Images of Old Hawaiʻi

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Kawaihae – First School?

When the Pioneer Company of American Protestant missionaries first stopped at Kawaihae, an emissary was sent into the village to learn the whereabouts of the king. Lucy G. Thurston, wife of Reverend Asa Thurston, recounted the event …

“Approaching Kawaihae, Hopu went ashore to invite some of the highest chiefs of the nation. Kalanimōku was the first person of distinction that came. In dress and manner he appeared with the dignity of a man of culture.”

Obviously familiar with western customs, the chief gallantly bowed and shook the hands of the ladies. Mrs. Thurston continued, “The effects of that first warm appreciating clasp I feel even now. To be met by such a specimen of heathen humanity on the borders of their land, was to stay us with flagons, and comfort us with apples.”

After sending gifts of hogs and sweet potatoes, Kalanimōku appeared and Bingham comments on ‘his great civility.’ “His appearance was much more interesting than we expected. His dress was a neat dimity jacket, black silk vest, mankin pantaloons, white cotton stockings, and shoes, plaid cravat, and a neat English hat.” (Bingham)

After a brief stop at Kawaihae, where they learned of the death of Kamehameha and the abolition of the old religion, they proceeded down the coast to Kailua with the chiefs on board to meet with the new king and hopefully gain permission to remain in the islands to establish a mission. (Del Piano)

Kamehameha had granted Kawaihae Komohana ahupua‘a (present Kawaihae 1) to Kalanimōku, his ‘prime minister’:

“As his principal executive officer (his kalaimoku according to the traditional scheme of government), Kamehameha appointed a young chief named (in modern writings) Kalanimōku …”

“… in his own lifetime, this chief was usually called Karaimoku by the Hawaiians, sometimes Kalaimoku; foreigners rendered his name Crymoku or Crimoku or gave it some similar form …”

“… he himself adopted the name of his contemporary, the great English prime minister, William Pitt, and he was frequently referred to and addressed by foreigners as Mr. Pitt or Billy Pitt.”

“Kalanimōku was Kamehameha’s prime minister and treasurer, the advisor on whom the king leaned most heavily. He was a man of great natural ability, both in purely governmental and in business matters. He was liked and respected by foreigners, who learned from experience that they could rely on his word.” (Kuykendall)

Kalanimōku maintained a residence at Kawaihae and was there when the first company of Protestant missionaries reached the Hawaiian Islands in 1820. (Cultural Surveys)

At Kawaihae, the missionaries took aboard a number of chiefs who sailed with them south to Kailua, Kona where they anchored on April 4, 1820. (Cultural Surveys)

“Thus to facilitate the diffusion of light over these islands, we were quickly and widely scattered’. (Bingham) They quickly set about establishing mission stations.

Reverend Asa Thurston; Mrs. Lucy Goodale Thurston; Thomas Holman, MD; and Mrs. Lucia Holman, accompanied by Hawaiian converts Thomas Hopu and William Kanui, were sent to Kailua to minister to the people of that district — teaching them literature, the arts, and most importantly, Christianity (“training them for heaven”). (NPS)

“Arrangements were made by the 23d of July, for Messrs. W(hitney) and R(uggles). and their wives to take up their residence at Waimea, on Kauai.”

“On the eve of their departure from Honolulu, eleven of our number united in celebrating the dying love of our exalted Redeemer, for the first time on the shores of the Sandwich Islands, and found the season happy.” (Bingham)

Among their first pupils were the new king and his younger brother, two of his wives, and some other youths. The king was particularly interested in having Holman present to provide medical care for the royal family. (NPS)

“Mr. Loomis hastened to Kawaihae and engaged in teaching Kalanimōku and his wife, and a class of favorite youths whom he wished to have instructed.” (Bingham)

“The first resident missionary at Kawaihae was Elisha Loomis, a 21-year old printer, who was supported by Kalanimōku. In the summer of 1820, Loomis was given two buildings (a schoolhouse and a dwelling place) and 10 youths to educate”. (Marion Kelly)

Kawaihae was the site of one of the first mission stations in the Hawaiian Islands, although it was only briefly looked after by Elisha Loomis beginning in 1821. (NPS)

Though Loomis and his pupils were moved to Honolulu in November, the schoolhouse at Kawaihae may represent the first missionary-run school in the Hawaiian Islands. (Cultural Surveys)

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A Statement of Values

“It may very truly be said that the story of the Hawaiian Mission is the ‘old, old story of Jesus and his love.’ Using the words of St. Paul, it may be said that the Love of Christ ‘constrained’ a certain number of men and women in New England and States near by …”

“…to sail for a group of Islands in the far off Pacific whose people were in spiritual darkness. and in bondage to a system of idolatry which in many respects was peculiarly hard.”

“From stories which they had heard the Missionaries expected, as one of them wrote, ‘sacrifice, trials, hardships and dangers.’ It certainly was a great venture of faith to sail away in 1820 on the Brig ‘Thaddeus’ for Islands more distant from the mainland than any other group in the world.”

“But the love of Christ constrained them for service as it constrained those companies of men and women which came around the Horn in 1822, 1827 and so on to the last group in 1848.”

“We do not say that there were no mistakes made, nor that the strict requirements of the Puritan representation of Christianity were not hard on a primitive people, nor that they did not lead to hypocrisy on the part of many, a hiding of their real lives that they might not be turned out of the Church.”

“The missionaries had not only to contend with old superstitions and habits of life but with the licentiousness and intemperance of the men of the whaling fleet, whose ships in these waters often numbered a hundred or more.”

“Then there were the difficulties arising with the representatives of certain powers who accused the missionaries of interfering and who often considered themselves above the native. laws.”

“There was also the hindrance arising from teachers of other religious organizations who entered the field later and who undoubtedly told the Hawaiians that they were being taught falsehood. But still the work went on.”

“One body, whose men go two by two, lived with the Hawaiians, gained their confidence, and took many. White priests of another body devoted in self-sacrificing work, often in lonely places where no one else would live, won hundreds.”

“As to values in character: There were Hawaiians of whom the older missionaries’ children speak in high terms. It is true that workers in the past and present have often been saddened by seeing young people who gave promise in the mission schools tum out indifferent, negligent or bad.”

“The number of schools which are directly as well as indirectly the result of missionary foundation and influence is very great in proportion to the population.”

“These include not only private schools, such as Hilo Boarding School, Lahainaluna, Kawaiaha‘o Seminary, Mills Institute, the Kamehameha Schools, the Punahou Schools, Kohala Seminary, Maunaolu Seminary …”

“… but also all the excellent public schools which were in their inception, the special charge of the mission. And all these schools have behind them records of which they may well be proud.”

“The value of the Hawaiian Mission has been not only in producing strong Christian character in individual cases, but also in the steady improvement in the moral conditions of the Islands despite all drawbacks.”

“The ideas of women as to sexual morality have changed wonderfully in the past twenty years … As a matter of fact, from a somewhat wide knowledge of three continents I affirm that in this respect these Islands, to say the least, need not fear comparison with most countries of older civilization.”

“One chief reason to my mind is that while now if a girl makes a false step there is a sense of shame on the part of the girl and her relatives, yet she is not treated as an outcast by them and others and usually she settles down later to a decent home life.”

“In manners, courtesy, kindliness and racial comity there is no place which compares with Hawaii. The preponderance of Japanese has lately somewhat disturbed this, but only as affecting them.”

“This brotherliness, this idea of a family whose members are of different ideas and manners but who are relations, has been one remarkable feature of the value of this missionary work which treated all as children of God who had value as individuals.”

“Today when tourists come to the Islands they are told by those ignorant of the facts, that the missionaries were received kindly by the Hawaiians and then took their country away from them and got rich.”

“These tourists do not learn that by the term missionary as used in Hawaii the descendants of the missionaries are not alone meant.”

“The word since the overthrow of the monarchy and to some degree before included all who stood for good government, whether they were Christians or not.”

“As a matter of fact, by far the greater part of the land of the Islands belongs to the government or to estates left and held in trust for Hawaiian families or institutions for the benefit of Hawaiians.”

“The plantations, all except a few small ones, are held by stock companies, in some of which the descendants of the missionaries hold a large interest, but in many of which they have little or none.”

“The missionaries introduced industries in order to give work to their converts who lived in a primitive way. By force of circumstances and their ability some of their children grew wealthy.”

“One value of the Hawaiian Mission is the industries of the group, without which the natives must have remained primitive children of the soil, as they are on many nominally Christianized Islands of the Pacific.”

“This we can say from personal knowledge – that nowhere are employers more interested in the welfare of the employees than in Hawaii. Laborers who came here as coolies make every sacrifice to educate their children, and if they do not stay here, they go away to become leaders of their people.”

“But if the Hawaiians gained from the Americans, the descendants of the missionaries and other white residents gained much from the Hawaiians.”

“They gained a forgiving spirit, a generous way of looking at faults, and a helpfulness to those in need. In no place in the world has there been more done for education, relief of distress and in late years in scientific helpfulness, and if the list of names of those prominent in bringing this about and supporting it, is gone over, the value of the mission will be seen.”

“The story of the Hawaiian Mission has not passed into history – it is going on. It has gone out into the Islands of the Pacific, into countries bordering on that great Ocean, and into other far distant lands …”

“… and the influence of those twelve companies and their children and grand-children is potent not only in Hawaii, but East and West, North and South.” (Restarick, Episcopal Bishop, First American Bishop of Honolulu; he presided over the funeral of Queen Liliuokalani in 1917)

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Baibala

When the Pioneer Company of missionaries landed in the Islands they “presented his majesty an elegant copy of the Bible, furnished by the American Bible Society (intended for the conqueror), which we had the happiness to convey and deliver to his royal son.”

“It contained the laws, the ritual, and the records of the new religion – the grand message of salvation which we proposed freely to publish, and teach the nation to read, understand and follow.”

“Thus commenced the kind and provident care of the American Bible Society for that benighted nation; a care, which has continued to flourish to this day.”

“The thought of such a present, to such a personage, at this juncture, by that noble institution whose fraternal co-operation with missionary societies, is so uniformly valuable, was exceedingly felicitous. The king seemed pleased to be thus complimented, though he could not read.”

“Bibles, furnished by friends for the purpose, were presented to the daughters of Kamehameha, and a good optical instrument from the Board to the king.”

“Presents, in such circumstances, have doubtless a winning influence, as missionaries are taught by the patriarch Jacob, who understood well the power of a gift …”

“… as a pledge of peace for when he was about to meet his offended, warlike, and perhaps implacable brother, he, with supplication, painstaking, tokens of respect, and a present, ‘prevaIled,’ and left the world a most impressive example for imitation, in uniting self-sacrifice, prayer, and appropriate means for winning souls, and elevating heathen nations.” (Hiram Bingham)

“I had an interesting conversation with Tamoree, last evening, on the subject of religion. He asked, if I had any Bible in his tongue; I replied that I had not now, but it was our intention to make one, as soon as we should be sufficiently acquainted with, the language …”

“… and that we wished to obtain the Otaheite translations and other books, to aid us in translating the Bible into the Owhyhee tongue; as some of the Taheitan language was similar to this, and some was not.”

“He seemed pleased, and replied in English, ‘some is alike, some different.’ I recited to him the first verse of Genesis, in Hebrew, and he repeated it after me. He then asked me what it was in English, and as I repeated it, he repeated it after me.”

“He asked again, what it would he in Owhyhee, and as I replied, he repeated as before, seeming to be pleased, not only with the knowledge of the important truth itself, but with my ability to translate it, and his own ability to repeat it, and with this specimen of the manner in which a Bible was to be made for this nation, in their own tongue.” (Hiram Bingham, July 28, 1821)

“Two important points in the progress of the mission and of the nation were at this period regarded as of special interest and importance, and, in some sense, particularly related to each other-the entire translation of the Bible, printed, published, and open to the whole people …”

“… and a code of laws based on the principles of civil liberty, and suited to a limited monarchy, and the moral and intellectual advance of the people. The former point was reached in 1839, and the latter in 1840.”

“God’s Word, the finishing sheet of which was struck May 10, 1839, has from the commencement of our mission been prominent in our teaching – prominent in all the schools, taught or superintended by our missionaries.”

“The entrance of God’s Word giveth light. He has honored the nation that has nobly welcomed his Word to their families and to their schools. God has honored the rulers who have encouraged its general circulation and free perusal among the whole population.”

“In this the Hawaiian chiefs made more progress during the first nineteen years of the labors of the missionaries than the rulers of Italy, Portugal, and Spain, have made in half as many centuries, with all the aid of bishops, cardinals, and popes.”

“Nor do I believe any anti-Christian power can ever make the free circulation and reading of the Bible unpopular in the Sandwich Islands, unless through the influence of Satan the people can be seduced into gross idolatry and the abominations of heathenism, which the Bible so uncompromisingly rebukes.”

“We are happy to think the Hawaiian translation of the Bible, the labor of a number of hands during a period of fifteen years, is a good translation, giving in general a forcible and lucid exhibition of the revealed will of God; a translation highly acceptable to the best native scholars, and one which all evangelical Christians can patronize and use with confidence.”

“A few foreign words are introduced, and a few original words retained; for ‘Sabbath,’ Sabati; for ‘baptizo,’ bapetizo; and its verbal noun bapetizo ana.”

“For the Supreme Deity we use three terms with discrimination; for the Hebrew ‘Jehovah,’ we use lehova, and ascribe to him all the divine attributes, and deny to him all imperfections.”

“For ‘Alohim’ and ‘Theos,’ we use Akua, and give it the same definition; for ‘Adonai’ and ‘Kurios,’ we use Haku, which corresponds to the word Lord.” (Hiram Bingham)

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A Missionary Son’s View of Hawaiian Poetry

“To come near to the life of a people, to touch the ebb and flow of its human tides, we must consider the intangible utterances in which that people voiced its thoughts, its emotions, its aspirations.”

“Definitions of poetry have often suffered from being too narrow, from being based too much on the form and too little on the spirit. To attempt the impossible, we may define poetry as that species of emotional composition which finds expression in rhythmical form and in language warmed arid lighted by the imagination.”

“The study of Hawaiian poetry is surrounded with much difficulty, even when pursued by one who has an extensive knowledge of the Hawaiian language. Even under the lead of a competent guide, the task of digging out the meaning of an old Hawaiian mele is no light undertaking.”

“In the first place, to catch this literary guide, this kaka-olelo, and then to yoke him in to the required task, is an effort that requires all the wisdom and diplomacy at one’s command. Such people in these days are both scarce and unwilling.”

“The causes which make it difficult for us to understand the poetry of the Hawaiians are to be found both in the genius of the Polynesian language and in the stage of intellectual development at which the Polynesian had arrived.”

“The study of a language cannot be separated from the study of the mind and genius of the people for whom it is the organ of expression.”

“The phonic elements of the Hawaiian language are few in number and elementary in character; yet they show the marks of
great age, and the attenuation of long use. It is as if one should find the toys and playthings of children, with but slight modifications, doing duty in the hands of mature men as the instruments for accomplishing the serious tasks of life.”

“In the Hawaiian language every syllable ends in a vowel, and no two consonants are uttered without the interposition of a vowel sound. A slight calculation based on these data shows us that the Hawaiian speech does not contain more than seventy-six syllables.”

“To take another step, if we classify words, and more properly nouns, according to the three different stages of evolution through which they pass …”

“… first as the reflex expression of emotions, second as images, mental pictures, and third as the mere signs of ideas, we shall find that few nouns of the Hawaiian language have gone beyond the second stage, i. e., the word calls up a living picture in the mind.”

“The results that flowed from this condition were many and far-reaching, affecting not only the poetry, but the prose speech of daily life; so that it is often hard to draw the line and say where prose ends and poetry begins. From this, it follows, as might be expected, that Hawaiian poetry is highly figurative.”

“The very fact of its poverty in abstract terms compels a resort to the language of the senses, with the result that the stronger figures of speech, metaphor, hyperbole, and personification, are the ones most often used. It is not abstract beauty that is sung, but the thing beautiful.”

“We find a language full of pictures, a graphic speech, in which things visible and ponderable are brought directly before us for sight and touch. Does a lover wish to celebrate the charms of his mistress, he goes straight to nature and ascribes to the dear one of his heart all the perfections he finds in wildwood, lake and mountain …”

“… hers the blush of morning, the warmth of noonday, the perfume of sweet vine and flower, the gentle voice of the breeze; or rather the very things themselves are hyperbolized as the parts of her being.”

“Hawaiian poetry … is a dialect marked by laconic directness and wonderful power. In this old poetry we see the language in its naked strength”.

“The childlike character of the language has another influence on the poetry; it gives to its utterances a double meaning. This is a feature that causes no little embarrassment, by making it doubtful whether the primary and obvious meaning is the one intended, or some deeper hidden casket of thought is hinted at.”

“One strong and admirable feature of Hawaiian poetry is its direct attack. The poet wastes no time in beating about the bush, but strikes at once into the heart of his subject.”

“The mele, which is the generic designation of all varieties of Hawaiian poetry, was primarily lyric, intended for cantillation, often with instrumental accompaniment to punctuate the time.”

“This fact alone would make it probable that all Hawaiian poetry was constructed on rhythmical principles. It is not always easy to recognize the rhythm of Hawaiian poetry by the mere study of its written form.”

“When recited, that is, cantillated, the mele throbs with a tremulous rhythm of its own, but when reduced to writing, the same words unskilfully uttered seem to have lost the spirit of song, and to have staled like champagne poured over night.”

“On hearing the kumu-hula, the hula-master, cantillate a mele, it becomes evident that by an indefinable tone or accent, by a manipulation of his voice, he constantly introduces unwritten elements, garlands the verbal framework of the composition with certain slurring tones, grace-notes, which serve to complete the rhythm.”

“It is as when the mason fills in with rubble and small stones the spaces that remain when the large blocks have been placed in position, or as when the decorator twines about the rough frame the wreaths and wildwood filagree that serve to complete the design and make the structure an artistic appeal to the emotions.”

“The genius of the Polynesian language, and especially its Hawaiian branch, is highly favorable to this end within its own range, for it has a most delicate feeling for accent and for sound values, especially for vowel-values.”

“Terminal rhyme was not a device employed in Hawaiian poetry, and for good reason. In a language like the Hawaiian, with its ever recurring syllable endings in a, e, i, o and u …”

“… it would have been a carrying of coals to Newcastle to have set forth such commonplace wares. But there were other tone-color devices of which they availed themselves.”

“A common device was to repeat a word or part of a word that had occurred in a previous verse – a carrying over, as it were, of the poetical leaven from one verse to another. The object seems to have been to produce a pleasant surprise by reintroducing a word with a change of meaning. The repeated word is sometimes doubled in form, thus enhancing the effect.”

“In some of the meles there is a marked tendency to break up the composition into short parts, distichs, triplets, quatrains, and the like, each part at times forming a whole by itself. The result is a disjointing of the meaning, a loosening of the logical relation of one part with another.”

“No doubt the manner of their composition, and the fact that the authorship of many of the poems was shared by several bards working in conjunction, had its influence in preventing unity of conception and breaking the flow of thought, thus giving to the composition rather the character of a mosaic or string of beads than of a form cast in one mould or forged at one heat.”

“There were many varieties of mele. … The pule, prayer, took generally the poetical form. The prayers of the primitive ones are to be understood only by viewing things from their standpoint.”

“Being altogether a religious people, and not yet having risen above the conception that the universe is ruled by many deities, it followed that religion was compartmented …”

“… so that it can almost be said there was a department for war, for the piping times of peace, for pestilence, for the health of the king, for drought, for the change from one season to another, for birth, for death, for land, for sea, for wind and storm, for earthquakes …”

“… for the canoe-maker, for the bird-catcher and for the hula. This last was a happy cult, in which there were no groaning victims, no human sacrifices, in which fear and the sense of impending doom gave way to joy and light-heartedness; yet shackled with the bonds of tabu, hedged in with the conventional constraints of tradition.

“It had in it the genuine spirit of worship and supplication; it was illumined with the flame of sacrifice and propitiation ; it kept alive the sense of dependence on a higher power. However little it may interest us in and of itself, it cannot fail to command the respect of every earnest and tolerant mind.”

“But of most of the songs it may be said that love, now decorous, now wanton, sometimes outspoken, often concealed from the object of affection, or hidden in a tangle of metaphor; jealousy and intrigue; idyllic peace and content; domestic felicity, or heart-ache …”

“… the mere joy of existence ; delight in the fresh beauty of the physical world – these form the main recurring themes of which the bards of Hawaii ever delighted to treat.”

“There is, of course, a sprinkling of that class of poets and poetasters who delight in ribald jests and buffoonery; but this class forms only a small, though by no means unimportant, part of the whole, and serves the useful function of reminding us that human nature rejoices in the same vagaries of fancy in all ages, and that ‘One touch of nature makes the whole world kin.’”

“The hula meant very much to the Hawaiian. It included in itself so large a part of what was to him the best of life’s dole; it was such a unique and significant attempt on his part to realize his dreams and aspirations …”

“… that one cannot wonder that it came to include in itself much of the best and choicest thought and uttered emotion of the Hawaiian people. It stood to them in place of lecture hall, theatre, opera, library.” (All here is from Nathaniel Bright Emerson.)

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Humehume Goes Home

King Kaumuali‘i of Kauai decided to send his son Humehume (George Prince) to America, at least, in part, to receive a formal education. Kaumuali‘i provided Captain Rowan of the Hazard with, reportedly, about $7,000 to $8,000, an amount the king felt sufficient to cover the cost of his son’s passage and the expenses of his education.

George was about six years old when he boarded the Hazard that ultimately sailed into Providence, Rhode Island on June 30, 1805 after a year-and-a-half at sea. Over the next few years he made his way to Worcester, Massachusetts.

Humehume eventually enlisted in the US Navy and was wounded during the War of 1812. After the war ended, he was again thrown upon the world and without any means of obtaining a livelihood, or any one to care for him, ragged, dirty, and in want, he was again enlisted, and employed as a servant to the purser of the Navy Yard in Charlestown.

Humehume was “discovered” and taken under the wing of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM). He was sent, along with Henry Ōpūkaha’ia and other Hawaiian youths, to be educated at the Foreign Mission School at Cornwall, Connecticut. (Warne)

On October 23, 1819, the Pioneer Company of the American Protestant missionaries set sail on the Thaddeus for Hawai‘i – (two Ordained Preachers, Hiram & Sybil Bingham and Asa and Lucy Thurston; two Teachers, Samuel & Mercy Whitney and Samuel & Mary Ruggles; a Doctor, Thomas & Lucia Holman; a Printer, Elisha & Maria Loomis; and a Farmer, Daniel Chamberlain (and his family.)

With the missionaries were four Hawaiian students from the Foreign Mission School, Thomas Hopu, William Kanui, John Honoliʻi and Humehume (son of Kauaʻi’s King Kaumuali‘i.) They arrived in Kailua-Kona on April 4, 1820.

After the Thaddeus departed, George remained in Kailua-Kona and took Betty Davis, the half-Hawaiian daughter of Isaac Davis, as his wife, or his “rib” as he described her. In a short time they rejoined the missionary party in Honolulu. (Spoehr)

Then, Ruggles and Whitney took Humehume home to Kauai. The following are extracts from the Journal of Mr and Mrs. Ruggles related to the initial days there.

“May 2 (1820). To-day brother Whitney and myself have been called to leave our dear little number at Woahoo, to accompany George P. Tamoree (Humehume) to his native Isle, and to the bosom of his Father.”

“It was trying to us to part from our brethren and sisters, and especially from the dear companions of our bosom, not knowing when an opportunity will offer for us to return, as vessels rarely sail from Atooi (Kauai) to the Windward Isles.”

“But if duly has called us to the separation, we trust that a gracious God will, in his own time, return us again to the embraces of our friends, and permit us to rejoice together in his goodness. We have a fine breeze, which wo expect will take us to Atooi in 24 hours.”

“May 3. Made Atooi at day-light this morning. Like all the other islands, its first appearance was rude and mountainous; but, on approaching nearer, beautiful plains and fruitful vallies present themselves to view, looking almost like the cultivated fields of America, while large groves of cocoanuts and bananas wave their tops, as if to welcome us to their shores.”

“At 11 o’clock came to anchor at Wimai (Waimea) opposite the fort. A canoe came off to us, with several of the king’s men, one of whom could speak English. George had kept himself concealed in the cabin, until we told him that one of his father’s favourite men was on board, and we thought best that his arrival should be made known to him.”

“We then introduced him to the young prince ; he embraced him and kissed him, and then without saying a word, turned round and immediately went on deck, and into his canoe, telling his companions they must go on shore, for their young master had come. A salute of 21 guns was soon fired from the brig, and returned from the fort.”

“Brother Whitney, George, and myself, made preparations and went on shore; on account of the surf, we were obliged to land half a mile west of the king’s house. We were there met by a crowd of natives who would have obstructed our way entirely, had there not been men appointed to clear a passage for us, which they did by beating them off with clubs.”

“When we arrived at the house, Tamoree (Kaumuali‘i) and his Queen were reclining on a sofa; as soon as George entered the door, his father arose, clasped him in his arms, and pressed his nose to his son’s, after the manner of the country; both were unable to speak for some time. The scene was truly affecting, and I know not when I have wept more freely.”

“When they had become a little more, composed, Tamoree spoke, and said his heart was so joyful that he could not talk much till to-morrow; but discovering brother W. and myself, who had tilt then remained almost unnoticed, he inquired who we were. George then introduced us to him as his friends, who had come from America to accompany him home.”

“The old gentleman then embraced us in the same manner as he had done his son, frequently putting his nose to ours, and calling us his hicahe or friends.”

“A supper was soon provided for us, consisting of a couple of hogs, baked whole, after the American manner, several fowls and a dog, cooked after the style of the Island, together with potatoes, tarro, bananas, cocoanuts, and watermelons, brandy, gin, wines, &c.”

“The table was set in good style, and our supper was indeed excellent. A new house was assigned for brother W. and myself during our stay on the Island, a few rods from the king’s, and several men to attend upon us.”

“We shall now retire to rest, after looking up to God with thanks, giving for mercies already received, and humbly praying that a blessing may attend our visit to these heathen. Perhaps it will be the first christian prayer that was ever offered to God on this Island.

“May 4. This morning early, I went to the king’s house, and was met at the door by himself and the queen, who took me by each arm, led me in and seated me between them upon the sofa; and after having several times put their noses, to mine, the king inquired if it was true that I had lived with Hoomehoome (the real name of George) in America …”

“… and eat with him, and slept with him, saying his son had told him many things that he could not fully understand, and that I had been his friend a long time, and would stay here and instruct his people to read. “

“told him it was true, and that the good people of America who loved his son, and loved him and his people, had sent several men and women to instruct his people to read and work as they do in America.”

“When I told him this, he, with his wife, broke out in one voice, ‘miti, miti, nove loah aloha America;’ that is, ‘good, good, very great love for America;’ and then burst into tears. After a short time, he asked me how long I would be willing to stay and teach his island.”

“I told him I wished to spend my life here, and die here. He then embraced me again, and said, ‘kacke vo’u oe, mahkooah oe o-ou wihena o ou mahkooah oe,’ that is, ‘you my son, I you father, my wife you mother.’ I endeavoured to tell him something about God, but the subject was entirely new to him, and he could understand but little.”

“10th. This morning Tamoree sent for me — said his interpreter was going away to be gone several days, and he wished to say a few things to me before he went.”

“I want to know, says he, if you love Hoomehoome, if you love me, if you like to stay here and learn my people, I assured him that I loved his son and him and I wished to spend my life in doing them good, and not only I but Mr. Whitney, and all who came with us wished the same.”

“Hoomehoome tell me so, says he; he then shed tears freely and said, I love Hoomehoome; I love him very much more than my other children. I thought he was dead; I cry many times because I think he was dead.”

“Some Captains tell me he live in America, but I not believe; I say no, he dead, he no come back. But he live, he come again; my heart very glad. I want my son to help me; he speaks English, and can do my business.”

“But he is young; young men are sometimes wild they want advice. I want you stay here and help Hoomehoome, and when vessels come, you and Hoomehoome go on board and trade, so I make you chief.”

“I told him I wished not to be a chief, neither could I do any of his public business, but was willing to advise his son and assist him in every thing consistent with the object for which we came to his Island. He expressed some surprise when I told him I wished not to be a chief, but when I explained to him what we wished to do ; he appeared satisfied and pleased.”

“This afternoon the king sent to me and requested that I would come and read to him in his bible. I read the first chapter of Genesis and explained to him what I read as well as I could.”

“He listened with strict attention, frequently asking pertinent questions, and said I can’t understand it all; I want to know it ; you must learn my language fast, and then tell me all – No white man before, ever read to me and talk like you.” (Ruggles Journal)

Kapule, King Kaumuali‘i’s wife, dictated a letter to Mercy Ruggles’ mother – it was written down verbatim, and copied by herself in a plain legible manner.

“Dear Friend, Atooi, July 28, 1820”

“I am glad your daughter come here, I shall be her mother now, and she be my daughter. I be good to her; give her tappa; give her mat; give her plenty eat.”

“By and by your daughter speak Owhyhee; then she learn me how to read, and write, and sew; and talk of that Great Akooah, which the good people in America love.”

“I begin spell little: read come very hard, like stone. You very good, send your daughter great way to teach the heathen. I am very glad I can write you a short letter, and tell you that I be good to your daughter.”

“I send you my aloha, and tell you I am Your Friend, Charlotte Tapoolee, Queen of Atooi”.

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