SANDWICH ISLANDS. 
19 
carved their weapons, drinking bowls, and ornaments*, gave 
the first rude indications of the imitative arts; and they 
were not entirely destitute of music. The ancient ballads 
of the country allude to a variety of instruments no longer 
known. Various kinds of drums are still used, but the 
most singular instrument we have seen among them is a 
small double flute played on with the nose. It does not 
appear that they ever used stringed instruments. 
Poetry is always the first spark that is kindled in the 
light of civilization. Religion inspires it to sing its my¬ 
steries ; kings reward it, hoping to perpetuate their names 
by its means; and all classes love to solace themselves with 
its beauties. The little we know of the history of Hawaii 
is preserved in song ; and perhaps a collection of the rhymes 
of the priests and bards might throw light on the question 
of the original race and population of the Isles of the 
Pacific. 
One of the songs, from its connexion with the disastrous 
history of Captain Cook in these Islands, has been sought 
for and preserved by the Europeans who succeeded him. 
A story, which is not without its parallels in the mytho¬ 
logies of the ancient world, is related of the jealousy of the 
Etuaii, spirit or founder of the people of Hawaii. He 
sacrificed his wife to his revenge, and, horror-struck, he 
* See in Cook’s Voyages, the description of the Ava cup. 
D 2 
