CEMETERY OF THE HAWAIIAN KINGS. 165 
the bones of the king whose name it bears, and 
who reigned in Hawaii about eight generations 
back. It is a compact building, twenty-four feet 
by sixteen, constructed with the most durable 
timber, and thatched with ti leaves, standing on 
a bed of lava that runs out a considerable distance 
into the sea. It is surrounded by a strong fence 
or paling, leaving an area in the front, and at each 
end, about twenty-four feet wide. The pavement 
is of smooth fragments of lava, laid down with 
considerable skill. Several rudely carved male 
and female images of wood were placed on the 
outside of the enclosure; some on low pedestals, 
under the shade of an adjacent tree; others on 
high posts, on the jutting rocks that hung over 
the edge of the water. A number stood on the 
fence, at unequal distances all around; but the 
principal assemblage of these frightful represen¬ 
tatives of their former deities, was at the south-east 
end of the enclosed space, where, forming a semi¬ 
circle, twelve of them stood in grim array, as if 
perpetual guardians of “ the mighty dead” repos¬ 
ing in the house adjoining. A pile of stones was 
neatly laid up in the form of a crescent, about 
three feet wide, and two feet higher than the 
pavement, and in this pile the images were fixed. 
They stood on small pedestals, three or four feet 
high, though some were placed on pillars, eight 
or ten feet in height, and curiously carved. The 
principal idol stood in the centre, the others on 
either hand; the most powerful being placed 
nearest to him : he was not so large as some of 
the others, but distinguished by the variety and 
superior carvings of his body, and especially of his 
head. Once they had evidently been clothed, but 
now they appeared in the most indigent nakedness. 
