214 NARRATIVE OF A JOURNEY 



blessing on the viands, and regularly returned thanks at its con- 

 clusion. 



After a pleasant passage of two days we arrived at Oahu, and 

 were warmly greeted by our friends, who sympathized with us, 

 and thought that our long tarriance must have been peculiarly 

 irksome. They knew but little of the resources of the natural- 

 ist ; they knew not that the wild forest, the deep glen, and the 

 rugged mountain-top possess charms for him which he would not 

 exchange for gilded palaces ; and that to acquaint himself with 

 nature, he gladly escapes from the restraints of civilization, and 

 buries himself from the world which cannot appreciate his en- 

 joyment. 



22(1. — I joined a party of ladies and gentlemen this morning, 

 in an excursion to Pearl river, on the west side of the island. 

 We embarked in several small schooners and barges, and had 

 a delightful trip of two hours. The king, who was with us, with 

 a number of his favorites, John Young, Kanaina, Halileo, &c., 

 procured for our accommodation several native houses, in which 

 we slung our cots and hammocks,' and slept at night. We took 

 our meals under a large shaded ranai, and the amusements of 

 the party were riding, shooting, and a variety of sylvan games, 

 which rendered our pic-nic of three days a constant scene of 

 pleasant festivity. 



The night before we left, the gentlemen of the party were in- 

 vited by the king to witness the curious exhibition called the 

 " calabash dance." We entered a large house, crowded with na- 

 tives, with the exception of a wide space in the middle, which 

 had been reserved for the performers. These were men and wo- 

 men to the number of ten or twelve, in a state of almost perfect 

 nudity, having no covering, except the small maro of tapa 

 bound around the loins. Each was furnished with a very large 

 gourd, having the neck attached, and from the under surface 

 the contents had been removed through a small aperture. The 



