letter xii.] A PROLONGED CAMP MEETING. 117 



and withitt the radius of a mile the grass and banana houses 

 clustered as thick as they could stand. Beautiful Hilo in a 

 short time swelled from a population of 1000 to 10,000 ; and 

 at any hour of the day or night the sound of the conch shell 

 brought together from 3000 to 6000 worshippers. This vast 

 camp-meeting continued for two years, but there was no dis- 

 order, and a decent quiet ruled throughout the strangely ex- 

 temporized city. A new morality, a new social order, new 

 notions on nearly all subjects, had to be inculcated as well as 

 a new religion. Mrs. C. and Mrs. L. daily assembled the 

 women and children, and taught them the habits and industries 

 of civilization, to attend to their persons, to braid hats, and to 

 wear and make clothes. 



During this time, on November 7, 1837, one of the striking 

 phenomena which make the islands remarkable occurred. The 

 crescent sand-beach, said to be the most beautiful in the Pacific, 

 the fringe of palms, the far-reaching groves behind, and the 

 great ocean, slept in summer calm, as they sleep to-day. Tour 

 sermons, as usual, had been preached to audiences of 6000 

 people. There had been a funeral, the natives say, though 

 Mr. C. does not remember it, and his text had been " Be ye 

 also ready," and larger throngs than usual had followed the 

 preachers to their homes. The fatiguing day was over, the 

 natives were singing hymns in the still evening air, and Mr. C. 

 "had gathered his family for prayers" in the very room in 

 which he told me this story, when they were startled by " a 

 sound as if a heavy mountain had fallen on the beach." There 

 was at once a fearful cry, wailing, and indescribable confusion. 

 The quiet ocean had risen in a moment in a gigantic wave, 

 which, rushing in with the speed of a racehorse, and uplifting 

 itself over the shore, swept everything into promiscuous ruin ; 

 •men, women, children, dogs, houses, food, canoes, clothing, 

 floated wildly on the flood, and hundreds of people were 

 struggling among the billows in the midst of their earthly all. 

 Some were dashed on the shore, some were saved by friends 

 who hurried to their aid, some were carried out to sea by the 

 retiring water, and some stout swimmers sank exhausted j yet 

 the loss of life was not nearly so great as it would have been 

 among a less amphibious people. Mr. C. described the roaring 

 of the ocean, the cries of distress, the shrieks of the perishing, 

 the frantic rush of hundreds to the shore, and the desolation of 

 the whole neighbourhood of the beach, as forming a scene of 

 the most thrilling and awful interest. 



