Place where Captain Cook was killed. 

 South-west side of Hawaii. 



SANDWICH ISLANDS. 



Governor Adams. Excursion of 

 the naturalists. 



minds of the thousands who view it, and inspire in 

 them the feeling of proper pride, in finding that the 

 country appreciates so remote an emblem of their 

 distinguished countryman. 



On the stump of the tree is inscribed : 



f 



NEAR THIS SPOT 

 FELL 



CAPTAIN JAMES COOK, R.N., 



THE 

 RENOWNED CIRCUMNAVIGATOR, 



WHO 



DISCOVERED THESE ISLANDS, 

 A.D. 1778. 



HIS MAJESTY'S SHIP 



IMOGENE, 

 OCTOBER 1/TH, 1837. 



THIS SHEFTOF COPPER AND CAP PUT ON BY SPARROWHAWJ^ 



SEPTEMBER 13TH, 1339, 



IN ORDER TO PRESERVE THIS MONUMENT TO THE 

 MEMORY OF COOK. 



I could have wished that the first inscription, 

 relating solely to Cook, was the only one ; the other, 

 it seems to me, was not worthy of being associated 

 with any thing connected with so great a name ; and 

 good taste and proper feeling I think would have 

 shrunk from inscribing it as well as the following on 

 another part, " Give this a coat of tar." 



The south-west side of Hawaii is termed the dis- 

 trict of Kona, and includes Kealakeakua and Kailau. 

 The town of Kailau is the residence of Kuakini, 

 better known among foreigners by the name of 

 Governor Adams, who is governor of Hawaii. 



This district lies to the north of Kealakeakua, 

 and begins about five miles from Napolo. It is 

 similar to it in character, but the lava is of more 

 recent formation, the eruptions from Hualalai 

 having flowed down and covered nearly the whole 

 northern portion. This eruption happened about 

 thirty years since, in 1809 and 1810. Hualalai is 

 between seven and eight thousand feet in height, 

 and rises abruptly on its west side. 



Rain seldom falls on the coast, except in showers, 

 and a rainy day once in the year is looked upon as 

 something remarkable. This, together with the 

 absence of all dew, prevents the existence of much 

 cultivation ; it affords, nevertheless, a coarse vege- 

 tation, sufficient to pasture a few hundred goats; 

 but, a mile back from the shore, the surface is 

 covered with herbage, which maintains cattle, &c.; 

 and two miles in the interior there is sufficient mois- 

 ture to keep up a constant verdure. 



The dwellings of the natives are a little im- 

 proved, and Governor Adams has the best-built 

 stone house in the Hawaiian Islands. He has also 

 a cotton factory constructed of stone, and by his 

 influence there has been erected a large stone 

 church and a school-house. He also gives much 

 attention to the schools, and has twenty-three in 

 his district for adult scholars, who are six or seven 

 hundred in number; and thirteen for children, with 

 ' about five hundred pupils: all of these are taught 

 by natives. To these is to be added a school for 

 girls, taught by the ladies of the mission, number- 

 ing fifty-five scholars. 



Governor Adams, like all individuals of his class 



who are desirous of improving his countrymen, is 

 represented by the low foreigners to be of a miserly 

 and grasping disposition, and they say that he has 

 acquired large stores of wealth, which he hoards 

 up. He is certainly much respected by all those 

 not engaged in trade, and spoken highly of by the 

 natives over whom he rules. He is admitted, how- 

 ever, by both foreigners and natives, to be one of 

 the most shrewd and intelligent of the nation, and 

 desirous of turning all things to account, competing 

 even with foreigners. I had not the pleasure of 

 meeting with him, of which I was desirous; for, 

 owing to our unexpected detention at Oahu, we did 

 not reach Hilo so soon as we had intended, and he 

 was obliged to return to his home on the opposite 

 side of the island. Being a man of large dimensions, 

 as the chiefs usually are, he was deterred from per- 

 forming so toilsome a journey again during our stay. 



On Monday, our gentlemen formed themselves 

 into two parties, and started on horseback for 

 their journey. One party consisted of Messrs. 

 Peale, Rich, and Hall, with eight Kanakas and two 

 guides; Mr. Dana and Midshipman Hudson, with 

 Kanakas and guides, formed the other, which took 

 the route along the sea-shore towards the south, 

 well provided with provisions, and a supply of various 

 articles for their journey. 



After a day's travel, they reached the site of the 

 ancient temple of Kaili. These ruins lie about 

 equally distant from three mountains, Mauna Kea, 

 Mauna Loa, and Hualalai. This temple is said to 

 have been built by Umi, who, with his wife Papa, is 

 supposed to have inhabited it, when he was king of 

 the island. The three northern pyramids forming 

 the front were originally erected by Umi, to repre- 

 sent the districts of the island he then governed ; 

 and as he conquered other districts, he obliged 

 each of them to build a pyramid on the side of the 

 temple. The main building is ninety-two feet long, 

 by seventy-one feet ten inches wide; the walls are 

 six feet nine inches high, seven feet thick at the 

 top, and nearly perpendicular. The building is 

 said to have been covered with idols, and offerings 

 were required to be brought from a great distance, 

 consisting generally of provisions. There are now 

 no traces left of these idols. The situation of the 

 temple is at an elevation of five thousand feet above 

 the sea. 



At Hilo on the 23rd, the naturalists embarked 

 on board the Flying-Fish, which sailed for Oahu, 

 and reached Honolulu on the 28th of November. 



The squadron was now on the eve of sailing, 

 having on board stores and provisions for a long 

 cruise. As this winter's cruising was particularly 

 intended to examine the portion of ocean that 

 was not included in my instructions, I shall, before 

 narrating the details of the proceedings of the" 

 squadron, give, in a general view, the intended 

 operations. 



The movements of the squadron were, at this 

 time, particularly directed to the examination of 

 parts of the ocean possessing great interest in their 

 connexion with that important branch of national 

 industry, the whale-fishery ; and the course I pro- 

 posed to adopt will be understood from the follow- 

 ing statement of the objects I now had in view. 



The Porpoise had previously been sent towards 



the Paumotu Group, or Dangerous Archipelago, 



lying to the eastward of Tahiti, to examine some 



islands that were reported as doubtful, and others 



s 2 



