Some of the populace conceived themselves entitled to appropriate a portion of the presents which Rono, according to his promise, had brought them—a licence which was immediately punished by Cook with great severity: the offenders taken in the fact were whipped; those who fled were fired upon; and several persons, some of whom were innocent, lost their lives. Rono could not be so cruel and unjust; and Tute, as they called Cook, immediately sunk in their estimation to the rank of ordinary mortals. He was henceforth feared as a mighty chief, but venerated no longer. This change of sentiment was very evident when he returned hither from his voyage northward. The islanders met the ship as before, with hogs and fruits; but they set a price upon them, instead of presenting them, as formerly, in the character of offerings, and accepting the returns made them as gratuitous gifts. Finding that they obtained what appeared to them an exorbitant price for their provisions, they supposed the strangers to come from a land of scarcity for the mere purpose of satisfying their appetites; and the common people wholly ceasing to regard them with reverence, became bolder in their depredations. The King, the Priests, and many of the principal Yeris, still however continued firm in their attachment to the English. A Yeri, named Parea, gave a striking proof of this kindly disposition, which Captain King has thus related:—Some Kanackas, having stolen certain articles, were pursued with muskets; and though every thing was recovered, an English officer thought himself justified in taking possession of a canoe lying on the shore belonging to Parea, who, being perfectly innocent of the theft, reclaimed his property. The officer refused to surrender it; and in the subsequent contest, Parea received so violent a blow on the head with an oar, that he fell senseless to the ground. In the mean time the islanders had assembled, and, irritated at this undeserved outrage on a chief, began to throw stones at the English, who were obliged to swim to a neighbouring rock for safety. The victorious people, thus left in possession of the field of battle, fell upon the English boat, which they would have destroyed but for the interposition of Parea, who had now recovered his senses. He dispersed the crowd, made a signal to the English that they might return, restored their boat, and sent them back in it to their ship. Parea afterwards followed them, taking with him a midshipman's hat, and some other trifles which were missing; expressed his sorrow for the dispute that had arisen, and inquired whether O Rono desired his death, or whether he might come again to the ship.—(It appeared from this that he still looked upon Cook as the deity, or at least affected this belief to propitiate the English.)—He was assured that he had nothing to fear, and would always be welcome; he then touched the nose of the officers, in sign of amity and reconciliation, and returned to land.

Since Parea had hindered his countrymen from wreaking their vengeance on one boat, they indemnified themselves by stealing another, and in the night cut through the rope which fastened it to the ship. Cook, enraged at this occurrence, determined to bring the King himself on board his ship, and detain him there as a hostage till the boat should be restored; a measure which on another island he had already successfully adopted on a similar occasion. He therefore went ashore with a party of soldiers well armed, having given orders that none of the boats belonging to the natives should be suffered to leave the bay, as it was his determination, in case gentler measures should prove ineffectual, to destroy them all. All the boats of both ships, well manned and armed, were therefore so placed as to enforce obedience to this command.

Cook was received, according to King's account, with the greatest respect: the people prostrated themselves before him. He proceeded direct to the old King, and invited him on board his ship. The King immediately consented; but some of the Yeris endeavoured to dissuade him; and the more earnestly Cook pressed his going, the more strenuously they endeavoured to prevent it. Cook, at length, seized the King by the arm, and would have carried him off by force; which in the highest degree irritated the assembled multitudes. At this moment a Yeri, who in crossing the bay from the opposite side had been fired upon by the English boats, rushed with blood streaming from his wound into the presence of the King, and cried aloud to him to remain where he was, or he would certainly receive similar treatment; this incident wound up the rage of the people to its utmost pitch, and the conflict commenced, in which Cook lost his life.

Karemaku, who, when a young man, had witnessed these circumstances, related them to me; and the accounts of Cook's companions upon the whole agree with his. Some isolated facts are differently stated by them; but I was assured by all the natives of Wahu, that Karemaku had strictly adhered to the truth. Even if we give entire credit to the English narrative, we shall find that they were the aggressors,—that the islanders acted only on the defensive, and that Cook's fate, however lamentable, was not entirely undeserved.

John Reinhold Forster, in his preface to a journal of a voyage of discovery to the South Sea, in the years 1776 to 1780, gives an extract from a letter written to him by an Englishman in a responsible situation, in which he says of Cook—"The Captain's character is not the same now as formerly: his head seems to have been turned." Forster gives the same account concerning the change in Cook, when he says—

"Cook, on his first voyage, had with him Messrs. Banks and Solander, both lovers of art and science. On the second, I and my son were his companions, enjoying daily and familiar intercourse with him. In our presence, respect for his own character restrained him; our mode of thinking, our principles and manners influenced his, and prevented his treating the poor harmless South Sea Islanders with cruelty. The only instance of undue severity we ever witnessed in his behaviour, was when on account of some petty theft he once allowed his cannon to be fired upon the fugitive offenders; fortunately, however, no one was injured by this rash act. But having in his last voyage no other witnesses of his actions, than such as were entirely under his command, he forgot what he owed to his own great name, and was guilty in many instances of extreme cruelty. I am therefore convinced, that if Messrs. Banks and Solander, Dr. Spaarmann, or I and my son, had been with him on the last voyage, his life would not have been lost in the manner it was."

The first ships which visited the Sandwich Islands after Cook's death were those of Meeres, Dickson, and Coke, in the years 1786-9. They traded in skins between China and the North-west Coast of America, and found these islands very convenient to touch at. They were well received; and some of the islanders made the voyage to America with them. Tianna, one of the first Yeris of O Wahi, went with Meeres to China. These voyages, and the continual intercourse with Europeans, which their increasing trade in fur produced, necessarily enlarged the ideas of these children of Nature; and as they were not under the dominion of that folly which, in common with the Greenlanders, possesses some of the most civilized nations in Europe, of considering themselves the first people upon earth, they soon acquired our manners, and derived all the advantage that could be expected from the opportunities of improvement thus afforded them. Vancouver found, in 1792, that many remarkable changes had taken place on these islands since Cook's time.

King Teraiopu did not long survive that eminent navigator. His son Kawarao succeeded to the government of the greater part of the island of O Wahi; the rest fell to his relation Tameamea. Kawarao was a tyrant, and governed with unexampled cruelty. At certain periods of the moon, he declared himself holy, or under a Tabu: the priests alone had then the privilege of seeing him so long as the sun was above the horizon; and an immediate death of the severest torture was the melancholy lot of any individual not belonging to this sacred order, who by whatever accident should cast but a momentary glance upon the voluntarily secluded monarch. To this cruelty of disposition, Kawarao united an unbounded ambition, which prompted him to make war on his kinsman Tameamea. This young and powerful chief early distinguished himself, and soon became celebrated throughout these islands for superiority of intellect and skill in arms. Kawarao, although he had greatly the advantage in numbers, could never obtain a victory; fire-arms were not then in use here, and success long vibrated between the contending rivals. Both parties at length determined to put the final issue of the war to the test of a single combat, stipulating that the conqueror should acquire the sovereignty of the whole island. The two kings armed; their respective priests carried the images of their gods to the field, and the fight commenced. Kawarao trusted to his skill in throwing the javelin; but Tameamea could defend himself from several antagonists at once, and scarcely ever missed his aim. After some fruitless efforts of both combatants, Tameamea's spear pierced the side of his bloodthirsty enemy, who fell dead on the field.

This duel, by which Tameamea became King of O Wahi and of Muwe, which had also belonged to Kawarao, took place in the year 1781. To establish his dominion on a firmer basis, Tameamea married the daughter of the vanquished monarch, and acquired the love of his subjects by his wise and moderate government. Himself endowed with uncommon powers of mind, he entrusted the important offices of state only to such as were capable of discharging them efficiently. He made a very fortunate choice in Karemaku, who, while quite a young man, entered into all the enlightened and comprehensive views of his master, forwarded them with ability and energy, and continued his faithful servant till the death of Tameamea. The English called him the Pitt of the Sandwich Islands.

Several Europeans now established themselves at O Wahi; among whom Davis and John Young have been the most useful to the rising nation. Under their direction, houses and ships have been constructed in the European fashion; the island has been enriched with many useful plants; and their advice has been successfully followed in the affairs of government.

With the appearance of Vancouver, arose the fortunate star of these islands. Among the innumerable benefits he conferred upon them, they are indebted to him for the possession of sheep and cattle. Tameamea declared these animals under a Tabu for ten years, which allowed time for so large an increase, that they now run wild in the forests. Had Vancouver enjoyed Cook's advantages, the islanders might still have believed him their Rono.

Tameamea, during Vancouver's visit, swayed the sceptre only over the islands of O Wahi and Muwe, and was engaged in wars with his neighbour kings, whom he fought with the assistance of cannon purchased from European ships. He commanded in every battle, both by sea and land; and Karemaku, as first in authority under him, was his constant companion. The O Wahians, however, could not have well understood the use of their cannons and other fire-arms, as, after Vancouver's departure, the war was maintained for ten years. O Tuai, the most north-westerly island, even then held out, though the others had submitted. In the year 1817, Tameamea conquered this also, after many unsuccessful attempts, and thus became the supreme governor of the whole Archipelago.

From this time all his efforts were directed to the education of his people, and the improvement of their trade. Salt and sandal-wood were the chief articles of exportation. The latter, though bought at rather a high price by the North-American ships, which almost exclusively monopolized this trade, sold for a large profit at Canton.

I have been told, that the Americans have purchased sandal-wood here to the amount of three hundred thousand Spanish dollars a-year. Tameamea bartered this wood for some large American merchant-ships, manned them, and other ships built in the Sandwich Islands, partly with his own subjects, and partly with Europeans, and traded on his own account. He had even found means to create a small fleet of ships of war; and his warehouses, built of stone, were filled with European and American merchandise. He possessed a considerable treasure in silver money and utensils; his fortresses were planted with cannon of a large calibre, and he maintained a force of fifteen thousand men, all armed with muskets, in the use of which they had been carefully exercised. He took much pains, assisted by the Spaniard Marini, to introduce the cotton-tree, which answered very well, and yielded fine cotton; and endeavoured to improve the native flax, already much superior to that of New Zealand, and to profit by it as an article of commerce. Nothing which promised advantage to his country escaped his penetrating mind; he exerted, in short, every faculty of his mind to place the Sandwich Islands in a state of progressive assimilation to the most prosperous nations. Vessels of every nation were as secure from injustice or insult in his ports, as in those of Europe, if not more so. As soon as a strange ship arrived, criers were employed to give notice that the new comers were friends, and must be hospitably received, and that any incivility shown them would be severely punished.

When Tameamea first sent a ship to Canton with sandal-wood, he was obliged to pay a considerable duty for anchorage; whereupon he argued, that what was exacted from himself, he might with a safe conscience demand from others; and every ship is now required to pay forty Spanish dollars for anchorage in the outer, and eighty in the inner harbour of Hanaruro.

Wahu is the most fertile of all the islands, and the only one enjoying a secure harbour; it therefore naturally advances the most rapidly in civilization. Several European and American traders have settled in Hanaruro; shops have been opened, and houses built in the European style, of wood and stone; some of the former were made in America, and brought here to be put together. The exertions of Marini introduced here many European vegetables, the vine and other fruits, which are all in a flourishing state. He collected and tamed a herd of cows. Goats, sheep, and poultry of all kinds are common. The frequent voyages which the Sandwich islanders now made, partly in Tameamea's vessels, partly foreign ones, on board which they served as sailors, gradually familiarised them with the manners of more civilized nations. They adopted our costume, but after the Tahaitian fashion; considering a complete suit as an unnecessary luxury. Even Tameamea himself, for his usual attire, wore only a shirt, trowsers, and red waistcoat, without a coat; he possessed, however, many richly embroidered uniforms, but kept them for grand occasions.

These islanders had made great progress in the English language: many of them could speak it very tolerably. Tameamea understood, but did not speak it. If any of my readers should wish for a farther acquaintance with the character of this distinguished sovereign, I must refer them to Vancouver, and to my former voyage; but for the benefit of those who may not be disposed to take this trouble, I cannot forbear repeating from the latter some of his remarks to myself. He presented me with a collar most ingeniously worked with coloured feathers, which he had sometimes worn in war, and on solemn occasions, saying, "I have heard that your monarch is a great warrior, and I love him, because I am a warrior myself; bear to him this collar, which I send as a token of my regard." Once as he embraced an image in his Marai, he said, "These are our Gods whom I adore; whether in so doing I am right or wrong, I know not, but I follow the religion of my country, which cannot be a bad one, since it commands me to be just in all my actions."

On the 8th of May, in the year 1819, Tameamea terminated his meritorious career, to the great sorrow as well of the foreign settlers as of his native subjects. His remains were disposed of according to the rites of the religion he professed. After they had remained some time in the Marai, the bones were cleaned, and divided among his relatives and the most distinguished of his attendants. According to the custom of this country, two persons had long before been destined for interment with him at his death; but by his express desire this ceremony was dispensed with.

His eldest son and legitimate successor, Lio Lio, or, as the English call it, Rio Rio,—for there is some difficulty in distinguishing between the L and the R of the Sandwich Islanders,—now assumed the government, under the name of Tameamea the Second. Unhappily, the father's talents were not hereditary; and the son's passion for liquor incapacitated him for ruling with the same splendid reputation an infant state, which, having already received so strong an impulse towards civilization, required a skilful guide to preserve it from degeneracy and error.

The chiefs of some of the islands, and especially of O Tuai, had, even in Tameamea's lifetime, founded a hope of future independence, on the weakness of his successor, and immediately upon his death proceeded to attempt the accomplishment of their desires. But Karemaku, the faithful friend and counsellor of the deceased King, to whom the whole nation looked up with affection, and whose penetration easily discerned the evil consequences that would ensue from a political disunion of the islands, devoted to the son all the zeal and patriotism with which he had served the father. By the influence of his eloquence, and the force of his arms, he quelled the insurrection, and re-established peace and order; but to enthrone the new monarch in the hearts of his people exceeded his ability; and their disaffection proved that the germ of future disorders was not wholly extinct. The King chose Wahu for his residence, because this island was in the best state for defence; and giving himself up entirely to dissipation, sunk lower and lower in the estimation of his subjects. Karemaku was the good genius who watched over the welfare of the country, while its monarch was wasting his hours and his health in orgies, at which he was frequently known to empty a bottle of rum at a draught. It was not to be supposed that a king addicted to such habits should conceive any projects of utility or advantage for his people; he wished, however, to distinguish himself by some effort in their favour, or at least to relieve them from the trammels of superstition. He was a freethinker in a bad sense. He hated the religion of his country, because it laid some restraints upon his inclinations, and he determined to overthrow it; not for the purpose of introducing a better, a task to which his feeble mind was unequal, but for that of at once relieving himself and his subjects from ceremonies which he considered useless, because he undervalued the precepts of morality interwoven with them, and for the sake of which his father had always conscientiously observed them.

In the fifth month of his reign, he proceeded in a violent and brutal manner, notwithstanding all the remonstrances of Karemaku, to the execution of his design. Having previously arranged his plans with some chiefs, the companions of his excesses, he invited the principal inhabitants of the islands to a sumptuous banquet. After the wine and rum had produced their wonted effects, females were introduced, and compelled to partake of the feast. These poor creatures, having no suspicion of the King's intentions, shrunk with terror from a profanation punishable with death. But their resistance was unavailing: they were not only constrained to sit down to the repast in company with the men, but even to eat pork; and thus, to the great astonishment of such guests as were not in the secret, to violate, at the royal command, a double Tabu. A murmur arose; but the greater part of the company were under the influence of liquor, and the King now openly proclaimed his intentions. His auditors inquired in alarm what crime the Gods had committed, that they should be thus unceremoniously dismissed; and besought him not to occasion his own destruction and that of the country, by provoking their indignation. The King started from his seat, and exclaimed with violent gestures, "You see we have already violated the strongest Tabus, and yet the Gods inflict no punishment, because they have no power; neither have they power to do us good. Our faith was erroneous and worthless. Come, let us destroy the Marais, and from henceforth acknowledge no religion!" The immediate dependents of the King rose to second him: the inhabitants of Hanaruro had been depraved by their intercourse with foreign sailors, and a tumultuous crowd, who held nothing sacred, soon followed the revellers. Arrived at the royal Marai, some of them, terrified by the aspect of their idols, would have receded; but when the King himself, and his friends and followers, began to maltreat them, and no divine vengeance followed, the courage of the multitude revived, and the Marais were soon utterly destroyed. This outrage to what the people at large most venerated, introduced a scene of confusion and violence, and would indeed have entailed destruction both on the King and the country, had not Karemaku again stood forward in their defence. Several Yeris who, disapproving the sentiments of the King, had retired privately from the banquet, joined the priests in exciting the people to defend their gods by force of arms. An army was raised, and, animated by the presence of the war-god, commenced hostilities against his sacrilegious opponents. When the news of the destruction of the Marais reached the other islands, insurrections also broke out in each of them. Karemaku had condemned the sacrilege, and abstained from any part in it; but as it could not now be prevented, and he foresaw the mischievous consequences of civil commotions, he assembled an army, and, victorious wherever he appeared, succeeded in restoring tranquillity. On the large island O Wahi, however, he encountered a formidable resistance; but at length, after several bloody contests, he captured the war-god: the insurgents, who had also lost their leaders in the last battle, believing themselves quite abandoned by the gods, now dispersed, and Karemaku, on the restoration of tranquillity, returned to Wahu.

It is a remarkable fact, that a people who regarded their faith and their priests with so much reverence, as I had myself witnessed previously to this occurrence, should in so short a period, acquiescing in the decree which denounced their creed as error, and consigned their sanctuaries to demolition, contentedly submit to the total deprivation of all external signs of religion. Karemaku had judgment enough to perceive that this state of things would not endure, and that a religion of some kind was indispensable to the people; he therefore resolved to set his countrymen a good example, and yielding to an inclination he had long entertained, to declare himself publicly a convert to Christianity. In the same year, 1819, Captain Freycinet, on his voyage round the world, landed at Hanaruro, and a clergyman accompanying him, Karemaku and his brother Boki received the sacrament of baptism according to the forms of the Catholic Church.

At this time, a society of missionaries was formed in the United States of America, for the purpose of introducing Christianity into the Sandwich Islands. Of the extinction of the ancient faith, which must of course facilitate their undertaking, they had as yet received no information. Six families of these missionaries arrived at Wahu in 1820, bringing with them two young Sandwich Islanders, who had been previously prepared in their schools. The King, hearing of their intention, would not allow them to land, but commanded them immediately to depart from his shores. Here, again, Karemaku interposed, and endeavoured to convince the King that the Christian religion would be one of the greatest benefits he could confer on his subjects. The King then assembled the most distinguished Yeris, and after fourteen days' deliberation, decreed that a piece of land should be granted to the missionaries, with permission to build a church, and to preach their doctrines, under the condition that they should immediately leave the island if the experiment should be found to have a prejudicial influence on the people. The missionaries agreed to the terms, took up their residence on Wahu, and from thence extended settlements over the other islands. Their first efforts were successfully directed to the conversion of the King, his family, and the most distinguished Yeris. When these personages had openly professed the new faith, the Missionaries considered themselves firmly established, and proceeded with more confidence to the full execution of their plan. They quickly acquired the language of the islands, which from the largest of them they called the O Wahi language, printed the first book in it, (a collection of Hymns,) in the year 1822, and instructed the natives, who proved apt scholars, in reading and writing. These missionaries were Protestants; but the Catholic Karemaku, having no notion of the points of doctrine in dispute between the Churches, joined without hesitation in communion with them; and the Christian religion spreading rapidly among the Sandwich Islanders, without any of the constraint or persecution which had disgraced it at O Tahaiti, promised the happiest effects.

Notwithstanding, however, all the efforts of Karemaku, the people were not yet entirely pacified. The former faith had still many secret adherents, and the King was unable to acquire either the esteem or affection of his subjects. Insurrections were continually dreaded; and Rio Rio, not feeling sufficiently secure even in his entrenchments at Wahu, determined, by the advice of some Europeans, to make a voyage to England, in the hope that these discontents would subside during his absence. He confided the administration of the government to the faithful Karemaku, and Kahumanna, the favourite wife of his father, and in the year 1824 sailed for England in a North American ship, accompanied by his consort, Karemaku's brother Boki, and some other persons of rank; taking with him twenty-five thousand Spanish piastres from the treasure amassed by his father.

Soon after the King's departure, a regular rebellion broke out in the island of O Tuai. Its former ruler, Tamari, was dead, and his son, a young man who had been brought up in the United States of America, and had unfortunately fallen into bad company, was desirous to recover for himself the independent dominion of the island. Karemaku and Kahumanna immediately hastened thither with an army, and on our arrival at Hanaruro we found the war still raging at O Tuai, though it was supposed to be near its close. The government of Wahu was entrusted, during the absence of the Regents, to another wife of Tameamea, named Nomahanna, conjointly with a Yeri called Chinau.

On the morning after our arrival, I rowed ashore with some of my officers, to pay my respects to the Queen Nomahanna, and on landing was met by the Spaniard Marini, who accompanied us to her Majesty as interpreter. On the way I was recognised by several old friends, with whom I had become acquainted on my former visit. They saluted me with a friendly "Aroha." I cannot say there was much room for compliment on any visible improvement in their costume; for they still wore with much self-complacency some ill-assorted portions of European attire.

The residence of Nomahanna lay near the fortress on the sea-shore: it was a pretty little wooden house of two stories, built in the European style, with handsome large windows, and a balcony very neatly painted. We were received on the stairs by Chinau, the governor of Wahu, in a curious dishabille. He could hardly walk from the confinement his feet suffered in a pair of fisherman's shoes, and his red cloth waistcoat would not submit to be buttoned, because it had never been intended for so colossal a frame. He welcomed me with repeated "Arohas," and led me up to the second floor, where all the arrangements had a pleasing and even elegant appearance. The stairs were occupied from the bottom to the door of the Queen's apartments, by children, adults, and even old people, of both sexes, who, under her Majesty's own superintendence, were reading from spelling-books, and writing on slates—a spectacle very honourable to her philanthropy. The Governor himself had a spelling-book in one hand, and in the other a very ornamental little instrument made of bone, which he used for pointing to the letters. Some of the old people appeared to have joined the assembly rather for example's sake, than from a desire to learn, as they were studying, with an affectation of extreme diligence, books held upside down.

The spectacle of these scholars and their whimsical and scanty attire, nearly upset the gravity with which I had prepared for my presentation to the Queen. The doors were, however, thrown open and I entered, Chinau introducing me as the captain of the newly-arrived Russian frigate. The apartment was furnished in the European fashion, with chairs, tables, and looking-glasses. In one corner stood an immensely large bed with silk curtains; the floor was covered with fine mats, and on these, in the middle of the room, lay Nomahanna, extended on her stomach, her head turned towards the door, and her arms supported on a silk pillow. Two young girls lightly dressed, sat cross-legged by the side of the Queen, flapping away the flies with bunches of feathers. Nomahanna, who appeared at the utmost not more than forty years old, was exactly six feet two inches high, and rather more than two ells in circumference. She wore an old-fashioned European dress of blue silk; her coal-black hair was neatly plaited, at the top of a head as round as a ball; her flat nose and thick projecting lips were certainly not very handsome, yet was her countenance on the whole prepossessing and agreeable. On seeing me, she laid down the psalm-book in which she had been reading, and having, with the help of her attendants, changed her lying for a sitting posture, she held out her hand to me in a very friendly manner, with many "Arohas!" and invited me to take a seat on a chair by her side. Her memory was better than my own; she recognised me as the Russian officer who had visited the deceased monarch Tameamea, on the island of O Wahi. On that occasion I had been presented to the Queens; but since that time Nomahanna had so much increased in size, that I did not know her again. She was aware how highly I esteemed her departed consort; my appearance brought him vividly to her remembrance, and she could not restrain her tears, in speaking of his death. "The people," said she, "have lost in him a protector and a father. What will now be the fate of these islands, the God of the Christians only knows." She now informed me with much self-gratulation that she was a Christian, and attended the prayer-meeting several times every day. Desirous to know how far she had been instructed in the religion she professed, I inquired through Marini the grounds of her conversion. She replied that she could not exactly describe them, but that the missionary Bengham, who understood reading and writing perfectly well, had assured her that the Christian faith was the best; and that, seeing how far the Europeans and Americans, who were all Christians, surpassed her compatriots in knowledge, she concluded that their belief must be the most reasonable. "If, however," she added, "it should be found unsuited to our people, we will reject it, and adopt another."

Hence it appears that the christianity of the missionaries is not regarded with the reverence which, in its purity, it is calculated to inspire in the most uncultivated minds. In conclusion, Nomahanna triumphantly informed me, that the women might now eat as much pork as they pleased, instead of being, as formerly, limited to dog's flesh. At this observation, an intrusive idea suddenly changed her tone and the expression of her features. With a deep sigh, she exclaimed—"What would Tameamea say if he could behold the changes which have taken place here? No more Gods—no more Marais: all are destroyed! It was not so in his time:—we shall never have such another king!" Then, while the tears trickled down her cheeks, she bared her right arm, and showed me, tattooed on it in the O Wahi language—"Our good King Tameamea died on the 8th of May 1819." This sign of mourning for the beloved monarch, which cannot be laid aside like our pieces of crape, but accompanies the mourner to the grave, is very frequent on the Sandwich Islands, and testifies the esteem in which his memory is held: but it is a still more striking proof of the universal grief for his loss, that on the anniversary of his death, all his subjects struck out one of their front teeth; and the whole nation have in consequence acquired a sort of whistle in speaking. Chinau had even had the above words tattooed on his tongue, of which he gave me ocular demonstration; nor was he singular in this mode of testifying his attachment. It is surprising that an operation so painful, and which occasions a considerable swelling, should not be attended with worse consequences.

Nomahanna spoke with enthusiasm on the subject of writing. Formerly, she said, she could only converse with persons who were present; now, let them be ever so far distant, she could whisper her thoughts softly to them alone. She promised to write me a letter, in order, she said, that I might prove to every one in Russia that Nomahanna was able to write.

Our conversation was interrupted by the rattling of wheels, and the sound of many voices. I looked from the window, and saw a little cart to which a number of active young men had harnessed themselves with the greatest complacency. I inquired of Marini what this meant, and was informed that the Queen was about to drive to church: an attendant soon after entered, and announced that the equipage was ready. Nomahanna graciously proposed my accompanying her; and rather than risk her displeasure by a refusal, I accepted the invitation with many thanks, though I foresaw that I should thus be drawn in as a party to a very absurd spectacle.

The Queen now put on a white calico hat decorated with Chinese flowers, took a large Chinese fan in her hand, and, having completed her toilette by drawing on a pair of clumsy sailor's boots, we set out. In descending the stairs, she made a sign that the school was over for the present; an announcement that seemed very agreeable to the scholars, to the old ones especially. At the door below, a crowd had assembled, attracted by curiosity to see me and their Queen drive out together. The young men in harness shouted for joy, and patiently waited the signal for the race. Some delay, however, occurred in taking our seats with suitable dignity. The carriage was very small, and my companion very large, so that I was fain to be content with a seat upon the edge, with a very good chance of losing my balance, had not her Majesty, to obviate the danger, encircled my waist with her stout and powerful arm, and thus secured me on my seat; our position, and the contrast presented by our figures, had no doubt a sufficiently comical effect. When we were at length comfortably settled, the Governor Chinau came forth, and with no other addition than a round hat to the costume already described, mounted a meagre unsaddled steed, and off we all went at full gallop, the Queen taking infinite pains to avoid losing me by the way. The people came streaming from all sides, shouting "Aroha maita!"—our team continually increasing, while a crowd behind contended for the honour of helping to push us forward. In this style we drove the whole length of Hanaruro, and in about a quarter of an hour reached the church, which lies on an ugly flat, and exactly resembles that at O Tahaiti both in external and internal appearance.

The congregation was very small. Nomahanna and an old lady were the only individuals of their sex; and Chinau, myself, and a few others, the only males present. Even the people who had drawn us did not enter the church; from which I infer, that the influence of the missionaries is by no means so considerable as at O Tahaiti; and certainly the converts are not yet driven with a stick into the house of prayer: nor would it be easy to fasten on the minds of the people the fetters so patiently endured on the Society Islands, where the labours of the missionaries are seldom interrupted by the intervention of strangers. The Sandwich Islanders are engaged in constant intercourse with foreign sailors, mostly of licentious characters, who indeed profess the Christian religion; but brought hither by the desire of gain, or the necessity of laying in provisions for their ships, are generally wholly occupied in driving crafty bargains, and certainly are no way instrumental in inspiring the islanders with ideas of religion or morality, but on the contrary, set them examples which have a direct tendency to deprave their minds. Such among these crews as have been guilty of offences on board ship, frequently run away and settle on the islands. This was severely prohibited in Tameamea's time, but is now permitted, from Christian charity. Such characters as these, reckless of every thing sacred, do not hesitate to make a jest of the missionaries, whose extraordinary plans and regulations offer many weak points to the shafts of ridicule.

When Mr. Bengham had concluded a discourse in the O Wahi language, which might possibly have been highly edifying, but that it was addressed to little else than empty benches,—for I did not understand him, and the minds of the few other persons present were evidently occupied with very different matters,—we returned to the palace in the same style that we had left it. I then took my leave, having received a promise of being amply supplied with provisions: the Queen also, at my request, ordered a small house near her own to be prepared for our astronomical observations, and our astronomer, M. Preus, took possession of it on the following day.

Our arrival had created a great sensation on the island. A foreign ship of war is an uncommon spectacle here—one from Russia more especially, as the attempt of the insane Dr. Scheffer, in 1816, to raise the island of O Tuai against Tameamea, in the hope of annexing it to the empire of Russia, had naturally introduced a fear of similar projects, although the absurd design was entirely discountenanced by the Emperor Alexander. The English also, even in their writings, have contributed to spread the ridiculous idea, that Russia entertained views against the independence of the Sandwich Islands; and that Rio Rio's voyage was only undertaken for the purpose of imploring the assistance of England against our government. From the air of protection which England has for some time past assumed towards these islands, it is probable that she herself secretly harbours such a design, and only waits a favourable opportunity for its execution; although the English always profess to acknowledge the sovereignty of the native monarch, and the King of England, in writing to Tameamea, calls him, "Your Majesty."

I am, however, far from desiring to maintain this opinion as founded on any sufficient grounds. The alarm of the islanders, on the present occasion, had been in great measure excited by a paragraph in a Mexican newspaper, recently imported, which contained a new version of the English fiction. The mistrust, however, did not long subsist. My assurances of friendship, and the particularly good behaviour of the whole crew, by which they were advantageously distinguished from those of the other ships lying here, soon attracted towards us the confidence and esteem of the natives and their governors. During the whole of my stay on the island, I had not the slightest cause to be dissatisfied with the conduct of my men, notwithstanding the temptations to which they were exposed, from the example of other sailors. All that could be spared from the ship were, every Sunday, allowed to go ashore; this being generally known in Hanaruro, a crowd of Wahuaners were always in waiting to welcome the arrival of our boat. The friendly intercourse which at all times subsisted between our people and the islanders was truly gratifying.

I observed with regret, in my daily visits to Hanaruro, that the Wahuaners had lost the simplicity and innocence of character which formerly distinguished them. The profligate habits of the settlers of all nations among them, and of the numerous foreign sailors with whom they constantly associate, have most prejudicially affected their morals. Fraud, theft, and burglary, never heard of in Tameamea's time, are now frequent. Murder implies a degree of wickedness to which they have not yet attained; but a circumstance that occurred shortly before our arrival, may perhaps become an example even for this worst of crimes. The crew of an English whaler, in which much drinking had been permitted, mutinied, and the Captain received a blow on the head, which, though it did not destroy life, produced insanity; nor could all the efforts of our physician wholly restore his reason. He had indeed lucid intervals, during which he became reconciled to his crew, and at length sailed for England; but I have reason to believe the vessel never reached its destination.

One very unpleasant consequence has attended progressive civilization in Hanaruro:—painted signs, that the means of intoxication might be purchased within, hang from many of the houses: their keepers are runaway sailors, who, to increase their own profit, naturally have recourse to every means that may tempt the people to excess; and these liquor-shops accordingly enjoy a constant overflow of visitors. Others are fitted up in a superior style, for the exclusive accommodation of Yeris and ships' officers, admission being refused to Kanackas and sailors. Carousing is here also the order of the day, but billiards and whist form part of the entertainments; the latter game especially is a great favourite with the Wahuaners, who play it well. Whist parties may be seen every where seated on the ground, in the streets or in open fields, among whom large sums of money and valuable goods are at stake. The players are always surrounded by spectators, who pronounce their opinions very volubly at the close of every game. The parties themselves are extremely animated, and the affair seldom terminates without a quarrel. Many other games are also in favour; and through the prevalence of a custom which cannot be observed without regret, this once industrious and flourishing people are rapidly acquiring confirmed habits of idleness and dissipation. A great part of the well cultivated tarro-fields, which formerly surrounded Hanaruro, now lie waste. On the great market-place, horse and foot races are proceeding all day long, and give occasion to extensive gambling. The Wahuaners have as great a passion for horse-racing, as the Malays for cock-fighting, and without hesitation venture their whole stock of wealth on a race. The purchase of a horse is, indeed, the great object of their ambition; and little attention having hitherto been directed to the breeding of these animals, they are imported from California, at an expense of from two to three, or even five hundred piastres; so that many a Wahuaner is obliged to hoard his whole earnings for years together, to raise the means of indulging in this luxury. In these races the horse is not saddled, and a string supplies the place of a bit; the rider is usually quite naked, but very skilful in the management even of the wildest horse; but, as the treatment is injudicious, they are soon worn out.

Large sums are also staked at the ship-games, as they are called, in which the islanders display their seaman-like tastes. The players are usually clever ship-builders. They build pretty little vessels, in conformity with the rules of art, and, by their good management of the keel, make them good sailers; they rig them completely, and decorate them with flags and streamers. Then assembling on the banks of some large pond, the owners spread the sails, make the helm fast, and launch the little fleet. The ship which is best built and rigged, first gains the opposite shore, and wins the prize. The spectators take great interest in the game, and a loud shout announces the victory. The children also, in imitation of their fathers, make little ships, and have sailing-matches on the smaller pieces of water.

From the partiality of the Sandwich Islanders for a sea-life, and from their geographical situation, it is probable that, in time, they will become powerful at sea. Tameamea left to his successor above a dozen good ships, all manned with natives. They obtain excellent nautical educations on board the United States' vessels trading between America and Canton; and the Americans, who are equal to the English as seamen, bear witness to the abilities of the islanders.

Luxury has made great advances in Wahu. Even among the lowest class of the people, some article of European clothing is universal. The females especially set their hearts upon the most fashionable mode of dress: whatever the Queen wears is their model, which they imitate to the utmost of their power. The men are importuned to gratify this feminine vanity; and if their means will not enable them to do so fairly, they will often have recourse to fraud. The love of foreign wares, and especially of such as serve for dress and ornament, is by far the most fertile source of crime. The shopkeepers are emulous to make their assortment of goods as attractive as possible, and sometimes allow their customers credit, in which case they never fail to charge double, though their profits are at all times enormous. I have myself seen young girls paying two Spanish dollars for a string of common glass-beads which would scarcely reach round the throat. The tradespeople practise every species of deception with impunity, for the laws are not yet sufficiently civilized to meet offences of this description; which therefore inflict a double injury on their dupe, by robbing him of his property, and affording him an example of successful fraud, which he will generally at least endeavour to imitate. On Sunday, the inhabitants of Wahu make their appearance at church in full dress to be admired; and if the spectacle on these occasions is not so thoroughly laughable as at O Tahaiti, it is certainly sufficiently comic.

The domestic utensils, formerly in use here, have entirely disappeared even from the poorest huts; and Chinese porcelain has superseded the manufactures from the gourd or the cocoa-nut.

Fourteen days after our arrival, I received a message from Karemaku, who was still at O Tuai. He assured me that he was rejoiced at my coming, stated that he had sent orders to Chinau to supply my ship with the best provisions, and added, that having happily concluded the expedition, he should soon return to Hanaruro.

Meanwhile, we had no cause to complain of our situation: every thing was to be had for money; and Nomahanna overwhelmed us with presents of fat hogs and the finest fish, putting all the fishermen into requisition to provide abundantly for our table. We had all reason to be grateful for her attention and kindness, and are all therefore ready to maintain that she is not only the cleverest and the most learned, but also the best woman in Wahu, as indeed she is considered both by the natives and settlers. But I can also bear testimony to another qualification, of equal importance in her estimation—she has certainly the greatest appetite that ever came under my observation. I usually visited her in the morning, and was in the habit of finding her extended at full length upon the floor, employed in inditing her letter to me, which appeared to occasion her many a head-ache. Once, however, I called exactly at dinner-time, and was shown into the eating-room. She was lying on fine mats before a large looking-glass, stretched as usual on her prodigious stomach: a number of Chinese porcelain dishes, containing food of various kinds, were ranged in a semicircle before her, and the attendants were busily employed in handing first one and then another to her Majesty. She helped herself with her fingers from each in its turn, and ate most voraciously, whilst two boys flapped away the flies with large bunches of feathers. My appearance did not at all disturb her: she greeted me with her mouth full, and graciously nodded her desire that I should take my seat in a chair by her side, when I witnessed, I think, the most extraordinary meal upon record. How much had passed the royal mouth before my entrance, I will not undertake to affirm; but it took in enough in my presence to have satisfied six men! Great as was my admiration at the quantity of food thus consumed, the scene which followed was calculated to increase it. Her appetite appearing satisfied at length, the Queen drew her breath with difficulty two or three times, then exclaimed, "I have eaten famously!" These were the first words her important business had allowed her time to utter. By the assistance of her attendants, she then turned upon her back, and made a sign with her hand to a tall, strong fellow, who seemed well practised in his office; he immediately sprang upon her body, and kneaded her as unmercifully with his knees and fists as if she had been a trough of bread. This was done to favour digestion; and her Majesty, after groaning a little at this ungentle treatment, and taking a short time to recover herself, ordered her royal person to be again turned on the stomach, and recommenced her meal. This account, whatever appearance of exaggeration it may bear, is literally true, as all my officers, and the other gentlemen who accompanied me, will witness.

M. Preuss, who lived in the neighbourhood of the lady, frequently witnessed similar meals, and maintains that Nomahanna and her fat hog were the greatest curiosities in Wahu. The latter is in particular favour with the Queen, who feeds him almost to death: he is black, and of extraordinary size and fatness: two Kanackas are appointed to attend him, and he can hardly move without their assistance.

Nomahanna is vain of her tremendous appetite. She considers most people too thin, and recommends inaction as an accelerator of her admired embonpoint—so various are the notions of beauty. On the Sandwich Islands, a female figure a fathom long, and of immeasurable circumference, is charming; whilst the European lady laces tightly, and sometimes drinks vinegar, in order to touch our hearts by her slender and delicate symmetry.

One of our officers obtained the Queen's permission to take her portrait. The limner's art is still almost a novelty here; and many persons of rank solicited permission to witness the operation. With the greatest attention, they watched every stroke of the outline, and loudly expressed their admiration as each feature appeared upon the paper. The nose was no sooner traced, than they exclaimed—"Now Nomahanna can smell!" When the eyes were finished—"Now she can see!" They expressed especial satisfaction at the sight of the mouth, because it would enable her to eat; and they seemed to have some apprehension that she might suffer from hunger. At this point, Nomahanna became so much interested, that she requested to see the picture also: she thought the mouth much too small, and begged that it might be enlarged. The portrait, however, when finished, did not please her; and she remarked rather peevishly—"I am surely much handsomer than that!"

On the 17th of January, Karemaku arrived with a squadron of two and three-masted ships, and many soldiers, before the harbour of Hanaruro, after having terminated the war at O Tuai quite to his satisfaction. The fleet being unable to enter the harbour, on account of a contrary wind, was obliged to cast anchor outside. I immediately sent off an officer with my shallop, to convey to the King's deputy my congratulations on his arrival; he and his young wife (his wife, of whom I spoke in my former voyage, was since dead,) returned in the shallop, and came on board my ship. I fired a salute as he approached, which pleased him much, as he said this compliment from a Russian ship of war would tend to remove from the minds of his countrymen their injurious suspicions of the intentions of Russia.

Karemaku seemed sincerely glad to see me again, and, after a most cordial embrace, presented his young and pretty wife to me. He minutely examined all parts of the ship, expressed his approbation of much that was new to him, and at length exclaimed—"How wide a difference there still is between this ship and ours!—would that they could be made to resemble it! O, Tameamea, thou wast taken from us too soon!" In my cabin, he spoke of the death of his royal friend in terms which Marini declared it impossible to translate, as no other language would express such depth of thought united with such ardent feeling. I rather apprehend that Marini, who is not a man of much education, was not competent to give effect to powerful emotion in any language: but the missionaries also declare that there is considerable difficulty in translating from the O Wahi language, which is particularly adapted to poetry.

Karemaku touched also on the change that had taken place in the religion of the country.—"Our present belief," said he, "is preferable to that which it has supplanted; but the inhabitants of the mountains cannot understand its superiority; and strong measures are necessary to prevent their relapsing into idolatry. The King should not have so suddenly annihilated all that they held sacred. As a first consequence, he has been obliged to seek for safety in a foreign country. How all will end, I cannot foresee; but I look forward with fear. The people are attached to me, and I have influence over them; but my health declines, and the Government, which I have scarcely been able to keep together, will probably not survive me. Blood will be spilt, and anarchy will prevail. Already the island of O Tuai has revolted, even during my life." These fears are not without foundation: they are shared by the natives and the foreign settlers; and many of the Yeris seem persuaded that the monarchy will be dismembered on Karemaku's death. Some have already fixed upon the districts they mean to appropriate, and do not even take any pains to conceal their intentions. Yet has the aged and infirm Karemaku hitherto maintained order among these turbulent spirits, permitting no one to disturb the general tranquillity with impunity.

During my former visit here, the painter Choris, who made the voyage with me, and was afterwards murdered in Mexico, took an excellent likeness of Tameamea. I now presented to the venerable Karemaku a copper-plate engraving from this picture. The joy with which he received it was really affecting; he gazed on the picture with delight, and kissed it several times, while the tears rolled down his cheeks. On taking leave, he begged that he might have the medical assistance from our physician, as he had been long indisposed. He pressed my hand, saying, "I too am a Christian, and can read and write." That a warrior, and a statesman, should pride himself on such advantages as these above all others, proves the estimation in which they are held. The Sandwich Islanders know that these are the ties which connect them with civilized nations.

Karemaku and his wife were, notwithstanding the extreme heat, dressed entirely in the European fashion. He wore a dark surtout, and black waistcoat, and pantaloons, both of very fine cloth. He was still in mourning for his beloved Tameamea, and his hat was bound with crape. The lady's dress was of black silk. A crowd of people of both sexes assembled to welcome the Regent. His foot had scarcely touched the shore, when they all began to rub each other's noses, and at a given signal, to weep aloud. This is the established etiquette in welcoming a great chief. Some of the old women of rank surrounded Karemaku, under Chinau's direction, and rubbing each other's noses, sang in a plaintive tone a song to the following effect:

"Where hast thou stayed so long, beloved ruler? We have wept for thee every day. Heaven be praised that thou art here again! Dost thou feel how the earth rejoices under thy footsteps? Dost thou hear how the pigs which scent thee, joyfully grunt their welcome? Dost thou smell the roasted fish that waits thy eating? Come, we will cherish thee, that thou mayest take comfort among us." It must be confessed, that if the O Wahi language be peculiarly adapted for poetry, this composition does not do it justice. Karemaku laughed at this reception, and allowed himself to be conducted in grand procession to Nomahanna, who had not condescended to meet him. The excitement lasted the whole day. Nothing was spoken of but Karemaku's heroism, and the rebel son of Tamaris, whom he had brought with him a prisoner. This young man is called Prince George; he is about five-and-twenty, and not of a prepossessing appearance. He dresses like a European; but although educated in the United States of America, he scarcely equals a common sailor in moral attainments, and is remarkable only for his vices. Karemaku never loses sight of him. Two Yeris are appointed for his keepers; and he knows that he should be strangled if he attempted to escape.

Kahumanna still remained in O Tuai, to maintain the newly-restored tranquillity. This female, who had already distinguished herself in Vancouver's time, unites a clear understanding with a masculine spirit, and seems to have been born for dominion.

Karemaku's arrival proved extremely useful to us. We had made the disagreeable discovery that a great part of the copper with which the ship was bottomed had become loose, and the hull thereby liable to injury from worms. To repair this damage in the ordinary way, the laborious task of unlading and keel-hauling must have been undertaken; but our noble friend, on hearing of our difficulties, put us upon an easier method of managing the business. He sent me three very clever divers, who worked under the water, and fastened new plates of copper on the hull, two of them provided with hammers to drive in the nails, while the third held the materials. We found that these men could remain at work forty-eight seconds at a time. When they emerged, their eyes were always red and starting; the effect of the violent strain upon the optic nerve which the use of the sight under water produces. We had some skilful divers among our own sailors, who, although they could not have attempted this work, were able to inspect what was done by the Wahuaners, and to report that it was properly executed.

Some days after Karemaku's arrival, came an ambassador from Nomahanna, with instructions to demand an audience of me. I received him in the cabin. His only clothing, except a pocket of plaited reeds that hung round his neck, was a shirt, and a very broad-brimmed straw hat. The fellow looked important and mysterious, as if he had a mighty secret to impart; but converse with each other we could not, for he understood only his mother-tongue, of which I was entirely ignorant; he therefore informed me by signs that his pocket contained something for me, and drew from it a packet. One by one, a multitude of envelopes of the paper manufactory of the country were removed, till at length a letter came to light, which he handed to me with the words, "Aroha Nomahanna!" a salutation from Nomahanna. He then explained to me, in pantomime, that it was the Queen's intention to visit me to-day, and that she requested I would send my boat to fetch her. After saying a great deal about "Pala pala," he left me, and I summoned Marini, who gave me the following translation of the letter.

* * * * *

"I salute thee, Russian! I love thee with my whole heart, and more than myself. I feel, therefore, on seeing thee again in my country, a joy which our poor language is unequal to express. Thou wilt find all here much changed. While Tameamea lived, the country flourished; but since his death, all has gone to ruin. The young King is in London. Karemaku and Kahumanna are absent; and Chinau, who fills their place, has too little power over the people to receive thee as becomes thy rank. He cannot procure for thee as many hogs and sweet potatoes, and as much tarro as thou hast need of. How sincerely do I regret that my great possessions lie upon the Island of Muwe, so far away across the sea! Were they nearer, thou shouldst daily be surrounded by hogs. As soon as Karemaku and Kahumanna return, all thy wants shall be provided for. The King's brother comes with them; but he is yet only an inexperienced boy, and does not know how to distinguish good from evil.

"I beg thee to embrace thine Emperor in my name. Tell him, that I would willingly do so myself, but for the wide sea that lies between us. Do not forget to carry my salutations to thy whole nation. Since I am a Christian, and that thou art also such, thou wilt excuse my indifferent writing. Hunger compels me to close my letter. I wish that thou also mayst eat thy hog's head with appetite and pleasure.

I am, With royal constancy And endless love, thine,

NOMAHANNA."

* * * * *

This curious epistle is very neatly written in a firm hand. The letters are large, well-formed, and very intelligible. The superscription bears only the words with which the letter begins—"Aroha Rukkini!" The composition had taken her many weeks to complete; she made some progress in it every day; but what was once inserted she never altered; the same clean page that had been transmitted to me, being the identical one on which the letter was commenced.

It was soon known in Hanaruro that the Queen had written to me; and as all she did was imitated, I was presently in a fair way for being honoured with many similar letters. All my intended correspondents, however, would require at least as much time to express their thoughts on paper, as Nomahanna had taken; I must therefore have waited for their favours much longer than would have been convenient.

According to Nomahanna's request, I sent off an officer with the shallop to fetch her: some hours, however, elapsed before she came, her Majesty's toilette having, said my officer, occupied all this time. When at length it was completed, she desired him to give her his arm and conduct her to the shallop. This is another imitation of European customs.

For a lady of the Sandwich Islands, Nomahanna was this day very elegantly attired. A peach-coloured dress of good silk, trimmed at the bottom with black lace, covered her Majesty's immense figure, which a very broad many-coloured sash, with a large bow in the front, divided exactly into two halves. She had a collar round her neck of native manufacture, made of beautiful red and yellow feathers; and on her head a very fine Leghorn hat, ornamented with artificial flowers from Canton, and trimmed round the edge with a pendant flounce of black lace; her chin lying modestly hidden behind a whole bed of flowers that bloomed on her mountain bosom. In somewhat striking contrast to all this finery were the clumsily accoutred feet, and stout, ill-shaped, brown, unstockinged legs, which the shortness of her Majesty's petticoats, proportioned originally to the stature of a European belle, displayed to a rather unsightly extent.

As yet, the shoemaker's craft does not flourish in the Sandwich Islands; so that all the shoes and boots worn there are imported from Europe and America. But as neither of these Continents can produce such a pair of feet as those of Queen Nomahanna, the attempt to force them into any ready-made shoes would be hopeless; and her Majesty is therefore obliged, if she would not go bare-foot, which she does not consider altogether decorous, to content herself with a pair of men's galloshes. Such trifles as these were, however, beneath her notice, and she contemplated her dress with infinite complacency, as a pattern of princely magnificence. In these splendid habiliments, with a parasol in her hand, slowly and with difficulty, she climbed the ship's stairs, on which, with some of my officers, I was in waiting to receive her; on the highest step she endeavoured already to give us a proof of her acquaintance with our customs, by making a courtesy, which was intended to accord with the most approved rules of the art of dancing, though the feet, not perfectly tutored in their parts, performed in rather a comic style. In attempting this feat, she lost her balance, and would have fallen into the water, if a couple of strong sailors had not caught her illustrious person in their arms.

She was much delighted with all that she saw on board, especially with my cabin, where the sofa paid dearly for the honour of her approbation,—she sat upon it, and broke it down. The portrait of the Emperor Alexander attracted her particular attention; she sat down opposite to it upon the floor, where she could cause no farther destruction, and said, after gazing upon it for some minutes with much interest, "Maitai, Yeri nue Rukkini!" (the great Governor of the Russians is beautiful!) She told me, that she knew a great deal about Russia. A Sandwich Islander, named Lauri, who, in 1819, had made the voyage thither, in the Russian ship Kamtschatka, with Captain Golowin, and had afterwards returned to his own country, had told her many things concerning Petersburg and the Emperor. She said she would have liked to make the voyage herself, but that Lauri's fearful description of the cold had terrified her. He had told her, that it was necessary to envelope the body entirely in fur, and that even this would not obviate all danger of losing the nose and ears; that the cold changed the water into a solid substance, resembling glass in appearance, but of so much strength that it was used for a high road, people passing over it in huge chests drawn by horses, without breaking it; that the houses were as high as mountains, and so large, that he had walked three days in one of them without coming to the end of it. It was evident that Lauri had stretched a little; but Nomahanna had no notion of incredulity. She approved of our inventions for warming the inside of our houses, and thought, that if she were at Petersburg, she would not go out at all during the cold weather, but would drive her carriage about the house. She inquired how it could possibly be so warm at one season of the year, and so cold at another. I endeavoured to accommodate my answer to her powers of comprehension, and she seemed satisfied.

"Lauri was in the right," she observed; "there are very clever people in Russia." Her acknowledgment of my abilities, however, proved rather inconvenient, for she now overwhelmed me with a host of questions, some of them very absurd, and which to have answered with methodical precision, would have required much time and consideration. For instance, she desired me to tell her how much wood must be burnt, every year, to warm all the countries of the earth? Whether rain enough might not fall, at some time or other, to extinguish all the fires? And whether, by means of such a rain, Wahu might not become as cold as Russia? I endeavoured to cut the matter as short as possible; and, in order to divert her thoughts to other subjects, set wine before her; she liked it very much, and I therefore presented her with a bottle; but her thirst for knowledge was not thus to be quenched, and during a visit of two hours, she asked such incessant questions, that I was not a little relieved when, at length, she proposed to depart. In taking leave, she observed, "If I have wine, I must have glasses, or how can I drink it?" So saying, she took the bottle that had been given her, in one hand, and, with the other, seizing without ceremony the glasses that stood on the table, she went upon deck. There she made a profound courtesy to all present, and again took her seat in the shallop. Thus ended this condescending visit, with the royal appropriation of my wine glasses. Nomahanna had, however, been so liberal to us, that she had a right to suppose she would be welcome to them.

The illness of Karemaku had very much increased since his arrival in Wahu; he had every symptom of dropsy. Our physician, however, succeeded, in a great measure, in restoring him to health, and when I paid him a congratulatory visit, I found him very grateful for the benefit he had received, full of spirits, and very facetious. I adopted his tone, and jestingly told him, that we would certainly complete his cure, even if we should be obliged to rip open his stomach, take out the bowels, clean them, and replace them. Karemaku laughed, and said he would submit to the operation, if it was necessary to his perfect recovery. Some old women, however, who were present, took the matter in sober seriousness, and spread among the people a report of the dreadful treatment their beloved Karemaku was threatened with; a terrible disturbance in Hanaruro was the consequence. The people believed I intended to kill him, and were excessively irritated against me. Karemaku himself sent me this intelligence through Marini; adding a request, that I would not come ashore again till he had overcome this foolish idea, which was accomplished in a few days. The feeling manifested on this occasion was certainly honourable both to the governor and the governed.

An epidemic disease prevailed this year throughout the Sandwich Islands. It produced a great mortality, death generally following the attack within a few days. In Hanaruro I saw many corpses daily carried to their burial; but nowhere is recovery from serious illness so improbable as here. As soon as the patient is obliged to take to his bed, he is immediately surrounded by his nearest relations, especially of the female sex, who, weeping, and singing mournful songs in a most lamentable tone, propose to themselves, by this means, to effect his recovery, or at least to procure him some relief from his sufferings. The worse he grows, the larger the assembly, and the louder the noise becomes; even his friends and acquaintances come flocking in: when there is no more room within the house, they congregate round the door, and continue mourning, crying, and howling, inside and outside, till the sufferer expires. This perpetual disturbance, the constant remembrance of death it occasions, and the infection of the air from the number of breaths in the crowded apartment, naturally produce a very prejudicial effect, and no doubt many die rather in consequence of these proofs of sympathy than of their disease.

Kahumanna, having concluded her business in O Tuai, arrived at length in Hanaruro with the King's brother, a handsome boy of thirteen. I paid her a visit, and was very graciously received. She is considerably older than Nomahanna; but, though large and corpulent enough, not by much such a prodigy of size. Her countenance bears traces of former beauty; she dresses entirely like a European, and has a more intimate knowledge of our customs and manners than Nomahanna. Her house, built partly of wood and partly of stone, is larger than the one I have described as the habitation of the other Queen; like that, it has two stories and a balcony, and it is similarly furnished. Near it is the abode of the missionary Bengham. Kahumanna, as well as Nomahanna, has the date of Tameamea's death marked upon her arm; otherwise they are not tattooed, which indeed few are, and those only the most aged people.

Kahumanna honoured me several times with visits on board, and condescended to write me a letter, which, Marini assured me, contained nothing but expressions so inflated and pompous that he could not understand, and therefore could not translate them.

The appointed time for our return to New Archangel now approached. Our vessel had been fully prepared for encountering the violent and continued storms of the North, and I waited the return of our mineralogist, M. Hoffman, who had gone to O Wahi, for the purpose of climbing the mountain Mou-na-roa, in which however he did not succeed. By command of Queen Nomahanna, assistance had indeed been afforded him; but the two Kanackas, who accompanied him as guides, refused to proceed farther than seven thousand feet above the level of the sea, or about half-way up the mountain; a height to which the most courageous O Wahian will scarcely venture, from fear partly of the spirits which haunt the summit of the mountain, partly of the cold, which is almost too severe for an inhabitant of the tropics to endure. At this point the Kanackas threw themselves flat upon the earth, nor would they stir another step, although certain of punishment for their refusal. In vain M. Hoffman tried to shake their resolution, first by offering them large presents, and then by threatening them with a loaded pistol; they were immoveable, and he was forced to return. His expedition, however, was not altogether fruitless: besides his mineralogical observations, he discovered an extraordinary cave, running at an acute angle several hundred feet deep into the mountain, where he found a sheet of water, which stretched as far as the light of the torches permitted the light to reach through the fearful darkness. It would have been interesting to have traversed this subterranean sea in a boat. It is most remarkable, that the water of this lake is salt, and that the alternate ebb and flow of the tide is as perceptible here as on the coast. M. Hoffman will probably publish other particulars respecting this natural curiosity.

On the 31st of January 1825, we left the harbour of Hanaruro, having the pleasure to be accompanied by our friend Karemaku, who, by the help of our physicians, felt himself well enough to venture thus far. He brought with him several double canoes, which, as there was no wind, towed the ship quite out of the harbour, and far enough to sea to obviate any danger from the reefs; Karemaku then took leave of us with the most cordial expressions of friendship, wishing us a prosperous voyage and a speedy return. On a signal from him, the fortress fired five guns, which salute we immediately returned. Karemaku waved his hat from his boat, and continuing his "Arohas" so long as we were within hearing, was rowed back to the harbour. A fresh wind at this moment springing up, we lost sight of the beautiful island where we had passed our time so agreeably, and prepared, with far less prospect of satisfaction, to encounter the wintry storms of the North. I chose the channel between the islands of Wahu and O Tuai, as the most convenient outlet into the open ocean, for ships going northward from Hanaruro. We passed through it on the following day, and sailed direct for New Archangel.

The reader will willingly spare me any particular description of this troublesome voyage: I must only mention that, on the 14th of February, in latitude 35 deg. and 155 deg. longitude, we sailed over a point where, according to the assertion of some whale-fishers in Wahu, an island lies; but though the horizon was perfectly clear, we could discover no sign of land. Our voyage proved safer and more expeditious than is usual at this season.

Our astronomical observations on the Sandwich Islands gave the following results:—

Latitude of Hanaruro 21 deg. 17' 57"

Longitude 158 deg. 00' 30"

Longitude of the Eastern point of the island Muwe 156 deg. 13' 10"

Longitude of the Western point 156 deg. 48' 11"

Latitude of one of the small islands East of Maratai, which are not given in Vancouver's map 21 deg. 13' 30"

Longitude 156 deg. 49' 12".

The account of our residence at New Archangel is contained in the tenth Chapter.

On our return voyage to Wahu, we had constantly fine weather, though but little wind, so that it was not till the 29th of August we found ourselves in latitude 34 deg., where we first, in a clear star-light night, saw the comet which was then visible in the neighbourhood of Aldebaran; it had a tail four degrees and a half long. On the 4th of September we sailed over a point, occupied in Arrowsmith's chart by the island Laxara, without perceiving the smallest trace of it; the existence therefore of this island, which is said to have been early discovered by the Spanish navigators, remains doubtful.

When we reached the tropic, a brisk trade-wind carried us quickly to the Sandwich Islands, and on the 12th of September we already saw the Mou-na-roa quite clearly, at a distance of a hundred and twenty-four miles, rising high above the horizon. On the following morning, we again dropped anchor before the harbour of Hanaruro, after a sail of thirty-five days from New Archangel.

As I only intended to take in a supply of fresh provisions and water, and then continue my voyage without farther delay, I considered it unnecessary to run into the harbour, and remained in the roads, although the south-wind to which they are exposed is sometimes dangerous to ships riding there. This wind, however, blows only at certain seasons, and is always announced by an over-clouded sky, long enough to afford time for taking shelter or standing out to sea.

On the morning after our arrival, a remarkable phenomenon occurred, of which we were witnesses throughout its duration. While the heavens were quite clear, a thick, black cloud formed itself over the island, resting its lower verge on the summits of the mountains, the densest portion of the cloud hanging over the little town of Hanaruro. The wind was perfectly calm, till on a sudden a violent gust blew from the north-east, and at the same time a crashing noise proceeded from the cloud, as if many ships were firing their guns; the resemblance was so perfect, that we might have supposed we heard alternately the individual shots of the opposing broadsides. The concussion lasted some minutes; and when it ceased, two stones shot from the cloud into the street of Hanaruro, and from the violence of the fall broke into several pieces. The inhabitants collected the still warm fragments, and judging by these, the stones must have weighed full fifteen pounds each. They were grey inside, and were externally surrounded by a black burnt crust. On a chemical analysis, they appeared to resemble the meteoric stones which have fallen in many countries.

In the short period of our absence, some important events had taken place. My readers will remember that the King and Queen of the Sandwich Islands arrived safely in London, and were there treated with particular attention by the English Court; and that they both died in that country, having previously expressed their desire to be buried in their native land. This wish was fulfilled by the English Government. The bodies, having been embalmed, were laid in magnificent coffins decorated with gold, and Lord Byron was appointed to carry them and the royal suite, back to Wahu. When he arrived there, and the news of the deaths of the King and Queen transpired, it produced a great but varying sensation. Some of the people lamented the loss, but the greater number rejoiced to be relieved of a ruler in whom they had no confidence; our friend Karemaku seemed much grieved, possibly from old attachment to the royal family, or from patriotism, as he had hoped that the King's visit to England would have been very advantageous to him, and no one was at the moment qualified to assume the reins of government as his successor.

On the 11th of May, both coffins were carried in solemn procession to the church, the fortress and the English frigate firing their guns. The people cried and howled, as custom requires on these occasions, but all the while greatly admiring the magnificence of the coffins; some remarked that it must be a pleasure to die in England, where people were laid in such beautiful boxes. The following inscriptions in the English language were on the coffin-lids:

"Tameamea II., King of the Sandwich Islands, died in London on the 24th of July 1824, in the 28th year of his age. Respected be the memory of our beloved King Jolani."

(The King was sometimes known by this appellation.)

"Tamehamelu, Queen of the Sandwich Islands, died in London, on the 8th of July 1824, in the 22nd year of her age."

The funeral procession was arranged in the following order: Twelve Yeris, in the national costume, with beautiful coloured feather mantles and helmets, walked first; they were followed by a band of musicians playing the dead-march, and a company of soldiers from the frigate Blond. Then came the chaplain of the frigate, and with him the missionaries, immediately followed by the coffins in hearses, each drawn by forty Yeris. Directly behind the coffins came the heir to the throne, the brother of the King, a boy about thirteen, dressed in European uniform. Lord Byron, his officers, and the royal family, followed, the procession being closed by the people, who, attracted by the novelty of the spectacle, assembled in great multitudes. All wore crape as a sign of mourning, or, if they could not procure this, Tapa. In the church, which was entirely hung with black, the chaplain of the English frigate read the funeral-service, and the procession afterwards repaired, in the order above described, to a small stone chapel, where the coffins were deposited, and where they still remain.

Soon after the funeral, the new King was proclaimed by the title of Tameamea the Third, at the command of Karemaku, who retained the regency during the minority, in conjunction with the Queen Kahumanna. The regents were thus nominally the same; but Karemaku was too ill to take an active share in the government, and the missionary Bengham found means to obtain such an acendency over the imperious Kahumanna, and, through her, over the nation, that in the course of only seven months an entire change had taken place:—we might have imagined ourselves in a different country. Bengham had undertaken the education of the young monarch, and was keeping him under the strictest surveillance. He meddles in all the affairs of government, and makes Kahumanna, and even sometimes Karemaku, the instrument of his will; pays particular attention to commercial concerns, in which he appears to take great interest; and seems to have quite forgotten his original situation and the object of his residence in the islands, finding the avocations of a ruler more to his taste than those of a preacher. This would be excusable, if his talents were of a nature to contribute to the instruction and happiness of the people; if he understood the art of polishing the rough diamond, to which the uncorrupted Sandwich Islander may aptly be compared, so as to bring out its intrinsic value, and to increase its external splendour. But the fact is widely different; and one cannot see without deep regret the spiritual and temporal weal of a well-disposed people committed to the guidance of an unenlightened enthusiast, whose ill-directed and ill-arranged designs are inimical to their true and permanent interests.