472 
APPENDIX. 
arrangement of the sentences, which distinguish their language, 
it is difficult to conjecture. In native poetry, rhyming termina¬ 
tions are neglected, and the chief art appears to consist in the 
compilation of short metrical sentences, agreeing in accent and 
cadence at the conclusion of each, or at the end of a certain num¬ 
ber of sentences. Rude as their native poetry is, they are pas¬ 
sionately fond of it. When they first began to learn to read and 
spell, it was impossible for them to repeat a column of spelling, 
or recite a lesson, without chanting or singing it. They had one 
tune for the monosyllables, another for the dissyllables, &c. 
and we have heard three or four members of a family sitting 
for an hour together in an evening, and reciting their school 
lessons in perfect concord. Most of the traditions of remark¬ 
able events in their history are preserved in songs committed 
to memory, by persons attached to the king or chiefs ; or stroll¬ 
ing musicians, who travel through the islands, and recite them 
on occasions of public festivity. The late king had one of these 
bards attached from infancy to his household, who, like some 
of the ancient bards, was blind, and who, when required, would 
recite a hura (song) on any particular event relating to the family 
of his sovereign. The office was hereditary; the songs trans¬ 
mitted from father to son; and whatever defects might attach 
to their performances, considered as works of art, they were not 
wanting in effect; being highly figurative, and delivered in strains 
of plaintive sadness, or wild enthusiasm, they produced great ex¬ 
citement of feeling. Sometimes their interest was local, and 
respected some particular family, but the most popular were 
the national songs. When I first visited the Sandwich Islands, 
one on the defeat of Kekuaokalani, the rival of Rihoriho, who 
was slain in the battle of Tuamoo, was in the mouth of almost 
every native we met; another, nearly as popular, was a pane¬ 
gyric on the late king, composed on his accession to the govern¬ 
ment; and soon after his departure for England, several bards 
were employed in celebrating that event. In my voyage from 
Hawaii, three oi four females, fellow-passengers, were thus em¬ 
ployed during the greater part of the passage, which afforded me 
an opportunity of observing the process. They first agreed on 
two or three ideas, arranged them in a kind of metrical sentence, 
with great attention to the accent of the concluding word, and 
then repeated it in concert. If it sounded discordantly, they 
altered it; if not, they repeated it several times, and then pro¬ 
ceeded to form a new sentence. The k in most of the islands is 
generally used in common intercourse, but it is never admitted 
into their poetical compositions, in which the t is universally and 
invariably employed. 
