SANDWICH 
soil, though tolerably rich, and producing rather a luxuriant 
abundance, differs very materially from that of Matavai, or 
the other parts of Otaheite. At Woahoo, nature seems only 
to have acted a common part in her dispensations of vege¬ 
table food for the service of man, and to have almost con¬ 
fined them to the taro plant, the raising of which is attended 
with much care, ingenuity, and manual labour. In the se¬ 
veral parts of its culture, the inhabitants, whether planting, 
weeding, or gathering, must, during the whole of these ope¬ 
rations, be up to their middle in mud, and exposed to the 
rays of a vertical sun.” In their agriculture, it is necessary 
to have an abundant supply of water for the irrigation of 
their lands; and in some cases, when they are above the 
■level of the rivers which pass through them, they resort to 
the most ingenious contrivances, in order to distribute the 
-necessary supply of water over the thirsty soil. On one oc¬ 
casion, while Captain Vancouver and some others were 
making an excursion through the country, they were as¬ 
tonished to see the lands so abundantly watered, not observ¬ 
ing any stream from which a supply could be drawn. “ As 
we advanced (he observes), a lofty perpendicular cliff pre¬ 
sented itself, which, by rising immediately from the river, 
would effectually have stopped our further progress into the 
country, had it not been for an exceedingly well-constructed 
wall of stones and clay, about twenty-four feet high, raised 
from the bottom by the side of a cliff, which not only served 
as a pass into the country, but also as an aqueduct, to convey 
the water brought thither by great labour from a consider¬ 
able distance; the place where the river descends from the 
mountains affording the planters an abundant stream, for the 
purpose to which it is so advantageously applied. This 
wall, which did no less credit to the mind of the projector 
than to the skill of the builder, terminated the extent of our 
walk; from whence we returned through the plantations, 
whose highly improved state impressed us with a very fa¬ 
vourable opinion of the industry and ingenuity of the inha¬ 
bitants.” These islands, since they were first visited by 
Captain Cook, have been involved in a series of most de¬ 
structive wars, in consequence of the struggles of rival chiefs, 
for the undivided sovereignty of the whole. These contests, 
and the spirit of ambition in which they originated, have 
been greatly promoted by the possession of fire-arms and 
g-unpowder, with which they have been supplied by Euro¬ 
pean traders, in lieu of refreshments. Vancouver made use 
of all his influence, and every persuasion in his power, to 
induce these rival chiefs to suspend their animosities, and 
conclude a general peace; but he found their demands so 
ambitious and exorbitant, as to preclude all chance of accom¬ 
modation. The result of these contests threw the chief do¬ 
minion into the hands of Tamaahmah, whose vigour and 
sagacity improved all his advantages, and soon gave him a 
prospect of acquiring that universal dominion to which his 
ambition had anxiously directed him. 
This Tamaahmah was a very intelligent sovereign. With 
the assistance of Young and Davies, two Englishmen, who 
were found settled in the island by Vancouver, he encou¬ 
raged his subjects to prosecute with vigour and perseverance, 
all the most useful European trades, and he procured American 
and European artificers about him of every description. He 
was thus enabled to increase his navy, a favourite object with 
him. It was only in 1794 that Vancouver laid down the 
keel of Tamaahmah’s first vessel; but so effectually had he 
applied himself to the establishment of a naval force, that 
when Captain Turnbull was at the island in 1802, he had 
upwards of 20 vessels of different sizes, from 25 to 70 tons; 
some of them were copper bottomed. His palace was built 
after the European style, of brick, had glazed windows, 
and was defended by a battery of ten guns. He had also be¬ 
tween 200 and 300 body guards to attend him, inde¬ 
pendently of a numerous retinue of chiefs, who are required 
to accompany him in all his journies and expeditions. His 
body guards, who may be considered in some respects as 
regularly disciplined troops, went on duty not unfrequently 
with the drum and fife, and relieved each other as in Europe, 
calling out, “ all is well” at every half hour, as on board of 
ISLANDS. 643 
shipi Their uniform at this time was simply a blue great 
coat, with yellow facings. He was very attentive to trade; 
but his subjects were held in the most abject submission. 
Some convicts from Botany Bay having effected their escape 
to the Sandwich Islands, were encouraged by Tamaamah, 
on account of the services which they rendered him. 
Having contrived, however, to extract a sort of spirit from 
the sugar-cane which they raised, they began to indulge in 
licentiousness and quarrelling. Tamaahmah, finding that 
his work was interrupted by these riots, made some remon¬ 
strances on the subject, which not producing the desired 
effect, he gave them to understand that any future rioting 
or quarreling would draw upon them vengeance and pu¬ 
nishment, and in this manner he soon reduced them to 
more orderly habits. So bent was this Indian chief on the 
pursuit of political greatness, that, though he was at one 
time strongly addicted to drunkenness, yet on the remon¬ 
strances of Young and Davies, the two English seamen who 
were residents on these islands, and had acquired his confi¬ 
dence, he gave up all excess, and practised ever after the 
greatest moderation. 
The navy of Tamaahmah not only secured to him a 
decided superiority over the frail canoes of his neighbours, 
but the means of transporting his warriors to distant parts. 
Some of his vessels were employed as transports in conveying 
provisions from one island to another, to supply his warriors; 
while his largest were used as men of war, and occasionally 
mounted with a few light guns. The Sandwich islanders in 
the territories of Tamaahmah, frequently made voyages to 
the north-west coast of America, and thereby acquired 
sufficient property to make themselves easy and comfortable, 
as well as respectable among their countrymen. The canoes 
of the Sandwich Islands far surpassed any that captain 
Turnbull had seen in other parts of the world, not only in 
solidity and strength, but in the neatness and skill of work¬ 
manship. These canoes were so well calculated for speed, 
that the natives can work them along with their short pad¬ 
dles, at the rate of 11 or 12 miles an hour, and fairly run 
them under water. Turnbull remarks, “ Though they have 
these excellent canoes in abundance, the natives, both men 
and women, often dispense with the use of them, and swim 
to vessels approaching the island, with no other support than 
a thin feather-edged slice of wood ; with these they play a 
thousand tricks, tumbling and plunging under water, then 
rising to the surface, and plunging again, like so many in¬ 
habitants of the deep. Their fondness for the water is 
indeed singular. They may at times be seen extended 
and lolling indolently on the surface for the whole 
day, without any occupation, and as much at their ease 
as if it was their native element. Instances are very rare of 
a Sandwich islander being drowned; and their boldness and 
dexterity in diving is perhaps unrivalled in any part of the 
world. Some of them, who were employed by Captain 
Turnbull to assist in certain operations in the ship, would 
dive in fifteen fathoms water, and clear the cable, however 
entangled in the pointed rocks at the bottom. Mr. Young, 
the English resident in the island, mentioned that Tamaah¬ 
mah, in the early part of his career, being one day on board 
a vessel, requested an anvil of the captain, an article of which 
he stood in great need. To have a specimen of the spirit and 
skill of the natives, Tamaahmah was told that he should 
have one, on condition that his divers should bring it up 
from the depth of ten fathoms. To this he instantly agreed, 
and the anvil was thrown into the sea. Tamaahmah im¬ 
mediately sent some of his people down after it, expecting 
to raise it without difficulty; but they found it some¬ 
what too heavy. Unwilling, however, to abandon so great 
a treasure, they continued their efforts, and after long and 
repeated exertions, succeeded in rolling the anvil along the 
bottom of the sea, for about half a mile, relieving each 
other alternately till they gained the beach, and were received 
by their countrymen with the loudest applause. These, and 
similar exertions, although never declined by the divers, are 
often attended with dangerons consequences to their health. 
On their re-appearing on the surface, their faces are greatly 
swelled. 
