THE SANDWICH ISLANDS. 303 



you, but to provide you gratis with every thing 

 that my islands produce. This affair is now set- 

 tled, and no further mention need be made of it. 

 I shall now beg you to inform me, whether it is 

 with the consent of your emperor that his subjects 

 begin to disturb me in my old age ? Since Ta- 

 maahmaah has been king of these islands, no 

 European has had cause to complain of having 

 suffered injustice here. 1 have made my islands 

 an asylum for all nations, and honestly supplied 

 with provisions every ship that desired them. 

 Some time ago there came from the American 

 settlement of Sitka some Russians, a nation with 

 whom I never had any intercourse before ; they 

 were kindly received, and supplied with every 

 thing necessary ; but they have ill-rewarded me, 

 for they behaved in a hostile manner to my sub- 

 jects in the island of Woahoo, and threatened us 

 with ships of w^ar, which were to conquer these 

 islands ; but this shall not happen as long as 

 Tamaahmaah lives ! A Russian physician, of the 

 name of Scheffer, who cam^ here some months ago, 

 pretended that he had been sent by the Emperor 

 Alexander to botanize on my islands ; as I had 

 lieard much good of the Emperor Alexander, and 

 was particularly pleased with his bravery, I not 

 only permitted M. Scheffer to botanize, but also 

 promised him every assistance j made him a pre- 

 sent of a piece of land, with peasants, so that he 

 could never want for provisions 5 in short I tried 



