144 
VOYAGE TO THE 
or to the left. The song was monotonous, and sung, some¬ 
times by a single voice, sometimes by two, and then the 
whole chorus would join. It was in praise of Boki, and 
congratulation of his happy return to Oahu. They tell us 
the dance may consist of any number of persons, from one 
to a thousand. The songs are frequently composed for the 
occasion; they are sometimes in dialogue, and usually in 
praise of some chief. They are of all descriptions: religious, 
heroic, and amatory. The late king Biho Riho w r as a poet; 
and one of his compositions, in honour of his father’s safe 
return to Honoruru from Koolau, w T here he had been over¬ 
taken by a thunder-storm, w T as given to us*, as well as one 
or two other pieces. The missionaries have availed them¬ 
selves of the natives' love of poetry, and have composed 
several hymns, which, like the ancient versions in metre of 
the Psalms among us, get about among the common people, 
and at least obtain a hearing for divine truths. 
Another of our excursions was to the Diamond Moun¬ 
tain, so called because some crystals found there had been 
mistaken by ignorant European sailors for diamonds, and 
therefore for a time the place had been tabooed. Its sum¬ 
mit is the extinct crater of a volcano, and forms one of the 
* See the Appendix. 
