ho were present, took the matter in sober seriousness,
and spread among the people a report of the dreadful treatment their
beloved Karemaku was threatened with; a terrible disturbance in Hanaruro
was the consequence. The people believed I intended to kill him, and
were excessively irritated against me. Karemaku himself sent me this
intelligence through Marini; adding a request, that I would not come
ashore again till he had overcome this foolish idea, which was
accomplished in a few days. The feeling manifested on this occasion was
certainly honourable both to the governor and the governed.

An epidemic disease prevailed this year throughout the Sandwich Islands.
It produced a great mortality, death generally following the attack
within a few days. In Hanaruro I saw many corpses daily carried to their
burial; but nowhere is recovery from serious illness so improbable as
here. As soon as the patient is obliged to take to his bed, he is
immediately surrounded by his nearest relations, especially of the
female sex, who, weeping, and singing mournful songs in a most
lamentable tone, propose to themselves, by this means, to effect his
recovery, or at least to procure him some relief from his sufferings.
The worse he grows, the larger the assembly, and the louder the noise
becomes; even his friends and acquaintances come flocking in: when there
is no more room within the house, they congregate round the door, and
continue mourning, crying, and howling, inside and outside, till the
sufferer expires. This perpetual disturbance, the constant remembrance
of death it occasions, and the infection of the air from the number of
breaths in the crowded apartment, naturally produce a very prejudicial
effect, and no doubt many die rather in consequence of these proofs of
sympathy than of their disease.

Kahumanna, having concluded her business in O Tuai, arrived at length in
Hanaruro with the King's brother, a handsome boy of thirteen. I paid her
a visit, and was very graciously received. She is considerably older
than Nomahanna; but, though large and corpulent enough, not by much such
a prodigy of size. Her countenance bears traces of former beauty; she
dresses entirely like a European, and has a more intimate knowledge of
our customs and manners than Nomahanna. Her house, built partly of wood
and partly of stone, is larger than the one I have described as the
habitation of the other Queen; like that, it has two stories and a
balcony,