238 MAUI. 



In order to prevent any dispute in the succession to the throne, it was 

 formerly deemed necessary that the king should take all the women 

 of the highest rank as his wives, and all the children born of them 

 were declared and considered as his heirs. 



The present king is said to be the natural son of Kamehameha I., 

 and became, from political causes, heir to the throne. 



After crossing the causeway we reached a small island: on this was 

 a grass-house of moderate dimensions, surrounded by hibiscus trees, 

 which grow quite low, and made a bower almost impervious to the 

 sun's rays. At the entrance of the house I was met by his majesty, 

 dressed in a roundabout of blue cloth, and white pantaloons. He led 

 the way into the bower, in the centre of which his wife was lying in 

 a clean white hammock, suspended between the trees. Every thing 

 about her was pleasant-looking, betokening care and attention to her 

 comfort, and a degree of refinement I little expected to see. Although 

 unwell, she showed many marks of beauty, and I was much struck 

 with her appearance. 



The king told me these were their private apartments, where they 

 could remain undisturbed and free from intrusion. They passed most 

 of their time together, and he pointed out a small hut of ti-leaves that 

 he had constructed for her, in which she had been lying on new- 

 mown grass. The king pointed out the improvements he had in 

 contemplation, but complained that he had not money to carry them 

 on. Although his income is very considerable, in tapas and native 

 produce, and would have constituted great wealth in former times, 

 yet, from the depreciation in the value of these articles, it is now of 

 little value. He has so many hangers-on, that it takes a large amount 

 to supply, maintain, and clothe them, even in the ordinary garments 

 of the island. These circumstances leave the king quite as poor as 

 any of his subjects. 



The little domestic scene I had witnessed gave me great pleasure, 

 the more so from being quite unexpected ; and I found afterwards 

 that very few are ever admitted to this sanctum sanctorum. I take 

 pleasure in mentioning it, as I had not before given his majesty credit 

 for the domestic virtues, which I am now satisfied he possesses to a 

 great degree, both from the tenor of his conversation and the pleasing 

 picture he exhibited in the last interview I had with him. 



His wife is much fairer than the natives usually, and she has not 

 so coarse and disproportionate a figure as seems characteristic of the 

 females of distinction in these islands. Her features, however, were 

 decidedly of the native character. The tone of voice was pleasing and 

 ladylike. 



