SANDWICH ISLANDS. 
63 
people and equipages. It was Sunday, and certainly a spec¬ 
tacle of no common magnificence. 
The next day (Monday, May 31), the king permitted 
his box at Covent Garden to be decorated for them, and 
they were received with ceremony, though not with state, 
by the managers. Their behaviour was greatly admired; 
no awkwardness, no inattention on their part. Their bows, 
in return for the congratulations they received on entering, 
were quite European. This was one of their greatest gra¬ 
tifications : they knew they were in the royal box, and that 
it had been prepared and appointed for them. 
In the course of the week they went also to Drury Lane, 
where they were equally pleased, having been in the in¬ 
terval to Epsom races. There their wonder had been 
greatly excited by the swiftness of the horses, and in talking 
of it afterwards, they always said the horses flew. 
By this time a pretty general curiosity had been excited 
concerning them. Most of the English nobility then in 
London had been to visit them, and many of the ladies had 
made useful and valuable presents to the queen, particularly 
the Duchess of Northumberland, Mrs. Canning, and Lady 
Liverpool. 
They had, likewise, during the first and second week, 
visited some of the ministers, and other persons of distinc- 
