16 
MISSIONARY TOUR 
vince them of the absurdity and evil of idolatry, to pre¬ 
sent before them the true God as the only legitimate 
object of rational homage, lead them to the exercise of a 
better faith, and the adoption of a purer worship ; well 
assured that, if under the blessing of God we succeeded 
in this, they themselves would, with the adoption of the 
Christian system, not only renounce idolatry, but abol¬ 
ish the appendages by which it was upheld. 
The Pari of Anuanu was an important position in 
times of war, and the parties in possession of it were 
usually masters of the island. In its vicinity many 
sanguinary battles have been fought, and near it the 
independence of Oahu was lost in or about the year 
1790. Tamehameha invaded Oahu; the king of the island 
assembled his forces to defend his country, between 
Honoruru and the Pearl river; an engagement took 
place, in which his army was defeated, and his ally, 
Taeo, king of Tauai and Neehau, was slain. The king 
of Oahu retreated to the valley of Anuanu, where he 
was joined by Taiana, an ambitious and warlike chief 
of Hawaii. Hither Tamehameha and his victorious 
warriors pursued them, and, about two miles from the 
Pari, the last battle in Oahu was fought. Here the 
king of Oahu was slain, his army fled towards the pre¬ 
cipice, chased by the warriors of Tamehameha : at the 
edge of the Pari, Taiana made a stand, and defended it 
till he fell: the troops of the fallen chiefs still continued 
the conflict, till, being completely routed, a number of 
them, it is said four hundred, were driven headlong over 
the precipice, dashed to pieces among the fragments of 
rock that lie at its base, and Tamehameha remained 
master of the field, and sovereign of the island. The 
natives still point out the spot where the king of the 
