214 



SANDWICH ISLANDS. 



[1825. 



particulars to Stewart's Visit to the South Sea in 1829 and 1830, Ellis's 

 Polynesian Researches, and the printed journal of almost every voyage 

 which has been made to the Pacific. 



The reader is well aware that this group of islands was among the 

 last of Cook's discoveries, and that he was assassinated on one of them 

 by the natives. It was under the administration of the Earl of Sand- 

 wich that this great navigator prosecuted his discoveries in the Pacific 

 Ocean ; and he therefore named these islands in honour of that noble- 

 man. The group comprises eleven islands, extending in latitude from 

 18° 54' to 22° 15' N., and in longitude from 154° 50' to 160° 24' W. 

 They are called by the natives Owhyee, Mowee, Ranai, Morotoi, 

 Toohoorawa, Woahoo, Atooi, Oneeheeow, Oreehoua, Morotinni, and 

 Toohoora. They are all inhabited, except the two last. 



June 23d. — Owhyee, which we visited on the twenty-third, is the 

 largest and most eastern of these islands, its length from north to south 

 being eighty-four miles, and its breadth seventy. On the north side is 

 a mountain that rises in three peaks, about half a mile high, perpetually 

 covered with snow, and may be seen at the distance of forty leagues. 

 To the north of this mountain the coast consists of high and abrupt 

 cliff's, down which fall many beautiful cascades ; and the whole country 

 is covered with cocoanut and bread-fruit trees. The ground south of 

 the three-peaked mountain is covered with cinders, and in many places 

 presents black streaks, which seem to indicate the course of the lava 

 that has been ejected from the mountain, and flowed in streams to the 

 shore. The projecting headland is composed of broken and craggy 

 rocks, piled irregularly on one another, and terminating in sharp points. 

 Amid these ruins, however, are many patches of rich soil, carefully 

 laid out in plantations. The fields are enclosed by stone fences, and 

 are interspersed with groves of cocoanut-trees. It was on this island 

 that Captain Cook, in 1779, fell a victim to the sudden resentment of 

 the natives, with whom he unfortunately had a dispute. 



Mowee is one hundred and sixty-two miles in circumference. It is 

 divided by a low isthmus into two circular peninsulas, the eastern 

 being double the size of the western. In each of these peninsulas 

 there is a mountain rising to a very great height, which may be seen 

 at the distance of twenty leagues. There are no soundings on the 

 north shores, but the country presents an appearance of verdure and 

 fertility. Near the west point of the smaller peninsula is a spacious 

 bay, with a sandy beach, shaded by cocoanut trees. The country 

 behind has truly a romantic appearance, the hills rising in a great 

 variety of peaked forms ; their steep sides, and the deep chasms be- 

 tween them, being covered with trees. The inhabitants are computed 

 at sixty-five thousand. 



June 26th. — On Sunday, the 26th, we visited Woahoo, which is 

 seven leagues north-west of Morotoi. From the appearance of the 

 north-east and north-west parts of this island, I should judge it to be 

 the finest one of the group. Morotoi is only seven miles west-north- 

 west of Mowee, and its principal produce is yams ; but it has little 

 wood. On the south and west sides the coast is indented with several 

 bays, which are tolerably well sheltered from the trade-winds. 



