The Sun.
London, England, 1856-05-14 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

Travels in the Sandwich and Society Islands. By
S. S. Hill, Esq., author of " Travels in Siberia,"
&c. I. vol. Chapman and Hall.
This is a very agreeable volume of travels in a
spot vary little known to the civilised world, its
chief claim to the notice of European scholars being
the unenviable distinction of having been the
locality of the massacre of Captain Cook. He was
the discoverer of these islands in 1778, and met his
death in Karakakooa Bay, in the island of
0-why-bee, in 1779. The natives at that spot, it is
satisfactory to know, express great regret for the
murder committed by their fathers. On being
questioned by the travellers whether the spot on
which they stood was the one on which Captain
Cook fell, they all hung their heads, " and looked
as sad as if they had been the perpetrators of the
deed, and we the first of Cook's countrymen that
came to visit the bay since the event." Lono is the
name by which he is known among them—a word
which signifies a god or hero. Captain Cook was
not the only great navigator who visited these
islands, however, for Vancouver paid them several
visits, and gave much useful advice to the King
and his councillors, besides being the first to intro-
duce cattle and sheep to the islands. The unfor-
tunate La Peroase also anchored in the strait be-
tween Mawhee and Molokai, in May, 178 G. The
most remarkable feature in the political history of
these islands is perhaps the share which two Eng-
lishmen have had in it. In a dispute that arose be-
tween the islanders and the crew of an American
vessel many of the natives were destroyed, when,
torevenge themselves, they boarded another vessel
which followed it, under false pretences, and mur-
dered all save one seaman, who was taken on
shore wounded. At the same time the first vessel
had reached another of the islands without being
aware of the disaster that had befallen their com-
panions, and sent some of her seamen on shore to
trade, and was preparing to leave when the news
arrived at the bay of the fatal encounter. One of
the sailors, named John Young, was still on shore,
and the king refused to send him off for fear the
captain should murder the crew of the canoe that
took him in revenge. As it happened the captain
was ignorant of the catastrophe, and, after waiting
some time, departed. These two white men,
Isaac Davis and John Young, entered the service
of the king, and acquired great influence over him
and over the inhabitants generally. They were
rewarded with large estates and honours, and their
advice was of great service to the king on many
occasions. But, notwithstanding the consideration
in which they were held by the natives, they longed
to escape, and made several endeavours, which
were frustrated. Vancouver, however, on his
visits tried to reconcile them to their lot,
and advised them to remain where they were. tie
formed a high opinion of their good sense and hu-
manity, and was so favourably impressed by the
character of the king that he departed from his
usual rule, and supplied him with firearms and in-
structions how to form a guard. This king, whose
name was Kamehameha, appears to have been a
very remarkable person. He subdued the
whole of the islands, and established many
excellent laws. He was the father of the
king who died during his visit to London. The
next great event in the history of these islands was
the arrival of some American missionaries, who
were favourably received by the king and people.
It is much to be regretted that the elements of re-
ligious dissensions were introduced in this i ()tired
community by the subsequent arrival of some mis-
sionaries of a different creed. The simple islanders,
who were already changing their old religion for a
new, were perplexed at the new doctrines promul-
gated by the last comers. It would seem, in this
case, that the interests of Christianity would have
been best consulted by the first party, to whatever
denomination they belonged, remaining in undis-
turbed possession. The natives seem, from the
account of the author, to be a simple, lively, and
hospitable race, of very good capabilities. The pro-
gress made at some of the native schools astonished
him. They were in every instance most amicably
disposed towards the traveller, who appears to
have readily gained their regard and confidence.
His volume opens with a narrative of his voyage
from Kamtschaka to the Sandwich Islands, which
was a most stormy and dangerous one. For two
nights they were in imminent peril, but happily
they weathered the gale, though the oldest sailor
on board gave it as his opinion that they would
not. He spent four months in surveying the islands
and their curiosities, the greatest of which is the
volcanic mountain of Kilauea, the largest active
volcano, he informs us, in the world. He gives a
very interesting account of his journey to this vol-
cano, and the dangers he and his fellow traveller
encountered from their imprudence. The
whole of the islands exhibit many traces
of their volcanic origin, and the peculiarities
of their geological features present some striking
points to the attention of the scientific on the sub-
ject of the formation of the tropical islands. On
leaving Woahoo the author proceeded to visit the
Society Islands, of which Otaheite is the chief.
Whether it was from the fact of his sojourn being
very limited, or from a slight feeling of jealousy
of the rival Government, his impressions of these
islands and their inhabitants are not near so pleas-
ing or satisfactory as those left by their neighbours.
In leaving Otaheite he sailed for Valparaiso, which
he reached safely, after a most magnificent view of
sunrise over the Andes. In the appendix an ex-
planation of the principles of the constitution are
given, which, far from betokening their savage
origin, might some of them be followed with ad-
vantage in more civilised countries. Some of them
are as follows :
"No law shall be enacted that is at variance with the
Word of the Lord.
"All men, of every religion, shall be protected in
worshipping God according to their own understanding.
"No man shall be punished unless his crime be first
manifest.
"No man shall be permitted to sit as judge on his par-
ticular friend or enemy."
Many other laws and regulations are equally
judicious and well-founded. Oa the whole the
volume nray be regarded as an interesting and
profitable work, not only affording instruction
respecting a part of the globe of which very
little is generally known, but also showing
the capabilities of the natives, their character
and prospects, and the benefits and evils they have
derived from the immigration of the whites. To
all desirous of extending their geographical know-
ledge, as well as of perusing an agreeable volume,
these travels may be commended.

The Red River Settlement. By Alexander Ross,
Author of " Fur Hunters of the Far West," &c.
Smith and Elder.
This work eminently fulfils the promise that is
prefixed to it—that of giving a detail of the rise,
progress, and present state of the Red River Sat-
tlement, with some account of the native races, and
its general hiStory to the present day. The author
commences by informing us that the subject of this
volume is an isolated spot in the wilds of North
America, distant 700 miles from the nearest sea-
port, and that port blockaded by solid ice for ten
months in the year. It will naturally suggest itself
to the mind of the reader that it is by no adventi-
tious advantages of situation, and by no fortuitous
accident of climate, that the place has become at all
civilised and refined, but that stern and uncom-
promising activity, resolute industry, and bold de-
cision have alone achieved the results. The patience
and perseverance, which distinguished and charac-
terised those hardy sons of another hemisphere, who
created themselves a new home in an adopted land
is worthy of all respect and attention. The writer
remarks in the preface that, being debarred from
intercourse with the literary world, he prefers no
claim to " the ornaments of diction or the embel-
lishments of imagination." Nevertheless the style
he has adopted is the most suitable and appropriate
for the subjects. The facts speak for them-
selves, and are of sufficient importance to
arrest the attention, and lay claim to the
interest, without the aid or intervention of auxiliary
attractions. So far back as the year 1811, the
Earl of Selkirk purchased the Red River Settle.
ment from the Hudson's Bay Company, for the
purpose of planting a colony there. The bounda-
ries of the grant are Lake Winipeg, the Assiniboine
River, and the land which separates Hudson's Bay
from the Missouri and Mississippi. The Red River
is one of the feeders of Lake Winipeg. In reading
these names of the places where the white men
have pitched their tents, the truth of the poet's
assertion is verified, that the banished race yet
speaks, in the native denomination of their usurped
strongholds.
"Their memory liveth on your hills,'
Their baptism on your shore,
Your everlasting rivers speak
Their dialect of yore."
One curious circumstance is recorded in the
course of this history of the settlement, that the
calamities are in decades. In 1816 there was a
massacre, in 1826 a flood, the crops failed in 1836,
and in 1846 there was au epidemic. The account
does not reach a sufficiently recent perioil, to enable
us to hear whether this year is to be the exception
or the rule. The social condition of the people
may be deduced from the following remarks made
by a friend of the author, who had been for some
time among them and studied their customs, man-
ners, and modes of afe:—
" Although we dwell on the outskirts of Chrititendnre,
holding as it were a middle course between refined civi-
lisation on the one hand, and gross darkness on the
other, we live in all moderation and good fellowship in
our semi-barbarous and Ferri.civilised state. The ex-
pressions used by my fellow-traveller when we reached
the Forks, may be taken as a fair representation of the