PACIFIC AND BEERING’S STRAIT. 
427 
dismissing her pleasant looks, she resumed her sorrow, and convinced 
every person present that she was quite an adept in this barbarous 
custom of her country. 
Many of the court seemed to consider this moment one of appre- 
hension, and every person who approached the queen’s abode was at 
first supposed to be the bearer of the news of some insurrection or 
other convulsion of the state. As he entered the room, therefore, 
there was a dead silence ; but when it was found that these visits were 
made merely to inquire after the health of the queen, the wailing, as if 
it had suffered by the disappointment, burst forth with redoubled energy. 
Kahumana herself evidently anticipated some disturbance, for she 
whispered to me to be upon my guard, as there was a probability that 
the people would be mischievous. Nothing, however, occurred to 
disturb the tranquillity of the town but the wailing around the royal 
abode. 
It is unnecessary here to describe many instances of the extent to 
which this hypocritical affectation of grief was carried ; suffice it to say, 
that several persons, as if determined to perpetuate the barbarous prac- 
tice of self-mutilation, knocked out their front teeth with hammers. 
The queen almost immediately after the death of her brother em- 
barked for Owyhee in a native schooner, to the great satisfaction of the 
chiefs and the European residents in Woahoo, As it was probably 
the last time she would see us, she was complimented with a royal 
salute on leaving the harbour. 
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