384 POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES* 
down which their fishing canoes could be easily 
drawn. 
At another place, he had endeavoured to pro¬ 
cure water by digging through the rocks, but after 
forcing his way through several strata, the lava was 
found so hard,that he was obliged to give up the 
undertaking. Probably he had no powder with 
which to blast the rocks, and not the best tools 
for working through them. A wide tract of country 
in the neighbourhood was divided into fields of 
considerable size, containing several acres each, 
which he used to keep in good order, and well 
stocked with potatoes and other vegetables. One 
of these was called by his name. He was accus¬ 
tomed to cultivate it with his own hands. There 
were several others, called by the names of his 
principal friends or companions, which, following 
his example, they used to cultivate themselves; 
the others were cultivated by their dependants. As 
the chief walked through the village, he pointed 
out the houses in which Tamehameha formerly 
resided, and several groves of noni trees, the mo- 
rinda citrifolia , that he had planted, as Miomioi 
remarked, before his beard was grown. Tame¬ 
hameha was undoubtedly a prince possessing 
shrewdness and great strength of character. 
During his reign, the knowledge of the people was 
much enlarged, and their comforts in some 
respects increased : their acquisition of iron tools 
facilitated many of their labours ; the introduction 
of fire-arms changed their mode of warfare; and 
in many cases, cloth of European manufacture 
was substituted for that made of native bark. But 
these improvements appear to be rather the result 
of their intercourse with foreigners, than of any 
measures of their sovereign; though the encou- 
