The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1858-03-11

Of noble bIood.-they had swelled their waists with
voluminons folds Of gaudy cloths. under the pressure
rather than walked. Helped by young and active at
tendants, their pace was, however, equal to the slow
progress Of the procession. A numerous retinue OF
their own sex, bearing their tokens of rank, fans. n.y.
brushes, spittoons, sun-screens, and lighter articles
of clothing, waited upon Them. :
!" Besides this state there was q vast throng of at
tendants carrying burdens. or driving before them
their domestic animals"
Kiana is the hero of Mr.. Jarves' tale-Beatriz
the heroine. They are introduced to each other,
not amid the courtly gallantries Of the ball
room, or the peaceful pursuits of domestic life.
The survivors of the ~shipwreck had entered
Kiana's village, in the absence of its inhabitants,
during u season of hapu, and established their
abode in the palace of the chief. Kiana, return
ing, discovers them upon the parapet, and rushes
to slay the sacrilegious wretch who has violated
the religious Introduction
"Juan had too often encountered as fearful odds,
in his Mexican campaigns, to luse his presence of mind
in a crisis like this. He called to his men to come to
his succor, as he prepared to hold the gateway
against his foes, and shouting his accustomed battle
cry, drew his long Toledo blade, and advanced it in
guard to await Kiana's ouset.
This chief in his rush up the steps had not fairly
LITE his eyes until the shout Of Santiago tor
Spain" reached his ears. His establishment at the
apparition OF the white 1T the cleaning steel,
fierce eyes, thick red beard and strange tongue, the
costume so unlike his people's,-insteSd of the ex-
pected tawny hue of his own race, brought him to n
sudden stop. 1t was but for a monent, for, excited
by his previous fury Mt a crime so uncommon among
his people, he saw only an offender who seemed aided
by sorcery, and rushed at him with uplifted javelin,
reserving his force to strike and not to throw. So
sudden and powerful was his spring, that although
juan sword parried the blow, he was borne back
ward, and Kama found himself On the platform.
Both paused as they now better saw each others
strength and StraQUpnpSS- kIunl'S SurnrISa " ~ in
creased as Juan's men, followed by Olnedo with
crnciix in hand, came hastily up aud ranged them
selves ut his side. His own soldiers were fast crowd
ing upon the platform, filled with wonder rather than
fear. at SO unexpected a sight. AT his command they
were filing off to surround Juan's little band, and
close in upon them, while he appraised his ia elm,
prepared once more to tempt the skill of his strange
enemy. His right foot was advanced, his broad chest
thrown out and weapon poised to try again the thrust,
which had never before failed him, when a new cry
was heard AMI a new figure came forward and sprung
between him and Alvirez.
1t was Beatriz. Her long flowing robes, dis
hevelled hair. her pallor and the impulsive energy
with which she pushed aside Juan's sword, aud
turned her eager eyes towards Kama, fearlessly 'front.'
ing his jlyelin, amazed the red men. Their weapons
dropped silently by their sides, as their chief gazed
in establishment with powerless arm upon the new
appar ton.
Kiana's indecision was, however, only moment
airy. A sudden thought had seized him. Turning to
his followers he said, Behold Lono and his wife,
they have returned with their faces frightened, and
their speech changed, from their abode in the sun.
They have come as Lono promised, with new teachers
and good gifts. Let us honor them and make them
welcome As he spoke every weapon was laid upon
the earth, and every head was bowed. Kama alone
stood erect, asserting his dignity even in the presence
of n returned god"
Hawaiian chieftains of the olden day were not
invariably. judging from Mr.. Jarves' account,
models of gentleness and justice. Kama, indeed,
was a model of savage honor and perfection but
there were, among the race, as there are In every
nation, some very unfavorable specimens of hui
manity. The author gives an interesting account
of some pleasant little peculiarities of a certain
chief of this character-Pohaku by name. This
will be found on pages l3l-l33, but the length to
which our article has extended forbids our copy
ing it.
Hawaii is in some respects one of the most re-
markable islands in the world. Its snow covered
mountains and tropical valleys comprise every
variety of climate, changing from the torrid to
the temperate and frigid, according to the ascend
ing attitudes of the land. Its heavy forests and
barren plains, its deep ravines and tremendous
precipices, and above all, its gigantic volcanic
wonders, combine to give it an individuality pecu-
liar to itself. Traces of volcanic action are visi-
BILE everywhere upon the island and those of our
readers who were 30 favored as to witness the
great lava flow from the crater of Mauna Loa in
1855, will appreciate the description given on
pages III to ia inclusive.
The active volcano of Hawaii, with its crater
of Kilauea, is perhaps the most remarkable nat
ural exhibition of the globe. 1t is a point of at
traction for numerous visitors, who are willing to
devote a few days to the journey thither and the
exploration of its marvels. No sojourner in the
islands, who can afford the time, should omit a
visit to Kilauea. Jarves gives the following ac-
count of the crater as he imagines it to have APP
peared three hundred years ago:
"That immense circle of dead Is va, now known as
the black ledge, which contracts the active portion of
the crater to n circuit of a few miles, was not then in
existence. The whole pit, embracing an area suh-
tion. From where Olmedo looked, the height above
the fiery mass was about FIVE hundred feet. II had
undermined the wall of the crater, so that il ~overhung
the sea of lava, as the Table Rock does the cataract
of Niagara. Immediately reneath him, therefore, lay
the lurid caIldron. Its heavy, sluggish waves, of
deep crimson, eurged against the banks with a muf-
fed roar. as unlike the gl.d sound of surf. as a groan
TO laughter. Occasionally u thick black crust formed
over the surface, Ike n huge sclb. Then his would
break asunder, and bright red currents of liquid rock
were underneath; whirlpools of boiling blood fusing
they touched into their own gore-hued
food. Huge masses of solid stone were vomited high
air, ana pit MISSING ahu sput'erInR pack
ngain into the depths of the fiery gulf. to be cast
or melt ike wax in a ten-fold heated furnace.
Lighter Jets of lava were being thrown up. sometimes
in rapid succession, and sometimes at long intervals,
filled the atmosphere with red hot spray and
steam, and gasses, blown hither and thither, and
whirled about like the sands of the desert before a
,imoom, by the furious blasts of wind that swept with
mingled means and shrieks across that lake of hell,
Ind through its glowing caverns and out of its black
Overhead hung a dense cloud, gradually
'preading as it rose, until it enveloped all the region
the crater. The smoke Of its torment, like a pail,
covered the cancerous earth, to screen its throes from
he light of the sum-"
The story of Kiana is neatly printed and hand
omely bound and its pages are illustrated by a
lumber of engravings, though we wish the author
rad taken more pains to procure new ones, rather
han copy the embellishments from his history.
The volume will he an ornament to the parlor
able and should find q Mace in the lhrarx ofl