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mathison : peru and sandwich islands, 1822 |
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Pages 278-279
Visit to Chorillos, Lima's bathing resort, but out of season.
Sandwich Islands, 1822.
June 28th
...
Page 374
The natives regarded us every where with much curiosity; they appeared remarkably kind and friendly, and readily accompanied us as guides.
Whyteete is rather a large village: some of the huts are well built and spacious, and most of them
Page 375
have gardens containing
melons, water-melons, and sweet potatoes.
The King occasionally
resides here, and considers it a sort of wateringplace.
It is situated
in the midst of a thick grove of fine cocoa-nut trees growing along the
sea-shore, and offers many advantages for fishing.
We saw a great
many canoes drawn up regularly on the beach, and others upon the sea with
fishermen in them.
Women and children
were amusing themselves in the surf, and apparently giving way to unrestrained
exuberance of animal spirits.
Immediately above
us towered a rocky hill and promontory called Diamond Point, which juts
out into the sea, and forms a conspicuous and fine object, while the horizon
was richly and beautifully illuminated by the rays of a setting sun.
Page 415
Two or three times
a day the whole party of natives, male and female, repaired to the river,
and amused themselves with bathing.
The women are
excellent swimmers and divers, to which they are habituated from their
earliest childhood, insomuch that one would almost think the water was
their natural element.
Page 428
Sunday, 28th.-
I attended Divine
service, and heard a very good discourse delivered by Mr. Bingham.
Not many of the
white residents were present, and but few natives.
Kaahumanu, one
of the chieftainesses, and a sister of Coxe, who had distinguished herself
some time before in burning the few remaining idols and destroying every
vestige of idolatry at Owhyhee, was specially invited, and had promised
to attend.
A sudden whim,
however, seized her, to go to Whyteete; and there she spent the day, bathing,
and playing in the surf with a host of equally frolicksome companions.
Coxe, who had
now returned from Why-arouah, also promised to attend, but was obliged
to stay away in consequence of sudden illness.
(a small bay called Why-arouah, on the N. E. side of the island)
Page 436
August 10.-
On the afternoon
of this day, having taken in all our freight of sandaI-wood, and made every
preliminary arrangement, we finally left Woahoo and the Sandwich Islands,
in company with the American ship Howqua, and pursued our voyage over the
Pacific Ocean to Canton.
I took an affectionate
leave of the Missionaries, andleft them my best wisbes for the success
of their disinterested and benevolent undertaking.
I carried. away
,with me a grateful recollection also of the attentions and bospitality
I had invariably experienced at tbe hands of the American Consul and other
white residents, as well as the native population.
The King and one
of his Queens paid us a fareweIl visit on board just before our departure;
and, we in return did our best to entertain them in their favourite way,
with wine, spirits, &c.
This sort of
entertainment at first made them noisy and talkative, then gradually more
and more quiet; until at last the King threw himself on one sopha, and
the Queen upon the other, and both fell fast
Page 437
asleep, their
attendants in the mean time standing over them as usual with fans to brush
away the flies, and singing their own wild, inharmonious lullaby.
At last the ship
got under weigh, and we were obliged to rouse our royal visitors rather
unceremoniously from their slumbers, that they might take their departure,
which they accordingly did; and we exchanged for the last time the friendly
salutation of 'Ar-ro-ha' with much mutual cordiality.
Between twenty
and thirty females, who had been living on board with the sailors, according
to immemorial usage, still remained, and seemed unwilling to quit the ship.
At length, when
we had advanced about a mile out of the harbour, they took a most tender
leave of their respective sweet- hearts, and with loud laughter and cries,
and huzzas from the crew, leaped overboard in one instant into the sea.
There they remained
swimming and diving, and playing about the ship, like so many mermaids
in their native element, until a breeze sprung up; and as we bounded merrily
before it, women and canoes, and houses and the land itself, gradually
disappeared from our view.
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A Narrative of a visit to Brazil, Chile, Peru, and the Sandwich Islands, during the years 1821 and 1822. Charles Knight, London, 1825. |
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