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is 30 nearly identical, that I soon found that what I knew of Maori 

 was readity adapted to intercourse with the Sandwich Islanders, 



It was on the evening of ISJovember 3rd that our little schooner 

 got under weigh, and glided out from among the lieet of whalers in 

 the roadstead, and aw;iy from the scattered cottages and houses, 

 and cocoanut trees of Laihaina. It was a glorious evening, and the 

 great volcanic mountains of Mawe, and the neighbouring islands, 

 loomed grandly in a golden haze, as the sun got low, and we stood 

 out into the open sea. Our tiny craft presented a singularly curious 

 and picturesque appearance ; her cargo, most closely packed, was 

 human ; a veiy fat chieftainess, with about a dozen of her ladies 

 in waiting, filled the little cabin, and on deck we counted between 

 eighty and ninety persons, almost all women and girls, going on 

 a visit, they told us, to their friends in Hawaii, all dressed in light 

 calico " roundabouts " of bright colours, and all wearing wreaths 

 and flowers in their hair. This looked well enough in the sunlight ; 

 but I well remember in what a dark blue-black the last island 

 to the westward stood out against the fading streaks of red on the 

 sky, when the sun went down. The wind began to whistle shrilly ; 

 we took in sail ; our poor lightly clad fellow-passengers huddled 

 together, and a shiver ran fore-and-aft as the first cold spray swished 

 over them. They laughed at first, and throughout bore up bravely ; 

 but it grew worse and worse, and nearly all niglit long heavy seas 

 broke over us ; but, even had not the deck been flooded, there was 

 not room on it to lie down ; Wortley and I spent the night sitting 

 against the bulwarks, now and again helping to work the vessel, 

 or taking a tiu-n at the tiller, when the native skipper — who 

 behaved admii-ably — had to go forward to see to the head saik, or 

 to keep his crew up to the mark. When at length a dull leaden 

 morning dawned, we were hove to in a tremendous sea, our binnacle 

 and compass smashed, and no land anywhere in sight, though the 

 clouds were beginning to break. Onr deck presented a marked 

 contrast from yesterday evening. It was hidden by superin- 

 cumbent strata of drenched and shivering feminine humanity, 

 blended in one chaos of sodden calico, wet dishevelled tresses, 

 di'aggled wreaths, and general misery, on which the native sailors 

 trod without the slightest compunction, for there was no stepping 

 room between. At noon it began to clear up, and the sea 

 moderated ; still we in vain looked out for the mountain tops. 

 The captain had run before the wind out to sea all the first part 

 of the night, and calculated that we were about SO miles from land. 

 We steered in search of it by my pocket compass, and when 

 night again came the stars shone out, to thecaptain's great delight ; 

 he, however, was utterly exhausted, and turned in. The native 

 left at the helm had also a theorj^ of the stars and navigation, and 

 was bent on steering in the wrong direction, besides i^erforming 

 most sui'prising nautical aberrations ; remonstrance being unavailing, 

 Stuart-Wortlej'^ and I were obliged forcibly to depose him, and take 

 command. Under these circumstances of some responsibility, and 

 perhaps with the slightest possible shade of doubt as to o\ir own 

 perfect capability as navigators, and the exact coi'rectness of our 

 course ; for we did not know exactly where we were, and had 

 neither charts nor ship's compass — iinder these circumstances, we 



