Ashtabula weekly telegraph. [volume] (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1853-1873, 1859-10-29
Lieut.. Maury,s Romance,


shipmVn on board one of the sloops Of war
sent to cruise in the Pacific. The duty be-
| ing mainly to give authoritative oOuntenance
To the merchant vessels in those seas, much
of their time, Of course, was passed in the
anchorage Of the different islands aud
Maury always having a taste for the Ian
guages, had employed his many .an.ide hour,
as coxswain Of the go.ashore boat, in mas
tering the dialects of natives. So success
! ful had he been in THIS volunteer study that
he became, at last, the regular interpreter,
and was the main channel Of cOmmunica.
tion between the commodore and the petty
| Sovereigus of the islands
The thing he most struggled with, in
those days, was constitutional bashfuness;
and he was not little habbergasted, there.
fore, when he was summoned to the quar-.
ter deck one bright morning, TO interpret
between the commander young Owhy-
hpe princess, the iavorite daughter Of the
| chief of the Island where they were an
chored. She had swum off to the ship and
climbed up the side, and now stood in all
her tropical flOreSence, an eXquisitvcly de-
veloped young woman Of sixteen, draped
mainly in her flowing tresSes and her un-
conscious modeSty, and geSticulatng in the
most lively manner, to the very great ad
miration of the officers and crew. She
had evidently message of Importance to
communicate. 0bedient TO the summons, of
course, the gold-aced MILDLY made his ap-
pearauce and be proceeded to open com
muncation with the fair Undinc--gettng
side intimations from the officers, audienc-
ed about on the gun-carriages and port
holes, that the dialogue of inquiry should
be prolonged as far as possible. He was
not long in learning her errand-hut how,
with bis baShlulness, to translate it to the
commodore and those groups of listening
! lieutenants 1t was no less than an an.
thoratative expression of the islanders ID
miration of his superior knowledge, as
shown in the mastery of their language
and proposal for the honor of his hand
The girl had swum off, as her fathers am
bassador, to make the offer Of herself-the
answer being awaited on shore in full coun-
Gil of warrior.chiefs
The difficulty of maintaining the proper
quarterback gravity, or of so reprpssing
the mirth of the surrounding epauletteS as
not to give offense to the native pride of
the auto-qnestion popping princess, was
considerable. Maury has no recollection
at present, whether he himself stood on his
head or his heels during the Interview
| The commodore was discreet, however and
it was soon understood that the Ipga'e of a
| foreign power was to he treated " t r pit,
whether the diplomatic drapery were more
or less entire, aud the proposal was to he
respectfully received. The ward-room boat
was meantime ordered to be manned, and
The ships newest flag spread in the seats
to envelop the royal unclad on her led wa
ter-draped return. Maury was to 60 as
coXswain, and restore the lady to her pa
rents but his orders were discretionary.
He was to make every assurance of amity
between the United States and the Pacific
and get clear if he pacficalIy could-but
on no account to make any such rejection
of the proposed honor as would lead to a
misunderstanding
1t was the pull of mile or two, the sea
smooth and the tars willing for once to sit
with their backs to the bow The officer
and his aag-envcloped passenger had the
conversation all TO themselves and he was
busy cogitating, in he bashful back -parlcr
of his mind how he should behave under
| the probable circumstances phase lst 81
or 3d-whcn the young lady unexpectedly
! jumped overheard aud swan the rest of
the way to the beach taking to her heels,
on arriving at the sand, with a celebrity for
which he could in no way account. Was
she angry 2 Was there probability of
his being dSemboweled and bnrnt, if he
should try to overtake and explain He
concluded that it was best on The whole, to
carry out the commodore's policy and,
by following up the fugitive, to get a chance,
perhaps to pacify the papa. SO leaving
the boat drawn mp on the beach, he took
his way alone to the chiefs bungalow.
1t was some little distance inland, and,
on arriving, he found be was considerably
expected. There was every appearance of
preparation for a festivity, the tables
spread for a royal banquet, and the fruits
and drinks in ahnHdant prOdigalty. The
chiefs were already in a state of excite
ment, which prtcluded all explanation or
modification of plans There was nothing
to do but to yield to circumstances He
must marry "a la Owhyhee aud she) to
keep the peace aud protect the commerce
Of the nation. The delays were apparently
/ iuconsiderahle In very short time, the
runaway bride appeared, dressed in all
manner Of Pacific ornaments, and attended
! by her mother aud a bevy of sister island
resses. The commodore was either not ex-
pected, or not missed the ceremony was
performed (what there was Of it), with on
ly native witnesses, things proceeded as
usual For the remaining winter months,
the sloop was anchored at the same island,
and Prince Maury, of course, had a nice
opportunity to become acquainted with the
manners aud customs. His cOpper-colored
papa proved very gentlemanly, and, as long
as he stayed he was most affectiOnateIy
treated His subsequent half century, as
the world of science so well knows, has
been devoted to the study of natures more
universal uuexpectedness-the charm of
this first lesson, acting perhaps, as an in
itiative relish-but, whether so or not, the
| 0whyhee romance, as prelude to a very
distinguished mans life long pursuits, is
well worth preserving for his biographer
A Southern paper thiaks it would be