JAKVES' HISTORY. 
 
TO 
 
 SENTIMENTS OF RESPECT AND ESTEEM, 
 BY HIS SINCERE FRIEND, 
 
 AUTHOR. 
 
 PRINTED AT THE PACIFIC COMMERCIAL ADVERTISER PRESS, 
 HONOLULU, HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
EXTRACT 
 
 FROM PREFACE TO FIRST AND SECOND EDITIONS. 
 
 THE author deems it proper briefly to state the causes, which have led him 
 upon venturing to place before the public, a narrative of a nation so youthful in 
 annals, that constitute claims to the appellation of history in its most dignified 
 sense. If he had been more ambitious of the credit of an historiographer, than 
 desirous of presenting in their true light, the historical incidents of an interest- 
 ing though humble people, a field of greater events and more storied interest 
 would have been selected. But deeds are not always to be judged by the ex- 
 tent of the territories which gave them origin, or principles, by the degree of 
 the individuals who were the means of their dissemination. Both must be tested 
 by their relative effects. The record of the spread of moral worth and political 
 freedom in a nation, however puny, is deserving of far more attention, than the 
 tales of a lawless ambition, whose spirit is death, and whose path, misery and 
 ruin. The author fain would trust that some of the interest and instruction 
 which he, himself, has derived from studying the actual condition of heathenism 
 as it existed among the Hawaiian nation, its providential overthrow, and the 
 gradual and increasing ascendancy of Christianity and civilization, despite many 
 re-actions and unceasing hostility, will be imparted to his readers. The Christian 
 community have long looked with kindly interest on this experiment ; their gift*. 
 labors and prayers have nourished its growth ; but to the remainder of the 
 world, it has appeared more as an imperfectly finished picture, in which light 
 and shade were inharmoniously blended, than as a beautiful illustration of the 
 power of "God unto salvation." In this work, it has been attempted to trace 
 the courses and results of the antagonistic efforts of the several influences which 
 have been brought to impede or accelerate its progress, and also to preserve in 
 a popular form, the records of an age which were fast disappearing. In the 
 traditions and customs of their earlier existence, much will be found to gratify 
 the spirit of curiosity and research ; at least, the}'' possess the merit of forming 
 a portion in the general catalogue of human events, while without them, an 
 additional page would be numbered among the already too numerous blanks in 
 the history of mankind. 
 
 The author, in pursuit of health and recreation, first landed on the shores of 
 Oahu in 1837, imbued with much of that spirit which erroneously pervades the 
 interesting narratives of a Beechey, a Kotzebue, and others, who fancied them- 
 selves honest searchers after truth. From his course of reading and inquiries 
 among those, whose opportunities had allowed them to form correct opinions, 
 had not their prejudices been too deep to be eradicated by reason, he had 
 formed the opinion, that the Hawaiians, though bettered in morals, were ;i 
 priest-ridden people ; that sectarianism and world!}' aggrandizement were the 
 
 M77042 
 
iv PREFACE TO THE FIRST AND SECOND EDITIONS. 
 
 cogent motives of their spiritual teachers, and that they had succeeded in estab- 
 lishing a system of government, which for influence and secrecy of design might 
 justly be compared to the dominion of the Jesuits in South America. A close 
 examination, it was expected, would confirm these views. How far these opinions 
 have been retained the following pages will show. They are the results of 
 convictions derived from a nearly four years 1 residence at these Islands, with a 
 diligent study of their ancient history, and its connection with the political and 
 religious changes. If the writer were of the same sect as that body whose 
 missionary labors have been instrumental of so much good, he might be accused 
 of a bias toward them. But such is not the case ; he feels it a duty frankly tu 
 bear testimony to truth, in whomsoever it may appear, and whatsover may be 
 its shape. Had his former views been established, they would have been as 
 freely proclaimed ; his earnest desire being to contribute even a mite to the 
 pages of history. 
 
 To the valuable labors of the Rev. William Ellis, author of " Tour Around 
 Hawaii," the author has been greatly indebted, and is happy to be able to verify 
 the general accuracy of his statements. His former position as editor of a 
 weekly paper at Honolulu, " The Polynesian," and his relations with all the 
 parties of that place, his acquaintance with the chiefs and natives, and with 
 others whose personal knowledge of historical events extended beyond his, 
 enabled him to collect much valuable information ; this, since his arrival in 
 Boston, has been carefully arranged and collated, with all the works of authority 
 relative to the Islands, including the expensive foreign editions of early voyagers. 
 Information has been derived from individuals who early resorted thither for 
 trade. Accuracy in all statements has been diligently sought, and, as all the 
 events are of comparatively recent occurrence, it is believed, obtained. The 
 translations from " Ka Mooolelo Hawaii," or History of Hawaii, written by the 
 scholars of the High School at Lahainaluna, were made by the Rev. Reuben 
 Tinker, late a missionary, and may be depended on for their fidelity. 
 
 As many of the individuals whose conduct has had an important bearing upon 
 Hawaiian policy and reform are still living, statements which affect them have 
 been made only when necessary for the exposition of political movements ; and 
 then only upon indisputable evidence. The history of the government is so 
 intimately involved with the unprincipled movements of a few characters, that to 
 delineate the former, it was impossible to avoid picturing the latter ; while the 
 natural delicacy of the unobtrusive good, prevents a more public acknowledg- 
 ment of the quiet yet effective exertions of individuals whose visits or residence* 
 have been peculiarly beneficial. 
 
HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Sandwich Islands True Name Situation Number 
 and Extent Harbors General Appearance and 
 Structure Rain Windward Sides Leeward Sides 
 Minerals Salt Lake Soil Vegetable Productions 
 Insects Animals Fishes Climate Winds 
 Storms Diseases Earthquakes Phenomena of 
 Tides Meteoric Showers oi 1825 Water Spouts. 
 
 THAT important cluster of Islands, 
 situated in the North Pacific Ocean, 
 commonly known as the Sandwich Isl- 
 ands, were so named by Captain Cook, 
 at the date of their discovery by him, in 
 honor of his patron, the Earl of Sand- 
 wich, then first Lord of the Admiralty. 
 Their legitimate appellation, and the one 
 by which they still continue to be distin- 
 guished by the aboriginal inhabitants, is 
 "Hawaii nei pae aina" a collective term, 
 synonymous with " these Hawaiian Isl- 
 ands/' This term is derived from the 
 largest of the group, Hawaii, whence 
 the reigning family originated, and is 
 gradually taking the place of the former. 
 
 The central situation of the Hawaiian 
 Islands in the vast North Pacific, is 
 highly favorable to their commercial ! 
 growth. Their extremes of latitude are 
 from 18 50 to 22 Q 20 : north, and of 
 longitude from 154 53' to 160 C 15 
 west from Greenwich. 
 
 This position is nearly equi-distant 
 from Central America, Mexico, Califor- 
 nia, and the Northwest Coast on the one 
 side, and the Russian dominions, Japan, 
 China, and the Philippine Islands, on 
 the other. When a civilized and enter- 
 prising population shall have developed j 
 the resources of those countries, these ' 
 Islands will bear the same relative im- 
 
 portance to them, in proportion to their 
 extent, that the West Indies now do to 
 North and South America. 
 
 Including Bird Island, which was well 
 known to the others prior to their dis- 
 covery, in 1778, the group consists of 
 twelve. 
 
 The inhabited Islands, eight in num- 
 ber, are of the following extent : 
 
 NAMES. MILES LONG. MILES BROAD. SQUARE MILES. 
 
 Hawaii, 88 73 4000 
 
 Maui, 48 30 620 
 
 Oahu, 46 25 530 
 
 Kauai, 22 25 500 
 
 Molokai, 40 7 190 
 
 l.anai, 17 9 100 
 
 Niihau, 20 7 90 
 
 Kahoolawe, 11 8 60 
 
 Bird Island is a barren rock, 1*29 
 miles to the northwest of Kauai. Three 
 of the others are equally unimportant ; 
 Molokini, an extinct crater of but slight 
 elevation, with one side open to the sea, 
 lies midway between Maui and Kahoo- 
 lawe ; Lehua, a mile to westward of 
 Niihau, has an elevation of 1000 feet, 
 some slight vegetation, and an excellent 
 spring of water; Kaula, seven miles 
 southwest from Niihau, is of less ex- 
 tent, and, like Bird Island, abounds with 
 wild fowl. 
 
 The whole embrace a superficial area 
 of about sixty-one hundred miles, of 
 which Hawaii includes two-thirds. But 
 a small proportion of their coasts-, com- 
 pared with the Southern groups, is 
 bounded by coral reefs. These are of 
 limited extent, and extend but a short 
 distance from the shore, forming a bar- 
 rier, over which the sea rolls in sheets 
 of foam. 
 
6 
 
 HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 There are few harbors, though numer- j 
 ous channels occur in the reefs, affording | 
 entrance into basins, capable of accom- j 
 rnodating coasters. With the exception 
 of Honolulu, on the south side of Oahu, 
 no r?a% gopd; hap^t"? exists. At Ewa, 
 ten to&iie? to th c e Jwfe&t of .'Honolulu, there ! 
 is one with "twelve' feet "at low water on j 
 the fbar j" vl?e"bs4nj within is* "sufficiently ! 
 fftpftcfojis^ fa crecdtQ Ae efctijrd commerce ! 
 of the Pacific ; but the adjoining land is 
 barren and forbidding. At Koolau, on 
 the north side of Oahu, there is another 
 harbor, with however but nine feet water ! 
 in the channel. The surrounding country | 
 is verdant, well watered, and the breeze | 
 directly from the ocean. By deepening 
 these channels, should the commerce of 
 the kingdom ever require it, fine sites 
 for commercial towns would be formed. 
 Hilo Bay, on the north of Hawaii, com- 
 monly known as Byron's Bay, affords 
 excellent anchorage ; shipping are pro- 
 tected by a projecting reef, and the hold- 
 ing ground is good, but the surf breaks 
 heavily upon the beach, and not unfre- 
 quently renders landing difficult. At all 
 of the principal towns, with these excep- 
 tions, the roadsteads are exposed ; but 
 such is the nature of the prevailing 
 winds, that vessels can frequent them in 
 perfect safety during nine or ten months 
 of the year. With good ground tackle 
 there is little to be feared at any season. 
 No dangers to navigation exist in the 
 vicinity of the Islands, with the exception 
 of a reef off the west coast of Kahoolawe. 
 It is a little less than two miles from the 
 shore, and with two fathoms of water on 
 it at low tide. A few rocks, within a 
 circumference of two hundred feet, com- 
 prise its whole extent. 
 
 The structure of the group is volcanic. 
 On Hawaii is found the largest known 
 active volcano, and several others of 
 gieat size, partially or wholly quiescent, j 
 The mountains attain an elevation of 
 fourteen thousand feet. They are of 
 great extent and grandeur, and, through- 
 out the group, present scenery of pecu- 
 liar and beautiful character. To the 
 north they slope somewhat precipitously 
 to the sea, covered with a greensward 
 at their base, and above with dense 
 forests. Plains are broken by deep ra- 
 vines, down whose steep sides cascades 
 
 fall in bright and pretty sheets. Several; 
 of these often unite, as at Kauai, and 
 form rivers of considerable depth and 
 size. Palis, or precipices, in many 
 parts, present stupendous walls of rock, 
 from one thousand to three thousand 
 feet perpendicular elevation, directly 
 fronting the sea, the surging of which 
 forms large caverns into which the sea 
 rushes with stunning effect. 
 
 To the windward, and on the high- 
 lands, there is abundance of rain, which 
 keeps vegetation perennially verdant. 
 The leeward portions, during most of the 
 year, suffer from drought, and offer a 
 cheerless aspect. Below the region of 
 clouds, vast and rugged masses of broken 
 lava spread themselves over the country. 
 Plains frequently occur with a soil form- 
 ed of ashes and cinders, which, easily 
 set in motion by violent gusts of wind, 
 sweep over the land, and are carried to 
 sea in dense clouds. During the winter 
 months, when the trades are partially 
 interrupted, showers often occur. When 
 much rain falls the plains become cover- 
 ed with a species of coarse grass, which 
 affords tolerable pasturage for cattle. 
 Extinct volcanoes are very common. 
 They are of every age, size and shape ; 
 at places, crowning the summits of lofty 
 hills and mountains; elsewhere rising- 
 precipitously from plains or projecting 
 into the ocean, they form prominent land- 
 marks for navigators. One of the most 
 singular and well-known, is the promon- 
 tory near Honolulu, called Leahi, better 
 known as Diamond Head, from an idea 
 once current that precious stones were 
 to be found there. 
 
 The minerals are few and simple, con- 
 sisting of the usual variety of the lavas, 
 from the most solid and granular to the 
 light pumice-stone. Ledges of compact 
 lime-stone, a good material for building, 
 are found on several of the Islands. 
 These being elevated considerably above 
 the sea, have caused much speculation 
 as to how they were formed or arrived 
 at their present situation. The most 
 remarkable is at Kahuku, Oahu. No 
 metals have been discovered. Four miles 
 to the west of Honolulu, and within a 
 mile of the ocean, is the famous salt lake 
 of Alia-paakai, elevated only a few feet 
 above the level of the sea. It is in tho 
 
HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 "heart of a crater, nearly oval in form, 
 and about a mile in circumference. At 
 certain seasons salt forms spontaneously 
 and in the greatest abundance ; at others 
 but little is created, from its being over- 
 flowed by rains. Some have supposed 
 it a mineral salt ; but the general belief 
 among the natives is, that it is formed 
 by evaporation. The following facts 
 favor the supposition. Its general depth 
 is but eighteen inches ; near the centre* 
 a hole exists, five to six fathoms in cir- 
 cumference, which, as no bottom has 
 been found to it, is supposed to connect 
 with the ocean. Through this the lake 
 is slightly affected by the tides, and at 
 times it is crusted over with a stratum of 
 salt sufficiently strong to- bear a man's 
 weight. 
 
 The soil of the Islands is formed of 
 decomposed volcanic rocks, sand, mud 
 and ashes. To be made fertile it requires 
 constant irrigation. Valleys which re- 
 ceive the debris and rains of the moun- 
 tains, and for ages have been accumula- 
 ting deposits of vegetable mould, are 
 exceedingly rich and productive ; but 
 they are of limited extent. The soil 
 generally is poor, better adapted for 
 grazing than cultivation, though with 
 labor and skill it can be made to pro- 
 duce good crops. Nature yields but little 
 spontaneously and the inhabitants have 
 always been obliged to exercise much 
 industry and ingenuity in their farms. 
 The principle article of food is the well 
 known kalo (arum esculentum). Great 
 labor is necessary in raising it success- 
 fully and it requires a year or more to 
 arrive at maturity. 
 
 The banana, yam, sweet potato, bread- 
 fruit, cocoanut, arrowroot, sugar-cane, 
 strawberry, raspberry, ohelo, (a berry,) 
 ohia, (a juicy, red apple, but of poor 
 flavor,) are indigenous and plentiful. 
 Many varieties of esculent fruits and ve- 
 getables have been successfully intro- 
 duced, among which are melons, the 
 delicious chirimoya from Peru, limes, 
 oranges, guavas, pine-apples, grapes, 
 peaches, figs, citrons, and tamarinds. 
 The vegetables of the temperate region 
 have been acclimated to a considerable 
 extent. The uplands of Maui produce 
 excellent " Irish potatoes." Wheat of 
 good quality thrives in the same region. 
 
 An oil used in painting is extracted from 
 the nut of the kukui tree (aleurites tri- 
 loba). Sandal wood, suitable for export- 
 ation, is mostly exhausted, though the 
 young wood is abundant. 
 
 Coffee, cotton, indigo, tobacco, sugar- 
 cane, mulberry, cocoa and most of the 
 tropical plants can be successfully cul- 
 tivated on the low grounds, while the 
 uplands are suitable for the productions 
 of more temperate regions. 
 
 Insects are few, though there are some 
 of a destructive character. A species 
 of caterpillar, the pelua, at certain sea- 
 sons destroys vegetation to a great ex- 
 tent, eating even the grass to its very 
 roots. A slug deposits its eggs in the 
 cotton blossoms, which, when ripe, are 
 pierced through by the young insects, 
 and the staple entirely destroyed. Large 
 spiders are very numerous and mischiev- 
 ous, weaving strong webs upon shrubs 
 and young trees, in such quantities as to 
 greatly injure them. A species of wood- 
 louse, the ant-cow, is very annoying, 
 A sooty crust, firm, hard and stiff, like 
 strong paper, forms upon many varieties 
 of trees and plants, covering the bark 
 and even the leaves, giving them the 
 singular appearance of being clothed in 
 mourning. Rats destroy the sugar- 
 cane to a considerable extent annually. 
 Though the Hawaiian agriculturist es- 
 capes many of the evils incidental to 
 other tropical climes, enough exist here 
 to make his labors no sinecure. Noxious 
 vermin, such as mosquitoes, fleas, cock- 
 roaches, scorpions and centipedes, are 
 a modern importation and have exten- 
 sively increased, Serpents, frogs or 
 toads have not as yet reached the Islands. 
 A small lizard is abundant. 
 
 The forests are usually very dense, 
 broken by deep chasms, hidden ravines 
 and deep conical-shaped pits, which ap- 
 pear to have once been active craters. 
 The trees are overgrown with masses 
 of ferns and parasitical vines, thickly 
 interlaced and spreading their shoots in 
 all directions, which render it a task of 
 great difficulty to penetrate their recess- 
 es. There are but few birds to enliven 
 these sylvan solitudes. Wild geese are 
 found at Hawaii ; snipe, plover and wild 
 ducks on all the Islands. A variety of 
 the owl is very common ; but nature, in 
 
HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 the ornithological as well as the entomo- 
 logical tribe, has been chary of her gifts, 
 and the traveler looks in vain for the 
 endless varieties which the more favored 
 intertropical countries afford. Dogs, 
 swine, rats and domestic fowls are indi- 
 genous, and, beside the wild-fowl above 
 mentioned, were the only varieties of 
 animal food before the introduction of 
 cattle. 
 
 Fish, of which there are a great va- 
 riety, form one of the chief articles of 
 diet. They consist chiefly of the albicore, 
 bonita, flying-fish, shark, eel, and many 
 species preserved in artificial ponds, 
 which acquire a delicious flavor, and are 
 highly prized. The best of these is the 
 mullet. Edible shell-fish are also abun- 
 dant, of which the pearl oyster, cuttle 
 fish and prawn are the most palatable. 
 Pearls are common, but of no great size 
 or beauty. They formerly constituted a 
 profitable branch of trade, and were mo- 
 nopolized by the king. The common 
 oyster is not found. 
 
 The climate is salubrious, and pos- 
 sesses such remarkable evenness of tem- 
 perature that the language has no word 
 to express the general idea of weather. 
 The tropical heat is mitigated by the 
 trades, which blow over a wide expanse 
 of ocean in the temperate zone. The 
 shores on either side show but little dif- 
 ference in the results of the thermometer. 
 Physiologists give a certain point of 
 temperature as most conducive to health 
 and longevity. The mean heat of these 
 Islands approaches near to it, and is 
 highly favorable to the full development 
 .and perfection of animal economy. 
 
 By visiting the interior and ascending 
 the mountains any desirable degree of 
 temperature can be attained. On the 
 highest mountains snow remains during 
 much of the year, and in exposed situ- 
 ations on Mauna Kea throughout the 
 whole. Snow storms occur on the high- 
 lands of Maui during the winter months. 
 On the upland region of Kauai, a uniform 
 elevation of four thousand feet, both 
 snow and hail occasionally occur. The 
 temperature here is quite regular the 
 year through, requiring warm garments 
 and fires even in the month of July. 
 The district is cold and wet, and of little 
 value. A portion of it supports a heavy 
 
 growth of timber and is frequented only 
 by wood-cutters. The average temper- 
 ature of Waimea, Hawaii, situated in 
 the interior, at an elevation of about 
 four thousand feet, is nearly 64 Fahren- 
 heit 48 being the lowest extreme. 
 This place affords an excellent retreat 
 for those whose constitutions have be- 
 come enervated by too long a residence 
 nearer the coast. Rains are frequent 
 at this altitude, but the dryness of the 
 soil seldom leaves the ground damp for 
 any length of time. At Mountain Retreat, 
 back of Lahaina, Maui, an elevation of 
 three thousand feet, the temperature va- 
 ries from 40 to 75 ; but such situations 
 afford few comforts for the sick and their 
 dampness renders them otherwise objec- 
 tionable. 
 
 Localities can be selected on the sea- 
 shore which possess advantages for in- 
 valids, particularly those affected with 
 pulmonary complaints. Many individ- 
 uals by change of residence, have pro- 
 longed their lives for years, and others 
 who in the less favored regions of the 
 north were perpetual sufferers, live with 
 scarcely an admonition of their disease. 
 Lahaina, Kailua, Ewa and Honolulu 
 have all a good reputation in this respect. 
 At the former, during ten years, the 
 highest thermometrical elevation was 
 86 ; the lowest 54 ; an extreme differ- 
 ence of but 32. During no day in this 
 period was the range greater than 19. 
 June has the highest range January 
 the lowest. But little rain falls and for 
 successive months the sun is rarely ob- 
 scured by clouds. 
 
 The common range of the thermometer 
 at Honolulu is 12 per diem. The great- 
 est degree of heat during twelve years 
 in the shade was 90, and 54 C for the 
 coldest; the mean about 75. Kaiiua 
 and Ewa vary but little from the above. 
 
 At Koloa, Kauai, the thermometer 
 varies from 50 to 88 ; at Waioli, from 
 55? to 90, with much rain. A change 
 of wind affects the climate materially. 
 During nine months of the year the 
 northeast trade blows with great regu- 
 larity and the temperature is very uni- 
 form. Oahu and Kauai are the most 
 influenced by it ; Maui, which is larger, 
 has in a few places to the leeward, in- 
 cluding Lahaina, the regular land and 
 
HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 sea breeze. Hawaii, 1 from its size and 
 height of mountains, neutralizes its in- 
 fluence, and enjoys an almost uninter- 
 rupted land and sea breeze. This occurs, 
 in some degree, even on its northeast 
 coast where the trade is usually freshest. 
 The winds partake of the character of 
 the sea breeze in the day, and during 
 the night are so modified by the influence 
 of the land, as to vary their course from 
 off the shore, or become very light. 
 Where the mountain ranges are broken 
 by steep defiles, as at Kawaihae and other 
 bays on the west side, the wind rushes 
 through with great violence, gathering 
 strength as it descends until it passes off 
 to sea in furious gusts. During the win- 
 ter months the trades are interrupted, 
 winds from the south and west often pre- 
 vailing for several successive weeks ; 
 calms are also frequent and of long du- 
 ration. The south wind brings rain and 
 is usually loaded with a briny vapor 
 injurious to vegetation. Its effects are 
 equally unpleasant to the human system. 
 Headaches, catarrhs, rheumatism, and 
 kindred diseases, prevail during its con- 
 tinuance. Upon foreigners its influence 
 is very obvious, causing a compression 
 about the head and an enervation which 
 indisposes to mental or physical exertion; 
 the atmosphere becomes oppressive and 
 at times feels like the heated air of a 
 furnace. The miasma arising from the 
 lagoons to the southeast of Honolulu is 
 blown back upon the land, infecting the 
 town with an odor which but for its rarity 
 would be insupportable. The natives 
 call it the 'sick wind,' and with pro- 
 priety. It sometimes occurs with suffi- 
 cient force to destroy their frail habita- 
 tions and do much damage to plantations 
 and forests. Much of the weather at 
 this season is however of the most de- 
 lightful description ; the sky becomes 
 cloudless, the atmosphere dry, clear and 
 bracing, and the whole system feels the 
 invigorating influence of the change. 
 Nothing can exceed the soft brilliancy of 
 the moonlight nights. Thunder-storms 
 are rare and light in their nature. No 
 hurricanes have been known. 
 
 (Epidemic diseases are few and of a 
 light character. The mumps have pre- 
 vailed very generally, and in some cases 
 terminated fatally through mismanage- 
 2 
 
 I ment. The influenza occurs almost an- 
 ' nually but is not often fatal unless added 
 to other causes. The whooping-cough, 
 a few years since, spread through the 
 whole population, but soon entirely spent 
 itself. Contagious diseases are scarcely 
 known, excepting those of a cutaneous 
 nature, which very generally prevail, 
 owing to filthy habits and gross food. 
 The small-pox has raged in the southern 
 groups, but has never reached here. 
 Vaccination is very generally practiced. 
 The croup sometimes occurs. Hoapili- 
 wahine, a chief woman of high rank, 
 upwards of seventy years of age, died 
 of this disease in January, 1842. 
 
 Powerful volcanic eruptions, attended 
 with disastrous effects, have occurred on 
 Hawaii several times within the memory 
 of the present generation. Some of the 
 largest of the craters, such as those of 
 Mauna Haleakala, (house of the sun,) 
 on Maui, at an elevation of eleven thou- 
 sand feet, have been quiescent from a 
 period beyond the traditions of the in- 
 habitants. Earthquakes are chiefly con- 
 fined to the largest island ; the shocks 
 felt at Maui are slight. The immense 
 craters with which the former island 
 abounds operate as safety-valves, by 
 which the pent gases, generated by the 
 vast subterranean fires, escape. With- 
 out them, the thin crusts of lava which 
 constitute the foundation of the island, 
 would be rent asunder, and it would be- 
 come a terrific waste. Shocks are indeed 
 frequent, but without sufficient strength 
 to be very destructive. Trees are thrown 
 down, rocks split, and the scene of action 
 otherwise affected. At Hilo, in Novem- 
 ber, 1838, during the space of eight 
 days, from forty to fifty shocks occurred. 
 Twelve distinct ones were counted in one 
 night. For two days and nights the earth 
 was in a state of continual agitation ; the 
 plants and flowers trembling like fright- 
 ened animals. In some cases the motion 
 was perpendicular, like that of a ship 
 pitching, and attended by noises and 
 sensations similar to those produced by 
 heavy waves striking against her sides, 
 and some degree of nausea was felt. 
 In others the action was lateral, easy 
 and undulating, unaccompanied by any 
 sounds. In April r 1841, several more 
 powerful shocks were experienced at the 
 
10 
 
 HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 same place, one of which was quite se- 1 
 vere. The houses were violently shaken, | 
 and had they not been constructed of 
 yielding materials, would have been pros- 
 trated. The plastering was shattered, 
 crockery-ware destroyed, milk thrown 
 from pans, stone walls cast down, and 
 other damage done. In March of the 
 same year, several of a severe nature 
 occurred at Kailua, which threw down 
 much rock from the pali. These shocks 
 were distinctly felt throughout Maui. 
 
 On the 25th of September, 1825, a 
 shower of meteoric stones occurred at 
 Honolulu. Reports like the firing of 
 cannon and the repeated discharges of 
 musketry were heard at about ten o'clock 
 in the morning. At first the supposition 
 was that a naval action was taking place 
 in the immediate neighborhood ; but the 
 fall of many fragments of rock, weighing 
 from ten to twenty pounds, accompanied 
 by a whizzing sound, explained the na- 
 ture of the noises. They struck with 
 sufficient force to create cavities in the 
 coral rock, and the pieces presented a 
 greyish black exterior, with a yellowish 
 appearance on the fractured portions. 
 
 A remarkable oscillation of the ocean 
 >vas observed in 1837 throughout the 
 group. In 1819, one on a lesser scale 
 and unattended with any fatal conse- 
 quences occurred. It was considered 
 by the natives as prognosticating some 
 dire event to their nation, and the death 
 of Kamehameha, which took place soon 
 after, was supposed to be the consumma- 
 tion. Upon its recurrence in 1837, the 
 death of his son Kauikeouli or some high 
 chief was confidently predicted ; but as 
 no national calamity ensued, this super- 
 stition was materially weakened. On 
 the evening of the 7th of November, the 
 commotion of the waters was first noticed 
 at Honolulu. Neither the barometer nor 
 thermometer indicated any unusual at- 
 mospherical changes. At five o'clock it 
 was observed the sea was retiring. This 
 it did with such rapidity as to cause 
 much alarm among the foreigners, who 
 were fearful its reaction would over- 
 whelm the town, like the great wave 
 which destroyed Callao in 1 746 ; but hun- 
 dreds of the native population, thought- 
 lessly shouting and frolicking, followed 
 its retreat, picking up the stranded fish, 
 
 and viewing the whole as a rare piece of 
 fun. Some, however, seemed otherwise 
 affected, and the dismal wail which was 
 raised in the stillness of the evening, 
 earned the news far inland. 
 
 The first recession was the greatest, 
 being more than eight feet; the reefs 
 were left entirely dry, and the fishes died. 
 The vessels, not in the deepest water, 
 grounded ; but the sea quickly returned, 
 and in twenty-eight minutes reached the 
 ordinary height of the highest tides : it 
 then commenced receding again and fell 
 six feet.* It rose a few inches higher 
 on its third return and fell six and a half 
 feet. This action continued, with a 
 gradually diminishing force and extent, 
 throughout that night and the forenoon 
 of the ensuing day. The greatest rapidity 
 with which it fell was twelve inches in 
 thirty seconds. 
 
 On Hawaii and Maui the phenomenon 
 was more powerful and occasioned con- 
 siderable loss of property and lives. Its 
 action increased to the windward, the 
 northern sides of the islands being the 
 most affected. At Maui the sea retired 
 about twenty fathoms and returned with 
 great speed in one immense wave, sweep- 
 ing before it houses, trees, canoes and 
 human beings. At Kahului the inhabi- 
 tants, as at Honolulu, followed with rap- 
 turous delight the retreating wave, when 
 suddenly it turned upon them, and rising 
 like a steep wall, rushed forward to the 
 shore, burying the natives in its foam 
 and destroying the whole hamlet. The 
 amphibious character of the islanders 
 proved their safety, though they were 
 obliged to mourn the loss of two of their 
 number and the destruction of all their 
 personal effects. 
 
 At Byron's Bay, Hawaii, the village 
 was crowded with people, who had col- 
 lected to attend a religious meeting. At 
 half-past six o'clock the sea retired at 
 the rate of five miles an hour, leaving a 
 great portion of the harbor dry, and 
 reducing the soundings in other places 
 from five to three and a half fathoms. 
 The wondering multitude, in their sim- 
 plicity, eagerly rushed to the beach to 
 witness the novel sight ; quickly a gigan- 
 tic wave came roaring towards them at 
 a speed of seven to eight miles an hour, 
 
 Hawaiian Spectator, vol. I., No 1, p. 104. 
 
HISTOEY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 11 
 
 and rising twenty feet above high-water 
 mark, dashed upon the coast with a stun- 
 ning noise like a heavy crash of thunder. 
 The people were buried in its flood; 
 houses, canoes, fish-ponds, animals, in 
 short, property of all kinds, were mingled 
 in one common ruin. Cries of distress 
 filled the air. Those in the water were 
 struggling for their lives amid the wreck 
 of houses or entangled among floating 
 timber, while their relatives who had es- 
 caped the torrent, were loudly bewailing 
 their situation. The wave which had 
 rushed inland had in its way dashed over 
 the deck of an English whaler at anchor 
 in the bay. As soon as the crew re- 
 covered from the shock, they lowered 
 their boats and through their exertions 
 many lives were saved. Not a canoe 
 had escaped, and numbers of the people, 
 stunned and insensible, were floating 
 seaward. The destruction of property 
 was universal ; even the garnered food 
 was swept off. In two hamlets alone, 
 sixty-six habitations were destroyed and 
 eleven lives lost. Other portions of the 
 sea-coast suffered in like proportion. IN o 
 shocks o( earthquakes or any tremor 
 of the earth were experienced, though 
 the action of the crater of Kilauea, the 
 night previous, was uncommonly furious. 
 In some spots its fires were quenched ; 
 in others, chasms were opened with vio- 
 lent explosions. It would appear from 
 the simultaneousness of the commotion 
 throughout the group, that it originated 
 at some distance. The wave struck the 
 several islands from apparently the same 
 direction. 
 
 May 17th, 1841, the same scene, 
 though on a much less violent scale, and 
 attended with no loss of life, recurred. 
 At twenty minutes past five o'clock, P. 
 M., the water in the harbor of Honolulu 
 was observed to be suddenly discolored 
 and breaking like a tide rip. It then 
 rushed rapidly out, leaving a portion of 
 the harbor and all the reef bare. This 
 occurred twice in the space of forty 
 minutes, when it resumed its ordinary 
 appearance. The fall was estimated at 
 three feet. Simultaneously, at Lahaina, 
 a distance of one hundred miles, the rise 
 and fall of the water was several feet, 
 and occurred frequently, at intervals of 
 four minutes each, rushing violently and 
 
 with great noise over the reefs. At 
 about this period a similar scene was 
 noticed on the coast of Kamschatka. 
 
 An immense water-spout broke over 
 the harbor of Honolulu in May, 1809. 
 The atmosphere was clear and the day 
 calm when it was first observed. A 
 heavy, dark cloud hung o\er its body, 
 which appeared to be of the size of a 
 stout mast. As it advanced, its bulk in- 
 creased, until it attained the thickness 
 of a hogshead. Its progress was slow, 
 accompanied with a violent ebullition of 
 the water at its base. Upon touching 
 the reefs, the column broke, causing a 
 sudden rise of the sea of three feet on 
 the beach. Great numbers of fish were 
 destroyed by the weight of the mass of 
 water which fell. A few years before, 
 one broke on the north side of the island, 
 washed away a number of houses, and 
 drowned several of the inhabitants. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Early Hawaiian History Former intercourse between 
 the Hawaiian Islands and the Tahitian, Samoan and 
 Marquesan groups Superstition of " Youth-renew- 
 ing Fountain" Creation ot first inhabitants Flood 
 Origin of the World of Hawaii Traditions 
 Ancient Hawaiian Kings Government Common 
 Law Cruelties Kingly power Police Chiefs Ret- 
 inues Rank How derived Orders of nobility 
 Homage Public councils and meetings Conduct of 
 superiors towards inferiors Litigation Ordeals 
 Praying to Death Sorcery Soothsayers or Magi- 
 cians Character of Religion Notions of Future State 
 Hawaiian Hades Ideas in regard to souls Milu 
 Idols Different classes of male and female God Lono 
 Goddess Pele and her family Hawaiian Centaur 
 Fabrication of Idols Temples or keiaus Ceremonies 
 attending consecration Human sacrifices How ob- 
 tained Animal and vegetable offerings Diviners 
 Priesthood Ranks General character Taxes of 
 priesthood Remarkable privileges Taboos Origin 
 and meaning of the word Present application Pen- 
 alties attached to violation of Cities of Refuge Com- 
 parison between the religions and governments of the 
 different groups. 
 
 The early history of the Hawaiian 
 nation, like that of all savages, derived 
 only through the uncertain medium of 
 oral traditions, is vague, and but slightly 
 calculated to reward the researches of 
 the curious. Their origin is involved in 
 an obscurity, on which their own fables, 
 and historical and sacred meles or songs, 
 are calculated to throw but little light. 
 A certain uniformity in the earliest tra- 
 ditions and manners of the most savage 
 nations exists, which would seem to in 
 dicate a common origin; or it may be 
 
12 
 
 HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 the result of necessities, which, un- 
 der like circumstances, adopt the same 
 means to effect corresponding ends. 
 This may account for customs of a com- 
 mon character, so frequently observed in 
 tribes widely separated by geographical 
 limits, and without any means of com- 
 munication. The barrenness of the 
 savage intellect affords but partial scope 
 for observation and improvement. The 
 same idea or necessity which would call 
 into existence certain forms or habits of 
 life in one latitude, would equally arise 
 in another. Hence, but little confidence 
 can be placed in deductions founded 
 upon a conformity in a few isolated cus- 
 toms, among different barbarous commu- 
 nities. But, when affinities of language, 
 physiological resemblances, correspond- 
 ing manners and religious belief, and 
 more particularly, well established tra- 
 ditions, pointing to a common origin, 
 appear among tribes, which, in modern 
 times, have lost all means of communi- 
 cation, the inquirer finds tenable grounds 
 for believing in a general relationship. 
 This appears to be the case throughout 
 Polynesia. The language spoken in the 
 groups so widely diffused over the 
 Pacific Ocean, has the same common 
 structure, with but such differences as 
 may be resolved into dialects ; the re- 
 sult of long non-intercourse; while 
 other peculiarities are to be attributed 
 to difference of soils, climates, govern- 
 ments and other local causes. The 
 New Zealander and Hawaiian, though 
 more than four thousand miles apart, 
 with all the intermediate tribes, are 
 members of one family, and require but 
 a short period to acquire the faculty of 
 a free exchange of ideas. 
 
 The fact that intercourse formerly 
 existed between the various groups is 
 tolerably well authenticated. According 
 to traditions, voyages were of common 
 occurrence. In those days their canoes 
 were said to be larger and better con- 
 structed than at present. From some 
 of the circumstances told concerning 
 them, it is not improbable that they 
 were the very boats, or proas perhaps 
 of Malay origin which brought the 
 first inhabitants to Hawaii, and which 
 continued to be employed in keeping up 
 intercourse with the other groups as 
 
 long as they were sea-worthy. Certain 
 it is the frail canoes of modern times 
 are ill adapted to voyages of two and 
 three thousand miles. The weather is 
 often very tempestuous even within the 
 influence of the trade winds. At the 
 most favorable season canoes might per- 
 form the voyage in safety, by stopping 
 at the numerous intervening coral islands 
 for rest and refreshment. Still it would 
 be more a matter of accident than skill. 
 Even with better means of conveyance, 
 and no other source of navigation than 
 their imperfect knowledge of the stars, 
 it is not to be wondered that these voy- 
 ages should have been discontinued, as 
 no traffic existed and curiosity or the 
 love of relatives were the only impelling 
 motives. 
 
 It is impossible to ascertain at what 
 period these adventurous voyages were 
 relinquished. Judging from the indefi- 
 niteness of the recollections concerning 
 them, it must have been many ages 
 since. Certain points of depaiture, as 
 the southern extremities of Kahoolawe 
 and Hawaii, were designated as the 
 "foreign roads" In Hawaiian meles 
 the names of Nuuhiva and Tahuata, 
 two islands of the Marquesan group, 
 Upolu and Savaii, of the Samoan, and 
 Tahiti and others in that neighborhood, 
 frequently appear. Names of head-lands 
 and towns in many of these are also 
 common to others. Allusions are fre- 
 quent to voyages made from Oahu and 
 Kauai to islands far west. Tahiti or 
 Kahiki, which are synonymous, were 
 the names most commonly known, and 
 appears to have been the island most 
 visited. Popular opinion points to it as 
 the source whence Hawaii was peopled. 
 However, their ideas had become so 
 vague in this respect, that it was applied 
 to any foreign country, and to this day 
 its actual signification answers to the 
 English term " abroad." Bolabola, the 
 name of an adjoining island, is usually 
 applied to Tahiti. 
 
 The meaning thus attached to Tahiti 
 arose, no doubt, from the circumstance, 
 that the latest voyages were made there, 
 and after they ceased it was the only 
 country the knowledge of which re- 
 mained among the common people. The 
 names of the others were preserved 
 
HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 13 
 
 among the priests and chiefs, though 
 with an indistinctness that ultimately 
 must have consigned them to oblivion. 
 Even with the advantage of written lan- 
 guage, the knowledge of America was 
 lost, or but obscurely remembered by 
 the adventurous Northmen. Hoopahao- 
 hao was the term used to express a 
 different or foreign dialect. 
 
 Few only of the traditions relative to 
 the earliest history of the islands are 
 worthy of recital. The first inhabitants 
 are related to have brought with them 
 from Tahiti, a hog, a dog, and a pair of 
 fowls. Before landing, they asked and 
 obtained permission of the gods, then 
 the sole denizens of this region, to re- 
 main. The arrival of a chief at Hawaii 
 is spoken of, who finally settled on 
 Kauai, and sent for his son. This son 
 it seems was something of a mechanic, 
 for he improved upon the construction 
 of their canoes, or perhaps introduced 
 the more recent improvements of Tahiti. 
 
 Other voyages are spoken of. One of 
 these was made by a priest, in obedience 
 to a communication from his god, re- 
 vealing to him the existence, situation, 
 and distance, of Tahiti, with the com- 
 mand to proceed thither. Obeying this 
 injunction, he set sail from Hawaii, with 
 forty companions, in four double canoes. 
 After an absence of fifteen years, they re- 
 turned and gave an interesting account 
 of a country they had visited, called 
 Haupokane, bordered with fine sandy 
 beaches, abounding in shell-fish and de- 
 licious fruits. The inhabitants were 
 comely and possessed much wealth. 
 
 The name of this Hawaiian Columbus 
 was Kamapiikai, " a child running over 
 the sea." He afterwards made three 
 voyages to the same place, accompanied 
 by numerous trains of followers, who 
 were tempted by his glowing description 
 of the newly discovered land, to share 
 his fortunes. As he never returned 
 from the fourth, he is supposed to have 
 perished at sea. 
 
 The most remarkable feature of this 
 tale, is what was related of the wai-ola- 
 loa, " water of enduring life," a fountain 
 or stream, said to exist in the land of 
 Haupokane. If we may credit Kamapii- 
 kai, it possessed more marvelous proper- 
 ties than even the far-farned " Fountain 
 
 of Youth," which Ponce De Leon vainly 
 sought for, in Florida, in 1512. By 
 bathing in its miraculous waters, peo- 
 ple, however aged or infirm, deformed 
 or ugly, maimed or diseased, were im- 
 mediately restored to youth, strength, 
 and beauty. Such being the reputation 
 of this stream, it is no matter of sur- 
 prise that Kamapiikai was able to entice 
 numbers to brave with him the dangers 
 of the ocean. Report does not say, 
 whether his crews were composed only 
 of those, whose necessities required 
 such a bath. If they were, it will more 
 readily account for his final loss, than 
 his previous success, it is not altogether 
 improbable that the Hawaiians derived 
 this story from some of their early 
 Spanish visitors, who had received it 
 from the Indians of Cuba; or it may 
 have been a superstition common to 
 both races. 
 
 An opinion was prevalent that the first 
 inhabitants descended from the gods, or 
 were created on the islands. But this 
 may be referred to a still earlier period, 
 and different locality. Such traditions 
 being found to exist among all nations, 
 they evidently point to the common 
 origin of the human species. Each na- 
 tion, as it became isolated and lost knowl- 
 edge of its primeval history, would natu- 
 rally consider its own territory as the 
 site of the miraculous creation, and 
 themselves as divinely descended. 
 
 A tradition of the flood likewise exists, 
 which states that all the land, except 
 the summit of Mauna Kea, was over- 
 flowed by copious rains and risings of 
 the waters. Some of the inhabitants 
 preserved themselves in a " laau," a 
 vessel whose height, length and breadth 
 were equal, and which was filled with 
 men, food and animals. This " laau," 
 after floating awhile, finally rested upon 
 Mauna Kea. The waters then sub- 
 sided and the people went forth and 
 again dwelt in the land. This flood is 
 called Kaiakahinalii, the great deluge of 
 Hinalii. 
 
 Their traditions, like those of the He- 
 brews, refer to a period of perpetual 
 night, or a state of chaos, before the 
 world existed. Nothing that now is, 
 was then created, except some of the 
 gods. The present state was called the 
 
14 
 
 HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 " state of light," and creation was a 
 transition from darkness to light. Any 
 reference to existence from the earliest 
 time was expressed thus, " from the 
 state of confusion or darkness, until 
 now." Hawaii was said to have been 
 produced from a large egg, deposited 
 by an immense bird upon the water, 
 which bursting, formed the present 
 island. 
 
 Maui, a superhuman being or god, is 
 said to have laid his hand upon the sun, 
 and arrested its course, to give his wife 
 time to finish work, which she was 
 anxious to complete before dark. This 
 was certainly carrying gallantry to an 
 extent never dreamed of by the chivalry 
 of Europe, accustomed as they were to 
 do brave deeds and incredible feats for 
 their lady loves. The analogy however 
 to be observed in this story, with the 
 miracle of Joshua, is striking. Accord- 
 ing to Earnest Dieffenback in his recent 
 travels in New Zealand, this Maui was 
 a being of no little repute in that coun- 
 try, for to him the natives attribute the 
 formation or fishing up of their island. 
 They also derive their origin from coun- 
 tries called Hawaiki and Tawaii, in 
 which names that author recognizes 
 Hawaii and Kauai. Dogs and taro were 
 brought in the first canoes from the 
 eastward. As further confirmation of 
 his idea of the Hawaiian origin of the 
 New Zealanders, he states that shrubs 
 and trees of the same genus, though 
 differing in species, bear similar names 
 in both countries.* 
 
 The query, " whence the Polynesian 
 family," has been much discussed. Dr. 
 Lang's " View of the Origin and Migra- 
 tion of the Polynesian Nation," throws 
 some light upon this perplexing question. 
 There is no difficulty in accounting for 
 the manner of peopling the islands ; for 
 it has been found that frail canoes and 
 boats, either by accident or design, have 
 performed voyages of sufficient extent 
 to have arrived at the most remote lands 
 in the Pacific. Japanese junks have 
 been blown to sea, and finally stranded 
 with their occupants upon distant islands, 
 and have reached even the continent of 
 America, in the 46th degree of north 
 latitude. In December, 1832, one was 
 
 ~~* Vol. H, p. 88, et. seq. 
 
 wrecked on Oahu, after having been 
 tossed upon the ocean for eleven months. 
 But four, out of a crew of nine, survived. 
 Similar accidents, no doubt, happened 
 centuries since. Lord North's island, a 
 mere rock, of scarcely two miles circuit, 
 and upwards of a thousand miles distant 
 from any other land, has a numer- 
 ous population, which must have origin- 
 ated from a similar casualty. Canoes, 
 crowded with occupants of both sexes, 
 are annually picked up at sea, far away 
 from their places of departure, and drift- 
 ing about at the mercy of the weather. 
 The continent of Asia, owing to the 
 numerous intervening islands, affords 
 more facilities for reaching Polynesia in 
 this manner, than America; though 
 stragglers from the latter have doubtless 
 from time to time added to the popula- 
 tion, and thus created a mixture of cus- 
 toms, which, to some extent, indicate a 
 mixed origin. The probabilities are in 
 favor of Asia, both from affinity of lan- 
 guage, and from striking resemblances 
 in manners, idols, clothing, and physical 
 conformation. But all conclusions, with 
 the present light upon this subject, must 
 necessarily be speculative, and of little 
 practical utility. China was known to 
 Egypt more than two thousand years 
 before the birth of Christ, and a com- 
 mercial intercourse maintained between 
 the two countries. Africa was circum- 
 navigated by the ancient Egyptian mar- 
 iners ; and among the relics of their 
 high primary civilization, indications of 
 an acquaintance with the continent of 
 America are to be traced. Upon further 
 development of the history of the earliest 
 records of our race, it may be found that 
 the geography of the world was better 
 known than we are at present aware of 
 and the peopling of isolated positions 
 and the migrations of nations, to have 
 been performed with a definite knowl- 
 edge of the general features of the globe. 
 This, as well as their purer forms of 
 faith, became obscured in the night of 
 ages, when darkness and ignorance set- 
 tled upon the nations of the earth. After 
 a lapse of four thousand years, glim- 
 merings only of the truth are revealed, 
 in the fables of a multitude of distinct 
 tribes of men; the general coincidence 
 of which points to a common parentage. 
 
BISTORT OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 15 
 
 Whatever may have been the origin 
 of the Hawaiians, we find in their tra- 
 ditions, ground for the belief that they 
 once possessed a simpler ritual and 
 purer ideas of divinity than when dis- 
 covered by Cook. The ideas embodied 
 in these traditions appear to be the frag- 
 ments of a faith or teachings not unlike 
 those of the Hebrews. Perhaps like 
 theirs, they came down to them from 
 primeval ages, before mankind had be- 
 come wholly corrupt ; when the sons of 
 God walked with the children of men. 
 But others, and particularly several cus- 
 toms point to a later period, when the 
 Israelites had become a nation under the 
 ceremonial law. Ingenious minds may 
 find a pleasure in tracing the parallel 
 between customs and traditions of the 
 Hawaiian race and the ceremonies and 
 scripture of the Jews. But it requires 
 further research and more proof before 
 we can adopt the conclusion that they 
 sprung from the lost ten tribes. 
 
 Dibble, in his History of the American 
 Mission, favors this idea. He was in- 
 timately acquainted with all there was 
 to be known concerning Hawaiian tra- 
 ditionary history and customs, and has 
 succinctly enumerated the parallelisms. 
 He writes : 
 
 " It is frequently remarked that every barbarous na- 
 tion has some traditions more or less distinct of ancient 
 events narrated in the Holy Scriptures, and some cus- 
 toms and practices also that indicate the common origin 
 of the human race. The remark is certainly true ol the 
 inhabitants of these islands, and to such an extent that 
 it is not difficult to imagine, that the Hawaiians are a 
 part of the scattered tribes of the children of Israel. 
 
 " In the regular division of time and the occurrence of 
 sacred seasons, at intervals, four times a month, there 
 may be some trace of an ancient weekly Sabbath. There 
 were also yearly feasts, and feasts of the new moon, 
 which were observed with much religious ceremony. 
 
 " There is a very ancient tradition, dated back in the 
 reign of Owaia, the second in genealogy of the Hawaiian 
 chiefs, which may be introduced here, as it seems to bear 
 some trace of a knowledge formerly existing, but since 
 lost, of a superintending power above. The tradition is 
 of a head having been seen in the heavens, which looked 
 out of a cloud and made the following inquiry : 'Who 
 among the kings of the earth has behaved well ? ' The 
 men here below replied, ' Kahiko, one of the kings of this 
 lower world, was a most worthy personage, a wise man, 
 a priest, and an astrologer, promoting the prosperity of 
 his laud, and the best interests of his people.' The head 
 again inquired, ' What earthly king has been notoriously 
 vicious ? ' Men responded, ' His name is Owaia, an im- 
 pious man, devoid of skill in divination or in war, indif- 
 ferent to the prosperity of the realms and the happiness 
 of his subjects. His every thought is absorbed in sen- 
 sual pleasure, and the gratification of his avarice. He 
 exalts himself by trampling on his subjects, whose felicity 
 he of course tails to consult, in a word, he pays no re- 
 sard to the counsels and example of hia excellent father.' 
 Then said the voice, ' It is no wonder, truly, that the 
 kingdom is driven to ruin, when he who holds the reins 
 is a champion in crime.' Upon this the head disap- 
 peared. 
 
 " The tabu system, making sacred certain times, per- 
 sons and places, and containing many restrictions and 
 prohibitions, may easily be interpreted as a relic much 
 changed and corrupted, from the ancient ceremonial ob- 
 servances of the Jews. 
 
 " The Hawaiians offered their first fruits to the gods. 
 
 "Among the Hawaiians, till the arrival of the mission- 
 aries, the practice of circumcision was common. The 
 act was attended with religious ceremonies and performed 
 by a priest. An uncircumcised person was considered 
 mean and despicable. The practice did not cease till 
 formally prohibited by Kaahumanu. 
 
 "Every person and thing that touched a dead body 
 was considered unclean, and continued so a certain sea- 
 son, and till purified by religious ceremonies. 
 
 " Females after child-birth and after other periods of 
 infirmity, were enjoined strict separation, and were sub- 
 jected to ceremonies of purification similar to those of 
 the Jews, on penalty of death. 
 
 " The Hawaiians had cities of refuge for the same pur- 
 pose and under similar regulations with those of the 
 Jews. 
 
 "Hawaiian tradition says that man was originally 
 made of the dust of the earth by Kane and Kanaloa, two 
 of their principal deities. 
 
 "They have tho tradition of one Waikelenuiaiku, an 
 abridged story of whom I will here introduce, that the 
 reader may judge for himself how much it resembles the 
 history of Joseph : 
 
 " Waikelenuiaiku was one of ten brethren, who had 
 one sister. They were all the children of one father 
 whose name was Waiku. Waikelenuiaiku was much be- 
 loved by his father, but his brethren hated him. On ac- 
 count of their hatred they carried him and cast him into 
 a pit belonging to Holonaeole. The oldest brother had 
 pity on him and gave charge to Holonaeole to lake good 
 care of him. 
 
 " Waikelenuiaiku escaped and fled to a country over 
 which reigned a king whose name was Kamohoalii. 
 There he was thrown into a dark place, a pit under 
 ground, In which many persons were confined for various 
 crimes. 
 
 " Whilst Waikelenuiaiku was confined in this dark 
 place, he told his companions to dream dreams and tell 
 them to him. The night following four of the prisoners 
 had dreams. The first dreamed that he saw a ripe ohin 
 (native apple) and his spirit ate it ; the second dreamed 
 that he saw a ripe banana and his spirit ate it ; the third 
 dreamed that lie saw a hog and his spirit ate it ; and the 
 fourth dreamed that he saw awa, (a native herb produc- 
 ing intoxicating liquor,) pressed out the juice, and his 
 spirit drank it. The three first dreams (those pertaining 
 to food) Waikelenuiaiku interpreted unfavorably and told 
 the dreamers that they must prepare to die. The fourth 
 dream (that pertaining to drink) he interpreted to signify 
 deliverance and life. 
 
 " The three first dreamers were slain according to the 
 interpretation and the fourth was delivered and saved. 
 
 "Afterwards, this last dreamer told Kamohoalii the 
 king of the land how wonderful was the skill of Waikele- 
 nuiaiku in interpreting dreams, and the king sent and 
 delivered him from prison and made him a principal 
 chief in his kingdom. 
 
 " They have a tradition of a certain person who wa* 
 swallowed by a fish and afterwards cast out upon dry 
 land, which may be referred to the history of Jonah. 
 
 "It may be added, that the poetry of the Hawaiians 
 bears a greater resemblance to that of the Hebrews than 
 to any other, that the structure of the two languages is 
 very similar, and especially that the causative form of 
 the Hawaiian verb is precisely the same with the Hiphil 
 of the Hebrew. Very few words however can be found 
 in the two languages that resemble each other." pp. 
 26-28. 
 
 A genealogy of the kings of Hawaii 
 and their wives, exists from a period 
 long antecedent to 1778, though but few 
 facts of an interesting nature have been 
 preserved. Kahiko, (ancient,) the first 
 man and Kupulanakahau, the first wo- 
 man, gave birth to a son, called Wakea. 
 Among the first settlers from abroad 
 
16 
 
 HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 were Kukalaniehu, and his wife Kaku- 
 laua, whose daughter married Wakea. 
 This couple became the progenitors of 
 the whole Hawaiian race. The names 
 of seventy-seven generations of kings 
 have been preserved in their historical 
 meles, from the last of whom Kame- 
 hnmeha claimed descent. Many mar- 
 velous and absurd things are related of 
 these men and their consorts. Papa 
 was believed to be the mother of the 
 islands, and to have created the kalo 
 plant, by planting a deformed child, 
 from which it grew. In the history of 
 Papa is found the eastern idea of trans- 
 migration of souls, as she is said to have 
 inhabited different bodies by passing 
 from one to another. 
 
 Kana was a famous warrior, and of 
 him marvelous deeds are told. He was 
 so tall that he could wade the ocean, 
 and, colossus-like, stand with one foot 
 upon Oahu and the other upon Kauai, 
 seventy miles apart. On one occasion, 
 the Hawaiians gave offence to the king 
 of Tahiti, who, in revenge, deprived 
 them of the sun. Kana, disliking the 
 darkness, walked through the sea to 
 Tahiti, where the maker of the sun, 
 Kahoaalii, lived. Having obtained it, 
 he returned and placed it where it still 
 remains. But stories like these, origin- 
 ating in the imaginations of the bards, 
 or superstitions of the people, have 
 neither interest nor value. Those given 
 are a specimen of the better class. As 
 a whole, they are characterized by won- 
 der and absurdity, from which it seems 
 impossible to extract any truth worth 
 preserving. In their mental twilight the 
 past assumed a dim and undefined ap- 
 pearance, and was filled with vague 
 shadows which became more hideous 
 and disproportioned as their night drew 
 on. The lives of the rulers were stained 
 with the usual crimes of heathenism, 
 and occupied with wars and dissensions. 
 But one, Luamuo, retained his power 
 and died a natural death. This was 
 justly considered as a reward for his 
 extraordinary virtue. Another, by the 
 name of Puiakalani, becoming disgusted 
 with the continued dissensions among 
 his subjects, which he was called on to 
 adjust, resigned his power, saying to the 
 people, " I am tired of ruling over the 
 
 land, and will no longer have care of it. 
 It will be better for you, my subjects, to 
 look after your own lands in a way to suit 
 yourselves ; while I take care of my own.'' 
 The land soon fell into great confusion, 
 and the people petitioned their prince 
 to resume his former station, which he 
 consented to with the proviso of ad- 
 ditional power. To him is attributed 
 the originating of the feudal principle, 
 that the whole country belonged exclu- 
 sively to the king. From his time, all 
 lands were held in fief. The great 
 increase of tyranny arose from the con- 
 sideration given to the martial profes- 
 sion. The most illustrious warriors, 
 dreaded from their prowess and cruelty, 
 were esteemed as superior beings, and 
 sought after as leaders in their petty 
 skirmishes for territory or plunder. In 
 this manner, despotic power soon be- 
 came the inheritance of the warlike 
 chiefs ; as for the people, they ceased 
 to exist except as serfs, apportioned out 
 with their lands to the favorites or de- 
 pendents of the conquerors. New and 
 more rigorous laws were enforced, until 
 every vestige of former liberty was ex- 
 tinguished. 
 
 It is probable that the political condi- 
 tion of the country, during this period, 
 was much the same as when first visited 
 by Captain Cook : wars and famine, 
 peace and plenty, alternating according 
 to the dispositions of the ruling princes. 
 The prevalence of such a system must 
 effectually have checked mental or phy- 
 sical advancement. 
 
 Before the conquest of Kamehameha, 
 the several islands were ruled by inde- 
 pendent kings, who were frequently at 
 war with each other, but more often 
 with their own subjects. As one chief 
 acquired sufficient strength, he disputed 
 the title of the reigning prince ; if suc- 
 cessful, his chance of permanent power 
 was quite as precarious as that of his 
 predecessor. In some instances the title 
 established by force of arms remained 
 in the same family for several genera- 
 tions, disturbed, however, by frequent 
 rebellions. The rich valleys were 
 claimed by separate tribes, whose prin- 
 cipal occupation was to prey upon their 
 neighbors ; the highlands were arrayed 
 against the lowlands ; robbers infested 
 
HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ItiLAXLS. 
 
 17 
 
 all tlie public paths, or lurked amid the 
 recesses of the forest. The smallest 
 trifle of property was a sufficient tempta- 
 tion to murder ; and no individual was 
 safe away from the immediate precincts j 
 of his own village. The traveler of the 
 present day hears from the lips of their 
 descendants many a tale of horror, as 
 they direct his notice to the haunts of 
 these men of blood and lust. These 
 dark features will however be found to 
 be relieved by lighter shades, when the 
 general character of the ancient govern- 
 ment is explained. 
 
 It was a complete despotism, modified, 
 to some extent, by certain customs or 
 regulations, which had been promul- 
 gated in the early periods of their his- 
 tory, by the high chiefs, and which, 
 from their general usefulness and an- 
 tiquity, were considered in the light of 
 a traditionary code. These related prin- 
 cipally to the tenure of lands, personal 
 security, right of property and barter. 
 Such was the force of public sentiment 
 upon these subjects, that the chiefs hesi- 
 tated to violate the spirit of their mean- 
 ing. By them the amount of taxes or | 
 labor due the chiefs from their depend- 
 ants, and his duties to them, were, to 
 some extent, regulated. This species of 
 common law was particularly binding in 
 regard to the means of irrigation, on 
 which the whole value of their crops de- 1 
 pended. It regulated, for each planta- 
 tion, the amount of water which varies 
 according to the dryness of the season. 
 In barter, no bargain was considered as 
 binding until the articles were exchanged 
 and both parties expressed themselves j 
 satisfied ; after which, no withdrawal i 
 was permitted, whatever might be the ! 
 consequence. A common practice ex- j 
 isted of paying workmen in advance, j 
 Should they then refuse to perform the ! 
 stipulated work, their property was seiz- j 
 ed and their plantations destroyed. In j 
 criminal cases, the law of retaliation ' 
 prevailed, except toward their imme- 
 diate chiefs, who could commit any 
 trespass, or even murder, at their option. j 
 In other cases, the injured party retali- 
 ated to the extent of their desires, un- 
 less they were too weak in which event, 
 an appeal to the king, or the chief of 
 the district, ensured some light punish- i 
 3 
 
 ment to the offender. Life was held in 
 no great estimation, for murder was 
 punished simply by banishment. Theft 
 was more severely dealt with; those 
 who had suffered in their houses or 
 farms, repaired to the property of the 
 guilty party, even if they were the 
 strongest, and seized upon every avail- 
 able article. Whether there was any- 
 thing approaching the form of a trial to 
 prove the guilty party does not appear. 
 Public opinion was however so fixed on 
 this subject, that the whole people would 
 sustain those who thus desired to obtain 
 redress. This species of les fallout* 
 seems in no way calculated to have im- 
 proved their morals, though perhaps 
 suited to their circumstances. In their 
 social relations the greatest hospitality 
 prevailed. So freely were gifts bestow- 
 ed, that almost a community of property 
 existed ; and no man would refuse food 
 to his bitterest enemy, should he enter 
 his house. Thus the temptation to theft 
 was much diminished, and the heinous- 
 ness of the offence aggravated. If a 
 robbery were committed on the property 
 of a high chief, the offender was some- 
 times bound hand and foot, placed in a 
 decayed canoe, and committed to the 
 waters, to await a lingering death. 
 
 Such were the nature of some of their 
 regulations, which, while they tended, 
 to some extent, to create a security of 
 property and person among the common 
 people, in their transactions with each 
 other, afforded but little safety against 
 oppression on the part of their chiefs. 
 The king could dispense with any of 
 them, and the chiefs likewise though 
 an appeal to the king afforded some se- 
 curity against this latter abuse. The 
 will of the monarch constituted the su- 
 preme law ; consequently, the govern- 
 ment partook of his personal character, 
 being more or less arbitrary, according 
 to his disposition. The general char- 
 acter of the chiefs, as might be expected, 
 was such as despotic power, engrafted 
 upon savage dispositions and sensual 
 appetites, would be calculated to pro- 
 duce. 
 
 Kumalai, an ancient king of Maui, is 
 noted in their annals for his oppression, 
 and his memory is still preserved among 
 the people, on account of a road of fiat 
 
HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 stones which he caused to be made 
 around the island, part of which exists 
 to this day. Another of these Caligulas, 
 whose memory was universally exe- 
 crated, was Huakau, a king of Hawaii. 
 His disposition was so malicious, that if 
 he saw the leg of a man more handsome- 
 ly tatooed than his own, he immediately 
 ordered it cut off. A good looking face 
 or handsome hair, if unfortunate enough 
 to attract his attention, were sufficient 
 to cause the possessor to be beheaded ; 
 the bleeding head was brought to him, 
 to be mangled and hacked in a most 
 wanton manner. He was finally slain, 
 in a conspiracy, by Umi, a rival king, 
 and two aged men, whom he had abused. 
 
 The kingly authority extended over 
 life, liberty and property. It was fre- 
 quently delegated to the governors of 
 the islands, or great districts, and from 
 them to inferior officers. No chief could 
 interfere with the tenant of another, and 
 should he desire revenge or justice, it 
 could only be obtained through the legit- 
 imate lord, unless he chose to risk a 
 contest. The greatest safeguard of the 
 people consisted in the self-interest of 
 their masters, whose wealth and power 
 depended chiefly on the number of their 
 bondmen. The king was chief magis- 
 trate, and the ultimate source of appeal. 
 
 No regular police existed. The im- 
 mediate attendants of the chiefs executed 
 their orders. These attendants were 
 very numerous, every person of rank 
 being supplied according to his grade. 
 A certain number were bosom friends, 
 who always remained privileged idlers 
 about the persons of their lords, having 
 no voice in political affairs, but living 
 upon his revenues : the others held dif- 
 ferent offices in the household, more or 
 less menial, and constituted a perma- 
 nent establishment. Among them were 
 "pipe lighters," "spittoon carriers," "ka- 
 hili bearers," " executioners," " purloin- 
 ers,' ; " assassins," " cooks," &c. 
 
 These retinues were formed immedi- 
 ately upon the birth of a chief of either 
 sex, and were designated by titles, gen- 
 erally of a whimsical character, as "the 
 fragments," " musquitoes," "umbrellas," 
 &c. The care of the children devolved 
 upon kahuS) or nurses, who assumed the 
 sole direction, until the child was capa- 
 
 { ble of exercising its own will ; a period 
 which, as no contradiction to its caprices 
 was allowed, soon arrived. 
 
 Kank was hereditary, and descended 
 chiefly from the females, who frequently 
 held the reins of government in their 
 own right. This custom originated in 
 the great license existing between the 
 sexes ; no child, with certainty, being 
 able to designate his father, while no 
 mistake could be made in regard to the 
 mother. 
 
 Three distinct orders of nobles exist- 
 ed. The first embraced the kings, 
 queens, and all branches of the royal 
 family. It also included the chief ad- 
 visers, or counselors, though of inferior 
 birth. Governors, or chiefs of large 
 districts, were included in the second, 
 and the third embraced the lords of vil- 
 lages, priests, and those who held es- 
 tates, by payment of regular taxes, 
 which were raised by their own depend- 
 ants, or those to whom they farmed 
 lands. 
 
 Servile homage was paid to superiors, 
 particularly to priests and chiefs of the 
 highest rank. Neither their persons 
 could be touched, nor their houses en- 
 tered, without permission. All must 
 prostrate themselves when they appear- 
 ed. Death was the penalty of the slight- 
 est infringement of any degree of eti- 
 quette which the law required to be 
 exercised towards them, or their rites. 
 The people were attached to the soil, 
 and transferred with the land, like the 
 serfs of modern times. They had no 
 voice in the government. The advice 
 of the principal chiefs was taken in mat- 
 ters of importance by the king, though he 
 was responsible to no one. No regular 
 council existed, but the political delib- 
 erations were conducted with consider- 
 able diplomatic skill and secrecy. The 
 results were promulgated to the people 
 by heralds and messengers, whose offices 
 were hereditary, and considered highly 
 honorable. 
 
 Public meetings for discussing nation- 
 al affairs were sometimes held. Pro- 
 fessed orators and counselors, whose 
 offices were also hereditary, spoke on 
 these occasions, and with a degree of 
 natural eloquence, not uncommon amon^ 
 savages. 
 
HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 19 
 
 Among the chiefs a considerable de- 
 gree of courtesy prevailed, with a re- 
 finement of language and demeanor 
 which betokened conscious rank. Per- 
 haps in nothing else was the exclusive- 
 ness of the aristocracy so strongly char- 
 acterized. In every department of life 
 a distinction was made, as if contact 
 with the serfs, by touch, use of the same 
 articles, houses, "food or bathing places, 
 would produce contamination. From 
 such rules and deportment, so great a 
 physical difference arose, that super- 
 ficial observers have considered the two 
 as distinct races. To carry this dis- 
 tinction to its farthest limit, the chiefs 
 formed a conventional dialect, or court 
 language, understood only among them- 
 selves, if any of its terms became 
 known by the lower orders, they were 
 immediately discarded and others sub- 
 stituted. Towards the common people 
 the chiefs conducted themselves most 
 oppressively. Respect to their persons 
 or property was unknown, when in con- 
 flict with the whims or desires of a su- 
 perior. Their security lay in avoiding 
 them. To use the expressive language 
 of modern Hawaiians, " their restric- 
 tions were like the poisoned tooth of a 
 reptile." If a common man made use of 
 any consecrated property belonging to a 
 chief ; or if a man walked in the shade 
 of the house of a chief, with his head 
 besmeared with clay, or with a wreath 
 about it, with it wet, or wearing a 
 X* /'/;,/-/, a kapa mantle, or violated any 
 one of numerous other regulations, 
 equally whimsical and absurd, his life 
 was the forfeit. At sea, if their canoes 
 interrupted their progress, they were 
 overturned ; on land, if the shadow of 
 an individual fell upon the king, or he 
 did not prostrate himself when anything 
 was carried to or from him. the punish- 
 ment was death. This was also the 
 case, should any one place his hand 
 upon his head, or be found in a more 
 elevated position. To render this sys- 
 tem more unjust and cruel, if it were 
 possible, its laws were of the most varied 
 and uncertain nature, emanating fre- 
 quently from sheer caprice, ignorance 
 or innocence were equally unsafe, jus- 
 tice and humanity being of slight con- 
 sideration ; though, as before remarked, 
 
 the personal disposition of the sovereign 
 greatly affected the whole system of 
 government. The humane character of 
 the few could afford but slight relief 
 from the cruel and capricious desires of 
 the many. Priestcraft lent all its ad- 
 ventitious aids to support this system, 
 from which it derived its own existence. 
 But two classes existed, the oppressor 
 and oppressed, those who labored, and 
 those who reaped. Lands were held in 
 fief. The great landlords derived them 
 direct from the king, and in turn sub- 
 divided them among their followers, the 
 inferior tenants being apportioned with 
 the soil. The slightest failure of duty 
 from one class to its immediate superior, 
 was followed by dispossession. It was 
 on the great chiefs that the king relied 
 for military support, which they gladly 
 rendered him as the title by which they 
 retained their possessions. Not unfre- 
 quently lands were divided out to the 
 seventh degree, and it is owing to this 
 system that, now as the rights of each 
 begin to be acknowledged, so much con- 
 fusion in titles has arisen. Tenant, 
 landlord, chief and king have each an 
 interest in the same spot. Then, how- 
 ever, such matters were easily adjusted. 
 The strongest took it. Nor more than 
 one-third of the laborer's industry ever 
 benefited him. The other two-thirds 
 went in taxes, rents and exactions to 
 his chiefs and to the king. Worse than 
 this, his own third was never safe from 
 some unforeseen exaction. If his lands 
 were flourishing and a stock of hogs or 
 poultry repaid his care, they were never 
 secure from the covetous eyes of a su- 
 perior. The decree had but to go forth, 
 and house, farm and all that his labor 
 had made his, passed irrevocably into 
 the hands of another. Even when the 
 good nature of one class of chiefs ren- 
 dered the peasant's property compara- 
 tively secure, no reliance could be 
 placed on its continuance. The death 
 of a king or landlord, or even a new 
 favoritism, caprice, or the most trivial 
 motive, sufficed to produce a change of 
 masters throughout. Thus one moment 
 was no security against the next. Not 
 to be entirely at the mercy of one man. 
 tenants were desirous of securing small 
 patches under several chiefs, so that 
 
HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 when plundered by one they could re- 
 pair to another. This system was an 
 effectual bar to general improvements 
 and the acquisition of property by the 
 mass. It may account somewhat for 
 their profuse hospitality, by leading 
 every man the more willingly to bestow 
 upon his neighbor, what he felt but 
 slight rights of property to in himself; 
 for food, even when prepared for the fam- 
 ily meal, was no exception to a chiefs 
 rapacity. Beside this lion's right to 
 property? the chief or king could assess 
 labor upon the entire community, when 
 and how he pleased. 
 
 In cases of litigation, some appear- 
 ance of judicial forms was preserved. 
 Both parties were generally summoned 
 before the king or chief and heard be- 
 fore judgment was pronounced, the ex- 
 ecution of which was prompt. Ordi- 
 narily, cases were left to the priests, 
 whose examinations appealed rather to 
 the superstitious fears of the real or 
 fancied criminal, than to any direct evi- 
 dences of guilt. Ordeals of a singular 
 nature were practiced. One was the 
 - ; ii-n'i ]i<wlulu" shaking water, a large 
 dish of which was placed before the 
 culprit, while a prayer was offered by 
 the priest. Both hands were required 
 to be held over the fluid, the priest gaz- 
 ing steadfastly upon it. If the water 
 shook, an event, by a little legerdemain, 
 very likely to occur, the fate of the vic- 
 tim was sealed. 
 
 The delusion of " praying to death " 
 exercised a powerful influence over their 
 minds. Chiefs and common people alike 
 felt its force, though the former, it is to 
 be supposed, seldom came under its 
 baneful operation. Even to this day 
 this superstition exists, though rapidly 
 wearing away. Like the remembrance 
 of goblin tales, the fear remains after 
 the faith is destroyed. As a powerful 
 engine of government and priesthood, it 
 was deprecated equally by the innocent 
 as by the guilty. 
 
 Sorcery and witchcraft were also ex- 
 tensively practiced, and exerted a power 
 not inferior to the above, which may be 
 considered as a kindred practice, de- 
 pending for its success upon the same 
 credulity and ignorance. Kilo was the 
 term applied to the class that predicted 
 
 future events, from the appearances of 
 the heavens, crowing of cocks, or bark- 
 ing of dogs. It was analogous, and 
 perhaps co-eval with the practice of 
 soothsaying among the more polished 
 nations of antiquity. The professors of 
 practices so fatal to the people were re- 
 garded with great aversion, and seldom 
 came to a natural end. Indeed they 
 were looked upon rather as bad spirits 
 than appertaining to the human race. 
 
 The priests were frequently called 
 upon to detect those guilty of theft. 
 The complainant was required to pay a 
 fee, generally a pig, in advance. The 
 following ceremonies were then enacted. 
 Two sticks of green wood were rubbed 
 together, until the friction produced a 
 kind of powder, resembling snuff, suf- 
 ficiently hot, upon being blown upon, to 
 kindle dry grass into a flame. This 
 was used to fire a pile of wood. Three 
 kukui nuts were then broken, arid one of 
 the kernels thrown into the fire. While 
 this was burning, a prayer was uttered, 
 accompanied with an anathema, " to kill 
 the fellow." The same ceremony was 
 repeated until the nuts were consumed, 
 unless the thief appeared and made res- 
 titution, which generally happened. The 
 offence was then punished with a heavy 
 fine. Should the culprit have neglected, 
 to appear, his fate was considered as 
 inevitable. A proclamation was made 
 throughout the island by the king, that 
 theft had been committed and the guilty 
 prayed to death. So firm was their be- 
 lief in the power of these prayers to 
 arouse the avenging deity, that the mis- 
 erable victim generally pined away and 
 fell a sacrifice to his fears. When we 
 ! consider the powerful influence which 
 ! the church of Rome exercised over those 
 ! who acknowledged her authority, throw- 
 I ing, by her paper interdicts, a whole 
 j kingdom into a state of distress, scarcely 
 ; conceivable in modern times, we find 
 little to excite wonder in the " praying 
 i to death " of the untutored savage. 
 
 No spirit of benevolence pervaded 
 their religion. It was a gloomy and 
 fearful system, abounding in punish- 
 ments for the present life and dark 
 threatenings for the future. Among the 
 I lowest orders no distinct idea of futurity 
 prevailed. A general opinion that there 
 
HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 21 
 
 was a future state existed, and with it 
 vague expectances of rewards and pun- 
 ishments. In their corrupted minds the 
 simple truth of one all-creative power, 
 the " Great Spirit " of the American In- 
 dians, had no being. Their traditions 
 referred to the creation of the world, and 
 the deluge ; but even then, according to 
 their ideas, a multiplicity of gods exist- 
 ed. The knowledge of the true God 
 was lost among many families soon after 
 the world became peopled ; else was 
 buried amid a mass of superstitions and 
 heathen ceremonies, which each suc- 
 cessive generation increased. This was 
 emphatically the case with the Hawai- 
 ians. However simple their faith orig- 
 inally had been, almost all traces of truth 
 were lost at their discovery. Every 
 age had become more corrupt, and, at 
 that date, the cup of heathenism was full. 
 Savage rites and blood-loving deities, a 
 cruel priesthood and rapacious govern- 
 ments, inhuman faiths and absurd super- 
 stitions, were the burdens which the 
 people were required to believe and sus- 
 tain. From the perusal of the stories 
 of this dark era, as gathered from their 
 own lips, it would seem as if human de- 
 pravity had reached its acme, and that 
 the people were gradually wasting away, 
 like a mass of corruption. A religion 
 which inculcates some degree of moral- 
 ity, however small, or allows latitude for 
 the better principles of humanity, even 
 if choked and almost destroyed by sur- 
 rounding depravity, will exert an influ- 
 ence sufficient to tempei the general 
 evil. This was the case with the Bud- 
 dhistic creed and the simple faith of the 
 ancient Peruvians. But here no such 
 light prevailed. The system had de- 
 generated into unmixed evil, and the 
 good, like that derived from government, 
 was the result of individual action. 
 Fortunately for humanity, the most bar- 
 barous beliefs will, at times, yield to the 
 natural instincts of man ; and faiths, 
 however cruel m theory, often become 
 comparatively mild in their application. 
 The religion of the Hawaiians, as it 
 existed when they became known to the 
 civilized world, incorporated no abstract 
 principles of belief. It was rather a 
 system of worldly despotism, better cal- 
 culated to perpetuate the power of the 
 
 priests, than to direct the ideas of the 
 people to concerns of eternal interest or 
 temporal improvement. Deities, cere- 
 monies and restrictions, had been in- 
 definitely multiplied till it presented a 
 confused mass of dark superstitions, 
 based upon the slavish fear and igno- 
 rance of the people. 
 
 The contradictory ideas that prevailed 
 in regard to a future state, attest the 
 indefmiteness of their belief on this 
 point. Their revelations were derived 
 from dreams and pretended visions of 
 the priests. By some, it was supposed 
 that the souls of the departed went to 
 Po, (place of night,) where they were 
 annihilated, or eaten by the gods. Others 
 considered the regions of Akea and 
 Milu their final resting places. These 
 were former kings of Hawaii, who, after 
 death, went below and founded king- 
 doms, which became the Hades of the 
 Hawaiian Islands. Darkness prevailed 
 here, and lizards and butterflies were 
 the only diet. The spirits of the depart- 
 ed were sometimes sent back with mes- 
 sages to the living. These pretended 
 messages were expounded, greatly to 
 their own interest, by the priests, and 
 were received as divine commands by 
 the people.* There were two gods, 
 
 *Hawaiians supposed they had two souls, one of which 
 ! always remained with the body ; the other had the 
 I power of leaving it for good or evil ; to aid a friend or to 
 pursue an enemy ; a belief somewhat similar to the He- 
 brew demonology. A class of priests were supposed to 
 I possess the power of exorcising the evil inclined spirits, 
 and of altogether destroying them. Their souls were 
 j thought to he distinct Irom the body, though iu near re- 
 j lationship ; hence, they called them hoapili o ke kino, 
 I " close adhering companions of the body." 
 
 In the following commencement of a "mele," an od*.- 
 I to the soul, composed by Maewa, a modern Hawaiian and 
 ! a Christian, he still recognizes the old belief of two dis- 
 | tinct yet familiar existences. The present race gener- 
 ally consider their souls as having the same relation tu 
 their bodies as their shadows. 
 
 ; - Aloha ka uhane, ka hoapili o ke kino ; 
 
 I pili ka ua me ka la. 
 
 A o ke anuanu me ke koekoe, 
 
 Aloha kuu hoa ohumu o kahi kanaka ole. 
 
 A o hoi na, kuu hoapili, o ka ua lauipo lua, 
 Hoa ai ole o na kai ewalu, 
 A me na makaui eha ; 
 Kuu hoa o ka maona kawalawahi. 
 A me k-v rnaka poniuniu ai ole ; 
 He pokakaa ka la e iioho nei, 
 A hala na makahiki eha, 
 Malaila no ka halialia aloha ana mai," <fcc. 
 
 TRA.VSLATION. 
 
 " Farewell, thou soul, the body's near companion, 
 
 Companion in the rain and in the sun, 
 
 In the piercing cold, and in the chilly damp. 
 
 Farewell my soul ; we have communed together in the 
 
 still retreat, 
 
 Been companions in the crowd and in the silent place.-*. 
 ' And thou art going, ruy bosom friend, in the dark storm. 
 
HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 one of whom was called Kaonoliiolcala, 
 the eye-ball of the sun, who conducted 
 the spirits of the chiefs to a place in the 
 heavens, where it was supposed their 
 rulers dwelt after death. They some- 
 times returned to the earth and watched 
 over the welfare of their survivors. By 
 this belief, it will be seen that the spir- 
 itual destinies of the nobles were well 
 provided for by the complaisant priests, 
 in return, probably, for favors received 
 from them while living. Servitude was 
 the lot of the common people in this life, 
 and no hope enlivened their souls for 
 the future. 
 
 Hawaiians in their gods worshiped 
 mere physical attributes ; their concep- 
 tions of divinity being limited to deeds of 
 strength, lust and revenge, with perhaps 
 an occasional dash of good nature. In 
 this they differed not materially from the 
 popular opinions of the polished Greeks 
 and Romans. Indeed, a uniformity of 
 ideas, though varied in application by 
 mental cultivation and moral sentiment, 
 is found to exist among all nations un- 
 enlightened by revelation. Man deified 
 man. His fertile imagination peopled 
 proves, shores, and ocean, with beings 
 of wonderful natures ; with some, the 
 objects of fear -with others, of com- 
 panionship and protection. Each indi- 
 vidual, according to his prominent char- 
 acteristic, selected his protecting deity ; 
 thus their qualities became as various 
 as the tastes and dispositions of mankind; 
 so that man, reversing the primeval 
 creation, fashioned gods after his own 
 image. In the Hawaiian mythology, 
 little exists to interest or instruct. It is 
 a record of depravity necessary, though 
 painful, to examine, that a proper judg- 
 ment of their aboriginal condition may 
 be formed. 
 
 Their gods were many, and received 
 constant additions from the most trivial 
 circumstances. Every object of fear, or 
 from which harm could be derived, 
 
 Vho rcilest with me o'er the waves of the eight was,* 
 
 Aad when contending with the four winds ; 
 
 My companion in rare-full meals, 
 
 .\.--ii in long-fasting faintness. 
 
 WLUe living here, the sun has onward rolled. 
 
 Aad four full years have past ; 
 
 'Tis but a vapor of a loved remembrance," Ace. 
 
 The remainder of this ode, with an excellent transUi- 
 Jif'Q by Rev. L. Andrews, of the Sandwich Islands Mis- 
 sion, will be found in the Polynesian for Juiy, 1840. 
 *Tbe several channel* between the islands. 
 
 MALE IDOL. 
 
 I was worshiped. Sharks, volcanoes, and 
 | any singular appearance in the natural 
 kingdom, had each their devotees. There 
 were household deities, some of ludicrous 
 ! and obscene character, like the Roman 
 Penates ; gods of war, the seasons, crops, 
 and of the winds ; 
 also of precipices, or 
 dangerous places in 
 traveling. Images 
 were placed on such 
 to receive the offer- 
 ings of the devout. 
 Among the principal 
 deities were Lono, 
 Ku, Kane and I&i- 
 n<doa, male gods. 
 Those of the other 
 sex were common ; 
 of which Papa, IIu- 
 koku, Walinu and 
 Jahawahi)ie were 
 the most celebrated. 
 A human origin is 
 ascribed to all. 
 The several islands had favorite idols. 
 | On JVlaui, Jfealoewa, an image ot wood, 
 I covered with "tapa," was much wor- 
 I shiped. The head, which was disfigured 
 with an enormous mouth, was formed of 
 fine basket-worh, curiously and neatly 
 I wrong) it with red feathers, so as to re- 
 semble the plumage of a 
 beautiful bird. This was 
 surmounted by a helmet, 
 to the crown of which long 
 tresses of human hair were 
 attached. 
 
 Jiihu was a famous fe- 
 male idol of the same isl- 
 and, and received equal 
 adoration with Kealoewa. 
 On Lanai, two large stone 
 images, personifying the 
 deities supposed to preside 
 over the sea, were much 
 honored by fishermen. 
 ii a shark, was a celebrated ma- 
 rine god of Molokai. Numerous tem- 
 ples were built on projecting headlands 
 for his homage, and to them the first 
 fruits of the fishermen's labors were dedi- 
 cated. 
 
 KalaipaliO'i, a carved, wooden image, 
 was much feared. Its arms were ex- 
 tended, with spread fingers, its head 
 
HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 23 
 
 decorated with human hair, and its gap- 
 ing mouth ornamented with rows of 
 shark's teeth. The wood of which this 
 idol was made, to in- 
 crease the horrid ef- 
 fect of its appearance, 
 was fabled to be dead- 
 ly poisonous. 
 
 One of the most 
 popular gods of Ha- 
 waii was Lono , an 
 ancient king, who, ac- 
 cording to the tradi- 
 tion, became offended 
 with his wife, and 
 murdered her. His -"LAIPAHOA-POISON 
 contrition brought on 
 derangement, and he traveled through 
 the islands, boxing and wrestling with 
 
 all he met. Not long after, he 
 sailed in an oddly constructed 
 canoe for a foreign land, from 
 which he never returned. He 
 was deified, and annual ath- 
 letic exercises held in his 
 honor.* 
 
 This was the God for whom 
 Cook was mistaken upon his 
 arrival ; which delusion was 
 not altogether removed after 
 his death. 
 
 The most fearful of all their 
 deities was 1'ele, a goddess. 
 Her habitation, the famous 
 volcano of Kilauea, well ac- 
 corded with her reputed char- 
 acter. Here, with her attend- 
 ant spirits, she reveled in the 
 flames ; the unearthly noises 
 of the burning mass were the 
 music of their dance, and they 
 bathed in the red surge of 
 the fiery billows, as it dashed 
 against the sides of the crater. 
 This fire-loving family is said 
 to have emigrated from Ta- 
 hiti, soon after the deluge. 
 Their names, as given by 
 Ellis, were characteristic of 
 their habits, and show how 
 readily the native intellect met- 
 
 f 
 
 GOD LONG. 
 
 * The following is a translation of the mele composed 
 oo this event: Q LONO AKUA< 
 
 1. Lono Akua (God), of Hawaii, in ancient times, re- 
 sided with his wife at Kealakeakua 
 
 2. The name of the goddess, his love, was Kaikilani 
 Alii. They dwelt beneath the steep rock. 
 
 | amorphosed natural phenomena into per- 
 sonal qualities. 
 
 Pde was the chief goddess. Her prin- 
 cipal followers were Ka-ma-hu-alii 
 the king of steam and vapor. Ka-poJm- 
 i-kahi-ola the explosion in the palace 
 of life. Ke-ua-ke-po the rain of night. 
 I Kane-hekili thundering god. Jfe-o- 
 ahi-kama-kaua fire-thrusting child of 
 war. These were brothers, and like 
 Vulcan, two of them were deformed. 
 Makole-wawah l-waa fiery-eyed canoe 
 brea ker. Ifiaka*uxxwalii-lanv+-he&ven- 
 dwelling cloud breaker, and several oth- 
 ers of longer names, and similar defini- 
 tions. These latter were sisters. The 
 whole family were regarded with the 
 greatest awe. The volcano was their 
 principal residence, though occasionally 
 they renovated their constitutions amid 
 the snows of the mountains. On such 
 occasions, their journeys were accom- 
 panied by earthquakes, eruptions, heavy 
 I thunder and lightning. All were ma"- 
 | lignant spirits, delighting in acts of ven- 
 i geance and destruction. The numerous 
 | eruptions with which the island has been 
 devastated, were ascribed to their en- 
 mity. Many tributes were assessed to 
 avoid or appease their anger; the greater 
 part of which went to support the numer- 
 ous and wealthy priesthood and their 
 followers, who regulated the worship of 
 | Pde. These were held in the highest 
 reverence, as holding in their power the 
 i devouring fires of the all-powerful god- 
 j dess. To insult them, break their taboos, 
 or neglect to send offerings, was to call 
 down certain destruction. At their call, 
 
 3. A man ascended the summit, and from the height 
 thus addressed the spouse of Lono : 
 
 4. " O Kaikilani, your lover salutes you : keep this 
 remove that : one will still remain." 
 
 5. Lono, overhearing this artful speech, killed his wife 
 with a hasty stroke. 
 
 6. Sorry for this rash act, he carried to a hei&a the 
 lifeless body of his wife, and made great wail over it. 
 
 7. He traveled through Hawaii in a state of frenzy, 
 boxing with every one he met. 
 
 8. The people astonished, said, "Is Lono entirely 
 nia<i ? " He replied, " I am frantic with my great love." 
 
 9. Having instituted gamest to commemorate her death, 
 he embarked in a triangular canoe for a foreign land. 
 
 10. Ere he departed he prophesied, " I will return in 
 after times, on an island bearing cccoanut trees, swtae 
 and dogs." [Voyage of the Blonde, p. 30, where this 
 version is ascribed to the American missionories.] 
 
 The sacred relic from which the representation of Lpno 
 was taken, is preserved with the other idols, of which 
 engravings have been given, in the Museum of the Amer- 
 ican Board for Foreign Missions, at their house in Pem- 
 berton Square, Boston. Lono is a slim figure, of about 
 twelve feet in height. The male idol is a colossal image 
 the others are small. 
 
 t Those known as the Makahiki. 
 
HISTORY OP THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 Pele would spout out her lava and destroy 
 the offenders. Vast numbers of hogs, 
 both cooked and alive, were thrown into 
 the crater, when any fear of an eruption 
 was entertained, or to stay the progress 
 of one commenced. Offerings were an- 
 nually made to keep her in good humor, 
 and no traveler dared venture near her 
 precincts without seeking her good will. 
 
 Wonderful monsters and giants abound 
 in their traditions, showing how preva- 
 lent was the love of the marvelous. 
 Events and people, not remarkable in 
 themselves, in the course of time have 
 been converted into miracles and heroes ; 
 in the nature of which the ridiculous, 
 rather than the sublime, predominates. 
 
 Pele and her family are said to have 
 had a contest, in which they were al- 
 most overpowered, with J\mn<ii(a, half 
 hog and half man ; a gigantic animal, 
 the Centaur of Haw r aii. He traveled 
 from Oahu to countries beyond the hea- 
 vens, or where they supposed the sky to 
 join the sea. In his route he visited 
 Kilauea, and desired to pay his addresses 
 to Pele. She rejected him with con- 
 tempt, impolitely calling him "a hog, 
 and the son of a hog." In endeavoring 
 to drive him away, a fierce battle took 
 place. Pele fled to her house, and her 
 fires were nearly extinguished by great 
 quantities of water, which Kannintnni 
 poured into the crater. The thirsty fam- 
 ily, however, soon drank it up, and final- 
 ly obtained the mastery over the demi- 
 hog, forcing him into the sea, amidst a 
 shower of fire and stones. This tale 
 probably originated from an eruption, in 
 which the lava of the volcano came in 
 contact with the ocean. Another ac- 
 count states that he conquered Pde, and 
 they were quietly married ; in conse- 
 quence of which no more islands were 
 formed, or extensive eruptions took place. 
 
 This same character, forgetful of his 
 former prowess, was guilty of stealing 
 fowls of a king of Oahu, who, to revenge 
 himself, sent and captured him. How- 
 ever, he soon released himself and killed 
 all the party but one, whom he sent back 
 with the news of the death of his com- 
 panions. This mightily enraged the 
 monarch, and he summoned all his force 
 for a fresh attack. Success attended this 
 effort, and Kamapuaa, with his followers, 
 
 ! were pent up in a narrow gorge, between 
 ! two mountains, all sides of which, but 
 I the entrance, were bounded by stupend- 
 i ous precipices. Seeing no outlet for es- 
 | cape, he reared upon his hind legs, and 
 ! placing his fore feet upon the summit of 
 ! one of the perpendicular rocks, formed a 
 j bridge, by which his defeated army, 
 i scrambling over his back, reached the 
 top in safety, while the monster himself, 
 with one bound, readily surmounted the 
 i difficulty. At Hauula, where this is 
 i said to have occurred, the natives still 
 ! point out the smooth channels in the 
 I rock, made by his efforts on this occa- 
 sion, but which incredulous whites be- 
 lieve to have been water courses. 
 
 Idols were of every variety imagina- 
 ble, from hideous and deformed sculp- 
 tures of wood, to the utmost perfection 
 of their art. The features of their re- 
 i ligion were embodied in these images ; 
 ! the most desired object in their manu- 
 | facture being to inspire fear and horror, 
 ! sentiments which, in a more refined 
 people, would from such exhibitions have 
 been converted into disgust. Much cer- 
 emony took place when a new idol was 
 to be made. A great procession, headed 
 by the highest priests and chiefs, inarched 
 in state to the tree selected for the pur- 
 pose. After it was felled, a man or hog 
 was sacrificed on its site. The rocks of 
 a beach at Ninole, Hawaii, were in high 
 repute among the manufacturers of stone 
 images and adzes. They were believed 
 to have been of different sexes, and there- 
 fore to have had the power of propaga- 
 tion, and were generally used in the 
 fabrication of gods which presided over 
 games. When a suitable stone for this 
 I design was found, it was taken to the 
 j " heiau," and certain rites performed ; 
 after which it was properly fashioned 
 and carried to the arena where the games 
 j were held. If the party to which it be- 
 j longed were frequently successful, it was 
 i regarded as a god ; but if not, it was 
 | thrown aside. When victims were re- 
 | quired in honor of Moa-alii, the divine 
 i shark, or it was supposed to be hungry, 
 the priests sallied out and ensnared with 
 I a rope any one whom they could catch, 
 ' who was immediately strangled, cut in 
 pieces and thrown to the rapacious fish. 
 Another ingenious mode of entrapping 
 
HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 the unwary was by uttering piteous cries, 
 like a wounded or sick individual. Those 
 attracted to the spot were seized and 
 sacrificed. 
 
 Temples or heiaus were commonly 
 erected upon hills, or near the sea, and 
 formed conspicuous objects in the land- 
 scapes. They were works of great labor, 
 built of loose stones, with sufficient skill 
 to form compact walls. Their usual 
 shape was an irregular parallelogram. 
 That of Kawaihae, on Hawaii, is two 
 hundred and twenty-four feet long and 
 one hundred feet wide, with walls twelve 
 feet thick at the base. Its height is 
 from eight to twenty feet, two to six feet 
 wide at the top, which, being well paved 
 with smooth stones, formed, when in re- 
 pair, a pleasant walk. The entrance was 
 narrow, between two high walls. The 
 interior is divided into terraces, the upper 
 of which is paved with flat stones. The 
 south end constituted an inner court, and 
 was the most sacred place. Here was 
 placed the chiefs idol, surrounded by a 
 multitude of inferior deities. A small 
 frame of wicker work, hollow and in the 
 shape of an obelisk, stood in the centre 
 of the inner court ; in this the priest sta- 
 tioned himself when in consultation with 
 the god. All affairs of importance were 
 brought before him, and he, pretending 
 divine inspiration, like the sibyls of 
 classic mythology, answered distinctly, 
 though ambiguously. The king and 
 chiefs who received his responses, went 
 outside and caused them to be proclaim- 
 ed to the people. The sacrificial altar 
 was near the entrance to this court. The 
 high chiefs and priests only were allowed 
 to reside within the precincts of the tem- 
 ple. The external walls were crowned 
 with hideous idols of all shapes and sizes. 
 This temple was built by Kamehameha I. 
 previous to his conquest of the leeward 
 islands, and dedicated to his favorite war 
 god Kaili, a large wooden image richly 
 ornamented with red feathers. On the 
 day it was completed, eleven men were 
 immolated on its altar, and great quan- 
 tities of fruit, hogs and dogs presented. 
 The other heiaus, the ruins of which 
 still remain, resemble this, but were not 
 all constructed on a scale of equal grand- 
 eur. There is one in tolerable preserva- 
 tion, called Kaili, in the interior of Ha- 
 4 
 
 waii, about equi-distant between the 
 three mountains, Mauna Kea, Mauna 
 Loa and Hualalai. It was the work of 
 Umi, the most noted in traditionary lore 
 of the kings of Hawaii, and imposed by 
 him as a tribute of labor on his several 
 conquered districts. The main building 
 is 92 feet long by 71 wide. The walls 
 are 6 feet 9 inches high, 7 feet thick at 
 the top, and quite perpendicular. Ad- 
 joining it are a number of rough pyra- 
 mids 18 feet high and the remains of a 
 house said to have been built by Umi 
 for his wife. This temple has an ele- 
 vation of 5,000 feet above the sea, and 
 is built of compact unhewn lava, without 
 cement.* 
 
 The enclosures sacred to Lono, were 
 built of the ki leaf, and four distinct 
 houses erected for the accommodation 
 of the idols. Fronting these was a hand- 
 somely made, high, wooden fence, call- 
 ed the Anuii) surmounted by numerous 
 images. The Lama was the only tim- 
 ber allowed in this enclosure, except 
 the Ohia, of which the idols were made. 
 No priests except those attached to 
 Lono, could officiate in this enclosure. 
 This was a universal rule ; each temple 
 being sacred to some special deity, for 
 whose service distinct orders of priests 
 were maintained. These orders were 
 sub-divided into classes, each attending 
 to some specified duty. The king alone 
 had free access to all. 
 
 Upon the consecration of a temple, or 
 an appointed period for worship, the 
 day was made sacred and the most pro- 
 found silence enforced. All animals 
 that were not removed, were ordered to 
 be confined and kept quiet ; otherwise 
 they were seized and offered up in sac- 
 rifice. Chiefs and priests, entering the 
 most sacred house, united in prayer for 
 many successive hours, with their arms 
 extended toward heaven. On important 
 occasions, several days were spent in 
 this manner, and were succeeded by rites 
 of a different character. The priests 
 went through various manoeuvres, sing- 
 ing songs and chanting praises to their 
 deity. Distinct sacrifices, laid upon altars 
 and lofty scaffolds, were offered for the 
 gods, the priests and the people. Women 
 were not permitted to be present at these 
 
 * Wilkes' Voyage, vol. IV., p. 100. 
 
HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 seasons, and the restrictions were ex- 
 tremely severe. The two sexes were for- 
 bidden all intercourse ; if they but spoke 
 to each other, or accidentally came in 
 contact, the penalty was death. Any in- 
 fringement of the laws, however trivial, 
 brought the same punishment. On the 
 eighth day of the dedication the last hog 
 reserved for this occasion, called the 
 puaa-hea t or " hog to be entirely con- 
 sumed," was sacrificed. If any one re- 
 fused to partake of its flesh, he lost his 
 life, as it was supposed if any portion of 
 his body remained undevoured, the whole 
 company would perish by some awful 
 judgment. 
 
 Festivals of a more pleasing descrip- 
 tion were frequently held, accompanied 
 by sports, trials of skill, dancing and 
 other amusements. 
 
 Human sacrifices were common, and 
 occurred previous to going to war, upon 
 the death of any high chief, or any other 
 occasion of importance. It is said of 
 Umi, that being victorious in battle, he 
 commenced sacrificing human victims 
 to his god. After a number had been 
 slain, the insatiate god called for more, 
 which were granted, until none were 
 left except Umi and the priest. In this 
 instance, eighty victims perished. An 
 equal number are said to have been sac- 
 rificed on other occasions. These stories 
 show the frequency of the practice, and 
 the prodigal waste of human life attend- 
 ing it. All criminals, and those who had 
 broken any religious requirements, were 
 slain and offered to the gods. Those who 
 were destined for slaughter for any great 
 event were frequently selected for months 
 or years beforehand. They were, prob- 
 ably, such as were obnoxious to the 
 priests or chiefs, whose policy prompted 
 them thus to dispose of them, rather than 
 by undisguised murder. Unconscious of 
 the fate that awaited them, the victims 
 pursued their daily avocations in appar- 
 ent security, the first intimation of their 
 danger being the fatal blow. Sometimes 
 they were seized and carried to the tem- 
 ple, and there slain to avoid mangling 
 their limbs. Their bodies were then 
 stripped and placed on an altar before 
 the idol, with their faces downward. If 
 hogs were offered at the same time, they 
 were piled at right angles upon their 
 
 bodies ; after which prayers were re- 
 peated, and the whole mass left in that 
 position to putrefy. In minor affairs, 
 animals, fruits or vegetables only were 
 offered. The former were slain by di- 
 viners, who observed the manner of their 
 death, the looks of their entrails, and 
 other signs. The face of the heavens, 
 clouds and rainbows were also examined, 
 and, according to their appearance, more 
 or less favorable auguries given. It is 
 probable, however, that the wishes of the 
 chief had the most influence in dictating 
 the answers. 
 
 The priesthood was hereditary, and 
 formed a numerous and powerful body. 
 They owned much property in people 
 and lands, which were heavily taxed for 
 their support. Each chief had his fam- 
 ily priest, who followed him to battle, 
 carried his war-god, and superintended 
 all the sacred rites of his household. 
 The priests took rank from their gods 
 and chiefs ; the worship of the latter 
 usually determining the popularity of the 
 former. The keeper of the national war- 
 god, and the one immediately attached 
 to the person of the most powerful ruler, 
 was the great high priest. The power 
 of the priest, though it partook more of 
 a religious character, was scarcely infe- 
 rior to that of the chief. Their persons 
 were sacred, from their supposed famil- 
 iarity with the gods. It sometimes hap- 
 pened that a chief took the sacred offices 
 upon himself; though, perhaps, from the 
 nature of the intimate connection exist- 
 ing between the two orders, the absolute 
 power, both in politics and religion, cen- 
 tred in the head of the clan. When the 
 supreme sovereignty is resolved into the 
 whims and caprices of one individual, 
 and is constantly changing by death or 
 warfare, no regular system, either in 
 government or religion, can be developed. 
 From all that has transpired of their 
 early history, it would appear, that while 
 chiefs and priests maintained their power 
 in all its absoluteness, 'the rites and cere- 
 monies, and even the deities of their 
 faith, were ever varying. The desires 
 of the moment being the law of the land, 
 there is, consequently, but little of per- 
 manent interest to be recorded. One 
 fact is everywhere apparent : the spirit- 
 ual, like the temporal lords of the people, 
 
HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 amid all their vagaries, never neglected 
 their own interests. Every ceremony 
 or superstition was framed to aid their 
 already overgrown power ; humanity, or 
 a regard for the rights of their inferiors, 
 would have been received as monstrous 
 deviations from the true policy of gov- 
 ernment. Perhaps they governed no 
 more harshly than could have been ex- 
 pected from a privileged order, nursed 
 in selfishness and brutality. Their very 
 superiority of station and feeling, inci- 
 dentally developed a slight courteousness 
 of manner, when compared with the dark 
 mass beneath them. Among equals, 
 much ceremony prevailed, and an ex- 
 ternal degree of artificial politeness, 
 which served to disguise the most odious 
 features of their characters. 
 
 Even over the warrior-chiefs, the 
 priests, at times, were enabled to exer- 
 cise a powerful influence, and made their 
 religious fears and blind devotion sub- 
 servient to their selfish purposes. In 
 sickness, or fear of sorcery, their aid was 
 to be purchased only by gifts, in propor- 
 tion to the rank of the applicant. Great 
 prices were exhorted for incantations to 
 be practiced upon enemies, or counter 
 ceremonies, to avoid such phantoms as 
 their imaginations had not only given 
 birth to, but which they pretended to the 
 exclusive power to allay. 
 
 Offerings to the gods, or, more prop- 
 erly, to the priests, were required at all 
 religious ceremonies, and on every occa- 
 sion the people desired their services. 
 The wants of the priesthood regulated 
 the amount; when the regular taxes 
 failed in supplying their desires, the 
 wishes of the god were called into requi- 
 sition, and the coveted articles tabooed 
 for his use. Orisons, chants and offer- 
 ings were made by the priests at their 
 meals. Even in the care of their fowls 
 and quadrupeds, they enjoyed remarka- 1 
 ble privileges. Hogs received alive, were 
 dedicated to the god of the order, re- ' 
 ceived his marks, and turned loose to 
 fatten upon the plantations of the poor 
 cultivators ; none daring openly to in- 
 jure or drive away the sacred animals. 
 
 The expression taboo, or, according to 
 Hawaiian orthography, Kapu, which, 
 from its usefulness, has now become in- 
 corporated into most modern tongues, 
 
 27 
 
 requires some explanation. Originally, 
 it meant sacred, it implies no moral 
 quality, but is indicative of a particular 
 distinction, or separation from common 
 purposes, for some special design, and 
 also expresses an unlimited restriction. 
 Formerly, it was applied exclusively to 
 persons or things in a sacred sense, and 
 was strictly a religious ceremony, im- 
 posed only by the priests ; but has since 
 come into common use in the every-day 
 concerns of life. Anciently, those chiefs 
 who pretended to derive their descent 
 from the gods were called alii fcapu, 
 sacred chiefs. A temple, exclusively de- 
 voted to the abode and worship of gods, 
 was said to be wahi kapu sacred place. 
 Anything dedicated or reserved for the 
 exclusive use of gods, chiefs, or priests, 
 was considered as ~kapu for them. Cer- 
 tain lands and islands were kapu, as 
 well as hunting-grounds, fish, fruit, or 
 whatever the sacred classes chose to re- 
 serve for themselves. These kapus were 
 occasional, or permanent particular fish, 
 fruits and vegetables being sometimes 
 taboo both from men and women for sev- 
 eral successive months. The idols, tem- 
 ples, persons and names of their kings, 
 and members of the royal family; per- 
 sons and property of the priests ; every- 
 thing appertaining to the gods ; religious 
 devotees; the chiefs' bathing-places, or 
 favorite springs of water; and everything 
 offered in sacrifice, were strictly Jcapu. 
 Trees of which idols were made were 
 taboo, so whatever an individual chose 
 as his object of worship became ever 
 afterwards taboo to him, though it were 
 a fish, fowl, dog or vegetable. In mod- 
 ern times, this rnagic term has become 
 the property of all. A common man can 
 taboo his house, lands, or make any par- 
 tial restrictions, and all would respect the 
 prohibition. Any forbidden article or 
 action is called tabooed ; hence its com- 
 mon use in the domestic circle, and its 
 application to laws. A captain can taboo 
 his ship, and none dare approach. Ta- 
 booed property is generally marked by 
 small white flags, or other signs which 
 are well understood. At the present 
 time, any individual can impose such 
 taboos as suits his necessities or conve- 
 nience, provided they do not infringe per- 
 sonal rights or the laws of the kingdom. 
 
HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 Formerly a religious motive was neces- 
 sary for its assignment, but as the power 
 of the chiefs increased, its use was 
 greatly corrupted, while its influence re- 
 mained the same, and may be said to 
 have partaken of the preternatural. The 
 bans of the Romish church, in the proud- 
 est days of that hierarchy, were not more 
 powerful or obligatory. Every will of a 
 chief, however monstrous, was promul- 
 gated as a taboo, and officers were ap- 
 pointed to see that it was observed. 
 
 This institution, unknown elsewhere, 
 is general with slight variations through- 
 out the Polynesian groups. Its antiquity 
 is co-eval with the superstitions which it 
 so materially strengthened, and it may 
 be regarded as one of the profoundest 
 productions of heathen ingenuity. A 
 more cogent principle of religious despot- 
 ism, at once capable of great utility and 
 equal abuse, could not have been devised. 
 Its application was adapted to all wants 
 and circumstances, and no civil or eccle- 
 siastical government ever possessed a 
 more refined, yet effective weapon. Its 
 influence, among the common people, 
 was universal and inflexible. Its exact- 
 ments were of the most humiliating and 
 troublesome description, and if anything 
 had been wanting to complete their bond- 
 age, this, like the key-stone to an arch, 
 was made to perfect and perpetuate their 
 degradation. Keligion like government 
 emanating from the higher classes, fitted 
 them loosely and easily, and could be 
 set aside or put in motion at their option. 
 
 The penalties partook both of a tem- 
 poral and supernatural character, the 
 victims, like those of the Inquisition, 
 being equally delivered to the terrors of 
 the secular arm, and the judgments of 
 offended gods. Unless powerful friends 
 interfered, the slightest breach of any of 
 its requisitions, however absurd or arti- 
 ficial, was punished with death. Some 
 were burnt, others strangled, despatched 
 with clubs or stones within the temples, 
 or sacrificed in a more lingering and 
 dreadful manner. Eyes were scooped 
 out, limbs broken, and the most exquisite 
 tortures inflicted for several days, before 
 the final stroke was given. 
 
 Particular seasons were taboo; as on 
 the sickness of a high chief, preparations 
 for war, or the approach of important ! 
 
 religious ceremonies. Their duration 
 was indefinite, sometimes for a day only, 
 then for months, and occasionally for 
 years. Thirty to forty days was the 
 ordinary period before Kamehameha's 
 reign, when they were much reduced. 
 
 These taboos were either common or 
 strict, and were proclaimed by criers or 
 heralds. Men only were required to ab- 
 stain from their common pursuits, and 
 to attend prayers morning and evening 
 at the heiau, during the former. But 
 when the season of strict taboo was in 
 force, a general gloom and silence per- 
 vaded the whole district or island. Not 
 a fire or light was to be seen, or canoe 
 launched ; none bathed ; the mouths of 
 dogs were tied up, and fowls put under 
 calabashes, or their heads enveloped in 
 cloth ; for no noise of man or animal 
 must be heard. No persons, excepting 
 those who officiated at the temple, were 
 allowed to leave the shelter of their 
 roofs. Were but one of these rules 
 broken, the taboo would fail and the gods 
 be displeased. 
 
 When the sacred chiefs appeared in 
 public, all the common people prostrated 
 themselves, with their faces upon the 
 earth. The food of chiefs and priests, 
 they being interdicted from handling any- 
 thing during this taboo, was put into 
 their mouths by their attendants. 
 
 The only feature in the religious sys- 
 tem which can be regarded with a de- 
 gree of satisfaction, arid that only par- 
 tially, was the Puuhonua, or city of 
 refuge, which gleams amid rapidly in- 
 creasing darkness, like the last faint ray 
 of a setting sun. There were two on 
 Hawaii ; one at Waipio, the other at 
 Honaunau. Those who fled from an 
 enemy, the manslayer, those who had 
 transgressed taboo, the thief, and even 
 the vilest criminal, if they could reach 
 their precincts, were in an inviolable 
 sanctuary. They were free to all of 
 every tribe, or condition, though the fly- 
 ing party could be pursued to their very 
 gates, which were perpetually open. The 
 rescued party repaired immediately to 
 the idol, and offered a thanksgiving for 
 his escape. 
 
 They also afforded safe retreats dur- 
 ing war. All the non-combatants of the 
 neighboring districts, men, women and 
 
HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 29 
 
 children, flocked into them, and there 
 awaited the issue of the struggle. To 
 them also the vanquished fled. If they 
 could reach a spot, a short distance out- 
 side the walls, where, during war, a 
 white banner was displayed, they were 
 safe. Should a victorious warrior ven- 
 ture further, he would be put to death 
 by the attendant priests and their ad- 
 herents. Those once within the pale of 
 the sanctuary were under the protection 
 of Keawe, the tutelar deity of the en- 
 closure. Houses were erected for the 
 accommodation of all within their walls. 
 After a short period, they were per- 
 mitted to return unmolested to their 
 homes, the divine protection being sup- 
 posed still to abide with them. 
 
 These places of refuge were very ca- 
 pacious, and built after the manner of 
 their temples. The one at Honauna'u 
 is seven hundred and fifteen feet in 
 length, and four hundred and four feet 
 wide. Its walls are twelve feet high 
 and fifteen thick, and \vere formerly 
 surmounted with images, four rods apart, 
 over their whole extent. Three large 
 heiaus were erected within, one of which 
 presented a solid pyramid of stone, one 
 hundred and twenty-six feet by sixty, 
 and ten feet high. In several parts of 
 the wall are large masses of rock, weigh- 
 ing two or more tons, each raised six 
 feet above the ground. This Puuhonua 
 was built for Keawe, who reigned in 
 Hawaii, two hundred and seventy years 
 
 INTERIOR VIEW OF A I1EIAU, ON KAUAI, IN 1778. 
 
 ago, and destitute as the islanders were 
 of any machinery, must have been a 
 herculean task, requiring the labor of a 
 vast number of people. 
 
 These sanctuaries are somewhat anal- 
 ogous to the Israelitish cities of refuge, 
 and originated, doubtless, from the bar- 
 barous and sanguinary customs, common 
 to both nations, which required a safe- 
 guard from the effects of evil passions, 
 constantly kept in excitement by the 
 universal prevalence of the law of re- 
 taliation, and the bloody character of 
 their warfare. 
 
 While considerable difference in gov- 
 ernment, and certain customs, originat- 
 ing from local circumstances, prevailed 
 throughout Polynesia, a general uni- 
 formity in religion existed. The earliest 
 
 traditions are strikingly similar, and the 
 rites and priesthood are of the same san- 
 guinary character. A more refined bar- 
 barism prevailed among the Society and 
 Samoa islanders, the former of which 
 have aptly been called the French of the 
 Pacific. Still, when a general compar- 
 ison is drawn, not a doubt of their com- 
 mon origin can be entertained. The 
 structure of their languages, their phys- 
 ical characteristics, analogous religion .s 
 systems, and a general conformity in all 
 the arts and customs of life, clearly de- 
 monstrate the fact. While the Hawaiian, 
 in certain points, appeared to more ad- 
 vantage than his southern brother, in 
 religion and government he was behind 
 him. In New Zealand, the Marquesas, 
 Samoa and Tonga groups, an approach 
 
30 
 
 HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 to republican freedom prevailed, which I 
 here found no counterpart. The power 
 of the chiefs was more restricted, vary- 
 ing much in the different groups. The 
 religion of the Tahitian, Samoan and 
 Tongan constituted a better denned sys^ 
 tern, and was founded on certain well 
 established traditions and maxims, hand- 
 ed down from their forefathers. Its ef- 
 fects, though disastrous in the extreme, 
 were less conspicuously degrading. A 
 refinement of heathenism was diffused, 
 which served to gild the darker shades 
 of its character, and it was not until the 
 veil was completely stripped from the 
 vile image, that all its deformities ap- 
 peared. Many of the early voyagers 
 formed from superficial views, favorable 
 opinions of the savage character, which 
 served for awhile to deceive the world 
 with false ideas of the innocency of man, 
 in his primeval condition. A knowledge 
 of his sanguinary worship, and its direful 
 effects, soon served to dissipate this be- 
 lief ; and now, none but those who have 
 theoretical views to maintain give it 
 credence. A valuable lesson is to be 
 learned from the history of the savage 
 tribes, so rapidly wasting away, or merg- 
 ing into civilized nations, inasmuch as 
 it serves to illustrate the history of un- 
 enlightened and unevangelized man left 
 in isolated communities to grope his way, 
 unaided by the light of revelation. Could 
 a result more painful to human dignity 
 present itself? As before the flood, "the 
 wickedness of man became great in the 
 earth, and every imagination of the 
 thoughts of his heart was only evil con- 
 tinually." 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Warlike weapons Armor Feather cloaks aivl hel- 
 mets War Preparations Militia Camps- Mode 
 of fighting Victors and vanquished Truces Peace 
 
 Festivals Orators and Bards Songs Wailing 
 
 Games Dances Mourning ceremonies Arts and 
 Agriculture Houses Ceremonies before occupyin" 
 Clothing Food Fisheries Commerce between 
 diiferent islands Stated fairs Method of computa- 
 tion Knowledge and practice of medicine Origin 
 and cure of diseases Slodes of burial Division of 
 time Hawaiian dialect. 
 
 WE now come to a consideration of 
 the knowledge of the Hawaiians as de- 
 veloped in their arts, manufactures and 
 customs. In considering these, however, 
 it is fair to bear in mind the fact that the 
 
 natural resources of their islands were 
 extremely few, they furnishing no metals 
 and but few minerals. When this is 
 considered, we must award them the 
 credit of no little ingenuity and skill in 
 what they produced. Indeed it may be 
 questioned whether they did not carry 
 civilization in this point to the full ex- 
 tent of their feeble means. This one 
 fact shows how important a civilized 
 commerce has become. Without it the 
 tribes of heathendom would still have 
 been groping their isolated way in pov- 
 erty and sensuality amid regions which 
 required but the presence of commerce 
 to add to them tenfold value and make 
 them abodes for refined and intelligent 
 beings. 
 
 The warlike weapons of the Hawai- 
 ians were few and simple. They con- 
 sisted of spears, javelins, daggers and 
 clubs, made from a tough wood, suscep- 
 tible of high polish. These were their 
 most effective weapons. They had no 
 shields, javelins being used on the de- 
 fensive as well as offensive, in the former 
 of which they were even more expert 
 than in the latter. Their lances were 
 perfectly straight, flattened to a point at 
 one end, and from twelve to twenty feet 
 in length. Javelins were similarly con- 
 structed, barbed, and about six feet long. 
 The laau patent, a species of club or 
 halbert, several feet longer, was employ- 
 ed either in thrusting or striking. The 
 paloa, or dagger, was from sixteen inches 
 to two feet in length, frequently pointed 
 at both ends, with a string attached to 
 the handle, by which it was made fast 
 to the wrist. Bows and arrows were 
 rarely used, being so poorly fabricated as 
 to be of little utility. Slings, manufac- 
 tured from human hair or the elastic 
 fibres of the cocoanut husk, were a de- 
 structive weapon. The ammunition used 
 was small, smooth stones, which were 
 cast with great force and precision. Small 
 swords, or saws, the edges of which were 
 set with sharks' teeth, were common. 
 
 Defensive armor was seldom employ- 
 ed. Besides the malo, the cloth girded 
 about the loins, a turban was occasion- 
 ally worn. The helmets and war-cloaks, 
 although they gave their wearers an im- 
 posing and martial appearance, must 
 have proved an incumbrance. The 
 
IflSTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 former being made of wicker-work, and 
 closely fitted to the crown, were too 
 slightly constructed to afford any secu- 
 rity against a well directed blow. Those 
 worn by the high chiefs resembled the 
 Grecian casque, and were exceedingly 
 beautiful. They were surmounted by a 
 lofty crest, sometimes ornamented with 
 the tail-plumage of the tropic bird, and 
 the whole thickly wrought with glossy 
 red and yellow feathers. With the 
 cloaks, they were admirably adapted to 
 set off to advantage the towering figures 
 of the chiefs. Cloaks or capes, made 
 exclusively of yellow feathers, were re- 
 served for the king. 
 
 The mamo, or feather war-cloak of 
 Kamehameha, occupied nine generations 
 of kings in its fabrication, not being com- 
 pleted until the reign of the father of the 
 present sovereign. Its length is four 
 feet, with eleven and a half feet spread 
 at the bottom. The groundwork is a fine 
 netting. To this the feathers, which are 
 exceedingly small and delicate, being 
 less than an inch in length, are skillfully 
 attached. They overlap each other, and 
 form a perfectly smooth surface. Around 
 the borders the feathers are reversed. 
 The whole is of a beautifully bright yel- 
 low hue, giving it the appearance of a 
 golden mantle. Such cloaks were rare, 
 for savage despotism could not produce a 
 richer or more costly garment. The birds 
 from which the feathers are obtained are 
 found in the mountainous parts of the 
 islands, and caught by means of an ad- 
 hesive substance smeared upon long 
 poles, well baited, which are thickly 
 scattered about their haunts. Alighting 
 upon these, their feet become attached ; 
 the hunter then easily secures them, and 
 plucks from under their wings, the two 
 feathers all each bird produces which 
 ate so much coveted. These feathers 
 are highly valued, a piece of nankeen, 
 of the value of one dollar and a half, 
 being the price given for five, in modern 
 times. If the labor expended on this 
 cloak could be estimated, its nominal 
 worth would be found equal to that of 
 the most costly gems in the regalia of 
 Europe. Those of other chiefs, being 
 alternated with red and yellow, rhom- 
 boidal figures or lines, relieved with sec- 
 tions of dark purple or glossy black, 
 
 were less expensive and beautiful. A 
 smaller kind, manufactured of the same 
 materials, was worn by those whose 
 rank did not entitle them to the larger 
 garment. An ornament, made from a 
 whale's tooth, called apalaocr, suspend- 
 ed from the neck by braids of human 
 hair, was much prized. 
 
 In their modes of warfare, they exhib- 
 ited considerable address. Besides agri- 
 culture, war being a chief occupation, it 
 was reduced to a system of which the 
 following were the principal features. 
 
 In a war of magnitude, a universal 
 conscription was enforced, none but those 
 incapacitated by age or bodily infirmity, 
 being excused Irom following their lead- 
 ers to the field. All were drilled in the 
 use of arms, and practiced warlike exer- 
 cises, such as sham-fights, slinging stones 
 at a mark, throwing the javelin, warding 
 it off, or catching it in their hands, wres- 
 tling, &c. After war was declared, the 
 king, principal warriors and priests de- 
 termined the plan of attack, or the gen- 
 eral method for its prosecution. Lima- 
 pai, " war-heralds," were sent through 
 all the districts, summoning such of the 
 chiefs and their tenants as were to bear 
 part in its operations. Women frequently 
 fought in the ranks, or bore refreshments 
 to their party, through the thickest of 
 the fray. All were required to bring 
 their own weapons and provisions, which 
 were generally prepared beforehand, for 
 emergencies of this nature. Should any 
 refuse to obey the summons, their ears 
 were slit, and they were led .into the 
 camp with ropes around their bodies. 
 ! So great was the disgrace attached to 
 I this punishment, that there was seldom 
 occasion to resort to it. 
 
 Upon reaching the rendezvous, every 
 chief reported the number and condition 
 of his followers to the commander. Each 
 division encamped around the hut of its 
 leader, or occupied a large house by it- 
 self. No fortifications were erected, 
 though favorable natural sites for defence 
 were selected for camps, and pickets sta- 
 tioned at the several approaches. The 
 non-combatants were sent to strongholds, 
 or fortresses erected on steep eminences, 
 to which, in case of defeat, the whole 
 army retired, and defended them to the 
 last extremity. 
 
HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 Unlike most savages, they appear to 
 have been deficient in the science of 
 strategy ; seldom lying in ambush, but 
 making their assaults openly, and gen- 
 erally in the day time. Their methods 
 of attack and defence were various, ac- 
 cording to the nature of the ground and 
 the force of the enemy, and exhibited 
 much ingenuity. When on an open 
 plain, the army was drawn up in the 
 form of a crescent. A body of spear 
 men, forming a kind of phalanx, com- 
 posed the centre, while the slingers, and 
 those armed with javelins, were dis- 
 tributed throughout the line. The com- 
 mander was either the highest chief, or 
 a warrior of distinguished bravery and 
 address. His position was in the centre, 
 and the other chiefs were stationed about 
 the ranks, at his discretion. When an 
 action took place in a narrow defile, the 
 army was formed in a single column. 
 The first division was called welau, the 
 extremity or point, and received the 
 brunt of the onset. The strongest divis- 
 ion, in the centre of which was the chief, 
 was poohiwi, " the shoulder." Other 
 portions were known by similarly de- 
 scriptive terms. No banners were used, 
 but idols were borne in the ranks ; the 
 priests of which, in the heat of the ac- 
 tion, rushed forward, uttering terrific 
 yells, and distorted their features into 
 the most frightful forms, to spread dis- 
 may into the opposing force, and stimu- 
 late the courage of their own ; the yells 
 and grimaces being supposed to proceed 
 from the images. 
 
 As the whole army seldom engaged 
 at once, the battles were usually a suc- 
 cession of skirmishes, or but partial ac- 
 tions. Naval engagements, in which 
 several hundred canoes were employed 
 on both sides, were not unusual. Flags, 
 called puwalu, were then used, and at- 
 tached to the triangular sails of the 
 canoes. Boastful shouts, yells, cries of 
 defiance, and every noise calculated to 
 intimidate, resounded among the com- 
 batants. The bodies of the first slain 
 on either side, received the greatest in- 
 dignities, and their mangled remains 
 were dedicated to the gods of the victors. 
 Sometimes a single warrior, deridingly 
 carrying only a fan, would advance from 
 the lines, and insult the opposite party 
 
 with the most opprobious language, chal- 
 lenging it to begin the attack upon him 
 singly. In reply to this rhodomonte.de, 
 a dozen or more spears would be cast at 
 him at once ; these, by nimbly stooping, 
 twisting and jumping aside, he would 
 avoid. Occasionally, with a motion of 
 his arm, he would ward them off, or 
 catch them in his hands, and hurl them 
 back upon the foe. Should he be slain, 
 a bloody encounter ensued for the pos- 
 session of the body. 
 
 The conflicts, which do not appear to 
 have been very fatal, sometimes lasted 
 for several successive days, and were 
 then terminated by mutual consent ; 
 both parties, in contradiction of the vain- 
 glorious civilized custom in such cases, 
 acknowledging themselves luka lua, 
 beaten. More frequently one was routed, 
 and fled for safety to the sacred enclo- 
 sures, or their mountain retreats. Those 
 overtaken were massacred, or else brought 
 to the chiefs for their final decision. 
 Some were spared to be slaves ; others 
 for future sacrifices* When the chief 
 was mercifully inclined, he spoke to or 
 recognized the prisoners, who were then 
 safe, and could either return to their 
 own tribe, or join the train of their pre- 
 server, which they generally did. The 
 victors erected cairns over the remains 
 of their slain, leaving the bodies of the 
 vanquished to be devoured by wild hogs 
 and dogs. The subdued country was 
 apportioned among the conquering chiefs; 
 the wives and children of the captives 
 being made slaves, and attached to the 
 soil, to cultivate it for their new masters, 
 who treated them with great harshness. 
 
 Branches of the ti plant, or young- 
 banana trees, were used as flags of 
 truce. When peace was sought, am- 
 bassadors were sent, bearing these sym- 
 bols. After arranging the preliminaries, 
 the chiefs and priests of both parties 
 met and adjusted the terms. This done, 
 a pig was sacrificed, and its blood pour- 
 ed upon the ground emblematic of the 
 fate of either party that should after- 
 wards infringe its conditions. A sweet 
 scented wreath was then woven by the 
 leaders of both sides, and deposited, as 
 a peace offering, in a temple. Feasts, 
 dances and public games celebrated 
 this return of good will, and heralds 
 
HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 were sent to announce the termination 
 of the war. 
 
 The professions of the orators and 
 bards were hereditary and highly illus- 
 trious. The former were employed on 
 all great occasions to plead cases, and 
 in all national negotiations. The latter, 
 some of whom were blind, were the re- 
 positories of the historical and sacred 
 songs, and composers of new, which 
 they sang in honor of their divine and 
 temporal lords. They were handed 
 down with great care from one genera- 
 tion to another ; the sole occupation of 
 the bards being their preservation, for 
 which purpose they commenced repeat- 
 ing them by rote, from an early age, 
 until they were indelibly fixed in their 
 memories. Their language was highly 
 figurative, often approaching the sub- 
 lime ; and their imagery well depicted 
 and not without beauty. Their recita- 
 tions, heightened by animated gestures 
 and by a conciseness and euphony of 
 language, or a wild, plaintive sadness, 
 with local allusions, like the inspiring 
 strains of Gaelic song, swayed with 
 startling effect the passions of their un- 
 tutored hearers. 
 
 Songs and chants were common among 
 all classes, and recited by strolling mu- 
 sicians as panegyrics on occasions of 
 joy, grief or worship. Through them 
 the knowledge of events in the lives of 
 prominent individuals or the annals of 
 the nation, were perpetuated.* 
 
 The Hawaiian dialect, from its great 
 
 * The following from Ellis' tour through Hawaii, is 
 a specimen of their mourntul poetry : 
 Ue, ue ! ua make kuu alii, 
 Ua make kuu haku, kuu hoa ; 
 Kuu hoa i ka wa o ka wi, 
 Kuu hoa i paa ka aina, 
 Kuu hoa i kuu ilihune, 
 Kuu hoa i ka ua me ka makani, 
 Kuu hoa i ka wela a ka la, 
 Kuu hoa i ke anu a ka mauna, 
 Kuu hoa i ka ino, 
 Kuu hoa i ka malie, 
 Kuu hoa i na kai awalu ; 
 Ue, ue ! ua hala kuu hoa, 
 Aole e hoi hou mai. 
 
 TRANSLATION. 
 
 Alas, alas ! dead is my chief, 
 
 Dead is my lord and my friend ; 
 
 My friend in the season of famine, 
 
 My friend in the time of drought, 
 
 My friend in poverty, 
 
 My friend in the rain and the wind, 
 
 My friend in the heat and the sun, 
 
 My friend in the cold from the mountain, 
 
 My friend in the storm, 
 
 My friend in the calm, 
 
 My friend in the eight seas ; 
 
 Alas, alas ! gone is my friend, 
 
 And no more will return. 
 
 5 
 
 smoothness and multiplicity of vowels, 
 is admirably adapted for this kind of 
 poetry. The chief art lay in the forma- 
 tion of short metrical sentences, without 
 much regard to their rhythmical termina- 
 tion, though the conclusion of each, or 
 the end of several, were made to har- 
 monize in cadence. So popular is this 
 form of expression, that, even to the 
 present day, the natives repeat their 
 lessons, orders received, or scraps of 
 ancient songs, or extemporize in this 
 monotonous, sing-song tone, for hours 
 together, and in perfect concord. Mon- 
 osyllables, dissyllables and trisyllables 
 had each their distinct tune. 
 
 Analogous to this was the mournful 
 au-we, uttered on occasions of calamity 
 and death. On the decease of a great 
 chief, the wail was commenced at his 
 couch, and borne from one individual to 
 another, until it spread over the island. 
 Night and day the dismal sound was 
 prolonged ; its first notes low, gradually 
 swelling until one full, passionate burst 
 of grief filled the air, and resounded 
 among the neighboring rocks and hills, 
 whose echoes threw back the sorrowful 
 cry. During the night its effect, as 
 thus borne from party to party, from one 
 valley to another, now rising into almost 
 a shriek of bitterness, then subsiding 
 into a low, murmuring sound, was start- 
 ling and impressive. Watch-fires, sur- 
 rounded by groups of both sexes, wailing 
 and weeping violently, tearing their hair, 
 and giving way to other barbarous de- 
 monstrations of sorrow, completed the 
 scene. 
 
 The same expressions were also ut- 
 tered on occasion of an injury, surprise, 
 the death of a favorite animal, or even 
 any trivial disappointment. Its signifi- 
 
 cation is, 
 
 alas! 
 
 to sigh or to have a 
 deep affection." Mourners were fre- 
 quently hired ; and the same party could 
 be seen one moment buried, apparently, 
 in the deepest affliction, and, in another, 
 reveling in boisterous mirth about their 
 food, while their places were supplied 
 by a fresh set. 
 
 ~;w, or boxing, was a favorite 
 national game, regulated by certain 
 laws, for the proper execution of which 
 managers were appointed, and umpires 
 to decide upon rival claims. A spirit of 
 
34 
 
 HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 clanship inspired the champions, who 
 usually belonged to different chiefs. 
 The victor in one engagement paced 
 the ring in triumph, until another an- 
 tagonist appeared. The final conqueror 
 received the highest honors. These 
 boxing matches were often attended 
 with fatal results. The spectators de- 
 lighted in blows that brought blood, and 
 stimulated the combatants with shouts 
 and yells of applause, dancing and other 
 wild expressions of delight, until, as it 
 frequently happened, many were slain. 
 Foot races were common ; the king's 
 messengers attained great speed, fre- 
 quently making the circuit of Hawaii, 
 three hundred miles of bad road, in eight 
 or nine days. 
 
 Sliding down steep hills, on a smooth 
 board, was a common amusement ; but 
 no sport afforded more delight than 
 bathing in the surf. Young and old, 
 high and low, of both sexes, engaged in 
 it, and in no other way could they show 
 greater dexterity in their aquatic exer- 
 cises. Multitudes could be seen when 
 the surf was highest, pushing boldly 
 seaward, with their surf-board in ad- 
 vance, diving beneath the huge combers, 
 as they broke in succession over them, 
 until they reached the outer line of 
 breakers ; then laying flat upon their 
 boards, using their arms and legs as 
 guides, they boldly mounted the loftiest, 
 and, borne upon its crest, rushed with 
 the speed of a race-horse towards the 
 shore ; from being dashed upon which, 
 seemed to a spectator impossible to be 
 avoided. But a dexterous movement 
 turned their course again seaward, or 
 they nimbly slipped off their boards, 
 which the force of the waves threw far 
 up the rocks. 
 
 The pahee was a game in great vogue. 
 It consisted in throwing, or rather 
 glancing, heavy darts, from two to five 
 feet in length, along a level floor, pre- 
 pared with great care for this purpose. 
 The skill consisted in the nearness to 
 certain marks at which the darts were 
 east. Analogous to this was the it 
 maika, a species of bowling, in which a 
 circular storie, highly polished, with flat 
 sides, was used. The konane was an 
 intricate game of drafts, played with 
 colored stones, upon a great number of 
 
 squares. The puhenehene consisted in 
 ecreting a stone so adroitly, in the full 
 gaze of all present, as to deceive the 
 watchers in their guess as to the hiding 
 place. Five loose bundles of cloth were 
 prepared for this design, under one of 
 which the stone was slipped. 
 
 Hakoko, wrestling ; loulou, a trial of 
 strength by hooking the fingers ; homi- 
 honu, swimming with the hands only, 
 the feet being fast interlocked ; uma, a 
 trial of the strength of the arms ; lele- 
 kawa, leaping from precipices into water ; 
 lelekoali, rope swinging; kulakalai 
 wrestling in the sea were sports in 
 high repute. The time, kilu and papu- 
 hene were of an impure nature, and en- 
 gaged in only under veil of night. 
 
 In general, games were seldom prac- 
 ticed except for the purpose of gam- 
 bling, to which they were inordinately 
 addicted. In betting, every article of 
 lothing or property was staked, and 
 their interest only stayed by the ex- 
 haustion of their means, when violent 
 passions were usually aroused, and fierce 
 brawls too often ensued. 
 
 Dances (hula) were of various charac- 
 ter, sometimes interspersed with chants 
 relating to the achievements of the past 
 
 A MUSICIAN. 
 
 or present rulers, or in honor of the 
 gods. Such was the hula alaapapa. 
 The dancers were decorated with neck- 
 laces of human hair, supporting orna- 
 ments of bone, or whale's teeth. Brace- 
 lets and buskins of net-work, thickly set 
 with the teeth of dogs or hogs, encircled 
 their wrists and ankles. Their motions 
 were sometimes active, sometimes slow 
 and graceful, and in perfect time with 
 the music of rude drums, made from 
 
HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 35 
 
 large calabashes, with apertures at the 
 top, or hollow logs tastefully carved and 
 covered at the ends with shark's skin. 
 The former were alternately beaten with 
 the palms of the hands, and struck on 
 the ground, on which cloth was laid. 
 The gesticulations of the musicians were 
 violent, and they also joined in the 
 chants. 
 
 Dancing was as universal as swim- 
 ming ; all, of every age and character, 
 engaging in it, though it was more com- 
 monly practiced by professional dancers 
 in honor of the gods, or for the amuse- 
 ment of the chiefs. The dances of the 
 latter consisted in a variety of uncouth 
 motions and twistings of the body, of too 
 lascivious a nature to bear description, 
 and were generally preparatory to bru- 
 tal revels. Their costumes were in con- 
 
 CHILDREN'S DANCE. 
 
 formity with their actions ; garlands of 
 flowers, necklaces of shells, and leis, 
 beautiful wreaths, fabricated from red or 
 yellow feathers, encircled the limbs of 
 the females. Both sexes were tatooed, 
 though not to such an extent as prevailed 
 elsewhere. The dances of the youth were 
 reported to be graceful and pleasing. 
 
 The ceremonies observed on the death 
 of any prominent personage were ex- 
 tremely barbarous. The hair was shaved 
 or cut close, teeth knocked out, and 
 sometimes the ears were mangled. Some 
 tatooed their tongues in a correspond- 
 ing manner to the other parts of their 
 bodies. These customs were intended 
 to keep alive the memory of the de- 
 ceased among his immediate relatives 
 and retainers, and by many, the affec- 
 tion was estimated by the amount of 
 bodily pain endured. Frequently the 
 flesh was cut or burnt, eyes scooped 
 out, and other even more painful per- 
 
 sonal outrages inflicted. But those 
 usages, however shocking they may ap- 
 pear, were innocent, compared with the 
 horrid saturnalia which immediately fol- 
 lowed the death of a chief of the highest 
 rank. Then the most unbounded license 
 prevailed ; law and restraint were cast 
 aside, and the whole people appeared 
 more like demons than human beings. 
 Every vice and crime was allowed. 
 Property was destroyed, houses fired, 
 and old feuds revived and revenged. 
 Gambling, thefts and murder were as 
 open as the day ; clothing was cast aside 
 as a useless incumbrance ; drunkenness 
 and promiscuous prostitution prevailed 
 throughout the land, no women, except- 
 ing the widows of the deceased, being ex- 
 empt from the grossest violation. There 
 was no passion, however lewd, or de- 
 sire, however wicked, but could be grat- 
 ified with impunity, during the con- 
 tinuance of this period, which, happily, 
 from its own violence, soon spent itself. 
 No other nation was ever witness to a 
 custom which so entirely threw off all 
 moral and legal restraints, and incited 
 the evil passions to unresisted riot and 
 wanton debauchery. 
 
 In the mechanical arts and agricul- 
 ture, the Havvaiians manifested con- 
 siderable ingenuity. With no better in- 
 struments than those of hard stone, shell 
 or bone, they made large and fine ca- 
 noes, the longest of which were sixty 
 feet in length ; built neat thatched 
 houses ; ingeniously carved wood and 
 stone, and manufactured all that was 
 necessary for their domestic purposes. 
 The mats made from rushes or from the 
 leaves of the pandanus, were very use- 
 ful, prettily dyed, and of great size, fine- 
 ness and beauty. They were used for 
 beds, screens, partitions, and sometimes 
 for clothing. In their cloth, manufac- 
 tured from the^ morus papyriferus, 
 equal skill was displayed. It was of 
 every quality, from a thick, heavy arti- 
 cle, nearly impervious to wind or water, 
 to a more delicate and almost transparent 
 fabric. The colors were various, some 
 so prettily stained as to resemble printed 
 cloths. Bowls and dishes, made from 
 the kou tree, were very beautiful, and 
 highly valued. But the most useful ar- 
 ticle, and one which can be applied to 
 
36 
 
 H1STOEY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 an almost endless variety of purposes, 
 is the fruit of the cucurbita, the cala- 
 bash or gourd. From it, their drink- 
 ing vessels, dishes, masks 
 and musical instruments 
 were made. It still sup- 
 plies the want of iron, 
 glass, crockery and wood- 
 en ware. In journeys it 
 answers for a trunk; at 
 home for a closet. They 
 are often prettily orna- 
 mented alter the same 
 patterns as their tapas, and are of every 
 size, from the smallest water-cup, to the 
 great poi-dish, capable of holding ten 
 gallons. 
 
 The houses of the common orders 
 were mere hovels, made of straw, thatch- 
 
 ed upon a light wooden frame. They 
 were low, small and damp, and generally 
 filthy within and without. Those of the 
 chiefs were better and neatly kept. 
 
 There were professed trades ; some 
 men being expert in building canoes, 
 others in carving and framing or thatch- 
 ing houses, &c. To finish the corners 
 or the roofs of houses, properly and 
 handsomely, was a difficult art, and un- 
 derstood but by few. Generally, every 
 man worked at all as his wants required. 
 When a chief ordered a dwelling to be 
 erected, his tenants were required to take 
 part in the labor, though to each party 
 a distinct work was allotted. While 
 some went to the mountains to procure 
 the timber for the frame, others pulled 
 grass for thatch, or made the twine with 
 
 DOUBLE CANOE WITH MASKED ROWERS. 
 
 which the frame was to be held together, 
 and the thatch fastened on. As soon 
 as the materials were gathered, holes 
 were dug for the posts, the timbers of 
 the roof grooved, and the whole frame 
 set up. The thatchers then performed 
 their part ; and in this manner a large 
 house could be commenced and finished 
 within three days. The timber, which 
 was often of great size, was brought 
 from far in the interior. Burdens were 
 carried on poles, supported on the shoul- 
 ders of men ; the friction of which fre- 
 quently caused large callous swellings, 
 greatly disfiguring the form. 
 
 The best built houses lasted from ten 
 to twelve years ; the common not more 
 than half that time. For such a climate, 
 
 they were well adapted to the wants of 
 the population, though, having no floors, 
 obnoxious to damp and cold. Those of 
 the chiefs were enclosed in largs yards, 
 and were sometimes raised on a stone 
 embankment, which rendered them much 
 more comfortable. Around the princi- 
 pal house or hall, as it had but one 
 room, were the smaller huts, which 
 served for eating and sleeping apart- 
 ments and store-houses. The whole re- 
 sembled a collection of hay-ricks. 
 
 Before a new house was occupied, a 
 number of superstitious ceremonies were 
 performed, to exorcise such evil spirits 
 as desired to dispute the possession with 
 the rightful owner. Offerings were 
 made to the gods, and presents to the 
 
HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 37 
 
 priests, who, uttering prayers, and per- 
 forming divers rites, for a while re- 
 sided in the house ; the sanctity derived 
 from their occupancy being considered 
 as sufficient, ever after, to baffle all at- 
 tempts of malignant beings, or the in- 
 cantations of sorcerers. 
 
 Clothing was of the simplest nature. 
 With the men, it consisted of a small 
 strip of cloth, called the malo, wound 
 around the loins, and passed between 
 the legs ; that of the women was the 
 pauj a garment attached to the waist, 
 and reaching to the knee. Young chil- 
 dren, of both sexes, went naked, as also 
 did their parents, whenever inclination 
 prompted. 
 
 JPoi, the principal article of diet, was 
 prepared from the kalo plant. The 
 roots, after being baked under ground, 
 were mashed on a large platter by a 
 heavy stone pestle, or an instrument 
 made of lava, resembling a stirrup, and 
 were mixed with water, until a thick 
 paste was formed. This is sometimes 
 eaten in a sweet state, but generally put 
 aside until it ferments, in which condi- 
 tion it is preferred. It is a highly nutri- 
 cious substance, though, when solely 
 used, has a tendency to produce acrid 
 humors. The labor of its preparation, 
 being too severe for females, is confined 
 to the men. 
 
 In fishing, they were very expert, 
 catching their prey either by hooks made 
 from pearl shells, or in nets, some of 
 which were of great size and fine work- 
 manship. A vegetable poison was also 
 used. The herb containing it being 
 stripped of its bark, and bruised, was 
 placed beneath stones where the fishes 
 frequented, which soon became affected, 
 sickened and rose to the surface. As 
 soon as they were taken, they were 
 cleaned, to prevent the poison from 
 spreading. Fishes were usually eaten 
 raw, and in the state in which they were 
 captured. 
 
 The manners and customs of these sav- 
 ages are too well known to require en- 
 larged description. If their arts were few 
 and simple, so were their wants. The 
 skill displayed in supplying them is suffi- 
 cient to excite admiration, and exhibits 
 mechanical abilities, which since, under 
 better auspices, have greatly improved. 
 
 A small commerce, through the me- 
 dium of barter, was maintained between 
 some of the islands. The tapas of Oahu 
 were exchanged for the canoes and pad- 
 dles of Kauai. On Hawaii, a heavy, 
 strong tapa, called mamaki, suitable for 
 cold weather, was manufactured and 
 supplied to the other islands. At stated 
 periods, markets or fairs were held in 
 various places. The most celebrated 
 resort was the banks of the Wailuku 
 river, in the district of Hilo, Hawaii. 
 Here, inhabitants from all portions of 
 the island assembled, to make exchanges 
 of property. Certain districts were 
 noted for the goodness of their tapas ; 
 others, for their mats, live stock, or ex- 
 cellence of their poi, or dried fish. The 
 peddlers cried their wares, which were 
 exhibited in piles on either side of the 
 stream, according to certain rules. When 
 a bargain was in negotiation, the articles 
 were deposited on a particular rock, 
 where they could be mutually examined 
 in the presence of inspectors, who were 
 appointed as aibiters in cases of dispute, 
 and also acted as a police for the pre- 
 servation of order, receiving a remuner- 
 ation for their services. A toll was 
 required from all who crossed the river. 
 
 The Hawaiian method of computation 
 resembled the ancient Atzec. It was 
 simple and regular, and sufficient for 
 the wants of an unlettered race, which 
 seldom had occasion to express any 
 complex combination of numbers. From 
 one to ten was as follows : akahi, alua, 
 akolu, aha, alima, aono, ahiku, awalu, 
 aitca, umi; eleven, was ten and one, 
 umikumamakahi, kumama being the 
 conjunctive ; twelve, umikumamaliia, 
 and so on until twenty, which was ex- 
 pressed by a new term, iwakalua; 
 twenty-one, iwakaluakumamakahi, etc. ; 
 thirty was kanakoluj thirty-one, kana- 
 kolukumamakahi, etc. ; forty, kan aha ; 
 they . then commenced with one, and 
 counted to forty again. A combination 
 of terms were sufficient to express all 
 numbers short of four hundred, for which 
 a new word was required. Fifty was 
 kanaha me ka umi, forty and ten ; 
 sixty, akahi kanaha me ka iwakalua, 
 one forty and twenty, and so on ; eighty 
 was elua kanaha, two forties ; one hun- 
 dred was elua kanaha me ka iwaka- 
 
HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 lua, two forties and twenty; six hun- 
 dred, hookahi lau a me na kanaka 
 elima, one four hundred and five forties; 
 ten thousand, alua mano me na lau 
 elima, two 4000's and five 400's.* 
 
 In this system four is assumed as the 
 lowest collection of numbers, and the 
 basis of classification ; the regular scale 
 being graduated from four to four hun- 
 dred thousand ; each step multiplied by 
 ten. Thus : 
 
 Aha kahi, four units made 1 kauna, 4 
 TJmi kauna, ten 4's " 1 kanaha, 40 
 
 Umi kanaha, ten 40'a " 1 lau, 400 
 
 TJmi lau, ten 400's " 1 mano, 4,000 
 Umi mano, ten 4,000's 1 kini, 40,000 
 Umikini, ten 40,000's " 1 lehu, 400,000 
 
 Beyond this last number their ideas 
 became confused ; though the term na- 
 lowale, which means, out of sight, or 
 lost, was sometimes employed, as ex- 
 pressing ten lehu, or four millions. 
 IS umbers beyond their power of reckon- 
 ing or exceedingly great and indefinite, 
 were expressed by the repetition of the 
 words kini and lehu, as kmikini, leJiu- 
 lehu. To reduce English computation 
 to the Hawaiian, it is only necessary to 
 divide by four, and vice versa, to mul- 
 tiply by the same number. This an- 
 cient method is now rapidly giving way 
 to the decimal system, introduced by 
 the missionaries in their schools. The 
 larger numbers are formed from the 
 English terms ; thus, one hundred ac- 
 commodated to the Hawaiian idiom, is 
 haneri ; thousand, tausani j million, 
 miliona, &c. 
 
 The knowledge and use of medicinal 
 herbs was said to have been a gift from 
 the gods to a man named Koleamoku, 
 who taught them to two disciples. After 
 their death they were deified, and to 
 them the prayers of the doctors were 
 addressed. The doctors were a dis- 
 tinct class of priests or sorcerers, who 
 generally confined the knowledge of 
 their art to their own families, and thus 
 made the employment, which was lucra- 
 tive, hereditary. They were called ka- 
 huna lapaau mai, "man or priest to 
 heal sickness." Their practice was a 
 compound of superstitious ceremonies, 
 and an injudicious use of medicines and 
 surgery. Their materia medica consist- 
 ed exclusively of vegetable substances, 
 * Hawaiian Spectator, vol. 2, p. 91. 
 
 variously prepared ; sometimes by being 
 cooked, but often simply bruised with a 
 stone. Their knowledge of the medi- 
 cinal properties of herbs was considera- 
 ble, though fatal results frequently en- 
 sued from their prescriptions. They 
 feigned a knowledge of internal dis- 
 orders by external examination, and 
 also the power to ward off sickness. 
 Healthy individuals frequently fell vic- 
 tims to their pretended skill, being in- 
 duced to take large quantities of a liquid 
 compounded from the pulp and stems of 
 the calabash vine, which operates as a 
 powerful cathartic. Patients were steam- 
 ed over ovens of hot stones, or held over 
 the smoke of fires prepared from green 
 succulent herbs. Friction was greatly 
 used to mitigate minor pains ; stones of 
 twelve pounds weight and upwards were 
 rolled over the afflicted parts, or violent 
 manual exercise employed. In setting 
 limbs they were sometimes successful, 
 though more from accident than skill ; 
 but in all complicated fractures, or dan- 
 gerous illnesses, their services were worse 
 than useless. 
 
 An individual, who hired one of this 
 class, was supposed to have it in his 
 power to afflict his enemies with painful 
 diseases, and even cause their deaths ; 
 also, to be enabled to discover the au- 
 thor of his own maladies, and retort 
 them upon the aggressor. It might be 
 reasonably conjectured that powers be- 
 lieved to be capable of such varied and 
 counteracting influences, would, from 
 the natural fear of all parties, be little 
 employed. But savage passions seldom 
 calculate results : revenge is dearer than 
 everything else. Hence they found 
 plentiful employment, notwithstanding 
 the largesses required. Their influence 
 was strongest over the lower orders ; 
 probably fear of open revenge prevented 
 them from testing their skill on power- 
 ful chiefs, who were besides their most 
 valuable patrons. Deaths, not the re- 
 sult of accident, were attributed either 
 to their agency, poison, or to the anger 
 of some unpropitious deity. 
 
 The ceremonies practiced were va- 
 rious ; the most common was similar to 
 that for the discovery of thieves. It 
 was called I&uniahi, "broiling fire," and 
 was used to discover the authors of in- 
 
HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 39 
 
 jurious incantations and sickness. None 
 but the parties concerned were allowed 
 to* enter the house selected for the occa- 
 sion. Near the invalid, a fire was kin- 
 dled, and covered with stones. A dog, 
 hog or fowl was killed, emboweled, and 
 placed upon the heated oven. Dur- 
 ing this operation the priests muttered 
 prayers. A small portion of the broiled 
 meat was eaten by him, and the re- 
 mainder left to be consumed. He then 
 feigned sleep, and in visions to receive 
 answers to his orisons, by which he in- 
 formed his patient who or what occa- 
 sioned his illness. Additional prayers 
 and offerings were then required, that 
 the disease might fasten itself upon its 
 author, or to remove the anger of the 
 god who sent it. If the priest said he 
 had not been successful, and had re- 
 ceived no revelation, he recommended 
 another trial ; which advice was com- 
 monly followed, though not always to 
 his satisfaction ; a rival being frequently 
 sent for to exert his influence. Each 
 had different methods, upon the degree 
 of popularity of which their fame de- 
 pended ; and, like civilized quacks, they 
 were anxious to extend the reputation of 
 their remedies, at the expense of their 
 less bold or skillful brethren. As might 
 be expected, they inculcated the belief 
 that the success of their experiments de- 
 pended greatly upon the amount of of- 
 ferings. 
 
 The manner of burial differed accord- 
 ing to the rank of the deceased. The 
 bodies of the common people were bent 
 with the face upon the knees, arms be- 
 neath them, and the hands passed up 
 between the legs ; the heads, hands and 
 knees were closely bound together with 
 cord, and the corpses enveloped in 
 coarse mats, and buried within two days 
 of decease. Those of the priests and 
 inferior chiefs were laid out straight, 
 and wrapped in folds of cloth. The 
 former were generally interred within 
 their temples, their graves being mark- 
 ed by piles of stones or rough wooden 
 enclosures. The legs, arms, bones, and 
 sometimes the skulls, of the high chiefs 
 whose ancestors had received the honors 
 of deification, or who were themselves 
 to be enrolled in the calendar of gods, 
 reserved, and the remainder of 
 
 their bodies buried or burnt. The relics 
 were carefully covered with crimson 
 cloth, and either deposited in temples, 
 for adoration, or remained in possession 
 of the nearest relations, by whom they 
 were held sacred ; the spirits of the de- 
 parted being supposed to remain with 
 them, exercising a controlling and pro- 
 tecting influence over the living. 
 
 Caverns were generally selected as 
 places of sepulture, and the remains of 
 many successive generations deposited 
 in the same. These were frequently 
 embalmed by a rude method, the brains 
 and entrails being taken out. As with 
 the dead of the Indians of North Amer- 
 ica, their property and food were de- 
 posited with them, which were to serve 
 them in their journeys to the world of 
 spirits. Enclosures, surrounded by high 
 stone walls, were also employed, each 
 family generally possessing a distinct 
 cemetery; though sometimes the dead 
 of a whole town were deposited in the 
 same cave. The floors of their own 
 houses were used by some as graves ; 
 but a great fear prevailed of the shades 
 of the departed, whose apparitions were 
 supposed to hover about their final 
 resting-places, and injure those who 
 came within their reach. In conse- 
 quence of this ghostly dread, burials 
 were conducted in a private manner, 
 and in the night. A portion of the bones 
 of the worshipers of Pele were thrown 
 into the crater, that they might continue 
 in the society of the volcanic deities, 
 and induce them to protect their living 
 relatives from eruptions. 
 
 The fishermen believed to some ex- 
 tent in transmigration, and frequently 
 cast their dead into the sea to be de- 
 voured by sharks. Their souls were 
 supposed ever after to animate those 
 fishes, and incline them to respect the 
 bodies of the living, should accident 
 ever throw them into their power. 
 
 The Hawaiian calendar was based 
 upon a very superficial knowledge of 
 astronomy ; the year being divided into 
 two seasons of six months each, sum- 
 mer and winter, according to the length 
 of the days and the productiveness of 
 the vegetable kingdom. The summer 
 months were, Ikiiki, "May," Kaaona, 
 Hinaiaeleele, Kamahoemua-t Kama- 
 
 \ 
 
40 
 
 HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 hoehope, and Ikua t " October : " those 
 of the winter, Welehu, Makalii, Ka~ 
 elo, Kaulua, Nana and Welo. The 
 year commenced with Makalii t " De- 
 cember," and terminated with Welehu, 
 " November." They reckoned but nine 
 times forty nights in their years, and 
 appear to have had no idea of the neces- 
 sity of intercalary days to cause it to 
 correspond to the true solstices. Each 
 month contained thirty nights : the dif- 
 ferent days and nights derived their 
 names from the varying aspects of the 
 moon, according to her age. The first 
 night was Uilo, " to twist," because the 
 moon was then a mere thread ; the next, 
 Hoaka, "crescent; " then Kukahi, Ku- 
 lua, &c. In the moon's first quarter, 
 when the sharp points were lost, the 
 night was called Huna, " to conceal ; " 
 the succeeding, when it became convex, 
 " to spread out ; " the next, 
 to increase ;" when it was quite 
 rotund, Akua, " clear ; " when nearly 
 and quite full, Hoku, Mahealani, and 
 I&du. Upon the first decrease, Laau- 
 kukahij and as it continued to diminish, 
 Olaaiikidua, Laaupau, Olekukahi, 
 Olekulua, Olepau, Kaloakukahi, Ka- 
 loakulua, Kaloapau. When it had 
 almost disappeared, Mauli, " overshad- 
 owed ; " when entirely gone, Miiku, 
 * cut off." During every month, four 
 periods were set apart, in which the 
 nights were consecrated, or made taboo. 
 The duration of each varied from two to 
 four nights, and they were called the 
 JKapii-ku, " the proper taboo," Kapu- 
 hua, "fruit taboo," Jfapu-kalua, "cook- 
 ing taboo," and Kapu-lcane, "man 
 taboo." Their astrologers were acquaint- 
 ed with Jupiter, Mercury, Venus, Mars 
 and Saturn, and also had names for 
 many fixed stars and constellations. 
 
 The only approach towards repre- 
 senting language, or ideas, symbolically, 
 was in the rude scratches or carvings 
 of lines, semi-circles, imitations of the 
 human figure and other rough deline- 
 ations, occasionally met with on rocks. 
 These were done by travelers, and were 
 intended to record their number, dots 
 
 being used for that purpose, and rings to 
 denote those who had circumambulated 
 the island; if a semi-circle, it showed 
 that the party had returned from the 
 place where it was made. Figures of 
 fish and fruit denoted some particular 
 success in the supply at that spot.* 
 
 Beside these scrawls, which can 
 scarcely be admitted as an exception, 
 the language was strictly oral. Its chief 
 peculiarities were the simple construction 
 of words, predominancy of vowels, uni- 
 form termination and shortness of sylla- 
 bles, which were never composed of more 
 than three letters, and generally of but 
 two, while very many have but one. A 
 vowel terminating every word and sylla- 
 ble, renders the language peculiarly soft 
 and harmonious. Its sounds are few and 
 simple, twelve letters only being required 
 to represent those purely Hawaiian. Of 
 these, when reduced to writing, the vow- 
 els received the sound peculiar to them 
 in the principal languages of the conti- 
 nent of Europe, while the consonants, 
 H, R, L, M, N, P, W, retained the Eng- 
 lish accent. It is difficult for an adult 
 Hawaiian to pronounce two consonants 
 without a vowel between them. Lat- 
 terly, many words and sounds have been 
 introduced, which require other letters 
 of the English alphabet, and the language 
 will, as intercourse with foreigners in- 
 creases, become further modified. The 
 vowel terminations are invariably retain- 
 ed. There are many dipthongs, though, 
 generally, two vowels coming together 
 retain their distinct and separate sounds. 
 Though the letters K and L only occur 
 in writing, in conversation K and T, or 
 L, R and D, are synonymous. The na- 
 tives of some districts using the latter, 
 others the former; as Kauai or Tauai, 
 Lanai or Ranai, Lono or Rono, Lii-lii, 
 Rii-rii or Dii-dii. To this variableness 
 in the use of these letters, is owing the 
 difference of spelling among foreigners, 
 of those words which have become al- 
 most incorporated with the English lan- 
 guage as kapu and tabu, kalo and taro, 
 kapa and tapa, and others. 
 
 'Ellis' Tour through Hawaii, p. 431. 
 
HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 41 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Physical appearance of the HawaJians Chiefs Hab- 
 its of Common people "Women Marriage Affin- 
 ities of blood Friendships Salutation Cannibal- 
 ism Intemperance Treatment of sick Lunatics 
 Aged Infanticide Examples of Treatment of 
 womi--n Taboos of food General character of the 
 Hawaiians previous to contact with the whites. 
 
 HAVING in the preceding chapter 
 sketched an outline of the original po- 
 litical and religious condition of the Ha- 
 waiians, it remains to speak more par- 
 ticularly of their social relations, before 
 entering upon their political history. 
 Between the higher and lower orders 
 there existed a marked difference in 
 stature and appearance. The former 
 were almost invariably tall, stout and 
 well formed, with, as age advanced, a 
 tendency to unwieldy corpulency : the 
 latter were, upon the average, middle 
 sized, falling somewhat short of the 
 European standard. Six feet and up- 
 wards were common to the stature of 
 the chiefs of both sexes, with gigantic 
 frames, more capable of exerting great 
 strength than of endurance. It was said 
 of some that they were able, by taking 
 a man by the head and leg, to break his 
 back across their knees. From three to 
 four hundred pounds was not an un- 
 common weight. The female chiefs, 
 when young, possessed interesting and 
 intelligent features, which, however, soon 
 became lost, as their bulk increased; 
 fortunately for them, in the eyes of their 
 lords, this but heightened their charms. 
 When these were most matured, they 
 became almost as helpless as the belles 
 of the Celestial empire. The latter 
 tottered from want of feet of sufficient 
 size to support frames of scarcely larger 
 proportions ; those of the former, though 
 stout, were equally feeble to sustain the 
 immense bulk above. Their flesh hung 
 in deep folds about them ; their walk 
 was a majestic stagger ; but their car- 
 riage was lofty, and betokened an innate 
 pride of birth and rank. 
 
 No aristocracy was ever more dis- 
 tinctly marked by nature. As before 
 remarked, to a superficial observer, they 
 might, with reason, have appeared as a 
 distinct race. The monopoly they en- 
 joyed of the good gifts of Providence, 
 with the greater exercise of their mental 
 faculties, for they did most of the think- 
 6 
 
 ing for the people, served, every genera- 
 tion, to increase the distinction between 
 the two classes. The great personal 
 size was doubtless partly inherited, and 
 partly the result of early care. The 
 young chiefs, unless they otherwise de- 
 sired, were always borne on the shoul- 
 ders of attendants ;* their only exercises 
 were games, sufficient to excite and 
 amuse, without greatly fatiguing; no 
 care or toil was theirs ; the abundance 
 of the land and sea was at their disposal ; 
 and, from the quantity they daily con- 
 sumed, particularly of that most nutri- 
 tious diet, poi, it is not surprising they 
 gave such material evidences of their 
 training. After a surfeit a common 
 case menials were always ready to do 
 that for the system, which, otherwise, 
 active exercise only could have effected. 
 Servants were especially trained to lomi- 
 lomi a luxurious kneading or sham- 
 pooing, and stretching and cracking the 
 joints, exceedingly pleasant withal, and 
 operating as a gentle and refreshing ex- 
 ercise. The fatter the chiefs, the more 
 they required this operation. 
 
 Their common position was reclining 
 upon divans of fine mats, surrounded by 
 a retinue, devoted solely to their phys- 
 ical gratification. Some fanned, brush- 
 ed away insects and held spittoons ; 
 others fed them, lomi-lomied, or dressed 
 their hair or persons. In short, the ex- 
 tremes of activity or laziness, temper- 
 ance or sensuality, were wholly at their 
 option. Ambition and apathy, super- 
 stition and avarice, love and pleasure, 
 by turns controlled them ; and war, 
 priestcraft and oppression, varied by oc- 
 casional acts of good nature, or the 
 ebullitions of innate benevolence, which 
 even such an education could not wholly 
 eradicate, were the lot of their subjects. 
 
 Among them a considerable degree 
 of physical beauty existed, though em a 
 less noble scale. A few might be seen 
 who were models of active grace, but 
 
 *A favorite method of conveyance once existed, 
 called manele ; a rude palanquin borne on the shoul- 
 ders of four or more men. But it became unfashiona- 
 ble, from the following circumstance : A certain ex- 
 tremely corpulent chief of Kauai, remarkable for his 
 crabbed, petulant disposition, compelled hw earners 
 to take him up and down the steepest precipices ; his 
 amusement and satisfaction being proportionate with 
 the difficulty of the task. However, they retorted one 
 day, and relieved themselves of their burden by pitch- 
 ing him headlong over the steep, which put an end to 
 him and the custom. 
 
42 
 
 HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 their general appearance was that of 
 "hewers of wood and drawers of water." 
 They were supple, hardy and inured to 
 toil; yet, either from the debilitating ef- 
 fects of the climate, or a positive phys- 
 ical inferiority, the result of difference 
 of food and living, incapable of the same 
 endurance as the Caucasian race. 
 
 At the present epoch, the general 
 cast of features prevailing among the 
 whole group, is similar to that of all 
 Polynesia, and analogous to the Malay, 
 to which family of the human race they 
 doubtless belong. A considerable va- 
 riety in color exists, from a light olive 
 to an almost African black ; the hair is 
 coarse and equally dissimilar, varying 
 from the straight, long black, or dark 
 brown, to the crispy curl peculiar to the 
 
 negro. This latter is comparatively 
 rare, though white hair among children 
 is common. A broad, open, vulgarly good 
 humored countenance prevails among 
 the males, and a more pleasing and en- 
 gaging look with the females, but both 
 bespeak the predominance of animal 
 passions. Many of the latter, when 
 young, are not unattractive. Though 
 farther from the equator, both sexes are 
 some shades darker than the Tahitians, 
 Marquesans, or Ascension islanders; all 
 of whom excel them in personal beauty. 
 As with them, a fullness of the nostril, 
 without the peculiar flatness of the 
 negro, and a general thickness of lips, 
 prominent and broad cheek bones, and 
 narrow, high and retreating foreheads, 
 resembling the Asiatic, predominate. 
 
 Instances of deformity are not more com- 
 mon than in civilized life. Their teeth 
 are white, firm and regular ; but their 
 eyes are generally bloodshot, which 
 once was considered a personal attrac- 
 tion. The hands of the females are soft 
 and well made, with tapering fingers. 
 At maturity, which takes place from ten 
 to twelve years of age, they present 
 slight figures, which however soon dis- 
 appear and are succeeded by stoutness, 
 which in their eyes is the greater charm. 
 No regular marriage ceremonies ex- 
 isted, though, on such occasions, it was 
 customary for the bridegroom to cast a 
 piece of cloth on the bride, in the pres- 
 ence of her family. A feast was then 
 furnished by the friends of both parties. 
 The number of wives depended upon the 
 
 inclination of the man, and his ability to 
 support them. Though the common 
 men usually lived with one woman, who 
 performed household labors, no binding- 
 tie existed ; each party consulting their 
 wishes for change, joining or separating, 
 as they agreed or disagreed. As a 
 general thing, there was no such senti- 
 ment as chastity ; sensual desires were 
 gratified as choice prompted ; their only 
 rules being their wishes, modified by 
 jealousy or fear. The very reverse of 
 Christian morality prevailed in this re- 
 spect, for it was considered a meanness 
 for a man or woman to refuse a solici- 
 tation for sensual gratification. Visitors 
 of equal or greater rank than their host? 
 were accommodated with w r omen, as a 
 necessary exercise of hospitality. But 
 
HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 43 
 
 the wives of the chiefs were guarded 
 with great care, to prevent their indulg- 
 ing in too great license. 
 
 Some sentiments relative to connubial 
 fidelity prevailed which may be said to 
 have bordered on morality, or rather 
 served in this respect to distinguish them 
 from the mere brute. The idea con- 
 nected with marriage in their minds is 
 well indicated by the term used to ex- 
 press it hoao literally to try one an- 
 other. After the parties had lived to- 
 gether awhile mutually pleased, it was 
 considered disgraceful to separate, though 
 it was common for those without children 
 to do so ; children being considered a 
 strong link, not so much for fidelity as 
 for perpetuity. Wives on the slightest 
 suspicion of their husbands were subject 
 to very cruel treatment, and were often 
 severely injured. Even Kamehameha's 
 queens formed no exception to this sys- 
 tem of family discipline, and the highest 
 females of the land bore marks about 
 their persons of the jealous brutality of 
 their lords. 
 
 Adultery, without the consent of the 
 husband, was viewed as a crime. Kame- 
 hameha, in 1809, strangled Kanihonui, 
 a high chief, for this offence with Kaa- 
 humanu, even at the risk of a rebellion ; 
 and later still, suspecting one of his 
 priests of a similar practice, he laid a 
 trap for him by which he was exposed. 
 He was immediately executed. 
 
 Children were betrothed when quite 
 young, and were then sacredly guarded 
 by their parents from intercourse with 
 others ; a practice which being quite 
 common, operated as some restraint on 
 universal licentiousness. Common and 
 frequent prostitution was considered in 
 some degree disreputable, and it was 
 enjoined by the better class of parents 
 on their sons to avoid it. 
 
 Family alliances among the chiefs, 
 or, more properly speaking, connections, 
 were of the most intricate and shocking 
 nature. Custom obliged the highest 
 chief to marry the next in rank ; con- 
 sequently, brothers and sisters, full 
 cousins, nieces and uncles t nephews 
 and aunts, frequently exercised towards 
 each other the relations of husband and 
 wife. The most complex affinities arose 
 from this unnatural law. This resulted 
 
 rather from an arbitrary political cus- 
 tom than desire, as incest in general 
 was considered disgraceful. Jn such 
 cases the parties cohabited but seldom, 
 and frequently the marriage was scarcely 
 more than nominal. The highest fe- 
 male chiefs enjoyed the same connubial 
 privileges as to the selection and num- 
 ber of those of the other sex. Some- 
 times father and son were husbands of 
 the same wife. 
 
 Notwithstanding this general sexual 
 laxity, instances of love and affection 
 were not uncommon. The exchange of 
 names was the strongest proof of friend- 
 ship ; and a partiality thus established 
 entitled the recipients mutually to ex- 
 ercise the utmost freedom of persons or 
 property. If they were chiefs, their de- 
 pendents acknowledged this ideal rela- 
 tionship, by the same homage and ser- 
 vices. Or, if a chief thus adopted an 
 inferior, his influence in household mat- 
 ters was scarcely less than his patrons. 
 An embrace with the noses touching, 
 was the most affectionate mode of salu- 
 tation. 
 
 Some doubt formerly existed whether 
 cannibalism ever prevailed in the group. 
 The natives themselves manifested a 
 degree of shame, horror and confusion, 
 when questioned upon the subject, that 
 led Cook and his associates, without any 
 direct evidence of the feet, to believe in 
 its existence ; but later voyagers disputed 
 this conclusion. The confessions of 
 their own historians, and the general 
 acknowledgment of the common people, 
 have now established it beyond a doubt; 
 though, for some time previous to Cook's 
 visit, it had gradually decreased, until 
 scarcely a vestige, if any, of the horrible 
 custom remained. This humanizing im- 
 provement, so little in accordance with 
 their other customs, was a pleasing trait 
 in their national character. It may have 
 been the result of instruction and ex- 
 ample derived from the earliest Euro- 
 pean visitors, or a self-convjction of its 
 own abomination. Be that as it may, a 
 public sentiment of disgust in regard to 
 it prevailed at that period, highly credit- 
 able to them as a nation, and distin- 
 ! guished them from their cotemporaries 
 I of New Zealand, the Marquesas, and 
 i even from the more polished Tahitiac. 
 
HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 Many generations gone by, it was not 
 uncommon for them to indulge, after the 
 close of a battle, in the fierce and bloody 
 delight of roasting their slain enemies, 
 and devouring their flesh like ravenous 
 wild dogs, as the sweetest and most glo- 
 rifying consummation of revenge. Later 
 still, it was confined to certain robber 
 chieftains, who infested mountain paths, 
 and the recesses of forests, from which 
 they sallied forth the terror of the less 
 ferocious inhabitants slaying, plunder- 
 ing, and gorging, like vultures, upon the 
 flesh of their victims. As of the ghouls, 
 and monstrous creations of eastern tales, 
 a superstitious dread of their haunts pre- 
 vailed, which the marvelous tales spread 
 abroad of their prowess and cruelty, 
 served to increase. The warrior became 
 famous who dared beard these " lions 
 in their dens." If successful, his name, 
 with all the eclat of the knight errant 
 of the days of chivalry, was celebrated 
 in song and dance for many generations. 
 
 In the use oi awa, a liquor manufac- 
 tured from the piper methysticum^ the 
 chiefs were exceedingly intemperate. 
 Its effects were very pernicious, cover- 
 ing the body with a white scurf, or scali- 
 ness, like the scurvy, inflaming the eyes, 
 and causing premature decrepitude, it 
 was also taken as a medicine, and was 
 supposed to be an effectual remedy for 
 corpulence. No other intoxicating liquor 
 was known. 
 
 Lunatics were occasionally treated 
 with attention and respect, being sup- 
 posed to be inspired by some god ; but 
 more commonly they shared the fate of 
 the aged and sick, as objects of con- 
 tempt, ridicule and even cruelty. Hea- 
 then charity has little respect for those 
 unable to help themselves; hence the 
 deformed, dependent, foolish and blind, 
 were made the cruel sport of idlers or 
 left to perish. Age and helplessness 
 were frequently cast out from homes 
 which their own hands had reared, and 
 abandoned to die by the road-side, un- 
 cared for and unpitied by neighbor or 
 relative. The more merciful children 
 gave the finishing stroke at once, and 
 left their corpses the prey of prowling 
 dogs. 
 
 Humanity to the aged and afflicted 
 could not be expected from those whose 
 
 " tender mercies were cruelty " to their 
 own offspring. Multitudes were yearly 
 destroyed before birth, by means which 
 will not bear record, and which caused 
 permanent injury to the mother. As 
 many, perhaps, were murdered weeks, 
 months and even years after they saw 
 the light. Parents had authority of life 
 and death over their young, accountable 
 to no one. Infanticide was more preva- 
 lent among the poorer classes than the 
 rich. Whim, expediency or fear of 
 diminishing their personal charms, to 
 them were adequate motives to doom 
 their young to a barbarous death. The 
 poor destroyed many of their children to 
 avoid the expense or trouble of rearing 
 them. Other classes, from laziness, ill 
 humor, or to gratify a malignant dispo- 
 sition. When a quarrel arose between 
 the parents, the child was liable to be 
 sacrificed. A case happened on Ha- 
 waii, in regard to a boy seven years of 
 age. Both parties became frantic with 
 rage ; the father seized the child by the 
 wrists with one hand, and the legs in 
 the other, and with one stroke broke its 
 back across his knee, and threw the 
 mangled corpse at the feet of his wife. 
 The child was his own; no one could 
 have interfered to prevent or punish. 
 Some spared two or three, but more 
 destroyed all but one. It was some- 
 times done by strangling, and often by 
 burying the innocent sufferers alive ; 
 both parents uniting in trampling the 
 earth over the form of their murdered 
 babe, the floor of their own hut not un- 
 (requently being the grave. Those who 
 indulged in such a fiendish disposition, 
 it is said, destroyed, upon an average, 
 two thirds of their children. For the 
 credit of humanity, it is to be hoped that 
 it was not so prevalent as some recent 
 writers have supposed ; or else its in- 
 crease was latterly great. Numbers of 
 women are to be found, who confess to 
 the murder of from three to six and eight 
 children. Females being considered as 
 less useful than males, were more often 
 destroyed. 
 
 Cook, in his account of Kauai, praises 
 their parental affection and kindness. 
 But mere voyagers are liable to err 
 greatly in their estimate of a people 
 whom they see but transiently, and with 
 
HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 45 
 
 whom intercourse is embarassed from 
 ignorance of their tongue. More au- 
 thentic records, and subsequent exam- 
 inations, have proved infanticide, in all 
 its horrible shades, to have been a com- 
 mon custom. Not perhaps to such an 
 extent as, by itself, to occasion a great 
 decrease of population, though joined 
 with other causes, it produced sad re- 
 sults. Tenderness to the living was not 
 to be increased by the exercise of so 
 fell a passion. Hawaiian parents had a 
 kind of animal affection for their off- 
 spring, which, like any instinct, not gov- 
 erned by reason, was as often injurious 
 as beneficial. The ill effects of this were 
 apparent in their education. There was 
 no regular family discipline ; a caress or 
 blow being the only reward or punish- 
 ment. It was a common practice to 
 give away children, towards whom a 
 community of feeling, the result of the 
 very promiscuous intercourse of the 
 sexes, must necessarily have existed. 
 Children could seldom determine their 
 real parents. Dogs and swine w r ere 
 quite as frequently objects of fondness, 
 and often allowed more indulgences and 
 better food than fell to the lot of their 
 biped companions; their mothers' breasts 
 giving suck to the brute in preference 
 to the immortal being. 
 
 The cleanliness of the islanders has 
 been much praised, but equally without 
 reason. Frequent bathing kept their 
 persons in tolerable order, but the same 
 filthy clothing was worn while it would 
 hold together. The lodgings of the 
 common orders were shared with the 
 brutes, and their bodies a common re- 
 ceptacle of vermin. All, of every age 
 and sex, herded in common ; the same 
 mat beneath them at night, and the same 
 tapa above. If a fly perchance alighted 
 on their food, their delicate stomachs 
 became sick ; but the same sensitive 
 organ found delicious morsels in the 
 raw, uncleaned entrails of animals or 
 fish ; and the choicest of all, in vermin 
 picked from each others hair. 
 
 Oppressive as were the laws to the 
 men, they were far more so upon the 
 women. Their sex was but an addi- 
 tional motive for insult and tyranny. 
 The right of blood gave to the highest 
 female the power to rule ; but she, 
 
 equally with the humblest dependent, 
 was subject to the iron law of the " ta- 
 boos." Neither could eat with men ; 
 their houses and their labors were dis- 
 tinct ; their aliment was separately pre- 
 pared. A female child from birth to 
 death was allowed no food that had 
 touched its father's dish. The choicest 
 of animal and vegetable products were 
 reserved for the male child ; for the fe- 
 male the poorest ; while the use of many 
 kinds, such as pork, turtle, shark, ba- 
 nanas and cocoanut, were altogether in- 
 terdicted. Woman was made bitterly 
 to feel her sexual degradation. She 
 was excused from no labors, excepting 
 such as were altogether too arduous for 
 her weaker frame. Thus her lot became 
 even worse than that of her sex gener- 
 ally in the southern groups. 
 
 In the preceding pages it has been 
 my endeavor to draw a just outline of 
 the native government, religion, man- 
 ners and customs, as they existed prior 
 to the discovery of Cook. In some 
 points, but little change has been expe- 
 rienced to the present day, while in 
 others the alteration has been total. To 
 trace the history of the progress from 
 its primary causes ; the influences of 
 commerce, and of civilized man in the 
 gradual development of civilization and 
 Christianity among this benighted race ; 
 and to present, in a forcible light, the 
 contrast between the past and present, 
 will be the attempt of future chapters. 
 Modern history affords no more interest- 
 ing picture than this peaceful and tri- 
 umphant revolution. Its action has been 
 but partially understood and represent- 
 ed. Civilization and Christianity have 
 each their interested advocates, who 
 endeavor to build up their favorite sys- 
 tems at mutual expense. Their influ- 
 ence has been generally presented as 
 that of rival institutions; the destruction 
 of one to be the erection of the other. 
 Both views are equally apart from truth. 
 The Hawaiian character in its gen- 
 eral caste, uninfluenced by either of the 
 above causes, may be thus summed up. 
 From childhood no pure social affections 
 were inculcated. Existence was due 
 rather to accident than design. If 
 spared by a parent's hand, a boy lived 
 to become the victim of a priest, an of- 
 
46 
 
 HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 fering to a blood-loving deity, or to ex- 
 perience a living death from preter- 
 natural fears : a slave, not only to his 
 own superstitions, but to the terrors and 
 caprices of his chief. He was not to 
 know freedom either in life or property, 
 but in its stead a pitiless tyranny, reap- 
 ing where it had not sown. To him ex- 
 isted no social circle to purify by kindly 
 affections ; no moral teachings enkindled 
 a love of truth, no revelation cheered 
 his earthly course, or brightened future 
 hopes. Theft, lying, drunkenness, rev- 
 eling, treachery, revenge, lewdness, in- 
 fanticide and murder, were familiar to 
 his youth, and too often became the prac- 
 tices of his manhood. Guilt was meas- 
 ured by success or failure. Justice was 
 but retaliation, and the law itself array- 
 ed each man's hand against his brother. 
 Games and amusements were but means 
 of gambling and sensual excitement. 
 An individual selfishness which sought 
 present gratification, momentary pleas- 
 ure, or lasting results, regardless of un- 
 holy measures or instruments, was the 
 all-predominating passion. The most 
 attractive quality of the Hawaiian, it 
 cannot be called a virtue, was a kind of 
 easy, listless, good nature, never to be 
 depended upon when their interests or 
 passions were aroused. Instances of a 
 better disposition were sometimes dis- 
 played, and occasional gleams of hu- 
 manity, among which may be mentioned 
 friendship, and a hospitality common to 
 all rude nations, where the distinctions 
 of property are but slightly understood, 
 enlivened their dark characters ; but 
 these were sufficient only to redeem 
 their title to humanity, and not make us 
 altogether " blush and hide our heads," 
 to own ourselves fellow-men. Individu- 
 als there were who rose above this level 
 of degradation ; but their lives served to 
 render more prominent the vices of the 
 remainder. La Perouse, though fresh 
 from the Rousseau school of innocence 
 of savage life, thus, perhaps, a little too 
 broadly, expressed his opinion : " The 
 most daring rascals of Europe are less 
 hypocritical than these natives. All 
 their caresses were false. Their physi- 
 ognomy does not express a single sen- 
 timent of truth. The object most to be 
 suspected is he who has just received a 
 
 present, or who appears to be the most 
 earnest in rendering a thousand little 
 services." Vol. 1, p. 377. 
 
 These islanders possessed a callous- 
 ness to pain, wonderful to the more deli- 
 cately reared white man. A like in- 
 sensibility pervaded their moral system. 
 Those who live in dangerous climates, 
 or among alarming natural phenomena, 
 manifest a surprising indifference to the 
 surrounding dangers, and engage in the 
 pleasures of life with more than ordinary 
 zest. The native, thoughtless of the 
 morrow, careless of results, and habitu- 
 ated to scenes of death, enjoyed his 
 animal pleasures with a heartiness which 
 vigorous health alone could give. By 
 this many were deceived into the opin- 
 ion that they were a happy, cheerful and 
 simple race. 
 
 Their joys and griefs were equally 
 ephemeral ; tears of sorrow could follow 
 in quick succession peals of laughter, 
 and both give way to an almost immov- 
 able apathy. Such happiness as a 
 moral degradation which the world else- 
 where might equal but not excel, was 
 indeed theirs. So dark were their con- 
 ceptions of one of the most pleasurable 
 emotions of the heart, gratitude, that 
 there was found in their language no 
 word to express the sentiment. As far 
 as a language affords an index of the 
 heart of a nation, theirs presented a 
 most deplorable picture. Prolific in 
 epithets expressive of every degree and 
 shade of vice and crime, copious in 
 illustrations of the actions of the mere 
 animal man, it was barren of words to 
 convey correct ideas of virtue and rec- 
 titude. Their language, according to 
 Dibble, could not even " describe a man 
 of common faithfulness and honesty, and 
 was incapable of expressing, without 
 much ambiguity and confusion, the com- 
 mon notions of right and wrong." In 
 losing all just conceptions of Deity, they 
 had equally lost the power of expressing 
 the attributes of love and goodness. So 
 completely had the flood of iniquity 
 which deluged the land swept away the, 
 vocabulary of moral sentiments, in their- 
 simple abstract forms, that not an un~; 
 corrupted remnant remained. Either 
 oblivion had buried them, or corruption 
 had so changed their nature as to leave 
 
HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLAXDS. 
 
 47 
 
 no trace of their original brightness be- 
 hind. The missionaries were put to 
 great straits in making the truths of the 
 gospel at all intelligible, and with all 
 their labor, for some time the grossest 
 notions prevailed. Besides creating 
 terms expressive of the meaning of the 
 gospel, they were obliged to create cor- 
 responding ideas, in Hawaiian minds, 
 before their meaning could be rightly 
 comprehended ; and even now, no small 
 obstacle is presented to their success in 
 imparting just conceptions of the reveal- 
 ed will of God, by the operation of the 
 remains of that moral ignorance which 
 the natives themselves very expressively 
 designate as " dark-heartedness." 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Visits to the Hawaiian Islands previous to Cook 
 Anson's chart Spaniards acquainted with Hawaii 
 Traditions of a priest Landing of Europeans be- 
 tween 1535 and 1560 Shipwreck at Kealakeakua 
 Bay Ships seen First appearance of Cook His 
 reception Astonishment of islanders Effects of 
 visit War on Maui Cook's re-appearance First 
 notice of Kamehameha Cook's arrival at Kealake- 
 akua Bay His deification Remarks Native hos- 
 pitality Thefts Cook's desecration of the temple 
 Growing dislike of natives Ships sail Return 
 Succeeding events Cook's death Ledyard's account 
 Native do. Review of proceedings Recovery of 
 bones Peace Departure of ships Touch at Oahu 
 Arrive at Kauai Wars Attacked by natives 
 Visit Niihau Final departure. 
 
 THERE are substantial reasons for 
 believing that the Hawaiian Islands 
 were visited by Europeans two centuries 
 or more before the era of Cook. Among 
 the natives the knowledge of such events 
 has been perpetuated in numerous tra- 
 ditions, which coincide with so much 
 collateral evidence as to place it beyond 
 doubt. It is impossible to ascertain the 
 precise time of these visits, though from 
 the reigns to which they are referred, 
 and the few particulars which have been 
 preserved relative to them, they must 
 have been long anterior to that of the 
 English navigator. If their original dis- 
 coverers were the Spaniards, as is high- 
 ly probable, they were acquainted with 
 their position previous to the seven- 
 teenth century. According to an old 
 authority, Quiros sighted them in 1696, 
 in a voyage from Manila to New Spain. 
 In a chart of that period, taken by Ad- 
 miral Anson from a Spanish galleon, a 
 cluster of islands called La Mesa, Los 
 
 Majos, La Desgraciada, is found de- 
 lineated, in the same latitude as the 
 Hawaiian Islands, and bearing the same 
 relative situation to Boca Partida as on 
 modern charts, though several hundred 
 miles farther eastward. As the Spanish 
 charts of that time were not remarkable 
 for accuracy, the discoveries of Quiros, 
 Mendana and others, in the Pacific, 
 being also placed in the same relative 
 nearness to the coast of America, this 
 may have been an error, either of calcu- 
 lation, the engravers, or of design. 
 Lying directly in the course of their 
 rich Manila galleons, they would have 
 afforded a secure retreat for the bucca- 
 neers and their numerous naval ene- 
 mies ; consequently it would have been 
 a matter of policy to have confined the 
 knowledge of their situation to their own 
 commanders navigating these seas. As 
 their number was small, rarely more 
 than one ship annually following that 
 track, it is no matter of surprise that 
 they should have become forgotten, or 
 perhaps the memory of them revived 
 only at intervals, by their being seen at 
 a distance. Their first visitors must 
 have discovered that there were no 
 mineral treasures to reward a conquest ; 
 and little else in those days sufficed to 
 tempt the Spanish hidalgo to new scenes 
 of adventure and hardship. The name 
 of one, Mesa, which means table, agrees 
 very well with the flat appearance of 
 Mauna Loa on Hawaii, seen at a great 
 distance. Captain King, in approach- 
 ing it, called it " table-land." The fact 
 that no other group of islands exists in 
 their vicinity strengthens the supposition 
 in regard to the identity of the cluster 
 upon the Spanish chart, with the mod- 
 ern Hawaiian Islands. 
 
 We must look for further proof from 
 the aborigines themselves. Cook found 
 in the possession of the natives of Kauai 
 two pieces of iron ; one a portion of a 
 hoop, and the other appeared to be part 
 of the blade of a broadsword. The 
 knowledge and use of iron was generally 
 known. These relics may have been 
 the fruit of the voyages of the natives 
 themselves, to some of the islands more 
 to the westward, which had been visited 
 by Eutopeans, or they may have drifted 
 ashore attached to some portion of a 
 
48 
 
 HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 wreck. But it is more probable that 
 they were left by foreigners themselves, 
 a supposition which coincides with tradi- 
 tions. The long time which had elapsed 
 since their first arrival and the small 
 store of property brought with them, 
 would naturally account for so little hav- 
 ing survived the multifarious purposes, 
 to which, from its great utility, it was 
 applied. The value attached to these 
 foreign articles must have led to fre- 
 quent contests for their possession, which 
 would greatly add to their chances of 
 being lost. 
 
 Tradition states that ships were seen, 
 many generations back, to pass the 
 islands at a distance. They were call- 
 ed moku, " islands," a name which ves- 
 sels of every description have since re- 
 tained. 
 
 We have several accounts of the ar- 
 rival of different parties of foreigners. 
 In the reign of Kahoukapu a kahuna, 
 " priest," arrived at Kohala, the north- 
 west point of Hawaii. He was a white 
 man, and brought with him a large and 
 a small idol, which by his teachings and 
 persuasions, were enrolled in the Ha- 
 waiian calendar of gods and a temple 
 erected for them. Paao, such was his 
 name, soon acquired power and influ- 
 ence, which he exercised in the cause of 
 humanity, by inducing the king to spare 
 the life of one of his sons who had been 
 ordered to execution. 
 
 Kahoukapu reigned eighteen genera- 
 tions of kings previous to Kamehameha 
 I. As few died natural deaths, their 
 reigns were short, probably not aver- 
 aging above ten to fifteen years each. 
 If such were the case, it would bring 
 the arrival of Paao to somewhere be- 
 tween the years 1530 and 1600, a period 
 brilliant in the annals of Spanish mari- 
 time discovery in the Pacific.* From 
 
 * Diego de Becerra, and Hernando de Grijalva, sailed 
 from Mexico in 1533, and discovered an island in the 
 South Seai*; situated in 20 o 30' north latitude, and 
 about 100- west longitude from Paris, which they 
 called St. Thomas Island. The latter discovered the 
 isiauds now called the Revillagigedos. 
 
 Juan Goetan, in 1542, discovered between the ninth 
 and twentieth degrees of north latitude, and in vari- 
 ous longitiides, several clusters of islands, which he 
 named the Coral, Garden and Sailor Islands. It is not 
 improbable that the Hawaiian Islands were visited 
 during this period. The latitude in both instances 
 agrees with their situation ; but the attempt to iden- 
 tity them with certainty must prove futile, from the 
 jneagreness of the journals, and the great inaccuracies 
 in longitudinal observations. It was a matter of pol- 
 icy with the Court at Madrid, at the end of the 16th I 
 
 1568 to 1595, Mendana crossed the 
 ocean twice, and fell in with several 
 groups. Quiros, a few years afterward, 
 discovered Tahiti, New Hebrides and 
 many other islands. It is not an unrea- 
 sonable conjecture to suppose that some 
 zealous friar, at his own request, was 
 left upon Hawaii, in the hope of convert- 
 ing the natives to the Roman Catholic 
 faith, or he may have been the sole sur- 
 vivor of a shipwreck. The idols were 
 possibly an image and crucifix, though 
 no traces of the latter have been dis- 
 covered. 
 
 Opili, the son of Paao, succeeded him 
 in his religious offices. During his life 
 a party of white men are said to have 
 landed on the southwest part of the 
 island, and gone inland, and taken up 
 their abode in the mountains. The na- 
 tives viewed them with mysterious dread, 
 doubtful whether they were of divine or 
 merely human origin. Opili was sent 
 for, and his advice asked as to the man- 
 ner of opening an intercourse and pro- 
 pitiating them. By his directions great 
 quantities of provisions were prepared 
 and sent them, in solemn procession. 
 Opili, with several others of distinction, 
 walked at the head of the party, bear- 
 ing white flags, symbolical of their 
 peaceful intentions. The strangers see- 
 ing this, ventured from their retreat. 
 The baked pigs and potatoes and other 
 dainties were deposited on the ground, 
 and the carriers retreated a short dis- 
 tance. When the foreigners approach- 
 ed, Opili spoke to them. The presents 
 were gladly received, and a conversa- 
 
 century, to suppress journals of discoveries, or so dis- 
 courage explorations that private adventurers rarely 
 were able to enter upon them. 
 
 " The Manila ships are the only ones which have 
 traversed this vast ocean, except a French straggler 
 or two ; and during near two ages in which this trade 
 has been carried on, the Spaniards have with the great- 
 est care secreted all accounts of their voyages." In- 
 troduction to Anson's Voyages, page 15 : London, 1748. 
 
 La Perouse is of opinion that the Coral Islands of 
 Gtetan were the Sandwich Islands. Gtetan describe* 
 them as affording neither gold nor silver, but abound- 
 ing in cocoanut trees, inhabited by a race of naked 
 savages, and surrounded with coral reefs. This is a 
 plausible conjecture, as he took his departure from the 
 port of Nativity, Mexico, in 20 north latitude, and 
 sailed due west, 900 leagues, which would bring him 
 directly to the present Hawaiian Islands. The lati- 
 tude of the Garden Islands is given as between nine 
 and eleven degrees north. As there are no islands in 
 that position to correspond with the description, and 
 in sailing due west he would not be likely to have 
 fallen six hundred miles to the south, it is highly prob- 
 able that the latitude ascribed was a typographical, if 
 not an intentional error. Change the degrees to the 
 19th and 21st, and the true latitude is found, while the 
 distance west gives the correct longitude. 
 
HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 tion, the particulars of which unfortu- 
 nately were not preserved, kept up for 
 some time. It seems that Opili con- 
 versed freely with them, which was sup- 
 posed by the natives to have been owing 
 to a miraculous gift of language, but he 
 probably had acquired from his father 
 some knowledge of his tongue. The 
 strangers were ever after regarded as 
 gods, and treated with the utmost re- 
 spect, though they did not remain on 
 the island. Tradition states not how 
 they embarked. The principal person- 
 age was called malihini ; this term is 
 still common to the Marquesan, Society 
 and Hawaiian Islands, and is used to 
 designate a stranger, guest or visitor. 
 
 Another, and more precise tradition, 
 relates that a few years after the de- 
 parture of the former party, another ar- 
 rived at Kealakeakua Bay, on the west 
 side of Hawaii. Their boat had no 
 masts or sails, but was painted, and an 
 awning was spread over the stern. They 
 were all clad in white and yellow cloth, 
 and one wore a plumed hat. At his side 
 hung a long knife, " palii? which term 
 is still applied to a sword. 
 
 This party remained, and formed ami- 
 cable alliances with the natives, and by 
 their superior skill and knowledge, soon 
 rose to be chiefs and famed warriors, 
 and for a considerable period governed 
 Hawaii. 
 
 In the reign of Kealiiokaloa, son of 
 Umi, thirteen generations of kings be- 
 fore Cook's arrival, which, according to 
 the previous calculation, would bring it 
 near the year 1620, a vessel, called by 
 the natives Konaliloha, arrived at Pale 
 Keei, on the south side of Kealakeakua 
 Bay, Hawaii. Here, by some accident, 
 she was drawn into the surf and totally 
 wrecked. The captain, Kukanaloa, and 
 a white woman, said to be his sister, 
 were the only persons who were saved. 
 Upon reaching the beach, either from 
 fear of the inhabitants, to return thanks 
 for their safety, or perhaps from sorrow, 
 they prostrated themselves, and remain- 
 ed a long time in that position. Where 
 this took place is known at the present 
 day by the appellation of Kuloif, bow- 
 ing down. The shipwrecked strangers 
 were hospitably received, invited to the 
 dwellings of the natives, and food placed I 
 7 
 
 49 
 
 before them. As runs the tradition, the 
 following question was asked, " have 
 you ever seen this kind of food ? " To 
 which they replied, " we have it grow- 
 ing in our country." By what means 
 they thus freely conversed, it is not 
 known, though the Opili before men- 
 tioned may have again acted as inter- 
 preter. Bananas, breadfruit and ohias, 
 " wild apples," were given them, which 
 they ate with much satisfaction. They 
 formed connections with the native Ha- 
 waiians, and gave birth to a mixed race, 
 from which a number of chiefs and com- 
 mon people are said to have descended. 
 Kaikioewa, the late governor of Kauai, 
 was reputed to have been one of their 
 descendants. It would now be a matter 
 of much interest to know the actual fate 
 of this, the first white woman who land- 
 ed on these shores ; but more than the 
 above will probably never be known. 
 
 Another statement speaks of two ves- 
 sels wrecked on the northeast coast of 
 Hawaii, and that none of the crews were 
 saved, being either lost in the surf or 
 murdered as soon as they landed.* 
 
 There is a tradition extant of a ship 
 that touched at Maui about this period, 
 and it is possible upon further examina- 
 tion, the same or others were seen at 
 the leeward islands, as one could not be 
 \isited without a knowledge being ob- 
 tained of their neighbors. In clear 
 weather, from certain points, several 
 islands were within the range of the eye. 
 
 Though these traditions are somewhat 
 inconsistent in a few particulars, they 
 are quite as explicit as those that re- 
 late to their national history. The last 
 of these visits can be referred to a period 
 nearly a century and a half prior to 
 Cook's arrival; a time quite sufficient 
 to have dimmed the recollection of events 
 and thrown a mystery over the whole. 
 Enough has been preserved to establish 
 the fact that centuries since, vessels 
 visited these islands, and parties of white 
 men landed on them and left progeny, 
 whose descendants are distinguished 
 
 * Kotzebue, in his last " Voyage around the "World," 
 alludes to two anchors which were said to have been 
 fonnd at Hawa% and were presumed to have belonged 
 to one of those vessels. No other author mentions the 
 circumstance, nor hare I been able to ga'her any light 
 upon the subject from the native accounts, though it 
 is not at all improbable that such did exist, and have 
 since been buried in the sand, or overgrown in the 
 coral reef. 
 
50 
 
 HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 even to this day, by their lighter skin, 
 and brown or red curly hair, called ehu. 
 A party of white men called Jfea, are 
 said to have roamed wild in the moun- 
 tains, occasionally making inroads upon 
 the more fertile districts, much to the 
 terror of the inhabitants, particularly 
 the females. 
 
 The graceful form of the helmets and 
 the elegance of the feathered mantles, 
 so unlike the usual rude arts of the 
 islanders, bearing as they did a striking 
 resemblance, in form, to those formerly 
 worn among the Spaniards, would seem 
 to have derived their origin from visitors 
 of that nation. If they were not orig- 
 inally the result of European taste, they 
 formed a singular deviation from the 
 general costume of Polynesia. The skill 
 displayed in their martial rnanceuvres, 
 their phalanxes of bristling spears, their 
 well drawn up lines of battle, all savor 
 of foreign improvement, and may be 
 ascribed to hints received from those, 
 who, like waifs, were cast upon their 
 shores, and to which they were the fore- 
 runners of a civilization destined event- 
 ually to spread over the whole group. 
 How far their influence may have ex- 
 tended in improving other arts, it is im- 
 possible to ascertain ; but some, partic- 
 ularly the good taste and pretty pat- 
 terns found among their cloths, the fine 
 polish of their wooden bowls, appear to 
 have owed their perfection to a similar 
 cause. That a few rude sailors or ad- 
 venturers should not have been able to 
 have revolutionized their system of re- 
 ligion, even if inclined, is not strange ; 
 though doubtless their influence, com- 
 pared with the bloody superstitions 
 among which they were thus cast, was 
 in some degree humanizing. In Paao, 
 the priest, we perceive this principle 
 forcibly illustrated in preventing the 
 death of a doomed man. This individual 
 having been the son of a king, may 
 have been the reason of its being record- 
 ed in their traditions, while less con- 
 spicuous cases of merciful interference 
 were forgotten in the long catalogue of 
 succeeding cruelties and crimes.* 
 
 * A number of Hawaiian words are somewhat anal- 
 ogous to the Spanish, and may have been derived from 
 them, though it is only the fact of their former inter- 
 course that throws any probability upon this conjec- 
 ture. Pono, good, fair or just, could without much 
 
 I have already alluded to the striking 
 analogies between many of their reli- 
 gious customs and traditions and those 
 of early Jewish rites and scriptures. It 
 is impossible to say that even these 
 were not derived from these strangers 
 in their attempt to impress upon them a 
 purer ritual and better faith. But the 
 fact that we find in their traditions no 
 traces of ideas of a triune deity, of an 
 earth-born Saviour and of the Virgin 
 Mary and other prominent points more 
 likely to have been preached to savages 
 by Roman Catholics than an observance 
 of the ceremonies of Judaism, leads 
 either to the conclusion that if once 
 heard they have since been wholly for- 
 gotten, or we must refer those customs 
 and traditions to a period which it would 
 be vain even to hope to penetrate with 
 the probability of arriving at any solution 
 of so interesting an historical inquiry. 
 
 To whatever extent these islands may 
 have been known to the Spanish navi- 
 gators or stragglers across the vast Pa- 
 cific, from the earlier part of the six- 
 teenth to the middle of the seventeenth 
 century, who from ignorance or design, 
 left the world unacquainted with their 
 importance, it does not detract from the 
 credit due to the energy and ability dis- 
 played by their English successor, Cap- 
 tain Cook. He was probably unaware 
 of their true position ; and if to Colum- 
 bus the discovery of America is to be 
 attributed, equally to Cook is that of the 
 Hawaiian group. Both were simply re- 
 discoveries ; the former owing rather to 
 the comprehensive genius of a mind 
 that dared to originate and soar beyond 
 his age ; the latter, from actively pur- 
 suing the track of discovery, and in- 
 fusing into its course renewed life and 
 vigor. In following other and important 
 designs, he was brought in contact with 
 this valuable group.! 
 
 change have been derived from the Spanish biifno, or 
 the Portuguese, bono, both of which have the same 
 signification. Poko, short, is like the Spanish poco, 
 little. 
 
 tit has been suggested that Cook had possession of 
 Anson's chart, and expected, by sailing in the course 
 he took, to fall in with land. Tie actually inquired of 
 the natives of Tahiti if any islands lay to the north of 
 them. In his journal no great surprise is evinced at 
 discovering land in that direction, though hud he been 
 a few miles further to the west, he would have passed 
 it unseen ; and it is natural to suppose that so distin- 
 guished a navigator had examined all charts and 
 voyages calculated to throw any light upon the track 
 he was pursuing. The knowledge that a group of i-sl- 
 
BISTORT OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLA3US. 
 
 51 
 
 So long a period had elapsed since 
 the eyes of the natives had been greeted 
 with sights foreign to their own islands, 
 that the memory of them had become 
 obscure, and perhaps with the generality 
 forgotten. The appearance of Cook's 
 ships, when he first made INiihau and 
 Kauai, on the 19th of January, 1778, 
 was to their unsophisticated senses, 
 novel, fearful and interesting. Canoes 
 filled with wondering occupants, ap- 
 proached, but no inducement could pre- 
 vail upon them to go on board, though 
 they were not averse to barter. Iron 
 was the only article prized in exchange ; 
 the use of other things was unknown 
 and even ornaments at first despised. 
 
 On the following evening, the ships 
 came to anchor in Waimea Bay, on the 
 south side of Kauai. As the islanders 
 were not generally apprised of their ar- 
 rival until morning, their surprise was 
 then extreme. They asked of one 
 another, " what is this great thing with 
 branches ? " Some replied, " it is a for- 
 est which has moved into the sea." 
 This idea filled them with consternation. 
 Kaneonea and Keawe, the chief rulers, 
 sent men to examine the wonderful ma- 
 chines, who returned and reported abun- 
 dance of iron, which gave them much 
 joy. Their description of the persons 
 of the seamen was after this manner : 
 u foreheads white, bright eyes, rough 
 garments, their speech unknown, and 
 their heads horned like the moon ; " 
 supposing their hats to be a part of their 
 heads. Some conjectured them to be 
 women. The report of the great quan- 
 tity of iron seen on board the ships ex- 
 cited the cupidity of the chiefs, and one 
 of their warriors volunteered to seize it, 
 saying, " I will go and take it, as it is 
 
 ands did exist somewhere in the Xorth Pacific, which 
 he successfully sought for, is more to his credit than if 
 accident alone occasioned the discovery; but to ac- 
 knowledge no assistance from the labors of others, and 
 to endeavor to appropriate to himself the sole honor 
 of the adventure, is unworthy of either him or his 
 biographers. A silence in regard to the maritime ef- 
 forts of his predecessors, is observable throughout his 
 journals. In the map of the world attached to Ansou's 
 Voyages, published in 17-18, the Sandwich Islands are 
 delineated under their Spanish appellations, correct as 
 to latitude, and but ten degrees too far to the west. 
 Another island, St. Francisco, is placed within one de- 
 gree of the true position of Hawaii, and from il s ex- 
 tent, corresponds well with that island. To believe 
 that Cook was ignorant of this map, or had not read 
 with attention so popular a work as was then Anson's 
 Voyages, is to accuse him of unpardonable negligence 
 in acquiring knowledge proper to his profession. 
 
 my business to plunder." He went, and 
 in the attempt was fired upon and killed. 
 
 In the account of the commencement 
 of the intercourse between the two races, 
 I adhere principally to the description 
 since given by the native historians, of 
 the sensations and singular ideas pro- 
 duced in the minds of their ancestors, 
 by the novel appearance of the strangers. 
 It is seldom, where the disparity of pow- 
 er and knowledge is great, that both 
 sides are heard. In this instance, the 
 knowledge of writing, acquired before 
 that generation had altogether passed 
 away, served to preserve the memory 
 and incidents of the strange events fresh 
 in the minds of their children, and has 
 given to the world the opportunity to 
 draw just inferences from mutual rela- 
 tions. Both dwell with emphasis upon 
 those circumstances which to each were 
 the most surprising ; though from the 
 greater novelty, the astonishment was 
 far more among the natives than their 
 visitors, and they have recorded in their 
 simple narratives, many trifling circum- 
 stances which were not thought worthy 
 of place in the more enlightened ac- 
 counts. 
 
 Cook does not mention the death of 
 the warrior-thief, but states that on the 
 evening before the ships anchored, he 
 sent some boats ashore to select a water- 
 ing-place. The party, upon landing, 
 were pressed upon by the natives, who 
 attempted to seize their arms, oars and 
 other articles, in consequence of which, 
 the commanding officer gave orders to 
 fire, which was done, and one man killed. 
 This produced no hostility from the na- 
 tives, as it accorded with their own 
 ideas of justifiable retaliation. 
 
 Throughout all the intercourse, though 
 the natives manifested the greatest re- 
 spect and kindness toward their visitors, 
 and both parties indulged in a lucrative 
 trade, yet their propensity for thieving 
 was continually manifested. Perfectly 
 ready to yield their own property or per- 
 sons to the gratification of the whites, it 
 was but natural that, without any sense 
 of shame or wrong, they should desire 
 the same liberties. Theft or lying were 
 to them no crimes. Success in eithei 
 was a virtue/ and it was not until sev- 
 eral severe lessons in regard to the 
 
52 
 
 IlISTOET OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 enormity of the former had been re- 
 ceived, that their discretion got the 
 better of temptation. 
 
 During the visit, which lasted but a 
 few days, the commander manifested a 
 laudable humanity, in endeavoring to 
 shield the population from the evil ef- 
 fects which so inevitably result from 
 connection between foreign seamen and 
 the native females. But his efforts were 
 vain. If the discipline of his own crew 
 could have been strictly enforced, the 
 eagerness of the women was not to be 
 repressed. The native history thus ac- 
 counts for its commencement, by which 
 it will be seen that however praiseworthy 
 the desires of the commanders of these 
 expeditions may have been, the licen- 
 tious habits of the natives themselves 
 were sure to counteract them. 
 
 The night after the attempt of Kapu- 
 pua, the warrior-thief, many guns were 
 discharged. The noise and fire were 
 imagined to proceed from the god Lono, 
 or Cook, and they at first thought of 
 fighting him. But this design was frus- 
 trated by the advice of a female chief, 
 who counselled them " not to fight the 
 god, but gratify him, that he might be 
 propitious." Accordingly she sent her 
 own daughter, with other women, on 
 board, who returned with the seeds of 
 that disease, which so soon and so fa- 
 tally spread itself throughout the group. 
 
 On February 2d, the ships sailed 
 from Niihau, where they had spent the 
 greater portion of their stay, for the 
 Northwest Coast of America. During 
 this time they became acquainted with 
 the existence of Oahu, having seen it at 
 a distance, but received no information 
 of the more windward islands. 
 
 This visit was auspicious of the great 
 revolution which the islands were des- 
 tined to undergo. It had commenced 
 on the one side with theft and prostitu- 
 tion, which had been repaid by death 
 and disease. Still the superior knowl- 
 edge, humanity and forbearance of the 
 whites had been seen and acknowledged, 
 and their first moral lessons in the dis- 
 tinctions of property, the foundation of 
 all commercial prosperity, received. 
 
 The wonderful news spread rapidly. 
 It soon reached Oahu, whence one Moho, 
 a Hawaiian, carried the particulars to Ka- 
 
 laniopuu, king of Hawaii. The strange 
 spectacle of the vessels, with their sails, 
 spars and flags, were minutely described. 
 "The men," he said, "had loose skins 
 their clothes angular heads, and they 
 were gods indeed. Volcanoes belching 
 fire, burned at their mouths tobacco 
 pipes and there were doors in their 
 sides for property, doors which went 
 far into their bodies pockets into 
 which they thrust their hands, and drew 
 out knives, iron, beads, cloth, nails, and 
 everything else." In his description, 
 which he gave second handed, he ap- 
 pears to have considered the ships, 
 equally with their crews, as animated 
 beings, or else to have so blended the 
 two, as to have forgotten their appropri- 
 ate distinctions ; an error into which 
 savages readily fall, and which accounts 
 for the great abundance of fables and 
 confused description which usually per- 
 vades their stories. He also mimicked 
 their speech, representing it as rough, 
 harsh and boisterous. 
 
 A small piece of canvas had been 
 procured by the chief of Kauai, which 
 he sent as a present to the king of Oahu, 
 who gallantly gave it to his wife. She 
 wore it in a public procession, in the 
 most conspicuous part of her dress, 
 where it attracted the greatest attention. 
 
 During the interval between Cook's 
 first and last visit, a war had broken 
 out between Hawaii and Maui, in which 
 Kalaniopuu the Terreoboo of Cook, 
 and Teraiobu of Ledyard the king of 
 Hawaii, contested the sovereignty of 
 the latter island with Kahekili Titeree 
 the reigning prince. On this occa- 
 sion, Kamehameha* accompanied him. 
 This is the first notice we have of this 
 celebrated man, then a mere youth ; but 
 at that early age he gave evidence of 
 courage and enterprise. On the 26th 
 of November, 177S, a battle had been 
 
 * The orthography of native names, before the lan- 
 guage was systematized by the American missiona- 
 ries, was various and perplexing. Kamehameha was 
 written many different ways. By Captain King, 
 Maiha-Maiha; by others, Cameamea, Tomyhcmyhaw, 
 Hameaymea, Tomooma. Vancouver and Turnbull 
 were the most correct : the former wrote it Tamaah- 
 maah ; the latter, Tamahama. Kalaimoku, his prime 
 minister, Crymakoo. Kaumualii, king of Kauai, To- 
 moree. Any one acquainted with the nature of the 
 true vowel sounds will readily identify the various 
 names in their modern dress, with those given by the 
 early voyagers, which will render it unnecessary to 
 record their multiiarious spellings. 
 
HISTOBY OF THE BAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 53 
 
 fought between the contending parties, 
 which proved favorable to Kalaniopuu. 
 The victors on the eve of the same day 
 returned to Wailuku, on the north side 
 of Maui, to refresh their forces. When 
 the morning dawned, the stranger " isl- 
 ands and gods," of which they had 
 heard, appeared in view. Cook's vessel 
 stood in near the shore, and commenced 
 a traffic, which the natives entered into 
 freely and without much surprise, though 
 observing the port-holes, they remarked 
 to each other, " those were the doors of 
 the things of which we have heard, that 
 make a great noise." Kalaniopuu sent 
 Cook off a present of a few hogs, and 
 on the 30th went himself in state to 
 make a visit. Kamehameha accompa- 
 nied him, and with a few attendants re- 
 mained all night, much to the consterna- 
 tion of the people on shore, who, as the 
 vessel stood to sea, thought he had been 
 carried off, and bitterly bewailed his 
 supposed loss. The following morning 
 their young chief was safely landed, and 
 Cook, ignorant of the rank of his visitor, 
 sailed for Hawaii, which had been dis- 
 covered the previous day. 
 
 On the 2d of December, he arrived off 
 Kohala, where his ships created much 
 astonishment among the simple island- 
 ers. " Gods, indeed," they exclaimed ; 
 " they eat the flesh of man mistaking 
 the red pulp of water-melons for human 
 substance and the fire burns at their 
 mouths." However, this opinion of their | 
 divine character did not deter them from 
 exchanging swine and fruit for pieces of 
 iron hoop. The definition which civi- 
 lized man applies to the word God, and 
 the attributes ascribed to the Divinity, 
 differ materially from those of the sav- 
 age. With him, any object of fear, 
 power or knowledge is a god, though it 
 might differ not materially from his own 
 nature. The ancients deified their illus- 
 trious dead, and as in the case of Herod, 
 applied the title, god, to the living. In 
 neither case can it be supposed to de- 
 note more than an acknowledged supe- 
 riority, or the strongest expression of 
 flattery. While the Hawaiians bowed 
 in dread to powerful deities, which in 
 their hardened understandings filled the 
 place of the Christian's God, they wor- 
 shiped a multitude of inferior origin, 
 
 whom they ridiculed or reverenced, and 
 erected or destroyed their temples, as 
 inclination prompted. Hence their will- 
 ingness at Waimea, to fight Cook or 
 their god Lono, as they deemed him ; 
 the readiness with which they were di- 
 verted from their purpose to try more 
 winning means to gratify him, and the 
 alternate love, fear and hostility with 
 which he was afterward regarded. 
 
 Cook continued his course slowly 
 around the east end of the island, occa- 
 sionally trading with the natives, whose 
 propensity to thieving was overcome 
 only by exhibiting the dreadful effects 
 of fire-arms. On the 17th of January, 
 1779, he came to anchor in Kealakeakua 
 Bay, in the district of Kona, the reputed 
 spot of the landing of the Spanish ad- 
 venturers two centuries before. Kalani- 
 opuu was still engaged on Maui in pre- 
 serving his conquest. At the bay it was 
 a season of taboo, and no canoes were 
 allowed to be afloat ; but when the ships 
 were seen, the restrictions were removed, 
 as Lono was considered a deity, and his 
 vessels temples. 
 
 The inhabitants went on board in 
 great crowds, and among them Palea, a 
 high chief, whose favorable influence 
 was secured by a few acceptable pres- 
 ents. The seamen employed in caulk- 
 ing the vessels were called the clan of 
 Mokualii, the god of canoe-makers, and 
 those who smoked, for it was the first 
 acquaintance they had with tobacco, 
 were called Lono-volcano. As at Kauai, 
 the women were the most assiduous vis- 
 itors, though great numbers of both sexes 
 flocked around Cook to pay him divine 
 honors. Among them was a decrepid 
 old man, once a famed warrior, but now 
 a priest. He saluted Captain Cook 
 with the greatest veneration, and threw 
 over his shoulder a piece of red cloth. 
 Stepping back, he offered a pig, and pro- 
 nounced a long harangue. Religious cer- 
 emonies similar to this were frequently 
 performed before the commander. 
 
 Great multitudes flocked to the bay. 
 Ledyard computes their number at up- 
 wards of fifteen thousand, and states 
 that three thousand canoes were counted 
 afloat at once. The punctilious defer- 
 ence paid Cook when he first landed, 
 was both painful and ludicrous. Heralds 
 
54 
 
 HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 announced his approach and opened the 
 way for his progress. A vast throng 
 crowded about him; others more fear- 
 ful, gazed from behind stone walls, from 
 the tops of trees, or peeped from their 
 houses. The moment he approached 
 they hid themselves, or covered their 
 faces with great apparent awe, while 
 those nearer prostrated themselves on 
 the earth in the deepest humility. As 
 soon as he passed, all unveiled them- 
 selves, rose and followed him. As he 
 walked fast, those before were obliged 
 to bow down and rise as quickly as pos- 
 sible, but not always being sufficiently 
 active, were trampled upon by the ad- 
 vancing crowd. At length the matter 
 was compromised, and the inconvenience 
 of being walked over avoided by adopt- 
 ing a sort of quadruped gait, and ten 
 thousand half clad men, women and 
 children were to be seen chasing or flee- 
 ing from Cook, on all fours. 
 
 On the day of his arrival, Cook was 
 conducted to the chief heiau and pre- 
 sented in great form to the idols. He 
 was taken to the most sacred part, and 
 placed before the principal figure, im- 
 mediately under an altar of wood, on 
 which a putrid hog was deposited. This 
 was held toward him, while the priest 
 repeated a long and rapidly enunciated 
 address, after which he was led to the 
 top of a partially decayed scaffolding. 
 Ten men, bearing a large hog, and bun- 
 dles of red cloth, then entered the tem- 
 ple and prostrated themselves before 
 him. The cloth was taken from them 
 by a priest, who encircled Cook with it 
 in numerous folds, and afterward offered 
 the hog to him in sacrifice. Two priests, 
 alternately and in unison, chanted praises 
 in honor of Lono ; after which they led 
 him to the chief idol, which, following 
 their example, he kissed. 
 
 Similar ceremonies were repeated in 
 another portion of the heiau, where 
 Cook, with one arm supported by the 
 high priest, and the other by Captain 
 King, was placed between two wooden 
 images and anointed on his face, arms 
 and hands with the chewed kernel of a 
 cocoanut, wrapped in a cloth. These 
 disgusting rites were succeeded by drink- 
 ing awa, prepared in the mouths of at- 
 tendants, and spit out into a drinking 
 
 vessel ; as the last and most delicate at- 
 tention, he was fed with swine-meat 
 which had been masticated for him by a 
 filthy old man. 
 
 No one acquainted with the customs 
 of Polynesia could for a moment have 
 doubted that these rites were intended 
 for adoration. Captain King, in his ac- 
 count of this affair, only surmises that 
 such may have been the intention, but 
 affects to consider it more as the evi- 
 dence of great respect and friendship. 
 The natives say that Cook performed 
 his part in this heathen farce, without 
 the slightest opposition. The numerous 
 offerings, the idols and temples to which 
 he was borne, the long prayers, recita- 
 tions and chants addressed to him, must 
 have carried conviction to his mind that 
 it was intended for religious homage, 
 and the whole ceremony a species of 
 deification or consecration of himself. 
 If this were not enough, the fearful 
 respect shown by the common people, 
 who, if he walked out, fled at his pres- 
 ence, or fell and worshiped him, was 
 sufficient to have convinced the most 
 sceptical mind. What opinion then can 
 be entertained of a highly gifted man, 
 who could thus lend himself to strengthen 
 and perpetuate the dark superstitions of 
 heathenism ? The apology offered was 
 the expediency of thus securing a pow- 
 erful influence over the minds of the 
 islanders, an expediency that terminated 
 in his destruction. While the delusion 
 of his divinity lasted, the whole island 
 was heavily taxed to supply the wants 
 of the ships, or contribute to the gratifi- 
 cation of their officers and crews, and, as 
 was customary in such gifts, no return 
 expected. Their kindnesses, and the 
 general jubilee which reigned, gave a 
 most favorable impression of native char- 
 acter to their visitors. Had their ac- 
 quaintance with the language been bet- 
 ter, and their intercourse with the com- 
 mon people more extensive, it would 
 have appeared in its true light, as the 
 result of a thorough despotism. On the 
 19th, Captain Cook visited another 
 I heiau, or more properly a residence of 
 | the priests, with the avowed expectation 
 | of receiving similar homage ; nor was 
 j he disappointed. Curiosity, and a de- 
 sire to depict the scene, seemed to have 
 
56 
 
 HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 been his motives in this case, for he 
 took an artist with him, who sketched 
 the group. Ever afterward, on landing, 
 a priest attended him and regulated the 
 religious ceremonies which constantly 
 took place in his honor; offerings, chants 
 and addresses met him at every point. 
 For a brief period he moved among 
 them, an earthly deity; observed, feared 
 and worshiped. 
 
 The islanders rendered much assist- 
 ance in fitting the ships, and preparing 
 them for their voyages, but constantly 
 indulged in their national vice, theft. 
 The highest chiefs were not above it, 
 nor of using deception in trade. 
 
 On the 24th of January, Kalaniopuu 
 arrived from Maui, on which occasion 
 a taboo was laid upon the natives, by 
 which they were confined to their houses. 
 By this, the daily supply of vegetables 
 was prevented from reaching the vessels, 
 which annoyed their crews exceedingly, 
 and they endeavored, by threats and 
 promises, to induce the natives to vio- 
 late the restriction. Several attempted 
 to do so, but were restrained by a chief, 
 who, for thus enforcing obedience among 
 his own subjects, had a musket fired over 
 his head from one of the ships. This 
 intimidated him, and the people were 
 allowed to ply their usual traffic.* 
 
 Kalaniopuu and his chiefs visited Cap- 
 tain Cook on the 26th, with great par- 
 ade. They occupied three large double 
 canoes, in the foremost of which were 
 the king and his retinue. Feathered 
 cloaks and gaudy helmets glanced in the 
 bright sunlight, and with their long, 
 shining lances, gave them a martial ap- 
 pearance. In the second came the high 
 priest and his brethren, with their hide- 
 ous idols ; the third was filled with 
 offerings of swine and fruits. After 
 paddling around the ships to the solemn 
 chanting of the priests, the whole party 
 made for the shore, and landed at the 
 observatory, where Captain Cook re- 
 ceived them in a tent. The king threw 
 his own cloak over the shoulders of 
 Cook, put his helmet upon his head, and 
 in his hand a curious fan. He also pre- 
 sented him with several other cloaks, all 
 of great value and beauty. The other 
 gifts were then bestowed, and the cere- 
 
 * Cook's Voyages, vol. 3, p. 16 : London, 1785. 
 
 mony concluded by an exchange of 
 names, the greatest pledge of friendship. 
 The priests then approached, made their 
 offerings, and went through the usual 
 religious rites, interspersed with chants 
 and responses by the chief actors. 
 
 Kamehameha was present at this in- 
 terview. Captain King describes his 
 j face as the most savage he ever beheld ; 
 its natural ugliness being heightened by 
 a " dirty brown paste or powder," plas- 
 tered over his hair. The formalities of 
 I this meeting over, the king and a num- 
 ber of his chiefs were carried in the pin- 
 nace to the flag-ship, where they were 
 received with all due honors. In return 
 for the magnificent presents, Cook gave 
 Kalaniopuu a linen shirt and his own 
 hanger. While these visits were being 
 exchanged, profound silence was ob- 
 served throughout the bay and on the 
 shore. Not a canoe was afloat, nor an 
 inhabitant to be seen, except a few who 
 lay prostrate on the ground. 
 
 The taboo interdicting the inhabitants 
 from visiting the ships was removed at 
 the request of Captain Cook, so far as 
 it related to the men. No relaxation 
 could be obtained for the women, who 
 were forbidden all communication with 
 the whites ; the result of some unusual 
 precaution, either to prevent the increase 
 of venereal disease, which had already 
 worked its way to the extremities of the 
 group, or of an unwonted jealousy. 
 
 The same boundless hospitality and 
 kindness continued. All their simple 
 resources were brought into requisition 
 to amuse the followers of Lono, who, in 
 companies or singly, traversed the coun- 
 try in many directions, receiving services 
 and courtesy everywhere, which to the 
 givers were amply repaid by their gra- 
 cious reception. Notwitstanding this 
 good feeling, they contrived, as hereto- 
 fore, to pilfer; for which small shot 
 were fired at the offenders, and finally 
 one was flogged on board the Discovery. 
 
 On the 2d of February, at the desire 
 of the commander, Captain King pro- 
 posed to the priests to purchase for fuel 
 the railing which surrounded the top of 
 the heiau. In this, Cook manifested as 
 litttle respect for the religion in the my- 
 thology of which he figured so con- 
 spicuously, as scruples in violating the 
 
HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 57 
 
 divine precepts of his own. Indeed, 
 throughout his voyages, a spirit regard- 
 less of the rights and feelings of others, 
 when his own were interested, is mani- 
 fested, especially in the last cruise, which 
 is a blot upon his memory. It is an un- 
 pleasant task to disturb the ashes of one 
 whom a nation reveres ; but truth de- 
 mands that justice should be dispensed 
 equally to the savage, and to the civilized 
 man. The historian cannot so far prove 
 false to his subject, as to shipwreck fact 
 in the current of popular opinion. When 
 necessary, he must stem it truthfully 
 and manfully. 
 
 To the great surprise of the proposer, 
 the wood was readily given, and nothing 
 stipulated in return. In carrying it to 
 the boats, all of the idols were taken 
 with it. King, who from the first doubt- 
 ed the propriety of the request, fearing 
 it might be considered an act of im- 
 piety, says he spoke to the high priest 
 upon the subject, who simply desired 
 that the central one might be restored. 
 If we are to believe him, no open re- 
 sentment was expressed for this deed, 
 and not even opposition shown. This is 
 highly improbable, when the usual re- 
 spect entertained by the natives for their 
 temples and divinities is considered ; and 
 in no case could their religious senti- 
 ments have been more shocked. If they 
 were silent, it was owing to the greater 
 fear and reverence with which they then 
 regarded Cook. 
 
 Ledyard, who was one of the party 
 employed to 'remove the fence, gives a 
 much more credible account, and which 
 differs so much from the other, that it is 
 impossible to reconcile the two. King, 
 in his narrative of this and subsequent 
 events, manifests a strong desire to 
 shield the memory of his commander 
 from all blame. Consequently, he passes 
 lightly over, or does not allude to many 
 circumstances which were neither cre- 
 ditable to his judgment nor humanity. 
 
 Ledyard, in his relation, states that 
 Cook offered two iron hatchets for the 
 fence, which were indignantly refused, 
 both from horror at the proposal, and 
 the inadequate price. Upon this denial, 
 he gave orders to his men, to break 
 down the fence and carry it to the boats, 
 while he cleared the way. This was 
 8 
 
 done, and the images taken off and de- 
 stroyed by a few sailors, in the presence 
 of the priests and chiefs, who had not 
 sufficient resolution to prevent this de- 
 secration of their temple, and insult to 
 the names of their ancestors. Cook 
 once more offered the hatchets, and with 
 the same result. Not liking the imputa- 
 tion of taking the property forcibly, he 
 told them to take them or nothing. The 
 priest to whom he spoke, trembled with 
 emotion, but still refused. They were 
 then rudely thrust into the folds of his 
 garment, whence, not deigning to take 
 them himself, they were taken, at his 
 order, by one of his attendants. During 
 this scene, a concourse of natives had 
 assembled, arid expressed their sense of 
 the wrong in no quiet mood. Some en- 
 deavored to replace the fence and 
 images, but they were finally got safely 
 on board. 
 
 About this juncture, the master's 
 mate of the Resolution had been ordered 
 to bring off the rudder of that ship, which 
 had been sent ashore for repairs. Being 
 too heavy for his men, he requested the 
 assistance of the natives. Either from 
 sport or design, they worked confusedly 
 and embarrassed the whites. The mate 
 angrily struck several. A chief who 
 was present, interposed. He was haugh- 
 tily told to order his men to labor prop- 
 erly. This he was not disposed to do, 
 or if he had done, his people were in no 
 humor to comply. They hooted and 
 mocked at the whites ; stones began to 
 fly, and the exasperated crew snatched 
 up some treenails that laid near by, and 
 commenced plying them vigorously about 
 the heads and shoulders of their assail- 
 ants. The fray increased, and a guard 
 of marines was ordered out to intimidate 
 the crowd ; but they were so furiously 
 pelted with stones, that they gladly re- 
 tired, leaving the ground in possession 
 of its owners. 
 
 Other causes were at work augment- 
 ing the dissatisfaction, which the near 
 departure of the ships alone prompted 
 them to conceal. Familiarity tends 
 greatly to destroy influence even with 
 the most powerful. Cook and his com- 
 panions had become common objects, 
 and the passions they constantly display- 
 ed, so like thek own, lessened the awe 
 
53 
 
 HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 with which they were at first regarded. 
 The death and burial ashore of a sea- 
 man had greatly shaken their faith in 
 their divine origin. The most cogent 
 reason operating to create a revulsion 
 of feeling, was the enormous taxes with 
 which the whole island was burthened 
 to maintain them. Their offerings to 
 senseless gods were comparatively few, 
 but daily and hourly were they required 
 for Cook and his followers. They had 
 arrived lean and hungry they were now 
 fat and sleek qualities which seemed 
 only to increase the voracious appetites 
 of the seamen. The natives, really 
 alarmed at the prospect of a famine, for 
 their supplies were never over-abundant 
 for themselves, by expressive signs urged 
 them to leave. The glad tidings that 
 the day for sailing was nigh, soon 
 spread, and the rejoicing people, at the 
 command of their chief, prepared a 
 farewell present of food, cloth and other 
 articles, which in quantity and value, 
 far exceeded any which had heretofore 
 been received. They were all taken on 
 board, and nothing given in recompense. 
 The magnitude of the gifts from the 
 savage, and the meanness of those from 
 the white men, must excite the surprise 
 of any one who peruses the narrative of 
 this voyage. 
 
 As a return for the wrestling and 
 boxing matches, the natives were enter- 
 tained with a display of fire-works, which 
 created the greatest alarm and astonish- 
 ment. They very naturally considered 
 them flying devils, or spirits, and nothing 
 impressed them more forcibly with the 
 great superiority of the arts and pow r er 
 of the white men. 
 
 On the 4th of February, the ships 
 sailed, but were becalmed in sight of 
 land during that and the following day, 
 which gave Kalaniopuu a fresh occasion 
 to exercise his hospitality, by sending 
 off a gift of fine hogs and many vege- 
 tables. His first and last intercourse 
 being similar acts, while his friendship, 
 during the whole visit, was of the ut- 
 most service to the exhausted crews. 
 
 But the joy of the inhabitants was 
 destined to be of short duration. In a 
 gale that occurred shortly after, the 
 foremast of the Resolution was sprung, 
 which obliged the vessels to return. 
 
 They anchored in their former situation 
 on the llth of the same month, and sent 
 the spar and necessary materials for re- 
 pairing it ashore, with a small guard of 
 marines. Their tents were pitched in 
 the heiau formerly occupied. The 
 priests, though friendly, expressed no 
 great satisfaction at this event, but re- 
 newed their good services by proclaim- 
 ing the place taboo. The damaged sails, 
 with the workmen, were accommodated 
 in a house belonging to them. 
 
 Cook's reception this time presented 
 a striking contrast to his last. An 
 ominous quiet everywhere prevailed.* 
 Not a native appeared to bid them wel- 
 come. A boat being sent ashore to in- 
 quire the cause, returned with the in- 
 formation that the king was away, and 
 had left the bay under a strict taboo. 
 The sudden appearance of the ships had 
 created a suspicion of their intentions. 
 Another visit as expensive as the former, 
 would entirely have drained their re- 
 sources. Intercourse was soon renewed, 
 but with a faintness which bespoke its 
 insincerity. The connections formed 
 by many of their females with the for- 
 eigners, to whom some were attached, 
 served, so says native authority, to ex- 
 asperate the men. 
 
 The former injudicious violation of 
 the taboos, both by seamen and officers, 
 sometimes ignorantly, and often in con- 
 tempt of what appeared to them whim- 
 sical and arbitrary restrictions, had 
 aroused the prejudices of the mass. The 
 women in particular had been tempted, 
 though shuddering at the expected con- 
 sequences, to violate the sacred pre- 
 cincts of the heiau, which had been 
 placed at the disposal of Cook for an 
 observatory and workshop, upon the 
 condition that no seaman should leave 
 it after sunset, and no native be allowed 
 to enter it by night. The immunity from 
 supernatural punishment with which 
 these restrictions had been broken 
 through on both sides, at first secretly, 
 then openly, had encouraged further 
 disregard of their religious observances. 
 As no attempts had been made on the 
 part of the officers to prevent these in- 
 fringements, the mutual agreement to 
 which was considered by the chiefs in 
 
 Ledyard'a Life, by Sparks, p. 105. 
 
HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 59 
 
 the light of a sacred compact, they felt 
 a natural irritation. The most sacred 
 portion of the heiau had been used as a 
 hospital, and for a sail-loft ; with the 
 natives, highly sacrilegious acts ; and 
 they manifested their disapprobation by 
 burning the house which stood there, as 
 soon as the shore party evacuated it. 
 From these and similar causes, all ami- 
 cable feeling soon came to an end. Dis- 
 putes arose in traffic. The bay was 
 again laid under taboo. Affairs went 
 on smoothly until the afternoon of the 
 13th, when some chiefs ordered the na- 
 tives who were employed in watering 
 the ships, to disperse ; at the same time, 
 the natives gave indications of an at- 
 tack, by arming themselves with stones. 
 Captain King approaching with a ma- 
 rine, they were thrown aside, and the 
 laborers suffered to continue their work. 
 Cook, upon being informed of these par- 
 ticulars, gave orders, if the natives threw 
 stones, or behaved insolently, to fire 
 upon them with balls. 
 
 Soon after, muskets were discharged 
 from the Discovery at a canoe, which 
 was being paddled in great haste for the 
 shore, closely pursued by one of the 
 ship's boats. In the narrative, a bold 
 theft is said to have been the occasion 
 of this proceeding. The natives state it 
 was caused by their expressing dissatis- 
 faction on account of the women, and 
 that the foreigners seized a canoe be- 
 longing to Palea, who, in endeavoring 
 to recover it, was knocked down with a 
 paddle by one of the white men. This 
 occurred during the absence of Cook, as 
 he, with King and a marine, had en- 
 deavored, by running along the beach, 
 to cut off the flying canoe, but arrived 
 too late to seize the occupants. They 
 then followed the runaways for some 
 miles into the country, but being con- 
 stantly misled by the people, they gave 
 over their futile chase. The narrative 
 agrees with the native account in the 
 other particulars. The officer in charge 
 of the pursuing boat was on his return 
 with the goods which had been restored, 
 when, seeing the deserted canoe, he 
 seized it. Palea, the owner, at the same 
 instant arrived, and claimed his property, 
 denying all knowledge of the robbery. 
 The officer refused to give it up; and in 
 
 the scuffle which ensued, the chief was 
 knocked down by one of the crew. The 
 natives, who had hitherto looked qui- 
 etly on, now interfered with showers of 
 stones, which drove the whites into the 
 water, where they swam to a rock out of 
 reach of missiles. The pinnace was 
 seized and plundered, and would soon 
 have been destroyed, had not Palea, who 
 had recovered from the stunning effects 
 of the blow, exerted his authority and 
 drove away the crowd. He then made 
 signs to the crew to come and take the 
 pinnace, which they did ; he restored to 
 them all the articles which could be ob- 
 tained, at the same time expressing much 
 concern at the affray. The parties sepa- 
 rated in all apparent friendship, but 
 mutual suspicion prevailed. Cook pre- 
 pared for decisive measures, and ordered 
 every islander to be turned out of the 
 ships. The guards were doubled at the 
 heiau. At midnight a sentinel fired 
 upon a native, who was detected skulk- 
 ing about the walls. Palea taking ad- 
 vantage of the darkness, either in re- 
 venge for his blow, or avaricious of the 
 iron fastenings, stole one of the Discov- 
 ery's cutters which was moored to a buoy. 
 Early the ensuing morning, Sunday, 
 the 14th, Cook determined upon a bold 
 and hazardous step to recover the boat. 
 It was one which he had on previous oc- 
 casions successfully practiced. His in- 
 tention was to secure the king or some 
 of the royal family, and confine them on 
 board until the cutter was restored, and 
 as hostages for future good conduct. 
 This could be done only by surprise or 
 treachery. Blinded by self-confidence to 
 the peril of the attempt, he trusted for 
 its success to the reverence of the na- 
 tives for his person. If the cutter could 
 not be recovered by peaceable means, 
 he gave orders to seize every canoe 
 which should endeavor to leave the bay. 
 Clerke, the second in command, on 
 whom the duty devolved to lead the 
 shore expedition, being too ill, begged 
 Cook to take the command. To this he 
 agreed. The account by Ledyard of the 
 transactions that followed, of which he 
 was an eye-witness, being near his com- 
 mander when he fell, is so explicit, and 
 agrees so well with the statements of 
 the natives, that I give it entire : 
 
60 
 
 HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 " Cook, previous to his landing-, made some addi- 
 tional arrangements respecting the possible event of 
 things, though it is certain from the appearance of 
 the subsequent arrangements, that he guarded more 
 against the flight of Teraiobu, or those he could wish 
 to see, than from an attack, or even much insult. The 
 disposition of our guards, when the movements began, 
 was thus : Cook in his pinnace with six private ma- 
 rines; a corporal, sergeant and two lieutenants of 
 marines went ahead, followed by the launch with other 
 marines and seamen on one quarter, and the small 
 cutter on the other, with only the crew on board. This 
 part of the guard rowed for Kealakeakua. Our large 
 cutter and two boats from the Discovery had orders to 
 proceed to the mouth of the bay, form at equal dis- 
 tances across, and prevent any communication by 
 water fi-om any other part of the island to the towns 
 within the bay, or from those without. Cook lauded 
 at Kiverua Kaawaloa about nine o'clock in the 
 morning, with the marines in the pinnace, and went 
 by a circuitous march to the house of Teraiobu, in 
 order to evade the suspicion of any design. This route 
 led through a considerable part of the town, which dis- 
 covered every symptom of mischief, though Cook, 
 blinded by some fatal cause, could not perceive it, or 
 too self-confident, would not regard it. 
 
 " The town was evacuated by the women and chil- 
 dren, who had retired to the circumjacent hills, and 
 appeared almost destitute of men ; but there were at 
 that time two hundred chiefs, and more than twice 
 that number of other men, detached and secreted in 
 different parts of the houses nearest to Teraiobu, ex- 
 clusive of unknown numbers without the skirts of the 
 town ; and those that were seen were dressed many of 
 them in black. When the guard reached Teraiobu's 
 house, Cook ordered the lieutenant of marines to go in 
 and see if he was at home, and if he was, to bring him 
 out. The lieutenant went in, and found the old man 
 sitting with two or three old women of distinction ; 
 and when he gave Teraiobu to understand that Cook 
 was without and wanted to see him, he discovered the 
 greatest marks of uneasiness, but arose and accom- 
 panied the lieutenant out, holding his hand. When he 
 came before Cook, he squatted down upon his hams as 
 a mark of humiliation, and Cook took him by the 
 hand from the lieutenant, and conversed with him. 
 
 " The appearance of our parade both by water and 
 on shore, though conducted with the utmost silence, 
 and with as little ostentation as possible, had alarmed 
 the towns on both sides of the bay, but particularly 
 Kiverua, where the people were in complete order for 
 an onset ; otherwise it would have been a matter of 
 surprise, that though Cook -did not see twenty men in 
 passing through the town, yet before he had conversed 
 ten minutes with Teraiobu, he was surrounded by 
 three or four hundred people, and above half of them 
 chiefs. Cook grew uneasy when he observed this, and 
 was the more urgent to have Teraiobu to go on board, 
 and actually persuaded the old man to go at length, 
 and led him within a rod or two of the shore ; but the 
 just fears and conjectures of the chiefs at last inter- 
 posed. They held the old man back, and one of the 
 chiefs threatened Cook, when he attempted to make 
 them quit Teraiobu. Some of the crowd now cried out 
 that Cook was going to take their king from them and 
 kill him; and there was one in particular that ad- 
 vanced towards Cook in an attitude that alarmed one 
 of the guard, who presented his bayonet and opposed 
 him, acquainting Cook in the meantime of the danger 
 of his situation, and that the Indians in a few minutes 
 would attack him ; that he had overheard the man, 
 whom .he had just stopped from rushing in upon him, 
 say that our boats which were out in the harbor had 
 just killed his brother, and he would be revena-ed. 
 Cook attended to what this man said, and desired him 
 to show him the Indian that had dared to attempt a 
 combat with him ; and as soon as he was pointed out, 
 Cook fired at him with a blank. The Indian perceiv- 
 ing he received no damage from the fire, rushed from 
 without the crowd a second time, and threatened any 
 one that should oppose him. Cook, perceiving this, 
 fired a ball, which entering the Indian's groin, he fell, 
 and was drawn off by the rest. 
 
 " Cook perceiving the people determined to oppose 
 his designs, and that he should not succeed without 
 further bloodshed, ordered the lieutenant of marines, 
 Mr. Phillips, to withdraw his men and get them into 
 the boats, which were then lying ready to receive them. 
 This was effected by the sergeant; but the instant 
 they began to retreat, Cook was hit with a stone, and 
 perceiving the man who threw it, shot him dead. The 
 
 officers in the boats observing the guard retreat, and 
 hearing this third discharge, ordered the boats to five. 
 This occasioned the guard to face about and fire, and 
 then the attack became general. Cook and Mr. Phil- 
 lips were together a few paces in the rear of the guard, 
 and perceiving a general fire without orders, quitted 
 Teraiobu, and ran to the shore to put a stop to it ; but 
 not being able to make themselves heard, and being 
 close pressed upon by the chiefs, they joined the guard, 
 who fired as they retreated. Cook having at length 
 reached the margin of the water, between the fire of 
 the boats, waved with his hat for them to cease firing 
 and come in ; and while he was doing this, a chief from 
 behind stabbed him with one of our iron dagger?, just 
 under the shoulder-blade, and it passed quite through 
 his body. Cook fell with his face in the water, and 
 immediately expired. Mr. Phillips, not being able 
 any longer to use his fusee, drew his sword, and en- 
 gaging the chief whom he saw kill Cook, soon des- 
 patched him. His guard in the meantime were all 
 killed but two, and they had plunged into the water, 
 and were swimming to the boats. He stood thus for 
 some time the butt of all their force, and being as com- 
 plete in the use of the sword as he was accomplished, 
 his noble achievements struck the barbarians with 
 awe ; but being wounded, and growing faint from loss 
 of blood and excessive action, he plunged into the sea 
 with his sword in his hand, and swam to the boats ; 
 where, however, he was scarcely taken on board, be- 
 fore somebody saw one of the marines, that had swam 
 from the shore, lying flat upon the bottom. Phillips 
 hearing this, ran aft, threw himself in after him, and 
 brought him up with him to the surface of tlie water, 
 and both were taken in. 
 
 " The boats had hitherto kept up a very hot fire, and 
 lying off without the reach of any weapons but stones, 
 had received no damage, and, being fully at leisure to 
 keep up an unremitted and uniform action, made 
 great havoc among the Indians, particularly among 
 the chiefs, who stood foremost in the crowd and were 
 most exposed ; but whether it was from their bravery, 
 or ignorance of the real cause that deprived so many 
 of them of life, that they made such a stand, may be 
 questioned, since it is certain that they in general, if 
 not universally, understood heretofore that it was the 
 fire only of our arms that destroyed them. This opin- 
 ion seems to be strengthened by the circumstance of 
 the large, thick mats they were observed to wear, 
 which were also constantly kept wet ; and, further- 
 more, the Indian that Cook fired at with a blank dis- 
 covered no fear when he found his mat unburnt, 
 saying in their language, when he showed it to the 
 by-standers, that no fire had touched it. This may be 
 supposed at least to have had some influence. It is, 
 however, certain, whether from one or both these 
 causes, that the numbers that fell made no apparent 
 impression on those who survived ; they were imme- 
 diately taken off, and had their places supplied in a 
 constant succession. 
 
 " Lieutenant Gore, who commanded as first lieuten- 
 ant under Cook in the Resolution, which lay opposite 
 the place where this attack was made, perceiving with 
 his glass that the guard on shore was cut off, and that 
 Cook had fallen, immediately passed a spring upon 
 one of the cables, and, bringing the ship's starboard 
 guns to bear, fired two round shot over the boats into 
 the middle of the crowd ; and both the thunder of the 
 cannon and the effects of the shot operated so power- 
 fully, that it produced a most precipitate retreat from 
 the shore to the town." Sparks' Life of Ledyard. 
 
 The following, translated from Ha- 
 waiian documents, briefly recounts the 
 particulars : 
 
 " The captain demanded that the king should ob- 
 tain and restore the boat, but this could not be done, 
 as it had been demolished by the natives for the sake 
 of its iron. Captain Cook went on shore with a party 
 of his armed men to fetch the king on board his ship, 
 and detain him there till the boat should be restored. 
 While he was endeavoring to accomplish this object, 
 Kekuhaupio crossed the bay from Keeia to Kaawaloa, 
 accompanied by Kalimu, another chief, in a separate 
 canoe. They were fired upon from the ship, and Ka- 
 limu was killed, on which Kekuhaupio rowed rapidly 
 to Kaawaloa and employed his influence to dissuade 
 Kalaniopuu from going to the ship. On the circula- 
 tion of the news of Kaiimu's death, the people became 
 
HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 61 
 
 clamorous for revenge, and one with a short dagger in 
 his hand approached Captain Cook, who, apprehensive 
 of danger, tired his gun at him. The contest now be- 
 came general. The captain having with his sword 
 struck Kalaimano-kahoowaha, a chief, he seized him 
 with his powerful hand in order to hold him, but with 
 no idea of taking 1 his life, Lono being, as the chief sup- 
 posed, a god, could not die. But on his crying out, as 
 he was about to fall, the chief concluded he was a 
 man not a god and therefore killed him. Then the 
 foreigners in the boat discharged their muskets, and 
 many of the natives were cut down by their fire, 
 against which they found the mats that were em- 
 ployed to shield them, a poor defence. Guns also on 
 board the ship were discharged, which killed others, 
 so that Kalaniopuu fled inland to the precipice with 
 his chiefs and people, taking with them the body of 
 Captain Cook and four of his companions who had 
 been slain. The king then presented the body of the 
 captain in sacrifice, and after the ceremony was per- 
 formed, proceeded to remove the flesh from the bones, 
 to preserve them. The flesh was consumed with fire. 
 The heart was eaten by some children, who had mis- 
 taken it for that of a dog. Their names were Kupa, 
 Mohoole and Kaiwikokoole. Some of the bones of the 
 captain were afterwards returned to the ship, and the 
 rest preserved by the priests and worshiped." 
 
 Captain King's relation differs not 
 materially from those given. He states 
 that Cook, after conversing with Kala- 
 niopuu, though he was satisfied that he 
 was innocent of the theft, still deter- 
 mined to persevere in his original de- 
 sign. Accordingly he invited him, with 
 his two sons, to spend the day on board 
 the Resolution, to which they readily 
 consented; the boys had actually em- 
 barked, when their mother, with many 
 tears, dissuaded the party from going. 
 He also attributes Cook's endeavors to 
 stop the firing of the men to his human- 
 ity. The day before he had given orders 
 to the marines to fire upon the people, 
 if they behaved even insolently ; and it 
 is more reasonable to suppose that he 
 had become alarmed for his own safety, 
 and wished not farther to exasperate the 
 natives. His look inspired consterna- 
 tion to the last; and it was not until his 
 back was turned that he received his 
 death-blow.* 
 
 Such was the fate of this celebrated 
 navigator, who has identified his name 
 with the islands which he made known 
 to the world. By his own profession he 
 is regarded as a martyr to his adven- 
 turous courage ; while his self-denial, 
 patience, skill and enterprise in carrying 
 out his adventurous voyages, receive 
 merited praise from all. The melan- 
 
 * This was received from an iron dagger ol their own 
 make. Cook himself ordered their manufacture, after 
 the model of the native weapon, for the purposes of 
 trade, and his example was followed by every one who 
 could find sufficient iron. They were freely bartered 
 away. The day the Resolution put back, Kameha- 
 meha, who slept on board that night, obtained eight 
 from Captain Clerke in exchange for a feather cloak. 
 
 choly circumstances attending his un- 
 timely end, created at the time so deep 
 a sympathy in the minds of not only his 
 own countrymen, but of all maritime na- 
 tions, as to entirely exclude inquiry into 
 its causes, and to throw a veil over 
 faults, which otherwise would have been 
 conspicuous, and exhibited his character 
 in a more faithful light. 
 
 While it is not my desire to detract 
 from the fame lawfully his due, yet I 
 cannot, with his biographers, gloss over 
 the events which occurred at the Ha- 
 waiian Islands. Perhaps most of the 
 errors he committed are to be attributed 
 to his temper, which, to use the cautious 
 words of his attached friend and com- 
 panion, King, " might have been justly 
 blamed." No one ever made the ac- 
 quaintance of the aborigines of a here- 
 tofore unknown land, under more novel, 
 yet favorable circumstances. Public 
 feeling had been alive for many genera- 
 tions, with the expectation of an old and 
 beloved king, to be restored to them, 
 invested with the attributes of divinity. 
 When Cook arrived, not a doubt existed 
 that he was that god. The resources 
 of the natives were placed at his dis- 
 posal. All that kindness, devotion and 
 superstition could effect among a bar- 
 barous people was his. No other navi- 
 gator experienced a similar welcome. 
 He had met with a hostile spirit else- 
 where, but here, so warm was his wel- 
 come, and so general the joy that pre- 
 vailed, that the worst features of savage 
 nature were masked ; and, in conse- 
 quence, a favorable opinion formed of 
 their domestic life and government, 
 which later and more extended investi- 
 gations have not been able to verify. 
 Through all his intercourse, he had but 
 one occasion of complaint, theft. Have 
 the natives no charge to bring against 
 him ? With his influence, much might 
 have been done toward enlightening 
 their minds in the fundamental princi- 
 ples of religion ; or at all events he could 
 have done as at a later period did Van- 
 couver a junior officer then with him 
 whose justice and benevolence form a 
 strong contrast to the course of Cook. 
 By the former they were told of the ex- 
 istence of one God, the Creator alike of 
 them and the whites. From the sup- 
 
62 
 
 HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 posed character of the latter, his instruc- 
 tions would have carried with them the 
 force of revelation, and their effect could 
 not have been otherwise than beneficial. 
 What his course was has been shown.* 
 Pilfering and insolence were met with 
 death, either dealt or ordered so to be, 
 without the slightest attempt to distin- 
 guish between the guilty and innocent. 
 A chief, in executing a law of his sov- 
 ereign, was intimidated by the firing of 
 a musket over his head ; an abuse suffi- 
 cient to aggravate the most forbearing 
 race. The remonstrances of the men 
 for the treatment of their women met 
 with equal injustice. No adequate re- 
 turns for the great quantity of food con- 
 sumed were made. It was given at first 
 as a tribute to their newly returned god, 
 and ever after expected on the same 
 terms. Yet all these aggravations did 
 not arouse the spirit of the people to 
 resistance; not even the contempt so 
 openly cast upon their religion and tem- 
 ple, until the greatest of insults was 
 shown, in attempting to imprison their 
 king, and to carry him off from amid 
 his own subjects, in utter violation of all 
 justice. If this attempt had succeeded, 
 it would not have promoted a hospitable 
 reception for the next visitors. But 
 even this might have been forgiven, had 
 not a high chief, who was peaceably 
 crossing the bay, ignorant of the cause 
 for which the boats were stationed, been 
 killed by the fire of one of them. At 
 this wanton murder, the people could no 
 longer restrain their passions, though 
 Lono was in their eyes a god, and im- 
 mortal.! They slew him. His body 
 
 * This apathy is the more remarkable, as Kanina, a 
 chief, whom Captain King describes as " possessing a 
 quickness of conception and judicious curiosity rarely 
 to be met with among these people," made many per- 
 tinent inquiries in regard to the nature of the English 
 government, their population, manufactures, manners 
 and customs, wars, and particularly " who was their 
 God." It is due to Captain King to state that he ap- 
 pears on all occasions to have endeavored to treat the 
 natives with justice and humanity. But his influence, 
 with that of others who might have been disposed to 
 join with him, was altogether neutralized by the domi- 
 nant prejudices of Cook. This Kanina, who had proved 
 himself a valuable friend, was killed in the attack. 
 It is somewhat remarkable that in this encounter, the 
 real friends of the English suffered far more than their 
 enemies ; a misfortune which, from the attending cir- 
 cumstances, could not have been avoided, as those 
 most hostile, and those most desirous of peace, were 
 mixed together in the crowd, and the affray more the 
 result of accident than design. 
 
 t A sledge from the Northwest Coast, left by Cook, 
 was worshiped by those who continued to believe in 
 his divinity ; as were his ribs and breast-bone, which 
 
 was carried into the interior, the bones 
 cleaned and the flesh burned, except the 
 heart and liver which some hungry chil- 
 dren stole in the night and ate, suppos- 
 ing them to belong to a dog. All will 
 unite in deploring a result, which from 
 far less aggravation in a civilized com- 
 munity, would have terminated quite as 
 fatally; with savages, it is astonishing 
 it did not sooner occur. 
 
 As soon as the news of the attack on 
 Cook's party reached the other side of 
 the bay, where were the observatory and 
 the spars and sails of the Resolution, the 
 natives in the vicinity commenced an 
 assault upon the small force stationed to 
 defend them. After being repulsed, 
 they agreed to a truce, in which all the 
 property belonging to the ships was car- 
 ried on board. " Such was the condi- 
 tion of the ships, and the state of dis- 
 cipline, that Captain King feared for the 
 xesult, if a vigorous attack had been 
 made during the night." Vol. 3, p. 59. 
 
 All reverence for Lono being now ter- 
 minated, the natives appeared in their 
 true character. They endeavored to 
 allure small parties ashore, and insulted 
 the comrades of the slain with the most 
 contemptuous looks and gestures ; at the 
 same time displaying their clothes and 
 arms in insolent triumph. A breast- 
 work was also erected on the beach, 
 and the women sent inland. Intercourse 
 however was re-established, with the 
 design of obtaining the corpse of Cook 
 and the cutter. Several natives came 
 off from time to time to the ships, de- 
 claring their innocence, and informed 
 the commander, Clerke, of the warlike 
 preparations ashore. Two individuals, 
 on the night of the 15th, brought off a 
 portion of the flesh of Captain Cook, 
 weighing nine or ten pounds. The re- 
 mainder, they said, had been burnt, and 
 the bones were in possession of the 
 chiefs. The next day additional insults 
 were received, and a man, wearing 
 
 were deposited in a temple dedicated to Lono, on the 
 east side of the island. They were annually carried in 
 procession to several other temples, or borne around 
 the island to collect offerings for the support of the 
 priests of Lono. Some expected Lono would re-appear. 
 These bones were preserved in a small wicker basket, 
 covered over with red feathers. Their fate has never 
 been ascertained. It is supposed they were hid, upon 
 the abolition of idolatry, in a cave. Liholiho is said to 
 have carried a portion of them to England, and to have- 
 presented one of the sad relics to the widow of Cook. 
 
HISTOBT OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLASUS. 
 
 63 
 
 Cook's hat, had the audacity to approach 
 the ships, and throw stones, in bravado. 
 The crews not being in a temper for 
 further forbearance, with the permission 
 of their commander, fired some of the 
 great guns at the natives on shore. The 
 islanders had previously put themselves 
 under cover, so that not much damage 
 was done. A few were killed, and Ka- 
 mehameha was slightly wounded by a 
 blow received from a stone, which had 
 been struck by one of the balls. 
 
 On the 17th, the boats were sent 
 ashore, strongly manned, to water; but 
 the annoyance experienced from the na- 
 tives was so great, that the work pro- 
 ceeded slowly, although under the fire 
 of the heavy guns from the ships. In 
 all their attacks, the islanders displayed 
 desperate bravery. Orders were at last 
 given to fire some houses, in doing 
 which the whole village, with the prop- 
 erty of the friendly priests, was con- 
 sumed. The sailors, imitating the re- 
 vengeful passions of their opponents, 
 perpetrated many cruelties. A man, at- 
 tended by a dozen or more boys, bearing 
 the usual insignia of peace, approached 
 and was fired upon. This did not stop 
 them ; and when they reached the com- 
 manding officer, the herald was found to 
 be the priest who had performed the 
 services at the consecration of Captain 
 Cook, and who had always showed him- 
 self a friend. He came to expostulate 
 on the ingratitude of the treatment he 
 and his brethren had received. The 
 men, who had brought off the remains 
 of Cook, had assured them, from the 
 captains of the ships, that their property 
 and persons should be respected. Rely- 
 ing upon this pledge, they had not, with 
 the other inhabitants, removed their ef- 
 fects to a place of security, and from 
 trusting to their promises had lost their 
 all. The narrative does not state that 
 he had received any satisfaction from 
 those for whom he had exerted himself 
 so much. 
 
 While the hostilities were continued 
 between the two parties, numbers of 
 women remained cheerfully on board the 
 ships, exhibiting not the slightest emo- 
 tion at the heads of their countrymen 
 which were brought off, or concern for 
 their relatives ashore. While the vil- 
 
 lage was burning, they exclaimed, "a 
 very fine sight." A fact which power- 
 fully illustrates the deep degradation of 
 their sex, which could thus find amuse- 
 ment in the sufferings of their fellows 
 and injuries to their country. 
 
 On the evening of the 18th, messen- 
 gers were sent to sue for peace ; they 
 carried with them the usual presents, 
 which were received with the assurance 
 that it would be granted, when the re- 
 mains of Cook were restored. From 
 them it was learned that all the bodies 
 of the marines who fell had been burnt, 
 except the limb-bones, which were dis- 
 tributed among the inferior chiefs. The 
 hair of Captain Cook was in the posses- 
 sion of Kamehameha. 
 
 After dark, provisions were sent to 
 the ships, with which were two large 
 presents from the much injured but for- 
 giving priest. As peace was now con- 
 sidered declared, the natives ceased all 
 hostilities, and mingled freely with the 
 whites, who however remained closely 
 upon guard. 
 
 All of the bones of Captain Cook 
 that could then be recovered, were 
 brought on board the next day, neatly 
 wrapped in fine tapa, ornamented with 
 black and white feathers. Presents ac- 
 companied them. On the 21st, his 
 gun, shoes, and some other trifles, were 
 brought by one of the high chiefs, who 
 represented Kalaniopuu and Kameha- 
 meha, as desirous of peace. He in- 
 formed the commanders that six of the 
 chiefs, some of whom were their best 
 friends, had been killed. A difference 
 of opinion prevailed among the natives 
 as to the expediency of continuing hos- 
 tile measures ; but peace was finally 
 agreed upon. 
 
 The remains, which had been with 
 so much difficulty procured, were com- 
 mitted to the deep on the 21st, with 
 military honors. During this scene, the 
 bay was deserted by the natives; but the 
 succeeding day, on the assurance that 
 all ill-will was then buried, many visited 
 the ships and others sent presents of eat- 
 ables. In the evening the ships sailed. 
 
 On the 27th, they touched at Oahu, 
 and a party landed on the northwest 
 side ; but meeting only a few inhabitants 
 they sailed immediately for Kauai, and 
 
64 
 
 HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 came to anchor, March 1st, off Waimea, 
 in their old station. 
 
 Here their welcome was by no means 
 cordial. The disease which they had 
 introduced had occasioned many deaths 
 and much suffering. The island pre- 
 sented the usual spectacle of savage con- 
 tention and warfare. The goats which 
 had been left by Cook as a gift, which 
 might eventually have proved service- 
 able to the inhabitants, had increased to 
 six, but had become a source of conten- 
 tion between Keawe and Kaneonea. 
 Both parties maintained their claims by 
 force, and a battle had been fought, in 
 which Kaneonea was worsted. A mis- 
 fortune among barbarians is more likely 
 to beget enemies than friends, as the un- 
 fortunate chief soon experienced. The 
 goats were destroyed, but not with them 
 the disagreement, of which they had 
 proved the innocent cause. Keawe hav- 
 ing allied himself to another powerful 
 chief, aspired to the sole sovereignty. 
 
 Cook being dead, the ships experi- 
 enced such trouble as has commonly 
 been received from the South Sea island- 
 ers, when no superstitious restraint, or 
 knowledge of the superior power of the 
 white race, existed. This was greatly 
 aggravated by the absence of the princi- 
 pal chiefs. The men employed in water- 
 ing were annoyed by cro\vds of natives, 
 who pressed rudely upon them, and final- 
 ly endeavored to wrench the muskets of 
 the soldiers from their hands. They 
 would not suffer the watering to pro- 
 ceed, unless a great price was given ; 
 demanding a hatchet for every cask of 
 water. Neither had they forgotten their 
 old trade. While some amused them- 
 selves by tripping up the sailors, pulling 
 them backward by their clothes, and 
 like vexatious tricks, others stole their 
 hats, buckets, and one seized Captain 
 King's cutlass from his side and made 
 his escape. Gaining courage by the im- 
 punity with which they had thus far 
 proceeded, they made more daring de- 
 monstrations. The casks, however, were 
 filled, placed in the pinnace, and all em- 
 barked, excepting King and two others, 
 when a shower of stones compelled them 
 hastily to follow. The marines in the 
 boat then fired two muskets, which 
 wounded one man severely. This en- 
 
 raged the natives, and they prepared for 
 a fresh attack; but the authority of some 
 chiefs who made their appearance, drove 
 them back. 
 
 No further disturbance was experi- 
 enced. The chiefs of Keawe's party 
 paid Captain Clerke a visit, and made 
 him several curious and valuable pres- 
 ents, among which were fish hooks, 
 made from the bones of Kalaniopuu's 
 father, who had been killed in an unsuc- 
 cessful attempt to subdue Oahu. A 
 dagger made from iron taken from a 
 timber that had recently floated ashore, 
 was also brought. 
 
 On the 8th of March, the ships stood 
 over to Niihau, where they remained 
 but four days. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 1779 Unfavorable opinion entertained of the islanders 
 in consequence of the death of Cook Death of Kala- 
 niopuu War of succession Victories of Kamehameha 
 Kamehameha conquers Maui, Lanai and Molukai 
 Arrival of Captains Portlock and Dixon Trade opened 
 Meare's visit Trade La Perouse visits Maui, 1786 
 Maui, Lanai and Molokai rebel Arrival of the Ele- 
 anora Capture of boat and murder of a s dlor Met- 
 cali's bloody revenge Fair American captured John 
 Young and Isaac Davis made prisoners Difficulties 
 between traders and the islanders Kameharneha's in- 
 dignation at the capture of the Fair American Treat- 
 ment of prisoners Kaiana's ambitious views At- 
 tempts on vessels Vancouver's arrival First notice 
 of Kanmualii Doedalus arrives at Oahu Massacre of 
 Lieutenant Hergest and Mr. Gooch Avarice of chiefs 
 Intercourse with Vancouver Kaahumanu Princely 
 hospitality Jealousy of other chiefs Cattle first in- 
 troduced at Hawaii Discipline of ships Orders of 
 the king Widow of Kalaniopuu Sham battle Pres- 
 ent to King George III. Transactions at Maui Mur- 
 derers executed at Oahu Festival of Makahiki 
 Benevolent efforts of Vancouver Theatrical enter- 
 tainments Cession of Hawaii Departure of Vancou- 
 ver 1794. 
 
 THE news of the disastrous events re- 
 corded in the last chapter, produced an 
 unfavorable impression in Europe and 
 America, of the character of the island- 
 ers. Without fully comprehending the 
 causes, they were judged to be a cruel 
 race, and disposed to commit atrocities 
 upon ships. For a number of years 
 none ventured to touch at their shores. 
 The aged Kalaniopuu died at Kau, Ha- 
 waii, in April, 1782, after a reign of 
 thirty years, and bequeathed his domin- 
 ions to Kiwalao, his son, jointly with 
 Kamehameha, who was to be subordi- 
 nate to him. Kamehameha was the re- 
 puted nephew of Kalaniopuu, by his 
 brother Keoua, but Kahekili, king of 
 
HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN 
 
 65 
 
 Maui, claimed his paternity. By this 
 new arrangement, Kau, Puna and Hilo, 
 the most fertile districts, fell to Kiwa- 
 lao; and Kona, Koliala and Hamakua to 
 Kamehameha. No sooner was the will 
 made known than intrigues to defeat it 
 were set in motion. In July following, 
 after the season of mourning had ended, 
 the Hilo chiefs being anxious to obtain 
 the district of Kona, on the east side of 
 Hawaii, on account of the calmness of 
 the bordering sea, which made it a bet- 
 ter fishing-ground, endeavored to excite 
 their new ruler to wrest it from Kame- 
 hameha. Having gained him over to 
 their design, it was determined to exe- 
 
 cute it under the guise of paying fune- 
 ral honors to his deceased father. A 
 number of warriors, taking the corpse 
 of Kalaniopuu with them, embarked in 
 a war-canoe for Kona. On their way, 
 Keeaumoku, a tried chieftain of Kame- 
 hameha, met them, and going on board, 
 joined in the wail for the dead. From 
 the appearance of the party, his sus- 
 picions were aroused, and he inquired 
 where it was their intention to inter 
 the body. They replied, at Kailua, the 
 chief town of Kona. From this answer 
 and the extraordinary haste they mani- 
 fested, he suspected they designed sur- 
 prising that place. 
 
 HOUSE OF KEAWE TOMB OF TUB KINGS OF HAWAII, AT HONAUNAU. 
 
 While off Honaunau, the place of sep- 
 ulture of the ancient kings of Hawaii, 
 they were overtaken by a violent rain- 
 squall, which obliged them to land. The 
 body was there deposited in the ances- 
 tral tomb of the kings of Hawaii, the 
 house of Keawe, from whom all chiefs 
 of pretensions to high nobility endeavor 
 to trace their descent. Keeaumoku se- 
 cretly left the party and hastened to 
 Kamehameha to inform him of his sus- 
 picions. Kiwalao and his followers re- 
 mained to concert further measures, as 
 it was their intention to conquer and 
 apportion all Hawaii among themselves. 
 In the meantime information of their ar- 
 rival and plans had been conveyed to Ka- 
 mehameha, who immediately advanced 
 to the camp of Kiwalao, and in an inter- 
 view the two became apparently recon- 
 9 
 
 ciled. Kiwalao endeavored to satisfy 
 the rapacity of his chiefs, by dividing 
 his own territories among them, but 
 Keoua, his uncle, either not receiving a 
 share proportionate to his desires, or 
 being neglected in the apportionment, 
 became enraged and marched off with 
 his retainers, determined on war and 
 plunder. Entering the territories of Ka- 
 mehameha, he committed considerable 
 devastation by cutting down cocoanut 
 trees. In a skirmish several were killed 
 on each side. The war having thus 
 commenced, Kiwalao, unable further to 
 resist the solicitations of his followers, 
 joined Keoua, with all his forces, and a 
 general engagement took place at Keei 
 between the two rivals for Hawaii, which 
 was continued for eight days with no 
 decided advantage to either party. Ka- 
 
66 
 
 HISTOBY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 mehameha being next in rank and influ- 
 ence to Kiwaiao, was heir to the entire 
 island upon the death of his cousin; 
 consequently, the struggle was obstinate 
 and bloody. Keeaumoku, the chief who 
 had discovered the designs of Kiwaiao 
 to Kamehameha, was seized by two of 
 the warriors of the former, and badly 
 wounded ; one smiting him with a 
 spear, and the other with a dagger, both 
 exclaiming, in derision, " the weapon 
 strikes the yellow -back crab." The 
 anxiety of his enemies to secure as a 
 trophy, a highly valued ornament made 
 of a whale's tooth, which he wore about ! 
 his neck, preserved his life. Kameha- 
 rneha perceiving the danger of his favo- 
 rite warrior, rallied the boldest of his 
 troops and furiously charged the enemy. 
 In the melee, Kiwaiao was knocked 
 down by a stone. Keeaumoku, enabled 
 to rise, rushed upon the fallen king, and 
 with a shark's-teeth sword despatched 
 him. The fate of their leader so dis- 
 pirited his followers, that they were en- 
 tirely routed. Some fled to the place of 
 refuge at Honaunau, and others to the 
 mountains, or sought safety by flight in 
 canoes. Kamehameha was thus left 
 master of the field, and lord of Hawaii. 
 
 Further opposition awaited him. Ke- 
 oua and Keawemauhili, the principal 
 instigators of the war, had fled to the 
 mountains. The former obtained pos- 
 session of Kau, and the latter the fine 
 districts of Hilo and Puna. Three dis- 
 tricts only sided with Kamehameha. 
 The rebel chiefs, however, were dis- 
 turbed in their own domains, by commo- j 
 tions excited by dissatisfied subjects ; 
 one of whom being unsuccessful, went ! 
 over, with all his retainers, to Kameha- j 
 meha, and by his persuasions induced 
 him to renew the war. An engagement, i 
 which, from the obstinacy with which it j 
 was fought, received the name of Kaua- 
 awa bitter contest took place on a ! 
 mountain in Kau. Neither party were 
 able to claim the victory. Kamehameha j 
 actively followed up the contest, and i 
 marched upon Hilo, where in a skirmish j 
 he received a blow on his- forehead from | 
 a paddle, which well nigh terminated j 
 his career. 
 
 Kahekili, who had made himself mas- 1 
 t^r of Molokai, Lanai. Oahu and Maui, ! ' 
 
 arid was allied to Kaeo, sovereign oi 
 Kauai, in revenge for a fancied affront, 
 sent succor to the enemies of Kameha- 
 meha; who, in retaliation, made a de- 
 scent upon Maui, about the year 1790, 
 while Kahekili was at Oahu. His son, 
 a youth, encountered the invader at 
 Wailuku, and was totally defeated. In 
 this battle Kamehameha displayed much 
 skill. His active mind turned every 
 mistake of his enemy to his own advan- 
 tage, and seized upon the most favorable 
 moments for a charge or retreat. The 
 prodigious strength for which he was 
 remarkable, joined with great personal 
 courage, which had already established 
 for him a reputation for prowess through- 
 out the group, availed his troops much. 
 When his bodily exertions were not 
 needed, he remained quiet, issuing his 
 orders with coolness and sagacity ; if 
 the line of battle wavered, he rushed to 
 the thickest of the fight, encouraging his 
 men with his deep-toned voice. Both 
 parties fought with bravery; the engage- 
 ment being in a narrow defile there was 
 little room for flight. The carnage was 
 dreadful ; many were killed by being 
 hustled off precipices ; the waters of lao, 
 a small stream, were damned by the 
 bodies of the routed foe, and the engage- 
 ment was ever after known as the Kepa- 
 niwai (stopping the water.) Kalaniku- 
 pule, the prince, made his escape to Oahu. 
 While the war was thus prosecuted 
 on Maui, Keoua quarreled with his 
 friend, the ruler of Hilo, and slew him. 
 Infatuated by his growing power, he 
 again ravaged Kamehameha's provinces, 
 and was opposed by Kaiana, one of his 
 generals, a distinguished warrior of 
 Kauai, who had been taken from that 
 island by Captain Meares, in an English 
 vessel, in 17S7, and carried to Canton, 
 where he attracted much attention by 
 his shrewdness, elegance of form .and 
 demeanor. He was six feet five inches 
 high, well proportioned, and of a hand- 
 some countenance. The following year 
 he returned in the Iphigenia, Captain 
 Douglass, and not daring to land on 
 Kauai, where, since his departure, his 
 brother, influenced by a priest, had be- 
 come inimical to him, he proceeded to 
 Hawaii, and at the request of Kameha- 
 meha, settled there. This was in Janu- 
 
HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLAXDS. 
 
 67 
 
 ary, 17S9. His active mind and warlike 
 disposition, with the store of European 
 articles, including fire-arms and ammu- 
 nition, which he possessed, made him a 
 valuable acquisition. The more firmly 
 to attach him to his interests, Kameha- 
 meha conferred upon him high rank and 
 extensive possessions. 
 
 Before tracing the conquests of Ka- 
 mehameha further, it is necessary to 
 record the arrival of the first ships since 
 the demise of Cook. They reached Ke- 
 nlakeakua Bay before the king left on 
 his Maui expedition. By the natives 
 they were called o Lo, and were noted 
 by them for bringing the first beads.* 
 They were the King George and Queen 
 Charlotte, trading vessels from London, 
 commanded by Captains Portlock and 
 Dixon ; the former of whom had made 
 the last voyage with Captain Cook. On 
 the 25th of May, 1786, they made Ha- 
 waii, and were soon surrounded by 
 canoes, bringing off hogs and fruit, 
 which were gladly exchanged for bits 
 of iron. The next day they came to 
 anchor, and were visited by a great 
 number of natives, whose bearing was 
 insolent and troublesome. No chief ap- 
 peared to keep them in order, and the 
 captains were obliged to drive them from 
 the vessels. The character which the 
 bay bore made them very cautious, and 
 on the 27th, their fears had so far in- 
 creased, that after firing several guns 
 to frighten away the natives, they un- 
 moored and made sail. Standing along 
 the coast, they continued to traffic for 
 swine and water ; nails and buttons 
 being given in exchange for calabashes 
 of the latter. 
 
 June 1st, they anchored off the east 
 end of Oahu, and supplied the natives 
 with iron and trinkets. The islanders 
 at this time appear to have been so well 
 acquainted with the whites, as to mani- 
 fest only a natural curiosity at what was 
 novel. A party from the ships discov- 
 ered Waikiki Bay, which, from not 
 being exposed to the violence of the 
 trade winds, soon became the favorite 
 anchoring ground. Leaving Oahu, they 
 again anchored at Waimea Bay, Kauai, 
 where they remained until the 13th. 
 
 * Voyage Round the World, by N. Portlock, Quarto, 
 London, 1789. 
 
 No difficulty was experienced on 
 either island ; the natives had acquired 
 a fondness for foreign articles, for which 
 they gladly exchanged their own manu- 
 factures, with a fairness which proves 
 that they had begun to comprehend the 
 old, though to them, new adage, " hon- 
 esty is the best policy." 
 
 In the autumn, the same ships re- 
 turned, and visited Hawaii and Maui, 
 oflf which island a canoe with four men, 
 completely exhausted with fatigue, were 
 picked up. They were treated with 
 great kindness, loaded with gifts, and 
 sent ashore entirely recovered, to tell of 
 the humanity of the white men. 
 
 The ships having arrived at Oahu, 
 anchored in their former situation. Ka- 
 hekili, the king, who was then a stout, 
 well-made man of fifty years of age, 
 went on board, and made inquiries in 
 regard to his rival of Hawaii. While 
 they lay there he was hospitable and at- 
 tentive, but an old priest, who came 
 frequently on board, informed Captain 
 Portlock that there was a plot brewing 
 to cut off both vessels. As no other evi- 
 dence of such a design transpired, it 
 was either a false report, or effectually 
 checked by the vigilance constantly dis- 
 played by their crews, and dread of fire- 
 arms ; the effect of which the king, at 
 his request, had been shown. In De- 
 cember they visited Kauai, and there 
 met with Kaiana, brother to Kaeo, the 
 chief ruler. Both showed them much 
 kindness, and supplied them liberally 
 with provisions. 
 
 In October, 17S7, Captain Portlock 
 again touched at Kauai, and his inter- 
 course was as friendly as before. In his 
 voyage he speaks feelingly of the op- 
 pression of the chiefs to the common 
 people, of which he was a witness, and 
 endeavored to influence the former, 
 though without success, to treat their 
 inferiors more humanely. The poorer 
 classes were accustomed to come in 
 their canoes to the ships from long dis- 
 tances, bringing their little store of pro- 
 visions, which they would barter for 
 iron or trinkets. No sooner, however, 
 had they got them into their posses- 
 sion, than they would be rifled by some 
 lazy chief who had been waiting the 
 opportunity. This was submitted to 
 
68 
 
 HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 without repining, as it was the custom 
 of the country. 
 
 In August, 1787,* Captain Meares, 
 in the Nootka, arrived at the islands, 
 and after experiencing a pleasant recep- 
 tion, took away with him Kaiana, who 
 was desirous of visiting Britain. Doug- 
 lass, the partner of Meares, touched at 
 several of the islands in the ship Iphige- 
 nia, many times in that and the two 
 succeeding years. He saluted the chiefs 
 with heavy guns ; it being first done 
 with seven at Kawaihae Bay, for Kame- 
 hameha, who was highly delighted with 
 the novel honor. The chief endeavored 
 to procure a carpenter from him, and 
 was successful in obtaining a swivel, 
 some smaller fire-arms, and ammunition. 
 In July, 1789, a number of chiefs at 
 Hawaii, conspired to seize the Iphige- 
 nia, but the friendly Kaiana, her late 
 passenger, disclosed the plot. Kame- 
 hameha asserted his innocence of the 
 design, though in the risings of his am- 
 bition, before his plans were matured, 
 and his policy formed, the temptation to 
 make himself master of a foreign ship 
 may have been awakened. But no such 
 idea was ever manifested; his sagacious 
 mind early perceived the greater advan- 
 tages to be derived from securing the 
 friendship of his commercial visitors. 
 
 About this period, numerous vessels, 
 mostly English and American, visited 
 the islands, and commenced a trade, 
 which has ever since been actively pur- 
 sued. Several, among which was the 
 Lady Washington, were fitted out by 
 the merchants of Boston in 1785. Their 
 reception varied according to the whims 
 or policy of the contending chiefs. None 
 were much molested, though some were 
 annoyed by theft and the vexatious tricks | 
 of the natives. "Prices varied according 
 to the caprice of the rulers. The more 
 important articles of warfare were in 
 demand, and abundantly supplied by j 
 thoughtless traders, who in some cases j 
 found them turned upon themselves. A ! 
 taste for ardent spirits, which at first ! 
 were exceedingly offensive, was gradu- 
 ally excited among the chiefs. Interest j 
 annually carried more vessels to their 
 shores, and the same motive impelled a 
 more judicious treatment of their visitors. 
 
 * Meares' Voyages, 2 volumes, London, 1790. 
 
 The much lamented La Perouse came 
 to anchor, with his exploring frigates, 
 at the leeward side of Maui, near the 
 present town of Lahaina, on the 28th of 
 May, 1786, a few days only after Port- 
 lock and Dixon reached Hawaii. He 
 speaks favorably of the kind disposition 
 of the inhabitants, and attributes the 
 shrewdness manifested in their petty 
 barter, to former communication with 
 Spaniards. Frenchmen were the first 
 Europeans of modern times who landed 
 at Maui. Their stay was limited to two 
 days, in which their intercourse with 
 the inhabitants was very slight. 
 
 While the true state and value of this 
 group were becoming known by these 
 visits, and an interest in them gradually 
 awakened, which led to a more extend- 
 ed intercourse, the wars of supremacy 
 among the rival chiefs were vigorously 
 prosecuted. The possession of fire-arms 
 made their contests more bloody, but 
 sooner decided. 
 
 During the contest which Kaiana sus- 
 tained against Keoua, while his chief 
 was on Maui, a most singular interpo- 
 sition of natural phenomena enabled him 
 to triumph over his active opponent. At 
 that period, it had a great effect over 
 the minds of the natives, who, from that 
 moment, considered their goddess Pele 
 a favorer of the rising fortunes of Ka- 
 mehameha. The army of Keoua had 
 separated into three divisions, marching 
 at some distance from each other, and 
 were descending from the volcano by 
 three distinct paths, not greatly apart, 
 and which running parallel with each 
 other, led towards the habitable portion 
 of Kau. The first division had not far 
 advanced, when a heavy earthquake and 
 eruption from the volcano took place. 
 The ground shook so violently as to 
 render it impossible either to stand still 
 or proceed, and they reeled to and fro 
 like drunken men. The noise accom- 
 panying this motion was awful, far ex- 
 ceeding thunder in loudness, while the 
 sky, which hitherto had been unclouded, 
 was filled with a shower of cinders and 
 ashes, extending for many miles around. 
 Owing to the height to which they were 
 first cast by the action of the crater, 
 they cooled in their descent and did no 
 injury, though a strong sulphurous gas 
 
HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 was evolved, producing a suffocating 
 sensation in the party exposed. How- 
 ever, they escaped with the loss of a 
 few of their number scorched to death, 
 and as soon as practicable hurried from 
 the spot. 
 
 The rear party experienced a similar 
 motion, accompanied by the like noises 
 and showers, which quickly passed over. 
 They then hastened to rejoin their com- 
 rades, but were met by an appalling 
 sight. The central division lay stiffened 
 in death; but so natural were the pos- 
 tures of many, that they did not dis- 
 cover that life was extinct until they 
 had closely examined them. Some were 
 lying in apparent slumber, while others 
 were sitting upright, with their wives 
 and children firmly locked in their em- 
 brace and noses pressed together, as in 
 the act of salutation. Out of four hun- 
 dred human beings, not one was alive. 
 A hog, belonging to one of the families, 
 alone had been able to resist the effects 
 of the sulphurous vapor, and was qui- 
 etly rooting about them. 
 
 Kamehameha having returned from 
 Molokai 1791 joined forces with Kai- 
 ana, and easily routed the army of 
 Keoua, dispirited by so sad an event. 
 Their leader was driven for shelter into 
 the further part of Kau, and there re- 
 mained a fugitive, until, having become 
 wearied of his erratic life, he determined 
 to surrender himself to the clemency of 
 the conqueror. Accordingly, he went 
 to the seaside, passing with the permis- 
 sion of Kaiana through his camp. He 
 received much attention from the peo- 
 ple some of whom foreboded his fate, 
 and embarked with his most faithful fol- 
 lowers and their effects for Kawaihae 
 Bay, where Kamehameha was encamp- 
 ed. The energy and ambition of Keoua 
 having been prolific sources of trouble 
 to him, that chief determined to rid him- 
 self of one who had proved so valiant a 
 competitor, and whose claims to the 
 supreme power, from his relationship to 
 Kiwalao, would always be adverse to 
 his own. Accordingly, secret instruc- 
 tions were issued to Keeaumoku, who 
 having enticed Keoua to the land, as- 
 sassinated him as he stepped from his 
 canoe. Seven of his friends shared the 
 same fate. The corpse was then taken 
 
 to the neighboring heiau, and offered in 
 sacrifice. This occurred in 1793. Some 
 say that he was treacherously slain, 
 against the wishes of Kamehamehn ; but 
 as it was done in his presence, the state- 
 ment is improbable. The whole island 
 of Hawaii was now his by conquest ; 
 but his successes here were counterbal- 
 anced by reverses elsewhere. Maui, 
 Lanai and Molokai, which had been but 
 partially subdued, threw off the y,oke, 
 and again acknowledged Kahekili as 
 their liege lord. 
 
 In the autumn of 1789, the American 
 snow Eleanor, commanded by one Met- 
 calf,* arrived at Hawaii, and remained 
 there trading during most of the suc- 
 ceeding winter. In the month of Feb- 
 ruary, 1790, she anchored at Honuaula, 
 Maui. Two of the chiefs of a neighbor- 
 ing place, called Oloalu, having heard 
 of her arrival, went to Honuaula, and 
 in the night stole her boat, which was 
 moored under her stern. A watchman 
 was in it, but had fallen asleep. So 
 adroit were they, that he did not awake 
 until they were near the shore. He 
 then attempted to give the alarm, but 
 was unheard. Before he could cry out 
 again, one of the thieves killed him. 
 The boat was taken ashore, and broken 
 up for the sake of the iron, which was 
 manufactured into awls and fish hooks. 
 The chiefs returned to their own village, 
 and for a while Honuaula was made to 
 bear the brunt of a revengeful attack. 
 One man was killed, and two made 
 prisoners; one of whom being from Olo- 
 alu, gave information of the real crim- 
 inals. Metcalf weighed anchor, and pro- 
 ceeded thither. 
 
 At the time of his arrival a taboo ex- 
 isted, which prevented any individual 
 from putting off in a canoe under pain 
 of being burnt to death. The bones of 
 the murdered seaman, and the remains 
 of the boat, for which a reward was of- 
 fered, had been delivered up; and the 
 natives supposing the anger of the cap- 
 tain appeased by the attack he had al- 
 ready made, innocently asked for the 
 promised reward. This he said they 
 should have. As soon as the taboo was 
 annulled, multitudes of people from all 
 
 * Vancouver's Voyages, 21 volume : London, 1798. 
 Also, Ka Moolelo Hawaii, Lahaiualuna, 1838. 
 
70 
 
 HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 parts of the island flocked to the ship to ; 
 trade. They were all ordered to lie | 
 with their canoes on the starboard side, ! 
 which they did, not perceiving the means 
 preparing for their destruction. If any | 
 lay off the bows or stern, they were j 
 pelted with stones, until they took the 
 prescribed situation. The ports, which 
 had been closed, were then hauled up, 
 and the battery, charged with musket 
 balls and nails, and depressed to bear 
 into the thickest of the fleet, run out and 
 fired among them. Metcalf stood in the 
 gangway to witness the awful effect, 
 and directed the volleys of musketry 
 and small arms which were poured in to 
 complete the destruction. One hundred 
 individuals were said to have been killed 
 outright, and vast numbers wounded. 
 The natives dragged for their bodies 
 with fish hooks, and collected the man- 
 gled masses upon the beach, where, to 
 use their own expression, ** their brains 
 flowed out of their broken skulls." 
 
 After this horrible massacre of inno- 
 cent wretches, Metcalf sailed for Ha- 
 waii, where, owing to the hostility which 
 * existed between the two islands, he was 
 well received. But there was retribu- 
 tion in store for him. 
 
 In connection with the Eleanor, was 
 a small schooner of twenty-six tons the 
 Fair American a tender, manned with 
 only five seamen, and commanded by 
 MetcalPs son, a lad of eighteen years of 
 age. This vessel arrived off Kavvaihae 
 Bay in March, but did not fall in with 
 her mate, which was a little farther to 
 the westward. Kameeimoku, a high 
 chief, who, for some trifling cause, had 
 received a flogging from the elder Met- 
 calf, while on board of his vessel, had 
 resolved to revenge the insult upon the 
 first whites that came within his reach. 
 The smallness of the schooner, and the 
 inexperience of her commander, afforded 
 too favorable an opportunity to be over- 
 looked. Without the powerful motive 
 which actuated his mind, she would 
 have proved an almost irresistible tempt- 
 ation to the cupidity of savages, when 
 away from her consort. Accordingly, 
 with a number of his people, he boarded 
 her, and carried many presents. While 
 the attention of the youth and crew 
 were occupied in receiving them, and in 
 
 hearing news of his father, the savages 
 pressed on board. Suddenly, the chief 
 seized young Metcalf and threw him 
 overboard, where he soon perished. 
 | The rest were massacred, except Isaac 
 j Davis, whose life was spared by one of 
 I the party, who bound up his wounds. 
 | He was then taken ashore, where he 
 | was kindly treated. The schooner was 
 stranded and plundered. 
 
 John Young, boatswain of the Elea- 
 nor, had gone ashore on the 17th, but to 
 his surprise, upon attempting to leave, 
 was forbidden by Kamehameha, and in 
 the evening learned of the capture of 
 the schooner. The snow remained two 
 days off Kealakekua Bay, firing guns 
 for Young to return. This the king, 
 after he heard of the massacre, would 
 not permit, nor would he allow a canoe 
 to go alongside, lest Metcalf should re- 
 venge himself, as at Maui ; consequently 
 he sailed without hearing of his loss. 
 
 While a general warfare raged through 
 the group, and individual chieftains 
 sought to add to their power by gain- 
 ing possession of the more destructive 
 weapons of the whites, it is to be sup- 
 posed that serious misunderstandings 
 would often arise. From the known 
 treachery and avarice of savages, it can- 
 not be doubted that the provocations 
 sometimes originated with them. Some 
 of the foreign commanders were men of 
 little or no principle ; the discipline pre- 
 served on board of their vessels cor- 
 rupted their own crews, and excited the 
 cupidity and dislike of the natives. Dis- 
 turbances arose in consequence, and the 
 captains seeking justice, and oftener 
 mere retaliation, for real or fancied 
 wrongs, too frequently, without due in- 
 quiry, vented their rage in deeds, scarce- 
 ly inferior in wanton barbarity, or abuse 
 of power and confidence, to the customs 
 of the savages themselves. Men there 
 were of that day, and the race is not 
 altogether extinct, whose characters 
 could be resolved into two principles 
 lust and gain. To accomplish their de- 
 sires, no action was too base or cruel. 
 Such may be properly termed pirates ; 
 for their selfishness spared neither friend 
 nor foe ; the useful servant nor profita- 
 ble ally; all were equally their victims. 
 Captain William Sturgis, an American 
 
HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 71 
 
 ship-master, and good authority in this 
 matter, having traded extensively both 
 with the Hawaiians and the Indians on 
 the Northwest Coast soon after this 
 period, says, in a published lecture, that 
 the loss of life and disasters which have 
 occurred in voyages among these sav- 
 ages, were owing chiefly " to the bad faith 
 and deceitfulness of the white man." 
 
 But the tales of the natives them- 
 selves, of injuries done them, when not 
 well authenticated, are to be received 
 with limitation. In the few years ensu- 
 ing between Portlock's visit and Ka- 
 mehameha's complete ascendency, some 
 cases occurred where commanders of 
 vessels fired upon the natives ; or, act- 
 ing upon the exigencies of the time, 
 thoughtlessly did deeds which in their 
 cooler moments would have been disap- 
 proved. The rapid growth of trade, and 
 the general and increasing good will 
 that prevailed, is sufficient evidence that 
 the islanders appreciated the value of 
 foreign commerce. 
 
 The two prisoners, Young and Davis, 
 though rude and ignorant seamen, in 
 moral education and religious knowl- 
 edge, were far in advance of the most 
 enlightened of those who held them in 
 bondage. Kamehameha found in them 
 tried and faithful servants, who more 
 than repaid his protection, and the op- 
 pressed serf ever had reason to bless the 
 humane influence they exerted over the 
 mind ot their arbitrary master. Equal 
 consideration is due them from their 
 own countrymen, and the mariners of 
 other nations, who traded to their shores. 
 They both rose to be chiefs of conse- 
 quence, possessing to the last the confi- 
 dence of high and low, and their history, 
 particularly that of Young, will be found 
 to be closely interwoven with that of 
 their royal guardian. There were other 
 white men on the islands at this time, 
 runaways from ships, but chiefly of bad 
 characters. Their influence, however, 
 was greatly modified by the superior ad- 
 dress and intelligence of these prisoners, 
 and by the comparison which the na- 
 tives necessarily drew between the two, 
 which gave them their first definite no- 
 tions of morality. 
 
 Kamehameha was highly indignant at 
 'the outrage committed by Kameeimoku, 
 
 but his authority was not sufficiently 
 established to authorize him to punish 
 this violation of his policy. He rebuked 
 him severely, and took possession of the 
 schooner, which he caused to be hauled 
 up and carefully preserved, to be return- 
 ed to her owner, should he re-appear. 
 Isaac Davis was immediately provided 
 for, and treated with a degree of atten- 
 tion, which fully proved the sincerity 
 of his sentiments. While reprimand- 
 ing Kameeimoku, he is said to have 
 shed tears. 
 
 The two seamen were immediately 
 taken into the confidence of their patron, 
 and both from him and other high chiefs, 
 received valuable presents of estates on 
 the sea-side. They made themselves so 
 beloved, that popular opinion would not 
 have permitted their departure had the 
 king been inclined to let them go. They 
 were carefully guarded whenever a ves- 
 sel appeared in sight, and never suffered 
 to go afloat; and if any one had been 
 detected in carrying any correspondence 
 for them on board a vessel, he would 
 have been put to death ; one was held 
 responsible for the other, and their mu- 
 tual fidelity deserves high praise. They 
 made a joint but vain attempt to escape 
 to Captain Colnett's ship, and had it not 
 been for the active exertions of Kame- 
 hameha, who vigorously defended them, 
 their lives would have been forfeited. 
 After this, they became more contented 
 in their new relations. Kaiana, who 
 had lately become ambitious and turbu- 
 lent, and had lost all sense of gratitude 
 for the favors he had received from the 
 whites, was their enemy, and conspired 
 to take their lives ; but the friendship 
 of the other chiefs rendered the plot 
 abortive. The attentions which he had 
 received abroad, had given him a great 
 opinion of his own. consequence. Pos- 
 sessing a stock of fire-arms and ammu- 
 nition, he was desirous of seizing upon 
 any traders that might come within his 
 reach. Had Kamehameha coincided 
 with his views, trade would have been 
 ruined, and the Hawaiians would have 
 acquired the character of pirates. But 
 his plans were constantly overruled by 
 the greater influence of his superior and 
 his counselors. In one instance, it was 
 nearly decided to attempt the capture of 
 
72 
 
 HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 the Spanish sloop Princess Royal; the ] portance, and misrepresent that of the 
 chief argument used for its legality was I king, with whom he stated that he 
 that she had been captured from the equally shared the government. On his 
 English; consequently there could be I departure he was saluted with four guns, 
 
 no harm in their taking her from the 
 Spaniards. A sophism very agreeable 
 to their covetous dispositions, and which 
 at first met with little opposition. The 
 pacific policy carried the point, however, 
 even against so cogent a reason. 
 
 Before Captain Metcalf sailed for 
 Maui in 1789, Kaiana nearly accom- 
 plished the capture of the Eleanor. It 
 was proposed to the king by his party, 
 to seize the snow, and put to death all 
 
 but was chagrined at not being able to 
 add to his stock of foreign weapons. 
 In the evening a canoe came alongside 
 with a young native, who spoke Eng- 
 lish tolerably well. He had been to the 
 United States with Captain Ingraham, 
 of Boston, and had recently returned. 
 As Vancouver sailed slowly along the 
 coast he was visited by several chiefs, to 
 whom he gave garden seeds and other 
 productions likely to become serviceable. 
 
 of her crew, except a few who should | On the 7th of March, he anchored at 
 be reserved to navigate the vessel. By Waikiki Bay, Oahu, and was visited by 
 powerful an addition to his navy, the many of the natives. The knowledge 
 
 conquest of the other islands would be 
 made sure. The plan was to seize the 
 opportunity when the crew laid aloft to 
 
 of the character of the vessels having 
 spread abroad, those who went ashore 
 were treated with a coolness which ar- 
 
 loose the sails; those on deck were to gued great indifference to visitors who 
 
 be murdered, and the remainder kept in 
 the rigging, until possession of the ves- 
 sel had been secured. The project, 
 though so much in accordance with his 
 ambition, was rejected with indignation. 
 Notwithstanding the opposition of their 
 sovereign, the chiefs determined upon 
 the attempt, and went on board for that 
 purpose. News of their assembling hav- 
 ing been conveyed to Kamehameha, he 
 hurried off, and ordered them out of the 
 vessel. Fearing that he would disclose 
 the plot to Captain Metcalf, they obeyed, 
 and the ship sailed without the divulge- 
 ment of the design. The safety of many 
 vessels, and the lives of their crews, 
 about this period, were owing to the ac- 
 tive interference of Kamehameha, and 
 intercourse was continued in ignorance 
 of the dangers to which they had been 
 exposed. 
 
 Vancouver, after Cook, the most cele- 
 brated of modern English voyagers, ar- 
 rived at Kealakeakua Bay March 3d, 
 1792. As his visits exercised so power- 
 ful and lasting an influence upon the 
 islanders, it will be necessary to enter 
 into their details. He had with him two 
 surveying vessels, the Discovery and 
 Chatham. Kaiana carne on board, and 
 from the favorable opinions expressed of 
 him in Meares' voyages, was received 
 with courtesy and attention. One of his 
 first acts was to exaggerate his own im- 
 
 came for other purposes than trade. On 
 the 9th the ships came to anchor at 
 Waimea, Kauai. Their reception was 
 neither hearty nor friendly. Gain was 
 the all-impelling motive of the inhab- 
 itants ; and as it was not to be acquired 
 to the extent of their desires by trade, 
 they strove to excite the sensual desires 
 of the crews, by a display of gross wan- 
 tonness, which tended rather to disgust 
 than please. 
 
 Kaumualii the eldest son of Kaeo, 
 who was then at Maui a boy of twelve 
 years of age, visited the ships, and from 
 his affability and cheerfulness created a 
 
 favorable impression. The features 
 
 the 
 
 young prince were expressive 
 
 vivacity and intelligence, and his inqui- 
 ries and observations were considered as 
 uncommon for a lad of his years. His 
 conduct was indicative of a desire to 
 
 please and to acquire information. But 
 before either he or his guardian would 
 venture on board, hostages were de- 
 manded for their safe return ; and in 
 all their transactions, an honesty of pur- 
 pose manifested, with a discreet caution, 
 which showed that the principles of 
 trade had become well understood. A 
 number of whites resided on the island, 
 who made themselves useful to both 
 parties. 
 
 The depopulation throughout the 
 group, caused by the constant internal 
 
HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 dissensions since Vancouver's first visit 
 in 1778, struck him painfully. The 
 town of Waimea had been reduced two- 
 thirds, and of all the chiefs then living, 
 with whom he had been intimately ac- 
 quainted, Kamehameha alone survived. 
 
 At this time attention was first drawn 
 toward sandal wood, as an article of ex- 
 port. Two men had been left from a 
 Boston brig by Captain Kendrick, on 
 Kauai, to contract for several cargoes, 
 and also to gather pearls; but it was 
 not until many years afterward that the 
 former was made an important branch 
 of trade. 
 
 On the llth of May, the same year, 
 the Doedalus, an English national store- 
 ship, appeared on the north side of Oahu. 
 The natives unaccustomed to the sight, 
 greeted her appearance with many excla- 
 mations of affright and surprise. Some 
 ran inland, and reported that " coral 
 rocks were floating thither ; " others vo- 
 ciferated, "prodigious, prodigious." The 
 vessel lay off Waimea, while a party 
 went ashore to procure water. It being 
 brackish near the sea-side, they were 
 obliged to roll the casks some distance 
 up the stream, where it was pure. Hav- 
 ing filled them, they made preparations 
 to return, when a dispute arose between 
 the seamen and natives, which termi- 
 nated in the death of a Portuguese sailor. 
 Lieut. Hergest, the commander of the 
 shore expedition, with Mr. Gouch, the 
 astronomer, unaware of the difficulty, 
 had incautiously wandered from the 
 party, and were surrounded by many of 
 the islanders, who, hearing of the affray, 
 immediately attacked these gentlemen. 
 The further account of this melancholy 
 affair, I give literally from the native 
 historian, by which it will be seen that 
 from their own confession, it was a wan- 
 ton murder. 
 
 " Kapaleiuka cast a stone against the 
 chin of one of the foreigners, which 
 knocked him down. When the natives 
 on the other bank saw that one had 
 fallen, they came to join in the fray. 
 The white man cried out with the pain 
 inflicted, on which the natives said 
 1 They cry, indeed they are men per- 
 haps, we thought them g.ods, their eyes 
 were so bright.' One remonstrated, ' Be 
 not in haste to kill the god konoikaou- 
 10 
 
 alii, for great Lono having been slain 
 at Hawaii, this one remained, the great 
 and powerful Pekeku this he is a god.' 
 This remonstrance was vain. The com- 
 pany in the boat returned and obtained 
 their guns, and lay upon their oars. 
 Those on board the vessel perceiving 
 that some of their number had been slain, 
 worked the vessel inland and fired on 
 shore. The natives exclaimed, ' What 
 is this whizzing?' One replied, ' Don't 
 you know it is burning sand powder 
 a deadly thing ; it will burn perhaps 
 this day and destroy our land. Perhaps 
 we shall escape inasmuch as we have 
 killed the two gods ; had they lived 
 among us, we had all been dead men ! ' 
 The firing continued till evening, when 
 the vessel took her departure." 
 
 The perpetrators of this cruel act were 
 a lawless band, owing allegiance to no 
 particular chief. The kings of the sev- 
 eral islands, occupied with their wars ot 
 conquest, paid little attention to the af- 
 fairs of the distant portions of their king- 
 doms, consequently a general license 
 prevailed ; and petty squabbles, robberies 
 and murders were of frequent occur- 
 rence. 
 
 Vancouver returned from the North- 
 west Coast of America, and anchored off 
 Kawaihae, Hawaii, February 14, 1793. 
 A taboo then existed, by which the in- 
 habitants were restricted from trading 
 with any vessels, except for arms and 
 ammunition. Through his firmness in 
 refusing to purchase supplies with these 
 articles, the taboo was remitted. Reli- 
 | gious taboos were now of frequent oc- 
 currence, lasting for periods of several 
 days each, during which, as in the holi- 
 days of the Roman Church, no business 
 could be transacted. However, when 
 the inconvenience attending them was 
 great, the highest chiefs exercised an 
 authority similar to the Pope's, and 
 granted dispensations for their own ben- 
 efit and that of their favorites. On the 
 19th, with the assistance of Kalaimoku, 
 one of Kamehameha's chief counselors, 
 he landed a bull and cow, which were 
 all that remained of several cattle, which 
 he had brought from California, with 
 the benevolent design of introducing the 
 breed of these valuable animals. The 
 cow died soon after landing. The op- 
 
74 
 
 HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 position which Kalaimoku made to aid- 
 ing him in the landing, though he well 
 knew they were a gift which would 
 largely benefit the islanders, forcibly 
 illustrates the avaricious spirit which 
 pervaded all classes, and to which Ka- 
 mehameha alone was superior. He ob- 
 jected to granting the use of his canoe, 
 which was large and commodious, until 
 a sufficient bribe was offered him ; and 
 this was subsequent to receiving pres- 
 ents suitable to his rank. 
 
 So greatly had trade increased, and 
 the desire of the useful superseded the 
 passion for ornaments, that trinkets no 
 longer were of value, unless they were 
 of a novel description. Woolen cloth, 
 printed cottons, linen, hardware, and the 
 staple articles of traffic, were in great 
 demand. The islanders suffered in some 
 instances from the shameless dishonesty 
 of the civilized trader, w r ho deceived 
 them in the quantity and quality of 
 goods. Muskets were sold, which burst 
 upon the first fire, and often produced 
 dangerous wounds. But these vile prac- 
 tices recoiled upon the heads of the of- 
 fenders, for the natives soon learned to 
 appreciate an holiest man, and to distin- 
 guish the good article from the bad, and 
 were not long in becoming as keen in 
 their mercantile transactions, as the 
 shrewdest of their teachers. Vancouver 
 also speaks in terms of just reprobation 
 of some of their visitors, who after being 
 supplied with provisions by the chiefs, 
 departed without making any return.* 
 
 While cruising slowly along the west- 
 ern side of Hawaii, Kamehameha came 
 off to the Discovery, bringing Young 
 with him. Vancouver was agreeably 
 disappointed in the change which a few 
 years had made in the countenance of 
 this celebrated warrior. The savage 
 look which Captain King ascribed to 
 him, had lost much of its expression of 
 
 * The traffic of the islands, at this periofl, -was eon- 
 fined mostly to the purchasing of supplies, for which 
 object vessels of the principal maritime nations irre- 
 quented them, but particularly those of the United 
 States, engaged in the fur iracle on the Northwest 
 Coast of America, and the Canton business ; of which 
 many interesting particulars will be found in Green- 
 how's memoir of the Oregon. The most noted of these 
 were the Hope, Captain Ingraham, the Eleanor, and 
 Hancock ; of the English, besides those already men- 
 tioned, the Princess Royal, and Argonaut, under the 
 direction ot Captain Colnett. The islanders were fre- 
 quently employed as seamen, and for other purposes 
 on shipboard, in which they gave general satisfaction. 
 
 stern ferocity, while it retained its natu- 
 ral dignity and firmness. His carriage 
 was majestic, and every action bespoke 
 a mind which, under any circumstances, 
 would have distinguished its possessor. 
 His eyes were dark and piercing; in 
 the words of one who not long after was 
 well acquainted with him, he seemed 
 capable of penetrating the designs and 
 reading the thoughts of those about him ; 
 before his glance the most courageous 
 quailed. His general deportment was 
 frank, cheerful and generous. In form 
 and stature a herculean savage; in abili- 
 ties and character, a man that a more 
 advanced country might have been proud 
 to acknowledge as her son. 
 
 His sagacious mind seized upon every 
 opportunity of improvement and aggran- 
 dizement. While the benevolent coun- 
 sels of Vancouver could not repress the 
 latter, they confirmed him in his peace- 
 ful and protecting policy toward foreign- 
 ers. His bias, both from intellect and 
 interest, lay toward them, and no other 
 barbarian was more feared and respected 
 by all classes, strangers and subjects, 
 than this wonderful man. Cook's nar- 
 rative presented him as a wonderful 
 savage, ambitious, brave and resolute ; 
 Vancouver's intercourse showed him in 
 the dawn of a ripened intellect, as pos- 
 sessing all the latter qualities, yet hu- 
 mane and hospitable. His character will 
 be gradually pictured in the subsequent 
 events of his active career ; and the 
 reader can then judge if this description 
 do him justice. 
 
 Soon after his arrival on board, Kaa- 
 humanu, his favorite queen, with several 
 of her relatives, followed him. This is 
 the first notice we have of this woman, 
 who afterwards proved herself a consort 
 worthy of the greatest and best of her 
 nation. She was then but sixteen, beau- 
 tiful and pleasing. The ship was soon 
 crowded with well-behaved visitors of 
 high rank, among whom presents were 
 distributed, which gave much satisfac- 
 tion. Kamehameha received a scarlet 
 coat, trimmed with gold lace, in which 
 he promenaded the deck to the great 
 admiration of his subjects. 
 
 February 22d, Vancouver anchored at 
 Kealakeakua Bay. Kamehameha im- 
 mediately put off in great state. He was 
 
HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 75 
 
 dressed in a printed linen gown, given 
 by Cook to Kalaniopuu, over which a 
 magnificent feather cloak was thrown, 
 which trailed upon the ground. His 
 head was surmounted by an elegant hel- 
 met. Eleven large canoes, arranged so 
 as to form two sides of an obtuse angle, 
 formed his squadron. The largest, in 
 which he \vas, had eighteen paddles on 
 each side, and headed the procession. 
 It was a little in advance of the others, 
 which followed its motions with the ut- 
 most precision, being guided by the 
 orders of the king, who regulated the 
 manoeuvres with great, skill. The fleet 
 paddled around the vessel in a slow and 
 solemn manner. The ten canoes were 
 then ordered to form in a line under the 
 stern, while his own was paddled with 
 the utmost exertions of the crew, to 
 the starboard side. When abreast of 
 the gangway, notwithstanding the great 
 speed with which it was shooting ahead, 
 it was instantly stopped by a skillful 
 back dip of the paddles. 
 
 Kamehameha then ascended the side, 
 and taking the hand of Vancouver, in- 
 quired if he were sincerely a friend, and 
 if the king of Great Britain were ami- 
 cably disposed. These questions being 
 satisfactorily answered, he saluted him 
 by touching noses. Four -helmets of 
 beautiful fabrication, were then present- 
 ed, and the ten canoes ordered along- 
 side. Each of them contained nine of 
 the largest sized swine, which, with a 
 prodigious quantity of fruits and vege- 
 tables, brought by a fleet of smaller 
 canoes, were deposited on the decks of 
 both vessels. Although the quantity 
 was more than could be used, nothing 
 was allowed to be returned. 
 
 Five cows, with some sheep, were 
 carried ashore as a present to the king, 
 who personally attended to their care. 
 In addition to the princely gift he had 
 already sent, he had prepared a large 
 quantity of cloth, mats, and other ar- 
 ticles of their manufacture, which, as 
 there was not room on board for them, 
 he ordered to be stored on shore, under 
 the charge of an agent, who was made 
 responsible for their final delivery. 
 
 The presentation of all the large cattle 
 to Kamehameha created some jealousy 
 among the other chiefs. Kaiana coming 
 
 on board, Kamehameha received him 
 with a look of sullen gloom and auster- 
 ity, indicative of the growing dissatis- 
 faction between them. Both were equal- 
 ly ambitious. Kaiana sought to obtain 
 his ends by violence and bloodshed. In 
 his former patron he had found a steady 
 opponent, and neither could brook an 
 equal ; though for the present, .policy 
 prevented an open rupture. 
 
 Kaiana was civilly received and a 
 handsome present accepted, though it 
 could not be taken on board. Keeau- 
 moku, the slayer of Keoua, who was 
 present, \vas angry at this, as his pres- 
 ent had been unconditionally declined. 
 The king who had sat silent, with con- 
 siderable warmth declared that there 
 was no occasion to accept the present of 
 any other chief besides himself, as he 
 was fully capable of supplying all their 
 wants. Vancouver, anxious to conciliate 
 all, determined to regulate his conduct 
 to these jealous chiefs according to their 
 rank ; treating the inferior with due re- 
 spect and attention, while he paid prin- 
 cipal court to Kamehameha, as one who, 
 if he did not then possess absolute au- 
 thority, would soon secure it from his 
 superior force and abilities. 
 
 As it w 7 as necessary to erect an ob- 
 servatory ashore, and in the intercourse 
 which would necessarily ensue in a long 
 visit, there would be temptations to pil- 
 fer, and difficulties might arise from lack 
 of discipline on one side, and the ag- 
 gressions of evil disposed natives on the 
 other, enemies to his government, or 
 retainers of chiefs, over whom he had no 
 positive control, Kamehameha desired 
 that certain rules should be strictly ob- 
 served. In promulgating them, he seems 
 to have had forcibly in his mind, the sad 
 results of the unrestrained license of 
 Cook's crews, and the want of prudence 
 and injudicious harshness of their com- 
 mander. On the part of Vancouver, he 
 urged that the strictest discipline should 
 be observed ; that no individuals should 
 be permitted to infringe upon their sa- 
 cred observances, or in any way violate 
 their places of religion ; that none should 
 stray about the country ; and none but 
 the principal chiefs be allowed to visit 
 the vessels. In the day time, he would 
 frequently come on board, and his pres- 
 
76 
 
 HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 ence would prevent any lawless conduct. 
 If any of the whites desired to travel, 
 he would be responsible for their safety, ; 
 and would supply them with confiden- j 
 tial attendants, who should provide for 
 all their wants, and regulate their con- 
 duct that it might not unintentionally 
 offend. Should any theft or irregular- I 
 ities be committed, he would see that | 
 the offenders were severely punished. | 
 Orders were issued to all subjects re- 1 
 quiring of them the strictest obedience j 
 to all the rules prescribing their inter- 
 course with the whites. Vancouver with 
 a cordiality that reflects credit upon his 
 judgment, heartily co-operated with these 
 reasonable desires ; from the mutual re- 
 spect of which may be reckoned the in- 
 crease of good will, which rendered the 
 visit so beneficial, and the departure so 
 sad to both. 
 
 Kamehameha soon had occasion to 
 prove his sincerity, by restoring some 
 goods stolen by women who had been 
 permitted to sleep on board. 
 
 Kekupuohe, one of the widows of Ka- 
 laniopuu, visited Vancouver. It had 
 been her fortune to witness in the wars 
 that followed his death, the extirpation 
 of almost all her race. She was then in 
 honorable captivity, supported according 
 to her rank by the conquerors of her 
 family. He had once saved her life 
 from the fury of some of his own re- 
 vengeful relations, who in a public com- 
 motion had sought her destruction, and 
 that of all her adherents.* 
 
 *She died at Kailua, in February, 1836, at a very ad- 
 vanced age, being upwards of ninety, and was buried 
 in a cave at Kealakeakua. In 1828, she joined the 
 Protestant church, and, notwithstanding the feeble 
 condition of her eyes, learned to read. To her death 
 she was an indefatigable student of the Bible. She 
 was a poetess, even in the decline of lii'e, and not long 
 before her death composed a song, of which the fol- 
 lovring extract,- translated by the Rev. H. Bingham, 
 will give an idea of her powers : 
 " Once only hath that appeared which ia glorious, 
 It is wonderful, it is altogether holy ; 
 It is a blooming glory ; its nature is unwithering, 
 Eare is its stock, most singular, unrivaled, 
 One only true vine. It is the Lord," &c. 
 Another, composed in 1830, entitled "A Mele on the 
 Creation," exhibits much beauty, force and simplicity 
 of diction. 
 
 " God breathed into the empty space, 
 And widely spread his power forth, 
 The spirit flying, hovered o'er ; 
 
 " His power grasped the movable, it was fast, 
 The earth became embodied, 
 The islands also rose. 
 
 " God made this wide extended heaven, 
 He made the heavens long, long ago ; 
 He dwelt alone, Jehovah by himself, 
 The spirit with him. 
 
 On the 4th of March, Kamehameha 
 entertained the officers of the ships with 
 a sham battle, between one hundred and 
 fifty of the best of his warriors. They 
 were divided into three parties, to repre- 
 sent the armies of his rivals, Kahekili 
 and Kaeo, and his own. Their spears 
 were blunted, and as the parties ap- 
 proached, taunts, menaces and vaunting 
 speeches were uttered on either side to 
 excite fury. The battle commenced by 
 a discharge of spears, and was continued 
 without any regard to order, each indi- 
 vidual advancing or retreating at his 
 will. Some of the most expert defied 
 the whole body of their adversaries, 
 fending with the spear they held in their 
 left hand, those thrown at them, or 
 catching them in their right and launch- 
 ing them back upon their opponents. In 
 this exercise, none excelled the king ; 
 six spears were hurled at him at once ; 
 three he caught, two were parried, and 
 the sixth nimbly avoided by a trifling 
 inclination of his body. 
 
 The skirmish was succeeded by an 
 engagement of a more military charac- 
 ter, in which the chiefs bore a conspicu- 
 ous part. Each was attended by a body 
 guard, armed with long sharp lances or 
 with barbed javelins. Their ranks were 
 formed into corps or phalanxes. Both 
 parties previous to the fight sat upon 
 the ground with their lances pointed at 
 each other, while their leaders argued 
 with much energy for war or peace. 
 Not being able to agree upon the condi- 
 tions of the latter, both parties arose, 
 closed their ranks, and in serried col- 
 umns slowly advanced. Their move- 
 ments were made with much caution, 
 each guarding with the greatest circum- 
 spection against any advantage which 
 the other might seek ; the wings were 
 engaged w.ith slings and other missiles, 
 but the action depended upon the fate of 
 one of the phalanxes. The ground was 
 firmly disputed and the mutual lunges 
 warded with great dexterity. Some of 
 Kahekili's troops fell ; upon which the 
 opposing party with shouts rushed im- 
 petuously forward, and in the charge 
 
 1 He fixed the sun his place, 
 But the islands moved, moved the islands, 
 With sudden, noiseless, silent speed ; 
 We see not his skillful work, 
 God is the great support that holds the earth." 
 Haw. Spfct., vol. 2, page 80. 
 
HISTOBT OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 77 
 
 broke through the opposing ranks and 
 gained the victory. Those who were 
 supposed to be slain, were dragged by 
 the heels over the beach, to be presented 
 to the king ; thence to the heiau, where 
 they underwent a feigned sacrifice. 
 
 Vancouver strenuously exerted him- 
 self to bring about peace between the 
 Hawaiians and the inhabitants of the 
 leeward islands. The chiefs of the 
 former listened deferentially to his argu- 
 ments, but they produced but little real 
 impression upon their minds, bent upon 
 conquest, and strengthened in their 
 views by the very attentions he had 
 paid them. In return, they requested 
 his assistance in bringing all the islands 
 under their dominion, which was the 
 true policy ; for one effective govern- 
 ment established over the group, would 
 effectually stop the hostilities which 
 petty and independent chieftains ever 
 wage with each other. 
 
 Kamehameha made another valuable 
 present to Vancouver on the eve of his 
 departure for the leeward, and as the 
 most valuable relic the island afforded, 
 sent his own war-cloak, pierced with 
 spear-holes, as a present to George III., 
 with the injunction, that as it had been 
 worn by no other person but himself, it 
 must honor no other shoulders than 
 those of His Britannic Majesty. Van- 
 couver presented him with many useful 
 articles, among which were carpenters' 
 and agricultural tools. Other chiefs 
 also received abundant evidence of his 
 liberal spirit. Kamehameha made a 
 final attempt to procure some of the 
 coveted fire-arms, by observing that his 
 canoe, which had been fitted by the sail- 
 maker with a full suit of canvas sails, 
 would look better if she had a few swiv- 
 els mounted. But the magic "taboo 
 King George," stopped all further hints. 
 
 On the 8th of March, the vessels left 
 for Maui, and anchored in Lahaina roads 
 on the 12th. Here the intercourse was 
 amicable, and in an interview with the 
 aged and infirm Kahekili and Kaeo, his 
 arguments for peace produced more ef- 
 fect. They had been great losers in the 
 contest ; their dominions were almost in 
 a state of anarchy, and Maui had been 
 so ravaged that it was necessary to bring 
 food from Oahu and Kauai for the sup- 
 
 I port of their armies of observation, which 
 ( were stationed on the east, to repel the 
 1 anticipated invasion. Their poverty 
 prevented them from making the usual 
 presents ; but this did not hinder Van- 
 couver from treating them with the con- 
 sideration due their station. Kaeo pro- 
 duced a lock of his hair which he had 
 given him in token of amity, while with 
 I Cook at Kauai. He was then a fine 
 ! looking young man, but the use of awct, 
 ' as with most of the chiefs, had brought 
 on premature decay. 
 
 These chiefs satisfied Vancouver of 
 their innocence in regard to the murders 
 at Oahu. By their orders, three men 
 had already been executed ; and they 
 were disposed to do all that lay in their 
 power to bring the remainder to condign 
 punishment. Vancouver manifested a 
 determination to chastise the guilty, with 
 a proper discrimination of the innocent, 
 which effectually convinced the natives 
 that such deeds could not be done with 
 impunity; that if the whites were the 
 aggressors, they must suffer the conse- 
 quences ; and that impartial justice 
 should be dealt to all. In his discourse 
 with the leading men, he endeavored to 
 convince them of the distinction between 
 the whites, governed by principles of 
 honesty and humanity, and those reck- 
 less traders whose pecuniary interests 
 were pursued regardless of the cost of 
 blood and suffering to others. The dire 
 evils which such men have produced 
 among savage tribes, are sufficient to 
 make humanity weep, but should not 
 blind us to the less conspicuous, but 
 beneficial influence of others. Unfortu- 
 nately, savage nature affords too fruitful 
 a soil for the vices and diseases of civi- 
 lization; grafted upon their own, were 
 it not for the remedies which so closely 
 follow in their train, they would speed- 
 ily depopulate the fairest country and 
 convert a blooming garden into a dreary 
 waste. 
 
 Kalanikupule ruled over Oahu for his 
 father. Upon the arrival of the vessels, 
 three men were brought on board by his 
 orders, and delivered up as those ac- 
 tively engaged in the death of Lieutenant 
 Hergest, Mr. Gooch, and the seaman, 
 with the request that they might be im- 
 mediately executed. All possible care 
 
73 
 
 HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 was evinced to ascertain the guilt of the 
 prisoners ; and though the evidence was 
 not so complete as the importance of 
 such a case demanded, yet the concur- 
 rent testimony of the natives themselves, 
 pointed them out as the real criminals. 
 After commenting upon the enormity of 
 the crime, the evidence of their guilt, 
 and the design of the punishment, they 
 were delivered to their chiefs, one of 
 whom, in the presence of a large con- 
 course, having placed them in a double 
 canoe, a short distance from the vessel, 
 blew out their brains with a pistol. 
 Their sentence was executed at Wai- 
 kiki, on the 22d of March.* Some doubt 
 has since existed as to these men being 
 the real murderers ; and it has been as- 
 serted that they were sacrificed by their 
 chiefs to appease the anger of Vancou- 
 ver, and that another man, who was 
 really guilty, was afterwards shot at 
 Honolulu, by the mate of a vessel ; the 
 natives viewing the act with indiffer- 
 ence, esteeming it to be just retaliation. 
 Even if this be true, Vancouver must 
 be exonerated from acting prematurely. 
 The evidence against them was strong; 
 and if there be criminality in their exe- 
 cution, it lies on the heads of their own 
 countrymen, and shows a baseness which 
 few would be willing to attribute even 
 to savages. 
 
 Vancouver having caused this salutary 
 example to be made, next proceeded to 
 Kauai. When midway between the two 
 islands, they fell in with the finest canoe 
 which they had yet seen. It was sixty- 
 one and a half feet long, with a propor- 
 tionate depth and width, and finished off 
 in a most workmanlike manner. It was 
 made from an American pine log, which 
 had drifted ashore in a perfectly sound 
 condition on Kauai, where it had re- 
 mained unwrought for some time; the 
 islanders hoping a mate of equal dimen- 
 sions might arrive, in which case they 
 would have constructed a double canoe, 
 which would have been their boast, and 
 the terror of their enemies. Their pa- 
 tience becoming exhausted, they made 
 the present one, which, from its buoy- 
 ancy, was an admirable sea-boat, and 
 was appropriated to carrying despatches 
 to and from Kaeo, while he remained at 
 
 Vancouver, page 204, vol. 2. 
 
 the windward. Its size considerably ex- 
 ceeded the largest canoe made from na- 
 tive timber, but was not uncommon for 
 pine trees on the banks of the Columbia 
 river, where, according to Douglass, they 
 are to be met with from two hundred 
 and fifty to three hundred feet in height. 
 
 In the canoe were messengers hasten- 
 ing to inform their absent ruler of a re- 
 bellion that had arisen, but had been 
 fortunately quelled, with the loss on the 
 part of the conspirators, of two chiefs 
 and five men killed, and several \vound- 
 ed. As trophies of their success, they 
 had the leg-bones of the chiefs, with a 
 portion of the flesh adhering to them. 
 A number of smaller canoes followed, 
 filled with prisoners, whose fate was to 
 be decided by Kaeo in person. 
 
 Upon his arrival off Kauai, the young 
 prince Kaumualii again visited him. 
 Vancouver remained two days, during 
 which he was mostly employed in se- 
 curing comfortable residences for two 
 young girls, who had been carried from 
 Niihau in an English vessel, some time 
 before. At the request of the master, 
 he had brought them from the American 
 coast, and being much pleased with their 
 beauty and amiability, exerted himself 
 successfully to procure a favorable re- 
 ception for them, from the chiefs of 
 Kauai. But the wealth they carried 
 ashore, he feared would prove too great 
 a temptation to the cupidity of their 
 countrymen, for them to dwell there 
 long in safety. On the 30th of March, 
 the ships sailed. 
 
 They returned for the last time in 
 January, 1794, and arrived on the 9th 
 off Hilo Bay, Hawaii, which, owing to 
 unfavorable weather, he did not enter. 
 Kamehameha, who was then residing 
 there, went on board. At the urgent 
 solicitations of Vancouver, he with his 
 train remained until the ships arrived at 
 their old station at Kealakekua. In 
 doing this, he trenched upon one of their 
 religious customs, to the strict observ- 
 ance of which he was strongly wedded. 
 It was the festival of the New Year, and 
 in the ceremonies he always bore a con- 
 spicuous part. It was called the "Maka- 
 hiki," the name of the first day in their 
 year, and lasted a long while, generally 
 a month, being a sort of Saturnalia. 
 
HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 79 
 
 The people amused themselves with 
 games, dances, theatrical performances 
 and sham-fights, ft belonged to the 
 highest chief to open the festival. Dress- 
 ing himself in his richest armor, he em- 
 barked in a canoe at early light, and 
 coasted the shore until sunrise, when he 
 was obliged to land. The most expert 
 and valiant of his warriors was stationed 
 to receive him. As soon as he touched 
 the beach, he threw three heavy spears 
 at him in quick succession, at the dis- 
 tance of thirty paces. There was no 
 jesting in this. Either one, if not avoid- 
 ed, would have killed him outright, or 
 
 j severely wounded him. The first was 
 to be caught in his hand ; with this he 
 ! warded off the others, and then carried 
 ! it into the heiau, with the point down- 
 i wards. His entrance was the signal for 
 i the assembled multitude to commence 
 I their sports. During their continuance, 
 ! all punishments were remitted, wars dis- 
 | continued, and no person could leave the 
 ! place where he commenced the holidays, 
 i until their expiration. Kamehameha, in 
 | after years, was advised to abolish a cus- 
 tom so dangerous to his person, but he 
 answered, that " he was as able to catch 
 a spear, as any one to throw it."* 
 
 A MELO-DRAMATIC DANCE. 
 
 On this occasion, he urged that it was [ 
 necessary for him to obtain the sanction 
 of the priests to his absence, but the ar- 
 guments of his counselors, joined with 
 those of the commander, who stated that 
 there would be no opposition to his 
 wishes, and the more cogent reason of 
 further confirming his importance in the 
 eyes of the other chiefs, by this oppor- 
 tunity of showing his intimacy with 
 Vancouver, overcame his religious scru- 
 ples. During the passage, numbers of 
 his subjects came off and were surprised 
 to find him on board, but were satisfied 
 when he made known it was his own 
 choice. The same boundless liberality 
 of provisions and presents was shown as 
 before. Kamehameha considered them 
 
 as his guests, and everything was appor- 
 tioned on a princely scale. The strictest 
 attention to the customs and wants of 
 the whites was required of all his sub- 
 jects. Some of his own train could not 
 overcome their propensity to pilfer, and 
 five knives were missing when they went 
 on shore ; but upon representation to the 
 king, he, much chagrined at the theft, 
 compelled their restitution. 
 
 An instance of the cruel effects of the 
 law of retaliation, occurred while the 
 ships were at the island. In a spear ex- 
 ercise between a common man and the 
 son of a chief, the former had the mis- 
 fortune to wound the young noble, for 
 which he was seized, his eyes scooped 
 
 *Lisianky'8 Voyage, p. 119: London, ISH. 
 
80 
 
 HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 out, and at the expiration of two days 
 he was put to death. 
 
 On February 1st, the keel of the first 
 vessel built at the islands was laid. She 
 was thirty-six feet long, with nine feet 
 and a half beam, five feet hold, and was 
 named the Britannia. The carpenters 
 of the ships were employed upon it, in 
 conjunction with one Boid, in the pay of 
 the king, and the services rendered by 
 Vancouver in building and rigging her, 
 were intended as some return for the 
 hospitality so abundantly received from 
 the kingly savage. Nor were Vancou- 
 ver's good offices confined to this act. 
 Through the influence of inimical chiefs, 
 Kamehameha had been estranged and 
 separated from his favorite Kaahumanu 
 for a long time, on account of an alleged 
 intimacy with Kaiana. Vancouver in- 
 vited her on board, and by an artifice, in- 
 duced the king to come off also ; the par- 
 ties met ; Vancouver placed the queen's 
 hand in his; his stern heart, softened 
 at the distress of his wife, resisted no 
 longer. Reconciliation, tears and a warm 
 embrace ensued, but before leaving, the 
 queen persuaded the captain to induce 
 Kamehameha to promise upon their re- 
 turn to forego beating her. He also 
 gave him useful hints for the discipline 
 of his soldiers. By his counsel, trained 
 bands, armed with muskets, were form- 
 ed, which were to constitute a special 
 body-guard, divided into regular watches 
 for the day and night. These were 
 drilled by his officers, until they consti- 
 tuted for the islands, an invincible force, 
 devoted to the service of their chief. 
 He recommended his countrymen, John 
 Young and Isaac Davis, to his confi- 
 dence, being convinced from their good 
 conduct, that they were worthy. He 
 desired them to use every endeavor to 
 establish peace, and to infuse a humane j 
 spirit into the domestic habits, warfare 
 and government of the nation; above 
 all, to devote themselves to the service 
 of their benefactor, and to counteract the 
 malicious designs of interested foreign- 
 ers, who might be disposed to promote 
 bloodshed, or defraud the natives of their 
 lands. He wished to confine the num- 
 ber of white settlers to these two, or 
 such others whom they could .trust ; but 
 Kamehameha and the other chiefs, knew 
 
 too well the value of foreign auxiliaries 
 to be induced to banish them. There 
 were but few on Hawaii, and those 
 mostly of the better sort. Among them 
 was one Howell, once a clergyman of 
 the Church of England; afterward super- 
 cargo of a Boston brig, which he left at 
 this island. Vancouver, with judgment 
 that reflected much honor, while he did 
 nothing to offend their idolatrous sys- 
 tem, which would have at once ruined 
 his influence, endeavored to direct Ka- 
 mehameha's religious views into the true 
 channel. He told him of the one true 
 God, Creator, Kuler and Judge of all 
 races ; that their earthly deities were 
 vain and foolish ; their taboo system 
 tyrannical and injudicious; and that if 
 he desired it, he would request the king 
 of England to send him a teacher of the 
 true religion. His instructions seem to 
 have made little impression upon the 
 heart of the king, who, either from con- 
 viction or policy, was strongly attached 
 to the idolatry of his country. Among 
 his subjects he was considered favored 
 of their gods, and he repaid their imag- 
 inary aid by a respect to their rites, 
 which brought the priesthood into high 
 repute. The early part of his reign may 
 be considered as their happiest period. 
 Church and State were in perfect har- 
 mony, acknowledging one head. For- 
 eign influence, as yet, was not sufficient 
 to create any general infidelity; the lit- 
 tle that did exist made priestcraft more 
 tenacious and active, and gave it a more 
 powerful hold in the minds of the mass. 
 To confirm the general good-will and 
 establish an amnesty for past troubles, 
 Palea, the chief who stole the cutter of 
 the Resolution, was allowed to visit the 
 vessels ; Kameeimoku, the murderer of 
 young Metcalf and his crew, having 
 humbled himself, and urged in justifica- 
 tion of his revenge, the harsh treatment 
 he had received from v the father, obtajn- 
 ed permission to come on board. He 
 arrived at the bay in great state, attend- 
 ed by a thousand men. This act does 
 not appear consistent with Vancouver's 
 previous inflexibility in obtaining justice 
 upon the death of his countrymen, at 
 Oahu: In this instance the property 
 was American, and the principal actor 
 a high chief, whom i.t would have been 
 
HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 81 
 
 difficult to secure, and whose death 
 would have caused a hostility which 
 would have led to dire revenge. Impu- 
 nity for crime where wealth and rank 
 are engaged, is not peculiar to the 
 savage. 
 
 He was present at a feast given by 
 Vancouver, when an incident transpired 
 which shows how liable is the slightest 
 misconception in the minds of savages 
 to lead to fatal results. The Hawaiians 
 were accustomed to obtain revenge by 
 the means of powerful vegetable poisons, 
 in the preparation of which a certain 
 class, called poisoners, were skilled, and 
 whose art was confined to themselves. 
 During the feast, liquor was freely pass- 
 ed about; Kamehameha accustomed to 
 its use maintained his reason, but Ka- 
 meeimoku was soon overpowered, and 
 in its first effect, raved that the English 
 chief had poisoned him. His followers 
 were much excited, and one who had 
 concealed an iron dagger, handled it 
 nervously, while the deadliest passions 
 gleamed from his visage. But Kame- 
 hameha, understanding the real cause, 
 ordered the drunken chief to be carried 
 out ; he was soon relieved, and returned 
 in perfectly good humor. Had any ac- 
 cident befallen him under the operation, 
 the whites would have been charged 
 with his murder. 
 
 A large concourse of people appeared 
 at the bay, but the guards preserved 
 admirable order. Dramatic entertain- 
 ments were given in the open air, to an 
 audience of four thousand people, all 
 gaily appareled, and in excellent humor. 
 At the commencement of the exhibition, 
 a girl dressed in figured tapa, gathered 
 about her waist, and spreading down- 
 wards after the fashion of a hoop petti- 
 coat, with slow illustrative gestures, re- 
 cited a poem. After she concluded, 
 some females of high rank, similarly 
 dressed, with garlands of leaves on their 
 heads and shoulders, appeared, attended 
 by their customary retinues. The most 
 profound respect was shown them. The 
 music consisted of rude drums, beaten 
 with great vehemence, to the noise of 
 which their actions corresponded. They 
 vyere at first highly graceful and spirit- 
 ed ; their recitation was a compound of | 
 speaking and singing, in honor of the | 
 
 princess Keopuolani, who was in cap- 
 tivity, some sixty miles distant. At each 
 mention of her name, she being the fe- 
 male of highest rank living, every spec- 
 tator was required to strip to the waist. 
 The scene concluded with a libidinous 
 and disgusting dance. 
 
 Before leaving, Vancouver was con- 
 vinced of the futility of his efforts to se- 
 cure peace. The people of Maui made 
 a descent upon Hawaii, but were driven 
 off. He obtained from the king a taboo 
 on the cattle landed, that none should 
 be destroyed for ten years. This was 
 rigidly observed, though they increased 
 so rapidly and acquired such wildness 
 as to become troublesome ; destroying 
 food, breaking down inclosures, and on 
 one occasion, goring four natives to 
 death. They were finally driven to the 
 mountains. The women were to be al- 
 lowed to eat of their flesh, though only 
 on the same condition as dogs ; the 
 animal of which the men ate was to be 
 entirely tabooed from them. 
 
 On the 21st of February, a great 
 meeting of the chiefs was held on board 
 the Discovery, for the purpose, as Van- 
 couver writes, of ceding Hawaii to His 
 Britannic Majesty, but as the natives, 
 with more justice, state, " to request the 
 king to protect our country." The con- 
 duct of Vancouver had done away all 
 the bad impressions of Cook ; the chiefs 
 felt grateful for his kindness and the in- 
 terest he manifested in their welfare. 
 They had also been led to believe that 
 other countries looked with envious eyes 
 upon their domains and trouble would 
 ensue, unless protection was offered by 
 the greatest naval power. But the 
 prominent motive with them was selfish- 
 ness ; in return for the compliment they 
 expected to derive real advantages ; that 
 England would aid them in uniting all 
 the islands under the power of Hawaii 
 and a consequence in the eyes of the 
 world be imparted to them. Speeches 
 were made on the occasion by Kameha- 
 meha, Kaiana, Kalaimoku, Keeaumoku 
 and others, in which these expected ad- 
 vantages were set forth ; the chief topic 
 was the necessity of chastising their 
 contumacious enemies. The chiefs, as 
 if apprehensive of yielding more than 
 they intended, expressly reserved to 
 
82 
 
 BISTORT OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 themselves the right of sovereignty, and 
 the entire regulation of their domestic 
 concerns. In case of disturbance from 
 other powers, they were to be considered 
 nominally as subjects of Great Britain. 
 The English evidently exceeded the 
 right granted them ; Mr. Puget went 
 ashore, hoisted the English colors and 
 took possession of the island in the name 
 of His Britannic Majesty, leaving an in- 
 scription on copper to that effect in the 
 house of the king.* A salute was then 
 fired, and the natives shouted "Kanaka 
 no Beritane," we are men of Britain. 
 Kameharneha, Kaahumanu, Young 
 
 ' and Davis staid on board the Discovery 
 ! with Vancouver to the last moment, and 
 manifested much emotion at his depart- 
 ure. The English seamen, although 
 they now had it at their option to de- 
 part, chose to return on shore and re- 
 main. The wealth, distinctions and 
 families which they possessed, joined 
 with the sincere friendship of their mu- 
 nificent patron and preserver of their 
 lives, were more powerful inducements 
 than the love of their native land, where 
 a sailor's hard lot would have awaited 
 them. 
 
 The visit of Vancouver was beneficial 
 
 DANCE OF FEMALES. 
 
 to both races. With his own country- 
 men, it placed the character of the na- 
 tives in a better light, and made the 
 rising genius of their chief known to the 
 world. The knowledge that a powerful 
 nation felt a deep interest in them, was 
 a check both upon any malpractices 
 they might be disposed to commit, and 
 the evil designs of the whites. It en- 
 lightened the policy of Kameharneha, 
 strengthened his resources, and render- 
 ed his remaining conquests easier and 
 
 * " On the 25th of February, 1794, Kamahamaaha, 
 king of Owhyhee, in council with the principal chiefs 
 of the island, assembled- on board His Britannic Maj- 
 esty's sloop Discovery, in Karakakooa Bay, and in the 
 presence of George Vancouver, commander of said 
 sloop, Lieutenaut'Peter Puget, commander of his said 
 Majesty's tender Chatham, and the other officers of the 
 Discovery, after due consideration, unanimously ceded 
 the said island ot Owhyhee to His Britannic Majesty, 
 and acknowledged themselves subjects of Great Brit- 
 ain." yancouver^ 3d vol. 
 
 \ more readily secured. Foreigners in 
 I his successes felt their own interests to 
 i be promoted, and what under other cir- 
 | cumstances would have been looked 
 i upon as a violent usurpation, came to be 
 ! viewed as a matter of expediency and 
 | advantage, and even of real utility to 
 ! the islanders themselves. 
 
 Before leaving, he learned of an at- 
 I tempt of the natives of Kauai, instigated 
 by a few renegade seamen, to get pos- 
 i session of the brig Hancock, of Boston. 
 It was to have been done by scuttling 
 her, and before she sunk, to haul her 
 upon the reef, under the pretence of 
 saving the cargo, which was to have 
 been plundered. The design was frus- 
 trated. The natives of the leewardmost 
 island, unrestrained by the power of any 
 dominant chief, had become more bold 
 
HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 83 
 
 in their villainy. The dissensions con- 
 tinuing to increase, Captain Brown, of 
 the Butterworth, a London ship trading 
 at the islands, took Kahekili to Kauai in 
 his vessel. By his assistance, Kahekili 
 was enabled to place affairs in a more 
 favorable situation. 
 
 Vancouver touched again at Kauai, 
 and was entertained by a dance, in 
 which six hundred women, dressed in 
 figured tapas, took a part. Their voices 
 were pleasing, motions graceful, and not 
 of that licentious description he had 
 witnessed at Hawaii. The recitations 
 were varied and harmonious. On the 
 middle of March, 1794, he took his final 
 departure. 
 
 Vancouver left behind him a char- 
 acter which the most distinguished of 
 his profession might be proud of pos- 
 sessing. Had the intercourse of those 
 of his countrymen who succeeded him 
 been conducted upon the same be- 
 nevolent principles, the natives of the 
 Hawaiian Islands would have been un- 
 alterably bound to English interests 
 and feelings. His memory is still dear 
 to those who knew him. Many chiefs, 
 long after his departure, looked for his 
 revisit, which he had given them reason 
 to suppose would take place. As the 
 attachment was mutual, it is probable 
 that his untimely death alone terminated 
 his intentions. He promised the chiefs 
 to return, accompanied by missionaries 
 to teach them a better religion, and arti- 
 sans to aid them in civilization. A high 
 rank was to have been his, and he 
 would have resided among them, either 
 a resident with authority from his gov- 
 ernment to protect and promote their 
 interests, or by his own judgment to di- 
 rect their councils. His plan appears 
 to have been, to have christianized and 
 civilized them, fostered and protected in 
 his relations by the English ministry. 
 The result would have proved bene- 
 ficial, and civilization been advanced 
 twenty years. The islanders might 
 then have been confirmed in their Eng- 
 lish predilections, and the wish of 
 Meares eventually fulfilled, that " one 
 day, half a million of human beings in- 
 habiting these islands may be ranked 
 among the civilized subjects of the Brit- 
 ish empire." 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 1794, Honolulu harbor discovered -Murder of 3!-.-"i-*. 
 Brown and Gardner, January 1, 1795 Capture and 
 recapture of the Jackall and Prince Le BOG Trou- 
 bles in Kauai Maui, Molokai and Lanai HiiMueu, 
 1794 Oahu invaded Kaiaua's detection, rebellion 
 and death Visit of H. B. 31. ship Providence, Cap- 
 tain Brougkton Marines slain at Niihau Kiune- 
 hamehas proposed conquest of Tahiti Completes 
 his conquests Kauai submits Humane policy of 
 the conqueror Government Courtly etiquette 
 
 Laws Internal regulations Foreign policy Trade 
 est of Kauai 1602 Great 
 tality 
 tionsFinal settlement of difficulties Arrival of 
 
 Preparations for conquest 
 
 mortality Character of Kaumnalii His prepara- 
 
 Lisiansky 1804 Young, Governor of Hawaii At- 
 tempt to convert Kamehameha Sydney Bay con- 
 victs Foreign settlers Number Campbell Death 
 of Davis, 1810 Kamehameha's wealth Queens 
 Liholilio, his heir Birth Character King returns 
 to Hawaii Public works Attempt of Russian* in 
 Kauai, 1814 Kotzebue, 1816 Birth of Kauikeaouii 
 Nahienaena Voyage to China Establishment oi 
 harbor fees Kamehameha's desire to hear of the 
 Christian religion -Death, May 8th, 1819 Sacrifice 
 of dog. Native account of his funeral obsequies. 
 
 ON the departure of Vancouver, war- 
 like operations were resumed ; the su- 
 perior discipline and equipments of Ka- 
 mehameha's forces, led by chiefs of tried 
 courage and military skill, assisted by 
 foreigners, and headed by the best gen- 
 eral of the group, gave the invaders a 
 decided advantage. 
 
 Kaeo and Kahekili united their forces 
 at Oahu, and sailed with a large number 
 of canoes for Hawaii. The naval force 
 of Kamehameha, the flag-ship of which 
 was the schooner Britannia, armed with 
 three brass cannon taken from the Fail- 
 American, met them off Kohala, and in 
 an engagement destroyed or dispersed 
 the combined fleet. The vanquished 
 chiefs fled to Maui. Kahekili, worn 
 down with age and misfortunes, fore- 
 seeing the ultimate triumph of his foe, 
 pleaded for a truce. In a message to 
 Kamehameha, in reply to a challenge to 
 battle, " Wait till the black tapa covers 
 me," said he, "and my kingdom shall 
 be yours." His death soon took place. 
 Kaeo of Kauai, unmindful of their com- 
 mon enemy, and exasperated by a plot 
 to assassinate him, laid claim to his do- 
 minions, in defiance of the legal rights 
 of his nephew, Kalanikupule. Kaeo at 
 first met with some success, and several 
 foreigners in the service of Kalanikupule 
 were slain. But the latter, with the 
 assistance of Mr. Brown and his- crew, 
 was ultimately victorious, and slew him 
 in an engagement at Kalauao in 1794. 
 Brown was master of the English ship 
 Butterworth. The same year he dis- 
 covered and surveyed the harbor of 
 
84 
 
 HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 Honolulu, which he called Fairhaven. 
 It was first entered by the schooner 
 Jackall, tender to that ship. On the 1st 
 of January, of the ensuing year, 1795, 
 Brown was in this harbor with two ves- ' 
 sels, the Jackall and Prince Le Boo ; 
 the Butterworth had sailed for England. 
 The American sloop Lady Washington, 
 Captain Kendrick, was lying in the har- 
 bor at the same time. Captain Brown 
 on his return to Honolulu from fighting 
 in the ranks of Kalanikupule, fired a 
 salute in honor of his victory. A wad 
 from one of his guns entered the cabin 
 of the Lady Washington and killed 
 Captain Kendrick, who was at dinner. 
 Captain Kendrick was buried on shore, 
 and the funeral service at his interment 
 was the first Christian rite of the kind 
 witnessed by Hawaiians. They looked 
 upon the ceremony as sorcery to com- 
 pass the death of Captain Brown. The 
 grave was rifled the same night to pro- 
 cure the winding sheet. The Lady 
 Washington sailed soon after, leaving 
 Captain Brown at Honolulu, who fur- 
 nished Kalanikupule with fire-arms and 
 contracted a great intimacy with him.* 
 From the assistance he had rendered 
 Kalanikupule, and the general good feel- 
 ing which a long intercourse had engen- 
 dered, he felt secure from any treachery 
 on his part, and abode with him in an 
 unguarded manner. A petty chief sug- 
 gested to Kalanikupule a plot to cut off 
 Captain Brown and his vessels. At first 
 he opposed the treachery, but finally 
 consented, and a plan was concerted to 
 capture both vessels. On the anniver- 
 sary of the new year, the crews were 
 ashore, engaged in pleasure, and in pre- 
 paring stores for their voyage. Taking 
 advantage of the defenceless condition 
 of the vessels, the natives flocked off. 
 Brown, and Gardner the other com- 
 mander, were instantly murdered ; one 
 by being precipitated through the hatch 
 with sufficient force to dislocate his 
 neck ; the few remaining individuals 
 were wounded, and the possession of 
 the decks secured. The pirates then 
 took the vessels out of the harbor, into 
 Waikiki Bay. The seamen ashore re- 
 ceiving intelligence of their capture, as- 
 sembled and pushed off in their boats ; 
 
 * Dibble, page* 68 and 69. 
 
 by a vigorous attack, the natives were 
 overpowered, and driven overboard ; 
 having regained possession of the ves- 
 sels, the survivors of the crews sailed 
 without delay for China. It is remark- 
 able that these piratical attempts should 
 have been committed within two miles 
 of the spot of, and not long after the ex- 
 ecution of the murderers of Lieutenant 
 Hergest and Mr. Gooch. 
 
 Kamehameha supported in his ambi- 
 tious desires by the last words of Kahe- 
 kili, set out with all his disposable force, 
 said to have amounted to sixteen thou- 
 sand men, to subjugate the neighboring 
 islands. Young, Davis and a few other 
 foreigners, expert in the use of fire-arms, 
 accompanied him. Maui, Lanai and 
 Molokai were quickly overrun, suffered 
 all the horrors of savage warfare, and 
 were effectually subdued. Oahu, to 
 which the heir of Kahekili had retired, 
 was his next aim. In February, 1795, 
 he prepared for this expedition, and 
 landed upon that island with one detach- 
 ment of his army, leaving the remainder 
 under the command of Kaiana, with 
 orders to follow without delay. His ar- 
 rival was impatiently awaited, that an 
 attack might be made upon the enemy, 
 who had made preparations for a vigor- 
 ous defence. Kaiana, thinking this a 
 favorable opportunity to crush his rival, 
 embarked for Oahu ; and avoiding the 
 camp of his king, deserted with all his 
 forces to Kalanikupule. He was aware 
 that if Kamehameha could be destroyed 
 by their combined exertions, there would 
 be no chief left of sufficient energy and 
 resources to compete with him, and the 
 authority to which Kamehameha aspired 
 would be his. But his treachery proved 
 his ruin. Kamehameha, nothing dis- 
 pirited by the news of his defection, 
 marched to the valley of Nuuanu, where 
 the two chiefs were encamped. Their 
 position was on the steep side of a hill, 
 about three miles in the rear of the pres- 
 ent town of Honolulu : a stone wall pro- 
 tected them in front, and the steepness 
 of the ground availed them against an 
 assault. Believing themselves secure, 
 they defied their enemies with insulting 
 gestures and bravados. A field-piece, 
 which Young had brought to bear upon 
 them, knocked the stones about their 
 
HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 85 
 
 heads, killed Kaiana, and so disordered 
 their ranks that they broke and fled. 
 The forces of Kamehameha charged; in 
 the onslaught many of the Oahuans 
 were slain, and the rest pursued with 
 great slaughter, until they were driven 
 to the end of the valley, which termi- 
 nates in a precipice of six hundred feet, 
 nearly perpendicular height, forming a 
 bold and narrow gorge between two for- 
 est-clad mountains. A few made their 
 escape ; some were driven headlong over 
 its brink, and tumbled, mangled and life- 
 less corpses, on the rocks and trees be- 
 neath ; others fought with desperation 
 and met a warrior's death, among whom 
 was Kalanikupule, who gallantly con- 
 tested his inheritance to the last. The 
 bodies of the slain were sacrificed, and 
 their heads impaled upon the walls of 
 the heiau at Waikiki. Three hundred 
 perished in the fight ; but numbers es- 
 caped to Kauai, among whom were two 
 high chiefs. This decisive victory put 
 the conqueror in possession of all the 
 group, except Kauai and Niihau. These 
 he prepared to attack, and embarked for 
 that purpose ; but a violent wind drove 
 him back, and obliged him to suspend 
 his designs. 
 
 In January, 1796, Capt. Broughton,* 
 commanding H. B. M. sloop Providence, 
 of sixteen guns, anchored at Kealakea- 
 kua Bay, where he remained three weeks 
 in amicable intercourse with the natives. 
 His wants were liberally supplied by the 
 lieutenants of Kamehameha. Leaving 
 this place, he spent a few days at La- 
 haina, where the same hospitality await- 
 ed him. He then anchored at Waikiki 
 Bay, where he received a message from 
 Kamehameha, inquiring if he should sa- 
 lute the ship with his heavy guns. Pro- 
 visions were abundantly sent on board, 
 and the usual presents of feathered 
 cloaks. His next visit was to Kauai, 
 where he saw Kaumualii, who was en- 
 deavoring to suppress an insurrection, 
 and urgently solicited a supply of pow- 
 der. Broughton exerted himself, though 
 vainly, to appease the hostile parties. 
 
 In July, after a cruise to the north, 
 he returned to Hawaii ; and being in 
 want of water, was obliged to pay at 
 
 * Broughton's Voyagre of Discovery, page 35. Lon- 
 don: ito; 1804. 
 
 the rate of one hundred nails the hogs- 
 head, it being brought five miles in 
 calabashes, from a scanty source. He 
 found the cattle and poultry left by Van- 
 couver had increased rapidly. This was 
 the period of the rebellion of Namakeha, 
 brother of Kaiana, who had overrun a 
 part of the island, and was fast gaining 
 ground. In one battle a European was 
 killed. The officers of Kamehameha 
 were in great trepidation, but vigorously 
 endeavored to stem the efforts of the 
 traitorous chief, while they sent des- 
 patches to inform their king of the un- 
 expected revolt. At the same time, 
 Broughton sailed for Oahu, where he 
 arrived on the 25th of July. The island 
 was suffering all the miseries of pro- 
 tracted warfare; provisions were exceed- 
 ingly scarce ; many natives had starved 
 to death, and some had been burnt alive 
 by their chiefs for stealing food to sup- 
 ply their famishing families. Kameha- 
 meha was said to have already lost six 
 thousand of his troops ; the losses of the 
 enemy had been far greater. Probably 
 at no period had depopulation been 
 going on at a more rapid rate, espe- 
 cially at the leeward islands. War, 
 famine, pestilence and oppression, with 
 all the attending evils of an unsettled 
 community, bore heavily upon the na- 
 tion. 
 
 At Kauai all provisions were tabooed, 
 except for powder. Broughton finding 
 it impossible to obtain supplies from the 
 larger islands, sailed, July 28th, for Nii- 
 hau, to procure yams. On the 30th, he 
 sent a party ashore in a cutter, with 
 only two armed marines. The crew- 
 being incautious, were suddenly attack- 
 ed ; the marines killed for the sake of 
 their accoutrements; the botanist knock- 
 ed down, and, with the remainder, nar- 
 rowly escaped being murdered. Their 
 situation being seen from the ship, as- 
 sistance was sent. The detachment 
 fired upon the natives, without, how- 
 ever, harming any. Having landed, 
 they burned all the houses within their 
 reach, and destroyed sixteen canoes. 
 Not being able to obtain further satis- 
 faction, the ship sailed on the 21st. 
 This is the last of the wanton murders 
 which stain the earlier Hawaiian annals. 
 
 It was Kamehameha's desire, after 
 
86 
 
 H1STOEY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 completing the conquest of Kauai and 
 its tributary island, to have sailed for 
 Tahiti, and carried his arms to the south 
 of the equator. This scheme was sug- 
 gested by some natives of that island 
 with him. It would indeed have been 
 a singular spectacle, to have witnessed 
 this triumphant chieftain embarking the 
 flower of his forces on board of his fleet 
 of canoes, or tiny vessels, chartering per- 
 haps some of a larger size, for an ex- 
 pedition against scarcely known lands, 
 thousands of miles distant. The design 
 was worthy of hi& ambition; and had he 
 been able to have extended his conquests 
 over the boundaries of Polynesia, he 
 might have sighed for " new worlds to 
 conquer," and the petty leader of a bar- 
 barian tribe have become master of the 
 Pacific. But his destiny was to found 
 a less extended, though better consol- 
 idated power. 
 
 News of the reverses in Hawaii hav- 
 ing reached him, he promptly embarked 
 for that island, where his presence soon 
 decided the contest. Namakeha, the 
 head of the conspiracy, was slain, and 
 his followers subdued. 
 
 This was the last war in which he 
 was actively engaged ; all opposition to 
 his authority was now over. His orig- 
 inal territory was Halaula, a large dis- 
 trict on the northeast coast of Hawaii, 
 which he inherited from his parents. 
 During the lifetime of Kalaniopuu, he 
 acquired a portion of Kona ; and it was 
 the war which arose in consequence of 
 the attempts of his cousin to dispossess 
 him, that developed his martial energies, 
 and step by step, led him on until he 
 was master of the group. His talents 
 were no less conspicuous in establishing 
 his power, than in acquiring it. To- 
 wards the conquered families he prac- 
 ticed no unnecessary severity; the prin- 
 cipal, by alliances or gifts, were firmly 
 bound to his interests. He espoused 
 Keopuolani, grand-daughter of Kalani- 
 opuu, who became his prisoner at the 
 conquest of Maui. As she was a lineal 
 descendant of the ancient kings of Maui 
 and Hawaii, this marriage strengthened 
 his title to the throne. Kalaimoku, now 
 his trusty counselor, had fought in the 
 ranks of Keoua at Keei, was made a 
 prisoner and owed his life to his clem- 
 
 ency. Although allied to the roya 
 family of Maui, he became strongly at 
 tached to him. The descendants o 
 Kahekili were liberally cared for. Th< 
 beneficence and hjimanity of the con 
 queror, left chiefs and people nothing to 
 regret in the change of masters. He 
 had the faculty of inspiring those about 
 him with generous sentiments, and cre- 
 ating in them a resolution and energy 
 of purpose, second only to his own. 
 An almost intuitive perception of char- 
 acter, enabled him to secure the affec- 
 tion and co-operation of the best of his 
 countrymen. 
 
 The nominal submission of the king 
 of Kauai contented his ambition as to 
 the dependencies of that chief, though 
 he never lost sight of their ultimate con- 
 quest. He remained at Hawaii four 
 years, and afterward spent much time 
 at Lahaina, occupied in establishing his 
 power on a permanent basis. The po- 
 litical axiom upon which his legislation 
 was framed, was that all the lands in 
 the group were his. This principle had 
 I been before acknowledged, though not 
 in so complete a sense. To their old 
 I custom, he added the cogent argument 
 I of conquest, in right of which he claimed 
 to be the sole lord and proprietor of the 
 soil. This was apportioned among his 
 followers according to their rank and 
 deserts ; they holding it on the feudal 
 tenure of rendering military services, 
 and a proportion of its revenue. It was 
 generally confirmed to their heirs, but 
 this depended upon the will of the king. 
 His authority was absolute ; dispensing 
 with his own regulations as his interests 
 dictated. But such an event was rare ; 
 and under his reign the ancient tradi- 
 tionary laws of the kingdoms were so 
 arranged and executed as to have all the 
 force of a written code. Each island or 
 cluster, had a governor; he, with the 
 approval of the king, appointed chiefs 
 of districts ; head men, who presided 
 over villages ; tax gatherers, and other 
 petty officers. Beside the general pro- 
 prietorship of the soil, the king held cer- 
 tain districts which were his private 
 property, and under no authority except 
 his own. Favorite chiefs sometimes re- 
 ceived lands in this way, independent of 
 the governors. No regular amount of 
 
HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 87 
 
 ces was enforced. The governors 
 were accountable to the king for the 
 amounts apportioned lo them ; they reg- 
 ulated theirs, by their desires or the 
 resources of the people ; the chiefs re- 
 quired another, and the lesser officials 
 left but little to the poor tenants. Lands 
 were sometimes leased upon regular 
 agreements as to the amounts of the 
 crops. Those who were deficient in 
 their rents, were turned from the land, 
 and their property transferred to others. 
 The districts were divided into towns or 
 villages, and these subdivided into farms 
 or plantations; to which a definite por- 
 tion of mountain land, valley and sea 
 shore, with right of forest and fisheries, 
 were attached. The tax gatherers, 
 though without a knowledge of writing, 
 kept true records of the various lands, 
 their resources, and the amount of taxes 
 rendered, by lines of cordage of several 
 hundred fathoms in length. The sev- 
 eral districts were distinguished by 
 knots, loops and tufts of various sizes, 
 shapes and colors. The different taxa- 
 ble articles and their rates were marked 
 upon it, in an equally ingenious man- 
 ner. Beside the stipulated rents, pres- 
 ents of the first fruits of agriculture or 
 the fisheries, were required to be made 
 to the chiefs. Certain lands, the gift of 
 favoritism or the reward of distinguished 
 services, were held free from all rents 
 or taxes, although it was customary to 
 make presents; the value and frequency 
 of which were optional with the giver. 
 From the most faithful of his warriors, 
 his governors or counselors were se- 
 lected, and he seldom decided upon an 
 important measure without their advice. 
 A certain number constituted a regular 
 cabinet, and enjoyed his full confidence. 
 Merit, more than rank, was the pass- 
 port to his favor. Keeaumoku, a chief- 
 tain of prodigious personal strength, 
 who had rendered distinguished ser- 
 vices, was at the head of his council. 
 He was the father of a son of the same 
 name, heir to his titles, afterward known 
 as Governor Cox, and of Kaahumanu, 
 Piia, Kuakini and Kekauluohi, the late 
 premier. Kalaimoku, Manawa and Ka- 
 meeiamoku, were also particularly dis- 
 tinguished. Besides these, he had a 
 number of " wise men," who assisted 
 
 ! him in the organization of laws, and 
 regulating the minor affairs of his king- 
 dom. So perfect was the order pre- 
 served by his agents, that the anarchy 
 which had laid waste lands and de- 
 stroyed people, was entirely checked. 
 Peace was everywhere firmly establish- 
 ed. Laws were enacted prohibiting 
 murders, theft, oppression and the usual 
 crimes of a disturbed country. So com- 
 plete a change was effected, that old 
 
 j and young, the innocent and helpless, 
 
 I abode in comparative security. Con- 
 trasted with former disorder, it may 
 with propriety be termed a golden age. 
 Kamehameha permitted no crimes but 
 his own, when his interests were net too 
 deeply involved. To consider actions 
 sanctioned by their customs from time 
 immemorial, a blot upon his character, 
 would be unjust, however arbitrary they 
 may appear to those whose lot has been 
 placed in a land of freedom. They were 
 merciful in comparison with what the 
 islanders had undergone. No penalty 
 
 j could reach an individual screened by 
 
 ! the favor of his chief, and the favorites 
 of Kamehameha enjoyed the exemption 
 common to successful courtiers. 
 
 Those chiefs, whose ambitious views 
 
 | he feared might disturb his newly ac- 
 
 | quired power, were retained about his 
 
 | person, and obliged to follow in his train 
 wherever he went. By this means they 
 were kept from their hereditary do- 
 mains, where they might have excited 
 discontent, and were always under the 
 observation of faithful attendants, by 
 whom any symptom of dissatisfaction 
 would have been detected. The most 
 powerful provinces were placed under 
 the charge of those whose fidelity was 
 undoubted. Young, who was not liable 
 to become involved in the intrigues of 
 
 I the native princes, was left in charge 
 of Hawaii, a station which he filled for 
 many years, to the satisfaction of the 
 king, foreigners and natives. Davis rc- 
 
 ! mained about the person of the sover- 
 eign and enjoyed extensive possessions, 
 
 j free from taxation. They both accom- 
 modated their modes of living to the 
 manners of the natives, and from their 
 
 I humanity and usefulness became de- 
 servedly popular. As his power grew 
 
 i more firmly established, the king affect- 
 
83 
 
 HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 ed greater state ; consequently the peo- 
 ple had less access to his person. The 
 foolish and arbitrary customs of the an- 
 cient kings of Hawaii were rigidly en- 
 forced, with such additional ceremony 
 as was calculated to increase the awe of 
 his own subjects, and his importance in 
 the eyes of foreigners. Whenever he 
 passed, heads and shoulders were to be 
 uncovered ; the same was required on 
 approaching his residence, or any house 
 which he had honored with his presence. 
 When his food was carried to or from 
 him, every person within hearing of the 
 cry uttered by the menials, was obliged 
 to uncover and seat himself after the na- 
 tive manner, by squatting on his hams. 
 
 Before any article could be touched, 
 the attendants were obliged to strip to 
 the malo. Neither the shadow of the 
 king nor of his house could be crossed. 
 His drinking water was brought from 
 particular springs, many miles inland, 
 reserved for his use ; and as the car- 
 riers ran past, the same humbling cere- 
 mony as for his food, was required. To 
 be above him, was the highest crime. 
 Not a subject dared appear on the part 
 of the deck of a vessel under which he 
 by chance might be. The etiquette re- 
 quired from chiefs varied according to 
 their rank, but was of the most obse- 
 quious character. 
 
 The attention required to religious 
 duties was equally rigid. By this sys- 
 tem of uniform despotism, of which he 
 formed the sole head, the condition of 
 the people was greatly ameliorated, for 
 it broke the power of the petty lords 
 who heretofore, like locusts, consumed 
 all that the storm had spared. Chiefs 
 were provided with retinues suitable to 
 their stations. Laws, regulating the 
 fisheries and agriculture, were promul- 
 gated ; in both these pursuits he set a 
 laudable example of industry, by work- 
 ing with his own hands. By suitable 
 rewards, he encouraged the skillful in 
 the various handicrafts. No object, 
 however trivial, was beneath his notice, 
 provided it added to his wealth and re- 
 sources. His vessels were free to. his 
 subjects, and on the whole, taxes were 
 not onerous. His soldiers were well 
 disciplined, and were divided into vari- 
 ous bodies ; some of whom were his 
 
 body guard, while others were appoint- 
 ed for his wives ; principally as checks 
 upon illicit intercourse. If they failed 
 in their duty, they were punished with 
 death. His partial native biographers 
 thus feelingly sum up his excellencies, 
 the more prominent from the contrast 
 with earlier and subsequent reigns ; and 
 they illustrate the nature of the extor- 
 tions too often practiced. " He did not 
 become involved in debt, nor exact much 
 silver from his subjects ; he did not cut 
 from a division of land on this side and 
 that, till only a circular and centre piece 
 of the original field remained ; he did 
 not by petty taxation collect all the 
 hens, ducks and turkeys ; nor appoint 
 days in which his subjects were all to 
 labor for his exclusive benefit; his meas- 
 ures were generous and constant, not 
 fickle and oppressive." 
 
 In his foreign relations his acts were 
 characterized by equal liberality. In 
 the infancy of his power he was in the 
 habit of procuring from commanders tes- 
 timonials of his honest and hospitable 
 conduct ; but this was relinquished as 
 soon as his reputation became estab- 
 lished. No chief was better acquainted 
 with the real character of foreigners, 
 and the purposes for which they visited 
 his dominions. To the war-ships, or 
 those that came for scientific purposes, 
 he showed himself the hospitable prince ; 
 to traders, a merchant not excelled in 
 sagacity by the keenest, nor in reputa- 
 tion by the most honorable. He made 
 himself well acquainted with weights, 
 measures, currencies and proportionate 
 values, and monopolized the most profit- 
 able sources of trade. His equitable 
 I regulations induced ships to visit his 
 shores ; while his extended power in- 
 sured them an equally welcome recep- 
 tion in all portions of his kingdom. No 
 port in the Pacific was better known 
 than Honolulu. By his energies, a petty 
 fleet of foreign built vessels was col- 
 lected; soldiers were drilled, equipped, 
 and dressed in a motley uniform ; bat- 
 teries of heavy guns mounted ; rude 
 forts erected ; and a corps of foreign 
 artisans and sailors, received into his 
 service, well treated, freed from the vex- 
 atious etiquette required from the high- 
 est ot his own race, but compelled to 
 
HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 89 
 
 preserve order, and render due obedi- 
 ence to the authority which supported 
 them. His own subjects, by his encour- 
 agement, manifested an aptness in ac- 
 quiring civilized arts, that alarmed many 
 of these foreign mercenaries ; even Isaac 
 Davis, with an illiberality that dishonors 
 his general good conduct, sought to pre- 
 vent the extension of knowledge among 
 them ; observing, " they will soon know 
 more than ourselves."* All his subjects 
 were required to keep their weapons in 
 perfect order, so as to be ready for war 
 at the shortest notice. 
 
 His observations of foreign manufac- 
 tures and customs denoted an inquiring, 
 intelligent mind. No idea or circum- 
 stance that could be made serviceable 
 escaped his notice. He took great de- 
 light in visiting fine specimens of naval 
 architecture. His arrival was some- 
 times announced in form, and the visit 
 conducted with ceremony ; but friend- 
 ship once formed, artificial restraint was 
 thrown aside, and he would put off by 
 himself in a canoe, and go on board in 
 the most unceremonious manner. In 
 1S01, a fine Boston clipper-built ship, 
 commanded by Capt. William Sturgis, 
 was lying in his principal harbor, and 
 as she was engaged in the Indian trade, 
 martial order was preserved on board. 
 Kamehameha coming off alone, was re- 
 pulsed by the sentinel, who did not 
 recognize his person. He then gave his 
 name, and with the permission of the 
 officer of the deck, was admitted. So 
 far from feeling chagrined at this want 
 of respect, he complimented the captain 
 upon his excellent discipline, and called 
 the sentinel a " worthy fellow." 
 
 In 1801, Kamehameha returned to 
 Oahu, to prepare for the conquest of 
 Kauai. This occupied him two years. 
 He raised seven thousand warriors and 
 fifty whites, mostly armed with muskets. 
 Beside these, he had forty swivels, six 
 mortars and abundance of ammunition. 
 A fleet of twenty -one schooners, from 
 ten to fifty tons each, some of which 
 carried guns, and were commanded by 
 Europeans, and a vast number of war- 
 canoes, were prepared to convey this 
 force, against which the Kauaians could 
 have offered but faint resistance. At 
 
 Campbell's Voyages, page 141. 
 
 12 
 
 this time 1804 he added to his navy 
 the American ship Lilybird, mounting- 
 twenty guns. She had got ashore, and 
 he purchased her by exchanging one of 
 his schooners, and paying the difference 
 in dollars. Before he could embark his 
 forces, an epidemic broke out among 
 them, of a peculiar character, which 
 spread over the island and proved very 
 fatal. Multitudes perished ; among them 
 some of his chief counselors. Three 
 hundred dead bodies are said to have 
 been carried out to sea from Waikiki in 
 one day. He was himself attacked, but 
 recovered. The sons of the deceased 
 chiefs succeeded to the offices of their 
 fathers, but never acquired as much in- 
 fluence as those who had shared all his 
 perils. 
 
 Kaeo, king of Kauai, had been suc- 
 ceeded by Kaumualii, his son. The 
 bright parts and generous spirits noticed 
 by Vancouver, had been fully sustained. 
 His subjects were devotedly attached to 
 him, as were also a number of foreign- 
 ers, who had enlisted in his service. 
 Like his rival of Oahu, he was friendly 
 to strangers, and encouraged trade ; pos- 
 sessing equal humanity and intelligence, 
 he was deficient in the martial talent 
 and iron will which characterized Kame- 
 hameha. Fear and courage alternated ; 
 supported by the generous devotion of 
 his people, he had energetically prepared 
 to resist attack. His warriors were well 
 armed, and a store of European arms 
 and ammunition had been provided, suf- 
 ficient to have protracted his fate, if he 
 had vigorously opposed the invader. 
 With the capricious spirit of one of his 
 disposition, encouraged by the long de- 
 lay which had attended Kamebameha^ 
 operations, he sent him repeated mes- 
 sages of defiance, and finally threatened 5 
 to invade Oahu. But this bravado was 
 not borne out; for fully appreciating the 
 great resources opposed to him, he 
 caused the mechanics in his pay to pre- 
 pare a vessel, in which, as a last re- 
 source, he with his family, could fly the 
 island, and abandoning themselves to 
 the wide Pacific, find such a home as the 
 winds and waves might provide them. 
 This was an idea worthy of his genius, 
 in the composition of which, much that 
 was chivalrous entered. Without a 
 
90 
 
 HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 knowledge of navigation, but possessing 
 the compass, he could easily have car- 
 ried his fortunes to some of the groups 
 further to the leeward, and there found- 
 ed a new dynasty. 
 
 The vastness of Kamehameha's pre- 
 parations showed his opinion of the im- 
 portance of the conquest, and argued 
 considerable respect for the military skill 
 and resources of Kaumualii. The dis- 
 ease which destroyed the flower of his 
 troops, did not check his ardor. Turn- 
 bull, who arrived at this juncture in an 
 English ship, was importuned by Ka- 
 mehameha to take him, and an officer 
 of his army, to Kauai, that they might 
 themselves see the condition of the isl- 
 and. This bold request was refused. 
 An American captain then in port, 
 whose interests would have been greatly 
 jeopardized by the war, volunteered to 
 sail for Kauai, and induce Kaumualii to 
 return with him, and enter into negotia- 
 tions at Oahu. As the presence of Ka- 
 mehameha was necessary at Hawaii, 
 where a deficiency in the revenue had 
 occurred, he consented to this measure. 
 The captain sailed for Waimea, and by 
 leaving his mate as a hostage for the 
 safe return of their king, a measure, 
 without which his subjects would not 
 have permitted his departure, Kaumualii 
 embarked. In the word of his enemy, | 
 pledged for his safety, he had entire con- 
 fidence ; so greatly was Kamehameha 
 respected by those to whom treachery 
 had, not long before, been far more com- 
 mon than truth. He was received and 
 entertained with princely greeting ; fes- 
 tivity, shows, and every profession of 
 friendship attested the good disposition 
 of his royal entertainer. Won over, he 
 ceded to Kamehameha his kingdom ; 
 this was generously relinquished, and 
 an agreement made, by which the lee- 
 ward king was to hold his islands in fief 
 from Kamehameha, retaining all that 
 was legitimately his own, and in addi- 
 tion receiving the protection of the 
 greater power. In this manner the isl- 
 ands were nominally united under one 
 sovereignty, while each king ruled in 
 his appropriate sphere ; the treaty thus 
 peaceably agreed upon, gave mutual sat- 
 isfaction, and was faithfully respected 
 during the lifetime of Kamehameha. 
 
 Some of his enemies give a different, 
 but highly improbable version of this 
 negotiation. They state that the death 
 of Kaumualii was designed ; and that 
 the welcome he received was intended 
 to allay suspicion. The time of his fate 
 was fixed, but the American captain get- 
 ting wind of it, went on shore, brought 
 the king off, and sailed immediately for 
 Kauai. If this were true, the friendship 
 which afterward existed between the 
 two is unaccountable, and is sufficient 
 to disprove the statement. A more prob- 
 able version is that his assassination was 
 proposed to Kamehameha by some of 
 his petty chiefs, or if that failed, by 
 means of sorcery. Kamehameha in his 
 indignation slew the proposed sorcerer. 
 The chiefs then plotted secretly to kill 
 him, but Isaac Davis hearing of it, in- 
 formed Kaumualii, who immediately 
 went on board. This occurred in 1809. 
 Davis dying in April, 1810, his death 
 was attributed to poison administered 
 by the disappointed assassins. 
 
 Kaumualii's wife, Kapuli, better known 
 by her baptismal name, Deborah, then 
 young and attractive, exercised great in- 
 fluence over his mind. This occasion- 
 ally gave umbrage to the government at 
 Oahu, and word was sent him to put her 
 away; but paying no heed to it, she was 
 suffered to remain without further re- 
 monstrance. The chiefs were usually 
 very strict with their females ; but Kau- 
 mualii in his easy nature allowed Ka- 
 puli all the latitude with his friends, 
 that the most ardent disposition could 
 desire. Kamehameha put to death a 
 near relative, for taking improper liber- 
 ties with his favorite, Kaahumanu. 
 
 In June, 1804, Lisiansky, in the Rus- 
 sian discovery ship Neva, arrived at Ha- 
 waii. Young was then governor, and 
 showed him many civilities, In his in- 
 tercourse with the natives, he had oc- 
 casion to perceive the extent to which 
 the king undertook to regulate trade. 
 Certain necessary articles could only be 
 obtained by giving in exchange bar-iron, 
 of which he was greatly in want. By 
 such restrictions he was enabled to pro- 
 vide himself with many useful things, 
 which the whites would not otherwise 
 have sold. Lisiansky found the knowl- 
 edge of prices and the art of bargaining 
 
HISTOEY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 91 
 
 well understood among all classes, but 
 speaks favorably of their honesty and 
 friendly behavior. The value of dollars 
 was well known, and trade generally 
 had assumed more the character of reg- 
 ular mercantile transactions. Lisiansky 
 departed without seeing Kamehameha. 
 
 The majority of merchant vessels that 
 frequented these islands at this period, 
 were from Boston ; like the savages of 
 the Northwest Coast, the islanders 
 spoke ot Americans generally as Bos- 
 tonians, and regarded them with great 
 favor. On the 23d of January, 1803, 
 the first horse was landed from a Boston 
 vessel ; its mettle and beauty created 
 mingled terror and admiration ; but the 
 arrival of others from California, not 
 long after, made them soon cease to be 
 objects of curiosity. Kamehameha be- 
 came the fortunate possessor of several, 
 and was fond of displaying his horse- 
 manship. 
 
 At this time an attempt was made to 
 convince him of the truth of the Chris- 
 tian faith.* After listening to the argu- 
 ments, which, unfortunately, were not 
 skillfully adduced, or so arranged as to 
 appear in the most favorable light to his 
 thinking mind, he replied, " by faith in 
 your God, you say anything can be ac- 
 complished, and the Christian will be 
 preserved from all harm. If so, cast 
 yourself down from yonder precipice, 
 and if you are preserved, 1 will believe." 
 
 Some Botany Bay convicts having 
 made their escape to Oahu, were re- 
 ceived into the service of the king, and 
 small allotments of land given them, on 
 which they raised sugar-cane, and con- 
 trived a still to manufacture ardent spir- 
 its. .N eglect of work, riots and quarrels 
 soon followed. Kamehameha at first 
 remonstrated with them, but his leniency 
 produced no effect. They finally mal- 
 treated some natives, when he sent them 
 word that at their next drinking and 
 fighting bout he would be present. This 
 hint humbled them at once. It was from 
 this worthless class of whites that the 
 natives derived the greatest injury. 
 
 In addition to the useful articles of 
 foreign manufacture, such as cloths and 
 hardware, which were greatly in de- 
 mand, navigators, in accordance with 
 
 * Cleveland's Voyages, vol. 1, p. 229. 
 
 the spirit of the day, traded in rum. 
 Fortunately for the nation, it was in 
 general monopolized by the king, who 
 would occasionally join in a revel with 
 his wives and favorites. The disputes 
 which arose, in consequence of too great 
 indulgence among the women, afforded 
 the chiefs whose heads were more po- 
 tent, much amusement. Kamehameha 
 was quite regular, though not intem- 
 perate in his potations. His subjects 
 acquired a fondness for its use, which, 
 however, during his reign, was duly re- 
 strained. Peace being now universal, 
 munitions of war had lost their former 
 value. 
 
 Kamehameha was desirous of procur- 
 ing an anvil which he had noticed on 
 board of a ship. It was given hirn, upon 
 condition of his divers bringing it up 
 from ten fathoms water. To this he 
 agreed; the anvil was thrown overboard, 
 and the divers descended; but its weight 
 proved too great for their utmost exer- 
 tions. Unwilling to abandon the prize, 
 they rolled it along, at the bottom of the 
 harbor, rising occasionally for breath, and 
 alternately relieving each other, until it 
 reached the beach half a mile distant. 
 
 So favorable an opinion had been 
 formed of the character and capabilities 
 of the islanders, and of the good influ- 
 ence exerted by comparatively unculti- 
 vated white settlers, that Turnbull,* as 
 early as 1803, suggested the speedy es- 
 tablishment of missionaries among them. 
 He judged the situation and advantages 
 
 * John Turnbull was supercargo to an English ship, 
 which voyaged extensively in the Pacific, between 180(1 
 and 1804, visiting chiefly the Society and Hawaiian 
 groups ; an interesting account of which is to be found 
 in his " Voyage around the World," published at Lon- 
 don, and reprinted at Philadelphia in 1810. He was a 
 man of enlarged and humane views. Some ot his opin- 
 ions have since been so amply fulfilled, as to now ap- 
 pear almost prophetical. Of the Americans he writes, 
 " they will do more than any others to exalt them - 
 the Hawaiian Islands to a singular degTee of civiliza- 
 tion." Pa^e 125. 
 
 He foresaw the evils which would originate from the 
 introduction of ardent spirits, and thus strongly ex- 
 presses himself: "I know no sufficient punishment 
 that the wretch would merit who should import a cargo 
 of spirituous liquors into the Sandwich or Society Isl- 
 ands ; it would in every respect be tantamount to the 
 willful administration of an equal quantity of poison.'' 
 Page 148. A bold and ingenuous sentiment at an 
 epoch when the baneful trade was not only legalized, 
 but encouraged by all classes. Kamehameha was so 
 fully persuaded of the evil, that, although he permitted 
 its importation, and allowed it to be used to a certain 
 extent by his followers, he tabooed, shortly before his 
 death, all stills within his own kingdom. Not a drop 
 of any kind was allowed to be manufactured ; and any 
 infringement of this law was visited by a forfeiture or 
 dsstruction oi the delinquent's property. 
 
HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 as infinitely superior to the field occu- 
 pied by his countrymen at Tahiti. The 
 suggestion, however, fell upon unwilling 
 ears, and America was left afterward to 
 reap the rich reward of disinterested be- 
 nevolence. The number of natives who 
 had been in foreign countries, acquired 
 the English tongue, and had become 
 partially weaned from their supersti- 
 tions, rendered the enterprise most fa- 
 vorable. The greatest obstacle would 
 have been the strong religious tenden- 
 cies of Kamehameha himself; but could 
 these have been rightly directed, as there 
 is little doubt they might have been, 
 they would have exerted an activity in 
 the cause which would even have sur- 
 passed the late efforts of Kaahumanu, 
 who gave it an impetus which revolu- 
 tionized the nation. As it was, he con- 
 tinued his devotions to his idols to the 
 last, though acknowledging their worth- 
 lessness. He doubtless viewed the sys- 
 tem as a powerful engine of government, 
 and more of politics than piety mingled 
 in his later views. His stern bigotry did 
 not always get the better of his human- 
 ity. A boy whom he loved, was doomed 
 for sacrifice by a priest, when very low, 
 and expected to die on a day sacred to 
 his god. A crime so heinous could only 
 be obviated by an earlier death. The 
 priest told this to Kamehameha, but he 
 sternly ordered him to bring the youth 
 to him. By his care he recovered, and 
 ever after was one of his family. 
 
 The saliva of the king was carefully 
 preserved in a spittoon, around the edges 
 of which were set the teeth of his ances- 
 tors. If his enemies got possession of 
 any of it, they were supposed to have 
 the power to occasion his death by sor- 
 cery and prayer. 
 
 In 1809, a Russian ship arrived at 
 Honolulu, having on board Archibald 
 Campbell, a sailor who had been ship- 
 wrecked at Sannack. At his wish he 
 was taken into the service of the king, 
 in which he remained upwards of a 
 year, and was treated with much kind- 
 ness, and had a farm given him. His 
 narrative* was subsequently published, 
 and contains many interesting particu- 
 lars of the domestic life of Kamehameha, 
 
 * Voyage Round the World, from 1806 to 1812, by 
 Archibald Campbell. 12mo. Edinburgh : 1*16. 
 
 related with an artlessness which attests 
 their truth. He speaks in grateful term? 
 of the friendship received " from all 
 ranks, from my much honored master, 
 the king, down to the lowest native.*' 
 He states that Kamehameha generally 
 conformed to the customs of his own 
 country in regard to food, adopting only 
 such articles of foreign dress as were 
 suitable to the climate ; although on 
 some occasions he wore a uniform, of 
 which he had a number of beautiful 
 suits. The whites about him were served 
 more in accordance with their civilized 
 habits, being provided with plates, knives 
 and forks. In March, 1S10, Campbell 
 left for England in the whaler Duke of 
 Portland, Captain Spence, by whom Ka- 
 mehameha sent a feather cloak to the 
 king of England, with a dictated letter, 
 in which he reminded him of a promise 
 received from Vancouver, that a man-of- 
 war, with an armament of brass pieces, 
 and loaded with articles of European 
 manufacture, should be sent him. He 
 expressed his regret that the distance 
 prevented him from rendering service to 
 him in his wars, and assured him of his 
 regard. Although Kamehameha learned 
 to converse in English with tolerable 
 fluency, he never acquired the art of 
 writing. 
 
 Don Francisco de Paula Mann, a.' 
 Spaniard, had settled many years be- L 
 fore, at Oahu, and made himself useful 
 by the attention he paid to agricultur* 
 and cattle. He introduced many plants, 
 fruits and vegetables, and at one time 
 he was in the confidence of the king, 
 being employed as interpreter. In 1S10, 
 the number of whites on Oahu alone 
 amounted to sixty ; some of whom were 
 sober and industrious, and much respect- 
 ed by the chiefs ; but the generality 
 were idle and dissolute, held in restraint 
 only by the authority of the king. The 
 number of half-breeds was considerable. 
 This unfortunate class received little at- 
 tention from their parents, and grew up 
 in vicious ignorance. Many of the na- 
 tives had become tolerable carpenters, 
 coopers, blacksmiths and tailors. 
 
 Kamehameha by his trade in sandal- 
 wood and pearls, and various monopo- 
 lies, acquired considerable wealth. Hi? 
 stores of European, American and Chi- 
 
H13TOET OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 nese goods were extensive and valuable. 
 Arms and ammunition he possessed in 
 great abundance, and his coffers were 
 well filled with dollars. A number of 
 small houses, erected after the European 
 manner, had been built for him, but he 
 preferred the straw habitations of his 
 country. 
 
 Two queens composed his legitimate 
 wives; of these Kaahumanu remained 
 the favorite, no one except her husband 
 daring to enter her presence uncovered. 
 
 She was inordinately fond of ardent 
 spirits, and frequently drank to excess. 
 A daughter was born to him in 1809, 
 and the event announced by a salute of 
 sixteen guns from the battery in front of 
 his residence. On this occasion, the 
 queen in accordance with their customs, 
 retired to a house in the forest for ten 
 days. 
 
 Kamehameha consorted with Kaahu- 
 manu from affection and with Keopuo- 
 lani from policy. The latter might be 
 
 KAAHUMANU, WIFE OP KAMEHAMEHA I. 
 
 termed his official wife. The custom of 
 the country relative to the royal family, 
 required him to visit her monthly, im- 
 mediately after her purification, of which 
 she gave him notice. In marriages of 
 this political character, the royal parties 
 usually lived apart, both being furnished 
 with partners of choice, who abode con- 
 stantly with them. In this sense Hoa- 
 pili was the husband of Keopuolani, by 
 consent of Kamehameha. When he vis- 
 ited her it was in great state, and if by 
 water, in a canoe, the paddlers of which 
 were dressed in a rude uniform, made by 
 winding completely around their bodies 
 cloth similar to that of their malos. Ka- 
 
 mehameha always treated Keopuolani 
 with superior deference, as of the most 
 exalted rank in the kingdom. Her chil- 
 dren, and not Kaahumanu's, are heirs to 
 the throne. When the queen was in 
 labor, the king's own idol was brought 
 immediately into the room, in the pres- 
 ence of which the child was required to 
 be delivered. Should it not arrive in 
 season, the navel-string remained uncut 
 until it was brought in, which done, the 
 child was considered as the legitimate 
 heir. 
 
 Kekauluohi, daughter of Kaiana, th 
 late premier, was one of the wives of 
 Kamehameha, having been educated for 
 
94 
 
 H1STOEY OF TEE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 him when a child, as a royal virgin, in 
 the greatest seclusion and care. After 
 their quasi marriage she was sedulously 
 restrained from all society, and diligently 
 taught the genealogies and ancient lore 
 of the country. Upon his death she be- 
 came the wife of his son, who, however, 
 provided another husband for her. 
 
 Liholiho, his eldest son, was born of 
 Keopuolani, on Hawaii, in 1797. Ka- 
 mehameha, to establish the succession 
 in his family, in 1809 invested him with 
 royal honors, by which he became enti- 
 tled to the same etiquette as himself, 
 but the government continued in its cus- 
 tomary routine. The prince was an in- 
 dolent, pleasure-loving youth, of a frank 
 and humane disposition. His manners 
 were generally dignified and agreeable ; 
 his mind inquisitive and memory reten- 
 tive. Circumstances might have made 
 him worthy of his parentage, but his 
 high station, and freedom from care, 
 made him reckless and dissipated. He 
 was fond of liquor, but, until his acces- 
 sion to the throne, was under the same 
 powerful influence which held all, from 
 the highest to the lowest, in complete 
 thraldom. 
 
 Kamehameha remained at Oahu nine 
 years ; he then embarked with his suite 
 on board of some foreign vessels, and ac- 
 companied by a large fleet of small craft 
 and canoes, sailed for Hawaii, touching 
 at Lahaina, Molokai and other places, 
 to dispose of sandal-wood and other 
 products, which had been collected by 
 Keeaumoku, governor of that portion of 
 his dominions. Kalaimoku was left in 
 charge of Oahu. The king lived at 
 Hawaii, principally about Kailua and 
 Kealakeakua, until his death. In his 
 hereditary possessions he was greatly 
 revered. During a famine, he labored 
 for his own food, and compelled his fol- 
 lowers to work likewise. The spot of 
 land which he tilled is pointed out to 
 this day as a mark of his benevolence. 
 With a providence unusual to his na- 
 tion, he allowed none of the young san- 
 dal-wood to be cut, observing that such 
 wood was to be preserved for his suc- 
 cessors. Neither would he permit the 
 birds which were caught for their feath- 
 ers to be killed ; but ordered them to be 
 set free, after they were plucked of the 
 
 few that were wanted. The bird-catch- 
 ers, w r ith native logic, inquired "who 
 will possess the birds set free ? you are 
 an old man." He replied, new feathers 
 would replace those plucked, and the 
 birds would again be useful. 
 
 Like civilized conquerors, he delight- 
 ed equally in overcoming obstacles of 
 nature as of men. Undertakings which 
 had been considered impracticable he ac- 
 complished. Some of the most conspic- 
 uous and extensive heiaus, fish-ponds, 
 and other public works, were erected by 
 him. At Halaula, his patrimonial dis 
 trict, he dug through a ledge of stone 
 from a perpendicular height of one hun- 
 dred feet, making a good road with a 
 gradual descent to the sea side. At 
 another spot, he endeavored to procure 
 pure water, by digging through the sev- 
 eral strata of lava ; after penetrating 
 to considerable depth, through compact 
 rock, he was obliged to relinquish the 
 enterprise, from want of gunpowder and 
 suitable tools. At Kiholo is another 
 monument of his enterprise, in a fish- 
 pond two miles in circumference, formed 
 by a strong stone wall built across a 
 small bay. It is half a mile long, six feet 
 high in parts, and twenty wide. Sev- 
 eral arches, closely guarded by strong 
 wooden stakes, allow egress to the water, 
 but prevent the fish from escaping. 
 
 In 1814, a ship owned by Baranoff, 
 the governor of the Russian colony at 
 Sitka, was wrecked at Waimea, Kauai; 
 the principal part of the cargo was saved, 
 and entrusted to the care of Kaumualii 
 for the owners. In 1815, the .Russian 
 governor sent a German physician, by 
 the name of SchefTer, to take possession 
 of the wrecked property. He arrived at 
 Kailua in the American ship Isabella, 
 Captain Tyler, bringing with him a 
 quantity of powder and clothing. Ka- 
 mehameha received him in a friendly 
 manner, and sent orders to Kaumualii 
 to deliver the property into his charge. 
 After a few weeks stay at Hawaii, he 
 sailed for Waimea, Kauai, landed his 
 goods, built a house, and commenced 
 trading. Kaumualii purchased the pow- 
 der, and some other articles, for sandal- 
 wood. Soon after, a Russian ship, the 
 Discovery, arrived with thirty Kodiack 
 Indians, a part of whom were females, 
 
HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLASHS. 
 
 95 
 
 from an unsuccessful search for a seal 
 island. By the orders of the governor 
 of Sitka, these Indians were left with 
 Dr. Scheffer, and the vessel returned. 
 In the meanwhile two Russian vessels, 
 the ship Myrtle, Captain Long, and a 
 brig with an American captain, arrived 
 at Honolulu. Their crews numbered 
 near ninety men. They immediately 
 commenced erecting a block-house near 
 the water side, on which they mounted 
 a few guns and displayed a flag. This 
 aroused the fears of the natives and the 
 jealousy of foreigners, and word was im- 
 mediately forwarded to Kamehameha. 
 His policy under such a suspicious act 
 on the part of foreign power, was char- 
 acteristic of that which has ever since 
 prevailed. He sent Kalaimoku to Oahu 
 with the following judicious orders : 
 " Go and observe the conduct of the 
 Russians, but be slow to oppose them. 
 If they commit outrage upon the people, 
 exhort the people to bear it patiently. 
 Bear ill-treatment with forbearance, but 
 be ready, notwithstanding, in case of 
 absolute necessity, to make a firm resist- 
 ance." Immediately upon Kalaimoku's 
 arrival, the vessels sailed for Kauai, 
 when the American captain having quar- 
 reled with Scheffer, who was agent for 
 both, was removed Irom the command. 
 The vessels were ordered to the Bay of 
 Hanalei, on the north side of the island, 
 where they remained during the winter. 
 The doctor built a slight fort on a cliff 
 commanding them, and had a few can- 
 nons mounted. 
 
 Kaumualii being anxious to secure his 
 services, in superintending the building 
 of a stone fort at Waimea, gave him the 
 fertile valley of Hanalei and other valu- 
 able tracts. This excited his cupidity, 
 and he plotted to secure the whole isl- 
 and. He presented a schooner, with 
 many other articles, to the king, and in 
 return, it is said, obtained a lease of the 
 whole island for a long period. The fort 
 was sufficiently completed to mount a 
 number of guns on one side ; a maga- 
 zine was built, and a flag-staff erected, 
 on which the Russian colors were occa- 
 sionally displayed. 
 
 According to the natives, Scheffer laid 
 a plot to cut off Kaumualii and his chief 
 men, at a feast to which he had invited 
 
 them. The American captain revealed 
 it to the king, who, however, attended, 
 with the precaution of a guard sufficient 
 to prevent any nefarious attempt. Noth- 
 ing transpired to confirm the report. 
 Scheffer made himself obnoxious by his 
 arbitrary conduct, and reports were car- 
 ried to Kamehameha that the Russians 
 were preparing to invade his dominions, 
 and had already obtained possession of 
 Kauai. Much alarmed, he sent word 
 to Kaumualii to drive them away. Ac- 
 cordingly, Scheffer was compelled to em- 
 bark with his Indians without delay, on 
 board of the brig, which was at Waimea. 
 The next day his property was taken off 
 to him. He then sailed for Hanalei, re- 
 joined the ship, and both left for Hono- 
 lulu. Upon arriving here he was re- 
 quested to depart, which he did, but 
 the Myrtle proving unseaworthy obliged 
 him to put back. She was condemned 
 at Honolulu, and the Russians allowed 
 to remain until an opportunity offered 
 for leaving.* 
 
 The acts of Scheffer, which seem to 
 have had no other origin than a desire 
 for his own aggrandizement, with the 
 hope of being ultimately supported by 
 the Russian governor, or perhaps the 
 government, created a very unfavorable 
 opinion towards the Russians through- 
 out the group. Apprehensive of further 
 attempts, the king caused guards to be 
 stationed along the coast of Hawaii, 
 with directions to resist any attempt at 
 landing. The Diana, a Russian sloop- 
 of-war, arrived soon after at Waimea, 
 made some inquiries concerning Schef- 
 fer, purchased supplies, and then left. 
 
 Captain Kotzebue, in the Russian dis- 
 covery ship Rurick, arrived off Hawaii, 
 November 21, 1816. He soon learned 
 of the hostile feeling towards his coun- 
 trymen, which at first placed him in 
 some jeopardy. He assured the island- 
 ers of the kind intentions of his emperor, 
 and that Scheffer's conduct was the re- 
 sult of his own private ambition, and 
 was neither countenanced nor approved 
 
 * Robert Greenhow, in his historical memoir, gives 
 a most singular and erroneous account of this affair, 
 but does not name his authority. He states that one 
 hundred Aleutians, sent by Baranoff, under the com- 
 mand of Dr. Scheffer, ravaged the island of Kauai for 
 one year, without subduing it; they were then obliged 
 to leave for Hawaii, where they entered the service of 
 some American whalers, &c. Page 149. For the cor- 
 rect particulars, ?ee Hawaiian Spectator, vol. 1, p. 21i>. 
 
96 
 
 HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 by his government. These representa- 
 tions satisfied Kamehameha, and when 
 the Rurick anchored at Kealakeakua, he 
 received him with his customary court- 
 esy and hospitality. He excused him- 
 self from visiting on board, by alleging 
 the fears of his subjects, whose appre- 
 hensions were not entirely allayed. 
 
 Kotzebue visited him at his palace, 
 and there met with Liholiho and Kaa- 
 humanu, who made many inquiries after 
 Vancouver. He remarked the general 
 use of tobacco, which was carried to 
 such excess, from inhaling its fumes, as 
 to produce partial derangement, intox- 
 ication, and often death. Even young 
 children indulged in the pernicious prac- 
 tice. 
 
 The Rurick was supplied with stores 
 and refreshments gratuitously; in ac- 
 knowledgment for which, Kotzebue gave 
 Kamehameha two brass field-pieces, 
 wire, and iron bars, which were highly 
 acceptable. He then sailed for Hono- 
 lulu, and the Rurick was the first man- 
 of-war that entered that harbor. Con- 
 siderable excitement existed in regard 
 to his intentions, which, however, sub- 
 sided when Kalaimoku made known the 
 king's commands. Two fine vessels 
 bore the national flag, which had been 
 adopted shortly before ; they displayed 
 the English union, with seven alternated 
 red, white and blue stripes, emblematic 
 of the principal islands. One was a 
 ship, newly purchased, destined for 
 China, with a cargo of sandal-wood, 
 and the other a war-brig, the Kaahu- 
 manu, of eighteen guns, commanded by 
 an Englishman, of the name of Adams. 
 Wishing to survey the harbor, Kotzebue 
 placed flags upon several different sta- 
 tions ; the sight of them reminded the 
 natives of Scheffer's acts, when he hoist- 
 ed the Russian flag, and these were 
 supposed to have been planted with a 
 like intention. A commotion arose which 
 would have proved dangerous to the 
 surveying party, had not Young, who 
 then lived on the island, overseeing the 
 erection of the present fort, explained 
 the cause, and substituted brooms for 
 the obnoxious ensigns. Clothes were 
 much in demand at this time among the 
 chiefs, and their costume presented the 
 same ludicrous mixture of barbarism 
 
 and civilization that exists among th 
 poorer classes at the present time. A 
 lance fight was exhibited for the grati- 
 fication of Kotzebue, which terminated 
 in dangerous wounds to some of the 
 party. The passions of the combatants, 
 so long unexercised in war, on these oc- 
 casions were apt to become exasperated, 
 and the mock battles to terminate in 
 furious and bloody encounters. Kame- 
 hameha seldom allowed them to take 
 place, and then only under a guard of 
 soldiers armed with muskets. On the 
 14th of December, the Rurick sailed ; 
 she was the first national ship that ex- 
 changed salutes with the batteries of 
 Honolulu. 
 
 An attempt was made to cement an 
 alliance between the royal families of 
 Hawaii and Tahiti, by a double mar- 
 riage. Gifts and friendly messages had 
 been frequently exchanged between Po- 
 mare I. and Kamehameha, and finally it 
 was agreed that a son of each should 
 marry a daughter of the other. Kekau- 
 luohi was selected for Pomare, but his 
 death broke off the matches, and the 
 project was never resumed. Earlier 
 than this, Kaumualii sent an agent to 
 Tahiti, in a foreign ship, to negotiate 
 with the reigning family for a wife for 
 himself; but the man proved unfaithful 
 to his trust, and seduced by the well 
 favored beauties of that island, settled 
 there. 
 
 On March 17th, 1814, Kauikeaouli, 
 the present king, was born. Nahiena- 
 ena, the princess, was born about two 
 years later of the same mother, Keopuo- 
 lani ; so that their rank, and that of Li- 
 holiho, was derived equally from the past 
 and reigning dynasties ; consequently, 
 by descent and conquest, they were heirs 
 to the throne of the united kingdom. 
 
 Kamehameha had made some over- 
 tures toward opening a direct trade with 
 the governor of the Russian settlements, 
 in the early part of his reign. However, 
 but little resulted from them. Sandal- 
 wood had now become the great article 
 of export, amounting in one year to near 
 four hundred thousand dollars. While 
 it lasted, it was a mine of wealth to the 
 chiefs ; but it engendered luxury and 
 extravagance ; and many rich cargoes 
 were purchased at the cost of great 
 
HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 97 
 
 labor and heavy taxation. They were 
 frequently stored in unsuitable build- 
 ings, and there perished from neglect. 
 Kamehameha, learning of the great 
 profits derived by the merchants from 
 their sales in China, determined to pros- 
 ecute the business on his own account; 
 accordingly he fitted up the ship before 
 mentioned, loaded her with the wood, 
 and under the direction of English offi- 
 cers, and a native supercargo, Kapihe, 
 despatched her for Canton ; the first for- 
 eign port in which the Hawaiian flag was 
 displayed. Extravagant port charges, 
 and the dissipation of the captain and 
 supercargo, ran away with the proceeds 
 of the sales. She returned safely, but 
 in lieu of the riches of the Celestial em- 
 pire, the king found himself three thou- 
 sand dollars in debt. The chief items 
 of charges were pilotage, anchorage, and 
 custom-house dues. This suggested to 
 him the idea of raising a revenue in the 
 same manner, and from that time harbor 
 fees w T ere established. 
 
 Though, toward the latter period of 
 Kamehameha's reign, a general laxness 
 in regard to the taboos began to prevail, 
 yet every open transgression was se- 
 verely punished. A woman was put to 
 death for entering the eating house of 
 her husband, though at the time she 
 was tipsy. As late as 1818, three men 
 were sacrificed at Kealakeakua ; one 
 for putting on the malo of a chief, an- 
 other for eating a forbidden article, and 
 the third for leaving a house that was 
 taboo and entering one that was not. 
 
 Kamehameha resided at Kailua seven 
 years. The changes which had occurred 
 at Tahiti, by the final triumph of the 
 Christian religion, aroused his attention, 
 and he made many inquiries in regard 
 to the causes and results. He desired 
 to be instructed in the doctrines, and to 
 learn of the nature of the Supreme 
 Being the foreigners worshiped. Unfor- 
 tunately, the whites around him were 
 little calculated to explain the sublime 
 truths, or to tell him of the heavenly 
 tidings of the Gospel. 
 
 On the 8th of May, 1819, at the age 
 of sixty-six, he died as he had lived, in 
 the faith of his country. It was his mis- 
 fortune not to have come in contact with 
 men who could have rightly influenced 
 13 
 
 his religious aspirations. Judged by his 
 advantages, and compared with the 
 most eminent of his countrymen, he 
 may be justly styled not only great, but 
 good. To this day his memory warms 
 the heart and elevates the national feel- 
 ings of Hawaiians. They are proud of 
 their old warrior-king ; they love his 
 name ; his deeds form their historical 
 age ; and an enthusiasm everywhere 
 prevails, shared even by foreigners who 
 knew his worth, that constitutes the 
 firmest pillar of the throne of his son. 
 
 In lieu of human victims, a sacrifice 
 of three hundred dogs attended his ob- 
 sequies ; no mean holocaust, when their 
 national value is considered. The bones 
 of Kamehameha, after being kept for a 
 while, were so carefully concealed that 
 all knowledge of their final resting place 
 is now lost. There was a proverb cur- 
 rent among the common people that the 
 bones of a cruel king could not be hid ; 
 they made fish-hooks and arrows of 
 them, upon which in using them they 
 vented their abhorrence of his memory 
 in bitter execrations. 
 
 The native historians relate the cir- 
 cumstances of his death with a feeling 
 and minuteness, which so well illustrates 
 many of their customs, that the reader 
 will pardon the insertion. 
 
 " When Kamehameha was dangerously sick and 
 the priests were unable to cure him, they said, ' Be of 
 good courage, and build a house for the god, that thou 
 mayest recover.' The chiefs corroborated this advice 
 of the priests, and a place of worship was prepared for 
 Kukailimoku, and consecrated in the evening. They 
 proposed also to the king, with a view to prolong his 
 life, that human victims should be sacrificed to his 
 deity ; upon which the greater part of the people ab- 
 sconded through fear of death, and concealed them- 
 selves in hiding places till the kapu, in which destruc- 
 tion impended, was past. It is doubtful whether Ka- 
 mehameha approved of the plan of the chiefs and 
 priests to sacrifice men, as he was known to say, ' The 
 men are sacred for the king ; ' meaning that they were 
 for the service of his successor. This information was 
 derived from his son, Liholiho. 
 
 " After this, his sickness increased to such a degree 
 that he had not strength to turn himself in his bed. 
 When another season, consecrated for worship at the 
 new temple heiau arrived, he said to his son Liho- 
 liho, ' Go thou and make supplication to thy god ; I 
 am not able to go and will otter my prayers at home.' 
 When his devotions to his feathered god, Kukailimoku, 
 were concluded, a certain religiously disposed individ- 
 ual, who had a bird god, suggested to the king that 
 through its influence his sickness might be removed. 
 The name of this god was Pua ; its body was made of 
 a bird, now eaten by the Hawaiians, and called in their 
 language alae. Kamehameha was willing that a trial 
 should be made, and two houses were constructed to 
 facilitate the experiment ; but while dwelling in them, 
 he became so very weak as not to receive food. After 
 lying there three days, his wives, children, and chiefs, 
 perceiving that he was very low, returned him to his 
 own house. In the evening he was carried to the eat- 
 ing house, where he took a little food in his mouth, 
 which he did not swallow ; also a cup of water. The 
 
98 
 
 HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 chiefs requested him to give them his counsel. But he 
 made no reply, and was carried back to the dwelling 
 house ; but when near midnight, ten o'clock, perhaps, 
 he was earned again to the place to eat ; but, as be- 
 fore, he merely tasted of what was presented, to him. 
 Then Kaikioewa addressed him thus : ' Here we all 
 are, your younger brethren, your son, Liholiho, and 
 your foreigner : impart to us your dying charge, that 
 Liholiho and Kaahumanu may hear.' Then Kameha- 
 meha inquired, ' What do you say ! ' Kaikioewa re- 
 peated, 'Your counsels for us.' He then said, 'Move 
 
 on in my good way, and .' He could proceed no 
 
 further. The foreigner Mr. Young embraced and 
 kissed him. Hoapili also embraced him, whispering 
 something in his ear, after which he was taken back to 
 the house. About twelve, he was carried once more to 
 the house for eating, into which his head entered, while 
 his body was in the dwelling house immediately ad- 
 joining. It should be remarked, that this frequent 
 carrying of a sick chief to and fro from one house to 
 another, resulted from the taboo system then in force. 
 There were at that time six houses connected with an 
 establishment ; one was for worship, one for the men 
 to eat in, another for the women, a dormitory, a house 
 in which to beat kapa, and one where at certain inter- 
 vals the women might dwell in seclusion. 
 
 " The sick king was once more taken to his house, 
 when he expired ; this was at two o'clock a circum- 
 stance from which Leleiohoku derived his name. As 
 he breathed his last Kalaimoku came to the eating 
 house to order those in it to go out. There were two 
 aged persons thus directed to depart ; one went, the 
 other remained on account of love to the king, by whom 
 he had formerly been kindly sustained. The children 
 also were sent away. Then Kalaimoku came to the 
 house, and the chiefs had a consultation. One of them 
 spoke thus : ' This is my thought, we will eat him raw.' 
 Kaahumanu replied, 'Perhaps his body is not at our 
 disposal; that is more properly with his successor. 
 Our part in him the breath has departed; his re- 
 mains will be disposed of by Liholiho.' 
 
 "After this conversation, the body was taken into 
 the consecrated house for the performance of the proper 
 rites by the priest and the king. The name of this cer- 
 emony is uko ; and when the sacred hog was baked, 
 the priest offered it to the dead body and it became a 
 god, the king at the same time repeating the custom- 
 ary prayers. 
 
 " Then the priest addressing himself to the king and 
 chiefs, said, ' I will now make known to you the rules 
 to be observed respecting persons to be sacrificed on the 
 burial of this body. If you obtain one man before the 
 corpse is removed, one will be sufficient ; but after it 
 leaves this house four will be required. If delayed 
 until we carry the corpse to the grave, there must be 
 ten ; but after it is deposited in the grave, there must 
 be fifteen. To-morrow moining there will be a taboo, 
 and if the sacrifice be delayed until that time, forty 
 men must die.' 
 
 " Then the high priest Hewahewa, inquired of the 
 chiefs, < Where shall be the residence of King Liho- 
 liho 1 ' They replied, ' Where, indeed ? you of all men 
 ought to know.' Then the priest observed, ' There are 
 two suitable places ; one is Kau, the other, Kohala.' 
 The chiefs preferred the latter, as it was more thickly 
 inhabited. The priest added, ' These are proper places 
 for the king's residence, but he must not remain in 
 Kona, for it is polluted.' This was agreed to. It was 
 now break of day. As he was being carried to the 
 place of burial, the people perceived that their king 
 was dead, and they wailed. When the corpse was re- 
 moved from the house to the tomb, a distance of one 
 chain, the procession was met by a certain man who 
 was ardently attached to the deceased. He leaped 
 upon the chiefs who were carrying the king's body ; he 
 desired to die with him, on account of his love. The 
 chiefs drove him away. He persisted in making numer- 
 ous attempts, which were unavailing. His name was 
 Keamahulihia. Kalaimoku also had it in his heart to 
 die with him, but was prevented by Hookio. 
 
 " The morning following Kamehameha's death, Li- 
 holiho and his train departed for Kohala according to 
 the suggestions of the priest, to avoid the defilement 
 occasioned by the dead. At this time, if a chief died 
 the land was polluted, and the heirs sought a residence 
 in another part of the country, until the corpse was 
 dissected and the bones tied in a bundle, which being 
 done, the season of defilement terminated. If the de- 
 ceased were not a chief, the house only was defiled, 
 which became pure again on the burial of the body. 
 ISuch were the laws on this subject. 
 
 "On the morning in which Liholiho sailed in his 
 canoe for Kohala, the chiefs and people mourned after 
 their manner on occasion of a chief's death, conducting 
 like madmen, and like beasts. Their conduct was such 
 as to forbid description. The priests, also, put into 
 action the sorcery apparatus, that the person who had 
 prayed the king to death might die ; for it was not be- 
 lieved that Kamehameha's departure was the effect 
 either of sickness or old age. When the sorcerers set 
 up by their fire-places sticks with a strip of kapa fly- 
 ing at the top, the chief Kceaumoku, Kaahumanu's 
 brother, came, in a state of intoxication, and broke the 
 flag-staff of the sorcerers, from which it was inferred 
 that Kaahumanu and her friends had been instru- 
 mental in the death of Kamehameha. On this account 
 they were subjected to abuse." Hawaiian Spectator, 
 vol. 2, p. 227. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 1819 Consequences of the death of Kamehameha 
 Scepticism Occasion of Abolition of idolatry N a- 
 tional character Rebellion of Kekuokalani Defeat 
 and death 1820 Arrival of American missionaries 
 Reception Hostile intrigues Kindness of Kau- 
 mualii Of foreigners Tyranny and dissipation of 
 Liholiho Gradual improvement of Nation Voyage 
 of Liholiho to Kauai, July, 1821 Kaumualii's hos- 
 pitality Treachery of Liholiho Keeaumoku made 
 governor of Kauai Kaahumanu's marriage to Kau- 
 mualii and his son First Church erected at Hono- 
 lulu Increased taxation January, 1822 First 
 printing at the islands State of education Arrival 
 of English deputation Results Present of armed 
 schooner First Christian marriage Hoapili ap- 
 pointed governor of Maui New missionaries In- 
 creasing favor of government 1823 Festival in 
 honor of Kamehameha Illness and death of Keopu- 
 olani Foreign hostility to missions Marriage of 
 Hoapili Liholiho and train embark for England, 
 1824 Death of Kaumualii Rebellion at Kauai 
 Final subjugation Last heathen sacrifice performed 
 by one of the royal family 1824 Conversion of Ka- 
 laimoku and Kaahumanu Character of their ad- 
 ministration News of the death of the king Ar- 
 rival of British Consul and family, April, 1825. 
 
 BY the death of Kamehameha, the 
 key-stone, which had continued firmly 
 to unite the rites of heathenism with the 
 policy of government, was removed, and 
 the fabric gave evidence of speedy ruin. 
 The scepticism which pervaded all ranks 
 became manifest ; none had a more 
 hearty desire to be rid of the absurd re- 
 straints of their pagan ceremonies than 
 the new king, Liholiho. The foreign- 
 ers, whom he had gathered in his train, 
 had succeeded in infusing their infidel- 
 ity into his mind, without giving him 
 any correct principles for the foundation 
 of a new belief. In his love of sensual 
 gratification, disregard of customs and 
 traditions sanctioned by usage immemo- 
 rial, desire yet fear of change, and igno- 
 rance of the means of accomplishment, 
 he embodied the general spirit of his 
 nation. The utter worthlessness of their 
 old system and consequent evils were 
 apparent to all, and its downfall ardently 
 desired. 
 
HISTORY vF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 99 
 
 This condition of the public sentiment 
 necessarily resulted from their commer- 
 cial relations with foreigners. Those 
 who railed at the doctrines of Christian- 
 ity, were not wholly devoid of its spirit 
 in their acts. Exposed as they were in 
 manhood to the pernicious influences of 
 a licentious heathenism and unfettered 
 by a public moral sentiment, they too 
 frequently fell in with the gross practices 
 about them, and gave free rein to their 
 lusts and avarice. Yet even with such, 
 the good seed implanted by parents' 
 counsels and the habits of Christian 
 lands occasionally took root, and threw 
 out blossoms which in contrast with the 
 general fruit of paganism were sweet 
 and attractive. 
 
 From what has been exhibited of na- 
 tive character previous to the commence- 
 ment of intercourse with whites, it will 
 readily be admitted that it was degraded 
 in the extreme. Consequently the con- 
 tact of a better race must necessarily 
 cause some moral improvement. That 
 this was the case, the condition of the 
 Hawaiian nation at this epoch, plainly 
 shows. The influence operating upon 
 them had been directly commercial, dic- 
 tated by the keenest self-interest ; yet 
 religious ideas and a desire for knowl- 
 edge had been incidentally developed, 
 by example or advice of benevolent indi- 
 viduals. The very fruits of civilization 
 displayed to their covetous eyes in the 
 superior knowledge, and above all in the 
 property of the whites, begot in them a 
 respect and desire for the faith which to 
 their minds teemed so rich in temporal 
 blessings. Example, expostulation and 
 judicious reproof did much for the Ha- 
 waiians ; the many cases where the di- 
 rect influence of foreigners was exerted 
 to ameliorate the lot of savages, and to 
 implant a desire of civilization, cannot 
 be all recorded. Much as was accom- 
 plished in this way, it must be acknowl- 
 edged the result was small, compared 
 with the greater influence of a selfish- 
 ness, which cherished order and enter- 
 prise as the best means of promoting its 
 own interests. 
 
 The example of the southern groups, 
 in the destruction of their idols, added 
 to the spreading disbelief. Incontestible 
 evidences of the falsity of their oracles, 
 
 together with the increasing inconveni- 
 ence of their absurd rites, confirmed the 
 scepticism. Those interested in the con- 
 tinuance of paganism, redoubled their 
 efforts; threats, prophecies and promises 
 were freely uttered, and as freely falsi- 
 fied by their own failure. Like Lao- 
 coon and his offspring in the folds of the 
 serpent, heathenism writhed and gasped, 
 each moment growing weaker in the 
 strangling embrace of public opinion. It 
 was noticed that foreigners conformed 
 to none of their rites, yet they lived and 
 prospered ; their own countrymen who 
 had gone abroad, lived in equal disre- 
 gard of their ritual, and with like im- 
 punity. Individually, their memories 
 convicted them of frequently breaking 
 taboos, yet no evil overtook them, while 
 they were unknown to the priests. Men 
 and women had eaten together, and ol 
 forbidden food; the predicted judgments 
 slept ; their priests must be as the for- 
 eigners described them, liars, and the 
 taboo system altogether foolish and con- 
 I temptible. Drunken chiefs had often 
 1 violated the most sacred injunctions ; no 
 divine vengeance pursued them ; the fe- 
 male rulers had of late broken through 
 all restrictions, yet prosperity and health 
 were still theirs. Female influence went 
 far to induce scepticism among the men. 
 Having broken through the taboos them- 
 selves, they encouraged others to do the 
 same; and in this way the conviction of 
 the folly of supporting an oppressive and 
 corrupt faith for the benefit of a few, 
 daily strengthened. 
 
 The young prince Kauikeaouli, in- 
 duced by his mother, and countenanced 
 by his brother, broke the taboo by eating 
 with Keopuolani. Liholiho perceiving 
 no evil to ensue, remarked, "It is well to 
 renounce taboos, and for husbands and 
 wives to eat and dwell together, there 
 will be less unfaithfulness and fraud." 
 He was yet undecided, though Kaahu- 
 manu urged him " to disregard the re- 
 straint of taboo." On the very day ot 
 Kamehameha's death, a woman eat a 
 cocoanut with impunity, and certain 
 families displayed their contempt for 
 these laws by feasting in common. 
 
 Liholiho remained ten days at Kohala, 
 while the body of his father was being 
 dissected. He then returned to Kailua, 
 
100 
 
 HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 and on the second day after his arrival, 
 the chiefs and inhabitants were collected 
 to witness his induction into office.* He 
 appeared in great state, dressed in rich 
 clothing, with a feather mantle over his 
 shoulders, and surrounded by a brilliant 
 
 * A list of the principal chiefs comprising the court 
 of Kamehameha II., with their respective ranks, is 
 necessary clearly to understand their relative situa- 
 tions and the stations they ultimately filled. 
 Kamehameha II. (Liholiho) king of all ") 
 
 the group. I Keopuolani, 
 
 Kauikeaouli, his younger brother, j queen mother. 
 Nahienaena, his sister, 
 Kaahumanu (second in authority), dowager queen, and 
 
 guardian of the kingdom. 
 
 Kalakua (Hoapili wahine), ) also former wives of Ka- 
 Namahana, j mehameha I. 
 
 Kamamalu, ^ 
 
 Kinau, | queens of Liholiho. The first 
 
 Kekauluohi, or Auhea, } two were daughters of his 
 Pauahi, | father by Kalakua. 
 
 Kekauonqhi, J 
 
 Kaumualii, king of Kauai and Niihau. 
 Kealiiahonui, his son. 
 Kapuli, queen of Kauai. 
 Kalaimoku (William Pitt), originally of minor rank, 
 
 but from his abilities promoted to fill the highest 
 
 stations. He was prime minister, and, next to the 
 
 king, the most influential man in the kingdom, 
 
 though in authority subordinate to Kaahumanu. 
 Leleiohoku, his son. 
 Kaikioewa, guardian of the prince. 
 Keaweamahi, his wife. 
 Hoapili, guardian of JSTahienaena. 
 Naine, hereditary counselor and national orator. 
 Kapiolani, his wife. 
 
 1 These two were sons of 
 Kuakini (John Adams), gov- Kamehameha's famous j 
 
 ernor of Hawaii. warrior and counselor 
 
 Keeaumoku, brothers al- | 
 so of Kaahumanu, Ka- 
 lakua and > amahana ; 
 all descended from the ! 
 j royal family of Maui. 
 Bold, governor of Oahu, brother of Kalaimoku. 
 Liliha, his wife. 
 Wahinepio, sister of Kalaimoku, mother of the queen 
 
 Kekauonohi. 
 
 Kahalaia, her son, and nephew of Kamehameha I. 
 Kapihe, commander of the king's vessels. 
 Kekuanaoa, superintendent of sandal- wood, and treas- 
 
 urer to the king. 
 
 ,--, \ brothers descended from the last king of 
 ' Maui > and S:lid to have s P anish blood in 
 
 Keeaumoku (Cox), governor 
 of Maui and its dependencies 
 
 'ahekili 
 
 Ii, 
 
 Laanui, I all of these were "punahele," or bosom 
 Puaa, j companions of the king. 
 
 Kalaikoa, j 
 
 Beside these names the chiefs had a multitude of 
 others, which answered for titles. They were frequently 
 changed or assumed for trilling circumstances. The 
 English appellations were bestowed by visitors. The 
 Hawaiian names are highly figurative, and generally 
 derived from some particular event which they were 
 desirous of commemorating. Kamehameha signified 
 " the lonely one ; " Keopuolani, " the gathering of the 
 clouds of the heavens ; " Kauikeaouli, " hanging in the I 
 blue sky ; " Kamamalu, " the shade of the lonely | 
 one ; " a name assumed after the death of her father ; i 
 Hoapili, " close adhering companion," from the friend- 
 ship which existed between the old king and himself; 
 Kaahumanu, "the feather mantle ; " Liliha, " the fat 
 of hogs ; " Auhea, literally " where," from her mourn- 
 ful repetition of this word, after the decease of Kame- 
 hameha : Kapiolani, " the captive of heaven ; " Kala- 
 kua, " the way of the gods ; " Kahekili, " thunder ; " 
 Paalua, a name of Kalaimoku's, ' twice blind," ex- 
 pressing his grief by saying, he had lost his eyes for 
 the deaths of Kamehameha and a favorite wife. Many 
 of these nobles were remarkable for their corpulency. 
 Some weighed from three hundred to four hundred 
 pounds. Others were of herculean s tature and streng th, 
 and well proportioned. 
 
 retinue. The kingdom was transferred 
 to him by Kaahumanu, with the injunc- 
 tion of Kamehameha, that if he should 
 not conduct himself worthily, the su- 
 preme power should devolve upon her. 
 She also proclaimed it as the will of the 
 late king, that he should share the ad- 
 ministration with her, to which he as- 
 sented. This haughty queen dowager 
 had ahvays retained her influence over 
 her husband, and she had taken the pre- 
 caution to secure to herself an authority 
 equal to the king's, to the exclusion of 
 the more legitimate rights of Keopuo- 
 lani. As this assumption of power was 
 universally acquiesced in, it must have 
 been considered the true exposition of 
 the commands of the deceased sovereign. 
 This singular feature of a double execu- 
 tive has been retained, though modified, 
 to this day, and the powers and limita- 
 tions of both defined by written law. 
 Neither could act officially without the 
 other ; each in turn being a check or 
 support as the policy of the government 
 required ; and no act was valid without 
 the sanction of both. This is an anom- 
 aly in governments, but the principle is 
 so well understood and recognized by 
 the Hawaiians, that the harmony of the 
 kingdom has never been endangered. 
 By interest and blood, these personages 
 are closely allied, and mutual conveni- 
 ence cements the tie. The king is the 
 lawful ruler and proprietor of all the isl- 
 ands, the negotiator in foreign relations ; 
 the premier is at the head of the internal 
 policy, chief counselor, and in the king's 
 absence, or death, acts as guardian for 
 the heir, and becomes the responsible 
 agent. This office originated in the af- 
 fection of Kamehameha for his favorite 
 queen, and the necessity of a check upon 
 the heedless passions of his son. Liho- 
 liho was crowned, and received the title 
 of Kamehameha II. 
 
 After the mourning for his father had 
 terminated, the new monarch went to 
 reside at Kawaihae, in deference to a 
 superstition, which considered a place 
 defiled by the death of a king. Scep- 
 tical as to the religion of his youth, yet 
 wavering between old and new desires, 
 he was undecided as to his course. On 
 the one hand the priests exerted them- 
 selves to restore his credulity, while 
 
HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 Kaahumanu and Kalaimoku influenced 
 him to a more liberal policy. The latter 
 for a while prevailed, and Keopuolani 
 urged him again to eat in violation of 
 the taboo, setting the example herself. 
 Liholiho, still wavering, temporarily re- 
 turned to heathen rites and assisted at a 
 sacred festival, indulging with his train, 
 in revelry and drunkenness. He also 
 consecrated a heiau to his god at Hono- 
 kohau. 
 
 In August, 1819, the French corvette 
 L'Uranie, M. Freycinet commander, ar- 
 rived, and remained a few days. Ka- 
 laimoku (Billy Pitt as he was familiarly 
 called) then prime minister, was induced 
 to receive the rites of baptism, at Hono- 
 lulu, according to the formula of the 
 Roman Catholic Church. His brother, 
 Boki, followed his example; neither had 
 any clear comprehension of its meaning 
 nor design ; and both, after exchanging 
 presents with Freycinet, returned to 
 their usual idolatrous practices. Unin- 
 telligible as was this ceremony to them, 
 it served to prepare their minds for fur- 
 ther innovations. Kaahumanu, deter- 
 mined in her opposition to the priests, 
 prepared for decisive measures. In No- 
 vember she sent word to the king, that 
 upon his arrival at Kailua, she should 
 cast aside his god. To this he made no 
 objection, but with his retainers pushed 
 off in canoes from the shore, and re- 
 mained on the water two days, indulg- 
 ing in a drunken revel. Kaahumanu 
 despatched a double canoe for him, in 
 which he was brought to Kailua. Be- 
 tween them matters were arranged for 
 the further development of their designs. 
 He then smoked and drank with the fe- 
 male chiefs. A feast was prepared, after 
 the customs of the country, with sepa- 
 rate tables for the sexes. A number of 
 foreigners were entertained at the king's. 
 When all were in their seats, he delib- 
 erately arose, walked to the place re- 
 served for the women, and seated him- 
 self among them. To complete the 
 horror of the adherents of paganism, he 
 indulged his appetite in freely partaking 
 of the viands prepared for them, direct- 
 ing the women to do likewise ; but he 
 ate w r ith a restraint which showed that 
 he had but half divested himself of the 
 idea of sacrilege and of habitual repug- 
 
 nance. This act however was sufficient. 
 The highest had set an example, which 
 all rejoiced to follow. The joyful shout 
 arose, "the taboo is broken! the taboo is 
 broken ! " Feasts were provided for all, 
 at which both sexes indiscriminately in- 
 dulged. Orders were issued to demolish 
 the heiaus, and destroy the idols ; tem- 
 ples, images, sacred property, and the 
 relics of ages, were consumed in the 
 flames. The high priest, Hewahewa, 
 having resigned his office, was the first 
 to apply the torch. Without his coop- 
 eration the attempt to destroy the old 
 system would have been ineffectual. 
 Numbers of his profession, joining in 
 the enthusiasm, followed his example. 
 Kaumualii having given his sanction, 
 idolatry was forever abolished by law; 
 and the smoke of heathen sanctuaries 
 arose from Hawaii to Kauai. All the 
 islands uniting in a jubilee at their de- 
 liverance, presented the singular spec- 
 tacle of a nation without a religion. 
 
 The character of the people at this 
 period was peculiar. Superstition had 
 been stripped of many of its terrors, and 
 the general standard of morality had 
 increased. Perhaps it is more correct 
 to say that a knowledge rather than a 
 practice of purer precepts existed. The 
 most repulsive trait was the universal 
 licentiousness ; not greater than existed 
 a century before, but was made a shame- 
 less traffic. Although the majority of the 
 idols were destroyed, yet some were se- 
 cretly preserved and worshiped. Cen- 
 turies of spiritual degradation were not 
 to be removed by the excitement of a 
 day, or the edict of a ruler. Its inter- 
 ested advocates prepared for a fierce 
 struggle. Availing themselves of their 
 influence, they aroused the fears of mul- 
 titudes; defection arose in the court, 
 and some of its prominent members de- 
 serted Liholiho and joined Kekuokalani, 
 a nephew of Kamehameha, who next in 
 priestly rank to Hewahewa, had been 
 incited to erect the standard of revolt 
 with the promise of the crown if success- 
 ful. The priests, fearing for their occu- 
 pation and influence, urged him to the 
 struggle by quoting a common proverb 
 among them, " A religious chief shall 
 possess a kingdom, but wicked chiefs 
 shall always be poor." Said they, "of 
 
OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 all the wicked deeds of wicked kings in 
 past ages for which they lost their king- 
 doms, none was equal to this of Liho- 
 liho." Those who feared innovation and 
 desired "to resist and turn back the tide 
 of free eating which was threatening to 
 deluge the land," and those who were 
 dissatisfied with the existing govern- 
 ment, gathered about him, and he soon 
 became popular, as the defender of their 
 ancient faith, and the protector of the 
 oppressed. His mother endeavored to 
 induce him to return to loyalty, but 
 urged on by his partisans, who had com- 
 mitted themselves too far to retract, he 
 turned a deaf ear to her entreaties. 
 
 In the first skirmish the loyalists were 
 worsted. The news reaching the king, 
 a consultation was held, in which Kalai- 
 moku urged an immediate attack with 
 all their force upon Kaawaloa, the head- 
 quarters of the enemy, and by a de- 
 cisive blow to crush the insurrection 
 before it had become formidable. It 
 was determined, however, first to at- 
 tempt conciliatory measures. Hoapili 
 and Naihe were appointed ambassadors, 
 and Keopuolani volunteered to accom- 
 pany them. They reached the camp of 
 Kekuokalani the same evening, and 
 used every endeavor to effect an ami- 
 cable settlement. Hoapili urged his 
 relationship, for he was his uncle, pnd 
 offered to leave the heathen worship op- 
 tional with his partisans ; but such was 
 the rage and excitement of the rebels, 
 that the ambassadors considered them- 
 selves fortunate to escape with their 
 lives. Kekuokalani's forces marched 
 that night on Kailua, with the intention 
 of surprising it. The royal army, aware 
 of the expected attack, prepared for ac- 
 tion under the command of Kalaimoku. 
 The armies met at Kuamoo ; the en- 
 gagement commenced in favor of the 
 rebels, and had their fire-arms been 
 equal to those of their adversaries, the 
 day would have been decided in their 
 favor ; but a charge of the royal troops 
 drove them with considerable slaughter 
 toward the sea-side, where, under cover 
 of a stone wall, they made for some time 
 a successful resistance. A squadron of 
 double canoes, in one of which was a 
 mounted swivel, under the charge of a 
 foreigner, sailed along the coast, and 
 
 their shot enfilading the rebels, did con- 
 siderable execution, and created disorder 
 in their ranks. This fleet was under 
 the command of Kaahumanu and Kala- 
 kua ; the women then, as anciently, en- 
 gaging freely in battle. 
 
 Kekuokalani, though early wounded, 
 gallantly continued the contest, and sev- 
 eral times rallied his flying soldiers, but 
 was at last struck down by a musket 
 ball. Manona, his wife, during the 
 whole action, courageously fought by 
 his side; seeing him fall, she was in the 
 act of calling for quarter to Kalaimoku 
 and his sister, who were approaching, 
 when a ball struck her on the temple, 
 and she fell and expired upon the body 
 of her husband. After this, the idolaters 
 made but feeble resistance, though the 
 action continued ten hours, until all the 
 rebels had fled or surrendered. Most 
 of the leaders perished. The victors 
 carried their arms to Waimea, where 
 another body of insurgents had taken 
 the field. They were quickly subdued, 
 and the king used his success with such 
 moderation, that the whole island re- 
 turned to its allegiance. About fifty of 
 .the rebels and ten of the royalists were 
 killed in these engagements. The re- 
 action against the tide of " free eating " 
 in consequence of this victory was past. 
 The chiefs who had so warmly sustained 
 the priests, turned upon them and slew 
 Kuawa, who was the chief agent in so 
 fatally misleading Kekuokalani. They 
 next attacked their idols, throwing them 
 into the sea, using them for fuel, and 
 otherwise expressing their rage and 
 contempt for their pretended sanctity. 
 " There is no pow r er in the gods," said 
 they, "they are a vanity and a lie. The 
 army with idols was weak ; the army 
 without idols was strong and victorious." 
 
 Before the news of these remarkable 
 events reached the United States, an 
 interest had been awakened in the re- 
 ligious public, for the purpose of convey- 
 ing to these islands the knowledge of 
 the Holy Scriptures. Some Hawaiian 
 youths, who had spent several years in 
 that country, and ardently desired to 
 carry the blessings of Christianity to 
 their countrymen, increased this inter- 
 est. Among them was George Kau- 
 mualii, son of the ruler of Kauai, who 
 
HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN I8LASVS. 
 
 103 
 
 had been sent when a mere lad to the 
 United States, to secure an education. 
 The sea-captain who had him in charge 
 died suddenly, and the funds provided 
 for his expenses were lost. George 
 thus cast upon his own resources, led 
 an erratic life, and finally shipped on 
 board of a United States' vessel, served 
 during the war, and in 1814 was dis- 
 charged at Charlestown. Here he was 
 recognized by some benevolent indi- 
 viduals, who sent him to school, where 
 he made respectable progress. His 
 father had often expressed a wish for 
 the arrival of teachers to instruct his 
 people, in which desire he had been 
 joined by several other chiefs ; and he 
 had expected good results from the edu- 
 cation of his son. A letter had been 
 received from him, written at school, in 
 which he adjured his parents to re- 
 nounce idolatry. 
 
 On the 30th of March, 1820, the first 
 missionaries arrived at Haw r aii. The 
 cheering intelligence of the abolition of 
 idolatry, and the favorable condition of 
 the nation for the reception of a new 
 religion, reached them that evening. 
 They were kindly received, and Kalai- 
 moku and the two dowager queens, on 
 the first of April, made them a visit on 
 board their vessel, the Thaddeus. On 
 this occasion they were neatly dressed 
 in foreign costume, and their urbanity 
 made a favorable impression on the 
 missionaries. April 4th, the brig an- 
 chored at Kailua ; they met with a hos- 
 pitable reception from Kuakini, who 
 spoke English, and who seemed pleased 
 at their arrival. Hewahewa* was cor- 
 dial in his welcome to his " brother 
 priests," as he called them. He pos- 
 sessed an uncommon liberality of mind; 
 five months before he had counseled 
 the king to destroy the idols, publicly 
 renounced heathenism himself and ac- 
 
 * In a conversation with a gentleman, then on board 
 the Thaddeus, Hewahewa related the method by which 
 the king and himself came to understand each other 
 relative to the destruction ot the idols and their rites. 
 So great was the fear that then existed upon the sub- 
 ject, that although each suspected the desires of the 
 other, neither dared openly avow them. The conver- 
 sation opened as follows : " What do you think of the 
 taboos ? " The reply was a similar interrogatory. 
 King : " Do you think it well to break them 1 " Priest : 
 " That lies with you." King, again : " It is as you 
 say." And in this manner, endeavoring to penetrate 
 each other's sentiments, they were led to the true ex- 
 pression of their thoughts. 
 
 knowledged his belief in one Supreme 
 Being. " I knew," said he, " that the 
 wooden images of our deities, carved by 
 our own hands, were incapable of sup- 
 plying our wants, but I worshiped them 
 because it was the custom of our fathers; 
 they made not the kalo to grow, nor sent 
 us rain ; neither did they bestow life or 
 health. My thought has always been, 
 'Akahi \vale no Akua nui iloko o ka 
 lani' there is 'one only Great God 
 dwelling in the heavens.' " 
 
 By an old regulation, no foreigner was 
 allowed permanently to remain without 
 the consent of the king and his council. 
 The former sovereign would not permit 
 a foreigner to build a house on the isl- 
 ands except for himself. The mission- 
 aries made no attempt to settle on shore, 
 until the free consent of the government 
 had been formally obtained. Prejudices 
 had been imbibed in regard to their in- 
 tentions from evi! disposed persons, who 
 had represented that the Government of 
 England would be displeased if mission- 
 aries from America were received ; and 
 that they intended eventually to monop- 
 olize both trade and political power. In 
 a full meeting of the principal chiefs, 
 these objections were overruled, and the 
 missionaries, after a detention on board 
 the brig of two weeks, were allowed to 
 settle among the islands for one year, 
 with the understanding that if they 
 proved unworthy, they were to be sent 
 away. Their chief patrons were Kaahu- 
 manu and Kalaimoku; the king, though 
 friendly, w r as considerably influenced by 
 vicious whites in his train, who foresaw 
 that as knowledge increased, their im- 
 portance and occupations would cease. 
 The principal of these intriguers was 
 John Rives, a low Frenchman, who 
 filled the offices of cook, boot-black, sec- 
 retary and boon companion, as the in- 
 clination of the king permitted. This 
 man had the address, assisted by the 
 influence of certain Englishmen, who 
 were jealous of the Americans, to pro- 
 cure an edict for the expulsion of all 
 residents of that nation. They were 
 ordered to leave the islands by the first 
 vessel, and the missionaries were ex- 
 pected to follow at the end of their year 
 of probation. At this period the chiefs 
 were fearful of giving umbrage to Eng- 
 
104 
 
 HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 land by showing favor to Americans in 
 allowing them to settle, and they seem 
 to have imbibed the idea that their sov- 
 ereignty would be endangered by them. 
 Mr. Young was ordered to write to 
 England to inform the government that 
 American missionaries had come there 
 to reside to teach the people. The mis- 
 sionaries were forbidden to send for 
 others, for fear they might be burden- 
 some or dangerous. 
 
 In their interest for the spiritual wel- 
 fare of the Hawaiians, the friends of the 
 mission had not been unmindful of their 
 physical improvement. Among the num- 
 ber of the first band, were a mechanic, 
 physician, farmer and printer; also three 
 clergymen, Messrs. Bingham, Thurston 
 and Ruggles. All brought families, and 
 their wives were the first civilized wo- 
 men who landed on these islands; much 
 was expected from their exertions in set- 
 ting examples of well regulated house- 
 holds, the pleasures of domestic life, and 
 the beneficent influence of Christianity, 
 particularly in ameliorating and elevat- 
 ing their sex.* Notwithstanding the 
 licentious dispositions of the islanders, 
 but one instance of an insult to a white 
 female ever occurred. This happened 
 at Kailua, soon after their arrival, where 
 a native, smitten by the charms of one 
 of their number, behaved with a rude- 
 ness which caused alarm. Liholiho, by 
 the advice of the foreigners present, de- 
 termined to put the fellow to death, but 
 at the intercession of the husband of 
 the insulted lady, spared his life. Mr. 
 Thurston remained at this place. Mr. 
 Bingham, with several others, proceed- 
 ed to Honolulu, and there met with a 
 kind reception from the foreigners and 
 Governor Boki. Messrs. Ruggles and 
 Whitney sailed for Kauai, with George 
 Kaumualii. When the intelligence of 
 
 * The islanders thus expressed their opinions of the 
 females : " They are white, and have hats with a spout ; 
 their faces are round and far in ; their necks are long ; 
 they look well." They were called the "ai oeoe," 
 long necked. In their curiosity, they followed them 
 about in crowds, peering under their bonnets, and 
 taking many liberties in handling their dress, which 
 was permitted, as no offence was intended. When the 
 missionaries first engaged in prayer, closing their eyes 
 according to custom, the natives fled, imagining them 
 to be sorcerers, engaged in praying them to death. 
 The Holy Trinity was considered as three distinct 
 Gods, to whom they gave the names of Kane, Kanaloa 
 and Maui ; and their first conceptions of the doctrines 
 of Christianity were exceedingly rude, and imbued 
 with the gross ideas of their old theology. 
 
 his arrival reached the king, he fired a 
 salute of twenty-one guns, and mani- 
 fested the utmost joy at once again em- 
 bracing his son. He expressed great 
 pleasure at the arrival of the mission- 
 aries, and engaged to provide liberally 
 for them. From this time to his death, 
 he remained their steadfast friend. To 
 the captain of the brig he made valuable 
 presents ; on George he conferred the 
 second station of importance in his isl- 
 and, besides giving him chests of cloth- 
 ing, the fort at Waimea, and finally a 
 large and fertile valley. These dis- 
 tinctions elated the youth, though he 
 continued disposed to serve his friends, 
 and lived after a civilized manner. His 
 father, to induce the settlement of all the 
 missionaries with him, offered to build 
 houses for them, for schools and for 
 places of worship, and to use his au- 
 thority in causing his people to respect 
 the Sabbath, and attend their teachings. 
 Messrs. Whitney and Ruggles, in July, 
 took up their residence on Kauai. It is 
 not an uninteresting event to record 
 that the interpreter of Kaumualii, a 
 middle-aged native, had dined with Gen- 
 eral Washington in New York, who 
 gave him clothes and treated him with 
 much kindness as a native of the islands 
 where Cook was killed. 
 
 At Oahu, the foreigners subscribed 
 six hundred dollars for a school fund 
 for orphan children ; several manifested 
 kindness and attention to the wants of 
 the missionaries, a desire to aid them in 
 their labors, and made laudable exer- 
 tions for the education of their families. 
 
 The chiefs made many requests for 
 artisans to instruct their people, with 
 offers to support them handsomely. 
 Their applications were forwarded to the 
 United States. The zeal of the king for 
 instruction was truly royal ; none of the 
 common people were at first permitted 
 to learn to read. In accordance with 
 their ideas, knowledge, with the other 
 good things of life, were the birth-right 
 of rank. The progress of several of 
 the chiefs was rapid. In July, Liholiho 
 could read intelligibly ; in November 
 four schools, containing one hundred 
 pupils, were established. 
 
 In the autumn of the year, Liholiho 
 removed with his court to Lahaina, on 
 
HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 105 
 
 the island of Maui. He soon paid but 
 little attention to his studies, and spent 
 most of his time in revelry, though he 
 learnt rapidly, and his knowledge of 
 geography, the customs, productions and 
 governments of other countries was re- 
 spectable. The vagabond whites about 
 him, taking advantage of his inquisitive- 
 ness, corrupted his mind by teaching 
 him the basest phrases of their own lan- 
 guage. By them he was freely supplied 
 with rum, and encouraged in gambling. 
 At times he would spend many hours at 
 his desk; and when not under the effects 
 of liquor, was kind and affable. But his 
 dissipation lead to ruinous debts ; the 
 rich stores and treasures of his father 
 were squandered on favorites, and the 
 monopoly of the sandal-wood trade car- 
 ried to such an extent as to produce the 
 most disastrous consequences. His fa- 
 vorites, availing themselves of his easy 
 good nature, in moments of conviviality 
 obtained orders for their personal ben- 
 efit, which the people were obliged to 
 execute. Days were spent in drunken- 
 ness and debauchery. While intoxi- 
 cated, the king purchased largely of 
 foreigners, and profusely bestowed gifts 
 of broadcloths, richest silks and satins, 
 and other costly goods upon his retain- 
 ers. Vessels were bought on credit, for 
 large sums; $80,000 in sandal-wood was 
 paid for the Cleopatra's Barge, a yacht 
 sent out by a Boston house at an ex- 
 pense of $30,000. $40,000 were given 
 for the brig Thaddeus, $16,000 for a 
 small schooner, and their cargoes pur- 
 chased at corresponding rates. Through 
 such extravagances heavy debts were 
 contracted, and to pay them monopolies 
 created and taxation carried to its ut- 
 most bounds ; not a fowl or vegetable 
 could be sold without a premium paid 
 to the chiefs. Vast quantities of sandal- 
 wood were collected and sold, but debts 
 augmented. The uniform and equalized 
 system of Kamehameha I. was set aside, 
 and instead of one humane task-master, 
 a thousand tyrants sprung into existence; 
 the confusion which prevailed in court, 
 spread elsewhere ; the avarice, wants 
 and dissipation of the chiefs increased, 
 as their resources diminished, and tax- 
 ation, exposure and tyranny daily car- 
 ried disease and death into the house- 
 14 
 
 holds of the tenantry. The infatuation 
 prevailed during Liholiho's reign and did 
 not cease until the conversion of some of 
 the principal chiefs to the Christian reli- 
 gion. In the figurative tongue of Hawaii, 
 rum was a " poison god," and debt, " a 
 moth " which consumed the islands. 
 
 No sooner was the influence of the 
 missionaries felt than vigorous efforts to 
 counteract it were manifested. Some of 
 the natives were influenced by the mis- 
 representations and calumnies of certain 
 foreigners, but as a body they respected 
 their motives and character. Every al- 
 lowance that charity can permit should 
 be made for those who by circumstances 
 beyond their own control or by fortuitous 
 events, have been exposed to unusual 
 temptations. To youth ardent in the 
 first impulses of manhood, unfixed by 
 principle and unfortified by habit, no 
 situations can be more alluring than 
 those which while they give them a real 
 or nominal superiority freely acknowl- 
 edged by those around them, leave them 
 full scope in the indulgence of their 
 selfish desires. Such was emphatically 
 the case here at this period and much 
 later. The native women were but too 
 proud to form connections with white 
 men ; the white men were equally free 
 in the gratification of their sensual ap- 
 petites. The temperance reformation 
 was then in its infancy. The Pacific 
 was notorious for its facilities for dissi- 
 pation and its lack of moral restraint. 
 Self-interest had led the whites here, 
 and that gratified, nothing remained but 
 physical pleasures. Had there been 
 opportunities for moral and intellectual 
 excitement and the amenities of social 
 life, few even of those men would have 
 gone the lengths they did in the indul- 
 gence of their passions. But as it was, 
 history obliges us to record the fact that 
 the whites settled on the islands were, 
 with exceptions, it is true, a dissolute 
 race, fostering in the natives the very 
 habits they were too prone to indulge in 
 by nature and custom, but which the 
 missionary steadily frowned upon as at 
 variance with the morality of the gospel. 
 Under such circumstances, the whites 
 could not but feel reproved by their ex- 
 ample, and irritated by their preaching. 
 Hence arose an enmity towards the mis- 
 
106 
 
 HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 sion, confined, at its commencement, to 
 that class whose depraved appetites, or 
 selfish interests, were affected by the in- 
 crease of virtue and knowledge. The 
 presence of pure domestic circles, while 
 they reminded them of the homes they 
 had left, contrasted widely with their 
 loose lives even in the eyes of natives. 
 With some perhaps the novel restraint 
 of an incipient public opinion gave an 
 additional zest to their illicit pleasures. 
 Hence we find a contest early com- 
 menced between certain of the whites 
 and the missionaries ; the one endeav- 
 oring to secure as mistresses the young 
 half caste females of most promise in 
 mind and body, and the other to provide 
 for them permanently in schools where 
 they would be rigidly secluded from 
 vice and instructed in the knowledge 
 and virtues of domestic life. But as 
 might have been expected, the allure- 
 ments of dress and an indolent life, 
 corresponded too well with previous 
 impressions and desires, to enable them 
 in every instance to cleave to their 
 white sisters, by whom they would have 
 been taught habits of household indus- 
 try, naturally repugnant to them. Be- 
 side the contests which arose from this 
 rivalry between virtue and vice, others 
 more directly appealing to the self-in- 
 terest of the traders speedily operated to 
 widen the breach between missionary 
 and resident. It was unavoidable that 
 the former in preaching to the chiefs 
 should reprobate their extravagance and 
 urge a more rational expenditure and 
 husbanding the national resources. 
 Anxious as the missionaries were to 
 avoid collision with their fellow-country- 
 men, exiles like themselves, though from 
 far different motives, yet it was impos- 
 sible for them not to proscribe to their 
 converts, and indeed it was their duty, 
 the wicked waste of merchandise which 
 characterized the nation, and particu- 
 larly to declaim against the use of ar- 
 dent spirits. They came also to im- 
 part knowledge. As that knowledge 
 increased among the people, they in- 
 quired the cost of foreign merchandise, 
 and drew comparisons between it and 
 the prices of the traders. The result 
 went naturally to diminish extravagant 
 desires and to lessen the chances of ex- 
 
 travagant profits. Some of the residents 
 had the manliness and perception to 
 foresee the true results, and cultivated 
 an amity which was mutually beneficial. 
 Respect was shown to the Sabbath, and 
 the moral requirements of religion grad- 
 ually observed ; in the progress of civi- 
 lization and Christianity they perceived 
 real advantages, even to worldly pur- 
 suits, and they could not fail to respect 
 virtues which though they might judge 
 them ascetic, they knew to be sincere. 
 But there were many who could ill 
 brook to hear vice called by its legiti- 
 mate name. 
 
 At an annual entertainment given in 
 honor of his deceased father, at Kailua, 
 in 1820, Liholiho invited all the mission 
 family, and at his request, a Christian 
 blessing was invoked. Kaumualii and 
 his wife commenced their studies. In 
 April, 1S21, desirous of opening a 
 friendly intercourse with Pomare, to wit- 
 ness for himself the results of mission- 
 ary enterprise, and to procure valuable 
 and useful exotics for his island, he 
 planned a voyage to Tahiti in a fine brig 
 belonging to him, lying at Waimea. At 
 his request, two of the missionaries were 
 to be in his suite. The calumnies of 
 a few foreigners, who represented the 
 Tahitian missionaries as great hypo- 
 crites and wholly unworthy of credit, 
 and that the port charges would be ten 
 thousand dollars, induced him to relin- 
 quish the undertaking. It is an un- 
 grateful task to be obliged to recur to 
 facts like these, but it is the duty of the 
 historian to state the truth when neces- 
 sary to his subject. Much of the earlier 
 portion of Hawaiian history will be found 
 pregnant with details highly discredit- 
 able to parties, who from the time their 
 pleasures or interests came in conflict 
 with the purer objects of the missiona- 
 ries or the welfare of the people, main- 
 tained against both a bitter and reckless 
 hostility. Enmity on one side was 
 sometimes opposed by error on the other, 
 and it will be my object to state faith- 
 fully whatever is requisite, but nothing 
 more, for the clear understanding of the 
 means and principles brought to bear on 
 either side, by which the nation has la- 
 boriously worked its way into something 
 like a regular and efficient government. 
 
HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 107 
 
 There will be found throughout the pro- 
 longed contest, a conservative, civilized 
 and moral principle on the one hand; on 
 the other an opposition, active, persever- 
 ing and unsystematic ; bound by no tie 
 of a common purpose, except so far as 
 interested views or factious dispositions 
 knit men together. At this juncture 
 commenced the struggle between the 
 two parties ; the one to uphold morality, 
 strengthen the nation, and implant civil- 
 ization on the basis of the word of God ; 
 the other, with no avowed purpose of 
 opposing these views, but with maintain- 
 ing an influence favorable to their own 
 less rigid principles, and friendly to their 
 personal desires. Good and evil will be 
 found mixed in both. Without condemn- 
 ing in full all who chose to range them- 
 selves under the anti-mission banner, for 
 among them were men who, though they 
 erred perhaps in theory, yet in practice 
 were often just, generous and service- 
 able, the most consistent friends of the 
 nation will be found on the other side ; 
 not that they were always wise in their 
 policy, or unselfish in their desires, but 
 the principles they professed have been 
 such as to secure the confidence of the 
 people and preserve them through many 
 periods of trial. At this date, however, 
 they were suspicious of the designs of 
 foreigners generally, a state of feeling 
 kept alive by national prejudices, opera- 
 ting on the ill-informed minds of the na- 
 tives. At Honolulu, uneasiness was ex- 
 pressed on account of a cellar that was 
 being dug for Mr. Bingham's house, 
 which had been sent out from America 
 in frame. It was reported to be design- 
 ed for a secret magazine of arms, and 
 that a conspiracy was intended, in which 
 the royal family were to be slaughtered. 
 But stories so preposterous recoiled upon 
 their authors. Before the expiration of 
 the year, the chiefs were satisfied with 
 the designs and intentions of the mission, 
 and requested them to send for a rein- 
 forcement. The missionaries, desirous 
 of securing still further the favor of the 
 king, offered to have built for him a sim- 
 ilar house, which was then considered, 
 in comparison with the thatched huts, a 
 grand affair. 
 
 Two Russian ships of war entered 
 Honolulu harbor, April 2d, 1821. The 
 
 officers were entertained on board " The 
 Pride of Hawaii," his majesty's flag 
 ship ; late the " Cleopatra's Barge." In 
 return, the king dined with the commo- 
 dore, receiving the honors of his rank. 
 
 In July, Liholiho made the voyage to 
 Kauai in an open boat. Having become 
 jealous of Kaumualii, on account of a 
 letter received from George, in which he 
 was addressed simply as " king of the 
 windward islands," he determined to visit 
 him. Without disclosing his intention, 
 he left Honolulu for Ewa on the 21st, 
 with Boki, Naihe, and about thirty at- 
 tendants, including two women. Having 
 arrived off that place, the wind being 
 fair, he ordered the helmsman to steer 
 for Kauai. The chiefs expostulated, but 
 to no purpose; the boatmen were fright- 
 ened; they had neither water, provisions, 
 chart nor compass ; the island was one 
 hundred miles distant ; the channel 
 rough, and the wind strong; moreover, 
 Kaumualii might prove hostile, and 
 crush their little party. But he was not 
 to be dissuaded. The whim had seized 
 him when half intoxicated, and, reckless 
 of consequences, he sternly ordered them 
 to proceed. Although he had never been 
 at Kauai, he had a correct idea of its 
 position ; and spreading out his fingers, 
 to represent the different points of the 
 compass, naming them in broken Eng- 
 lish, he directed the course of the boat. 
 Twice was it nearly capsized, and ready 
 to sink. His attendants begged him to 
 put back. " No," said the resolute king; 
 " bail out the water, and go on ; if you 
 return with the boat, I will swim to 
 Kauai." By vigorously plying their 
 calabashes they kept it free from water, 
 and continued their course, steering well 
 to the northward. Just before dark the 
 island was discovered, being several 
 points on the lee bow. Putting their 
 craft before the wind, they ran for it, 
 though at considerable hazard from the 
 sea, which continually broke over them. 
 Early the next morning, exhausted with 
 hunger and fatigue, they came to off the 
 coast. As soon as Kaumualii was ap- 
 prised of the circumstances, he hurried 
 on board, and welcomed him to his do- 
 minions. A commodious house was pre- 
 pared for him, and a brig and schooner 
 despatched to Oahu to relieve the appre- 
 
108 
 
 HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 hensions of his subjects, and to bring two 
 of his wives, with their retinues. Liliha, 
 Boki's wife, arrived on the 23d, with 
 four attendants, having made the voyage 
 in a small canoe, in the management of 
 which the natives are much more skilful 
 than of boats, easily righting and freeing 
 them from water when upset. The king 
 was highly delighted with her adventur- 
 ous courage. 
 
 The forbearance of Kaumualii when 
 Liholiho was so completely in his power, 
 is remarkable. Instead of making it an 
 occasion of demanding the acknowledg- 
 ment of his independence, or other con- 
 firmation of his present authority, with a 
 spirit faithful to the very letter of his 
 agreement with Kamehameha I., he vol- 
 untarily proposed a formal surrender of 
 his kingdom to his guest. With much 
 emotion, he addressed him in the follow- 
 ing terms: "King Liholiho, hear! When 
 your father was alive, I acknowledged 
 him as my superior. Since his death, I 
 have considered you, his rightful succes- 
 sor, and, according to his appointment, 
 king. I have many muskets and men, 
 and much powder ; these, with my ves- 
 sels, the fort, guns, and the island, all 
 are yours. Do with them as you please. 
 Send me where you please. Place what 
 chief you please as governor here."* 
 Naihe next addressed the assembled 
 chiefs, and confirmed the dependence of 
 Kaumualii to Kamehameha I. A deep 
 silence prevailed, and all awaited with 
 anxiety the reply of the monarch. With 
 a mildness and suavity that deceived 
 every one, he spoke as follows : " I did 
 not come to take away your island. 1 
 do not wish to place any one over it. 
 Keep your island, and take care of it just 
 as you have done, and do what you 
 please with your vessels." A shout of 
 approbation resounded on all sides, and 
 the magnanimity of both was highly 
 lauded. After this scene Liholiho in- 
 dulged in a debauch. Kaumualii was 
 assiduous in his endeavors to please his 
 royal visitor, whose insincerity and real 
 designs were soon manifested. His beau- 
 tiful vessel, " Haaheo o Hawaii," pride 
 of Hawaii, having arrived with the ex- 
 pected chiefs, Kaumualii was invited on 
 board. While unsuspiciously seated in 
 
 1 Vol. 18, Missionary Herald, p. 244. 
 
 the cabin, orders were secretly issued to 
 make sail, and the generous and faithful 
 chief was made a state prisoner, and 
 borne from his dominions, which were 
 entrusted to the guardianship of Keeau- 
 moku. On the arrival of the royal parties 
 at Honolulu, Kaumualii was compelled 
 to part from his favorite Kapuli, and 
 marry the imperious Kaahumanu. His 
 title was continued to him, but with it no 
 authority. After this dishonorable trans- 
 action, Liholiho proceeded to Hawaii. 
 Kaahumanu also took to husband, Ke- 
 aliiahonui, the son and heir of Kaumu- 
 alii, thus holding father and son in her 
 chains, which, at that period, were not 
 altogether silken. 
 
 August 15, 1821, the first building a 
 small, thatched edifice erected on the 
 islands for the service of Christianity, 
 was dedicated at Honolulu. 
 
 Liholiho continued in his profligacy, 
 occasionally manifesting a desire for bet- 
 ter things. To the arguments of a mis- 
 sionary, who urged him to reform, he 
 replied, " five years more and I will be- 
 come a good man." Throwing off all 
 restraint he became more reckless and 
 dissipated than ever, spending his time 
 in carousals in different parts of his do- 
 minions as humor prompted. In a fit of 
 jealousy he beheaded a chief. A native 
 who had stolen a few pieces of calico 
 from him, he ordered to be ironed and 
 thrown overboard. 
 
 As the sandal-wood diminished, or be- 
 came more difficult to be procured, new 
 means of extortion were contrived, one 
 of which, from its singularity, deserves 
 record. Whenever a chief erected a 
 house of better appearance than com- 
 mon, no one was allowed to enter it, 
 without a gift adequate to the rank and 
 wealth of the visitor. The chiefs on 
 such an occasion, would present the king 
 with from fifty to a hundred dollars each ; 
 foreigners from twenty to thirty, and all 
 other classes, to the lowest menial of his 
 household, a proportionate sum. By this 
 means, the king occasionally raised sev- 
 eral thousand dollars governors and 
 chiefs lesser sums. The gross habits of 
 the ruler infected the whole nation ; fe- 
 male chiefs of the highest ranks boarded 
 ships in a state of entire nudity, and not 
 unfrequently visited the ladies of the mis- 
 
HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 109 
 
 sion in that condition, in the presence of 
 the other sex. The saturnalian practices 
 of all orders were too vile even to be al- 
 luded to ; all the variety and indecency 
 that lewdness and drunkenness could ac- 
 complish, were to be seen. At the pre- 
 sent day, it is almost impossible to credit 
 that such was ever the case ; but the 
 testimony is undoubted. 
 
 The first experiment in printing was 
 made on the 7th of January, 1S22. Kee- 
 aumoku was present. He assisted in 
 setting up the types, and in taking a few 
 impressions of the first sheet of the Ha- 
 waiian spelling-book. The king, chiefs 
 and foreigners generally, took a deep in- 
 terest in the success of this enterprise. 
 The missionaries employed themselves 
 assiduously during the first part of this 
 year, in forming the Hawaiian alphabet 
 upon the basis of a plan furnished them 
 by the Hon. John Pickering, of Boston. 
 The vowel sounds were the same as those 
 employed in his alphabet of Indian lan- 
 guages. Printing gave a new impulse to 
 the desire of knowledge among the chiefs. 
 Kuakini, Kamamalu, Keeaumoku, and 
 others, applied themselves diligently to 
 learn to read and write. Liholiho again 
 enlisted himself as a regular pupil ; his 
 brother and sister also became scholars. 
 Even Kaahumanu shared in the general 
 enthusiasm, and laid aside her cards for 
 her alphabet. Others of lesser note fol- 
 lowed the example of the royal family, 
 and the schools flourished. The king was 
 able in a few months to write legibly. In 
 September, five hundred pupils were re- 
 ceiving instruction. 
 
 The arrival at Oahu in April, of Messrs. 
 Tyerman and Bennet, deputized by the 
 London Mission Society to visit all mis- 
 sionary stations, and the Rev. W. Ellis, 
 a Tahitian missionary, with Anna, a con- 
 verted chief of that nation, and his train, 
 proved of much service to the American 
 mission. By their efforts, the misunder- 
 standing of their objects, which had been 
 so industriously cultivated by inimical 
 persons, was counteracted. Intelligent 
 and influential Englishmen were found 
 who countenanced its objects, which they 
 would not have done, were they appre- 
 hensive of any sinister designs upon the 
 islands by a rival nation. The people 
 themselves could not believe that those 
 
 who came with their families, indulged 
 in ambitious or hostile views. Warlike 
 designs and operations received no en. 
 couragement from the presence of fe- 
 males. At the joint request of the Amer- 
 ican mission and the chiefs, Mr. Ellis 
 consented to return with his family and 
 remain one year. By this act, the last 
 lingerings of jealousy were dissipated, as 
 it was seen that the benevolent of both 
 nations united in laboring for their wel- 
 fare. The sentiment that England was 
 their protector, and exercised a species 
 of guardianship over their country, still 
 extensively prevailed, and was kept alive 
 by acts of national courtesy, and the in- 
 terested views of English traders, who 
 wished to secure a superiority over other 
 nations in mercantile transactions. The 
 chiefs themselves, from their regard for 
 Vancouver, and a desire of increasing 
 their national importance, were not 
 averse to an alliance, even if it implied 
 some degree of vassalage ; though their 
 disposition to acknowledge themselves 
 solely and wholly British subjects, was 
 doubtless exaggerated. Their inter- 
 course, from the commencement of the 
 century, had been mostly with Ameri- 
 cans, and their predilections toward that 
 nation gradually increasing. When the 
 deputation arrived, they found forty ships 
 at anchor at Hawaii and Oahu, nearly 
 all whalers from the United States. 
 
 The English government uniformly 
 manifested a courtesy toward the island- 
 ers that was highly honorable. Without 
 asserting a claim to the Islands, they re- 
 cognized their nationality by numerous 
 acts of courtesy, and encouragement to- 
 ward civilization. On the first of May 
 of this year, Captain Kent presented to 
 Liholiho, in the name of His Britannic 
 Majesty, a schooner of seventy tons, call- 
 ed the Prince Regent, fully rigged and 
 coppered, with an armament of six guns. 
 This was the long-promised vessel of 
 Vancouver to Kamehameha ; a gift 
 which unfortunately neither he nor 
 his royal friend had the satisfaction of 
 seeing accomplished. 
 
 On Sunday, May 6th, Liholiho cele- 
 brated his accession to office, with a 
 mixture of barbaric pomp and attention 
 to civilized customs, which showed how 
 rapidly the latter were becoming natural- 
 
110 
 
 HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 ized. Salutes were fired from ships and 
 batteries, and national flags displayed 
 from all the vessels in port. Great quan- 
 tities of clothing were distributed, in 
 which the soldiers and attendants made 
 a respectable, though incongruous spec- 
 tacle. Gaudily colored uniforms, richly 
 bedizened with gold lace ; chapeaux, 
 boots, plumes, silk stockings, satins, vel- 
 vets, broadcloths, tapas and calicoes ; 
 gold watches, canes and jewelry ; feather 
 cloaks, helmets and kahilis, were seen 
 in the throng. Some wore dresses 
 fashioned by foreign artisans ; others, a 
 mixture of the past and present costumes. 
 Brilliant silks, wrapped in many folds, 
 encircled the waists of portly dames, 
 while flower wreaths, or hair necklaces, 
 negligently rested upon their exposed 
 bosoms. A dinner was prepared and 
 served in European style ; and through- 
 out the whole, notwithstanding the quan- 
 tity of ardent spirit consumed, an un- 
 usual decorum prevailed. Eighty dogs 
 formed a portion of the viands. The 
 common orders indulged in excesses of 
 the vilest description. 
 
 The anniversary of the national in- 
 dependence of the United States of North 
 America, was celebrated on the fourth 
 of July, in a more rational manner. An 
 oration was delivered in the mission 
 chapel, by J. C. Jones, Esq., acting 
 American consul, and a poem recited by 
 Mr. Bingham. A prayer was also offered 
 and a psalm sung. After which the 
 company adjourned to a public dinner, 
 the king with the principal foreign resi- 
 dents being present. 
 
 The first Christian marriage was cele- 
 brated, August 11, between two con- 
 verted natives. On the 13th, Kaumualii 
 and Kaahumanu, with a retinue of nearly 
 twelve hundred people, sailed for Kauai. 
 Four small vessels conveyed this multi- 
 tude, which crowded their decks, and 
 even occupied the chains, tops and bow- 
 sprits. Previous to their departure Kaa- 
 humanu issued a general ordinance 
 against drunkenness, which was pro- 
 claimed by public criers thoughout the 
 town of Honolulu. The object of the 
 voyage was to collect the annual tribute 
 of sandal- wood. While they were on the 
 island, the wife of the governor, Keeau- 
 moku, died. Though none of the prin- 
 
 cipal chiefs joined in the ceremonies, the 
 heathen customs of sacrifices of animals, 
 with chants and prayers, were practiced 
 for several successive days. In Decem- 
 ber following they returned. A few days 
 afterward a young member of the royal 
 family died, and at the request of his 
 relatives received a Christian burial. It 
 is necessary to notice many events of 
 little interest by themselves, but proper 
 to record, that the gradual development 
 of the spirit of Christianity, with its fre- 
 quent fluctuations, may be clearly traced. 
 Upon the departure of the English 
 deputation, Captain Kent, with whom 
 they sailed, was charged with the fol- 
 lowing letter to the King of England. 
 Though it bears the signature of Liho- 
 liho, it was not written by him, but was 
 supposed to convey his real sentiments. 
 Towards the ship's company he behaved 
 with a liberality worthy of his father. 
 
 " Oahu, Sandwich Islands, August 21, 1822. 
 " MAY IT PLEASE YOUR MAJESTY : 
 
 "In answer to your Majesty's letter from Governor 
 Macquarrie, I beg to return your Majesty my most 
 grateful thanks for your handsome present of the 
 schooner, Prince Regent, which I have received at the 
 hands of Mr. J. R. Kent. 
 
 " I avail myself of this opportunity of acquainting 
 your Majesty of the death of my father, Kamehameha, 
 who departed this life the 8th of May, 1819, much la- 
 mented by his subjects ; and, having appointed me his 
 successor, I have enjoyed a happy reign ever since that 
 period; and I assure your Majesty it is my sincere 
 wish to be thought as worthy your attention as my 
 father had the happiness to be during the visit of Cap- 
 tain Vancouver. The whole of these islands having 
 been conquered by my father, I have succeeded to the 
 government of them, and beg leave to place them all 
 under the protection of your most excellent Majesty ; 
 wishing to observe peace with all nations, and to be 
 thought worthy the confidence I place in your Majes- 
 ty's wisdom and judgment. 
 
 " The former idolatrous system has been abolished 
 in these Islands, as we wish the Protestant religion of 
 your Majesty's dominions to be practiced here. I hope 
 your Majesty may deem it fit to answer this as soon as 
 convenient; and your Majesty's counsel and advice 
 will be most thankfully received by your Majesty's 
 most obedient and devoted servant, 
 
 "KAMEHAMEHA II., 
 " King of the Sandwich Islands. 
 
 " To GEOBGE IV., King of England." 
 
 Notwithstanding efforts made to in- 
 duce the king entirely to abandon his 
 studies, and give himself up once more 
 to debauchery, he persevered and suc- 
 ceeded in acquiring the elements of in- 
 struction, while the truths of Christian- 
 ity were acknowledged by his intellect, 
 though set at nought by his conduct. 
 Of their requirements he was not wholly 
 ignorant before the arrival of the mis- 
 sionaries. When one of his wives, soon 
 after the Thaddeus anchored at Kailua, 
 urged their being permitted to remain, 
 
u 
 
 HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 Ill 
 
 jocosely observed, "If I do, I shall be 
 obliged to put you away, for their reli- 
 gion allows but one wife." The interest 
 of the other chiefs daily became more 
 
 apparent, 
 claimed a 
 
 In February, 1823, they pro- 
 
 aw for the public observance 
 of the Sabbath, and imposed a fine of one 
 dollar upon all who should be guilty of 
 laboring upon that day. This was the 
 dawning of that legislation which was af- 
 terwards so violently opposed by foreign- 
 ers, and finally resulted in bringing the 
 chiefs and missionaries into intimate re- 
 lations. It will be seen that it bore the 
 arbitrary impress of the old. It was nat- 
 ural for them to suppose that by the sim- 
 ple promulgation of their will the natives 
 could be compelled to observe the new 
 doctrines. Externally it proved the case. 
 Many became convinced of their truth 
 and utility, though clinging to past li- 
 cense ; the flesh pots of Egypt were not 
 to be forgotten in a day ; with a few, 
 they produced a thorough reformation. 
 Among the most prominent was a blind 
 bard, of the name of Puaaiki, who after- 
 ward received the baptismal name of 
 Bartimeus. His memory was prodigious. 
 Versed in all their former history, he 
 became an equal adept in the instruc- 
 tions oi the new teachers. Not a thought 
 was uttered, or advice given, but he 
 treasured it up. He soon became a 
 valuable acquisition to the mission, and 
 qualified to impart wisdom to others. 
 To his death he could repeat sermons 
 delivered by the earliest missionaries, 
 and his life gave evidence of the sincer- 
 ity of his conversion. 
 
 In March, 1823, Hoapili was sent with 
 Keopuolani, whom he had married, to 
 Maui, as governor. Puaaiki was receiv- 
 ed into their family as a domestic chap- 
 lain. Previous to this, on the 27th of 
 April, the ship Thames arrived from 
 America, bringing a large missionary re- 
 inforcement. They were cordially wel- 
 comed ; some of the chiefs were really 
 desirous of securing them in their fam- 
 ilies as religious teachers, while all re- 
 ceived them as public benefactors. The 
 Utility of writing, by the knowledge of 
 which their orders were transmitted with 
 so much ease and accuracy, with other 
 useful arts derived from the mission, 
 had created a powerful revolution in 
 
 their favor. All the distrust which had 
 been so signally manifested in 1520, was 
 now removed. Liholiho, notwithstand- 
 ing his constant strait for money, remit- 
 ted the harbor fees, amounting to one 
 hundred and sixty dollars, both to the 
 vessel that brought Mr. Ellis, and the 
 Thames. To the captain of the latter 
 he addressed a letter, of which the fol- 
 lowing is a literal translation : 
 
 " To CAPTAIN CLASBY : 
 
 " Love to you. This is my communication to you. 
 You have done well in bringing hither the new teach- 
 ers. You shall pay nothing on account of the harbor 
 no, nothing at all. 
 
 " Grateful affection to you, 
 
 'LIHOLIHO IOLANI."* 
 
 On the 26th of the same month his 
 majesty held his annual festival in cele- 
 bration of the death of Kamehameha I. 
 On this occasion he provided a dinner in 
 a rural bower, for two hundred individ- 
 uals. The missionaries and all respect- 
 able foreigners were present ; the dresses 
 were an improvement upon the costumes 
 of the preceding year. Black was the 
 court color, and every individual was re- 
 quired to be clothed in its sombre hue. 
 Kamamalu appeared greatly to advant- 
 age. The company were all liberally 
 provided for by her attentions, and even 
 a party of sailors, to the number of two 
 hundred, who were looking on with wist- 
 ful eyes, were served with refreshments. 
 While at the table, a procession of four 
 hundred natives appeared in single file, 
 clad in white, and deposited their taxes 
 at the feet of the king. The festival was 
 prolonged for several days, and was con- 
 cluded by a procession in honor of his 
 five queens. Its ceremonies were strik- 
 ing and interesting; the more so as being 
 the last national exhibition of their most 
 ancient customs, combined with the 
 splendor derived from commerce, and 
 arranged by their taste. Kamamalu was 
 the most conspicuous personage in the 
 ranks.! She was seated in a whale-boat, 
 placed upon a frame of wicker-work, 
 borne on the shoulders of seventy men. 
 The boat and the platform, which was 
 thirty feet long by twelve wide, were 
 overspread by costly broadcloth, relieved 
 by the richest colored and most beautiful 
 tapas. The carriers marched in a solid 
 phalanx, the outer ranks of which wore 
 
 * A favorite name of his. t Stewart's Journal, p 91. 
 
HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 112 
 
 a uniform of yellow and scarlet feather 
 cloaks, and superb helmets of the same 
 material. The queen's dress was a scar- 
 let silk mantle, and a feather coronet. 
 An immense Chinese umbrella, richly 
 gilded and decorated with tassels and 
 fringes of the same gaudy color, support- 
 ed by a chief, wearing a helmet, screen- 
 ed her from the sun. Kalaimoku and 
 Naihe stood behind her on either quar- 
 ter of the boat, both with malos, or gir- 
 dles of scarlet-colored silk, and lofty 
 helmets. Each bore a kahili, the staff 
 of royalty ; these were nearly thirty feet 
 high, the upper part being arranged so 
 as to form a column or plume of scarlet 
 feathers of a foot and a half in diameter, 
 and from twelve to fourteen feet long ; 
 the handles were surrounded with alter- 
 nate ivory and tortoise-shell rings, beau- 
 tifully wrought and highly polished. 
 More magnificent insignia of rank, con- 
 veying at once the ideas of grandeur, state 
 and beauty, as they towered and grace- 
 fully nodded above the multitude, were 
 never devised by barbarians. 
 
 Kinau and Kekauonohi, appeared in 
 similar pomp, and in lieu of a boat, were 
 mounted upon double canoes. The prince 
 and princess wore simply the native cos- 
 tume ; the malo and pau, made from 
 scarlet silk. Their carriage consisted of 
 four Chinese field bedsteads, fastened to- 
 gether, covered with handsome native 
 cloth, and surmounted with canopies and 
 drapery of yellow figured moreen. Hoa- 
 pili and Kaikioewa, the one bearing a 
 dish of baked dog, the other a calabash 
 of poi, and another of raw fish, the prime 
 articles of Hawaiian diet, followed them 
 as servants ; this was indicative of their 
 comparative relations to the royal chil- 
 dren, notwithstanding their own proud j 
 lineage, and high offices ; the former be- 
 ing their step-father, and the latter their 
 guardian. 
 
 The dresses of the queens-dowager 
 were remarkable for their size and ex- 
 pense. Seventy-two yards of cassimere 
 of double fold, half orange and half scar- 
 let, were wrapped around the figure of 
 one, till her arms were sustained by the 
 mass in a horizontal position, while the 
 remainder, forming an extensive train, 
 was supported by a retinue selected for 
 that purpose. 
 
 Pauahi, when an infant, experienced a 
 narrow escape from being burnt to death, 
 from an accidental ignition of gunpow- 
 der, by which five men were killed, her 
 house destroyed, and she badly injured. 
 Hence her name, pau, completed, and 
 ahi, fire. To commemorate this event, 
 after performing her part in the proces- 
 sion, she alighted from her couch, and 
 set it on fire, with all its expensive dec- 
 orations ; reserving only a handkerchief, 
 as an apology for a covering, she threw 
 all of her dress into the flames ; her at- 
 tendants imitated her example, and a 
 valuable amount of cloth, both native 
 and foreign, was consumed. 
 
 The richness and variety of the dress- 
 es and colors, and the exhibition of the 
 wealth and power of the chiefs, their 
 hereditary symbols of rank, the stately 
 kahilis, splendid cloaks and helmets, and 
 necklaces of feathers, intermingled with 
 the brilliant hues and deep green of the 
 flowers and wreaths, from their native 
 forests, rendered the spectacle at once 
 unique and attractive. Groups of dancers 
 and singers, to the number of several 
 hundred, accompanied the procession, 
 enthusiastically shouting their adula- 
 tions in the willing ears of their chiefs. 
 The beating of drums and other rude 
 music, swelled the wild notes of their 
 songs, and the acclamations of thousands 
 of voices, with the heavy tramp of their 
 feet, broke in upon the deep-toned cho- 
 ruses and thrilling responses. Amid the 
 throng the king, with his suite, excited 
 by the revelry of a week's duration, 
 mounted upon saddleless horses, rode 
 recklessly about ; a body-guard of fifty 
 men, dressed in shabby uniform, follow- 
 ed by a multitude, shouting and cheer- 
 ing, endeavored to keep pace with the 
 royal troop. 
 
 In September, Keopuolani was taken 
 ill ; all the principal chiefs assembled at 
 Lahaina and wailed around her couch. 
 As her disease gained ground, the utmost 
 affection and grief were manifested by 
 all classes. Among the people, alarm 
 for the consequences of her death pre- 
 vailed. Being the highest female chief, 
 the usual excesses were expected to 
 ensue. Many natives fled to the moun- 
 tains ; the foreigners prepared to retreat 
 to the shipping, and urged the mission- 
 
HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 rls 
 
 aries to follow their example. For a year 
 previous, Keopuolani had expressed a 
 deep interest in the instructions of the 
 missionaries, and her deportment gave 
 evidence of a decided change of charac- 
 ter. Having given sincere proofs of her 
 conversion, the rites of baptism were ad- 
 ministered. Her dying counsel was di- 
 rected to the religious welfare of her 
 relatives and people. She strove to in- 
 fluence the king to abandon his cups, and 
 for a few weeks he continued perfectly 
 sober. She enjoined, and her wishes 
 were proclaimed as laws by Liholiho and 
 Kalaimoku, that no heathen rites should 
 be observed at her death. So public an 
 example, from the highest authority, of 
 the breaking down of usages, sanctioned 
 by the custom of centuries, proved their 
 death blow. Once abrogated, few could 
 regret the attendant disorder, debauch- 
 ery and crime. On the 16th she died. 
 Her remains were interred in accordance 
 with her desires ; but the deep wailings 
 of the people were not to be suppressed, 
 though the rites of Christian sepulture 
 were hers. The corpse, covered with a 
 rich pall, was borne by the five queens 
 of Liholiho and the wife of Boki ; around 
 it were the family as principal mourners. 
 Chiefs and people, foreigners and mis- 
 sionaries, joined in the procession, bear- 
 ing badges of mourning, while the toll- 
 ing of the bell, and the firing of minute 
 guns proclaimed its solemn progress, un- 
 til it reached the stone tomb prepared 
 for its reception. As was customary, the 
 relatives erected little booths in its vicin- 
 ity, in which they dwelt for a season. 
 The people of the district were employed 
 in removing the stones of a dilapidated 
 heiau, to form a wall around her burial 
 place. All the chiefs, except the king 
 and Hoapili, assisted in this labor with 
 their own hands ; and the singular spec- 
 tacle was presented of the portly Kaahu- 
 manu,and her almost equally bulky hus- 
 band carrying large stones, while stout 
 men walked lazily beside them, bearing 
 nothing but light feathered staffs, the 
 badges of their authority. 
 
 Keopuolani was born in 1778; she had 
 given birth to eleven children, of whom 
 Liholiho was the second. He, with the 
 young prince and princess were all that 
 survived. 
 
 15 
 
 In proportion as the mission flourished, 
 and the doctrines of Christianity began 
 to have a perceptible influence upon the 
 acts of the government and the character 
 of the nation, in like manner did the op- 
 position increase. JNo artifice was too 
 low, nor falsehood too gross, for its pur- 
 poses. In most cases, the vileness of the 
 one, and the shallowness of the other, 
 defeated their design. As the narrative 
 proceeds, the nature and design of the 
 enmity to the spread of Christianity will 
 be more clearly seen. Originating, as 
 has been shown, in a few vagabonds, the 
 contamination gradually spread to per- 
 sons, if not of better principles, of more 
 knowledge ; and the falsities so diligent- 
 ly uttered by the former, found their 
 way into journals and reviews, whose 
 editors would have shrunk from contact 
 with their authors, as from plague-spots, 
 had they but known them. In no place 
 has the triumph of the cross been more 
 signal than at the Hawaiian Islands ; in 
 none other has enmity been more bit- 
 terly manifested. Instead of adducing 
 arguments against supposed faults of 
 the system, or affording any tangible 
 ground on which to base an attack, the 
 characters of its advocates were assailed 
 by the grossest calumnies, and the faith 
 and resolution of its converts, by the 
 most artful designs. Those who so 
 prominently figured in these attempts, 
 had the satisfaction occasionally to wit- 
 ness the instructions of the benevolent 
 made abortive, and grief, misery and 
 shame carried into families which else 
 would have continued in well-doing. 
 While the death-bed scene remained 
 fresh in the memory of the king, his 
 conduct was that of a reclaimed man ; 
 but in an evil hour, he listened to the 
 desires of some whites, who persuaded 
 him to visit a vessel, under the pretence 
 of showing him some new goods. Sev- 
 eral dinner parties had been provided 
 for him previously on the Sabbath, w r hich 
 he had uniformly declined attending. 
 But in this instance, suspecting no sinis- 
 ter object, he went on board. The favor- 
 ite liquors were proffered, which he re- 
 fused. A bottle of cherry -brandy was 
 then produced, an article he had never 
 seen, and which, being told it would not 
 intoxicate, he tasted. The insatiable 
 
114 
 
 HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLAND 3. 
 
 thirst was aroused, and his entertainers 
 plied the glasses until the king, request- 
 ing some to carry ashore, prepared for a 
 revel. Not content with this, the sacred 
 forms of religion were made a scorn 
 and by-word. One chief was taught to 
 call his fellow, as a nickname, Jehovah. 
 A foreigner engaged in mock prayer 
 before Kuakini, while another wrote the 
 vilest words of the English language 
 for his perusal. 
 
 Hoapili set an example of further in- 
 novation upon their customs. Instead 
 of selecting a number of wives as soon 
 as the corpse of his consort was re- 
 moved, to be changed at will, he waited 
 more than a month, and then was joined 
 in matrimony to Kalakua, who took the 
 name of Hoapiliwahine. The ceremony 
 was performed October 19th, in church, 
 by the Rev. Wm. JRichards. This was 
 the more to his credit, as there were 
 five candidates for his household from 
 among the highest females. 
 
 About this time, Liholiho began to 
 entertain a design of visiting England 
 and the United States. Beside the 
 natural curiosity for viewing foreign 
 lands, he was desirous of an interview 
 with the governments, and entering into 
 formal relations with them. In October, 
 a council was held at Lahaina, in which, 
 after a full discussion, it was decided 
 that he should embark in the English 
 ship EAigle, Captain Starbuck. Ka- 
 mamalu, his favorite wife, Bold and 
 Liliha, Kapihe and Kekuanaoa, with a 
 Steward and a few male servants, were 
 to accompany him. It was the wish of 
 the king and the chiefs, that Mr. Ellis 
 should go with him to act as interpreter 
 and counselor. A large sum was offered 
 for his passage. Captain Starbuck al- 
 ledging his inability to provide accom- 
 modations for his family, he was com- 
 pelled to remain. Kauikeouli was ap- 
 pointed successor to the throne in case 
 the king never returned, and Was also 
 made heir to his private lands. The 
 government was to be administered by 
 the chiefs in council, the regency being 
 invested in Kaahumanu, with Kalaimo- 
 ku as prime minister. November 18th, 
 the royal train went on board the 
 L J Aigle^ and under a salute from all 
 the snipping and batteries, sailed in com* 
 
 pany with ten other vessels for Oahu. 
 On the 27th, the L'Aigle left Honolulu, 
 amid the sad forebodings of the people. 
 Kamamalu remained on shore to the 
 last, mingling her tears with those of 
 her attendants, to whom her amiability 
 and attention to domestic concerns had 
 greatly endeared her. Before stepping 
 into the boat, after the manner of her 
 forefathers, she thus chanted her fare- 
 well : " O ! heaven ; O ! earth ; O ! 
 mountains ; O ! sea ; O ! my counselors 
 and my subjects, farewell. O ! thou 
 land for which my father suffered, the 
 object of toil which my father sought. 
 We now leave thy soil; I follow thy 
 command; I will never disregard thy 
 voice; I will walk by the command 
 which thou hast given me." Salutes 
 were fired, and the ship soon disap- 
 peared before a favorable breeze. 
 
 While preparations for sailing were 
 being made, Rives, the Frenchman, en- 
 deavored to persuade his royal master 
 to permit him to join the train. Not 
 wishing to disgrace his retinue by such 
 an appendage, he refused; but Rives 
 managed to convey himself aboard by 
 stealth, and after the vessel was under- 
 way, baggageless as he was, contrived 
 to secure permission to remain. Boki, 
 though of inferior talents to his brother, 
 was as good a specimen of the chiefs, as 
 Kamamalu of the beauties of her native 
 islands. She was then twenty-six years 
 of age. 
 
 Upon the first arrival of the mission 
 families, they suffered from the thieving 
 propensities of the natives, who did not 
 consider it disgraceful to pilfer from the 
 whites, as they had so much property ; 
 even the chiefs indulged in the practice, 
 and kept professed thieves. But as they 
 became convinced of its dishonesty, they 
 exerted themselves to eradicate the habit. 
 The most decisive measure for its sup- 
 pression, was performed in December of 
 this year by the young prince. His 
 JCahii, to whom he was strongly at- 
 tached, and who had borne him in his 
 arms since his birth, was detected in 
 stealing. The prince immediately ex- 
 pelled him from his household and gave 
 the office to another petty chief. 
 
 At Kailua, Kuakini built a house of 
 worship within the inclosure of a ruined 
 
HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 115 
 
 temple, at which the average attendance 
 on the Sabbath was eight hundred. 
 Other chiefs united with him in enforc- 
 ing the observance of the day. Kapio- 
 lani dismissed all of her husbands but 
 Naihe; became temperate, and to her 
 death, in 1841, was a sincere believer. 
 No other female adopted more thoroughly 
 the habits of civilized life. Her house 
 was tastefully arranged and furnished, 
 and she was excelled by none in neat- 
 ness, and attention to all her duties. 
 
 Keeaumoku, governor of Kauai, died 
 on March 23d, 1824. On the 26th of 
 the following May, the ex-king of Kauai 
 breathed his last. No chief had won 
 more upon the affections of the mission- 
 aries. He had been an intelligent con- 
 vert, and, toward the latter part of his 
 life, was active in exhorting his country- 
 men to cast aside their vain supersti- 
 tions and embrace the truth. He was 
 remarkable for his personal beauty and 
 dignified and gentlemanly manners. 
 His dominions were bequeathed to Liho- 
 liho, to be held in trust by Kaahumanu 
 and Kalaimoku. According to his last 
 request, his remains were carried to La- 
 haina, and deposited by the side of Keo- 
 puolani, to whom he had been closely 
 united in friendship. 
 
 On the 30th, the chapel at Honolulu 
 was destroyed by an incendiary; Kalai- 
 moku, in a few weeks, caused another 
 and more spacious one to be erected. 
 
 When the news of the death of Kau- 
 mualii reached Kauai, the people broke 
 through all restraint and renewed their 
 heathen practices. Riot, pillage, licen- 
 tiousness, knocking out of teeth, and 
 mutilation of limbs, spread over the isl- 
 and. During this general anarchy they 
 prepared for war, as it was thought a 
 favorable time to throw off the yoke. 
 The nephew of Kalaimoku, Kahalaia, a 
 cruel and weak man, had been appointed 
 governor. No sooner had he landed 
 than the Kauaians manifested their de- 
 testation of him by the destruction of 
 public property and other acts of insub- 
 ordination. In two weeks, Kalaimoku, 
 accompanied by Kekauluohi, arrived to 
 receive the submission of the chiefs, ar- 
 range the affairs of the island and look 
 after the wreck of the Pride of Hawaii. 
 On landing at Hanalei, they narrowly 
 
 escaped seizure and assassination. In 
 a council at VVaimea, the Kauai chiefs 
 demanded a new division of lands and 
 property, which Kalaimoku, in obedience 
 to the will of Kaumualii, refused. 
 
 George Kaumualii, or Humehume, as 
 he was called by his countrymen, had 
 rapidly degenerated in character since 
 his arrival. Elated by the honors con- 
 ferred upon him, he aspired to greater 
 consequence. Upon the arrival of Ka- 
 laimoku at Waimea, he with other chiefs 
 hastened to tender their gifts. Kiaima- 
 kani, the most active of the dissatisfied 
 chiefs, meeting them, proposed to pro- 
 claim Humehume their ruler. " Come 
 with us you shall be our king; the 
 islands are yours, as they were your 
 father's. Much will we fight for you." 
 He immediately joined their party. On 
 the 8th of August Humehume, at the 
 head of a numerous but undisciplined 
 band, attacked the fort at Wairnea. The 
 rebels suddenly entering the gates, got 
 possession of the magazine and armory. 
 Instead of following up their success by 
 quietly putting to death the few soldiers 
 that were mostly sleeping or but half 
 armed, the principal part of the garrison 
 being encamped outside with Kalaimo- 
 ku, they vain-gloriously fired their guns. 
 This aroused the main body, who join- 
 ing those inside the fort, after some 
 sharp fighting, and losing six of their 
 number, drove the rebels out, with the 
 loss of ten. In this attack, Kalaimoku 
 narrowly escaped with his life. Among 
 the killed on his side were two English- 
 men. Messrs. Bingham and Whitney, 
 with their families, resided in a house 
 near the walls, and were repeatedly en- 
 dangered by the balls of both parties. 
 As soon as the fight terminated, Kalai- 
 moku sent for them, knowing that they 
 would be exposed to the fury of the 
 disappointed chiefs who were mostly 
 pagans. As he was still closely besieged 
 in the fort, he advised them to take pas- 
 sage in the schooner which he was on 
 the point of despatching for Oahu with 
 news of the insurrection. Accordingly 
 they embarked ; with them went a fine 
 looking young chief, who had been made 
 prisoner. Knowing the fate that awaited 
 him, he requested to be shot, but was 
 carried on board and confined. When 
 
116 
 
 HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 midway between the two islands, he was | kindness to him was unremitting, both 
 sent for; " I know what you want," he j for the sake of his old friend the late 
 replied, as he manfully ascended the j king, and a feeling of compassion for 
 companion-ladder. Hardly had his feet j the folly and indiscretion of George, 
 touched the deck, when a knife was who had been made a mere tool in the 
 passed through him, and his body im- hands of the conspirators. He kept him 
 mediately thrown overboard. A number j near his person, and allowed him only 
 of lesser note were served in the same ! to eat of the food prepared for himself, 
 manner ; a method of disposing of state I for there were many who desired to 
 prisoners which had been adopted in take his life, and would not have hesi- 
 lieu of the former sacrifices. tated at treachery when force was found 
 
 Had the widow of Kaumualii, the re- j unavailing. Kalaimoku shortly after 
 pudiated Kapule, who was greatly be- sent him to Honolulu, where he con 
 
 loved, joined the rebels, the consequences 
 would have been much more serious. 
 Her loyalty and firmness preserved many 
 true to the will of their late king ; and 
 her exertions, though poorly repaid, were 
 considered as highly serviceable. The 
 news of the war created a great excite- 
 ment at the windward islands. When 
 the intelligence reached Oahu, the en- 
 thusiasm was so great that the people 
 rushed to the fort and demanded arms, 
 that they might embark immediately for 
 Kauai. Runners spread the cry of 
 " rebellion " over the island. The ves- 
 sels in the harbor were quickly filled 
 with warriors, who embarked in such 
 haste as almost to neglect arming them- 
 selves, and without provisions of any 
 kind, they sailed without delay for the 
 seat of war. One was detained to carry 
 arms and munitions. The chiefs pre- 
 pared energetically to crush the insur- 
 rection, but the people, in many places 
 left to themselves, indulged in riot and 
 dissipation. A thousand warriors, headed 
 by Hoapili, Kahekili and Kaikioewa, re- 
 inforced Kalaimoku. A skirmish en- 
 sued between the hostile parties at Wa- 
 hiawa; the numbers and ardor of the 
 government troops soon dispersed the 
 rebels, and they fled in all directions, 
 leaving the ground strewn with slain, 
 among whom was Kiaimakani. In the 
 action and pursuit one hundred and 
 
 thirty were slaughtered ; of the loyalists | amination of schools, Kaahumanu was 
 but one fell. George Kaumualii fled to the first pupil examined. A feeble at- 
 the mountains, where after enduring tempt was made, by a few individuals 
 great misery and privation for two of rank, whose desires yearned toward 
 months, he was captured. Kalaimoku the old deeds of revelry, to revive dances 
 had issued the most positive orders, that and other idolatrous practices. The 
 he should be taken alive and unharmed, ! young princess was persuaded to engage 
 even if he made resistance to the at- in a heathen sacrifice. Wahinepio, sis- 
 tacking party. After his capture, his I ter .to Kalaimoku, was the most active 
 
 tinued in honorable captivity until his 
 death, which happened not long after. 
 
 After the first resentment had sub- 
 sided, the victors treated the conquered 
 with a moderation before unknown in 
 their contests. This was owing to the 
 advice of the missionaries, who on this 
 occasion openly counseled them " to 
 proceed with confidence and courage 
 that a just God would give them the 
 victory since the blame was evidently 
 on the side of the enemy." Kaahumanu 
 and the other principal chiefs arriving 
 at Kauai, a grand council was held for 
 the final settlement of the island. It 
 was formally annexed to the kingdom of 
 Liholiho, and Kaikioewa appointed gov- 
 ernor. The disaffected chiefs and their 
 tenants were distributed among the 
 other islands, where it would be impos- 
 sible for them to combine in another 
 conspiracy. Their lands were divided 
 among the loyal favorites and chiefs, 
 who filled the minor offices with their 
 creatures. The poor serfs were looked 
 upon in the contemptuous light of con- 
 quered rebels, and for many years 
 groaned under the heavy exactions of 
 their new lords. 
 
 The desire of education daily grew 
 more popular. Before the expiration of 
 the year, two thousand had learned to 
 read, and fifty natives were qualified as 
 elementary teachers. At a public ex- 
 
HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 Ill 
 
 of this party, which originated from a 
 lingering faith in the superstition of 
 " praying to death." Whatever belonged 
 to a chief was carefully disposed of, to 
 prevent any one inimical from obtaining 
 an article which would give them the 
 power of causing a mortal illness. A 
 portion of the wardrobe of the princess 
 which had been cast aside, was secretly 
 buried in the sea ; but one of the dresses, 
 it was supposed, had been stolen by a 
 sorcerer, and her attendants prevailed 
 upon her to offer a sacrifice, as the only 
 means of averting the evil. This was 
 covertly done at a village eight miles 
 from Lahaina; that place being sup- 
 posed to be too much under the influ- 
 ence of Jehovah to ensure success. This 
 is only worthy of note as being the last 
 heathen rite of this character, sanc- 
 tioned by the authority of a high chief. 
 The principal rulers not only were 
 now favorers of the mission, but sincere 
 converts to Christianity. Old as were 
 many, they acquired the art of writing, 
 and wrote letters of gratitude to the 
 patrons of the mission in America. That 
 fierce warrior and sagacious statesman, 
 Kalaimoku, gave the last hours of his 
 active life to the support of its doctrines. 
 By example, he exhibited their benefi- 
 cial effects, and by authority, brought 
 their influence to bear upon the nation. 
 But no brighter change was seen, than 
 in Kaahumanu. In the days of her 
 heathenism, she was a cruel, haughty, 
 imperious woman; the glance of her 
 angry eye carried terror to all her obse- 
 quious and crouching vassals ; not a 
 subject, however high his station, dared 
 face her frown. Many suffered death in 
 her moments of irritation : her carriage 
 was pride itself; for among those who 
 held rank in the greatest estimation, she 
 was the proudest. Though friendly at 
 first to the missionaries, her deportment 
 was lofty and disdainful. Their courte- 
 sies were met with an averted eye, and 
 her little finger simply extended to a 
 proffered hand. Her decision, energy 
 and ability, united as they were in har- 
 mony with the experience and good 
 judgment of Kalaimoku, extricated the 
 nation from difficulties into which it 
 was frequently involved, by the follies 
 and extravagance of the king. Their 
 
 sternness humbled the most rebellious, 
 and preserved order amid many trying 
 scenes. By them the designs of evil- 
 minded foreigners were nipped in the 
 bud; their cunning and temptations 
 availing little against the superior pene- 
 tration of these chiefs. 
 
 After her conversion r her violent pas- 
 sions were checked; the cold and con- 
 temptuous behavior gave way before the 
 strong, natural flow of affection. To 
 the missionaries she became warmly at- 
 tached ; and among her own people, and 
 even foreigners, her character was so 
 entirely altered, her deportment so con- 
 sistent with the principles of her faith, 
 that none could doubt its sincerity. " The 
 new and good Kaahumanu," passed into 
 a proverb. 
 
 The same activity and firmness which 
 were infused into all her former acts, 
 became united with real desires for the 
 welfare of her subjects. Close attention 
 was given to all affairs of government. 
 Idols were ferreted out and destroyed ; 
 the people exhorted to forsake their 
 vices, and schools encouraged. The 
 machinery of the old system, which 
 centered all power in the hands of the 
 chiefs, in whom, it may with propriety 
 be said the nation was individualized, 
 was brought to aid the moral reform. 
 The will of the rulers being the will of 
 the populace, the revolution that followed 
 was not surprising. As the weather- 
 cock is affected by the wind, so was 
 public opinion at this era, by the exam- 
 ple of the chiefs. Providentially, they 
 had become Christians. Its pure doc- 
 trines were manifested in the lives of a 
 few of all degrees, but with the mass it 
 was an external habit, like the clothes 
 borrowed from civilization. For centu- 
 ries the temporal and spiritual govern- 
 ments had been closely united. As it 
 was impossible to enlighten the minds 
 of the chiefs in the same ratio as their 
 morals, or at once to infuse into mon- 
 archists the democratic tendencies of 
 the age, this same principle was incor- 
 porated with all their new acts. So 
 habituated had they become to swaying 
 the public by simple expressions of will, 
 that in their zeal for the diffusion of 
 Christianity, they blindly pursued the 
 same course. In moral deg;adation,the 
 
118 
 
 HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 minds of all had heretofore been upon a 
 level, and it was as easy to agitate the 
 mass by an edict or example, as to stir 
 the waters of a calm lake by the casting 
 of a stone. But there now existed a 
 wide difference. The gale in its violence 
 may flatten the sea, but when it lulls, the 
 commotion becomes deeper and stronger 
 than before. It will be perceived that, 
 whenever the powerful arm of govern- 
 ment was manifested, vice and corruption 
 cowed their heads and pursued their ends 
 covertly ; a great apparent moral revo- 
 lution occurred, which the missionaries, 
 not rightly understanding, were led to 
 exaggerate. 
 
 At this time commenced the cry against 
 the missionaries, that they meddled in 
 government affairs. So far as their in- 
 fluence affected the chiefs this was true. 
 That they gave advice in emergencies, 
 when asked, is evident from the humane 
 influence they exerted, and the encour- 
 agement they afforded the loyal chiefs in 
 the late rebellion at Kauai. It may be 
 that they were not always sufficiently 
 frank and open in it, and shrunk unneces- 
 sarily from encountering boldly the oppo- 
 sition when their assistance would have 
 been serviceable to the chiefs ; or they 
 rendered it in too cautious and non-com- 
 mittal a manner for it to avail much at a 
 crisis, though it effected much in the gen- 
 eral issue. The charge was raised by 
 the same class of individuals who as ac- 
 tively endeavored to corrupt the chiefs. 
 They had perseveringly tried to influ- 
 ence the government to continue in vice ; 
 yet with an inconsistency to which they 
 seem to have been entirely blind, they 
 charged those whose lives and instruc- 
 tions were devoted to removing evil, with 
 endeavoring unworthily to effect what 
 they were themselves pursuing. In the 
 struggle, religion prevailed, and the dis- 
 comfitted assailants at once exclaimed, 
 church and state ; by-words well calcu- 
 lated to impress those ignorant of the 
 nature of the Hawaiian policy, with the 
 idea that the missionaries sought to in- 
 corporate the two, and fatten upon both. 
 They found them united by the alliance 
 of ages ; it is not politic, even if possi- 
 ble, for man rudely to sweep away the 
 prejudices of a nation. It will be found 
 that, although the missionaries erred in 
 
 judgment in some points, the general 
 influence of their body, as it increased, 
 was to widen these distinctions and en- 
 large the liberty of the subject. In the 
 early stage of their career, the strong 
 attachment of the rulers to their teach- 
 ers, and the inseparable policy of the 
 government with the religion it fostered, 
 caused its precepts to be felt in every 
 political movement ; the missionaries 
 were truly and rightfully the active cau- 
 ses ; but with the authorities lay the 
 errors of execution. 
 
 No more positive proof exists, of the 
 hold which the mission was acquiring in 
 the affections of the government, and 
 their appreciation of its motives, than 
 the liberal aid furnished in furtherance 
 of their views, and in securing suitable 
 accommodations for their families. In 
 March, 1825, the whaler Almira arrived, 
 bringing supplies gratuitously for the 
 mission. As soon as this fact was made 
 known to Kalaimoku, he remitted one 
 half the customary harbor fees. She also 
 brought intelligence of the deaths of 
 Liholiho and Kamamalu. Kaahumanu 
 and Kalaimoku immediately proposed to 
 address prayers to Almighty God ; they 
 wrote also to the governors of the differ- 
 ent islands, to unite in humbling them- 
 selves before Heaven, to preserve order 
 among their people, and to await the 
 summons for a general council. The 
 letters were signed by Kauikeouli, who, 
 in his official acts, assumed the title of 
 Kamehameha III. The will of the late 
 king in regard to the succession, which 
 delivered the kingdom in trust to Kaahu- 
 manu and Kalaimoku, for the young 
 prince, being well understood, was quiet- 
 ly acquiesced in. 
 
 On the 16th of April, JRichard Charl- 
 ton, Esq., with his lady and her sister, 
 arrived at Honolulu. They were the 
 first European women who became resi- 
 dents. He immediately assumed the 
 duties of his office of Consul for the 
 Hawaiian and Society groups, to which 
 he had been appointed by the govern- 
 ment of England. 
 
BISTORY OF TEE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 119 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Liholiho's passage to England Attention shown to the 
 party Death of King and dueen Boki's interview 
 with George IV. Blonde frigate Arrival at La- 
 haina Honolulu Funeral Obsequies Council of 
 State Speeches Kaahumanu and Kalaimoku pro- 
 claimed Regents Idolatry existing in Hawaii 
 Courage of Kapiolani Singular Creed Outrages of 
 foreign Captains at Lahaina United States schoon- 
 er Dolphin at Honolulu, 1826 Triumph of the liberal 
 party U. S. ship Peacock Origin and structure of 
 parties Character of English Consul His policy- 
 Death of Kalaimoku, 1827 Laws enacted Opposi- 
 tion of foreigners. 
 
 THE motives which occasioned the re- 
 fusal of Captain Starbuck to allow the 
 passage of Mr. Ellis, were soon apparent. 
 The king had placed on board twenty- 
 five thousand dollars in specie to pay his 
 expenses; the regulating of which the 
 captain wished to secure to himself. As- 
 sisted by Rives, whom the historian of 
 the voyage describes as possessing a 
 " low, cunning, and profligate nature," 
 Liholiho was allured to his old practices 
 of gambling and intoxication. The ship 
 put into Rio Janeiro for a short period. 
 The consul-general of England gave a 
 ball for the entertainment of their Ha- 
 waiian majesties, and the Emperor, Don 
 Pedro, treated them with distinguished 
 attention. On the 22d of May, 1824, Cap- 
 tain Starbuck landed his passengers at 
 Portsmouth, England, without making 
 any provision for their comfort. The gov- 
 ernment were apprised of their arrival 
 through the kindness of the owners of the 
 ship. The Hon. F. Byng immediately 
 received the appointment of guardian to 
 the royal cortege, and quarters were pro- 
 vided for them at Osborne's hotel, Lon- 
 don. Their cash chests were forwarded 
 to the Bank of England. On being open- 
 ed, but ten thousand dollars were found ; 
 of the remainder, no account was given 
 by the captain, except a bill of three 
 thousand dollars for expenses incurred 
 at Rio.* 
 
 The appearance of the royal travelers, 
 before suitable dresses were provided, 
 was, for London something novel. 
 Kamamalu exhibited herself in loose 
 trowsers, and a long bed-gown of colored 
 velveteen ; Liliha, in a similar costume. 
 However, the tailors soon fitted the males 
 to the newest cut ; and Parisian modistes 
 clothed the ladies in accordance with the 
 court fashion of the day. Corsets for the 
 first time encircled their ample waists ; 
 
 * Voyage of the Blonde, p. 
 
 and the London fair, in their rage for 
 the strangers, sought patterns of the tur- 
 ban that graced the brow of the queen. 
 The contrast between the simple malo 
 of their deceased father, and the splendid 
 habiliments with which his children were 
 clothed, must have excited curious re- 
 flections in the minds of their attendants. 
 They behaved, however, with propriety ; 
 though on one occasion one of the party 
 seeing a mullet, which resembled the 
 species found in their island waters, seiz- 
 ed it with avidity, and hurried home, 
 where the impatience of the royal guests 
 would not await its dressing. It was de- 
 voured raw, and no doubt was the most 
 savory morsel they tasted while abroad. 
 
 Rives was dismissed from his office of 
 interpreter, on account of repeated ill- 
 behavior, and James Young, a son of the 
 favorite of Kamehameha I., was appoint- 
 ed in his place. The nobility bestowed 
 many flattering attentions upon the par- 
 ty. Their pictures were to be found in 
 every shop window, and the lions of the 
 moment were the savage king and queen 
 of the islands discovered by Cook. They 
 were feasted and flattered ; taken to the 
 shows and sights of the metropolis, and 
 hurried from one route to another with 
 an activity which their ensouciant dispo- 
 sitions and tropical constitutions were 
 poorly calculated to sustain. The chapel 
 of Henry VII., the burial-place of Eng- 
 land's sovereigns, Liholiho could not be 
 prevailed upon to enter, esteeming it too 
 sacred to be profaned by the foot of even 
 a brother monarch. 
 
 On the 12th of June, Manui,the stew- 
 
120 
 
 HISTORY OF TUE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 ard was attacked by the measles; the 
 next day, the king sickened, and by the 
 19th, all of the party were afflicted with 
 the same disease. Dr. Holland attended 
 them ; but in a few days the queen be- 
 came dangerously ill, and a consultation 
 of physicians was held. Boki and Ke- 
 kuanaoa rapidly recovered, and Kapihe 
 soon grew better. On the 4th of July, 
 Liholiho was sufficiently well to give an 
 audience to the newly appointed consul 
 to his dominions. By the 8th, no hopes 
 of the queen were entertained. The 
 mutual grief of the royal couple was af- 
 fecting. They held each other in a 
 warm and protracted embrace, while the 
 thought of dying so early in her career, 
 so far from her loved islands and friends, 
 caused the tears to gush freely. In the 
 evening she died. This sad event so 
 affected the depressed spirits of the king, 
 that although hopes of his recovery had 
 been entertained, he sank rapidly, and 
 on the 14th, after much severe suffering, 
 breathed his last. Previous to his death 
 he drew up a rough memorandum, in 
 which he expressed his wish to have his 
 body and that of his consort conveyed to 
 their native land; his personal effects 
 he distributed among his retinue. 
 
 KAMAMALIT. 
 
 The survivors received much kind- 
 ness, and were taken to such places as 
 were calculated to enlighten their minds, 
 and give them favorable impressions of 
 the power and civilization of England. 
 On the llth of September, George IV. 
 granted them an interview at Windsor, 
 in which he received them courteously, 
 and promised protection, should any 
 power manifest a disposition to encroach 
 upon the sovereignty of their islands. 
 
 Canning, also, was friendly, and held 
 frequent conversations with the party. 
 All their expenses were provided for by 
 government, and the money lodged in 
 the bank of England, returned to them, 
 which they expended in presents for 
 their friends at home. 
 
 The frigate Blonde, commanded by 
 Lord Byron, was ordered to convey to 
 Oahu, the remains of the sovereigns, 
 which had been deposited in lead coffins, 
 enclosed in wood, covered with crimson 
 velvet, and richly ornamented. Suitable 
 inscriptions in English and Hawaiian, 
 gave the rank and age of the deceased. 
 Boki and his followers, embarked at 
 Portsmouth, on the 28th of September. 
 On their voyage they had an opportu- 
 nity of observing several other coun- 
 tries. The frigate touched at Eio, St. 
 Catherines and at Valparaiso, where 
 Kapihe died; also, at Callao and the 
 Galapagos ; thence they sailed to La- 
 haina, Maui. Before their arrival, Li- 
 liha and Kekuanaoa, were baptized, at 
 their request, by the chaplain, Lord 
 Byron standing sponsor. 
 
 On the 4th of May, 1825, the Blonde 
 came in sight of Lahaina. A boat put 
 off from the frigate, containing Boki and 
 his consort, and their suite. The cry 
 spread through the village, " it is Boki, 
 it is Boki ; " and thousands thronged 
 the shore to await his landing. Some 
 began to wail; Hoapili, the father of 
 Liliha, took a seat upon the beach. As 
 she approached the crowd opened a pas- 
 sage for her into the centere of the 
 circle. The wailing gradually increas- 
 ed, until her venerable parent rose from 
 his chair, and, in the words of an eye 
 witness, " with a roar which scarcely 
 resembled the human voice," embraced 
 his daughter. The princess Nahiena- 
 ena then threw herself into Liliha's arms. 
 Hoapili, unable longer to restrain his 
 emotion, cast himself on the dirt at 
 Boki's feet, literally scouring his face in 
 the sand. His example was followed 
 by all the veterans of the court, and the 
 assembled multitude broke forth into a 
 wail, which drowning the roar of the 
 surf, echoed over the hills and carried 
 the tidings far and wide. 
 
 Boki was the first to speak; he in- 
 quired, " where shall we pray." As 
 
HISTORY OF TEE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 121 
 
 soon as the chiefs joined in devotion, 
 the wailing ceased. Boki, after writing 
 to his brother, at Oahu, to apprise him 
 of his arrival, spoke of the voyage and 
 of the kindness he had received from 
 the English nation. He repeated to the 
 people King George's words, "if you 
 wish to have me for your friend, you 
 and your people must all learn to read 
 and write. If you do not attend to in- 
 struction, I shall not be your friend." 
 He also told them that when he inquired 
 of him, " whether it was wise to en- 
 courage the teachers of religion," he re- 
 plied, " yes, they are a people to make 
 others good. I always have some of 
 them by me ; " and spoke of the former 
 barbarous state of Britain, referring to 
 its present condition, as an instance of 
 what Christianity and civilization could 
 accomplish.* 
 
 The Blonde arrived at Honolulu on 
 the 6th and fired a salute which was 
 promptly returned. Boki and his party 
 were received at the landing by all the 
 chiefs, dressed in deep mourning. Files 
 of soldiers kept the crowd at a respect- 
 ful distance. Kaahumanu led the way 
 to the barges, accompanied by her two 
 sisters and the widows of the deceased 
 monarch. When the parties were suf- 
 ficiently near to recognize each other, 
 the queens gave expression to their sor- 
 row and wept aloud. Boki's barge stop- 
 ped when within a little distance of the 
 shore; all the near relatives indulged 
 in violent paroxysms of grief, wringing 
 their hands, while the air was filled by 
 the clamorous lamentations of the popu- 
 lace and the gloomy roar of the minute 
 guns. The mourners disembarked and 
 embraced. After a short interview, 
 they hastened to the house of Kalaimo- 
 ku, who was too unwell to be out ; 
 thence to the chapel, where divine ser- 
 vices were held ; after which, Boki made 
 an address, recommending attention to 
 " letters and religion." 
 
 On the succeeding day, the chiefs 
 gave an audience to Lord Byron and his 
 officers, at which the gifts of George 
 IV. to the heads of the nation, were pre- 
 sented. The young king was clothed to 
 his great satisfaction, in a rich suit of 
 Windsor uniform, with chapeau and 
 
 * Vol. 22, Missionary Herald, 1826. 
 
 16 
 
 sword. Kaahumanu and Kalaimoku 
 also received testimonials suitable to 
 their station. 
 
 The funeral obsequies were perform- 
 ed on the llth, with a mixture of bar- 
 baric pomp and civilized customs, which 
 accorded well with the transition state 
 of the nation. Twenty men in the na- 
 tive mourning habit, some with rich 
 feathered cloaks, bearing, by couples, the 
 immense feathered staffs of state, wav- 
 ing heavily to and fro in the wind, 
 headed the procession. Double lines of 
 soldiers extended on both sides of the 
 road from the fort to the chapel, a dis- 
 tance of half a mile. The marines, 
 band and officers of the Blonde, with all 
 the foreigners, walked in regular files. 
 The coffins were placed on two cars, 
 surmounted by rich canopies of black, 
 and each drawn by forty of the inferior 
 chiefs, clad in mourning. The king and 
 his sister, with Lord Byron and Mr. 
 Charlton came immediately after; the 
 chiefs two by two, according to their re- 
 spective ranks ; a hundred seamen of 
 the frigate in uniform, closed the pro- 
 cession. The church was hung in black. 
 After the religious services, the proces- 
 sion marched to the residence of Ka- 
 laimoku, which had been prepared for 
 the reception of the officers. Here this 
 venerable chieftain, the tears starting 
 down his care-worn countenance, despite 
 the convulsive effort of manliness to sup- 
 press them, received the remains of those 
 who, through life, had been to him as 
 his own offspring. Strange reflections 
 thickened upon his memory. He had 
 fought against their father, to his hu- 
 manity owed his own life. In war he 
 had shared his perils, and in council and 
 at the domestic board his confidence 
 and love. It was amid the obscene 
 memorials and unholy rites of a now ob- 
 solete faith that he had closed the eyes 
 of the old king. The throne had come 
 to the son in the conflict between the 
 votaries of heathenism and the advocates 
 of license rather than reform. Kalai- 
 moku looked in vain in that crowd for his 
 old companions in arms, Kamehameha's 
 veteran counselors. They had died as 
 their master, heathens. He alone con- 
 nected the past with the present. That 
 new and holy faith which, like the grain 
 
122 
 
 0V TUE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS, 
 
 of mustard seed, in noiseiess increase, 
 had swelled and flourished in his own 
 heart, appeared too late for them to 
 share its blessings ; and now amid the 
 passing away of the old, the pomp and 
 decorum of civilization, and the sacred 
 symbols of Christianity, he beheld the 
 ashes of the children of his benefactor 
 consigned to their last resting-place, en- 
 veloped in more splendid cerements, than 
 within his memory, the wealth of the 
 kingdom could have furnished. 
 
 On the 6th of June, the grand council 
 assembled for settling the succession, 
 and regulating other governmental af- 
 fairs. Beside the chiefs, Lord Byron, the 
 English Consul and Mr. Bingham were 
 present. Naihe opened the business, 
 by stating they had met to confirm the 
 crown to Kauikeouli, and establish suit- 
 able laws for the state. The young 
 prince was unanimously proclaimed king. 
 Kalaimoku then addressed the chiefs, 
 setting forth the defects of many of their 
 laws and customs, particularly the re- 
 version of lands to the king on the death 
 of their occupants. Kamehameha had 
 partially introduced a hereditary succes- 
 sion, based upon feudel tenure, which 
 confirmed predial servitude among the 
 common orders. A powerful aristocracy 
 had arisen in consequence, which his 
 superiority alone could keep in due sub- 
 jection. His successor, either fearing 
 their overgrown power, or avaricious of 
 their wealth, revived the more ancient 
 custom. Kalaimoku proposed that Ka- 
 mehameha's policy should become the 
 established law of the kingdom, and that 
 the lands of the chiefs should be un- 
 alienable in their families, except in 
 cases of treason. A proposal so greatly 
 to their advantage, was adopted by ac- 
 clamation, and the result has been to 
 leave very little landed property in the 
 actual possession of the king and people. 
 
 Boki informed the chiefs of the re- 
 sults of his interview with George IV. 
 in which he had consented to watch over 
 the kingdom, and protect it from foreign 
 invasion. He also repeated the advice 
 in regard to the missionaries ; paid a 
 just tribute to the English for their hos- 
 pitality, and concluded by expressing his 
 deep loyalty to the young king. 
 
 Kuakini proposed that Kauikeouli 
 
 should receive a Christian education, 
 and be separated as much as possible 
 from those of his subjects, whose influ- 
 ence would lead him to the vices which 
 had stained the character of his brother. 
 This met with the approbation of all. 
 
 Kapiolani then stated her endeavors 
 on Hawaii to diminish the prominent 
 vices of the nation, and that she had 
 promulgated laws prohibiting murder, 
 infanticide, theft and debauchery. Ka- 
 ahumanu, in a short speech, expressed 
 her approval of such measures, proposed 
 their universal adoption, and that in- 
 struction should be given to the people 
 at large. 
 
 Lord Byron gave some useful hints 
 for their domestic polity, in which he 
 urged a uniform taxation, the abolition 
 of villanage, and protection of life to the 
 common people. He also approved of 
 the labors and designs of the mission ; 
 its principles being primarily explained 
 in an address by Mr. Bingham, who 
 stated that their instructions expressly 
 forbade any interference in the political 
 concerns of the nation. The recogni- 
 tion of their existence by the EngMsh 
 government, as a free and independent 
 people, was lully assured them, and that 
 in no wise would that power dictate or 
 interfere in their domestic affairs. By 
 his recommendation the exorbitant port 
 duties were much reduced, and regula- 
 tions for the seizure and delivery of de- 
 serters from ships agreed upon. These 
 were reduced to writing, signed, sealed 
 and promulgated by Kalaimoku. It was 
 the first official written document of 
 their legislation. Kaahumanu was con- 
 tinued in the regency during the minor- 
 ity of the king, with Kalaimoku as her 
 prime minister. The council then broke 
 up. To show gratitude to the English 
 government for the attention received in 
 England, Boki proposed that sites for 
 the English consulate and consular resi- 
 dence should be bestowed upon the con- 
 sul, for himself and successors in office. 
 With the approbation of Kaahumanu, 
 this was done by verbal grant, and 
 Charl ton received the spot of land since 
 known as Beretane, as his residence, 
 and a smaller lot near the fort for his 
 office. These spontaneous gifts to the 
 English nation \vere afterwards made 
 
HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 123 
 
 by Charlton a most fruitful source of 
 vexation and injustice to the chiefs. 
 
 The Blonde sailed for Hawaii, having 
 Kaahumanu and suite on board. Grate- 
 ful for the attentions and kindness of 
 Lord Byron, the chiefs vied in their 
 semi-barbaric hospitality .to do honor to 
 the guest of the nation. At Kealake- 
 kua, Lord Byron erected a humble mon- 
 ument to the memory of Cook, on the 
 spot where his body was burnt. It con- 
 sisted of an oaken cross, into which a 
 copper plate was inserted, bearing an 
 inscription, ascribing to Captain James 
 Cook, the discovery of these islands. 
 Byron shares with Vancouver, the af- 
 fectionate remembrance of the chiefs. 
 
 The immediate region about the cra- 
 ter of Kilauea, Hawaii, being remote 
 from all the mission stations, remained 
 for several years much under the influ- 
 ence of the priesthood of Pele. It was 
 seldom visited by the ruling chiefs, and 
 its inhabitants living within the circuit 
 of the former devastations of the volcano, 
 and in sight of its terrific action, were 
 more deeply imbued with heathen su- 
 perstitions, than those whose idols had 
 been destroyed, and whose faith had 
 been yearly weakened by an increased 
 foreign intercourse. Here, apart from 
 their fellows, they existed an almost 
 distinct race. Sacrifices were daily of- 
 fered to Pele, and occasionally her proph- 
 ets wandered into the more civilized 
 districts, denouncing awful retribution 
 for the general apostacy. But these de- 
 nunciations had been too frequent and 
 faithless to excite anything but ridicule 
 among the better informed, while the 
 chiefs remonstrated with these self-de- 
 luded agents on their folly, or sternly 
 ordered them to renounce their claims 
 to inspiration. Gradually a spirit of in- 
 quiry was awakened even here. The 
 first blow given to this dominant belief 
 was in the summer of 1823, when a 
 party of missionaries visited the crater. 
 In defiance of the threats of the priests 
 and the fears of the people, they partook 
 of the sacred fruit, and boldly invaded 
 her very fires. The impunity with which 
 this was done, astonished the natives ; 
 but they attributed it to the superiority 
 of Jehovah to their goddess, rather than 
 to an entire absence of the supernatural. 
 
 But early in the year 1S25, their credul- 
 ity was staggered by the boldness of Ka- 
 piolani, who, with a daring which, when 
 her previous associations are considered, 
 does her infinite credit, determined to 
 convince its votaries of the falsity of 
 their oracles. She visited the wonderful 
 phenomenon ; reproved the idolatry of 
 its worshippers, and neglected every rite 
 and observance which they had been 
 taught to consider as necessary for their 
 welfare. In vain the priests launched 
 their anathemas, and denounced upon 
 her the vengeance of the offended deity. 
 She replied she feared them not ; the 
 fires of the volcano were the work of the 
 God she worshiped; she would abide 
 the test of daring Pele in the recesses of 
 her domains. Venturing to the brink of 
 the abyss, she descended several hun- 
 dred feet toward the liquid lava, and 
 after casting the sacred berries into the 
 flames, an act than which none more 
 sacrilegious, according to their ideas, 
 could have been done, she composedly 
 praised Jehovah amid one of the most 
 sublime and terrible of his works. The 
 sincerity of her faith could not have been 
 put to a severer test. 
 
 The island of Hawaii affords speci- 
 mens of at once the grandest, most pic- 
 turesque, and sternest of nature's works. 
 Raised from the sea, by volcanic action, 
 at a date never to be ascertained by man, 
 it has accumulated layer upon layer of 
 lava rock, piled in every shape that so 
 fearful and powerful an agency can give 
 them, until it has shot up mountains 
 more than two and a half miles high. 
 Mauna Kea on the north, and Mauna 
 Loa on the south, with the lesser moun- 
 tain, Hualalai, to the west, divide the 
 island between them. Mauna Kea rises 
 to an elevation of 13,950 feet. Mauna 
 Loa 13,760 feet. Both are vast in their 
 proportions, though differing widely in 
 their natural features. Mauna Kea is a 
 succession of craters long extinct, which 
 have risen one above another, heaping 
 up stones, ashes, sand and cinders, long 
 enough quiescent to form soil and clothe 
 its flanks with vegetation. To all ap- 
 pearance it has had a much longer respite 
 from internal fires than its neighbor. 
 But, judging from the late eruptions, all 
 of Hawaii must be a mere crust raised 
 
124 
 
 HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 upon a vast globe of fire. Mauna Loa 
 forms an immense dome with a base of 
 120 miles, and a horizon at the top of 27, 
 covered with a gigantic crater through 
 nearly its entire extent. Nothing can 
 exceed the cold sterility of this region, 
 or the fury of the blasts that sweep over 
 it. At long intervals its gigantic crater 
 heaves with internal fires, throwing its 
 boiling lava over its crest, and bursting 
 vents for it lower down its sides, from 
 which it spreads in fiery currents to the 
 plains beneath, consuming before it every 
 living thing. On the eastern flank of| 
 this mountain, some 10,000 feet down, 
 at an elevation of 3,970 feet above the 
 sea, is situated that vast pit six miles in 
 circumference, and from 400 to 1,000 
 feet deep, according to the activity of its 
 fires, called Kilauea, the fabled residence 
 of the goddess Pele. No region on the 
 globe affords greater attraction to the 
 lover of volcanic phenomena than this. 
 Stupendous in their scale, always active, 
 though varying greatly in intensity, they 
 never fail to impress the traveler w T ith 
 wonder, interest and fear. Vesuvius sinks 
 into insignificance in comparison. The 
 visitor must not, however, expect to find 
 a huge pit. two miles in diameter, filled 
 to overflowing with fluid lava, as the 
 imagination readily suggests at the idea 
 of a crater. Kilauea more frequently 
 presents the appearance of a smoking 
 ruin, sunken deep into mother earth, 
 flashing with light and flame, heavy with 
 smoke, and stunning with detonations 
 and angry noises. Occasionally the black 
 crust or mass beneath heaves and is rent 
 asunder; rivers of viscid, boiling lava 
 arise, spouting blood-red jets far into the 
 air ; or they spread into a lake which 
 sends its heavy waves against its sides 
 with the noise and fury of the surf on a 
 precipice bound shore. 
 
 To the eastward, Kilauea, by the lat- 
 eral pressure of its lava, has thrown out 
 a series of smaller mouths or craters, 
 reaching to the sea-side, from which it 
 ejects its superfluous masses, before ac- 
 cumulating sufficiently to overflow its 
 owu banks. These operate as safety 
 valves, and preserve the country in the 
 immediate vicinity, which is fertile and 
 forest-clad, from devastation. 
 
 The greater portion of Hawaii has re- 
 
 mained to this day comparatively 
 and benighted. It has afforded a re 
 
 dark 
 retreat 
 
 to the few remaining votaries of the past, 
 and has been the field whence have 
 sprung wild beliefs, which, under more 
 favorable circumstances, might have ri- 
 pended into fanatical creeds. The char- 
 acter of the inhabitants seems to partake 
 of the natural wildness about them, and 
 their imaginations to be ripened amid 
 the blackness of desolation which marks 
 the action of the volcano. Here arose a 
 system of theology, some years since, 
 remarkable for its ingenious combination 
 of Christianity and heathenism. A few 
 young men promulgated that there were 
 three gods : Jehovah, Jesus Christ, and 
 Hapu, a former prophetess, whose bones 
 had been disinterred, adorned after the 
 manner of their idols, and deposited in a 
 certain enclosure, denominated the place 
 of refuge. They traveled through the 
 island, exhorting all to flee within its 
 bounds, as the heavens and the earth 
 were about to meet, and all not there 
 assembled would be destroyed. Multi- 
 tudes obeyed ; a temple was erected and 
 they continued worshipping day and 
 night ; but the destruction not taking 
 place at the appointed time, hunger com- 
 pelled many to leave. The appearance 
 of a missionary, who expostulated with 
 them upon their folly, decided the re- 
 mainder, and, after firing the temple, 
 they quietly dispersed. 
 
 No restriction excited the anger of the 
 enemies of the mission more than the 
 taboo, which prevented women from fre- 
 quenting ships. Since the discovery of 
 the islands, this practice had been car- 
 ried on openly and without restraint. 
 Masters of vessels frequently hired young 
 girls to perform voyages with them. So 
 universal had been licentiousness, that 
 the first appearance of any restraint ap- 
 peared to be viewed by its advocates as 
 an infraction of their natural rights. It 
 is on record that vicious whites, previous 
 to the arrival of the missionaries, incul- 
 cated licentiousness as a virtue, by tell- 
 ing the natives that it was right for them 
 to prostitute their women. This species 
 of hospitality was freely proffered the 
 missionaries, and the natives were at 
 first greatly surprised at their refusal, 
 and the doctrines of purity they preach- 
 
HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 125 
 
 ed, quoting against them the opposite 
 sayings of their first teachers. In the fall 
 of 1825, the chiefs were induced to for- 
 bid the traffic in lewdness The good 
 sense of the majority of foreigners ap- 
 proved of the reform, but the violence of 
 others was unpardonable. 
 
 In October, the British whaler Daniel, 
 Baptain Buckle, arrived at Lahaina, 
 where this law was in force. Some of 
 the crew charged Mr. Richards with be- 
 ing its author, and demanded that he 
 should procure its repeal. He informed 
 them that the law emanated from the 
 chiefs, who acted in this respect in ac- 
 cordance with the word of God. They 
 withdrew ; others came up and threaten- 
 ed the destruction of his property and 
 lives of his family. After they retired, 
 the natives kept guard, and allowed no 
 seamen to approach the premises. The 
 next day Captain Buckle sent word to 
 Mr. Richards, that all his crew were 
 ashore, and were determined not to re- 
 turn without women ; and if he gave his 
 consent, all would be " peace and quiet- 
 ness." An attack was made by the arm- 
 ed crew upon the house, which was re- 
 pulsed by the guard. The chiefs were 
 vainly solicited by the infuriated seamen 
 to repeal the law. 
 
 On the 14th of January, 1S26, the II. 
 S. schooner Dolphin, Lieut. John Perci- 
 val, arrival at Honolulu. This command- 
 er expressed his regret at the existence 
 of such a statute, and interested himself, 
 and with partial success, in procuring 
 the release of some women who were 
 confined for immoral offences. Violent 
 menaces were circulated against the mis- 
 sionaries, to whose influence the regula- 
 tion was rightfully attributed. The even- 
 ing of the 26th of February, being the 
 Sabbath, Mr. Bingham went to hold di- 
 vine worship at the house of Kalaimoku, 
 who was lying ill on his couch. Sever- 
 al of the Dolphin's crew entered, armed 
 with clubs, and demanded the abolition 
 of the law; in case of refusal, they 
 threatened to destroy the building. Be- 
 fore they could be ejected, all the front 
 windows were broken in. Driven from 
 this quarter, and having received a rein- 
 forcement of shipmates, they directed 
 their course to the residence of Mr. Bing- 
 ham.. Seeing this, he endeavored to 
 
 reach the house first, but falling in with 
 them, was immediately seized, and 
 threatened with further violence. The 
 natives now interfered, and in the melee 
 Mr. Bingham was released, fortunately 
 escaping a blow aimed with a club, and 
 the stab of a knife. These rioters were 
 secured, but another gang reached the 
 house and broke in a window. Two at- 
 tempted to force the door, when one un- 
 expectedly turned upon the other, and 
 without any apparent provocation, with 
 a sudden blow, laid him senseless. An- 
 other was dangerously wounded by a 
 sabre, in the hands of a native. 
 Through the authority of the chiefs who 
 were present, no further injury was re- 
 ceived, although one seamen owed his 
 preservation to the interposition of a 
 missionary.* 
 
 In the evening, Percival waited upon 
 the chiefs, and declared his intention not 
 to leave the island until the prohibition 
 was repealed. Awed by threats, and 
 wearied by importunity, some of them 
 gave a tacit consent. Numbers of women 
 immediately went on board, and when 
 the first boat load pushed off, a shout of 
 triumph rang through the shipping. The 
 delinquent chiefs were severely repri- 
 manded by Kalaimoku ; but the prestige 
 of the taboo had been overborne by a na- 
 tional vessel of a powerful nation, and it 
 was not until there was more moral sen- 
 timent to sustain it that it could be rees- 
 tablished. Lieut. Percival expressed his 
 gratification at the result, and his further 
 determination to compel the recision of 
 the edict at the windward islands, where 
 it still continued in force. His vessel 
 remained at Honolulu ten weeks, in the 
 full enjoyment of the immorality for 
 which he had so successfully interfered. 
 So odious was the example that his ves- 
 sel has ever since borne the soubriquet of 
 the "mischief-making man-of-war." 
 
 With such a precedent, it is no matter 
 of surprise that lawless captains should 
 incite their crews to equally overt acts. 
 At Lahaina, some mouths after, where 
 through the firmness of Hoapili, the law 
 was rigidly enforced, the seamen of sev- 
 eral ships lying in the roads, declared 
 their determination to murder Mr. Rich- 
 ards. He was then absent; but they 
 
 *Tracy's History of Missions, p. 184. Boston, 1842. 
 
126 
 
 HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 proceeded to his house with the inten- (zealously endeavored to implant in their 
 tion of demolishing it. A guard of na- j legislation the direct influences derived 
 tives drove them off; they continued for I from the simple commandments of the 
 
 several days, to destroy the property of 
 the inhabitants, and committed many 
 excesses. Hoapili was also absent, and 
 had left the place in charge of a female 
 chief, who, at the commencement of the 
 difficulties, ordered all the females to re- 
 tire to the mountains. 
 
 A year afterward, another and more 
 aggravated assault was made by the crew 
 of the John Palmer, an English whaler, 
 commanded by an American, of the name 
 of Clark. Several women had succeed- 
 ed in getting on board, whom the cap- 
 tain declined giving up. Hoapili refus- 
 ed to allow Clark, who happened to be 
 ashore, to return to his vessel until the 
 delinquents were landed. Word was 
 
 Gospel. So far as the missionaries were 
 faithful to their cause, they became iden- 
 tified with government j for it was only 
 to them, and the transient visitors of in- 
 telligence at the islands, that the chiefs 
 could safely apply for disinterested ad- 
 vice. This was frequently given, but 
 in its execution the old Kamehameha 
 policy was adhered to. And in the then 
 existing state of the nation, when every- 
 thing was in a state of transition, noth- 
 ing short of absolute authority could 
 effectually keep in check the efforts at 
 misrule. The external sentiment of the 
 nation fell in with the power and patron- 
 age of the chiefs; and while their power 
 remained unshaken, their decrees were 
 
 carried to the crew of the detention of j observed with a rigidness which annoyed 
 their captain, and they prepared to fire those whose interests and pleasures lay 
 upon the town. Upon the promise of more in unrestricted freedom. It must 
 Clark to return the females, he was re- not be supposed that the outward corn- 
 leased; before, however, the intelligence pliance with the new laws, so generally 
 of his liberation reached the crew, they j prevalent, was a safe criterion of the 
 had discharged five cannon balls in the i moral condition of the nation. As under 
 direction of the mission-house, none of 
 
 which, though they passed near it, proved 
 destructive. The next morning Clark, 
 violating his pledge, sailed for Oahu, 
 taking the women with him. 
 
 Outrages from similar causes, of more 
 or less virulence, were not uncommon 
 at this period. The forbearance of the 
 
 their old taboos, fear of the chiefs was 
 the main cause of a compliance with 
 regulations foreign to the dispositions of 
 the masses ; but it must be acknowledg- 
 ed that at this time a moral discrimina- 
 tion had arisen, favorable to the cause of 
 virtue. The consistent piety of the 
 chiefs, put to the blush the conduct of 
 
 islanders, and the inflexible courage of j civilized men, who had formerly shared 
 the missionaries, contrast forcibly with in their revels, and consequently ac- 
 the malignity of disappointed sensualism, j quired an influence in their councils, 
 Thomas Ap Catesby Jones, Esq., com- j which had been supplanted by the mia- 
 manding the D. S. ship Peacock, arrived sion. Hence arose an enmity, which 
 
 at Honolulu in October, 1826, and re- 
 mained three months. During this time 
 transpired an event, to understand the 
 occasion of which, it will be necessary to 
 trace its cause. Two parties then exist- 
 ed ; one composed of the powerful chiefs 
 who were under the religious influence 
 of the mission ; their polity bore deeply 
 the impress of their new ideas ; and the 
 whole force of government was employ- 
 ed to crush the licentious spirit of the 
 nation, and compel the people to receive 
 instruction. To their teachers they look- 
 ed with strong affection ; although the 
 principles of the latter forbade any direct 
 political assumption, yet their pupils 
 
 gradually settled into a systematic hos- 
 tility to every act of government : all its 
 acts of a moral tendency were ascribed 
 to the mission, and the party thus form- 
 ed, vigorously assaulted the motives of 
 its supporters, and endeavored, by se- 
 cretly undermining the good effected, 
 corrupting the converts, or by availing 
 themselves of the mass of vileness, 
 which, like a spent volcano, lay conceal- 
 ed in the nation, and needed but an 
 opening to cause it to rage strongly and 
 fiercely, utterly to destroy the mission- 
 aries from the land. Foiled in their 
 endeavors, they had ventured to assail 
 their personal characters, and circulated 
 
HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 127 
 
 cunningly devised falsehoods and the 
 basest calumnies, some of which poison- 
 ed the minds of worthy men, who thought 
 they saw objectionable features in mis- 
 sion operations generally, and eagerly 
 caught at what, coming from the same 
 field, was supposed, with all their exag- 
 gerations, to originate in truth. By such 
 causes were the intelligent minds of men 
 like Kotzebue, Beechey, and others cir- 
 cumvented ; men whose fault lay in not 
 examining candidly for themselves, but 
 giving a too willing and credulous ear to 
 specious charges. Supported by them, 
 some of the popular reviewers and writers 
 fell into most egregious errors, which 
 have since been amply refuted. 
 
 Farther to give evidence to their state- 
 ments, a letter was published in the Lon- 
 don Quarterly Review, which the editor 
 pledged to be a genuine production of 
 Boki, in which they were confirmed, and 
 the thrice told tale of the power passing 
 into the hands of the missionaries, fully 
 re-echoed.* Unfortunately for the party, 
 it no sooner appeared than it was proved 
 a forgery, and by it the real character of 
 those who resorted to such fabrications 
 to support a sinking cause, was disclosed. 
 If the opponents of the mission had taken 
 the stand that the influence of govern- 
 mental matters was gradually passing 
 into their hands, and the policy of the 
 nation was perceptibly assuming their 
 hue, they might have been sustained by 
 facts. But they undertook to prove too 
 much when they accused the missiona- 
 ries of aiming to build up an ecclesiasti- 
 cal polity, centering all power and wealth 
 in themselves, after the manner of the 
 Jesuits of Paraguay. The weapons they 
 employed against them were foul in them- 
 selves. Consequently the evil they in- 
 tended recoiled on their own heads, and 
 rendered their testimony even upon other 
 matters dubious. 
 
 It must not be supposed that all who 
 were not of the mission were in the ranks 
 of their enemies. There were many men 
 who honestly differed from them, but re- 
 spected their cause, and who could see 
 errors in practice or persons without pass- 
 ing wholesale condemnation upon a creed 
 or sect. The venerable John Young ex- 
 
 * Appendix to Stewart's Residence in the Sandwich 
 
 Islands. see letter 6. 
 
 pressed his surprise and pleasure at the 
 reform ; foreign settlers there were who 
 lent aid by counsel and example. But 
 those low men, who formerly held un- 
 limited influence over the chiefs, of whom 
 Kives was the principal, formed the nu- 
 cleus of the party. About them gathered 
 the degraded in moral sentiment of all 
 classes; men whose interests or sensual- 
 ity were curtailed by the increasing 
 knowledge. At their head now appeared 
 the English and American consuls. In 
 the selection of the former individual, the 
 government, for its own credit, had been 
 most unfortunate. So popular had Van- 
 couver and Lord Byron made that na- 
 tion, that an official agent of generous 
 sentiments and general intelligence, 
 might have secured an influence which 
 would have hastened the progress of civ- 
 ilization, and conferred honor upon him- 
 self. But this man unfortunately was, 
 by temperament, habits and abilities, in- 
 adequate to such usefulness. His char- 
 acter for mendacity soon became prover- 
 bial throughout the nation, and he was 
 considered a reproach to his own coun- 
 trymen by those who had an opportunity 
 of knowing him.* He was often kind 
 and courteous to the American mission- 
 aries, but was jealous of their superior 
 influence, and feared that the tone of the 
 people would tend towards that nation. 
 As American commerce and settlers 
 were by far the most numerous, and both 
 yearly increasing, English influence 
 would gradually be absorbed, and in time 
 the islands become an appendage to the 
 great republic. This was a sufficient 
 motive for an attempt to frustrate their 
 growing prosperity. Availing himself of 
 the discordant elements about him, he 
 managed, by exciting their cupidity, sen- 
 sualism and fear of religious intoleration, 
 to combine into one party the classes 
 before described. Several Americans, 
 circumvented by his artifice, and imbib- 
 ing an almost equal hostility towards 
 their countrymen, impolitically conde- 
 scended to serve under his banner, under 
 the persuasion that they were opposing 
 liberal principles to fanatical rule. On 
 a small scale it was the gay cavalier 
 against the zealous round-head. Which- 
 ever party secured the state proved as- 
 
 : St-e Nautical Magazine, Yol. III., page 541 : 1834. 
 
128 
 
 HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 
 cendant. By turns Charlton flattered 
 and bullied the chiefs; and at all times 
 endeavored to convince them that they 
 were the subjects of the British empire, 
 and under some sort of guardianship to 
 him. But the assurance of Lord Byron, 
 and the terms of his own commission, by 
 which he received his appointment to a 
 friendly and independent nation, gave 
 the lie to those assertions. Failing in 
 defeating the progress of the American 
 mission, at this period he proclaimed it 
 his intention to divide the nation and 
 create a rival religion, by the introduc- 
 tion of English Koman Catholic priests. 
 Such was the state of affairs at the visit 
 of Captain Jones. 
 
 In the management of their foreign re- 
 lations, the chiefs depended greatly upon 
 the advice of the highest foreign officers 
 who touched at their islands. Either 
 party felt strengthened according to the 
 course such pursued. The conduct of 
 Percival was a triumph to the liberal 
 party, as they considered themselves ; 
 that of Jones strengthened the confidence 
 of the government in the honor of his 
 nation, and served fully to expose the 
 malicious designs of their defamers. He 
 arrived imbued with many of the preju- 
 dices common at that era; numbers zeal- 
 ously hastened to confirm them. The 
 excitement became so great that the mis- 
 sion issued a circular, stating the course 
 they had pursued, denying the charges, 
 and challenging an investigation. The 
 residents accepted it, and appointed a 
 meeting, at which both parties could ap- 
 pear and be heard. Captain Jones and 
 his officers were to be witnesses. At the 
 appointed time all assembled; Mr. Charl- 
 ton repeated the substance of the usual 
 complaints; that he was dissatisfied with 
 the management of the mission ; that the 
 people were growing worse ; that no chief 
 dared testify against a missionary, &c. ; 
 but he refused to commit any of these 
 charges to writing, or render himself 
 liable for the proof. He said he came to 
 hear what the mission had to prove. 
 Their circular was read, and the accusers 
 were requested to bring forward some 
 special charge or testimony of evil, if 
 there were such. Not being able to ad- 
 duce any, the meeting was adjourned. 
 Before his departure, Captain Jones, hav- 
 
 ing made himself acquainted with the 
 facts and statements of both sides, wrote 
 to the mission, bearing testimony to the 
 good results of their labors, and their 
 readiness to submit to an investigation 
 of any charges derogatory to their sys- 
 tem or character.* 
 
 On the 2d of March, 1827, the nation 
 sustained a loss in the death of their 
 venerated chieftain, Kalaimoku, who died 
 at Kailua, Hawaii, of the dropsy; a com- 
 plaint from which he had long suffered. 
 By his countrymen he was significantly 
 termed the " iron cable " of Hawaii.! 
 Boki, whose influence and abilities were 
 no ways equal to his brother's, was con- 
 tinued governor of Oahu, and was vested 
 by Kaahumanu with the guardianship of 
 the young king, a measure which she 
 soon had cause to regret. He was of an 
 easy temperament, and frequently duped 
 by designing foreigners. For a consid- 
 erable period he faithfully discharged his 
 duties, acting in harmony with Kaahu- 
 manu, but was finally seduced into a 
 course which distracted the nation, and 
 brought ruin upon himself.! 
 
 * Captain Jones' account of the result of this meeting la 
 curious and interesting. In a letter, under date of 1835 
 he writes : , 
 
 " I own I trembled for the cause of Christianity and 
 for the poor benighted islander, when I saw on the one 
 hand the British Consul, backed by the most wealthy 
 and hitherto influential foreign residents and shipmasters, 
 in formidable array, and prepared, as 1 supposed, to tes- 
 tify against some half dozen meek and humble servants 
 of the Lord, calmly seated on the other; ready and even 
 anxious to be tried by their bitterest enemies, who on this 
 occasion occupied the quadruple station of judge, jury, 
 ivitness and prosecutor. Thus situated, w hat could the 
 friends of the mission hope for or expect ? But what, in 
 reality, was the result of this portentious meeting, which, 
 was to overthrow the missionaries and uproot the seeds 
 of civilization and Christianity, so extensively and pros- 
 perously sown by them in every direction, while in their 
 stead idolatry and heathenism were to ride triumphantly 
 through all coming time ? Such was the object and such 
 were the hopes of many of the foreign residents at the 
 Sandwich Islands in 1826. What, I again ask, was the 
 issue of this great trial? The most perfect, full, com- 
 plete and triumphant victory for the missionaries that 
 could have been asked by their most devoted friends. 
 Not one jot or tittle, not one iota derogatory to their 
 characters as men, as ministers of the Gospel of the 
 strictest order, or as missionaries, could be made to ap- 
 pear by the united efforts of all who conspired against 
 them." 
 
 t At his death his stone house, the best built and most 
 costly in the island, was dismantled in accordance with 
 a superstition that still lingered among them. Upon the 
 death of a high chief, it was not uncommon even at so 
 late a period, to destroy much of his property, that none 
 other might possess it ; and valuable loads of satins, vel- 
 vets, broadcloths and other rich goods were taken to the 
 sea-side, cut into small pieces, and cast into the surf. 
 
 J An attempt has lately been made by the advocates of 
 Romanism see anonymous pamphlet, published at Hon- 
 olulu, ISiO, entitled "Supplement to the fcandwich Island 
 Mirror" to exaggerate the authority of Boki, and de- 
 stroy that of Kaahumanu, who is- represented as an 
 usurping old woman, led by the American mission. No 
 
HISTOBY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 129 
 
 When it was found that exposure at- 
 tended the criminal practices and vio- 
 lence of those captains who insulted the 
 native authorities, and heaped abuse and 
 violence upon the unoffending heads of 
 their teachers for it was at this date 
 that the public press was first made use 
 of as a check to those whose lawlessness 
 was meted only by fear of public dis- 
 grace the virulence of the party that 
 supported them, knew no bounds. In 
 their rage, they desired the deaths of 
 those who had been active in creating 
 the moral sentiment which placed a bar 
 to their intemperate passions. Charlton 
 blusteringly demanded satisfaction for 
 the detention of Clark at Lahaina. Such 
 deportment rendered the chiefs more at- 
 tached, as they saw an attempt to visit 
 the hostility to their acts upon the mis- 
 sion. During the month of December, 
 it was thought necessary to establish a 
 
 historical fact can be more clear than that the supreme 
 power devolved solely upon her after the death of Kalai- 
 moku, until the king became of age. Previous to that, by 
 the universal testimony of the king, chiefs and natives, 
 Kalaimoku though perhaps more often in contact with 
 the whites than herself, derived his authority from her, 
 and was her " Kanaka " agent or business man doing 
 nothing without consultation and her assent. Kalaimoku 
 has been called regent, but he was regent only in the 
 sense that the premier, according to the Hawaiian con- 
 stitution, can be considered as king. He acts with the 
 authority of the king, for him. As the favored wife of 
 Kamehameha, Kaahumanu was second only in power to 
 him in his lifetime. Before his death she was appointed 
 guardiiin of, or more properly a constitutional check upon 
 Liholiho, whose father feared the result of his erratic 
 habits, anl at his accession was confirmed by him in 
 this office. On his departure, the kingdom was left 
 jointly to her care, and th-it of Kalaimoku, as before ex- 
 plained. This government was again confirmed at the 
 national council on the 6th of June, 1825. After the 
 death of the latter, the sole authority reverted to Kaahu- 
 manu. both by virtue of rank and previous appointment. 
 It was not till a later period that Boki, instigated by 
 foreigners, aspired to greater power. Both Kaahumanu 
 and Boki filled their respective offices without collision, 
 and with the approbation of the other chiefs. The limits 
 of each were well understood. Kaahumanu was the po- 
 litical guardian of the kingdom, the executive power, re- 
 peatedly recognized by national councils and edicts, also 
 by the officers and war-ships of foreign powers. 
 
 Boki was governor of Oahu, and the personal guardian 
 of the king. Like that of the princess, it was an import- 
 ant office, but not of a political character. It had been 
 previously filled, and was at a later period, by chiefs of 
 equal rank with Boki, who never assumed other political 
 importance in consequence. 
 
 Next to the children of Keopuolani, Kaahumar.u. by de- 
 scent, was entitled to the chief power, being the daughter 
 of her husband's most noted warrior, Keeaumoku, and 
 second only 10 him in military rank. The importance of 
 his family is shown by the offices they filled even in the 
 lifetime of Kamehameha I. The daughters were his 
 queens, of which Kaahumanu was chief. Two sons, 
 Kuakini, governor of Hawaii, and Keeaumoku, governor 
 of Maui, Lanai and Molokai, afterward placed in an office 
 of still greater responsibility by Liholiho, the governor- 
 ship of Kauai. No other family was of like importance, 
 though the service and fidelity of Kalaimoku entitled him 
 to equal consideration, and it is upon the rank that he 
 filled derived not so much from descent as from the 
 friendship and confidence of two kings that the de- 
 famers of Kaahumanu endeavored to establish his brother. 
 
 17 
 
 military guard for the protection of the 
 most obnoxious. The fortifications at 
 Lahaina were made capable of resisting 
 any attack from whale ships ; though it 
 is improbable that the threats would 
 have been put into execution. Foiled 
 thus on every side, their enmity settled 
 into a subtle malignity, which sought 
 expression by poisoning the minds of 
 visitors, and creating prejudices which 
 they hoped would result in the final 
 overthrow of the mission, and the chiefs 
 that gave it support. Dibble quotes from 
 a journal kept by a native, an account of 
 a noted occurrence at this period, which, 
 as illustrative of the peculiar relative 
 position of the different parties, and the 
 policy of each, is worth giving in this 
 connection. 
 
 "The excitement became very great, and some foreign- 
 ers who had formerly been favorable to the mission, were 
 gained over to take part in it ; and certain unstable chiefs 
 also, particularly Boki and Manuia, joined with the op- 
 posers, saying it was wrong for Mr. Richards to make 
 known in America the conduct of foreigners which took 
 place at these islands. Certain chiefs of Oahu wrote to 
 chiefs on Maui, to this effect : ' Chiefs of Maui, if Captain 
 Buckle and Captain Clark and the English Consul de- 
 mand your teacher, do you take care of yourselves and 
 not refuse to give him up ; let a foreigner contest the 
 matter with foreigners, and intermeddle not yourselves 
 lest you become guilty.' 
 
 " This sentiment gaining ground and causing great 
 confusion, Kaahumanu called a council of all the chiefs, 
 to determine whether it was right to give up Mr. Rich- 
 ards to the rage of the foreigners, or whether it was their 
 duty to protect him. 
 
 " Mr. Richards was to sail to Oahu on Wednesday 
 evening, and on the afternoon he preached to his people 
 at Lahaina, from the parting address of Paul to the Ephe- 
 sian Church. The congregation were in tears, for they 
 had heard the opinion of many chiefs not to protect him, 
 and supposed they should never again hear his voice. 
 
 " The chiefs met, and were in council two days with- 
 out coming to a decision, for Boki and even Mr. Young, 
 the companion of the old king Kamehameha, said it was 
 wrong for Mr. Richards to write to America. 
 
 "On the third day, David Malo and Kanaina entered 
 witbin one of the doors of the council room, and Kaa- 
 humano, having much confidence in David Malo as a 
 teacher, beckoned him to sit down. She then said, to him 
 with tears: ' What can we do for our teacher? for even 
 Mr. Young and Boki say that he was very guilty in writ- 
 ing to America.' David said : The foreigners certainly 
 are very inconsistent, for they say it is very foolish to 
 pray, but very well to learn to read and write, and now 
 they condemn Mr. Richards, not for praying, but for 
 writing a letter. But,' said he, ' let us look. at this case , 
 if some of your most valuable properly should be stolen, 
 and you should be grieved for the loss, cf it, and some one 
 should give you information of the thief, so that you 
 could regain your property, whom would you blame, the 
 informer or the thief?' 'The thief, surely,' said she. 
 David said : 'Kanihonui was guilty of improper conduct 
 wath one of the wives of. Kamehameha, and Luluhe was 
 knowing to the fact and gave him information, which of 
 the two did Kamehameha cause to be slain ? ' She said, 
 ' Kanihonui.' David said : ' In what country is it the 
 practice tO'Condemn the man who gives true information 
 of crimes c mmitted, and let the criminal go uncensured 
 and unpunished ? r ' No where,' said she. ' Why then,* 
 replied David, 'should we condemn Mr. Richards, who 
 has sent home to his country true information, and justify 
 these foreigners whose riotous conduct is known to all of 
 us ? ' Kaahumanu replied : ' The case indeed is very- 
 plain ; Mr. Richards- is the just one , we chiefs are very 
 ignorant.'" Kaahumanu then conferred with the well- 
 
130 
 
 HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 disposed chiefs, and came to a decided resolution to pro- 
 tect Mr. Richards. 
 
 "The next morning came the British Consul in his of- 
 ficial dress, with Capt. Buckle, Boki, Manuia and several 
 merchants, arid with an air of confidence and import- 
 ance entered into the hall of the council, and insisted that 
 Mr. Richards should be punished. But Kaahumanu had 
 made up her mind, and she told them her decision; and 
 all knew, foreigners, as well as natives, that whatever 
 they might afterwards say would be like the beating of 
 the sea against a rock. The matter, of course, was ended." 
 
 At a general council, held by order of 
 government, it was proposed to reduce 
 the edicts, which had been hitherto is- 
 sued according to the will of the individ- 
 ual governors, into a species of national 
 code, which should embrace penalties, 
 based upon the principles of civilized 
 lands. As they were to include the 
 selling of ardent spirits, and restrictions 
 upon certain liberties which heretofore 
 had been free as the winds, the opposi- 
 tion was strong. The vengeance of the 
 British government was threatened by 
 the English consul, if they dared to leg- 
 islate for themselves. He prevailed so 
 far as to defer the execution to an in- 
 definite period, of all the laws enacted, 
 except those for murder, theft and adul- 
 tery. The whole were printed and dis- 
 tributed for the information of the people. 
 
 Two years before, an attempt had 
 been made to introduce a municipal code 
 of a similar character. The regents had 
 invited some of the missionaries to be 
 present at the council at which the sev- 
 eral clauses were to be discussed. It 
 was rumored that the Decalogue was to 
 be the basis of the new regulations. 
 Some of the foreigners, irritated at these 
 measures, broke in upon the meeting, 
 and by their violence and menaces, in- 
 timidated the chiefs from then accom- 
 plishing their purposes.* 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 1827. Arrival of Roman Catholic Trusts Their history 
 Reception Policy Opinion of chiefs Foreigners 
 Spread of Protestantism Boki's rebellion 18.9 Con- 
 duct of the King Legislation Hostility of foreigners 
 Causes of Visit of U. S. ship Vincennes Fatal expe- 
 dition of Boki~-Penecution of Papists Liliha's attempt 
 at revolution Removal from office Kuakini appointed 
 Governor of Oahu Jesuits sent away Death of Kaa- 
 bumanu, 1832 Succeeded by Kinau Kauikeouli as- 
 sumes the government His abolition of taboos Effects 
 Keaction 1834. 
 
 THE year 1S27 is memorable for the 
 introduction of the .Romish mission, and 
 the commencement of the fulfillment of 
 
 * Stewart's Visit to the South Seas, voL2, p. 149. 
 
 the desire of Mr. Charlton, the founding 
 of a rival faith ; though, could he have 
 foreseen in its results, the establishment 
 of a French interest, which well nigh 
 led to the supremacy of that rival na- 
 tion, his jealousy would doubtless have 
 created a coldness towards it, as great 
 as at first his apparent cordiality. Its 
 origin was as low as the measures to 
 establish it were base and deceptive. 
 After the departure of Boki from Lon- 
 don, Rives, who had been dismissed 
 from the royal train, went to France ; 
 there, by fictitious representations of 
 his wealth and importance at the Ha- 
 waiian Islands, of the real condition of 
 which the French were ignorant, having 
 no intercourse at that time, he acquired 
 notoriety, the greater, as it was supposed 
 he had held a responsible office about 
 the person of the sovereign. This he 
 turned to his advantage, contracting for 
 a large quantity of goods, which he was 
 to pay for upon arrival at Oahu. Arti- 
 sans and priests were advertised for, to 
 go out under his patronage, and labor- 
 ers to work upon his plantations. In 
 July, 1S26, Rev. John Alexius Bache- 
 lot was appointed Apostolic Prefect of 
 the Sandwich Islands, by Pope Leo 
 XII. Messrs. Armand and Short, with 
 four mechanics, were to accompany him. 
 Church ornaments, to the amount of 
 several thousand dollars, were engaged, 
 which, with the passage money, were 
 to be paid for by Rives, at Honolulu. 
 He took passage in another ship for 
 the Pacific, and instead of going to the 
 islands, landed upon the western coast 
 of America, where he soon squandered 
 his money and lost his credit. His fate 
 is not known, but he never ventured to 
 appear before the chiefs, by whom he 
 had been discarded, or to meet his un- 
 fortunate countrymen, whom he had 
 been the means of deluding into exile. 
 
 The ship Comet, Captain Plassard, 
 sailed from Bordeaux, with the goods 
 and missionaries, in the early part of 
 1827; arrived at Honolulu July 7th, 
 and anchored outside the reef. No per- 
 son appeared to receive the property, or 
 welcome the priests. Plassard, unable 
 to sell his cargo, unceremoniously land- 
 ed his passengers, in violation of a law 
 which required permission first to be ob- 
 
HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 131 
 
 tained. He was informed by the gov- 
 ernor of the statute, and ordered to take 
 them away. Being beyond the range j 
 of the batteries, he determined not to 
 comply, alleging that he " had had trou- j 
 ble enough with them ; " and expense i 
 also, for no passage money was paid, j 
 The priests were thus left dependent 
 upon their own exertions for a subsist- 
 ence. They procured a house from an 
 American, and lived in company with 
 the mechanics, in an humble manner. 
 By the natives they were treated in the 
 same way as other foreigners. 
 
 Bold, by command of the regent, had 
 been bearer of the order for their ex- 
 pulsion. He understood the general 
 distinctions between the Roman and 
 Protestant systems of theology, and pro- 
 fessed his willingness to treat them 
 kindly while they remained ; but as the 
 islanders had already received one set 
 of teachers, with whom they were per- 
 fectly satisfied, discordant doctrines 
 would create unpleasant dissensions, in 
 so small and rude a nation. In power- 
 ful and enlightened countries, like the 
 United States and England, he remark- 
 ed, when discussing the propriety of 
 their remaining, numerous denomina- 
 tions could exist in comparative har- 
 mony; but with them, difference in their 
 present condition would beget conten- 
 tion, and it was better that they should 
 leave. The opinion of Boki obtains to 
 the present day, and the king has re- 
 peatedly said, that had the Protestants 
 sought a footing after Roman Catholi- 
 cism had been established, they would 
 have met with a similar repulse. 
 
 The priests, ignorant of the language 
 and customs of the Hawaiians, easily 
 became the dupes of foreigners, who de- 
 sired to use them as an additional re- 
 source for overturning the existing order 
 of things. By false representations they 
 had been seduced to leave France, and 
 by the same system of deception were 
 they allured to remain. Bachelot and 
 Short Armand having been lost over- 
 board on the passage appear to have 
 been men of simple and pious habits, 
 and desirous of effecting good in accord- 
 ance with the mandates of their church. 
 Had they been dropped among an en- 
 tirely heathen tribe, their zeal, instruc- 
 
 tions and purity of lives would have 
 won respect, and success crowned their 
 labors. 
 
 Deluded into the belief that the island- 
 ers groaned under the tyranny of priest- 
 ridden chiefs, and that numbers, if they 
 dared, would hail with joy their pres- 
 ence, these men pertinaciously deter- 
 mined to remain at every hazard. That 
 they had ever received permission from 
 government, they never claimed. Bache- 
 lot, in a letter published in the " Annals 
 of the Propagation of Faith," writes, 
 " we had never obtained the formal yes 
 in relation to our remaining on these 
 islands ; " and a little later, he says, " it 
 never came into my mind to ask for it, 
 till it was too late." They well knew 
 that their stay was in violation of the 
 express orders of the government and 
 the general wishes of the nation ; yet, 
 with an effrontery that shows a sad want 
 of moral principle, they elsewhere relate 
 the pitiful subterfuges which they em- 
 ployed to deceive -the chiefs. These 
 accorded with the spirit of fanaticism, 
 but are a sad comment upon the candor 
 and boldness of the evangelist by whose 
 authority their church claims ecclesi- 
 astical supremacy. The kindness and 
 forbearance of the chiefs to them at this 
 era, deserve notice. Unwilling to do 
 them injury, they suffered them to re- 
 main and commence their labors, think- 
 ing that they would voluntarily obey the 
 injunction for departure so soon as means 
 could be provided. 
 
 On the 14th of July, they celebrated 
 their first mass j a small chapel for 
 worship was opened in January, 1828. 
 Through the kindness of the American 
 mission, they were furnished with copies 
 of their works in the Hawaiian tongue, 
 to enable them to prosecute their studies. 
 A small congregation was gathered, 
 principally of those foreigners who con- 
 formed to their communion. To them, 
 their religious services were valuable ; 
 and no one can doubt the justice of al- 
 lowing all to worship God according to 
 the dictates of conscience. Of this, the 
 government seemed to have been aware, 
 and offered no molestation. Curiosity 
 attracted some natives to witness the 
 ceremonies ; they speedily reported that 
 images were worshiped. This excited 
 
132 
 
 HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 much surprise, and drew many of the 
 chiefs to the chapel ; among them the 
 young king. He afterwards confessed 
 he could scarcely avoid laughing at the 
 absurdity of worshiping a lifeless stock.* 
 This led to an investigation of the new 
 rites ; the popish doctrines of veneration 
 of holy relics, use of images, fasts and 
 feasts, were found strikingly analogous 
 to their previous idolatry. To use the 
 words of the chiefs, " this new religion 
 was all about worshiping images and 
 dead men's bones, and taboo on meat." 
 Any one who has examined the external 
 forms of the two systems, will perceive 
 that this was a natural conclusion to 
 their uninstructed minds. How far this 
 similarity may have originated in the 
 teachings of their early Spanish visitors, 
 it would be an interesting query to de- 
 termine. The usual objection will be 
 urged, that the pictures and images 
 were representations and memorials of 
 divine things, and not in themselves ob- 
 jects of worship. The distinction be- 
 tween the idols and the spiritual essences, 
 of which they were merely intended to 
 convey the outward ideas, was equally 
 as well understood by the priests and 
 chiefs, as the difference between the 
 images of the Roman church and the 
 holy personages whose impress they 
 bore, is by enlightened Romanists. But 
 by the mass of ignorant worshipers of 
 either faith, this distinction was either 
 altogether lost, or little borne in remem- 
 brance. The chiefs and common orders 
 universally recognized the identity of 
 forms, and were fearful that the predic- 
 tions of those foreigners who favored its 
 increase, would prove true. The de- 
 struction of their old faith had brought 
 civil war; the introduction of another, 
 which from its many points of semblance 
 was supposed would spread rapidly 
 among the discontented, and those who 
 looked back with desiring eyes to the 
 era when " the tide of free-eating " had 
 not spread over the land and its good 
 gifts were the birthright of the priestly 
 favored few. This was the more to be 
 feared, as it had the active support of 
 the British consul and his partisans. 
 From these circumstances originated 
 the hostility of the government to 'its 
 
 * Manuscript letter to William IV. 
 
 introduction ; with them it was a politi- 
 cal question, as well as one of religious 
 welfare. The strong connection which 
 the idolatry of their old system and the 
 rites of the Roman church bore in their 
 minds, was pointedly expressed by Kaa- 
 humanu, some time afterward, in her re- 
 ply to Mr. Bingham, who remonstrated 
 with her upon the punishment of the 
 converts to that faith. " You have no 
 law," said he, " that will apply." She 
 immediately referred him to the edict 
 against idolatry, promulgated in 1819, 
 replying, " for their worship is like that 
 which we have forsaken." 
 
 Such were the natural inferences of 
 native intellect ; other causes tended 
 to strengthen their impressions. Boki's 
 bias, both from conviction and preju- 
 dice, imbibed while in England, was 
 then decidedly Protestant ; it has been 
 seen how his opinions influenced the 
 chiefs in their first decisions, before 
 an acquaintance had been formed with 
 these new rites. Foreigners, whose 
 principles of the faith in which they had 
 been instructed, had not been swallow- 
 ed up in hostility to all religion, or 
 whose impressions of Romanism had 
 been derived mostly from Spanish Amer- 
 ica, strongly urged upon the govern- 
 ment the impolicy of allowing its intro- 
 duction. Some with more zeal than 
 propriety, taught them of the long and 
 bloody persecutions of Europe, the in- 
 quisition, crusades, papal supremacy, 
 and all the iniquities of its most corrupt 
 age. These sunk deep into their minds, 
 and their fears, magnified by ignorance 
 of history, conjectured like evils for 
 their dominions. The continued disre- 
 regard of the priests to their injunctions, 
 confirmed these sentiments. 
 
 As the proselytism of natives slowly 
 progressed, and the Romish mission 
 gave indications of permanency, the 
 Protestant missionaries, by force of ar- 
 gument, teaching, and all the influence 
 they could lawfully employ, endeavored 
 to arrest its progress. The minds of 
 the chiefs were sufficiently established ; 
 the variable disposition of the mass was 
 feared. Sermons, defending the theol- 
 ogy of Protestantism, and attacking the 
 dogmas of tlie hostile church, were ut- 
 tered from every pulpit ; tracts gave fur- 
 
HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 133 
 
 ther circulation to their opinions, and a 
 war of discussion was commenced and 
 actively pursued. Government lent its 
 aid, and unfortunately for the principle, 
 though necessarily for its support, church 
 and state were more closely united than 
 ever. In the American missionaries, 
 the chiefs saw friends, who had triumph- 
 ed over every prejudice, and proved 
 their sincerity and devotedness by years 
 of toil and usefulness. In the French- 
 men, lawless intruders, tools of a vio- 
 lent faction, that assailed both with 
 equal acrimony. Consequently, the na- 
 tion became confirmed in friendship to- 
 ward the former, and more inimical to 
 the latter. The American missionaries 
 were charged with originating all the 
 acts of the government, prejudicial to 
 the priests and their neophytes. So far 
 as their influence created an opposition 
 to their tenets, this was true ; it was 
 due to their own principles, and to the 
 requests of the chiefs and the desires of 
 the people, that the errors of Romanism 
 should be refuted ; the more vigorous 
 the attack, the more powerful the de- 
 fence ; yet there were found Protestants 
 who reviled them, for not welcoming 
 those whose success would have proved 
 their destruction ; and some even of 
 their own number have felt a disposition 
 to gloss over their efforts to oppose its 
 establishment, as if ashamed of their 
 zeal. So far as it may have exceeded 
 the bounds of truth or charity, and in 
 polemical contests, words and argu- 
 ments are not always sufficiently weigh- 
 ed, they may hang their heads. Mul- 
 titudes can attest their views to have 
 been derived from their teachings, but 
 the government openly avowed its acts 
 to be its own. 
 
 Every additional band of American 
 missionaries was welcomed by the chiefs. 
 Under their tuition, instruction rapidly 
 spread ; a greater interest was mani- 
 fested in religious exercises, though the 
 outward show of morality was far great- 
 er than its real progress. 
 
 The greatest obstacle to the advance- 
 ment of Christianity, was the relapse of 
 Boki and his wife, carrying with them a 
 large number of adherents, who soon 
 formed a dangerous party in the state. 
 The rigidness of the chiefs more imme- 
 
 diately under the influence of the mis- 
 sionaries, was averse to the dispositions 
 of these rulers ; and the seductions of 
 pleasure, and the unceasing importuni- 
 ties of foreign advisers, finally overcame 
 their better resolutions, They aban- 
 doned themselves to intemperance ; con- 
 tracted debts, and squandered the re- 
 sources which had been collected for 
 extinguishing those of Liholiho. On a 
 smaller scale, the general license of his 
 reign was repeated, and the island of 
 Oahu groaned under renewed exactions. 
 Boki was induced to aim at the regency; 
 the party that had led him astray, as 
 easily bound him to the interests of the 
 papists, and for a while he was their 
 steady friend, while they identified them- 
 selves with him, a conspirator against 
 the government. " The two consuls, 
 English and American, were particularly 
 attached to him."* The chief hindrance 
 which the government has received 
 even to this day in the establishment of 
 law and order has been from the hostile 
 attitude and machinations of foreign of- 
 ficials, who, forgetful of their duty, have 
 been more bent upon engendering dis- 
 content and embarrassing the rulers, 
 both in their internal and external rela- 
 tions, than in attending to their legiti- 
 mate offices. The young king, likewise, 
 fell into dissipation, and his example 
 rendered this party the more dangerous. 
 The life of Kaahumanu was endangered 
 and a revolution meditated. An attempt 
 was made to corrupt many of the chiefs ; 
 largesses of lands were distributed, and 
 numbers were drawn over to Boki, until 
 he found himself at the head of a for- 
 midable conspiracy. Arms were pre- 
 pared, and both sides expected some 
 decisive movement. Boki encamped at 
 Waikiki, Oahu, menacing the town of 
 Honolulu. Kekuanaoa, his fellow-voy- 
 ager to England, went alone to his 
 camp, and by his persuasions finally 
 induced him to give over any overt de- 
 signs, and be reconciled with govern- 
 ment. He resumed his offices, though 
 still disaffected. Under his easy ad- 
 ministration, the grosser practices of 
 the inhabitants were in some degree re- 
 vived, although no positive difficulties 
 were experienced. Kaahumanu and the 
 
 Annals of the Propagation of the Faith, vol. 6, p. 94. 
 
134 
 
 HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 king made the tour of Oahu, and after- 
 wards sailed for Maui, where Hoapili 
 and Nahienaena joined them in a pro- 
 gress around all the windward islands, 
 by which the kingdom became quieted. 
 
 This year, 1829, the king began to 
 take an active part in the affairs of gov- 
 ernment. He was now nearly sixteen 
 years of age, and had improved much 
 under the instruction of his teachers. 
 On the 3d of July, a thatched meeting- 
 house, one hundred and sixty-nine feet 
 in length by sixty-one in breadth, built 
 by order of government, at Honolulu, 
 was solemnly dedicated. Most of the 
 high chiefs were present ; the king ap- 
 peared, dressed in his rich Windsor uni- 
 form ; and his sister, superbly attired, 
 sat beside him, on a sofa in front of the 
 pulpit. Four thousand natives were as- 
 sembled. Before the religious exercises 
 commenced, the king arose and address- 
 ed the congregation, saying that "he 
 had built this house, and he now pub- 
 licly gave it to God," and declared his 
 wish that " his subjects would serve His 
 laws and learn His word." After the 
 services were closed, the princess made 
 a similar address, and the king con- 
 cluded by publicly engaging in prayer. 
 
 Complaint has been made against the 
 Hawaiian rulers, that they too literally 
 based their government upon the strict- 
 est moral principles of the Scriptures. 
 It was fit that powerful remedies should 
 be used for violent diseases. Besides 
 they knew no other course. The crimes 
 so prevalent, were seen to violate the 
 letter of the divine injunctions ; conse- 
 quently the simple rules deduced from 
 them were applied with a vigor and rig- 
 idness, which formed a powerful contrast 
 to the saturnalia of former years. As 
 usual, the faults of execution were at- 
 tributed to the missionaries, and they 
 were charged with endeavoring to crush 
 the free spirit of the nation, and substi- 
 tuting long prayers, fasting and preach- 
 ing for innocent recreations and com- 
 mercial pursuits. It is perhaps true that 
 some of the Protestant preaching has 
 had an effect to deaden industry by an 
 unwise prohibition of the ornaments of 
 dress and person, which could be pro- 
 cured only by money, and money only 
 by labor. Savages require a strong stim- 
 
 ulus to work, and habits of industry are 
 better commenced this way than not at 
 all. It would have been found that one 
 want would beget another, so that not 
 only the desires but tastes of civilized 
 life would have been hastened. 
 
 The inconsistency of expecting from 
 untutored rulers, who were feeling their 
 way toward civilization, the perfection 
 of legislation which centuries of experi- 
 ence had accumulated in more favored 
 countries, never influenced a liberality 
 of sentiment with their defamers. Those 
 who had lived so long away from moral 
 restraint, were restless under its spread. 
 That savages, on whose sensuality they 
 had gloated, and from whose resources 
 wealth had been created, should dare to 
 bring them within the pale of law, was 
 an insult beyond endurance. As the 
 folds of a better public opinion gathered 
 around them, the more bitter but useless 
 were their struggles. 
 
 On the 7th of October, the king issued 
 a proclamation in his own name, and 
 that of the regent and the high chiefs, 
 in which he declared that the laws of 
 his kingdom forbade murder, theft, licen- 
 tiousness, retailing ardent spirits, sab- 
 bath-breaking and gambling, and that 
 these laws would be equally enforced on 
 subject and foreigner. This was the 
 more necessary, as cases of collision 
 not unfrequently occurred, which if not 
 brought within the reach of government, 
 would eventually lead to retaliation and 
 revenge. 
 
 Previous to this enactment, it had 
 been promulgated, that " Christian mar- 
 riage was proper for man and woman," 
 and to put an end to the polygamy and 
 polyandry of the natives, as well as to 
 draw a veil over the dissoluteness of 
 foreigners, penalties were enforced for 
 the violation of the statute. All who 
 continued to live with one partner, after 
 a certain date, were to be considered 
 legally man and wife. An act like this 
 had become necessary to check the most 
 prominent sin of the nation, and to en- 
 force the sanctity of that relation upon 
 which, above all others, the well-being 
 of society depends. 
 
 Strange as it may appear at this day, 
 although the most vicious could but ac- 
 quiesce in its propriety, opposition was 
 
HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 135 
 
 aroused to even this salutary law. Mr. 
 Charlton, with pompous words, strove to 
 bully the chiefs ; he declared it neces- 
 sary for all laws passed by them, to re- 
 ceive the sanction of the king of Eng- 
 land : five hundred men were said to be 
 under his control, and it was boasted 
 that he had sufficient force to oppose the 
 regent, remove the governors, take pos- 
 session of the forts, and imprison the 
 royal family. His own creatures were 
 to be appointed to office. But his threats 
 were unheeded. Unawed by the menaces 
 of opposition, they steadily pursued a 
 policy which had become necessary for 
 the preservation of order. Those who 
 now stood at the head of the nation had 
 once been drunkards, and none were 
 better qualified to judge of the evils aris- 
 ing from the use of ardent spirits. They 
 were well acquainted with the strength 
 of the acquired taste which prevailed 
 among their people; and were convinced 
 that restriction alone could prevent its 
 increase. On no point had a greater 
 effort of principle been shown. The 
 policy then established has been, with 
 occasional relapses, steadily pursued to 
 the present time. Boki let land at Oahu 
 for sugar plantations, the produce of 
 which was to be converted into rum. 
 Kaahumanu at once rescinded the lease; 
 and from that period it has been the 
 condition on which all lands are leased, 
 that no ardent spirits are to be manufac- 
 tured or sold on them. 
 
 The arrival of the United States ship 
 Vincennes, Captain Finch, soon after 
 these attempts at establishing a polity, 
 which should embrace all classes and 
 misdemeanors, confirmed the resolution 
 of the chiefs. The government of the 
 United States had sent gifts to the king 
 and principal chiefs, which were pre- 
 sented in form ; also a letter, congratu- 
 lating them on the progress of civilization 
 and religion in his dominions, and re- 
 commending earnest attention to " the 
 religion of the Christian's Bible." It 
 also added, " the President also anxious- 
 ly hopes that peace and kindness and 
 justice will prevail between your people 
 and those citizens of the United States 
 who visit your islands, and that the reg- 
 ulations of your government will be 
 such as to enforce them upon all. Our 
 
 citizens who violate your laws, or inter- 
 fere with your regulations, violate at the 
 same time their duty to their own gov- 
 ernment and country, and merit censure 
 and punishment." Here was a positive 
 condemnation of the conduct of the crew 
 of the Dolphin, and ample sanction to 
 the new legislation. The rage of those 
 whose assertions were so speedily and 
 unexpectedly disproved, was extreme, 
 and vented in a protest of singular na- 
 ture to the American government. The 
 advice bestowed by Captain Finch was 
 of the most judicious character, and his 
 whole intercourse of eminent utility to 
 the best interests of the nation and his 
 countrymen. Through his negotiations, 
 debts to Americans to the amount of fifty 
 thousand dollars were acknowledged, 
 with a pledge of speedy liquidation. 
 The payment was to be made in sandal- 
 wood, and the several islands were as- 
 sessed their respective amounts. After 
 the departure of the Vincennes, its col- 
 lection was industriously enforced. 
 
 In November, a vessel arrived at 
 Honolulu, from which it was communi- 
 cated to Boki, that some where in the 
 South Pacific, an island abounding in 
 sandal-wood had been fallen in with. 
 Its situation was a secret, known only 
 to few ; one of the number proposed to 
 the governor to fit out an expedition and 
 take possession of it. The prospect of 
 so speedily acquiring wealth, and the 
 desire of wiping out his debts and re- 
 trieving his credit, were too tempting to 
 be resisted. The beautiful man-of-war 
 brig Kamehameha, and a smaller one, 
 were selected. Each was well provided 
 with arms and ammunition and stores 
 for colonizing. Including soldiers, sail- 
 ors and attendants, nearly five hundred 
 people embarked, among whom were 
 the flower of the youth of Oahu. Ten 
 foreigners also were enlisted for the 
 navigation of the vessels. The com- 
 mand of the smaller vessel, the Becket, 
 was given to Manui, a confidential agent 
 of the governor's, and who had made 
 the voyage to England with him. Al- 
 though of but one hundred tons, one 
 hundred and seventy-nine individuals 
 were crowded on board for a long voy- 
 age through the tropics. With Boki, 
 the press was even greater. Hastily 
 
136 
 
 HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 equipped and insufficiently manned, they 
 sailed on the 2d of December, against 
 the advice and remonstrances of many 
 of the merchants, who endeavored to in- 
 duce Boki to abandon the undertaking. 
 The infatuation which pervaded the 
 minds of the youths, was equal to the 
 lust of gold which led thousands of 
 Spanish hidalgos, in earlier days, from 
 homes of comfort and happiness, to 
 scenes of toil, famine and death. Wo- 
 men wailed the departure of their hus- 
 bands, sons and brothers, as if the grave 
 had closed upon them. Previous to his 
 departure, Boki thus addressed his peo- 
 ple : " Attend, my friends, hear what I 
 have to say ; you know my sin is great ; 
 it smells from Hawaii to Kauai ; it is 
 enormous, and it is my own, and not 
 another's. I am about to take a voyage 
 to extinguish the debt of the king, and 
 not for unworthy purposes." 
 
 The expedition first touched at the 
 island of Rotuma, one of the New Heb- 
 rides. Here discontent from the hard- 
 ships of the voyage began to arise. 
 Boki treated the inhabitants of that little 
 isle with the rapacity of a conqueror, 
 and finally compelled a number to work 
 in cutting sandal-wood. Erromanga, 
 the island to which they were bound, 
 was distant but a few days' sail. Boki 
 having completed his preparations, sail- 
 ed ten days in advance of the Becket. 
 His fate has never been with certainty 
 ascertained. But from the careless 
 habits of the natives with their pipes, 
 and the quantity of powder on deck, it 
 is conjectured that the brig was blown 
 up, though not a fragment, which could 
 be identified, has ever been found. The 
 Becket arrived at Erromanga, and not 
 meeting her consort, her disastrous end 
 could only be surmised. Manui remain- 
 ed there five weeks, committing outrages 
 on the natives, which led to frequent 
 hostilities. The object of the expedition 
 was entirely defeated. A distemper 
 broke out which destroyed many; among 
 them Manui. The Becket then sailed 
 for Oahu, and a scene of horror ensued, 
 which baffles description. Crowded with 
 the sick, the dying and the dead, the 
 vessel became a floating charnel-house. 
 The sufferings of the living were aggra- 
 vated by famine; they lay under a burn- 
 
 ing sun, enduring agonies of thirst, and 
 were destitute of medicines or medical 
 skill ; feebler and fainter, day by day 
 arose the groans of the suffering passen- 
 gens and the wails of the almost equally 
 helpless crew. The slow progress of 
 the brig was tracked by corpses. The 
 conduct of the foreigners, who seem to 
 have been wrapt in the selfishness of 
 despair, was barbarous, and its remem- 
 brance inflames the resentment of rela- 
 tives to this day. The dying, as well as 
 the dead, were reported to have been 
 cast overboard. In addition to their 
 original numbers, forty-seven natives of 
 Rotuma were on board ; and out of the 
 two hundred and twenty-six souls that 
 composed the brig's company, but twenty 
 returned, and of these eight were for- 
 eigners. Twenty natives had been left 
 at Rotuma, on their way, some of whom 
 afterwards found their way back. On 
 the 3d of August, 1830, the Becket ar- 
 rived at Honolulu, and as the news of 
 the disaster spread, the voice of weep- 
 ing and wailing was heard by night and 
 by day. The loss of so many active, 
 intelligent men, was a severe blow to 
 the nation. Kaahumanu was on Kauai 
 when the expedition was fitted out ; had 
 she been present, it is supposed she 
 would have prevented its departure. 
 
 Oahu had been left in charge of Li- 
 liha, and Kaikioewa resumed the guar- 
 dianship of the king. Previous to his 
 departure, Boki seemed desirous of re- 
 gaining the esteem of his fellow chiefs. 
 He had issued an order, August 8th, at 
 the command of Kaahumanu, forbidding 
 the natives to attend the religious ser- 
 vices of the papists. It was found that 
 their proselytes refused to attend schools 
 or receive the rudiments of instruction ; 
 and that through their influence, the 
 party hostile to the chiefs was increas- 
 ing. However, permission was granted 
 for the continuance of their labors among 
 foreigners, but they were enjoined not 
 to allow natives to enter their chapel. 
 Despite of this injunction, numbers re- 
 ceived instruction ; force was then used 
 to compel their absence, and at this time 
 commenced what has been called " the 
 persecution." Religious intolerance can- 
 not be justified ; but the question arises, 
 how far the policy of the government 
 
HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 137 
 
 partook of that character? When the 
 manner of the introduction of the priests 
 is considered, and the contumely they 
 exhibited toward the government, perse- 
 vering in remaining against the wishes 
 of. the rulers, who were disinclined to 
 employ force, its leniency was remarka- 
 ble : especially when the imperious Kaa- 
 humanu held the reins of state. It is 
 true that Boki favored them, but only 
 when in rebellion against the legitimate 
 authorities, and in connection with the 
 enemies of the nation. Leaning on him, 
 and duped by the party headed by the 
 English consul, they and their converts, 
 who were very few, unfortunately be- 
 came identified with them. 
 
 Political views, quite as much as re- 
 ligious, occupied their attention ; and it 
 was to Boki that they gave their sup- 
 port, as the aspirant for the highest of- 
 fice in the kingdom. A complete revo- 
 lution was to attend his success. It was 
 the desire of license that influenced the 
 mass of his partisans ; creeds, whether 
 papal or protestant, were of little conse- 
 quence in their eyes, though they were 
 glad to strengthen their cause by such 
 valuable auxiliaries as bigots or sincere 
 converts to novel doctrines invariably 
 make. The government unwisely im- 
 posed fines and imprisonment upon the 
 latter. Too powerless to have disturbed 
 the peace of the state, it would have 
 been a more merciful and wiser policy 
 to have let them alone ; but it is not 
 surprising that rulers just emerging 
 from the grossest despotism, should em- 
 ploy more of physical force than char- 
 ity. Expostulation, entreaties and ad- 
 vice were first used ; and it was not 
 until the chiefs were defied that they 
 were confined, and set to work in mak- 
 ing stone walls, repairing roads and fab- 
 ricating mats labors to which they had 
 been accustomed from their infancy, but 
 now aggravated by filthy lodgings, bad 
 food, and the contempt and rudeness 
 common to the lowest orders, particu- 
 larly of natives, with whom malevolence 
 to the unfortunate had always been an 
 active principle. They were punished 
 for idolatry ; and they who repeated the 
 offence five times, either by worshiping 
 at the chapel, or indulging in their old 
 rites, were obliged to remove the filth of 
 18 
 
 the fort with their hands, instead of 
 the inhumanity of these acts being at- 
 tributed to the American missionaries, 
 their mildness, in comparison with the 
 bloody executions which would have 
 awaited these offenders but a few years 
 before, is owing to the humanizing spirit 
 of the Christianity they had introduced. 
 Nine years of instruction had sufficed to 
 produce the change. What might not 
 have been hoped for in as many to come. 
 But individuals, too prejudiced and nar- 
 row-minded to acknowledge or ascertain 
 the truth, charged those whose labors 
 had been emphatically turned toward 
 extinguishing the barbarism of the olden 
 regime with the sole responsibility of 
 these unwise acts. The American mis- 
 sionaries would have rejoiced to have 
 seen Romanism driven from the land 
 through the intervention of enlightened 
 public sentiment ; but not one proof can 
 be shown that they ever advocated cru- 
 elty. Individual instances there were of 
 those whose minds, illiberalized by sec- 
 tarianism, looked on with reprehensible 
 apathy ; but the spirit of the body was 
 far different. 
 
 Romanists, to the number of thirty, 
 men and women, were incorporated in 
 the ranks of common malefactors, and 
 from time to time for several years, 
 made liable to similar punishments. But 
 their sufferings have been greatly exag- 
 gerated. 
 
 In ten years from the commencement 
 of the mission, nine hundred schools, 
 taught by native teachers, were estab- 
 lished, and forty-four thousand eight 
 hundred and ninety-five learners brought 
 under their influence. Kude and igno- 
 rant as were the former, they proved 
 useful to the latter, by aiding in forming 
 correct habits, and withdrawing them 
 from scenes of doubtful good. 
 
 In May, 1830, the king and Kaahu- 
 manu visited the windward islands, the 
 government of Oahu remaining in the 
 hands of Liliha and her partisans. Dur- 
 ing their absence the laws of 1829 were 
 suffered to fall into disuse ; immorality 
 again abounded; and gaming'and drunk- 
 enness were unpunished. Liliha pre- 
 pared to maintain her supremacy by an 
 appeal to arms, as it had been rumored 
 that she was to be removed. The sym- 
 
138 
 
 HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 pathies of a large body of foreigners 
 were with her, and much excitement 
 prevailed. The king publicly committed 
 the charge of affairs to Kaahumanu, 
 who immediately appointed her brother, 
 Kuakini, governor of Oahu. JSaihe was 
 left in charge of Hawaii. No chief was 
 more capable in an exigency of this na- 
 ture than Kuakini ; to the stern spirit of 
 his father, he joined the intelligence de- 
 rived from superior advantages. He 
 spoke English well, and was considered 
 the shrewdest of the chieftains. Troops 
 were landed secretly, and at several 
 points, at once, on Oahu ; the forts and 
 military stores secured ; the revolution- 
 ary party completely overawed, and its 
 leaders supplanted in office. Kuakini 
 entered upon the duties of his station 
 with a determination of enforcing the 
 very letter of the law ; this was done 
 with a rigor which gave cause of offence 
 to many foreigners, but his sternness 
 quelled every appearance of insubordi- 
 nation. He was fully equal to the task 
 of subduing the impertinence of lawless 
 whites, and compelling them to keep 
 within their proper spheres. At the 
 same time his officers, with a rudeness 
 which was inexcusable, entered private 
 houses, and carried liquor from tables. 
 Horses were seized from their owners 
 for violating the law respecting the Sab- 
 bath, but were eventually released. The 
 violence with which the statutes were 
 now enforced, contrasted forcibly with 
 the laxity of the previous rule. Armed 
 bands paraded the streets ; grog-shops, 
 gaming-houses and haunts of dissipation 
 were suppressed ; even quiet riding on 
 Sundays was forbidden. But the strong 
 arm of government was not capable of 
 infusing order and sobriety into a disso- 
 lute population ; though outward deco- 
 rum prevailed, far preferable to the 
 former laxity, secret means of indul- 
 gence were sought out ; all his meas- 
 ures met at first a strong opposition, and 
 many continued to be evaded. It was 
 proposed to sell rum to foreigners only; 
 Kuakini replied, "to horses, cattle and 
 hogs you may sell rum ; but to real 
 men you must not on these shores." A 
 national temperance society was formed, 
 in the objects of which the chiefs cor- 
 dially united. 
 
 Entirely to suppress all opposition to 
 government, Kuakini next determined to 
 send away the Romish priests; on the 
 2d of April, 1831, they were summoned 
 to the fort, and ordered to leave the 
 islands in three months. As they mani- 
 fested no disposition to comply, this 
 order was repeated twice afterward. 
 The course of the priests is somewhat 
 remarkable, and sufficiently obstinate 
 and deceptive to have caused harsher 
 measures in a more civilized nation.* 
 Meanwhile, they continued their labors, 
 and among the disappointed adherents 
 of Liliha, gained some new converts ; 
 the most noted of whom was an aged 
 sister of Kalanikupule, the late king of 
 Oahu, who perished at the battle of 
 Nuuanu, but whose family, though de- 
 prived of all political influence, was by 
 the clemency of Kamehameha allowed 
 to retain many of the advantages of 
 their former rank. She died in 1837. 
 
 The duplicity of the priests being now 
 too manifest to be longer disregarded, if 
 the government wished to retain even 
 the shadow of power within their own 
 kingdom, it was decided to send them 
 away at the public expense. It is evi- 
 dent throughout all the transactions of 
 the priests and their partisans, that they 
 wished to irritate the chiefs to measures, 
 
 * "That we might appear to yield in some degree to 
 the demands of the chiefs, and to avoid irritating then), 
 we took care, when any vessel was about to deparl, to 
 request, in writing, of the captain, a gratuitous passage. 
 We did this in respect to several ; and as they knew our 
 intentions, they answered us, also in writing, and abso- 
 lutely refused to grant our request ; for no captain was 
 willing to engage in executing the sentence pronounced 
 against us. 
 
 " A short time afterward a Prussian vessel arrived, the 
 captain of which brought presents from the king of Prus- 
 sia to the young king of the Sandwich Islands. The ar- 
 rival of this vessel furnished an occasion for a new attempt 
 to compel us to leave the archipelago. The governor of 
 Hawaii re-appeared. ' Here,' said he to me, ' is a ship 
 from near your own country. It will conduct you to your 
 own land.' ' What you say is reasonable,' I replied, ' but 
 who will pay my passage ? I came here with nothing 
 but my body and the word of God ; my heart has not 
 been upon the things of this world ; I have amassed no 
 money.' ' Perhaps he will take you for nothing.' It is 
 possible : but ask him yourself, and you shall see.' Kua- 
 kini retired with this answer. The captain came to see 
 us ; I explained to him our situation; he obligingly of- 
 fered to receive us on board of his vessel, if we wished to 
 depart ; but if not, he told us to make an application to 
 him in writing, and to dictate the answer which we wished 
 him to make : which was done. The governor of Hawaii 
 also went to see him, and urged him to take charge of 
 us. The Prussian captain answered him that he would 
 do it with pleasure, but that before M. Patrick and I 
 could come on board, he must be paid five thousand dol- 
 lars, (more than twenty-five thousand francs.) The poor 
 governor had a great desire to rid himself of us, but he 
 was still more anxious to keep his money. He was there- 
 fore obliged to abandon his pr<j^ct." Annals of the 
 Propagation of the Faith, vol. \Q,p. 370. 
 
HISTOEY OF TEE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 139 
 
 which, exaggerated and distorted by 
 their representations, should wear the 
 appearance of religious persecution, and 
 being an apparent breach of the laws of 
 nations, involve them with their respect- 
 ive governments. Unfortunately, they 
 succeeded but too well, and the unde- 
 sired presence of these papists, with the 
 equally unprovoked insults of their sup- 
 porters, were at last crowned by the un- 
 just interference of France. 
 
 Letters had been received from the 
 prefect of the Roman Catholic missions 
 in California, inviting the priests to their 
 aid, as their services were greatly need- 
 ed. It was determined to land them in 
 that country ; accordingly a native brig, 
 the Waverly, was fitted out for that 
 service, at an expense of one thousand 
 dollars. On the 7th of December, Kaa- 
 humanu issued a proclamation, in which 
 she stated the reasons for thus sending 
 them off; that they had remained in 
 defiance of their orders, and by them 
 some of the people had been led into 
 seditious practices ; that their plea for 
 not leaving before had been, " We have 
 no vessel to go in : " " therefore we put 
 them on board our vessel, to carry them 
 to a place where the service is like their 
 own." Certainly, for barbarians, a hu- 
 mane consideration to be exercised to- 
 ward such obstinate contemners of their 
 laws. 
 
 On the 24th they were embarked ; 
 and on the 28th of January, 1832, were 
 landed at San Pedro, California, where 
 they were welcomed into the mission of 
 San Gabriel, without incurring further 
 hardship than is incidental to all travel- 
 ers in those parts. The mechanics of 
 the mission were suffered to remain. 
 
 Kaahumanu* died the 5th of June 
 following, in the 58th year of her age. 
 
 * The faith she entertained of a happy immortality was 
 simple and yet effective. On the night of the 4th, when 
 her end was expected, she remarked referring to the 
 custom of her nation, which requires new houses to be 
 erected in whatever part of her territories the royal lam- 
 ily were to visit " The way that I am going the house 
 is prepared send the thoughts thither rejoicing." Her 
 attachment to the members of the mission was of (he 
 most devoted nature, mingled with gratitude for the 
 change they had been instrumental in effecting. When 
 the life of one of their number was threatened at Lahaina, 
 and fears were entertained that violence would be at- 
 tempted by certain foreigners, she sent for him to come 
 to Honolulu. Upon landing, taking him by the hand, she 
 led him through the fort, and showed birn her magazines 
 of arms, and her soldiers. "These," said she. "are all 
 mine, and both they and I shall perish before harm 
 reaches you." 
 
 She was a firm and conscientious Chris- 
 tian to the last; beloved by those who 
 intimately knew her, and universally 
 respected for her abilities. Her remains 
 were deposited in the royal tomb at 
 Honolulu, beside those of Liholiho and 
 Kamamalu. 
 
 After the death of Naihe, which oc- 
 curred in December, 1831, Kuakini re- 
 turned to his proper government of 
 Hawaii, where his efforts for the forci- 
 ble suppression of vice were as vigorous 
 as at Oahu, in which Kapiolani, with 
 more gentleness and judgment, joined. 
 
 In August, 1832, the United States 
 frigate Potomac, Commodore Downes, 
 arrived at Honolulu. That distinguished 
 commander exerted himself to enlighten 
 the minds of the chiefs, while he treated 
 them with the courtesy due to their sta- 
 tion. To those unacquainted with the 
 peculiar condition of Hawaiian society, 
 it may seem puerile to mention the fre- 
 quent visits of men-of-war. But they 
 should consider that the deportment of 
 their commanders had an important in- 
 fluence either to sustain the chiefs in 
 their attempts at exercising their just 
 jurisdiction, and the missionaries in their 
 labors, or to encourage the contemners 
 of the one and the opposers of the other. 
 
 In the early part of 1833, Kauikeouli 
 assumed the responsibilities of govern- 
 ment, Kinau holding the same relative 
 situation to him, under the title of Kaa- 
 humanu II., that her step-mother did to 
 Liholiho. The character and capabili- 
 ties of Kinau were very similar to those 
 of her predecessor ; before her conver- 
 sion she was haughty, cruel and disso- 
 lute ; afterward, firm, conscientious and 
 temperate. The king had acquired a 
 great fondness for nautical affairs, and 
 as most of their fine vessels had been 
 wrecked, desired to purchase a brig at 
 an expense of twelve thousand dollars. 
 This Kinau and the other chiefs opposed, 
 upon the ground of the impolicy of incur- 
 ring further debts, while their old were 
 undischarged. The king reluctantly 
 yielded ; he had been an apt scholar, 
 and had given, thus far, proofs of an 
 amiable disposition, and a desire to rule 
 with sobriety. But power and youthful 
 passions are strong temptations; of them- 
 selves they might have been sufficient to 
 
140 
 
 HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 have led him into a course of dissipation, 
 in which the affairs of government would 
 have been relaxed. But the endeavors 
 of certain foreigners were unwearied to 
 wean him from all religious obligations, 
 and to render him an easy tool in their 
 hands. The power of Boki's faction was 
 too far gone to allow of hope in that 
 quarter; but by pandering to the low 
 tastes of a semi-savage monarch, he 
 might be won. Accordingly he was plied 
 with tempting wines and liquors, until 
 his better resolutions were overpowered, 
 and he acquired a thirst as strong as 
 that of his predecessor, though his in- 
 dulgence was by no means equal. Se- 
 duced by such characters, he avoided 
 his counselors, and sought the society 
 of young, unprincipled men. It was 
 urged upon him to take off all taboos ; 
 the real desires of the natives and the 
 hopelessness of the labors of the mis- 
 sionaries would then be apparent. The 
 generally moral condition was declared 
 to be entirely owing to the absolutism of 
 the chiefs ; and if they turned, the na- 
 tion would follow. That this was partly 
 true, no missionary could deny. They 
 numbered but few real converts, though 
 they justly claimed the amelioration of 
 manners, the desire of instruction, and 
 much of the gradual change for the 
 better, to be the result of their labors. 
 Still following the example of the rulers, 
 it had become fashionable to be of their 
 belief; all important offices were in their 
 hands ; and interest more than intelli- 
 gence conspired to produce an outward 
 conformity to morality. While numbers, 
 to the best of their abilities, were Chris- 
 tians, thousands joined their ranks from 
 unworthy motives. Perhaps in no in- 
 stances have the united cunning and 
 mendacity of the Hawaiian character 
 been more strikingly displayed than in 
 their stratagems to deceive their reli- 
 gious teachers. By fraud, by even giv- 
 ing up much loved sins, and by ready 
 knowledge of the Scriptures, many man- 
 aged to become church members, because 
 by it their importance was increased, 
 and their chances of political preferment 
 better. This is too Christian a practice 
 for civilized men to wonder at. Deceived 
 by appearances, the friends of the mis- 
 sion exaggerated their success. Now 
 
 was thought the opportunity of putting 
 it to the test. 
 
 The principles of the king had become 
 loosened, and he longed to indulge in 
 the forbidden pleasures of his race. The 
 moment was opportune ; he was per- 
 suaded, and finally gave the signal. 
 Hoapili hastened to Honolulu to endea- 
 vor to arrest the torrent, and persuade 
 the king to retire with him to Lahaina. 
 But he had gone too far to retract. He 
 immediately issued a proclamation, cen- 
 tring in himself all legal authority, the 
 power of life and death, and taking off 
 all penalties of the laws, excepting those 
 for murder, theft and adultery ; the lat- 
 ter at any time was almost a dead let- 
 ter. Foreigners were to be protected in 
 their persons and property. The conse- 
 quences of the sweeping away of moral 
 restraint and municipal regulations in a 
 well-ordered community, can be imag- 
 ined ; how far worse the consequences 
 among a dissolute population, ripe for 
 crime, lust, debauchery and revenge. 
 The scene that followed beggars de- 
 scription. Some remained faithful to 
 their instructions, and had the amount 
 of missionary good been confined to 
 those few, their labors would have been 
 amply repaid. The worst scenes were 
 enacted at Honolulu, but a general civil 
 and moral anarchy prevailed through- 
 out the group. Schools were deserted, 
 teachers relapsed, congregations were 
 thinned, excesses abounded, and in some 
 places, especially in the district of Hilo, 
 Hawaii, idolatrous worship was again 
 performed. Several churches were burn- 
 ed and some lives lost. Groggeries were 
 opened, and distilleries set in motion. 
 The wild orgies of heathenism rioted 
 over the land ; men left their wives, 
 wives their husbands ; parents, brothers, 
 sisters and relatives united, like beasts, 
 in common prostitution ; they gambled, 
 they fought, for old grudges were then 
 scored off; they drank and they reveled. 
 Kinau, surrounded by a faithful few, 
 dared not venture without the walls of 
 the fort : her person would have been as 
 common as the lowest female. Kaiki- 
 oewa, and some of the old warriors, 
 wished, by force of arms, to compel the 
 king to put a stop to such a course ; but 
 more peaceful counsels prevailed, and it 
 
BISTORY Of THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 141 
 
 was thought best to let the passions of 
 the mass exhaust themselves. The king 
 retired to the west part of Honolulu, and 
 there, countenanced by Charlton, who 
 boasted that the American missionaries 
 would be sent off on the arrival of the 
 next English armed vessel, and attended 
 by bottle companions, indulged in con- 
 tinuous debauchery. Several times was 
 he visited by Mr. Bingham, who en- 
 deavored to reclaim him by kindly but 
 forcible monitions. He was treated with 
 respect, and his remonstrances had an 
 effect the king was unwilling to ac- 
 knowledge. The princess, though al- 
 most equally giddy and volatile, became 
 alarmed, and was incessant in affection- 
 ate endeavors to reclaim her brother. 
 Urged by pernicious counsels, he had 
 determined to remove Kinau from the 
 regency and substitute Liliha. The par- 
 tisans of the latter assembled round him, 
 and were clamorous for the event. It 
 was to have been done publicly ; the 
 chiefs were present ; the revocation was 
 on his lips, when he unexpectedly turned 
 to Kinau and solemnly confirmed her in 
 office. The effect was electric ; all per- 
 ceived the days of misrule were num- 
 bered. When expostulated with for not 
 carrying out his intention, he gave the 
 significant reply, " very strong is the 
 kingdom of God." 
 
 In their relation of this reaction, the 
 Roman Catholics, though they appear to 
 rejoice in its effects so far as it was in- 
 jurious to Protestantism, yet are obliged 
 to confess, that even among their con- 
 verts, the " piety of some appeared to 
 grow cold." 
 
 For awhile the king wavered between 
 two courses ; sometimes dissolute, at 
 others respectful and attending divine 
 worship. Multitudes, wearied by their 
 excesses, or disgusted with scenes which 
 had long been given over, returned to 
 their teachers, and confessed they had 
 had enough; they were satisfied that law 
 and order were better; the experiment 
 of unrestrained license had been tried, 
 and demonstrated as vicious. The con- 
 trast between such times, when neither 
 life nor property were safe ; when sen- 
 suality became palsied with excess ; 
 when revenge rioted unchecked, and 
 gambling begat insatiable desires ; and 
 
 the peaceful systems of education, com- 
 mercial pursuits and united households, 
 was made so apparent to the advantage 
 of the latter, that it would have been 
 found difficult to have again renewed 
 the former. It was the final effort of the 
 disorganizers to bring about a revolu- 
 tion ; and it cannot be doubted that some 
 among their ranks shrunk in affright 
 from the foul phantom they had con- 
 jured up. Its effects were long felt, 
 especially by individuals ; families were 
 forever separated; healths ruined; limbs 
 bruised or broken ; and much property 
 squandered or destroyed. No foreigner 
 suffered, except in the interruption of 
 business and anxiety for the results. 
 
 In 1S34, the reaction of the previous 
 year began to be conspicuous. The king 
 gave sanction to the laws, and the traffic 
 in ardent spirits was mostly suppressed, 
 except at Oahu. Efficient aid to the 
 cause of temperance was afforded by 
 shipmasters, who had long experienced 
 evils from the use of ardent spirits among 
 their crews, and were anxious to see its 
 sale altogether discontinued. At Hono- 
 lulu it was finally put under certain re- 
 strictions, which, while they prevented 
 much of the former disorder, gave the 
 king an annual revenue from the licenses 
 issued for the privilege of retailing. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 1836 Political position of the Chiefs and Mission Mr. 
 Richards' agency to the United States Employment 
 of foreigners Further history of the Jesuits Arrival 
 of the French sloop-of-war Bonite H. B. M. S. Al- 
 teon Lord Edward Russell Diplomatic intercourse 
 Treaties Return of priests from California, 1837 Or- 
 dered on board the Clementine Abandoned to govern- 
 ment Burning of the flag by English consul Armed 
 interference of Captains Belcher, of the Sulphur, and 
 Du Petit Thouars, of the Venus frigate Account of 
 official intercourse Treaty negotiated Arrival of 
 Imogene frigate Another arrival of priests Sent away 
 Edict against Romanism Further persecution Re- 
 ligious toleration proclaimed by the king, 17th June, 
 1839 Proceeding of foreign residents at Honolulu 
 Admixture of religious and political movements of the 
 French in the Pacific Policy Arrival of L'Artemise 
 frigate, Laplace commander Blockade of the port of 
 Honolulu Manifesto Demands Agreed to History 
 of commercial treaty Interview with king Arrival of 
 French bishop Fresh difficulties incited, 1842 Visit 
 and demands of the corvette L'Embuscade, Captaia 
 Mallet, September. 
 
 A NEW era was now dawning. The 
 missionaries had carried forward the na- 
 tion to a certain point, when it became 
 necessary for new influences to operate, 
 that their work of civilizing as well as 
 
142 
 
 HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 evangelizing might be completed. The 
 religious movement in one sense had 
 fulfilled its task. Sixteen years had 
 elapsed since the idols were overthrown. 
 In that time, Christianity had made rapid 
 progress, until the entire nation owned 
 its sway. Pulpits, schools and mission 
 stations were scattered over the land. 
 Idolatry, infanticide, licentiousness, in- 
 toxication, murder, the worst features of 
 heathenism, which, by its standard, half 
 partook of the character of virtues, had 
 been successively vanquished. The 
 strenuous opposition to the progress of 
 the Gospel was gradually changing its 
 character, and settling into a political 
 animosity to the chiefs. Laws, people 
 and government partook of the puritan- 
 ical caste of their religious teachers. 
 Without exaggeration, the nation may 
 now be said to have been Christianized ; 
 that is, their faith was fixed in Jehovah, 
 and the principles of the revealed Gos- 
 pel were their professed guide. To 
 advance further, the religious reforma- 
 tion must operate on individuals, by re- 
 generating their lives and implanting 
 pure motives of action. Vice must now 
 be attacked in detail rather than in the 
 mass. The public sentiment, however 
 unsound at heart, had adopted the stand- 
 ard of the cross. The impression made 
 upon the world by this religious conquest 
 was great. Christendom resounded with 
 the triumph. It recalled the days of the 
 primitive bishops, when Papal Eome in 
 the infancy of her power sent forth her 
 heralds throughout heathen Europe, and 
 nations were born to her sway as in a 
 day. This was the work of Protestant- 
 ism in the nineteenth century, and its 
 example has been the most active stim- 
 ulant to modern missions. But while it 
 had done so much for Hawaiians, it had 
 left undone much equally as essential 
 for their preservation as a nation. It 
 had carried them to a certain height and 
 bade them spread their wings and soar 
 aloft. It was too soon. Christianity it 
 is true had spread its healing balm over 
 limbs lacerated with sin, and as with the 
 touch of its author, the sick had risen 
 and walked. But new evils had sprung 
 up new relations were now to be pro- 
 vided for and new foes to be fought. 
 Much as the Hawaiians had acquired in 
 
 the art of self-government, they were ig- 
 norant of political government consider- 
 ed in its foreign relations. Exposed as 
 they were to the machinations of malcon- 
 tent foreigners exciting treason among 
 subjects becoming more known yearly 
 to the civilized world and incurring the 
 responsibilities incident to national ex- 
 istence, aiming at carrying out to an 
 advanced civilization the experiment 
 which Christianity had commenced, and 
 desirous of appearing among the family 
 of nations, it became requisite that they 
 should lay the foundations of their new 
 polity on sure and enlightened grounds. 
 Ignorant themselves, they were obliged 
 to look to others for knowledge. Versed 
 in theology, with sacred history on their 
 tongues' ends, they were as yet unac- 
 quainted with the practical science of in- 
 ternational government and the axioms 
 of political economy. Who should in- 
 struct them ? The missionaries were 
 debarred by their patrons in the United 
 States from incurring the charge of mov- 
 ing in political matters from following 
 the example of the Jesuits and creating 
 at once a church and state. This was a 
 good rule so far as the clergymen were 
 concerned, for excellence in religious 
 polemics or single-heartedness in faith, 
 by no means argued skill in the manage- 
 ment of a state, or a practical knowledge 
 of men. But having been instrumental 
 in bringing the nation to a position 
 where a new order of talents was as 
 necessary for it to advance in its career 
 as that of the past had been to save it 
 from destruction by its own weight of 
 vices, it was due it to provide the neces- 
 sary pilots for the new sea on which it 
 had been launched. Koman Catholicism 
 never hesitates, when opportunity offers, 
 to merge the church and state into one 
 power; but she provides agents skilled 
 for the work. Not so modern Protest- 
 antism. Its policy has been to convert ; 
 to make spiritual conquests, and leave 
 the state to its own resources. This is 
 right where talent and knowledge exist. 
 But where the entire overthrowing of 
 the past is necessary for the welfare of 
 the future, it is indispensable that in- 
 struction and influence should be felt 
 throughout, if the work is to be com- 
 pleted. In 1836, the chiefs were as 
 
HISTORY OF THE BAWAIIAS ISLASDS. 
 
 143 
 
 much children in the science of gov- 
 ernment, as understood among civilized 
 states, as in 1820, they were blind to the 
 morality of the sermon on the mount. 
 Troubles were thickening around them. 
 They turned instinctively to the mission- 
 aries for advice. This was rather im- 
 plied than given ; no one could be found 
 in the face of the principles professed 
 sufficiently bold or confident in his own 
 ability to meet the emergency, and pro- 
 claim himself at once the steward of 
 souls and the adviser of the state. Had 
 such an one appeared, if his talents and 
 experience had been equal to the case, 
 however great the outcry which would 
 have followed from those interested in 
 continuing the chiefs in darkness and 
 from those who saw evils in such a 
 junction, it cannot now be doubted but 
 that great and serious evils would have 
 been saved the nation. But an Ximenes 
 or a Cromwell did not exist on Hawaii. 
 Providence destined the nation to run 
 its career through feebler agencies. 
 
 The chiefs, fully sensible of their po- 
 litical wants, sent by Mr. .Richards, in 
 1836, to the United States to procure a 
 suitable person to fill the situation of 
 legal adviser and teacher in the new 
 policy circumstances were forcing upon 
 them. In this they were backed by the 
 opinion of the mission, who desirous of 
 preserving themselves from the responsi- 
 bility, would gladly have seen it in able 
 and disinterested hands. The wants of 
 the chiefs were fully appreciated by the 
 American Board, but nothing was effect- 
 ed. Individuals of talent, by the time 
 they have acquired the experience suit- 
 able for such a post, which in its real ef- 
 fect, would have been equivalent to the 
 supreme direction of public affairs, gen- 
 erally have fixed themselves in perma- 
 nent relations at home. With all the 
 modern fervor in the cause of missions, 
 and the very many excellent discourses 
 yearly uttered from pulpits, we rarely 
 see entire disinterestedness manifested 
 in the middle-aged those who have 
 known the world and tasted its goods, 
 however prepared they may be by these 
 yery qualifications for the posts they so 
 industriously urge upon others. The 
 path of novelty, sacrifice, enterprise and 
 benevolence is rarely filled by any ex- 
 
 cept the young and enthusiastic. That 
 the chiefs relying on the philanthropy 
 of any experienced public man to have 
 complied with their request should have 
 failed, is what might reasonably have 
 been anticipated. A young man, ambi- 
 tious of the influence if not of the actual 
 power of a Peter the Great or an Alfred, 
 on a petty scale, might readily have been 
 found, but the chiefs were suspicious of 
 youth. Desiring age and experience, 
 they should have offered a salary equiv- 
 alent to some of the highest posts in the 
 United States. On such a contingency 
 few objections would have been found 
 unanswerable. The path of duty would 
 have been opened to many blind to all 
 other considerations. This is human 
 nature as we see it in the pulpit and on 
 the bench. In every position it requires 
 its motive power. 
 
 It is said that the Honorable Theo. L. 
 Frelinghuysen was invited to become 
 the adviser of the chiefs, but declined. 
 At all events Mr. Richards was wholly 
 unsuccessful. On his return, the posi- 
 tion of the chiefs being none the less 
 embarrassing, compelled them to apply 
 to the mission for aid. Without any 
 definite action of their body, then com- 
 menced that system which by the natural 
 course of events has led to the direct 
 employment of several of their number 
 having first been disconnected from their 
 ranks in the service of the government. 
 Foreigners were required in public af- 
 fairs. The chiefs chose those on whom 
 they could most rely; and whatever may 
 have been their errors of judgment, the 
 result has shown that they were not mis- 
 taken in relying upon their zeal and 
 fidelity ; and it may well be doubted 
 whether, at that time, the kingdom fur- 
 nished men more suitable from knowl- 
 edge and experience with the people and 
 foreigners, to administer to its wants. 
 The history of the policy they adopted 
 will be traced to the period of its pres- 
 ent development. 
 
 The mission and their seceders were 
 united in their views to build up a nation 
 of Hawaiians distinct from all foreign 
 influence. The following resolutions, 
 taken from the missionary minutes for 
 1838, show the just views entertained 
 at this date : 
 
144 
 
 HISTOSY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. ~~ 
 
 " 1st. Resolved, That though the system of govern- 
 ment in the Sandwich Islands has, since the commence- 
 ment of the reign of Liholiho, been greatly improved 
 through the influence of Christianity and the introduc- 
 tion of written and printed laws and (he salutary agency 
 of Christian chiefs, has proved a great blessing to the 
 people ; stiil, the system is so very imperfect for the man- 
 agement of the affairs of a civilized and virtuous nation, 
 as to render it of great importance that correct views of 
 the rights and duties of rulers and subjects, and of the 
 principles of jurisprudence and political economy, should 
 be held up before the king and the members of the na- 
 tional council. 
 
 2d. Resolved, That it is the duty of missionaries to 
 teach the doctrine that rulers should be just, ruling in the 
 fear of God, seeking the best good of their nation, demand- 
 ing no more of subjects as such, than the various ends of 
 the government may justly require ; and if church mem- 
 bers among them violate the commands of God, they 
 should he admonished with the same faithfulness and 
 tenderness as their dependants. 
 
 3d. Resolved, That rulers in power are so by the 
 providence of God, and in an important sense by the 
 will or consent of the people, and ought not to resign 
 r shrink from the cares and responsibilities of their of- 
 fices ; therefore teachers of religion ought carefully to 
 guard the subjects against contempt for the authority 
 f their rulers, or any evasion or resistance of govern- 
 ment orders, unless they plainly set at defiance the com- 
 mands of God. 
 
 4th. Resolved, That the resources of the nation are 
 at its own disposal for its defence, improvement and per- 
 fection, and subjects ought to be taught to feel that a por- 
 tion of their time and services, their property or earnings, 
 may rightfully be required by the sovereign or national 
 council for the support of government, in all its branches 
 and departments, and that it is a Christian duty to render 
 honor, obedience, fear, custom and tribute to whom they 
 are due, as taught in the 13th of Romans, and that the 
 sin of disloyalty which tends to confusion, anarchy and 
 ruin, deserves reproof as really and as promptly as that 
 of injustice on the part of rulers or any other violation of 
 the commands of God. 
 
 5th. Resolved, That while rulers should be allowed 
 to do what they will with their own, or with what they 
 have a right to demand, we ought to encourage the secu- 
 rity of the right of subjects also to do what they will with 
 their own, provided they render to Caesar his due. 
 
 6th. Resolved, That rulers ought to be prompted to 
 direct their efforts to the promotion of general intelli- 
 gence and virtue as a grand means of removing the ex- 
 isting evils of the system, gradually defining and limiting 
 by equitable laws the rights and duties of all classes, that 
 thus by improving rather than revolutionizing the gov- 
 ernment, its administration may become abundantly salu- 
 tary, and the hereditary rulers receive no detriment but 
 corresponding advantage. 
 
 7th. Resolved, That to remove the improvidence and 
 imbecility of the people, and promote the industry, wealth 
 and happiness of the nation, it is the duty of the mission 
 to urge mainly the motives to loyalty, patriotism, social 
 kindness and general benevolence ; but while on the one 
 hand he should not condemn their artificial wants, an- 
 eient or modern, because they depend on fancy, or a taste 
 aot refined, he should on the other endeavor to encourage 
 and multiply such as will enlist their energies, call forth 
 ingenuity, enterprise and patient industry, and give scope 
 for enlarged plans of profitable exertion, which, if well 
 directed, would clothe the population in beautiful cot- 
 tons, fine linen and silk, and their arable fields with rich 
 and various productions suited to the climate 5 would 
 adorn the land with numerous comfortable, substantial 
 habitations, made pleasant by elegant furniture, cabinets 
 and libraries , with permanent and well endowed school 
 houses and seminaries ; large, commodious and durable 
 churches, and their seas and harbors with ships owned 
 by natives, sufficient to export to other countres annu- 
 ally the surplus products of their soil, which may at no 
 rery distant period amount to millions. 
 
 8th. Resolved, That we deem it proper for mem- 
 bers of this mission to devote a portion of their time to 
 instructing the natives into the best method of cultivat- 
 ing their lands, and of raising flocks and herds, and of 
 turning the various products of the country to the best 
 advantage, for the maintenance of their families, the 
 support of government and of schools, and the insti- 
 tutions of the Gospel and its ministers, at Lome and 
 abroad." 
 
 Notwithstanding the banishment of 
 the Jesuits, and the entire suppression 
 of their partisans, as a political party, a 
 powerful influence was at work to re- 
 call them. The mechanics left behind, 
 acted as catechists and served to keep 
 alive the embers of the faith among the 
 few native converts. Charlton, still ac- 
 tive in the cause, corresponded with the 
 exiles. In 1835, the Pope sent them a 
 brief, exhorting them to persevere in 
 the attempt at Oahu. The party was 
 strengthened by the arrival of a Mr. 
 Robert Walsh, an Irish priest, educated 
 at Paris. He landed at Honolulu the 
 30th of September, 1S36. As soon as 
 his clerical character was known, he 
 was required to leave, but obtained per- 
 mission to remain until the arrival of 
 H. B. M. ship Acteon, Lord Edward 
 Russell, commander, who was daily ex- 
 pected. On the 7th of October, Mr. 
 Walsh was officially informed that he 
 would not be allowed to remain perma- 
 nently. The day succeeding, the French 
 sloop-of-war Bonite, Captain Vaillant, 
 arrived; and he was immediately waited 
 upon to engage his influence in his fa- 
 vor. Seconded by the assertions of the 
 English consul, who claimed the priv- 
 ilege of his being allowed to remain re- 
 gardless of his profession, M. Vaillant 
 procured permission for him, with the 
 proviso that he should make no attempts 
 to propagate his religion. This, Mr. 
 Walsh confesses in his correspondence 
 with his employers, he violated when- 
 ever it could be safely done. The Ac- 
 teon arrived on the 23d, and the Bonite 
 sailed the ensuing day. Captain Rus- 
 sell, prejudiced by the ex parte state- 
 ments of the English consul, actively 
 interfered in behalf of the Romish 
 priests. Captain Jones, of the Peacock, 
 in 1826, had first set the example of 
 negotiating a treaty with the Hawaiian 
 government, in which the rights of the 
 subjects of both countries were generally 
 defined. Defective as it was in some 
 important points, it had been of eminent 
 utility ; though individual instances had 
 occurred in which it had been held up to 
 the native government as a bugbear, by 
 which advantages or selfish interests, 
 not contemplated in its spirit, might be 
 secured. Violations of treaties, break- 
 
fttSTORT OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 145 
 
 ing the laws of nations, visits of aveng- 
 ing men-of-war, had been so often ut- 
 tered, that they had lost their meaning; 
 and it would not have been surprising 
 if, in the constant efforts to entangle 
 them, the native authorities should have 
 given some occasion of complaint. The 
 discussions which had arisen from time 
 to time, on account of alleged griev- 
 ances, particularly when Commodore 
 Kennedy, of the United States East 
 India squadron, was present, in 1836, 
 had gradually enlarged their ideas of a 
 national polity, and given them a better 
 understanding of the laws of nations, 
 though their knowledge was of an extent 
 calculated to render them more timid 
 than bold, or perhaps wavering in action 
 though firm in policy. Those com- 
 manders who have acted with justice 
 and moderation, and by impartial de- 
 cisions gained the good will of the high 
 minded of the foreigners, as well as that 
 of the natives, have invariably been fol- 
 lowed by the sneers and abuse of those 
 who had sought their aid to prosecute 
 unjust claims, or had endeavored to in- 
 fuse their partial views into their minds. 
 In Captain Russell, that party found a 
 man accessible to their views. It was 
 thought a favorable opportunity to se- 
 cure a treaty, in which the most favor- 
 able terms should be inserted. The 
 attempt was made ; a definite period for 
 its signature was insisted upon ; and at 
 the end of that time, if it were not re- 
 ceived, the frigate was to coerce them 
 by her guns. Whatever influence these 
 threats may have had, the document 
 which was finally signed, fully confirmed 
 the government in all their legal rights, 
 while it placed upon a firmer basis 
 usages of English subjects which had 
 heretofore been only tacitly admitted. 
 It is probable that neither Lord Russell 
 nor the consul dared risk the displeasure 
 of their government by any act which, 
 in its official bearing, should manifest 
 gross injustice. The point on which the 
 Hawaiian government would yield the 
 least, was that on which the principle of 
 their internal polity was based, the 
 unalienable tenure of the soil. Foreign 
 wealth and property had greatly in- 
 creased ; much of it was in houses or 
 farms, occupying lands which had been 
 19 
 
 the gifts of friendship from various 
 chiefs, or the reward of services. In all 
 such cases they argued that they were 
 held on the same principle as those of 
 their own subjects ; and were incapa- 
 ble of transmission. The "Indian gift" 
 was but for the occupancy or lifetime of 
 the possessor or the will of the donor. 
 Disputes had arisen in consequence, 
 and innovations constantly occurred, by 
 which some lands came to be held in 
 perpetuity by foreigners, while all wish- 
 ed to obtain a like concession. Houses 
 had been demolished and removed upon 
 the departure of the occupants, and the 
 lands reverted to the chiefs. A few 
 leases had been obtained, but no rep- 
 resentative value received ; foreigners 
 \vere desirous of obtaining tracts suit- 
 able for extended agricultural enter- 
 prises. The importance of developing 
 the resources of the soil was fully ac- 
 knowledged by the chiefs, but the fear 
 of losing their legal control, by yielding 
 the right of cultivation, was a stronger 
 motive. It was a subject which had 
 been already a source of much vexation, 
 and at this time their ideas were not 
 sufficiently enlightened to enable them 
 to comprehend the distinction between 
 deeding the right of soil, and retaining 
 the sovereignty. Consequently, Lord 
 Russell was only able to obtain the rec- 
 ognition of the privilege to sell or trans- 
 fer, with the consent of the king. The 
 important clause was also formally in- 
 serted, that English subjects should be 
 permitted to reside on the islands only 
 so long as they conformed to the laws. 
 
 Notwithstanding this provision, which 
 was agreed to in full knowledge of the 
 edict against Romanism, Walsh, sup- 
 ported by the consul, although detected 
 in violating his agreement, refused to 
 leave. He was forbidden to open the 
 chapel. Information had been sent the 
 priests at California that the moment 
 for them to return was opportune ; that 
 the king had pledged himself to Captain 
 Vaillant to protect them, and that the 
 treaty made by Lord Russell would ef- 
 fectually cover the landing of Short. It 
 appears they doubted of their success ; 
 for it was agreed that Short should land 
 secretly, and after continuing for some 
 time in concealment, claim the right 
 
146 
 
 HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 of stopping under the provision of the 
 treaty which allowed English subjects 
 freely to land and remain, but contain- 
 ed, in the same paragraph, the sentence, 
 " with the consent of the king," which 
 the English consul in all cases studi- 
 ously disguised. Bachelot was to at- 
 tempt to land openly ; if prevented, to 
 hold intercourse with the natives from 
 the vessels in the harbor, and if unable to 
 effect this, to leave for the South Pacific. 
 
 They arrived at Honolulu on the 17th 
 of April, 1837, in the brigantine Clem- 
 entine, faring English colors, though 
 the property of Jules Dudoit, a French- 
 man. She had been chartered by an 
 American for the voyage to Califor- 
 nia. Upon their landing much excite- 
 ment prevailed. Kekuanaoa, governor 
 of Oahu, ordered the captain of the 
 brig to receive them on board. He re- 
 fused, saying he had no control over the 
 vessel. The owner was next applied 
 to; he declined to receive them, except 
 by their own desire ; in case they were 
 forced on board, he said that he should 
 abandon his vessel and look to his gov- 
 ernment for redress. He also stated 
 that as the brigantine was chartered, he 
 exercised no control over her move- 
 ments. An order was sent the priests 
 on the 19th to prepare to depart.* The 
 king was absent at Maui, where he and 
 Kinau had recently gone to deposit the 
 remains of his sister, who died Decem- 
 ber 31, 1836, to the great grief of the 
 nation. She was equally beloved by 
 foreigners and subjects, to all of \vhom 
 she had endeared herself by her sweet- 
 ness of disposition. Leleiohoku, the son 
 and heir of Kalaimoku, was her hus- 
 band. One child had resulted from 
 their union, which, if it had lived, would 
 have been heir to the throne. 
 
 His majesty received a despatch from 
 Kekuanaoa on the 26th, informing him 
 of the recent events. The decision of 
 
 * HONOLULU, OAHTT, April 19, 1837. 
 This is what I have to say to the Frenchmen .- 
 
 This is my opinion to both of you, who were sent 
 away before from these islands, that you are forhidden 
 by our chiefs to come here ; this is the reason I asked 
 you if you intended to live here. The answer you made 
 was "no; we intend to stop here for a few days until 
 we can obtain a vessel to carry us from here." I re- 
 plied, "when you get a vessel go quickly." This is 
 what I say to both of you, from this time prepare 
 yourselves to depart in the same vessel in which you 
 arrived ; when the vessel is ready, both of you are to 
 go without delay. M. KEKUANAQA. 
 
 the governor was confirmed, and on the 
 29th, a proclamation issued, declaring 
 the perpetual banishment of the priests.* 
 They were required to return to the 
 Clementine, and Kinau arrived at Hono- 
 lulu to enforce the edict. The priests 
 resolutely refused to go. The Clemen- 
 tine had been made ready for another 
 voyage. It was resolved to put the 
 priests on board, and compel them to 
 depart in her. Officers were deputed to 
 see them off; on the 20th of May, two 
 days before the appointed time of sail- 
 ing, they waited upon them with the or- 
 ders of government. Bachelot inquired 
 if force would be used ; they replied 
 that they were to be compelled, if any 
 resistance was experienced. The priests 
 then drew up formal protests against 
 the violence before the English consul, 
 who had been active in urging them to 
 this opposition. Endeavoring to excite 
 the passions of the constables appointed 
 to conduct them on board, to some act 
 which should appear like outrage and 
 implicate their rulers, he told them the 
 vessel was taboo, and that any one who 
 approached her would be shot ; adding 
 "come on, come on! you are cowards."! 
 Several hours were consumed in prepa- 
 ration, and at three o'clock, P. M., the 
 police informed the priests it was time 
 to leave. They were conducted to the 
 wharf. The priests, before stepping 
 into the boat, induced the officer in 
 charge to touch them, that the appear- 
 ance of force might be made more ap- 
 parent. Arriving at the Clementine, 
 they were ordered off by the mate in 
 charge. M. Dudoit then hurried on 
 board, and the boat arriving the second 
 
 * PROCLAMATION. Ye strangers all from foreign 
 lands who are in my dominions, both residents and 
 those recently arrived, I make known my word to you 
 all, that you may understand my orders. 
 
 The men of France whom Kaahurnanu banished, 
 are under the same unaltered oi-der up to this period. 
 The rejection of these men is perpetual, confirmed by 
 me at the present time. 1 will not assent to their re- 
 maining in my dominions. 
 
 These are my orders to them, that they go back 
 immediately on board the vessel on which they have 
 come ; that they stay on board her till that vessel on 
 board which they came sails ; that is to me clearly 
 right, but their abiding here I do not wish. 
 
 I have no desire that the service of the missionaries 
 who follow the Pope should be performed iu my king- 
 dom, not at all. 
 
 Wherefore, all who shall be encouraging the Papal 
 missionaries, I shall regard as enemies to me, to my 
 counselors, to my chiefs, to my people, and to my king- 
 dom. (Signed,) KA31EIIAMEHA III. 
 
 t Tracy's History, p. 253. 
 
HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 147 
 
 time, thinking that sufficient opposition 
 had been shown, hauled down his flag, 
 and permitted the embarkation of the 
 priests. He ordered the crew ashore, 
 and carried the flag to Charlton, who, 
 as a finale to this preconcerted farce of 
 ineffectual resistance to the tyranny of 
 the chiefs, publicly burned it, for fear, 
 as he stated, the natives should tear it 
 to pieces, of which there was not the 
 slightest intimation. M. Dudoit then 
 made a protest, stating that the Clem- 
 entine had been forcibly seized by the 
 Hawaiian government, claiming heavy 
 damages. They had now secured the 
 consummation so devoutly wished for, 
 and so cunningly devised. With right 
 and justice on their side, the chiefs had 
 impolitically allowed themselves to be 
 ensnared ; not that any act of which 
 they had been guilty was a violation of 
 the rights of others, for it was but a 
 lawful enforcement of the supremacy of 
 their own ; but knowing the duplicity of 
 those they had to deal with and their 
 own weakness, it would have been bet- 
 ter to have submitted for a while to 
 their machinations, and appealed for jus- 
 tice to the good sense of their respective 
 governments. 
 
 Three powers were now interested 
 the French, English and American ; for 
 the property on board belonged to a 
 citizen of the United States, who was 
 anxious to secure an award sufficient to 
 make a good sale of it. A great flourish 
 was made by the consuls of the ready 
 action of their governments, and the 
 prompt vengeance which would ensue. 
 A weekly paper,* which had been estab- 
 lished the year before, under their con- 
 trol, from that period became an organ 
 of virulent abuse of the government, 
 missionaries, and their patrons, and 
 strongly supported the measures of the 
 priests. By its misstatements numbers 
 of benevolent individuals abroad were 
 led to suppose that a furious persecution 
 of the Romanists existed, and that the 
 government set at defiance all interna- 
 tional law. Hence their sympathies 
 were unintentionally enlisted against a 
 much wronged people. 
 
 On the 7th of July the English sur- 
 veying sloop Sulphur, Captain Belcher, 
 
 * Sandwich Islands Gazette. 
 
 arrived. Influenced altogether by the 
 English consul, the captain demanded 
 the release of Mr. Short, and threat- 
 ened, in case of refusal, to land him by 
 force. Kinau urged him to investigate 
 the matter, but he declared that he was 
 obliged " to follow the statements of the 
 consul." On the 10th, the French frig- 
 ate Venus, commanded by Du Petit 
 Thouars, anchored off the port. He 
 united with Belcher in a demand for the 
 instant liberation of the priests. This 
 not being obtained, a body of marines 
 from the Sulphur was sent to the Clem- 
 entine ; thence, under their escort, the 
 priests proceeded to the shore, the com- 
 manders of the men-of-war attending 
 them to their former residence. The 
 English flag was then re-hoisted on the 
 Clementine, which, by the order of Cap- 
 tain Belcher, was despatched to Maui, 
 for the king. 
 
 His majesty arrived on the 20th, and 
 on the next day an audience took place. 
 The two commanders refused to admit 
 the interpretations of Mr. Bingham, who 
 had been selected by the king for that 
 purpose. Mr. Andrews, of the mission, 
 was then chosen, with their approba- 
 tion, and Mr. Bingham retired to the 
 back part of the room. One of the for- 
 eign officers present crowded him back 
 against the wall ; upon stepping aside 
 to avoid this, he received a violent blow 
 from a movement of the elbow of the in- 
 dividual who so determinedly insulted 
 him. One of the council separated 
 them, and a file of armed men was or- 
 dered in by the king. Another officer 
 drew his sword partly from its scabbard, 
 and stepping up to Mr. Bingham, said, 
 menacingly, "do you see that?" Ac- 
 cording to the testimony of Mr. Short, 
 Captain Belcher threatened to hang 
 Bingham to the yard-arm of his vessel ; 
 though another authority relates that he 
 merely said that if any of his men were 
 injured in doing their duty, he would be 
 the first man he should seize. These 
 instances serve to show the virulence 
 with which his enemies had been ena- 
 bled to inspire acquaintances of but few 
 days standing. Mr. Bingham enjoyed 
 the confidence of the chiefs, and was 
 devoted to the cause in which he had 
 embarked. He had the reputation of a 
 
148 
 
 HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 much more active interference in polit- 
 ical matters than he actually possessed. 
 His opinions however given, undoubted- 
 ly carried with them great weight among 
 the native population. The want of a 
 responsible, intelligent adviser had never 
 been more felt than at this juncture. 
 From his long residence at Honolulu, 
 Mr. Bingham had acquired a prominence 
 in the affairs of the mission, which had 
 drawn upon his head, in particular, the 
 obloquy, calumnies and deepest hatred 
 of the opposing party. On him was 
 showered their wit, sarcasm, insinuations 
 and falsities; his private and public char- 
 acter assailed, and all that detraction 
 could effect, done to ruin him. He 
 withstood the storm with a firmness, 
 mingled with forbearance, that gained 
 him the respect of the unprejudiced, 
 while his warm affections and sincerity 
 strongly attached him to those who knew 
 him intimately. But it must be acknowl- 
 edged, he possessed a tenacity of opin- 
 ion and a sectarian zeal, which at times 
 separated him- in some degree from his 
 friends, and marred his usefulness. The 
 language and conduct of the English 
 consul was in accordance with his char- 
 acter, supported by the presence of com- 
 manders pliable to his will. He bullied 
 and stormed, and finally shook his fist 
 in Kinau's face. After a weary discus- 
 sion of eight hours, it was conceded that 
 the priests should remain until an op- 
 portunity for their leaving offered ; the 
 respective commanders pledging them- 
 selves mutually for their countrymen, 
 that they should conform to the laws 
 while they remained.* By these docu- 
 ments, it is evident that they assented 
 to the demand of the government, that 
 they had a right to keep from their 
 border individuals of any nation dan- 
 gerous to the state. In every instance 
 where the chiefs were enabled to obtain 
 a hearing, even tinder the most unfavor- 
 
 * HONOLULU, July 21, 1837. 
 
 The undersigned, captain of the ship, commander of 
 the French frigate La Venus, promises in the name of 
 Mr. Bachelot, that he will seize the first favorable op- 
 portunity which offers to quit these islands, to go either 
 to Manila, Lima, Valparaiso, or any civilized part of 
 the world ; and in case such an one is not presented, 
 on the arrival of the first French man-of-war which 
 visits these islands, he shall be received on board. In 
 the meantime, Mr. Bachelot shall not preach. 
 
 A. DU PETIT THOUARS, Post Captain, 
 
 Commanding French Frigate La Venus. 
 Captain Belcher signed a similar one in behalf of 
 Mr. Short. 
 
 able circumstances, this right was con- 
 ceded. 
 
 On the 23d, the king consented to the 
 following interpretation of the Russell 
 treaty, which, although it justly modi- 
 fied, did not alter its general tenor : 
 
 HONOLULU, July 23, 1837. 
 BY KAMEHAMEHA in.. King of the Sandwich Islands : 
 
 We consent to the interpretation you desire, on the 
 first article of the treaty made with Lord Edward Rus- 
 sell, in "conformity with the laws of nations." 
 
 And, in the event of finding it necessary to exert the 
 power " of refusal to admit a subject of Great Britain," 
 we will grant a fair trial, and give satisfactory reasons 
 for our act, of which due notice shall be given to the 
 consul of his majesty the King of Great Britain. 
 
 (Signed,) KAMEHAMEHA. 
 
 Captain Du Petit Thouars negotiated 
 the following articles in behalf of his 
 government : 
 
 HONOLULU, SANDWICH ISLES, July 24, 1837. 
 There shall be perpetual peace and amity between 
 the French and the inhabitants of the Sandwich Isles. 
 The French shall go and come freely in all the states 
 which compose the government of the Sandwich Isles. 
 They shall be received and protected there, and shall 
 enjoy the same advantages which the subjects of the 
 most favored nations enjoy. 
 
 Subjects of the King of the Sandwich Isles shall 
 equally come into France, shall be received and pro- 
 tected there as the most favored foreigners. 
 (Signed,) KAMEHAMEHA III. 
 
 A. DU PETIT THOUARS, 
 Captain, Commander of the French frigate La Venus. 
 
 They are remarkable for their brevity, 
 and may be called a compendium of pre- 
 vious treaties. It is important fully to 
 understand the nature of this, as it is 
 asserted that it gave the unqualified right 
 for Frenchmen to reside within the king- 
 dom ; it is evident that they were to re- 
 ceive simply the same advantages as the 
 most favored nation. England then stood 
 in that light, and the right of expelling 
 obnoxious persons, for "satisfactory rea- 
 sons," had been fully conceded. Thouars 
 had acknowledged, by his bond for the 
 departure of Bachelot, that individuals 
 of his profession were of the character 
 described by the government, and their 
 full authority to proscribe the teachings 
 of Romanism. All other Frenchmen 
 enjoyed the fullest protection and hos- 
 pitality, yet for an alleged violation of 
 their privileges, the vengeance of France 
 was afterwards poured upon the devoted 
 chiefs. M. Dudoit was appointed as 
 French agent on the part of France, in 
 which capacity he fulfilled the duties of 
 consul, with the approbation of his gov- 
 ernment. On the 24th July, both vessels 
 sailed without exchanging the usual na- 
 tional courtesies. 
 
 The 24th of September following, H. 
 
HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 149 
 
 B. M. frigate Imogene, Captain Bruce, 
 arrived. Previous to leaving Valparaiso, 
 some priests had applied to him for a 
 passage to Oahu; this he refused, and 
 advised them not to attempt to force 
 themselves into the country. It was 
 known that they were on their way, and 
 M. Dudoit endeavored to induce Captain 
 Bruce to interpose with the chiefs to 
 allow them to land, which he declined. 
 Desirous of not further involving them- 
 selves with France, the government 
 sought his advice in regard to the inter- 
 pretation of the treaty of Thouars. He 
 frankly told them its true meaning, and 
 of which not a doubt can exist. No 
 nation has a right to force its creed, its 
 laws or its language upon another. To 
 be done at all it must be by conquest. 
 The government of the Hawaiian Islands 
 had received, after a close scrutiny, the 
 forms of a faith which it found well 
 adapted to its circumstances. Wisely 
 or not, it had been voluntarily chosen, 
 and was now warmly cherished. At this 
 epoch, when through its instrumentality, 
 the nation was rapidly advancing to a 
 respectable footing, and its aggregate 
 wealth, morals and civilization increas- 
 ing, it desired simply " to be let alone." 
 But France, deceived by the falsehoods 
 of its internal foes, lent herself to a party 
 which honest minds recoiled from in dis- 
 gust ; and her artillery was destined to 
 effect what combined Jesuitism, treach- 
 ery and disloyalty had been unable to 
 accomplish. 
 
 Mr. Short sailed for Valparaiso Octo- 
 ber 30th. Three days afterward the 
 ship Europa arrived, with M. Maigret, 
 pro-vicar of the Roman Catholic bishop 
 of Nilopolis, who was the head of the 
 newly-formed see of Oceanica. The na- 
 tive authorities, having received inform- 
 ation of the presence of Maigret, gave 
 orders to the pilot not to bring the ship 
 to anchor. Permission was finally grant- 
 ed to bring her into the harbor; the 
 owner being bound over by the sum of 
 ten thousand dollars not to permit the 
 landing of the priest.* Various subter- 
 
 * M. Maigret (Annals de le Propagation de la Foi, 
 1840,) says, Governor Kekuanaoa "was surprised or en- 
 trapped [surprit] into granting permission to enter the 
 port. It is amusing to see with -what boldness the 
 author of the supplement to the Sandwich Islands Mir- 
 ror denies all attempts at evasion of their designs, and 
 claims for his party throughout perfect ingenuousness, 
 
 fuges were employed to procure the de- 
 sired object ; the old story was repeated 
 that he was to remain only transitorily, 
 and had come to secure passage to the 
 Marquesas group. This plea was the 
 more inconsistent, as it was well known 
 that he had just left Tahiti, where in- 
 tercourse with those islands was com- 
 mon, while from Oahu it was of rare 
 occurrence. M. Dudoit, who was active 
 in his endeavors to secure his landing, 
 would give no pecuniary security for his 
 departure, or settle upon any definite 
 period beyond which his stay should not 
 be protracted. It was evident that it 
 was only an attempt at the renewal of 
 the scenes of the previous year, and the 
 chiefs determined to nip the conspir- 
 acy in the bud.- Captains Thouars and 
 Vaillant had both assented to the jus- 
 tice of their exclusion ; consequently the 
 threats of M. Dudoit, in regard to a 
 violation of the prerogatives of his coun- 
 trymen, did not alter their intention. 
 Finding it impossible to tamper longer 
 with the government, Messrs. Bachelot 
 and Maigret purchased a schooner, 
 which they intended for the service of 
 their stations in the South Pacific. The 
 captain of the Europa received permis- 
 sion to embark his passenger on board 
 their vessel; two thousand dollars fine 
 and imprisonment were to be the penal- 
 ties, should Maigret attempt to escape 
 on shore. On the 23d of November, the 
 priests sailed. Bachelot, who was in 
 feeble health, died on the 4th of Decem- 
 ber, and was buried at Ascension. 
 
 Walsh was the only priest left; his 
 outward conformation to the laws was, 
 probably, the motive by which he was 
 allowed to remain. 
 
 The chiefs desirous of bringing their 
 complaints directly before the cabinets 
 of London and Washington, addressed 
 petitions to the King of Great Britain 
 and the President of the United States, 
 
 while the priests themselves, in their published ac- 
 counts, unhesitatingly declare the various pretexts 
 made use of for purposes of deception. It is unfortu- 
 nate for their cause that so much discrepancy should 
 have appeared between these witnesses in their behalf. 
 Any one desirous of verifying this remark, need but to 
 refer to the pamphlet in question, and the Annals 
 above mentioned. 
 
 Maigret says, after Kekuanaoa had been " deceived " 
 by others in relation to his profession, he asked him 
 personally whether he was a priest. "I answered," 
 he writes, " at once, and with a frankness which dis- 
 pleased some persons, but I could not betray my con- 
 science to please them." 
 
150 
 
 HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 relative to the factious course of their 
 consuls. The former was without avail 
 the latter had the effect to cause the 
 removal of Jones, and the appointment 
 of Mr. P. A. Brinsmade, a friendly mer- 
 chant residing at Honolulu. 
 
 THE PETITION OF KAMEHAMEHA III. AND HIS CHIEFS 
 
 TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF 
 
 AMERICA -. 
 
 We the said chiefs of the Sandwich Islands salute you, 
 desiring to confirm the good understanding in these isl- 
 ands with American citizens, when they come into this 
 kingdom, in the same manner as with citizens of every 
 other country. And we esteem and honor your people, 
 because we have heard that our people are cherished 
 there, dwelling under the laws and regulations of the 
 country in peace. Likewise we protect people of your 
 country, who are dwelling orderly, with obedience to the 
 laws and regulations. Let us be regarded with favor, 
 for we are a little nation, and ignorant also, like an infant 
 amidst the continents, and we greatly desire to learn. 
 Moreover, the teachers from your country are teaching 
 us, and that the good understanding may be perpetual, 
 we write to you with amity respecting a certain matter 
 which we would not mention but because of our necessity 
 and straightened circumstances, we think it proper to 
 declare and make known to you as follows . 
 
 The dwelling of a certain man, Mr. J. C. Jones, at this 
 place, Honolulu, Oahu, as American Consul. 
 
 We thought he was a good and just man when he was 
 appointed to the office, but in the performance of its func- 
 tions we have been disappointed, for he is a person who 
 indulges an intriguing disposition .and contempt of us, 
 and we cannot depend upon his advice. He opposes us, 
 and prrjudices the minds of strangers and natives against 
 us, by misrepresentation. He treats our laws with con- 
 tempt, and violates some of them, and supports other 
 persons in doing the same. 
 
 And these things which have been stated to you, and 
 you have now seen, we declare with truth and amity to 
 you. We are sorry to state these things, but we cannot 
 suppress them that they be unknown ; therefore, we make 
 them known respecting the said person. And if you can 
 set aside this man, and place a good man in his stead, 
 we shall be gratified. 
 
 Signed, Kamehameha III., Kaahumanu II., Hoapili, 
 Hoapiliwahine, Kekauluohi, Kekuanaoa, Paki. 
 
 Honolulu, November, 1837. 
 
 Kinau died April 4th, 1839, and was 
 succeeded by her .sister, Kekauluohi, 
 acting for Victoria, infant daughter of 
 Kinau, to whom her office and title, by 
 custom, descended. 
 
 Effectually to forbid the introduction 
 of the faith from which so much trouble 
 had ensued, a severe ordinance, cover- 
 ing all grounds upon which it had been 
 attempted, had been issued in Decem- 
 ber, 1837. The will of the chiefs in 
 this respect, was the more confirmed as 
 the opposition increased. A number of 
 their subjects were arrested and confined 
 for their adherence to the doctrines of 
 the priests. They manifested a dogged 
 obstinacy to the authorities, and a con- 
 tumely which brought upon them un- 
 necessary severities. They considered 
 themselves of a separate party, and 
 rigidly incorporated their religion with 
 their politics, hoping for the final over- 
 
 throw of the government. They were 
 few, ignorant and powerless ; the meni- 
 als of the governor frequently appre- 
 hended them when they were detected in 
 the exercise of their rites, and carried 
 them before him. Whenever these cases 
 were known to the American mission- 
 aries, they were made the subject of 
 earnest and successful remonstrance ; by 
 their intercession many were released, 
 and the folly and wickedness of persecu- 
 tion, for religious belief, so strongly rep- 
 resented to his majesty, that on the 17th 
 of June, 1839, he issued orders that no 
 more punishments should be inflicted ; 
 and that all who were then in confine- 
 ment should be released. This was done 
 at Lahaina. Previous to its promulga- 
 tion at Oahu, sixty natives were driven 
 from Waialae to Honolulu. Most of 
 these were immediately released and re- 
 turned to their homes. Some, however, 
 were confined in the fort. On the 24th 
 of June, two women were found there, 
 ironed and suffering much from the 
 painful posture in which they had been 
 placed. The governor was absent, but, 
 so states the author of the supplement 
 to the Sandwich Islands Mirror, the for- 
 eign "gentlemen succeeded in liberating 
 the prisoners." No inquiries were made 
 of the proper authorities as to the na- 
 ture of their offences, but they took upon 
 themselves to set aside the municipal 
 law ; an illegal procedure, but too com- 
 mon in Honolulu among the opposers 
 of the chiefs. Inhumanity to the inno- 
 cent or guilty, can never be justified. 
 But benevolence, which is altogether 
 one-sided, cannot be called praisewor- 
 thy; the principal of these meddlers had 
 often been instrumental in confining sea- 
 men and natives, under circumstances of 
 equal hardship, against whom they pro- 
 fessed to have cause of complaint. Here 
 there was an opportunity not to be lost, 
 of proclaiming their charity, at the ex- 
 pense of .their neighbors. Blind to the 
 more judicious interposition of the Amer- 
 ican missionaries, they boldly charged 
 upon them the authorship of a species 
 of prison discipline, on which they had 
 looked calmly, and had actively used 
 when for their own advantage, for twenty 
 years. As unblushingly they boasted of 
 their unwarrantable efforts in effecting 
 
HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 151 
 
 the release of the women. One gentle- 
 man, who had been witness to their con- 
 finement, had, previous to this, hurried 
 to the governor to intercede on their ac- 
 count. On his way he met Mr. Bing- 
 ham, to whom he related the facts, and 
 begged kim to see for himself. Mr. 
 Bingham having heard of the edict of 
 the king, informed him that it was pos- 
 sible they were punished for some crim- 
 inal act; religious toleration having been 
 proclaimed the week before. To satisfy 
 himself, he waited upon the governor 
 immediately, and informed him of the 
 circumstances. The governor promptly 
 ordered their release, " for their confine- 
 ment was not by the order of the chiefs." 
 
 In the meanwhile, those who had been 
 so active at the fort, proceeded, taking 
 the women with them, to the house of 
 the governor. On their way, they met 
 him ; surprised at such a cortege, he 
 remanded the prisoners to the fort, and 
 to the dictatorial tone with which he was 
 addressed, replied, " your business is to 
 take care of your stores ; there is the 
 road to them : mine is the government 
 of the island and the fort; and this is 
 my path." Upon receiving this well 
 merited rebuke, they dispersed. It was 
 afterwards charged upon the governor 
 that he was " disposed to be insolent ! " 
 
 Whatever may be the secret of the 
 influence the agents of Romanism pos- 
 sess in the councils of France, it is 
 certain that, of late years, the French 
 Roman Catholic missions have received 
 efficient support from their government ; 
 and in the Pacific, political aggrandize- 
 ment and religious proselytism have been 
 intimately connected. The priests ap- 
 peared openly, under the patronage of 
 their nation. Ships of war carried them 
 from one post to another ; the military 
 paid deference to the spiritual ; the po- 
 litical consequence of their bishops was 
 enforced by arms, and warlike salutes 
 announced their rank. The seizure and 
 occupation of the Marquesan and Ta- 
 hitian groups have now become matters 
 of history. That the Hawaiian did not 
 fall into the same hands was owing 
 solely to its superior importance and 
 the mutual jealousies of other powers. 
 Every effort was made by their agents 
 to compass a similar result. 
 
 The French frigate Artemise, C. La- 
 place, commander, arrived off Honolulu 
 July 10th, 1839. The purpose of this 
 visit was speedily made known to the 
 Hawaiian government by the following 
 manifesto, addressed to the king, by- 
 Captain Laplace, in the name of his 
 government : 
 
 an- 
 
 nd, 
 
 to 
 
 ich 
 
 "Ilia majesty the king of the French, having com- 
 manded me to come to Honolulu in order to put an end, 
 either by force or persuasion, to the ill treatment 
 which the French have been victims at the Sandwich. 
 Islands, 1 hasten, first, to employ this last means as the 
 most conformable to the political, noble and liberal sys- 
 tem pursued by France against the powerless ; hoping 
 thereby that I shall make the principal chiefs of these 
 islands understand how fatal the conduct which they 
 pursue towards her will be to their interests, and, per- 
 haps, cause disasters to them, and to their country, 
 should they be obstinate in their perseverance. Misled 
 by perfidious counselors, deceived by the excessive in- 
 dulgence which the French government has extended to- 
 ward them for several years, they are undoubtedly igno- 
 rant how potent it is, and that in the world there is not 
 a power which is capable of preventing it from punishing 
 its enemies ; otherwise they would have endeavored to 
 merit its lavor, or not to incur its displeasure, as they 
 have done in ill treating the French ; they would have 
 faithfully put into execution the treaties, in place of vio- 
 lating them as soon as the fear disappeared, as well as 
 the ships of war which had caused it, whereby bad inten- 
 tions had been constrained. In fine, they will compre- 
 hend that to persecute the Catholic religion, to tarnish it 
 with the name of idolatry, and to expel under this absurd 
 pretext, the French from this archipelago, was to offer 
 an insult to France and to its sovereign. 
 
 It is, without doubt, the formal intention of France 
 that the king of the Sandwich Islands be powerful, inde- 
 pendent of every foreign power, and that he consider her 
 his ally 5 but she also demands that he conforms to the 
 usages of civilized nations. Now, among the latter, there 
 is not even one which does not permit in its territory the 
 free toleration of all religions ; and yet, at the Sandwich 
 Islands, the French are not allowed, publicly, the exercise 
 of theirs, while Protestants enjoy therein the most ex- 
 tensive privileges ; for ihese, all favors for those, the 
 most cruel persecution. Such a state of affairs being 
 contrary to the laws of nations, insulting to those of 
 Catholics, can uo longer continue, and I am sent to put 
 an end to it. Consequently, I demand, in the name of 
 my government, 
 
 1st. That the Catholic worship be declared free 
 throughout all the dominions subject to the king of the 
 Sandwich Islands ; that the members of this religious 
 faith shall enjoy in them all the privileges granted to 
 Protestants. 
 
 2d. That a site for a Catholic church be given by the 
 government at Honolulu, a port frequented by the French, 
 and that this church be ministered by priests of their 
 nation. 
 
 3d. That all Catholics imprisoned, on account of reli- 
 gion, since the last persecutions extended to the French 
 missionaries, be immediately set at liberty. 
 
 4th. That the king of the Sandwich Islands deposit 
 in the hands of the captain of the Arternise, the sum of 
 twenty thousand dollars as a guarantee of his future con- 
 duct towards France, which sum the government will re- 
 store to him when it shall consider that the accompany- 
 ing treaty will be faithfully complied with. 
 
 5th. That the treaty signed by the king of the Sand- 
 wich Islands, as well as the sum above mentioned, be 
 conveyed on board the frigate Artemise by one of the 
 principal chiefs of the country ; and also that the bat- 
 teries of Honolulu do salute the French flag with twenty- 
 one guns, which will be returned by the frigate. 
 
 These are the equitable conditions, at the price of which 
 the king of the Sandwich Islands shall conserve friend- 
 ship with France. I am induced to hope that, under- 
 standing better how necessary it is for the prosperity of 
 his people, and the preservation of his power, he will re- 
 main in peace with the whole world, and hasten to sub- 
 scribe to them, and thus imitate the laudable example 
 which the queen of Tahiti has given in permitting the 
 
152 
 
 tilSTORI' Of THE BAWA1IAX ISLANDS. 
 
 free toleration of the Catholic religion in her dominions ; 
 but, if contrary to my expectations, it should be other- 
 wise, and the king and principal chiefs of the Sandwich 
 Islands, led on by had counselors, refuse to sign the 
 treaty which I present, war will immediately commence, 
 and all the devastations, all (he calamities which may be 
 the unhappy but necessary results, will be Imputed to 
 themselves alone ; and they must also pay the losses 
 which the aggrieved foreigners, in these circumstances, 
 shall have a right to reclaim. 
 
 The 10th of July (9th, according to date here), 1839. 
 Captain of the French frigate Artemise, 
 
 (Signed,) C. LAPLACE." 
 
 This document is a strange compound 
 of error and falsehood. To declare that 
 free toleration of all religions is permit- 
 ted in the territories of all civilized na- 
 tions, was untrue ; also that Frenchmen 
 had been persecuted under the plea of 
 their religion. Mr. Short, an English 
 subject, had been sent away with the 
 consent of his government ; two French 
 priests, the departure of one of whom 
 had been guaranteed by the highest offi- 
 cial authority of their nation that had 
 visited Oahu, had also been sent off. 
 The few remaining Frenchmen who lived 
 at these islands, of whom there were not 
 above four, and the three whaleships 
 which had for two years before alone 
 represented their commerce, had been 
 treated with all the respect and hospital- 
 ity enjoyed by the most favored nation. 
 The following letter was sent ashore at 
 the same time : 
 
 MONSIEUR LE CONSUL : 
 
 Having been sent by my government to put an end to 
 the i'.l treatment to which, under the false pre exts of 
 Catholicity, the French have been subjected, for several 
 years, in this archipelago, my intention is to commence 
 hostilities on the 13th of July (which is the 12th of your 
 date), at 12 M., against the king of the Sandwich Islands, 
 should he refuse to accede immediately to the just condi- 
 tions of the treaty presented by me, the clauses of which 
 I explain in the Manifesto of which I have the honor of 
 sending you a copy. Should this chief, contrary to my 
 expectation, persist in his blindness, or, to express my- 
 self more plainly, to foliow the advice of interested coun- 
 selors, to deceive himself, I shall be constrained, in this 
 case, to employ the strong means of force which I have 
 at my disposition. I consider it my duty to iniorm you, 
 Monsieur le Consul, that I offer asylum and protection, 
 on board the frigate Artemise, to those of your compatriots 
 who may apprehend danger, under these circumstances, 
 on the part of the natives, either for their persons or 
 property. 
 
 Receive, Monsieur le Consul, the assurances of the very 
 distinguished considerations of your devoted servant. 
 
 Post Captain, commanding the ship Artemise, 
 
 C. LAPLACE. 
 
 A similar communication was also 
 addressed to the American consul, with 
 this addition : 
 
 " I do not, however, include in this class the individuals 
 who, although born, it is said : in the United States, make 
 a part of the Protestant clergy of the chief of this archi- 
 pelago, direct his councils, influence his conduct, and are 
 the true authors of the insults given by him to France. 
 For me, they compose a part of the native population, 
 and must undergo the unhappy consequences of a war 
 which they shall have brought on this country." 
 
 By the tenor of the last, it is uncertain 
 whether Captain Laplace intended to in 
 elude in his denunciation Mr. Kichards 
 only, as being the sole official advise] 
 of the chiefs, or the entire Protestan 
 clergy, as exercising an influence hostik 
 to his faith. They considered it as ap- 
 plying to their whole body, and were 
 much alarmed, particularly as Laplace, 
 in verbal communication with the Amer- 
 ican consul, had informed him that the 
 American flag would prove no protection 
 to the proscribed individuals; and that if 
 a man of his vessel should be injured, it 
 was to be a war of extermination. 
 
 The harbor was declared under block- 
 ade ; a vessel of the king's in attempting 
 to reach Maui, with despatches for his 
 majesty, was captured, but suffered to 
 proceed ; Haalilio, his secretary, re- 
 maining on board the frigate as a host- 
 age for his arrival. At the request of 
 Kekauluohi, the date of commencing 
 hostilities was postponed until the 15th, 
 that sufficient time might be allowed for 
 the arrival of the king. The excitement 
 among all classes was great; many fear- 
 ed the natives would take advantage of 
 the first confusion, fire the town and 
 plunder the property of the residents. 
 A number of the latter organized them- 
 selves into an armed force, to act in case 
 of emergency. The native authorities 
 took such active measures to insure tran- 
 quility, that the town remained perfectly 
 quiet ; guards were stationed at exposed 
 points, and the people required to abide 
 the orders of government. A disposition 
 to a passive resistance to the demands 
 of Laplace was at first manifested. It 
 was proposed to abandon the town to 
 the landing force, and strike the flag at 
 the firing of the first gun from the frigate. 
 Had Kinau been alive, it was thought 
 more energetic councils would have pre- 
 vailed ; Kekauluohi was inferior to her in 
 decision and intellectual capacity. Ex- 
 aggerated stories were set afloat among 
 the native population. It was said the 
 French were to carry fire and sword 
 through the island ; their guns were able 
 to reach the distance of ten miles, and 
 to add to their horror, were loaded with 
 the limbs of natives. The lowest class 
 of whites, who had long writhed under 
 the municipal regulations for the pre- 
 
HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 153 
 
 servation of decency, rejoiced at the 
 prospect of the approaching storm. The 
 expected warfare was to be to them a 
 jubilee of license and revenge. But the 
 thinking part of the community freely 
 expressed their opinion of the conduct 
 of France toward her ill-matched oppo- 
 nent; their sympathies were warmly en- 
 listed with the native rulers ; and while 
 they would have regretted the wanton 
 destruction of lives or property, they 
 would have rejoiced in any scheme by 
 which the ill-disguised threats and tri- 
 umph of the white allies of the Boki 
 faction could have been defeated. In the 
 fierceness of the zeal of these enemies 
 of the nation, the most unwarrantable 
 expressions were used; those whose pro- 
 fessions had been the loudest for simply 
 religious toleration, whose clamor had 
 been, if their own accounts are to be 
 credited, solely for the diffusion of equal 
 rights, to infuse humanity into the acts 
 of government, now lusted for revenge. 
 The English consul was away during 
 the first excitement ; upon his arrival, 
 he intrigued to defeat the designs of a 
 party that had now become so formida- 
 ble as to form a separate French inter- 
 est, headed by M. Dudoit. French or 
 American ascendency was equally ob- 
 noxious to him ; a moral ascendency, 
 more than either. The missionaries 
 were alarmed. Hated and mocked at 
 by some of their own countrymen, im- 
 plicated in alleged criminality with the 
 government, no explanation allowed from 
 either, threats of pillage r,nd bloodshed 
 hourly borne to their trembling families, 
 it argues no deficiency of courage, know- 
 ing from past experience the depth of 
 the hostility that environed them, if they 
 did fear the consequences for their wives 
 and children. The friendly foreigners, 
 engrossed by the shortness of the time 
 for providing for their own safety, could 
 only sympathize with them. Yet it 
 should be recorded that the mission 
 made no attempt to shift any responsi- 
 bility which their influence with the 
 government could legally have brought 
 upon them. The fidelity of the native 
 government to them r and the generous 
 devotion of their converts, places the 
 relationship of all parties in the highest 
 light. It was decided to obtain peace 
 20 
 
 | on the terms demanded. His Hawaiian 
 Majesty not having arrived within the 
 
 i stipulated time, Governor Kekuanaoa, 
 and the premier, Kekauluohi, in his be- 
 half, signed the treaty, which, with the 
 twenty thousand dollars, were carried on 
 board the Artemise by the former. This 
 money was raised with great difficulty ; 
 the government debts were yet unpaid, 
 and much of this sum was borrowed at 
 a high interest from foreign merchants. 
 
 j The tri-colored flag received the royal 
 salute, which was promptly returned. 
 The king arrived on the same day, Sun- 
 day, the 14th. Captain Laplace, escort- 
 ed by two hundred seamen with fixed 
 bayonets and a band of music, went on 
 shore for the purpose of celebrating a 
 military mass. To render this renewal 
 of Romish rites more poignant, a straw 
 palace of the king's was selected for the 
 ceremony, which was performed by the 
 JRev. Mr. Walsh. 
 
 The original design of Rives was now 
 established so far as the formal intro- 
 duction of Roman Catholicism was con- 
 cerned. 
 
 Another purpose remained to be gain- 
 ed. In 1838> the king, yielding to the 
 advice of his council, prohibited the in- 
 troduction of ardent spirits into his king- 
 dom, and laid a heavy duty on wines. 
 These measures were popular, and had 
 been strongly urged by many foreign- 
 ers ; through their influence the harbors 
 became quiet resorts for shipping, in- 
 stead of ports of noisy carousal. But 
 the dealers were not disposed to quietly 
 abandon their profits ; the Sandwich 
 Islands Gazette openly recommended re- 
 sistance to the collection of the duties. 
 Previous to the expected arrival of the 
 Artemise, a plan was concocted by which 
 the prohibition and duties should be re- 
 moved, and forever prevented from re- 
 newal. Capt. Belcher, who had returned 
 in the Sulphur, and sailed shortly before 
 the arrival of the Artemise, witnessing 
 the good results of the laws in question, 
 wrote to the king, recommending a sys- 
 tem of duties on liquors so high as vir- 
 tually to amount to prohibition. But 
 Laplace thought otherwise. Inimical to 
 the nation, a stranger to its history, it 
 was not to be supposed that he should 
 be particularly anxious for the habits and 
 
154 
 
 HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 health of the Hawaiians, when in compe- 
 tition with the tastes and pecuniary in- 
 terests of his countrymen. So it proved. 
 A treaty was drawn up, and offered to 
 the king- for his signature. Articles 4th 
 and 6th received his objections; the first, 
 because it was supposed to put too much 
 authority into the hands of the consul, 
 who would have it in his power to shield 
 his countrymen to a considerable extent 
 from the action of the civil law. The 
 other, that it virtually repealed all their 
 legislation for the promotion of temper- 
 ance and shielding his subjects from a 
 prolific source of evil and disease. It 
 also took away from him the power of 
 receiving- a revenue from imports, greater 
 than five per cent, ad valorem. 
 
 As no time was fixed for the termi- 
 nation of the treaty, it could be made 
 always binding upon his government, 
 however injurious in its operation. It 
 was brought to him at 5 o'clock, P. M., 
 on the 16th, and he was required to 
 sign it by breakfast the next morning. 
 INo amendment of the objectionable fea- 
 tures was allowed ; it must be signed as 
 received, or not at all. The king de- 
 sired time to consult with his council ; 
 this was refused. Neither the consul 
 nor Laplace dared" openly to commit 
 themselves, by saying to him, that if he 
 refused war would ensue ; but it was 
 bandied about among his attendants, so 
 as to reach his ears, that in such an 
 event there would be no end to the 
 trouble; that this frigate would be suc- 
 ceeded by a larger force, and ultimately 
 his island would be taken possession of. 
 It was a successful design to entrap the 
 king through his fears ; the treaty re- 
 ceived his reluctant signature. The 
 friendship of France was now secured, 
 and everything was to go on swimming- 
 ly. But. the unfortunate monarch felt 
 ill at ease. In an interview with La- 
 place he repeated his objections, and 
 pleaded his innocence of the charges for 
 which his kingdom had suffered. But it 
 was to no purpose. Fortified by prej- 
 udice and abused power, the repre- 
 sentative of enlightened and chivalrous i 
 France argued for inundating a nation, ; 
 against its will, with the poisonous pro- 1 
 ducts of his own; to the just and forcible 
 arguments of a semi-civilized monarch, 
 
 pleading in broken English his own and 
 his country's wrongs, replied with the 
 threadbare calumnies of twenty years' 
 growth ; and to the picture of the evils 
 which his acts would produce, in so 
 youthful a stage of civilization, mock- 
 ingly answered, " civilization eats up 
 the savage." It is much to be regretted 
 that those who had the confidence of the 
 king at this date did not strenuously 
 counsel him not to sign a document 
 fraught with so much injustice to his 
 kingdom. There is no reason to believe 
 that any worse consequence would have 
 ensued than the disappointment of its 
 partisans. But the nation was yet too 
 young to throw itself upon its rights. 
 Much more untoward experience was in 
 store for it, before it could, claim a rank 
 among independent kingdoms. After 
 the treaty, the external courtesies of 
 national intercourse were exchanged. 
 
 On the 20th of July the Artemise sail- 
 ed ; but previous to this, the residents 
 opposed to the missionaries addressed a 
 letter of thanks to Captain Laplace, in 
 which, after much of similar character, 
 occurs the following passage : 
 
 " We are willing to hope that the 
 horrifying realities of persecution and 
 torture for conscience sake will, by your 
 firmness and justice, have been forever 
 crushed never again to show its hydra 
 head; and that the simple and confiding 
 children of nature in these islands so 
 long deluded by designing and interest- 
 ed counselors will see the necessity of 
 immediately retracing their steps, and 
 taking a manly and nobly disinterested 
 example you have set them for their 
 guide, that the blessings of freedom, and 
 peace and prosperity, may be hencefor- 
 ward the increasing portion of these 
 hitherto deluded people." 
 
 The French consul was not slow to 
 avail himself of the extorted privileges. 
 A vessel belonging to him, the same 
 Clementine which had already acquired 
 an unenviable notoriety in the annals of 
 Hawaii, returned from Valparaiso in the 
 following May with a cargo of liquors. 
 The bishop of Nicopolis, M. Maigret, 
 and two other priests came passengers 
 in her. The coincidence of ardent spir- 
 its with the cause of papacy, had been 
 striking throughout; while Boki favored 
 
HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 the priests, intemperance prevailed ; the 
 commander that had ensured them an 
 entrance into the long coveted ground, 
 provided for the accompaniment of li- 
 quors. Walsh encouraged their use, 
 both by example and precept. And 
 now a vessel arrived, well provided with 
 both. No wonder then that the terms 
 for brandy and Frenchmen, meaning 
 Papists, became synonymous through 
 the nation ; to this day palani is the 
 common term of both. 
 
 Previous to the arrival of the bishop 
 and the priests, a disposition was mani- 
 fested to renew the practices of Boki's 
 misrule. Old songs and sports were in- 
 dulged in by the party who had long 
 favored them in secret, and forms of 
 vice and error prevailed, which it would 
 be unjust to suppose would have re- 
 ceived the countenance of their present 
 spiritual guides. But such facts serve 
 emphatically to show the difference of 
 opinion and desires among the native 
 population, between those who favored 
 the cause of Popery and the advocates 
 of Protestantism. With the former, the 
 disorganizers of society, the rude and 
 reckless, embodied themselves, bringing 
 with them the remains of their idolatry, 
 and creating discredit to their cause ; 
 around the others, the rulers, scholars, 
 and people generally, desirous of en- 
 forcing moral restraint and the suprem- 
 acy of law. Kaikioewa died April 10th, 
 1839. Both he and Kinau were^chiefs 
 of well known Christian principles, and 
 firm supporters of the American mission. 
 Their bodies, after lying in state for 
 several weeks, were committed to the 
 tomb with the honors due their rank, 
 but with a quietness of grief, and an 
 order, consonant with the faith which 
 they had embraced. The funeral cere- 
 monies of Liliha, who had lived deprived 
 of office until her death, which occurred 
 on the 25th of August, 1839, gathered 
 the partisans of heathenism from all 
 quarters. An attempt was made to re- 
 vive obsolete rites ; wailing was heard 
 night and day ; the shouts of a former 
 generation were renewed; but the guards 
 of the king prevented any disturbances 
 of the public order. With her were 
 buried the last hopes of the faction she 
 had so energetically headed. 
 
 155 
 
 Roman Catholicism was now fully tol- 
 erated, both as a creed and a system of 
 proselytism. Introduced however under 
 circumstances so repugnant to justice 
 and the wishes of the people, it could 
 not be expected to operate harmoniously 
 with its rival faith, in the outset of its 
 career. The sentiment of the nation was 
 against it. Not a chief of importance 
 attached himself to the cause, though 
 numbers of the lower order, disaffected 
 either with their rulers or coldly in- 
 clined towards their Protestant guides, 
 enrolled themselves among its neophytes. 
 Curiosity drew many to its rites ; but 
 their attendance or support were uncer- 
 tain. Enough were found however to 
 encourage the priests to persevere in 
 their mission. The bishop returned to 
 France in 1841, having first provided 
 for the erection of a spacious stone 
 church in Honolulu, to procure more 
 laborers in his field, with a supply of 
 church ornaments and the gaudy para- 
 phernalia of their ritual, on which so 
 much is relied to attract the multitude. 
 On the passage back with a company of 
 nuns and others and a cargo for their 
 mission, the vessel foundered at sea 
 and all perished. In the meanwhile, 
 his brethren found much source of corn- 
 plaint against the government, particu- 
 larly in regard ,to the school laws and 
 the marriage contract, which was a civil 
 institution. The priests at first pre- 
 sumed to separate and re-marry couples 
 at their option, and their partisans de- 
 clined contributing their quota of taxa- 
 tion for the public schools. The ill- 
 blood arising from past sores was not 
 yet purified. Both parties among the 
 lower order were prone to collisions. 
 The Roman Catholics were sustained 
 in their seditious views by the belief 
 that France would support them. The 
 French consul protested against any re- 
 straint on the internal traffic in ardent 
 | spirits by way of licenses. Affairs \vere 
 in this state, when on the 23d day of 
 August, 1842, H. M. C. M.'s corvette 
 Embuscade arrived. As she hove in 
 sight, the natiye .converts to the Ro- 
 man creed raised the cry, " ko makou 
 haku e," there is our master. Captain 
 Mallet, without exchanging the custom- 
 ary salutes, immediately forwarded a 
 
156 
 
 HISTOEY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 letter to the king, in which he made 
 several arbitrary demands. 
 
 A compliance with the demands of 
 Captain Mallet would have been con- 
 trary to the laws, and rendered the Ro- 
 man Catholic party independent of the 
 king's sovereignty. The answer of the 
 king was courteous and dignified. It 
 so far satisfied Captain Mallet that he 
 sailed without giving further trouble, as- 
 suring the king that he should deliver 
 his letter to Admiral Du Petit Thouars, 
 who might be expected the ensuing 
 spring. Whatever designs the Admiral 
 had upon the Hawaiian Islands can now 
 only be conjectured. Providence so or- 
 dered events that the French from this 
 period, sufficiently occupied in establish- 
 ing themselves in their southern pos- 
 sessions, neglected the affairs of this 
 kingdom until it was too late to frame 
 a pretext for its occupancy. But other 
 agents were at work for the same pur- 
 pose. At this juncture it would seem 
 as if each of the three great commercial 
 nations, fortuitously through their naval 
 agents rather than by any preconcerted 
 policy at home, were bent upon seiz- 
 ing available ports in the Pacific to ex- 
 tend their 'power and curb that of their 
 equally ambitious rivals. The United 
 States, through ; Commodore Jones, made 
 a sweep upon California ; France, by 
 Admiral Du Petit Thouars, took pos- 
 session of the Marquesan and Society 
 groups. England, not to be behind in 
 the race, by Lord George Paulet pounced 
 upon the Hawaiian Islands. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Course of British Consul Appointment of Mr. Richards 
 to office 1838 Political state of the nation Consti- 
 tution 1840^Code of Laws Temperance Societies 
 Diplomacy of Charlton Courts Sir George Simpson 
 - Commissioners appointed to Europe 1842 Grant 
 of lands to Ladd & Co. Mr. Judd came into office- 
 Reform in Treasury Clandestine departure of Charl- 
 ton Letter to the King Alexander Simpson appointed 
 Consul and rejected Charlton dismissed Simpson's 
 intrigues and violence Suit of Pelly vs. Charlton 
 Arrival of Lord George Paulet, February, 1843 De- 
 mands Cession of the Islands British Commission 
 Troubles Withdrawal of the King U. S S. Constel- 
 lation Admiral Thomas Restoration of the Kingdom 
 Remarks upon the Cession. 
 
 BEFORE proceeding further in the 
 course of political events, it will be well 
 to retrace our steps a little, and show to 
 the reader the different stages through 
 
 I which the government became involved 
 I in those difficulties which led to the 
 j seizure of the islands by Lord George 
 j Paulet. Without doubt the French, 
 I encouraged by misrepresentations from 
 j interested individuals, desired at that 
 I period to do by them as they afterwards 
 j did by Tahiti, But too many national 
 interests were involved and the islands 
 j were too valuable for them to succeed 
 as quietly as they wished ; so they turn- 
 ed their attention to fields of lesser note. 
 England, with highly honorable policy, 
 has ever been willing that these islands 
 should rise and prosper under their na- 
 tive dynasty. This is more to her 
 credit, from the fact that her represent- 
 ative, Mr. Charlton, had ever urged a 
 contrary policy, indirectly if not directly, 
 by representing the native rulers as 
 wholly unfit for governing, and sedu- 
 lously inculcating the sentiment that 
 they were subjects of Great Britain. On 
 many occasions, he treated them with 
 indignity, threatening their lives and 
 using language unpardonable for its vio- 
 lence and unreasonableness. In the 
 early part of his career it has been seen 
 how he, impolitically for the interests of 
 his own countrymen, countenanced the 
 introduction of French priests, which 
 finally led to the creation of an adverse 
 interest that well nigh gave the nation 
 to a rival power. Perceiving when too 
 late the direction of affairs from the im- 
 pulse he had given them, he followed in 
 their lead by raising grievances of his 
 own which he confidently hoped would 
 lead to the active interference of the 
 British government, and ultimately to 
 taking possession of the group. To 
 have effected this, he must have de- 
 ceived not only his own government, 
 but blinded the rival interests of France 
 and America. Had he been a dispas- 
 sionate, shrewd man, possibly he could 
 have effected greater injury than he did; 
 but from 1833, when his natural char- 
 acter was so forcibly disclosed by lead- 
 ing the king into vicious habits to the 
 upsetting of order and morality, his 
 influence had been on the wane. Dis- 
 appointed by this very natural conse- 
 quence, he zealously lent himself to the 
 injury of the nation, opposing all that 
 they favored, and nourishing every case 
 
HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 which could generate discord or involve 
 the rulers. His conduct was a pitiable 
 illustration of passion without reason, 
 and it is the more melancholy to refer 
 to it as its effects were so pernicious for 
 a time to the welfare of the nation and 
 the moral tone of society. His official 
 rank alone entitled him to consideration 
 and gave him influence. Without it he 
 would have been politically harmless. 
 
 Previous to the appointment of the 
 Rev. Wm. Richards, July 3, 1838, as 
 chaplain, teacher and translator of the 
 government, it had been swayed alter- 
 nately by missionary, mercantile and 
 official influences brought to operate 
 upon it. In the early stages of the in- 
 fluence the latter had often the advan- 
 tage ; but later, the former acquired a 
 paramount influence, though Mr. Rich- 
 ards was the first who received an office 
 and title, first dissevering himself from 
 the mission by their advice and consent. 
 Under these modest titles his influence 
 on the foreign policy of the chiefs be- 
 came considerable, and in it he was sus- 
 tained by his late brethren. The sort 
 of influence which the missionaries held 
 has been much discussed. It is im- 
 possible to ascertain its full extent as it 
 was so undefined. That it was great 
 and legitimately acquired and sincerely 
 used for the good of the people, no can- 
 did person who has made himself ac- 
 quainted with their history will doubt. 
 Each missionary was generally the 
 friend of some chief living in his neigh- 
 borhood, and over whom he impercepti- 
 bly acquired that influence which moral 
 confidence is sure to engender, so that 
 without knowing exactly how it w r as, he 
 felt himself powerful in his little field. 
 The missionaries being united in policy 
 were thus enabled to affect the tone of 
 the public councils through the voices 
 of their individual friends. They main- 
 ly employed this influence to benefit 
 the people, by indoctrinating them with 
 more humane views towards their de- 
 pendents and juster sentiments of their 
 rights. In this way the national taxes, 
 burdens and customs, the offspring of 
 despotic heathenism, became vastly ame- 
 liorated, and the chiefs themselves ad- 
 vanced to some degree of knowledge 
 and refinement. The missionaries could 
 
 157 
 
 not however exercise even this whole- 
 some influence without subjecting them- 
 selves to invidious charges. Hence arose 
 the enmity developed in the political 
 proceedings given in the previous chap- 
 ters. Mr. Bingham was long known by 
 the soubriquet of " King Hiram." But 
 influence was not confined to the mis- 
 sionaries alone. It was acquired by 
 those who differed widely from them 
 on the same principle by securing the 
 friendship and confidence of individual 
 chiefs whose tastes were congenial with 
 their white intimates. But these were 
 greatly outnumbered by the more re- 
 flective and serious class with the all- 
 powerful Kaahumanu at their head. 
 Throughout their history it has been 
 found that whenever the spirit of license 
 came in conflict with the sense of right, 
 the former, though often for a while 
 ascendant, in the end invariably suc- 
 cumbed to the latter. The mission and 
 high chiefs formed a moral bulwark to 
 the nation that had never been wholly 
 cut down, but has arisen firmer and 
 higher after every assault. 
 
 It is not intended by this description 
 to convey the impression that either side 
 were wholly right or wholly wrong. So 
 long as the missionaries confined their 
 influences to purposes wholly within 
 their legitimate sphere of action, and of 
 which they were by profession and ex- 
 perience the best qualified to judge, all 
 went well. But when, even though with 
 the best intentions, they overstepped 
 that line, they failed failed through 
 those very qualities which were their 
 own passports to confidence. In honor- 
 able, practical business men, the chiefs 
 would have found much more efficient 
 advisers in purely business matters, and 
 it is now much to be regretted that the 
 agency of such had not been earlier 
 called in, when they were in doubt. 
 But the implicit faith they had in the 
 intentions of their religious teachers led 
 to an equal reliance on their judgments; 
 these judgments were too often formed 
 rather through the medium of a profess- 
 ed common faith or sanctity than through 
 the exercise of sound reason and neces- 
 sary caution. A plain answer from a 
 practical business man of good prin- 
 ciples, whether he was a brother com- 
 
158 
 
 HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 municant or not, would have been worth 
 quires of sentimental essays on pros- 
 pective good and benevolence, which 
 were to find their dubious way to the 
 nation by first lining the pockets of the 
 projectors. The errors into which the 
 advisers of the chiefs not unfrequently 
 fell were very natural, but very lament- 
 able. A more comprehensive view of 
 the selfishness and deceitfulness of hu- 
 man nature would have saved them. At 
 all events, it would have been a wise pol- 
 icy to have distrusted sanguine schemes 
 whose fate depended upon profound se- 
 crecy even from those who were to be 
 most affected by their success or failure, 
 and it would have been wiser still to 
 have offset one set of views, whether 
 mercantile or political, by an appeal to 
 others, and thus hit upon safety by a 
 prudent medium. 
 
 In another sense the managing parties 
 were right. Deceived they might be in 
 the motives and character of their pro- 
 fessed friends, yet so long as they be- 
 lieved them sincere, it was just that the 
 countenance should have been mutual. 
 The fault was not over-support but over- 
 confidence. 
 
 However, governments, like mon, ac- 
 quire wisdom by dear bought experi- 
 ence. It has been thus with the Ha- 
 waiian. None of the numerous lessons 
 from friends or foes have been lost on 
 them, and the adversities of one year 
 have added to the wisdom of the next. 
 It is a small nation, but history will 
 develop the fact that it is hardening its 
 bones and sinews by a process analo- 
 gous to that of the youth who leaves his 
 father's house with but little in the out- 
 set to meet the rubs of active selfish- 
 ness save an honest heart and a docile 
 disposition. Sooner or later the fac- 
 ulties develop, and the incautious boy 
 ripens into the experienced man. 
 
 Mr. Richards entered upon his offi- 
 cial duties by delivering to the chiefs 
 a course of lectures on Political Econ- 
 omy and the general science of govern- 
 ment. From the ideas thus derived, 
 based upon their old forms, a constitu- 
 tion was drawn up. Although greatly 
 limiting their power, the chiefs passed 
 it unanimously. 
 
 The laws of the kingdom were care- 
 
 fully revised and published. In com- 
 parison with the past, the progress of 
 the nation was now rapid. The liberal 
 policy of other nations, and whatever of 
 their forms could with propriety be here 
 transplanted, were embodied in the new 
 statutes, but on a scale commensurate 
 with the feebleness and youth of the 
 people. The penal code was greatly 
 improved ; primary and courts of ap- 
 peal established; the jury system adopt- 
 ed. Provision was made for the more 
 regular enforcement of debt transmis- 
 sion of property, property in trust, in- 
 terest accounts, in short sufficient was 
 done greatly to benefit the position of 
 natives and foreigners. Taxation was 
 rendered more equal and lighter. En- 
 couragement was proffered to industry 
 and to the increase of population. An 
 enlightened public school system was 
 organized. Their laws, imperfect as 
 they may seem to the critical eyes of 
 a superior civilization, were yet in ad- 
 vance of the people. But wherever they 
 were allowed to operate fairly and sys- 
 tematically much good was effected, and 
 they served to prepare the way for more 
 important changes. 
 
 The people were thoroughly con- 
 vinced that the immunity once claimed 
 by chiefs for crimes of their own, was at 
 an end by an impartial trial by jury of 
 one of that class in 1840, for the mur- 
 der of his wife. He with an accomplice 
 were both brought in guilty, and suffer- 
 ed the full penalty of the law, death by 
 hanging. The foreigners also began to 
 see that there was some virtue in the 
 courts, by a fine imposed upon the Eng- 
 lish consul for riotous conduct. 
 
 The results of the Laplace treaty in 
 removing the prohibition of ardent spir- 
 its were not so pernicious to the nation 
 as was first anticipated. The immediate 
 effect was bad. Natives of both sexes 
 were seen reeling through the streets. 
 But so much moral sentiment \vas 
 brought to operate, that the government 
 prohibited the natives from manufactur- 
 ing ardent spirits, and finally the king 
 and chiefs, in the spring of 1S42, de- 
 stroyed what store they had on hand, 
 and pledged themselves to total absti- 
 nence. Numerous temperance societies 
 were formed and considerable enthusiasm 
 
HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 159 
 
 awakened on the subject. The pledges 
 have in general been kept. The king 
 and court continued strictly temperate, 
 and the rules of government visit prompt 
 penalty and disgrace upon any of their 
 officers found guilty of violating their 
 pledge. 
 
 While the nation was thus advancing 
 in moral improvement and respectabil- 
 ity, the government experienced con- 
 stant annoyance from the arrogance and 
 pretensions of Mr. Charlton, whd was 
 evidently concerting a collision between 
 it and his own. The most frivolous com- 
 plaints were willingly received, judged 
 upon and made subjects of threats, be- 
 fore they had been referred to the proper 
 tribunals or one word elicited in reply. 
 In effect, he centered in himself at once, 
 prosecutor, witness, judge and sheriff. 
 
 The courts of the country were con- 
 stituted upon the best basis its means 
 allowed. In ordinary mercantile cases, 
 with the aid of foreign juries, where no 
 national prejudices were involved or 
 party interests at stake, they gave sat- 
 isfaction. But in the struggle that was 
 constantly going on between the rival 
 interests of England and America the 
 one represented by Mr. Charlton, and 
 virulently opposed to the government, 
 and the other by the United States con- 
 sul, Mr. Brinsmade, who willingly, with 
 most of his countrymen * lent it efficient 
 moral aid by complying with the laws, 
 and treating its feeble endeavors to sus- 
 tain order and promote civilization with 
 respect the nation through its courts 
 suffered repeated assaults. 
 
 Mr. Brinsmade's predecessor, J. C. 
 Jones, had been in the habit when of- 
 fended of applying the epithets cheat, 
 liar and other equally indecorous terms 
 to the chiefs. 
 
 Complicated law suits arose, in which 
 the principals were American and Eng- 
 lish. The decision of the governor of 
 Oahu, its constitutional judge, being ad- 
 verse to the English party, greatly em- 
 bittered them. The involved estate of 
 French and Greenway became another 
 bone of contention, two Englishmen 
 claiming to act as assignees, neither of 
 whom were recognized by one of the 
 principals, the other being insane, nor by 
 the other creditors. The parties brought 
 
 their cases into the court, where they 
 were decided unfavorably to the claims 
 of the self-styled assignees. These cases 
 are merely referred to as having given 
 rise to questions of jurisdiction, and be- 
 ing some of many others which after 
 having led to the seizure of the group 
 by Lord George Paulet, were decided 
 upon in England by the law adviser of 
 the crown in favor of the king. 
 
 In the spring of 1842, Sir George 
 Simpson and Dr. McLaughlin, govern- 
 ors in the service of the Hudson Bay 
 Company, arrived at the islands. Hav- 
 ing extensive mercantile relations on 
 them, they naturally felt interested in 
 the stability of the government and its 
 institutions. After a careful and candid 
 examination into the merits of the exist- 
 ing controversies between their own 
 countrymen and the native government, 
 they came to the full determination of 
 sustaining the latter with their powerful 
 influence. Their agents were instruct- 
 ed accordingly. The king fearing the 
 effect of the false representations of 
 Charlton and his partisans, sought the 
 counsel of Sir George Simpson, by whose 
 advice and pecuniary assistance in a loan 
 of 10,000, it was decided to send com- 
 missioners to Europe and the United 
 States, with full powers to negotiate for 
 an acknowledgment of the independ- 
 ence of the islands, and a guarantee 
 against their usurpation by any of the 
 great powers. Recognized as an inde- 
 pendent nation, they would be freed 
 from many vexatious interferences in 
 their domestic polity, and questions of 
 jurisdiction, which served no other end 
 than to gratify evil passions and postpone 
 justice. Mr. Brinsmade, the American 
 consul, had left some months previous, 
 on business of his firm Ladd & Co. 
 carrying with him an extensive contract 
 for grants and leases of lands under cer- 
 tain conditions, entered into with them, 
 in November, 1840, by the king. On 
 the strength of this he proposed to get 
 up a joint stock company, which should 
 develop the resources of the islands. 
 Unless however the governments of 
 Great Britain, France and the United 
 States "acknowledged the sovereignty 
 of the Sandwich Islands government 
 and accord to it all the rights, powers 
 
160 
 
 HISTORY OF TEE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 and privileges and immunities of an in- 
 dependent state," the said contract was 
 to be "null and void." Mr. Brinsmade 
 thus bound himself to see this object 
 secured previous to selling his contract. 
 
 The after history of this agency in 
 Europe proved a lesson to the govern- 
 ment not to involve itself under any 
 pretences or hopes with the private 
 schemes or speculations of mercantile 
 firms. Ladd & Co. had been service- 
 able to the islands in being the first to 
 introduce agricultural enterprises on an 
 enlarged and systematic scale, by which 
 the industry of the inhabitants was 
 awakened and the resources of the 
 country developed. Their sugar plan- 
 tation at Koloa, Kauai, was creditable 
 to their enterprise, and had been the 
 means of giving a start to the produc- 
 tion of sugar at several other points. 
 Perceiving the real advantages derived 
 to the country from this enterprise, and 
 feeling desirous of sustaining and en- 
 larging it, the government put Ladd c 
 Co. at their solicitation, based upon the 
 idea that their views were philanthropic, 
 into possession of the contract before 
 mentioned. They also advanced them 
 large sums without a sufficient exam- 
 ination into their credit ; a neglect aris- 
 ing from over-weening confidence, and 
 which afterwards, failing to get their 
 pay when due, proved very vexatious in 
 the results. But previous to the con- 
 tract, other sums had been loaned them. 
 The knowledge of these facts naturally 
 excited the jealousy of the English op- 
 position. 
 
 Sir George Simpson, Rev. William 
 .Richards and Timoteo Haalilio, a native 
 ehief, were appointed joint commission- 
 ers to proceed to the United States and 
 Europe. Sir George Simpson left im- 
 mediately. The other two sailed in 
 July, 1842, for Mazatlan, whence they 
 proceeded direct to the United States. 
 G. P. Judd, physician to the American 
 Mission, long and intimately acquainted 
 with the chiefs, was invited by them to 
 supply Mr. Richards' place, acting as 
 recorder and translator. Upon this oc- 
 casion the mission passed the following 
 vote : 
 
 "That as Dr. Judd has resigned his connection with 
 the mission, we therefore express to him our high esti- 
 mation, of lus past services, and affectionately request 
 
 him to co-operate with us in furthering all the grand ob- 
 j cts of the mission, so far &a he can consistently with 
 his new engagements." 
 
 Mr. Judd was further appointed Pres- 
 ident of the Treasury Board, and to cor- 
 respond with the commissioners abroad. 
 Upon assuming the duties of the treas- 
 ury, he immediately introduced a system 
 of reform, which by husbanding the 
 financial resources redeemed the credit 
 of the government. Previous to his ad- 
 vent into office, the sums collected were 
 received by the governors, tax-officers 
 and chiefs, and expended very much at 
 their option without accountability of 
 any kind. It was a system useless to 
 the nation and expensive in its results. 
 Under it any amount of peculation pre- 
 vailed, though with the ideas of the 
 chiefs it could scarcely be called by that 
 term, as they all claimed the right to 
 help themselves from the public crib. 
 In its stead a rigid economy was exact- 
 ed. Books were opened ; revenues col- 
 lected and deposited in the treasury ; 
 accounts kept with all public officers ; 
 useless mouths cut off; services alone 
 were paid for ; salaries established ; the 
 public debts made up ; national property 
 distinguished from individual ; in short, 
 a system admirably calculated to gain 
 the confidence of the community and to 
 benefit the nation arose out of the con- 
 fusion and bankruptcy that prevailed 
 before. This was not done without 
 murmuring or discontent from those 
 whose sinecure offices were now at an 
 end. But the perseverence of Mr. Judd 
 triumphed over all obstacles, and the 
 statistics of the treasury since have told 
 a flattering story. 
 
 In September, 1842, Mr. Charlton, 
 fearing the results of the embassy of 
 Messrs. Haalilio and Richards upon his 
 own office, left his consulate surrepti- 
 tiously for London via Mexico, to lay 
 his complaints before the British gov- 
 ernment. Mr. Alexander Simpson, his 
 friend and appointed successor, says of 
 him in his history of these events, " he 
 did not possess the qualifications neces- 
 sary for a diplomatist coolness, discre- 
 tion and an abstinence from party heats 
 and personal animosities." 
 
 Mr. Charlton's career was terminated 
 by his own act. He had no sooner ar- 
 rived in London than he was removed 
 
HISTORY OF TEE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 161 
 
 from his situation under circumstances 
 of disgrace. The Earl of Aberdeen 
 considered the finale of his diplomacy 
 as intemperate, improper and ill-judged, 
 calculated to do great mischief and to 
 produce in the minds of the king and his 
 advisers, whether natives or foreigners, 
 a resentful feeling not only against Mr. 
 Charlton, but against the British gov- 
 ernment and their subjects. These sen- 
 timents are authentic, and clearly show 
 that it was no part of the policy of 
 England that her commissioned officers 
 should insult even Hawaiian majesty. 
 
 The king declined receiving Alex- 
 ander Simpson as vice-consul. The 
 grounds of his refusal, in the words of 
 his officer addressed to him, "were be- 
 cause you despise the authorities of the 
 kingdom and say you are going to make 
 disturbance in the kingdom." Mr. Simp- 
 son fully justifies the king in believing 
 him to be a seditious character in his 
 own work, where he states, " From the 
 period of my first visit to the Sandwich 
 Islands, 1 became convinced of their 
 value and importance, and, therefore, 
 desirous that they should form a British 
 possession" 
 
 Mr. Simpson immediately called a 
 meeting of the favorers of his views, 
 who passed a resolution favorable to his 
 exercising the duties of consul, which 
 he continued to do, unnoticed by other 
 consuls and unsanctioned by the king. 
 
 His ambition being to make the isl- 
 ands an appendage of the British crown, 
 he industriously fomented difficulties 
 and devised means to effect this favorite 
 project. Through his influence, memo- 
 rials purporting to come from British 
 residents, but notoriously signed by in- 
 dividuals of no note, were forwarded to 
 his government. 
 
 At this time, Mr. Pelly, agent of the 
 Hudson's Bay Company, instituted a suit 
 for nearly 3,000 against Mr. Charlton, 
 for a debt due parties in Valparaiso since 
 1832. The case was brought before a 
 foreign jury and a verdict given against 
 Mr. Charlton, whose property was at- 
 tached by order of the court for payment. 
 
 On his way to England, Mr. Charlton 
 
 had fallen in with Lord George Paulet, 
 
 commanding H. B. M. frigate Carysfort, 
 
 and by his representations interested his 
 
 21 
 
 lordship in his views. Simpson had 
 also sent despatches to the coast of 
 Mexico, which induced Hear Admiral 
 Thomas to order the Carysfort to Hono- 
 lulu, for the purpose of inquiring into 
 the matter. She arrived on the 10th 
 of February, 1843, before the sale of 
 Charlton's property had taken place. 
 Simpson immediately went on board to 
 concert measures with Lord George, 
 who, from his entire acquiescence in his 
 plans, appears to have been wholly won 
 over at this interview to sustain them. 
 The authorities on shore suspected there 
 was no friendly feeling, from the with- 
 holding the usual salutes. Mr. Judd, on 
 behalf of the government, made an offi- 
 cial call on board, but was informed he 
 could not be received. Visits from the 
 French and United States consuls were 
 similarly declined. Captain Paulet ad- 
 dressed the governor, informing him that 
 he wished to confer with the king, who 
 was then absent. 
 
 The king arrived from Maui on the 
 16th, and on the next day received the 
 following letter and demands from Lord 
 George Paulet : 
 
 H. B. M.'s SHIP CARYSFORT, J 
 OAHU, 17th February, 1843. 
 
 SIR : In answer to your letter of this day's date 
 which 1 have too good an opinion of your Majesty to 
 allow me to believe ever emanated from yourself, but from 
 your ill-advisers I have to state that I shall hold no 
 communication whatever with Dr. G. P. Judd, who it 
 has been satisfactorily proved to me has been the punic 
 mover in the unlawful proceedings of your government 
 against British subjects 
 
 As you have refused me a personal interview. I en- 
 close you the demands which I consider It my duty to 
 make upon your government ; with which I demand a 
 compliance at or before 4 o'clock, P. M,, to-morrow 
 Saturday otherwise I shall be obliged to take imme- 
 diate coercive steps to obtain these measures for my 
 countrymen. 
 
 I have the honor to be your Majesty's most obedient, 
 humble servant, 
 
 GEORGE PAULET, Captain. 
 His Majesty, KAMEHAMEHA III. 
 
 DEMANDS MADE BY THE BIGHT HONORABLE LOBD 
 GKOBOE PAULET, CAPTAIN ROYAL .NAVY, COMMAND- 
 ING H. B. M.'s SHIP CABYSFOKT,UPON THE KING OF 
 THE SANDWICH ISLANDS. 
 
 First. The immediate removal, by public advertise- 
 ment, written in the native and English language?, 
 and signed by the governor of this island and F. W. 
 Thompson, of the attachment placed upon Mr. Charl- 
 ton's property ; the restoration of the land taken by 
 government for its own use, and really appertaining 
 to Mr.. Charlton ; and reparation for the heavy loss to 
 which Mr. Charlton's representatives have been ex- 
 posed by the oppressive and unjust proceedings of the 
 (Sandwich. Islands government. 
 
 Second. The immediate acknowledgment of the 
 right of Mr. Simpson to perform the functions dele- 
 gated to him by Mr. Charlton ; namely, those of Her 
 Britannic Majesty's- acting consul, until Her Majesty's 
 pleasure be known upon the reasonableness of your 
 objections to him. The acknowledgment of that right 
 and the reparation for the insult olfered to Her Maj- 
 esty through her acting representative, to be made by 
 
162 
 
 HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 a public reception of his commission and the saluting 
 the British flag with twenty-one guns, which number 
 will be returned by Her Britannic Majesty's ship under 
 iny command. 
 
 Third. A guarantee that no British subject shall 
 in future be subjected to imprisonment in fetters, un- 
 less he is accused of a crime which by the laws of Eng- 
 land would be considered felony. 
 
 Fourth. The compliance with a written promise 
 given by King Kamehameha to Captain Jones, of Her 
 Britannic Majesty's ship Curacoa, that a new and fair 
 trial would be granted in a case brought by Henry 
 Skinner, which promise has been evaded. 
 
 Fifth. The immediate adoption of firm steps to ar- 
 range the matters in dispute between British subjects 
 and natives of the country, or others residing here, 
 by referring these cases to juries. One-half of whom 
 shall be British subjects, approved by the consul, and 
 all of whom shall declare on oath, their freedom from 
 prejudgment upon, or interest in the cases brought 
 before them. 
 
 Sixth. A direct communication between His Maj- 
 esty Kamehameha and Her Britannic Majesty, acting 
 consul, for the immediate settlement of all "cases of 
 grievances and complaint on the part of British sub- 
 jects against the Sandwich Island Government. 
 
 JJated on board H. B. M.'s ship Carysfort, at Oahu, 
 
 indoctrination of the mission, animated 
 by the peaceful principles of the Gospel, 
 had been of that nature that depends 
 more upon the sword of the spirit than 
 the arm of flesh. Desirous of avoiding 
 the unhappy consequences of strife and 
 bloodshed, and relying, through Prov- 
 idence, on the justice of the nation's 
 cause and the magnanimity of the Queen 
 of Great Britain, they counseled peace. 
 Shortly before the hour of commencing 
 hostilities had arrived, the king dispatch- 
 ed a letter to the Carysfort, informing 
 Lord George Faulet that he yielded to 
 his demands, under protest, and had ap- 
 pointed Sir George Simpson and Wil- 
 
 this nth day of February, 1S43. ' ' I ^ ^ichards as his commissioners to 
 
 GEORGE PAULET, Captain. ! the court oi trreat .Britain to settle the 
 Captain Long, of the United States pending difficulties. 
 
 ship Boston, then in port, was informed, | His majesty appointed February 20th, 
 by letter, at midnight, of the anticipated j at eleven o'clock, A. M., to receive Lord 
 attack of the British commander. In the George and the vice-consul. On the 
 
 morning the Carysfort was cleared for 
 action, springs put on her cables, and 
 her battery brought to bear upon the 
 town. The English families embarked 
 for security on board a brig in the outer 
 roads. The Americans and other for- 
 eigners having but short notice, placed 
 their funds and papers on board the 
 Boston and other vessels, intending to 
 retreat to them with their families in 
 case of actual hostilities. The town 
 
 same day that the king notified Lord 
 George of his acquiescence to his de- 
 mands, in conjunction with the premier 
 he protested against his acts in these 
 words : 
 
 WE, KAMEHAMEHA III., King of all the Sandwich 
 Islands, and KEKAULCOHI, Premier thereof, in accord- 
 ance with the laws of nations, and the rights of all ag- 
 grieved Sovereigns and individuals, do hereby enter 
 our solemn act of protest before God, the world, and 
 before the Government of Her Most Gracious Majesty, 
 Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdoms of Great 
 Britain and Ireland : 
 
 forced by a threat of coercive measures, and an attack 
 upon our town of Honolulu, in case of a non-compli- 
 ance with the same within a period of nineteen hours ; 
 thereby interfering -with our laws, endangering the 
 
 Against the Right Hon. Lord George Paulet, Cap- 
 .~in of H. B. M.'s ship Carysfort, now lying in the 
 Was in a State Of great excitement. The | harbor of Honolulu, for all losses and damages which 
 j- . r U U*f -~* * may accrue to us, and to the citizens of o< her countries 
 
 dispositions Ot the Chiefs Were Uncertain, residing under our dominion and sovereignty, in con- 
 and it Was feared that the rabble, tak- sequence of the unjust demands made upon us this 
 ., , ,. . ' . , day, by the said Right Hon. Lord George Paulet, en- 
 
 ing advantage oi the confusion, might " 
 pillage the place. Excited by the gross 
 injustice of the demands, the first im- 
 
 J i c ,1 i i i -i I good order of society, and requmng ot us what no 
 
 pulses of the king and hlS council, in I power has a right to exact of another with whom they 
 
 which they were sustained by the indig- 
 nant feeling of the entire foreign popu? 
 lation, excepting the few who sided with 
 Simpson, were for energetic measures. 
 Arms were procured, and bodies of rnen 
 began to assemble. The common na- 
 tives, unconscious of the fatal effects of 
 disciplined gunnery, ardently desired to 
 fight the ship. Some supposed they 
 
 might overpower her crew by numbers 
 
 the Savereign authority of these our islands, are in- 
 jured, grieved, abused and damaged, by this act of the 
 said Right Hon. Lord George Paulet, and we hereby 
 enter our solemn appeal unto the Government of Her 
 Most Gracious Majesty, represented by him, for re- 
 dress, for justification, and for repayment of all said 
 losses, damages and payments which may in conse- 
 quence accrue unto us, or unto the citizens of other 
 countries living under our jurisdiction 
 
 On the 20th, the king and premier 
 visited the Carysfort and were received 
 
 with royal honors. This courtesy, how- 
 
 in boarding. But peaceful councils at ! ever, was but a prelude to a further 
 last prevailed. It is in such emergen- series of demands rendered necessary to 
 
 cies that the real influence of the mis- 
 sionaries becomes apparent. The nat- 
 ural desire of chiefs and foreigners was 
 to resist at all hazards ; but the entire 
 
 accomplish Simpson's aim, by the unex 
 pected compliance of the king with the 
 first. These were brought forward at 
 an interview on the following day. The 
 
HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 163 
 
 total amount demanded in money was 
 SI 17,330.89. The character of these 
 claims, and the object of the parties, 
 may be gathered from a brief notice of 
 the first brought forward. This was in 
 favor of a Mr. Skinner, a connexion of 
 Mr. Charlton's. Indemnification to the 
 amount of $3,000 was demanded for 
 him on the alleged ground of having 
 lost the interest and profits on $ 10,000 
 unemployed for four months, which he 
 had reserved to purchase the property of 
 Mr. Charlton, if sold on execution. The 
 arrival of the Carysfort had stopped the 
 sale, and he had lost the opportunity of 
 thus employing his funds. 
 
 The peculiar nature of the official in- 
 tercourse of the British officers with the 
 king, is best illustrated by extracts from 
 a journal of the interviews kept at the 
 time on behalf of the native government. 
 
 "February 22d. Simpson insisted the 
 Dominis case should be re-tried. No 
 plea that it had been done, and that the 
 parties had settled and passed receipts, 
 was to be admitted. The government 
 must plead the case, and pay all that 
 a jury should bring in over the $10,000 
 which had been paid by Captain Dom- 
 inis to Mr. Skinner. 
 
 "Next, a claim of $400 for a chro- 
 nometer, alleged to have been detain- 
 ed by the harbor master, an American, 
 (which he denied,) and in consequence 
 Mr. Skinner had to purchase another. 
 The king said he was not acquainted 
 with the facts. This was considered an 
 acknowledgment of his incompetence to 
 be sovereign. 
 
 "A demand that either Kekuanaoa or 
 Dr. Judd be set aside as the author of a 
 falsehood." 
 
 " Next, a detailed account of the legal 
 proceedings against Simpson and Skin- 
 ner, and the blame thrown on the gov- 
 ernor and the courts." The king said 
 he was not acquainted with the facts in 
 the case. This was denounced as a 
 strange neglect, and no statement to the 
 contrary could be admitted. " Insisted 
 on the immediate reversal of the decis- 
 ion of the courts. The king must do it. 
 He ought to know the merits of the case. 
 He must pay damages." The object of 
 Simpson, to drive the king to despair by 
 the magnitude and unreasonableness of 
 
 his demands, was fast gaining ground. 
 Still it was acknowledged, and is on 
 record, that previous to the last act in 
 this semi-tragical drama, it was neces- 
 sary to obtain the official acknowledg- 
 ment of the king to all the pecuniary 
 claims he brought forward in his own 
 behalf and those of his interested sup- 
 porters. Should the government be 
 transferred previous to this, they would 
 be as valueless as they were unjust, 
 which afterwards proved to be the case, 
 as all previous complaints were quashed, 
 and no British subject allowed to bring 
 a grievance against the new government. 
 By this course Simpson was converting 
 what under any circumstances would 
 have been an unjustifiable robbery, into 
 contemptible swindling. In his eager- 
 ness he overshot the mark, though not 
 before he had intimidated the king into 
 ratifying a claim which Charlton had 
 set up on the strength of an alleged 
 deed from Kalaimoku, in 1826, to a val- 
 uable portion of the town of Honolulu, 
 near the water side, then covered with 
 native houses, and partially owned and 
 built upon by foreigners. This pretend- 
 ed deed had been kept in abeyance for 
 more than twenty years, unheard of by 
 chiefs, and not brought forward until 
 long after the alleged signer and wit- 
 nesses were dead. By the unanimous 
 testimony of natives and foreigners, 
 Charlton was never considered as hav- 
 ing owned one foot of this land. The 
 adjoining property, separated by a street, 
 although given to the English govern- 
 ment, by the order of Kaahumanu, in. 
 1S26, was still in his undisturbed pos- 
 session. The land to which he now laid 
 claim belonged, by the most undoubted 
 testimony and by continuous possession, 
 to Kaahumanu and her heirs. Kalai- 
 moku, the alleged granter, had never 
 owned it. More than one hundred na- 
 tives had lived on it ever since Charlton 
 came to the islands. Yet in face of 
 these well-known facts, Lord George 
 sustained this claim, and through fear 
 of an attack upon his town, induced the 
 king to sign the more than doubtful 
 paper. For even those who conjectured 
 that the signatures might be genuine, 
 were far from supposing that the deed 
 was valid, as it pretended to no consid- 
 
164 
 
 HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 eration, its boundaries were dubious, the 
 circumstances under which it appeared 
 were suspicious, and none believed that 
 Kalaimoku ever signed such a document 
 with a knowledge of its contents. It was 
 contrary both to his habits and power. 
 The weakness of the king in consenting 
 to a ratification of such a fraud upon 
 his territory is lamentable ; being wrong 
 in itself, no considerations of force or 
 threats should have availed. But it was 
 done, and a most fruitful diplomatic sore 
 has it since proved between England 
 and this country. The journal of this 
 period, kept by Mr. Judd, so fully illus- 
 trates the policy which brought the 
 country into the hands of England, that 
 I quote largely from it, as the most au- 
 thentic record extant of the actual feel- 
 ings and dispositions of the king and 
 chiefs, and the various motives operating 
 upon their minds. It is a humilitating 
 confession of weakness, and cannot fail 
 to enlist the sympathies of readers. Suf- 
 ficient firmness was wanting to give a 
 decided refusal to the treacherous de- 
 mands of Simpson. Whether force 
 would then have been used is doubtful. 
 If it had, the unauthorized acts of Lord 
 Paulet would have been purely piratical; 
 and on whomsoever the evil might have 
 fallen, the disgrace would have been 
 solely his. Expediency, and the fear of 
 the consequences were English blood 
 shed and the rabble let loose upon the 
 town, decided the question. Aided by 
 the advice they most confided in, which 
 was of a missionary nature, the chiefs 
 chose what they considered the more 
 prudent measure. It savored somewhat 
 of impotent despair on the part of the 
 king and premier, that if they would 
 avoid Sylla they must rush upon Cha- 
 ry bdis 'save themselves from France by 
 giving themselves to England. 
 
 "24^. A meeting having been ar- 
 ranged for 10 o'clock, A. M., the king 
 requested me to visit Lord George, and 
 say to him that he could bear this course 
 no longer; he would give up and let 
 them do as they pleased, etc., etc. I ac- 
 cordingly met Lord George and Simp- 
 son in the street, coming to the meeting; 
 said I had a message from the king, that 
 he was sick. I went with them to the 
 consular office, where I was left alone 
 
 | with Simpson. I said, the king feels 
 himself oppressed, broken down, ruined, 
 and, to use his own expression, a dead 
 man; that he had been up all night, and 
 was sick ; that he had determined to 
 give up ; that if he, Simpson, persisted 
 in his present course, ruin would follow; 
 that the king could not undo by his own 
 act the action of the courts, and enforce 
 these claims without time to modify the 
 laws. I begged him to desist, and give 
 time to modify the laws and act with 
 consistency. He would allow juries to 
 be composed of half Englishmen in case 
 their interests were concerned. The 
 Dominis case had been disposed of ac- 
 cording to the king's written promise to 
 Captain Jones. Moreover, since that 
 time, the parties had settled by amicable 
 arbitration. That to require all the late 
 decisions of the legally organized courts 
 to be set aside by the act of the king, 
 would be illegal and oppressive on the 
 part of Mr. Simpson, and decidedly op- 
 pressive on the part of the king, and 
 would justly involve him both with 
 Americans and French, etc., etc. Simp- 
 son replied that the English had been 
 treated harshly, and consequently the 
 government must suffer. His course 
 could not be altered. 
 
 " Went with Lord George and Simp- 
 son to the council; acted as spokesman; 
 reiterated the above, and added, the 
 king was determined to hold out no 
 longer ; do what you like, take the isl- 
 ands, but do not force him to acts of 
 injustice ; it would be cruel in the ex- 
 treme, better take all. Lord George 
 replied, that his demands were not un- 
 just, he acted on the best information 
 and testimony. I said, I know that you 
 think so, but I assure you that such is 
 not the opinion of the government. The 
 king remarked that he did not think 
 that his government had done wrong. I 
 said, we must be heard ; your informa- 
 tion is incorrect ; we appeal to Great 
 Britain ; take the islands, we will yet 
 have justice. Lord George replied that 
 he did not come to take the islands. I 
 said, you had better do it than pursue 
 these subjects further in this manner. 
 He or Simpson said that they could 
 only act on a request of the king, and 
 it must be in writing. Said I, let all 
 
HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 165 
 
 proceedings be stopped ; let the govern- 
 ment have time to reflect, and I think 
 they will come to the conclusion that it 
 is better for you to take the government 
 of the islands than to go on any further. 
 But we must have time ; you drive the 
 king to distraction, and I fear that he 
 will cede the islands to France, as he 
 has been invited to do. Simpson said 
 he would not allow much delay. Lord 
 George said, two or three days and no 
 more. Simpson said, to-morrow noon, 
 and if it was not done, he should expect 
 the Dominis case to be tried on Satur- 
 day. I observed that the time was too 
 short. Monday then at the furthest. 
 We went into certain explanations as to 
 the manner of doing the thing, and I 
 wrote down in pencil the following : 
 
 " ' In consequence of the difficulties in which the 
 Sandwich Islands are involved, and the impossibility 
 of complying with the demands made by Her Britannic 
 Majesty's representative in the form in which they are 
 presented, we cede [the government of] our islands to 
 Lord George Paulet, etc., etc., for the time being, sub- 
 ject to any arrangements that may have been entered 
 into with the government of Great Britain, and until 
 intelligence shall have been received, and in case no 
 arrangement shall have been made previous to date, 
 subject to the decision of Her Majesty's government 
 on conference with the ministers of the Sandwich Isl- 
 ands government, after a full report of our affairs shall 
 have been represented to Great Britain ; and in case 
 the ministers are rejected by Her Britannic Majesty, 
 then subject to any arrangements which may be en- 
 tered into.' 
 
 " Simpson took the paper and walked 
 in the verandah with Lord George, and 
 returning, said that would do ; he would 
 make a copy with a very few verbal al- 
 terations. 
 
 " It was arranged that the chiefs should 
 have an opportunity to consider these 
 things, and an answer to be given to- 
 morrow noon. Lord George and Simp- 
 son left. King and Auhea sat with 
 astonishment and misery. Discussed 
 awhile in council, when I left them in 
 order to take some refreshment. When 
 I returned, I found them anxious to gain 
 further information. The subject of 
 ceding to France and the United States 
 was a ray of hope which seemed to 
 gleam across their dark path, but they 
 foresaw that under such circumstances 
 they would still have this fury Simp- 
 son to deal with until the French took 
 possession, and he would doubtless in- 
 volve them in more trouble, and their 
 cause become too bad to admit of justi- 
 fication. France is still acting a hostile 
 part towards them. Char! ton and Simp- 
 
 son arc their enemies, but England is 
 their friend. To England they look up 
 with the most filial affections. France 
 is picking a quarrel with them now, and 
 complaints are now in existence which 
 will make more trouble. If the claims 
 of Simpson are allowed, the laws will 
 suffer, and the nation be weakened so 
 much that France will leave them noth- 
 ing. England can defend them from 
 France, and to cede to France would be 
 to say England had no right here, which 
 is to the government more than doubt- 
 ful, reckoning right as the nations do. 
 This might be considered an act of 
 treachery. 
 
 " May be that their independence is 
 secured already ; if so, a forcible posses- 
 sion on the part of either would annul 
 it. A cession would not, if made with 
 provisos. 
 
 ** In the evening I went for Lord 
 George, who, together with Simpson 
 and Dr. Rooke, came. Regulated a few 
 points respecting the course he should 
 pnrsue in case he took possession. In- 
 formed them that we should take every 
 possible step to justtfy the government 
 and get back the islands, and demanded 
 a pledge that such exertions be not con- 
 sidered an act of hostility to them. 
 
 " It was agreed that a decision should 
 be made by 12 o'clock on the 25th. 
 Lord George went away. Every pos- 
 sible view of the case was taken up by 
 the council, and the result seemed to be 
 to give up the islands on the terms pro- 
 posed. 
 
 " 25/?A. The king sent for me before 
 breakfast. Wished to know what I 
 thought of the old proposition of ceding 
 to France and the United States. I 
 said I feared it would involve the gov- 
 ernment in great trouble. The French 
 admiral would soon be here and take 
 possession, which would excite hostil- 
 ity between Catholics and Protestants ; 
 ! meanwhile Simpson would continue his 
 j course of conduct, and th difficulties 
 would become inextricable. Give your- 
 I self into the arms of Great Britain, trust 
 to the generosity of that great and good 
 nation, you may have the benefit of the 
 intervention of France for the adjust- 
 ment of difficulties and the security of 
 your independence. Let them take pos- 
 
166 
 
 HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 session, and then you can represent 
 
 Four case in full. Lord George called, 
 informed him that the matter was 
 nearly decided. One of the propositions 
 that came from me was waived, viz : 
 that a commission be appointed to ad- 
 just the claims of British subjects. 
 
 " Dudoit called, and many others. 
 Every argument used to induce the 
 king to cede to France and the United 
 States. Sat down to put the documents 
 into form. The king proposed to make 
 a speech, I said they could make that 
 out among themselves, which they did. 
 Deed of cession being ready, the chiefs 
 came in and it was read. Sorrow and 
 distress marked every countenance. 1 
 was asked to pray. During prayer, 
 sighs suppressed were often heard. I 
 committed the case to God, imploring 
 His blessing on the step about to be 
 taken as the only peaceful alternative 
 for the nation, etc., etc. When I rose, 
 not an individual left his knees for a 
 full minute, and then I saw that tears 
 had come to their relief. They sat in 
 silence for a moment, when the king 
 arose, and with a firm step seized a pen 
 and subscribed his name. ' Let it go,' 
 said he ; ' if I get help I get it, if not, let 
 it go. I can do no more.' The premier 
 then added her signature." 
 
 Having decided upon a provisional 
 cession of his dominions to Great Brit- 
 ain, the king announced the event to his 
 subjects in a touching proclamation : 
 
 Where are you, chiefs, people and commons from my 
 ancestors, and people from foreign lands ! 
 
 Hear ye ! 1 make known to you that I am in per- 
 plexity by reason of difficulties into which I have been 
 brought without cause; therefore, I have given away 
 the life of our land, hear ye ! But my rule over you, 
 my people, and your privileges, will continue, for I 
 have hope that the life of the land will be restored 
 when my conduct is justified. 
 
 Done at Honolulu, Oahu, this twenty-fifth day of 
 February, 1843. 
 
 (Signed,) KAMEHAMEHA III. 
 
 KEKAULUOHI. 
 
 At the request of Lord George, Mr. 
 Judd was appointed by the king as his 
 deputy. Mr. Judd positively declined 
 to undertak^the responsibility, and the 
 king then appointed William Paty, Esq., 
 whom Lord George refused to receive. 
 Upon the renewed solicitation of the 
 king, that he could do much for the na- 
 tion and his interests, and a written 
 assurance from Lord George that his 
 services were required in the new ad- 
 
 ministration, Mr. Judd consented to act, 
 the king authorizing him to employ Mr. 
 Paty in his other duties. The night of 
 the cession the king went to Maui, and 
 officers were sent the next day to hoist 
 the British flag on the other islands. 
 
 Disturbances between the English sol- 
 diers and natives commenced immedi- 
 ately, but were quelled by prompt action 
 on the part of the native authorities. 
 The policy of the chiefs was to preserve 
 order and await the decision of England. 
 The foreign residents were, however, 
 restless under the new rule. No respect 
 was shown the British officers, and their 
 conduct was loudly execrated. The 
 French consul refusing to acknowledge 
 the new government, his official func- 
 tions were suspended. 
 
 The commission immediately issued a 
 proclamation, levying an additional duty 
 of one per cent, on the previous duty of 
 three, ad valorem, on imported goods ; 
 all lands held by whites were required 
 to be registered previous to June 1st ; 
 new registers were granted to vessels 
 owned by foreign residents, putting them 
 upon the same footing as British bot- 
 toms ; and some alterations were made 
 in the municipal law. Mr. Judd refused 
 assent to many of these measures, so 
 that the new commission was far from 
 acting harmoniously. 
 
 On the llth of March, Mr. Simpson 
 left Honolulu for England, in a vessel 
 belonging to the king, with dispatches 
 to the foreign office from Lord George 
 Paulet. The king and chiefs, desirous 
 of being represented at London on an 
 occasion of such vital importance by an 
 agent of their own, ordered Dr. Judd to 
 look for one. Mr. J. F. B. Marshall, an 
 American gentleman resident at Hono- 
 lulu, was applied to. Having consented 
 to go, secret instructions were given 
 him ; his commission and papers were 
 signed by the king at Waikiki, who 
 came from Lahaina for that purpose, 
 and stopped there to avoid meeting the 
 British Commission. Without disclos- 
 ing his agency to Simpson, Mr. Mar- 
 shall was allowed passage in the same 
 vessel, by which he carried the news of 
 the cession, via Mexico, to the United 
 States and England. 
 
 Notwithstanding the solemn stipula- 
 
HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 167 
 
 lions on the part of Lord George Paulet 
 to respect existing laws and engage- 
 ments, repeated efforts were made to 
 violate their spirit. The populace, im- 
 patient under the new rule, became less 
 tractable daily. Great efforts were made 
 to get up a native British party. Men 
 were bought by promises and gifts. The 
 loose practices of former times were 
 partially winked at. The auction laws 
 were altered, and heavy duties imposed. 
 The wholesome regulations regarding 
 lewdness and other common vices were 
 repealed. Boat-loads of prostitutes were 
 allowed to visit ships in the harbor as in 
 the days of Liholiho. Indecorous and 
 disgusting scenes were witnessed in the 
 streets at noon-day.* Soldiers were en- 
 listed under the name of the Queen's 
 regiment, and officers commissioned. 
 The king and his chiefs were repeatedly 
 insulted. Every effort was made to 
 seize the national treasury and records. 
 Illegal orders on the former were pre- 
 sented. Mr. Judd was formally informed 
 by Lord George, that unless he honored 
 his drafts, he should be dismissed from 
 office, and some one put in his place 
 who would be more pliant. The author- 
 ity of the courts was prostituted; in 
 short, anarchy and violence began to 
 appear, and it was evident that the Brit- 
 ish officers, rioting in their brief and 
 ill-gotten authority, respected no com- 
 pacts and acknowledged no guides be- 
 yond their own wills. Mr. Judd, anxious 
 to preserve the authority of the king as 
 long as possible for the good of his peo- 
 ple, held his office until the 10th of May, 
 when entering a solemn protest against 
 the acts of Lord George Paulet, he with- 
 drew from the commission, absolving the 
 king from all further responsibility or 
 connection with its doings. This act 
 was formally approved by the king and 
 premier. On the 24th of June following 
 they issued a proclamation, charging the 
 commissioners with having maintained 
 soldiers not called for by any exigencies 
 of the country, " out of funds appropri- 
 ated for the payment of our just debts," 
 and " violating the laws which, by the 
 treaty, were to be held sacred," and of 
 other mal-practices, calling the world to 
 witness that they had " broken faith 
 
 * Friend, vol. 1, p. 37. 
 
 with us-," protesting in the face of all 
 men against all such proceedings both 
 towards themselves and foreigners. 
 
 After this withdrawal of the king, af- 
 fairs daily became more uneasy between 
 the natives and resident foreigners and 
 the British force. Mr. Judd fearing im- 
 prisonment and the seizure of the na- 
 tional records, withdrew them from the 
 government house, and secretly placed 
 them in the royal tomb. In this abode 
 of death, surrounded by the sovereigns 
 of Hawaii, using the coffin of Kaahu- 
 manu for a table, for many weeks he 
 nightly found an unsuspected asylum for 
 his own labors in behalf of the kingdom. 
 It required no small degree of prudence 
 on the part of one so influential and be- 
 loved among the natives to prevent an 
 actual collision between the hostile par- 
 ties. With unshaken reliance on the 
 justice of England, the chiefs impa- 
 tiently awaited her decision. On the 
 6th of July the United States ship Con- 
 stellation, Commodore Kearney, arrived. 
 He immediately issued a public protest 
 against the seizure of the islands. The 
 presence of a ship of war of a nation 
 friendly to their sovereign rights was 
 encouraging to the chiefs. Commodore 
 Kearney on all occasions treated them 
 as independent princes. This courtesy 
 exasperated still further Lord George, 
 who wrote the king that if he should 
 suffer himself to be saluted under the 
 Hawaiian flag, he would forfeit all con- 
 sideration from Her Majesty's govern- 
 ment. The king came from Maui on 
 the 21st to hold communication with 
 Commodore Kearney. So much irrita- 
 tion was now manifested on both sides, 
 that a violent explosion must soon have 
 occurred, when unexpectedly to all, on 
 the 26th of July Rear Admiral Thomas, 
 in the Dublin, frigate, arrived from Val- 
 paraiso, from which place he had made 
 all possible speed on receiving the des- 
 patches of Lord George. The design of 
 his visit was at first doubtful. He lost 
 no time however in making known his 
 intentions. In a few hours it was un- 
 derstood that he came to restore the 
 i islands. The joy of the natives and for- 
 eigners was unbounded, the mortifica- 
 I tion of the Simpson party extreme. The 
 ! renegade natives feared for their heads. 
 
168 
 
 HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLAXDM. 
 
 Negotiations were promptly opened with 
 the king by the admiral, and at an in- 
 terview on the 27th, the terms of the 
 restoration were agreed upon. The 31st 
 of July, a day ever memorable in Ha- 
 waiian annals, was the time appointed j 
 for the world to witness England in the j 
 person of her gallant and worthy officer, | 
 restoring to the petty sovereign of the 
 Hawaiian Islands his prerogatives and 
 his dominions. It was done in great 
 good taste. The weather proved auspi- 
 cious, and the entire population, white, 
 and native, except the few who, sad and 
 disappointed, sympathized with the com- 
 mander of the Carysfort, poured forth en 
 masse on to the plain east of the town 
 to participate in the general joy and 
 witness the ceremonies. On this occa- 
 sion, the foreign residents who had stood 
 by the king so warmly through all his 
 distress, gave unbounded testimony of 
 their sincere satisfaction of his restora- 
 tion to authority. A tent was prepared j 
 for the ladies. At 10 o'clock, A. M., | 
 several companies of English marines j 
 were drawn up in line facing the sea, i 
 with an artillery corps on their right. 
 The king came escorted by his own | 
 troops. As his royal standard was un- j 
 furled under a salute of twenty-one guns ; 
 from the brass pieces of the Dublin's j 
 corps, the English ensigns at the forts I 
 were lowered and the Hawaiian colors | 
 re-hoisted. National salutes were then j 
 fired successively from the Dublin, Haz- j 
 ard, Carysfort and Constellation men-of- 
 war, and the two forts and shipping in 
 the harbor. After a review of the mili- 
 tary, the king returned to his house, and 
 ordered the native troops raised by Lord | 
 George to appear before him. They 
 were required to salute the king's flag 
 and to swear fealty to their lawful sov- 
 ereign. Those officers who had received 
 British commissions came forward and 
 kissed the king's hand. At one o'clock 
 the king attended divine service at the 
 stone church, where he addressed his 
 people, informing them that " the life 
 of the land " had been restored to him. 
 Mr. li followed his majesty in a spirited 
 address, announcing in the name of the 
 king a general amnesty, the release of 
 all prisoners, and a festival of ten days 
 for the people. During this period the 
 
 residents manifested their satisfaction 
 by balls and entertainments, attended 
 by the chiefs and the officers of the 
 numerous men-of-war in port. Before 
 the festival was over, the United States 
 ships United States, Commodore Jones, 
 and the Cyane, Capt. Stribling, arrived. 
 The last brought the news of the recog- 
 nition of independence by England and 
 France. Efforts were made to effect a 
 general reconciliation among all parties, 
 and all pending difficulties were left to 
 the adjustment of the king's commis- 
 sioners with the powers abroad. 
 
 Notwithstanding the handsome man- 
 ner in which Admiral Thomas, before 
 hearing from his government, undertook 
 to restore the king to his sovereignty, in 
 his diplomatic arrangements he required 
 stipulations highly favorable to British 
 interests and calculated to be embar- 
 rassing in execution to the king. As 
 these however were to be but of tempo- 
 rary effect, the king gave them his as- 
 sent, trusting for independence in reality 
 as well as in name, from the exertions 
 of his agents in Europe. The admiral, 
 as if apprehensive that even his cautious 
 policy might not be wholly acceptable 
 to his government, moved his flag on 
 shore, where he was received as the 
 nation's guest, and awaited advices from 
 England. His presence was favorable 
 to harmonizing parties and to preserv- 
 ing the tranquility of the kingdom. 
 
 The policy of the provisional cession 
 to Great Britain has been much ques- 
 tioned, but viewed as to its results and 
 a cool examination of the alternative at 
 the time as impressed upon the minds 
 of the chiefs, it must now be allowed to 
 have been a sagacious act. The natural 
 impulse among all classes was to resist 
 such aggravated injustice ; but those 
 who felt thus, reasoned that to have 
 done so, would have played the part of 
 Simpson, who ardently desired to drive 
 matters to that crisis, that English blood 
 having been shed, the kingdom should 
 fall by conquest. .Resistance or retalia- 
 tion, however just, on the part of sav- 
 age nations towards civilized, is always 
 viewed as wanton aggression. England 
 herself has given an instance of this in 
 her late contest with the natives of New 
 Zealand, The act which led to the 
 
'HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 169 
 
 vengeance exercised by Capt. Wilkes, 
 of the United States Exploring Expe- 
 dition, at the Fiji group, by. which so 
 many unhappy wretches were slaugh- 
 tered, originated in the unjustifiable de- 
 tention of a native against his will ; the 
 attack on the officers being the savage 
 thirst for revenge on the part of the 
 chief, the father of the captive, who in 
 an attempt to escape was fired at, and 
 supposed to have been killed. So Cook, 
 in 1779, lost his life by the natives in 
 defence of their chief. A country won 
 under the specious glory of arms, arouses 
 the pride of the conquerors, and the ini- 
 quity of the aggression is lost sight of 
 in the self-satisfaction of the acquisition; 
 or else lives and treasure having been 
 lost in the undertaking^ and the notice 
 of other nations attracted, it becomes a 
 matter of honor to persevere. No na- 
 tion willingly confesses- itself in the 
 wrong. The French at Tahiti illustrate 
 this principle. Simpson was well aware 
 of the force of an appeal written in blood 
 to the pride of his nation. He says, 
 " Indeed I cannot but regret now, see- 
 ing the undecided action of the British 
 government, that some act on the part 
 of Lord George Paulet had not left any 
 other conclusion open, than that the dy- 
 nasty of Kamehameha must cease to 
 reign." 
 
 Passive resistance it was feared would 
 have been attended with evils scarcely 
 less threatening to the rights of the king 
 than active hostilities. The demands 
 might have been wholly negatived and 
 Lord George compelled to hostilities. 
 Unopposed, one gun would have been 
 sufficient to have given the character of 
 force to the possession. But the chiefs 
 felt that that gun would have been the 
 signal that the native authority was at 
 an end, and lawless whites inciting the 
 rabble, stood ready to burn and plunder. 
 In the melee, the town would have been 
 consumed, property destroyed and lives 
 lost; the responsibility of which acts, al- 
 though the direct result of Lord George's 
 aggression, would have been placed upon 
 them. There was reason to fear that, 
 winking as the English ministry did at 
 the French usurpation at Tahiti, hact; 
 their flag been raised here through blood- 
 shed, it would never have come d'bwn. 
 
 The plan to evade the intention of Lord 
 George by a joint cession to the United 
 States and France was impracticable. 
 Captain Long, to whom it was notified, 
 confessed his inability to do anything 
 beyond reporting the fact to his govern- 
 ment. There was no French officer 
 present to have availed himself of a pos- 
 session his country coveted. Had there 
 been, and the French flag raised, Eng- 
 lish blood would not have brooked the 
 interference at such a crisis, and another 
 subject matter for quarrel would have 
 been added to the long catalogue between 
 the two countries. Before any action on 
 the part of the Congress of the United 
 States could have occurred, either France 
 or England would have forcibly possess- 
 ed themselves of the islands, or both 
 landing have engaged the natives in a 
 civil war. The- actual employment of 
 force under any circumstances by any 
 party, it was considered would inevita- 
 bly have lost the king his crown; hence, 
 with such views, the policy adopted, em- 
 phatically a peaceful one and appealing 
 to the compassion of a brave nation with- 
 out exciting its pride, was judicious. In 
 the event of its failure to render justice, 
 the Hawaiians would have preferred 
 English to French rule, from the greater 
 intimacy with that nation and the im- 
 plied guardianship which since Vancou- 
 ver, she had been supposed to exercise 
 over them. Whatever credit then may 
 be supposed to arise from the mode of 
 the cession, by which so powerful an ad- 
 versary was disarmed, it belongs- in chief 
 to Mr. Judd, with whom the form origin- 
 ated, and who-, rather than countenance 
 any of the other plans proposed, offered 
 to resign his- commission into the king's 
 hands. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Embassy to the United States and Europe Acknowl- 
 edgment of Independence at Washington Diplomacy 
 in London Paris Belgium Independence acknowl- 
 edged by England, and France Excitement in the 
 United States A. Simpson Correspondence between 
 Mr. Fox andiMr: Upshur Claim of indemnification on 
 England Joint Guarantee of Great Britain and France 
 "Times" newspaper Return to the United States 
 Death of Haalilio. 
 
 MESSRS. Haalilio and .Richards enter- 
 ed' upon the business of their mission at 
 Washington, in December, 1842. They 
 were favorably received, though the ad- 
 
170 
 
 HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 ministration did not at first enter so fully 
 into their views as they desired. After 
 some negotiation, the President trans- 
 mitted to Congress a message, dated 
 December 31, 1842, in which he said : 
 
 'Just emerging from a state of barbarism, the govern- 
 ment of the islands is as yet feeble ; but its dispositions 
 app ar to be just and pacific, and it seems anxious to im- 
 prove the condition of its people by the introduction of 
 knowledge, of religious and moral institutions, means of 
 education, and the arts of civilized life. 
 
 "It cannot but be in conformity with the interest and 
 the wishes of the government and the people of the United 
 States, that this community, thus existing in the midst 
 of a vast expanse of ocean, should be respected, and all 
 its rights strictly and conscientiously regarded. And this 
 must also be the true interest of all other c mmercial 
 States. Far remote from the dominions of European 
 powers, its growth and prosperity, as an independent 
 State, may yet be in a high degree useful to all, whose 
 trade is extended to those regions 5 while its nearer ap- 
 proach to this continent, and the intercourse which Amer- 
 ican vessels have with it such vessels constituting five- 
 sixths of all which annually visit it could not but create 
 dissatisfaction on the part of the United States at any 
 attempt, by another power, should such an attempt be 
 threatened or feared, to take possession of the islands, 
 colon'ze them, and subvert the native government. Con- 
 sidering, therefore, that the United States possess so very 
 large a share of the intercourse with those islands, it is 
 deemed not unfit to make the declaration that their gov- 
 ernment seeks, nevertheless, no peculiar advantages, no 
 exclusive control over the Hawaiian government, but is 
 content with its independent existence, and anxiously 
 wishes for its security and prosperity. Its forbearance, 
 ia this respect, under the circumstances of the very large 
 intercourse of their ci'.izens with the islands, would justify 
 this government, shou'd events hereafter arise to require 
 it, in making a decided remonstrance agninst the adop- 
 tion of au opposite policy by any other, power.'' 
 
 These sentiments, with the act creat- 
 ing a commissioner to reside at the court 
 of Hawaii, were considered tantamount 
 to a formal recognition, and on March 
 3d, 1843, George Brown, Esq., was ap- 
 pointed to that office. 
 
 The king's commissioners arrived in 
 London in February, 1843, where they 
 were joined by Sir George Simpson, and 
 entered into communication with the 
 Foreign office. Lord Aberdeen declined 
 receiving them as ministers from an in- 
 dependent nation, but consented to ac- 
 knowledge them as authorized to " rep- 
 resent the government of the Sandwich 
 Islands." Their first interview was on 
 the 22d of February. Lord Aberdeen 
 was unfavorable to- the recognition of in- 
 dependence, saying " it would be ridicu- 
 lous, for it cannot be supposed that the 
 king governs himself; he is influenced 
 by others ; " and that the islands, through 
 the exertions of the missionaries, were 
 falling " exclusively under American in- 
 fluence, to the injury of British inter- 
 ests ; " but added, " that it was of no 
 consequence to British interests whether j 
 the government were u,nder the influence I 
 
 of missionaries or whoever else, so long 
 as justice were done." 
 
 On the 8th of March the commission- 
 ers left London for Paris, by way of 
 Belgium, where they saw King Leopold, 
 who pledged his influence to aid the 
 great object of their mission. They ar- 
 rived in Paris on the 15th, and on the 
 17th had an interview with M. Guizot, 
 who received them with marked cour- 
 tesy, and promptly gave a pledge to 
 acknowledge the independence of the 
 islands. They reached London again 
 on the 20th, and in an interview with 
 the British minister on the 25th, re- 
 ceived " the full assurance that the in- 
 dependence of the islands would be 
 virtually or really acknowledged, and 
 that Mr. Charlton would be removed." 
 On -the 1st of April, the Earl of Aber- 
 deen formally communicated the senti- 
 ments of his government to the king's 
 commissioners, as follows : 
 
 ' Her Majesty's government are willing and have de- 
 termined to recognize the independence of the Sandwich 
 Islands under their present Sovereign. 
 
 " 1 think it expedient to add that Her Majesty's gov- 
 ernment desire no special favor or immunity for British 
 subjects , on the contrary, they wish to see all foreigners 
 residing on the Sandwich Islands treated on a footing of 
 perfect equality before the law, and equal protection af- 
 forded by the government to all." 
 
 The commissioners had thus far been 
 successful in their mission, when news 
 arrived of the provisional cession of the 
 islands to Lord George Paulet. Mr. 
 Marshall had already carried it to the 
 United States, where, added to other 
 causes tending to influence the national 
 mind against England, it created a pro- 
 digious excitement. Throughout the 
 Union the public press echoed with de- 
 nunciations of the rapacity of England. 
 The Oregon and California questions 
 were then beginning to awaken public 
 interest. The act of Lord George Paulet 
 was- considered as the commencement of 
 the denouement of a grand aggressive 
 political drama, by which England in- 
 tended to appropriate to herself the isl- 
 ands and the neighboring continent. 
 The people of the United States felt 
 the deepest interest in the independence 
 and welfare of Karaehameha's dominion, 
 both from self-interest, as a depot for 
 their vast whaling trade and other com- 
 mercial interests, and from jealousy of 
 their great maritime rival, and also as 
 being the petted object of their religious 
 
EI8TOEY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 171 
 
 sympathies. They claimed its conver- 
 sion to Christianity as a moral conquest 
 altogether their own. More than half 
 a million of money, the contributions of 
 their piety, had been lavishly bestowed 
 in redeeming it from heathenism. To 
 prevent so important a post from pass- 
 ing into the hands of England, was an 
 object worthy of national interference. 
 Such was the general voice. Some 
 presses, more moderate, regarding the 
 matter in a truer light, believed that 
 England would hesitate to avail herself 
 of what they considered to be the unau- 
 thorized act of her officer. They were 
 correct. Mr. Marshall after delivering 
 his dispatches at Washington, hastened 
 to London, where he arrived in July. 
 The news had preceded him, as also 
 had Alexander Simpson, who immedi- 
 ately repaired to the Foreign office to 
 justify his conduct, and to induce the 
 British ministry to retain the prize he 
 had gratuitously placed in their hands. 
 The British public and government were 
 both astonished at an event so little an- 
 ticipated. The latter had gone too far to 
 retreat. Public opinion in Europe and 
 America, whatever might have been 
 their real desires, was too strong for 
 them to openly face it in violation of the 
 pledge already given. Alexander Simp- 
 son soon learned their decision. He 
 says : " Instead of a prompt acceptance 
 of the cession, which had public opin- 
 ion been brought to bear on the subject, 
 would undoubtedly have taken place, 
 the ministers used such red-tapist lan- 
 guage as It was quite unauthorized, 
 quite unexpected. Everything connected 
 with it is of a novel and peculiar char- 
 acter it requires a more than usual de- 
 liberation on the part of Her Majesty's 
 government to determine the line of 
 conduct proper to be pursued in the mat- 
 ter.' " \V ith some sharpness he adds : 
 " The ' do nothing ' spirit of the Feel 
 cabinet could not be excited even by 
 the gratuitous addition to British pos- 
 sessions of a valuable colony."* 
 
 From this time Mr. Simpson, disa- 
 vowed by his own government, disap- 
 pears. The boldness of his design, and 
 the energy with which he carried it 
 through, with his rational views of the 
 
 Simpson's History, p. 92. 
 
 ultimate advantages to Great Britain of 
 such an acquisition to her territory, pre- 
 sent a striking contrast to the petty ma- 
 neuvering and disgraceful intrigues of 
 his inferiors in talents, whom he used at 
 will as coadjutors or agents in his plan. 
 Never for a moment does he appear to 
 have faltered in his undertaking from 
 any obligation of right, justice, or even 
 humanity. Boldly and unflinchingly he 
 persevered through all obstacles, and 
 faithfully acted up to his threat of the 
 29th August, 1842, to Governor Kekua- 
 naoa, made in the presence of witnesses 
 and on official record, that "I will do 
 everything in my power to bring this 
 government into difficulty. I have both 
 talents enough and influence enough to 
 do it." Though the end recoiled upon 
 himself, had the British ministry been 
 less scrupulous his reward and fame 
 would have been far different. 
 
 On the 13th of June, Lord Aberdeen 
 informed Messrs. Haalilio and Richards 
 that " Her Majesty's government had no 
 desire to retain possession of the Sand- 
 wich Islands." This intention was com- 
 municated to France through their min- 
 ister, and on the 25th of June, Mr. Fox, 
 H. B. M.'s minister at Washington, ad- 
 dressed the Secretary of "State to the 
 same effect, adding, it " was an act en- 
 tirely unauthorized by Her Majesty's 
 government," and that 
 
 "Instructions which, during the past year, were ad- 
 dressed by Her Majesty's government to the British Con- 
 sul residing in the Sandwich Islands, and to the naval 
 officers employed on the Pacific station, enjoined those 
 officers to treat upon all occasions the native rulers of the 
 Sandwich Islands with forbearance and courtesy ; and 
 while affording due and efficient protection to aggrieved 
 British su 1 jects, to avoid interfering harshly or unneces- 
 sarily with the 1 1 ws and customs of the native government. 
 
 ' It has been the desire of the British government, in 
 regulating the intercourse of its public servants with the 
 native authorities of the Sandwich Islands, rather to 
 strengthen those authorities and to give them a sense of 
 their independence by leaving the administration of jus- 
 tice in their own hands, than to make them feel their 
 dependence upon foreign powers by the .exercise of un- 
 necessary interference. It has not been the purpose of 
 Her Majesty's government to seek to establish a para- 
 mount influence in those islands for Great Britain at the 
 expense of that enjoyed by other powers. 
 
 " All that has appeared requisite to-Her Majesty's gov- 
 ernment has been, that other powers shall not exercise 
 there a greater influence than that possessed by Great 
 Britain. II. S. FOX." 
 
 This prompt decision at once quieted 
 the public -mind. Mr. Marshall having 
 become associated with Messrs. Haalilio 
 and Richards in their mission, the three 
 entered into correspondence with the 
 Foreign office in London on the subject 
 
172 
 
 HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 of complaints brought by Simpson against 
 their government. In the course of 
 this business, Mr. Addington, the under 
 secretary, remarked that the British 
 government " could not afford to risk 
 their reputation by doing other than jus- 
 tice to a small nation which could not 
 resist them;" thus confessing that inno- 
 cence united to weakness had become a 
 match for even the greatest power itself. 
 The Earl of Aberdeen having been in- 
 vited to pronounce judgment himself 
 upon the charges brought forward by 
 Simpson which led to the occupation of 
 the islands by Lord George Paulet, after 
 an examination of the papers submitted, 
 with the aid of the principal law adviser 
 to the crown, came to a decision favor- 
 able to the Hawaiian government. The 
 decision in the immediate case of Skin- 
 ner and Simpson, is worthy of quota- 
 tion as bearing upon the jurisdiction of 
 the courts, a point since frequently con- 
 tested. 
 
 " After maturely weighing the arguments on both sides, 
 Her Majesty's government are of the opinion that what- 
 ever motives Messrs. Skinner and Simpson may have 
 entertained of the impossibility of having justice done 
 them in the courts of the islands, they were bound, in the 
 first instance, to submit their case to the judgment of 
 those courts ; and that having neglected or refused so to 
 do, it is not competent -in them now to .get rid of the ef- 
 fect ol a decision adverse to their views." 
 
 The minor cases of grievances the gov- 
 ernment abstained from entering upon, 
 "as not requiring so formal a decision," 
 thus implying their frivolousness. 
 
 Mr. Skinner's claim for $3,000 was 
 pronounced unjust, and the government 
 not liable for the sum demanded. Mr. 
 Charlton was required to produce the 
 original grant of the land which Lord 
 George Paulet had put him in posses- 
 sion of, and show it to be genuine. Mr. 
 Addington further assured Mr. Richards 
 ;that, provided *the lease was genuine, 
 General William Millet, who had been 
 appointed on the 25th of August H. OB. 
 M. ! s "Consul General for the Sandwich, 
 Society, Friendly and other islands in 
 the Pacific," would be instructed not to 
 deliver to Mr. Charlton " any ground 
 which had 'been occupied by others, un- 
 less it was occupied against his bonafide 
 remonstrance." If this had been acted 
 upon it would have been tantamount to 
 a judgment in favor of the Hawaiian 
 government. In answer to a claim for 
 indemnification for the damages accruing 
 
 to the treasury and national property by 
 the illegal acts of Lord George Paulet, 
 j the Earl of Aberdeen, on the 16th of 
 November, replied that " Her Majesty's 
 I government, although regretting the in- 
 convenience and expense to which the 
 Sandwich Islands government has been 
 subjected by the cession of the islands 
 to Lord George Paulet, do not consider 
 themselves in any way answerable for 
 the evils arising from it, or liable to 
 make good any expense which may have 
 resulted from the temporary occupation 
 of the islands." This opinion is founded 
 on the allegation that the cession was 
 a " perfectly spontaneous deed " on the 
 part of the kinq-. In a letter of March 
 13th, 1844, the 'Earl of Aberdeen, in re- 
 ply to the claim again presented, on the 
 assurance that Lord George Paulet took 
 forcible possession, says : "But it is ob- 
 vious that there was no necessity on the 
 part of the king to take so extreme a 
 step. He might have refused compli- 
 ance with the terms imposed upon him ; 
 and in declaring his intention to appeal 
 to Great Britain, he might have left Lord 
 George Paulet to take on his own re- 
 sponsibility whatever measures he might 
 think proper. Had the king adopted this 
 course, and had Lord George Paulet 
 taken forcible possession of the country, 
 then there might have been ground for 
 the Sandwich Islands government to 
 claim compensation; provided the griev- 
 ances which led to the occupation should 
 have been admitted by the British gov- 
 ernment to be unfounded, or even insuf- 
 ficient to justify so strong a measure." 
 The doctrine which makes the aggressor 
 the sole judge over his own illegal act, 
 would most likely save his purse. The 
 case would indeed have been clearer, 
 and the damages greater, had the oc- 
 cupation been forcible ; but would the 
 British government have assumed the 
 j monetary responsibility growing out of 
 I the losses arising to all classes in case 
 I of a resistance, whether active or pass- 
 I ive, which the peaceful policy of the 
 king, relying upon their justice, alone 
 prevented ? If the Earl meant to imply 
 that Lord George would not have taken 
 that " responsibility," it was more than 
 the king had any reason to believe, as 
 he was then situated, an unrecognized 
 
HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 173 
 
 -semi-savage chief. History shows that 
 acts of aggression on barbarous powers 
 without the pale of nations pass unre- 
 proved and unnoticed, and there is rea- 
 son to believe that whatever Lord George 
 had done would have been no exception 
 to the rule. On the contrary, there was 
 great reason to fear that resistance would 
 have led to the fulfillment of Simpson's 
 ardent desire, the permanent acquisition 
 of a valuable colony to the British crown. 
 Under such circumstances, after a virtual 
 condemnation of Lord George Paulet, 
 it cannot but be viewed in a moral and 
 equitable sense, however diplomacy may 
 shuffle about it, as a small matter for 
 England to refuse, to redress her own 
 wrong when it comes to matters of dol- 
 lars and cents. 
 
 On the 28th of November, the Ha- 
 waiian commissioners obtained from the 
 governments of France and England a 
 joint declaration to the effect that 
 
 "Her Majesty, the Queen of the United Kingdom of 
 Great Britain and Ireland, and His Majesty the King of 
 the French, taking into consideration the existence in 
 the Sandwich Islands of a government capable of provid- 
 ing for the regularity of its relations with foreign nations, 
 have thought it right to engage reciprocally to consider 
 the Sandwich Islands as an Independent State, and never 
 to take possession, neither directly nor under the title of 
 Protectorate, nor under any other form, of any part of 
 the territory of which they are composed. 
 
 " The undersigned, Her Majesty's Principal Secretary 
 of State for Foreign Affairs, and the Ambassador Extra- 
 ordinary of His Majesty the King of the French, at the 
 Court of London, being furnished with the necessary 
 powers, hereby declare in consequence, that their said 
 Majesties take reciprocally that engagement. 
 
 "In witness whereof the undersigned have signed the 
 present declaration, and have affixed thereto the Seal of 
 their Arms. 
 
 "Done in duplicate, at London, the 28th day of No- 
 vember, in the year of our Lord 1843." 
 
 (Signed,) ABERDEEN. [L. s-1 
 ' " ST. AULAIRE. [L. s.j 
 
 This solemn engagement on the part 
 of these two powers was the final act by 
 which the kingdom of Hawaii was ad- 
 mitted within the pale of civilized na- 
 tions. The London Times of August 
 20th the same year, in a semi-official 
 leader, had thus announced the views of 
 the British government in relation to the 
 independence of the group : 
 
 " In their independent condition, the islands of the Pa- 
 cific were useful to all nations, and dangerous to none ; 
 and all that was needed was to respect that independence, 
 and to leave them alone. The British government, act- 
 ing upon this principle, even after our neighbors had 
 avowed their determination to hold the Marquesas and 
 the Society groups, repudiated the sovereignty of the 
 Sandwich Islands, and withheld its approval from the 
 act of cession which had been concluded, subject to the 
 final orders from the home government. That decision 
 was taken, not from any want either of right or of power 
 to defend that right, but simply because it was held to 
 be inexpedient 'to found a colonial establishment, aud to 
 
 awaken the jealousy of other countries for no purpose 
 that cannot be equally secured by the maintenance of the 
 independence of the country. But before the temporary 
 connection is dissolved which has placed the sovereignty 
 of the Sandwich Islands in our hands, it obviously be- 
 comes the duty of our government to secure by the most 
 positive and formal pledges, both from France and from 
 America, that independence which we now propose to 
 restore to the native princes. We are perfectly well sat- 
 isfied that the ports of these islands should remain open, as 
 liarbors of refuge and supply, to the vessels of all nations, 
 in time of war as well as in peace ; and the establish- 
 ment of this neutral and independent character is an ob- 
 ject not unworthy the policy of a high-minded statesman." 
 
 The commissioners returned to the 
 United States in the spring of 1844. 
 On the 6th of July, they received a com- 
 munication from Calhoun, Secretary of 
 State, confirming the "full recognition 
 on the part of the United States, of the 
 independence of the Hawaiian govern- 
 ment." In November they took passage 
 from Boston for Honolulu, in the ship 
 Montreal, Capt. Snow. Haalilio, whose 
 health had been very precarious during 
 the latter period of his embassy, died at 
 sea, 3d of December, 1844. His re- 
 mains were taken to Honolulu, where 
 they were deposited in the royal tomb 
 with much ceremony and sincere mourn- 
 ing. His loss was severely felt; for 
 from his intelligence, and the ardor with 
 which he stored his mind with knowl- 
 edge derived from the intellectual cir- 
 cles he visited abroad, great hopes were 
 entertained of his enlightening influence, 
 especially in matters of internal polity, 
 over his brother chiefs. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Policy of the Government since their Independence Ap- 
 pointment of Mr. Judd Arrival of General Miller- 
 Commissioner Brown Treaty with England Attorney 
 General appointed R. C. Wyllie, Minister of Foreign 
 delations Rival parties formed Polynesian Political 
 Events from 1843 1847 New Laws -Executive For- 
 eign officers Royal School Commercial Statistics 
 Revenue and Public Debt. 
 
 WHATEVER doubts may have existed, 
 from the 28th of November, 1843, the 
 Hawaiians were entitled to the full rights 
 and immunities of an independent na- 
 tion. The boon so ardently desired had 
 been granted, and they were now fairly 
 launched on the sea of international ex- 
 istence, to steer their little bark and trim 
 its sails to catch every favorable puff 
 to advance them in their new career. 
 The rulers felt grateful for the aid and 
 sympathy they had experienced in the 
 disasters brought upon them by the reck- 
 
174 
 
 HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 less passions and intriguing dispositions 
 of their unprincipled antagonists. They 
 were now freed from the fear of lawless 
 attacks or summary revenge. The great 
 nations having admitted them to the 
 nominal footing of equality, the least 
 they could do now was to hear before 
 they struck. Desirous of deserving the 
 confidence shown, the king determined 
 upon a policy, which while it should be 
 protective to himself and his subjects, 
 should be just to foreigners. Difficulties 
 and dangers yet remained in the way. 
 The former arose rather from the un- 
 promising materials of his own kingdom, 
 and the latter from the latent hostility 
 still existing, which disappointment had 
 rather disarmed than destroyed. His re- 
 sources for forming an enlightened and 
 influential government were few ; the 
 wants of his kingdom were many ; the 
 expectations of foreigners high ; men of 
 all races, embracing every variety of 
 interest, mental culture and enterprise, 
 existed within his small domains. To 
 unite these into an harmonious whole, 
 and build up a respectable nation, quali- 
 fied to maintain with regularity its rela- 
 tions with foreign nations, was no easy 
 task. This, however, the king and his 
 advisers have undertaken. The funda- 
 mental principles of their policy are to 
 develop a purely independent Hawaiian 
 nation ; to preserve the Kamehameha 
 dynasty; to advance the young chiefs 
 sufficiently to enable them to discharge 
 the entire functions of government ; in 
 fact, to discover if there be life enough 
 left in the dry bones of heathenism, 
 touched by the revivifying spirit of civi- 
 lization, to clothe them anew with flesh, 
 and reanimate their sinews and muscles. 
 To effect this it is necessary to maintain 
 civil institutions commensurate with the 
 wants of enlightened foreigners, but to 
 avoid any paramount foreign influence; 
 to develop new ideas of political econ- 
 omy among the natives ; to nurture the 
 germs of a national enterprise ; and 
 equally to allow reasonable scope for 
 the more refined tastes and ambitious 
 desires of whites. To meet the neces- 
 sities of such a heterogeneous popula- 
 tion, the government must necessarily 
 be a mixture of barbarism and civiliza- 
 tion, accommodating itself in its range 
 
 | of objects to all the diversified wants 
 I and intelligence of the mixed popula- 
 tion. The one part are not to be blind- 
 ed with too much light, nor the other 
 left in total darkness. The events which 
 have since followed are too recent and 
 undetermined in their result for the his- 
 torian to do more than pass them in 
 rapid review. 
 
 In November, 1843, Mr. Judd received 
 the appointment of Secretary of State 
 for Foreign Affairs, an office created at 
 the suggestion of Mr. Commissioner 
 Brown, who arrived at Honolulu 16th 
 October, and on the 30th presented his 
 credentials and entered upon the duties 
 of his post. 
 
 Consul-General Miller arrived the 
 February following, bringing with him 
 a convention drawn up in London to be 
 signed by the king. It was based upon 
 the terms of the irresponsible and unrat- 
 ified treaty of Laplace, requiring the 
 admission of ardent spirits, the proposal 
 of juries in criminal cases, by the con- 
 sul, and the limitation of duties to 5 per 
 cent, ad valorem. Each of these condi- 
 tions was a restriction on the king's 
 prerogatives, to which he gave unwill- 
 ing assent, trusting that both the French 
 and English governments would before 
 long listen to his representations, and 
 leave him wholly and virtually as inde- 
 pendent as other sovereigns. 
 
 The want of a legal adviser to the 
 government had long been felt. Mr. 
 Judd had written to Mr. Richards with 
 great earnestness on this subject, urging 
 him before he left Europe to engage a 
 lawyer qualified for this situation. Fail- 
 ing to do this, on the 9th of March the 
 king appointed John Ricord, Esq., an 
 American practitioner of talent, member 
 of the bar of the State of New York, as 
 Attorney General of the Hawaiian Isl- 
 ands, he having first taken the oath of 
 allegiance. From this period, to avoid 
 the charges of undue national bias, by 
 the employment of officers from rival 
 nations, which had already created great 
 distrust on the part of Great Britain, 
 all employed in the service of the gov- 
 ernment were required to become natu- 
 ralized Hawaiians. This policy was 
 extended also, after the system of the 
 United States, to all who wished to avail 
 
HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 themselves of the privileges of citizen- 
 ship; it being considered to strengthen 
 the king's independence, and to procure 
 for him a useful and enterprising class 
 of foreign born subjects, who by their 
 superior enterprise and talents could 
 materially advance the welfare of the 
 natives, and raise up a counterpoise to 
 any inimical external influence. 
 
 In March, 1845, Kobert C. Wyllie, 
 Esq., a Scotchman by birth, who had 
 been appointed by Consul-General Mil- 
 ler, while he visited Tahiti, to act for 
 him in the capacity of Pro-Consul, and 
 had in a friendly and official intercourse 
 of eight months won the confidence and 
 respect of the chiefs as well as the resi- 
 dents, was invited by the king to accept 
 the situation of Minister of Foreign Re- 
 lations. This appointment was a judi- 
 cious one in many respects. It relieved 
 the king of the objection on the part of 
 the English of having filled his cabinet 
 entirely from Americans by birth, while 
 it materially strengthened the govern- 
 ment by bringing into its councils a gen- 
 tleman of extensive acquaintance and 
 enlarged views. Under his administra- 
 tion the business of the foreign office has 
 been reduced to a simple and efficient 
 system, greatly to the advantage of all 
 who have to do with it, and his influ- 
 ence has been the means of promoting 
 many useful reforms in the general man- 
 agement and policy. 
 
 The employment of whites in official 
 stations gave a character to the govern- 
 ment it had not previously possessed. 
 In place of secret and embarrassing in- 
 fluences operating upon its councils, it 
 openly announced its dependence upon 
 white intellect to conduct its foreign re- 
 lations. The main charge heretofore 
 brought against the chiefs had been, in 
 the words of the petitioners to the Eng- 
 lish government, that they were " quite 
 unfit to perform any of the functions of 
 government." 
 
 As every government that allows free- 
 dom of speech and press must have an 
 active opposition, one soon arose against 
 the new policy, denouncing the white ad- 
 visers and advocating the idea that the 
 chiefs themselves were adequate to per- 
 form all the functions of government, 
 though it was generally admitted that 
 
 175 
 
 some foreign assistance was necessary. 
 Foreigners being invited to fill responsi- 
 ble posts, and received into the nation 
 on the basis of citizenship, it was per- 
 fectly natural that an opposition should 
 arise. In effect, there became two par- 
 ties, struggling for pre-eminence. The 
 officers of the king, taking stand on the 
 broad ground of his independence, claim- 
 ed for him, regardless of the differences 
 in power and estate, all the rights and 
 immunities of a sovereign. The opposi- 
 tion viewed these efforts as unwise and 
 impolitic, thinking that a sovereign so 
 little removed from barbarism was better 
 provided for by a species of guardian- 
 ship not greatly removed from dictator- 
 ship emanating from the consuls of the 
 three great nations that had recognized 
 their independence. The king's officers 
 considered there was less danger and 
 embarrassment in claiming a nation's 
 rights in full, than in submitting to the 
 dictation of agents of rival powers, who, 
 however much they might desire the 
 welfare of the Hawaiian people, were 
 pledged by official oaths to advance the 
 interests of their own, and whom it would 
 be impossible to unite in full harmony 
 upon any disinterested course relative to 
 the nation. Such a system as they ad- 
 vocated, contrary to international rule, 
 could not fail to embroil the chiefs with 
 one power or the other, according as 
 they might be charged with partiality, 
 and the government thus proposed would 
 soon terminate in no government at all, 
 or in a foreign protectorate, as at Tahiti. 
 From the stand which each party took 
 arose a war of words, which unfortunate- 
 ly but unavoidably, from the complexity 
 of interests and dispositions involved, 
 and from the smallness of the political 
 field, degenerated into much personal 
 animosity, so that in little more than a 
 year from the retro-cession of Admiral 
 Thomas, the country was again distract- 
 ed by conflicting opinions. M. Dudoit, 
 the French consul, kept aloof from these 
 controversies, and both he and his coun- 
 trymen, from the time the policy of 
 Guizot was made known in regard to 
 the kingdom, treated it with all the 
 courtesy and respect due even a great 
 nation. Dudoit's policy was at once 
 respectful, considerate and serviceable, 
 
176 
 
 HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 affording a striking contrast to the em- 
 barrassing course previously pursued by 
 him and other official gentlemen. By 
 this means he rapidly acquired for 
 France a position as high in the confi- 
 dence of the government as it had before 
 been low; and his kind offices in the 
 preservation of order among his coun- 
 trymen, the settlement of their disputes 
 extra-judicially, and without annoyance 
 to the authorities, his tact in the manage- 
 ment of his consulate and in preserving 
 harmonious relations among all parties, 
 secured for him a well-merited esteem. 
 His example was the more valuable, as 
 it illustrated to the king with what facil- 
 ity a foreign consul could render real 
 services conjointly to his countrymen 
 and the native authorities, advancing 
 equally the best interests of both, when 
 a good disposition prevailed. All com- 
 plaints on the part of the Roman Catho- 
 lics ceased, and they formally professed 
 themselves gratified with the entire tol- 
 eration of religious beliefs that prevailed, 
 and the perfect impartiality of govern- 
 ment. This was high praise from the 
 priests of Rome to a Protestant govern- 
 ment. But the government soon met 
 with much annoyance from the officials 
 of the United States ; and before long 
 equally as much from Consul-General 
 Miller. The government undoubtedly 
 erred in taking too high a tone, and re- 
 pelling with too much acrimony, what 
 they considered invasions of their rights 
 and unfair attempts upon their independ- 
 ence. Without enumerating cases of 
 but temporary and local interest, it is 
 sufficient to observe that the diplomatic 
 intercourse which ensued was long, tedi- 
 ous, and ill-calculated to appease na- 
 tional pride or conserve public harmony. 
 The disputes which arose originated 
 chiefly from questions of national right 
 the one party zealous in their exaltation, 
 the other carrying them to an extreme 
 of intrigue and dictation offensive to 
 justice and candor. Tho claim of Charl- 
 ton to the land in Honolulu was the 
 commencement of troubles with Consul- 
 General Miller. The parties disagreed 
 as to the meaning of the Earl of Aber- 
 deen. The government claiming the 
 interpretation in full of the requirement 
 to produce the deed and show it to be 
 
 genuine ; Mr. Miller limited it to an 
 ascertainment, by comparison of hand- 
 writings, of the genuineness of the sig- 
 natures alone. The former considered 
 the courts or arbitration as the proper 
 source of the decision ; the consul-gen- 
 eral claimed it to emanate from him in 
 concert with the king or his agent. In 
 complex and dubious questions it is poor 
 policy for a weak power to assume posi- 
 tions which can only be sustained by 
 physical strength. In questions of moral 
 right they cannot be too decided ; ex- 
 pediency has then no vote. But when 
 there is ground for a difference of opin- 
 ion, without compromising principles, 
 deference is due both from policy and 
 respect to the superior party. The re- 
 sult in the Charlton claim was, that the 
 land was taken possession of by order of 
 the British government, and delivered 
 over to the claimant in August, 1845 ; 
 but upon further evidence presented to 
 the British government by Mr. Barclay, 
 the king's commissioner in London, has 
 been again referred to the law adviser 
 of the crown, under circumstances that 
 induce the hope that England will do 
 equal justice in this the last pending 
 case growing out of the unauthorized 
 acts of Lord Paulet, as in the others. 
 
 Mr. Brown, the United States Com- 
 missioner, early assumed a tone in his 
 public and private intercourse which was 
 considered overbearing and unbecoming. 
 A question arose in August, 1S44, under 
 the jury clause of the British treaty, 
 which brought matters to a crisis with 
 him. An American had been fined $50 
 by one of the inferior courts for an of- 
 fence which by the Hawaiian laws was 
 punished as a misdemeanor, but which 
 by English law would have been con- 
 sidered as a crime. The mulcted party 
 appealed for a jury, which was accorded 
 by the judge, under the Hawaiian statute 
 providing six foreigners and six Hawai- 
 ians, the plaintiff in the case being a na- 
 tive female. An entire jury of foreigners 
 selected by the consul was contended 
 for and refused as not being within the 
 meaning of the British treaty. The case 
 was argued between Mr. Judd and Mr. 
 Brown at great length, and terminated 
 with so much heat that the king in Sep- 
 tember wrote to the President of the- 
 
HISTORY OF TEE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 177 
 
 United States desiring the recall of Mr. 
 Brown. 
 
 It were an unthankful task to trace 
 the spirit of contention through its varied 
 phases until the appointment of new of- 
 ficers on the part of the United States. 
 Much of the excitement of this period 
 was the mere fumes of party violence, 
 possessing no interest beyond its ephe- 
 meral existence. The courts of the 
 country, themselves an epitome of the 
 nation, as far removed from barbarism 
 on the one part, as they were from in- 
 tellectual equality with those of Europe 
 or America on the other, were made the 
 butts of abuse and attack. That they had 
 other merit than honesty of purpose, and 
 being the best the country could afford, 
 was never claimed for them. The course 
 in general pursued by them meeting the 
 approval of judges abroad, strengthened 
 them in public opinion at home. Amidst 
 all the excitement and annoyance con- 
 sequent upon ill-relations existing with 
 Mr. Brown and Consul-General Miller, 
 the government steadily pursued their 
 policy of strengthening the power of the 
 king, and consolidating the institutions 
 of the country, as the most efficient 
 course for promoting good morals and 
 meriting the good will of other powers. 
 Relying for support upon a correct pub- 
 lic sentiment, and desirous of making 
 their views known to the world, and jus- 
 tifying themselves against the prolific 
 charges of their enemies, the govern- 
 ment, in July, 1844, established the 
 Polynesian newspaper as its public or- 
 gan. In its columns will be found dis- 
 cussed their views, and a full relation of 
 the exciting topics of the day. No surer 
 index of the safety of the nation and its 
 advancing civilization exists, than the 
 fact that the press has become equally 
 the weapon of the opposing parties, and 
 both rely upon its use in maintaining 
 their positions or enforcing their views. 
 By its means the terrors of warlike 
 threats, formerly so freely bandied, have 
 lost their meaning, and public officers as 
 well as public acts, have become equally 
 as amenable to the bar of public opin- 
 ion in Honolulu as in London or Wash- 
 ington. 
 
 The 20th of May, 1845, witnessed for 
 the first time in Hawaiian annals, the 
 23 
 
 regular opening of the legislative cham- 
 bers by the king in person, in a short 
 and pertinent speech. This was replied 
 j to in form by a committee of the nobles 
 and representatives. The ceremonies 
 were appropriate to the occasion and 
 condition of the nation. On the succeed- 
 ing day the several ministers read their 
 official reports for the past year. Al- 
 though the names and forms of official 
 ! order and etiquette as they exist in more 
 I advanced countries are adopted in this, 
 | no one will suppose that nothing incon- 
 ! gruous exists in comparison with those 
 lands whence they are borrowed. The 
 chiefs have ever been in advance of the 
 people, and the foreign branch of gov- 
 | eminent and its ideas must necessarily, 
 springing as it does from civilized intel- 
 lect, be in advance of both. It is the 
 desire of the advisers of the king to pre- 
 pare for the nation a polity of forms 
 which shall be conservative of what it is 
 expedient to preserve of the past; pro- 
 tective in what it is wise to borrow from 
 abroad ; and refining, organizing and 
 elevating in its general effects upon the 
 kingdom. Thus many forms and ideas 
 are introduced, which although in the 
 outset appear disjointed and crude, yet 
 by practice conduce to useful results. 
 By ceremonies like the foregoing, the 
 nation becomes conversant with the leg- 
 islative rules and conventional usages 
 of enlightened countries. Acting on 
 I this principle, the king's birthday, 17th 
 j March; restoration day, 31st July; and 
 independence day, 28th November, have 
 been made national holidays. 
 
 On the 29th of March, 1846, H. M. 
 C. Majesty's frigate Virginie, Admiral 
 Hamelin, arrived at Honolulu for the 
 purpose of restoring the $20,000 exacted 
 by Captain Laplace in 1839. M. Perria, 
 special commissioner from the King of 
 the French, came in the ship, entrusted 
 with a treaty concerted between England 
 and France, by which all previous con- 
 ventions were abrogated, and the objec- 
 tionable clauses regarding ardent -spirits 
 and juries modified so as to ^become more 
 acceptable to the king. Juries in crim- 
 inal cases were to be composed " of 
 native or foreign residents, proposed by 
 the British (or French) consul, and ac- 
 cepted by the government of the Sand- 
 
178 
 
 HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 wich Islands." Duties were allowed to 
 be levied on wines and spirituous liquors, 
 provided they did not amount to an abso- 
 lute prohibition. The conditions of this 
 treaty, although not acknowledging in 
 full the king's complete independence, 
 were the more readily acceded to, from 
 an intimation on the part of the Earl 
 of Aberdeen, that further modifications 
 would be consented to by England as 
 the condition of the Hawaiian nation 
 might afterwards seem to justify. 
 
 The U. S. ship Congress, Commodore 
 Stockton, arrived on the 9th of June, 
 conveying A. Ten Eyck, Esq., the new 
 commissioner appointed to succeed Mr. 
 Brown, and Joel Turrill, Esq., United 
 States consul for the Hawaiian Islands. 
 Friendly diplomatic relations which had 
 been so long interrupted with the officers 
 of the United States, were resumed. Mr. 
 Ten Eyck was the bearer of a letter from 
 the President of the United States to 
 the king, which, in connection with the 
 friendly efforts of Commodore Stockton, 
 and the widely different policy pursued 
 by the successors of the late United 
 States officials, went a great xvay to re- 
 store harmony, and to heal troubles kept 
 alive more from the violence of partisan 
 feeling and disappointed interests, than 
 from any important principles at stake. 
 
 Capt/Steen Bille, of H. D. M.'s ship 
 Galathea, on behalf of the King of Den- 
 mark, on the 19th of October, 1846, ne- 
 gotiated a treaty which is memorable for 
 being the first convention entered into 
 by the king with a foreign power which 
 recognized in all their amplitude his 
 rights as a sovereign ;prince. In this 
 treaty, juries are allowed to take the 
 course of the law of the land, and no 
 limitation to the revenue of the kingdom 
 <by a maximum of duty is required. It is 
 stilus by piece-meal, even after the solemn 
 'recognition of his independence, has the 
 king been obliged to secure, in practice, 
 ^some of tine most common rights of an 
 independent nation, which had been un- 
 \wisely yielded up while he was an un- 
 recognized prince. 
 
 "No measure tends more to consolidate 
 and render a nation prosperous and re- 
 spectable than a sound and judicious 
 code j of laws The chiefs were early 
 aware *>f ; their deficiency, and as 
 
 as their new legislative forms came into 
 operation, proposed to execute the task ; 
 under any circumstances a difficult one ; 
 but in those of their kingdom doubly so, 
 from the mixed population, foreign and 
 native, that they were called to govern. 
 The first volume of statute laws was is- 
 sued in 1846. 
 
 The departments are subdivided into 
 numerous bureaux, comprising the du- 
 ties enumerated under their several 
 heads. By this system the business of 
 government and its machinery have be- 
 come methodized on a simple and not 
 expensive scale ; for although the sub- 
 divisions are numerous, yet one clerk 
 suffices for many. The judiciary act 
 and the criminal code, on the new basis, 
 are not yet completed. As in every 
 other step forward which the Hawaiian 
 nation has taken, unwarrantable abuse 
 and unreasonable cavil has been show- 
 ered upon it for this, chiefly upon the 
 specious pretense that the system was 
 too cumbersome and altogether beyond 
 its growth. An impartial examination 
 will doubtless detect points which can be 
 amended with benefit ; this is to be ex- 
 pected, and the intention of the legisla- 
 ture is rather experimentative than final ; 
 to feel their way as it were to a code 
 simple and effective. But to do this ex- 
 perience must be acquired in legislation, 
 and the practical operation of laws. In 
 the transition of the nation, with its rapid 
 growth from foreign sources, it has been 
 found that there has been felt a want 
 rather than an overplus of system. The 
 machinery of government being of a 
 liberal and constitutional character, pro- 
 vides in itself for checks on excess and 
 remedies for evils. If " let alone " by 
 foreign powers, there is ground for the 
 belief that Hawaiian legislation will in 
 no whit in character be behind that of 
 numerous new countries, off-shoots of 
 the old, now budding into existence on 
 the shores of the Pacific. 
 
 The executive government was con- 
 structed as follows:: 
 
 His Majesty, King Kamehameha III. 
 His Highness, Keoni Ana,* Premier,") 
 
 and Minister of the Interior. Cabinet 
 
 R. C. Wyllie, Minister For. Affairs, ! Council. 
 G. P. Judd, " of Finance, /created Oct. 
 
 Wm. Richards, " Instruction, | 29, 1845. 
 John Ricord, Attorney General, J 
 
 Son of Mr. Young, Kamehameha'e favorite. 
 
HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 179 
 
 NOBLES. 
 
 M. Kekauonohi. 
 
 A. Keliiabonui, Chamberlain. 
 
 Keoni Ana, Premier. 
 
 Alapai. 
 
 A. Paki, Judge of Supreme Court. 
 
 Konia. 
 
 1. Kaeo, Judge of Supreme Court. 
 
 lona Kapena, Judge of Supreme Court. 
 
 Paulo Kanoa. 
 
 Is amauu. 
 
 M. Kekuanaoa, Governor of Oahu. 
 
 W. P. Leleiohoku, Governor of Hawaii. 
 
 Ruta. 
 
 Keohokalole. 
 
 C. Kanaina, Judge of Supreme Court. 
 
 loane li, Guardian of Young Chiefs. 
 
 lona Piikoi. 
 
 Beniki Na-.i.akeha. 
 
 K. Kapaakea. 
 
 James Young Kanehoa,* Governor of Maui. 
 
 The governors are honorary members 
 of the privy council. 
 
 Beside the four cabinet officers of 
 foreign birth, there are five Americans 
 and four Englishmen, naturalized sub- 
 jects, commissioned as judges in foreign 
 cases, collectors, director of government 
 press, heads of bureaux, etc. In addi- 
 tion to these are a number of clerks 
 transiently employed, and officers con- 
 nected with the several departments, who 
 depend upon fees for their recompense. 
 
 In no one respect have the government 
 shown more laudable zeal than in edu- 
 cating the young chiefs, who by birth 
 are destined to fill important posts. For 
 the purpose of bestowing upon them a 
 solid and practical education in the Eng- 
 lish language, embracing not only the 
 usual studies pursued in the better class 
 of seminaries in the United States, but 
 to engraft in their minds the habits, 
 thoughts, moral and domestic education 
 which children of their age and circum- 
 stances receive in civilized countries, in 
 1839 they were taken from their native 
 parents and out of the sphere of mere 
 Hawaiian influences, and incorporated 
 into a boarding-school under the charge 
 of Mr. and Mrs. Cooke, teachers of the 
 American mission. During the seven 
 years the school has been established;,, 
 their progress has been rapid, and they 
 are now versed in the common branches 
 of an English education, besides being 
 practically acquainted with the tastes, 
 household economy and habits of refined 
 domestic life. The annual expense of 
 the school is now about $5,000. The 
 number of scholars fifteen. 
 
 * Son of Kamehameha's favorite, Mr. Young, of the 
 Elenora, who landed in 1790, and died in 1835, at the ad- 
 vanced age of 93 years, highly respected by all classes. 
 
 Moses Kaikioewa, son of Kekuanaoa and Kinau, born 
 
 July 20, 1829, Expectant Governor of Kauni. 
 Lota Kamehameha, SOD of Kekuanaoa and Kinau, born 
 
 December 11, 1830, Expectant Governor of Maui. 
 Alexander Liholiho, son of Kekuanaoa and Kinau, born 
 
 Feb. 9, 1834, heir apparent, by adoption, of the king. 
 Victoria Kamamalu. daughter of Kekuanaoa and Kinau, 
 
 born November 1, 1838, Premier by birth. 
 William C. Lunalilo, son of Kanaina and Kekauluohi, 
 
 born January 1, 1835. 
 Bernice Pauahi, daughter of Paki and Konia, born Dec. 
 
 19, 1831. 
 Jane Loeau, daughter of Kalaniulumoku and Liliha, born; 
 
 1828. 
 Elizabeth Kekaniau, daughter of Laanui, born September 
 
 11, 1834. 
 Emma Rooke, daughter of Fanny Young.* born January 
 
 2, 1836. 
 Peter Young Kaeo, son of Kaeo and Lahilahi,* born 
 
 March 4, 1836. 
 James Kaliokalani, son of Paakea and Keohokalole, born 
 
 May 29, 1835. 
 David Kalakaua, son of Paakea and Keohokalole, born 
 
 November 16, 1836. 
 Lydia Makaeha, daughter of Paakea and Keohokalole, 
 
 born September 2, 1838. 
 Mary Paaaina. 
 Kinau Pitt, son of W. Pitt Kalaimoku. 
 
 The rapid progress of the Hawaiian 
 group in commercial importance is best 
 illustrated by their commercial statistics 
 both before the organization of their 
 present government and since, when 
 under improved auspices their value has 
 more rapidly developed. The facilities 
 , which they afforded the American ves- 
 sels engaged in the lucrative North- West 
 fur trade, to which was soon added the 
 equally profitable one of sandal-wood, 
 gave them such good repute, that pre- 
 vious to 1820 the hardy whale fishers re- 
 sorted to them for recruits and men. As 
 early as 1823, from forty to sixty whale- 
 ships, mostly American, were to be seen 
 in the harbor of Honolulu at one time. 
 
 From January, 1836, to December 31, 
 1841, three hundred and fifty-eight ves- 
 sels belonging to the United States, of 
 which four-fifths were whalers, touched 
 at Honolulu ; an average of seventjr-one 
 and three-fifths annually, besides seven- 
 teen men-of-war. Of English vessels 
 during the same period there were 
 eighty-two, and nine men-of-war. Those 
 of France and other nations numbered 
 not over twenty. The average annual 
 imports for those years were to the value 
 of $365,854, one-half of which were 
 American goods, one-quarter Chinese 
 and Californian, and the remainder 
 from England, Mexico, Chile and other 
 sources. 
 
 In 1842, there arrived: at Honolulu 
 45 merchant vessels l!7 English, 16 
 American, and 12 of other nations. The 
 
 * Daughters-of-John Young. 
 
180 
 
 HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 imports this year were valued at about 
 $250,000. 
 
 During the same time there came 44 
 American, 16 English, 5 French and 1 
 Danish whale-ships. 
 
 In 1845, the imports from various na- 
 tions ranged about as follows : 
 
 United States, . 
 
 $245,681 40 
 
 China, 85,500 57 
 
 England and Sydney, 
 
 75,303 04 
 
 Oregon; ...... 34,807 48 
 
 California, ..... 24,853 58 
 
 Chile, ....... 16,589 
 
 Other countries (including \ 
 
 product of whale-fishery | 
 and goods, mostly Amer 
 
 12 
 
 ican, landed by whale- | 
 ships.) J 
 
 64,206 53 
 
 The receipts for 1845 include $20,000 
 restored by the French. 
 
 The expenditures for 1844 and '45 in- 
 clude large appropriations to discharge 
 the public debts. 
 
 The financial years commence and 
 terminate on April 1st. The year 1843 
 gives a period of but nine months. The 
 entire receipts of the year 1846-7 are 
 estimated at $110,000 expenditures at 
 $100,000. 
 
 In 1842, when Mr. Judd came into 
 the Treasury, the debts of the govern- 
 ment, including 10,000 borrowed of the 
 Hudson's Bay Company for the expenses 
 of the embassy to Europe, amounted to 
 $160,000. In 1846 this debt had been 
 wholly extinguished. 
 
 Besides the custom house, the chief 
 
 Total, $546,941 72 j sources of revenue are the poll taxes, 
 
 Beside merchandise, a considerable land tax ' stamps, rents, etc. 
 
 amount in specie is annually received 
 
 from the Spanish American States. 
 1846. 
 
 United States, .... $325,630 00 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 England, 
 
 116929 00 
 
 China, 
 
 43,040 00 
 
 Valparaiso, 
 
 38,965 00 
 
 Columbia River, . . . 
 California, ..... 
 
 23,101 00 
 17,040 00 
 
 Hamburg, 
 
 4,474 00 
 
 Bremen, 
 
 4,069 00 I 
 
 Sydney, 
 
 1 870 00 
 
 Kamtschatka, .... 
 Other countries (including ) 
 oil, bone, etc.,) j 
 
 1,087 00 
 22,186 00 
 
 Total, 
 
 $598,382 00 
 
 A proportion of the American cargoes 
 say about one-fifth consists of Eng- 
 lish, French and German goods, but 
 mostly of the first. 
 
 HAWAIIAN TONNAGE. 
 Year. No. vessels. Tons. Value. 
 
 1843, ... 10 446 $27,400 
 1S44, ... 15 775 41,000 
 1546, .... 29 1585 73,000 
 
 REVENUE. 
 
 1841 and '42. The revenue as then 
 collected was not worth more than $20,- 
 000 per annum. 1843 $35,000. 
 
 Year. Receipts. Expenditures. 
 
 1844, 
 
 1845, 
 1846, 
 
 $64,045 55 
 97,940 21 
 90,110 28 
 
 $70,537 00 
 77,820 69 
 87,045 16 
 
 The American Mission History of Progress Policy- 
 Expense Character and results Tone of society- 
 Missionary Pastors Destiny of the Mission Moral 
 condition of the Hawaiians Crimes Romanism State 
 of Comparison with Protestantism. 
 
 THE American Mission is so inter- 
 woven with the history of the Hawaiian 
 Islands, that although its progress has 
 been succinctly noticed in the preceding 
 pages, further mention is necessary 
 I clearly to understand its practical re- 
 sults both upon the people and its own 
 members. Very much has been written 
 upon this topic, but too frequently by 
 those interested rather in confirming 
 theoretic views than in portraying plain 
 truth. As a well sustained experiment 
 of religious philanthropy it deserves crit- 
 ical examination, for although founded 
 upon the plain command, "Go ye and 
 teach all nations," yet it is left to human 
 wisdom tor organize the means. Hence, 
 to arrive at the soundest conclusion in 
 a policy so ordamed by heaven but left 
 to man to execute, it is expedient to sift 
 the results of the various methods em- 
 ployed and compare them one with 
 another, that we may arrive at sound 
 conclusions as to their practical effect in 
 improving and elevating savage tribes. 
 The Hawaiian Mission early obtained a 
 powerful hold upon the sympathies of 
 
HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 181 
 
 the religious public in the United States, 
 and even arrested the attention of the 
 world at large, in a much greater degree 
 than that of any other modern mission. 
 This arose from its isolated position, 
 rapid success, and the exaggerated ideas 
 that got abroad of the actual moral 
 change of the islanders. 
 
 Rightly to appreciate what the mission 
 in reality has effected, the original de- 
 graded character of the islanders should 
 be kept constantly in view. Notwith- 
 standing the favor of the rulers, the real 
 progress of the mission in the actual 
 conversion of the people was slow. In 
 1825, they numbered but ten native 
 church members ; in 1832, 577. In 
 1837, there had been received into the 
 church 1,259. In 1840, their numbers 
 had swelled to 20,120, in the short space 
 of three years, and in 1843 had reached 
 23,804, about the present standard. 
 
 Under the present system of common 
 schools, sustained by the government at 
 an annual expense of between $20,000 
 and $30,000, partly money and partly by 
 the labor tax, there are 15,393 scholars, 
 instructed in the elementary branches of 
 reading, writing, arithmetic and geogra- 
 phy. Besides these schools the Amer- 
 ican Mission established, in 1831, a 
 seminary for the higher branches at La- 
 hainaluna; 368 pupils have been received 
 and taught sacred and universal geogra- 
 phy, sacred and profane history, gram- 
 mar, algebra, geometry, trigonometry, 
 navigation, mensuration, drawing, music, 
 etc. Of its graduates 108 have become 
 teachers of common schools, and 45 are 
 variously employed by government ; the 
 remainder are serviceable to themselves 
 and the people in various ways. The 
 expense of this institution thus far, be- 
 side valuable gratuities bestowed by the 
 government, has been $70,000. There 
 is a boarding school for girls on Maui, 
 under the charge of the missionaries, 
 averaging 50 pupils, who are instructed 
 in the common branches of education, 
 and in sewing, knitting, spinning, etc., 
 with particular reference to the inculca- 
 tion of good domestic habits. $20,000 
 have been expended on this school. 
 
 On Hawaii, there is another on a 
 smaller scale, containing 20 pupils, and 
 one for boys with upwards of 50 scholars. 
 
 Exclusive of aid from government and 
 individuals, the mission have expended 
 on these $13,000. 
 
 Four newspapers in the Hawaiian 
 tongue have been sustained by the mis- 
 sionaries ; the first, " Lama Hawaii," 
 was commenced in 1833; the present, 
 "Ka Elele," besides much religious mat- 
 ter, gives a summary of general news, 
 publishes government notices, and af- 
 fords scope for the literary efforts of the 
 natives themselves, some of whom man- 
 ifest respectable powers of thought and 
 composition. 
 
 It is computed that 70,000 of the pop- 
 ulation have learned to read, and 65,- 
 444,000 printed pages have been issued 
 from the mission press, embracing among 
 other works two complete editions, of 
 10,000 each, of the Holy Scriptures, 
 three of the New Testament, amounting 
 to 30,000 copies, Worcester's Sacred 
 Geography, Universal Geography, Geo- 
 graphical Questions, Scripture Chronol- 
 ogy and History, Animals of the Earth, 
 with a chart, History of Beasts, Hawai- 
 ian History, Church History, Mathemat- 
 ics, embracing Geometry, Trigonometry, 
 Mensuration, Surveying and Navigation, 
 Colburn's Algebra, Anatomy, Wayland's 
 Moral Philosophy, Colburn's Intellectual 
 Arithmetic, Tract on Astronomy, Maps 
 of Universal Geography, and Bunyan's 
 Pilgrim's Progress. 
 
 The works published have been alto- 
 gether of a devotional or educational 
 class. More interest would have been 
 awakened could some others of a less 
 grave and more historic character been 
 included. 
 
 In enumerating the actual amount of 
 service performed by the American Mis- 
 sion, there is much which, although not 
 figuring in statistics, has had an impor- 
 tant bearing upon the welfare of the 
 people, and should not be overlooked. 
 Some of the missionaries had acquired 
 in youth a practical knowledge of agri- 
 culture, general business, or the mechan- 
 ical trades. This information has been 
 combined with religious instruction, and 
 quite a number of natives through their 
 auspices have become tolerable masons, 
 printers, book-binders, tailors, painters, 
 engravers and carpenters, and gained 
 some little skill in various other arts, be- 
 
182 
 
 HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 sides receiving much useful information 
 in the culture of their farms and raising 
 of stock. The efforts of the missionaries 
 in these respects, though secondary to 
 their grand object, have been indefat- 
 igable ; and their wives also have ex- 
 erted much influence in instructing the 
 females and in improving their house- 
 holds. These facts are the more worthy 
 of mention because a contrary policy has 
 been charged upon them, and the results 
 of their labors in these respects are not 
 perceptible without an examination into 
 their immediate fields of labor. So far 
 as lay in their power they have repaid 
 commerce the aid she afforded them, 
 by a succession of well-directed individ- 
 ual efforts to induce systematic industry 
 among the people, and to enlarge their 
 usefulness by bestowing upon them the 
 first fruits of civilization. Their conduct 
 however in this, as towards the gov- 
 ernment, has been cautious and unsys- 
 tematic, varying according to individual 
 principle or temperament. They have 
 ever leaned towards screening the na- 
 tion from a general influx of whites 
 upon their lands ; and when leases have 
 been obtained through their influence, it 
 has been given rather in the belief that 
 the leasor from his character for honest 
 enterprise and moral worth would be of 
 an advantage to the nation, than that 
 they were doing him a service. So far 
 as a tolerably intimate acquaintance with 
 them goes, I am enabled to say, in con- 
 tradiction of a charge often made, that 
 although in their opinions they may have 
 been too much swayed by sectarian bias, 
 yet they have ever been favorable to see- 
 ing white men of good reputation enlist 
 themselves among the nation, prepared 
 to develop the resources of the soil, and 
 to afford a suitable example of industrial 
 enterprise to the people. The only "dog 
 in manger " policy that can be charged 
 home upon them, is the desire to pre- 
 vent the permanent settlement of doubt- 
 ful characters, and the introduction of 
 distilleries. 
 
 The expenses of the American Mis- 
 sion swelled from $ 13,250, in 1819, to 
 $63,521.09, in 1837, and since have 
 averaged about $36,000 annually, mak- 
 ing a total of nearly $700,000,* includ- 
 ing $50,000 from the American Bible 
 
 Society, and $19,774.51 from the Tract 
 Society. The amount expended shows 
 the deep interest felt by the religious 
 public of the United States in its sup- 
 port, and the scale on which it is now 
 sustained is very different from that of 
 the first year of its existence. Then the 
 habitations of the missionaries were but 
 slight improvements of those of the na- 
 tives ; their household furniture sparse 
 and simple. The females were subject- 
 ed to many discomforts, annoyances, and 
 even privations affecting their health, 
 when compared with what they had been 
 accustomed to in their New England 
 homes. This, however, did not last 
 long. The benevolence that sent them 
 to heathen ground was equal to provid- 
 ing them with all the necessaries and 
 most of the comforts of life. Suitable 
 habitations were furnished ; stores were 
 shipped from the United States, physi- 
 cians and secular agents sent out, until 
 their plan of operations has settled into 
 a most efficient and well provided sys- 
 tem, admirably adapted to the object in 
 view, expensive in the gross though eco- 
 nomic in detail. The American Board 
 of Foreign Missions have now employed 
 at their various stations on the islands, 
 25 clergymen, with their families, 2 
 physicians, 8 teachers, 3 secular agents, 
 1 printer and 1 book-binder, numbering 
 in all 212; a few of the children how- 
 ever being in the United States. Forty 
 permanent dwelling houses, two printing 
 offices and a bindery have been erected, 
 besides large outlays in school houses 
 and churches. The dwelling houses are 
 of wood, adobie or stone, costing from 
 $1,000 to $3,000 each, and in general 
 convenience and comfort are not inferior 
 to any class on the islands. They com- 
 pare favorably with the better style of 
 farm houses in New England. These 
 are furnished plainly though abundantly, 
 and in a few there exists pretensions to 
 something more assuming in the shape 
 of pianos, cabinets of curiosities, and 
 articles combining the decorative with 
 the useful. Some of the families aspire 
 to Yankee " Dearborns," or wagons, for 
 a social drive, and are enabled either 
 through the liberality of their friends or 
 the friends of the mission, to have sum- 
 mer retreats in the valleys or mountains, 
 
BISTORT OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 or to journey, when enfeebled by labor, 
 to other stations. The nominal expense 
 of each family is from $400 to $700 per 
 annum, but to this must be added house 
 rent, physicians' bills, merchandise from 
 the mission depository at cost, the use of 
 herds of cattle and other means, which 
 in Honolulu render a missionary living 
 equivalent to from SI, 500 to $2,000 
 per annum.* Most of the families have 
 been provided with small tracts of land, 
 from which they are enabled not only to 
 add to their domestic comforts, but to 
 be serviceable to the natives by supply- 
 ing them with varieties of foreign fruits 
 and vegetables, and encouraging them 
 by example in practical agriculture or 
 gardening. It cannot be questioned that 
 the American Mission at the Hawaiian 
 Islands, whatever might have been its 
 earlier condition, is now sustained on a 
 scale so liberal, with such ample provis- 
 ions for all the ordinary emergencies of 
 life, as to leave its members nothing to 
 regret in external comfort in comparison 
 with clergymen in the United States. 
 
 In attaining this outward prosperity, 
 the mission has but kept pace with the 
 growth of civilization about them. This 
 happy result is in great measure attrib- 
 utable to their own energies, and to the 
 moral stamp and intellectual refinement 
 they have been instrumental in placing 
 upon foreign society. Puritanical and 
 arbitrary as both may appear, they have 
 created a standard of public sentiment, 
 which if it border upon ascetism, is still 
 highly favorable to the purer amenities 
 of social life, and equally happy in its 
 reflex upon the growing national charac- 
 ter. The Pacific elsewhere affords noth- 
 ing in tone comparable with it. The 
 natural effect of this change of position 
 on the part of the mission, from the time 
 when they were involved as it were in 
 one continual struggle against immoral- 
 ity and contumely for an existence, to 
 the present period, when prosperous in 
 worldly circumstances, they have come 
 off victors over vice and traduction, and 
 now stand forth to the world eminent in 
 philanthropy and the creators of a very 
 
 * That this expense may not he considered as extrava- 
 gance or pretensions to a style inconsistent with an econ- 
 omy proper to their profession, it should be stated that 
 the current expenses of living at the Hawaiian Islands are 
 more than 100 per cent higher than in the United States. 
 
 183 
 
 great degree of the ruling public senti- 
 ment, is that which inevitably attends 
 human nature in a transition from ad- 
 versity to prosperity. Their fruit budded 
 and blossomed amid the frosts and snows 
 of early spring ; hardy in its origin and 
 tenacious of life, it grew amid storm and 
 sunshine; alternately chilled by the cold 
 blast, and wilted by fierce heat, it flour- 
 ished through a long and variable sum- 
 mer until ripened by the favoring au- 
 tumnal sun into the mellow fruit, it is 
 now ready to drop, and yielding up its 
 seeds, give birth to new existence. Such 
 seems to be the present position of the 
 American Mission. They have baptized 
 the nation into the fold of Christendom. 
 All the outward signs and forms of re- 
 vealed gospel are upon it. The Hawai- 
 ian Islands no longer remain heathen 
 ground. The people have been in faith 
 " born again." The labor remaining is 
 to affect the individual. Hence the en- 
 tire position of the mission is altered. 
 In its primary object it has ceased to be 
 missionary, and to be effective in the 
 greater object of purifying the heart, it 
 must assume a new feature. Heretofore 
 it has been a machine apart from the 
 people, controlled, directed and kept a 
 going by foreign agency. Now, if it 
 would perfect its work it should implant 
 itself among them, become of them, self- 
 sustained and self-controlled. In no 
 other way can it be more productive of 
 usefulness to the coming generation. 
 To effect this, the parent society in the 
 United States should allow to each fam- 
 ily the ownership of the immediate prop- 
 erty around them on condition of their, 
 ceasing to be missionaries and becoming 
 pastors. To this the government could 
 add grants of land for glebes, and in the 
 present condition of the country there are 
 but few parishes inadequate with these 
 aids to support their clergymen. The 
 present system is an unnecessary bur- 
 den to the religious public in the United 
 States, diverts funds from other fields, 
 and dries up rather than stimulates the 
 benevolent energies of the Hawaiians 
 themselves, by making them the recip- 
 ients of bounty when they are rapidly 
 arriving at a condition to sustain institu- 
 tions now properly their own. By iden- 
 tifying themselves with the nation, the 
 
184 
 
 HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 missionaries will acquire a deeper hold ' 
 upon the hearts of the people, as by em- 
 barking in the same vessel, and depend- 
 ing upon the same means, they make 
 common cause with them. Additional 
 motives are to be found in the provision 
 thus secured for their families ; the set- 
 tlement of their children around them 
 by fixing them permanently in the land 
 of their nativity; the impetus to be given 
 to civilization by the creation of some 
 forty independent Protestant parishes, 
 each of which would be a nucleus of 
 morals and industry and a stimulant to 
 enterprise and benevolence by making 
 the actual good thus to be derived de- 
 pendent upon the natives themselves. 
 Under such circumstances, with scope 
 for the natural desires of the human 
 heart in receiving and accumulating the 
 fruits of industry, in directing the moral 
 and physical energies of their parishion- 
 ers amenable only to them, in providing 
 for their families, without the painful 
 prospect of an early separation, with the 
 sentiment of an honest self-interest that 
 would arise in witnessing the labors of 
 their own hands made their -own by right 
 of property, the missionaries would cease 
 their longings for a return to their na- 
 tive land, their anxious forebodings for 
 the future, and become in reality chil- 
 dren of the soil. The importance of an 
 arrangement by which so desirable a 
 class of citizens may be permanently se- 
 cured to the country is apparent from the 
 fact, that should their children continue 
 to increase in the same ratio as since the 
 commencement of the mission, in 100 
 years their descendants would amount 
 to 59,535. 
 
 One missionary has already seceded 
 from the -society and become a Hawai- 
 ian pastor, supported solely by his par- 
 ish, and that one of the poorest on the 
 group. Another has received the ap- 
 pointment of judge, while two others, 
 Messrs. Judd and Richards, have for 
 several years filled important positions 
 in the government. These cases point 
 to the destiny of the mission. In no 
 other way can they so effectually com- 
 plete their work. 
 
 The amount of contributions by the 
 natives, under the present system, for ob- 
 jects connected with moral and religious 
 
 improvement, is already very considera- 
 ble. They have erected many churches 
 costing from $1,000 to $33,000, as did 
 the large stone church at Honolulu, 
 From 1837 to 1844 their miscellaneous 
 contributions amounted to $19,987. 
 
 The religious and educational statis- 
 tics previously given, would, without ex- 
 planation, mislead as to the actual char- 
 acter of the people, if the reader base 
 his ideas upon the standard applicable 
 in Europe and the United States. 
 
 Numerically, church members bear a 
 larger proportion throughout the Hawai- 
 ian Islands to non-communicants, than 
 in the United States ; an equal outward 
 attention is exhibited towards the observ- 
 ance of its ceremonies ; but it would be 
 as incorrect, from these facts, to place 
 their moral and religious standard upon 
 a level with that of the American people, 
 as from the number of common schools, 
 the pupils that attend them, and the 
 studies nominally pursued among the 
 same people, to estimate their element- 
 ary knowledge, and their system of edu- 
 cation as highly as the American. Yet 
 statistics by themselves would give that 
 result, were the actual conditions and 
 physiological differences between the 
 two races kept from view. What were 
 the Hawaiians originally, and what were 
 the ancestors of the Anglo-Saxons ? The 
 one a branch of the Malay family of the 
 human race, the third in point of intel- 
 ligence, delighting in sensuality, false- 
 hood, theft and treachery; with not even 
 a fictitious code of honor, which, as with 
 the Bedouins and American Indians, 
 might afford some guarantee of personal 
 security ; their chief characteristic a love 
 of maritime and warlike adventure, a 
 warm, excitable imagination and feeble 
 intellect, though not untractable dispo- 
 sition while their passions were not 
 aroused. When otherwise, their tender 
 mercies were in literal truth " cruelty." 
 Added to these, a superstition skillfully 
 concocted and strongly sustained by the 
 few for the degradation and subservience 
 of the many. The others, off-shoots of 
 the Caucasian race ; cruel heathens, but 
 bold, free and intelligent; sacrificing hu- 
 man victims in obedience to their priests, 
 but, in domestic -relations, chaste and af- 
 feQtionate. If their animal passions were 
 
HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 185 
 
 strong and conspicuous, their virtues also 
 shone out brightly, and they proved them- 
 selves moral and intellectual. Christian- 
 ity introduced into soils so widely differ- 
 ent, must, humanly speaking, flourish in 
 accordance with the relative fitness of 
 either for its support and increase. And 
 it has been so. In England and Amer- 
 ica, rooting itself in the superior senti- 
 ments and intelligence of the people, it 
 now exhibits itself in its fairest and 
 purest light; transported to the Hawai- 
 ian Islands by Anglo-Saxon minds, it is 
 there sustained by the strength it brought 
 with it. Institutions and improvements 
 are all borrowed from their instructors ; 
 by them and their ancestors they were 
 originated and perfected. The Anglo- 
 Saxon race are capable of teaching ; the 
 Malay of being taught ; the one by its 
 own native energies can conquer and 
 rule the world ; the very existence and 
 advancement of the latter is dependent 
 upon the forbearance and benevolence of 
 the former. Such are the natural differ- 
 ences between the two, and these must 
 be borne in mind, if a just opinion of the 
 capacity of the Hawaiians for civilization 
 and Christianity is to be formed. They 
 should be judged by the standard appli- 
 cable to their position in the human fam- 
 ily, and not by our own. 
 
 There is but little doubt that, although 
 a majority of the converted natives do 
 not conform strictly to their vows, yet in 
 consequence of them they are a better 
 people. They furnish a restraint which 
 nothing else could supply. The conduct 
 which would bring censure upon an 
 American Christian, should not upon a 
 Hawaiian ; their temperaments, knowl- 
 edge and circumstances are widely dif- 
 ferent, and they are not to be balanced in 
 the same scale. Of him to whom much 
 is given, much will be required. 
 
 A moral sentiment, founded more upon 
 a classification of certain actions either 
 as evil or as good, and their attendant 
 punishments or rewards, than upon any 
 definite ideas of sin and virtue considered 
 in their relations to moral purity, and the 
 love of the Father, pervades the nation. 
 With the more enlightened something 
 superior to this prevails. Consequently, 
 as in older christianized communities, a 
 man enjoys respect in proportion to his 
 24 
 
 moral qualifications. Vice- is condemned 
 and virtue applauded. Many, of course, 
 are to be found more fond of a good 
 name, than of the means necessary for 
 its attainment. Publicly they are one 
 being, privately another. The very fact 
 of the necessity of the deception, shows 
 a great advancement in moral sentiment 
 since the days of Liholiho, and instead 
 of being considered a reproach to the 
 missionaries, should be hailed as a favor- 
 able symptom of their labors ; the dawn 
 of further improvement. In humanity, 
 care for the sick and aged, their domes- 
 tic relations, honesty, temperance and 
 systematic industry, there has been great 
 advancement. From a warlike, treacher- 
 ous and cruel people, they have become 
 mild, tractable, and desirous of knowl- 
 edge. The intelligent observer will find 
 much in their present character to grat- 
 ify him, and more to surprise, when he 
 contrasts them with what they were but 
 a score of years since. But he who goes 
 among them, his imagination picturing 
 a nation changed from brutal savages, 
 by the Spirit of God, to guileless Chris- 
 tians, worshiping Jehovah in all the in- 
 nocency and strength of a first love, their 
 family altars emblems of purity and hap- 
 piness, their congregations simple and 
 sincere, and their dispositions and de- 
 portment refined to the high standard of 
 Christian excellence in his own country, 
 will be sadly disappointed. 
 
 It is still difficult to make the natives 
 understand the nature of truth. They 
 have been so accustomed, from their 
 earliest years, to habits of deception, that 
 with very many, perhaps the majority, it 
 may be doubted whether any other sen- 
 sation arises from the detection of a false- 
 hood than mortification at being discov- 
 ered. In no other point are they more 
 obtuse, but this moral bluntness is grad- 
 ually wearing away. Licentiousness is 
 a chief vice of the nation ; not that they 
 are much worse in this respect than na- 
 tions generally residing within the trop- 
 ics, but it continues to be their most 
 prominent trait. A few years ago, in its 
 Protean forms, it was common to all, and 
 as undisguised as the light of day. No\v 
 it hides its head, and seeks a new gar- 
 ment to conceal its foul markings. The 
 following table of crime for Oahu, will 
 
186 
 
 HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 serve to show the proportion of other of- 
 fences to those of sensuality. It is taken 
 from the Kumu Hawaii, of January 16, 
 1S39, a native paper, but the period em- 
 braced in the report is not given. And 
 it should be recollected that but a small 
 proportion of the latter offences are ever 
 detected or exposed. A number of for- 
 eigners are embraced in the list, chiefly 
 for riot, mutiny and desertion. 
 
 OFFENCES. 
 
 Manslaughter, .......... 4 
 
 Theft, . 48 
 
 Riot, .32 
 
 False witness, 48 
 
 Desertion, 30 
 
 Mutiny, ,. . . 15 
 
 Seduction, 18 
 
 Lewdness, 81 
 
 Adultery, 246 
 
 Total, 
 
 522 
 
 Another table of purely native cases 
 for Honolulu, taken from the records of 
 the "Inferior Court" from January 1, 
 1846, to December 4 of the same year, 
 gives the following striking results : 
 
 MEN. WOMEN. TOT. 
 
 Adultery, fornication, 126 127 253 
 
 Theft 43 3 46 
 
 Gambling 35 3 38 
 
 Desecration of Sabbath, 20 8 38 
 
 Reviling language, . . 12 2 14 
 Heathenish practices, 314 
 
 Assault and battery, .7 1 8 
 
 Drunkenness, ... 6 .. 6 
 
 Furious riding, ... 6 .. 6 
 
 Rape 2 .. 2 
 
 Interference with police, 3 .. 3 
 
 Street walking, 4 4 
 
 Slander, I .. 1 
 
 Passing false coin, . . 1 .. 1 
 
 Desertion of husbands, .. 3 3 
 
 Total, .... 275 152 427 
 
 The above table shows a conviction of 
 427 cases out of a population of about 
 9,000. To these should be added 121 
 others, tried before the police court, 
 making in all rather more than 600 cases 
 for 1846. Of the 121, 38 were for licen- 
 tiousness and 43 for stealing. But few 
 occur for fighting, the Hawaiians being 
 a very peaceable people. A great deal 
 of petty thieving exists, particularly to- 
 
 | wards foreigners, to steal from whom is 
 not viewed so disreputable as from them- 
 selves. The standard of morality, it will 
 be seen, is low, particularly among the 
 men ; but crimes are rare. There have 
 been but five executions for three mur- 
 ders for ten years. 
 
 It is incontrovertible that there yet 
 exists in the nation a large body of peo- 
 ple who are equally disposed to religious 
 rites, or to acts of a different character, 
 as may be most accordant to the taste of 
 those whom they wish to gratify. An- 
 other generation must arise, with better 
 homes and more civil and religious ad- 
 vantages, before the habits of the old are 
 sufficiently eradicated. While evidence 
 for the more favorable view of mission- 
 ary labor, to a partial investigator, ap- 
 pears conclusive, ample grounds for the 
 opposite opinion exist. The truth lies 
 in neither extreme. The friends of hu- 
 i manity have just cause to be grateful 
 i that so much has been accomplished, and 
 should labor earnestly that the remain- 
 ing dark spots may be wholly effaced. 
 
 Romanism has gained considerably in 
 numbers since its entire toleration, but 
 without affecting the Protestant churches 
 materially. The latter perhaps were 
 never more sound and flourishing than 
 at present, while the former have made 
 many converts among the class ever ad- 
 verse to the principles and restraints of 
 their American teachers. Over these, 
 its influence has undoubtedly been use- 
 fully extended. The Protestants report 
 270 churches and school houses, used as 
 places of worship. The Romanists 104, 
 with a total population attending them, 
 or supposed to be under their influence, 
 of nearly 14,000. By a similar com- 
 putation, more than 80,000 Protestants 
 would be found on the islands, but in 
 these gross computations great allowance 
 should be made for those alike indiffer- 
 ent to religious rites of any kind, and 
 who are equally fair subjects for the re- 
 ligious zeal of both. The national re- 
 ligion, as understood in the sense of that 
 received by the rulers, the most intelli- 
 gent of the people and the vast majority 
 of all classes, is Protestantism in the 
 form of a mild Presbyterianism as prac- 
 ticed in New England churches. From 
 all that has yet appeared, although the 
 
HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 187 
 
 Romanists will undoubtedly become a | 
 respectable and even flourishing sect, ! 
 yet the system and creed first implanted I 
 in the nation seems likely to continue ; 
 and strengthen, subject only to such : 
 modifications as Protestantism itself is | 
 undergoing elsewhere. 
 
 The Romanists have shown a credita- 
 ble zeal for education and have enrolled 
 2,800 pupils, besides 600 children who 
 do not attend school. In 1846 they com- 
 menced a high school at Koolau, Oahu. 
 The Rev. Abbe Maigret has a select 
 school at Honolulu, embracing several 
 hundred scholars, who manifest a toler- 
 able proficiency in the common branches ! 
 of education. The French priests in the 
 commencement of their career pursue a 
 widely different policy from the Amer-j 
 ican missionaries in regard to the econ- 1 
 omy of their operations. Which is the ; 
 better adapted for solely religious objects 
 it would be difficult to determine. The | 
 Frenchman in his clerical celibacy can ' 
 well afford to be economic ; but he does i 
 more ; rejecting the softening influences j 
 of domestic life, he equally disdains its 
 comforts and refinements, and putting 
 himself upon a par with the native whom 
 he has come to instruct, partakes of his 
 coarse fare, sleeps on his coarse mats, 
 and in his philanthropic tours, makes 
 himself, so far as the mere fellowship of 
 life is concerned, one of them. It would 
 appear to be his policy to gain his neo- 
 phytes' confidence by descending to near- 
 ly their level. Hardship and frugality 
 with him are essential to his cause, and 
 he cheerfully submits to a mode of living j 
 and a solitary routine of services which 
 would appall his Protestant brother, ac- 
 customed as he is from childhood to rely 
 upon the amenities of the social circle, 
 and whose faith embraces the promise of 
 the things of this life as well as those of 
 the life to come. The Romanist loses 
 sight of himself in the one great object 
 of aggrandizing the holy mother church 
 and bringing the entire world under her 
 ecclesiastical sway. He is but a unit in 
 a vast body, whose centre lies elsewhere. 
 Educated to passive intellectual obedi- 
 ence and physical self-denial, if to these 
 he adds a holy zeal and perfect faith, he 
 makes a most effective religious agent, 
 and there is nothing surprising in his 
 
 contempt of the common pursuits and de- 
 sires of mankind. Neither is it strange 
 that the Protestant missionary should 
 cling to those ties which, by education 
 and faith, with him constitute a part of 
 his religion. The family he brings with 
 him to his field of labor, serves to teach 
 others to be faithful husbands and affec- 
 tionate fathers. He desires to give a 
 practical example to the heathen, of a 
 well directed Christian household, as a 
 manifestation of those blessings which 
 here attend religion and virtue. His de- 
 sire is not to go down to the native, but 
 to raise the native up to him. To him 
 there is more of true religion in practi- 
 cing the duties and refinements of do- 
 mestic life than in denying them. Thus 
 by their very creeds the Romanist and 
 Protestant commence their work at ex- 
 tremes. The one as it were without 
 scrip or coat, without wife or child, in- 
 ured to toil and educated to repress the 
 natural emotions of the heart, throws 
 himself boldly into the field of warfare 
 without counting its cost ; bound by no 
 ties except those of his order, having no 
 hopes except of ecclesiastical advance- 
 ment here, or spiritual rewa-rd ^hereafter, 
 he becomes an efficient, uncompromising 
 soldier of the cross, to be deterred at no 
 obstacles, to be appalled at no danger, 
 and to shrink from no means of compass- 
 ing his object. The other counting him- 
 self a disciple of Jesus, takes his Instruc- 
 tions direct from His word; recognizes 
 no medium between himself and heaven ; 
 esteems it gospel-wise to provide both 
 scrip and coat, purse and wife ; carries 
 with him to combat with the principle of 
 evil, all the aids to good that flow from 
 the virtuous relations of life and intimate 
 connection with his fellow-men. The 
 Romanist brings an adoring multitude 
 before the decorated altars of his church 
 and enkindles emotion by appeals to 
 their visible senses, directing their sym- 
 pathies through the pictured sufferings 
 of holy men to the cause for which they 
 died. The Protestant sanctifies the do- 
 mestic affections by lighting up an altar 
 of purity in the heart. He desires to 
 make the world within to correspond 
 with the world without and both to 
 perform their mission of love from the 
 Father. Intellectually we may admire 
 
188 
 
 HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 the stern, self-denying discipline of the 
 disciple of Rome, but mind and soul 
 unite in proclaiming that best suited for 
 man which, while it leads him to a ra- 
 tional use of the gifts of this life, best 
 prepares him for the enjoyments of that 
 to come. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 " Belgian Contract" Messrs. Richards and Brinsmade's 
 transactions in Belgium Mr. Richards' Commission 
 "Statutes of Royal Community" Failure of Belgian 
 tcherne Debts of Ladd & Co. Proposition and threats 
 of Mr. Hooper Return of Mr. Brinsmade to England 
 United States Oahu Suit vs. Hawaiian Government 
 Arbitration. 
 
 CONNECTED with the embassy of 
 Messrs. Haalilio and Richards to Eu- 
 rope, was the so styled " Belgian Con- 
 tract," growing out of the efforts of Mr. 
 Brinsmade for the sale of his lease from 
 the king, mentioned in chapter 12. This 
 scheme was so intimately interwoven 
 with the political affairs and prospects of 
 the kingdom from the period of its incep- 
 tion in 1843 until its final termination 
 in 1847, as, with the singular suit which 
 sprung from it, to make an important 
 chapter in Hawaiian history. Unfortu- 
 nately, the labors of Messrs. Haalilio 
 and Richards were not confined solely to 
 their diplomatic agency, and the partic- 
 ular objects of their mission, as specified 
 in a power of attorney from the king to 
 Mr. Richards. They were persuaded by 
 Mr. Brinsmade, who had preceded them 
 to Europe with his contract of 1841 from 
 the Hawaiian government, to meet him 
 in Brussels, in May, 1843, and lend him 
 their influence in negotiating a sale of 
 the contract with all other properties of 
 Ladd & Co., to the Belgian Company of 
 'Colonization. Based on this transfer of 
 property was an involved, and consider- 
 ing the condition of the islands, an im- 
 politic and hazardous scheme for the 
 establishment of an extensive mercantile 
 and agricultural community, formed by 
 agents and employees sent out by the 
 parent society in Belgium, who were to 
 enjoy certain questionable monopolies 
 and privileges. The king was to have 
 been a partner and stockholder in this 
 foreign stock-jobbing company, and to 
 guarantee a minimum interest of four 
 per cent, during six years. 
 ,Before the final arrangements were 
 
 completed, and any solid consideration 
 paid over to Mr. Brinsmade, news of the 
 occupation of the islands by Lord George 
 Paulet arrived, and as Ladd & Co. al- 
 leged, threw a damper over the whole 
 proceedings. Negotiations with the com- 
 pany were afterwards resumed, and the 
 statutes of the community signed. But 
 Mr. Brinsmade becoming discouraged by 
 the delays thrown in his way by the Bel- 
 gian company, who either were not pre- 
 pared to enter so fully into the plan as 
 he desired, or had grown lukewarm and 
 sceptical as to its final success, under 
 date of October, 1844, wrote Mr. Rich- 
 ards that he was in correspondence with 
 merchants in Ghent, who "were anxious 
 to get the business, but will have noth- 
 ing to do with the Belgian Company of 
 Colonization, but will establish a purely 
 commercial company on common sense 
 principles." * * * "If my propositions 
 are declined, there will be an end to all 
 attempts in Belgium, and I am feeling 
 in London my way to bring the business 
 before some persons here if I cut from 
 Ghent." Relying upon these assurances, 
 Mr. Richards, who was then in America, 
 believing all connection with the Bel- 
 gian company was at an end through 
 the acts of Mr. Brinsmade himself, and 
 the non-ratification of the scheme by the 
 council general of the Belgian company, 
 paid no further attention to the subject. 
 Although both of the king's commis- 
 sioners gave their consent to Mr. Brins- 
 made's sale and contract in Belgium, 
 yet Mr. Haalilio did so with great re- 
 luctance, and Mr. Richards was actuated 
 by the desire of countenancing on the 
 part of the king a project which he had 
 been induced to believe gave indications 
 of being adapted to foster industry, and 
 develop the resources of the islands. But 
 further examination into the practical 
 working of such complicated chartered 
 corporations, with the bearing of vast 
 foreign capital and influence, sustained 
 by monopolies of commercial and landed 
 privileges, upon a small nation like that 
 of the Hawaiian Islands, convinced him 
 that it could not but prove unfavorable. 
 In signing an instrument of the kind, he 
 evidently had transcended the objects of 
 his mission, as defined in his commission 
 and power of attorney, trusting to the 
 
HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLAXU8. 
 
 189 
 
 utility of the scheme, as he understood 
 it, to recommend itself to the chiefs be- 
 fore going into operation. In this, how- 
 ever, he was mistaken j for as soon as 
 the king and chiefs were made acquaint- 
 ed with the arrangement, they expressed 
 both anxiety for the results and disap- 
 probation of the act. Their sentiments 
 were founded in part upon the private 
 reports and letters of Haalilio, who, al- 
 though his judgment had been overborne 
 in lending his signature to the transac- 
 tion, was fearful he had made a wrong 
 step, and communicated his doubts to 
 the chiefs. Previous to signing the con- 
 tract, Mr. Richards exhibited to the Bel- 
 gian agents such powers as he had, and 
 they were of opinion that they were suf- 
 ficiently broad for him to make the king 
 a party to the transaction. 
 
 Fortunately, both for Belgium and 
 Hawaii, it fell through. But the affair 
 proved a prolific source of anxiety and 
 trouble for the king, and developed in full 
 the evils of that policy which, through 
 unbounded reliance on alleged philan- 
 thropic motives, involved the government 
 in the speculations of individuals. 
 
 Mr. Brinsmade having failed of rais- 
 ing funds in Europe on his contract, re- 
 turned to the islands in 1846, protested 
 against the right of his partners to give 
 mortgages on their joint property, and 
 instituted a claim of $378,000 against 
 the Hawaiian government for alleged il- 
 legal acts in selling their properties, and 
 in preventing the Belgian scheme from 
 going into operation. The government, 
 fully persuaded that they had treated 
 Ladd & Co. throughout not only justly 
 but liberally, and that this claim was but 
 another instance like the many already 
 adduced, of nefarious attempts to extort 
 money from them under specious charges, 
 aggravated in this case by ingratitude 
 from men on whom they had showered 
 favors, and whose misfortunes were the 
 result solely of the failure of their own 
 schemes and agent, and an amount of 
 indebtedness incurred to sustain their 
 ill-judged speculation, consented that the 
 whole matter should be referred to the 
 arbitration of Messrs. J. F. B. Marshall 
 and S. H. Williams, American gentle- 
 men resident on the islands, to be de- 
 cided on legal and equitable principles. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 Standard of civilization in 1846 Population Captain 
 King's estimate, 1779 Why erroneous Great mortal- 
 ityCauses of Census tables for years 1832 and 1836 
 Statistics of the islands Conclusion. 
 
 IN Cook's voyages, the population of 
 the group, in the year 1779, is estimated 
 at 400,000, which, it is to be presumed, 
 far exceeded the truth. Captain King, 
 who arrived at this conclusion, based his 
 opinions from the numbers that flocked 
 to whichever point the vessels moved. 
 They were sufficiently wonderful objects 
 in the eyes of the simple islanders, to 
 draw together the whole population, to 
 gaze upon them, wherever they went ; 
 consequently, vast crowds continually 
 appeared, but composed, to a great ex- 
 tent, of the same individuals. He like- 
 wise judged the populousness of Keala- 
 keakua Bay to be a fair sample of the 
 condition of the coasts of all the islands; 
 a conclusion which a better acquaintance 
 with their actual state would have shown 
 him to have been erroneous. 
 
 Judging from such data, his estimate 
 gave to the whole islands a population 
 nearly equal to that which he beheld in 
 certain points ; a conclusion as incorrect 
 as it was too hastily made. Later voy- 
 agers formed similar opinions, from the 
 large tracts of land to be met with, now 
 deserted, bearing marks of former culti- 
 vation, and enclosed by broken walls, or 
 partially irrigated by half ruined ditches. 
 When it is borne in mind that the cus- 
 tom of changing the location of their 
 cultivated grounds was common among 
 the natives, leaving the old to go to 
 waste, and that no chief of great impor- 
 tance was allowed by the policy of Ka- 
 mehameha I. to reside away from the 
 person of his sovereign, his presence be- 
 ing a security for his allegiance, and that 
 the supreme chief frequently migrated, 
 drawing after him a vast train of greedy 
 followers, whose path was as destructive 
 as that of locusts, it is not matter of sur- 
 prise that such fields are common. The 
 country became deserted by those inter- 
 ested in its culture ; consequently no 
 correct inference in regard to the former 
 population can be formed from this fact. 
 But whatever was its amount, it was 
 vastly greater than at present, and since 
 the time of Cook a rapid decrease has 
 occurred. Neither is this melancholy re- 
 
190 
 
 HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 suit of difficult solution. The population 
 of the islands probably never amounted 
 to what, with the aids of civilization, 
 they could be made capable of support- 
 ing. During their heathen state, though 
 divided into many hostile tribes, perpet- 
 ually engaged in warfare, their battles, 
 from the imperfection of their weapons, 
 were comparatively bloodless. That very 
 condition served to develop enterprise 
 and a national spirit. Warlike exercises 
 and manly games had each a favorable 
 effect upon the mere physical growth. 
 The boundless hospitality which every 
 chief was obliged by the spirit of the 
 race to exercise, and which prevailed 
 even among the canaille, always found 
 food and shelter for the oppressed. A 
 man dissatisfied with one master had but 
 to flee to another, and he was sheltered 
 and welcomed. Taxes were heavy, and 
 much labor required, but as it was gen- 
 erally for the support of the whole, an 
 interested motive existed. The same 
 work which would destroy the energies 
 of a man who was to receive no reward 
 for his toil, would produce health and 
 cheerfulness in one who had an interest 
 in the result. Every individual had that 
 to some extent in the wealth and success 
 of his chief; hence a patriarchal feeling 
 was developed, which, with long used 
 and uncontested despotic power, will suf- 
 ficiently account for the deep reverence, 
 fear, and canine-like attachment, with 
 which the common people regarded their 
 superiors. Exceptions to this no doubt 
 prevailed, and much misery was the con- 
 sequence ; but as a general principle it 
 was correct, and stands in strong contrast 
 with the relative condition of the two 
 classes, after a thirst for foreign wealth 
 was developed by intercourse with the 
 white race. A grasping, avaricious dis- 
 position succeeded ; ends were to be at- 
 tained regardless of the means used. 
 The little natural humane feeling the 
 chiefs possessed, was extinguished by 
 avarice. Interested foreigners stimulated 
 this passion ; cargoes of rich goods were 
 brought, luxuries displayed, and no means 
 left untried to excite their cupidity. The 
 unfortunate result is well known. The 
 whole physical resources of the kingdom 
 were overwrought, and men, women and 
 children were taxed beyond their pow- 
 
 ers, to collect sandal-wood ; mountains 
 and valleys almost inaccessible, were 
 penetrated, and heavy loads borne on 
 bleeding shoulders to the sea-side. Like 
 the children of Israel, their toil was dou- 
 bled, and their sufferings found no con- 
 sideration in the eyes of their cruel task 
 masters. Cultivation was neglected, and 
 famine ensued. Multitudes perished un- 
 der their burdens ; others left their homes 
 and wandered, like wild animals, in the 
 depths of forests, where they either 
 slowly sunk under the horrors of want 
 and starvation, or sustained a miserable 
 existence on roots and wild fruits. Blind 
 to the consequences, the chiefs contin- 
 ued the same policy. Debts were con- 
 tracted, which the power of the whites 
 required to be discharged, and increased 
 taxes were imposed. Under the twofold 
 pressure of the avarice of the chiefs and 
 their fears, property was unsafe. A na- 
 tive could neither hold nor acquire all 
 was his chiefs; even his children became 
 a source of additional suffering, for every 
 head was taxed! infanticide greatly in- 
 creased ; parents gave away their off- 
 spring, and the natural feelings of the 
 nation were crushed beneath this iron 
 despotism. Life became a wearisome 
 burden ; numbers of the most active 
 sought safety and employment abroad. 
 The first effects of Christianity added to 
 this already intolerable load. So long 
 had this system been pursued, that no 
 other plan for public works, than the 
 compulsory labor of the whole popula- 
 tion, seemed feasible. Regardless of the 
 advice and instruction of their religious 
 teachers, they added to their labors the 
 toil of building churches, school houses, 
 and other works, necessary in themselves, 
 but erected by unholy means. This sys- 
 tem prevailed in latter days, with miti- 
 gations, however, until 1838, when it 
 began to give away before the combined 
 influences of the mission and foreign res- 
 idents, and the more enlightened efforts 
 of the native population. Predial servi- 
 tude in its old shape now no longer neces- 
 sarily exists in Hawaii, although the 
 spirit of extortion is not wholly extin- 
 guished. The wars of Kamehameha I. 
 were also very destructive, and his power 
 at first maintained by great sacrifice of 
 human life. 
 
HISTORY OF THE HAWA11A& ISLANDS. 
 
 191 
 
 Before Captain Cook's visit, diseases 
 were few and simple. Subsequently they 
 increased in number and virulence, while 
 the remedies and knowledge necessary 
 for arresting them remained unknown ; 
 the fatality attending novel illnesses, the 
 progress of which they knew not how to 
 arrest, produced a deep and often fatal 
 spirit of despondency. Savages naturally 
 have but little horror of death. However 
 simple at first a disease, they frequently 
 die from want of exertion to lite. The 
 beneficent services of the foreign physi- 
 cians are doing much to counteract this 
 destructive apathy, and also to extinguish 
 the influence of native quacks, who an- 
 nually destroy numbers. Alcohol and 
 licentiousness have usually been consid- 
 ered the most aggravated causes of de- 
 population, but their influence has been 
 exaggerated. The habits of the natives, 
 in both respects, are now better than they 
 were before their discovery, when drunk- 
 enness, produced by the use of awa, and 
 promiscuous intercourse and incest, were 
 almost parts of their natures. The former 
 no doubt has destroyed many, and cre- 
 ated a predisposition to disease in more; 
 but the natives were never so completely 
 addicted to it, as to make it a primary 
 cause in their destruction. The diseases 
 incident to the latter, have extensively 
 run throughout the whole race, doing 
 irreparable injury by poisoning the very 
 fountains of life, and engendering upon 
 offspring effete constitutions. In 1842, 
 the virus had almost run out, but since, 
 owing to the great influx of shipping from 
 all quarters of the globe, it has again de- 
 veloped itself in new and horrible forms, 
 with a virulence and fatality unequaled 
 since the visit of Cook. A remarkable 
 feature attending this disease is that it is 
 now more severe upon the females than 
 males. Prior to their discovery by Cook, 
 these diseases were unknown. It cannot 
 be doubted that they have been a power- 
 ful means, not so much of destroying the 
 increase as preventing it, and the effects 
 are melancholy in the extreme. The 
 habits of both sexes are of such a nature, 
 that fecundity with young people is, when 
 compared with other countries, of rare 
 occurrence. It is sufficient to be known 
 that such is the fact, without enlarging 
 upon the topic. A missionary has- in- 
 
 formed me that upon inquiring of a Bible 
 class of 80 married women, how many 
 had been mothers, he found but 39. More 
 die in proportion to disease than in other 
 countries, but still fewer are born, as the 
 tables of population show. The great 
 pestilence of 1803 destroyed multitudes, 
 and has been supposed to have partaken 
 of the character of the Asiatic cholera. 
 Great numbers of healthy young Hawai- 
 ians have left in whale-ships and other 
 vessels and never returned. The num- 
 ber annually afloat is computed at 3,000. 
 At one time 400 were counted at Tahiti, 
 500 in Oregon, 50 at Paita, Peru, beside 
 unknown numbers in Europe and Amer- 
 ica. Their wives and families, left to 
 provide for themselves, fall into vicious 
 habits, and both evils combined, tend to 
 diminish the native population. 
 
 A powerful agent, though one the ef- 
 fects of which have been greatly over- 
 looked, is the partial adoption of foreign 
 clothing. This may seem paradoxical ; 
 but unfortunately it is too true. In their 
 original state, their clothing was simple 
 and uniform. Alterations soon occurred ; 
 in their desire to imitate the whites, their 
 old was greatly thrown aside, and re- 
 placed by such articles of foreign manu- 
 facture as could be procured. The wealth 
 of the chiefs enabled them to make a com- 
 plete change, and appear well. With the 
 common people, every article, from the 
 cast-off dress of a sailor from the Arc- 
 tic regions, to the thinnest fabrics from 
 China, were put into requisition. Some 
 days the whole population would appear 
 decently clad ; on others, a mixture of 
 their old and new would predominate. 
 Many would wear their clothes but part 
 of the time, and then finding them incon- 
 venient from extra heat or cold, throw 
 them aside altogether. The utmost ir- 
 regularity prevailed, not only from pov- 
 erty, but from carelessness, and ignorance 
 of the results. Warm dresses would be 
 worn for weeks by some, and then the 
 same party would appear for as long a 
 period in almost a state of nudity. The 
 warmer and finer the weather, the greater 
 the desire for display. If it rained, those 
 who but a few minutes previous paraded 
 their finery with all the importance of 
 civilized belles, would lay it aside lest it 
 be spoiled, and expose their naked per- 
 
192 
 
 HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 sons rather than their newly acquired 
 fashions, to the peltings of the storm. 
 In all work, the same plan prevailed. At 
 those seasons when clothing was most re- 
 quired to preserve an even temperature 
 of the system, it was laid aside, and when 
 least needed, most worn. Their consti- 
 tutions already enfeebled, from causes 
 before mentioned, could ill bear such 
 treatment. Colds and fevers greatly in- 
 creased, and of a more fatal tendency. 
 Trivial predispositions to disease were 
 aggravated, and death the frequent re- 
 sult of attacks which the slightest pru- 
 dence could have obviated. 
 
 A corresponding cause likewise exists 
 in the partial adoption of new modes of 
 building, such as adobie houses, and 
 others, which in many cases appear ex- 
 ternally more comfortable than the mere 
 straw hut, but which internally from 
 want of knowledge of domestic architec- 
 ture, are obnoxious to damp and strong 
 drafts, which not being guarded against 
 lay the foundation of much disease. Fre- 
 quent migrations and changes of climate 
 from wet to dry, and dry and hot to wet 
 and cold, combined with equal alterations 
 in diet, contribute to swell the annual 
 mortality. Formerly, fear of enemies or 
 the orders of their chiefs, kept them 
 closely confined to their native villages. 
 
 But no one cause has had a more fatal 
 tendency, both in human life and mor- 
 als, than the vicious land monopoly of 
 the chiefs, augmented and made more 
 weighty at the national council assem- 
 bled at the visit of the Blonde to regulate 
 the succession. The first Kamehameha 
 had done somewhat to relieve this evil by 
 centering all power in himself, by which 
 the serfs found one comparatively kind 
 master, not inattentive to their wants. 
 Amid the boundless rapacity and taxa- 
 tion that ensued in Liholiho's reign, the 
 entire kingdom became in great measure 
 one vast field of license and cruelty. The 
 old feudal lines of demarkation between 
 serf, clan, chief and king were greatly 
 broken in upon. The king managed to 
 sequester many estates and much prop- 
 erty for himself and favorites. In the 
 want of general order and continual 
 change, there was hope for the needy by 
 some turn in the wheel of fortune to se- 
 cure something. Even the highest chiefs 
 
 were insecure. This universal laxity 
 could have been turned to a useful pur- 
 pose upon the accession of a more orderly 
 ruler, by securing to each individual of 
 whatever rank, security of life and prop- 
 erty, and bestowing on all some landed 
 rights in the latter, that they might find 
 a value in the former. But no such pol- 
 icy prevailed. With a selfishness, par- 
 alleled only by the recklessness of those 
 beneath them, the chiefs partitioned the 
 entire country among themselves, so that 
 at this present time, notwithstanding the 
 many fluctuations of property and the 
 increase of knowledge, there are not over 
 600 owners of soil throughout the king- 
 dom, and less than twelve persons hold 
 the great bulk of it. This in itself would 
 not have been so great an evil, had it not 
 been conjoined with a system aggravated 
 from the past, which in spirit declared 
 that the chief was everything, the peo- 
 ple nothing. Not content to spare their 
 goose that they might receive a golden 
 egg per day, they essayed to kill it, that 
 they might get all at once. The native 
 historians of this period, say, that from 
 Liholiho's time the chiefs left caring for 
 the people. Their attention was turned 
 to themselves and their immediate ag- 
 grandizement. The people became more 
 oppressed than even in ancient times. 
 Novel taxes were inflicted and new crimes 
 invented, which bore a fruitful crop of 
 fines and confiscations. Beside the soil, 
 the chiefs claimed the entire right to all 
 that was on it; even the very stones were 
 not spared if they could be made con- 
 vertible to property ; the fishing grounds 
 were seized and even fruit trees, not with 
 the purpose of fostering and preserving 
 them for the common benefit of them- 
 selves and tenants, but to get from them 
 and their people the greatest amount in 
 the shortest time. The present was the 
 only moment, the future entered not into 
 their calculation. As far as could be, 
 the very idea of property, particularly in 
 lands, the true source of national indus- 
 try, was extinguished. A common man 
 had no " home." Under such circum- 
 stances, it is not surprising that depop- 
 ulation was not stayed nor immorality 
 decreased. The relation between tyrants 
 and slaves is ever fruitful of crimes in 
 the one and vice in the other. The serf 
 
HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 193 
 
 unprotected by law, secure in no fruits 
 of his own handicraft or industry, met 
 the rapacity of his chief and his selfish 
 claims to lands he had never tilled, by 
 cunning, deceit or evasion. Hence the 
 character for lying, theft and petty dis- 
 honesty which we find so prevalent 
 among the present generation. They 
 are the natural fruits of the wicked sys- 
 tem of land monopoly with all its attend- 
 ant crimes, which their chiefs so fully 
 carried out. Not the least of the evils 
 arising from this policy, was the unset- 
 tled character it gave the entire popula- 
 tion. Possessing no permanent rights 
 in the soil, or such as were not respect- 
 ed, they ceased to have permanent resi- 
 dences. Leaving their native homes, 
 they flocked to whatever points offered 
 the greatest inducements, chiefly sea- 
 ports, the women to sell their persons, 
 and the men to pick up gain in any 
 way that offered. In consequence, lands 
 were left uncultivated, households were 
 broken up, and the people became rov- 
 ing in their habits. It were vain, there- 
 fore, under these circumstances, to expect 
 patriotism, morality and industry, the 
 foundations of a people's prosperity, to 
 flourish. 
 
 The filthy habits of the natives would 
 of themselves be conducive to disease, 
 and much else might be named which 
 would cause the philanthropist less to 
 wonder at the decrease, than that it 
 .should have been so slight in comparison 
 to the many causes so actively at work to 
 create it. I have stated only those which 
 have come into operation since their 
 first intercourse with the whites. Wars 
 were more bloody, owing to the posses- 
 sion of improved weapons, and on a more 
 extended scale, until the conquest of the 
 group was completed. They were suc- 
 ceeded by diseases of the most destruc- 
 tive character, which raged unresisted 
 by medical art. As fatal as either were 
 the severe, labors imposed upon the con- 
 quered. Then the aggravation of the 
 vicious land system and taxes, with al- 
 cohol, swelled the list, and ignorance of, 
 or blindness to the most simple physical 
 truths, added their hecatombs. It is to 
 be remembered that these causes were 
 all additional to those which existed 
 prior to their discovery, and which were 
 25 
 
 j of themselves sufficiently active to pre- 
 vent any rapid increase. 
 
 At the first glance, it may appear that 
 civilization is destructive in its tendency 
 when in contact with the savage. A 
 more extended view will show it other- 
 wise. If it destroy, it likewise creates. 
 Evil, as the most active principle, may 
 for a while riot uncontrolled, yet coun- 
 teracting and more powerful tendencies 
 are at work, which must eventually neu- 
 tralize and overcome the former. Civi- 
 lized man can add nothing to the vices 
 of the savage, though by the contact the 
 fruits may be made more bitter. Like 
 the first effects of a brilliant sun upon 
 tender vegetation, it will shrink and 
 wither, but the same light continued 
 will cause it to revive and shoot forward 
 in all the luxuriance of its legitimate 
 growth. Such has been emphatically the 
 case at these islands. Their depopula- 
 tion was more rapid, as far as can be as- 
 certained, in the reigns of Kamehameha 
 I. and his successor, Liholiho, than at a 
 more recent period. As Christianity and 
 civilization have advanced, in just that 
 proportion has this mortality ceased. 
 
 In 1847 the scene has greatly changed. 
 .Religion has provided schools, medical 
 science, churches and kindred institu- 
 tions throughout the land. It is a living 
 spring, gushing up freely in their house- 
 holds ; watering their young plants and 
 refreshing the parent stems. It sends to 
 every hamlet a knowledge of letters, and 
 furnishes the word of life, and a constant 
 supply of healthful food for the inquiring 
 mind. A moral stimulant is constantly 
 at work to elevate and preserve, in the 
 shape of associations, societies, religious 
 meetings, after the system of New Eng- 
 land. Philanthropy plants her agents by 
 scores among them, active, resolute, and 
 untiring in efforts for their temporal and 
 eternal welfare. 
 
 Such are the agents at work to arrest 
 the obliteration of the Hawaiian race 
 from the earth and to give it a passport 
 to futurity. To the notice already given 
 of their present moral condition, it re- 
 mains to briefly delineate their position 
 in the scale of actual civilization in 
 
 j 1847 an epoch in which the generation 
 
 i that was bom in heathenism is still alive. 
 
 I Experience declares Hawaiians to be 
 
194 
 
 HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 susceptible of civilization. Unlike the 
 nomadic tribes of Asia and the predatory 
 clans of America, their insular position 
 compelled them to a stationary life and 
 the character of their soil and climate to 
 labor for subsistence. Consequently their 
 governments became fixed and their hab- 
 its agricultural, the first steps towards 
 civilization. Like all branches of the 
 Malay family, their perceptive and imi- 
 tative faculties are more developed than 
 their reflective, which however cannot 
 be said to be very deficient, though tal- 
 ent in the European sense is rare among 
 them. The mass thus far have mani- 
 fested neither enterprise nor capacity to 
 fit them for higher situations than labor- 
 ers, servants and seamen. With proper 
 instruction, they become tolerable me- 
 chanics, but without sufficient genius to 
 originate or improve. In Honolulu we 
 find but twelve native carpenters, four 
 masons, nine shoemakers, nineteen tail- 
 ors, six book-binders, four printers, and a 
 few others who have some slight knowl- 
 edge of other arts and trades. They 
 have succeeded in engraving upon cop- 
 per-plate with some skill. In trade none 
 have risen above peddling or petty re- 
 tailing. In agriculture, we find but few 
 examples of cultivation on an extended 
 and liberal scale, with an eye to pros- 
 pective results. The farms are little 
 patches, not badly laid out, but produc- 
 ing slightly in comparison with what a 
 white farmer would raise. Their stock 
 is raised more by chance than skill. As 
 yet, although there are numerous open- 
 ings for an extended and lucrative traffic 
 in the raising of fruits, cattle, poultry on 
 an extended and systematic scale, yet 
 but very few are alive to these enter- 
 prises. Some, stimulated by the advice 
 and example of whites, have laid out 
 coffee and sugar plantations and entered 
 into the business of grazing on a plan of 
 some magnitude. In boating, the natives 
 show the most spirit, and they own about 
 twenty small craft engaged in coasting. 
 As a people, they are indifferent to the 
 future, careless of time, improvident in 
 their habits, unsteady in their pursuits, 
 and fond of finery and show. Yet when 
 the obstacles of an early bad government 
 and other bars to their progress are con- 
 sidered, which have been but partially 
 
 removed, it must be acknowledged that 
 it is no matter of surprise that in so few 
 years, their advance has been no greater. 
 The chiefs and better class of people, 
 whose advantages have been far superior 
 to the mass, have acquired a degree of 
 refinement and attained to a comfortable 
 style of living, creditable to themselves 
 and encouraging to the nation at large. 
 Their houses, of stone, adobie, wood, or 
 grass, are many of them large, well built 
 and comfortably and to some degree, 
 tastefully and expensively furnished, and 
 surrounded with neat, well kept grounds. 
 They dress well, and their manners are 
 gentlemanly. The women have never 
 acquired the ease and good taste of the 
 men, although they have adopted the 
 fashionable costumes of modern civiliza- 
 tion. Intellectually, both appear to tol- 
 erable advantage, particularly those who, 
 like the young chiefs, have been edu- 
 cated. Indeed in mathematics they are 
 apt ; and in other branches of study quite 
 upon a par in general knowledge with 
 the whites similarly situated about them, 
 lacking however their superior moral dis- 
 cernment and capability of applying their 
 knowledge to practical purposes. The 
 educated native, without the stimulus of 
 a diversified national literature, and a 
 cultivated, aspiring society, is apt to de- 
 generate upon leaving the immediate in- 
 fluences by which he was surrounded, for 
 the common sphere of his countrymen. 
 As yet, though partial experiments have 
 been made, the missionaries have not 
 been able to rear a class of native clergy, 
 whom they could leave to act wholly in- 
 dependent of their surveillance. With 
 school-teachers they have been somewhat 
 more successful, that profession not re- 
 quiring so high a standard of moral judg- 
 ment. 
 
 Between the classes above referred to 
 and the lowest, exists another, composed 
 of petty officers, deacons, teachers, the 
 higher church members and most intel- 
 ligent of petty traders, farmers, vessel 
 owners and mechanics, who form the 
 connecting link in the scale of civiliza- 
 tion. These are possessed of some prop- 
 erty, say from a few hundred to a few 
 thousand dollars each ; are frugal and 
 saving; tolerably intelligent in their im- 
 mediate spheres, and possessed of some 
 
HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 195 
 
 ambition and enterprise. Like those 
 above them, they have some knowledge 
 of English, and are provident for their 
 families. Their habitations are as much 
 removed in neatness and pretensions 
 from the huts of the peasantry as from 
 the superior edifices of their chiefs. 
 They have imbibed some knowledge of 
 the tastes and proprieties of civilization, 
 and instead of herding in common, di- 
 vide their houses into apartments ; sleep 
 on beds ; possess tables, chairs and a 
 considerable amount of plain and useful 
 furniture; adhere to the national dishes 
 of poi and fish, but vary it with bread 
 and meat ; in short, are a comfortable 
 middle class, rising in fortunes and cred- 
 itable to the country. They are favora- 
 bly distinguished by the attention they 
 bestow upon their children. Their num- 
 bers cannot be given, but though not 
 large they are increasing. 
 
 The great bulk of the people live very 
 much as did their ancestors, in filthy 
 huts and on impure diet, raw fish and 
 poi. They are in general provided with 
 clothing, and all have, or can have more 
 or less articles of foreign manufacture 
 for their common wants. The annual 
 ad valorem consumption of foreign goods 
 per head to each inhabitant does not yet 
 exceed three dollars ; a very small ratio 
 compared to their wants and abilities, if 
 industrious. They are naturally averse 
 to labor, prompt to take advantage, un- 
 reasonable in their expectations and with 
 little or no enterprise. 
 
 Whether the poison has entered too 
 deep into the nation to be eradicated, is 
 a question at present unsolved. In the 
 view of many, races like individuals, 
 have their time and purpose, which they 
 fulfill and perish. History shows that 
 fact in the past. One after another of 
 potent nations has dropped from time, 
 leaving on its shores no greater wreck 
 than a tradition, a few pages of history, 
 or a mere name. But the fact is equally 
 true, that in the proportion that Chris- 
 tian principles have had sway, in that de- 
 gree have nations flourished. The rank, ! 
 sudden growth of powers like Spain, j 
 which founded its power and pride for | 
 a while upon avarice and conquest, is no 
 exception to this rule. Trusting to such 
 support, it fell again as rapidly as it rose, 
 
 strangled by its vices. England, France, 
 the United States and other nations, tak- 
 ing revelation for their guide, and incor- 
 porating into their legislation its sound 
 maxims of justice and humanity, stead- 
 ily prosper and increase. So long as 
 they maintain those principles, and the 
 nearer they approach the true intent of 
 their author, so long are they sure of life 
 and success. Thus will it be with the 
 Havvaiians, if their physical and mental 
 stock has enough of vigor still remaining 
 to bud anew and bear fruit. N,c fairer 
 opportunities than are now offered for 
 the success of the experiment of raising 
 a savage tribe into a civilized state will 
 ever again be offered. Could the mis- 
 sionaries have enjqyed the advantages 
 open to Cook or Vancouver on their ar- 
 rivals, and like Mango Capac to the sim- 
 ple Peruvians, have appeared among the 
 Hawaiians as heralds of a new faith and 
 civilization, authenticating their mission 
 to native minds by a belief in their di- 
 vine inspiration, their precepts would 
 have taken root under better auspices 
 and with more complete success, than 
 afterwards, when the national mind was 
 distracted by its new impulses of gain 
 and antagonistic foreign example, and 
 the physical energies of the nation were 
 fast perishing in the service of vice and 
 avarice. But the renovating spirit of 
 Christianity has steadily worked its way, 
 overthrowing all obstacles, creating for 
 itself a moral capital in its progress, until 
 it has placed the Hawaiian nation in a 
 position which if they do not improve to 
 their advantage, it will be because heath- 
 enism has left them eflfete and incapable 
 of sustaining the vigorous growth of 
 Christianity, and Providence intends to 
 supplant them by a more worthy people. 
 The causes that have operated to de- 
 populate and demoralize the race, and 
 ultimately extinguish it, have been re- 
 capitulated. I shall now pass briefly in 
 review those of a conservative and re- 
 newing tendency. 
 
 The government of the kingdom is es- 
 sentially Christian. Founded upon mis- 
 sionary teaching, it derives its principles 
 and objects from gospel ethics. Under 
 its influence, the despotism of the chiefs 
 over life and property has been abolished 
 and the nation invited to lay hold of its 
 
196 
 
 HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 rights in both. Laws favorable to virtue, 
 industry and increase of population have 
 been enacted. Families having three 
 children of their own are freed from tax- 
 ation ; those having more are rewarded 
 by gifts of lands. The natives are en- 
 couraged to secure allodial titles by a 
 remission of all taxes on such for twenty 
 years. Taxation is lightened and made 
 stimulative to honest industry. The 
 present laws are equitable and protec- 
 tive. Justice is fairly administered, and 
 the soundest principles of classical and 
 modern law have become the professed 
 guides of the courts. Commerce has 
 brought among the nation many foreign- 
 ers in every way an advantage to the 
 morals and enterprise of the natives. 
 Scattered throughout the group, they 
 provide them almost at the very doors 
 of their huts with ample supplies of for- 
 eign goods of all descriptions at fair 
 prices, receiving in return the avails of 
 native labor. They have furnished them 
 with cattle and the vegetable products of 
 other countries, and introduced the arts, 
 trades and professions of civilized life. 
 The examples and encouragements of 
 civilized households are thus brought to 
 their very thresholds. They have given 
 a value to the time of the native by cre- 
 ating a demand for his labor, and have 
 equally bestowed a value to his hitherto 
 unproductive lands, by practically devel- 
 oping the hidden wealth of the soil. The 
 most indifferent industry is sure of am- 
 ple reward. Vice as in other lands has 
 no apology for an existence here, on the 
 plea of a super-abundance of labor in 
 the honest branches of livelihood. Not a 
 man need be a thief from necessity, nor 
 a woman unchaste from want. Lands 
 everywhere lie groaning in wild luxuri- 
 ance, crying out for hands to till them. 
 The handicraft of women and even the 
 services of children are in constant de- 
 mand. Commerce has raised the remu- 
 neration of the former and the wages of 
 the laborer to the highest rate of stimu- 
 lative reward. 
 
 The policy of the government is essen- 
 tially protective to the Hawaiian race, 
 to the intent to fully solve the question 
 of their capability of civilization. The 
 white advisers of the king, having this 
 end practically in view, fail to meet the 
 
 more enlarged views and desires of white 
 residents, who look upon the final ex- 
 termination or loss of the native race 
 and dynasty as their destiny, and con- 
 sequently desire to see the fullest en- 
 couragement offered for the ingress and 
 permanent settlement of a foreign popu- 
 lation and capital. While these would 
 urge the government on with a rapidity 
 commensurate with Anglo-Saxon spirit 
 and intelligence, the native race by their 
 slowness of apprehension and fears for 
 their security in case the full torrent of 
 civilized emigration and enterprise is let- 
 in unrestrained upon them, hold them 
 back. On the one hand the government 
 are as unable fully to satisfy the cravings 
 of the whites to advance, as they are to 
 bring the native mind to a clear appre- 
 ciation and faithful carrying out of the 
 measures best adapted to benefit it and 
 render it more capable of assimilating 
 with the superior intelligence of Anglo- 
 Saxon intellect. They steadily endeavor 
 to preserve the Hawaiian race; to chris- 
 tianize and civilize them ; and to this 
 end they invite a limited co-operation of 
 foreign aid ; enough to innoculate the 
 nation with courage and enterprise, with- 
 out deluging it in a torrent which in 
 their present condition they would inevi- 
 tably fail to bear up against. In this way 
 a just middle course is adopted, which it 
 would seem from past experience tends 
 to build up a mixed Hawaiian and for- 
 eign race, civilized, moral and industri- 
 ous, and capable of taking an elevated 
 position in the ranks of minor nations. 
 
 In a former edition of this work, I ad- 
 vanced the idea that notwithstanding the 
 former extraordinary rates of decrease 
 in the population, there were operating- 
 causes sufficiently cogent to diminish 
 that decrease materially and to lead to a 
 reasonable hope that it might be wholly 
 checked, and an increase take place in 
 the native population. The tables below 
 will serve to show the fearful rate of de- 
 crease up to 1840. These data are not 
 wholly to be depended on in numbers, 
 though the general results are doubtless 
 correct. 
 
 Cook's vague estimate in 1779, made 
 the population of the islands 400,000, but 
 300,000 would have been nearer to the 
 truth. 
 
HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN 
 
 197 
 
 LOOSE ESTIMATE CENSUS CEKSUS 
 
 FOE 18-23. 
 
 Hawaii 85,000 
 
 Haul 20,000 
 
 Lanai 2,500 
 
 Molokai 3,500 
 
 Kahoolawe 50 
 
 Oiihu 20,000 
 
 Kauai.. 10,000 
 
 Niihau 1,000 
 
 142,050 
 
 OF 1832. 
 
 45,792 
 
 35,062 
 
 1,600 
 
 6,000 
 
 80 
 
 29,755 
 10,977 
 1,047 
 
 OF 1S36. 
 
 39,364 
 
 24,199 
 
 1,200 
 
 6,000 
 
 80 
 
 27,809 
 
 8,934 
 
 993 
 
 130,313 108,579 
 
 No fact illustrates more strongly the 
 superior influences of enlightened Chris- 
 tianity in a physical point of view upon 
 the human race than the remarkable 
 discrepancy in numbers between the 
 children of missionaries and those of the 
 chiefs, who are the most civilized among 
 the Hawaiian population. Nine of the 
 mission families number 59 children 
 an average of 6 5-9 to a family. Twenty 
 Hawaiian chiefs have but 19 children 
 among them all. The mission families 
 within less than one generation have 
 increased 175 per cent. At the same 
 ratio of increase, in 100 years their de- 
 scendants would number 59,535. 
 
 With these statistics I take leave of 
 
 the reader, with the assurance that I 
 have endeavored to portray faithfully the 
 Hawaiian nation through all their pro- 
 gressive stages from heathenism to their 
 present transition state, when civiliza- 
 tion is making such rapid progress among 
 them. The reader who calmly and nat- 
 urally reviews this progress cannot fail 
 to become interested in a race occupy- 
 ing so important a field of philosophic 
 and philanthropic inquiry. Whether 
 they are destined to perpetuity or not, 
 Providence alone can foresee cold calcu- 
 lating theories will not operate with the 
 benevolent to discourage efforts which 
 now promise so well ; if fail they must, 
 those who have labored for them will 
 have the comforting assurance of having 
 obeyed the injunction, "Go ye therefore 
 and teach all nations," and soon with 
 | those whose souls they have raised from 
 ; the mire of heathenism, they will hear 
 j the welcome sound, " Well done, good 
 I and faithful servants ; enter thou into 
 . the joy of thy Lord." 
 
APPENDIX, 
 
 SHOWING THE PRESENT 
 
 COMMERCIil AND AGRICULTURAL CONDITION 
 
 OF 
 
 THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 BY HEXPvY M. WHITNEY. 
 
 1872. 
 
A 
 
 PPENDIX 
 
 THE valuable work of Mr. Jarves brings the history of this singularly interest- 
 ing people down to the year 1847. To continue it to the present date would be a 
 pleasant task to one identified so intimately with the Hawaiian people, as is 
 the writer, who has watched their development and advancement with constant 
 and increasing interest. It is less than a century since this group was discovered 
 in 1778 by Capt. Cook the story of whose untimely death was soon after pub- 
 lished with more of the characteristics of a romance than a reality, attracting to this 
 people the gaze of the Christian world, and exciting an interest in them which has 
 never subsided. But little more than half a century has passed since the pioneer 
 band of missionaries landed on Hawaii, and the Sun of righteousness rose to scat- 
 ter the rays of truth and knowledge among a people even then restless to shake 
 off despotic paganism, which had ground them down for ages, and thirsting for 
 the freedom of civilization and Christianity which they have so eagerly embraced 
 that Hawaii is to-day as thoroughly Christianized as England or France. 
 Scarcely one generation has passed since the first attempt was made to model a 
 constitutional government, and the constitution of 1840 was proclaimed as the law 
 of the land. Yet to-day Hawaii has its treaties with the principal nations of the 
 old world and the new ; and the statistics which follow will show that it has com- 
 mercial intercourse with nearly every nation of the Pacific and Atlantic, and that 
 its commerce is developing as rapidly in proportion to its population and area, as 
 that of any other nation possessing like advantages. And all this, while the his- 
 torian is compelled to record a continued extraordinary decrease in the aboriginal 
 population. 
 
 Without attempting a continuation of the history of these islands from the 
 period where Mr. Jarves left it, my purpose is simply to give a brief and neces- 
 sarily imperfect outline of their present condition, including their population, com- 
 mercial and agricultural resources, and other interesting data, closing with a sketch 
 of the eruptions of the volcano. 
 
 POPULATION. 
 
 The estimate of the population of the group, as made by Capt. Cook, after a 
 partial observation on each island, has been thought by some too large. The na- 
 tive traditions, however, as well as evidences still met with in every part of the 
 group, go to confirm the opinion of this celebrated explorer. Certain it is that it 
 was much larger at the time of the discovery of the islands than when the first 
 missionaries arrived in 1820. The decrease, which must be in part attributed to 
 the savage internecine wars existing at the time of Cook's visit, has been un- 
 interrupted, and at times accelerated by the introduction of plagues from foreign 
 countries, which have swept off the aborigines by tens of thousands. The tablo 
 at the head of page 203 will show the population at various periods. 
 
202 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Total number ! lffif 
 natives in 1866. ^'Wr-ToTe 
 
 
 Si 
 
 Tola 1 number 
 natives in 1860. 
 
 ISS3332 18 
 
 I rH CO <* :N (O d r-c 
 Pol ofco'r-TofeT rn' 
 
 * eo Tt co 
 
 S SSSSSo'Sl 
 
 OO tO CO O <N i-H rH I 
 
 of ofcf r?i-i cC 
 
 \ 
 
 ro CO O O I O> 
 
 ill 
 
 Total number 
 foreigners, 1866 
 
 |||[*8 *8 
 
 Mechanics | ^M 'SS : 
 
 :5-|i||-S g:a-S| 2 |HS:a|S 
 
 Agriculturists. |g : Sg ||||l3p ||| " 5 S : 1"" | 1|[1 
 
 Professionafists 
 
 Freeholders.... 
 
 g5 [ g||S|| | g[[ | S ||| [ ||||gS| j I S 
 
 Females over 40 
 
 Males over 40. 
 
 oocowo i 
 
 Females betw'n 
 15 and 40. 
 
 oScoco 
 
 CO CO CO Tjl 
 
 ilSllJI 
 
 Males between 
 15 and 40. ^ 
 
 jg sills IS 
 
 females under 
 15. 
 
 5|P?S 
 S P'* 
 
 Males under 15 
 
 Other foreign- 
 ers, females. 
 
 <M r-l i<5 CO t t- O 
 
 Other foreign- 
 ers, males. 
 
 S^ S5S |S| 
 
 Chinese females 
 
 CO -O5 I CM I I . rl .05 |O 
 . . rt . . ._, eo . . M | to 
 
 hinese males. 
 
 (M * t- U3 OO O5 CO 
 
 Half-caste 
 females. 
 
 I *^* t- Jt O IT OO O5 C 
 
 Native females I "^. ^J ^ o.' 
 
 ' O5 CO O I t- 
 ' <N t- CO CO 
 
 S 
 
 > o 10 1> ia o >o 
 
 1 t CO OO *M Oi OO 
 
 > i-t r-l t- O ** OO 
 
 i CO CO I 
 
 I CM^OdCi^OcOO 
 
 Native males. . |S 3,2 S,S S , 
 
 Si 
 
 r-l tQ 
 
 rt co" 
 
 Unmarried.... I o*.ao 
 
 r-l r-l CO O5 
 rH O1 iO OO 
 
 CO ^ O T-l rH 
 
 ^c -^r 10 o ^ 
 
 Married , ^^ -S" - - 
 
 :SIS 'I 
 
 rH OJ r-l I-l 
 
 'ot. population J^JgS 
 
 SJII 1 1 
 
 I CO O I ** 
 
 
 
 (>! ^3 I"- O r* rO I-H oo 
 O Ci O5 O !> OO ^1 CD 
 
 Males i 5.01.51.3 S.8 
 
 O- MofrH-rH" 
 
 * I >0 
 I- I 05 
 rH I W, 
 
 d N 
 
 1J 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 203 
 
 Foreign. Native. Total. Decrease. 
 
 1779 (estimated by Capt. Cook) 400,000 
 
 1823 (estimated by missionaries) 142,050 44 years 257,950 
 
 1832 (first official census) 130,315 9 " 11,735 
 
 1836 (official census) 108,579 4 " 24,414 
 
 1850 (official census) 1,962 82,203 84,165 14 " 24,414 
 
 1853 (official census) 2,119 71,019 73,138 3 " 11,027 
 
 1860 (official census).... 2,716 67,084 69,800 7 " 3,338 
 
 1866 (official census) 4,194 58,765 62,959 6 " 6,841 
 
 The census of 1866 is the last which has been taken, but it is probable that 
 another will be taken the present year. The details of the census of 1866 are 
 quite interesting, and are given on page 202. Some of them may be noticed here 
 as compared with the returns for 1860 : 
 
 1866. 1860. Decrease. Increase. 
 
 Total number of males 34,395 35,379 985 
 
 Total number of females 28,564 31,705 3,141 
 
 Total population 62,959 69,800 6,741 
 
 Total number of married persons 31,287 38,124 6,837 
 
 Total number unmarried 31,672 28,960 .... 2,712 
 
 Total native population 58,765 66,984 8,901 
 
 Total half-castes , 1,640 
 
 Total Chinese 1,206 
 
 Total other foreigners 2,988 2,716 .... 272 
 
 Total number of hired laborers 6,025 
 
 Total number of agriculturists 8,358 
 
 Total number of landholders 7,154 
 
 Total number of mechanics or artizans 1,146 
 
 The number of males in the group has decreased but 984, while the females 
 are 3,141 less than in 1860. This is perhaps the most disheartening fact devel- 
 oped by the census, as it shows the reproductive power of the nation to be lessen- 
 ing in an alarming degree. An examination of the table will show that the decrease 
 has not been confined to any island or district, but preserves nearly the same ratio 
 throughout the group. Honolulu and Lahaina might reasonably be supposed to 
 show less decrease than the country districts, where medical aid is not so readily 
 obtained, and the dwellings are less substantial. But they furnish no favorable 
 exception, while in Lahaina the falling off in the population during six years 
 amounts to twenty-five per cent., owing in part to migration to other districts. A 
 table showing the population of each island, as compared with the two previous 
 enumerations, will illustrate this better : 
 
 1866. I860: 1853: 
 
 Hawaii 19,808 21,481 24,450 
 
 Maui 14,035 16,400 17,574 
 
 Molokai 2,299 2,864 3,607 
 
 Lanai 394 646 600 
 
 Oahu 19,799 21,275 19,126 
 
 Kauai, 6,299 6,487 6,991 
 
 Niihau 325 647 790 
 
 Total 62,959 69,800 73,138 
 
 The annual decadence of the population between 1860 and 1866, was at the 
 rate of 1,140; and it is probable that the next census, whenever taken, will show 
 no great change in the rate of decrease. Were it not for the influx of foreigners, 
 and especially of Chinese, with the rapid increase in the foreign element by births, 
 and with the increase arising from inter-marriage, the population of the group 
 would show a much greater falling off. 
 
 Official documents laid before the Legislative Assembly of 1872, show 4,961 
 more deaths than births during the four years from 1868 to 1871, or 1,250 per 
 annum. Taking this average as a basis of estimate, the native population of this 
 group, in 1873, will not exceed 50,000. During this period no epidemic has been 
 reported, and the deaths have been from natural causes. Unless some means are de- 
 .vised to check it, the native race will continue to decrease in about the same ratio. 
 
204 APPENDIX. 
 
 THE SUGAR INTEREST. 
 
 The first instance of the manufacture of sugar on these islands dates back 
 previous to 1820, but the name of the pioneer planter is lost. Old residents 
 speak of sugar and molasses of a coarse quality having been manufactured here 
 in sufficient quantities for ordinary domestic consumption in 1828. In that 
 year, extensive fields of cane were grown in and about Honolulu, and mills were 
 erected in Nuuanu Valley and at Waikapu, Maui. At the latter place, a Portu- 
 guese, named Antonio Silva, is spoken of as the pioneer sugar planter. Some 
 Chinamen also had a sugar mill near Hilo. These mills were all of wood, very 
 primitive in their construction, and worked by oxen. The first attempt to culti- 
 vate sugar on a large scale was at Koloa, on Kauai, where Ladd & Co., a firm of 
 Honolulu merchants, commenced what is known as the Koloa Plantation of 
 Dr. R. W. Wood. This was about the year 1835, and the first breaking up 
 of the soil for planting was done with a plow drawn by natives. From 1836 
 to 1841, sugar was exported from these islands to the value of $36,000, and 
 molasses to the value of $17,130. In the " Hawaiian Spectator" for April, 1838, 
 the late William Ladd contributed an article on " The Resources of the Sandwich 
 Islands," in which he speaks thus prophetically of the manufacture of sugar, then 
 in its infancy : " It is a very common opinion that sugar will become a leading 
 article of export. That this will become a sugar country is quite evident, if we 
 may judge from the varieties of sugar-cane now existing here, its adaptation to the 
 soil, the price of labor, and a ready market. From experiments hitherto made, it 
 is believed that sugar of a superior quality may be produced here. * * * It may 
 not be amiss to state that there are now in operation, or soon to be' erected, twenty 
 mills for crushing cane, propelled by animal power, and two by water power." 
 / The price of labor at that time, was indeed an argument in favor of making 
 
 tthe islands a sugar producing country, which unfortunatel^does not exist now. 
 Abundance of native labor could then be had, and the current rate of wages was 
 from 12 to 37 cents per diem, or $2 to $5 per month. 
 
 In Wyllie's "Notes" on the islands, published in the "Friend," December, 
 1844, the export of sugar from the Island of Kauai is estimated at about 200 tons, 
 and 20,000 gallons of molasses. Hilo in the same year exported 83,000 pounds of 
 sugar. Maui at that time had two mills, but the amount of sugar produced is not 
 reported. That was twenty-eight years ago. Since then, our sugar growing busi- 
 ness has passed through many vicissitudes. As is generally the case in new pur- 
 suits, the pioneers have in many instances lost their time and money in their 
 struggles for success, and those who have come after have learned to profit by their 
 dear-bought experience. To-day, the total number of sugar plantations is thirty- 
 two, on Hawaii, nine; Maui, twelve; Oahu, seven; and Kauai, four. 
 
 The Custom House statistics have, during the past twenty years, given sugar 
 the first place in our products and exports. The quantity exported in 1871 was 
 21,760,773 pounds, which added to the consumption in the group, gives a total of 
 twenty-two millions of pounds. Not more than one-quarter of the area adapted 
 to cane culture is at present under cultivation. Large tracts suited to cane are 
 neglected, or devoted only to grazing, from want of capital and labor. As a gen- 
 eral rule, droughts are rare, and rain sufficiently abundant, in all localities, both 
 for grazing and agricultural purposes. On the four larger islands fine sugar plan- 
 tations are established or in progress, varying from two hundred to several thousand 
 acres in extent. On these are some of the largest, most complete and expensive 
 sugar mills ever constructed in any country, driven by steam or water, and capable 
 of manufacturing six to ten tons of sugar a day. No country can boast of finer 
 mills or plantations, or more perfect arrangements for the manufacture of sugar 
 and molasses. As a matter of interest abroad, a list is given of the plantations 
 at present in operation in the group, with their average crop, and the capacity of 
 their machinery : 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 205 
 
 Kohala Plantatioi 
 Onomea '' 
 Kaupakuea " 
 Spencer " 
 Paukaa " 
 Kaiwiki " 
 Kona ' 
 Kau " 
 Kaaiaha (Kohala) 
 Ulupalakua Plant 
 Pioneer 
 West Maui 
 Waikapu 
 Wailuku 
 Waihee 
 East Maui 
 
 ), Hawaii 
 ii 
 ti 
 
 
 u 
 
 <( 
 ation, Maui 
 
 M 
 
 1C 
 
 u 
 
 Average Capac 
 crop. of mil 
 600 tons. 1,000 to 
 600 " 1,000 
 500 " 1,000 ' 
 500 1,000 
 300 500 
 400 " 600 
 100 " 200 
 150 200 
 100 100 
 800 " 1,200 
 1,000 " 1,200 
 600 " 1,200 
 500 " 800 
 800 1,200 
 1,000 " 1,200 
 500 " 800 
 
 : y 
 
 ns. 
 i 
 
 i 
 
 Average Capacity 
 crop. of mill. 
 
 liana " " 250 " '400 
 
 Union Mill " u 300 " 600 " 
 
 Hawaiian Mill (Wailuku) . 300 u 400 " 
 
 Hobron(Makawao) Plantation... 400 " 600 " 
 
 Heeia " " 200 " 400 " 
 
 Kaalaea " " . . . . 400 " 1 000 " 
 
 
 Halawa " " .... 60 " 200 " 
 
 Waialua " " 100 " 200 " 
 
 Laie " " .... 100 " 250 " 
 
 Lihue " Kauai 400 '' 1 000 " 
 
 Koloa " kt 250 " '500 " 
 
 Princeville " " . . . . 400 " 1 000 " 
 
 Waipa " " 100 " 200 " 
 
 The plantations now in operation number thirty-two, producing less than half 
 the sugar which they are capable of manufacturing. This is owing chiefly to the 
 scarcity of laborers a want which is each year more seriously felt. Next to 
 Hawaiian laborers, who are considered the best and least expensive, Chinese are 
 sought for. As they are always ready to leave their country and migrate to 
 this group, it is probable that no difficulty will be encountered in obtaining all that 
 may be needed. 
 
 The mode of manufacture is similar to that pursued in other sugar countries. 
 The sugar is packed at the mills the better grades in kegs, and the poorer in 
 bags, and carted thence to the nearest port or anchorage, from which it is shipped 
 to Honolulu by schooners or the steamer Kilauea, a vessel of four hundred tons 
 burthen, owned by the Government, which makes regular weekly trips to Maui 
 and Hawaii. It is estimated that the cost of manufacturing sugar here, on well- 
 conducted plantations, is about five cents per pound, taking all grades into the 
 estimate. At the present time San Francisco is the principal market for this as it 
 is for most of our productions, though Oregon and Australia attract a portion of 
 the sugar crop, the average net price realized for which is six cents a pound. 
 
 No attempt has been made to manufacture sugar from the beet root, which 
 grows well in almost any part of the group. But it is not improbable that within 
 a few years the sugar beet will be as extensively cultivated here as the cane now 
 is, and that on the same plantations, and in the same factories, both will serve to 
 furnish the juice for sugar manufacture. It is believed that the beet, when once 
 introduced and its peculiarities studied and regarded, will be found a strong rival 
 to the cane, and that it can be produced by native labor at a less expense than cane 
 now is, with a correspondingly larger profit in the sugar manufactured from it. 
 
 OTHER AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS. 
 
 Next to sugar, rice is extensively cultivated and exported. Hawaiian rice is 
 in high favor in foreign markets, rating next to Carolina as a table rice. It is cul- 
 tivated by both natives and Chinese in taro patches ; and in localities where run- 
 ning water is abundant, the yield per acre is from 2,000 to 3,000 pounds of paddy 
 (unhulled rice), which sells readily at two cents a pound. Eice and kalo may be 
 seen growing side by side in nearly every valley in the group, the former supply- 
 ing the Chinese with their staple food, and the latter the natives, who still prefer 
 the kalo and its product poi to every other food. The quantity of paddy and rice 
 exported in 1871 was 1,284,563 pounds. The cultivation of this grain could easily 
 be extended to ten times what it now is, were the necessary labor obtainable. 
 
 PULU, which finds a place among our exports, is the product of the tree-fern, 
 which grows abundantly on the mountain slopes of the principal islands, more par- 
 ticularly on Hawaii, and flourishes best in regions of perpetual moisture. It is a 
 a silky substance enveloping the fronds of the plant, and when dried in the sun 
 makes an excellent article for mattresses and for upholstering purposes. The 
 quantity produced of late years has materially declined. 
 
206 APPENDIX. 
 
 WOOL, HIDES and GOAT SKINS have been in active demand the past few years, 
 and the quantity exported of each article shows a decided annual gain. The offi- 
 cial census of 1866 gave the number of beef cattle on the islands at 59,913; sheep, 
 100,625; and goats, 56,980. But this amount is doubtless considerably below 
 the actual numbers. It is estimated that the wild cattle alone on the different 
 islands will number 40,000 head, and 100,000 cattle, 200,000 sheep and 100,000 
 goats are a more correct estimate. The finest of Merinos have been imported 
 into these islands from time to time, and our breeds of sheep are now annually 
 improving. 
 
 STEAM MAIL LINES. 
 
 The establishment of steam lines between the ports of Honolulu and San Fran- 
 cisco in one direction, and New Zealand and Australia in the opposite, has increased 
 the foreign trade and travel with those countries, by furnishing more certain and 
 comfortable means of crossing the ocean in either direction, in much less time than 
 was formerly occupied. This is more especially the case with the route to New 
 Zealand and Australia, whose industrious and thriving populations have a new 
 avenue opened for their untiring industry in the steam line which now connects 
 them with the Polynesian groups and the American coast. As these steam lines 
 increase in number, and this port is brought in direct communication with Japan, 
 China, Panama, Tahiti, South America, and the South Pacific island clusters, the 
 advantages of its position will become more apparent. Easily approached by sail 
 or steam, from every quarter of the compass, and lying advantageously between 
 the great commercial marts of this ocean, it must, of necessity, become ere long 
 an important coaling station, and perhaps a depot for the storage and transhipment 
 of teas, coffee, sugar, rice, lumber, oil, coals, and other commercial products. Coal 
 is now admitted free of duty, whether for consumption here, or for re-exportation. 
 It will only be necessary to extend the same liberal legislation to the other staples 
 named, in order to attract them hither. The accompanying table, prepared by 
 Capt. Daniel Smith, giving the distances between Honolulu and the places named, 
 will show its advantages as a central point : 
 
 Honolulu to San Francisco 2,100 miles. 
 
 Yokohama, Japan 3,400 " 
 
 " Hongkong, China 4,880 " 
 
 " Papeete, Tahiti 2,400 " 
 
 " Tutuila, Navigator Islands 2,290 " 
 
 " Levuka,Fiji 2,740 " 
 
 Honolulu to Auckland, New Zealand 3,800 miles. 
 
 " Sydney, N. S. \V . (straight line). ..4,480 
 
 " Melbourne, Port Philip 4,960 
 
 ' Callao, Peru 5,220 
 
 ' Valparaiso, Chile 6,000 
 
 " Victoria, V.I. (straight line) 2,350 
 
 The steamers connecting this port with New Zealand and Australia are large 
 and commodious vessels of about twenty-five hundred tons burthen, capable of 
 averaging 250 miles a day, and 300 miles when necessary. They are better 
 adapted to the tropical route over which they run than any other class of steamers. 
 The mails have been carried through from London to Auckland, via San Fran- 
 cisco and Honolulu, in forty-two days, and to Sydney in forty-eight ; and when 
 the line is fully equipped and in operation, this time maybe considerably lessened. 
 At Honolulu the steamers are detained about twenty-four hours to coal and refit, 
 and passengers can remain over one or more trips of the steamers, should they de- 
 sire to travel in the group. The variety of scenery on this route the fine and 
 commodious vessels employed the opportunity of touching at these islands and 
 the unrivaled diversity of .scenery on the trans-continental trip, with the powerful 
 and swift steamers plying between New York and England, present attractions 
 such as no other route possesses, and which cannot fail to make it popular with 
 tourists, whether seeking pleasure or on business. 
 
 The liberality of the Hawaiian Government and resident citizens has provided 
 a first class hotel at this port, which is calculated to make the stay at Honolulu 
 attractive and refreshing, whether it be for one day or longer. This building is 
 constructed of stone, three stories in height, with fifty-eight sleeping rooms, and 
 is fitted with parlors, dining, reading and billiard rooms, and with every modern 
 convenience, not excepting gaslight. It is located in the pleasantest part of the 
 town, and travelers cannot fail to find it worthy of their patronage. 
 
APPENDIX. 207 
 
 The city of Honolulu (including a circuit of four miles in each direction from 
 the Post Office) has a population, according to the census of 1866, of 13,521 per- 
 sons, of whom 1,851 are Americans and Europeans, 370 Chinese, 619 half-whites, 
 and 10,681 are pure Hawaiians. The number of foreigners and Chinese is now 
 much larger. The number of dwellings is about 2,100, which are constructed 
 mostly of wood, stone or brick, and from one to three stories high. 
 
 CLIMATE, ETC. 
 
 Some interesting data have been collected during the past few years relative to 
 the climate and meteorology of the group. Though the amount of rain annually 
 falling may be fully as great as a half century ago, it is believed to be less equally 
 distributed through the year, owing to the destruction of the forests on the mountains 
 and of the groves in the valleys and plains, which have unquestionably had some 
 influence on the climate of these islands, as they have in other countries. This is 
 more particularly noticed during the summer months, when the islands are more 
 dependent on the trade winds for rain, than during the winter months, when the 
 southerly storms spread the rain throughout their track, on land and sea alike, 
 without regard to the amount of verdure on the land over which they pass. The 
 destruction of the forests and groves has been caused in a great measure by the 
 herds of cattle, sheep, goats and horses which of late years have been allowed to 
 increase and roam unattended over the hills and mountains, tramping down and 
 killing the young trees and stripping the bark and foliage from those of more ma- 
 ture growth. Forests and verdure assist in collecting the clouds which give the 
 summer showers, so refreshing to the husbandman in the season when most needed, 
 to ensure abundant crops, pasturage, and supplies of water for irrigation and man- 
 ufacturing purposes. 
 
 But however much the rain fall may have been diminished by local causes, the 
 trade winds, governed by laws which extend across hemispheres, have shown no 
 change in their force nor in the invigorating, healthful influences which they carry 
 with them, and which render life so attractive in this and other ocean groups where 
 they prevail. Statistics show that they blow with regularity for three-fourths of 
 the year. It is these winds which render navigation so safe and reliable around 
 this group, and between it and the American mainland. With ordinary care and 
 seamanship there is no safer ocean to navigate than this, nor one where losses are 
 less frequent. This is attributable to the regularity of the trade winds, clear 
 weather and atmosphere around the islands, (fogs being almost unknown, except 
 occasionally during the southwest winter storms,) and to the employment of a 
 steam tug at this harbor kept always ready for service, to tow vessels either in 
 or out, or render assistance in case of necessity. To these may be added the 
 admirable wharves in the harbor built by Government, which are probably not sur- 
 passed by those of any port of its size in the world, certainly by none in this ocean. 
 Every vessel that can cross the bar can come up to the wharves, and discharge or 
 load with as much dispatch as in London or New York. 
 
 The full and valuable meteorological tables which we publish on pages 208 and 
 209, prepared by Capt. Daniel Smith of the Harbor Master's office in this city, 
 possess interest to those wishing to examine the details of our climate. They 
 show the range of the thermometer at sunrise and at 2, P. M., and also the barom- 
 eter v for every day of the year, with the direction of the winds. During the year 
 1869, the trade winds (varying from E. to E. N. E.) blew 290 days, southerly and 
 variable winds and calms prevailing for the remainder of the year, and during five 
 years reported by Capt. Smith, the trade winds averaged 273 days in each year. 
 
 The greatest range shown during the year 1869 by the thermometer is from 
 62 at sunrise in January to 80 at sunrise in August, and at 2, P. M., from 
 74 in January to 90 at the same hour in August. These are the extreme 
 readings of the mercury during 1869. During a cold westerly storm the present 
 year (1872) the thermometer dropped on the 24th of January to 56 at sunrise, 
 
208 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
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APPENDIX. 
 
 209 
 
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 27 
 
210 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 and stood at 68 at 2, P. M. These cold spells are exceptional and rare, the 
 average variation in the temperature from sunrise to 2, P. M., being about 12 
 Fahrenheit. 
 
 The climate of the islands is justly famed for its salubrity, possessing such a 
 remarkable evenness of temperature that great changes, such as a severe storm 
 with cold winds, or a long continuance of rainy weather, excite special notice. 
 Though situated beneath a tropical sun, the heat is mitigated by the moist breezes 
 which come to us over the wide expanse of ocean. By ascending or descending 
 the mountains, the temperature gradually changes, and any desired degree can be 
 obtained, from the perpetual summer of the sea-shore to the eternal winter of the 
 tops of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa. While at the sea-shore, wherever the trade 
 winds blow, the ordinary range of the thermometer is 12 per diem, at an ele- 
 vation of from three to four thousand feet the temperature varies from 48 to 
 75 , and the general average is about 64 . 
 
 The seasons at the islands may be divided into wet and dry, though they are 
 not always well marked. The rain-fall varies very much between localities near 
 the sea and near the central mountain ranges. For instance, at Captain Smith's 
 residence, near the sea at Waikiki, it seldom exceeds 37 inches per annum ; while 
 at Dr. Judd's, one and a half miles inland, it averages 46.80. Still higher up the 
 valley, where the showers at some seasons are very frequent, it amounts not infre- 
 quently to over 100 inches annually. Captain Smith has prepared the following 
 average for eight years, which will serve to show the rain-fall in Honolulu, and the 
 amount falling each month : 
 
 WET SEASON. INCHES. 
 
 October 5.47 
 
 November, 6.15 
 
 December 5.03 
 
 January 5.30 
 
 February ...: 5.02 
 
 March 4.05 
 
 DRY SEASON. INCHES. 
 
 April 2 . 00 
 
 May 1.25 
 
 June 0.50 ' 
 
 July 0.74 
 
 August 1.20 
 
 September 1.67 
 
 Giving a yearly average of 38.38 inches. 
 
 IMPORTS AND EXPORTS. 
 
 To those residing abroad and not familiar with the statistics annually published 
 in the local journals, the following table, prepared by the Collector General of Cus- 
 toms at the port of Honolulu, W. F. Allen, Esq., will give a better idea of the 
 agricultural productions of this group than any other data that can be furnished, 
 They are the exports for 1871 : 
 
 Sugar, Ibs 21,760,773 
 
 Molasses, galls 271,291 
 
 Paddy, Ibs 867,452 
 
 Rice, Ibs 417,011 
 
 Coffee, Ibs . 46,929 
 
 Salt, tons 71U 
 
 Poi.bbls .. 965 
 
 Fungus, Ibs 37.475 
 
 Bananas, bnchs 3,876 
 
 Beef, bbls 817 
 
 Hides, pcs 19,384 
 
 Calfskins, phgs 40, pcs 649 
 
 Sheepskins, pkgs 304, pcs 2,028 
 
 Goatskins, pcs 58,900 
 
 Tallow. Ibs 185,240 
 
 .Pulu,lbs 292720 
 
 Wool, Ibs 471,706 
 
 Peanuts, Ibs 68,153 
 
 -Sperm oil, galls 4,867 
 
 Whale oil, galls 140,319 
 
 Whalebone, Ibs 283 
 
 The total value of the exports of this Kingdom for 1871 are given by the same 
 authority at $1,802,069.45. The value of the imports for the same year were 
 $1^512,697.20, showing a balance, in the export and import trade of 1871, of 
 $289,462 in favor of the industry of the Kingdom a result which very few older 
 countries can present, 
 
 Ivory, Ibs 582 
 
 Walrus hides, pcs 460 
 
 Mules 7 
 
 Horses 10 
 
 Cat t le 202 
 
 Sheep 103 
 
 Hay, bales 94, tons 28 
 
 Shark fins, pkgs 4 
 
 Potatoes, bbls 68 
 
 Pumpkins 20 
 
 Tamarinds, bags 6 
 
 Ginger, pkgs 15 
 
 Limes, bxs 14, and 2,000 
 
 Oranges 1,150 
 
 Watermelons 50 
 
 Plants and seeds, pkgs 5 
 
 Betel leaves, cs 22 
 
 Preserves, cs 1 
 
 Koa lumber, pcs 23 
 
 Curios, pkgs 39 
 
APPENDIX. 211 
 
 The following table, showing the import and export trade of this Kingdom for 
 twenty-one years (from 1851 to 1871), together with other data relating to the 
 commerce of the group, will be valuable for reference : 
 
 COMPARATIVE VIEW OF THE COMMERCE OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS FOR 21 YEARS. 
 
 1871.. 
 1870.. 
 1869.. 
 1868.. 
 1867.. 
 1866., 
 1865.. 
 1864.. 
 1863.. 
 1862.. 
 1861.. 
 I860.. 
 1859.. 
 1858., 
 1857.. 
 1856., 
 1855.. 
 1854.. 
 1853., 
 1852.. 
 1851.. 
 
 TOTAL IMPORTS. 
 
 $1,512,697 
 1,930,227 
 2,040,068 
 1,935,790 
 1,957,410 
 1,993,821 
 1,946,265 
 1,712,241 
 1,175,493 
 998,239 
 761,109 
 1,223,749 
 1,555,558 
 1,089,660 
 1,130,165 
 1.151,422 
 1^83,169 
 1,590,837 
 1,401,975 
 759,868 
 1,823,821 
 
 TOTAL, EXPORTS 
 AND SUPPLIES. 
 
 $1,802,069 
 
 2,144,942 
 
 2,366,358 
 
 1,898,215 
 
 1,679,661 
 
 1,934,576 
 
 1,808,257 
 
 1,662,181 
 
 1,025,852 
 
 838,424 
 
 659,774 
 
 807,459 
 
 931,329 
 
 787,082 
 
 645,526 
 
 670,824 
 
 572,601 
 
 585,122 
 
 472,996 
 
 638,395 
 
 691,231 
 
 DOMESTIC PRO- 
 DUCE EXPORTED. 
 
 $1,656,644 
 
 1,403,025 
 
 1,639,091 
 
 1,340,469 
 
 1,205,622 
 
 1,396,621 
 
 1,430,211 
 
 1,113,328 
 
 744,413 
 
 586,541 
 
 476,872 
 
 480,526 
 
 628,575 
 
 529,966 
 
 423,303 
 
 466,278 
 
 274,741 
 
 274.029 
 
 281,500 
 
 257,251 
 
 309,828 
 
 FOREIGN 
 MERCHANDISE 
 RE-EXPORTED. 
 
 46 $158,974 
 630,517 
 623,067 
 447,946 
 355,539 
 428,755 
 287,045 
 548,852 
 281,439 
 251,882 
 182,901 
 326,932 
 302,754 
 257,115 
 222,222 
 204,545 
 297,859 
 311,092 
 191,397 
 381,142 
 381,402 
 
 TOTAL, 
 
 CUSTOM HOUSE 
 RECEIPTS. 
 
 $221,332 34 
 223,815 75 
 215,798 42 
 210,076 30 
 220,599 91 
 215,047 08 
 192,566 63 
 159,116 72 
 122,752 68 
 107,490 42 
 100,115 56 
 117,302 57 
 132,129 37 
 116,138 23 
 140,777 03 
 123,171 75 
 158,411 90 
 152,125 58 
 155,650 17 
 113,001 93 
 160,602 19 
 
 1871. 
 1870. 
 1869. 
 1868. 
 1867. 
 1866. 
 1865. 
 1864. 
 1863. 
 1862. 
 1861. 
 1860. 
 1859. 
 1858. 
 1857- 
 1856. 
 1855 
 1854. 
 1853. 
 1852. 
 1851. 
 
 OIL AND BONE TRANSHIPPED. 
 
 Galls. 
 Sperm. 
 
 63,310 
 
 105,234 
 
 157,690 
 
 106,778 
 
 103,215 
 
 103,957 
 
 42,841 
 
 33,860 
 
 56,687 
 
 12,522 
 
 20,435 
 
 47,859 
 
 156,360 
 
 121,294 
 109,308 
 156,484 
 
 173,490 
 104,362 
 
 Galls. 
 Whale. 
 
 283,055 
 1,443,809 
 1,698,189 
 774,913 
 821,929 
 1,204,275 
 578,593 
 608,502 
 675,344 
 460,407 
 795,988 
 782,086 
 1,668,175 
 
 222,4642,551.382 
 176,3062,018,027 
 
 1,641,579 
 1,436,810 
 1,683,922 
 
 175,396 3,787,348 2,020,264 
 
 Pounds 
 Bone. 
 
 29,362 
 
 632,905 
 627,770 
 596,043 
 405,140 
 211,178 
 337,394 
 339,331 
 337,043 
 193,920 
 527.910 
 572.900 
 1,147,120 
 1,614,710 
 1,295,525 
 1,074,942 
 872,954 
 1,479,678 
 
 1,182,738 3,159,951 
 909,379 
 
 NUMBER 
 NATIONAL 
 
 9 
 
 16 
 7 
 9 
 9 
 5 
 7 
 9 
 7 
 7 
 7 
 
 10 
 5 
 
 10 
 
 10 
 
 9 
 
 13 
 16 
 7 
 3 
 7 
 
 No. i Ton'ge. 
 
 171 
 159 
 127 
 113 
 134 
 151 
 151 
 116 
 
 88 
 113 
 
 94 
 117 
 139 
 115 
 
 82 
 123 
 154 
 125 
 211 
 235 
 446 
 
 105,993 
 91,248 
 75,656 
 54,833 
 60,268 
 62,142 
 67,068 
 75,339 
 42,930 
 48,687 
 45,962 
 41,226 
 59,241 
 45,875 
 26,817 
 42,213 
 51,304 
 47,288 
 59,451 
 61,065 
 87,920 
 
 NUMBER 
 ENTRIES 
 WHALERS. 
 
 47 
 
 118* 
 102* 
 
 153* 
 243* 
 229* 
 180* 
 140* 
 102* 
 73* 
 190* 
 325* 
 549* 
 526* 
 387* 
 366* 
 468* 
 525* 
 535* 
 519* 
 220* 
 
 GALLONS 
 
 SPIRITS 
 
 CONSUMED. 
 
 18,823 
 19,948 
 17,016 
 16,030 
 15,144 
 13,135 
 11,745 
 10,237 
 7,862 
 8,940 
 9,676 
 14,295 
 14,158 
 14,637 
 16,144 
 14,779 
 18,318 
 17,537 
 18,123 
 14,150 
 9,500 
 
 901,604 
 
 *These figures give the Total Arrivals of Whalers at various ports some of the vessels entering two or more 
 
 during the year. 
 
212 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 The following table, showing the kinds and value of the importations for 1871, 
 will interest the reader : 
 
 DESCRIPTION. 
 
 VALUE OF GOODS 
 PAYING DUTY. 
 
 VALUE GOODS 
 IN BOND. 
 
 TOTAL. 
 
 
 $t 91 477 67 
 
 ft 5 441 1 9 
 
 $' 26 918 79 
 
 
 1 286 50 
 
 
 1 236 50 
 
 
 22 510 58 
 
 1 217 04 
 
 23 727 62 
 
 
 167 468 45 
 
 9 689 02 
 
 177 157 47 
 
 
 12 330 13 
 
 315 46 
 
 12 645 59 
 
 
 14 542 41 
 
 209 56 
 
 14 751 96 
 
 f Cottons 
 
 148 879 68 
 
 9 076 57 
 
 157 956 25 
 
 
 13 319 64 
 
 585 04 
 
 13 904 68 
 
 Dry Goods { Silks 
 
 8 433 48 
 
 438 02 
 
 8 871 45 
 
 | Woolens 
 
 44 457 43 
 
 3 347 50 
 
 47 804 93 
 
 
 23 762 39 
 
 1 693 00 
 
 25'455 39 
 
 Fancy Goods, Millinery, etc 
 
 44,743 78 
 
 2 065 83 
 
 46 809 61 
 
 
 19,782 07 
 
 12 657 44 
 
 32 439 51 
 
 Flour 
 
 39,314 85 
 
 15 767 23 
 
 55 082 08 
 
 Fruits (fresh) 
 
 2 054 58 
 
 
 2 054 58 
 
 Furniture 
 
 24,087 28 
 
 1 112 60 
 
 25 199 88 
 
 
 68 50 
 
 1 856 00 
 
 1 924 50 
 
 
 14,918 30 
 
 853 98 
 
 15*772 28 
 
 Groceries and Provisions 
 
 76,525 54 
 
 41 025 50 
 
 117 551 04 
 
 Hardware, Agricultural Implements, Tools, &c. . 
 Iron and Steel 
 
 91,410 88 
 16,186 31 
 
 2,555 89 
 5 350 63 
 
 93,966 77 
 21 536 94 
 
 Jewelry, Plate, Clocks 
 
 19,044 26 
 
 215 10 
 
 19,259 36 
 
 
 77,714 34 
 
 3^6 63 
 
 78 040 97 
 
 
 22,733 09 
 
 82 00 
 
 22 815 09 
 
 
 7,345 70 
 
 
 7 345 70 
 
 Naval Stores 
 
 30,640 03 
 
 45,202 4'.) 
 
 75,842 43 
 
 Oils (Whale, Kerosene, Cocoanut, &c ) 
 
 11,292 70 
 
 38,827 27 
 
 50,119 97 
 
 
 13,003 17 
 
 
 13,003 17 
 
 Paints and Paint Oils 
 
 11,622 65 
 
 56 87 
 
 11,679 52 
 
 Perfumery, Toilet Articles 
 
 5,088 07 
 
 1,231 75 
 
 6,319 82 
 
 Saddlery, Carriages, &c 
 
 28,780 21 
 
 1,527 28 
 
 30,307 49 
 
 Shocks, Containers 
 
 47,293 27 
 
 33,718 96 
 
 81,012 23 
 
 
 2,686 67 
 
 31,390 43 
 
 34,077 10 
 
 Stationery, Books, &c 
 
 24,847 87 
 
 538 19 
 
 25,386 06 
 
 Tea 
 
 6,768 29 
 
 7 83 
 
 6,776 12 
 
 Tin, Tinware 
 
 3,941 91 
 
 
 8,941 91 
 
 Tobacco, Cigars 
 
 23,633 28 
 
 8,656 02 
 
 82,289 30 
 
 Whalebone 
 
 10 00 
 
 
 10 00 
 
 Wines (light) 
 
 7,113 13 
 
 1 003 36 
 
 8,116 49 
 
 Sundry Merchandise not included in above 
 Sundry Merchandise imported by Whalers . 
 
 34,711 27 
 1,334 63 
 
 7,177 74 
 
 41,889 01 
 1,334 63 
 
 Sundry Unspecified Merchandise. 
 
 2,559 13 
 
 
 2,559 13 
 
 Charges on Invoices 
 
 47,640 06 
 
 5,315 46 
 
 52,955 52 
 
 Twenty-five per ct. added on Uncertified Invoices. 
 
 7,627 00 
 
 2,100 62 
 
 9,727 62 
 
 
 $1,244,941 13 
 
 $292,635 33 
 
 $1,537,576 46 
 
 THE TARIFF. The import duties levied at the Custom House upon merchan- 
 dise entered for consumption, is generally 10 per cent, ad valorem on the invoice 
 cost ; the following being the exceptions : 
 
 1. Such importations as are allowed free by law. 
 
 2. Tobacco and Opium, and all manufactures thereof, 15 per cent, ad valorem. 
 
 3. Alcohol, $10 per gallon. 
 
 4. Alcohol for medicinal, mechanical or scientific purposes, upon proper appli- 
 cation, 50 per cent, ad valorem. 
 
 5. Spirits and Perfumery, when over 30 of alcoholic strength and under 
 55 , S3 per gallon. 
 
 6. Wines, when over 18 and less than 30 of alcoholic strength, $1 50 
 per gallon. 
 
APPENDIX. 213 
 
 7. Light Wines, Champagne, Khine, etc., 15 per cent, ad valorem. 
 S. Sugar, the product of any country with which this Government has no ex- 
 isting treaty, 2 cents per pound. 
 
 9. Molasses, the product of any country with which this Government has no 
 existing treaty, 10 cents per gallon. 
 
 10. Coffee, the product of any country with which this Government has no ex- 
 isting treaty, 3 cents per pound. 
 
 11. Rice, the product of any country with which this Government has no ex- 
 isting treaty, cleaned 1J cents per pound in the husk 1 cent per pound. 
 
 It is required that all invoices presented at the Custom House for entry, shall 
 have attached the certificate of the Hawaiian Consul at the port or place of ship- 
 ment, otherwise as a penalty 25 per cent, is added to the invoice value, and the 
 usual duties levied upon the increase. 
 
 There are no transhipment or export duties or tonnage dues. 
 
 The usual port charges are : Pilotage anchoring outside, $10 ; anchoring 
 without pilot's services, when boarded by pilot as health officer, $5 ; entering or 
 leaving harbor, per foot of vessel's draft, $1 ; buoys, $2; lighthouse, S3; harbor 
 master's fees, mooring or unmooring, $3 ; wharfage, per ton, each day, 2 cents 
 (Sundays not counted.) 
 
 Passengers arriving from foreign ports are taxed two dollars each, upon the 
 granting of permits to land, which tax is collected at the Custom House, and is for 
 the benefit of the Queen's Hospital. All passengers departing, after a residence 
 of thirty days, are required to procure a passport ; and any vessel taking a person 
 away without such passport, is liable to a fine, as well as for all debts which such 
 passenger may have left unsettled. This law does not apply to passengers arriv- 
 ing in transitu to or from the Colonies and America or Europe. 
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF HAWAIIAN VOLCANOES. 
 
 THE recent eruptions on Hawaii have excited a world-wide interest in Hawaiian 
 volcanoes, which will render a sketch of them not inappropriate in a work of this 
 kind. A portion of what follows appeared in supplements to the u Pacific Com- 
 mercial Advertiser," issued March 26, 1859, and May 9, 1868: 
 
 The only island of our group which has, within the memory of man, been 
 known to be in a state of volcanic action, is HAWAII. All the others are of more 
 ancient formation. It consists of four principal mountain divisions, the Kohala 
 range at the north, which is evidently of very old formation, Mauna Kea, an 
 extinct volcano, Mauna Hualalai, on the western coast, which has not been in 
 action since 1801, and Mauna Loa, which is now the only active volcano in the 
 group. The height of these three mountain peaks, as measured by Captain 
 Wilkes, are : Mauna Loa, 13,760 feet; Mauna Kea, 13,950 feet; and Hualalai, 
 10,000 feet. 
 
 Whether we view its height and immense size, the beauty and singularity of 
 its dome-like summit, or the magnitude and length of its lava streams, the Volcano 
 of Mauna Loa, on Hawaii, is one of the most remarkable in the world, rising from 
 the sea to an elevation of nearly 14,000 feet. In height it is only exceeded by the 
 active volcanoes of Cotopaxi, in Ecuador, (18,887 feet,) that of Popocatepetl, in 
 Mexico, (17,700 feet,) and two or three others in Asia and America. All these, 
 however, rise from elevated table lands, and consequently only show a height of 
 
214 APPENDIX. 
 
 7 to 9,000 feet from their bases. Mauna Loa, on the contrary, rises in one stu- 
 pendous mount directly from the sea, and, as seen by vessels passing it, forms one 
 of the most beautiful sights in the world, its summit being apparently as symmet- 
 rical as the dome of a cathedral, and generally dotted or covered with snow. 
 
 On this vast mountain exist two craters, that of Mokuaweoweo on the summit, 
 and Kilauea on the southern slope, both of which are seldom inactive. The sum- 
 mit crater is surpassed in extent only by that of Haleakala on Maui. It was first 
 described by the lamented English traveler, Douglas, who visited it in 1834, and 
 subsequently lost his life on the same mountain. Its size, as measured by Lieu- 
 tenant Wilkes, is 11,000 feet long and 8000 feet wide, being about six miles in cir- 
 cumference. Its average depth is 800 feet. The bottom of this crater is rent by 
 terrible chasms, which to all attempts yet made are unfathomable. It is divided 
 into three lesser ones, the most northern of which is known as Mokuaweoweo. 
 
 The crater of Kilauea, being much more accessible that than of Mokuaweoweo, 
 is the chief point of interest with tourists. It is approached either from Kau, (the 
 most southern district of the island,) over a tolerably good road, or from Hilo, dis- 
 tant 29J miles, over a rough and often muddy road, requiring from six to ten hours, 
 to accomplish it, according to its condition. The " Volcano House," kept by an 
 intelligent Hawaiian, is provided with the necessaries and food required by trav- 
 elers. The government steamer makes monthly trips to Hilo, and weekly trips to 
 Kealakeakua Bay, occasionally running to Kau. The cost of the round trip from 
 Honolulu to the crater and back, by either route, is from sixty to one hundred dol- 
 lars, according to the tastes of the traveler. 
 
 The crater of Kilauea, called by the natives " Lua Pele" or Pele's Pit, is sim- 
 ply a deep pit of oval form, about two by three miles in extent, its walls varying 
 from five hundred to one thousand feet in height. Its bottom or floor is very un- 
 even, and subject to frequent changes caused by eruptions. The level of this 
 floor appears to have varied several hundred feet during the past forty years. It 
 is seldom seen in action throughout its entire extent, the lava flow being generally 
 confined to one or more lakes, which are sometimes connected by streams of lava 
 flowing from one lake to another. The view of this crater given at the commence- 
 ment of this Appendix, represents it as it appeared early in the present century, 
 when there was more activity than now. 
 
 The eruptions of Mauna Loa are not confined, however, to these two craters, 
 but occur on all sides of the mountain and at various heights, from 5,000 to 12,000 
 feet above the sea. It is only of the eruptions occurring during the present cen- 
 tury that authentic data have been preserved, and of these we propose to give as 
 full an account as our limits will permit, commencing with that of Mount Hualalai, 
 which took place in 1801, and is the only one recorded on that mountain. The 
 description is taken from Rev. William Ellis' " Tour Around Hawaii," as given 
 by the English traveler Turnbull, who witnessed it : 
 
 THE ERUPTION OF 1801 ON MOUNT HUALALAI. 
 
 " In the afternoon, Messrs. Thurston and Bishop walked out in a northwest 
 direction, till they reached the point that forms the northern boundary of the bay, 
 on the eastern side of which Kailua is situated. It runs three or four miles into 
 the sea, is composed entirely of lava, and was formed by an eruption from one of 
 the large craters on the top of Mauna Hualalai, (Mount Hualalai,) which, about 
 twenty-three years ago, inundated several villages, destroyed a number of planta- 
 tions and extensive fish-ponds, filled up a deep bay twenty miles in length, and 
 formed the present coast. An Englishman, who has resided thirty-eight years in 
 the islands, and who witnessed the above eruption, has frequently told us he was 
 astonished at the irresistible impetuosity of the torrent. Stone walls, trees, and 
 houses, all gave way before it ; even large masses or rocks of hard ancient lava, 
 when surrounded by the fiery stream, soon split into small fragments, and falling 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 215 
 
 into the burning mass, appeared to melt again, as borne by it down the mountain's 
 side. Numerous offerings were presented, and many hogs thrown alive into the 
 stream, to appease the anger of the gods, by whom they supposed it was directed, 
 and to stay its devastating course. All seemed unavailing, until one day the king 
 Kamehameha went, attended by a large retinue of chiefs and priests, and, n* the 
 most valuable offerings he could make, cut off part of his own hair, which was 
 always considered sacred, and threw it into the torrent. A day or two after, the 
 lava ceased to flow. The gods, it was thought, were satisfied ; and the king ac- 
 quired no small degree of influence over the minds of the people, who, from this 
 circumstance, attributed their escape from threatened destruction to his supposed 
 influence with the deities of the volcanoes." 
 
 OLD ERUPTIONS ON MAUNA LOA. 
 
 I. 1789. " The first eruption of Kilauea, of which tradition gives any defin- 
 ite knowledge, occurred about the year 1789, during the wars and conquests of Ka- 
 mehameha I. It took place between Kilauea and the sea, in a south-easterly direc- 
 tion. It is said to have been accompanied by violent earthquakes and rendings of 
 the earth, and an eruption of stones and cinders from the open fissures. It was so 
 violent and extensive that the heavens were completely darkened, and one hundred 
 lives are supposed to have been lost. There are now, over a large area near Ki- 
 lauea, a few miles distant to the south or southeast, great quantities of a light 
 pumice-like scoria with stones and sand, which are believed to have been thrown 
 out at this time." [This eruption is spoken of in Dibble's History, as having de- 
 stroyed part of the army of Keoua, Kamehameha's rival.] 
 
 II. 1823." The outbreak of 1823, and the features of the crater after it, 
 are described by Mr. Ellis. A large tract of country in Kau was flooded, and the 
 stream, when it reached the sea, as I am informed by Mr. Coan, was five to eight 
 miles wide. The earth is said to have been rent in several places, and the lavas 
 were ejected through the fissures, commencing their course above ground some 
 miles south of Kilauea. There was no visible communication with the lavas of 
 the crater at the time, but the fact of their subsiding some hundreds of feet simul- 
 taneously with the eruption, is satisfactory evidence of a connection." [This over- 
 flow probably entered the sea at Kapapala. It is spoken of by Douglas, in the 
 " Hawaiian Spectator," vol. ii, page 415.] 
 
 III. 1832. " In June, 1832, an eruption took place both from Kilauea and 
 the summit crater of Mauna Loa. The only ejection at this time of the lavas of 
 Kilauea to the surface, of which we have definite account, occurred in the east 
 wall from which streams flowed out, part back into Kilauea down the steep slope, and 
 part across into the old crater, which at the time was overgrown with wood. * * * 
 
 " In September of 1832, when Rev. J. Goodrich visited Kilauea, the eruption 
 had taken place. The lavas, which previously had increased so as to fill up to the 
 black ledge and fifty feet above, had sunk down again nearly to the same depth, 
 leaving, as usual, a boiling cauldron at the south end. The earthquake of January 
 (June ?) preceding had rent in twain the walls of the crater, on the east side, from 
 top to bottom, producing seams from a few inches to several yards in width, from 
 which the region between the two craters (Kilauea and the 'Old Crater') was 
 deluged with lava. About half way up the precipice there was a vent a quarter 
 of a mile in length, from which immense masses of lava boiled out directly under 
 the hut occupied by Lord Byron's party." See " American Journal of Science," 
 xxv, 199. 
 
 " From these accounts (Goodrich's, &c.,) it is probable that, in addition to the 
 ejections from the east wall, which are insufficient to account for the subsidence in 
 the lower pit, there must have been a subterranean outlet beneath the sea." 
 
 " An eruption is stated to have taken place in the summit crater of Mauna 
 Loa on the 20th of June, 1832, and the mountain continued burning for two or 
 
216 APPENDIX. 
 
 three weeks. The lavas broke out in different places, and were discharged from 
 so many vents, that the fires were seen on every side of the dome, and were 
 visible as far as Lahaina." See " American Journal of Science and Arts, xxv, 201, 
 in a communication from Rev. J. Goodrich, dated November 17th, 1832. 
 
 Whis eruption on the summit was doubtless connected with that in Kilauea, and 
 should be considered as part of it, although not simultaneous with it. 
 
 IV. THE ERUPTION OF 1840. 
 
 The best account published of this eruption of Kilauea is given by J. J. Jarve* 
 in his " Scenes and Scenery " : 
 
 " On the 30th of May, (1840,) the inhabitants of the district detected a smoke 
 and some fire rising in the direction of the volcano, (Kilauea.) As it proceeded 
 from an uninhabited and desolate region, they gave themselves no further concern 
 about it, attributing it to the burning of brush-wood. The next day, being Sun- 
 day, the several congregations at Hilo and its vicinity, were alarmed by the prodi- 
 gious increase of the flames in that quarter. They increased so rapidly as to leave 
 no doubt that the volcano was in motion ; but in what manner it was discharging 
 itself, was as yet conjecture. The fiery column, sending forth heavy masses of 
 smoke and cinders, gave indication that it was no ordinary outbreak. Fear began 
 to seize upon some. The burning torrent was four thousand feet above them, and 
 if it turned in the direction of Hilo, the devastation would be dreadful. But on 
 the 1st of June it began to move in a northeasterly direction, and in a little short 
 of four days reached the sea, having flowed forty miles from its source. Owing 
 to the inequalities of the country, the rapidity of its movement was not uniform. 
 In some places it was stayed for a considerable time, until a valley had been filled 
 up, or precipice overthrown. In such spots it spread itself into lakes many miles 
 wide. On level ground it moved slowly and sluggishly, but when it met with a 
 descent, it acquired a velocity of even five miles the hour, consuming everything 
 before it. Its depth varied according to the nature of the soil, and is from twelve 
 to two hundred feet and upwards. The average descent of the country in the 
 direction it took, is about one hundred feet to the mile. Its general movement, 
 owing to its great consistency, was in immense semicircular masses or waves. 
 These would roll on, gradually accumulating, until the mass had become too 
 heavy to hold itself together, while the exterior was partially cooled and solidified ; 
 then bursting, the liquified interior flowing out would join a new stream, and by its 
 momentum cleave that asunder. By these accelerated progressive movements, the 
 wave-like ridges were formed, which are everywhere observable on the older dykes. 
 At times, it forced its way under the soil, presenting the singular appearance of 
 earth, rocks, and trees in motion, like the swell of the ocean. It found its way 
 into crevices and subterranean galleries, flowing on until it had filled them up, or 
 met with some impediment, then bursting up the superincumbent soil, it bore off 
 upon its livid surface, like rafts on a river, hillocks with trees still standing upon 
 them ; and so great was its viscidity, heavy rocks floated down with the stream. A 
 white man, who was standing upon a small lime-hill, near the main stream, ab- 
 sorbed by the spectacle, felt the ground beneath him in motion, and, before he 
 could retire, it had been raised ten to fifteen feet above its former height. He had 
 barely left the spot before it burst open like a shell, and a torrent of fire issued rap- 
 idly forth. On the third day of the eruption, three new hills of a mile in length, 
 and from six hundred to eight hundred feet high, were formed in the direction 
 where the fire first appeared. 
 
 " To the windward, the running lava could be approached near enough for those 
 who wished it to thrust long poles into the liquified rock, and draw forth specimens. 
 On the leeward side, owing to the intensity of the heat, the noxious and deadly 
 vapors and gases, with which the air was impregnated, and the showers of hot 
 ashes, sand, and cinders, which were constantly descending, all vegetation for many 
 
APPENDIX. 217 
 
 miles was destroyed, and the inhabitants obliged to flee with the greatest expedi- 
 tion. Fortunately the stream flowed through two * lands ' only, according to the 
 Hawaiian division of territory, those of JNanawale and Kanahikio, both sparsely 
 populated and quite barren. Consequently, the warning being ample, although 
 a number of small hamlets were overwhelmed, and a multitude of swine and poul- 
 try perished, no lives were lost among the people. The body of an old woman, 
 who had just died, was consumed. The color of the viscid mass was, while flow- 
 ing sluggishly, of the deepest crimson ; when more active, it resembled gore and 
 fresh blood violently stirred together. At Hilo, and places forty miles distant, such 
 was the brilliancy of the light, that the finest print could be easily read at midnight. 
 This noon-tide brightness, converting night into day, prevailed over all East- 
 Hawaii for two weeks, and is represented, by eye-witnesses, to have been a spec- 
 tacle of unsurpassed sublimity. It was like the glare of a blazing firmament, and 
 was seen for upwards of a hundred miles at sea. It also rose and spread itself 
 above the lofty mountain peaks, so as to be distinctly visible on the leeward side 
 of the island, where the wind blew the smoke in dense and massy clouds." 
 
 V. THE ERUPTION OF 1843. 
 
 An eruption took place in January, 1S43, which is described by Messrs. An- 
 drews and Coan, in the "Missionary Herald," vol. xxxix, pp. 381, 463, and vol. 
 xl, p. 44. It broke out at the summit on the 10th of January, and ran down the 
 slopes of Mauna Loa in two streams; one flowing to the westward towards Kona, 
 the other northward to the foot of Mauna Kea, and then dividing, one stream con- 
 tinued on towards Waimea, north-eastward, and the other towards Hilo, eastward. 
 The branch toward Mauna Kea is described as twenty-five or thirty miles long, 
 and averaging one and a half miles in width. Mr. Coan, in his description, says 
 of its origin : " On the morning of January 10th, before day, we discovered a small 
 beacon-fire near the top of Mauna Loa. This was soon found to be a new erup- 
 tion on the northeast slope of the mountain, at an elevation of near thirteen thous- 
 and feet. 
 
 " Subsequently," Mr. Coan continues, " the lava appeared to burst out at sev- 
 eral points lower down the mountain, from whence it flowed off in the direction of 
 Mauna Kea, filling the valley between the mountains with a sea of fire. Here the 
 stream divided, part flowing toward Waimea, and the other eastward toward Hilo. 
 Still another stream flowed along the base of Mauna Loa to Hualalai, in Kona. For 
 about four weeks this scene continued without much abatement," &c. Ascending 
 the mountain, Mr. Coan reached the stream of lava between Mauna Loa and 
 Mauna Kea, about 7000 feet above the sea. On the evening of the third day, " as 
 darkness gathered around us, the lurid fires of the volcano began to glow and to 
 gleam upon us from the foot of Mauna Kea, over all the plain between the two 
 mountains, and up the side of Mauna Loa and its snow-crowned summit, exhibit- 
 ing the appearance of vast and innumerable furnaces burning with intense vehe- 
 mence. On this plain we spent the day in traversing and surveying the immense 
 streams of fresh scoria and slag which by in wild confusion further than the eye 
 could reach, some cooled, some half-cooled, and some still in fusion." On the 
 ascent they passed fields of scoria, and regions that were at times steaming and 
 hot, evincing igneous action beneath. 
 
 " Soon we came to an opening of twenty yards long and ten wide, through 
 which we looked, and at the depth of fifty feet, we saw a vast tunnel or subterra- 
 nean canal, lined with smooth, vitrified matter, forming the channel of a river of 
 fire, which swept down the steep side of the mountain with amazing velocity. As 
 we passed up the mountain we found several similar openings into this canal, into 
 which we cast large stones ; these, instead of sinking into the viscid mass, were 
 borne instantly out of sight. Mounds, ridges and cones were thrown up along the 
 line of the stream, from the latter of which steam, gases and hot stones were 
 ejected. At three o'clock we reached the verge of the great crater where the erup- 
 28 
 
218 APPENDIX. 
 
 tion first took place, near the highest point of the mountain. Here we found two* 
 immense craters, close to each other, of vast depth and in terrific action." 
 
 VI. THE ERUPTION OF 1852. 
 
 This occurred in February, 1852, and broke out on the north side of Mauna 
 Loa, not a great distance from that of 1855. An account of it, written by Mr. 
 J. Fuller, and dated May 12th, we find in the " Friend " for May, 1852, and 
 extract a few paragraphs describing the scene : 
 
 '' During the first night, at the distance of forty miles, we heard the rumbling 
 of the volcano, like the roar of the heavy surf breaking upon the shore, and saw 
 the sky brilliantly illuminated above the crater and the flowing lava. An immense 
 column of vapor and smoke arose from the crater and formed a magnificent arc, 
 reflecting the red and purple light of the fiery masses below. Animated by sights 
 and sounds so grand, we quickened our pace in order to gain a nearer view of the 
 scene, believing that in this case distance did not lend enchantment to the view. 
 
 " On the second day, towards night, we came to a hut built by the party of the 
 previous week. Being wet with the rain, we concluded to spend the night here : 
 we enlarged the house, built a fire in one part of it, put on dry clothes, wrapped 
 ourselves in our blankets, and passed a comfortable night. The morning was fine. 
 We soon caught sight of the lava jets as they shot up above the distant mountain 
 ridges, and passing the whitened bones of a mule lost by the King's party while 
 crossing the mountains two or three years ago, snatching here and there a bunch 
 of delicious ohelos, which grew by the path, we came, at about 10 A. M. of the 
 third day, to the last ridge that separated us from the region of the eruption as- 
 cended to the top of this, the whole scene, wild, terrific, grand, magnificent, burst 
 upon our senses ! 
 
 " It is impossible to give you a complete description of what we saw and heard, 
 or to draw a picture which will produce the same impression on your mind that the 
 original did upon mine. Language, on such an occasion, is powerless, eloquence 
 is dumb, and silence is the expression most congenial to the sentiments of the soul ; 
 yet I will try to give you some facts and hints which will assist your imagination 
 in its conceptions of the wildly interesting scenes we witnessed. 
 
 "Imagine yourself, then, just ascended to the top of the above mentioned emi- 
 nence. Before you, at a distance of two miles, arises the new formed crater in the 
 midst of fields of black, smoking lava, while from its centre there jets a column of 
 red-hot lava to an immense height, threatening instant annihilation to any presump- 
 tuous mortal who should come within reach of its scathing influence. The crater 
 may be a thousand feet in diameter and from one hundred to one hundred and fifty 
 feet high. The column of liquid lava which is constantly sustained in the air, is 
 from two hundred to five hundred feet high, and perhaps the highest jets may reach 
 as high as seven hundred feet ! There is a constant and rapid succession of jets 
 one within another, and the masses falling outside and cooling as they fall, form a 
 sort of dark veil, through which the new jets, darting up with every degree of force 
 and every variety of form, render this grand fire-fountain one of the most magnifi- 
 cent objects that human imagination can conceive of. From the top of the lava 
 jets the current of heated air carries up a large mass of scoria and pumice, which 
 falls again in constant showers for some miles around the crater." 
 
 VII. THE ERUPTION OF 1855. 
 
 From an account published July 24th, 1855, in the " Pacific Commercial 
 Advertiser," a weekly journal of Honolulu, we copy the following, respecting the 
 origin of this remarkable eruption : 
 
 ' On the evening of the llth of August, about 10 o'clock, a small light, appa- 
 rently of burning brushwood or grass, was seen near the top of Mauna Loa, which 
 
APPENDIX. 219 
 
 rapidly increased until the whole heaven reflected its brightness, and turned the 
 night into day. So bright was it towards morning, that fine newspaper print could 
 easily be read by the light. It was certain that some unusual eruption had begun. 
 This light continued, varying in brightness, for weeks ; sometimes a dense smoky 
 atmosphere obscured it wholly, but when clear, the sight as seen by vessels at sea 
 is represented to have been grand beyond description. The seat of this eruption, 
 which is in the old traditional crater of Mokuaweoweo, is on the summit of Mauna 
 Loa, some 14,000 feet above the level of the sea, in a region rarely visited by man." 
 
 Mr. Coan visited the source of this stream, and the following is from his report 
 of the trip : 
 
 " Taking the channel of a stream which enters Hilo Bay as our path, we ad- 
 vanced with much toil through the dense jungle along its banks, and rested at night 
 at the roots of an ancient tree having made about twelve miles. The next day 
 we made about twelve miles more, for the most part in the rocky bed of the stream, 
 the water being low. Volcanic smoke filled the forest, and charred leaves came 
 floating on the breeze and falling into the wild channel we were threading. At 
 night, when the shades gathered over these deep solitudes, unbroken save by the 
 bellowing of the mountain bull, the barking of the wild dog, the grunt of the forest 
 boar, the wing and the note of the restless bird, the chirping of the insect, the fall- 
 ing of a time-worn tree, the gurgling of the rill, and the wild roar of the cataract, 
 we made our little beds of ferns under the trunk of a prostrate tree, and here, for 
 the first time, we found that the molten stream had passed us in the jungle on the 
 left, and was now many miles below us on its way to Hilo. But we would not 
 retreat, and as the jungle was nearly impenetrable in the direction of the stream, 
 we pursued our upward way in the bed of the river until half-past one P. M. on 
 the third day, when we found ourselves out of the forest, and on the high plateau 
 at the base of the mountain. I cannot stop to describe the beautiful, the romantic, 
 the wild, the wonderful, in the banks, the narrows, the widenings, the rocks, the 
 rapids, the cascades, the basins, the caves and natural bridges of this solitary 
 stream. Nor can I speak of the velvet mosses, the modest creepers, the rich fes- 
 toons, the sweet wild flowers, the gigantic ferns, the ancient forests, and all the 
 tropical glories which are mirrored in its limpid waters. We needed an artist and 
 a naturalist to fix the glowing panorama, to paint the flora and catch the fauna of 
 these romantic solitudes. 
 
 " When we emerged from the upper skirts of the woods, a dense fog obstructed 
 our view of all distant objects, so that we could not see the summit-fires nor trace 
 the molten stream down the slope of the mountain. We encamped early in a vast 
 cave ; but during the night the stars came out, and the volcanic fires played bril- 
 liantly from their high source down the mountain sides, over the scorified plains, 
 and far down in the forest over Hilo. 
 
 " Early in the morning (Friday, the 5th,) we left our cavern, and at 7J A. M. 
 were on that black and smoldering stream, for which we had been searching for 
 more than three days. Almost as far as the eye could reach, these regions had 
 been flooded with seas of fusion now, for the most part, hardened, but smoking 
 and crackling with heat and escaping gases. 
 
 " We passed several miles up the left verge of the stream, and finding a narrow, 
 well-solidified place, we crossed over to the right verge our passage occupying an 
 hour and a quarter. We now ascended rapidly along the right bank of the stream, 
 sometimes upon it and again skirting it, according to the facility for traveling or 
 the directness of its course. The stream is very tortuous, making ample detours 
 and sudden zigzags, so that we saved much by cutting off bends or following the 
 bases of the triangles described in its course. 
 
 " All this day we came to no open fire. The first overflowing had stiffened 
 and solidified in contact with the atmosphere, forming a broad open pall. Under 
 this self-made counterpane the continuous stream had formed a vast duct ; and in 
 this subterranean pyroduct it now flows like oil, at the depth of from twenty to one 
 hundred feet, unexposed to the stiffening action of the air. 
 
220 APPENDIX. 
 
 " At night we slept on the higher regions of the mountains, beyond the line of 
 vegetation, with the slag for our pillow, the heavens for our canopy, the stars for 
 our watch-fires, and Israel's Shepherd for our guardian. 
 
 " We were astir early on Saturday morning, climbing over indescribable hills, 
 cones, ridges, and masses of hot and smoking debris and scoria, scattered wild and 
 wide over those Plutonic regions. We soon came to a line of jagged cones with 
 open orifices of from twenty to one hundred feet in diameter, standing over the 
 molten river and furnishing vents for its steam and gases. We approached the 
 vents with awe, and, looking down their fiery throats, we heard the infernal surg- 
 ings and saw the mad rushings of the great molten stream, fused to a white heat. 
 The angle of descent was from 3 to 25 , and we judged the velocity to be forty 
 miles an hour I 
 
 " The maddening stream seemed to be hurrying on, as if on swift commission 
 from the Eternal to execute a work of wrath and desolation in the realms below. 
 Upward and onward we went climbing ridge after ridge, parched with thirst, 
 panting in a rare atmosphere, blinded by smoke, almost scathed by heat and exco- 
 riated by sulphurous gases. 
 
 " All the rest of the way we saw frequent openings into the fiery canal, upon 
 whose arched ceiling we walked for miles, with the fearful stream rushing madly 
 beneath our feet. At one P. M. we found ourselves at the terminal crater and 
 standing on its craggy and smoking crest. 
 
 " This was the high fountain of eruption the great chimney which goes down 
 immeasurable depths into those fearful realms where man's eye never penetrated, 
 and where he cannot look and live. For nearly five days we had struggled to gain 
 this point; and now we were here specks, atoms in creation obscured by smoke, 
 startled by infernal hissings, amid these wild wonders, these awful displays of 
 power which had scattered such a tempest of fiery hail and raised such a raging 
 sea of molten rocks on these everlasting hills. 
 
 " The grandeur, the sublimity, the terror of the scene were unutterable. A 
 vast chasm had opened horizontally on the top of the mountain, and along this 
 yawning fissure stood a series of elongated, jagged arid burning cones, about one 
 hundred feet high, rent through their larger diameter, and throwing up dense col- 
 umns of blue and white smoke, which, covering the mountain's summit, rolled in 
 fleecy masses down its sides and spread out like the wings of chaos over unmeas- 
 ured regions. Still no fire could be seen in this fountain-crater. We could feel it 
 everywhere, and we could see and hear its escaping gasses, but the throats of the 
 cones were clogged with cinders, pumice and ashes, with cracks, crevices, &c., for 
 the escaping smoke. The fusion had long since found vent in a lateral, subterra- 
 nean duct, several hundred feet below the rim of the crater, and in this covered 
 way it flows off' until it makes its appearance, as described, some two miles down 
 the side of the mountain." 
 
 This eruption, which, in the quantity of lava thrown out, has probably never 
 been surpassed during the residence of foreigners on these islands, continued for 
 about thirteen months, and stopped when within six or seven miles of Hilo. The 
 stream was more than sixty miles long, and the area covered by the eruption prob- 
 ably exceeded three hundred square miles, or about one-thirteenth of the area of 
 the Island of Hawaii. It finally ceased and became quiet during September or 
 October, 1S56. 
 
 MIL THE ERUPTION OF JANUARY, 1859. 
 
 The commencement of this great eruption is described by Rev. Mr. Lyons, ot 
 Waimea, Hawaii, in a letter to us, dated February 4th. Mr. Lyons' dwelling was 
 in full view of the crater from its commencement, and, seated on his verandah, so 
 bright was the light of the eruption, that he could read a newspaper without diffi- 
 culty, and during its height candles were unnecessary in the evenings. This will 
 the reader some idea of the splendor of the scene. Mr. Lyons says : 
 
APPENDIX. 221 
 
 ** Had I the ability, I should like to give a description of the present volcanic 
 eruption ; but I am fearful of a failure, should the attempt be made. When one 
 has seen the real thing itself, there is no room for the play of the imagination or 
 poetry. You may exhaust language of its most impressive and descriptive terms, 
 and yet fail to reach the reality. I shall attempt to give no more than a few facts. 
 
 " On Sabbath, January 23d, volcanic smoke was seen gathering on Mauna Loa. 
 In the evening the mountain presented a grand yet fearful spectacle. Two streams 
 of fire were issuing from two different sources, and flowing, apparently, in two dif- 
 ferent directions. The whole region, earth and heaven, were lighted up, and even 
 the interior of our houses received the lurid volcanic light direct from its source. 
 In the morning of the second day we could discern where the eruptions were. One 
 appeared to be very near the top of the mountain, but its stream and smoke soon 
 disappeared. The other was on the north side, further below the top, and was 
 sending out its fires in a north-westerly direction. On the second and third nights 
 the dense smoke prevented us from having a fair view of Pele's doings ; but on 
 the four following nights we had a view and such a scene ! It seemed as though 
 the eye could never weary in gazing at it. The burning crater seemed to be con- 
 stantly enlarging and throwing up its volumes of liquid fire above the mouth of 
 the crater I will not venture to say how high and the fiery stream rolled onward 
 and onward, still adding grandeur and terror as it proceeded, till on the morning 
 of the 31st, about sunrise, the stream was compelled, though reluctantly, to stop, 
 by meeting the waters of the ocean. Even then its resistless and opposing energy 
 carried it on some distance into the sea." 
 
 Immediately after the fact of a new volcanic eruption was known in Honolulu, 
 the writer of this appendix took passage in the first packet for the scene, and from 
 the account of his visit, which appeared in the " Advertiser" of the 17th of Feb- 
 ruary, then published and edited by him, the following is taken : 
 
 " Our camping ground is located on the elevated table-land lying between the 
 three great mountains of Hualalai, Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa, sixteen miles 
 from Kailua, and some ten miles in an air line from the crater, which lies over 
 against us on the side of Mauna Loa, distinctly in view. This plain is about 5000 
 feet above the sea, and is covered with small shrubs and trees, growing from ten 
 to twenty feet high. In some places it is level and covered with a coarse black 
 sand, similar to that found on the sides of Punchbowl, only much coarser, while 
 the shrubs are so sparsely scattered as to allow a horse to travel across it on a full 
 gallop ; in others it consists of a dense jungle with numerous pits or caves, con- 
 cealed by overgrowing shrubs. This part of the plain is almost impenetrable. In 
 still other localities it is covered with coarse lava stones or " clinkers," over which 
 traveling is next to impossible. The nights are extremely cold, frost covering the 
 ground every morning. The days are, however, warm and pleasant, and the air, 
 both night and day, is cool and invigorating. 
 
 " During the day-time the light of the crater and the lava streams is hardly 
 perceptible. The night is the best time for observation. Soon after the sun had 
 set, the molten streams began to show their courses, while the spouting of the lava 
 from the crater became more and more distinct. The reflection of the numerous 
 fiery streams rolling rapidly down the side of the mountain and across the plain, 
 lit up the overhanging clouds, making it as bright as moonlight for many miles 
 around. As night advanced, and every little stream and light became brilliant, 
 the scene was grand. 
 
 " This new crater is located on the northern slope of Mauna Loa, at an eleva- 
 tion of, say 8500 feet above the sea. It is some ten or more miles westward and 
 about 4000 feet lower than the last eruption of 1855, known as that of Mokuaweo- 
 weo. The course of the stream, from its course to the sea, we judge to be nearly 
 northwest by north. The crater bears due east from Kailua by the compass, and 
 is about twenty-four miles from that harbor in a straight line. Its latitude, as near 
 as we are able to determine without instruments, is 19 37', long. 155 49'. By 
 
222 APPENDIX. 
 
 referring to a map or chart, its position on the island can readily be noted. Our 
 figures are only estimates, and accurate observations may prove that we are in error 
 in some of them. 
 
 " The actual size and form of the crater can only be determined by visiting its 
 immediate vicinity, which we were not prepared to do. From the distance at 
 which we observed it, about ten miles, and from various points of observation, it 
 appeared to be circular, its width being about equal to its breadth, and over two 
 hundred feet across the mouth. Its rim is surrounded or made up of cones formed 
 from the stones and scoria thrown out, these cones constantly varying in extent, 
 now growing in size and again all tumbling down. The lava does not simply run 
 out from the side of the crater like water from the side of a bowl, but is thrown up 
 in continuous columns, very much like the geyser springs, as represented in school 
 geographies. 
 
 " A dense, heavy column of smoke continually poured out from the crater, but 
 always on the north side, and took a north-easterly direction, rising in one contin- 
 uous column far above the mountain, to a height of perhaps 10,000 feet above the 
 crater. This smoke hovers over that island, and indeed all the group, and must 
 at times, when the trade-wind lulls, obstruct the view. During our stay, however, 
 it passed off from the mountain, leaving the lower atmosphere quite clear. We 
 watched closely to observe whether any steam could be seen issuing, either from 
 the crater or from any of the streams of lava, but could not see anything that could 
 be called steam or vapor, unless occasionally very slight indications along some of 
 the lava streams. Considerable smoke rose along the streams, as the molten lava 
 came in contact with trees and vegetable products, but the mass of smoke came 
 from the crater itself. Steam was noticed in various places on the plain, issuing 
 from the rocks, and near one of the camps the heat was so intense that a teakettle 
 could be boiled over it. But this steam was undoubtedly caused by the heat of 
 the flowing lava coming in contact with pools of water in caves or pits. 
 
 " At times the spouting appeared to be feeble, rising but little above the rim of 
 the crater, but generally, as if eager to escape from the pent-up bowels of the earth, 
 it rose to a height nearly equal to the base of the crater. But the columns and 
 masses of lava thrown out were ever varying in form and height. Sometimes, 
 when very active, a spire or cone of lava would shoot up like a rocket, or in the 
 form of a huge pyramid, to a height nearly double the base of the crater. The 
 mouth of the crater being about 250 feet across, the perpendicular column must be 
 500 feet in height ! Then, by watching it with a spyglass, the columns could be 
 seen to diverge and fall in all manner of shapes, like a beautiful fountain. 
 
 " This part of the scene was one of true grandeur no words can convey a full 
 idea of it to the reader. The molten fiery-redness, ever varying, ever changing 
 its form, from the simple gurgling of a spring to the hugest fountain conceivable 
 like a vast natural kaleidoscope is a picture too grand to be described, but when 
 seen will remain painted on the observer's memory till death. Large boulders of 
 red-hot lava stone, weighing hundreds of tons, thrown up with inconceivable power 
 high into the air, could be occasionally seen falling outside or on the rim of the 
 crater, tumbling down the cones and rolling over the precipice, remaining brilliant 
 for a few moments, then becoming cold and black, were lost among the surround- 
 ing lava. So awfully grand, so beautiful, was this ever- varying scene, that the 
 spectator cannot help watching it with intense delight and increasing excitement 
 for hours together; the only drawback being the severe cold of the night, against 
 which travelers should be provided. 
 
 " On leaving the crater, the lava stream does not appear for some distance, say 
 an eighth of a mile, as it has cut its way through a deep ravine or gulch, eighty or 
 or one hundred feet deep, which hides it from view. The first, then, that we see 
 of the lava, after being thrown up in the crater, it is branching out into streams 
 some distance below the fountain-head. Instead of running in one large stream, it 
 divides into a great number perhaps as many as fifty spreading out over a tract 
 
APPENDIX. 223 
 
 of five or six miles in width. For the first six miles from the crater the descent 
 is rapid, and the flow of the lava varies from four to five miles an hour ; but after 
 it reaches the plain, where it is level, it moves slower. Here the streams are not 
 so numerous as higher up, there being a principal one, which varies and is very 
 tortuous, from an eighth to a quarter of a mile in width, with frequent branches 
 running off from it. 
 
 " Some of the finest scenes of the flow were the cascades or falls formed as it 
 flowed down the steep declivities below the crater, and before it reached the plain. 
 There were several of them, and they appeared to be changing and new ones 
 formed in different localities as new streams were made. One, however, which 
 appeared without change for two days, was eighty or one hundred feet in height. 
 First there was a fall, then below were cascades or rapids. To watch this during 
 the night, when the bright cherry-red stream of lava was tumbling over it at the 
 rate of ten miles an hour, like water, was a scene not often witnessed and never 
 to be forgotten. In fact, the lava near its source had all the characteristics of a 
 river of water flowing rapidly along, and gurgling with cascades, rapids and falls. 
 
 " On reaching the plain, where it is more level, the lava stream of course moves 
 along more slowly and in one general stream, less divided than above. The stream 
 which had run into the sea had apparently ceased flowing and was cooled over, so 
 that we crossed and recrossed it in many places, and through the fissures the molten 
 lava could be seen, with its red-hot glow and intense heat, issuing out from them. 
 In many places the surface was so hot that the soles of our shoes would have been 
 burned had we not kept in rapid motion. The length of the lava stream from the 
 crater to where it enters the sea at Wainanalii, is estimated to be forty miles. 
 
 " On the afternoon of our arrival at the camping-ground, a new stream started 
 some few miles below the crater, which had evidently been dammed up by some 
 obstruction, and came rushing down with tremendous noise and fury through the 
 thick jungle which lay in its track, burning the trees, and sending up a thick smoke 
 almost as dense as that from the crater. This stream, from the time it broke away 
 from the embankment, moved along several miles an hour till it reached the vicinity 
 of our camp, when its progress was checked, and it moved not more than a quarter 
 of a mile an hour. But it formed a magnificent sight. Here was a stream of lava 
 rolling over the plain, twenty to twenty-five feet in height, and an eighth of a mile 
 in width, though its width varied a great deal, sometimes broader, sometimes nar- 
 rower. It was, in fact, a mass or pile of red-hot stones, resembling a heap of coals 
 on fire, borne along by the more liquid lava underneath. As it moved slowly along, 
 large red boulders would roll down the sides, breaking into a thousand small stones, 
 crushing and burning the trees, melting the rocks, and destroying everything which 
 lay in the track. It is impossible to give a true conception of the immense force 
 of this lava stream, bearing along as it does an almost inconceivable mass. It 
 reminds one most vividly of the breaking up of the ice in a large river, only the 
 imagination must stretch the comparison and suppose the ice piled up twenty-five 
 feet, and thus borne along by the current beneath, the whole width of the river 
 moving at the same time, crashing and breaking and piling up cones and irregular 
 masses on top. But even this comparison is far below the reality to be conceived 
 it must be seen. 
 
 " We visited the lava stream four or five times, both in the day and night, 
 though in the day-time it appeared robbed of its peculiar beauty. Owing to the 
 intense heat, it could not be approached comfortably within a hundred feet, yet 
 some of our party, anxious to outdo the rest, ventured to the stream itself, and with 
 long sticks raked out amall specimens of red-hot lava stones, which were brought 
 away as mementoes. This stream is made up for the most part of the dross of the 
 lava, called aa, which as it becomes cooled crumbles into stones and rocks, and is 
 thus piled up to a height of twenty or twenty-five feet, and carried along by the 
 more liquid lava beneath it. This clinker lava, when moving along, is of a dark- 
 reddish color, while the purer lava, called pahothoe, is of a more brilliant cherry 
 
224 APPENDIX. 
 
 hue, and when it cools becomes very glossy, porous and lighter than aa. It also 
 forms the best specimens for cabinets. 
 
 " About three o'clock, A. M., we visited the new stream which had been rush- 
 ing down during the night and was glowing with intense heat, it moved slowly 
 over the plain within fifteen minutes' walk of our camp. On reaching it, we stood 
 sheltered by a small tree a hundred feet distant, and as it advanced were forced to 
 retreat before it. In fifteen minutes the tree was reached, burned, and the spot 
 where we were covered by the irresistible stream. Once, while standing on a 
 rock with several others, perhaps two hundred feet from the stream, a loud ringing 
 noise was heard as if the rock had been struck by an immense sledge-hammer. 
 We started, not knowing but Pele herself was under and after us, but soon found 
 our alarm groundless, though the noise was probably caused by the liquid lava run- 
 ning under ground and suddenly filling up a cave beneath. A little while after, a 
 singular scene presented itself the appearance of a man sitting on a rock and 
 riding along on the top of the fiery lava stream. So deceptive was this illusion, 
 that several of the party, when it was first observed, looked around to see if one of 
 their number had not by accident got on to the stream. The life-like image moved 
 slowly along, till suddenly its head tumbled off, and the whole soon disappeared. 
 
 " The tract over which the lava is now flowing is a barren waste, uninhabited 
 except by wild hogs. Formerly cattle roamed over it, but they have been driven 
 to the side of Mauna Kea, which furnishes better food. We are not aware that 
 any valuable land has been overrun, unless it be near the village of Wainanalii." 
 
 After running a distance of about forty miles from its source, the lava stream 
 entered the sea at a small fishing village called Wainanalii, south of the port of 
 Kawaihae, on the morning of January 31st. The eruption having commenced on 
 the 23d of January, it was consequently eight days in running over that distance. 
 Of this, Rev. Mr. Lyons writes : 
 
 " The poor inhabitants of Wainanalii, the name of the village where the fire 
 reached the ocean, were aroused at the midnight hour by the hissing and roaring 
 of the approaching fire, and had just time to save themselves. Some of the houses 
 of the inland portion of the village were partly surrounded before the inmates were 
 aware of their danger. Wainanalii is near the northern boundary of North Kona, 
 and about fourteen miles from Kawaihae. It is of course all destroyed, and its 
 pleasant little harbor all filled up with lava. The volcanic stream was one mile 
 wide, or more in some places and much less in others. It crossed the Kona road, 
 and interrupted the mail communication. The whole distance of the flow from the 
 crater to the sea is some forty miles." 
 
 The schooner Kekauluohi was passing this village at the time the stream 
 reached the sea, and several foreigners on board have described the scene of the 
 lava rushing into the sea as one of terrific grandeur. Perhaps we cannot give a 
 better account of it than to insert the description given of the meeting of the lava 
 stream with the sea in the eruption of 1840 : 
 
 " When the torrent of fire precipitated itself into the ocean, the scene assumed 
 a character of terrific and indescribable grandeur. The magnificence of destruction 
 was never more perceptibly displayed than when these antagonistic elements met 
 in deadly strife. The mightiest of earth's magazines of fire poured forth its burn- 
 ing billows to meet the mightiest of oceans. For two-score miles it came rolling, 
 tumbling, swelling forward, an awful agent of death. Rocks melted like wax in its 
 path ; forests crackled and blazed before its fervent heat ; the very hills were lifted 
 from their primeval beds and sank beneath its tide, or were borne onward by its 
 waves ; the works of man were to it but as a scroll in the flames ; Nature shriveled 
 and trembled before the irresistible flow. Imagine Niagara's stream, above the 
 brink of the falls, with its dashing, whirling, madly raging waters hurrying on to 
 their plunge, instantaneously converted into fire, a gory-hued river of fused min- 
 erals ; the wrecks of creative matter blazing and disappearing beneath its surface ; 
 volumes of hissing steam arising ; smoke curling upwards from ten thousand vents, 
 
APPENDIX. 225 
 
 which give utterance to as many deep-toned mutterings, and sullen, confined and 
 ominous clamorings, as if the spirits of fallen demons were struggling against their 
 final doom ; gases detonating and shrieking as they burst from their hot prison- 
 house ; the heavens lurid with flame ; the atmosphere dark, turgid and oppressive ; 
 the horizon murky with vapors, and gleaming with the reflected contest ; while 
 cave and hollow, as the hot air swept along their heated walls, threw back the 
 unearthly sounds in a myriad of prolonged echoes. Such was the scene as the fiery 
 cataract, leaping a precipice of fifty feet, poured its flood upon the ocean. The old 
 line of coast, a mass of compact indurated lava, whitened, cracked and fell. The 
 waters recoiled and sent forth a tempest of spray ; they foamed and lashed around 
 and over the melted rock ; they boiled with the heat, and the roar of the conflict- 
 ing agencies grew fiercer and louder. The reports of the exploding gases were 
 distinctly heard twenty-five miles distant. They were likened to discharges of 
 whole broadsides of heavy artillery. Streaks of the intensest light glanced like 
 lightning in all directions ; the outskirts of the burning lava as it fell, cooled by 
 the shock, was shivered into millions of fragments, and, borne aloft by strong 
 breezes blowing towards the land, were scattered in scintillant showers far into the 
 country. For three successive weeks the volcano disgorged an uninterrupted burn- 
 ing tide, with scarcely any diminution, into the ocean. On either side, for twenty 
 miles, the sea became heated, and with such rapidity that on the second day of the 
 junction fishes came ashore dead in great numbers at Keau, fifteen miles distant. 
 Six weeks later, at the base of the hills, the water continued scalding hot, and sent 
 forth steam at every wash of the waves." 
 
 President W. Alexander, of Punahou College, subsequently visited the eruption 
 on Mauna Loa, and furnished an interesting report, which is given in full : 
 
 " At a time when all information relating to the eruption is eagerly received, a 
 brief sketch of what the company to which I belonged saw and did, may be interest- 
 ing to your readers, particularly as we reached the source by a route different from 
 that taken by any other party, excepting perhaps Mr. Vaudry. Our party sailed 
 from Honolulu in the Kinoole, on Tuesday, February 1st, 1859, and landed at 
 Kealakekua on Thursday noon. During the preceding night we had a distant 
 view of the eruption, like a star, two-thirds up the mountain, with streaks of light 
 branching out from below. Friday was spent in preparations for the jaunt, and on 
 Saturday morning we set out for the crater, from Kuapehu, in a direction nearly east. 
 
 " As we began to emerge from the woods we had a fine view of the jet, playing 
 at a distance of perhaps twenty-five miles, to a height, as we afterwards estimated, 
 of three hundred feet. It was of a deep-red color, in form and movement exactly 
 like a fountain, and was accompanied by immense columns of steam. It was soon 
 concealed from our view, however, by the flanks of Mauna Loa. About twelve 
 miles from the coast road we reached a watering-place called Waiio, which we 
 found nearly dry. 
 
 " Here we were obliged to send back our horses and pack-oxen and proceed on 
 foot. Our guide then led us in a direction about E.S.E. across a rugged tract of 
 clinkers to a cave, about eight miles from Waiio, where we encamped for the night. 
 This cave had formed part of the channel of a subterranean stream, which left a 
 series of deep caverns, fissures and pits to mark its course. 
 
 " During the afternoon the party, being in want of water, pushed on six or 
 eight miles S.S.E. to a well known watering-place called Puapuawai, where they 
 encamped. At this point the cold was so intense at night, that a crust of ice half 
 an inch thick was formed in our calabashes, and the berries around our camp were 
 frozen hard. As far as we could judge by the horizon, we were about a thousand 
 feet lower than the summit of Hualalai, and accordingly about 8000 feet above the 
 sea. On account of the failure of this spring, as well as for other reasons, it was 
 thought expedient to divide the party : half of them, headed by Pres. Beckwith, 
 returned to Kaawaloa, and went out to the lava flow by Gov. Adams' road. 
 
 " The advance party started again directly for the crater on Wednesday morn- 
 29 
 
226 APPENDIX. 
 
 ing, consisting of twelve white men and thirty kanakas, with a week's provisions. 
 During this day's march the rarity of the atmosphere affected us all more or less, 
 but especially our natives, who seemed unable to carry their usual loads. We 
 were slowly ascending nearly all day. The vegetation became more and more 
 scanty, till it almost entirely disappeared. 
 
 " About noon we crossed a recent flow, perhaps that of 1847, and at 4 P. M M 
 (February 9th,) after a march of about twenty miles northeast, we suddenly found 
 the two active craters, and the lava stream in its whole extent immediately below 
 us. We encamped a mile and a half southwest of the larger cone, on an eminence 
 commanding a fine view of the whole eruption. Large banks of snow and ice were 
 found within a quarter of a mile from our camp, so that all anxiety on the score of 
 water was soon dissipated. 
 
 " The sight which we enjoyed that night will not be forgotten by any of the 
 party. The jet had ceased to play, but the two craters were blowing off enormous 
 columns of steam and showers of red-hot scoria with a noise like that of heavy 
 surf, or occasionally like discharges of artillery. Half a mile below the lower crater 
 appeared a cataract of fire, continued for several miles in a winding river of light, 
 which then divided into a net-work of branches, enclosing numerous islands. The 
 branch towards Kawaihae still gave a dull-red light in a few spots, but the force of 
 the stream seemed to be directed west, towards Kona. 
 
 ' The new streams seemed to be running a race, as it were, in that direction, 
 and we could see the forest blazing before them. The next day (19th) was rainy, 
 and the fog so dense that we could not travel. We moved down a couple of miles 
 and encamped on the fresh lava stream, half a mile south of the principal cone. By 
 the heat of the steam-cracks we boiled our coffee, roasted meat and potatoes, and 
 melted the snow, which our natives had brought down in sacks, till we filled all our 
 water containers. During the day parties explored the craters. 
 
 "The two principal cones are about a quarter of a mile apart, the upper one 
 bearing southeast from the other. They are about one hundred and fifty feet high, 
 and are composed entirely of pumice and small fragments of lava which were 
 thrown out in a liquid state. The upper cone was a closed crater, enclosing two 
 red-hot vent holes or furnaces, several feet in diameter, from which it was emitting 
 steam and sulphurous gas, and now and then showers of light pumice. The suffo- 
 cating gases rendered it impossible to approach it except on the windward side. 
 The lower crater, from which the great jet had been playing two days before, was 
 somewhat -larger, and a great gap was left open on the lower side, through which 
 a. torrent of lava had flowed down the slope. 
 
 " We found a third crater, above the two we have mentioned, which was still 
 smoking, and in fact we could trace a line of fresh lava and scoria cones two or 
 three miles farther up the mountain. The larger cones were in the centre of a still 
 smoking stream, a mile wide, which must have flowed from a source considerably 
 higher up. 
 
 " It was a subject of regret to the party that they did not have a barometer to 
 measure the elevation of the source, but, taking all things into account, we think 
 it -cannot be less than 8000 feet, and is probably nearer 10,000 feet, above the sea. 
 The elevation of the 'Heiau of Umi' is given by Wilkes at 5000 feet, and we 
 think the source of the eruption is certainly 3000 or 4000 feet higher. 
 
 "We slept on the warm lava that night, and early next morning revisited the 
 lower .crater, and followed the central flow for half a mile, passing two or three 
 smalLcones, till we reached the present outlet, to which the stream has evidently 
 found its l way from the crater by a subterranean channel. It was in appearance a 
 pool of blood, a few rods in width, boiling up like a spring, and spouting up thick, 
 clotted masses to the height of ten or twenty feet. One of our party approached 
 near enough to run his pole into it. On the lower side it poured, in a cataract of 
 molten metal at a white heat, down a descent of about fifty feet, with a roar like 
 that of heavy surf. A strong south wind was blowing, which enabled us, by hold- 
 
APPENDIX. 227 
 
 ing our hats before our faces, to get within a few feet of the brink. The lava 
 appeared almost as fluid as water, and ran with a velocity which the eye could 
 scarcely follow. The solid fragments which now and then fell in, disappeared 
 almost instantly. For several miles the fiery river was a continuous series of rap- 
 ids and cataracts. At length we reluctantly returned to our camp, a distance of 
 two or three miles across the fresh lava, which in several places was hot enough to 
 burn our sandals. 
 
 " After taking our breakfast, and starting our natives over the old pahoehoe 
 along the south bank of the stream, we returned to the great cataract. The action 
 had greatly increased during the last three hours; the pool had become a fountain, 
 playing to a height of thirty feet, and the falling pieces were fast forming a crater 
 around it, the rim of which was already ten feet high, but open on the lower side 
 to afford an outlet for the torrent. Two smaller jets were playing above it, which 
 will probably unite with it to form one crater. The upper one threw up light 
 pieces of pumice to the hight of sixty feet, and was forming a very regular cone. 
 
 " It was fortunately a clear day on the mountain, and a strong wind was blow- 
 ing from the southwest, so that we traveled for three or four hours along the very 
 brink of the stream without inconvenience. It had worn for itself a deep, well- 
 defined channel, so that there was no danger of any sudden change in its course. 
 The canal in which it ran varied from twenty to fifty feet in width, and was ten or 
 fifteen feet deep. But the stream was in reality much wider than this, for the 
 banks on either side were undermined to considerable extent. Often we met with 
 openings in the crust, through which we could see the rushing torrent a few feet, 
 or even inches, below our feet. 
 
 " To describe the scene is impossible. No epithets in the English language 
 are adequate to the task. For the first time we saw actual waves and actual spray 
 of liquid lava. As its surges rolled back from the enclosing walls of rock, they 
 curled over and broke like combers on the reef. Its forms, however, were bolder 
 and more picturesque than those of running water, on account of its being a heavier 
 find more tenacious fluid. There was, besides, an endless variety in its forms. 
 Now we passed a cascade, then a whirlpool, then a smooth and majestic river, then 
 a series of rapids, tossing their waves like a stormy sea ; now rolling into lurid 
 caverns, the roofs of which were hung with red-hot stalactites, and then under 
 arches which it had thrown over itself in sportive triumph. The safety with which 
 it could be approached, was matter of astonishment, to us all. 
 
 " After following it six or eight miles we halted for dinner on an island, about 
 a quarter of a mile from the largest fall, and then proceeded down the stream till 
 4 P. M. As the descent became more gradual the torrent changed its color, first 
 to rose-color, then to a dark blood-red ; its surface began to gather a greyish scum, 
 and large drifting masses became frequent. It now began to separate into numer- 
 ous branches, and it became more unsafe to follow the central stream, as changes 
 were constantly taking place, and our retreat was liable to be cut off at any moment. 
 We therefore kept nearer the edge of the flow, and at length encamped on an island 
 in the woods. During the night the craters were very active, and the whole 
 plain seemed to be on fire below and above us. 
 
 " The party was called out by four o'clock the next morning, and went up a 
 short distance to observe a new stream which was pouring down through the woods 
 to our camp. It was a shallow flow in a high state of fusion, and was forming 
 smooth pahoehoe. Its mode of advance through the woods, girdling and slowly 
 consuming the trees, the surface constantly cooling over and breaking up by turns, 
 was exactly the same as that observed at Hilo, and needs no description. Here we 
 were able to take out as many specimens in a liquid state as we wished, to insert 
 coins into them, and if we had carried moulds with us, we might have forced the 
 liquid into almost any required shape. We spent the forenoon in following the 
 stream to the plain, partly crossing it in some places to reach the scene of a new 
 overflow. We had been particularly curious to see how clinkers are formed, and 
 
228 APPENDIX. 
 
 our curiosity was now gratified. The difference between pahoehoe or smooth lava, 
 and aa or clinkers, seems to be due more to a difference in their mode of cooling 
 than to any other cause. The streams which form the pahoehoe are comparatively 
 shallow, in a state of complete fusion, and cool suddenly in a mass. The aa 
 streams, on the other hand, are deep, sometimes moving along in a mass twenty 
 feet high, with solid walls ; they are less fluid, being full of solid points or centres 
 of cooling, as they may be called, and advance very slowly ; that is, in cooling, the 
 aa stream grains like sugar. At a distance it looks like an immense mass of half 
 red-hot cinders and slag from a foundry, rolling along over and over itself, impelled 
 by an irresistible power from behind and beneath. That power is the liquid stream, 
 almost concealed by the pile of cinders, which has been formed from itself in cool- 
 ing. We heard frequent explosions, caused by the lava penetrating caves and 
 blowing them up. The principal stream of running lava which we saw on the 
 plain, was three or four miles southeast of the extremity of the Judd Koad, and 
 was moving west by north. At this we left the lava stream, and descended to 
 Umi's Temple by a short cut, through an open forest of pjhoehoe. We reached 
 the heiau about 3 P. M., and arrived at Mr. Johnson's about 8 o'clock the same 
 evening. The other division of our party had already visited the flow by way of 
 Gov. Adams' Koad, and had returned. We sailed again from Keauhou the follow- 
 ing Tuesday, and arrived in Honolulu on Sunday morning." 
 
 IX. ERUPTION OF 1868. 
 
 The last eruption on Hawaii, (up to this date,) and the ninth on record, occurred 
 in April, 1868. A full account of it was published in the " Pacific Commercial 
 Advertiser " of May 9th, 1868, by the writer of this appendix, who was an eye- 
 witness of it. This account is given below, with some omissions : 
 
 " The first symptoms of any unusual commotion on Mauna Loa were noticed on 
 the morning of March 27th, about half-past 5 o'clock, when from the whaleships at 
 anchor in Kawaihae harbor, a dense column of smoke was observed to rise in one 
 massive pillar to the height ot several miles, directly over Mauna Loa, accompanied 
 with a bright reflection, showing that fires were again active in the great crater of 
 Mokuaweoweo. In a few hours this pillar-cloud dispersed and passed off, and no 
 light was seen on the following night. 
 
 " At about 10 A. M., on the 28th, a series of earthquakes began, which contin- 
 ued at intervals with varied severity for over a month. At Kona, as many as fifty 
 or sixty distinct shocks were felt in one day ; at Kau, over three hundred in the 
 same time, and near the great crater of Kilauea the earth is represented as having 
 been in a constant quiver for days together, with frequent vigorous shocks that 
 would send crockery, chairs, lamps, &c., spinning around in not a very pleasant 
 way. Mr. J. J. Porter, the proprietor of the Volcano House, says he endured this 
 for several days, as long as he could, till one night, about 1 1 o'clock, * Pele sent 
 one of Rodman's twenty-inch shot, with a well-directed aim, that struck the ground 
 directly under his bed, when he jumped up and ran, where or how he hardly knew, 
 but he found himself after a while in the woods, safe and sound.' 
 
 " One can readily imagine the state of nervous excitement produced by the con- 
 tinual swaying of the ground, with an occasional shock like that produced by a 
 heavy rock striking the crust beneath him. A lady, who spent two weeks in this 
 shaky region, says that she put her ear down to the earth during one of the ' ground- 
 swells,' and could distinctly hear the rushing and roaring of the lava waves beneath 
 the surface, like the surging of waves in a storm. Residents of Kau state that over 
 two thousand distinct shocks occurred there between the 28th of March and the llth 
 of April, averaging over one hundred and forty a day for two weeks. 
 
 fc * The earthquakes continued to increase in severity from March 2Sth till April 
 2d, when, about 4 o'clock in the afternoon, one took place that shook down every 
 stone wall, and : nearly every stone, frame and thatch house throughout Kau, and 
 
APPENDIX. 229 
 
 did more or less damage in every part of Hawaii, while it was felt very sensibly on 
 Maui, Molokai, Oahu and Kauai, the latter island being three hundred miles dis- 
 tant from the crater. Every church in Kau district was destroyed, with perhaps 
 a single exception. The shock was so severe that it threw persons from their feet, 
 and even horses and other animals were served in the same way. A gentleman 
 riding on horseback in Waiohinu, found his horse lying flat under him before he 
 could imagine the cause. The effect of the shock was i?istantaneous. Before a 
 person could think, he found himself prostrate on the ground. The large stone 
 church of Waiohinu went down in the same way a sudden jerk, the walls crum- 
 bled in and the roof fell flat all the work of ten seconds. Judge F. S. Lyman 
 describes this remarkable shock as follows : ' Thursday, (April 2d,) between 4 and 
 5 P. M., we experienced the most fearful of earthquakes ! First, the earth swayed 
 to and fro north and south, then east and west, round and round, then up and down 
 and in every imaginable direction for several minutes, everything crashing around 
 us, the trees thrashing about as if torn by a mighty rushing wind. It was impos- 
 sible to stand ; we had to sit on the ground, bracing with hands and feet to keep 
 from rolling over.' It left nothing but desolation and ruin throughout the district. 
 " .Respecting the course or direction of the shocks, we have made many inqui- 
 ries. Those felt on Oahu have mostly been undulating, with a wave-like motion. 
 On Hawaii they had three distinct characteristics the undulating, with the motion 
 generally from the northwest to southeast ; second, the sudden short, sharp, jerking 
 shock, occupying hardly two seconds ; and, third, a thumping, like a boulder or 
 rock thrown suddenly against the crust of the earth, and as suddenly falling down. 
 Each kind was frequently accompanied with a rattling noise, like distant thunder 
 or artillery, more or less distinct. The lighter shocks generally had no accompany- 
 ing noise. We experienced one of these ' thumping ' shocks, while sleeping near 
 the crater on the night of April 10th. It sounded precisely as if a cannon-ball had 
 struck the floor under us, and then rolled off on the verandah floor. It started us 
 out of a sound sleep. Simultaneous with the heavy earthquake on the afternoon 
 of April 2d, occurred 
 
 THE MUD ERUPTION AT KAPAPALA, 
 
 which is so singular, and so unlike anything that has heretofore occurred on the 
 islands, that we give a minute description of it. Kapapala is the residence of Mr. 
 Charles E. .Richardson in Kau, about fifteen miles from Kilauea crater, and twenty- 
 five from Waiohinu. About midway between Mr. R.'s residence and that of Judge 
 Lyman at Keaiwa, six miles west, are two beautiful valleys, that extend from the 
 road a couple of miles, which every observing traveler must have noticed. They 
 were studded with groves of kukui and other trees, and covered with a rich carpet 
 of the softest manienie grass. Herds of sleek cattle were constantly browsing or 
 enjoying the shade of the cool groves. Native huts were scattered here and there, 
 and horsemen were frequently seen crossing the valley. 
 
 " This was the scene of the ' mud-flow.' Just at the instant the earthquake 
 occurred the sides of the valley were rent, and from the fissure burst out, with a 
 terrific noise, a stream of red mud and water, which was driven by the explosion 
 fully three miles. This stream was ejected simultaneously with the heavy earth- 
 quake from both sides of the valley. Immediately under and near the fissures are 
 heaps of stones and boulders, which were evidently thrown out first, and beyond 
 these a vacant space, in which a native thatch-house was left standing and the 
 inmates unharmed, while the mud and stones flew over and beyond them. Eighteen 
 hundred feet from the opening the pile of mud commences, and extends a distance 
 of three miles from the opening, varying in width from half a mile to one mile, and 
 from two feet at the outer edges to twenty and thirty feet deep in the centre. 
 Where it crosses the road it is thirty feet deep and half a mile across. 
 
 " This mass of mud, covering an area of at least one thousand acres and weigh- 
 ing millions of tons, was thrown out as if discharged from two huge batteries of ten 
 thousand twenty-inch Rodman guns, planted on each side of the valley. At it* 
 
230 APPENDIX. 
 
 further extremity is a pile of large boulders and stones, that appear to have been 
 driven before the powerful explosion. As it swept through the valley, with the 
 most indescribable and unearthly noises, it buried and destroyed men, animals and 
 trees alike. Thirty-one lives were lost, and between five hundred and a thousand 
 head of cattle, horses, goats and sheep, some of which were just at the moment 
 being driven across the valley to the farm-house. This mud, or now more prop- 
 erly dirt, as it has become dry, consists of finely pulverized red soil, such as is so 
 often found in the group. In some places it is mixed with stones, trunks of trees, 
 fern-leaves, &c. Trunks of trees are found standing, with their limbs shot off by 
 the explosion. The force with which these streams were ejected from the hills, and 
 the speed, is said by eye-witnesses to have been at the rate at least of a mile a 
 minute. The rapidity was so great, even at the very edge of the flow, that num- 
 bers of goats, which were fleeing for life, were overtaken by it, and found a short 
 time afterwards by Mr. Richardson, sticking by their hind legs in the mud. 
 
 " From where the mud was exploded now issues a stream of clear, cool moun- 
 tain water, which it is hoped will continue to flow, as it is the only stream in the 
 district. It will be all the more acceptable, as all Mr. Richardson's cisterns have 
 been totally destroyed by the same earthquake which produced the rivulet. Some 
 of the natives present at this eruption state that the mud thrown out was cold, 
 others that it was hot, and that steam and smoke issued from the rent after the 
 eruption. It is quite probable that the earthquake created a subterranean rent, 
 which brought this confined body of water in contact with the lava fires below, and 
 thus produced the explosion without heating the mass above. Mr. Richardson's 
 loss in cattle, horses, cisterns and houses, has been estimated at fifteen thousand 
 dollars, which is probably the largest sustained by any one party. In the valley 
 adjoining there was also a small land-slide, but not on the scale noticed above. 
 The soil thrown out is rich, and will soon be covered with dense vegetation, espe- 
 cially should the fine stream remain permanent. 
 
 THE EARTHQUAKE WAVE. 
 
 " Immediately following the above explosion and the earthquake, there occurred 
 a tidal or earthquake wave, which caused great destruction of life and property 
 along the southeast coast of Hawaii, from Keauhou to Kalae, the most southern 
 point of the island. Judge Lyman, whose residence is six or eight miles from the 
 sea, describes the first view of it as follows : Some one pointed to the shore, and 
 we ran to where we could see it. After the hard shaking had ceased, all along the 
 sea-shore, from directly below us to Punaluu, about three or four miles, the sea 
 was boiling furiously, all red, for about an eighth of a mile from the shore, and the 
 shore was covered by the sea.' " 
 
 Mr. Abm. Fornander, who passed through the district a day or two before the 
 wave occurred, communicated the following to the "Hawaiian Gazette": 
 
 " At Keauhou, the following results of the earthquake on Thursday have been 
 reported. Mr. Stackpole, who had charge of the place, had been up to the Volcano 
 House during the day, and was returning in the afternoon. While descending the 
 pali to Keauhou, the first shock occurred, precipitating an immense amount of 
 earth, stones and boulders down the pali after him. Escaping these, he arrived on 
 the plateau below the pali, and looked in the direction of the village of Apua, but 
 not a house was to be seen ! He then rode down to the edge of the plateau, from 
 whence Keauhou ought to have been in sight, but nothing of it could be seen. 
 Descending to Pahoehoe, he met the men working at Keauhou running up mauka, 
 who reported that nothing was left of Keauhou ; that immediately after the earth- 
 quake the sea had rushed in and swept off every dwelling and storehouse, and all 
 their contents, and that they had barely escaped with their lives. There were some 
 167 bales of pulu in store, ready for shipment, all of which was swept away. They 
 represent that the sea went up as far as the two basaltic columns indicating the 
 road down to Keauhou a depth of wave of at least forty to fifty feet. 
 
APPENDIX. 23 J 
 
 " At Punaluu, at the moment of the shock, it seemed as if an immense quantity 
 of lava had been discharged into the sea some distance from the shore, for almost 
 instantly a terrible commotion arose, the water boiling and tossing furiously. 
 Shortly afterwards a tremendous wave was sweeping up on the shore, and when 
 it receded there was nothing left of Punaluu ! Every house, the big stone church, 
 even the cocoanut-trees all but two were washed away. The number of lives 
 lost is not yet ascertained. All who were out fishing at the time perished, and 
 many of those ashore. A big chasm opened, running from the sea up into the 
 mountain, down which it is said lava, mud, trees, ferns, and rocks were rushing 
 out into the sea. 
 
 " The same wave that swept away Punaluu, also destroyed the villages of Ni- 
 nole, Kawaa and Honuapo. Not a house remains to mark the site of these places, 
 except at Honuapo, where a small hale halawai, on the brow of the hill above the 
 village, stood on Friday last. The large cocoanut grove at Honuapo was washed 
 away, as well as that at Punaluu. A part of the big pali at Honuapo, on the road 
 to Waiohinu, had tumbled into the sea, and people coming from thence are now 
 obliged to take the mountain road through Hilea-uka. 
 
 " The sea swept Kaalualu on Thursday last, as it had swept Honuapo and the 
 other places along the coast, washed away several houses, and killed a number of 
 people how many, is not yet known. The earth had been shaking almost con- 
 stantly and severely every day and night. A large land-slide had occurred on the 
 west side of Waiohinu valley, near where Swain's tannery was formerly situated. 
 Fire had been seen in the mountains above, but none had come down on the low 
 lands between Kahuku and Waiohinu when they left, on Monday morning. A 
 large hole, sixty feet in diameter, had opened on the flat below Kahuku, with no 
 bottom visible from the brink of it, and emitting quantities of sulphuric vapor. 
 
 " I have just been told an incident that occurred at Ninole, during the inunda- 
 tion at that place. At the time of the shock on Thursday, a man named Holoua, 
 and his wife, ran out of the house and -started for the hills above, but remembering 
 the money he had in the house, the man left his wife and returned to bring it 
 away. Just as he had entered the house the sea broke on the shore, and, envelop- 
 ing the building, first washed it several yards inland, and then, as the wave receded, 
 swept it off to sea, with him in it. Being a powerful man, and one of the most 
 expert swimmers in that region, he succeeded in wrenching off a board or a rafter, 
 and with this as a papa hee-nalu, (surf-board,) he boldly struck out for the shore, 
 and landed safely with the return wave. When we consider the prodigious height 
 of the breaker on which he rode to the shore, (fifty, perhaps sixty feet,) the feat 
 seems almost incredible, were it not that he is now alive to attest it, as well as the 
 people on the hill-side who saw him. 
 
 " Mr. George Jones met a heavy loss at Keauhou by the inundation. Besides 
 the houses and fixtures that were swept away by the sea, he also lost some 167 
 bales of pulu that were ready for shipment. On Saturday last he chartered the 
 schooner Odd Fellow, and started in her to see if he could not pick up some of the 
 pulu that might have been washed along the shore between there and the south 
 point. 
 
 " Hilo and Puna have suffered, so far, comparatively least, though the shocks 
 were severe and frequent, and still continue, and the damage to houses and prop- 
 erty is very large. But poor Kau is almost wholly destroyed. The sea washed 
 away the coast villages, and the earthquake razed the inland places. 
 
 " The number of people now known to have perished between Ninole and Kea- 
 iwa, (Punaluu and Hionamoa included,) is 47; at Kawaa, 7; at Honuapo, 27; 
 total, 81, besides a number of the pulu-pickers up in the mountains, back of Hilea; 
 how many I am not yet advised, neither have I heard the number of those who per- 
 ished at Kaalualu." 
 
 This was one of those sad catastrophes where " distance lends enchantment to 
 the scene," and which few witnessed. From all we can gather from the above and 
 
232 APPENDIX. 
 
 other sources, the wave rolled in along the Kau coast from forty to sixty feet high, 
 and receded five times, decreasing in force each successive time. It covered the 
 tops of the lower cocoanut-trees, swept inland from five hundred to six hundred 
 yards, and destroyed nearly everything movable, including the trees growing along 
 the shore. The total number of lives lost during the earthquakes and tide-wave 
 was about one hundred. 
 
 After these events on the 2d of March, earthquakes continued to be frequent 
 and alarming, but nothing noteworthy occurred till the 7th, when a lava eruption 
 took place above Kahuka, seven miles northwest of Waiohinu, in the district of 
 Kau, which is the most southern district on the island. 
 
 A company of eight or ten, including the writer, left Honolulu in the steamer 
 for Kona on the 6th of April, and arrived at Kahuku on the 10th, three days after 
 the eruption broke out. We consequently had the first opportunity that could pos- 
 sibly have been sought for seeing what proved to be a most brilliant display. 
 
 On the passage to Hawaii in the steamer, on the night of the 7th, the whole 
 island of Hawaii was brilliantly illuminated, the overhanging clouds reflecting 
 the glare of the fires beneath, and a stream of la\a was seen from the vessel, a dis- 
 tance of at lest one hundred miles. 
 
 We left Kealakeakua Bay on the morning of the 9th of April, and after a slow, 
 tedious ride of twenty-seven miles, over lava clinkers, reached Kapua towards night, 
 where we slept in a thatch-house, built by Mr. C. N. Spencer as an accommodation 
 house, it being just half way between the bay and Waiohinu, and distant from the 
 lava flow about thirteen miles. During the night we could hear the distant noise 
 of the eruption a peculiar rumbling, so different from the roar of the sea or any 
 other noise, that, to wake up at night and listen to its unaccountable utterances, 
 tended to create fear with those who for the first time heard it. In the morning 
 several of the party decided to turn back to Kealakeakua, and returned without see- 
 ing the grand sight before us. The others, seven in number, not counting native 
 attendants, mounted horses and proceeded on to the flow. 
 
 As we approached it, the rumbling noise became more and more distinct, and 
 the evidences of approach to some great disturbance of nature more frequent. The 
 ground was covered with what appeared to be cinders, but on examining them we 
 found they were fragments of pumice-stone, which had been carried by the wind a 
 distance of over ten miles. Mixed with these cinders was " Pele's hair," which 
 we found floating in the air, and when it fell thick we had to hold our handker- 
 chiefs to our nostrils to prevent inhaling it. Our clothes were frequently covered 
 with it. On reaching an eminence five miles from the stream, we found a group 
 of forty or fifty natives who were waiting to cross over to Kau, and had been here 
 several days. From this point dense clouds of smoke could be seen rising all along 
 the lava stream, from the mountain-side to the sea. 
 
 We hurried on and reached the flow shortly after noon, where, from a ridge to 
 the west of it, the whole scene opened before us. Between us and the crater was 
 a valley five hundred yards wide and ten miles long, which had recently been over- 
 flowed throughout the entire width and length from the mountain to the sea, where 
 it widened to two or three miles. The lava was of the smooth pahoehoe variety, 
 from ten to twenty feet deep, and partially cooled over, though flames, smoke and 
 gas escaped from numerous crevices. We stood on it, though it was hot enough 
 to burn the soles of our shoes. This lava stream originated some ten miles up the 
 mountain, and came down early on the morning of the 7th. It had ceased flowing, 
 the eruption having opened a vent lower down and further south. 
 
 Beyond this valley, about a quarter of a mile distant, was the pali of Mamalu, 
 a steep precipice, which runs from the mountain to the south point of Hawaii, and 
 forms the west boundary of the table-land of Kahuku, a beautiful level plateau, 
 covered with tall grass, affording excellent pasturage for herds of cattle, horses, 
 sheep and goats. About a mile above the road were the farm-houses of Captain 
 Robert Brown, who lived there with his family. Near by were the dairy establish- 
 
APPENDIX. 233 
 
 ment of Mr. C. N. Spencer, and other dwellings. This plateau was several miles 
 in extent, running as far as Waiohinu, sloping gently off to the sea, and dotted 
 with hillocks. 
 
 On Tuesday afternoon, April 7th, at 5 o'clock, a new crater, several miles lower 
 down than that referred to, and about two miles back of Captain Brown's residence, 
 burst out. The lava stream commenced flowing down the beautiful grass-covered 
 plateau towards and around the farm-house, and the inmates had barely time to 
 escape with the clothes they had on, before the houses were all surrounded, burned 
 and covered with streams of fiery lava, varying from five to fifty feet in depth. 
 Fortunately, all the inmates escaped safely to Waiohinu, but how narrow the escape 
 was, and how rapidly the stream flowed, may be inferred from the fact that the path 
 by which they escaped was covered with lava ten minutes after they passed over it. 
 
 On ascending the ridge we found the eruption in full blast. Four enormous 
 fountains, apparently distinct from each other, and yet forming a line a mile long, 
 north and south, were continually spouting up from the opening. These jets, were 
 blood-red and yet as fluid as water, ever varying in size, bulk and height. Some- 
 times two would join together, and again the whole four would be united, making 
 one continuous fountain a mile in length. 
 
 From the lower end of the crater a stream of very liquid, boiling lava flowed 
 out and down the plateau, a distance of two or three miles, then following the track 
 of the Government road, ran down the precipice at an angle of about thirty degrees, 
 thence along the foot of the pali or precipice five miles to the sea, the stream being 
 eight or ten miles in length, and in some places half a mile wide. 
 
 This was the magnificent scene, to see which we had hurriedly left Honolulu^ 
 and had fortunately arrived at the right moment to witness, as it opened before us 
 in all its majestic grandeur and unrivalled beauty. At the left were those four 
 great fountains, boiling up with most terrific fury, throwing crimson lava and enor- 
 mous stones, weighing 1 many tons, to a height varying constantly from five 
 hundred to six hundred feet. At times these red-hot rocks completely filled the 
 air, causing a great noise and roar, and flying in every direction, but generally 
 towards the south. Sometimes the fountains would all subside for a few minutes, 
 and then commence increasing till the stones and liquid lava reached a thousand 
 feet in hight. The grandeur of this picture, ever varying like a panorama, painted 
 in the richest crimson hues, no person can realize unless he has witnessed it. 
 
 From this great fountain to the sea flowed a rapid stream of red lava, rolling, 
 rushing and tumbling like a swollen river, and bearing along in its current large 
 rocks that almost made the lava foam, as it dashed down the precipice and through 
 the valley into the sea, surging and roaring throughout its length like a cataract, 
 with a power and fury perfectly indescribable. It was nothing else than a river of 
 fire, from two hundred to eight hundred feet wide and twenty feet deep, with a 
 speed varying from ten to twenty-five miles nn hour. As a huge boulder floated 
 down, we imagined what if it were the iron-clad Stonewall, which had just left our 
 harbor would she have floated on to the sea unscathed, or turned into molten lava, 
 and vanished from sight ? 
 
 Night soon came, and with it the scene became a thousand-fold more beautiful, 
 the crimson of the fountains and the river doubly rich and brilliant, the lurid glare 
 of the dense clouds of smoke that overhung us. and the roaring of the crater and 
 the cataract were fearfully grand and awe-inspiring. It was like a conflagration 
 of London or Paris, as the whole scene extended over a distance of ten miles. Add 
 to this the flashes of lightning and the sharp, quick claps of thunder, and the reader 
 can imagine that a scene was before us that well repaid us for our opportune visit. 
 
 Dr. William Hillebrand and others have visited the crater since it ceased flow- 
 ing, and find that it consists simply of a rent or fissure in the earth, from ten to 
 twenty feet wide. He traced it about three miles up the mountain, but it is quite 
 probable that it extends several miles farther on, as the mountain continues smok- 
 ing in a line ten miles above. There is, therefore, no large crater, properly speak- 
 30 
 
234 APPENDIX. 
 
 ing, but the lava flow was confined to this rupture, which continued to open lower 
 down as the molten lava acted on it. 
 
 The view which we obtained of the eruption from the Kona side, on the 10th 
 of April, was therefore a side view, and probably the finest and nearest that could 
 possibly have been had. One peculiarity of this spouting was, that the lava was 
 ejected with a rotary motion, and as it ascended the air both the lava and stones 
 rotated always in one direction, towards the south. In this respect it differed from 
 that of 1859, which we were also among the first to witness. This rotary motion 
 of the lava would appear to have originated below the surface, as it rolled along 
 like waves, and corresponds with the surging sounds heard by the inhabitants of 
 Kau during the heavy earthquake shocks. 
 
 Regarding the rapidity of the stream of lava, since reading accounts of former 
 eruptions, in which it is claimed that the lava flowed forty miles an hour, we will 
 add that it is hardly possible to conceive of a stream flowing with greater rapidity 
 than the cataract and river we witnessed April 10th. It reminded us of the Con- 
 necticut river in a spring-flood, with the stream filled with ice and rushing over the 
 rapids at an impetuous rate. The speed is more likely to have been twenty-five 
 miles an hour than twelve. Where it ran down the precipice, at an angle of about 
 thirty degrees, it was more narrow and rapid than lower down, where it spread out 
 broader. This was the only stream that reached the sea, and flowed into it a little 
 west of the south point of the island, at a place called Kailikii. It lasted only five 
 days, the eruption ceasing entirely on the night of the llth or morning of the 12th. 
 
 During its continuance the atmosphere was filled with smoke so dense that the 
 sun appeared like a ball of fire, and the whole island was shrouded in darkness. 
 This smoke came from the rent or crater, and was highly charged with sulphur. 
 As it spread over the island, it carried a deadly blast to vegetation, and the leaves 
 of the more tender plants and vegetables were withered and died. It did not kill 
 the plants in any sections, that we could learn. 
 
 Opposite the point of coast where the Java reached the sea, a small conical 
 island was thrown up in the sea, half a mile distant from the shore, consisting of 
 mud and sand, and emitting steam from its summit. This island has become joined 
 to the main land by the lava flowing from the new eruption. As the lava entered 
 the sea, clouds of steam and smoke rose up, and flames of blueish fire were emitted., 
 rising from the water to a height of from ten to twenty feet. 
 
 During the night we were at the volcano, the air was highly charged with sul- 
 phur gas and electricity, and frequent flashes of lightning were seen over the lava 
 stream, accompanied with short claps of thunder. These flashes were also observed 
 less frequently farther up the mountain. 
 
 Two kinds of lava were erupted during the flow. It commenced with a stream 
 of smooth, glossy lava, known here as the pahoehoe, which was followed by the 
 thick, dirty kind, called aa. Kahuku farm was nearly covered with the latter, 
 which branched out into four wide streams, covering a space of four miles wide and 
 long. This 'was followed again by the liquid or pahoehoe, which ran into the sea, 
 and continued till the eruption ceased. About four thousand acres of good pasture 
 land were destroyed, besides which the lava ran over an immense district of worth- 
 less land. 
 
 On the night of the 6th, prior to the eruption, there was a shower of ashes and 
 pumice-stone, which came from this crater, and covered the country to the distance 
 of ten or fifteen miles each way. "Generally the ashes were not more than one or 
 two inches in depth, but in some places were found to be fifteen. The pumice- 
 stone was very light, and appears to have been carried by the wind a great distance. 
 Pieces two and three inches in size floated ashore at Kealakeakua Bay, forty-five 
 miles distant. 
 
 The roaring of the crater was a novel feature to those who had never visited an 
 eruption before. It was caused by the rocks thrown out by the crater, and the 
 crushing process of the aa as it moved along. This aa flow is composed of 
 
APPENDIX. 235 
 
 half-melted lava, and as it is pushed along piles up sometimes fifty or even a hun- 
 dred feet high, presenting the appearance of a railroad embankment, the sides hav- 
 ing an angle of about forty degrees, down which the lava stones keep rolling. This 
 stream generally moves along slowly, but when the quantity of liquid lava, which 
 floats and carries along the aa, is abundant, it moves from one to four miles an 
 hour. What makes the difference between the dry aa lava and the liquid pahoe- 
 hoe, which flows like water, is an interesting subject of inquiry that has never been 
 settled. They both flow from the same craters, one giving place to the other in 
 turns. Our own opinion is that the smooth liquid variety obtains its character by 
 long fusion, while the aa variety (which appears like half-melted stones and dirt 
 mixed together) consists of the interior surface of the earth torn off and thrown out 
 during the eruption. An examination of the various aa streams tends to confirm 
 this theory. 
 
 Besides the dwelling and premises, which were completely burned and covered 
 up ten feet deep by the lava, Captain Brown lost one hundred head of cattle, 
 and other parties about one hundred and fifty head. These cattle appeared to be 
 paralyzed on the approach of the lava, and made no efforts to escape. It is difficult 
 to estimate the loss of property on Kahuku, but it may be roughly set down at 
 from ten to fifteen thousand dollars. The houses destroyed were not expensive, 
 the main loss being in land and stock. 
 
 The lava thrown out during this eruption has been of a more porous nature 
 .than in most of the late ones. Some ot the specimens we have seen are exceed- 
 ingly light. The shower of yellowish pumice-stone, which preceded the lava flow, 
 was also something unusual in Hawaiian eruptions, and showed the eruption to 
 possess a new character, perhaps the existence of more than usual steam and gases 
 in its composition. Some have wondered why the flow ceased so suddenly con- 
 tinuing only five days. The cause is probably this : so soon as the steam, which 
 has been the active agent in producing the earthquake shocks, and in raising the 
 lava so near to the top of the summit crater that it lightened up the clouds above 
 it, found vents lower down the mountain, the eruption lost much of its power, and 
 allowed the lava to rapidly sudside. It is probable also that the submarine erup- 
 tions noticed checked the eruptions on land. 
 
 The quantity of lava thrown out has not probably been one-tenth what was 
 discharged in 1859, but the quantity of steam, gas and smoke emitted during one 
 week, must have exceeded what escaped during ten weeks in 1859, when the vol- 
 ume of smoke was comparatively small. We judge so from its density over all 
 the group and for a thousand miles off. This has not occurred in any late previous 
 eruption to the same extent. The inference therefore may be drawn that when an 
 unusual quantity of gases and smoke escapes, a less amount of lava will be dis- 
 charged ; and, vice versa, when the quantity of smoke is small, the amount of lava 
 is increased. 
 
 Respecting the weather during March, it may be added that it was of the same 
 stormy character as has prevailed all over the western hemisphere, including the 
 North and South Pacific. The quantity of rain that has fallen on the mountains 
 of Hawaii has also been large ; but to what extent these have affected the internal 
 fires, and produced the earthquakes and eruptions, must remain a matter of 
 conjecture. The thermometer during the same month showed no unusual fluctua- 
 tion, ranging from 68 to 70 at sunrise, and 83 to 84 at noon, with consid- 
 erable regularity. 
 
 Dr. Hillebrand communicated to the "Gazette " an account of his visit to the 
 crater, from which we take the following : 
 
 " As the principal interest was the discovery ot the main source of the stream, 
 we at once went to that part of it where, according to common report, the lava had 
 issued. A very light, dark-brown, glistening pumice-stone lay scattered about long 
 before the lava was seen. Near the flow it increased so much that the animals' 
 feet sank deep into it at every step. We soon reached the ridge of a hill, from 
 
236 APPENDIX. 
 
 which we surveyed the place where, according to our guide's account, the fountain 
 of lava had been seen. This upper portion of the lava stream fills a broad valley 
 or depression, between two parallel low hills of not more than three hundred feet 
 high, both running almost due north and south. From the western one of these 
 hills Mr. Whitney had witnessed the eruption. From the eastern hill we in vain 
 looked for a crater or cone. We did not make out any indication of the character 
 of the eruption until we had crossed nearly three-fourths of the stream, which here 
 is not far from a mile wide. Then our attention was attracted by an accumulation 
 of scoria. Nearing this, we were struck by a current of hot air, and, a little further 
 on, found ourselves on the brink of a deep gap in the lava, about twenty feet wide, 
 but narrowing and continuing itself northward. We walked round the southern 
 end of the gap and followed it up on the west or lee side. Before long we came 
 to another enlargement of the fissure like the former, emitting hot air charged with 
 acid gases, which drove us back. Still continuing our march on the west side of 
 the fissure, as close as the hot gases would* allow, we came in sight of a pretty 
 miniature cone, built up most regularly of loose scoria to the height of twelve feet, 
 and located right over the fissure. It encloses a chimney crater of about twelve 
 feet in diameter, with perpendicular sides, the depth of which could not be ascer- 
 tained. Hot gases issued in abundance. On account of the exhalation of the lat- 
 ter, we were obliged to cross the chasm, on the bridge formed by the cone, to the 
 windward side, along which we followed up steadily. 
 
 CONCLUDING REMARKS. *" 
 
 The record of the eruptions on Mauna Loa shows that there have been nine 
 during the last seventy-nine years, or one in about every nine years. It is 
 not improbable that some took place between 1789 and 1823, of which no record 
 has been preserved. The latter is the first which occurred after the arrival of the 
 missionaries in 1820. If we take the date of 1823 as the more reliable one on 
 which to base an estimate of the frequency of the eruptions on Hawaii, we find 
 that there have been eight during forty-five years, or one in about every five and a 
 half years. 
 
 These eruptions on Hawaii are evidently produced by no local causes, but are 
 attributable to the agency which disturbs the internal fires of the earth, and pro- 
 duces eruptions wherever vents are found. The most careful observer is unable to 
 detect in the atmosphere signs of an approaching eruption, and probably nothing 
 but the frequency and force of the earthquakes which generally (though not always) 
 precede them can be relied on as true indicators of the disturbance of the internal 
 fires, and of an impending eruption. 
 
 The last eruption (in 1868) occurred about the same time, or soon after, the 
 earthquakes, hurricanes and eruptions chronicled in South America, the East and 
 West Indies, and about six months before the severe earthquake of October, 1868, 
 in San Francisco. These facts indicate that volcanoes located in different coun- 
 tries, have a connection more or less intimate ; but beyond this, little has been 
 learned of the laws governing them, and so far as the history of Mauna Loa is 
 known, it shows a sympathy with volcanoes located in other countries. 
 
 THE CRATER OF KILAUEA. 
 
 The following vivid description of the great Crater of Kilauea is from the pen 
 of Mr. Jarves, and is taken from his " Scenes aihd Scenery," pp. 237 to 251, a 
 work to which we have made frequent reference. As a description of the crater as 
 it appeared thirty years ago, it will be found interesting- : 
 
 ** The expectations of those who have formed their ideas of volcanoes from the 
 stereotyped representations of Vesuvius and jEtna, with their conical sides and 
 narrowed top, lava red and liquid running like rivers down its sides, stones and 
 rocks soaring like feathers in the air, and volumes of steam and smoke, larger than 
 
APPENDIX. 231 
 
 die mountains themselves, ascending yet higher, will not be realized. * Lua Pele,' 
 or Kilauea, is unlike anything of the kind, nnd stands by itself, an anomaly in 
 nature ; the mightiest and most wonderful of earth's safety-valves. As we gazed, 
 its immensity grew upon us. More and more we realized its vastness; the stu- 
 pendous area of the whole became more apparent by analyzing its parts. Vesuvius 
 might easily have lost itself in that pit. All was black, with occasional gleamings 
 of red, like the forkings of lightning in a dense thunder-cloud. It looked like the 
 ruins of some mighty conflagration, from which the smoke and flame still rose, and 
 at any moment liable to break out again, fiercer than before. At the farther extrem- 
 ity, a bright light showed itself, like the flickering flame of half-extinguished em- 
 bers, and all was silent except the occasional hissing of gases and steam. 1 thought 
 of Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities of the plain. They must have appeared 
 like this, before the waters flowed in and buried them forever. After. gazing until 
 nightfall, we hastened to the hut, where we were to sleep, a mere shelter of roots 
 and grass thrown upon a few sticks, and covered on the windward side only. It 
 was but three feet from the brink of a perpendicular precipice of four hundred feet, 
 a portion of which had lately slid down part way, and hung threateningly over the 
 remainder. Back of it was a crack in the earth, through which the steam con- 
 stantly escaped. So occupied were we with the scene before us, that the danger 
 to which we were exposed in sleeping here did not occur to us until we were ready 
 to leave the crater, and the excitement was over. A slight shock of earthquake, 
 and we should have known nothing more. However, having supped, we spread 
 our blankets, with our heads towards the abyss, to be prepared for any display 
 which might occur during the night, which closed in with a cold, drizzling rain. 
 The wind blew in furious squalls, threatening at every gust to drive our frail shel- 
 ter into the pit below. In the chasm, along its walls, and through the numberless 
 rents and galleries of the superincumbent rock, the blast howled dismally ; at times 
 dying away like the moan of some wounded animal ; and then again giving a fitful 
 shriek, as it whirled through some narrow pass, and echoed itself from a hundred 
 others. The storm-spirit was abroad, and triumphantly careered over the habita- 
 tion of the fierce goddess, daring her to the contest. Her response was sullen and 
 ominous. The hitherto quiet crater at intervals threw up columns of hot steam, 
 stones and ashes, accompanied with loud reports, resembling the discharges of 
 heavy artillery in a confined place. Occasionally the fires at the farther extremity 
 would gleam up with considerable brilliancy; excepting this, nothing was to be 
 seen through the darkness but the outlines of the chasm before us, and the whirl- 
 ing mist and smoke, reflecting the glare of the fires. 
 
 " What with the rain and cold, it was an uncomfortable night ; the scene itself 
 was too novel and exciting to allow either the body or imagination to slumber. 
 Occasionally I fell into a doze, from which a gleam from some new fire, or a vio- 
 lent explosion, aroused me. On such occasions, straining my eyes to pierce the 
 turmoil beneath, I ceased to wonder that native intellect had peopled a place like 
 this with strange and fearful beings. .It was a fit habitation for their malignant 
 deities. If the Christian, in this scene, pictures to himself hell and its torments, 
 and how often has it been thus likened, is the savage to be blamed, who sees in it 
 strange shapes, and fiery halls, the lakes, the palaces, and dwelling-places of his 
 devils ? Pele, the consuming goddess, insatiable as her element, the fire itself, 
 1 the rain of night.' ' the king of vapor,' ' the thundering god,' * heaven-dwelling 
 rloud-holder,' fiery-eyed canoe-breaker,' these, and many others, with names alike 
 expressive of the varied actions of the crater, here, according to Hawaiian myth- 
 ology, hold their court. They have gone from the minds of men, bnt their abode 
 remains unchanged. Their requiem was borne to our ears in the driving storm, 
 the whistling wind, the fire and smoke, and all that was furious and destructive. 
 The morning of the fifth broke as the previous evening had commenced, but the 
 sun soon dispelled much of the mist, and left us a pleasant day for our researches. 
 Thermometer, 58 degrees. 
 
238 APPENDIX. 
 
 " The plain on the north is much split up by fissures, from which steam contin- 
 ually issues, hot enough to cook meat or vegetables. In a few places it condenses 
 and forms excellent drinking water. Four species of very palatable berries grew 
 here abundantly, commonly called huckleberries,' though they have little resem- 
 blance in flavor, and none in color, to that fruit. To the northeast of this plain, 
 we find sulphur banks several hundred yards in extent, and about twenty feet high. 
 The gases were not powerful, and by digging into the earth, which was hot, soft, 
 and greasy, we obtained some beautiful specimens of sulphur, in all its different 
 forms, the best of which, however, soon lost their beauty by exposure to the air. 
 The efflorescences at the mouth of the crevices were exceedingly delicate and beau- 
 tiful. These banks appear to be volcanic rock, decomposed by sulphuric acids, for 
 it is to be seen in all its stages, from the hard rock to the soft paste. An hour's 
 steaming here dissipated all the pain and soreness which we felt from our exposure 
 to the weather. 
 
 We estimated the circumference of the whole crater at five miles, the western 
 side of which was the highest ; but in no place did the depth to the black ledge 
 exceed five hundred feet. It is more oval than circular, its greatest breadth being 
 from northeast to southwest, and is aptly termed by the natives Lua Pele,' (Pele's 
 Pit,) for it is nothing but an immense hole, which the fire has eaten in the ground. 
 The natives have no other tradition of its origin, than that it has been burning from 
 the time 'of chaos' until now, gradually extending itself laterally and perpendicu- 
 larly. Formerly, it overflowed its banks, and the reign of each of their kings ha? 
 witnessed destructive eruptions, 
 
 " Count Strzelecki makes the north-northeast cliff four thousand one hundred 
 and one feet above the level of the sea ; Douglas, three thousand eight hundred 
 and seventy-four. In descending to the black ledge, at the northeast extremity, 
 the path winds round an old crater, small and steep on all sides ; its bottom is cov- 
 ered with masses of large rocks, shaken down by earthquakes, and large trees 
 are also growing in it, indicating a long repose. 
 
 " Following this path, we soon arrived on the ledge, which appeared like a field 
 of ice breaking up in the spring. It varied from five hundred to two thousand feet 
 in width, and then abruptly terminated in craggy and overhanging precipices, which 
 had burst in every direction, from the action of the fire beneath. The main body 
 of the crater had settled down from the black ledge, in some places gradually, until 
 its own weight burst it violently from the edge, leaving gaping chasms, the sides of 
 which were intensely heated ; at others, it appeared to have sunk instantaneously, 
 tearing away and undermining the ledge, and leaving precipices of two hundred 
 feet in height. The greatest depth was about two hundred and fifty feet. The 
 lakes, cones and forges remained, but were emptied of lava, and quiet, emitting 
 nothing but smoke, excepting a lake at the southwestern extremity, of which a bend 
 in the ledge hid from our view all but the rising flames. Evidently, a short time 
 before, the ledge had been overflowed, as the lava was piled in masses twenty feet 
 high or more, on its outer edge, gradually decreasing in height as it rolled in im- 
 mense waves from it ; and, without doubt, the whole mass had been raised, as we 
 could now stand upon it and pluck ferns from the bank. We walked around the 
 crater on the black ledge, endeavoring to find a place where it would be practicable 
 to descend, but the banks were everywhere too much broken up to admit of it. In- 
 dependently of that, they were so heated, that the brink could only be approached 
 in a few places, and these only at great risk. It was cracked into great chasms, 
 from a few feet to a rod in width, to which no bottom could be seen, and in places 
 large masses had swollen up, and then tumbled in, like the bursting of an air-bubble 
 or the falling in of a vast dome. The hollow, echoing sound beneath our feet, 
 showed the insecurity of where we trod, and liability to give way, and precipitate 
 us at any moment to instantaneous death ; and I must confess that it was with 
 fear that J walked along this path of destruction. On the surface of the ledge the 
 rock was black and very vesicular, but as it descended it grew more compact, and 
 
APPENDIX. 239 
 
 became of a white or leadish color. From all these pits and chasms a white flick- 
 ering flame ascended, so hot in one place that we attempted to cross as to singe 
 the hair from our hands and scorch our clothing. Nothing but a precipitate retreat 
 saved us from being enveloped in flames. The hot air would frequently flash up 
 from the fissures without warning, and it required much caution and agility to 
 escape from it. The thermometer, over one fissure, rose to one hundred and sixty- 
 two degrees ; on the ledge, five hundred feet from the brink, three feet above the 
 ground, ninety-seven degrees; on the lava at the same place, one hundred and 
 twenty-three degrees ; two feet above a fissure, one hundred and forty-eight degrees ; 
 eighteen inches below the surface, it rose instantly to one hundred and sixty-six 
 degrees. Continual heavy explosions were occurring on the sides, sounding like 
 muffled artillery, throwing up stones, ashes and hot steam two hundred feet or 
 more into the air, and rending away the banks, tumbled large masses of rock into 
 the crater beneath. Indeed, the whole black ledge appeared like a mere crust, the 
 igneous action beneath having eaten away its support, and which the slightest 
 shock would precipitate into the gulf beneath, and thus restore the crater to its 
 ancient limits. 
 
 " Small cones and diminutive piles of lava -were scattered over its whole sur- 
 face, where they had suddenly rose and as quickly cooled. They had assumed 
 many fantastic and even beautiful shapes, and their hues were singularly brilliant 
 and varied. On the southeast and south sides, lava had gushed laterally from the 
 bank, and flowed down from the ledge. Near here are the sulphur hills, from 
 which the finest specimens are obtained. They were prettily coated with fine 
 white, blue and green salts, but owing to the intense heat and suffocating fumes of 
 the gases, we were unable to secure many. A little farther on, we found the lava 
 fissures incrusted with the most beautiful crystals and efflorescences, which had 
 condensed into every variety of form and figure, but too delicate to bear exposure 
 to the atmosphere. Having reached the southern extremity, we obtained our first 
 view of the lake, the light of which had attracted our attention the previous night. 
 It was several hundred yards in circumference, and in the most sunken part of the 
 cauldron. The lava was twenty feet below its banks, a liquid body, boiling, bub- 
 bling, and thrashing in great fury. Occasionally it would become incrusted over, 
 and then red streaks would shoot rapidly across its surface, leaving a momentary 
 glimmer like meteors. In the centre, the lava was tossed high into the air, with a 
 puffing, spluttering noise like the blast of a heavy bellows, mingled with the roar 
 of the surf. Its color was livid, much resembling clotted blood, of which the whole 
 might be taken for an immense hell-brewed cauldron, and the unearthly noises for 
 the moans of agonized spirits, and the fiendish cries of their tormentors. The 
 effect upon the imagination was powerful, and the reality horrible and hellish^ be- 
 yond description. To the leeward the gases were strong, requiring much caution 
 to avoid the stifling currents of heated air. On the northwest side, filamentose lava, 
 commonly called * Pele's hair,' was thickly strewed for many acres, like a field of 
 mown grass. 
 
 " Mr. C. and myself, having performed the circuit until we were underneath 
 where our hut stood, where the bank, having given way to a considerable height, 
 formed a steep hill, which appeared quite practicable of ascent, we proposed to 
 shorten the distance by climbing up at this spot. No sooner thought of than we 
 made the attempt, and reached the first two hundred feet without any difficulty. 
 Here, the summit being hid from us, we held a consultation whether to proceed or 
 not. Upon looking down, we saw our natives gazing in astonishment at us, and 
 urging us to return, saying that it was impossible for us to reach the top, and 
 nothing but a bird could. However, like all obstinate personages, we did not like 
 to retrace our steps, so we pushed ahead. A few rods more climbing brought us 
 to the perpendicular face of the rock, or rather rocks, which were loosely imbedded 
 in earth, and relieved only by some jutting points and a few roots, on which but 
 little dependence could be placed. We were now so high that it was impossible 
 
240 APPENDIX. 
 
 to descend, as we could not see where to place our feet beneath us, and the slight- 
 est look downwards might make us loosen our hold and be dashed to pieces. Not 
 the least danger was, that one of us might loosen a stone, which starting would 
 draw down an avalanche of others, and ourselves with them. By looking up, zig- 
 zagging along the edge of the rocks, and bearing our weight equally as possible on 
 all parts of our bodies, we drew ourselves slowly up, until we were within ten feet 
 of the top. Here we met with the ' unkindest cut of all.' The rock was the 
 smoothest, and just at the rising of the brink, hot steam issued from it, making the 
 earth scalding and slippery. Mr. C. being ahead, and blessed with the longest 
 legs, managed, by bearing his whole weight upon a projecting point of rock, not 
 three inches in diameter, to make a spring, and at the same time clawing into the 
 soft earth, he reached the summit with only burnt fingers. He then laid down 
 upon his back, with his arms over his head, clinging to roots, and dangled his legs 
 over the precipice to assist me. Following his steps, I hitched myself up, and 
 making a grab at his toes, was safely toed to the bank. It was not until we were 
 in perfect safety, that we realized the full extent of our danger, and our consum- 
 mate folly in rushing into it. The slightest misstep, or want of presence of mind, 
 would have hurried us to immediate death ; and, while we felt grateful for our 
 escape, we vowed another time * to look before we climbed.' 
 
 " In the excitement of visiting this wonderful phenomenon, its real dangers are 
 overlooked, and many unnecessary risks undergone. No accident has as yet hap- 
 pened, but some escapes have been little short of miraculous. Two gentlemen, a 
 number of years since, were in the heart of the crater, examining the burning caul- 
 dron, when a rumbling noise was heard, and an earthquake felt. The rocks began 
 to rattle down the sides of the chasm, and the ground beneath them was so unsteady, 
 that they could not leave the spot where they were. Providentially it was slight, 
 and soon over, and no eruption followed. In January, 1841, Dr. G. P. Judd 
 descended the crater, for the purpose of procuring some of the liquid lava. Not 
 being able to reach it at the great lake, he ventured into a smaller one, at the bot- 
 tom of which there was a small stream. It appeared very quiet, the banks were 
 steep, and he found some difficulty in reaching it. Having obtained a frying-pan 
 full, he had returned to within a few feet of its brink, the steepest part, when a 
 roar and a hissing noise alarmed him ; a stream of lava in a narrow column was 
 forced up into the air, far above his head, and descended in a shower all around. 
 Much alarmed, he shouted for help. All of the natives near by ran away, except 
 one, who threw himself upon his stomach, and grasping the Doctor's hand, assisted 
 him out. But before this was accomplished, the lava rose so rapidly, that the heat 
 of it burned his clothes, aud blistered the face and hands of the native. They were 
 no sooner on their feet, than the lava overflowed, and they were obliged to run 
 with all speed to avoid being overtaken by the torrent. A narrower escape from a 
 more horrible death, it is difficult to conceive. 
 
 " It is a common remark, that travelers visiting the volcano, even at short inter- 
 vals, never see it under similar circumstances, and consequently are apt to discredit 
 previous statements. A moment's reflection should convince them, that with such 
 a mighty engine of nature, exercising in their highest degree the combined powers 
 of fire, heated air, and steam, and continually in action, great changes are moment- 
 arily liable to occur ; and that they do, these very discrepancies bear ample testi- 
 mony. It would be an interesting point gained in geological science, if some ob- 
 serving man could reside in the neighborhood and note the various changes, at the 
 periods of their occurrence. 
 
 " I have endeavored to present a faithful picture of it as it appeared at our visit, 
 and it evidently differs much from all preceding descriptions. Douglas makes the 
 depth of the crater, in 1834. one thousand one hundred and fifty-seven feet. At 
 the present time it had rilled up one half, and the black ledge, which had been 
 gradually rising, was in some places within three hundred feet of the top, while 
 former accounts state it at eight hundred. A few years since, the basin was much 
 
APPENDIX. 241 
 
 in its present state, like the inside of a bowl. A foreigner who visited it a week 
 only before the late eruption, described it as resembling a dome, there being a grad- 
 ual ascent from the sides to the centre ; the lava having overflowed the whole of 
 the black ledge, the limits of which could not be traced. The whole surface was 
 in violent action, thickly indented with fiery lakes, and crowned with puffing cones, 
 and forges, whose bases were lashed by burning waves, and the whole accompanied 
 with dreadful noises. Had not the liquid lava found a vent by pushing its way 
 through subterranean galleries until it met with a weak spot, which its gravity 
 soon forced through, and running out until the fiery mass in the crater subsided to 
 a level with the outlet, it might have risen to the top, and overflowing, destroyed 
 all that portion of the island. The immense lateral pressure which must exist, in- 
 creasing as the crater fills up, will probably prevent any great and sudden disaster 
 of this kind, by forcing an outlet toward the sea, as it did in this instance. Though 
 so much has drained out, an immense body still remains in the volcano. On the 
 second night of our stay, the fires were much more brilliant, and the reports more 
 frequent. 
 
 " It is a remarkable fact, that on all the islands the general course of volcanic 
 action is southeasterly, or rather, the craters form a chain from the northwest to the 
 southeast. On Hawaii, Mauna Kea appears to have been extinguished first, then 
 Hualalai. Mauna Loa has probably fire still beneath, though it has gradually 
 cooled down by forming a series of lateral craters, extending from the great one on 
 the summit to Kilauea, which is now the great fountain-head. Kilauea is pushing 
 itself eastelry, as the late eruption bears witness, and the whole earth in that direc- 
 tion is doubtless pierced with galleries, which carry off the superabundant lava ; 
 and when the ground becomes too weak to bear the pressure, it forces its way to 
 the surface, and flows until it creates a common level at Kilauea. The several 
 eruptions can easily be traced towards the sea ; and a series of lateral craters also, 
 some of considerable extent, which have no doubt been fed from Kilauea. One, 
 six miles to the east, is a mile in diameter, and emits smoke and sulphurous gases. 
 
 " It is a common remark that Kauai is the oldest island, and that the others 
 have been successively thrown up from the ocean. In confirmation of this, we 
 meet on that island a greater depth of soil, more vegetation, and far more arable 
 land in proportion to its extent, than on the others, while at its southeastern extrem- 
 ity only, exist two small craters. Age has reduced others (if such there were) to 
 the level of the surrounding soil, or clothed them with forests, so that their limits 
 are undistinguishable. On Oahu, the traces of volcanic action become more numer- 
 ous, and the craters larger, while on Maui the principal one forms a mountain of 
 ten thousand feet elevation. But it is not until we reach Hawaii, that this terrible 
 agency assumes its grandest and most sublime forms. Of the age of this island 
 we can only conjecture ; it may have been coeval with the flood, or have been formed 
 since the Christian era. Certainly, no one can view the mighty ruins of nature, 
 and the process of creation and destruction, as it were in perpetual contest, without 
 realizing the truth of the transitory existence of this earth, and that the day may be 
 not far distant when indeed ' the elements shall melt with fervent heat.' Hawaii 
 is fearful ground to tread upon. We are amazed at beholding the visible fires of 
 Kilauea and their terrific action, but what are they but a mere speck in comparison 
 with the immensity and power of the force required to raise up mountains of three 
 miles perpendicular elevation, with bases of one thousand five hundred square 
 leagues. Hawaii was formed by continual and repeated eruptions, depositing layer 
 of rock upon layer, until it attained its present elevation ; and for aught we know 
 the same action is still going on, at present quietly, but ready at any moment to 
 burst out and overwhelm its unsuspecting inhabitants. There cannot be a doubt 
 that to a great extent the interior of Hawaii is a vast globe of fire, against the sides 
 of which the liquified rocks dash their fiery spray, and roll with unceasing noise ; 
 and were it not for the number and magnitude of its vents, it would be shaken to 
 pieces by successive earthquakes. Those who live amid these scenes, scarce be- 
 31 
 
242 APPENDIX. 
 
 stow a thought upon the dangers which environ them. But Vesuvius, after having 
 been dormant for a thousand years, revived, and buried several cities in its devast- 
 ating streams ; and the inhabitants of Catania, in Sicily, regarded as fables the his- 
 torical accounts of previous eruptions of jEtna, until they were themselves over- 
 whelmed in a sudden and instantaneous destruction. In many places where 
 volcanoes have become overgrown with wood, and covered even with elegant villas, 
 they have with scarce a warning burst forth and laid waste whole districts, as in 
 1812, at St. Vincents, West Indies, where nearly all the plantations on that island 
 were destroyed, the lava flowing so rapidly as to reach the sea in four hours. 
 When this eruption took place, the earthquakes at Caracas, four hundred miles 
 distant, ceased, evidently showing that there was a connection betw r een the two 
 places. With such precedents, it would certainly not be astonishing if any of these 
 craters, which are at present quiescent, should at any moment burst forth, and 
 renew similar scenes of desolation ; and even Kauai may give vent, by some sub- 
 marine communication, to the fires of Hawaii." 
 
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