30 HAWAIIAN GROUP, 



The prisoners were allowed counsel, and the whole proceedings 

 were conducted in a becoming manner. The charge of the judge to 

 the jury was clear and forcible. The king and several high chiefs 

 were present, and as Kamanawa was a great favourite of the king, 

 it was supposed by many that a pardon would be extended to him, 

 this being the first case in which the sentence of the law had been 

 passed on one of so high a rank. But there was no pardon, and the 

 criminals were hung on the 20th of October, on the walls of the fort, 

 the king having gone some days previously to Lahaina. The con- 

 course of people at the execution was very large, and the prisoners 

 were attended by the missionaries. There was none of that eager 

 curiosity, rushing, and crowding, that is to be observed at home on an 

 occasion of the kind, and no noise or confusion. All present were 

 decently dressed and well behaved, but they did not seem impressed 

 with the solemnity of the scene. It was estimated that ten thousand 

 persons, from all parts of the island, were present. I was in hopes 

 that the law would have been put into execution within the fort, and 

 not on the walls, thus making it a private instead of a public execu- 

 tion. I had much conversation relative to this subject with the autho- 

 rities, but I thought the disposition was to make it a matter of parade 

 rather than otherwise. The criminals showed no manner of contrition 

 for their foul crimes, but evinced a hardihood in unison with the deed 

 for which they suffered the penalty of the law. 



There are no persons to whom the old adage of " murder will out" 

 will more justly apply, than to these natives; they cannot keep a 

 secret, and when once a crime is perpetrated, it is not long before it 

 becomes known to the public ; they will even tell against themselves, 

 how 7 ever certain the punishment may be. In this respect, nearly all 

 the Polynesian nations are alike. It was perhaps not to be expected 

 that much feeling should be shown on an occasion of the kind among 

 a half-civilized nation, who had formerly been in the habit of seeing 

 death frequently administered by the hands of the assassin, acting by 

 the order of the chiefs ; yet I was not prepared to see so quiet and 

 indifferent a demeanour. The son of Kamanawa, who is an extremely 

 fat youth, and one of the best swimmers and divers in the port, spoke 

 of the execution of his father without any apparent feeling. 



The immense advance which has been made by the Hawaiians in 

 civilization, will be best appreciated by the contrast, which the fore- 

 going constitution exhibits to the ancient usages and mode of govern- 

 ment of this group. As, however, many points in the early history of 

 these islands have been fully illustrated by other writers, I shall con- 

 tent myself with a general view of such facts as may serve for the basis 



