REVIEW. A Journal of a Tour around Hawaii, first mentioned number was too the largest of the Sandwich Isl- great; but it is undoubtedly the ands. By a deputation from the fact, that before the establishment Mission on those Islands. Bos- of Missions, the population of these ton: Crocker & Brewster. N. Y. and the Society Islands was rapidJ. P. Haven. pp. 264. 12mo. ly decreasing. In the Society Isl12mo.ly With a map and engravings. ands, the population is supposed to have been in 1773, at least 150,000, but before the gospel had begun to exert any influence upon it, it was diminished to 15,000. Pomare, the THE Sandwich Islands have of late excited so lively an interest in the friends of Missions, that a brief account of them may probably grat-king, speaking of the goodness of ify our readers. We embrace this opportunity of inserting a few general remarks concerning them, because several of the incidents to which we shall have occasion to refer, would be, from this previous knowledge better understood. The Sandwich Islands are a group of islands in the North Pacific Ocean, which were discovered by Captain Cook in 1778. Their names are Hawaii (pronounced Haw-wy ee) Maui Oahu, Tauai, Morokai Ranai, Nuhau and Tahurawa. We have arranged them according to their size,-Hawaii, the first, being 97 miles in length and 78 in breadth, and contains 4000 square miles, and Tahurawa the smallest, 11 miles in length and 8 in breadth, containing but 60 square miles. Besides these, there are two others, little more than barThe largest of these islands, formerly written Owhyhee, is rendered remarkable for the death of Capt. Cook, who was killed there, February, 1779. ren rocks. The number of inhabitants in these islands has never been very accurately computed. Some navigators have estimated it at 400,000. This estimate has been considered by the Missionaries as far too high. They compute the whole popula tion at 150,000, and that of Hawaii at 85,000. It is probable that the The same God in sending his word to them, Their manners and customs were Stories the clouds calling for more men. The king kept sacrificing until he had slain all his men except one, whom as he was a great favourite, he was unwilling to give up. But the god being urgent, he sacrificed him also; and the priest and himself were the only two that remained of all his company. Upwards of eighty victims, they said, were of fered at that time, in obedience to the audible demands of the insatiate demon." p. 201. the condition of his wives, who suffered greatly from the operation of the tabu system; 2dly, from the advice of foreigners, and of his more intelligent chiefs; and Sdly, and principally, from hearing what had been done in the Society Islands by Pomare, and the happy results which had attended the introduction of a new religion. And here we are called upon to remark one of those singular coincidences which illustrate so manifestly the fact that Omniscient Wisdom is enlisted in the cause of Mis sions. This totally unexpected overthrow of idolatry occurred at about the very time the first Missionaries were embarking from Boston. On their arrival, they found the former superstitions exploded, the people were without any relig-* ion, and that saying was fulfilled, "The isles shall wait for his law." The Missionaries arrived, and were soon settled in the different islands at their appropriate work. This was in 1820. And this leads us to remark, that the religious system of these islands was one of the most singular of any of the forms of idolatry. It con sisted in a variety of ordinances, some of them perpetuated from immemorial usage, and others promulgated by the king at will, by which every man or woman was forbidden at particular times, or in some cases always, from eating or touching a particular thing, or entering or approaching a particular place. The things thus forbidden were said to be tabu, or sacred. Thus pork and plantains, two of the most. During the following year, some common articles of food, were tabu progress was made in settling the to the women, and they could not orthography; a task, in a language eat them on pain of death. The so dissimilar from our own, of very king had also the power of pro- great difficulty. This in less than nouncing any thing tabu for a lim-two years was done; and in the ited time; and he who broke tabu || beginning of 1822, the first sheet of was immediately destroyed. Death a Hawaiian spelling book was printwas the only punishment known. ed. This work was soon in great This keeping tabu, and sacrificing hogs and men in their consecrated places to idols, constituted almost the whole of their religion. The late king Tamehameha, though a man of unusual talents, was a rigid idolater, and as there is reason to believe, frequently sacrificed human victims to propitiate his gods. Things remained very much in this state until the year 1819, when Tamehameha died, and his son Rihoriho succeeded to his dominions, and immediately abolished the system of idolatry so far as it was connected with the government. This measure seems to have been owing, first, to a desire to improve demand. Other works in the native language have since been published. The chiefs have for the most part learned to read and write. They begin already to find the peculiar convenience of it to their insular situation. When the deputation were at Kairua, Kuakini, or as he is sometimes called John Adams, received a note on business from Kamakau, the chief of Kaavaroa, which after he had read he showed to Mr. Ellis, saying that he admired the diligence and perseverance of Kamakau, who with very little iustruction had learned to write so well. "This letterwriting," added the governor Lis a very good thing. I write to Ka- || islands, and renders it evident that makau, to any body else at Oahu, he, who would behold volcanic acor any where else; they write to tion in all its majesty and sublimime; it's just the same as if we talk-ty, must go not to the far-famed ed together." Etna, or Vesuvius, but to the almost unheard of krater of Kirauea in the island of Hawaii. And here it is impossible not to remark the singularly different agents, which Divine Wisdom has employed in the formation of the islands of the Pacific. A part are heaved from the abyss of ocean by the incalculable force of volcanic fire, and the rest, spread out apon coral reefs, are built up from the bottom by the ceaseless labours of an almost invisible insect. In the spring of 1822, Rev. Mr. Ellis, who had resided for several years at the Society Islands, came to the Sandwich Islands on his way to the Marquesas. He was accompanied by Messrs. Tyerman and Bennet, the well known deputation from the London Missionary Society, and by two Tahitian chiefs, who with their wives were proceeding with Mr. Ellis to establish a Mission in the Marquesas Islands. The languages of the Sandwich and of the Society Islands are so very nearly alike, that these chiefs and Mr. Ellis could soon preach to the natives. It was, therefore, thought best to relinquish their voyage to the Marquesas, and re-ited, and to whom they preached. main permanently at the Sandwich Islands. Besides the physical information communicated in this volume, it is interesting for the various moral exhibitions which it contains of the heathen whom the Missionaries vis It is delightful to witness how well the people were generally disposed to hear the gospel, with what wonder they heard of the immortality of the soul, and how universally they were affected at a narration of the love of Christ. Every thing at the harvest. It is a nation stretchpresent seems like a field waiting ing out its hand unto God. In April, 1823, the Mission received a further accession of strength by the arrival of additional labour ers from the United States. This seemed to demand an enlargement of operations. As soon as circumstances would permit,arrangements were made for surveying Hawaii, with a view to the judicious occupation of that large and populous extracts from this journal, with the We shall proceed and give some island. This object was success-intention of making our readers acfully accomplished by the deputation designated for that purpose, and the volume before us is the report of their travels. The travellers commenced their journey from Kairua, and travelled completely round the island, crossing it in two places, and visiting every considerable village and every remarkable locality. Their journal gives us a vastly more particular and authentic account of this island than is to be found any where else, and contains very many facts of great interest to the philos. opher and geologist, as well as to the Christian. It completely establishes the volcanic origin of these quainted with its spirit, and with the sort of information which it may be expected to contain. In the Bible will be surprised at finding following extract, the reader of the among these islanders, sprung from can tell, a custom almost precisely what part of the human race no one like to the establishment of the Hebrew cities of refuge. Adjoining the Hare o Keave, to the inclosure) of considerable extent; and southward, we found a pahu tabu (sacred were informed by our guide, that it was one of the pohonuas of Hawaii, of which we had so often heard the chiefs and othland, the one, which we were then examers speak. There are only two on the isining, and another at Waipio,on the north east part of the island, in the district of Kohala. cited on these occasions, had always been those of deep melancholy and horror, at the human immolations and shocking cruelties, which they had so often exhibited. Here, however, idolatry appeared at least in the form of clemency, and the Puhonua presented a scene unique among the ruins of paganism, which we contemplated with unusual interest. Whether its establishment was originally projected by the might owe their lives to its institution; or by some mild and humane prince, anxious to diminish the barbarous cruelties of idolatry, and soften the sanguinary character of savage warfare; or whether derived traditionally from the Israelitish cities of refuge, to which some of its features are strikingly analogous, we do not pretend to determine. However, we could not but rejoice, that its abolition was so soon succeeded by the revelation of a refuge more secure; that the white flag ceased not to wave, till another banner was ready to be unfurled, on which was inscribed, "Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth."-May Jesus become their strong hold, and their deliverer, and When vengeance hovers nigh, These Puhonuas were the Hawaiian Cities of refuge, and afforded an inviolable sanctuary to the guilty fugitive, who, when flying from the avenging spear, was so favoured as to enter their precincts. This had several wide entrances,some on the side next the sea, the others facing the mountains. Hither the manslayer, the man who had broken a tabu, or failed in the observ-priests, to attach to their interests all who ance of its rigid requirements, the thief, and even the murderer, fled from his incensed pursuers, and was secure. Το whomsoever he belonged, and from whatever part he came, he was always sure of admittance; though liable to be pursued even to the gates of the enclosure. Happily for him, those gates were perpetually open. Whenever war was proclaimed,|| and during the period of actual hostilities, a white flag was unfurled on the top of a tall spear, on the outside, at each end of the enclosure, and until the conclusion of peace, waved the symbol of hope to those, who, vanquished in fight, might flee thither for protection. To the spot, on which this banner was unfurled, the victorious warrior might chase his routed foes. But here he must himself fall back. Beyond it he must not advance one step, on pain of forfeiting his life. The priests and their adherents would immediately put to death. any one, who should have the temerity to follow, or molest those, who were once within the pale of the pahu tabu, and, as they expressed it, under the shade, or screening protection, of the spirit of Keave, the tutelar deity of the place. In one part of the enclosure, houses were formerly erected for the priests, and others for the refugees, who, after a certain period, or at the cessation of war, were dismissed by the priests, and returned unmolested to their dwellings and families; no one ventured to injure those, who, when they fled to the gods, had been protected by them. We could not learn the length of time it was necessary for them to remain in the Puhonua; but it did not appear to be more than two or three days. After that, they either attached themselves to the service of the priests, or returned to their homes. May his dear cross appear; The next extract will give our readers some account of the principal volcano on the island. It is indeed the most vivid description of one of these lakes of fire that we have ever seen. We travelled on, clearing every obelo bush, that grew near the path, till about 2 P. M., when the CRATER of KIRAUEA all at once burst upon our view. We expected to have seen a mountain, with a broad base, and rough indented sides, com||posed of loose slags, or streams of lava, and whose summit would have presented a rugged wall of scoria, forming the rim of a mighty chaldron. But instead of this, we found ourselves on the edge of a steep precipice, with a vast plain before us, fifteen or sixteen miles in circumference, and The Puhonua at Honaunau is a very sunk from 200 to 400 feet below its origicapacious one, capable of containing a nal level. The surface of the plain below vast multitude of people. In time of war, was uneven, and strewed over with large the females, children, and old people of stones, and volcanic rocks; and in the centhe neighbouring districts, were generally tre of it was the great crater, a mile or a left within it, while the men went to battle.mile and a half distant from the precipice, Here they awaited in safety the issue of the conflict, and were secure against surprise and destruction in the event of a defeat, on which we were standing. We walked on to the north end of the ridge, where,the precipice being less steep, a descent to the plain below seemed prac ticable. It required, however, the greatest caution, as the stones and fragments of rock frequently gave way under our feet, and rolled down from above; and We had often passed over the ruins of deserted heathen temples, and the vestiges of demolished altars in the Sandwich Islands; and one of our number, those in several groups of the Pacific; but the feelings ex-with all our care we did not reach the bot. tom without several falls and slight bruises. The steep, which we had descended, was formed of volcanic materials, apparently a light red, and grey kind of lava, vesicular, and lying in horizontal strata, varying in thickness from one to forty feet. In a small number of places, the different strata of lava were, also, rent in perpendicular or oblique directions, from the top to the bottom, either by earthquakes, or other violent convulsions of the earth, connected with the action of the adjacent volcaAfter walking some distance over the sunken plain, which, in several places, sounded hollow under our feet, we came suddenly to the edge of the great crater, where a spectacle, sublime, and appalling, presented itself before us. no. Astonishment and awe for some moments deprived us of speech, and, like statues, we stood fixed to the spot, with our eyes rivetted on the abyss below. After our first feelings of astonishment had subsided, we continued for about half an hour, contemplating a scene, which we felt it impossible to describe, filled with wonder and admiration at the almost overwhelming manifestation of the power of that dread Being, who created the world, and who has declared that by fire he will one day destroy it. We then walked along the western side of the crater, till we reached the north end, where we left the few provisions, and little baggage, that we had, and went in search of water, which, we had been informed, was to be found in the neighbourhood. About half a mile distant, in a northerly direction, we found two or three small pools of perfectly sweet, fresh water a luxury, which, notwithstanding the reports of the natives, we did not expect to meet, in these regions of fire. It proved a most grateful refreshment to us, after travelling upwards of twenty miles over a barren thirsty desert. When we had quenched our thirst with water thus distilled by nature, we directed the natives to build a hut for us to pass the night in, in such a situation as to command a view of the burning lava; and while they were thus employed, we pre Immediately before us yawned an immense gulph, in the form of a crescent, upwards of two miles in length, about a mile across, and apparently eight hundred feet deep. The bottom was filled with lava, and the south-west and northern parts of it were one vast flood of liquid fire, in a state of terrific ebullition,rolling to and fro its "fiery surge," and flaming billows. Fif-pared to examine the many interesting obty one craters, of varied form and size, rose, like so many conical islands, from the surface of the burning lake. Twentytwo constantly emitted columns of grey smoke, or pyramids of brilliant flame, and many of them, at the same time, vomited, from their ignited mouths, streams of florid lava, which rolled, in blazing torrents, down their black, indented sides, into the boiling mass below. The sides of the gulph before us were perpendicular, for about 400 feet; when there was a wide, horizontal ledge of solid black lava, of irregular breadth, but extending completely round. Beneath this black ledge, the sides sloped towards the centre, which was, as nearly as we could judge, 300 or 400 feet lower. It was evident, that the crater had been recently filled with liquid lava up to this black ledge, and had, by some subterranean canal, emptied itself into the sea, or inundated the low land on the shore. The grey, and, in some places, apparently calcined, sides of the great crater before us; the fissures, which intersected the surface of the plain, on which we were standing; the long banks of sulphur, on the opposite side; the numerous columns of vapour and smoke that rose at the north and south end of the plain, together with the ridge of steep rocks, by which it was surrounded, rising probably, in some places, four hundred feet in perpendicular height, presented an immense volcanic panorama, the effect of which was greatly augmented by the constant roaring of the vast furnaces below. jects around us. Mr. Bishop returned with a canteen of water to meet Mr. Harwood, who had not yet come up. Mr. Thurston visited the eastern side of the great crater; and Messrs Ellis and Goodrich went to examine some extensive beds of sulphur, at the north-east end. sun, Between nine and ten, the dark clouds and heavy fog, that, since the setting of the had hung over the volcano, gradually cleared away, and the fires of Kirauea, darting their fierce light athwart the midnight gloom, unfolded a sight terrible and sublime beyond all we had yet seen. The agitated mass of liquid lava, like a flood of melted metal, raged with tumultuous whirl The lively flame, that danced over its undulating surface, tinged with sulphurous blue, or glowing with mineral red, cast a broad glare of dazzling light on the indented sides of the insulated craters, whose bellowing mouths, amidst rising flames, and eddying streams of fire, shot up, at frequent intervals, with loudest detonations, spherical masses of fusing lava, or bright ignited stones. The dark, bold outline of the perpendicular and jutting rocks around, formed a striking contrast with the luminous lake below, whose vivid rays, thrown on the rugged promontories, and reflected by the overhanging clouds,combined to complete the awful grandeur of the imposing scene. We sat gazing at the magnificent phenomenon for several hours, when we laid ourselves down on our mats, in order to observe more leisurely its varying aspect; for although we had travelled upwards of |