LAHAINA, SANDWICH ISLANDS, _June 23, 1851_.
In my last communication from California, I think I intimated, at least
I meant to intimate, my departure for China, via the Hawaiian group
of islands. I have never known the same difficulties experienced by
shipmasters in procuring crews; we were considerably delayed, waiting
for the sailors, notwithstanding the enormous wages of one hundred
dollars per month, which are paid, and which is not in their estimation
equal to the allurements of the mines, until they find themselves
without means, and obliged to take to their ordinary avocation.
Our list being finally filled by the rapacious landlords, who devour
the substance of the poor Jacks, and force them on board after getting
them well in debt, we proceeded to sea with a mutinous crew, and
nothing but the rigid deportment and treatment of the officers brought
them to their duties.
We were becalmed the first four days, which monotony was partially
relieved by shooting at a species of Albatross, a large aquatic bird,
and by fishing for sharks, of which we had large numbers, and sending
an occasional rifle-ball into the backs of the large whales which
were playing and spouting about us, producing a sound not unlike
the escape-pipe of a Mississippi high-pressure steamer. At length
our captain grew weary of the continued calm so near the coast, and
charging my only fellow cabin-passenger with being a Jonah, he would
now feed him on sea-fowls’ eggs, of which we had a supply from the
small islands, and shark-stew and steak, which was the last recourse
to raise a breeze. As Prince Murat, who died in Florida, said he found
all animals eatable except the turkey buzzard, we concluded to take
the dishes dressed from a young shark which seemed to be enjoyed by the
crew, and, if prejudice had not interposed, the repast would not have
been unsavory. Fortune favored us and filled our sails, and in a few
days we found ourselves in a latitude of the trade-winds, which blew
steadily with agreeable weather until we made the island of Hawaii,
with its volcanic fires illuminating the heavens at night; and moderate
breezes prevailing under the lee of the island of Moui, commonly
known as Mowee, gave us an opportunity of coasting, and examining
the peculiar formation of the frightful rocks and chasms of extinct
craters, as well as the verdant valleys produced from the decomposed
lava. We finally made the harbor of Lahaina, most resorted to by
whalers, to obtain fresh supplies of meats, fruits, and vegetables, of
which there is an abundance, and here nature presented herself in her
most luxuriant garb of tropical vegetation, with cocoa-nut trees filled
with fruit, bananas, figs, grapes, melons, &c., reminding us much of
the West India Islands, but with an entirely different population. One
would suppose from the number of Kanakas of both sexes, and of all
ages, that the inhabitants were amphibious, as they were rolling and
dashing in the surf among the breakers.
Some of the most extraordinary anecdotes are related of them. They
have been known to swim thirty miles when wrecked midway between the
islands, and often stories of credible parties give greater distances.
The missionaries wrought great changes; a fair proportion now read
and write, and have a capacity for arithmetic; many are members of
the church, and their condition is so unlike their barbarous cannibal
existence when they were visited by Capt. Cook, who was murdered
on Hawaii island, known as Owyhee, that one cannot but thank the
cause of the missions. Mr. Balding, one of the pioneers of the work,
with whom I dined, and who had resided for twenty-one years among
those then barbarians, gave me much valuable information. The native
population suffer much from measles and other diseases, contracted in
their intercourse with foreigners; and their numbers, not unlike the
Indians of Oregon, seem to diminish gradually as the whites supplant
them. Their taro is the chief article of food, being a root easily
cultivated, and when pounded and baked, or boiled, is called Poi, and
it is amusing to see groups squatted around the large gourd shells
containing it, while each member puts his finger in and twists it
round until well loaded, which he conveys to his mouth. Its consistency
is denominated single, double, or three-fingered Poi.
They still have their propensity for raw fish with a sauce of salt
water and pepper, which they relish with great gusto. Instead of going
in a state of nudity as formerly, the largest proportion now wear
clothing, and those who have the means, in the towns, wear the most
gay-colored dresses of light materials.
Passages are not unfrequently made in about nineteen days from San
Francisco, a distance of two thousand two hundred miles, with the
stormy north-west winds, to the tropics, where begin the trades, which
will enable those from California who desire a warmer climate to escape
a more rigorous latitude. Our passage was only an average one of
eighteen days, but looking forward to my embarcation for Hong Kong from
Honolulu, eighty miles further on the island of Oahu, I could wish the
aid of steam for traversing the ocean waste of five thousand miles, and
also to escape with certainty the frightful typhoons of the China sea,
in August and September. But I expect at the latter place, the arrival
of a clipper ship, which was to succeed us at San Francisco, and will
give me an opportunity of seeing King Kamehameha’s dominions, of which
Honolulu is the great port of entry of the Pacific Islands for the
whalers, and also the residence of his majesty. Such information as I
think may interest you I will communicate from there.