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otner side, sprang into the vessel, and paddled away with the agility of a young rower and the skill of an old one.

April 11. The schooner, which had parted from us on our voyage from Huahine, and for which we have been waiting here, not having yet arrived, captain Kent resolved upon proceeding to Oahu, in hope of meeting with it there. Accordingly we set sail this day, and proceeded up the west side of the island, in the track by which we had come.

April 12. This evening we stood out from Toeigh bay, which we reached yesterday, and where Mr. Young resides, towards the island of Maui. On this passage a whale (we could not ascertain the species) of great bulk diverted us with its unwieldy gambols, at a short distance from the ship. Sometimes it raised its enormous head and shoulders perpendicularly out of the deep, then it fell backward, rolling amidst the foam which it excited, and flapping its pectoral fins like "sail-broad vans" above the water; again it dived downward, and, re-appearing at the other side, flourished its huge tail high in the air; spouting at intervals, and at length sailing majestically off. At night, for the first time on this ocean, we discerned the entire constellation of Ursa Minor; for, though the pole-star had long been within scope, the horizon was in general so hazy that we had seldom been able to catch more than a glimpse of it. How many eyes have been fixed upon that one small point in the heavens, since the first navigator, on faith of its guidance, trusted himself in a frail bark beyond sight of land! How many eyes have looked in vain for its steadfast and unsetting watch-light, when vapors, clouds, and storms obscured it! More meteors than we had ever seen before, in the same time, were flashing above us, in different directions, through the cool, dun gloom of night, while we made our way, under easy sail, along the quiet waters.

April 13. At day-break we passed Tahurawa, and, over its comparatively low shore, could plainly distinguish, northward and westward, the loftier forelands of Maui, Ranai, and Moroka, while the volcanic crest of Hawaii, a cone of snow, empurpled with the morning beams, rose in aërial perspective, far and beautiful behind. About the middle of the forenoon Oahu hove in sight, and we were following our amidst a gulf of islands-nearly the whole Sandwich group, from different points of the horizon, rising in mountainous peaks around us.

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INTRODUCTION TO RIHORIHO.

April 14. As we approached Oahu, it was impossible not to be struck with the extraordinary contour of the coast. From the western extremity the land slopes gradually upward to the east, where it culminates in irregular jagged peaks, and breaks off in stupendous precipices. At this end, about half a mile from the shore, a shapely conical rock tapers to a considerable height out of the deep water; and further along another insulated mass of naked crags, and ruder form, bears the brunt of the everlasting surges breaking round its base. We made for the southern side, where two bold eminences, "horns of land," project towards the sea, and give a singular aspect of defence and defiance to the shore. The flanks of both are deeply indented with watercourses; or, more probably, riven by volcanic earthquakes, for we remarked that the trenches were partly oblique-some of them almost zig-zag-and partly vertical, as if a ploughshare had forced a furrow, at one stroke, from top to bottom of the declivity. Unable to double the point, towards which we had been steering, we were compelled to tack and stand off from the land till to-morrow. In the night our vessel was becalmed, and all the following day (the Sabbath) we still remained at sea.

April 16. This morning, the wind being too weak to carry us through, we were towed into harbor, under the guidance of a native pilot. Twenty-four ships were lying. in the port and the offings, principally American whalers. Soon after landing, we were introduced to the king, who is resident there. We found his majesty (Rihoriho) in company of his five wives and a number of chiefs, with a large train of other attendants. He was seated in the midst, upon a mat, on the floor of an extensive native house. He appears to be a young man of courteous manners, about the middle size (inferior in that respect to the Tahitian princes), and of a light complexion. He was dressed in European style, having on a shirt, jacket, waistcoat, and pantaloons. Captain Kent told the king his errand, and produced his credentials from Port Jackson. His majesty appeared exceedingly gratified by the present of the schooner, as a pledge of good-will, on the part of the British government, with which he wishes to secure and perpetuate an alliance, even as a vassal of king George, so that he may but rely on his paternal protection. Rihoriho, at this audience, was attended by an officer, sitting behind him, with a fan of long

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white feathers, which he waved continually in the air, over his head. Beside this person sat one of the queens, holding in her hands a wooden dish, covered with a handkerchief, which she occasionally presented to the royal lips, to spit into it. The tobacco-pipe, also, was occasionally introduced, when the king, having amused himself with a whiff or two, handed it to his favorite queen, and she to another; in which manner it travelled round the circle of grandees as long as the fumigation could be kept up. Wine was brought to us, in which we pledged his majesty's health. His five queens are women of no ordinary magnitude; two of them must be, at least, six feet high each, and of a comely bulk in proportion. Their dresses were silken girdles, of divers colors, thrown round the body, with necklaces of flowers, and wreaths of fern leaves on their heads. Each of these great ladies was disfigured by the voluntary loss of two or three front teeth, in memory of the death of the late king. We have hardly seen a mouth since we landed in Hawaii, which has not been thus barbarously dismantled of some part of its most useful as well as most ornamental furniture.

On returning from this audience, we dined at the house of the American missionaries, who indeed received us as brethren as soon as they were apprized of our arrival, We learn that from two to three hundred natives usually attend their public services; but as yet there is small appearance of the gospel having taken root even in a few hearts. These faithful messengers of it have hitherto labored, but not fainted, under many disadvantages. A little boy, who had been accustomed to wait on the missionaries, carried home to his father, who was blind, intelligence of what he had seen or heard, from time to time, in their company. The old man was deeply touched by these communications, and soon began to inquire for himself, "if these things were so ;" and manifested, meanwhile, a corresponding concern for his soul's salvation. He professes a full reliance on the atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ, and prays daily, and often in the day. Nor does he stop here, but he has begun to speak to his countrymen, reproving sin, and recommending the righteousness which is of faith. Wherefore some say, "He is a good man;" others say, "Nay, but he deceiveth the people." John vii. 12. We trust that he is a true convert, who deems it enough in taking up the cross, that the "disciple should be as his Master, and the servant as his lord." Matt. x. 25. A

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REPORT OF THE DEPUTATION

few days ago, the king sent for him, and questioned him concerning his new religion, when the poor man is said to have witnessed so good a confession that he was sent away from the royal presence with liberal approval.

CHAPTER XVIII.

Extracts of Letters from Messrs. Tyerman and Bennet, addressed from the Sandwich Islands to the Directors of the London Missionary Society, and to the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions.

[It will probably be most expedient, in this place, to introduce extracts from three letters written by Messrs. Tyerman and Bennet, during their residence at the Sandwich Islands, as these will, in a few pages, give the reader a comprehensive view of the important changes which took place while they were providentially detained there. The Journal may then be continued to advantage, by omitting many minute details, which would otherwise occupy more space than can be spared in the limited compass of the present work.]

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On landing, we were most kindly and affectionately received by the missionaries, and by them immediately introduced to the king, who showed us every polite attention. He is a young man, and was dressed in the European costume. He was highly delighted with the present of the schooner, sent him by the king of England, but not for its value-he possesses ten ships of his own, and considerable property in dollars and goods of various kinds-but as an expression of the friendship of the English, to whom he is strongly attached, and under whose protection he considers himself as holding these islands. He immediately engaged to supply the crew of the cutter with provisions so long as she may remain here, and invited captain Kent to take up his abode in his house during the same time. Here is a good harbor, which is also a place of great resort to American whalers, for refreshment. On coming into the port, which is divided into an outer and an inner basin, we counted twenty-three ships and vessels of different descriptions. For coming to an anchor in the outer harbor ships pay forty dollars; in the inner, eighty dollars, besides pilotage. This harbor is protected by a battery,

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built at the head of it, which mounts fifty guns of large calibre, and another battery at the summit of a neighboring hill, where there are ten large cannons. On landing, we found ourselves in a village called Honolulu, containing between 2,000 and 3,000 inhabitants, living in grass houses, resembling hay-ricks of different sizes, with but one small opening as the door-way, scattered over an extensive plain, which lies between the sea and the foot of the mountains. The taro plantations, which are seen near the village, afford striking proofs of great industry on the part of the people, and no small ingenuity in so directing the water, which runs down the adjacent valleys, as to convey it from one bed of taro to another, for three or four miles in extent. Here are resident an American consul, and several persons from that country, with a view to mercantile employment; their specific object is sandal-wood, which grows in these islands, and finds an advantageous market in China. Goods of various kinds are imported here, and almost every thing may be obtained. Dollars constitute the circulating medium of these islands.

After our interview with the king, the missionaries most affectionately invited us all to take up our abode with them at their house during our stay, to which we gratefully consented. Their house is at a short distance from the village. Here are two missionaries, Messrs. Bingham and Thurston, with their wives; the former, with Mrs. Bingham, was at the island of Tauai when we arrived, but has since returned. Besides these pious and excellent men, there are four more, and their wives; Mr. Chamberlain, who is acquainted with agriculture ;* Mr. Loomis, a printer, and Messrs. Ruggles and Whitney. The two latter are stationed at the island of Tauai, which is about seventy miles from hence, and where a school of about thirty children has been raised. There is also a school here, containing the same number of children. All the children in both schools are clothed and boarded at the houses of the missionaries, at the Society's expense. We have had the pleasure of seeing the whole of this interesting missionary family, except Mr. Whitney, with Mrs. W. and Mrs. Ruggles, and feel peculiarly pleased with their eminent piety and good sense.

* Since returned to the United States, as has Mr. Loomis also, on account of ill health. The Mr. Chamberlain now at the islands, did not arrive till after this time.-Am. Editor.

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