The Progress., 1893-03-25

received by throngs Of their fellows on
shore with the widest rejoicing. Aperson
Of great rank had been entertained un-
awarcs on the ship, but the foolish crowd
of stay at homes had imagined that Cook
meant to kidnap their favOrite prince,
Kamehameha, the scion of dynasty of
kings then in its 18th reign.
Had Cooks vessel been carried TO the an
tipodes by n luckless wind, never to return,
or swallowed up by tidal wave, the his
tory of the Sandwich Islands must have
lacked its brightest page, the story Of the
deeds of Hawai's Alexander, her Caesar,
Napoleon, WashingtOn-warrior, conquer
or, ruler and reformer-incarnate in one
dusky Polynesian, Kamobameha |.
When next Captain Cook met the 70
mantle young savage, it was in his own ma
tive realm and in his true character Of
prince and nephew and royal retainer in
the suite of King Kalauiopuu, who visited
the explorers tent on the beach in all the
splendor of barbaric pageantry. The king
and his retinue occupied a large double
canoe 60 feet in length. Their dress was
the dress of warriors, for war made them
and kept them what they were
Each was decked in a gaudy helmet Of
polished wicker adorned with the most
brilliant plumage that ever graced the
winged beauties Of the tropics, and studded
with feathers the brightest known in the
Pacific cline From the shoulders hung a
magnificent war cloak deftly plated from
tiny plumage of wondrous beauty, torn
from birds so rare in the Hawaiian noun
tains that it required generations to gather
material for a single mantle. This when
complete represented in labor alone n value
equal to that of the costliest gems worn by
civilized monarchs. Their lances, which
arose twice their length above them as they
stood up in the canoe, were of polished
wood, so bright that they caught the sun $
rays like a sheen Of purest silver.
BY the side of the king, in the character
Of a war chief, was the prince, the most
striking figure in the royal group, and re
membered forever after by his white be
holders as the personifcation, in form, fig
ure and features, of all that Is wild and
ferocious in savagedom. Nodded after Her
cules himself, he bore a presence OF awe
inspiring majesty. His savage superior
was not to bedreamed Of His savage equa
was likewise impossible, just as nature ha'
produced but one Niagara, one river Rhine
and one mborazo-"monarch OF noun
tains" The blood Of over 20 generations o.
kingly rulers, whose divine right" hat
been the warclub and javelin, flowed il
his veins, while countless generations o.
feudal despotism had leveled the here
above which he lowered so loftily to a con
dition Of abject vassalage.
Cooks first meeting with Kamehamehf
was just as the prince came from battle
where his uncle had been victorious owe
the rebellious Mauians. Later, when Cook
men got imbroiled with natives and at
tempted to seize the king as hostage, th'
prince was at the front and was wounded
by a cannon ball fired from the ship. Th'
next year, 1880, the prince became king b!
an act of war TO he was goaded by tin
treachery and rapacity of his fellows anC
was lord of Hawaii for 30 years
King Kalaniopuu died and was succeeded
by his son Kiwalao, cousin of Kamehame
ha The new king yielded to Il conspirac.
of powerful chiefs to wrest from the hei
apparent all his possessions, but Kane
hameha made overtures that led to appar
ent reconciliation between the cousins
Then the rapacious chiefs, headed by nj
uncle of the prince named Keoua, begal
war on their own hook, induced kiwala
to Join with all his forces and the struggl
for mastery Of the island began. Kame
hameha was next In rank to his cousin an
would succeed him at his death. A ierc
battle ensued, continuing eight days with
ont advantage to either side.
At last Kamehameha's favorite war chiei
Keeaumoku, was badly wounded and car
tured by two OF Kiwalao's warriors. who dc
layed dispatching him until they could ST
cure the sacred charms and trophies on hi