have, with the assistance
of the English and Americans, built twenty merchant-ships, with
which they perform voyages to the north-west coast of America, and
even visit Canton. They used to sacrifice human victims, but were
never cannibals; they tattoo their bodies, and the women tattoo the
tips of their tongues. Hawaii contains a tremendous volcano, the top
of which is 16,000 feet above the level of the sea. The whole
island, indeed, is one complete mass of lava. Christianity was
introduced by the American missionaries in 1820, and is now the
religion of the state. Schools have been established, and churches
built. Honoruru, in the Island of Cahu, is the capital of the group.
Some of the houses are built of stone; but the natives still prefer
living in their huts, so that the town is grotesquely irregular. The
principal public building is the English school, where children of
both sexes are taught to read and write. The place is altogether in
a flourishing condition, and so advanced in the refinements of life,
that the news-paper, lately established in the town, sets forth the
following articles for sale:--'Ladies' shoes from Paris, Ices, and
Eau de Cologne.'"

GRANDY. "It is a great cause for thankfulness, that religion is
spreading her benign influence over these volcanic isles. The women
who, truly speaking, were the most callous and obdurate, have
exhibited bright and numerous proofs of that change of heart, which
is the single end and aim of pure Christianity. Kekupuhe, who in
Cook's days was one of the wives of the king of Hawaii, evinced the
sincerity of her conversion, which took place in 1828, by learning
to read when she was more than eighty years of age, and by inditing
hymns in honor of the God of her old age."

GEORGE. "I cannot understand why they killed Captain Cook; and I
have never read the account of his first visit to the Sandwich
Islands: have you, Charles?"

CHARLES. "Yes, and a very interesting account it is. On the first
appearance of the English ships, the chiefs and priests, taking them
for floating islands, imagined that their long-expected guardian
spirit, 'Etuah Orono,' was arrived. Hence Captain Cook was received
with honor approaching to adoration, as they imagined him to be
their 'Orono.' The king was absent at the time of his arrival; but
the chief priest and his son received the captain. Scarcely were the
ships anchored, when a priest went on board, and decorating Cook
with a red c