TO THE SOUTH SEA ISLANDS. 117 



ease, clothed in a pair of common Duck-pantaloons, and white jacket. 

 He received me very kindly ; oftered me a good Havanna segar, and in- 

 vited me to take a glass of wine with him. On the whole, 1 was very 

 much gratified with my visit. Subsequently I became quite intimate 

 ■with his Majesty ; visited him frequently, and was admitted into the 

 royal household as a friend. The King's palace is a large edifice, per- 

 haps 100 feet by 60, standing in a great square, enclosed by a neat pali- 

 sade fence, but without garden or any sort of decoration. The house 

 is built in the native style, covered entirely with a heavy thatch of grass, 

 which gives it the appearance, at a distance, of a large hay slack. It 

 consists of but one room. The interior is beautifully carpeted with 

 very fine matting, and large divans, composed of piles of matting, are 

 numerous throughout the building. There is no furniture, and the on- 

 ly ornaments it contains, are several portraits, very well executed, re- 

 presenting old King Tamehameha, his son Kihoriho and their queens. 

 During one of my earlier visits at the palace, his Majesty did me 

 the honor to invite me to participate in a Ju au, or picknic in the lovely 

 valley of Nuano, back of the town. This lu au was got up at the ex- 

 pense of a number of the foreign residents ; his Majesty and suite were 

 of course invited, as 1 was also by them, on the day following. This 

 the King doubtless knew would be the case, but desired to show his 

 kindness and condescension by being the first to bid me to the feast. 

 On the following morning, (Saturday,) a cavalcade, consisting of fifty or 

 sixty persons, among whom was the King, and a suite composed of 

 eiglit or ten of his prime favorites, assembled in front of the palace, and 

 at a signal fi-om his Majesty, we put our horses to the gallop, and went 

 dashing at a tearing rate through the town, the King taking the lead on 

 a splendid grey charger which he controlled with infinite ease and grace. 

 We never drew rein until we had ridden five miles up the valley of Nu- 

 ano, when a halt was called. We all discounted on a beautiful circu- 

 lar plain, surrounded by Pandanus and Kou trees (Corclia sehestena,) 

 and having a beautiful cascade of clear, cold mountain water in the midst. 

 We found here about fifty natives who had been ordered to the spot ear- 

 ly in the morning to groom our horses, prepare our repast, 8cc. Most 

 of the party remained at the plain, but, as it yet wanted several hours 

 to dinner time, I concluded to visit, with a party of foreigners, the great 

 precipice, or Pari, three miles above. We accordingly renrounted, and 

 soon commenced the ascent towards the precipice. For the last two 

 miles the climbing was toilsome and not a little dangerous. The soil 

 was a sort of unctuous clay, rendei-ed exceedingly slippery by recent 

 rains, and large volcanic rocks were piled in the narrow bridle paths to 



