SCENERY AT OAHU.

And knows that sense of danger which sublimes
The breathless moment when his daring step
Is on the verge of the cliff, and he can hear
The low dash of the wave with startled ear; —
In such an hour he turns - and on his view

Ocean - and earth- and heaven burst before him.
Clouds slumbering at his feet, and the clear blue

Of summer's sky, in beauty bending o'er him.

231

From this place we turned our steps homeward, by a path leading directly along the top of the mountain, as it stretches towards the sea, and gradually softens down to the level of the plain at a distance of three or four miles. In several places, there was barely room for us to pass, one by one, on the very ridge of the mountain, while on either side there was an almost perpendicular descent of many hundred feet. We were surrounded by a variety of beautiful shrubs and flowers of most exuberant growth. The brake was of astonishing size. I never saw any in America more than two or three feet high, but here its long leaves nodded gracefully over our heads, and in many places arched and overshadowed our path. It was near six o'clock when we reached home; but we felt much less fatigue than we could have expected, and were more delighted by the excursion than we had even hoped to be.

- an

The only trees and plants known to us, which we saw, and which I have not yet mentioned, were the koa, acacia a large and beautiful tree of dark hard wood, of which the canoes of the natives are formed. The ohia, eugenia malaccensis -bearing a beautifully tufted crimson flower, and a fruit called by foreigners, the native apple, from its resemblance to our fruit of that name, juicy and refreshing, but rather insipid to the taste; and the castor tree, palma christi. Of fruits, besides the tamarind, Malacca apple, and prickly pear - cactus ficus indicus which grows to a large size here, we met with the banana, plantain, lime, lemon, pine-apple, and musk and water melons; and saw of vegetables, potatos, principally the sweet, though some few common American or Irish, yam, kalo, pumpkin, cabbage, Indian corn, onion, bean, cucumber. Also pepper, ginger, mustard, and tobacco.

The bread-fruit is one of the finest of our vegetables. A full-grown tree is about the size of an ordinary hickory

232

FUNERAL OF AN AMERICAN.

in America, or an ash in England. The fruit, when flourishing, is larger than a pine-apple, and more circular in its shape; when perfectly ripe, its color becomes yellowish, and its taste sweet, but not pleasant. We eat it before it is ripe, when it is a light green color. The outer coat, or peel, is thin but hard, though not shining like the rind of a melon, and is entirely covered with slightly marked, and small pentagonal sections. It is cooked, by throwing it directly from the tree, upon a bed of coals, or into the blaze of a fire. The outer coat immediately becomes charred, while the inner parts only roast like a potato. When cooked through, the rind is easily removed, leaving a beautiful light-colored, smoking loaf. Its general consistence is that of a fine Irish potato, but more spongy, and towards the centre, quite porous. In taste it is very like the hard-boiled yolk of an egg.

Tuesday 22. The ship Sultan, captain Clark, of Boston, last from the North-west coast of America, came to anchor in the roads this morning. Shortly after, I received a note from the consul, requesting me to attend the funeral of a passenger, who had died on board the day she made the islands. His name is Prescott, first officer of brig Frederick, of Boston, which has been sold on the Spanish coast, and her captain and crew brought to the islands by the Sultan. There was a very respectable at tendance; the procession moving from the consulate, where the religious services were performed. It will be a consolation to the friends of him thus called into the world of spirits, far from the tender sympathies of home, to know that he has found a resting place, though in a heathen land, near a Christian chapel, and not in the dreary caverns of the deep.

June 23. Were you sitting with us this evening, my dear M- , you would scarce believe yourself in the torrid zone, and that too in midsummer. The wind howls around us as boisterously, if not as coldly, as it does through the colonnades of your own mansion, when a northern storm sweeps down the lake on a winter's night; and we have been obliged to close all our doors and windows, and resort to woolen garments, to keep us comfortable. The whole day has been blustering, gloomy, and

VISIT TO MR. AND MRS. ELLIS.

233

wet, similar to the weather of March in America, and such as in this climate, especially at Lahaina, is seldom known. There is a heavy swell of the ocean from the south, and the high surf occasioned by it, though near a mile distant, has been the object of constant attraction from its varying beauty and tumult. The interest of the scene in this direction, is much increased by the appearance of the Sultan, still outside of the reef. She labors at her anchor in the violence of the gale, with a stateliness of motion becoming the proud name she bears.

There has been so much of a tempest at sea, that governor Adams, who sailed for the windward on Saturday, returned this morning with the loss of a topmast and yards.

Thursday, 15. Mr. and Mrs. Ellis having become partially established in a new stone cottage, gave a special invitation to the mission family to spend the day with them. We were happy indeed to see our valued friends so comfortably accommodated-after having been subjected for eighteen months to great inconvenience, from the want of a suitable residence-rendered doubly desirable by the extreme ill health of Mrs. Ellis.

Seated at table with none but dear companions and confidential friends near us, we could almost fancy ourselves again at a family party at home; and in the illusion, for a moment find a melancholy pleasure. After the cloth was removed, we passed the afternoon in listening with lively interest to the journal of the deputation which explored the island of Hawaii last summer, and which Mr. Ellis is preparing for the public. We also again examined the drawings which are to accompany the work, copies of which I have made to accompany the manuscript for the American Board. The originals will go to the London Missionary Society.

After tea we held the customary weekly prayer meeting of the mission family; when Mr. Ellis gave a warm and affecting address from the words, "Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless his holy name!""Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits!" in which he recounted the various dealings of Providence towards himself and family, since his arrival in the

234

KALAIMOKU'S NEW PALACE.

islands, and testified to the unfailing goodness, mercy, and faithfulness of God. Many circumstances conduced to make the hour deeply interesting; we felt the high and holy ties by which we were united to each other; and could any one have looked in upon us, while the lively sympathies of our hearts entered into all the feelings of our associates, though strangers till we met on pagan ground, he might with truth have exclaimed, " Behold how these Christians love one another!"

"Lone exiles, on these northern isles,
Placed far amid the melancholy main,"

it is a happiness inconceivable to any one not of our number, or in a similar situation, to meet here those we can tenderly love; and to find in them the refinement, the intelligence, and the piety, which in any place give the highest zest to the enjoyments of social life.

CHAPTER XII.

RESIDENCE AT LAHAINA.

Mission house at Honolulu, Friday, 16. Dined to-day at the residence of Capt. Ebbetts, of New-York, in company with Mr. Crocker, American consul; Mr. Small, a Scotch gentleman, recently from South America; Mr. Bruce and Mr. Halsey, of New-York; Mr. and Mrs. Ellis ; and Mr. and Mrs. Loomis, and H- of the mission.

Tuesday, 20. This evening, at 8 o'clock, Kalaimoku sent to request us to attend prayers with himself and household at his new house, in which he sleeps for the first time to-night. We passed a happy hour with him, and consider the circumstance a strong evidence of the interest he takes, and the importance he attaches, to the exercises of family worship.

This building will bear, at the Sandwich islands at least, the name of palace. It is of stone, plastered and

IMPROVEMENT IN BUILDING.

235

whitened, two and a half stories high, sixty-four feet in front, and forty in depth; and externally, except in the roof, is not unlike Mr. J. Fenimore Cooper's house, at Fenimore, as seen across the water by you, from the Lakelands. The second story, the front doors and windows of which open on a covered piazza or verandah, is that in which the regent will live. It consists of one very large apartment in front, upwards of fifty feet long, and proportionably wide, designed for a saloon, in which to entertain strangers commanding, from its elevation, a fine view of the island and ocean and a small neat room at one end for a cabinet, to be furnished with an escritoir, &c. The rest of the floor is divided into sleeping rooms for himself and one or two confidential attendants.

The expense of the building, exclusive of the stone, is estimated at six thousand dollars. It stands in an enclosure of several acres, which is to be planted, and kept in a state of cultivation. The whole establishment will give quite a new aspect to Honolulu, from whatever point it is viewed.

Kaahumanu has also had a new house built during the year; it is of wood, and was prepared in all its parts for erection, before it was brought from America. It is well papered and painted, and, in its dimensions and general appearance, similar to some of the best wooden houses at Cooperstown. These two buildings, with the consulate, which is also a two-story frame house, a smaller one belonging to Kaahumanu, and the two mission houses, give quite an European aspect to the town; and while they render it more picturesque, by the contrast with the native huts, afford evidence of the civilization to which the nation is approaching.

21. This morning the ship Jupiter, Capt. Leslie, of New-York, anchored in the roads: and in the evening, most of our friends in the village, to the number of fifteen, including Capt. Leslie, took tea with us.

Monday, Aug. 9. Yesterday morning, at day-break, B― tapped at our door, to announce the arrival of the long anxiously expected Tamaahmaah of New-York. Capt. Meek politely sent up one letter before breakfast, and