The Reader Cannot But Call To Mind The Visit Which The
Royal Family And Court Of The Sandwich Islands Was, In Late
Years, Induced To Make To The Court Of St. James; And The Serio-
Comic Ceremonials And Mock Parade Which Attended That Singular
Travesty Of Monarchal Style.
It was a part of the wide and comprehensive plan of Mr. Astor to
establish a friendly intercourse between
These islands and his
intended colony, which might, for a time, have occasion to draw
supplies thence; and he even had a vague idea of, some time or
other, getting possession of one of their islands as a rendezvous
for his ships, and a link in the chain of his commercial
establishments.
On the evening of the 12th of February, the Tonquin anchored in
the bay of Karakakooa, in the island of Owyhee. The surrounding
shores were wild and broken, with overhanging cliffs and
precipices of black volcanic rock. Beyond these, however, the
country was fertile and well cultivated, with inclosures of yams,
plantains, sweet potatoes, sugar-canes, and other productions of
warm climates and teeming soils; and the numerous habitations of
the natives were pleasantly sheltered beneath clumps of cocoanut
and bread-fruit trees, which afforded both food and shade. This
mingled variety of garden and grove swept gradually up the sides
of the mountains, until succeeded by dense forests, which in turn
gave place to naked and craggy rocks, until the summits rose into
the regions of perpetual snow.
The royal residence of Tamaahmaah was at this time at another
island named Woahoo.
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