FORMER SACRIFICES TO PELE.

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tion, she has become permanently established. Her convictions of the folly and wickedness of her former vocation is such, that she is reluctant to converse much upon it. Her father was the hereditary kahu, or steward, as she was the priestess, of Pelé. The duty of the kahu was to provide the materials for the general sacrifices-the food and raiment of the supposititious deity: to grow the taro, potatoes, and sugarcane, and the cloth-plant, from which the garments for her were made; to provide the hogs and fowls, &c., and to have all things in readiness for the offerings, at the appointed seasons.

Of the plantations sacred to this use, one was on the seashore, and another within the precincts of the crater-in the broken ground, described as that upon which we first came, in descending from our hut, on our late visit. The kapu and his family resided, part of the time, on the coast; and part, in the neighborhood of the crater.

At the time of sacrifice, the priestess herself descended into the depths of the volcano, and, approaching the place most accessible and most active with fire, cast upon it the gifts, with the exclamation "Here Pelé is food for you"-specifying the article or articles-" and here is cloth," mentioning its name and varieties. In answer to the question, whether she was not afraid of the fire which she approached? she said no, for she then believed, that the goddess would defend her from harm-but, that now, when she knew, that there was no such being as Pelé, she should be afraid to go to places where she

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once did without apprehension, lest she might perish

in her temerity.

Such, dear H- have been the rapid and happy triumphs of Christianity, over the but lately deep-rooted heathenism of this country-and thus, have the shades of superstition and error been dispersed by the mild light of the gospel! Even those who have grown old in the performance of the most favorite rites of idolatry, and who held unbounded influence and distinguished rank from their office, have discarded the whole system; and, conscious of their ignorance and their guilt, are found meekly sitting at the feet of the High Priest of Salvation, to be instructed and redeemed by him!

The inhabitants of this section of Hawaii, as I have before remarked, are among the most primitive and rude of the islanders, still, they are no longer a pagan population, but, from every observation that our ship's company have been able to make, strictly and most conspicuously a Christian people. The description I have given of a sabbath here, will convey some idea of the manner, in which that and other external observances of Christianity are regarded. To it I may add, what I then omitted, that not a canoe-unless it might have been some one or two bringing their proprietors to church-was seen upon the water, nor a single instance observed of labor or amusement. Forty of our crew had liberty on shore on the afternoon of that day; and the report I overheard one and another of them giving to their fellows, was in itself sufficient to satisfy me of

THE HEATHENISM OF THE COUNTRY. 111

the utter change which had been accomplished, in the whole character of the people. So punctilious were the inhabitants, in their regard for the sabbath, that the seamen sought in vain to purchase any thing whatever. Not even a watermelon or a banana could be obtained, except as a gift of hospitality. No rude crowd gathered round, as they sauntered from place to place. The men treated them with civility when they came to their houses; but the women, universally, with such distance, by withdrawing from the places where they were, and by seeking security in the bosoms of their families, from any familiarity that might have been offered, that no one, so far as I can learn, has it in his power to report, that he met with a single instance of licentiousness at Byron's Bay.

The force of this evidence of reformation, will be best understood by those, who have known what the character of the intercourse of shipping with its inhabitants, as well as those of every other part of the Sandwich Islands-even within a few years-has been; and, by such, it will be acknowledged as one, which the most sanguine believers in the success of the mission, never expected to find, so early as the year 1829.

Along the whole coast, no noisy drum of heathenish carousal, nor rude song of obscenity is now heard --but in their place, the hum of the crowded school, the voice of thanksgiving and prayer, and, not unfrequently, the chanting of the morning and the evening hymn!

YESTERDAY morning at four o'clock, we weighed anchor in Byron's Bay, and, after being gently fanned from the harbor by a land-breeze, took the trade-wind, and with all sail set, bore away for Oahu, some two hundred miles distant.

We made the eastern end of Maui, sometime before dark; while the higher parts of Mounakea were still distinctly in sight, and-from their loftiness and the rich, deep blue of their shades-seemingly still near. Most of our gentlemen have felt disposed to question the estimate, that has generally been made, of the loftiness of this mountain; but, as we left it yesterday, the more distant we became from it, the more evident it was to all, that, whether 18,000 feet or not above the level of the sea, it must be, and is, immensely high.

Just now we are favored with a beautiful moon; and the officer of the mid-watch informed me this morning, that the view of the windward side of Maui was so distinct and fine, for two or three hours before daylight, that he thought seriously of calling me on deck to enjoy it. I went up at six o'clock. We were then far past the channel separating it from Morokai, and were rapidly approaching that between

this latter island and Oahu. At seven o'clock, when off the north end of Morokai, we descried one of the headlands of Oahu in the neighborhood of Diamond Hill, rising dimly, like a conical islet, from the water.

Our approach after this was very rapid; and, in the course of a couple of hours, the whole of the eastern side came in view. As we drew in with the land, so as to distinguish the objects on shore, we were all greatly disappointed in its appearance-more so, no doubt, from having so recently left the luxuriance and verdure of Hido. Instead of the freshness and beauty of aspect exhibited, when first seen by us in 1823, it looked as if seared with fire; and in place of green hills and rich vallies, every part, except the very tops of the mountains, was of a dead ash color-and seemingly just swept, by a siroc of the desert. The sight quite dispirited me--I had been told at Hido, that, both at Maui and Oahu, there had been the longest drought known for many years— but, I was not prepared, for such a general and deforming evidence of it.

We reached Diamond Point before noon; and in passing it, as the groves and wide spreading plantations of Waititi, and the vallies and mountains behind them, came upon the eye-followed by the long plain of Honolulu-the port itself adjoining—and the distant country beyond, to the range of mountains far in the west-the same marks of dearth were seen stamped on the whole coast; and so different was the entire face of the country, in this respect, from every former appearance, that I could scarce believe it, the rich and beautiful Oahu, which all viVOL. II. 11