102 HAWAII AND OAHU. 



than in 1835. It is the opinion of the missionaries that the popula- 

 tion is not decreasing by death, and it is thought that any apparent 

 decrease is owing to removals, or if not to this cause, perhaps to an 

 error in the census. The register of births and deaths for nine 

 months, in 1839, would seem to confirm this, there being one hundred 

 and twenty-three births and ninety-one deaths, or thirty-two in favour 

 of the former. 



The result of the inquiries of Dr. Andrews, the resident physician, 

 shows a great mortality among the children. Out of ninety-six married 

 females, nearly all under forty-five years of age, twenty-three had no 

 children ; the remaining seventy-three had two hundred and ninety- 

 nine, of which one hundred and fifty-two did not survive the second 

 year : a large proportion of them died at from six to ten months old ; 

 six died between two and ten years, and fourteen died when over ten 

 years old. 



The dw-ellings of the natives are a little improved, 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 dis- 

 trict 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, numbering 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 ad- 

 mitted, however, 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 Avhich 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 performing so toilsome a 

 journey again during our stay. 



The industry which prevails in his own particular district cer- 



