The Massachusetts spy, and Worcester County advertiser. [volume] ([Worcester, Mass.]) 1825-1831, 1828-06-11

ton OF oar boosted art, and of the power of
nature y Foreign Journal.
From .Yr. Se,garts Residence at tic Sand
a0ich Islands from 1922 to 1925.
| SANDWICH ISLAND MOBILES.
| All the chieis have large landed estates, un-
der the king and derive their support from
| yearly taxes upon them. Like the king and
! governors, they have every right, even to that
OF lite, over the occupants of their plantations
and all their people. The mobiles of the land
are so strongly marked by their external ap-
pearance, as at all times, TO be easily distin-
gulshable from the common people, They seem
indeed, in size and stature, to be almost dis
tlnct race. They are all large in their frame,
and elton excessively corpuleDt while the com
mon people are scarce of the ordinary height of
Europeans, and Of thin, rather than a full hab-
i. Kcopuolani, Tie mother Of Riho-!siho, and
Iamuarl!, king of Tauai are the only chiefs,
arrived at years Of maturity have yet seen,
who Go not weigh upwards Of two hundred
pounds. The govcrness of Tauai, the sister of
laumuarli, is said to weigh near four hundred
Nafnatana, one of the queens of Tameharneha,
weighs two hundred and ninety-her sisters
Kaahunanu and Kalakna nearly the same ; and
her brother Kuakini, Governor of Hawaii,
though little more than twenty-five years old,
three hundred and twenty-five lbs. This i'm
mense bulk Of these chiefs is supposed to arise
from the care taken Of them in their earliest in
fancy and from the abundance and nutritious
quality of their food, especially that Of poe--a
kind Of paste made from the taroo, an csculent
root-a principal article Of diet They live on
the fat of the land and sca-and, free from ali
toll and oppression, their only care is +" to cal,
aQd TO 9rtRk, and 90 &c qaeTrg"
tiGfncTS tad CuStoms. Besides profnsiQu
of melons, cocoanuts, bananas, sugar cane, &c.
some of which they are almost constantly cat
ing, the chiefs have regular meals of baked dog,
or pig, and picked or raw fish and poe, four
times Gay; one as soon as they rise in the
morning another, at ten or eleven o'clock, A..
NJ a third about four in the afternoon, and
fourth at nine or ten in the evening Their
food was formerly served in wooden dishes and
calabashes; but now. generally on China brought
by the merchants from Canton Il is placed on
the ground, before the group for whom it is de-
signed, who, lounging on theirsmats, in the at
:tude of the ancient Romans, partake of it with
one hand, while they recline upon the other,
Servants separate the meat with their hands,
wiping them occasionally, when they become
covered with grease, IN their mouths, or or their
naked arms and legs after which, all eat from
tho same dishes, using their fingers instead of
forks and spoons.
Whatever pets the ladies may have, whether
pigs or dogs--and most have one ofeitheT-share
from the common dishes without disturbance,
unless, perhaps, they should be 50 Inbred as TO
put their fore feet, as well as their Noses, into
the food, when gentle tap may remind them
of better manners. have seen one Of the first
ladies Of the court, take bone from the mouth af
her dog, after he had had possession oft s2veFai
minutes, and putting it into her own, extract lis
remaining sweetness, apparently, with great
goat the same bone, returned again to the
gravy of the dish, passed through the mouths Of
several others. 1t IS not uncommon for lady
here, TO feed her pet of this kind, by placing
the food into his mouth with her own tongue
and should any trickle down his delicate chin,
to wipe it off with her finger, and return il to
her own mouth. The pets If the mobiles of
whatever kind, have in many cases uncontrolla-
BILE privileges. There is at present attached 10
the palace, a hog of this character, weighing
four of five hundred pounds--called !" Kdahum-
anu," after the naughty dowager of that name
which is permitted to range, at pleasure, with
in doors as well as without and not unfrequent-
", finds bed, among the satins and velgets of
| the royal conches.
ATmospHERic AIR. The pressure or weight
of the atmosphere, is shown by the barometer,
the sucking ana air pumps, is near Is pounds on
every square inch, 20 shat if We could entirely
squeeze out the air from between our hands,
they would cling together with force equal to
the pressure Of double this weight, because the
mir would press upon both hands; and If we
could contrive to squeeze or suck out the arr
between one hand and the WALL the hand would
stick fast to the wall being pressed on il with
the weight Of 200 lbs. that is near 10 lbs on
every square inch of the hand. By late most
curious discovery Of Sir Evcrard Home, it is
found that this is the very process by which
flies and other insects of similar description
are enabled to walk IN perpendicular surfaces,
however smooth, as the sides ogwals and panes
glass in windows, and 10 walk as easily along
the ceiling of a room with their bodies down
wards and their feet over head. Their feet
when examined by microscope, are found to
hare fiat skins or flaps, like the web-footcd ami
mails, as ducks and geese; and they have to-
wards tho back part heels, on the inside of the
skin or flap, two very small toes so connected
with the flap rs to draw it close down upon the
| glass or wall the fly walks on, and TO squeeze
out the air completely, so that there is a vacu-
UNI made between the foot and the glass or
/ wall The consequence is, thatthc air presses
the foot on the wall with force greater than
the weight of the fly, which is thus retained in
its position 1t has likewise been found that
some Of the larger sea animals arc by the same
construction, enabled to climb the perpendicr'
lar and smooth surfaces Of the ice hills among
} which they live Some kinds Of Lizards have