Owyhee.—­Sandwich Islanders—­Their Nautical Talents.—­
     Tamaahmaah.—­His Navy.—­His Negotiations.—­Views of Mr.
     Astor With Respect to the Sandwich Islands—­Karakakooa.—­
     Royal Monopoly of Pork.-Description of the Islanders—­
     Gayeties on Shore.—­Chronicler of the Island.—­Place
     Where Captain Cook was Killed.—­John Young, a Nautical
     Governor.—­His Story.—­Waititi—­A Royal Residence.—­A Royal
     Visit—­Grand Ceremonials.—­Close Dealing—­A Royal Pork
     Merchant—­Grievances of a Matter-of-Fact Man.

Owyhee, or Hawaii, as it is written by more exact orthographers, is the largest of the cluster, ten in number, of the Sandwich Islands.  It is about ninety-seven miles in length, and seventy-eight in breadth, rising gradually into three pyramidal summits or cones; the highest, Mouna Roa, being eighteen thousand feet above the level of the sea, so as to domineer over the whole archipelago, and to be a landmark over a wide extent of ocean.  It remains a lasting monument of the enterprising and unfortunate Captain Cook, who was murdered by the natives of this island.

The Sandwich Islanders, when first discovered, evinced a character superior to most of the savages of the Pacific isles.  They were frank and open in their deportment, friendly and liberal in their dealings, with an apt ingenuity apparent in all their rude inventions.

The tragical fate of the discoverer, which, for a time, brought them under the charge of ferocity, was, in fact, the result of sudden exasperation, caused by the seizure of their chief.

At the time of the visit of the Tonquin, the islanders had profited, in many respects, by occasional intercourse with white men; and had shown a quickness to observe and cultivate those arts important to their mode of living.  Originally they had no means of navigating the seas by which they were surrounded, superior to light pirogues, which were little competent to contend with the storms of the broad ocean.  As the islanders are not in sight of each other, there could, therefore, be but casual intercourse between them.  The traffic with white men had put them in possession of vessels of superior description; they had made themselves acquainted with their management, and had even made rude advances in the art of ship-building.

These improvements had been promoted, in a great measure, by the energy and sagacity of one man, the famous Tamaahmaah.  He had originally been a petty eri, or chief; but, being of an intrepid and aspiring nature, he had risen in rank, and, availing himself of the superior advantages now afforded in navigation, had brought the whole archipelago in subjection to his arms.  At the time of the arrival of the Tonquin he had about forty schooners, of from twenty to thirty tons burden, and one old American ship.  With these he held undisputed sway over his insular domains, and carried on intercourse with the chiefs or governors whom he had placed in command of the several islands.