crossing the antarctic circle, and hovering around the south pole. They explore the vast extent of the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans, while the Carzette Islands, New Holland, and New Zealand are witness to their hardy and persevering industry. And as the immense fleet of whalemen sailing from the United States around Cape Horn have been dependent upon the Sandwich Islands for their supplies, so they have given to the islands much of the importance which they now possess ; and if the inhabitants of the islands wish to preserve the valuable trade arising from this fishery, they will find it necessary to remove all the disadvantages of port charges under which whalemen now labor, in visiting their harbors. Few portions of the world afford a greater variety of productions than the Sandwich Islands. As the temperature in the different parts varies from forty to ninety degrees in the shade, so nearly all the productions of the temperate and torrid zones, here come to maturity. In the Hawaiian markets of their own production, may be found arrow-root, sugar-cane, Kukui oil, castor oil, mustard seed, coffee, indigo, cotton, cabbages, pineapples, pumpkins, melons, oranges, bananas, figs, grapes, sweet potatoes, Irish potatoes, onions, taro, Indian corn, wheat, rice, tobacco, beef, pork, goats, turkeys, fowls, cocoanuts, mangoes, and bread-fruit. Though the productions are thus various, the staff of life amongst the natives is the taro-root. This root is cultivated on patches of ground wholly covered with water, so that the plant is wholly immersed, excepting the large green leaves. It grows to the size of a large potato; is boiled by the natives; prepared in the form of paste, and eaten either alone or with dried fish. It is considered a wholesome food, and exceedingly nutritious. When thus prepared it is called poi, and being almost indispensable to the subsistence of the natives, it forms one of the principal articles of traffic among them. Society in Honolulu becomes a subject of interest to all, whether transient visitors, or residents. Though there are some jealousies existing betwixt the subjects of different nations concerning the degree of favor which they respectively enjoy under the government, the British complaining that the Americans have more than themselves, and the Americans, that the privileges enjoyed by the British, are much greater than theirs, and the French, that they are much worse off than either the British or Americans; yet all visitors agree in attributing to the foreign residents at Honolulu a degree of hospitality and good feeling not often enjoyed in any other part of the world. This virtue is not confined to the missionary families, but is a general characteristic of the foreign society. Strangers who come well recommended, are immediately introduced into society of a highly intellectual and polished character, consisting of consuls and other resident officers, naval captains and merchants, and American and English ladies, many of whom are highly accomplished, and possess greater personal charms than usually falls to the lot of even the fair sex. Embracing the missionary ladies, there are about thirty in Honolulu, whose presence would add polish to the very best society our country affords. One characteristic of Hawaiian society is peculiarly striking. It is the almost universal regard paid to the Sabbath. Whether this arises from a deep religious feeling or from custom, I cannot say; but certainly there are few places of the same extent where more decency and order are observed on this day than are apparent in Honolulu. With the exception of a few of the oldest residents, who have always habituated themselves to the license and misrule of heathenism, all the foreign residents are regular in their attendance at the house of God. Indeed, it is very seldom that the quiet of the Sabbath is broken, either by strangers or the natives themselves. Though there is a class in Honolulu that "look into the cup when it is red, that continue till night, till wine inflame them," yet I should not be doing justice to the society of the place, if I did not bear witness to the general prevalence of temperance. During the three . months which I have spent on the islands, I have seldom seen a drunken man, either native or foreigner. There are no beggars parading the streets, few petty thefts committed, no robberies, seldom an assault or act of violence, unless provoked by a white man. Yet, notwithstanding all this, and all that has been done for their benefit, the state of the native Hawaiians is still truly deplorable. To call them a christianized, civilized, happy, and prosperous people, would be to mislead the public mind in relation to their true condition. All these terms when applied to the Hawaiians, should be greatly qualified. Their state appears to be that spoken of by the prophet Zechariah as a day which should be neither light nor dark, with this difference, perhaps, that in the case of the Hawaiians, there is still more of night than of day, more of darkness than of light. To an inquiry which I made of the Rev. Lowel Smith, one of the missionaries in Honolulu, concerning the prosperity of the natives, I received this reply: "The evident tendency of things is downward.' Downward it is rapidly, in point of numbers, and if the ratio of decrease shall continue the same for only a few years, if does not require the eye of a prophet to see what will be the result. The epitaph of the nation will be written, and Anglo Saxons will convert the islands into another West Indies. CHAPTER XII. Return to Oregon - Embarkation - Passengers Horace Holden -- Thrilling storyThe whaleman - Voyage Arrival in the Columbia River - Disagreeable navi gation Yearly meeting of the Missionaries Appointments - Arrival of Rev. George Gang Reasons for his appointment Great changes Mr. LeeGeorge Abernethy Powers of the new Superintendent - Special meeting Laymen dismissed - Miscellaneous -Transporting supplies - Another meeting Oregon Institute Finances of the Mission brought to a close - Num. ber of Missionaries returned Number remaining in the field. Voyage - ON the morning of the 3rd day of April, it was announced by Captain Couch that the Chenamus was again ready for sea, and that the passengers were expected to be on board at nine o'clock. According to the arrangement before Mr. Lee's departure, we had secured our passage, and were ready to obey the summons to embark, and the following evening we had lost sight of the beautiful "Isles of the South," and were dancing northward over the waves of the great Pacific. Among our fellow passengers were Dr. J. L. Babcock and family, who were returning to Oregon, to resume their places in the mission, and Mr. Horace Holden and family, who had resided some time on the island of Kauai, where they had been employed in the manufacture of sugar. He had formerly been employed in the whaling business, and on one of his voyages his vessel was wrecked, and he was cast away, with a few of his companions, on one of the Pelew Islands. Nearly all his fellow sufferers were cruelly murdered by the savages before his eyes, and he saved himself from the same fate only by submitting without resistance, to all the indignities and cruelties that savage ingenuity could invent to torment a man without killing him. They stripped him of his clothing, and then, with |