SANDWICH ISLANDS. 
43 
of his son and the principal chiefs very shortly after his death, 
which took place on the 8th of May, 1819 
The grief of his subjects on this event was excessive. 
Besides the ordinary marks of mourning, such as striking 
out a tooth, and tattooing the tongue, most, even of the 
common kanakas, caused to be tattoed on their arms in 
great letters, and in English, “ Our great and good king 
Tamehameha died May 8th, 1819;”—an indelible kind of 
mourning. 
His bones were, as usual, carefully preserved after the 
flesh had been consumed, and w r ere for a time lodged in the 
great morai at Ivairua, but were afterwards divided among 
various chiefs. This custom of keeping some of the bones 
of a friend or a king as things sacred is not only a mark 
of affection, but of reverence akin to religious worship. 
The successor of Tamehameha was his son Iolani, or 
Riho Biho, who on his father’s death adopted his name, and 
resolved to distinguish himself no less than his predecessor 
had done. He was a young man of strong feelings and pas¬ 
sions, with no ordinary ambition, and acted with the best 
intentions. The casual visitors at the Islands have done 
the greatest injustice to his character. One young English 
* See Ellis, p. 88, for some notices worthy of attention concerning Tame¬ 
hameha. 
