640 
SANDWICH ISLANDS. 
under which it is now governed was granted by Charles II. 
The corporation consists of a mayor, 12 jurats, 24 com- 
mon-councilmen, a steward, recorder, town-clerk, and in¬ 
ferior officers. All the principal elections, decrees, and 
ordinaries, are made by the whole corporate body, at a 
common assembly convened by the sound of a brass horn 
of great antiquity. Two regular and fixed common assem¬ 
blies are held annually, to elect the mayor and officers; 
all other meetings of the corporation-are held at the pleasure 
of the mayor. The eourt of general session and jail delivery 
sat here formerly quarterly, but now only half-yearly. Sand¬ 
wich, as one of the Cinque Ports, sends two members to 
Parliament, usually styled barons, and has enjoyed this 
privilege since the 42d of Edward III. The right of election 
is vested in the mayor, jurats, and freemen resident, 
and also non - resident provided they receive no 
alms. The number of voters is about 850, and 
the mayor is the returning officer. As a Cinque Port, 
Sandwich has the following members belonging to it:—Ford- 
wich, Ramsgate, Reculver, Sarre, Stonar, and Walmer. It 
is a place of great antiquity, and seems to have arisen from 
the decay, of the Pontus Rutupensis, in the fifth and sixth 
century, from which period it gradually advanced in import¬ 
ance. In the reign of Edward IV. it had become of such 
consequence, that that monarch caused the town to be new 
walled, ditched, and fortified with bulwarks, against the 
invasions of the French and other enemies, from whom it 
had greatly suffered. The town had then 95 ships belong¬ 
ing to it, and 1500 sailors; and the crown drew from the 
customs 16,000/. or 17,000/. a-year. In the reign of Henry 
VII., however, the harbour began to be blocked up; the 
evil was greatly augmented in the following reign, by the 
sinking at the mouth of it, of a large vessel; and all the 
attempts which were subsequently made to improve it, failed 
of their effect, so that the haven was never afterwards 
capable of admitting any vessels but those of small burden. 
The settlement here, however, of a colony of Flemish ma¬ 
nufacturers, in the reign of Elizabeth, proved a new source 
of prosperity to the town, and contributed greatly to prevent 
the total decline which the loss of the haven threatened to 
occasion. About 13 years after their arrival, the queen 
made a visit to the town, to inspect the manufactories, and 
continued here three days. Subsequently, however, this 
business declined, and the descendants of the Dutch and 
Walloon manufacturers, though they still remained here, 
discontinued their manufactures, and mixed with the 
rest of the inhabitants in the general occupations of the town. 
Population returns, according to the Act of 1811, 2735. 
Houses, 517. Market on Wednesday and Saturday; 13 
miles east of Canterbury, and 67 east-by-south of London. 
Lat.51.16.N. long. 1.20. W. 
SANDWICH, a town of Lower Canada, situated on the 
river Detroit, and containing about ] 00 houses, a church, and 
jail. There are'some wharfs along the river side, where 
vessels may be safely laid up during the winter; it is 14 
miles north of Amherstburgh. 
SANDWICH, a township of the United States, in Straf¬ 
ford county, New Hampshire, north of Squam lake. Popu¬ 
lation 2232. In the north part of the township there is a 
mountain near 3000 feet high. 
SANDWICH a township of the United States, in Barn¬ 
stable county, Massachusetts, on Barnstable bay; 54 miles 
south-south-east of Boston. Population 2382. 
SANDWICH, a small river of the United States, at the 
bottom of Barnstable bay, in Barnstable county, Massachu- 
setts. 
SANDWICH BAY, a large bay on the east coast of the 
island of Georgia, in the South Atlantic ocean, which lies 
between Cooper's isle and Cape Charlotte. 
SANDWICH, Cape, a cape on the north-east coast of 
New Holland. Lat. 18. 28. S. long. 2. 13. 45. W. 
SANDWICH ISLANDS, a cluster of islands in the Pacific 
Ocean, discovered by Captain Cook and Captain King in the 
year 1778, and which the latter navigator, after having 
visited them again in 1779, thus describes:—This group 
consists of eleven islands, extending in latitude from 18.;54. 
to 22. 15. N. and in longitude from 199. 36. to 205. 6. E. 
They are called by the natives, 1. Owhyhee; 2. Mowhee; 3. 
Ranai or Orania; 4. Morotinnee, or Morokinnee; 5. Ka- 
hourowee, orTahoorowa; 6. Morotoi, or Morokoi; 7.’Woa- 
hoo, or Oahoo; 8. Atooi, Atowi, or Towi, and sometimes 
Kowi; 9. Neheehow, orOneeheow; 10, Oreehoua, or Ree- 
houa; and 11. Tahoora: and are all inhabited, excepting 
Morotinnee and Tahoora. Besides the islands above enume¬ 
rated, we were told by the Indians that there is another, 
called Modoopapapa, or Kamodoopapapa; lying to the 
west-south-west of Tahoora, which is low and sandy, and visited 
only for the purpose of catching turtle, and sea-fowl; and as 
Capt. King could never learn that they knew of any others, 
it is probable that none existed in their neighbourhood. 
They were named by Captain Cook “ The Sandwich Islands,” 
in honour of the Earl of Sandwich, under whose administra¬ 
tion he had enriched geography with so many splendid and 
important discoveries. 
The latitude and longitude of the Sandwich Islands, and 
also the number of inhabitants contained in each of them, 
will appear in the following table :— 
Owhyhee 
Latitude. 
Longitude. 
Number of 
Inhabitants' 
North point 
20° 17' 
204° 2S 
South point 
18 54 
204 15/ 
East point 
19 34 
205 6 > 
150,000 
Karakakooa | 
. bay - j 
j- 19 28 
214 0^ 
East point 
20 10 
204 4F 
South point 
20 34 
203 48 \ 
- 65,400 
West point 
20 54 
203 24J 
Morokinnee - - - - - 20 39 
-20 38 
20 46 
21 10 
21 43 
Tahoorowa - - - - 
Ranai, south point - - - 
Morotoi, west point - - 
Woahoo, anchoring place 
Atooi, Wymoa bay - - 
Oneeheow, anchoring 1 
place - - - - J 
Oreehoua - - - - - 
203 33 
203 27 
203 8 
202 46 
202 9 
200 20 
199 45 
199 52 
199 36 
uninhabited 
20,400 
36,000 
60,200 
54,000 
10,000 
4,000 
uninhabited 
21 57 
21 50 
22 2 
Tahoora ------ 21 43 
The climate of the Sandwich Islands differs very little from 
that of the West India islands which lie in the same latitude: 
upon the whole, perhaps, it may be rather more temperate. 
The thermometer, on shore, in Karakakooa bay, never rose 
higher than 88., and that but one day; its mean height at 
noon was 83. In Wymoa bay, its mean height at noon 
was 76., and when out at sea 75. The mean height of the 
thermometer at noon in Jamaica is about 86., at sea 80. 
Nor are they subject to the same dreadful hurricanes which 
desolate the West Indies. “ During the four winter months 
(says Captain King) that we remained amongst these islands, 
there was more rain, especially in the interior parts, than 
usually falls during the dry season in the islands of the West 
Indies. We generally saw clouds collecting round the tops 
of the hills, and producing rain to leeward: but after they 
are separated from the land by the wind, they disperse and 
are lost, and others succeed in their place. This happened 
daily at Owhyee, the mountainous parts being generally 
enveloped in a cloud, successive showers falling in the inland 
country, with fine weather and a clear sky at the sea shore. 
The winds in general were from east-south-east to north-east, 
though they sometimes varied a few points each way to the 
north and south; but these were light, and of short duration. 
In the harbour of Karakakooa, we had a constant land and 
sea breeze every day and night. The currents seemed very 
uncertain, sometimes setting to windward, and at other times 
to leeward, without any regularity. They did not appear to 
be governed by the winds, nor any other cause that I can 
assign: they frequently set to windward against a fresh 
breeze. The tides are very regular, flowing and ebbing six 
hours each. The flood comes from the eastward; and it is 
high 
