Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1874-12-25
KISG CALICO.
Was He Mau-Fater, and Did He Ever
Dine from Cold or Hot Mission
ary-The Sad Fate of Frere
Michel, the Catholic
Priest.
30, KaDaka King, He Belly Like uRi
Babee-Smack Him Lippee !"-
Therefore, KalakRua must
Have Some Warm White
Ma1, Eh!

From the New York WOrld.l
The question az to whether our royal
guest, King Kalakaua, ever did eat a
missionary or not, is beginning 70 be
3 discussed in some circles here with con-
e siderable interest. OF course, this inter-
!, est is not personal 10 the king, since, SO
E far As he is concerned, it is all boiled
down to mere question Of tastes; noI
| does it concern the missionary, for it has
been so long since the alleged banquet
e took place that even the toughest mis-
: sionsry must have long ago been digest
ed and completely forgotten. There is,
. however, an chronological interest at
: tsching to the subject, for the fact, If it
be q fact, will 90 far to sustain the opin-
ion Of those pessimist zealots in anthro-
, biological science, who contend for the
view that "Once a savage always a saw
sge,n and that in spite OF carefully in
= grated civilization, the old root OF bar
J Osrism is always prone TO burgeon forth
|, in unexpected ways under certain ex-
, citements. Certainly, if Kalakaua ever
did eat missionary, he bellies his looks,
FOR he is 1.-THE mildest-mannered man
that ever slit throat"
Vet the evidence seems to prepOnder-
ate upon the affirmative side of the
question, and ] believe my opportunities
tor knowing what the evidence is have
been unequalled. 1t appears that the
first revival Of talk on this subject began
in Honolulu some months ago, Just be-
fore the death OF King Bill Lunalilo,
but not before it was known that that
good fellow of a boon companion and
n1GuUnis sgjet of king had not long to
live. Lunalilo rather favored Kalakaua
as his uccessor-which, whether he
wished it or not, Kalakaua was resolved
to be-and this gave great offense to the
partisans Of Queen Emma, who was very
hungry for the throne. Kalakaua's life
was looked into pretty searchiDgIy, and
this rumOr was one among the many
scandals put forth with palpable view
to damage the chiefs prospects in the
impending candidacy.
The knowledge Of all this led me to
pay very little attention to the talk
about the matter until q few days ago,
when Sam Sing, my washerman, bring
ing home my clothes, stopped TO get his
money and have chat. Sam-Sing is
an incOrrigible gossip, and knows some.
thing about everybOdy's business. He
said, with leer, commenting upon the
approaching visit of King Kalakaua,
that people would do well to keep their
J y
ing. When l asked him WHY, he said.
80, Kanaks king he belly likee um ba-
bee-smaek him lippee!" laughed at
the idea of this old scandal having gone
down so low as to be believed by the
! Chinese; whereupon Sam Sing, very in
| dignant, said II I did not believe him, all
l had TO do was TO ask A-Pong; he had
lived in Honolulu, and knew all about
It. A-PoDg is very respectable mer-
chant with whom | have frequent deal
| ings, and the next time went into his
store i mentioned to him what Sam
Sing had said, and asked him what he
meant.
He answered that Sam-Sing was a
very great fool, but had probably over
heard some gossiping talk about his own
experience in Honolulu and other places
in Hawaii in 1857. He had often seen
Kalakaua in those times, and knew
more about the eating of the missionary
than any person else except those who
took part in the banquet If / would
take chair, smoke a cigar, sip glass
of wine and nibble some nice conserves
Just received by last steamer, it would
crafty his humility to relate the whole
story TO me.
From what A-POng told me, from the
rumors | had heard before, and from
sundry conversations with disreput-
able old kanaka named Nunans, who
used to be in the suite of King Kane
hameha ii, but is now a ragged old vag-
rant with an incurable passion for rum,
have patched together what seems to
be the best because most probable Ver-
sion Of this most certainly apocryphal
story. How much foundation for il
there may be l am not able to deter.
mine, and, without attempting to do 80,
give tito you as L received it:
In 1856 the French frigate Ls Riene
Blanche had landed at Honolulu several
priests-Jesuits / believe they were
sent out to reinforce the Catholic mis-
sion in the Sandwich islands. La Refine
Blanche was Immediately from Papee-
tee, in Tahiti, and one of the priests or
monks, who was called Frere Michel,
had been officiating in that island until
exchanged for Hawaii While keeping
house in Pspeetee he had employed this |
A-Pong as his cook and factotum, AID
when he removed to Honolulu he per-
suaded A-Pong to go with him and take !
part in his bachelor housekeeping there. |
Brother Michel was jolly soul, appsr- |
emily; a plump, well-fed man, with |
round, red cheeks, and body that filled |
out his cRssock. He was something OF |
an.astronomer ana mathematician, too, |
and great one to survey nights and dis
tances.
tThe people Of Oahu in 1857 looked
upon the "Wee-wee mikonaries"(a Jas they
called the FRENCH with eyes OF great
disfavOr. They considered them idola-
tors, and the rigid Puritan discipline in
which they had been instructed taught
that idolatry was the chief of sins. This
was necessary, perhaps, for the Haw-
aiians themselves were idolators up to
1886, and many of the old chiefs were
known to banker after the old heather
regime; but ii was none the less disa-
greeable to the French, who found their
well-mesnt endeavors frustrated at
every point, and themselves suspected
and brow-beat.
Brother Michel, after living awhile
in Honolulu, crossed over to MolOkai,
and afterward to Hawaii. Here, his |
mission work being at a stand5till, he
busted himself in tTiangulating the
mountains and valleys and inspecting
in scientific way the dread wonders |
and sublime Loneliness Of the greatest |
volcano in the world. A-Poug accom-
panied him on these excursions, fulfill /
tagging and carrying the chain, cook |
ing the meals and transporting the bag
gage.
At this time there was formidable |
conspiracy making head against Kane
hameha on account of his propensity for |
reforms. The main portion OF the con-
spiratoTs lived on the island of Hawaii, |
and the nucleus of the conspiracy was |
secret society Of the elder and principal |
chiefs, who wanted the foreigners ex-
PEELED, and the islands to return to an |
cient customs, even, il is said, to the old |
religion. The entire membership of this |
society was never quite known, but it |
comprised PoOfsi, BolobolO, Emomau- |
wee, POenahmoo, Otaha, and several |
others, all more or less connected with |
the family OF Kalakaua. Whether ne
himself was amongst the young men |
who belonged TO it or not | will not de- |
eide, but it is certain that there was |
nothing in his confessed principles, both |
before and after ascending the throne, |
which prevented him from becoming |
member. Kalakaua has always been a |
conspicuous and obstinate conservative, |
q JdUddtOT teBtpOris 0cti. and, in Ha-
waiian politics, TO be conservative was |
10 remember with regret the savOry |
juices Of "lOng pork" the South-sea |
euuhemism for baked missionary.
The society met in dark ravine lead |
ing up the seawaTd side OF kilaues, and |
well on toward the crater. Its mystic |
rites were awful and peculiar, and the |
Initiation ceremonies were ssid to be es-
pecislly imposing, the members cutting
themselves with knives, drinking the
blood that flowed from the wounds, and
and pledging themselves to one another
with tremendous oaths. This was fol-
lowed by banquet, at which copious IL
bations flowed OF sroa, of arraek, piseo,
and New England rum. All this was