202 NARRATIVE OF A JOURNEY 



position not the most comfortable, did not complain of the treat- 

 ment, until they were deposited on the terra firma of the summit, 

 when they tuned their pipes to a lusty squeal, and made amends 

 for their former silence. 



This spot is the scene of the last great battle of King Tame- 

 hameha, by which he acquired the sole and absolute sovereignty 

 of the whole Sandwich group. The routed army of the petty 

 island king was driven to take refuge among the wild crags of the 

 pari, and hither it was followed by the conquering forces of the 

 invader. No quarter was shown. The fugitives were hunted 

 like savage beasts, and, almost to a man, were hurled from the 

 giddy height and dashed to pieces on the frightful rocks 

 below. 



On returning to the cottage, we found that the dinner had 

 been dished up, and that the guests were about taking their 

 seats. Our table was the green grass, upon which had been 

 arranged, with native taste, a circular table cloth, composed of ti 

 leaves, placed one above another. On this the viands were laid. 

 They consisted of fat pigs, and fat dogs, turkies, chickens, boiled 

 ham, and fish, with vegetables of various kinds, taro, sweet po- 

 tatoes, &c., — all cooked in the native manner, in pits made in 

 the ground, in which heated stones had been placed. Each pig 

 and dog had such a stone within him, and around it had been 

 wrapped a quantity of ti leaves, which were eaten as greens, and 

 were excellent. The whole of the cookery was, in fact, very su- 

 perior, and would have delighted the most fastidious epicure of our 

 own enlightened land. We had also various liquors : Champagne, 

 cherry, Madeira, and mountain dew, and were waited upon by 

 native men and boys, with chaplets of green bound around their 

 heads, and their persons profusely ornamented with the " fern 

 and heather of their native valleys." Among the attendants, 

 Mr. Mills, or Deacon Mills, as he is sometimes called, stood pre- 

 eminent ; he acted as purveyor and major dome; was every 



