The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1824-09-28 00:00:00

THE S INDWICII ISLANDERS.

It's Majesty's ship Blonde arrived at Portsmouth from
River on Wednesday. with the remains of the late
hint and Queen of the Sandwich Islands on board ; and
* n the same evening their late Majesties rube, consisting of
isdatne Poki, her husband, the Sccretary, Admiral, and
Mr. R-eves, interpreter, arrived at the George Hotel, where
s-ey will remain until they embark on board the Blonde to
,tervins to their native country. Mr. Canning, in order to
ak• as favourable an impression as possible on the
'l,tarls of these p.rsonagcs of English hospitality and good
1 -..eding, as well as to remove any unjust or injurious con-
"• turn which their fellow-countrymen may be too apt to
‘ent, from the lamented premature death of their Chief
and his consort, has appointed the lion. F. Byng. one of
elorks in the Foreign Office, to attend them during the
r +++abider of their stay with us, and that gentleman sa-
lient on Thursday. We undertand that they express
.1--nsaselves highly pleased with their introduction to the
ltlit..at Windsor, who received them in the most emir-
1-no., condescending, and arable manner. Pointing to a
,ft-length painting of our late venerable Monarch, which
I mg in the apartment In which they were ushered into the
Loyal presence, Isis Majesty called their attention to it in
• following words, " There, that is my father's picture,
rho was so good to your countrymen." So great was
t•-e aatiaraction they derived from this mark of Royal
favour, that ori their return to town, it was observed they
OA not appear to enjoy the same appetite as before;
when qiiestionnl as to the cause of this failure, Ma-
i' Mme Poki replied, " that they were all so full of plea-
glee, they had no room for any thing else." On the next
a'ay. the Secretary carefully committed to paper all that
I.ls Majesty had said to them, in order, that he might giva
r• he said, a faithful description to his friends on his return.
Their manners are deicribed as not having yet acquired the
).iirliest polish they are 'capable of receiving; but when
e..nparea with the accounts given by those who accom-
rinied Captain Cook in his last voyage, when they touched
a, these islands, and named them after the then First Lord
n# the Admiralty, their intercourse with us, since that pe-
riod, seems to have been productive of rapid strides towards
IVe noticed, however, that the business of
breaking their fast was hardly discussed, before the male
part of the Royal suite began smoking tobacco. It is said,
we know not how truly, that they afford a practical lesson
of theiruth of the old adage, " that fingers were made
before knives and forks," by sometimes dispensing with
those instruments as a superfluous appendage to the dinner
table. Madame Poki is a very fair specimen of Sandwich-
ean beauty ; and a great similarity exists between her and
The portrait given in Cook's Voyages, of a young woman of
the Sandwich Islands. The men are remarkably tall and
well-proportioned, and (excepting the Admiral) have ac-
quired a slight knowledge of the English language ; they
are all in mounting, and dressed strictly according to
the English fashion, which, while it obtains for them
the advantage of privacy, most consonant, perhaps, under
sll circumstances, to their feelings, takes off from the
interest their appearance would otherwise excite, if habited
in their own costume. They were allowed to inspect the
Dock-yard yesterday, with every part of which they ap-
peared to evince the highest satisfaction ; but that which
excited their greatest admiration was the smiths at work in
the anchor forge: they appeared delighted to witness the
masterly manner in which these men handled the sledge
hammer. The whole party afterwards partook of some
refreshments at the Commissioner's house. This day they
witnessed the guard being relieved on the Parade. Yester-
day they had the honour of being introduced to Admiral
/Air George and Lady Martin. After the Blonde has safely
deposited the Royal remains at Woahoo, it is intended she
should
for
a scientific voyage in that quarter of the
.globe, for which purpose she has been smply supplied with
every thing necessary, and Lieut. C. R. Malden has been
appointed surveyor ; a number of literary and scientific
'gentlemen are also embarked, who are well versed in the
'minus branches of natural history, beside which the ship
is literally crammed with every necessary, and an immense
quantity of presents.—Hampshire Chronicle.