THE SANDWICH ISLANDS. .'30l 



tidence by his unreserved and friendly behaviour. 

 He conducted me to his straw palace, which, ac- 

 cording to the custom of the country, consisted 

 only of one spacious apartment, and, like all the 

 houses here, afforded a free draught both to the 

 land and sea breezes, which alleviates the oppres- 

 sive heat. They offered us European chairs, very 

 neatly made, placed a mahogany table before us, 

 and we were then in possession of all the furniture 

 of the palace. Though the king has houses built 

 of stone in the European fashion, he prefers this 

 simple dwelling, not to forsake the customs of his 

 country ; he imitates every thing he knows to be 

 useful, and tries to introduce it among his people ; 

 palaces built of stone appeared to him superfluous, 

 as the straw houses are convenient, and as he only 

 wishes to increase the happiness, and not the wants 

 of his subjects. Tamaahmaah's dress, which con- 

 sisted of a white shirt, blue pantaloons, a red 

 waistcoat, and a coloured neckcloth, surprised me 

 very much, for I had formed very different notions 

 of the royal attire. He, however, sometimes 

 dresses very splendidly, having several embroidered 

 uniforms, and other articles of dress. The distin- 

 guished personages present at our audience, who 

 had all seated themselves on the ground, wore a still 

 more singular costume than the king ; for the 

 black frocks look very ludicrous on the naked 

 body ; add to this, that they seldom fit, being 

 purchased of American ships, where the people 



