38 THE WHALE AND 



Maiden Beauty. Island King Temaeva. 



a shade or two darker than a dark brunette, 

 black eyes, hair, and eyebrows, and a capti- 

 vating beauty of form, and bashful turning 

 away when looked at, that is not a little attrac- 

 tive. Their nostrils 'are not so negro-like, nor 

 their lips so thick as those of the Hawaiians, 

 but still they bear to them a close resemblance. 

 Many of the little girls and maidens were truly 

 beautiful, and would be deemed paragons, even 

 in the artificial state where beauty is not left 

 so much to itself, but has to be busked, bustled, 

 and corseted by omnipotent fashion. 



I soon made my way to the island king, Tem- 

 aeva, who sat apart from others upon a block of 

 coral, and leaning on a staff, his only dress being 

 a shirt and kihei (mantle). He was a benevo- 

 lent-looking, well-made man, having the port 

 and presence of a king, and, if that were all, 



With Atlantean shoulders fit to bear 

 The weight of mightiest monarchies. 



He offered me his hand with much apparent 

 cordiality, and immediately led the way to his 

 house in the interior. The path was at first 

 rugged as the volcanic clinkers of Hawaii, over 

 heaps and swells of broken and sharp coral, 

 overgrown with huge roots of the Kamani and 



