ARRIVAL OFF HAWAII. 35 
with the shore, I could sometimes observe from 
the ship’s deck above twenty beautiful cascades, of 
varied elevation and breadth. Passing the straits 
between Hawaii and Maui, we reached Towaihai. 
The same evening I accompanied the captain 
towards the shore, where, near the land, we were 
met by a little boat with five persons on board, 
who were the first Hawaiians that welcomed us to 
their countrymen. As our boats approached, one 
of the natives hailed us with “ Aroha” peace, or 
attachment. We returned the salutation in Ta¬ 
hitian. Having inquired the name of the place, 
we asked where Tamehameha was ? they replied, 
“ He is dead.” Who is king now? was our next 
inquiry: they answered, “ His son Rihoriho.” 
We then asked, “ Is it peace ?” they answered, 
“ It is peace; the king is at Oahu—he has Mis¬ 
sionaries there to teach the people.” The chief 
then asked, “ Are you from America?” We an¬ 
swered, “ From Britain.” He then said, “ By 
way of Tahiti?” and, when answered in the affir¬ 
mative, observed, “ There are a number of Tahi¬ 
tians on shore.” This conversation had been 
carried on as the boats lay alongside of each 
other; but as the chief proposed to visit the 
ship, we returned on board. There was a great 
degree of native dignity about this chief, who ap¬ 
peared to be about five and twenty years of age, 
tall, stout, well made, and remarkably handsome. 
He told us his name was Kuakini; that his sister 
was the queen-dowager, his brother governor of 
the adjacent island of Maui, and himself governor 
of Hawaii. He entered very freely into conver¬ 
sation with Auna, and the other Tahitians on 
board, and expressed his desire to learn to read 
and write. From the facility with which we 
d 2 
