170 POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES, 
diminish the barbarous cruelties of idolatry, and 
soften the sanguinary character of savage warfare,— 
or whether derived traditionally from the Israel- 
itish cities of refuge, to which some of its features 
are strikingly analogous,—we do not pretend to 
determine. However, we could not but rejoice 
that its abolition was so soon succeeded by the 
revelation of a refuge more secure,—that the 
white flag ceased not to wave till another banner 
was ready to be unfurled, on which was inscribed, 
“ Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of 
the earth.” 
Our accommodations at Honaunau were very 
indifferent. The house where we stayed, in ad¬ 
dition to other unpleasant circumstances, being 
entirely open at one end, exposed us by night as 
well as by day to the unwelcome intrusion of hogs 
and dogs of every description. As I was able to 
walk out on the 23d, we resolved to change our 
lodgings that evening; and about five o’clock in 
the afternoon we removed nearly half a mile, to a 
place called Keokea, where we put up in the best 
house we saw, in hopes of procuring at least a 
comfortable night’s rest. In this, however, we 
were disappointed, for it rained heavily the greater 
part of the night, and, the roof of the house not 
being water-proof, we were more than once obliged 
to shift our mats to different parts of the earthen 
floor. This was not all; our host, and Makoa our 
guide, with almost a house full of natives besides, 
had been regaling themselves with an immense 
wooden bowl of fermented juice of the sweet po¬ 
tato, and were very noisy till midnight, when they 
lay down on their mats, but, to our great annoy¬ 
ance, continued either talking or singing until it 
was almost day. We frequently spoke to them, 
