In consequence of the unfortunate accident to the Chenamus, we were detained for five weeks, during which we had an opportunity of extending our observations on the missions, government, commerce, &c., of the Sandwich Islands. Coral Reets Names of Cook's death - Population Islands When discovered - Singular tradition Kamaham ha III Reformation - Singular custom — School for young chiefs Influence of Missionaries - The King's Cabinet Important history of two hundred and seventy-six days Increase of Cabinet - Paper King Protection Commerce Whale Fishery Productions Society Temperance Destination of the Islands. THE Sandwich Islands, in common with a vast number of others in the Pacific Ocean, have doubtless been formed by volcanic action, in connexion with the operations of the coral worm. Doubts may reasonably be indulged in relation to the causes which have produced the present form of many other portions of the globe, but there can be none concerning the manner in which the Sandwich Islands first emerged from the bosom of the deep. That they have been thrown up by volcanic eruptions is evident, from the numerous old craters which appear on all parts of the islands; from the vast quantities of congealed lava everywhere observable; from the nature of the soil, it being nothing more nor less than decomposed lava, and from the present existence of an active volcano on the principal island of the group. This burning mountain, known by the name of the volcano of Kilawea, is situated on the island of Hawaii, or Owyhee, as it was formerly called; and from its continued action in casting up immense quantities of lava, stones, and dirt, which in some instances have been known to roll down the sides of the mountain in such vast quantities, as, in their progress, to fill up the deep ravines washed in the sides of the mountain, and sometimes to bury up the cottages of the natives with their occupants, and extending quite to the ocean, enlarging even the island itself, must be viewed as disclosing the principal cause of the formation of this interesting collection of the Pacific Isles. Though the crater of this mountain is the only flue now open through which the subteranean fires discharge themselves, yet doubtless all the old craters have, in their turn, served the same purpose; and from their appearance one is led to suppose that many of them may have been in action at the same time. There are different opinions entertained concerning the formation and continued enlargement of the coral reefs by which all the islands are surrounded. The prevailing opinion is that they owe their origin to the constant action of what is called "the coral worm." Though it appears evident that the above mentioned two causes have produced the Sandwich Islands, yet, after all, perhaps these are mere speculations, and they may have existed nearly in their present form since the period when the waters of the deluge were gathered to their original bed, and the ark rested on Mount Ararat. Be this as it may, there are ten of these isolated spots of earth embraced in the group known by the name of the Sandwich Islands. They are distinguished by the names of Hawaii, Maui, Oahu, Kawai, Molokai, Lanai, Niihau and Kahoolame. The two I have not mentioned are of no note, being small and barren, and containing no permanent inhabitants. The existence of these islands first became known to the civilized world in 1778. Captain James Cook, the celebrated English navigator, is entitled to the credit of the first discovery of this interesting group, to which he gave their present name, in honor of Lord Sandwich, his principal friend and patron in the British government. He was on one of his voyages to the north-west coast of the American continent, for the purpose of searching for a north-west passage from the Pacific to the Atlantic ocean, when he fell in with these islands. On a subsequent visit to them, it is generally known that he fell a victim to the barbarity of the savages, the existence of whom he had revealed to the world. When Captain Cook first arrived at the islands, he was received by the natives with great veneration as a supreme being. This, in part, arose from the following singular tradition. The Hawaiians have, from time immemorial, entertained a belief in a deity, or goddess, which they called Pele. She, they believed, had the control of the volcano of Kilawea. Lono, one of the chiefs, was the friend of Pele, but when once he happened to insult her, she was angry and began to pursue him. He fled in great terror, and passing his home in his flight, he cried, "Aloha, Aloha," to his wife and children, but could not stop, for Pele was near in pursuit. Shortly he came to the shore where he found a man just landing in a fishing canoe, and, to escape the vengeance of Pele, he immediately siezed the canoe and pushed out to sea. When Captain Cook first arrived he forthwith received the name of Lono, the people supposing him to be the same personage who had left in a canoe, now returned in a much larger vessel. But the reverence which they manifested for Cook did not long continue. From an unrestrained intercourse with them, they found him to be a man like themselves; and conceiving a strong dislike for him on account of some supposed injuries which he and his men had inflicted upon them, they resolved upon his distruction, and accordingly he fell beneath the weight of a Hawaiian club, near the village of Kadmaloa, on the shore of Kaalakekua Bay, and on the island of Hawaii. A stick of cocoa set up in the fissure of the rocks a few feet from the water's edge, marks the place where the gallant navigator met his untimely fate. The population of the Islands, when first discovered, as estimated by Captain Cook, was four hundred thousand. If this was a correct estimate, during the forty-five years following Cook's discovery, we find a decrease in the population of two hundred and fifty-seven thousand nine hundred and fifty; for in 1823 we find a population of only one hundred and forty-two thousand and fifty. A census was taken in 1832, and it was found that the decrease for the nine previous years amounted to eleven thousand seven hundred and thirty-seven, leaving a population at that time of one hundred and thirty thousand three hundred and thirteen. Another census was taken in 1836, which revealed the astonishing decrease of twenty-one thousand seven hundred and thirty_in four years. One of the missionaries, the Rev. W. P. Alexander, in 1838, calculated that there were annually, in all the islands, six thousand eight hundred and thirtyeight deaths, and only three thousand three hundred and thirty-five births. I have frequently conversed with missionaries who have been for many years upon the islands, and they all agree in stating that the yearly deaths at the present time bear about the proportion to the yearly births of seven to three; and that only about one-half of the marriages lead to offspring. Allowing that there has been twenty thousand decrease from 1836 to 1846, and it will not fall short of this, there is now a population of eighty-eight thousand five hundred and seventy-nine. This brings us to the lamentable result, that since the discovery of the island in 1778 there has been an average annual decrease of four thousand five hundred and eighty. The astonishing rapidity of the decrease of Hawaiian population, is, perhaps, without a parallel in the history of nations, not excepting the illfated Indians of North America. In beholding the downward career of the Hawaiians. in respect to population, one is led to inquire for the causes which have produced these astonishing results. These are numerous, and among the principal are the sweeping pestilence which raged with singular fatality during the years 1803 and 1804, the destructive wars of Kamehameha the first, and the almost universal prevalence, and uncontrolled progress of a disease said to have been introduced by the vicious crew belonging to the vessel of Captain Cook, and as fatal in its ravages, as it is loathsome to contemplate. The laxity of native morals, which has always existed among the Hawaiians, is a sufficient cause why this disease should prevail among them to an unusual extent; and this very cause adds to the effect of the disease in preventing offspring. Hitherto |