four of the native teachers, in good
American clothes, but most wretchedly mounted, kept him
company; while a large number of servants, covered only
by a few dirty strips of native cloth, scampered along,
some behind and some before, on horses as shabby and uncivilized as their riders.
My charger was the mission horse; a raw-boned, highhipped, long, lean old animal, quite characteristic of the
whole establishment. You can readily imagine that this
escort of horsemen to the royal equipage -some of the
horses kicking and running, while the ragged kapas and
long hair of the riders were streaming in the air, others
balking and backing, and others again standing in stubborn
fixedness in spite of whipping and goading, - made no
common spectacle: especially when viewed in connection
with a large train of attendants, in every color and variety
of drapery, bearing Chinese umbrellas of yellow and crimson damask, different colored kahiles, calabashes of refreshments, tobacco pipes, and spittoons; some running
and hooting after the carriage of their mistress, and others
standing in silent admiration of the skill of the horsemen
and the various tempers of the beasts.
On reaching the settlement, the coffin was still unfinished; and I improved the necessary delay in visiting a
large hei-au, which had often attracted my attention, situated about a mile above the bay and groves of Waikiki, immediately under the promontory of Diamond Hill.    It
seems well placed for the cruel and sanguinary immolations of the heathen, standing far from every habitation,
and being surrounded by a wide extent of dark lava, partially decomposed, and slightly covered with an impoverished and sunburnt vegetation. It is the largest and most
perfect ruin of the idolatry of the islands I have yet seen;
and was the most distinguished temple in Oahu. By a
rough measurement, I made its length forty, and its breadth




BEAUTIFUL PROSPECT.


227


twenty yards. The walls, of dark stone, are perfectly regular and well built, about six feet high, three feet wide at
the foundation, and two feet at the top. It is enclosed only
on three sides, the oblong area formed by the walls being
open on the west; from this side there is a descent by
three regular terraces or very broad steps, the highest having five small kou trees planted upon it at regular distances
from one another.
A native, of whom I had inquired on the beach the direct path to the hei-au, and who had obligingly offered his
services as a guide, gave me an explanation of some of the
rites of the former system, interspersing his statement every few moments with an emphatic ( aole maikai," "naau
po! "   "no good," "dark-hearted! "
Pieces of cocoanut shells and fragments of human
bones, both the remains of offerings to false gods, or rather
to demons, were discoverable in different parts of the area,
and forcibly hurried the mind back to the times of superstitious horror now gone, as we firmly believe, from this
interesting people forever. It was at this place that ten
men were doomed to be sacrificed about twenty years since,
for the recovery of our late patroness Keopuolani, then dangerously ill in the neighboring groves of Waikiki. It was
her happy destiny, before her death, to see a bright and
glorious day dawn on the gloom that overshadowed her
birth and rested on her riper years; and eventually, herself to become the blessed recipient, as we trust, of all the
riches of eternal grace.
As far as my knowledge of the language would permit,
I endeavored to direct the attention of my companion to
the glories of this latter day, to the only acceptable sacrifice, the Lamb made ready from the foundation of the
world, and to convince him of the necessity of a life of
holiness, and of loving and worshipping the only true God.
The terraces of the hei-au command a beautiful prospect of the bay and plantations of Waikiki, of the plain and
village of Honolulu -rendered more picturesque by the
lofty embankments of Fort Hill on one side, and the tall
masts of the shipping on the other-and still farther in the
back ground, of the dark eminences in the vicinity of the
Salt Lake, and the picturesque chain of mountains that




228


VISIT TO THE MOUNTAINS.


form the north-western boundary of the island. The view
to the east is of a perfectly different character, presenting
nothing but the precipitous projections and shelvings of
the indescribably rude. promontory of Diamond Hill. This,
on the side next the hei-au, is entirely inaccessible, and
though it is without a single germ of vegetation in its
whole extent from top to bottom, a space of many hundred
feet, is still one of the most imposing and beautiful features
in the scenery of Oahu.
Shortly after I reached Waikiki again, the funeral service, consisting of a hymn, prayer, and address, was performed in a beautiful grove of cocoanut trees. Many
hundred natives were present, and after giving a respectful attention to the services, followed the corpse to the
grave in a regular procession.
Saturday, 12. Our friends, Mr. Elwell and Mr. Hunnewell having trained their horses to the harness, politely
called for H —   and the children to take an evening airing in one of the coaches recently brought from America.
The plain affords a beautiful drive, but we little thought,
on our first arrival, so soon to see it enlivened and ornamented by so neat and genteel an equipage.
Tuesday, 15. The morning promising a pleasant day,
it was determined at breakfast, that we should visit the
mountains, once more to enjoy the retirement and sweetness of woodland scenery. Our party consisted of H —,
C-     and B —; young Mr. Halsey of New-York;
Robert Haia, and myself, with Henry, a young English
sailor, living in the mission family, and two or three native boys, to carry refreshments.
We left home at half past nine o'clock. For the first
mile, in crossing the plain to the north, and passing under
and around the western side of Fort Hill, we met nothing
but the objects of our daily observation. At about that
distance from the village, we crossed a stone wall, which
secures the plantations of the valley from the depredations
of the herds and flocks feeding on the plain, which is a
common: and, for another mile, made our way through a
succession of kalo plantations, by a path so narrow as to
require a cautious step to avoid falling, either on one side or




SCENERY AT OAHU.


229


the other, into the water and mire in which that vegetable
grows.
The first entire novelties we met, were a couple of tamarind trees, the property of Mr. Marini. The tamarind
is among the most beautiful of the larger productions of
tropical climates. The trees were covered with blossoms
of a light yellow, tinged and sprinkled with red, and with
fruit in every stage of growth, from the bud to that which
was perfectly ripe.
As we proceeded up the valley, the ground became
more uneven and picturesque, and the variety and luxuriance of vegetation rapidly increased. At the distance of two
miles from the village, the hills near us began to be clothed
with shrubbery and trees, and the air became sensibly
more cool and sweet: a note from a bird also occasionally
reached the ear, while the babblings of the water-courses,
leading from one kalo bed to another, and from one side of
the valley to the other, were exchanged for the heavy
rumbling of the mountain torrent. After an hour's walk,
the valley had diminished from a half to a quarter of a
mile in width, and instead of the gentle swellings of the
hills at its entrance, our path was overhung by mountains,
almost perpendicular, and covered with a variety of the
richest and most beautiful foilage, interspersed with bold
ledges or single projections of rock dripping with moisture,
and gracefully mantled by vines and creepers, growing in
all the brightness and luxuriance of perennial verdure.
At half past eleven o'clock, we reached the head of the
glen, a place where it branches into two narrow ravines,
one on each side of a mountain jutting from the east. We
here found a delightful resting spot, in a clump of lime
trees planted by Mr. Marini. They are eight in number,
and stand in a recess of rocks in such a manner, as to
form a large and beautiful arbor, impenetrable to the sun,
and filled with the fragrance of the blossoms and fruit of
the trees.
We remained two hours at this spot, during which I
secured the outlines of two or three of the most striking
scenes around us, a sketch of our bower among the rest.
I will send one of these, to illustrate this part of my
journal.




280


SCENERY AT OAHU.


After a cup of coffee, we prepared to ascend the mountain immediately on the east, by far the most arduous part
of the excursion, our path being an uninterrupted but
winding ascent, of the steepness of an ordinary staircase,
for near two miles, through the thickets and cliffs, which
had been so much the objects of our admiration, from below. About three o'clock we reached the summit, and
found ourselves more than a thousand feet perpendicularly
above the place of our refreshment, and not less than three
thousand above the level of the sea, surrounded by scenery
as enchanting as it was novel and picturesque. Not an
object, simply natural, was wanting for the perfection of
woodland beauty in the spot where we stood; while near,
and apparently on a level with us, almost on every side,
were the narrow ridges and pyramidal peaks, which but
the hour before we had seen intercepting the clouds, that
were hurried along by an impetuous trade wind. The
valley, too, through which we had passed, lay like a map
at our feet, the ocean looked like a blue wall built around
us, to the skies, while the old fortified crater near Honolulu, was scarce distinguishable from the level of the plain;
and Diamond Hill, an object approaching to sublimity in
almost every extensive view we had before enjoyed on this
island, though still conspicuous and beautifully unique,
was so diminished and softened by height and distance,
as to appear only like the dark ruins of some stately castle jutting into the sea.
The whole forcibly reminded me of the descriptive correctness and spirit of an effusion of one of our American
bards. Had the author himself been of our party, I believe
he would have forgotten the ramble and the objects which
first elicited it, and, enraptured by the picture now before
him, in the enthusiasm of a fresh inspiration, would, with
me, have exclaimedOAIIU - In thy mountain scenery yet,
All we admire of nature in her wild
And frolic hour of infancy is met,
And never has a summer morning smil'd
Upon a lovlier scene, than the full eye
Of the enthusiast revels on - where high
Amidst the forest solitudes, he climbs
O'er crags, that proudly tower above the deep,




SCENERY AT OAHU.


And knows that sense of danger which sublimes
The breathless moment - when his daring step
Is on the verge of the cliff, and he can hear
The low dash of the wave with startled ear;
In such an hour he turns- and on his view
Ocean - and earth- and heaven burst before him.
Clouds slumbering at his feet, and the clear blue
Of summer's sky, in beauty bending o'er him.
From this place we turned our steps homeward,. by a
path leading directly along the top of the mountain, as it
stretches towards the sea, and gradually softens down to
the level of the plain at a distance of three or four miles.
In several places, there was barely room for us to pass, one.
by one, on the very ridge of the mountain, while on either
side there was an almost,perpendicular descent of many
hundred feet. We were surrounded by a variety of beautiful shrubs and flowers of most exuberant growth. The
brake was of astonishing size. I never saw any in America more than two or three feet high, but here its long
leaves nodded gracefully over our heads, and in many
places arched and overshadowed our path. It was near
six o'clock when we reached home; but we felt much less
fatigue than we could have expected, and were more delighted by the excursion than we had even hoped to be.
The only trees and plants known to us, which we saw,
and which I have not yet mentioned, were the koa, — an
acacia - a large and beautiful tree of dark hard wood, of
which the canoes of the, natives are formed. The ohia, —
eugenia malaccensis - bearing a beautifully tufted crimson flower, and a fruit called by foreigners, the native apple, from its resemblance to our fruit of that name, juicy
and refreshing, but rather insipid to the taste; and the castor tree, -palma christi. Of fruits, besides the tamarind,
Malacca apple, and prickly pear- cactus ficus indicus —
which grows to a large size here, we met with the banana,
plantain, lime, lemon, pine-apple, and musk and water
melons; and saw of vegetables, potatos, principally the
sweet, though some few common American or Irish, yam,
kalo, pumpkin, cabbage, Indian corn, onion, bean, cucumber. Also pepper, ginger, mustard, and tobacco.
The bread-fruit is one of the finest of our vegetables.
A full-grown tree is about the size of an ordinary hickory




232


FUNERAL OF AN AMERICAN.


in America, or an ash in England. The fruit, when
flourishing, is larger than a pine-apple, and more circular
in its shape; when perfectly ripe, its color becomes yellowish, and its taste sweet, but not pleasant. We eat it
before it is ripe, when it is a light green color. The
outer coat, or peel, is thin but hard, though not shining
like the rind of a melon, and is entirely covered with
slightly marked, and small pentagonal sections.  It is
cooked, by throwing it directly from the tree, upon a bed
of coals, or into the blaze of a fire. The outer coat immediately becomes charred, while the inner parts only
roast like a potato. When cooked through, the rind is
easily removed, leaving a beautiful light-colored, smoking
loaf. Its general consistence is that of a fine Irish potato, but more spongy, and towards the centre, quite porous.
In taste it is very like the hard-boiled yolk of an egg.
Tuesday 22. The ship Sultan, captain Clark, of Boston, last from the North-west coast of America, came to
anchor in the roads this morning. Shortly after, I received a note from the consul, requesting me to attend the
funeral of a passenger, who had died on board the day she
made the islands. His name is Prescott, first officer of
brig Frederick, of Boston, which has been sold on the
Spanish coast, and her captain and crew brought to the
islands by the Sultan. There was a very respectable attendance; the procession moving from the consulate,
where the religious services were performed. It will be a
consolation to the friends of him thus called into the world
of spirits, far from the tender sympathies of home, to
know that he has found a resting place, though in a heathen land, near a Christian chapel, and not in the dreary
caverns of the deep.
June 23. Were you sitting with us this evening, my
dear M —, you would scarce believe yourself in the torrid zone, and that too in midsummer. The wind howls
around us as boisterously, if not as coldly, as it does
through the colonnades of your own mansion, when a
northern storm sweeps down the lake on a winter's night;
and we have been obliged to close all our doors and windows, and resort to woolen garments, to keep us comfortable. The whole day has been blustering, gloomy, and




VISIT TO MR. AND MRS. ELLIS.


233


wet, similar to the weather of March in. America, and
such as in this climate, especially at Lahaina, is seldom
known. There is a heavy swell of the ocean from the
south, and the high surf occasioned by it, though near a
mile distant, has been the object of constant attraction from
its varying beauty and tumult. The interest of the scene
in this direction, is much increased by the appearance of
the Sultan, still outside of the reef. She labors at her
anchor in the violence of the gale, with a stateliness of
motion becoming the proud name she bears.
There has been so much of a tempest at sea, that governor Adams, who sailed for the windward on Saturday,
returned this morning with the loss of a topmast and
yards.
Thursday, 15. Mr. and Mrs. Ellis having become
partially established in a new stone cottage, gave a special
invitation to the mission family to spend the day with
them. We were happy indeed to see our valued friends
so comfortably accommodated - after having been subjected for eighteen months to great inconvenience, from the
want of a suitable residence - rendered doubly desirable
by the extreme ill health of Mrs. Ellis.
Seated at table with none but dear companions and confidential friends near us, we could almost fancy ourselves
again at a family party at home; and in the illusion, for a
moment find a melancholy pleasure. After the cloth was
removed, we passed the afternoon in listening with lively
interest to the journal of the deputation which explored
the island of Hawaii last summer, and which Mr. Ellis is
preparing for the public. We also again examined the
drawings which are to accompany the work, copies of
which I have made to accompany the manuscript for the
American Board. The originals will go to the London
Missionary Society.
After tea we held the customary weekly prayer meeting
of the mission family; when Mr. Ellis gave a warm and
affecting address from the words, " Bless the Lord, 0 my
soul; and all that is within me, bless his holy name!""Bless the Lord, 0 my soul, and forget not all his benefits!" in which he recounted the various dealings of Providence towards himself and family, since his arrival in the
21




234


KALAIUIOKU'S NEW PALACE.


islands, and testified to the unfailing goodness, mercy, and
faithfulness of God. Many circumstances conduced to
make the hcr deeply interesting; we felt the high and
holy ties by which we were united to each other; and
could any one have looked in upon us, while the lively
sympathies of our hearts entered into all the feelings of
our associates, though strangers till we met on pagan
ground, he might with truth have exclaimed, " Behold how
these Christians love one another! "
" Lone exiles, on these northern isles,
Placed far amid the melancholy main,"
it is a happiness inconceivable to any one not of our number, or in a similar situation, to meet here those we can
tenderly love; and to find in them the refinement, the intelligence, and the piety, which in any place give the highest zest to the enjoyments of social life.
CHAPTER         XII.
RESIDENCE AT LAHAINA.
Mission house at Honolulu, Friday, 16. Dined to-day
at the residence of Capt. Ebbetts, of New-York, in cornpany with Mr. Crocker, American consul; Mr. Small, a
Scotch gentleman, recently from South America; Mr.
Bruce and Mr. Halsey, of New-York; Mr. and Mrs. Ellis;
and Mr. and Mrs. Loomis, and H —, of the mission.
Tuesday, 20. This evening, at 8 o'clock, Kalaimoku
sent to request us to attend prayers with himself and household at his new house, in which he sleeps for the first time
to-night. We passed a happy hour with him, and consider
the circumstance a strong evidence of the interest he takes,
and the importance he attaches, to the exercises of family
worship.
This building will bear, at the Sandwich islands at
least, the name of palace. It is of stone, plastered and




IMPROVEMENT IN BUILDING.


235


whitened, two and a half stories high, sixty-four feet in
front, and forty in depth; and externally, except in the
roof, is not unlike Mr. J. Fenimore Cooper's house, at Fenimore, as seen across the water by you, from the Lakelands. The second story, the front doors and windows of
which open on a covered piazza or verandah, is that in
which the regent will live. It consists of one very large
apartment in front, upwards of fifty feet long, and proportionably wide, designed for a saloon, in which to entertain
strangers - commanding, from its elevation, a fine view of
the island and ocean -and a small neat room at one end
for a cabinet, to be furnished with an escritoir, &c. The
rest of the floor is divided into sleeping rooms for himself
and one or two confidential attendants.
The expense of the building, exclusive of the stone, is
estimated at six thousand dollars. It stands in an enclosure of several acres, which is to be planted, and kept in a
state of cultivation. The whole establishment will give
quite a new aspect to Honolulu, from whatever point it is
viewed.
Kaahumanu has also had a new house built during the
year; it is of wood, and was prepared in all its parts for
erection, before it was brought from America. It is well
papered and painted, and, in its dimensions and general
appearance, similar to some of the best wooden houses at
Cooperstown. These two buildings, with the consulate,
which is also a two-story frame house, a smaller one belonging to Kaahumanu, and the two mission houses, give
quite an European aspect to the town; and while they
render it more picturesque, by the contrast with the native
huts, afford evidence of the civilization to which the nation
is approaching.
21. This morning the ship Jupiter, Capt. Leslie, of
New-York, anchored in the roads: and in the evening,
most of our friends in the village, to the number of fifteen,
including Capt. Leslie, took tea with us.
Monday, Aug. 9. Yesterday morning, at day-break,
B —   tapped at our door, to announce the arrival of the
long anxiously expected Tamaahmnaah of New-York.
Capt. Meek politely sent up one letter before breakfast, and




236


REBELLION AT KAUIA.


a packet of twenty-five or thirty, in time to be read in the
evening.
Tuesday night, Aug. 10. We had just completed every
preparation this afternoon, for our return to Maui to-morrow, in the Tamaahmaah, and were making a farewell
visit to our friends Mr. and Mrs. Ellis, when the pilot-boat
New-York, was seen approaching the harbor from Kauia.
She had scarce come to anchor outside the reef, when,
instead of welcoming Kalaimoku and Mr. and Mrs. Bingham, as we had expected, the whole town, as well as our
families, was thrown into agitation, by the cry of "ua
Kaua - ua Kaua! "-" it is war! - it is war! "-the
intelligence of a rebellion and battle at that island, and of
the necessary desertion of the station at Waimea by Mr.
Bingham and Mr. Whitney, for the safety of themselves
and families, having been brought by the schooner.
G. P. Tamoree is at the head of the insurgents; they
attacked the fort at day-break on Sabbath morning, and it
was with difficulty saved; and not till ten of the assailants
and six of the government party were killed. Kalaimoku,
immediately after the repulse of the rebels, a part of whose
plan was to cut him off at the same time they seized the
fort, sent for the missionaries, to return thanks to God with
him, for his deliverance; to inform them that the pilotboat would sail immediately to Oahu for assistance; and
to urge their departure with their families by the opportunity, assuring them that he would protect them with his
life, as long as he lived, but intimating a fear that, from
the weakness of the party with him, they might all perish.
Our friends have suffered much from the horrors of the
scene they witnessed at the storming of the fort, and on
their visit to it after the battle, while it was yet filled with
the bodies of the slain, and echoing with the groans of the
wounded and dying; much from anxiety for the safety of
Kalaimoku; and much from fatigue and privation, having
embarked without taking any refreshment, or preparing
anything for the voyage, which has been forty-eight hours
long. They were all completely drenched with the surf,
in getting off in a canoe to the schooner, and had not the
means of changing the clothes even of the two infants
with them.




FATE OF A REBEL CHIEF.


237


The evening has been one of intense interest, while we
have listened to the narrative of our friends; and rendered
devout thanksgiving, that they have been brought safely
to our arms from amid " the ragings of the people," and
the scenes of death.
One of the rebel chiefs, a fine-looking young man, was
made captive when his party were repulsed. He requested to be shot; but was bound hand and foot, according to
a custom of the country, and carried on board the pilotboat. Mr. Bingham saw him in the evening after they
had put to sea, seated against the timbers of the vessel in
her main hold. In the morning, the prisoner was gone;
and on inquiry, the captain, without speaking, but by very
significant pantomime, made known his fate: he had been
thrown overboard in the dead of the night, with his cords
upon him, when midway between Kauai and Oahu! This
is the manner in which, since the abolition of the kabu,
those guilty of high offences against the government, have
generally been despatched. In the period of idolatry, they
were devoted in sacrifice to the gods.
A thousand men are already ordered to be prepared to
embark, at sunrise to-morrow morning, for the relief of
Kalaimoku; and scarce anything is heard but the rolling
of the drum and the discharging of muskets, by way of
trying their fitness for use. Chiefs and people have entered fully into the spirit of the occasion; no one is to be
seen without some of the insignia belli, -- caps, feathers,
cartridge boxes, swords or muskets, while every step and
every look is en militaire.
Thursday, Aug. 12- on board the brig Tamaahmaah.
Yesterday morning, at sunrise, a messenger from Capt.
Ebbetts and Capt. Meeks informed us that the Tamaahmaah would sail for Maui immediately after breakfast.
At nine o'clock, after having parted with our friends at a
throne of grace, we came on board, accompanied by Mr.
Bingham, Mr. Ellis, and Mr. Chamberlain. At 11, they
left us with the pilot, the brig having gained the open sea;
after which we fired a salute, and filled away with a fresh
breeze. There never was a finer day. Under a cloud of
bellying canvass, our rapid bark leapt from billow to billow,
dashing every opposing wave in banks of foam, back upon
21*




23S


VISIT TO MAUI,


the deep, while the sportings of the porpoises, the hurried
motions of the flying-fish, and the bright beauty of the dolphin below, and the lofty soarings and shrill cry of the
tropic bird above, hurried our recollections through the
voyage of two oceans.
We had the prospect of making a very short passage,
but at eight o'clock, were becalmed off the south-west point
of Lanai, where we still are. The delay is unpleasant,
but with the elegant accommodations of the brig, and the
polite attentions of the gentlemen to whom we are indebted for a passage, we do not feel impatient. All the windward islands are now in sight. Immediately before us, at
a distance of eight or ten miles, are the lofty precipices of
Kohola on Lanai; still further to the north, the more elevated summits of Molokai appear, with Oahu in the distance, almost lost in a bed of light and graceful clouds.
On the east is Maui, more romantic in its outline than any
6f the others - and on the south, Kahulawe, far behind
which, rise the sublime mountains of Hawaii.
Ten o'clock at night. We are still on board the Tamaahmaah, the calm having continued till within the last
three hours. The disappointment of not spending the
night at our home, has been more than made up by the uncommon loveliness of the evening, while a fresh and balmy
breeze hurries us forward with animating rapidity. A full
moon riding through a sky more serene and lucid than is
often seen in ruder latitudes, throws shades of softness and
beauty over the wild features of the islands, and crowns
every heaving billow with a silver crest. The ship's company presents one of the happier sketches of sea-life. The
courses are hauled up, that the helmsman may steer by a
landmark on the top of the mountains overhanging Lahaina, which leaves the view of the whole deck unobstructed.
The captain and officers are silently walking their respective stations, while an occasional loud laugh and exclamation from the forecastle, signify the manner in which the
watch below are enjoying their partial release from duty.
The rest of the crew are variously grouped - some leaning over the bows, watching the dashing of the waves, as
they are furrowed by our bark, or the transient illumination
of the water by a sudden movement of one of the larger




SCENES AT SEA.


239


inhabitants of the deep -others are lounging on the gunwales or against the long-boat, while a still greater number are mounted on their favorite station, the windlass.
One of these last is playing with skill and taste on a clarinet, in which he is accompanied by three or four good
voices, singing many of the more modern and fashionable
songs, occasionally relieved, perhaps by way of kindly remembrance of former scenes and distant friends, by one or
two verses of " Auld lang syne."
This may be called a domestic scene at sea, and answers
to the happy fireside at home, when the business, the duties, and the cares of the day, give place to the indulgences
of a leisure hour and the joys of social life. I could not
contemplate it, without admiring the wisdom and the goodness of God to all his creatures, in denying to none the
common sources of contentment and happiness, and in so
constituting man, that all the ordinary situations of life
have pleasures and joys for those to whose lot they fall.
But, though interesting and pleasant, it has not been like
some of the happy evenings at sea we once knew, whilst
floating on the bosom of the Pacific. No, I have no reason
to believe that the Spirit of God is specially here - but
the decks of the Thames did, at least at times, give evidence of his presence.
Saturday, Aug. 14. After breakfast yesterday morning, we once more entered our humble habitation, and met
the warm embraces of our beloved associates Mr. and Mrs.
Richards. Lahaina never before appeared so beautiful:
nothing but necessity could induce me to exchange the
fresh sea breeze and foaming surf that rolls almost into our
door, for a residence near the dusty plain and stagnant
marshes and fish ponds about the mission house at Honolulu. Notwithstanding this, Oahu is unquestionably the
most fertile and most beautiful of the islands, and from the
constant prevalence of the trade winds, is among the most
healthy.
The state of the people here, in reference to spiritual
things, was never more interesting than at present. The
chiefs are making rapid advances in religious knowledge,
and the subject of salvation is evidently taking the highest
place in the hearts and thoughts of many of the most pow



240


FESTIVAL.


erful persons in the nation. For many of these we feel a
strong personal attachment: and you yourself, my dear
M -, would with us love them, could you but see them
as they are. Their looks of affection and gratitude to us
- the starting tear, at the open and almost daily declaration, " We do love the work of God, we do love Jehovah and
Jesus Christ, we do rejoice in this day of light, this time of
good tidings and of salvation," &c. &c. would melt a less
tender heart, would touch a less susceptible bosom than
belongs to my sister. If we do not find in the scenery of
the islands all the variety and beauty of an American
landscape; if we most sensibly feel the loss of our friends,
and with them the elegance, the refinement, and intelligence, of civilized society; if we are daily conscious of a
tenderness and intensity of affection for you and for many
we most love, which we cannot describe-still we are
happy in our work, and would not leave it without a call
in providence, the most clear and indubitable.
Sept. 6. From a mistake in the calculation of time, or
from some other cause, this day instead of the 17th inst.
has been considered by the prince and princess, as the
anniversary of the death of their mother Keopuolani. And
has been distinguished, according to the former customs
of the people, by a festival, to which we were invited. We
witnessed the commencement of it, partly from curiosity
and partly from respect to the prince and princess; but
finding that the whole arrangements were under the direction of persons least calculated to conduct them with
propriety, and perceiving that the more innocent ceremonies were giving place to songs and dances of licentiousness, evidently offensive to the more enlightened of
the chiefs and people themselves, we took our leave with
feelings of grief that the memory of one they so justly
honored, should be perpetuated by scenes of dissipation
and debauchery. Many thousand persons were assembled
to witness the celebration and to join in the most heathenish part of it. The place selected for the occasion was
the very spot where she died, the grove in which she had
so often worshipped God, and from which, after the exercises of a Christian burial, she was conveyed to the mansions of the dead.




FESTIVAL.


241


The spectators, forming an immense mob, were kept
several rods from the low fence inclosing the grove, by
sentinels and a file of armed men, leaving an open passage
to the gate of a fort recently erected a few rods distant.
When we reached the grove at 11 o'clock, the processions
were nearly ready to move, the principal chiefs, Kaahumanu, Hoapili-Wahine, &c. were there, but without any
preparation of dress, for which they gave the reason that
it was only " the play of children," referring to Nahienaena
and the prince.
A long mahogany table, with circular ends, was spread,
and well set with china and glass, for thirty persons, having sofas covered with purple at the head and foot for the
princess and her brother. The rest of the seats were large
crimson chairs from Canton. Behind the sofa of the little
girl, fine mats, covered with beautiful native cloth, of a
variety of colors, were spread, on which Nahienaena and
the queens were to be set down from the processions.
Eight fine looking men, in the best style of the native
costume, stood around, each bearing a kahile, about thirty
feet high, and two feet in diameter at the feathered end,
of crimson, green, black, and white feathers.  On the
north side of the table was a platform, two feet high and
thirty feet long, covered with a vast quantity of native
cloth; on which also a kind of throne was formed in the
middle, as. another seat of honor for the princess. At a
short distance from the table, on the south side, the stewards and servants, amounting to fifty or sixty persons, were
regularly arranged, with immense quantities of provision,
in calabashes handsomely ornamented with green vines
and leaves, nets and tassals, of white, crimson, green and
yellow cord.
Groups of dancing and singing females, including many
hundreds, surrounded the grove, to whom the servants and
others within the enclosure sung in response. Kinau, a
daughter of Kamehameha, and one of the queens of Liholiho, was the first important personage, having a part in
the sports, who made her appearance. She was wrapped
in such quantities of native cloth, as not to be able to move
a step without assistance: having a supporter on each side
and a number of attendants preceding and following her,




242


DRUNKENNESS


bearinj the ends of her drapery. As soon as she was
seated, Kekauonohi, another of the queens of Liholiho,
came very much in the same manner; after which the
gates of the fort were thrown open, when the prince, preceded by a guard and drum, appeared in a handsome suit
of purple cloth, trimmed with gold, and wearing a dirk,
Next to him came a young female chief, singing and dancing, dressed with much taste in the native style; and immediately after, the princess, also, in a native dress, seated
on native cloth, of more than a hundred thicknesses, and
borne on the shoulders of a dozen of her chief men. She
was shielded from the sun by lofty Chinese umbrellas of
rich damask, and surrounded and followed by several of
the larger kahiles, as the insignia of her dignity. She
was thus carried from the fort to the grove several different times, after slight alterations in her dress and attendants, while the air rung with the shouts of the multitude
and with songs in her praise. Many became much intoxicated before they left the table, which was not until five
o'clock. All the chiefs, of whose religious character we
entertain a favorable opinion, fully condemned the proceedings of this day. Many of them were evidently dispirited
by them, but said, " The prince and princess had no superiors, and could not be controlled in their amusements."
Saturday. 11. On the 7th inst. all the chief women,
except the governess Wahine Pio, the queen Kekauonohi,
and the princess, left Lahaina for Kailua, on a visit to governor Adams. The news of the war at Kauai, and the absence of the most powerful rulers, have excited in the
farmers and common people throughout the district a more
general spirit of drunkenness than at any time since our
arrival among them. For the last few days, by far the
greater portion of the whole population have been in a
state of intoxication; and given up night and day to garnbling, riot, and fighting, and every species of revelry. Almost the whole of bur scholars have been sent to Kauai, as
soldiers, or taken off to Hawaii; so that, just at present,
we are in rather discouraging circumstances.
Drunkenness is one of the most common vices of the
people. Intoxicating liquors are imported in large quantities; but the principal means of indulgence among the in



MOK-IMOKIU, OR BOXING.


243


habitants in general, is a species of rum, the production of
rude distilleries of their own, and a fermented liquor of inebriating quality, which they manufacture from the sugarcane, the sweet potato, and the baked root of the draccena,
an article exceedingly saccharine, and capable of being
formed into a very strong beer. For the art of distillation,
and for that of brewing also, the islanders were early indebted, I believe, to the skill and vicious thirst of two or
three citizens of Port Jackson, who found it convenient to
exchange the place of their exile; and secured a passage
from Botany Bay to Hawaii.
It is scarce possible for the inhabitants of a civilized
country to imagine the scenes presented at one of these
periods of general inebriation, when men, women, and
children are everywhere met, under all the wild excitement of liquor; especially when to this state is added the
singing, dancing, shouting, and fighting of heathenism.
At the present time, a favorite sport, moku-moku, or boxing, has been revived. It is a national game, regulated by
established principles; to secure an adherence to which,
managers and umpires are appointed, who preside over it
and determine points of dispute. The champions usually
belong to different chiefs, and enter the ring inspirited by a
pride of clanship as well as by the ambition of personal
distinction. When one has been prostrated so as to yield
the contest, the victor paces the circle with an air of defiance, challenging any other to a trial of strength and skill;
and thus, in the course of,half an hour, a dozen may successively lose an ultimate triumph, by being themselves
knocked down by some combatant of greater tact or muscular power, who at last clears the arena.
A well directed blood starting or levelirg blow is followed by unbounded applause from the surrounding multitude, testified in the most appropriate manner, by yells and
shouts of barbarity, that make the whole welkin ring;
while the tossing of thousands of arms into the air, jumping, dancing, and clapping of hands, prolong the expression of delight.
These boxing matches often lead to wagers among the
spectators, and not unfrequently end in violence and death.
At almost every shout from the ring, the natives of our




244


NATIVE GAMES.


household exclaim, "Kaha! kaka! mamuli make!" "Ah!
ah! by and by murder! "- and inform us that many are
killed in the moku-moku; and that only a few years
ago, forty men were murdered at one time, on the very
spot now occupied by the exhibition.
The games which are the principal means of gambling,
and at which the natives spend much of their time, are
chiefly, the ulu maika, the pahe, the konane, and the puhenehene. The two first are similar to each other in their
principles. The ulu maika consists of the bowling, by
two individuals or parties, of a circular, flat, and highly
polished stone, two or three inches in diameter and an inch
thick, swelling with a slight convexity from the edges to
the centre. The art consists in sending the stone, so as to
pass between two short sticks driven in the ground near to
each other, at the greatest distance, or in the driving of one
party by the other, by bowling the stone farthest. In the
pake, short blunted darts, of very hard and highly polished
wood, from two to four feet long, are used in a similar
manner, instead of the stone. The konane is a kind of
drafts, played with small black and white stones, on a board
marked with a great number of squares. It appears to be
an intricate and tedious game. The puhenehene is on the
principle of the childish amusement of hiding the slipper;
and the art, on the one side, consists in hiding a stone so
adroitly, in the full gaze of all present, under one of five
loose bundles of native cloth, placed on the ground between
the parties for this purpose, as to lead to a mistake in the
guess of the seeker for it; and on the other side, of so
close a watch of all the muscular motions of the arm, chest,
and shoulder, in the individual secreting the stone, as to
lead to a discovery of the withdrawing of the hand from
it, and thus to a knowledge of the kapa under which it
lies. The two last games are played principally by the
chiefs, and in them, the single wagers of Liholiho have
sometin-s risen to forty, eighty, and even four hundred
dollars. The common people not unfrequently become so
much excited at games of the ulu maika and pahe, that
the greater number of thousands collected around, will be
themselves betting on the different parties; though in doing it, hundreds stake the very last article they possess in




PENALTY ON DRINKING.


245


the world, even to the malo or pau they are wearing at the
time.
Wednesday, 16. The state of things referred to in the
preceding paragraphs, continued to become more and more
dreadful, until the governess herself, who has never been
very friendly to our object, felt it necessary to interpose
with the arm of her power. On Saturday afternoon, when
the boxing matches threatened every moment to lead to
scenes of unrestrained violence and murder, and stones and
clubs began already to thicken in the air, she ordered an
armed band from the fort to disperse the people by musket
and bayonet; and immediately afterwards, heralds were
sent through the district to proclaim a law against all farther drinking of rum or beer, against all boxing and fighting, and against every breach of the Sabbath, on penalty
of the displeasure of the government, and a fine of a hundred dollars for each offence. Since which, the whole settlement has been in perfect order and quietude.
Monday, 20. For some time past the chiefs have expressed their determination to have instruction in reading
and writing extended to the whole population; and have
only been waiting for books, and an increase in the number of suitably qualified native teachers, to put the resolution, as far as practicable, into effect. A knowledge of this
having reached some of the maka ainana, or farmers of
Lahaina, who did not enter into the recent dissipation, including the tenants of our own plantation, application was
made by them to us for books and slates, and an instructer;
and the first school, consisting of about thirty individuals,
ever formed among that class of the people, has within a
few days been established in our enclosure, under the superintendence of B -, who is quite familiar with the native tongue.
This event we regard as very important: believing that
the introduction of books and slates among the common
people, will prove, as it did among the chiefs, the most effectual means of withdrawing them from their idle and
vicious habits: and of bringing them more readily under
the influence of our teachings in morality and religion.
Thursday, 23. The leading female chiefs returned on
Saturday from Hawaii, and sailed again this morning for
22




246


INSURRECTION QUELLED.


Kauai, to visit Kalaimoku, who has been successful in putting down the insurrection; and has called a council of
the chiefs to sanction his arrangements for the future government of that island. George Tamoree, who has escaped death, will be brought to Honolulu, and kept as a
prisoner at large. The principles of Christianity have been
most happily exhibited by Kalaimoku and his chiefs in the
prosecution of the war: it has been conducted with as little as possible of the former sanguinary spirit of their conflicts. The rebel party proved small in number and weak
in power, all avowedly pagans, with George, a professed
sceptic, at their head.*
The whole result of this commotion promises to be propitious instead of adverse to the cause of Christianity.
The chiefs have felt their dependence on the mission for
Although George Tamoree, or Humehuma as he was denominated by the people, headed the rebels, the war did not probably
originate with him. A day or two before his death, Kaumualii,
his late father, made his will. I was present on the occasion, and
heard him distinctly and explicitly state, in the presence of the assembled chiefs, his desire that, at his decease, the ships he possessed, the fort, and arms, and ammunition, together with the islands of Kauai and Nihau, should be given to Kalaimoku for the
king Liholiho, then absent in England. When Kalaimoku, with
about forty followers, went down to fix the future government of
the islands, many of the chiefs brought him presents, thereby paying him homage as their chief. Among others, George was proceeding down the river from this district, with a canoe laden with
provision and fruits for Kalaimoku, who by Kaumualii had been
appointed his guardian. Kiaimakaui, who was the most active
promoter of the war, with several other warrior chiefs, met him,
stopped-his canoe, and said, " You shall not pay him homage, neither will we; come with us - you shall be our king; the islands
are yours, as they were your father's; you shall be king, and we
the nae koa warriors. Much will fight for you." George carried
not his present, united with them, formed a party, and took a principal share in the attack and subsequent war. Kiaimauki, after
committing an act of most barbarous and treacherous murder in
the onset, was afterwards slain, and his body treated with great
indignity.
Among th'e friends of Kalaimoku, who were slain the attack on
the fort, there was a fine, tall, intelligent young Englishman, whose
name was Trowbridge. He had left the ship in which he reached
the islands, and commanded one of the vessels belonging to Kalaimoku, by whom he was highly respected. - William Ellis.




PROCLAMATION OF LAWS.


247


right counsel in a time of anxiety and emergency; have
experienced the happy consequences of our instructions in
meliorating the horrors of warfare; and have apparently
fixed their confidence and affection upon us with fresh
warmth and firmness.
Before leaving Lahaina, Kaahumanu gave orders to the
head-men of all the districts of Maui, to have the following laws proclaimed by herald to all the people. First,
"There shall be no murder," referring especially to the
crime of infanticide. Second, " There shall be no drunkenness, no boxing, no fighting."  Third, "There shall be
no theft."  Fourth, "All the people must regard the Sabbath."  Fifth, "When schools are established, all the people
must learn."
Her departure, this morning, was among the most interesting scenes we have yet known with the chiefs. A messenger requesting an interview before her embarcation,
called us early to her dwelling. At the weekly lecture,
yesterday afternoon, she appeared deeply interested, and
wept much, during my sermon from the text, "Thy word
is a lamp unto my feet, and a light to my path." At the
close of the exercises she was asked why she wept; to
which she replied, "Oh! it is so true, that the word of
God is a lamp and a light. In former days we were all in
thick darkness. We wandered here, and we wandered
there, and stumbled on this side and on that side, and were
all hastening to the dreadful precipice down which our
fathers have fallen! But now, the word of God has come
to us, and I now see the darkness and the ligit. I now
see the path that leads to Heaven! And I weep because
God has been so good as to send the light of his word to
us poor people! "  She seemed to be still in the same softened state of feeling: and in her countenance, manners,
dress, and whole deportment, appeared more like a Christian than we had before seen her. Almost immediately
after our first salutation, she requested to have worship by
a hymn and prayer; after which she called forward three
young men belonging to her private school - informed us
she had appointed them teachers for her people on the
windward side of Maui; and desired that they might be
supplied with books sufficient for large schools. She then




248


KAAHUIMANU.


addressed herself to the head-men of that district, who
were present, commanding them to have good schoolhouses erected immediately, and to order all the people in
her name to attend to the palapala and the pule. She also
commended us, with Pupuhi, Taua the Tahitian, to the
protection and care of the governess of Lahaina, who was
of the company, charging her to supply all our wants;
and finally, turning to us, said, " Great is our affection for
you. Whatever we have is yours. Want for nothing that
we have. If you are hungry, ask the governess, and she
will send you food. Want for nothing: for great is our
affection for you."
Her sister Hoapiliwahine then joined with her in calling
for another hymn and prayer, at the conclusion of which,
parting salutations were exchanged, and they hastened to
their boats. We could not avoid remarking the effect of
this interview on Puaiki, our blind friend. He seemed
ready to kiss her feet, for gratitude and joy at the decided
stand this powerful regent was taking in favor of Christianity, and would not let go his grasp of her hand till her
barge had pushed off from the beach; and he was middeep in water. Taua, too, seemed equally elated, and repeatedly exclaimed to us, "Ikaika loa e Kaahumanuikaika loa!- ikaika no! Kaahumanu!" "Very strong
(firm, zealous, decided) is Kaahumanu -very strong! decided indeed is Kaahumanu!"
Jan. 1, 1825. My first note at this date, my dear M —,
must, in part at least, be retrospective. Since October, I
have kept brief notes only of passing occurrences; owing
principally to an unexpected visit at Oahu, to the full occupation of my time with other duties while there, and to
the accumulation of business during my absence, which required immediate attention on my return. We have also
been much engaged, during the last month, in making
preparations to go to that island, by the first favorable opportunity, to spend the winter. The duties of the station
at Honolulu, since the embarkation of Mr. Ellis for England, including at presont the formation of one or two new
books, and the superintendence of the press, are such as to
make it desirable that Mr. Bingham should have an assistant preacher, at least for a few mouths; and several




EXCURSION TO OAHU.


circumstances combine to make it most proper that myself
and family should be the persons to remove there.
My passage to Oahu was in the whale ship Enterprise,
Capt. Weeks, a gentleman among the most esteemed of
the friends we have met in the Pacific; and in whose oflicers and ship we have taken a lively interest. Nothing of
particular importance occurred while I was at Oahu; and
after a visit of three weeks, I returned home in one of the
native pilot-boats.
Thus you have a hasty outline of the last six weeks
with us: and to the present date, when we all enter on
another of the larger divisions of time. Not one word of
all that has befallen you and yours, during the whole year
just past, has reached us; though doubtless much has
taken place within your own walls and the circle of our
immediate family friends, of deeper interest to us than
anything we have transmitted or can transmit from the
lonelin ss and almost unchanging sameness of these dreary
abodes.
I have just had a more serious debate in my own mind,
than at any former time, as to the advantage of continuing
to write to you in the form I have thus far done, or not.
I have thrown little that can interest into my past journals.
All that I have said of the scenery and natural productions
of the islands; of the people; their general appearance,
manners, habits, &c. &c. bas been so very incidental and
commonplace. I have been led to continue them thu's for
a time, only from the hope that they might become more
worthy your attention in these respects; but experience
teaches me to fear, that my duties as a missionary will,
compel me to write to you hereafter, even in a more hasty
manner than I have yet done; and necessarily cause all
that I say to be of the same desultory and imperfect character as the past.
You must remember, that the situation I am in, and the
various and constant calls onr my time and attention, place
me in very different circumstances from the visiter of a
few months, or a year, at the islands, or of the voyager
who comes only to explore them. These have nothing to
confine them day after day, and month after month, to the
narrow limits of a single settlement or village, but are at
22*




,250


CONTEMPLATED EXCURSION,


liberty both in body and mind, to scour the country through
valley and over mountain, till they have filled their notebooks with observations, and their portfolios with drawings: whereas we are so situated in a variety of respects,
as to make an excursion of a day a matter of consultation
and considerable previous arrangement. For instance, we
do not think it proper that Mr. Richards and myself,
should both be absent from the mission houses at the same
time, except for an hour or two: the duties of the mission
almost daily call one of us away more or less; and the
other, of course, feels it necessary to remain near the
premises.
Impediments of this kind are so various and almost
constant, that I have never yet had a convenient opportunity of visiting even the mountains that rise within three
miles of the seaside, and whose winding glens, dark forests, and towering summits, as seen from our enclosure,
promise a rich compensation to the lover of nature, for the
toil that would accompany a visit to them. This would
not have been the case however, were a walk of an hour
or two, or of an afternoon or morning, sufficient for the excursion. A long day, at least, would be necessary to enable one to ascend the nearest, and reach home again before night. In going, there must also be a choice of time,
for it very frequently rains on their tops, at all times of the
year, and nine times out of ten, they are covered with
clouds. A guide would be necessary, and persons to carry
water, &c. &c.; so that you must not condemn me for a
want of curiosity and taste, in having lived for eighteen
months in full sight of some of the most picturesque and
lofty mountains of the Pacific, without visiting them, till
you have taken into consideration the preparations necessary for the undertaking; besides the want of leisure and
the difficulty of leaving home, even for a day in continuance. Every deep valley, and every elevated peak, about
"the sources of the Susquehanna," can testify to my love
of rambling; and were it equally accessible, the finest
scenery of my adopted country should bear witness to my
love of " the sublime and beautiful:" but were I again
with you, I could cross and recross one half the hills that
encircle your lovely lake, in less time and with less fa



EMPLOYMENT OF A LADY.


251


tigue, than I could pass up the nearest ravine, or ascend
the lowest of the mountains in our vicinity.
Should we live, Mr. Richards and myself design in the
course of a few months to make the tour of Maui; in
which case, I may have it in my power to give you a full
description of it, with a variety of other matter. It has
also been proposed that I should make the tour of Oahu,
in company with Mr. Bingham during my anticipated visit
this winter, which will also afford subjects for the pen and
pencil: in both cases we have a double object in view -
observations on the islands, and the preaching of the everlasting gospel to their numerous population.
The blessings of a new year meet us in circumstances
of more than ordinary quiet and regularity, and the order
of our little cabin is more systematic than it has been since
our establishment on the islands.
The sketch of a day at present will give you the regular
engagements of a month; and in its peaceful progress, I
can awure you, we find no inconsiderable degree of contentment and happiness. We generally rise with the sun,
and spend the first hour in religious and devotional reading; breakfast at eight o'clock, a frugal meal, as we are
entirely without butter, sugar, and coffee; and immediately after have family worship. The hours from nine to
twelve, Mr. Richards and myself devote to the study of
the native language, and to the preparation of exercises for
some one of the native religious meetings. At ten o'clock
in the morning, and at five in the afternoon, Kekauonohi,
the youngest queen of Liholiho, and one of her favorite
female friends, an interesting and intelligent girl of fifteen/,
come with their retinue to study, under the direction of
H-; while the young princess and another scholar
visit Mrs. Richards for the like purpose, at the same
hours.
After dinner we devote an hour to miscellaneous reading, of which the periodical publications sent from America, and our united libraries, form a tolerable collection. I
then visit the schools, call on the chiefs, and afterwards
walk to our garden, about half a mile from the beach, on
the plantation given us by Kalaimoku, on our first arrival
at Lahaina.   This I have succeeded in reducing to a




252


DOMESTIC SCENES.


regular form, have enclosed it by rows of bananas, planted
the grape, pine-apple, orange and tamarind, besides a variety of vegetables, and some choice shrubs and flowers;
and in its cultivation and improvement have great amusement, and much promised future delight. In these walks
I am  often accompanied by H       and C, while
B — is engaged in a fine school kept by her every afternoon, in the chapel adjoining our yard.
As to our evenings, though it is now our winter, they
are ushered in with little of that luxury of comfort which
the Christian poet must often have felt before he could so
sweetly have sung,
Now stir the fire and close the shutters fast,
Let fall the curtains, wheel the sofa round,
And, while the bubbling and loud hissing urn
Throws up a steamy column, and the cups
That cheer but not inebriate, wait on each,
So let us welcome peaceful evening in.
Still evening is the pleasantest portion of the day. Our
yard is no longer crowded by noisy natives, whose chiefs
are lounging about our writing-desks and work-tables,
C     forgets his mischief and his play, in the sweetness
of infantile sleep; all out of doors is silent, except the
restless surf; and we are left without interruptien, renewedly to apply ourselves to this unformed language, that
we may be qualified for more extensive usefulness in the
stations we occupy.  At nine o'clock, we turn to the
bible, which we are studying with Scott and Henry's
commentaries, and, after an hour spent in reading, and
in passing an examination on the portion which occupied
our attention on the preceding night, we again have family
worship, and retire to rest usually between ten and eleven
o'clock.
Our regular public duties with the natives are, two sermons on the Sabbath; a weekly lecture every Wednesday; a meeting for conversation and prayer every Friday
afternoon; and the monthly concert on the first Monday
of every month. We have worship in English every
Sabbath, but only read a sermon, unless there are ships
at the anchorage. Such is the employment of our time




SACRAMENTS ADMINISTERED.


253


in this heathen land, and such the routine of duty which
our little cottage in a greater or less degree daily witnesses; and had we, in addition to our present sources of
happiness, only a ready, were it but an occasional, access
to the society of those friends, around whom, far as they
are from  us, our warm affections are daily hovering, I
could most sincerely exclaim,
" 0 blest seclusion from a jarring world,
Which we, thus occupied, enjoy! -
Had we the choice of sublunary good,
What could we wish that we possess not here! "
Sabbath evening, Jan. 2. Though I wrote so fully
yesterday, I will not pass over the present day without
at least one word of notice. Like the first Sabbath of
the last year, this has been distinguished to us, by the
administration of both the sacraments of the Christian
church. The exercises of the morning were divided between'"Jr. Richards and myself, by his preaching the sermon, and my baptizing the infant daughter of Taua, our
Tahitian assistant, and afterwards distributing the elements of the Lord's Supper to the little company of disciples, who, in the seclusion and darkness of this" island,
are from time to time permitted to eat bread and drink
wine, in remembrance of their crucified Redeemer. Hundreds of the natives, chiefs and people, were present, and
formed a most orderly and attentive audience. The exhibition of the broken body and shed blood of Jesus Christ,
was uncommonly solemn and affecting, and drew tear"
not only from those who had a part in it, but from the\
eyes of many who were only spectators of the scene.
Several of the chiefs, Puaiki, the blind man, and a young
English sailor present, wept almost convulsively.
The exercises of spirit manifested at this service, in
our humble chapel -the tenderness, the solemnity, the
peaceful enjoyment, evident in those, who in attempting to
trust themselves beneath " the shadow of the wings of the
Almighty, drank from the rivers of his pleasure, and were
satisfied with the fatness of his house;" the seriousness,
the attention, the tears of some who only witnessed the
affecting ordinance - all combined to make it to our souls




HEAD AND NECK ORNAMENTS.


a happy beginning of the Sabbaths of another year; a
beginning well calculated to strengthen our faith, to excite
our hope, and influence our zeal in the discharge of the
duties which crowd upon us in this region of darkness
and of the shadow of death. I think the present has surpassed every Sabbath we have yet attempted to sanctify
with the heathen. Oh, my dear M —, how much do I
wish, that the friends and supporters of missions to the pagan
world, could be prescent at such scenes as we are permitted here weekly and almost daily to witness. Many, very
many of the hundreds, who crowd to the worship of God
to-day, seem, at least by their actions, to say " How amiable are thy tabernacles, 0 Lord of Hosts! "  And the decency and order of their behavior, the motionless posture,
the fixed eye, and flowing tears, as they hung on the lips
of the speaker, as if to catch the words of eternal life, must
have touched the sensibility of the man, while they would
have melted the heart of the Christian. The love and
gratitude too, that they manifest as they press round us at
the conclusion of the service, the many anxious inquiries
they make, when any one of our number is indisposed,
all prove that " the feet of them that publish good tidings on
these dark mountains, are indeed beautiful in their eyes."
May the Lord bless his truth to their everlasting salvation.
Thursday, 7. The young queen Kakauonohi, has just
sent a little present to H —, which reminds me of saying
something on a subject, which has often attracted my observation - the fondness of the natives for ornaments of
the head and neck; and how much in their view full dress
consists in proper attention to these. The present is a
neatly formed triple wreath of orange colored flowers, the
blossom of the ilina - gardenia - a handsome shrub from
two to four feet high, which, on account of its bright hue
and delicate perfume, is cultivated on almost every plantation, expressly for the purpose of wearing on the head and
neck. Though so simple in its character, it probably cost
the persons who made it, almost, if not quite, as much
time and patience as many a more valuable one has an expert milliner, in more polished nations. It is about two
yards in length, and is formed, not by arranging the flowers together in the state they are in when broken from the




HEAD AND NECK ORNAMENTS.


255


bush, but by carefully separating the calyx and corolla of
every blossom, and stringing the latter through the centre,
so closely together that nothing is seen, when the wreath
is completed, but the edges of the petals, which at a little
distance have the softness and richness of feathers or velvet. I have seen the princess with eight or ten yards thus
formed, on her head and neck at one time; and though
each wreath is half an inch or more in diameter, the effect,
as an ornament, was light and graceful.
These wreaths form the most common ornament of the
head and neck, and every high chief is furnished with
three or four yards of them every morning.
A kind equally common among the chiefs, but more
highly valued on account of their stronger perfume, are
formed from a part of the fruit or berry of the hala — a
species of the palm. These also are of a bright orange
color, but much more heavy, and less becoming than the
former. On public occasions, the chiefs generally wear
feathers only, both for coronets and necklaces. These are
generally yellow, but often formed of successive clusters of
red, yellow, green and black feathers. An ornament for
the neck, formerly much worn by the high chiefs, but now
confined almost entirely to those of inferior standing, is the
palaoa. It consists of a greater or less quantity of finely
braided human hair, fastened together so as barely to encircle the neck, having a hooked or highly polished ornament, made from the tooth of a whale, attached to the middle in front. Some of these contain sixty or eighty yards
only of the braid, while others consists of four hundred or
more; they are all hereditary badges of rank, and are only
worn by those who have some claim to chieftainship. The
use of this last is principally confined to females; but all
others are worn indiscriminately, by both sexes. Another
favorite wreath for the neck, from the king to his pipelighter, is composed of loosely arranged clusters of the
maile, an aromatic vine, found in great abundance in the
mountains, not unlike the myrtle in the shape of its leaf,
&c. but of a more lively color.
The handsomest wreath I have ever seen, not entirely
of feathers, was one worn by Kaahumanu, the morning she
last left Lahaina, in September. It consisted of yellow




256


HEAD AND NECK ORNAMENTS.


feathers, among which the blossoms of the purple globe
amaranthus, was ingeniously and tastefully disposed. I
have seen a few necklaces of shells, both land and sea.
Those made of whale's teeth are very common. The
only kind of bracelet that is worn, consists of two shells of
various degrees of beauty, fastened on the back of the
wrist by a small cord of cotton or silk - formerly of grass
or hemp.
The common people are as fond of ornaments of these
kinds as the chiefs, and you scarce see the poorest of them
of either sex, or of any age, without them. You seldom
meet any one at work on his farm, bringing water from the
interior of the settlement, or wood from the mountains,
without witnessing some exhibition of his ingenuity and
taste, in the arrangement of a wreath for his head. There
is scarce anything in the vegetable kingdom produced on
the islands, that is not made subservient to this purpose,
either in root, branch, flower or fruit; and so great is the
variety in the construction and combination of them, that
on almost any public occasion, with but little aid of the
imagination, one might at a single glance, recognize all
the boasted crowns of republican Rome, from the rude
civica, and humble obsidionalis, to the more dignified and
graceful triumphalis.
Red peppers, tomatos, the blossoms of the sun-flower,
various arrangements of common Indian corn, either
parched or in the state in which it is shelled from the cob,
as well as the rich flowers of the amaranthus, and ohia
leihua - a species of eugenia- form a decoration for the
head. The American manner of dressing the hair is becoming common among the females of the higher ranks;
but among the lower classes, especially among those advanced in years, the more customary mode is to wear the
hair short in front and on the sides of the head, and to turn
up the edges on the forehead and temples, with a wash
made of white clay or lime.
The manner of wearing anything on the head is universally the same, being immediately on the top, from the
upper line of the forehead to the outer edge of the crown,
like the circles of light often seen in engravings of saints.




TEMPERATURE AND CLIMATE.


257


These bandeaus and necklaces, and the bracelets of
shells constitute the entire dress above the waist, in which
the females generally appear, unless there be the addition
in some cases, of a silk or cotton handkerchief, tied round
the neck like a sling, and to which are suspended a small
circular or oblong looking-glass set in wood, and a copper,
brass or silver-mounted tobacco-pipe.
Thus ornamented, with a new pau, of plain crimson or
orange, or of a variety of figures and colors, they walk out
with as much pride of dress, as a modern belle at home in
the full costume of fashion.
Jan. 13. We cannot write even at this season, from
these mild latitudes of "nipping frosts" and "drifting
snow; " still, even here winter comes
" to rule the varied year,
Sullen and sad, with all her rising train
Of vapors, clouds, and storms."
In the summer, scarce a cloud ever floats in the brightness
of our glowing skies; but in the winter, especially thus
far in the present season, we have much dark and lowering weather, *ith occasional heavy rains. For several
days past, all without doors, has been exceedingly gloomy;
and when I first rose this morning, while a green and chilling surf was tumbling and foaming the whole distance between the reef and shore, such impenetrable darkness
overspread the whole sea, that a vessel could not have been
seen a dozen yards beyond the breakers.
The climate of the islads is far more cool than might
be supposed, judging from the latitude in which they are
situated. This is partly owing to the vast unbroken body
of water by which they are surrounded, but principally and
more immediately to the prevalence of the north-east trade
wind, which, during the larger portion of the year, sweeps
over and about them with great velocity, and, from the direction in which it comes, and the surface over which it
passes, possesses no inconsiderable refrigerative power.
In the trade-wind, the mercury in Fahrenheit's thermome.
ter - in the shade - seldom rises higher than 80 and 82
deg., during the summer, and 72 and 74 deg., during the
winter.
23




258


TEMPERATURE AND CLIMATE,


From the very great height of the mountains, however,
there are places and districts on the leeward or western
sides of some of the islands, which are inaccessible to the
regular wind, except when it becomes a gale, breaking
over the lower hills, and rushing in strong eddies round
the points and promontories, which at ordinary times form
a barrier to it. Lahaina is situated on one of these spots,
and probably is the hottest district in the group; the mercury usually rising as high in winter here as it does in
mid-summer where the trades prevail; and in summer
frequently to 88 and 89 deg.
During the summer months, or from March to October,
when the trade-wind is most strong and most regular, Lahaina enjoys a pleasant, and often fresh sea-breeze; but
even then, there is not circulation enough to give it the
ventilation received wherever the former wind reaches.
In winter, when the trades are generally light, and often
interrupted entirely by calms and south-westerly winds,
the sea-breeze also becomes light and variable, and a much
greater stagnation of air takes place, rendered doubly impure by exhalations from the kalo beds and fish-ponds,
which are numerous throughout the settlement. These
circumstances cause the climate of Lahaina to be rather
unfavorable to health.
As to clouds and rain, from March to October the atmosphere throughout all the islands is usually clear and bright,
similar to the finest weather in June in the United States.
On the windward or eastern parts, however, there are almost daily showers, and in the mountains not unfrequently
continued rains, from the lodgment of clouds against their
tops and sides. In most places on the leeward sides there
are also occasional showers; but at Lahaina scarcely a
cloud, except on the mountains, is during the summer to be
seen, and a drop of rain, during those months, seldom falls.
From September to April, the atmosphere is more or less
hazy, obscure and cloudy, with frequent light rains in some
places, and, in others, heavy storms of two or three days'
continuance. We have had three storms only, at Lahaina,
since our residence here, and they have been in December, January, and March.
Monday, Jan. 17. Yesterday morning the native brig




MR. HOFFMAN, MINERALOGIST.


259


Becket, arrived from Honolulu, and at twelve o'clock, our
friends Dr. and Mrs. Blatchely, and Mr. Hoffman, mineralogist on board the Russian discovery ship, Capt. Kotzebue, now at Oahu, landed at the mission house. Mr. Hoffman is an interesting young man, apparently not more than
twenty-two or twenty-four years old, of highly prepossessing appearance and agreeable manners. He makes his
home with us while the brig remains; and we feel ourselves happy in entertaining a guest of so much intelligence and good breeding.
Wednesday, 19. At noon yesterday, we discovered the
pilot-boat Astor, bounding before a fresh breeze, over the
waters of the Molokai channel, and, in the course of an
hour, welcomed Mr. Chamberlain to Lahaina. He is on
his way to Hilo, on the east of Hawaii, with supplies for
Waiakea, and will spend a few days with us while the
vessel is taking in a cargo of salt.
Mr. Chamberlain, in his station of agent of the mission,
with the superintendence of secular concerns, is a most invaluable and indefatigable fellow-laborer with us. In entering the situation 1a now occupies, he relinquished a
partnership in a mercantile establishment of Boston, successfully engaged in business, with the most flattering
prospects of affluence, placed his capital in the stocks, devoting the interest to the missionary cause, and, in contrast
to his former situation, may now almost daily be seen at
Honolulu, with a cheerful face and happy heart, driving a
team of oxen, or drawing a porter's barrow, from the mission house to the village; or in a coarse carman's frock,
toiling among the barrels and boxes of his store-house.
For the last two days, Mr. Hoffman-,attended by Mr.
Richards, has been scouring the country in search of specimens in mineralogy; and this afternoon I accompanied
him in a walk to the foot of one of the mountains immediately to the east of our settlement, for the same object, but
without meeting anything new or particularly interesting.
The mineralogical kingdom here presents little variety in
its exhibitions; everything is almost exclusively volcanic,
and in forms long familiar to the scientific world. The arrangement and combination of these forms, however, are
frequently such as to create admiration and astonishment;




260


AN EXPECTED HEIR.


especially on Hawaii, which in this respect, taken as a
whole, including the sublime and fearful exhibitions of the
great crater of Kilauea, is among the greatest phenomena
of the Pacific.
The Becket sails for Kailua to-morrow, and carries from
us all our visiters, excepting Mr. Chamberlain. While at
my writing-desk this evening, Mr. Hoffman left on a sheet
of paper the name of his ship, and a list of her officers, as
a little memento of his visit.
This gave rise to some remarks on the character of
Capt. Kotzebue; among other things Mr. Hoffman stated,
that he was a great admirer of Washington. During the
morning, in looking over some papers preparatory to my
visit to Honolulu, I had found in the folds of one of my
pocket-books, a sprig of evergreen plucked from a tree on
the humble tomb of our illustrious countryman, when I
visited Mount Vernon, in 1821. I immediately handed it
to Mr. Hoffman, saying, " If Capt. Kotzebue admires
Washington, even this trifle will be thought acceptable by
him; " but the moment he knew its origin, with enthusiastic earnestness, though not without evident embarrassment at the liberty taken of directing it from the person
mentioned, he exclaimed, " Non, non, Monsieur, non Kotzebue, moi-meme, moi-menme;" " No, no, sir, not Kotzebue, not Kotzebue; myself! myself! " -to which I most
readily assented; and added as a testimony of my personal
regard, what I had before designed for that purpose, a neat
pocket edition of the testament in French, the language
in which we had attempted to hold most of our conversations.
Saturday, 29. The Becket came to anchor yesterday
afternoon, from Hawaii, and we are again favored with
the society of the interesting young naturalist from the
Pretpriatie. Tuesday next is the day fixed for sailing
for Oahu.
Monday, 31. For a year past, except in one or two instances, we have scarce heard the sounds of the native
songs and dances. But an expected heir, in a high branch
of the Pitt family, has filled the minds of some of the
chiefs and people, not particularly interested in the palapala and the pule - learning and religion - with a desire




ANECDOTE OF PUAIKL.


261


for the renewal of former expressions of joy on such occasions: among which songs and dances, in honor of the
young chief at his birth, were some of the most favorite.
These persons have for some time had pieces in preparation for the event. The rehearsal of such as, technically
speaking, are thus " getting up," disturb the peacefulness
and quietude of our nights; and the groves around us,
especially since an unclouded moon has been on the increase, are filled till daybreak, with the dull and monotonous drumming of the calabash and musical sticks, accompanied by the more piercing and equally rude and inharmonious intonations of the voice.
Our governess, Wahine Pio, sister of Mr. Pitt - Kalaimoku - is the grandmother of the expected chief. She
has never been distinguished for her attachment to the
new system of things, and is supposed to have ordered the
practicings of the hula. The common people, desirous of
having the dances, have sedulously encouraged a report in
circulation, that Kalaimoku, still at Kauai, has sent orders
to the windward islands, to have all attention to the palapala and pule, except the observance of the Sabbath, suspended for the present, and to have all the people engage
in the dances, as was formerly the case, when thousands
joined at one time in the same performance. These circumstances have given rise to one or two anecdotes, which
have just reached me, shewing the light in which the palapala party view the subject.
Kekauonohi, the youngest queen of Liholiho, a pupil,
of H ----, is the daughter of Wahine Pio. She has been
indisposed for a few days, and her mother has lodged at
her house for a night or two. Before sunrise this morning,
our warm friend Puaiki, who is ever awake to everything
that interests the cause of learning and piety, came to our
houses, and said to Mr. Richards -" I heard a voice in
the night, when all were asleep, in the house of Kekauonohi; it was" (proceeding to repeat a dialogue between
the daughter and mother) " thus" - K. " Ha! - Wahine
Pio -.Wahine Pio!" to which W. P. replied, "what is
it? " K. " I am the daughter, and you are the motherI am a child, and you are an old chief-it is yours to
command - it is mine to obey - it is yours to speak - it
23*




262             LETTER OF KALAIKOA.
is mine to listen: but I am wise and you are dark hearted
- you do not fear God nor regard his word, therefore
hear me - have no hula in Lahaina- the hula is not
good." W. P. "I -have not commanded a hula!" K.
"Then forbid it."  W. P. Kalaimoku may desire it, and
may send orders to have a general hula." K. "Kalaimoku will not desire one: if he does, do you not comply: I
will make your peace with Kalaimoku." W. P. "It shall
be so, I will not have a hula, I will attend to the word of
God."
Kalaikoa, who has prepared a communication for Kalaimoku, to go by the Becket, thus introduces his letter -
" Love to you Kalaimoku. We have heard a report at
Lahaina; we have heard that you have had a dance. I
have a question to ask you - is it true? If it is, I will
say, that I am not glad. Will you send to us to have a
dance? If you do, we will not regard your order; for the
song and the dance are not good - they belong to the
darkness of former days. We sung and danced enough
then, in the ignorance of our hearts; the light has now
come -let us do so no more, but let us attend only to the
good word of God."
We are satisfied that the report in reference to Kalaimoku is false, and that he has not commanded, or even
countenanced, the spirit of dissipation existing in some.
CHAPTER XIII.
VISIT AT HONOLULU.
Mission house, Honolulu, Feb. 4, 1825. We are again,
my dear M ---, visiters at this station. We embarked on
board the Becket, on the evening of the 1st instant, and
arrived here the next morning to a late breakfast. Although the night was very cool for this climate, the thermometer standing at 64 deg. Fahrenheit, we all kept the
deck, in preference to enduring the confined air of the
cabin,




VISIT TO THE PRETPRIATIE.


263


H ---   was extremely ill, as were C —  and B —
Could you have seen them lying on the open deck of a
dirty native brig, and witnessed their extreme illness, with
no attendant but myself during the whole night, you would
have thought with us, that the passages we are obliged to
make in such vessels, are among the greatest trials of our
residence at the islands.
We are delightfully situated  for missionaries I meanwith our invaluable friends Mr. and Mrs. Bingham, in the
stone cottage built by Mr. Ellis. Oahu never before
looked so beautiful; for the first time since we arrived at
the islands, the whole of the extensive plain, on which
Honolulu and the mission houses are, is covered with
verdure, and appears like one continued field of grain, in
the early months of spring; the grass being coarse, and
of a light green color. The greater purity of the air than
that of Lahaina is also very perceptible, and makes us feel
that Oahu, so far as we are capable of judging, is the
lIontpelier of the Sandwich islands: owing to the prevaleilce of the trade-winds, which sweep over the mountains - not here, as on most of the other islands, so high
as to form a barrier against them. Every part of the island is thus constantly ventilated, and preserved from any
degree of the stagnation to which Lahaina is subject.
Our young friend Hoffman, a fellow passenger from
Maui, was met on the wharf with warm embraces by his
friends of the Pretpriatie. The handsome dresses and
gentlemanly appearance of these voyagers of the enterprising Czar, give an additional aspect of civilization to
Honolulu. Mr. Hoffman, with some of his friends, visits
us every day. He takes tea with us this evening; after
which we are to go to an observatory erected for astronomical purposes on shore, with the special design of
viewing the planet Saturn through a fine telescope.
Monday, 7. On Saturday, Mr. Bingham and myself
took tea, and passed the evening on board the Pretpriatie.
She is a well-built, substantial, and fine ship, of twentytwo guns, constructed under the direction of Capt. Cotzehue, expressly for the voyage she is now performing. Her
deck is remarkably handsome, and the accommodations of
the officers and crew very convenient. Captain's cabin is




264


DESCRIPTION OF THE PRETPRIATIE,


large, airy, and well, but not handsomely, furnished - no
carpets nor drapery. The chairs, sofa, tables, and sideboard, of plain mahogany, with one or two large mirrors.
The most ornamental article is a richly painted half-length
portrait of Alexander of Russia; to which may be added
a smaller engraved likeness of the same imperial personage, exquisitely finished, and said to be much more correct than the former. It is the production of a French
artist, executed at the time the emperor was in Paris.
The officers' cabin is separated from the captain's by
the companion-way, and is fitted so as to pafford, besides a
comfortable dining and sitting room, a large state room for
each of the lieutenants, midshipmen, and naturalists. Immediately forward of this, is the forecastle, where the
crew, one hundred in number, are neatly and conveniently
accommodated. One end of this apartment is used as a
chapel, and furnished with an altar, a shrine of the Virgin
Mary, a tolerably executed Madonna, one or two crosses,
and a painting of our Saviour, surrounded by portraits of
the apostles, in twelve compartments of the same frame.
Every Saturday evening there is a public service, and
we were gratified by an opportunity of witnessing the
ceremonies of the Greek church. On this occasion, they
consisted of the services of the rubric in Sclavonic, prayers,
lessons, chants, the offering of incense by the priest, who
officiated in an embroidered mantle of green, crimson and
gold; the kissing of the bible and of a cross, at the close
of the service, held by the priest, to each individual, after
the benediction.  There was no exhortation, nor anything in the form of preaching. During the ceremonies,
which occupied more than an hour, the crew stood six
abreast, three on the starboard and three on the larboard
side, in regular lines from the altar to the bows, observed
the greatest order, and seemed to listen with suitable
solemnity to the worship. The officers, among whom we
took our places, formed a group immediately behind the
chaplain, and, by their apparent reverence and devotion,
set a commendable example to the crew. Their full, deeptoned voices, and, in some instances, good taste in'singing,
added much to the effect of the chants and anthems, the




INTERVIEW WITH KAAHUMANU.


265


choruses of which, in two or three instances, were very
fine.
Though, in the whole, there was a striking want of that
simplicity which we believe characterized the primitive
church of Christ, still we could but regard with tender interest and complacency, a scene in which so large, so
youthful, and so noble a company, publicly and solemnly
testified their remembrance and fear of God, rather than
uniting in the shameless exhibitions of wickedness, which
too often, by day and by night, scandalize the Christian
name of ships at anchor at these islands.
Within the last two days, there have been arrivals both
from the leeward and windward stations, and the very animating letters received by them from the missionaries and
chiefs, promise a more interesting state of things in the
mission, than we have yet known.
Wednesday, 9. Yesterday morning, Mr. Hoffman and
myself, after an early cup of coffee, visited the salt lake,
of which I have already given you a description. The
morning was so fine, the air so pure and bracing, that
Without any exertion or fatigue, we returned in time to
dine with the family at one o'clock. Before reaching the
village, we descried a sail, coming from Kauai. It proved
to be the native brig Ainoa, which came to anchor just
after dark. Shortly after, a messenger from the royal
family arrived, requesting a visit from us to Kaahumanu,
who had been absent some months to the leeward, and
had just landed.
Our interview with her and the heads of the nation, was
uncommonly pleasant and interesting. We found them in
one of the upper rooms of her new house, on the point.
The room was well lighted by several handsome glass
lamps, and was furnished with a neat Chinese sofa, under
a large and richly framed looking-glass,, two mahogany
card-tables covered with expensive cloths of orange and
blue, and three large field bedsteads hung with drapery of
beautifilly figured yellow merino cloth. On the floor, in
the middle of the room, which was spread with new mats,
of the finest and handsomest kind, the group was seated;
consisting of Kaahumanu, in the centre, Kalaimoku on
one side, the queens of Liholiho on the other-while




266


PLEASING REFLECTIONS,


the sisters of Kaahumanu, Kealiiahonui, her husband (a
son of Kaurnualii) Laanui, Tahitona, a Tahitian, (private
tutor and chaplain of Kaahumanu and Kealiiahonui) and
two or three confidential attendants, made up the circle.
They were all well dressed, and apparently most happy
in the arrival of the regent and queen.
The first salutation we received from Kaahumanu, was
in these words -" We are saved by Jesus Christ," or "Jesus Christ is our salvation; " and the whole conversation
of the evening was on the subject of religion alone, which
seemed to be the only topic of their thoughts and desires.
When I recollected what they once were, noisy, drunken,
debauched, disgusting idolators, and observed the sobriety
of their appearance, the mildness of their manners, the
piety of their conversation, and the tenderness and affection of their looks and expressions to us, while my heart
deeply felt the power of the contrast, and most sincerely
blessed God for what our eyes saw and our ears heard, I
was most forcibly reminded of a little circumstance which
gave rise to a happy train of thought and feeling during
our first voyage to Lahaina.
Shortly after our arrival at the islands, as you know, we
were almost immediately separated from the rest of the
mission family, and sent alone to Maui. Not yet familiarized to the noise, the rudeness, and the nakedness of
the natives, and in a degree ignorant of the general mildness and harmlessness of their character, for the first few
hours, at least, on finding ourselves surrounded by two
hundred of them, we naturally felt, in some respects, exposed to trials and dangers; we knew that the " tender
mercies" of the heathen are "cruel," and felt ourselves
completely in their power. While indulging in reflections
of this character, I accidentally raised my eyes to the maintop of the barge, and very much to my surprise, in the device on the top cloth, found a subject of meditation, that
totally changed the character of my feelings, and so effectually lulled every apprehension to rest, that I have never
known one of the kind since. It was a sketch from Isa.
xi. 6. "The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the
leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf, and the




DEPARTURE OF THE PRETPRIATIE.


267


young lion, and the fatling together; and a little child
shall lead them."
After a half hour's general conversation, they requested
to have a hymn and prayers; at the close of which we
returned home, greatly pleased with our interview, and
with the happy prospects which the engagedness of the
chiefs presents for the nation at large.
After breakfast this morning, the whole company, including the young prince, who had not come on shore last
night, came to the chapel to return public thanks for their
safe return to Oahu, and happy meeting with their friends.
Saturday, 12. We were last evening called to part
with our Russian friends of the Pretpriatie, which left
the harbor early this morning, and now looks only like a
lofty spire in the midst of the ocean, as she is gently securing an offing from the island before night. We have
formed a pleasant acquaintance with several of her officers,
though only one, besides Capt. Kotzebue, speaks much
English. But none has taken such hold on our hearts as
the interesting and accomplished young Hoffman; he has
been so constantly in our family, has so greatly commended himself to our love by his intelligence and good breeding, by the warmth and polish of his manners, by the
tenderness of his heart, and by a thousand evidences of a
virtuous and amiable spirit, that our parting embraces
were more like those of long beloved and bosom friends,
than of strangers whose acquaintance has been only of a
day. In company with his friend and fellow officer count
Hayden, he took tea at the mission house, and spent his
last hours on shore with us. We feel sad at every remembrance of him, and our prayers hover round the ship
that bears him from us, as we see her fading from our
sight forever.
Feb 24. Kaahumanu does not enjoy very good health,
and by the advice of Dr. Law, her private physician, has
retired three or four miles up one of the valleys, east of
Honolulu, for the benefit of the mountain air. Those
unacquainted with the attention and respect required by
the chiefs from their inferiors of all ranks, would scarce
believe the bustle which this movement of her majesty has
created. The removal of the court of Great Britain from




268


NOVEL MANNER OF RIDING.


St. James's to Windsor Castle or to Brighton, would not
produce half the change in the "West End" at London,
that is perceptible among the fashionables of our metropolis.
The road leading to the retreat of the queen, has been
almost constantly marked by the equipages - two or three
single horse wagons -of the nobility, and by crowds of
more humble gentry on foot, with hundreds of attendants
and servants, bearing furniture and provisions and a variety
of luggage.
Kalaimoku and his family, which since the absence of
Liholiho, has included the young queens Kekauluohi,
Pauahi, Kinau, and - at present - Kekauonohi, are the
only grandees that remain at Honolulu. The etiquette of
the court seems to demand their presence, at least occasionally; and though Kaahumanu only left on the morning of the 22d, they have just returned this evening from
spending the day with her.
We were quite amused with their appearance, as they
approached the mission house. Kalaimoku lead the cavalcade, in a neat yellow wagon, drawn by a fine, and well
harnessed horse. His wife, the queens, and his trusty
and confidential friends, were on horseback; while their
respective retinues, making a large crowd, ran after them
on foot, bearing the badges of their distinction, with spittoons and tobacco-boxes, the inseparable appendages of
their persons.
The queens were objects of special notice as exhibiting
something entirely novel. The horses they rode were gay
and spirited, and being unaccustomed to riding, and accommodated with men's saddles only, they rode astride, a
la Peru, instead of being seated as females usually are in
America and in England. Being very modestly dressed
however, there was nothing particularly objectionable in
their attitude; especially as it seemed requisite to the
safety of their royal persons. They wore handsome slips
of a variety of colors, made close in the neck, and with
deep paus, or native female dresses over them. As usual,
when coming from the country, their heads, necks, and indeed almost the whole of their figures, were covered with
garlands of flowers and wreaths of evergreens - which




DEATH OF THE KING AND QUEEN.


269


had a pretty effect, especially those that were gracefully
entwined in their black hair, hanging, from the exercise
they were taking, in loose and careless locks on their
necks and shoulders. They sat and rode well, and as far
as we could see them, came on a full canter.
March 10. The ships Peru and Almira came into port
this morning. They are directly from America, and have
brought letters and papers from some of our friends, and
considerable supplies for the mission. But every other
feeling is lost in the melancholy intelligence of the death
of our friends Kamehamalu and Liholiho. The truth
is a shock to us; so much so, that we frankly confess, our
tears are mingled with those of the chiefs and people,
who are almost overwhelmed by the bereavement. VWe
feel that we have lost those in whom we had a very deep
interest, if they did not possess our warm and tender love;
and there were circumstances in their embarkation, the
recollection of which will always cause us to sigh, that
they were denied, against their own strong wish and
against the wish of the mission and of the nation, the privilege of having a pious teacher, interpreter, and guardian
with them.
We think it probable our friends in America will feel
some solicitude, lest the death of the king should prove
an occasion of insurrection and bloodshed in the islands;
but of this we have scarce had a thought, much less an
apprehension. So long as the prince Keauikeaouli lives,
the right of succession is indisputable. Liholiho, in his
council with the chiefs, previous to his embarkation, fornially and publicly appointed him successor, in case he
should never return; and from the time of his departure,
the lad has been regarded, and officially addressed by the
chiefs and people, as their king. This has been more especially the case of late; so that the intelligence has produced little or no change in his standing in the government, and none in his title, except the assumption of the
name of Kamehameha III., as the official signature of the
successor of Liholiho.
In every respect, a kind Providence seems to have been
preparing the way most happily for the arrival of the
tidings; and the chiefs in power were never before in a
24




270


GENERAL STATE OF NATION.


state so favorable to political integrity and peace. Auspicious as the whole history of this mission has been ever
since its establishment, still the last three months must be
regarded as the commencement of a new and more happy
era in its progress, than had previously been known.
We have every reason to believe that the principles of
eternal truth, with the sanctions from which they are inseparable, which for near five years have been enforced on
the minds and the hearts of the leaders of this people, are
beginning to have their destined and desired effect on their
characters and lives; and that many of the most powerful
of them, from the fear of God and a sincere love of his
righteousness, are ceasing in heart to do evil, and learning
to do well.
The young king, and every chief of any importance,
have regular family worship with their respective households morning and evening, never take a meal without
thanksgiving, observe the Sabbath with becoming propriety, attend all the religious instructions, and studiously
avoid every kind of amusement and pastime not consistent with strict sobriety and Christian decorum. Their
whole minds and their whole time seem given to improvement; and so far from becoming weary, they appear more
and more desirous of making night and day profitable, by
the acquisition of new light and a new knowledge of the
word of God. Such is the state in which the melancholy
tidings found them, and the effect is apparently such as
might be expected; it was a dreadful blow, but we have
seen and heard none of the extravagant expressions of
heathen grief. For the first day or two, their sorrow was
evidently keen and deep, but it was quiet, humble, and
Christian; their tears fell silently and rapidly, but they
manifested no disposition to indulge in the loud wailing
by which they were once accustomed to vent their feelings.
Sabbath evening, April 3. This afternoon, Mr. Chanberlain and myself, accompanied by Richard Kalaioulaone of the lads educated at Cornwall - walked to a valley
about four miles west of Honolulu, to hold a religious
service with its inhabitants. A messenger from Kalai



LOSS OF THE ROYAL GEORGE.


271


moku had preceded us, giving information of our design,
and in obedience to his order, an audience of seventy or
eighty were assembled at the house of the headman or
overseer of the settlement, to whom I preached from the
words, " Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners."
The attention to the exercises was very orderly and respectful, and we made an appointment to meet them again
on the ensuing Sabbath.
Mr. Looris for some months past has gone on horseback, every Sabbath, to two or three villages, several miles
distant in the opposite direction. Kealuahonui and Kaiu,
the husbands of the queens dowager, Kaahumanu and
Kapuli, attend a meeting at two places, at Waikiki, and
Mr. Bingham preaches twice in the chapel here - so that
beside the English service, which devolves regularly on
me, public worship has been held seven times to-day, in six
different places, along an extent of coast little short of fifteen miles. It is probable that hereafter, this will, in a
greater or less degree, be the systematic distribution of
the labors of this station on the Sabbath. And thus a
good portion of the leeward side of Oahu will be blest
with the proclamations of that word by which alone " the
eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf
shall be unstopped."  By these "Sabbath day's journeys,"
an inroad will be made, as we hope, in the pollutions of
the land, and an " highway " formed, which shall be called
"' the way of holiness," where "the unclean shall not pass
over," but where the redeemed shall walk, and the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with
songs of everlasting joy upon their heads.
Friday, 8. I was roused this morning by the exclamation, "the Royal George is lost! " and on reaching the
window, regretted exceedingly to see the fine English ship
-formerly a sloop of war —of that name, high on the
reef a mile or two west of the mouth of the harbor, a cmnplete wreck, without a mast standing. It appears she was
run ashore through the carelessness of the first officer,
while the captain was on board another vessel. The night
was not very dark, and the wind fresh off the land; so that
the person having charge of the ship, seems to be enexcus



272


NAHIENAENA'S LETTERS,


able. The vessel, with everything she contains, will be
entirely lost. Stripped of her loftiness and her pride, and
high among the breakers, she looks lonely and desolate
indeed. The sight has deeply impressed my mind with
the meaning and the force of the figure of the apostle,
taken from such a scene - the shipwreck of faith. If the
destruction of a noble but perishable piece of human workmanship can thus fill the mind with gloom, ah! what will
be the thoughts of those who at last find themselves making an irrevokable shipwreck of the soul, amid the billows
of eternity!
Wednesday, 13. One of the native schooners arrived
yesterday, bringing letters for the mission and the chiefs,
from Lahaina. Among others, were two from our little
friend, the princess Nahienaena, which I have seen, and
a translation of which I will give you, as a specimen of
her composition. They are entirely her own, were fairly
and handsomely written on gilt-edged letter-paper, correctly folded, and sealed with wax. You will recollect she is
but nine years old.
The first, addressed to Kalaimoku, by his favorite name,
Paalua, is as follows:
" Lahaina, Maui, Aperila 7th, 1825.,
Very great love to you, 0 Paalua, sick at the place
where you dwell. We have heard of the death of your
foster son, our king. We know it from the letter of Boki,
brought by an English ship, now here. Also the death of
your sister, Kamehamalu, our queen. Your sovereigns
are dead - both of them: Liholiho with Kamehamalu.
Great is my sorrow, for great was my love for them!
Great also is my love for you. You are sick; think of
God. From God only is health; from Him also cometh
every blessing, both for the body and for the soul.
Love to you from
NAHIENAENA."
The second letter begins with a salutation to Kaahumanu and Kalaimoku; but after the first paragraph, is addressed exclusively to her brother, now the king.




ILLNESS OF MRS. STEWART.


273


"Lahaina, Maui, Aperila 7th, 1825.
Love to you two, Kaahumanu with Paalua, -Great
sympathy for you, both in your sickness and your grief.
My wish is, that you two should be the parents of us;~
it is not good for us to be without parents.
And where art thou, my brother? The lordt of us will
never return — he is dead! But the word of our true
Lord remains, and let us regard it. Listen thou to the
word of our eternal Lord.
I pray to God: let us both pray, that Jehovah may
cause us to be good through Jesus Christ, the Deliverer
from sin, the eternal Lord. Be not deaf to lme: it would
be an evil thing; but listen to my advice.
Love to you, O Kauikeauli, my brother! Dead is our
king at Lonadona;t dead also is the sister of us, Kamehamalu!                            NAHIENAENA."
They do credit to her mind and heart, and we rejoice to
see them breathe so much the spirit of her lamented mother, Keopuolani; she is a lovely and promising child, and
her brother is scarce less so.
Sabbath evening, April 17. Nearly two years have
elapsed since we landed on these distant shores. In all
my communications since, in recounting the dispensations
of Providence to me and mine, I have been called to mention only "blessings undisguised."  We have endured
many petty privations, felt some anxieties, known some
sorrows and shed some tears; but they were all such as
to be classed among the " lighter affictions "- too trifling
to be mentioned in connection with the general prosperity
and over balancing happiness we have enjoyed. During
the last few days, however, the hitherto unclouded sky has
gathered blackness, until this morning our fears were made
exquisitely awake to apprehensions of an overwhelming
calamity. But the darkness of the day has in much mercy
been scattered, and the rainbow of promise and of peace
is depicted on the blackness of the averted storm. You,
my, dear M —, will not think the figure I have thus inad* Herself and brother.  - Liholiho.: London.
24*




274


ILLNE1SS OF MRS, STEW ARTd


vertently introduced, too strong, when I tell you that
H- - has been restored to her husband and her children,
after having seemingly trod on the borders of the grave,
She has been ill ever since the birth of a daughter on
the 7th of March; and this morning was thought to be
dying. The family were assembled, and prayer made to
God for the light of his countenance, as she should pass
through the dark valley. But, in the course of an hour, a
happy alteration in her state took place: every symptom
became decidedly favorable, and she is now, for the first
time in forty-eight hours, sleeping, with a prospect of refreshment.
Tuesday, 19. Since the Sabbath our alarm for the
safety of our dear H —, has, at two or three times, been
even greater than it then was; but we are again encouraged by hope. It will give you happiness to know that,
when we were most fearful as to the event, we had the
high consolation of seeing imparted to her, by her covenant God, not only a spirit of resignation and peace, but
thoughts of brightness and of joy, from  a good hope
through grace, of entering on " the rest that remaineth to
his people." The atonement and intercession of Jesus
Christ afforded her subjects of comforting and delightful
meditation; and in trusting the safety of her soul on
them, she could say, that she found the Son of Man to be
indeed unto her spirit " as a hiding place from the wind
and a covert from the tempest."
April 30. This month closes upon us, as a family, with
a darker light than any we have yet known on missionary
ground. Serious illness is at any time, and in any circumstances, an affliction; but far from the comforts and
resources of civilization and Christianity, far from the sympathy and services of kindred and friends, far from all
" the sweet charities of life," it is doubly so. I have at
times given you some of the brighter of our domestic
scenes; now, had I a skillful pencil, I could give you one
of darkness- a sketch in which you would see a young
and beloved wife and mother languishing on a bed of unchecked disease; an only son necessarily banished from
his home, and made an incumbrance on the family of
another; an helpless infant daughter, cast for nourishhmnt




ARRIVAL OF A BRITISH CONSUL.


275


and life on the breast of a capricious pagan; and a husband and father, with an humble friend, worn out by the
unceasing attentions of the day, and the unrelieved watchings of the night. Such is, such has been, and such we
have too much reason to fear still will be, the state of our
little household.
But, though the outlines of the picture are dark, in the
kind providence of God, with them may be blended touches of light not found in the cases of many fellow missionaries, in similar circumstances, in various parts of the
world. We are in a comfortable habitation, and in one of
the most salubrious of climates: and though destitute of
many articles which at home would be deemed necessary
to comfort, by a recent supply of medicines have at hand
every desirable prescription, and, through the kindness of
some of our visiters, are furnished with many things which
are luxuries both in sickness and in health; and thus, in
the midst of chastisement, we are enabled to speak of the
unceasing goodness and mercy of the Lord.
CHAPTER XIV.
VISIT TO HAWAII.
May 1. The brig Active, from London, arrived some
days since, bringing Mr. Charlton, lady and sister, as Jfu
ture residents of Oahu; Mr. Charlton having been appointed, by the British government, consul general for the islands in the Pacific. They left the Blonde frigate, Lord
Byron, at Valparaiso. She was to sail in a few days after
the Active, and is hourly expected with the survivors of
the party - again diminished by the death of Naihe Kukui, or Capt. Jack. He died suddenly at Valparaiso, from
an inflammation of the brain.
Monday, 2. The Spirit of the Most High, my dear
M ---, is not only breathing, as we hope, on the spiritual
chaos of this dark and unformed land, but is also, we now
and then have reason to believe, moving on the face of the




276


CHEERING PROSPECTSI


waters, by which we are surrounded, agitating and newt
creating the hearts of some of the many who traverse their
surface, by the irresistible mandate, "Let there be light."
Every season for the return of the whale ships to the islands, brings to our knowledge the cases of some, at least,
who, amidst the general and unexampled dissoluteness of
their companions, are groaning under the galling chains of
sin and guilt, and sighing for the liberty and blessedness
of the gospel, or who are rejoicing in the hope of having
already been brought, through grace, into all the freedom
of the sons of God. Within the last week, besides having
two or three personal interviews, I have received two letters
from an interesting young man, an officer on board a ship
now in the offing, in the former situation. He came to the
islands a month since, a perfectly careless and thoughtless
sinner; but it can now be said of him, "Behold, he prayeth; " and he is about commencing his voyage to the
coast of Japan, with a bosom filled with thoughts and emotions never known before. In one of his letters, he says
he has found it a fearful thing for a guilty, convicted, and
altogether prayerless soul, to venture into the presence of
a just and holy, and justly offended God: a feeling experienced perhaps by all, in greater or less degree, who have
attempted to pray, after being suddenly arrested in their
sins by the convictions of the Holy Spirit. May he so improve, and so appreciate the inestimable privilege, that his
language, with that of the thousands of Israel, shall speedily be -
"Sweet the moments, rich in blessing,
Which before the cross I spend!"
Tuesday, 3. In confirmation of the truth of the statement above, I will mention an incident which has just
taken place. While at dinner, to-day, a common sailor
called, as he said, for "a word of counsel for the good of
his soul."  The ship to which he belonged did not intend
anchoring, but he obtained permission to visit us for a moment, while the captain was transacting a little business on
shore. They had been on their voyage nearly two years,
and it was now fourteen months since, to use his own expression, ( he left off the life of a vagabond, and began to




ARRIVAL OF TIE BLONDE.


277


zvork out his salvation."  He had one friend likeminded
on board, and thanked God that he could find " teachers
of righteousness " in this dark corner of the world.
Friday, 6. Yesterday a pilot-boat came express from
Maui with intelligence that the Blonde frigate had just anchored at Lahaina.*    This morning at sunrise she was
* The following account of the Blonde's arrival at Lahaina,
given by Mr. Richards, was published in the Missionary Herald.
At 5 o'clock, the vessel was becalmed about six miles from
shore. I soon perceived that a boat was lowered, and filled with
men. The people being still quiet, and suspecting nothing, I
walked along the beach to ascertain who was on board the boat
but had not reached the landing, when I heard a cry from a canoe
that approached the shore, " It is Boki, it is Boki." Hoapili beck.
oned me to follow him. As I walked along, the princess caught
my arm, saying, " Stay by me." Hoapili took his seat in a chair
upon the beach. I stood at his left hand, with the princess leaning on my side. Thousands collected around, some of whom began to wail. As the company approached, a passage was opened
for them into the centre of the circle. The wailing increased,
though it was not considerable until the company arrived within
about four yards, when Hoapili rose from his chair, threw back
his head, and with a roar which scarcely resembled the human
voice, he spread out his arms to receive his daughter Kuini,
(Boki's wife.) In an instant, all the chiefs present, except the one
which leaned on my side, and all the thousands around, set up a
screaming, which drowned the roaring of the ocean, and thus summoned to the scene of grief those who till now had not heard the
alarm. The princess, in utter neglect of all their ancient forms,
sprang forward, and, with a delicacy that would not have
disgraced a Charlotte, threw herself into the arms of Kuini; and
the latter dropped into the sand, while the tears of the little girl
were falling on her breast. At this instant, Hoapili fell on the
ground, literally plunged his whole face in the dirt at Boki's feet,
and thus gave the signal to all the old veterans of barbarism, who
instantly followed his example, and for several minutes scoured
their sable faces in the sand. Boki and his company were far
more calm than the rest, and could scarcely be said to wail.
After a few minutes, I said to Nahienaena, it would be well to
thank Jehovah for this meeting. She immediately spoke to Boki
and Kuini. They appeared pleased, and immediately reached me
their hands. Boki said, " Where shall we pray? "  This was the
first word that was spoken by any of the company. Hoping that
it might stop the confusion and noise which now prevailed, I proposed to remove to a neighboring yard. They approved, and as
we began to move, the wailing in a good measure ceased. Several
minutes elapsed before the mats were spread, during which time
messages were despatched to the Blonde, which was now furling




278


RECEPTION OF BOKI.


to be seen off Diamond Hill, and between nine and tern
o'clock rounded to, immediately opposite the mission
house. On dropping her anchor she fired a salute, which
was answered by each of the forts; that on the point within the harbor, and that above us on Punch Bowl Hill.
Shortly after, Mr. Bingham, Mr. Loomis, Mr. Chamberlain, and myself, accompanied the chiefs to the point near
the fort, to receive Boki and party on their landing from
the Blonde.
I scarce ever witnessed a more touching scene. The
chiefs, all well dressed in fall black, arranged themselves
in front of Kaahumanu's frame house, within a few yards
of the water's edge. As the well-manned barges of the
Blonde approached the low quay, Kaahumanu, her two
sisters, and the young queens of Liholiho, slowly advanced
her sails. After prayer, I conversed awhile with Boki and Kuini.
She spoke in the strongest terms of the good things they had seen,
and the kindness with which they had been treated. They express great love to lord Byron, and say he has been exceedingly
kind to them.
We were awakened at an early hour this morning, by the reveille on board the frigate, which was anchored directly in front of
our house, and nearer the shore than I have ever seen any other
vessel. When I reflected on the benevolent errand, on which she
had come, it was a pleasant sight; and I listened with satisfaction
to her band of music, which I could distinctly hear, and which lost
none of its charms by being removed a little distance on the water.
It was a pleasant morning. All was still and quiet on shore, and
the countenances of all beamed with joy.
It would occupy quite too much room to tell all that Boki has
already said of the people, respecting his interesting voyage. At
9 o'clock, I called on him, found im and his wife, Hoapili and
Nahienaena, in a house by themselves, prepared to wait on lord
Byron whenever he should arrive. A messenger soon reported his
boat to be on its way. Boki went out, and conducted him to the
house, in company with several of his officers. The easy and unaffected familiarity of lord Byron, and the interest he manifested
in the welfare of our mission, were gratifying beyond expression.
I accepted his polite invitation to dine on board the Blonde, and
spent several hours in answering his lordship's numerous inquiries respecting our mission, the former state of the islands, and
their recent improvements. I have rarely spent a few hours more
pleasantly in the society of any man. At 5 o'clock, the frigate
weighed her anchor, and, with a pleasant breeze, loftily retired
from our shores, and soon was only a speck in the distant horizon.
WILLIAM ELLIS,




RECEPTION OF BOKXI


279


from the body of the chiefs, towards the place of landing. All was silent, except an occasional burst of grief
from some one of the multitude, who were kept at a distance, and prevented thronging the beach by a file of armed men. But, when governor Boki's barge came near
enough for the parties to recognize each other, the queens
" lifted up their voices " and wept aloud with that melancholy tone of sorrow which we have all heard, at least in
some few instances, from a heart deeply touched with
grief. A small house immediately on the wharf intercepted the view of the barge at the moment of landing,
perhaps to the more powerful effect of the attitude and expression of Boki and his wife, as they burst on the sight
from behind it, wringing their hands in agony, and exhibiting the strongest marks of an overwhelming emotion of
mingled grief and joy. The parties stood thus for some
minutes, without approaching each other, while the whole
air was filled with lamentation, and the ground shaken
with the thunderings of the minute-guns, which reminded
the nation of the fate of their king and queen. They then
rushed into each other's embrace, passing from the arms of
one to another in a continued paroxysm of weeping, for an
hour, while some of the more humble friends of those who
had returned, embraced and kissed their feet, and bathed
them with their tears. Liliha, or, as now called, Mrs.
Boki, at last sunk to the ground from exhaustion, and was
under the necessity of being assisted into the house.
I never before was so deeply affected with a wailing
scene; and few have ever taken place here, I suspect, in
which there was a more general excitement of "the sor-:
rows, joys, and synpathies," which when thus awakened,
testify to the "high capacities " of man. After an hour or
two, the whole company proceeded to the residence of Kalaimoku, who was too unwell to go out; and shortly afterwards to the chapel to attend prayers, and tender thanks
to God for the interesting incident of the day. Before
leaving the chapel, governor Boki delivered a short but excellent address, recommending, as the result of his observation and experience abroad, a renewed and devoted attention to the pala-pala and the pule - letters and religion.
Saturday, 7. Last evening the government gave infor



280


RECEPTION OF LORD BYRON.


mation by letter to lord Byron, that they would receive
himself and officers this morning, at the residence of Kalaimoku. Arrangements for the interview were accordingly made, and the occasion has been one of great interest. The landing of his lordship about 12 o'clock, was
announced by a salute from the fort. The firing was the
signal for attendance at court, and Mr. Bingham and myself proceeded to the place appointed. Mr. Pitt chose to
receive the company in his grass-house, rather than in the
fine stone building lately erected by him. That fixed on,
however, is one of the largest and best built native houses
on the island, and being new, was as pleasant, and perhaps
more appropriate than the other would have been. The
whole apartment was floored with new and handsome
mats, and made a pleasant and spacious room of audience. There are four doors, one on each side, and
one at each end; that at the south was appointed
for the entrance on this occasion. Everything was in
readiness when we arrived. At the upper or north end of
the house, on an elevation or platform of mats, the top one
of which was of very fine texture, and beautifully spotted
and striped with stained grass, stood a Chinese sofa, on
which the young king and the princess his sister, who
came from Lahaina in the Blonde, were seated, both in
plain suits of black. Between them, and partly round the
princess, lay a splendid garment of yellow feathers, edged
with the vandyke pattern, points alternate black and red,
and lined with crimson satin.
This article, nine yards long and one yard wide, was
made at great expense of time and labor during the past
year, and designed to be worn by the princess as a pau, or
native female dress, at the reception of her brother Liholiho, on his expected return. It was the desire of the
chiefs that she should wear it, with the wreaths for the
head and neck, necessary to form the complete ancient
costume of a princess at this interview; but as it was
necessary, in order to this, that she should be naked to the
waist, nothing could induce her to consent. To escape
importunity, she fled to the mission house early in the
morning. She wept so as scarcely to be pacified by us,
and returned to the chiefs only in time to take her seat,




SUPERB NATIVE COSTUME.


281


and have it thrown carelessly about her over her European
dress, with one end cast across the arm of the sofa. To
have seen her in so superb a native costume, would have
no doubt been gratifying to the company; but we could
but commend and admire the feeling which led her to object and to persist in her purpose. Behind the sofa, and
partly inclining over it, were four of the largest kaliles of
state, the national insignia of royalty.
On each side of the sofa the chiefs were arranged according to their rank; forming t,.ro closely filled lines
along each side of the house, entirely to the door of entrance - Kaahumanu and the rest of the queens-dowager
occupying the places next to the princess. Mr. Pitt sat in
a large crimson chair opposite these last, near the king,
but out of, and before, the line of chiefs. On his right
were two chairs of the same kind, for lord Byron and
Mr. Charlt-n, and on his left two others for Mr. Bingham
and myself. On the opposite side chairs were arranged
for the officers of the suite. The prime minister's dress
was of black silk; the upper garment, on account of his
age and indisposition, being a very full and loose gown.
Shortly after we had taken our seats, the procession from
the Blonde made its appearance, headed by lord Byron
in the full uniform of his rank, supported by Mr. Charlton
in his consular costume, and by governor Boki in a rich
military suit. All the company, except the king, princess,
and Mr. Pitt, upwards of a hundred in number, received
him standing, and, being well dressed in full black, made
a very respectable appearance.
His lordship after being presented by the consul, to Mr.
Pitt, immediately presented to him each of the gentlemen
in his suite, about twenty in number, and then in the same
manner to the king, princess, and the queens, and after a
general salutation to the rest of the chiefs, to Mr. Bingham and myself. Among the persons I now recollect,
were lord Frederick Beauclerc, a young son of the duke
of St. Albans; the Hon. Mr. Talbot,* a son of the earl of
Talbot; the Hon. Mr. Keith, a son of lord Keith; Mr.
* The present lord viscount Ingesbue, M. P., for Staffordshire,
1829.
25




282


PRESENTATION OF LORD BYRON.


Gambier, a nephew of admiral Gambier; the Rev. Mr.
Bloxarn, chaplain, and Mr. Andrew Bloxam, the mineralogist, nephews of sir Thomas Lawrence, the celebrated
artist; Mr. Davis, the surgeon; Mr. M'Rea, the botanist;
Mr. Maiden, the surveyor; Mr. Dampier, the artist; and
Mr. Wilson, the purser.
As soon as they were thus introduced, lord Byron,
through Mr. Marini, as interpreter, presented the salutatations of the king of England, and his sympathy at the
fate of the king and queen; and then ordered a boat's
crew in attendance, to bring forward the personal presents
of his majesty to the heads of the nation. They consisted
of a complete suit of the Windsor uniform, for the young
king, with the splendid decorations peculiar to the sovereign's dress. The buttons are of solid gold, having the
impression of G. R. in the old English character on them,
and the lacings, embroidering, and epaulettes, superbchapeau and sword to match. The coat, hat, and sword,
were immediately tried upon his majesty, and being found
to fit most perfectly, lord Byron, partly by way of pleasantry, led him to Kalaimoku and Kaahumanu, and presented
him as their king; and putting his hand on his head, bade
him to be a good boy, attend well to his studies, and mind
all his kind friends the missionaries said to him. For
Kalairnoku there was a first-rate gold hunting watch, having the royal arms of Britain richly engraved on one side
of the case, and the regent's name on the other. And for
Kaahumanu, an elegantly finished silver tea-pot, marked
in the same manner as the watch, with the royal arms and
her name.
As soon as these articles had been delivered and examined, much to our gratification, Mr. Pitt, entirely of his
own will, without the slightest suggestion from us, proposed that we should have prayers of thanksgiving: to
which lord Byron and his company most readily and
cheerfully agreed; and Mr. Bingham made an excellent
prayer, the first part in English, and the latter in the Hawaiian language. At the close, we were happy to receive
the congratulations of the party, not only on the degree of
civilization and refinement manifested on this occasion,
ibut also on the evidence of Christian belief and practice,




LORD BYRON.


283


which the request of Kalaimoku, and the appearance of
the assembly in this act of worship, exhibited. It is an
example which I fear the most Christian courts in Christendom would hesitate to exhibit on a similar occasion.
After this, a side-table was spread with biscuit and fresh
butter, cocoanuts and melons, wine, brandy, and other
liquors; and the company left to choose the time of their
departure. On leaving the house, several of the gentletlemen renewedly expressed their astonishment at the respectability of the levee, and congratulated us afresh, on
the prospect we had, as teachers and preachers to so interesting a people.
The trumpet of fame has made the title, genius, character, and even person of the late lord Byron so familiar
to you, that I am satisfied the little information I may have
it in my power to give, of the successor to the hereditary
honors of the family, will not be uninteresting. At present I can only say, that the impression made by a first
interview, are most favorable to him as a man and a gentleman. In his person he is tall and slender, fine dark
eyes and hair, with strongly marked but open and interesting features, no particular resemblance to his cousin, except in what is usually called a family likeness, unless it
may be in the nose, which is of the same style, but not so
finely formed as that in engravings of the poet. His eye
is inquisitive and penetrating, and shows him to be a man
of a decisive and energetic character. In manners he is
plain, frank, and cordial; and in conversation perfectly affable and familiar- no affectation of dignity, no hauteur,
nothing in looks or expression of countenance, indicative
of a trait of character, which, ever since I saw a likeness
of the poet, I have best understood by the term, " Byronic
curve of the upper lip."
On hearing of the illness of HI-, he kindly requestedMr. Davis, the surgeon, to visit her; with the apology to
Mr. Davis, that he knew he would be happy in giving his
advice to Mrs. S -, and with the assurance to me, that
the most unlimited confidence might be placed in the professional abilities of Mr. Davis.
Wednesday, 11. Suitable arrangements having been
previously made for the landing of the bodies of the king




284


FUNERAL PROCESSION.


and queen, at eleven o'clock this morning, the minute-guns
of the frigate, with a procession of barges moving from her,
became signals to us to be in readiness on the point, to
take the places assigned to us in the procession which was
to escort the remains of our friends and pupils to a temporary mausoleum. All the chiefs, except Mr. Pitt, who was
too much indisposed to have endured the fatigue, with
every foreigner of respectability in the neighborhood of
Honolulu, were on the ground some time before the barges
reached the shore. Mr. Carlton improved the period in
forming them in the order in which they were to walk.
At twelve o'clock, the procession began to move through a
double line of native soldiers, drawn up on each side of the
street, from the fort to the chapel, a distance of near half
a mile, in the following manner:First. Twenty men in the native costume of black,
some with the addition of rich feather cloaks, each two
bearing an immense feathered staff of state, about thirty
feet high, and from one to two feet in diameter, some of
black, some of crimson, others of green, and others again
of yellow feathers.
Second. The marines of the Blonde, arms reversed.
Third. The band, playing a dead march.
Fourth. The gentlemen of the mission, with the surgeon and chaplain of the frigate. Mr. Bingham, Mr.
Bloxam, and myself walked together, the chaplain in
full canonical robes; Mr. Bingham and myself in plain
dresses, with white scarfs and hat-bands.
Fifth. The bodies of the late king and queen. The
coffins containing these are highly finished and splendid;
being covered with rich crimson Genoa velvet, studded
with gilt nails, and having the corners of each compartment of the sides, ends, and tops, as well as the massive
handles, filled.with devices of the cherubim. They were
placed;onr two cars, with black canopies, and each drawn
byifoiy of the inferior male chiefs - it being customary to
have all services to a dead chief of high rank performed
by chiefs only-in European dresses of deep mourning.
Sixth. The young king, in his Windsor uniform, with
crape on his arm and sword-hilt, and the princess his sister in full black: the former supported by Mr. Charlton,




FUNERAL PROCESSION.


'285


in his consular character and costume, and the latter by
lord Byron, in full naval uniform.
Seventh. The rest of the high chiefs, according to their
rank and relationship to the deceased, two abreast, with an
officer of the Blonde, in full dress, on each side.
Eighth.   The inferior chief women, in European
dresses of black.
Ninth. The foreigners, mercantile agents, residents,
and sea-captains in port; followed by about one hundred of
the men of the Blonde, in a uniform dress of white jackets
and trowsers, white hats, and shoes bound with black, and
black handkerchiefs and hatbands: the whole making a
most respectable, and, for the Sandwich islands at least, a
truly splendid display.
The great weight of the coffins, each body having three,
one of lead, one of mahogany, and one of oak, rendered it
almost impracticable to have them taken into the chapel,
which had been hung in black for the occasion. On reaching the door, therefore, the procession, instead of entering
the building, fell into a circle around the cars, and Mr.
Bloxam read a part of the burial service of the Episcopal
church, and Mr. Bingham made an address in the native
language; after which the procession again formed, and
returned down the street a few rods, to the gate leading to
Kalaimoku's residence, situated in a cultivated enclosure
of some eight or ten acres. Here, as it passed by a circuitous way, it showed to the best advantage.
On reaching the door of the house, the feather-bearers,
marines, and band opened to the right and left, and Mr.
Bloxam, Mr. Bingham, and myself, entered the habitation
about to be converted into a tomb. I scarce knew when
I have been more tenderly affected. It was the audience
room, in which but a day or two before, lord Byron and
his suite had been presented; but how greatly was its
whole appearance altered! A low and well-defined arch
had been thrown over the lofty roof, converting it into a
long vaulted hall, every part of which, even to the pillars
running through the middle, was entirely covered with
black. Its only furniture was a large platform at one end,
on which was to be deposited all that remained of Kamehamalu and Liholiho: and the only person in it was Ka25*




286


FUNERAL CEREMONY.


laimoku, standing to receive the lifeless bodies of those he
had ever called and loved as his children. His dress was
the same as on Saturday; but his appearance even more
venerable and interesting. He received our salutations in
agitated silence: the trembling hand, the quivering lip, the
hasty and disturbed pressure of his handkerchief to the
eyes and forehead, all expressing deep emotion of heart.
He permitted himself to be led to a seat, while the coffins,
each borne by twelve men of the Blonde, were placed on
the platform. Immediately after, the rest of the company
entered, and formed numerous groups around the apartment; while, accompanied by the band drawn up on one
side, we sung the native funeral anthem to the tune of
Pleyel's hymn, and Mr. Bingham made a short prayer in
the same language.
This scene was by far the most striking and impressive
furnished by the occasion. The sable drapery of the room,
the full mourning suits of the mass, interspersed and relieved by the rich and glittering uniforms of the officers,
the handsome half-mourLning dresses and white plumes of
Mrs. Charlton and Mrs. Taylor her sister, madam  Boki,
and one of the young queens-dowager, who has lately become a bride, with a variety of other becoming and appropriate dresses, the melancholy tones of the instruments,
and the solemn truths of the chant in the chamber of the
dead, combined to make it a truly interesting and affecting
spectacle.
Thus, under the mournful reverberations of the minutegun, have been received, and peacefully deposited on their
native shores, the king and the queen of the Sandwich
islands, whose short reign has been marked by epochs no
less momentous than the abolition ofa cruel system of
idolatry; the introduction of the elements of literature
and the arts and usages of civilized life; and, above all,
the promulgation of the gospel, with all the bright hopes
and eternal retributions of Christianity! To these dark
monarchs of this western archipelago, in the gloomy mansion of their repose, I gave one more tear- one more
tear, in remembrance of the better characteristics which
not unfrequently shone through their follies and their sins;
one more tear for the attachment I had felt, and the prayers




FUNERAL CEREMONY.


287


I had offered, for them; one more tear for the early disappointment of the hopes I had entertained, that they would
return to their rude subjects, from the bright regions of
Christendom, only " to point to Heaven, and to lead the
way." I shudder to think, that, so imperfectly instructed,
so partially reclaimed, and, as it is to be feared, so little
prepared, they have been launched into eternity, and have
stood before God!
Sabbath evening, 22. Governor Boki, as a member of
the church of Christ, joined us to-day in the breaking of
bread and the drinking of wine, in remembrance of Him
who died that sinners might live. He was baptized six
years since, by the chaplain of the French discovery ship,
the corvette Uranie, M. Freycinet, commander, and received the communion in England, and on board the Blonde.
So far.as we have information, he is a sincere friend to
Christianity and practical piety, and is without reproach in
his moral character, though once exceedingly dissipated.
We had a most interesting religibus interview with him and
his brother Kalaimoku, this evening, and cannot but hope
that the last, who was also baptized by the Romish priest,
has, in this, cmphatically, the eleventh hour of his life,
been baptized of the Holy Ghost. It is now six months
since, according to his own statement, he forsook all sin,
and has lived the life and indulged the hope of a Christian.
After a long and most pleasant conversation on his own
case, his words were, "You tell me what the belief and
the feelings of a real Christian are, and my thought is, that
I now am one - but I do not know: look you at my life
and actions, and tell me whether I live, as well as think
and feel, rightly; watch me in my life, and then tell me
what your thought is."
The confessions he made of his former habits and sins,
were a shocking testimony to the pollutions of the heathen, and would have crimsoned the cheeks, and forever
silenced the tongues and pens of those who are so enthusiastic in their encomiums on the purity, simplicity, and
innocence of untutored nature, and so lavish in their censure of those who attempt to interrupt their primeval felicity, and destroy their peace, by the precepts of Christianity
and the doctrines of salvation!




288


KINDNESS OF LORD BYRON.


Thursday, 26. The physicians having recommended a
change of air, as most likely to benefit H — 's health,
lord Byron has most kindly assigned us accommodations
in the Blonde, for a trip to the harbor of Waiakea, at Hilo,
on Hawaii, where he is going for a month, to refit and to
explore the windward of that island, with the intention of
returning to this port again. It is uncertain on what day
she may sail, though probably in the course of a week.
The very favorable impression of the character of this
nobleman made at a first interview, has been greatly
strengthened and deepened by after-intercourse. To the
apparent quickness, vigor, and cultivation of intellect,
which one would naturally expect to see in a Byron, he
adds a kindness of heart and benevolence of disposition
that would command respect and win affection under any
name. Few men of his rank, and indeed any rank, would
have completed the objects of his mission to the islands in
so condescending and unexceptionable a manner; and the
influence he is exerting, is calculated to open, more fully
than ever, to this people a way for the introduction of all
the illimitable blessings of civilization and Christianity.
It is with no inconsiderable pleasure, that I anticipate,
from the excursion to Hawaii, a prolonged intercourse with
himself, and some of his immediate friends of the Blonde,
with whom I have become more particularly acquainted.
Nothing I have yet known on missionary ground, causes
me so deeply to feel the sacrifice of our situation, as the
occasional society of such men. The lowliness of our
habitation, the plainness and poverty of our table, the
known and unknown inconveniences and privations of
our whole establishment- never rouse the recollections of
mind and heart, excited by the intercourse of a week, a
day, an hour, with the polished, the intelligent, the amiable, the virtuous; those who have heads to think, hearts
to feel, characters to respect, and conversation and manners
to win. When we meet and when we part with such, at
this extremity of the globe, we feel that we are cut off
from some of the choicest enjoyments of life.
Sabbath evening, 29. It is possible the frigate may sail
before the return of the Sabbath: and designing to leave
both the children at this place with B —   and a native




THE BLONDE FRIGATE.


289


nurse, we thought it advisable to have our daughter baptized to-day. It being impracticable for H —   to go to
the chapel, she was removed to a sofa in the front room of
our little cottage, immediately after the English service in
the morning: here, the members of the mission, joined by
the British consul's family, and two or three gentlemen of
the Blonde, who had permission of absence from worship
on board ship, assembled to witness the solemnity. Mr.
Bingham administered the ordinance, and by the name of
HARRIETTE BRADFORD, consecrated to the service, and
commended to the guardianship and salvation of our covenant God, the germ of immortality committed to our arms.
May she inherit the prayers and the piety of the pilgrim
ancestor whose name, with that of her mother, she bears;
and if spared to years of maturity, may her praise, like his,
be in all the churches. The very critical state of H —
made the scene tenderly interesting. It is not improbable
that this may be the last, as it is the first, external act of
duty and piety she may ever be permitted to exercise towards the helpless object of her love.
H. B. M. ship Blonde, at sea, June 5, 1825. At eleven
o'clock, yesterday morning, a messenger from lord Byron
came to inform us that he was in readiness, on the point,
to take us on board the frigate in his boat. H-  was
carried down in an arm-chair, and his lordship's gig being
in waiting, we were immediately rowed off to the vessel,
a distance of two miles, in the open roads. The possibility that H    might not live to return to"Oahu, made the
separation from her children a severe trial. We left them,
however, with the persuasion, that they will receive every
kind and affectionate attention from our faithful friend
B, and from the ladies of the station.
The anchor was not taken, until four o'clock, until which
time, H-    remained on a sofa in lord Byron's cabin:
but beginning to be slightly affected by the motion of the
ship after she was under sail, before we sat down to dinner,
she was removed to her own apartment,adjoining the diningroom. The captain,, and all the gentlemen of the ship, are
exceedingly polite and attentive; and our whole situation
is made by them as pleasant as possible. We shall feel
ourselves under very lasting obligations to lord Byron,




290


LADY BYRON.


every development of whose character increases our respect, gratitude, and love. He is at all times affable and
communicative; but while at the tea-table this evening,
where we were joined by the chaplain, Mr. Andrew Bloxam, his brother, and Mr. Dampier, the artist, he exhibited
powers of conversation which must make him a charming
companion to his intimate friends and family circle. He is
a great favorite with the chiefs; and in order most fully to
secure every attention and service to himself and ship,
Kaahumanu and her sister Hoapiliwahine, accompany him
to Hawaii. Mr. Goodrich of the mission, who has paid a
short visit at Oahu, improves this opportunity also, of returning to his station at Waiakea.
The Blonde is a forty-six gun ship, of fine model, and
perfectly new, this being her first voyage. Lord Byron's
accommodations consist of an after-cabin, fitted up as a
reading and sitting-room, in which tea is served; a forward
or large cabin, used as a breakfast and dining-room; and a
sleeping and dressing cabin. The whole are substantially
and handsomely finished and furnished, particularly the
after-cabin. In this there is a beautifully engraved likeness of his majesty George IV., from a full-length portrait
by sir Thomas Lawrence; a half-length portrait of the
present lady Byron; and one of the same size of Moore,
the poet, who is an intimate friend of the Byron family.
Of lady Byron, we have heard an admirable account.
The expression of countenance in her portrait is uncommonly ingenuous and prepossessing, and, in addition to all
that is amiable and benevolent in disposition, she is said,
by those whom we have heard speak of her, to be pious;
the simplicity of her dress and whole bearing indicate a
mind and heart little devoted to the mere vanities of high
and fashionable life.
The library is in the after-cabin, and is of a character
one would more expect to meet in a clergyman's study,
than in a post-captain's cabin; consisting principally of the
British classical writers, with standard works on morals
and religion.
Saturday evening, 11. After being delayed all day
yesterday between Maui and Hawaii, we this morning
succeeded in doubling the north point of the latter island,




LORD BYRON.


291


and have been delighted with the romantic and verdant
scenery of the windward side of Hawaii, including the
precipices and waterfalls in the neighborhood of the beautiful valleys of Wai-Pio, and Wai-Manu. One cascade,
of which we had a full view for some time, could not have
been less than six hundred feet in height, extending almost
from the top of a mountain to its base. The quantity of
water was small, but sufficiently great to be very beautiful,
as in its descent it foamed from cliff to cliff, and from precipice to precipice. The windward or eastern parts of all
the mountains are much more picturesque than the leeward, and abound in romantic and beautiful scenes, peculiarly refreshing from their verdure, to an eye long accustomed to the parched and dreary aspect of the opposite
sides.
Lord Byron and myself are usually alone at the breakfast table, and his conversation then is less general, as to
subjects, and often more interesting than at any other time.
It was particularly so this morning, happening to turn on
his late distinguished predecessor in the barony of the
Byrons. He had often before spoken of him as a writer,
and, in reference to his later publications, in terms of unqualified reprehension; but now his remarks regarded him
as a man, and a member of his own family. They were
of the same age, same education, and on terms of the closest intimacy until after the poet's marriage.
The conversation also embraced Newstead Abbey, the
ancient family mansion of the Byrons. Although, previous to the death of its late celebrated possessor, it passed
into the hands of a new master, and has undergone most
extensive and costly repairs, no change whatever has been
made in its most attractive, and, if I may use the term —
Byronic features. Its ancient baronial as well as monastic
character has been preserved, by Col. Wildman, in his improvements, with as much reverence for the family of the
noble bard as if he were of the same blood, or as if his
only object were to consecrate the pile to the name and
memory of the genius who once dwelt within its halls.
The extraordinary gifts, popularity, and whole character of its late proprietor, has thrown an interest around it
that few private mansions can boast; and it must, ever




292


IMPROMPTU.


hereafter, be an object of curiosity, at least, to the scholar
and the traveler.
Lord Byron has an estate in the vicinity of Newstead,
and was kind enough to say, if I should ever visit England, he would be happy to see me in Nottinghamshire;
with the promise of accompanying me to the Abbey. The
additional if puts the event, humanly speaking, among the
improbabilities of my life; but should such ever be the
case, I am sure the gratification I might receive from treading the halls and cloisters of Newstead, would not arise
from any feeling of veneration for its former master. I admire the powers and brilliancy of his genius, less than I
abhor their later monstrous perversion and prostitution.
Our nearness to the land and mountains gave us a beautiful sunset scene and evening, so much so as to call into
exercise the poetic talent of our friend Mr. Bloxam, and
secure the following effusion, which 1 found enclosed in a
polite note on my writing-desk, on our return from the
after-cabin.
COASTING ALONG THE ISLAND OF HAWAII.
Saturday Evening, June 11, 1825.
Eve, gentle Eve, the mourner's friend art thou,
Calming his lonely heart, his altered brow;
Bidding again his former pleasures live
With added charms, which thou alone canst give.
Seen through thy misty veil, the years gone by
Are dearest far to pensive memory.
When thy soft blending hues, along the west,
Calmly reposing in their tranquil rest,
Strew Hesper's cradle with their rosy light,
And shed bright tinges o'er the brow of night, -
Then let me hail thee! for thy dewy star
Opens the gates of blessedness afar;
And shining bright, and brighter from above,
Tells of a land where all is peace and love.
Fairest is Eve, where mild Ausonia's sky
Owns her bright hues; and where the zephyr's sigh
Breathes the sweet tones of melody or song,
Or bears the fragrance of the groves along.
Lovely is Eve, where Britain's western cloud
Throws round the sun her purple glowing shroud,




IMPROMPTU.


29.3


While even childhood, ere it sinks to rest,
Turns its blue eye enraptured to the west.
But brightest, most sublime, is Evening's reign
Where Hawaii links her seven-fold chain, *
And where the leader of her giant band t
Flings his broad shadows proudly o'er the land,
And soaring seeks among the snow-charged cloud
His time-worn forehead's haughty height to shroud.
He sees the twilight shed her softening dyes
On Maui's mountains that contiguous rise;
While his hoar brow is bright with hues of day,
And glowing radiant 'neath the sun's last ray,
With timid hand may evening scarcely dare
O'er his dark breast to draw her mantle fair.
But who at this soft hour is gaining now
The heights that frown o'er yonder vale below,
Who, winding down the craggy pathway there
In shadowy distance, seems some form of air!
'Tis he - the pastor of the numerous flock
Who wait his coming under yonder rock:
Where, far from mild Religion's soothing ray,
Pale Superstition late held direful sway:
But now - mysterious words! - he speaks of Heaven,
Of mercy - hope - and love - of sins forgiven:
He speaks of HIM, omnipotent to save,
Who died - who lives triumphant o'er the grave:
E'en now the savage, with uplifted eyes,
Drinks the sweet words, " Christ is our sacrifice."
No more, for past omissions to atone,
He bows to forms of wood or gods of stone;
But bends the knee, and humbly hopes to trace
Some glorious tidings of redeeming grace;
While gently stealing o'er the twilight dim,
Falls the soft cadence of the evening hymn.
Now all is peace. Each sound has died away
The savage seeks his couch, till break of day
Again shall summon him his vows to pay.
O blest seclusion! Solitude how blest:!
Yes - soon on Mounakea's shaggy breast,
(Unless I idly dream) a Fane shall rise
To HIl, the great TRIUNE, who rules the earth and skies.
The whole is creditable to the writer, as an impromptu;.and the latter part a pleasing and lively picture of the ordinary evening worship held by the missionaries with the
natives at the different stations.


* Seven islands,  t Mounakea.


26




294


BAY OF HILO.


Mission hlouse, Hilo, Monday, June 13.  Yesterday
morning, at the break of day, we were farther from the
harbor of Waiakea than we had, the evening before, expected to be; and lord Byron gave orders to stand off the
land until the usual worship of the Sabbath was performed.
The whole crew, in clean dresses, occupied seats fronting
the quarter-deck, where chairs were arranged for the officers. In addition to the morning service of prayers, at
different parts of which the band played pieces of sacred
music, Mr. Bloxam gave us a very excellent sermon on
repentance. The whole was marked by much order and
solemnity, and attended to by many with great devoutness,
especially by the captain and our friend the surgeon.
As we approached the land after church, we were greatly delighted with the verdure, luxuriance, and beauty of
the landscape opening to us in the neighborhood of the
bay of Hilo. The shore had lost in a great measure the
abrupt and precipitous character of the coast along which
we had been sailing on Saturday, and was only edged by
a low cliff, richly mantled with shrubbery and creeping
plants, and ornamented with several beautiful cascades.
These, in connexion with the breakers, which ran high
upon the rocks, often dashing their spray many feet in the
air, gave the cliff an uncommonly picturesque appearance.
The land rises gradually from the cliff, to the distance of
ten or fifteen miles, to a heavy wood encircling the base of
Mounakea. Though in a state of nature, this large district has the appearance of cultivation, being an open country covered with grass, and beautifully studded and sprinkled with clumps and groves and single treed, in the manner of park scenery, with a cottage here and there peeping
from beneath their rich foliage. The mountains were entirely covered with clouds, or the prospect would have been
rendered more delightful from their sublimity. Such was
the scene on our right, as we sailed close along the b:eakers to the narrow channel forming the entrance to the harbor, the gentlemen of the Blonde exclaiming, "This is more
like English scenery than anything we have yet seen."
and we were equally ready to say, " This looks something
like America- it has some of the features of a civilized
land."




VISIT TO MR. RUGGLES.


295


The channel is formed by the cliff on the right, and a
sunken coral reef on the left, the point of which comes
within two or three hundred rods of the shore, making it
necessary for ships to pass so close to the breakers as to
appear in a dangerous situation. Seamen, however, consider it perfectly safe. The reef runs in a curved direction from the point at the channel, about half a mile to the
east, where it joins a romantic little islet covered with
cocoanut trees; from that fact, called " Cocoanut island."
A small channel runs between this and the main land,
which is low, and sweeps round to the western cliffs in a
beautifully curved sandy beach of about two miles, making the form of the bay that of a flattened horseshoe. The
beach is covered with varied vegetation, and ornamented
by clumps and single trees of lofty cocoanut, among which
the habitations of the natives are seen, not in a village, but
scattered everywhere among the plantations, like farm
houses in a thickly inhabited country. The mission houses
were pointed out to us, pleasantly situated near the water,
about the middle of the curvature forming the head of thM
bay. At a very short distance from the beach, bread-fruit
trees were seen in heavy groves, in every direction, intersected with the pandanus and kukui, or candle-tree, the
hibiscus and the acacia, &c. The tops of these rising
gradually one above another, as the country gently ascends
towards the mountains in the interior, presented for twenty or thirty miles in the southeast a delightful forest scene,
totally different in extent from anything I had before witnessed on the islands.
The' Blonde anchored in the centre of the bay, and
shortly after dinner the barge was lowered, to carry us to
our friends on shore. After rowing half a mile, we entered a beautiful fresh-water creek, which winds its way
close to the missionary enclosure, and in a few minutes
were welcomed to4the cottage of Mr. Ruggles, where Mrs.
Goodrich had resided during her husband's absence. They
were greatly rejoiced at the unexpected visit of H —  and.myself to them in their remote and solitary abode, though
their sympathy was deeply excited by the cause, and by
the evidence of deep-seated disease, visible in the countenance and person of their beloved friend.




296             vI* VEW OF MOUNAKEA.
The gentlemen. who accompanied us were so much
pleased with the.'freshness and verdure of the shore, the
simplicity and rural beauty of the gardens which surround
the humble dwellings of our companions, that they permitted the barge to return to the ship without them, and
spent the afternoon and took tea with us.
Besides a visit from the chaplain and surgeon to-day
we have had the pleasure of a call from lord Byron, and
the first lieutenant, Mr. Ball, an amiable and kind man,
and a particular favorite of the captain. They remained
to tea with us, and expressed themselves highly delighted
with Hilo.
Tuesday, 14. The sunrise view of Mounakea yesterday was so charming, that I made an exertion to have
H-    witness it this morning, before he should be enrapt in his daily robe of clouds. The morning was delightful, and the whole atmosphere perfectly unobscured.
The extensive region of upland country intervening between us and the base of the mountain, was gleaming in
te brightness of the early sun, with all the freshness and
verdure of an American landscape in June; while the
mountain in its whole extent of breadth and height, glowed
in the richest purple, except where a broad line of ice and
snow, still resting on its sides. and summit, added a cresting of silver. This scenery on our left, with the bay and
its cliffs and islands, and beautifully defined beach, and the
Blonde at anchor immediately before us, and the ocean in
the distance, made a picture highly calculated, in connection with the purity and brightnes, of a summer morning,to revive the spirits and strengthen ithe nerves 6f one who
for more than three months had scarcely seen anything
but the dreary walls of her sick chamber. After breakfast,
supported by my arm, she, with feeble and tottering step,
walked also through the garden which separates the two
cottages, and was charmed with a variety of flowers, shrubbery, herbs, and vegetables, which Mr. Goodrich and Mr.
Ruggles have collected and nursed, until they are beginning
to flourish exuberantly. Among the flowers, I saw many,
the seeds of which I brought to the islands; that which is
most prized by the natives, is the purple globe amnaranthus.
": They form beautiful wreaths from its blossoms, and you
'!!*!   i!^




CASCADES OF WAILUKU.


297,


scarcely pass a plantation without seeing a bed of it cultivated for that purpose.
This afternoon I joined lord Byron and party in a visit
to a large fish-pond, of which the creek or river is the outlet. It is a pretty sheet of water, in its natural state excepting strong stone dams to prevent the escape of the fish.
These are kabu to all but high chiefs; and no one of rank
having lived here lately, the whole pond is literally alive
with the finest of mullet. The surface of the water is almost in a constant ripple from their motions, and hundreds
can be taken at any time by a single cast of a small net.
Expressing our astonishment at the sight, sir Joseph
Banks,* who, from   understanding and speaking some
English, has been appointed by her majesty interpreter,
caterer, gentleman in waiting, &c. to lord Byron, very
seriously says, " O dis nothing, sir - noting - I see him
before now;-he so full fish, I see one man, he fall backwards in him, he no sink at all! "
After satisfying our curiosity here, we rowed down the
creek and across the bay, to another stream on the western side of the harbor, called Wailuku - river of destruction - where the ships get their water. The entrance to
this river is highly romantic and beautiful, the banks being precipitous and rocky, and covered with a variety of
vegetation. About a hundred yards above the beach, it
opens into a still deep basin, encircled by high cliffs.
Into this basin the whole stream is projected by two cascades, the upper about twenty feet, and the lower about
eight feet, both rushing over their respective ledges of rock
in unbroken sheets. A rude bridge crosses the stream just
above the falls; and it is a favorite amusement of the natives to plunge from it, or from the adjoining rocks, into
the rapids, and pass headforemost over both falls, into the
lower basin.  Some of them were engaged in this sport
when we arrived, for the gratification of lieutenants Keith,
Talbot, and Gambier, whom we found there. The accession of our party collected a greater crowd, and the cliffs
and rocks were quickly covered with men, women, and;
children, many of whom not only passed ever the falls in
* A native so called.
26*




INHABITANTS OF HILO.


the manner described, but jumped also from a height of
thirty, forty, and fifty feet, into the basin, which, though
small, is of very great depth.
The inhabitants of Hilo are in a state of much greater
simplicity than those in many other parts of the islands,
owing to the infrequency of the visits of ships and a less
degree of the corrupting influence of foreign example in
vice. More of the primitive character of the islandersits artless diffidence and timidity -is preceptible, than in
the natives of Maui, Oahu, &c. And though these traits
are far from being unmingled with licentiousness and
many of the abominations of heathenism, still they are
more pleasing than the impudence and unblushing vulgarity observable in those who have had long intercourse
with the abandoned seamen and vagabonds who frequent
the less remote parts.
We passed near the chapel on our return. It stands
almost midway between the mission house and the watering place, close to the beach, and although small, is well
built, and neatly thatched. The thatching of the houses
in general, here, is altogether more neat and beautiful than
at the leeward islands. It is made from the leaves of the
padanus, and so put on as to conceal all the rudeness of
the timber and sticks on the inside; while on the outside,
a deep edging of fern, along the peak and ends of the roof,
and down the corners of the house -having something of
the effect of the cornice and pilaster-give a finished and
ornamenal appearance not seen in the common grass hutso
The ease with which stout timber can be procured here,
enables them also to build their dwellings much larger
than at Lahaina and Honolulu, where the wood most accessible is small and crooked.
Wednesday, 15. The religious instructions, &c. at this
station, are similar in their forms to those given at the
stations with which I have been most familiar; but owing
to the small number who have hitherto attended them, all
the meetings, except preaching on the Sabbath, have been
and still are held, in one of the houses of the brethren.
Kaahumanu is very zealous, here, in promoting the interests of the mission, and will doubtless do great good by
her example. The people are astonished at the change




SACRAMENT ADMINISTERED.


299


in her character, and a good evidence of its extent is that
she is everywhere called by them, " the new Kaahumanu."
At the usual Wednesday afternoon meeting to-day, at the
close of the sermon, she delivered a very animated address,
prohibiting all wickedness, and exhorting those present to
follow the teachings of the missionaries. She always appears desirous of exerting her influence in favor of the
new system, and of a rigid conformity to all its requisitions:
and her authority is so unbounded, and her example so
powerful, that doubtless wherever she goes she will be instrumental of great good.
Sabbath evening, 19. Between the native services today, I administered the sacrament of the Supper to our
little number, all of whom, excepting Mr. Goodrich and
myself, had long been denied the enjoyment of that high
and holy ordinance: H.-   from her long confinement,
and the members of this station from the want of some
one authorized to break unto them the bread of life and
pour out the waters of salvation. The occasion proved
highly interesting and refreshing, especially to our afflicted
one. Many natives attended, crowding the corners of the
room, and with seriousness and propriety seemed to be inquiring what these things meant. Poor creatures! may
the time not be far distant when multitudes of them shall
not only witness, but partake, with saving knowledge, of
these rich streams of mercy and of grace!
Monday, 20. On Saturday evening, while with the
gentlemen of the Blonde, Lieut. Malden, the su..rveyor,
who shortly after the arrival of the frigate, chartered one
of the native schooners for the purpose of -facilitating the
operations of his department, arrived from Oahu, bringing
letters, with the unwelcome and afflicting intelligence of
the death of Evarts Bingham. The news was hardly a
surprise, for we left him very ill; but it was melancholy
and oppressive: especially, from the magnitude of the bereavement to our invaluable and warm friends, Mr. and
Mrs. Bingham. He was their only son, and from his birth
had been the object of fond solicitude and unwearied care.
Mr. Bloxam happening, at the time, to have a blank book
of mine in his room, wrote the following beautiful lines on
the event



300


EXCURSION TO THE VOLCANO.


-  WEEP NOT, THY SON LIVETH."
Sweet stranger, scarce thy laughing eye
Had hailed the rising sun,
With that soft gaze of infancy
Which tells the enraptured parent nigh
Thy playfulness begun;
When other scenes than gave thee birth
Were thine- fair vanished son of earth.
The white robe o'er thy limbs was spread,
Meet vesture, saint, for thee,
Whose soul to brighter scenes was fled,
To form the train of holy dead,
The dead of infancy -
Who wash in their Redeemer's blood
Have early sought their parent God.
The flowers which love had gently strewn
Around thee - still so dearThese flowers were not so fully blown
As that bright palm branch now thine own,
Which 'tis thy lot to bear -
Oh! in the last great day, be mine
A chaplet but as fair as thine!
CHAPTER XV.
EXCURSION TO THE VOLCANO OF HAWAII..
Mission house at Byron's bay, Saturday, July 2, 1825.
A party was formed a few days since to visit the great
volcano of Kilauea, and set off early on Monday, the 27th
ult.  I was happy enough to be one of the number; and
while the incidents of the excursion are fresh in my mind,
I hasten to give you an account of them.
Every preparation having been previously made, we left
the harbor shortly after sunrise.  The uncommon beauty
of the morning proved a true omen of the delightful
weather with which we were favored during the whole of
our absence. The rich coloring of Mounakea in the early
sun, never called forth higher or more general admiration.
The brightness of the sky, the purity of the air, the fresh



EXCURSION TO THE VOLCANO.


301


ness, sweetness, and cheerfulness of all nature, excited a
buoyancy of spirit favorable to the accomplishment of the
walk of forty miles, which lay between us and the object
of our journey.
Lord Byron had invited Mr. Ruggles, who was also of
the party, and myself, to an early cup of coffee with him,
that we might-all proceed together from his lodgings; but
besides the inconvenience of crossing the river, it would
have considerably lengthened our walk. We therefore
chose to take some refreshments at home, and at an appointed signal we proceeded up one side of the stream and
great fish-pond, while the gentlemen of the Blonde followed a path up the other. We mret on a rising ground at
the end of two miles, and found the company from the opposite side to consist of lord Byron, Mr. Ball the first lieutenant, Mr. Malden the surveyor, Mr. Bloxam the chaplain, Mr. Andrew Bloxam the mineralogist, Mr. Davis the
surgeon, Mr. Dampier the artist, Mr. White, a son of the
earl of Bantry, and Mr. Powell midshipman. Lord Frederick Beauclerc was to have been of the number, but was
detained by sickness.
Malo, a principal chief of Hilo, had been appointed by
Kaahumanu caterer general; and about one hundred natives under his authority attended with our luggage and
and provisions.  Sir Joseph, or, as more familiarly styled,
"Joe Ban.s," was also in attendance, in his diversified
capacity. The regent had left nothing undone to render
the trip as comfortable as her authority could make it.
Neat temporary houses for refreshment and sleeping, had
been erected by her commnand at intervals of twelve or fifteen miles, and the people of the only inhabited district
through which we were to pass, had, the week before,
been apprised of the journey of "the British chief," with
strict orders to have an abundance of pigs, fowls, kalo, potatos, and fruit, in readiness, for the supply of his company. When assembled, we formed quite a numerous
body, and from the variety of character and dress, the diversity in the burdens of the natives, bundles, tin-cases,
portmanteaus, calabashes, kettles, buckets, pans, &c. &c.
with two hammocks by the way of equipage swung on
long poles, borne each by four men - one for lord Byron,




302


EXCURSION TO THE VOLCANO.


in case the fatigue of walking should affect his leg, recently injured by a kick from a horse at Oahu, and the
other for the chaplain -- made, while marching in single
file along the narrow winding path which formed our only
road, quite a grotesque and novel appearance.
For the first four miles the country was open and uneven, and beautifully sprinkled with clumps, groves, and
single trees of the bread-fruit, pandanus, and candle-tree.
We then came to a wood, four miles in width, the outskirts
of which exhibited a rich and delightful foliage. It was
composed principally of the candle-tree, whose whitish
leaves and blossoms afforded a fine contrast to the dark
green of the various parasitical plants which hung in luxuriant festoons and pendants from their very tops to the
ground, forming thick and deeply shaded bowers round
their trunks. The interior was far less interesting, presenting nothing but an impenetrable thicket, on both sides
of the path. This was excessively rough and fatiguing,
consisting entirely of loose and pointed pieces of lava,
which, from their irregularity and sharpness, not only cut
and tore our shoes, but constantly endangered our feet and
ankles. The high brake, ginger, &c. which border and
overhang the path, were filled with the rain of the night,
and added greatly, from their wetness, to the unpleasantness of the walk. An hour and a half, however, saw us
safely through, and refreshing ourselves in the charming
groves with which the wood was here again bordered.
The whole of the way, from this place to within a short
distance of the volcano, is very much of one character.
The path, formed of black lava, so smooth in some places
as to endanger falling, and still shewing the configuration
of the molten stream as it had rolled down the gradual descent of the mountain, leads midway through a strip of
open uncultivated country, from three to five miles wide,
skirted on both sides by a ragged and stinted wood, and
covered with fern, grass, and low shrubs, principally a
species of the whortleberry.  The fruit of this, of the size
of a small gooseberry, and of a bright yellow color, tinged
on one side with red, was very abundant, and, though of
insipid taste, refreshing from its juice. There are no houses
near the path, but the thatch of a cottage was occasionally




EXCURSION TO THE VOLCANO.


303


observed peeping from the edge of the wood; and here and
there the white smoke of a kindling fire curled above the
thick foliage of the trees. Far on the right and west,
Mounaloa and Mounakea were distinctly visible: and at
an equal distance, on the left and east, the ocean, with its
horizon - from the height at which we viewed it - mingling with the sky.
We dined thirteen miles from the bay, under a large
candle-tree, on a bed of brake, collected and spread by a
party of people who had been waiting by the wayside to
see the "alii nui mai Perekania mai," ". the great chief
from Britain." Aboult two miles farther, we came to the
houses erected for our lodgings the first night. Thinking
it, however, too early to lie by for the day, after witnessing
a dance performed by a company from the neighboring settlements, we hastened on, intending to sleep at the next
houses, ten miles distant; but night overtaking us before
we reached them, just as darkness set in we turned aside
a few rods to the ruins of two huts, the sticks only of which
were remaining. The natives, however, soon covered
them with fern, the leaves of the kukui, &c., a quantity of
which they also spread on the ground, before spreading the
mats which were to be our beds.
Our arrival and encampment produced quite a picturesque and lively scene; for the islanders, who are not fond
of such forced marches as we had made during the day,
were more anxious for repose than ourselves, and proceeded with great alacrity to make preparations for the night.
The darkness, as it gathered round us, rendered more
gloomy by a heavily clouded sky, made the novelty of our
situation still more striking. Behind the huts, in the distance, an uplifted torch of the blazing kukui-nut here and
there indistintly revealed the figures and costume of
many, spreading their couches under the bushes in the
open air. A large lamp suspended from the centre of our
rude lodge, entirely open in front, presented us in bolder
relief, seated a la Turc round lord Byron, who poured "to
each the cup that cheers but not inebriates; " the more
curious of our dusky companions, both male and female,
meanwhile pressing in numbers round our circle, as if
anxious to " catch the manners living as they rose."  A




304


EXCURSION TO THE VOLCANO;


large fire of brush-wood, at some distance in front, exhibited the objects of the foreground in still stronger lights
and shadows. Groups of both sexes, and all ages, were
seated or standing round the fire, wrapped up from the
chilliness of the evening air, in their large kiheis or mantles, of white, black, green, yellow, and red; some smoking, some throwing in and others snatching from the embers a fish or potato, or other article of food; some giving
a loud halloo, in answer to the call of a straggler just arriving; others wholly taken up with the proceedings of
the sailors cooking our supper; and all chattering with the
volubility of so many magpies.
By daylight the next morning, we were on the road
again, and shortly after met lieutenant Talbot, Mr. Wilson
the purser, and Mr. M'Rea the botonist, with their guides
and attendants, on their return; they having preceded us
three days in the same excursion. As they intended to
reach the frigate in time for dinner, they stopped only long
enough to say the volcano was in fine action, and highly
worth visiting. At nine o'clock we passed the last houses
put up for our accommodation on the way; and at eleven
o'clock had arrived within three miles of the object of our
curiosity. For the last hour the scenery had become more
interesting; our path was skirted, occasionally, with groves
and clusters of trees, and fringed with a greater variety of
vegetation. Here also the smoke from the volcano was
first discovered, settling in light fleecy clouds to the southwest. Our resting place at this time, was a delightful
spot, commanding a full view of the wide extent of country
over which we had traveled, and beyond and around it,
the ocean, which, from the vast and almost undistinguished
extent of itshorizon, seemed literally an "illimitable sea."
The smooth greensward, under the shade of a majestic
acacia, almost encircled by thickets of a younger growth,
afforded a refreshing couch on which to take our luncheon.
Here we saw the first bed of strawberry vines, but without
finding any fruit. We tarried but a few moments, and
then hurried on to the grand object before us.
The nearer we approached, the more heavy the columns
of smoke appeared, and roused to intenseness our curiosity
to behold their origin. Under the influence of this excite



ARRIVAL AT THE CRATER.


305


ment, we hastened forward with rapid steps, regardless of
the heat of a noonday sun, and the fatigue of a walk of
thirty-six miles, already accomplished. A few minutes
before twelve o'clock, we came suddenly on the brink of a
precipice, one hundred and fifty or two hundred feet high,
covered with shrubbery and trees. Descending this by a
path almost perpendicular, we crossed a plain half a mile
in width, enclosed, except in the direction we were going,
by the cliff behind us, and found ourselves a second time
on the top of a precipice four hundred feet high, also covered with bushes and trees. This, like the former, swept
off to the right and left, enclosing in a semi-circular form,
a level space about a quarter of a mile broad; immediately beyond which lay the tremendous abyss of our search,
emitting volumes of vapor and smoke; and laboring and
groaning, as if in inexpressible agony from the raging of
the conflicting elements within its bosom. We stood but
a moment to take this first distant glance, then hastily descended the almost perpendicular height, and crossed the
plain to the'very brink of the crater.
There are scenes to which description, and even painting can do no justice; and in conveying any adequate impression of which, they must ever fail. Of such, an elegant traveler rightly says, "the height, the depth, the
length, the breadth, the combined aspect, may all be correctly given, but the mind of the reader will remain untouched by the emotions of admiration and sublimity which
the eye-witness experiences." That which here burst on
our sight was emphatically of this kind; and to behold it
without singular and deep emotion, would demand a familiarity with the more terrible phenomena of nature, which
few have the opportunity of acquiring. Standing at an
elevation of one thousand five hundred feet, we looked into a black and horrid gulf, not less than eight miles in circumference, so directly beneath us that, in appearance, we
might by a single leap have plunged into its lowest depth.
The hideous immensity itself, independent of the many
frightful images which it embraced, almost caused an involuntary closing of the eyes against it. But when to
the sight is added the appalling effect of the various unnatural and fearful noises, the muttering and sighing, the
27




306


DESCRIPTION OF THE VOLCANO.


groaning and blowing, the every agonized struggling of the
mighty action within- as a whole, it is too horrible! And
for the first moment I felt like one of my friends, who, on
reaching the brink, recoiled, and covered his face, exclaiming: "Call it weakness, or what you please, but I cannot
look again! " It was sufficient employment for the afternoon, simply to sit and gaze on the scene; and though
some of our party strolled about, and one or two descended a short distance into the crater, the most of our number
deferred all investigation until the next morning.
From what I have already said, you will perceive that
this volcano differs, in one respect, from most others of
which we have accounts. The crater, instead of being the
truncated top of a mountain, distinguishable in every direction at a distance, is an immense chasm in an upland
country, near the base of the mountain Mounaloa - approached, not by ascending a cone, but by descending two
vast terraces;. and not visible from any point at a greater
distance than half a mile, a circumstance which, no doubt,
from the suddenness of the arrival, adds much to the effect
of a first look from the brink.
It is probable that it was originally a cone, but assumed
its present aspect, it may be centuries ago, from the falling
in of the whole summit. Of this, the precipices we descended, which entirely encircle the crater in circumferences of fifteen and twenty miles, give strong evidence.
They have unquestionably been formed by the sinking of
the mountain, whose foundations had been undermined by
the devouring flames beneath. In the same manner, one
half of the present depth of the crater has, at no very remote period, been formed. About midway from the top,
a ledge of lava, in some places only a few feet, but in
others many rods wide, extends entirely round, at least as
far as an examination has been made, forming a kind of
gallery, to which you can descend in two or three places,
and walk as far as the smoke, settling at the south end,
will permit. This offset bears incontestable marks of having once been the level of the fiery flood now boiling in
the bottom of the crater. A subduction of lava, by some
subterraneous channel, has since taken place, and sunk the
abyss many hundred feet, to its present depth.




NIGHT SCENE.


307


The gulf below contains probably not less than sixtyfifty-six have been counted - smaller conical craters, many
of which are in constant action. The tops and sides of
two or three of these are covered with sulphur, of mingled
shades of yellow and green. With this exception, the
ledge, and everything below it, are of a dismal black. The
upper cliffs on the northern and western sides, are perfect.
ly perpendicular, and of a red color, everywhere exhibiting
the seared marks of former powerful ignition. Those on
the eastern side are less precipitous, and consist of entire
banks of sulphur, of a delicate and beautiful yellow. The
south end is wholly obscured by smoke, which fills that
part of the crater, and spreads widely over the surrounding
horizon.
As the darkness of. the night gathered round us, new
and powerful effect was given to the scene. Fire after
fire, which the glare of mid-day had entirely concealed,
began to glimmer on the eye, with the first shades of evening; and as the darkness increased, appeared in such
rapid succession, as forcibly to remind me of the hasty
lighting of the lamps of a city, on the sudden approach of
n gloomy night. Two or three of the small craters nearest to us were in full action, every moment casting out
stones, ashes, and lava, with heavy detonations, while the
irritated flames accompanying them, glared widely over
the surrounding obscurity, against the sides of the ledge
and upper cliffs, richly illuminating the volumes of smoke
at the south end, and occasionally casting a bright reflection on the bosom of a passing cloud. The great seat of
action, however, seemed to be at the southern and western
end, where an exhibition of ever-varying fireworks was
presented, surpassing in beauty and sublimity all that the
ingenuity of art ever devised. Rivers of fire were seen
rolling in splendid corruscation among the laboring craters,
and on one side a whole lake, whose surface constantly
flashed and sparkled with the agitation of contending currents.
Expressions of admiration and astonishment burst momentarily from our lips, and though greatly fatigued, it
was near midnight before we gave ourselves to sleep, often
interrupted during the night, to gaze on the sight with re



308


DESCENT INTO THE CRATER.


newed wonder and surprise. As I laid myself down on my
mat — fancying that the very ground which was my pillow, shook beneath my head - the silent musings of my
mind were: " Great and marvelous are thy works, Lord
God Almighty! greatly art thou to- be feared, thou king
of saints!"
On Wednesday, the 29th, after an early breakfast, our
party, excepting lieutenant Maiden, who was ill, Mr. Dampier, who remained to take a sketch, and Mr. Ruggles,
who chose to stroll above, prepared for a descent into the
crater. One of the few places where this is practicable, was
within a rod of the hut in which we lodged. For the first
four hundred feet the path was steep, and from the looseness of the stones and rocks on both sides, required caution in every movement. A slight touch was sufficient to
detach these, and send them bounding downwards hundreds of feet, to the imminent danger of any one near
them. The remaining distance of about the same number
of feet, was gradual and safe, the path having turned into
the bed of an old channel of lava, which ran off in an indined plane until it met the ledge before described, more
than a quarter of a mile west of the place where we began
the descent. By the time we arrived here, the natives,
acting as guides with the Messrs. Bloxam and Mr. Powell,
had preceded the rest of our number too far to be overtaken, and we became two parties for the rest of the morning; the last, into which I fell, consisted of lord Byron,
Mr. Ball, Mr. Davis, Mr. White, with lord Byron's servant and my native boy, to carry a canteen of water, and
the specimens we might collect.
Previous to our descent we had provided ourselves with
long canes and poles, by which we might test the soundness of any spot before stepping on it, and immediately on
reaching the ledge we, found the wisdom of the precaution.
This offset is formed wholly of scoria and lava, mostly
burned to a cinder, and everywhere intersected by deep
crevices and chasmns, from many of which light vapor and
smoke were emitted, and from others a.scalding steam.
The general surface is a black, glossy incrustation; retaining perfectly the innumerably diversified tortuous configurations of the lava, as it originally cooled, and so brittle as




DESCENT INTO TTHE CRATER.


309


to crack and break under us like ice, while the hollow reverberations of our footsteps beneath, sufficiently assured
us of the unsubstantial character of the whole mass. In
some places, by thrusting our sticks down with force, large
piecis would break through, disclosing deep fissures and
holes, apparently without bottom. These however were
generally too small to appear dangerous. The width of
this ledge is constantly diminished in a greater or less degree, by the falling of large masses from its edges into the
crater; and it is not improbable that in some future convulsion, the whole structure may yet be plunged into the
abyss below.
Leaving the sulphur banks on the eastern side behind
us, we directed our course along the northern part to the
western cliffs. As we advanced, these became more and
more perpendicular, until they presented nothing but the
bare and upright face of an immense wall, from eight td
ten hundred feet high, on whose surface huge stones and
rocks hung, apparently so loosely as to threaten falling, at
the agitation of a breath. In many places a white curling
vapor issued from the sides and summit of the precipice;
and, in two or three, streams of clay-colored lava, like
small waterfalls, extending almost from the top to the bottom, had cooled, evidently at a very recent period. At
almost every step, something new attracted our attention,
and by stopping sometimes to look up, not without a feeling of apprehension at the enormous masses above our
heads, at others to gain, by a cautious approach to the
brink of the gulf, a nearer glance at the equally frightful
depth below; at one time turning aside to ascertain the
heat of a column of steam, and at another to secure some
unique or beautiful specimen, we occupied more than two
hours in proceeding the same number of miles.
At that distance from our entrance on the ledge, we
came to a spot on the western side, where it widened many
hundred feet, and terminated next the crater, not as in
most other places, perpendicularly, but in an immense
heap of broken slabs and blocks of lava, loosely piled
together as they had fallen in some convulsion of the
mountain, and jutting off to the bottom in a frightful mass
of ruin. Here, we had been informed, the descent into,
27*




EMOTIONS EXCITED,


the depth of the crater could be most easily made; but
being without a guide, we were entirely at a loss what
course to take, until we unexpectedly descried the gentlemen who had preceded us, reascending. They dissuaded
us most strenuously from proceeding farther; but their
lively representations of the difficulty and dangers of the
way, only strengthened the resolution of lord Byron to go
down; and knowing that the crater had been crossed at
this end, we hastened on, notwithstanding the refusal of
the guide to return with us. The descent was as perilous
as it had been represented; but by proceeding with great
caution, testing well the safety of every step before committing our weight to it, and often stopping to select the
course which seemed least hazardous, in the space of
about twenty minutes, by a zigzag way, we reached the
bottom, without any accident of greater amount than a
few scratches on the hands from the sharpness and roughness of the lava, by which we had occasionally been obliged to support ourselves. When about half way down, we
were encouraged to persevere in our undertaking, by
meeting a native who had descended on the opposite side,
and passed over. It was only, however, from the renewed
assurance it gave of the practicability of the attempt; for
besides being greatly fatigued, he was much cut and
bruised from a fall; said the bottom was " ino - ino loa
— ka wahi 0 debelo! " -" excessively bad, the place of
the devil! "- and could be prevailed on to return with us
only by the promise of a large reward.
It is difficult to say whether sensations of admiration or
of terror predominated, on reaching the bottom of this
tremendous spot. As I looked up at the gigantic wall
which on every side rose to the very clouds, I felt oppressed to a most unpleasant degree, by a sense of confinement.
Either from the influence of imagination, or from the actual effect of the intense power of a noonday sun beating
directly on us, in addition to the heated and sulphureous
atmosphere of the volcano itself, I for some moments experienced an agitation of spirits and difficulty of respiration, that made me cast a look of wishful anxiety towards
our little hut, which, at an elevation of near fifteen hundred
feet, seemed only like a bird's nest on the opposite cliff.




APPEARANCE OF THE BOTTOM.


311


These emotions, however, soon passed off, and we began,
with great spirit and activity, the enterprise before us.
I can compare the general aspect of the bottom of the
crater, to nothing that will give a livelier image of it to
your mind, dear M —, than to the appearance the lake of
Otsego would present, if the ice with which it is covered
in the winter were suddenly broken up by a heavy storm
and as suddenly frozen again, while large slabs and blocks
were still toppling, and dashing, and heaping against each
other, with the motion of the waves. Just so rough and
distorted was the black mass under our feet, only a hundred fold more terrific, independently of the innumerable
cracks, fissures, deep chasms and holes, from which sulphureous vapor, steam and smoke were exhaled, with a degree of heat that testified to the near vicinity of fire.
We had not proceeded far, before our path was intersected by a chasm at least thirty feet wide, and of a greater depth than we could ascertain, at the nearest distance
we dare approach. The only alternative was to return, or
follow its course until it terminated, or became narrow
enough to be crossed. We chose the latter, but soon met
an equally formidable obstacle in a current of smoke, so
highly impregnated with a suffocating gas as not to allow
of respiration. What a situation for a group of half a
dozen men, totally unaware of the extent of peril to which
they might be exposed! The lava on which we stood
was in many places so hot that we could not hold for a
moment in our hands the pieces we knocked off for specimens. On one side lay a gulf of unfathomable depth, on
the other an inaccessible pile of ruins, and immediately in
front an oppressive and deadly vapor. While hesitating
what to do, we perceived the smoke to be swept occasionally, by an eddy of the air, in a direction opposite to that
in which it most of the time settled; and watching an opportunity when our way was thus made clear, we held
our breath and ran as rapidly as the dangerous character of
the path would permit, until we had gained a place beyond
its ordinary course. We here unexpectedly found ourselves also delivered from the other impediment to our
progress; for the chasm abruptly ran off in a direction far
from that we wished to pursue. Our escape from the




312


BURNING CONE.


vapor, however, was that which we considered the most
important; and so great was our impression of the danger
to which we had been exposed from it, that when we saw
our way to the opposite side open, without any special
obstacle before us, we felt disposed formally to return
thanks to Almighty God for our deliverance. But before
this was proposed, all our number, except lord Byron, Mr.
Davis, and myself, had gone forward so far as to be out of
call; and, for the time, the external adoration of the Creator, from the midst of one of the most horrible of his works,
was reluctantly waived.
At an inconsiderable distance from us was one of the
largest of the conical craters, whose laborious action had
so greatly impressed our minds during the night; and we
hastened to a nearer examination of it: so prodigious an
engine I never expect again to behold. On reaching its
base, we judged it to be one hundred and fifty feet high, a
huge, irregularly shapen, inverted funnel of lava, covered
with clefts, orifices, and tunnels, from which bodies of
steam escaped with deafening explosion, while pale flames,
ashes, stones, and lava, were propelled with equal force
and noise from its ragged and yawning mouth. The
whole formed so singularly terrific an object, that, in order
to secure a hasty sketch of it, I permitted the other gentlemen to go a few yards nearer than I did, while I occupied
myself with my pencil. Lord Byron and his servant ascended the cone several feet, but found the heat too great
to remain longer than to detach, with their sticks, a piece
or two of recent lava, burning hot.
So highly was our admiration excited by the scene, that
we forgot the danger to which we might be exposed should
any change take place in the currents of destructive gas -
which exist in a greater or less degree in every part of
the crater - until Mr. Davis, after two or three intimations
of the propriety of an immediate departure, warned us in
a most decided tone, not only as a friend, but as a professional gentleman, of the peril of our situation: assuring
us, that three inspirations of tir by which we might be surrounded, would prove fatal to every one of us. We felt the
truth of the assertion, and notwithstanding the desire we
had of visiting a similar cone, covered with a beautiful in



PROVIDENTIAL ESCAPE.


313


crustation of sulphur, at the distance from us of a few
hundred yards only, we hastily took the speediest course
from so dangerous a spot. The ascent to the ledge was
not less difficult and frightful than the descent had been,
and for the last few yards was almost perpendicular; but
we all succeeded in safely gaining its top, not far from the
path by which we had in the morning descended the upper cliff.
We reached the hut about two o'clock, nearly exhausted
from fatigue, thirst, and hunger; and had immediate reason to congratulate ourselves on a most narrow escape
from suffering and extreme danger, if not from death. For,
on turning round, we perceived the whole chasm to be
filling with thick sulphureous smoke; and within half an
hour, it was so completely choaked with it, that not an
object below us was visible. Even where we were, in
the unconfined region above, the air became so oppressive
as to make us think seriously of a precipitate retreat.
This continued to be the case for the greater part of the
afternoon. A dead calm took place both within and without the crater, and from the diminution of noise, and the
various signs of action, the volcano itself seemed to be
resting from its labors.
Mr. Ruggles, during his morning ramble, had gathered
two large buckets of fine strawberries, which made a delightful dessert at our dinner. The mountains of Hawaii
are the only parts of the islands on which this delicious
fruit is found. A large red raspberry is also abundant on
them; but even when fully ripe, it has a rough acid taste,
similar to that of an unripe blackberry. The flavor of the
strawberry, however, is as fine as that of the same fruit in
America.
Towards evening, the smoke again rolled off to the south,
before a fresh breeze; and everything assumed its ordinary
aspect. At this time Lieut. Malden, notwithstanding his
indisposition, succeeded in getting sufficient data to calculate the height of the upper cliff: he made it nine hundred
feet; agreeing with the measurement of Mr. Goodrich
and Mr. Chamberlain some months before. If this be correct, it is judged that the height of the ledge cannot be less
than six hundred feet; making the whole depth of the




314


ERUPTION OF THE VOLCANO.


crater, that which I have stated in the preceding pages,
fifteen hundred feet. On similar grounds, the circumference of the crater at its bottom has been estimated at a
distance of from five to seven miles; and at its top, from
eight to ten miles.
Greatly to our regret, we found it would be necessary
to set off on our return early the next morning, all the
provisions of the natives being entirely expended. We
could have passed a week here with undiminished interest, and wished to remain at least one day longer, to visit
the sulphur banks, which abound with beautiful crystallizations, and to make some researches on the summit. We
would have been glad, also, to have added to the variety
of specimens already collected, especially of the volcanic
sponge, and capillary volcanic glass, not found on the side
of the crater where we encamped. But it was impossible;
and we made preparations for an early departure. Just as
these were completed, in the edge of the evening, another
party from the Blonde, consisting of about a dozen midshipmen, arrived, with whom we shared our lodgings for
the night.
The splendid illuminations of the preceding evening
were again lighted up with the closing of the day; and
after enjoying their beauty for two or three hours with
renewed delight, we early sought a repose which the
fatigue of the morning had rendered most desirable. The
chattering of the islanders around our cabins, and the occasional sound of voices in protracted conversation among
our own number, had, however, scarcely ceased long
enough to admit of sound sleep, when the volcano again
began roaring and laboring with redoubled activity. The
confusion of noises was prodigiously great. In addition
to all we had before heard, there was an angry muttering
from the very bowels of the abyss, accompanied, at intervals, by what appeared the desperate effort of some gigantic power struggling for deliverance. These sounds were
not fixed or confined to one place, but rolled from one end
of the crater to the other; sometimes seeming to be immediately under us-when a sensible tremor of the
ground on Wxhich we lay, took place-and then again
rushing to the farthest end with incalculable velocity.




ERUPTION OF THE VOLCANO.


315


The whole air was filled with the tumult; and those most
soundly asleep were quickly roused by it to thorough
wakefulness. Lord Byron sprang up in his cot, exclaiming, " We shall certainly have an eruption; such power
must burst through everything!"  He had barely ceased
speaking, when a dense column of heavy black smoke was
seen rising from the crater, directly in front of us, the subterranean struggle ceased, and immediately after, flames
burst from a large cone, near which we had been in the
morning, and which then appeared to have been long inactive. Red-hot stones, cinders, and ashes, were also propelled to a great height with immense violence; and
shortly after, the molten lava came boiling up, and flowed
down the sides of the cone, and over the surrounding
scoria, in two beautiful curved streams, glittering with indescribable brilliance.
At the same time a whole lake of fire opened in a more
distant part. This could not have been less than two
miles in circumference; and its action was more horribly
sublime than anything I ever imagined to exist even in
the ideal visions of unearthly things. Its surface had all
the agitation of an ocean; billow after billow tossed its
monstrous bosom in the air, and occasionally those from
different directions burst with such violence, as in the concussion to dash the fiery spray, seemingly, forty and fifty
feet high. It was at once the most splendidly beautiful
and dreadfully fearful of spectacles; and irresistibly turned the thoughts to that lake of fire, from whence, we are
told, the smoke of torment shall ascend for ever and ever!
No work of him who laid the foundations of the earth, and
who by his almighty power still supports them, ever
brought to my mind the more awful revelations of his
Word with such overwhelming impression. Truly, " with
God is terrible majesty!"  " Let all the nations say unto,God, how terrible art thou in thy works! "
Under the name of Pele, this volcano was one of the
most distinguished and most feared of the former gods of
Hawaii. Its terrific features are well suited to the character and abode of an unpropitious demon; and few works
in nature would be more likely to impose thoughts of terror on the ignorant and superstitious, and, fromt heir de



316


RETURN TO BYRON BAY.


structive ravages, lead to sacrifices of propitiation and
peace. It is now rapidly losing its power over the minds
of the people; not one of the large number in our company seemed to be at all apprehensive of it as a supernatural being.
After an almost sleepless night, we early turned our faces
homeward, not without many " a lingering look behind,"
even at the very entrance of our path. It was precisely
six o'clock when the last of our party left the brink.
Never was there a more delightfil morning. The atmosphere was perfectly clear, and the air, with the thermometer at 56 deg. Fahrenheit, pure and bracing. A splendid
assemblage of strong and beautifully contrasted colors
glowed around us. The bed of the crater, still covered
with the broad shadow of the eastern banks, was of jetty
blackness. The reflection of the early sun added a deeper
redness to the western cliffs; those opposite were of a
bright yellow, while the body of smoke rising between
them hung in a light drapery of pearly whiteness against
the deep azure of the southern sky. Mounaloa and Mounakea, in full view in the west, were richly clothed in purple; and the long line of intervening forest, the level over
which we were passing, and the precipice by which it is
encircled, thickly covered with trees and shrubbery, exhibited an equally bright and lively green.
On gaining the top of the first precipice, the distant
view of the crater was so strikingly beautiful, that I stopped long enough to secure a hasty sketch, though most of
the gentlemen had preceded me. A copy I hope to send
with this account of our excursion. We walked rapidly
during the morning, and by twelve o'clock reached the
houses built for our accommodation, about half way between the harbor and the volcano. We determined to
spend the night here, and after a refreshing nap dressed
for dinner, which we took at four o'clock on a bed of
leaves spread on the shaded side of one of the houses.
We set off before daylight the next morning, and about
one o'clock arrived at the bay. H —  was more ill than
when I left her: and for the last twelve hours, the family
had become so much alarmed, as to think seriously of
-sending an express for me.




ILLNESS OF MRS. STEWART.


317


Byron's bay, Monday, July 4, 1825. Lord Byron informed me on Saturday, when dining with him, that the
Blonde would leave this harbor, now called Byron's bay in
honor of his lordship, on Wednesday of this week, for
Kealakekua, on the opposite side of the island. We are
seriously apprehensive that H-  will not be able to return in the frigate. She is exceedingly ill, and every hope
seems again to be threatened. Mr. Davis called me aside
on the Sabbath, and told me he thought nothing but a
speedy removal to a more bracing climate could save her,
and urged an immediate departure from the islands as soon
as she might gain strength to undertake a voyage. Mr.
Bloxam, who has been deeply interested in her situation,
after a short visit to-day, during which he was particularly
affected by her appearance, sent home an album belonging
to her, with the following lines, written on returning to
his lodgings. I am sorry to say to those who love her,
but from whom she is removed too far to receive their
sympathy and their special prayers, that they only express
the general sentiment, as to her present state.," Hark - they whisper - angels say,
Sister spirit, come away."
Hark! from realms of rest above
Steals the hymn of peace and love,!
As the enfranchised spirit flies
To her home in yonder skies,
Strains which Eden never knew,
Guide her untrod pathway through.
' Sister - ransomed spirit - come!
Exile! seek thy native home!
Come   the Spirit bids thee -here
Never falls the parting tear:
Spread thy wings for speedy flight
To the realms of love and light i
H. B. M. ship Blonde, Wednesday, 6, 11 o'clock, P. M.
t —      was carried from  her bed to the barge, which
brought us off at four o'clock this afternoon, and is now
quietly reposing in the after-cabin, far from the noise of
the ship. When we came on board, we fully expected to
proceed to the leeward of the island for eight or ten days;
28




318


RETURN TO OAHUo


but, when lord Byron saw how very ill H-  is, partly
that she might meet her children as soon as possible, and
partly on account of a letter he has received respecting a
piratical vessel, he, an hour since, determined to bear away
directly for Oahu. This is joyful tidings to us, for we
had much reason to fear that H     could not have survived to see Honolulu by the other route. We are overwhelmed by the kindness and affectionate attention of
lord Byron. He has insisted upon relinquishing his own
private cabin to us, that we may be free as possible from
all the inconvenience of shipboard. Mr. Davis, who manifests deep solicitude for H —, on hearing of the determination to proceed immediately to Oahu, said to her, "In
his lordship, madam, you have really met a brother —he
is one of the kindest of men! "  He has our warm gratitude and lasting affection.
Mission house, at Honolulu, Saturday night, July 9.
We passed Diamond Hill this morning at sunrise, and at
eight o'clock came to anchor. Soon after breakfast, the
barge came alongside to carry us on shore. H-  was
removed to the deck, and lowered to the boat in an armchair, where a mattrass and cot were ready to receive her.
On reaching the shore, the crew of the barge carried her
in a cot to Mr. Bingham's cottage, where she was safely
placed in her own room, less exhausted than we bad fear-.ed she would be. It was thought advisable that she should
take an apartment at the mission house, on account of the
greater quietude of the upper rooms, and accordingly this
afternoon at four o'clock was removed here. Meeting the
children in good health, &c. has produced an excitement
of spirits which makes her 'appear rather revived this
evening.
Tuesday, July 12. News from the Spanish main has
hastened the departure of the Blonde. Yesterday some of
the gentlemen, who did not expect to be on shore again,
paid us a farewell visit. Among others, lieutenants Ball
and Talbot, and Mr. Wilson the purser, all of whom requested permission to say farewell to H —. This morning I met lord Byron, Mr. Davis, and Mr. Bloxam at
breakfast, at Mr. Bingham's, after which they came over
to express to Mrs. S —, for the last time, the interest




SUCCESS OF THE MISSION.


319


they feel in her situation, and leave their best wishes for
her recovery. Immediately afterwards, they went to the
point, where the captain's gig was in waiting. Gratitude
for their very polite and unwearied attentions, led me to
accompany them to the beach, where, with affection and
sincere regret, I gave them the parting hand in this world.
In the course of an hour, the frigate weighed anchor under
a salute from the fort, and early in the afternoon faded
from our sight forever.
POSTSCRIPT.
FOR nearly three months after the departure of the
Blonde, I was confined, almost exclusively, to the sicI
chamber of Mrs. Stewart; and kept brief notes only of
passing events. Incidents of a most interesting character,
in reference to the success of the mission and the state of
the people, were daily taking place - incidents which testified to a change, in the intellectual and moral prospects
of the nation, of the most gratifying character.
The number of schools was multiplying as rapidly as
books and teachers could be furnished; and already contained fifteen thousand pupils, some thousands of whom
were supposed to be capable of reading intelligibly in theirown language: while the population of the whole group
were calling for the means of instruction. Drunkenness
had become a public crime: and the manufacture of intoxicating drinks was prohibited by law. In the region of
every missionary establishment, the songs, and dances, and
games, and dissipation, once so universal, had ceased.
Theft was becoming unpopular and disgraceful; and proclamations against every vice had been made by order of
the government through all the islands. The Sabbath
was extensively regarded as the day of God, and twothirds of the whole population in the vicinity of the missionary chapels, regularly attended the preaching of the
gospel: forming congregations, at all the principal stations
of three thousand, four thousand, and even five thousand
hearers. But to furnish in full the proof of these data,




320


ARRIVAL OF THE FAWN.


would be to extend this volumne, already enlarged beyond
the promised size, to an undesirable length; and, I can but
briefly add, from a record of a later date, the closing scenes
of our residence in the Pacific.
The apprehension excited during the visit of the Blonde,
of the necessity of a removal from the islands, for the preservation of Mrs. Stewart's life, was deepened soon afterwards, by the professional opinion of Dr. Blatchely of the
mission: and, in the course of a few weeks, became the
settled conviction of all who had a knowledge of her situation. As early as the first of September, we considered
the certainty of our return to America to rest entirely on
the fact of her surviving, in a state to undertake a voyage,
until an opportunity of leaving the islands should offer.
That we should meet with a suitable opportunity, at a
period sufficiently early, was very improbable. Three requisites were essential, which we could not expect to find
united in the same ship in so remote a part of the world -
a physician attached to the vessel; accommodations sufficiently large for a family; and a ship homeward bound.
Indeed, our whole expectation of making a voyage, after
the departure of the Blonde, rested on a visit from Con.
Hull - commanding the American squadron in the Pacific - in the frigate United States, which letters from the
secretary of the navy had led us to anticipate. But Corn.
Hull might not arrive for months - might not come at all
- and if he did, even in time for our purpose, it might not
be in his power to accommodate us with a passage.
Such was our attitude, when the ship Fawn, Capt. Dale,
of London, touched at Oahu for refreshments in the early
part of October. Mr. Short, a surgeon attached to her,
soon visited Mrs. Stewart; and added his opinion to that
of others already given, that her rescue depended solely on
an early removal from the islands. From him we learned,
that the Fawn was bound directly to London; ascertained
that her accommodations were large, and superior to those
of most ships navigating the Pacific; and immediately afterwards had proffered to us by Capt. Dale, in a most kind
manner, a passage to England, with every comfort his ship
could secure: but only on condition of its being accepted
gratuitously, as an expression of his friendship and good



FAREWELL VISIT TO MA.tTI.


will. Mr. Short, at the same time, made a similar tender
of his professional services to Mrs. Stewart and her family.
I could only acknowledge myself deeply affected by the
disinterested kindness of those, who until then were entire
strangers; and refer them to the decision of my associates
for an answer.
A meeting of the members of the mission then at Oahu
was called, and the subject submitted to them in two propositions: 1st, -" Whether it was my duty, under the
existing circumstances of my family, to return, at least for
a time, to the United States? " and, 2d, -" If so, whether
the kind offer of Capt. Dale, of a gratuitous passage to
London, should be accepted?" both of which were fully
and unanimously decided in the affirmative: and we began to prepare for embarkation at the end of eight days.
After the first emotions of a decision so important, my
thoughts and affections were hurried to Maui; a spot interesting above all others to my heart, and which I could
not think of leaving without the farewell visit of at least
an hour. This, through the very great kindness of a principal mercantile house at Oahu, I was enabled to do by express, in a small vessel, under the command, for the occasion, of Mr. Elwell, of Boston; a gentleman connected,
with the establishment, to whom I had often been indebted
for similar marks of friendship. We arrived at Lahaina:
at midnight, and, as we had been delayed three days, by
head winds, on a passage usually made by such vessels in
one, and no time was to be lost, in despite of the great
darkness of the night and the danger of the surf, I landed
immediately.
The mission house had been removed from the place on,
which it originally stood; but, familiarity with every spot
enabled me easily to grope my way through the luxuriant
plantations by which it is now surrounded. But how great
was my astonishment at the peculiar circumstances in
which I found our inestimable friends, Mr. and Mrs. Richards. Instead of being permitted, unobserved, to break
their slumbers by the salutations of friendship and affection, how was I surprised to meet, at my first approach to
the house, the presented bayonet, and to hear the stern
challenge of the watchful sentry, "Who goes there?" and?
28*




322


HEROISM OF MRS. RICHARDS,


when assured that it was a friend, how inexplicable to my
mind the fact of receiving the cordial embraces of my
brother, not in the peaceful cottage of the missionary, but
in the midst of a garrison, apparently in momentary expectation of the attack of a foe; and to find the very couch
on which was reclining one who to us has been most emphatically a sister, surrounded by the muskets and the
spears of those known to the world only by the name of
savages!
My first thoughts were, that a revolt of the island
against the general government had taken place, in which
our friends had been seized, and were guarded as captives;
or that some formidable party of unfriendly natives had
risen with the determination of destroying them, and from
whom they were protected by the higher chiefs; but as
soon as an explanation could be given, I learned that their
peril was not from the heathen, but from the degenerate
sons of a civilized and Christian country! The seamen of
a large British ship at anchor at Lahaina, exasperated at
the restraints laid on their licentiousness, through the influence of the mission, had carried their menaces and open
acts of violence against Mr. and Mrs. Richards to such
an extent as to cause the chiefs to arm their people, and
defend them at the hazard of life: and at that very hour,
three armed boats' crews, amounting to near forty men,
were on shore, with the sworn purpose of firing their
houses, and taking their lives before morning!
Only two days before, after a succession of fearful threats
and gross insults, the same party, countenanced aOd upheld by their captain and officers, and armed with knives
and pistols, had landed under the black flag of death, and
surrounding the missionary enclosure, then unprotected,
offered life to our friends only on condition of their retracting their instructions to the islanders founded on the seventh commandment. The firmness with which they were
met by Mr. Richards, only made them doubly infuriate;
and, as they seemed ready to fall upon hirn, to execute
threats of horror, Mrs. Richards, with the spirit of a martyr, rushed between them and her husband, exclaiming,
" My only protection is in my husband and my God; I
had hoped, that the helplessness of a female, surrounded




RESOLUTION OF THE NATIVES.


323


only by heathen, would have touched the compassion of
men from a Christian land -but, if such cannot be the
case, know that I stand ready to share the fate of my husband! When I left my country, I took my life in my
hand, not knowing when I might be called to lay it down;
if this is the time, know that I am prepared - sooner than
disgrace the character I sustain, or dishonor the religion of
my Master, by countenancing in the people we have come
to enlighten a course of conduct at variance with the word
of God!" For a moment the heroism of a refined and
lovely woman appeared to shake the firmness of their purpose, and they retired from the ground: but it was only to
return with a more relentless determination, and the interference of the natives took place in time barely to rescue
the lives of their teachers, as is believed, at the hazard of
their own. So resolute were they, however, in the defence, when once commenced, that three thousand men
were armed, and in readiness to seize the ship, and to
make prisoners of her crew, should another outrage of the
kind be attempted.           ~
The statement of these circumstances, with the unfolding of the character and object of my visit, made our interview most deeply affecting; and the remainder of the
night was spent in thought and conversation, of unmingled
sorrow at the termination which was about to take place,
of that union and intercourse which for near three years
had been the source of some of our highest and sweetest
enjoyments.
A first resolution, on the mention of our embarkation in
four days, was, to return with me to Oahu, for a last interview with I-I-; but, after beginning to prepare for
the visit, it occurred to them, that, under existing circumstances, it might appear like deserting their post; or, at
least, might afford an occasion to their enemies to say,
that they had been driven from their station; and with
sadness, but with firmness, they determined, from a sense
of duty, to forego the melancholy satisfaction they had
contemplated.
At sunrise, Mr. Richards and myself visited the spacious, well-built and finished chapel, lately erected by the
chiefs: and in the pulpit, from which we had fondly hoped




DEPARTURE FROM MAt I.


jointly to proclaim the glad tidings of salvation, in tears
and in prayer we looked to God, the arbitrator of our distinies, for his blessing on our future divided labors in his
cause. And, in the course of an hour, after having bade
a hasty adieu to the chiefs and such of the people as were
best known to me, we sorrowfully interchanged embraces
which we had great reason to fear would prove our last in
this world.
I shall never forget the farewell words of Mrs. Richards,
especially as connected with the scenes through which she
had just passed, and which then might be renewed at any
moment —"It is true, I weep, and shall weep again and
again. A heavier affliction could scarce befall me, than
the removal of your family from the islands, leaving us
alone on Maui, in the midst of twenty thousand heathen;
but I weep not at my own loss only, I weep also at yours;
I have always been contented in my situation, but I never
knew the happiness of the missionary life until within the
six months past. It seems but yesterday that we went
forth weeping with the precious seed of eternal life, and
now we are returning from our work daily, bringing our
sheaves with us, and shouting the harvest home! "
Never did the field of labor I had hoped to occupy for
life, appear so truly desirable: and I found my heart clinging closely to every object included in it, from my associates, and the thousands eagerly desirous of my instruction, to the very trees and shrubbery I had planted and
nurtured in our garden.  Struggles of strong affection
filled me with sadness and gloom, and during the passage
to Oahu, I had almost fully determined to permit the
Fawn to depart without us, and venture a delay until the
United States should arrive. How great then was my
surprise and satisfaction to hear before landing, that there
had been an arrival from South America, and that a packet
from commodore Hull was waiting my return. That gentleman could not know my peculiar situation. Still I
was persuaded that his communication would, in the providence of God, make my path plain, and remove every
doubt then resting on it. And such was fully the case;
for on breaking the seal of a long and kind letter from
him, though utterly unaware of the importance' of the




EMBARKATION FOR LONDON.


information to me, he gave the most unqualified assurance
that it would be impossible for his vessel to make the
proposed voyage to the Sandwich islands. This was all
that was necessary to render our duty clear as noonday,
and we prepared cheerfully to follow the path we believed
pointed out of God.
Still, warm affection for our companions, some of whom,
besides Mr. and Mrs. Richards —especially Mrs. Bingham - were in circumstances of affliction greatly to aggravate the sorrow of a separation; love to their work,
and to our work, and the highly encouraging state of the
people, thousands of them delighting in our instructions,
and tens of thousands perishing from a want of more
laborers in a field ripe for the sickle, all caused us to bid
farewell to the Sandwich islands with feelings of the most
painful depression. Rude as was the throng which covered the beach as our boats shoved off, unlike as was the
whole scene, except in the murmur of sympathy and the
salutations and tears of affection, to the enlightened and
pious multitude, and the beautiful and classic ground on
which our eyes rested, as we waved a last adieu to the
American shores - it was scarce less affecting, and caused
an agitation of heart far more oppressive, than any we experienced, ON THE NINETEENTH OF NOVEMBER, 1822.








APPENDIX.
It has been thought that the following Letters would form a welcome and not inappropriate Appendix to the preceding record.
Though hastily written, for the columns of a daily newspaper, to
meet and arrest, at an early period, any unfavorable impressions
which might be made on the public mind by the misrepresentations
and detractions of a leading literary journal in Europe, respecting
the missionaries at the Sandwich islands, they furnish, it is believed, a just, though brief and imperfect, exposition of the origin
and general character, as well as falsity, of the calumnies which
for years have been widely and industriously circulated, both in
Europe and America, on the authority of prejudiced and misinformed -and perhaps in some cases unprincipled - voyagers and
redacteurs of travels.
LETTERS ADDRESSED TO J. EVARTS, ESQ., COR. SEC. OF THE A. B. C.
FOR FOREIGN MISSIONS, IN REPLY TO AN ARTICLE IN THE
LONDON QUARTERLY REVIEW, FOR MARCH, 1827.
LETTER I.
Boston, July 9,1827.
DEAR SIR: Early after the arrival, in this country, of the March
number of the London Quarterly Review, my attention was directed to an article it contains, relating to the Sandwich islands. A
Review of a "Voyage of his majesty's ship Blonde, in the years
1824, 1825," is made an occasion of presenting to the public the
characters, instructions, and influence of the American missionaries residing at the Sandwich islands, in a most erroneous and unjust light, and of conveying impressions of the design and result of
their establishment there, as unfavorable as they are unfounded.'
The legitimate ends of a literary review are, by able and candid




328


APPENDIX.


criticism, to improve the public taste; by the presentation of correct sentiments, to guide the public judgment; and by a facility of
circulation, widely to disseminate knowledge derived from authentic sources. If these are the principles by which the editors of the
London Quarterly are governed, they cannot but desire the correction of any false statements, and the removal of any false impressions, made through their instrumentality: if they are not, when
chargeable with such statements and such impressions, they deserve to be publicly exposed.
I do not hesitate to assert, sir, in the firm confidence of furnishing the proof, that the Review, so far as it relates to the American
missionaries, is chargeable with gross error, misrepresentation, and
falsehood.
Error in point of fact, is stamped on the very first pages of the
article. For some object-and no other is discoverable than that
of wresting from the American missionaries the merit of having
introduced the religion of the cross at the Sandwich islands-the
writer, supported as it appears by Mrs. Graham, (a lady employed
by the publisher of the voyage to prepare the work for the press
from the notes of the Rev. Mr. Bloxam, chaplain of the frigate)
says, p. 424, that Christianity "was planted, at the Sandwich islands, by the spontaneous will of the natives, before any mission
even of persuasion had reached them."
This declaration immediately follows an account of the destruction of idolatry by the young king Liholiho; and is predicated on
the baptism of two of his most distinguished chiefs. The whole
sentence reads thus: "From this moment, (the overthrow of the
idols and the burning of the temples) two chiefs possessed of great
power and influence, Kalaimoku (better known by the assumed
name of William Pitt) and Boki his brother, resolved to take the
first opportunity of solemnly and openly professing Christianity;
and accordingly, when Capt. Freycinet touched at the Sandwich
islands in his voyage round the world, these two chiefs were baptized by the chaplain of his ship; and thus, to use the words of
Mrs. Graham, Christianity "was planted by the spontaneous will
of the natives, before any mission even of persuasion reached them.
It was not until the following year that the American missionaries
landed on the islands."
Now, sir, let us for one moment examine this statement. The
French corvette Uranie, under the command of M. Freycinet, arrived at the island of Hawaii, (Owhyhee) on her voyage round the
world, on the eighth of August, 1819; she sailed again on the sixteenth of the same month, and after a visit of a few days at the
islands of Maui and Oahu, took her final departure from the group,
and pursued her homeward course by Cape Horn. The destruction of idolatry and the abolition of the kabu system did not occur
until late in the month of November following. How can these
two facts, with their dates established by incontestible record, be
made to agree with the statement in the Review?
Had the writer of the voyage given the dates of the incidents




APPENDIX.


329


'the sentence would have read thus: " From the moment of the
abolition of idolatry in November, 1819, two chiefs, Kalaimoku and
Boki, resolved to take the first opportunity solemnly and openly to
profess Christianity; and were accordingly baptized on the fif.
teenth day of the preceding August, when Capt. Freycinet touched at
the Sandwich islands!"  Here, if in no other place, the author
must plead guilty to a charge either of error willful and deliberate,
or of ignorance inexcusable in one of such high pretensions and
positive spirit.
The truth of the circumstance to which the reviewer has reference, is simply this: The Roman Catholic chaplain attached to
M. Freycinet's vessel, was in the practice of baptizing natives at
many of the islands visited by that navigator, from a belief that
even uninstructed heathens, though utterly ignorant of the nature
and design of the ceremony, would, by it, be rescued from endless
perdition. It has been boasted of him, by persons holding the
same religious creed, that he thus saved the souls of many thousand islanders during the voyage. On his arrival at the Sandwich
islands, the same motive led him to baptize many there. Kalaimoku, though still in all the darkness and degradation of open
idolatry, was of the number. A minute account of this baptism is
given in the voyage; but no mention is made of any request, on
the part of Kalaimoku, for the administration of the rite; nor is it
intimated that he appeared in the. least impressed with the importance and solemnity of the ordinance. On the contrary, it is expressly stated that no one of the chiefs present manifested much
interest in the transaction. And M. Arago, in his "Letters on M.
Freycinet's Voyage," after exhibiting the whole ceremony to his
readers as a religious farce, adds a comment on the performance,
sufficiently indicative of its character, in the following words"After exchanging presents with M. Freycinet, the minister Pitt
took his leave; and, furnished with his passport to Paradise, went
home to his seven wives, and to sacrifice to his idols! "I
Christianity would have been introduced as " solemnly" and as
directly, by the "spontaneous will of the natives," had the zealous
priest, in place of Kalaimoku, baptized the idols which still continued to be the objects of his worship, and thus converted the images themselves from logs of wood to saints of the calendar.
The exposure of this error, however, is unimportant, except as a
proof of the misrepresentation in which the whole article abounds.
My next letter will embrace a topic more intimately connected with
the reputation of the missionaries.
Yours, &c.      C. S. STEWART
LETTER II,
Boston, July 10, 1827.
In the same paragraph of the article in the London Quarterly, to
which I directed your attention yesterday, the spirit of vituperation
29




330


APPENDIX.


at last so unsparingly bestowed on the American missionaries at
the Sandwich islands, is exhibited in a sneer, connected with the
name of the principal island of the group.
This name has been generally written and pronounced Ovwhyhee,
a sound differing essentially from the name of the island as spoken
by the natives themselves. On gaining a knowledge of the language, the missionaries were fully persuaded of this fact; and
when it became necessary to fix the orthography of the word, it
was determined, rather than to force upon the islanders an arbitrary foreign usage, to adhere to the simple sounds composing it
as pronounced by themselves, and to write and speak the name
in a manner intelligible at once to the whole population and conformable to the genius of their tongue. The change in the spelling thus induced, has led the reviewer to assert, in connexion with
a most convincing proof, in parenthesis, of his prerogative to decide
the merits of the case, that this word, (Owhyhee) " by a silly affectation of Italianizing, as they call it, the language and proper
names, (the letter w in Italian!)> the American missionaries are
pleased to spell Hawaii."
The contempt lurking in this sentence fails of its object. No
missionary at the Sandwich islands ever gave the reason here assigned for altering the orthography of any word in the language of
the country; such a reason never crossed the brain of any of their
number, and silly indeed is the credulity of the writer in believing
so improbable a fabrication to be true.
One important and salutary consequence of establishing a Christian mission at the Sandwich islands, has been the introduction of
letters; and a first effort of the missionaries was the reduction of
the language to a written form. As soon as practicable, an alphabet containing the requisite number of letters, was chosen from the
Roman characters; and, instead of the English sounds of the vowels, those given to them in the principal languages of the continent
of Europe, were adopted. It was made a radical principle of this
alphabet, that each letter should have but one invariable sound;
in the oral language it was ascertained that every syllable ended
with a vowel. And following these three simple rules, the missionaries, in writing the name under discussion as spoken by the
natives, necessarily and rightly spelled it Hawaii- a word of three,syllables, accented on the second: Ha pronounced as in hazard,
vai as wi in wild, an i as ee in bee.
The o, which had previously been attached to the name, was
satisfactorily discovered to be only the sign of a case, and not a
part of the proper noun. The islanders were heard to say, No
Iawaii, I Hawaii, lMai Hawaii, as well as 0 Hawaii: making the
regular declension of the noun Hawaii,
Nom.   0 Hawaii,  Hawaii.
Poss.  No Hawaii, Of Hawaii.
Obj.   1 and Mai,  To and from Hawaii.
The missionaries had but slender helps in forming their alpha



APPENDIX.                     331
bet. The labors of professor Lee, of Cambridge, England, were
not known to them; and Mr. Pickering's alphabet for Indian languages was not published. It is a sufficient proof of their intelligence and judgment in this matter, that the Hawaiian alphabet is
formed precisely on the same principles as the alphabet of the
New Zealand language, proposed by professor Lee, one of the
most distinguished philologists in Europe. The vowel sounds are
the same, also, as those in Mr. Pickering's alphabet, which he
formed for writing the Indian languages of the American continent, and which, as I am informed, is strongly approved by Mr.
Duponceau, of Philadelphia.  These three alphabets-namely,
professor Lee's, Mr. Pickering's, and that of the American missionaries-were formed independently of each other; and yet
they agree substantially, if not perfectly; all their vowel and dipthonga-1 sounds, at least, are the same.
Does it appear, then, sir, to have been a ' silly affectation," or
to have been good sense, that led the missionaries, in presenting a
written language to the people of those islands, to give them their
own names of persons and places, in forms analogous to the orthography of their whole tongue, rather than attempt to introduce
anomalies, arising from the mistakes and carelessness of foreign
visiters, and which would have been intelligible to them only as
terms by which the inhabitants of other countries designated their
persons and islands?
It would have been more kind in the reviewer, as a gentleman,
before thus casting his contempt on the mission, to have informed
himself from the volume before him, " Ellis's Tour through Hawaii,7' of the true cause of the change he ridicules; and more ingenuous in him, as a scholar and critic, to have mingled with his
animadversion, had he still thought it merited, one word of commendation on the assiduity and facility with which an unformed
and savage tongue has been clothed, and so placed before its possessors, that thousands, in the course of three or four years, are
capable of reading and writing it, and tens of thousands are, by it,
daily making advances in the elements of knowledge.
In this connexion, I would advert for a moment to a charge - in
another part of the article: that the preachers at the islands,
"from the nature of their education," are unfit to instruct the natives
in the doctrines and duties of religion; and are frequently not a
little puzzled by the remarks and questions of their simple hearers.
As I have no longer the happiness of being one of the number of
those preachers, I may, without an offence to delicacy or propriety
protest against this assertion. The missionaries make no claim to
the character of learned and scientific men: it will not be contended that they are accomplished scholars and erudite philosophers; but all who know them, will not hesitate to deny the allegation of the reviewer.  The ministers of the gospel who first
landed at the Sandwich islands, and those with whom I was more
especially associated in leaving this country three years afterwards,
were all men of liberal education. For nine years at least, before




332


APPENDI~X.


their embarkation from America, they had been pursuing a regular
course of classical, collegiate and theological study, at the first literary institutions of our country. They bore with them, to their
distant destination, the respect of their tutors and professors, for
good native talent, and for attainments in literature and science,
equal to those of their fellow-students; and as a body, they are as
well fitted for the stations they occupy, as the clergy of England
and America are for their duties at home.
Yours, &c.         C.. STEWART.
LETTER III.
Boston, July 12,1827.
The writer of the article on the Sandwich islands introduces a
notice of the great volcano of Hawaii, by representing the superstitious dread of that phenomenon among the people as altogether
invincible. " On the votaries of this particular superstition," he
says, "the missionaries were unable to make the least impression."
'It was in vain they set up Jehovah, as they were wont to do, in opposition to Pele, the goddess of subterranean jire." '"The king, with all
the assistance of his, chiefs and all the endeavors of the missionaries, strove in vain to put down her worship: nothing was ever
able to expell the belief that, when offended, she visited the children of men with thunder, lightning, earthquakes, and streams of
liquid fire - the instruments of her mighty power and vengeance."
This representation, sir, is far from being correct. The superstitious fear and worship of Pele, the presiding deity of volcanos,
gave way, as readily as any other, to the instructions of Christianity. Her highest power, and most deeply-rooted influence, were
confined, in a great degree, to the inhabitants of the districts of
Hawaii, peculiarly exposed to exhibitions of volcanic action; especially to the regions in the immediate vicinity of the great crater of Kilauea. This section of country is more remote from the
earliest missionary establishment than any other in the whole cluster of islands; and not until three years after the arrival of the
first missionaries, did a single ray of Christian light ever penetrate
the darkness of its dwellings. It is no matter of surprise then,
that, with the marks of former desolating eruptions on every feature of their land -with volumes of smoke rising from the hideous
gulf by day, and fires glaring against the clouds of heaven by
night, ever in their view-the natives here should still have remained subject to the terrors of ignorance and idolatry, and have
offered constant sacrifices of propitiation to the power thought by
them to control so truly fearful an object.
In the summer of 1823, a party of missionaries, in making the
tour of Hawaii, visited this volcano. They were the first who
ever approached it with boldness, in total disregard of all the rites
of Pele, and in defiance of the threats of her priests and people.
They ate, without hesitation, of the forbidden fruit growing on her




APPENDIX.


333


immediate territories; slept on the brink of her dwelling, and descended into the depths of her imaginary abode. The impunity
with which these supposed aggressions were made, gave weight in
the minds of the islanders who witnessed them, to the assertions of
the missionaries, that no supernatural being resided there, and that
the whole was only a sublime exhibition of the power of Jehovah,
the Creator of the heavens and of the earth, and the only living
and true God. And the acknowledgment —" Great indeed is the
God of the foreigners; weak is Pele! "- fell from the lips of many.
In the course of the succeeding year, other members of the mission
visited the crater again and again; measured its circumference
above and below, calculated its depth, passed over its terrific bottom, and, without injury or accident, explored every accessible
part; and thus renewedly demonstrated to the natives the folly of
their groundless superstition.
Early in the year 1825, Kapiolani, one of the most distinguished
of the female chiefs, determined to visit a missionary station, then
but recently established, at Waiakea - now Byron's bay- on'the
eastern coast of Hawaii. Her route across the island led her to
the crater of Kilauea. As she approached this object, she entirely
neglected all the observances enjoined by the priestess and votaries
of the goddess, and openly reproved them for their idolatry. In
'vain they denounced against her the anger of their deity. Kapiolani replied, she had no fear of Pele - that the fires of the volcano
were the work of Jehovah, and he only was her God. She soon
thus put the idolatrous party to silence and shame; and ventured,
not only to the edge of the tremendous chasm, but, accompanied
by a missionary, descended several hundred feet into the abyss,
and in evidence of the truth of her declaration, composedly worshipped God, from the midst of one of the most terrible of his
works.
This scene, the author of the review sketches with a glowing
pencil; and to it he directs the attention of his readers with great
enthusiasm. Kapiolani is presented, in bold relief, as the daring
philanthropist, the enlightened philosopher, the devout and heroic
Christian, by one courageous act freeing her people forever from a
cruel bondage of fear.
The character of this chief is indeed worthy of admiration; and
the firmness and intrepidity exhibite at the volcano in her contest
with the worshippers of Pele, mert high encomium. They did
much towards the overthrow of the remaining power of the false
goddess, and greatly strengthened the faith of those who had previously burst the chains of that superstition. A principal object,
however, in adverting to this incident, is, to notice the very strange
use to which the whole is applied by the reviewer. Instead of
pointing to Kapiolani as one instance, at least, of the highest success of the missionary enterprise, in the dignity, intelligence and
piety manifested by her, he makes the introduction of her character merely an occasion of casting fresh contempt on the missionaries: points to her as being more wise than her teachers; and, by
29*




334


APPENDIX.


" a simple, practical explanation of the power of steam, as having
done more to weaken the belief of the votaries of Pele, than could
have been done by five hundred sermons!" Immediately following which, we have the broad but unsupported assertion, that " the
missionaries in this quarter have not, indeed, displayed much common
sense in their methods of proceeding."
When the American missionaries arrived at the Sandwich islands, in the year 1820, Kapiolani was as ignorant, dark-minded
and superstitious as any of her fellows. She was intemperate,
and dissipated in all her habits; and in her whole character, as
widely as possible, different from the portrait of her given in the
Review. By what means, I would ask, was the transformation
accomplished? By what process was she freed from the ignorance
and superstition of all her preceding life? How was she rescued
from drunkenness and debauchery and every vice? How did she
become an enlightened philosopher and a devout and resolute
Christian? - Only by the daily instruction and unwearied labors
of the missionaries. She was among the very first of the nation,
to give attention to the elements of learning - among the very
first to render credence to our religious faith and to put in practice
its moral precepts - and among the very first to exhibit in her life
the sobriety, purity, and dignity of a Christian. Long before her
visit to Kilauea, she had learned from the missionaries, that the
volcano was a natural phenomenon, whose action was readily accounted for on known principles of philosophy; and in approaching its fires and descending into its bosom, she had their repeated
example to induce and encourage her to the enterprise.
Yours, &c.        C. S. STEWART.
LETTER IV.
Boston, July 14, 1827,
The commander of the ship whose voyage forms the subject of
the Review, was the Rt. Hon. Lord Byron. The appearance of
this nobleman at the Sandwich islands, made a most happy impression on the minds of the chiefs, and was followed by results
highly propitious to the interest of the nation, and to the operations of the American missionaries.
The dignity and rectitude of his whole character - a rectitude
in such wide contrast with the deportment of too many of those
who visit that distant part of the world; the wisdom and prudence'
of his counsels to the government; and the kindness of all his intercourse with the chiefs and people, fully secured to him the respect and confidence of every class. And at the end of some ten
weeks, he took his departure, amid the gratitude and prayers both
of the chiefs and their teachers.
At the time the Blonde reached the islands, Mrs. Stewart was
exceedingly ill. Mr. Davis, the surgeon of the frigate, to whom
we were indebted for a voluntary daily attendance, strongly red




APPENDIX.


commended the trial of a voyage for the benefit of her health.
In consequence of this advice, accommodations were assigned to
us, through the kindness of lord Byron, on board the Blonde, in a
trip she made to the island of Hawaii. When at sea, both in going and returning, I had a seat at his lordship's table, and free access at all times to his society. During the whole month of our
absence from Oahu, so full an opportunity was given me of forming a correct opinion of his character, and so perfect was the confidence I had just reason to place in the candor and sincerity of
his heart, that I cannot believe, without stronger, very much stronger evidence than any yet presented, that he ever gave the least authority for the misrepresentation and detraction of the Review.
That he has given such authority, the writer; though cautious in
his language, is evidently desirous of impressing on the minds of
his readers. With what good ground I utterly discredit the intimation, I will leave you, sir, to judge from some two or three of
many reasons.
The article under examination contains the following paragraph: " There was one point on which lord Byron appears justly
to have felt some uneasiness, and this was the tone, manner and
line of conduct of the American missionaries, particularly one of
the name of Bingham. The influence which this man had acquired over the simple natives, and his uncalled for interference in
petty concerns, wholly unconnected with the mission, were but too
manifest on many occasions -but never more openly, nor more
offensively, than when Boki, one Saturday evening, expressed a
wish to entertain his countrymen with an exhibition of phantasmagoria. The young king and his sister, with many of the chiefs
and people, had assembled to see the show, when, behold! a message was received from this Bingham, " that on so near an approach
of the Sabbath, prayer was a fitter employment! " - and such was
the ascendency which this man had gained, that the two poor children
were carried off in tears, and many of the chiefs and people followed to
the missionary meeting. Mr. Stewart, another of the missionaries,
ashamed of the indecency of such conduct, was anxious to explain
the matter, by saying that they followed the Jewish mode of reckoning time, and considered Sunday to begin on Saturday at noon."
This, sir, is a most uncandid and illiberal misrepresentation
or*rather a representation so distorted and discolored, as to be in
its leading points absolutely false. The simple circumstances of
the incident here referred to are the following: - An exhibition of
the magic lantern had been promised to the chiefs by Mr. Bloxam,
the chaplain, as an amusement with which they would be greatly
delighted. No evening, however, was at the time appointed for
the entertainment. On a Saturday morning, some ten days after
the arrival of the Blonde, lord Byron incidentally mentioned to me,
that Kaahumanu (a female chief- one of the regents of the island
during the minority of the king,) had just taken breakfast with
him: -had inquired when the show was to take place, and that
at her request the evening of that day had been fixed on for the




336


APPENDIX,


purpose. I offered no objection to the time specified, and expressed a belief that the natives would be highly gratified with the exhibition.
I was afterwards informed, (though not by lord Byron) that the
time was thus communicated to afford an opportunity to the mis.
sionaries, if they thought proper, to be present on the occasion. I
did not, however, understand the remark in this manner, and the
thought of making the arrangement known to my companions did
not occur to my mind. To the best of my knowledge they were
all utterly ignorant of the intended show.
Just in the edge of the evening, our attention was attracted by
the sudden entrance of several natives to one of the mission houses,
with the half terrified exclamation, " Great is the displeasure of the
British chief! " -and we saw a party of the highest chiefs, among
others the regent, Kalaimoku, hurrying in much agitation through
our enclosure. As soon as the confusion which took place admitted of an understanding, we ascertained the circumstances to be
these:- The chiefs and their immediate associates had, at the
advice of some native teachers educated in America, without the
appobation, attendance, or even knowledge of the missionaries,
recently established a prayer meeting on Saturday night. This
meeting had been altogether forgotten by Kaahumanu in making
the appointment of the evening - from some cause, she did not on
her return to her residence, inform the other chiefs of the entertainment promised by lord Byron, and they appeared to have been
ignorant of it until the very moment when they were assembling for
their customary worship. As soon as she mentioned it, a consultation had taken place, and they despatched a messenger to lord
Byron, with the request that he would defer his visit to them with
the phatasmagoria, until Monday night. Notwithstanding the mes.
sage, he had arrived, was greatly displeased, and they in alarm
had come to the missionaries for advice.
A statement of the circumstances in reference to lord Byron,
was afterwards given to me by Mr. Bloxam himself. It appeared,
that as the messenger was leaving the establishment of the chiefs,
he saw the party from the Blonde approaching: not being able to
speak English, he closed the gate through which they were about
to pass, and exclaimed, kabu! kabu! - a term of prohibition.
Lord Byron caught the word, and knowing its general meaning, in
a tone of surprise and displeasure, demanded of a native interpreter with him, who spoke English but imperfectly, what the messenger said. The unusual tone and manner of the question threw
the man into such agitation, as to make him incapable of an intelligible reply. He could only repeat the words, " chiefs," and " missionaries," and "prayers," and '"Sabbath," and "k abnu, so incoherently, that lord Byron received an impression, that the chiefs
had forbidden his entrance to the enclosure by the advice of the
missionaries, because it was the night before the Sabbath, and they
were at prayers. It is by no means surprising, that, with this
persuasion, he entered the yard with an appearance of displeasure




APPENDIX,


-especially when it is recollected that the engagement for the
evening had been made at the request of a leading chief, and with
the knowledge and approbation of a member of the mission. As
soon as his dissatisfaction was known, many of the chiefs fled to
the mission house in the manner atated.
-ir. Bingham expressly told them there was no impropriety in
the exhibition: that lord Byron had proposed it only for their gratification and amusement; and by his advice some of the number,
amnong others Kalaimoku and the young king, returned to wit.
ness it. Some, however, would not, but went to their usual
prayer meeting. No missionary attended this meeting, and
none were engaged in any service with the natives that evening. No message of any kind was sent by Mr. Bingham to
the place of exhibition, or to any of the chiefs. The young king
and his sister, instead of being carried off in tears, ran themselves
from the place in terror; and no persuasion could induce the prin.
cess to leave her hiding place and return.
At the close of the evening, Mr. Bingham, knowing that the entertainment had been confused and interrupted, addressed a letter
to lord Byron on the subject. This led him to say to Mr. Bingham
on meeting him the next day, "i Why did not Mr. Stewart tell me
on Saturday morning, that there was a religious meeting in the
evening? I would not then on any consideration have made the
appointment. I am the very last man - an assertion I fully believe - " ever knowingly to interfere with the religious services of
the people."  On learning this mention of my name, I immediately wrote a note to his lordship, stating the true and only reason
of my silence - my entire ignorance of any such meeting - and
added an explanation of the circumstances as I understood and
knew them to be. But that explanation was never marked with
the ignorance and absurdity stamped on it in the Review. The
case did not require any exhibition of my knowledge in Jewish
antiquities; and if it had, I could have secured sufficient information on the point from some one of our native pupils, if from no
other source, to have saved me from the exposure of ignorance attributed to me by the reviewer.          '-'
My letter received a prompt and kind answer - still in my possession  in which lord Byron declares himself perfectly satisfied
of the mistake in which the confusion of the evening originated:
speaks of the event as a thing too trivial ever to merit another
thought: and gives an assurance, that it has not left the slightest
impression on his mind unfavorable to the mission. No interruption to the pleasant and friendly intercourse which had commenced between himself and the missionaries took place: and three
weeks afterwards, at a public council of the chiefs, called for the
purpose of formally establishing the right of the young king to
the throne, and at which lord Byron presented the schedule of civil, and political principles mentioned in the Eeview, he openly and
fully avowred his approbation of our object and proceedings, and




338


APPENDIX.


gave his full sanction to the confidence and favor bestowed on us
by the government.
The very last time this nobleman was on shore, previous to his
final departure from Oahu, two months after the affair of the phantasmagoria, he led me aside for a moment's private conversation:
at the close of which he requested my candid opinion of the general impression made by his visit. I expressed the firm belief,
that no officer in the British navy could have given more entire
satisfaction, or have secured more of the confidence and affection of
both chiefs and people: and added, that I would assume the responsibility of saying, in the name of the missionaries, that in
departing from the islands he carried with him their high respect,
gratitude and blessing. He replied that he rejoiced in this assurance; and on his part, was truly happy to say to me that on his
return to England, he should feel it a duty and privilege to meet
the inquiries of government and of the Christian public, concerning the American missionaries, with the declaration that they were
entirely worthy of their confidence and favor, and were the best
friends and benefactors of the nation.
And this, sir, was the report he made on reaching Great Britain.
Though we parted on the shores of Oahu, not expecting ever to
see each other again in this world, we landed in England within a
fortnight of the same time, and met in London a few weeks afterwards; but not until lord Byron had given a satisfactory proof of
the sincerity of his assurance to me on parting at the islands, by a
public speech, before a highly respectable and numerous audience
- the late Mr. Butterworth, M. P. in the chair -in which he
mentioned the American missionaries with commendation, and
gave a highly favorable account of their success.
Such are some of the reasons which lead me wholly to disbelieve
that his lordship has been accessory to the detraction of the reviewer.                 Yours, &c.
C. S. STEWART.
LETTER V.
Boston, July 18,1827.
The last charge I pledged myself to substantiate, against the reviewer, is that of falsehood.
"By Mr. Ellis's own account," he says, "the subjects.usually
chosen for the discourses of the missionaries are the most unsuitable to be addressed to an uneducated multitude that can possibly
be imagined - such, for instance, as the Virgin Mary and the immaculate conception - the Trinity and the Holy Ghost."' These
are points on which, as thus stated, not a single sermon was ever
preached at the Sandwich islands by any one of the missionaries;
and it is with the most barefaced effrontery, that the writer refers
to Mr. Ellis's book, in support of the calumny. As a specimen of
all the subjects of discourse mentioned by Mr. Ellis, I will trans



APPENDIX,


339


cribe without selection, or known omission, the texts found in the
first hundred pages of his tour. Speaking of the observance of the
first Sabbath on Hawaii, he remarks —"Mr. Bishop preached
from John iii. 16, ( God so loved the world, that he gave his only
begotten Son,- that whosoever believeth in him should not perish,
but have everlasting life' - and endeavored in the most familiar
manner to set before the people the great love of God in sending
his Son to die for sinners, and the necessity of forsaking sin, and
believing on him, in order to eternal life. The succeeding passages
within the limit mentioned above, are- "This is the day the Lord
hath made, we will rejoice and be glad in it." - "Blessed are the eyes
which see the things which ye see." - " Jesus said unto her, I am the
resurrection and the life; he that believeth in me, though he were dead
yet shall he live; and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never
die." - "We preach unto you, that ye should turn from these vanities
unto the living God, which made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and
all things that are therein." -  Good and upright is the Lord; therefore will he teach sinners in the way." -  This is a faithful saying,
and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to
save sinners." - 4-c. 4c.
It is then alleged that "according to their (the missionaries)
rule, the more time that is spent in preaching, praying, and singing, the better. The least that is required from the half-naked
converts of Owhyee, &c. is to attend at church five times every
day; and on Sundays they are strictly prohibited from cooking
any kind of victuals, or even making a fire. Boki was refractory
on this point, -protested strongly against a kabu of this rigid nature, and insisted on having his.tea on Sunday mornings, as he
was accustomed in London."
This statement is almost too ridiculously untrue to be worthy of
refutation. The religious services held by the missionaries at the
churches with the natives, instead of being five every day - are
only three in each week -two of these are on the Sabbath, and \
the third on the afternoon of Wednesday. At the time I left the \
islands in 1825, there was a catechetical exercise every Monday,
at which, however, some fifty or a hundred only of the people attended - also a prayer meeting on Friday, held by a few natives
themselves, and at which the missionaries were seldom present.
The manner of cooking among the natives is totally different
from ours - they are universally in the habit of preparing at one
time a quantity of food sufficient for several days, and the process
of doing this, like the baking of bread with us, requires the labor
of nearly a whole day. Not to have discouraged this on the Sabbath, would have been to allow it to remain unnecessarily a day of
work. We therefore advised both chiefs and people to have their
poe, a principal article of diet, beaten and mixed before the Sabbath; but this advice was unaccompanied by any prohibition
whatever, much less by that of kindling a fire. As to the making
of tea and such refreshments on the Sabbath, Boki could hardly
have found occasion for the remark attributed to him. It would




34(0


APPENDIX.


not have been necessary for him to have pleaded his indulgences
in London to secure his cup of tea - he need only have pointed to
the same hot beverage on the breakfast and tea tables of the missionaries every Sabbath, and asked why we partook so openly of a
luxury which by rigid kabu we denied to him and his people?
All our instructions in reference to the Sabbath were founded on
the general principle of avoiding unnecessary work, and abstaining from unsuitable recreations; and in no instance did they extend to the introduction of burdensome observances, or to the injunction of any self-denial involving an unprofitable austerity.
We are next presented, by the reviewer, with a series of allegations, supported by the name and letters of Capt. Beechey, commander of H. M. sloop of war the Blossom. This officer visited
the Sandwich islands in May, 1826, on his way to Behring's Straits,
and as the reviewer says, writes to England in the following manner: "' The efforts of the few zealous missionaries are tending, as
fast as possible, to lay waste the whole country, and plunge the inhabitants into civil war and bloodshed. Thousands of acres of
land, that before produced the finest crops, are now sandy plains.
Provisions are so extremely scarce, that not long since the king
sent to beg a little bread of the American consul: the fishery is
almost deserted, and nothing flourishes but the missionary school."
Capt. Beechey's visit at the Sandwich islands was limited to a
period of about ten days; and it is not probable that his report of the
condition and prospects of the nation was the result of extensive
personal observation. He has the reputation of being an intelligent and scientific man; but in this single instance, at least, he
must have permitted his better judgment to have been imposed on
by the misrepresentation of others, and must have yielded the
sense of seeing entirely to that of hearing, in forming his opinion
of the state of the islanders. He could not have been on shore an
hour at the port of Honolulu, where he came to anchor, without
having the fullest proof that the king at least was in no danger of
starvation.
But to the charges of his letter in their order. He states that
the country is becoming a desolation from the influence of the missionaries - that thousands of acres of land which before (their efforts) produced the finest crops, are now sandy plains.
In the year 1804, sixteen years before the arrival of the missionaries at the Sandwich islands, Mr. Shaler, a gentleman of respectability and information, at present American consul at Algiers,
was at that group in the Pacific. A copy of his journal was politely put into my hands by Dr. Mease, of Philadelphia, shortly after I saw this account of Capt. Beechey. Mr. Shaler notices the
same desolate plains as bearing marks of former high cultivation,
which caused the commander of the Blossom so much alarm; but
he attributes their appearance to a much more rational causethe despotism of Kamehameha. He remarks, "it is well understood that no chief of the least consequence can reside anywhere
but near the person of the monarch; and as he migrates through




APPENDIX.


S4i,


his dominions, he draws after him a train more destructive than
locusts,: Every thing is abandoned to follow 'the sovereign; and
the country, deserted by all who have an interest in its cultivation,
and in the improvement of the lands, becomes of course neglected.
I have observed, many fine tracts of land lying thus neglected,
even in the fertile plains of Lahain'a: the ruined enclosures and
broken' dykes around them were certain indications that they
were not always in that state."
I well recollect on landing at Oahu, in 1823, to have had the uncultivated plain, to which Capt. Beechey. probably alludes, pointed
out to me-by one of the older of the foreign residents, as an evidence of the rapid deterioration of the country since the accession
of the young king Liholiho. WWhile Kamehameha lived, he said,
that extensive tract was covered with potatos and melons, sugarcane and bananas; but since his death everything was going to
ruin. The mission at that time had scarce become firmly established. Little change had then been effected in the habits and
pursuits of the people; and it was too early to bring a calumny
against them through this channel. But now, when thousands of
the natives have become interested in learning to read and write,
and have been prevailed on to devote the hours of every day,
which they once spent in games and dances, to their schools, it is
very easy and very convenient for the opposers of our instructions
to say to a visiter, from whom the engagedness of the islanders in
the objects of the mission cannot be concealed, " It is true the
schools and churches flourish, but look at the desolation of that
plain- it is all in consequence of the influence of the missionaries — the whole country is, going to ruin in the same manner!'
The true cause of the appearances in maniy parts of the country
of a more extensive cultivation and improvement of land formerly
than is seen at present, is two-fold. They arise first, and principally, from the rapid depopulation of the islands, from destructive
wars and the crime of infanticide, which prevailed to a very great
extent, and from the drunkenness and disease introduced by foreigners; and secondly, from a custom among the natives of fre-.quently changing the location of their cultivated grounds- forming a new plantation whe there here ad not been one, and' leaving
that which they had previously occupied to go to waste. This
they frequently do from various inducements, such as that of securing greater advantage of water in irrigation, &c. &c.
As to the scarcity of provisions mentioned by Capt. Beechey, and
the extremity to which the young king in, consequence of it' was
driven for a crust of bread, I have some striking illustrations in a
few statistical data, put into.my possession by a gentleman just
arrived in this country from a six years' residence at the islands,
and who was at Oahu at the time of Capt. Beechey's visit.
Ships in considerable numbers, first began to frequent the Sand-.wich islands for refreshments in the years 1822 and 1823. In 1822
the number touching at Honolulu was 33; and in 1823 it amounted, at the same place, to 57. The mission at that time, had exert30




342',


APPENDIX.


ed no influence over the people in general; there were then but
few religious services to call them from their work, and no school
to interfere with the cultivation of their lands - but provisions
were scarce, the prices were high, and the ships were not readily
supplied with the refreshments they required. In the year 1826,
that of Capt, Beechey's visit, the number of vessels that called at
Oahu, was 107 - some remained a week, some a fortnight, others
a month, and others again three months. They were all abundantly supplied with provisions, such as hogs, goats, fowls, eggs,
potatos, kalo, cabbage, onions, pumpkins, cucumbers, bananas,
melons, &c. &c. while they remained in port; and each, on an
average, carried to sea from 40 to 60 barrels of potatos, and other
vegetables, besides live,stck. The market was always full, and
the demand so profusely supplied, that potatos and kalo, instead of
being $3 per barrel as was the case in preceding years, sold in the
public market for $2 and $1.50, and could be procured at private
sale for $1. The rate of all other articles was proportionably
lower than formerly.
The story about the young king and American consul, is too absurd for a moment's remark. Every person in the least acquainted with the despotic power of the government, knows that the
whole nation would die with famine before the king's tribute would
fail; and proof is not wanting that there never was a time, in the
reign of the present monarch, when he could not in a day have
collected provisions for a thousand men.
Yours, &c..     C. S. STEWART.
LETTER VI.
Boston, July 18, 1827.
I think it unnecessary, sir, to pursue a refutation of the remarks
on the Sandwich islands, extracted from the letters of Capt. Beechey, to a more tedious length. They are all equally open to exposure: the apprehension of civil war and bloodshed, which he expresses, was as groundless as his fears of a famine. And the gratuitous charge founded on it, by the reviewer, " that the American
teachers apply and expound the text of scripture which says, that
in the kingdom of heaven none is before or after another, - none greater
nor less than another, so as exactly to tell the poor creatures, that
'all men are equal;' and thus to have produced a visible insubordination. to the chiefs, is as ridiculous as his apocryphal text of
scripture is untrue.
With these extracts from Capt. Beechey's letters, the animadversion of the writer ceases; and shortly after, the article is brought
to a close by a speculation on the origin of the islanders. The
author's decided opinion is,'that it is oriental. In Pele, the goddess of volcanos, he clearly recognises the Pel, Bel, or Baal, of the
-eastern world: and in all the customs, habits, games, &c. of the
people, traces the Asiatic character. As a finishing proof of the




APPENDIX.                     343
correctness of his opinion, he adds the following sentence: "Their
dispersion over the Pacific is easily accounted for, by the constant
easterly winds, which at various, times and in various directions,
may have blown fishing canoes from the Asiatic islands to those
scattered over the Pacific, and from one of these islands to another
- which last accident, indeed, is constantly happening at the present day."
Unfortunately for this theory, the argument here adduced, instead of being the strongest in its favor, is the most conclusive of
all others against its truth. The constant easterly winds of the
Pacific, between the parallels of latitude including most of the
clusters of islands, instead of facilitating the dispersion of an Asiatic race over the face of that ocean, would present the most formidable of existing impediments to such migration. The canoes of
the South Sea islanders are peculiarly unfit for sailing against the
wind; and with these rude boats only for navigation, it seems impossible that the inhabitants of the Marquesas, Society, and Sandwich islands, should have struggled against a regular eastern wind
to their present abodes.
Had the argument been adduced to prove the islanders to be of
Mexican or Peruvian origin, it would have been good; but as it
stands, it is only an additional evidence of the error of the article
from the beginning to the end.
It was doubtless thought by the author a most happy circumstance, that just as the Review was about to appear, a letter should
arrive from the islands confirming the allegations against the
American missionaries. This letter is introduced in a note, at the
close of the number, and is so important a document, that I will
place before you the whole of it, as published by the editors, together with their introductory paragraph.
"Since the preceding pages have been struck off, we have been;
favored with the following literal copy of a letter ofBoki, (which
we pledge ourselves to be genuine,) confirming 'What we have
stated with regard to the conduct of the American missionaries at
the Sandwich islands."
"Islands of Woahoo, Jan. 24, 1826.
"< Sir, -I take this opportunity to send you thes fu lines, hopping the will find you in good health, as bles god the leve me at
present. I am sorrey to inform You that Mr. Pitt (Karaimakoo)
has gon thro four opperashons since you sailed from here, but
thank god he is now much better, and we ar in hops of his recovery, and I am verey sorey to tell you that Mr. Bingham the
head of the Misheneres is trieng every thing in his pour to have
the Law of this country in his own hands. all of us ar verry happy to have sum pepel to instruct us in what is rite and good but
he wants us to be entirely under his laws which will not do with
the natives. I have done all in my pour to prevent it and I have
done it as yet. Ther is Cahomano wishes the Misheneres to have
the whol atority but I sholl prevent it as long as I cane, for if the




344


APPENDIX.


have their will be nothing done in thes Islands not even cultivation, for their own use. I wish the peppel to reid and to rite and
likewise to worke, but the Misheneres have got them night and
day old and young so that ther is verrey little don her at present.
The pepel in general ar verrey much discetisfied at the Misheneres thinking they will have the laws in their own hands. Captain
Charlton has not arrived from Otiety which makes me think sumthing has happened to him. Mr. Bingham has gone so far as to
tell thes natives that neither king George nor Lord Byron has any
regard for God, or any of the English cheefs, that they are all bad
pepel but themselves, and there is no redemsion for any of the
heads of the English or American nations God send you good
health and a long life.
'Mrs. Boki sends her kind love to Lord Biron and Mr. Camrone
and the Hon. Mr. Hill.
(Signed)           NA-BOKI." '
I have called this letter an important document; and I believe
that you, sir, upon examining it, in connexion with one or two
facts in my possession, will be of the same opinion. The editor
pledges himself that it is genuine-if it is meant by that term,
that the original letter is the composition and writing of Boki, I do
not hesitate, on my part, to pledge myself that it is not genuine
and being thus at issue, I will present the evidence on which I
stake the case.
The first proof I would offer, is in the spelling of the proper
names:- Woahoo, Iaraimakoo, Cahomano, and Otiety.      All
these words are in constant and familiar use; they are words of
the native language, which Bold has had occasion to spell a thousand, times since he has learned to write; and yet, not one of them
is here spelled correctly; nor are the mistakes committed, in any
instance, those into which a native would fall. Every letter in
their language has one sound only, and every letter is sounded.
Consequently their errors in spelling are all in the omission, and
not in the substitution of letters.  These words, however, are
spelled according to the orthography in use among foreigners.
Boki would have written them thus- Oahu, Kalaimoku, Kaahumanu, and Tahiti.
In the second place, the general spelling is such as no native,
writing in English, would have adopted. The peculiarity of the
native orthography is not betrayed in a single instance -which,
in the midst of so much bad spelling, is truly singular. One great
difficulty in such a case would have been, in stringing consonants
together without the intervention of a vowel: in his own language
every consonant is invariably followed by a vowel: but in this letter, in many instances, vowels are omitted where they ought to
have been introduced, and a row of consonants put together, which
no native could pronounce -for instance, in the word " sumthing."
The third proof I would present, is the general style and idiom
of the letter. In these respects it is exactly such a letter as an il



APPENDIX.


literate Englishman or American would write, and commences
with a sentence which forms the beginning of almost every vulgar
letter in the, English tongue. Had the letter been of Boki's own
composition, this would not have been the fact. A national idiom
would have been manifested at least occasionally. But from the.
beginning to the end, there is not a thought, nor phrase, indicative
of the Sandwich-islander. That you may judge of the force of
this argument, I will give a translation of a letter to Mr. Bingham, written by Kalaimoku, brother of Boki, and regent of the islands, on hearing of the opposition of foreigners to the missionaries, and their accusations against them.
"' LovE TO YOU, MR. BINGHAM:
This is my opinion concerning all you missionary teachers of
us. I know of no faults in you. If I knew of any I would mention them to you. No, ye are upright. When you gave us the
pala-pala, (instruction in reading and writing) we learned: when
you gave us the word of God, we obeyed. Our females are sacred. We have learned the word of God; but, foreigners come
here and commit wickedness in our land- men from America and
from Britain. Be not troubled; it is on our account you are
blamed; it is not yourselves. Here is my mind with the word of
Jehovah -I have given my heart unto God, together with my
body and my soul. I have become one of the church of Jesus
Christ. Examine ye —Mr. Bingham and company —my sentiments, that ye may know, and, if ye desire it, transmit my com.
munication to the United States, to our chief —the President. It
is with yourselves to do it. Affection to our chief in America -
love to him.                                 IALAIMOKrU.
Ilonoltlu, Oahu, October 28, 1826."
But it is not necessary, sir, to have recourse to the internal evidences of the production to prove that Boki never wrote it. The
point is at once settled by the fact, that Boki could not at the time
the letter is dated, either speak, write or understand English, nor
can he at the present time. In all his intercourse with English
and American visiters, he is obliged to resort to an interpreter;
and even so recently as last December, was incapable of detecting
the misinterpretation of a single sentence in English, spoken before him, in an interview with Capt. Jones, of the U. S. ship Peacock, and wrongly interpreted by design. The letter cannot be
genuine, for without a miracle, equal to the gift of tongues, he
could not have written it.
If he did not write it -it is a forgery. If it is not the production of a native, and it is impossible that it ever could have been,
then it is the attempt of a foreigner, ignorant of the genius and
idiom of the language of the islanders, to write as he might suppose a native, imperfectly acquainted with the English language,
would write. The manifest and only disguise of the whole piece
is bad spelling: no man capable of writing at all, or who was




346


APPENDIX,.


ever taught to spell, could have fallen into the orthography exhibited. If it is an attempt at bad spelling, it is an attempt to deceive; and, if an attempt to deceive, it is a base forgery.*
It is possible, however, that Boki may have been induced to
sign a letter which he could neither read nor understand; and the
original signature may be his own. There is every reason to believe that Boki was entirely friendly to the mission at the time
when the letter purports to have been written. We know, however, that ten months afterwards, through the unceasing and determined misrepresentations and perversion of foreigners, who,
from the situations they hold at the islands, would naturally have
influence with the chiefs, he did openly and directly, to the missionaries themselves, express a dissatisfaction with their preaching, because they in their public instructions discountenanced
gambling and drunkenness; he having been persuaded to believe
these vices honorable in men of rank. There are circumstances
which make it highly probable that the letter, pretended to be
written by him, was fabricated at this period, but ante-dated for
reasons connected with the greater probable success of the imposition. At all events, the letter did not. leave the islands until
about that period, for, as I have been told, it was sent by a vessel
which then sailed for Valparaiso, and was there put on board the
Cambridge 74, to be carried to England.
The manifestation of Boki's displeasure referred to, was followed in the course of a few weeks by a public written acknowledgment to the missionaries, of the rectitude of all their proceedings; and by an expression of regret for the part he had in that
instance taken.  Should he eventually prove unfriendly to the
mission, it will only be through the persevering efforts of foreigners opposed to the moral influence of Christianity in the nation of
which he is a chieftain.
In these strictures, dear sir, you have my estimate of the justice
and truth of the article in, question in the London Quarterly Review.                     Yours, &c.
C. S. STEWART.
ADDENDA.
During a visit to Philadelphia some months since, I presented
to professor Green, of that city, a few specimens in conchology,
which I had brought with me from the Sandwich islands for that
purpose. After an examination of them, he was kind enough to
transmit to me, for insertion in this volume, a description of two.
*See lord Byron's opinion of this letter in his note to Mr. Ellis, in the Introduction.




APPENDIX.                      34o7,
A point of delicacy, arising from the friendship with which he
honors me, is involved in the publication, as will be perceived
from the article. But I do not feel at liberty to withhold from the
lovers of science the result of his examination; and trust I shall
be excused for acknowledging, in this manner, the unmerited po'.
liteness of the distinguished naturalist.
Description of two new species of ACHATINA, from the Sandwich Islands. By J.
GREEN, A. M. Prof. of Ckem in Jeff. Med. College.
ACHATINA Stewartii..l testa sinistrorsa - ovato- cblong- lutescente, minutissime striata - colore varia,
nunc unicolorc, nunc divertissime fasciata - colurella rosea - labro tenui - intus
albido.
STEWART'S ACHATINA. Shell heterostophe -conical -oblong;
about one inch in length and half an inch in diameter - whorls six
or seven, rounded and marked with numerous oblique and delicate
stria -apex rather obtuse, and not eroded —a deeply impressed
line along the upper part of the whorls, parallel with the suture,
periostracha smooth and very glossy, color and markings exceedingly
various, the ground color is usually greenish or some shade of yellow, sometimes a single blackish colored band accompanies the
suture, sometimes this band is double and of different shades, and
on many specimens there are two bands, one at the suture and
one in the middle of the whorls. In some varieties the base of
the body whorl is dark brown, the rest of the shell being of a dark
fawn, and not unfrequently the whole shell is without any markings whatever; in which case the color is yellow, the 'aperture,
when inverted, is ear-shaped, the truncation of the columella is
rounded and thickened in a remarkable manner, at its edge; along
the inner margin of the outer lip there is a strong callous ridge; as
in most of the species of this genus, which gradually attenuates
towards the edge of the lip which is thin and sharp inside, white
and pinkish round the columella.
This splendid little ACHATINA was brought from Oahu, one of the
Sandwich islands, by the Rev. C. S. Stewart. He informs me
that it is found in considerable numbers in the deep valleys of.
Oahu, at all seasons, adhering to the under surface of the large
leaves of a plant called Ti, - dracana terminalis - and from the
roots of which they brewed an intoxicating liquor, which was
in general use before the arrival of the missionaries.  Though
the leaves of the ti are the favorite resort of this AcHATINA, it is
by no means confined to that plant. The islanders sometimes eat
the animal which inhabits this shell, as they frequently do fish,
without cooking; but a favorite mode of preparing it, is to tie up,
in the large leaves of the ti, considerable numbers of them at once,
bake them thus with heated stones, and then pick out the animal
with a small pointed instrument. The beautiful and shining colors of this ACHATINA, and the manner of their arrangement, forcibly remind us of the HELIX nemoralis, or hortensis, so common in
the woods and hedges throughout France and England.




~;, l '..: 1 1,.1 i,.,I**  r:r,,D ~..:.'..... ~:  i ~:. %?:  \.'
'::::':!,:i:: -:;  I *" '....
There:.are t,w r  ditnct riVetsQf.;eao
tral, orwith wholsre,.vovIn; grii o                  '   In thi   'ois
' sp"eime nsw,  I h:ave                              b:receiel: therie::fSio indivitual/:" o;  emunifo'm coli^or; ~ e.y, are all greenish, with.c single brownbaMt' bda
th s'tsst fli'te lniea in th si          first variety   the
reiarkable thick plait or callosity resembling: tie TOR.ATELLA
fasciat. The othert variety is more globose, and maich depressed,
being three-fourhs of an inch in le h, an   f an in.ch in dameter; -this shell.is almost always dextral, and of alight yellowish
color, and the callous ridge, along, the inner margin is peculiarly
striking. The contour of this variety resembles that of the VOLUTA
fasciata,;.n. the lip of that species, however, is reflected.
*...  ' ~.  * ^  A ':AcATINA Oahuesi, s.':. testa..bonoa t-e1issime striata -coloreferugineo rufescefnte —Calumela rosea'' '.  "',  aperttra ahla et rosea-  labro tenuss..
OAHU xC.ATc  A-.. Shell dextral - oblong - about three-fourths
of anainch in ength, adone fourth of an inch in diameter -
nwhos seven or eight, slightly rounded - sutures deeply impressed
and cmnulated-  eriostracha finely striated, and of alight dirty
reddish brown color: -body vh orl with an, obsolete carina - cex
chesnut color, -columelda' plaited, as in A. Stewartii-outr lip
thin- inside pinkish, darker near the edge.
This ACHATINA is a native of the Sandwich islands.:  t does
not appear to be so common as the A. Stewartii, which it resembles a little; but it differs from that species in being much more
elevated in proportion to its diameter, inthe number of its whorls,
in the absence of the impressed line near the suture, and in many
other characters.




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