The Grange advance., 1874-12-29
The HISTORY OF KAlAKAuA,
As Told by One IF His Own Cousins

The HISTORY OF MlAKAOA,
4. Told by One If His Own Cousins.
[From the Salt Lake Tribune.]
In the year 1921. the whale-ship In
dependence, from New Bedford. Mass,
foundered in the Pacific ocean. and all on
board perished. with the exception Of
tou= sailors. who made their escape in a
boat, which, after tossing many days
Oh the boundles deep, at last reached
the Sandwich Islands, then in a state of
semi mi-barbarism, that being about the
time Of the first appearance of Chris.
tian missionaries there. One of these sea.
men was ine.looking, stalwart young
man from Barnstable, and in the strange
land upon which he was cast up from
the waste Of waters at once engaged in
such pursuits as viyacious disposition
and true Yankee genius discovered,
both for employment and livelihood.
He soon succeeded, and in a year or
two, after making his involuntary set.
tlement among the Kanakas had the
extraordinary fortune of marrying the
daughter and sole princess Of the mon
arch then on the throne of the islands,
This royal damsel had fallen in love
with the wrecked mariner, proposed
wedlock in right queenly style, which
the young New Englander accepted. for
the reason that the king ordered him to
do so, or have his head chopped
off. Being sen-in.law, and recog-
nized as q member of the dy.
nasty, our hero adapted himself to
the dignity Of prince censort, and from
this remarkable union issued the pres
cnt king of the Sandwich Islands, the
only surviving son of the Massachu-
setts man, out Of large family. The
name Kalakaua denotes the origin of
the sovereign, and translated means
':sale journey or ''God speed" referr-
ing to the escape Of his immediate an.
cestor from the peril Of the wave as re-
lated above. DEPRESSING from the gen.
eral narrative here, we will mention that
the father Of our august visitor, not
withstanding his illustrious alliance,
had never forgotten his home in the
distant republic; but day after day
and month after month looked out from
the portico of his palace for the
friendly canvass and flag of his ma.
tive land, but five and twenty years of
watching were endured before the keel
of an American ship glided into the
island harbors. When this did take
place, the Yankee prince, yearning for
the scenes md associations Of youth,
one night deserted rank. wife and chill
dren. jumped into the sea which quar-
ter of a century before had cast him up
naked to become the progenitor of a
kingly line, and sailed away for the
shores of Narragansett. After a long
voyage Barnstable was again visited,
but all had changed. Leaving there in
sunny youth, the traveller now found
that the few remaining acquaintance of
the past had died, departed to other
Places or had grown gray and forgetful
of the times when all were boys at
school together. 1t was a mistaken
return; for the heart could not
give up its love for the wife
and children Of more than a score of
years in the far.of islands of the Pa
cific. The longings Of the wanderer
and his loneliness were intolerable. He
then once more looked for the speedy
bark to carry him back to his only
home, and waited three years before an
opportunity came. Then he sailed
away forever. In 1647 the whaler,
Thomas Jefferson, from New London,
Conn.,, was fishing in the Pacific. Meet.
ing q school of leviathans, the crew pre-
pared for action, .,nd among the par.
ties sent out from the ship to operate
against the monsters of the deep the
prince was one Of the first to volunteer
in the hazardous duty. As has often
happened, the boat Of the harpooners
vas demolished by a wounded and In.
turiated whale, several of the men, in.
clud'ng the father of Kalakuau, perish
ing in the disaster. That
was the end Of our he
ro's romantic career. The balance of
this interesting story may be stated
briefly. When the New Englander
fled from the Sandwich Islands his
spouse mourned for q customary period,
but grief did not cause her to neglec.
the grave responsibilities of widowhood.
She gave her children the best educa.
tion the islands afforded. and David be-
ing the favorite, though not the eldest
son, was sent to San Francisco to study
politics and finances. His mother also
directed him to visit the home Of his
father and kindred, but the young man,
for some reason satisfactory to him.
self. did not then 60 to Barnstable. He
will do SO now, however, after frst con-
cluding his official interview with the