Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1872-05-02
From Roughing 1t.
MARK TWAIN.
Among the yConVerted sandwica
Issanders,

ae9AO 5<-<<A- - -
Islanders,
All the natives are Christians now,
but many of them still desert to thef
great Shark God for temporary succor
in time of trouble. An irruption of the
great volcano Of Kiianea or an earth
quake..always brings a deal of LATENT
loyalty to the Shark Goftte'tiie surface.
1t is a common report ltish.uie King
educated, cultiva.ed CHRISTIAN gentle
man as he undoubtedly lisstill turns
to the idols of his fathers for help when /
disaster threatens, "A painter caught a
shark and one of his most Ohristianiz-
ed natives testified his maneipation
from the thralldom of ancient supersti-
ton by assisting to diSsect the shark
after fashion forbid den by his f9fgiierl
creed. But remofse shortly began toll
torture him. He grew moody ana
sought solitude; brooded over his sin,
refused food, and finally said he must
die and ought to die, for he had slnned
against the Great Shark God and could
never know peace any more. He was
proof against persuasion, ana ridicule,
and in the course of a day or two, took
to his bed and died, although he show
ed no symptoms of disease. His young
daughter followed his lead and suffered
like fate in week. Superstition is
| ingrained in the native blood and bone
and it is only natural that it should
creep out in time of distress On :. 500 !.
In the rural districts of any of the
| islands, the traveller hourly comes upon
parties of dusky maidenS bathing in
the streams or in the sea, without any
clothing on, and no very inteInperate
zeal in the matter of hiding their naked
ness. When the missionaries first took
up their residence in Honolulu, the ma
tive women would pay their families
frequent friendly visits day by day not
even clothed with a blush. 1t was
found a hard matter to convince them
| that this was indicate. Finally the
missionaries provided them with long
loose calico robes, and that ended the
difficulty, for the women would troop
through the town stark naked with
] their robes folded under their arms,
march to the missionary houses, and
then proceed to dress. The natives soon
manifested a strong procliyity for cloth
/ ing, but it was shortly apparent that
they only wanted it for grandeur. The
missionaries imported a quantity Of
4 hats bonnets and other male and female
wearing apparel, instituted q general
distribution, and begged the people not
i to come to church naked next Sunday
j asusual. And they did not; but the
natural spirit of unselfishness led them
to divide up with the neighbors who
were not at the distribution, and the
next Sabbath the poor preachers could
hardly keep countenanee before their
vast congregation. In the midst Of the
lreading of the hyfnn,a brown stately
dame would sweep up the aisle with q
world of airs, with nothing in the world
on but a s'stovepipe0 hat and pair of
Echeap gloves; another would follow
tficked out in mans shirt and nOth-
/ ing else; another one would enter with
a flourish, with simply the sleeves Of 4
bright calico dress tied around her
waist, and the rest of the garments
n dragging behind like a peacock's tail
off duty; a stately "buckn Kanaka
would stalk in with q wonaan's bonnet
on, wrong side bef0re-only this and
nothing more; after him would stride
his fellow with the legs of q pair of
lpantalOons tied around his neck, the
!. rest of his person untrammelled; in mis-
rear would come another person simply
gotten up in fiery necktie and strip
ed vest. The poor creatures beaming
) with eomplacepcy and wholly uncon.
Iscious of any absurdity in their appear-
lance. - ~, &C. "a, The spectacle
which the congregation presented was
so extraordinary, and withal SO moving
8 that the missionaries found it difficult
!, to keep the text and go on with these
|, vices, and by and by, when the simple
children of the sun began q general
: swappiHg.of garments IN open meeting
and produced some irresistibly grotes.
II que effects in the course of redressingi
!, there was nothing for it but to cut the
Z thing short with a .benediction and dis
miss the fantastic assemblage. -