Voyage of H.M.S. Blonde to the Sandwich Islands, in the years 1824-1825. Captain the Right Hon. Lord Byron Commander

Front matter

VOYAGE OP H. M. S. BLONDE TO THE SANDWICH ISLANDS, IN THE YEARS 1824-1825 CAPTAIN THE RIGHT HON. LORD BYRON, COMMANDER. LONDON : JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE-STREET. MDCCCXXVI. LONDON : PRINTED BY THOMAS DAVISON, WHITEFRIARS. Cli][r-v^rt ft" i.'.AIP V»]Ii »» lPIElt.11, All' 1BCAWA3II. u DIRECTIONS FOR BINDING UP THE PLATES. To lace page 1 View of the great Volcano of Peli . Frontispiece. 2 Chart of the Voyage . . . . .1 3 Native Girl . . . . . .97 4 Young Princess . . . . . .105 5 View at Lahaina . . . . . .106 6 View near Honoruru ..... 109 7 Kiaukiauli . . . . . .113 8 Fish-ponds . . . . . .120 9 Waterfall, Byron Bay .... . 165 10 Lord Byron's House . . . . .167 11 Waikeea . . . . . . .168 1 2 Plan of the great Volcano of Peli . . .184 13 Missionary Houses . . . . .192 14 Morai at Karakakoa . . . . .199 15 Maiden's Island

Preface

. The following narrative has been compiled from the various journals and notes made by some of the officers and other gentlemen that accompanied Lord Byron on his in teresting voyage to the Sandwich Islands. It is much to be regretted that Mr. Bloxam, the Chaplain of his Majesty's ship, Blonde, was prevented by the sudden ness of his departure from England, in order to fulfil his duty in a distant colony, from arranging his own papers and those of his companions. The Editor is conscious that some things may have been omitted, and some, possibly, mistaken, notwithstanding every endeavour to do justice to the work, owing to a want of that local knowledge which Mr. Bloxam, as an eye-witness, must have possessed, and with which he would, no doubt, have extended and adorned his narrative, had he fortunately remained to prepare it for publication.

PREFACE.

. IV These observations refer, of course, chiefly to the second part of the following work, which contains the account of the Blonde's voyage. In the first part, the Editor has consulted the voyages of Cook, Vancouver, Dickson and Portlock, Turnbull, and several other English navigators, besides the French and Kussian voyages. Much valuable information was also received verbally from the missionaries, besides that contained in Mr. Ellis's excellent account of Hawaii ; and with respect to the visit of the king and queen of the Sandwich Islands to England, the most liberal assistance has been afforded by the gentleman who acted as their friend, no less than as their guardian, while they were in London. As the local situation of the Sandwich Islands renders them very important in the eyes of every maritime and commercial nation, particularly such as may have a view to trading between the rising states on the western coast of America, and the East Indies or China, it was believed that an account of the Islands and of their history, from the period of their discovery, would not be unacceptable. The rapid progress that civilization has made in these Islands is also a subject of great interest ; and as the chiefs

PREFACE.

. V have voluntarily chosen England as guardian to their infant state, and lean towards it with affectionate respect, as the source whence they expect all that is to be beneficial to them, it was thought, that to diffuse a knowledge of their past and present condition would perhaps contribute to ob jects so worthy ofa great and ancient people, as the amending and polishing an innocent and ingenious nation, and fostering the growth of religion, polity, and literature, where hitherto man has scarcely assumed his proper rank in the scale of creation. For the few notices concerning natural history which the work contains, it is chiefly indebted to the zealous atten tion of Mr. A. Bloxam, brother to the chaplain of the Blonde, who, if not a learned naturalist, deserves the praise of a diligent and sensible collector.

For some facts connected with the subject, the Editor is obliged to the gentlemen connected with that department in the British Museum, who very kindly gave permission to consult them, and to inspect the specimens of natural history deposited in the Museum. It is to be regretted, that the practised collector of bo tanical specimens who went in the Blonde to the Sandwich Islands should not have furnished any account of the plants,

PREFACE.

. VI useful or curious, which he collected for the Horticultural Society, or that some of the very enlightened members of that Society should not have done so. The field is in some respects new ; and it is acknowledged by all the foreign navigators, that the collection made during the Blonde's voyage is one of the most curious in Europe. The few notices that are to be found in the present work concerning the useful plants were taken chiefly from the books, printed and manuscript, in Sir Joseph Banks's library, to which the kindness and liberality of Mr. Brown allowed the Editor free access. The drawings, from which the engravings were made, are by Mr. Dam pier, to whom the Editor is greatly indebted for the use of his sensible and agreeable journal. Something should be said as to the spelling of the names of persons and places in the following pages.

It differs entirely from the system of orthography adopted by Captain Cook ; and it was not without consideration that his practice was departed from. The Islands are no longer without literature : the Roman letters are used ; and the sounds of the vowels which have been adopted are rather those given them by the Italians than the English ; hence the oo of

PREFACE.

. VII Cook is now expressed by u, and so on. The names ofthe Islands may now be considered as fixed by the authority of the chiefs ; and the printing-press of Oahu, formerly Woahoo, has given stability to the hitherto fluctuating orthography ofthe Islands. CONTENTS.

Part I

Page Introduction, and early history . .1 State of the Islands when discovered by Captain Cook . . 6 Song of Orono . . . . . .20 Reception of Captain Cook . . . . .24 Portlock and Dixon's voyage . . . . .29 Rise of Tamehameha I. . . . . .31 Visit of Vancouver, and cession of Hawaii to Britain . . 33 Death of Tamehameha I. — Accession of his son . . .43 Extirpation of idolatry and tabu .... 45 Mission from the United States . . . .49 The King resolves to visit England . . . .53 He arrives at Portsmouth with Queen and suite . . .57 Reception in London . . . . .58 They visit Mr. Canning . . . . .61 Are taken ill . . . . .64 Queen dies . . . . . .66 King dies ... 69 Interview of Boki with His Britannic Majesty . . .72 Leave England . . . . . .75