402 ~ . VOYAGE OF THE POTOMAC. [July, 
Utmost vigilance of several police officers to keep off the crowd, 
such was their curiosity to see the strangers. 
The presentation, which was very ceremonious, was performed 
. by the American consul. The queen regent is the niece of the 
celebrated Karaiinoliu, or Billy Pitt, as he is generally called, 
■ and daughter to the great Ta?nehameha, the Napoleon of the 
Sandwich Islands. Her husband is colonel of the troops. He 
is not by birth a chief ; but being possessed of rather more intel- 
ligence than some others of his countrymen, was chosen as a 
companion to the late King RiJio-Riho, on his visit to England ; 
and on the death of KinaiCs husband (Governor Boki), was 
chosen by her as partner for life ; owing, in all probability, to his 
having been a favourite of Riho-Riho. He is not a man of much 
authority, having no voice in the council of the state ; but may, 
of course, do much in advising the queen regent in secret. The 
present queen regent has not long been so ; her predecessor 
having died but a few weeks before the arrival of the Potomac. 
The most remarkable circumstance in the history of the royal 
family, is the immense size of the persons who compose it ; that 
of Kinau, the queen regent, in particular. The weight of Kica- 
Mni, or governor, or John Adams, as he chooses to be called, is now 
only three hundred and fifty, as he informed our officers ; although 
some months previously he weighed somewhat more. That of 
Kinau is two hundred and fifty ; and this, for a lady, is no small 
quantity ! 
The reader has doubtless already a correct idea of the town of 
Honoruru, from the description of the Rev. Mr. Stewart, a journal 
of whose residence in the Sandwich Islands is before the public. 
Honoruru is not regularly laid out, although many of the streets 
run at right angles. The houses, at some distance, look much 
like hay-mounds, the r®ofs angling almost down to the ground, 
and covered with a particular kind of thatch. The only differ- 
ence in the external appearance of these edifices consists in their 
size, many of them being extremely large. The royal palace 
and the churches are the "largest. The dwellings of the foreign 
residents are built of stone or frame-work. The mission-house 
is at the extremity of the town ; it is large, and to all appearances 
the most comfortable on the island. It is certainly the most ca- 
pacious, and the best built, being of stone, and well whitewashed. 
