802 
MISSIONARY TOUR 
to laugh. We supposed they were intoxicated, and 
therefore took no notice of them; but on our leaving the 
house, some of our people told us they were not ona i 
ka ruma (intoxicated or poisoned with rum,) but in¬ 
spired by the akua (goddess) of the volcano; or that 
one of them was P61e herself, in the form of one of her 
priestesses. On hearing this, I turned back into the 
house, and when the song was ended, immediately en¬ 
tered into conversation with the principal one, by ask¬ 
ing her if she had attended to the discourse that had 
been delivered there? She answered that she had 
listened, and understood it. I then asked if she 
thought Jehovah was good, and those happy who made 
him their God? She answered, “He is your good 
God, (or best God,) and it is right that you should 
worship him; but P616 is my deity, and the great god¬ 
dess of Hawaii. Kirauea is the place of her abode. 
Ohiaotelani (the northern peak of the volcano) is one 
corner of her house. From the land beyond the sky, 
in former times, she came.” She then went on with 
the song which she had thus begun, giving a long 
account of the deeds and honours of P616. This she 
pronounced in such a rapid and vociferous manner, 
accompanied by such violent gestures, that only here 
and there a word could be understood. Indeed, towards 
the close, she appeared to lose all command of herself. 
When she had done, I told her she was mistaken in 
supposing any supernatural being resided in the vol¬ 
cano ; that Pēle was a creature of their own invention, 
and existed only in the imagination of her kahu, or 
devotees: adding, that volcanoes, and all their accom¬ 
panying phenomena, were under the powerful control 
of Jehovah, who, though uncreated himself, was the 
