This is the end of Cook’s writing.  His murder followed immediately.  He fell by the hands of people for whom his good will was shown in his last words.  The concluding pages of the journal answer all the scandals his enemies have so busily circulated.

There is a gleam of humor that shows like a thread of gold in the midst of the somber tragedies of the Sandwich Islands, and we must not omit to extract it from “The Voyage of Discovery Around the World” by Captain George Vancouver, when he spent some time in Hawaii, and gives two bright pictures—­one of a theatrical performance, and the other the happy settlement of the disordered domestic relations of a monarch.

A Gifted Native Actress and Some Royal Dramatists.

“There was a performance by a single young woman of the name of Puckoo, whose person and manners were both very agreeable.  Her dress, notwithstanding the heat of the weather, consisted of an immense quantity of cloth, which was wreaths of black, red and yellow feathers; but, excepting these, she wore no dress a manner as to give a pretty effect to the variegated pattern of the cloth; and was otherways disposed with great taste.  Her head and neck were decorated with wreaths of black, red and yellow feathers; but, excepting these, she wore no dress from the waist upwards.  Her ankles, and nearly half way up her legs, were decorated with several folds of cloth, widening upwards, so that the upper parts extended from the leg at least four inches all round; this was encompassed by a piece of net work, wrought very close, from the meshes of which were hung the small teeth of dogs, giving this part of her dress the appearance of an ornamented funnel.  On her wrists she wore bracelets made of the tusks of the largest hogs.  These were highly polished and fixed close together in a ring, the concave sides of the tusks being outwards; and their ends reduced to a uniform length, curving naturally away from the center, were by no means destitute of ornamental effect.  Thus equipped, her appearance on the stage, before she uttered a single word, excited considerable applause.

“These amusements had hitherto been confined to such limited performances; but this afternoon was to be dedicated to one of a more splendid nature, in which some ladies of consequence, attendants on the court of Tamaahmaah, were to perform the principal parts.  Great pains had been taken, and they had gone through many private rehearsals, in order that the exhibition this evening might be worthy of the public attention; on the conclusion of which, I purposed by a display of fireworks, to make a return for the entertainment they had afforded us.

“About four o’clock we were informed it was time to attend the royal dames; their theatre, or rather place of exhibition, was about a mile to the southward of our tents, in a small square, surrounded by houses, and sheltered by trees, a situation as well chosen for the performance, as for the accommodations of the spectators; who, on a moderate computation, could not be estimated at less than four thousand, of all ranks and descriptions of persons.