4 POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES, 
naturally inspire.—Far different are the impres¬ 
sions produced on the minds of the Missionaries 
who have resided for some years in the islands. 
Having acquired their language, observed their 
domestic economy, and become acquainted with 
the nature of their government, the sanguinary 
character of their frequent wars, their absurd and 
oppressive system of idolatry, and the prevalence 
of human sacrifices, they are led, from the indu¬ 
bitable facts which have come under their notice, 
to more just and accurate conclusions—conclu¬ 
sions in awful accordance with the testimony of 
divine revelation. 
Although ten in number, only eight of the Sand¬ 
wich Islands are inhabited, the other two being 
barren rocks, principally resorted to by fishermen. 
They lie within the tropic of Cancer, between 
18. 50. and 22. 20. north latitude, and between 
154. 53. and 160. 15. west longitude from Green¬ 
wich, about one-third of the distance from the 
western coast of Mexico, towards the eastern 
shores of China. The Sandwich Islands are 
larger than the Society Islands, or any of the 
neighbouring clusters. 
Ha-wai-i, (Owhyhee) the principal island of the 
group, resembles in shape an equilateral triangle, 
and is somewhat less than three hundred miles in 
circumference, being about ninety-seven miles in 
length, seventy-eight in breadth, two hundred and 
eighty miles in circumference, and covering a sur¬ 
face of 4000 square miles. It is the most southern 
of the whole, and, on account of its great eleva¬ 
tion, is usually the first land seen from vessels 
approaching the Sandwich Islands. Its broad base 
and regular form render its outline different from 
that of any other island in the Pacific with which 
