RECENT HAWAIIAN HISTORY. 



317 



sentation which we associate with popular elections elsewhere, 

 and everywhere. 



The day of election came, and thirty-nine votes were given 

 for Kalakaua, and six for Emma. On the announcement of 

 this result, a hoarse, indignant roar, mingled with cheers from 

 the crowd without, was heard within the Assembly chamber, 

 and on the committee appointed to convey to Kalakaua the 

 news of his election, attempting to take their seats in a car- 

 riage, they were driven back, maimed and bleeding, into the 

 Courthouse ; the carriage was torn to pieces, and the spokes of 

 the wheels were distributed as weapons among the rioters. 

 The " gentle children of the sun " were seen under a new- 

 aspect ; they became furious, the latent savagery came out, the 

 doors of the Hall of Assembly were battered in, the windows 

 were shattered with clubs and volleys of stones, nine of the 

 representatives, who were known to have voted for Kalakaua, 

 Avere severely injured ; the chairs, tables, and furnishings of the 

 rooms were broken up and thrown Out of the windows, along 

 with valuable public and private documents ; kerosene was de- 

 manded to fire the buildings ; the police remained neutral, and 

 conflagration and murder would have followed, had not the 

 ministers despatched an urgent request for assistance to the 

 United States' ships of war, Portsmouth and Tuscarora, and 

 H. B. M. ship Tenedos, which was promptly met by the landing 

 of such a force of sailors and marines as dispersed the 

 rioters. 



_ Seventy arrests were made, the foreign marines held posses- 

 sion of the Courthouse, Palace, and Government offices, Kala- 

 kaua took the oath of office in private ; the Representatives, 

 with bandaged heads, and arms in slings, limped, and in some 

 instances were supported to their desks, to be liberated from 

 their duties by the king in person, and in ten days the joint 

 protectorate was withdrawn. 



Those who know the natives best were taken by surprise, 

 and are compelled to recognise that a restive, half-sullen, half- 

 defiant spirit is abroad among them, and that the task of 

 governing them may not be the easy thing which it has been 

 since the days of Kamehameha the Great. 



Of King Kalakaua, who began his reign under such unfor- 

 tunate auspices, little at present can be said. Though island 

 affairs have settled down into their old quietude, party spirit, 

 arising out of the election, has not died out among the natives. 

 The king chose his advisers wisely, and made a concession to 



