438 POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES. 
which they could communicate their thoughts by 
means of Opiri, the governor said, was attributed 
to the supposed influence of Opiri with his gods. 
The foreigners, they imagined, were supernatural 
beings, and, as such, were treated with every pos¬ 
sible mark of respect. After remaining some time 
on the island, they returned to their own country. 
No account is preserved of the kind of vessel in 
which they arrived or departed. The name of the 
principal person among them was Manahini; and 
it is a singular fact, that in the Marquesian, 
Society, and Sandwich Islands, the term manahini 
is still employed to designate a stranger, visitor, 
or guest. 
The third account is much more recent and 
precise, though the period at which it took place 
is uncertain. 
It states, that a number of years after the de¬ 
parture of Manahini-ma , (Manahini and his party,) 
in the reign of Kahoukapu, king at Kaavaroa,- 
seven foreigners arrived at Kearake’kua bay, the 
spot where Captain Cook landed. They came in 
a painted boat, with an awning or canopy over the 
stern but without mast or sails. They were all 
dressed ; the colour of their clothes was white or 
yellow, and one of them wore a pahi, long knife, 
the name by which they still call a sword, at his 
side, and had a feather in his hat. The natives 
received them kindly. They married native wo¬ 
men, were made chiefs, proved themselves warriors, 
and ultimately became very powerful in the island 
of Hawaii, which, it is said, was for some time 
governed by them. 
There are in the Sandwich Islands a number of 
persons distinguished by a lighter colour in their 
skin, and corresponding brown curly hair, called 
