THE HAWAIIAN KINGS AND PEOPLE.

Southland Times, Issue 1631, 10 September 1872, Page 3

THE HAWAIIAN KINGS AND PEOPLE.

• That is the King — driving that span of r high-stepping horses, in an American '» buggy, unattended, down Hichards-street. 1 He is a bulky gentleman, sft. lOin. high, } some 3001b. weight, forty-one years old, - wealthy, unmarried, intelligent, is said to j have a mind of his own, understanding • himself and his people thoroughly. He ' is the fifth in the line of the Kamehameha ' dynasty, a grandson of the great Karae--1 hameha ; who was born in 1736 and died 1 in 1819 ; who waa the chief of Hawaii " when Cook and Vancouver visited the3e } islands in the last century ; celebrated " aa a statesman and a warrior. His son, known as Kamehameha 11., succeeded " him, and abolished idolatry throughout ' the islands, before the American mission- ! aries arrived in 1820. This great event ' was not owing to any Christian principles ; of his, but to his love of dissipation, since freedom from the power of priests • gave him an opportunity to enjoy his fish r and wives without the restraint of super- ' stitious customs. 5 The native people of the Sandwich > Islands, as a race, are dying out. 'In ■ 1823, the population of all the islands r was estimated by the missionaries at 1 142,000. In 1842, a census was taken, ! and the number found to be 130,300 ; r in 1836, 108,500; in 1850, 82,400; in 1853, 72,100 ,- m 1860, 69,700; in 1866, ' there were but 63,000. This is a decrease of more than one-half of the population 1 in forty years ! This wasting away has ' continued not only with this people, but • with similar races in all parts of Polyi nesia. The process of decay goes on in • spite of improved social habits, better ) food, clothing, and shelter ; and in spite 1 of the notoriously cheerful, healthy, and vigorous appearance of the islanders. The majority of marriages are not prolific, even when the married are in comfortable : circumstances, and of moral and industrious habits ; and when there are births, i they are often felt to be a calamity. Villages containing many families have i not a child born to them. Settlements are vanishing, cottages are vacated and destroyed^ and you may ride for miles in the country without seeing a new village, or hearing the- voices of children, or meeting a human being. There are now 2,500 Anglo-Saxons living on these islands, and nearly 1,500 industrious, painstaking Chinamen. It is thought that, before many years have gone by, China- ! men will be the cultivators of all the exuberant soil of Polynesia, aided by the capital and enterprise of the white men. — N. Y. Observer. i