Within a few yards of the upper edge of the pass, under the shade of surrounding bushes and trees, two rude and shapeless stone idols are fixed, one on each side of the path, which the natives call Akua no ka Pari, gods of the precipice; they are usually covered with pieces of white tapa, native cloth; and every native who passes by to the precipice, if he intends to descend, lays a green bough before these idols, encircles them with a garland of flowers, or wraps a piece of tapa round them, to render them propitious to his descent; all who ascend from the opposite side make a similar acknowledgment for the supposed protection of the deities, whom they imagine to preside over the fearful pass. This practice appears universal, for in our travels among the islands, we have seldom passed any steep or dangerous paths, at the commencement or termination of which we have not seen these images, with heaps of offerings lying before them. Until very recently, it is evident the influence of superstition was very strong in the minds of the great mass of the people, for although the natives who accompanied us in our excursions, either from a conviction of the absurdity of the notions of their countrymen, or from mere wantonness, usually overturned the idols, battered them with stones, or rolled them down the precipice or passage which they were supposed to defend; yet on passing the same path only a very short time afterwards, we have invariably found them replaced, or, if broken, their places supplied by fresh ones. This conduct of our native companions was never the consequence of our directions, and seldom received our approbation, for we were not ambitious to become Iconoclasts; our object was rather to enlighten the minds of the people, and con

vince them of the absurdity and evil of idolatry, to present before them the true God as the only legitimate object of rational homage, lead them to the exercise of a better faith, and the adoption of a purer worship; well assured that, if under the blessing of God we succeeded in this, they themselves would, with the adoption of the Christian system, not only renounce idolatry, but abolish the appendages by which it was upheld.

The Pari of Anuanu was an important position in times of war, and the parties in possession of it were usually masters of the island. In its vicinity many sanguinary battles have been fought, and near it the independence of Oahu was lost in or about the year 1790. Tamehameha invaded Oahu; the king of the island assembled his forces to defend his country, between Honoruru and the Pearl river; an engagement took place, in which his army was defeated, and his ally, Taeo, king of Tauai and Neehau, was slain. The king of Oahu retreated to the valley of Anuanu, where he was joined by Taiana, an ambitious and warlike chief of Hawaii. Hither Tamehameha and his victorious warriors pursued them, and, about two miles from the Pari, the last battle in Oahu was fought. Here the king of Oahu was slain, his army fled towards the precipice, chased by the warriors of Tamehameha : at the edge of the Pari, Taiana made a stand, and defended it till he fell the troops of the fallen chiefs still continued the conflict, till, being completely routed, a number of them, it is said four hundred, were driven headlong over the precipice, dashed to pieces among the fragments of rock that lie at its base, and Tamehameha remained master of the field, and sovereign of the island. The natives still point out the spot where the king of the

island stood, when he hurled his last spear at the advancing foe, and received the fatal wound; and many, as they pass by, turn aside from the path, place their feet on the identical spot where he is said to have stood, assume the attitude in which he is supposed to have received his mortal wound, and, poising their staff or their spear, tell their children or companions that there the last king of Oahu died defending his country from its invading enemies.

Immediately south of the valley of Anuanu is situated the town and harbour of Honoruru; the harbour is the best, and indeed the only secure one at all seasons, in the Sandwich Islands, and is more frequented by foreign vessels than any other; seldom having within it less than three or four, and sometimes upwards of thirty, lying at anchor at the same time. The town has also, since the number of shipping has increased, become populous, and is one of the largest in the islands, usually containing 6000 or 7000 inhabitants; it is the frequent residence of the king and principal chiefs, who are much engaged in traffic with foreigners visiting the islands, or residing on shore, for purposes of trade. There are twelve or fourteen merchants, principally Americans, who have established warehouses on shore for foreign goods, principally piece goods, hardware, crockery, hats and shoes, naval stores, &c. which they retail to the natives for Spanish dollars or sandal wood. On the eastern side of the basin is a strong fort, one hundred yards square, mounting sixty guns. It was begun by the Russians, who were expelled, but finished by the natives, from an apprehension that these foreigners, in connexion with the Russian settlements on the north-west coast of America, were about to take posses

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sion of the island. Here also, in the month of April 1820, an American mission was commenced, which, under God, has been the means of producing a most happy moral and domestic change in the character of many of the people, whose advancement in the arts of civilized life, as well as Christian knowledge, is truly gratifying. Several thousands are under religious instruction, and numbers regularly attend the preaching of the gospel, which we earnestly hope will result in the conversion of many. Several have forsaken their grass huts, and erected comfortable stone or wooden houses, among which, one built by Karaimoku, the prime minister, is highly creditable to his perseverance and his taste.

About six miles to the west of Honoruru, and nearly as far from the village of Eva, on the Pearl river, there is a singular natural curiosity, a small circular lake, situated at a short distance from the sea shore, so impregnated with salt, that twice in the year the natives take out between two and three hundred barrels of fine, clear, hard, crystallized salt: this lake is not only an interesting natural curiosity, but an important appendage to the island. It belongs to the king, and is not only useful in curing large quantities of fish, but furnishes a valuable article of commerce; quantities of it having been sent for sale to Kamtschatka, and used in curing seal skins at the different islands to which the natives have sent their vessels for that purpose, or sold in the islands to Russian vessels, from the settlements on the north-west coast of America. The population of Oahu is estimated at about 20,000.

North-west of Oahu, and distant from it about seventy-five miles, is situated the island of TAUAI, which is a mountainous island, exceedingly romantic in

its appearance, but not so fertile as Oahu, or the greater part of Maui. It is forty-six miles in length, and twenty-three in breadth, and covers a surface of 520 square miles. The population probably amounts to nearly 10,000. The principal settlements are in the neighbourhood of Waimea river, the roads at the entrance of which are the usual resort of vessels touching at Tauai. Near the mouth of the river is a strong fort, in excellent repair, mounting twenty-two guns. It was erected several years since, and is well adapted for defence. This, and the neighbouring island of Nihau, were not invaded and conquered by Tamehameha, by whom all the other islands of the group were subdued. Taumuarii, the late king, rendered a tacit acknowledgment of dependence on that ambitious prince, and paid annually a nominal tribute both to him, and his son, the late Rihoriho, and, shortly before his death, which took place in 1824, he formally ceded the islands which he had governed to Karaimoku, the present regent of the Sandwich Islands, for the king, who was then absent on a visit to Great Britain. The son of the late king, and several old warriors, dissatisfied with the conduct of their sovereign, took up arms to rescue the islands from the dominion of the chiefs of the windward islands; but being defeated in a battle fought in a valley near Waimea, the island is now under the authority of the young prince Kauikeouli, the successor to Rihoriho, and the present sovereign of the whole of the Sandwich Islands.

Soon after the commencement of the Mission in Oahu, a similar institution was commenced in Tauai, under the friendly auspices of the late king, and continued to prosper until the civil war, which followed his death,