USA > Hawaii > Honolulu: sketches of life, social, political, and religious, in the Hawaiian Islands from 1828 to 1861 > Part 4
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Just across the bay is the birth-place of Obookaiah, the first native convert to Christianity. He went to America in a whaleship, was taken up and cared for by some benevolent people, who founded the Cornwall school.
It was during this residence at Kaawaloa that we visited the old "heiau," or temple, at Hoonaunau, in company with Naihe and Kapiolani. It was then sur-
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Honolulu.
rounded by an enclosure of hideous idols carved in wood, and no woman had ever been allowed to enter its con- secrated precincts. Our heroic Kapiolani led the way, and we entered the enclosure. It was a sickening scene that met our eyes. The dead bodies of chiefs were placed around the room in a sitting posture, the unsightly skeletons mostly concealed in folds of kapa, or rich silk. The blood-stained altar was there, where human victims had been immolated to idol gods. Fragments of offer- ings were strewed about. Kapiolani was much affected and wept, but her husband was stern and silent. I thought he was not quite rid of the old superstition in regard to women.
A few months after our visit Kaahumanu came and ordered all the bones buried, and the house and fence entirely demolished. She gave some of the timber, which was spear-wood (kauwila), to the missionaries, and told them to make it into canes and contribution boxes, to send to their friends.
When Mr. Ruggles and Dr. Judd returned, having select- ed a locality for the health station, Mr. and Mrs. Ruggles, Miss Ward, and ourselves embarked in canoes for Kawaihae. Here we were entertained by old John Young, an English runaway sailor, who had been many years on the islands, and had assisted Kamehameha in his conquests. He had married a native woman of rank, has a fine family of sons and daughters, and is con- sidered a chief. He lived in a dirty adobe house, adorned with old rusty muskets, swords, bayonets, and cartridge boxes. He gave us a supper of goat's meat and fried taro, served on old pewter plates, which I was unfortunate to see his servant wipe on his red flannel shirt in lieu of a napkin. I was surprised to see how imperfectly Mr. Young spoke the native language. We
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Health Station.
were sent up a rickety flight of stairs to sleep. I was afraid, and requested Dr. Judd to look around the room carefully for concealed dangers, and he was heartless enough to laugh at me. Sleep was out of the question ; I was afraid of the wind, which sometimes sweeps down the gorge of the mountain, and got up at midnight, and went down to the grass house of Mrs. Young, which was neat and comfortable. She is a noble woman. She lives in native style; one of the sons is with the king, and the daughters are in the train of the princess.
The health station is selected at Waimea, twelve miles inland from the bay. The road to it is a foot-path, rough, rugged, and ascending about two thousand feet above the level of the sea. We lodged in a dilapidated school-house, without windows or doors, for two months, while our houses were building. This work, performed by the several districts under the direction of the head- man, had been ordered by Kaahumanu. The weather was cold, and a "Scotch mist," penetrating and disagree- able, came over the hills and plains every evening. The site chosen was on the table-land, at the foot of Mauna Kea, covered with thousands of wild cattle.
Mr. Ruggles preached to the people every Sunday in a neighboring grove, while we all taught a daily school. We climbed the hills and gathered wild strawberries, which cover acres of ground, ate fresh beef, and grew strong. One day we thought we would go home with Haa, the head-man of the valley of Waipio, who was erecting one of the houses, and had often invited us. It was a long walk through a thickly tangled forest, muddy with frequent rains and the trampling of the wild cattle. A few miles brought us out of the forest, where the sun and daylight shone once more, and the valley lay before us enclosed on three sides by almost perpen-
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Honolulu.
dicular precipices, opening only to the sea. The view was perfectly enchanting. A mountain stream at the head of the valley poured down the whole distance in a beautiful waterfall. We could see it winding its way to the ocean, looking very much like a strip of white ribbon.
The natives moving about in the valley seemed of Lilliputian size. The place of, descent was covered with grass. Little sledges, made of long, green leaves fast- ened together, were prepared for us, and Haa said we must trust to him, if we would go down safely. Tall, strong men took sledges on both sides of us, and down we slid, clinging to the long, tough grass, to check our velocity. This was a fearful ride, and it seemed as if we must in. evitably drop into a pond of water at the bottom.
When we reached the thatched hut of our host, I found my fingers much swollen in the useless effort to lessen the speed of the descent.
Haa gave us a supper of fresh fish and kalo, and we lay down on clean beds of native kapa. During the night a storm of rain, with thunder and lightning, rolled over the valley, and I thought of the slippery precipices to be climbed next day, and wondered what induced us to commit such a folly as to go down into such a prison.
With the dawn of day we aroused our friend, and commenced the toilsome ascent. The natives led us out by a different way, by a stony path, and in an hour and a half we were up the two thousand feet and on the road to our home, a little wiser, perhaps, for the experience. Old Haa and many more of his Christian fellow-laborers have long since entered into their rest.
XIII.
. Death of Kaahumanu-The New Testament-Inci- dents-Kinau, as Kaahumanu II .- The East India Squadron.
I T was not many months after our return to Honolulu, before our beloved friend, Kaahumanu, having com- pleted her last tour around the islands, returned home broken in health, and evidently hastening to the end of her pilgrimage, more humble, more lovely, more affectionate than ever. Every breath was prayer or praise to God, for what He was doing for her people. She had been permitted to see them turning to the Lord, and profess- ing their faith in the Redeemer by thousands, as in the day of Pentecost. Kinau, her niece and successor, had publicly declared herself on the Lord's side; while the king was docile and temperate.
Kaahumanu wished to go to her favorite retreat in the secluded valley of Manoa, and requested Dr. Judd and my- self to accompany her. Here a bed of sweet scented maile and leaves of ginger was prepared, over which was spread a covering of velvet, and on this she laid herself down to die. Her strength failed daily. She was gentle as a lamb, and treated her attendants with great tenderness. She would say to her waiting-women, "Do sit down ; you are very tired ; I make you weary."
Mr. Bingham, who was hurrying the New Testament through the press, had a copy finished and bound in red morocco, with her name in gilt letters embossed on the
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Honolulu.
cover. When it was handed to her, she looked it through carefully, from Matthew to Revelation, to satisfy herself that it was all there, then she wrapped it in her hand- kerchief, and laid it upon her bosom, clasped both hands over it, and closed her eyes in a sweet slumber, as though every wish of her heart was gratified.
Just at evening she awoke and inquired for her teach- ers, Mr. and Mrs. Bingham, who had just arrived, and who had come to her bedside. " I am going," said she, " where the mansions are ready." Mr. Bingham re- plied, " Lean on the Beloved through the waters of Jor- dan." "Yes," she answered, faintly, " I shall go to Him and be comforted." The swift-winged messenger hasted on his errand and with a faint " aloha," a gentle pressure of the hand, the eyelids closed, and the throbbings of that affectionate heart were stilled forever.
A holy hush, a profound silence followed. The heart- stricken band knelt by the side of the couch of the dead, and sought consolation for their great sorrow in the bo- som of an Almighty Friend. The little valley was filled with temporary lodges, and throngs of her people were listening for the sad announcement. The tidings of her death passed from lip to lip in a few moments, and the voices of the multitude were lifted up in one doleful wail, that echoed from the hills and mountains' sides with appalling reverberations.
After a brief indulgence in this expression of grief, practiced in all Polynesia, Governor Adams, brother of the deceased, issued an order for silence, and requested Mr. Bingham to offer prayer. As the people were spread over the space of a square mile, the almost immediate stillness that prevailed seemed magical and mysterious.
Mr. Bingham stood in the cottage door. With up- lifted hands and a distinct voice, he commended the in-
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The U. S. Frigate " Potomac."
fant nation, bereaved of its most valuable chieftain and ruler, to Israel's God. He prayed that her fallen mantle might rest on the shoulders of some Elisha, and that the lonely band, deprived of the support and encouragement of her, on whom they were accustomed to lean with so much confidence, might turn with stronger purpose, and take hold of the everlasting strength in this hour of darkness and trial.
June 5, 1832, was an epoch in the nation's history, although the death of the Queen Regent was not fol- lowed by any outbreak or disorder. Kinau, eldest daugh- ter of Kamehameha I., was publicly recognized as her lawful heir and successor, with the title of Kaahumanu II. She was sedate, courteous, and reliable, a little haughty in her deportment toward strangers, but a lov- ing, exemplary wife, a tender mother, and a warm- hearted, unwavering friend.
At about this time the daily verse system was intro- duced, and twenty thousand learners committed to mem- ory and recited the same text in the daily morning prayer-meeting. The Word of God grew mightily, and converts to the Christian faith multiplied like drops of morning dew.
During this summer the United States frigate Potomac, Commodore Downs, touched at Honolulu on her home- ward voyage from the East Indies, where she had been sent at an expense of a hundred thousand dollars to chastise the inhabitants of Quallabattoo, for an outrage committed upon an American merchantman. The com- modore and his son, eight years old, under the care of Mr. Greer, the chaplain, spent much of their time in the missionary families while the ship remained in port.
Chiefs, foreigners, and missionaries were invited on board together to spend the day, and were delightfully
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Honolulu.
entertained, being shown every part of the noble vessel. A fine band discoursed sweet music; a collation was spread, and to cap the climax a salute was fired.
A subscription of two hundred dollars was made by the officers and men toward the purchase of a bell for the native church, which was a munificent donation and gratefully acknowledged.
XIV.
Changes for the Worse, 1832-Kaomi -- Kinau -- Boki in 1829-His Departure-Madam Boki-A Revo lution-A Settlement-Governor Adams-Reverena John Diell, Seamen's Chaplain.
T OWARD the close of the year 1832, the political horizon clouded over, and the wisest of us were not able to foretell where and how the storm would burst.
The young king (Kamehameha III.) threw off the restraint of his elders, and abandoned himself to intem perance and debauchery. He gathered around his per- son the profligate and licentious, and delegated his royal authority to Kaomi, a young man of Tahitian descent shrewd and unprincipled. Under the patronage of this " grafted king" (ke 'lii kui), as the people styled him, distilleries were established in various places. - Vile heathen songs, games, and shameless dances, which had gone out of use, were revived. Rum and wretchedness became rampant; and the quiet of our lovely dells and valleys was disturbed with bacchanalian shouts and the wild orgies of drunken revelry. Family ties were sun- dered, husbands forsook their wives, and wives left hus- bands and helpless little children, to follow drunken paramours. To drink and be drunken was the test of allegiance and loyalty.
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Honolulu.
Kinau stood nobly in defense of virtue, decency, and good order, but the king refused to listen to her advice, and even threatened her with personal violence, if she dared to venture into his presence.
In her despondency she made us a visit one day, and said : "I am in straits and heavy-hearted, and I have come to tell you my thought. I am quite discouraged, and can not bear this burden any longer. I wish to throw away my rank, and title, and responsibility together, bring my family here, and live with you, or we will take our fam- ilies and go to America ; I have money." We sat down by her side, told her the story of Esther for her encour- agement, and expostulated with her upon the impracti- cability of casting off her rank and responsibility. We assured her that she was called to her present position and dignity by Divine Providence, and that she must nerve herself to fulfill her high destiny. We knelt around the family altar, and asked for her strength, and wisdom, and patience, and for light on her darkened pathway.
I must go back three years in the chronicle of events (to December, 1829,) and bring up the history of Gov- ernor Boki. He plotted a rebellion, but failed in gain- ing the consent of the youthful king. He wished to crush the rule and influence of Kaahumanu and all her family, as he was averse to the Christian system and the restraint it imposed upon his plans of money-making. He favored rum-selling and immoral practices, used all his powers of persuasion to induce the king to marry his sister, the Princess Nahienaena, according to the old hea- then custom. Failing in these attempts, he took advan- tage of the absence of Kaahumanu to fit out an expedition in search of an island producing sandal-wood, of which he had heard, and by means of which he hoped to re-
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A Lost Expedition.
trieve his sinking fortunes. The king and chiefs remon- strated in vain ; Boki took possession of the king's brig, and fitted it out hastily for a voyage; the brig Becket was also fitted for service. Both were navigated by for- eigners under his own direction. One hundred and fifty native soldiers, ten white men, with native sailors, women and servants, embarked in the mad enterprise, nearly six hundred in all, and embracing the active business men the flower of the nation.
To every remonstrance he replied, "I will go, and not return, until a certain chief is dead." He sailed in ten days after the departure of the Vincennes, reached the island Rotuma, where the two brigs separated. The Becket found the island they were in search of, but got into a difficulty with the inhabitants, which ended in bloodshed. A dreadful malady broke out among them, of which one hundred and eighty died before the brig returned to Rotuma, where they left twenty more sick; then they sailed for Honolulu, where they arrived in August, 1830. Twelve natives, one of them the wife of the Captain, and eight foreigners, were the only survivors of the company. Of Boki and his numerous retinue no tidings ever reached his native shores. As the lower deck of the brig was strewed with bags of gun- powder, upon which the men sat and smoked, it is rea- sonable to infer that the vessel was blown up, and that all on board perished.
Madam Boki, left in charge of the island of Oahu, favored the ambitious designs of her husband. She would not believe that he was lost, but deceived herself with the vain hope that he would return some day in possession of the Golden Fleece .*
* At the present time, when a Hawaiian wishes to speak of some- thing that can not possibly happen, he says it will take place " when Boki comes back."
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Honolulu.
After the return of the Becket with its tale of disasters, and while the chiefs were holding a council at Lahaina, she made an attempt at rebellion, which came near in- volving the country in a civil war. She filled the fort on Punch Bowl hill with armed men from her husband's lands, and put the force at her disposal in martial array. Executioners were named to cut off, one by one, her rivals in power, as they entered the harbor. Unfortu- nately for her success, tidings of these preparations were borne to the absent rulers in a way she did not suspect. Governor Hoapili, Madam Boki's father, embarked for Honolulu. As the little craft was descried in the offing, many hearts beat with painful suspense, to know the errand. The good old man landed without soldiers or guns; calm, dignified, undaunted, he proceeded directly to the dwelling of his daughter. His errand was brief. He came to invite her to go home with him to Lahaina. That was all! She went with him, and the storm blew over.
The chiefs finished the business for which they assem- bled, and returned to their several islands. John Adams (Kuakini) was appointed Governor of Oahu pro tem. " Temperance and reform" was the national motto, at least with the senior rulers. The king, unfortunately, did not adopt the counsel of the wise Fénelon, " Place no confidence in any but those who have the courage to contradict you with respect, and who love your prosperity and reputation better than your favor." Madam Boki retained a paramount influence over his mind and heart, flattering the one and pandering to all the vicious pro- pensities of the other.
Although there could be no dispute regarding the hereditary claim of Kinau to the office of Premier, yet Madam Boki had the adroitness to keep the position second in person to the king, and aspired unquestionably
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Kinau Premier.
to the honors of her rival. This unsettled state of affairs continued through a part of the years 1832-'33, when a public meeting was convened in Honolulu, and the king, assuming the royal authority, proclaimed Kinau to be " Kuhina Nui," or Premier.
Old friends and schoolmates from the fatherland were welcomed to our shores at this period, in the persons of Rev. John Diell and his wife, who had accepted a call to the chaplaincy for seamen in Honolulu. One needs to be isolated a few years, at a distance half round the globe, to appreciate all there is in greeting a beloved and familiar face.
XV.
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Religious Interest-Visits from House to House- Kinau as a Housekeeper-As a Friend-Auhea- Her Tea-Party.
HONOLULU, 1833.
AM at a loss where to begin, and how to speak properly of the great things the Lord is doing in these islands. Our houses are thronged with in- quirers from morning until evening, many of them igno- rant enough, and in need of being taught the first princi- ples of Christianity. I
As soon as the door is opened in the morning, a crowd is ready to rush in, who seat themselves a la Turque around the room. Each individual must have separate attention, and tell his mango (thought). One company succeeds another, going through the same routine of questions and answers, leaving little time for breakfast or family worship, if perchance there is any appetite for the former, after inhaling so long an atmosphere robbed of its vitality and saturated with perfumes not the most agreeable. This must be patiently borne if we would do them good, though there is some difference of opinion whether this formal way of thought telling, as they term it, could not be turned into a meeting for general instruction to better advantage.
One's strength is overtaxed in the performance of these duties, though we endeavor to be systematic,
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Missionary Visitations.
and economize the time. The ladies of the station have undertaken to visit all the church, members at their houses, to see where and how they live, how many occupy the same dwelling, and if the children have separate lodgings. As we have no conveyance but such as nature has provided, the work is slow. The roads are mere foot-paths, winding among the kalo patches, and slippery and uneven. The names of fifteen hundred women, in the town of Honolulu and environs, are enrolled on our visiting list. We meet them on Friday of each week, di- vided into three companies, and in three different places.
To help these degraded beings up and out of the depths of their heathenism; to teach them how to be- come better wives, better mothers, and better neighbors is indeed a work that angels might covet, especially when these efforts seem to be accepted of God and are crowned with success.
I should like to take my friends to the dwelling-house of our Premier, Kinau, that they might see how well she arranges her domestic affairs. I have had one of her attendants in training several months. She has learned to make bread, cake, custards, and puddings. This gives me a good deal of trouble, as only a part of the mate- rials are furnished, and I am expected to supply all the deficiencies.
Kinau claimed the privilege of giving her name to our eldest daughter, as she has sons only, but she is now supplanted in her affections by her (Kinau's) adoption of the infant daughter of Madam Paki (Konia). I go every morning to meet her at her mother's bedside, where we make the toilet of the pretty little lady. She is to bear the name of Bernice Pauahi, and will be taken from her mother in a few days.
To us this giving away of children seems a most un- 3*
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Honolulu.
natural system, and a grievous outrage upon maternal instincts, but its apologists plead State policy, and that settles the matter.
Auhea (Kekauluohi), half-sister of Kinau, has built a fine two-story dwelling of coral stone, and furnished it in European style, and, more than that, occupies and keeps it in order. During the late general meeting of the mission, her ladyship made a tea-party, to which about sixty persons were invited. She did the honors with the dignity of one "to the manner born," and there was so much in the surroundings in that social interview to re- mind us of a far-distant country, that we indulged the pleasant illusion, fancying the intervening land and ocean bridged over.
Several merchants with their families have recently arrived from the States, and are a delightful acquisition to our social circle.
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XVI.
Birth of Prince Alexander-Adopted by the King- What took place-Nahienaena : her Death ana Funeral.
February 9, 1834.
T HE birth of a fourth son to our illustrious Premier was an event of no ordinary import. Not many minutes after the young prince had breathed, the king presented himself. After congratulating the moth- er, and scrutinizing the infant with a look of affection, he went away, leaving a small slip of paper stuck in the thatch, upon which he had written this laconic sentence : "This child is mine." This was understood as an ex- pression of friendship and reconciliation toward the mother, who had suffered so long and patiently from his alienation and excesses.
The baby was wrapped in a blanket and conveyed with due ceremony to the palace, where a new retinue of nurses and servants awaited him. The king had lost two beautiful sons, both dying in infancy, and now this little stranger was adopted as his own, and was the heir presumptive, in the event of no further royal claimant.
The State carriage, already described, was at my door, with sixteen men to transport me, the mistress of the robes, to the new scene of bustling excitement. A score of attendants were in motion; each must aid in some
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Honolulu.
way, providing the water, bowl, soap, and napkin. The clothes I brought in a basket from my own drawer. The same hand-cart came every morning for two weeks, and the same process of bath and dressing was under- gone, in spite of the little princely protests against it.
The child grew and gained favor, and proved to be a real bond of union between the factious families. As soon as he was old enough, he was presented by his mother for baptism, and the rite administered in the native church by the Rev. Mr. Bingham. Kaomi re- tired to his former obscurity, and not long after died, it is said, of chagrin and disappointment.
One of the bitter fruits of the king's irregularities was the corruption and apostasy of his royal sister, the once promising Nahienaena. For a while the tears and prayers of her beloved teachers, Mr. and Mrs. Richards, stayed the progress of evil in her, but the star that had shone with a brilliancy that delighted all beholders, was destined to go down in darkness. She forsook her old home and teachers, came to Honolulu, where she spent her last years in dissipation. I was by her bed side a little before she died. She was in great distress of mind, amounting to agony. "There is no mercy for an apostate. I am one," she said. "I have crucified the Lord afresh." "Jesus spake pardon to the dying penitent on the cross," I said. "Do you say so?" she exclaimed, clasping my hand. "Can there be hope for one who has sinned as I have?" Then she made an- other effort to plead for mercy with that Saviour whose cause she had dishonored ; but her strength failed-the golden bowl was broken.
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