96 VOYAGE TO THE 



chief being permitted to choose the manner of his death, 

 desired that he might be carried to sea, and be drown- 

 ed by having a weight fastened round his neck. In 

 addition to this attempt of the Russians to separate 

 Atooi from the kingdom, it was supposed that Ame- 

 rica was also desirous of forming a settlement upon 

 one of the islands. Rio-Rio foreseeing that occa- 

 sional rebellions might arise in his dominions, through 

 the interference of foreign powers, determined on a 

 voyage to England to have a personal interview with 

 the king, under whose protection the islands had been 

 placed by Tamehameha, and also, perhaps, from a desire 

 to see the country which furnished articles so supe- 

 rior to the manufactures of his own dominions. 



The death of Rio-Rio and his queen, it is well 

 known, occurred in this visit to England. Their bo- 

 dies were conveyed to the Sandwich Islands by Lord 

 Byron, in H. M. Ship Blonde, and lodged in a house 

 built for the purpose, where they still remain.* Lord 

 Byron havino- given the chiefs, in Boki's words, " good 

 advice," and having placed the crown upon the head 

 of Kiukiuli, the brother of Rio-Rio, and seen the go- 

 vernment confided to Krymakoo as regent, quitted the 

 islands about ten months before our first arrival. 



Previous to the death of Tamehameha, several 

 European houses appeared in Woahoo. Vessels and 

 warhke stores had been purchased with sandal wood. 

 The navigation of the Pacific became more general in 



* In 1827, some of the chiefs had been persuaded that it was 

 improper to keep the bodies above ground, and these beautiful 

 coffins covered with crimson velvet and silver were about to be 

 lowered into the earth, as a commendable mortification of pride, 

 when they were prevented by the timely arrival of a gentleman, 

 from whom this account was derived. 



