36 
SANDWICH ISLANDS. 
hameha made of the Island of Hawaii to England. In 
the forenoon of the 25th of February, the chiefs met on 
board the Discovery, and each made a speech on the sub¬ 
ject, setting forth the reasons which induced them to take 
so extraordinary a step*; after which it was proclaimed 
to the Islanders that they were no longer Kanaka no 
Hawaii, but Kanaka no Brittanee, i. e. no longer men of 
Hawaii, but men of Britain. Mr. Paget, accompanied by 
some of the officers from the Discovery and Chatham, then 
went on shore and hoisted the British flag; and a piece 
of copper, whereon a memorial of the transaction was en¬ 
graved, was deposited in the royal dwelling y. 
This singular cession of the country to a power nearly 
at the Antipodes was not, of course, followed by any act of 
authority, or any apparent change in the conduct of the 
English to Hawaii, but it was a proof of the anxious 
desire of Tamehameha for the advantage of his kingdom. 
* These were, chiefly, the unprotected state of the Islands, where the ships 
of four nations, English, Americans, French, Russians, touched; and many of 
them treated the inhabitants most cruelly; that the English were their oldest 
friends; that Captain Cook had made known to them the greatness of the 
world, and they would trust in the protection of the English against all other 
powers. 
f See Vancouver for a detailed account of this singular event, and a copy 
of the engraved plate. 
