WHALING VOYAGE. 
373 
fine house with provisions, and plenty of people to 
attend upon me; but the offers and the eloquence of the 
poor king were entirely thrown away, and when he found 
the “cowka” wanted a good salary in dollars, which he 
knew he had not to give, he gave a deep sigh, a shake 
of the head, and a shrug of the shoulders, and said 
little more afterwards. In a short time he inquired 
if I wished to go to rest, when answering in the affir- 
mative, he shewed me to a corner of his house where a 
few mats had been placed upon the ground that were 
to serve me for my bed, when looking round through the 
darkness, which was only broken by a small light that 
burnt in a cocoa-nut shell containing oil, I saw a number 
of people lying about in different quarters asleep. 1 soon 
threw myself upon the humble resting-place that had 
been prepared for me ; which the king seeing, he took his 
departure for his, situated at a little distance from mine, 
having a “ taipa ” or native cloth hung around it, encom- 
passing also the queen or lady of his choice. As I had 
heard previous to our arrival, that the natives of these 
islands were in a very improved condition when com- 
pared to what they formerly were before the arrival of 
the missionaries among them, I was much disappointed 
when I perceived so many of them intoxicated, and all 
of them in such an unruly or ungovernable state ; and 
although I could scarcely believe for an instant that 
they would attempt to injure me in the slightest degree, 
still sleep did not relieve me from the various cogitations 
which continued to press upon my mind until near the 
morning, when I was awoke by finding the house full of 
