g his oldest sister as his favorite
wife and discarding the rest. He died in 1819, at the age of
eighty-three years, and was a polygamous old rascal or a patriotic
Alexander, according to the standpoint from which he is judged. If we
can credit the Hawaiian legends, he was a man who possessed great
physical strength as well as skill in the use of weapons, and was
undoubtedly brave. He was the father of his people in more than one
sense, having as many children as the late Brigham Young.

A drive of three or four miles from the city brings one to what is
called the "Pali," which signifies in English the precipice. The route
thither is straight up the Nuuanu Valley over a very uneven and only
half-passable road, rocks and stones disputing every foot of the way
with the vehicle, until by a not very abrupt ascent a height of three
thousand feet above sea-level is reached. The last part of the distance
is accomplished on foot, and presently the visitor finds himself
standing upon the very edge of an abrupt precipice at the head of the
valley, affording one of the most remarkable views to be found in any
part of the globe. Lying fifteen hundred feet below the brow of this
cliff is an outspread area of thirty or forty square miles embracing
hills marked by winding bridle-paths, level plains, small rolling
prairies, groves of cocoanut, of bananas, and sugar-cane plantations,
small herds of cattle on grazing ranches, and rice-fields extending to
the verge of the ocean. This large area is bordered on either side by
mountains of various heights, composed of lava-rock so formed as to give
the appearance of having been cleft in two, the precipitous side left
standing, and the other half lost in the ocean; coral reefs form the
seaward boundary marked by a long, white, irregular line of surf
breaking over them. As one regards this view from the top of the Pali,
there arises on his immediate right a steep mountain four thousand feet
heavenward, forming the highest point on the island of Oahu, recorded as
being at the apex seven thousand feet above the level of the sea.

The valley of Nuuanu opens with a broad entrance at the end nearest to
the city, but contracts gradually as one ascends, until at its head it
is a narrow gap or mountain-pass through which is a bridle-path leading
over the range to the country below. Through this pass the wind draws
with such power and velocity as to compel the traveller to grasp
securely the iron barr