THROUGH HAWAII. 
19 
its appearance, but not so fertile as Oahu, or the 
greater part of Maui. It is forty-six miles in length, 
and twenty-three in breadth, and covers a surface of 520 
square miles. The population probably amounts to 
nearly 10,000. The principal settlements are in the 
neighbourhood of Waimea river, the roads at the en¬ 
trance of which are the usual resort of vessels touching 
at Tauai. Near the mouth of the river is a strong fort, 
in excellent repair, mounting twenty-two guns. It 
was erected several years since, and is well adapted 
for defence. This, and the neighbouring island of 
Nihau, were not invaded and conquered by Tame- 
hameha, by whom all the other islands of the group 
were subdued. Taumuarii, the late king, rendered a 
tacit acknowledgment of dependence on that ambitious 
prince, and paid annually a nominal tribute both to 
him, and his son, the late Rihoriho, and, shortly before 
his death, which took place in 1824, he formally ceded 
the islands which he had governed to Karaimoku, the 
present regent of the Sandwich Islands, for the king, 
who was then absent on a visit to Great Britain. The 
son of the late king, and several old warriors, dissatis¬ 
fied with the conduct of their sovereign, took up arms to 
rescue the islands from the dominion of the chiefs of 
the windward islands; but being defeated in a battle 
fought in a valley near Waimea, the' island is now un¬ 
der the authority of the young prince Kauikeouli, the 
successor to Rihoriho, and the present sovereign of the 
whole of the Sandwich Islands. 
Soon after the commencement of the Mission in Oahu, 
a similar institution was commenced in Tauai, under 
the friendly auspices of the late king, and continued to 
prosper until the civil war, which followed his death. 
