Account of the natives--Personal appearance--Ranks--Power of the king--Priests--Capital punishments--Mode of detecting theft--Religious belief--Places of worship and ceremonies--Macaheite--Houses--Food--Ava--Spirits distilled from the tee-root--State of the women--Marriages--Dress--Manufactures--Nets and lines--Modes of fishing--Trade--Price of provisions--Amusements--Funeral Rites--Military--Progress in civilization--Account of Tamaahmaah and family. 121
Departure from Wahoo--Pass Otaheite--Double Cape Horn--Arrival at Rio Janeiro--Transactions there, during a residence of nearly two years--Voyage home--and from thence to the United States. 157
A Vocabulary of the language of the Sandwich Islands. 165
Statement of the Case of Archibald Campbell, by Dr. Nordgoorst, in the service of the Russian American Company. 189
Notice of Archibald Campbell, from Blackwood’s Magazine. 195
Historical Account of the Sandwich Islands. 203
A perusal of the voyages of discovery, which shed so much lustre on the reign of George III. naturally excites a strong desire to learn what effects have been produced among the nations whose existence they have introduced to our notice.
That the interests of science and commerce have been greatly promoted by these voyages, cannot be doubted; but it may be questioned whether the result has been equally beneficial to the natives of the newly discovered countries; and, as the editor[1] of Cook’s last voyage justly remarks, “it would afford exquisite pleasure to every benevolent mind, to be instructed in facts which might enable us without hesitation to answer in the affirmative.”
The solution of this momentous question can only be obtained from the accounts of subsequent visitors; and the following narrative is submitted to the public, as a contribution to the evidence required for that purpose. It was drawn up partly from the papers,[2] but chiefly from the recital of the author; and the editor has adhered as closely as the nature of the case would permit, to the language in which they were originally related. The intervention of a third person between the traveller and the reader, is an evil which ought always, if possible, to be avoided; but in the present instance, some literary assistance was absolutely necessary; and the editor conceives he shall best have executed the task he has imposed upon himself, by stating, with strict fidelity, and in the simplest language, the facts as they were related to him.