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POWER OF SUPERSTITION WEAKENED.

threatened sad things, none of which came to pass; on the contrary, John soon afterwards became well.

Towards the latter end of the late king's reign, a volcanic eruption in Hawaii threatened the total destruction of that island, according to the fears of the natives. To appease the angry demon who was the supposed author of this havoc the priests demanded of the king a great number of hogs, which were to be thrown into the sea. Tameha

meha, though a sturdy idolater, had the hardihood to refuse compliance with this preposterous request; and the island, in due time, recovered "its propriety."-We are assured that, a short time before his death, he sought information concerning the Christian religion from one who professed it, and resided here at that time; but this person either could not or would not give it. The old sovereign, therefore, died an avowed idolater, though it was suspected that his religion was only a part of his policy. It is however asserted, apparently on good authority, that, in his last hours, he gave a strict charge to his son, Rihoriho, “to preserve the tabu, and to refrain from spirituous liquors.” It may be a subject of congratulation to the people that his successor disregarded the first injunction; but it is to be lamented that he observed not the second.

We are informed, by those who attended the festival yesterday, that it was celebrated with unusual decorum. The dinner, at the king's house, was in the European style. At the principal table, turtle soup, roasted pigs, fowls, beef, &c., with abundant supplies of fruits, were set before the guests, who, besides the king's own family, were, for the most part, Americans and English, captains of ships, or residents. About eighty dogs were killed and cooked on this occasion; but the natives never offer this delicacy to strangers, who hold it in abhorrence. The

chiefs and their attendants, therefore, monopolized that part of the provision. The favourite queen presented herself to her husband, according to etiquette, wrapped round with a piece of native cloth, so long and broad that she was almost hidden under the folds, like a caterpillar beneath its web. To array herself in this unwieldly robe, the cloth had been spread out on the ground, when, beginning at one end, she threw her body across it, and rolled over and over, from side to side, till she had wound the whole about her. After she had shown herself thus apparelled in "the presence," her majesty lay down again upon the floor, and unrolled the cloth, by reversing the process of clothing; she then gathered it up, and presented the bundle to the king. While engaged in this ludicrous court-ceremony, women were dancing and singing around her in the most frantic native style. But though the feast, in other respects, was conducted with comparative decency and temperance in the royal circle, the multitude without, and at their own homes, indulged in all the excesses and abominations which were common in their state of savages and idolaters—a state as yet little changed, except in name.

This day, on our walk, we entered a house adjacent to the king's, in which several of his queens, and a number of the wives of principal chiefs, about twenty in all, were seated at a large table, while a servant in waiting supplied them with ardent spirits, raw, or mixed with water, as each in turn required. These they drank in quantities which showed that they were no novices. The social pipe circulated with the glass, from hand to mouth. These high dames were variously dressed in native or European costume; some having on silk or calico gowns, with richcoloured feather tippets, while others wore a few folds of scarlet cloth about their loins, and necklaces made of

446 INVITATION TO LONDON MISSIONARY SOCIETY.

platted human hair, with a crooked pendant, made of a fish's tooth, in front. One of these necklaces will frequently consist of four or five hundred strings, and measure, when drawn out in one length, from two hundred and fifty to three hundred yards. They are very highly prized, and none but the chief women can afford such costly ornaments.

At another table sat a goodly company of men, in military array,—namely, in European clothes, with cocked hats on their heads, and canes in their hands. These were chiefs. Behind the tables lay two groups of native soldiers, head and feet, on the floor; some in blue uniforms, faced with red, and others in white, turned up with blue. The whole scene was heterogeneous, and, as a mere spectacle for the eye, amusing enough; but the heart aches with misgivings, which cannot be expressed, at the sight of human degradation in lands which God has made so beautiful, and Satan so vile.

May 10. In the afternoon, Auna came to tell us that all the great chiefs, including the king and queen of Tauai, had met this morning, and come to a resolution to request him, and our other Tahitian friends, to remain with them; and also, if possible, to prevail upon us to consent, on the part of the London Missionary Society, that Mr, Ellis should be stationed here, as their oromedua-their teacher, since they were all desirous to learn the good word of God. Though not unprepared for such a proposal, by previous intimations, we were overwhelmed with joy and gratitude at the prospect of the glory of the Lord being indeed risen upon these regions of darkness. To ourselves, now, the reasons began to be manifested why we had been providentially diverted from our course to the Marquesas, brought hither, as it were by mischance, and detained here,

RIHORIHO'S CONSENT TO ADMIT MISSIONARIES.

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contrary to our will, by perverse circumstances, which had grievously disconcerted us, though, being of a private nature, we have not particularized them. We allude, generally, to the conduct of Captain Kent in refusing to take us back to the Society Islands till he has accomplished a voyage, on a commercial speculation, to Fanning's Island, which may occupy several weeks, if not months. Meanwhile it is doubtful whether we can obtain a passage back to the South Pacific by any other vessel; those which visit this group being principally whalers, or sandal-wood merchants, that seldom touch at the former islands.

May 12. Till this day, no fit opportunity had occurred for waiting upon the king, to know his mind respecting the overture made by the chiefs. Mr. Bingham and Mr. Ellis being admitted to an interview-our American Missionary friends heartily approving of the plan-Rihoriho said at once that he had no objection to Mr. Ellis and his family coming to settle in any part of his dominions; "but," he observed, "you may find it hard to get food; this is a poor country; my subjects are given up to drunkenness, and what will be the use of trying to teach such people?" He seemed, however, much pleased at the idea of Mr. Ellis being stationed near him, and said that he would consult with Krimaku (his prime minister) and other principal advisers; but these having already sanctioned the measure, we feel assured that it may be happily arranged ;-the Lord bless and prosper it!

May 14. We sailed this morning, in an American sloop, for the Pearl River, the mouth of which opens into the sea, on the western coast, about sixteen miles from Honoruru. What we have called the mouth of the river is, in fact, a magnificent arm of the sea, stretching from three to four miles through the level ground, and branching off, in

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BRAVERY OF SOME OF THE OLD CHIEFS.

various directions, so as to form a number of beautiful islets, covered with verdure, and one of them stocked abundantly with rabbits. Beyond these, the creek expands into a fine basin, three miles in diameter. Within this there are large sections, enclosed by embankments of earth, raised above the water, in which vast quantities of fish are bred and preserved for the use of the chiefs to whom the several ponds belong. These are said to have been constructed more than a hundred and fifty years ago, by a king named Tatuihava.

On our cruise we gathered up sundry fragments of information concerning the state and manners of the people while they were professed idolaters. In their wars, before Europeans came among them, hostilities were carried on in a very desultory manner, and rarely was a pitched battle fought between two parties of combatants sufficiently numerous to be called armies. There was one very gallant custom common in their skirmishing conflicts. A chief would take the field, clothed in a long cloak of yellow and red feathers, exquisitely wrought, and reaching to the heels, as well as amply folding over the chest; his head was likewise accoutred with a gorgeous helmet, correspondingly decked with party-coloured plumage. He bore neither spear nor shield, nor any weapon offensive or defensive, but only a fan in his hand, which he brandished in front of his antagonists (who were drawn up in a line before him), thus challenging them to begin the attack upon himself singly, while his followers were drawn up, in like manner, behind, to support him if necessary. A number of spears were then thrown at him by the enemy; which, with wonderful dexterity, he contrived to avoid or divert by a stroke of the hand, or by stooping, twisting, and turning aside his body; even when twenty or thirty at a