powder and shot were the articles most in
demand among the natives.

THE RISE OF KAMEHAMEHA.

At the death of Kalaniopuu, _Moi_, of Hawaii, in 1782, a civil war broke
out, which rent the Island into three petty sovereignties, which were
presently reduced to two.

The districts of Kohala and Kona were held by Kamehameha, a nephew of
the late king, while the other districts were loyal to his son, Keoua.
After a sanguinary war lasting nine years (during which Kamehameha had
ravaged West Maui and conquered the district of Hamakua), he became
master of the whole of the Island of Hawaii by the assassination of his
rival, Keoua, at Kawaihae, in 1791.

VISITS OF VANCOUVER.

The name of Capt. George Vancouver is still cherished as that of a wise
and generous benefactor to these Islands. During his survey of the
northwest coast of America in 1792-1794, he made three visits to the
Islands. He uniformly refused to sell fire arms or ammunition to the
chiefs, but gave them useful plants and seeds, and presented Kamehameha
with the first cattle and sheep ever landed in the Islands. On the 25th
of February, 1794, Kamehameha and his chiefs voluntarily placed Hawaii
under the protection of Great Britain, in token of which the British
flag was hoisted on shore at Kealakekua.

CONQUEST OF OAHU.

After the death of Kahekili, the sovereign of the leeward Islands, in
1794, a civil war broke out between his brother Kaeo and his son
Kalanikupule, in which the former was killed. Soon after Kalanikupule
treacherously massacred Captains Brown and Gordon, who had assisted him
in the late war, and seized their vessels in the harbor of Honolulu.

Having put his guns and ammunition on board, he proposed to sail
immediately for Hawaii, in company with a fleet of war canoes, to attack
Kamehameha. But the English sailors who had been reserved to navigate
the two vessels, suddenly rose at midnight, recaptured them, and sailed
for Hawaii, where they informed Kamehameha of all that had occurred.

Kamehameha saw that his opportunity had now come, and lost no time in
mustering all the war canoes and fighting men of Hawaii.

After overrunning West Maui and touching at Molokai, he landed in
Waialea bay, Oahu, in the latter part of April, 1795. There he spent a
few days in organizing his army before marching up the valley of Nuuanu,
where Kalanikupule had prepared to make his last stand. The Oahu
warriors were soon routed and pursued up the va