26 
SANDWICH ISLANDS. 
to bless the Island. The same name occurred frequently in 
a verse of a song or hymn chanted before him on his landing 
by priests bearing wands, and the inhabitants of Kearake’kua, 
the village where he first landed, either withdrew respect¬ 
fully from sight, or prostrated themselves on the ground as 
he walked from the beach to the high morai. The whole 
account of his reception there, his presentation to the gods, 
his place assigned between two of the principal images, the 
offerings made to him, and the chant of Orono, are admi¬ 
rably described by Captain King, who could have been at 
no loss for the meaning of the whole had he been ac¬ 
quainted with the Legend of Rono. He seems, however, 
to have suspected that the honours rendered to Cook were 
divine. 
No sooner was Teraiopu able to return from Maui to 
Kearake’kua than he went on board the Discovery, to pay a 
private visit to Captain Cook, and seemed to vie with the 
priests themselves in showing him honour. Of all the 
South Sea Islanders, those of the Sandwich Isles have dis¬ 
played the greatest powers of observation, and consequently 
of improvement. The chiefs wished anxiously to have 
Captain King, whom they took for the son of Cook, 
left behind with them, doubtless that he might contri¬ 
bute to their advancement in those arts they discovered 
