The Hawaiian gazette., 1898-05-06
New BOlk" a Tale Of the First
KanRlamGla.
IT is BY GURDON S. MUMFORD
Before the Missionaries Came
Said to Be a Clever Story-LoVe
and War in OIden Times.

The 1893 affair here and again the
uprising of two years later caused or
called forth food of literature on
the Islands. The fount is not yet ex-
hausted. It seems likely that Hawaii
viii for all time afford themes for
story writer's and those who recount
travel as well as the serious essayists.
The Kilohana Art League has given
an impetus to the work of local writ
ers and the pen wielders abroad find
that a tale set in the Islands carries
a certain amount of prestige So far
this year there have come from the
press the books of Prof John R. Mus
lex and Liliuokalani. A third of pre-
tension has been added to the list and
viii be at the stores in due time. 1t
is thus reviewed by an American pub
LEGATION under the suggestive heading:
Before the Missionaries Came"
An Island God: A Tale of the First
Kamehameha, by Gurdon S. Mumford,
is a pretty little story, written in a
light, pleasing style, with a semi-his-
torical background, and presents the
picturesque period which preceded the
amalgamatiOn and civilization of the
Hawaiian Islands. The scenes of the
story are laid on the Island of Oahu,
where is situated the present chief
city, Honolulu-at the time when Ka-
lanikupule was king.
The story relates the adventures of
a Jesuit priest who is wrecked on the
tropical Island of Oahu and is held a
prisoner by the natives, who believe /.
him god. He is beloved by a native
girl, Aloha who, when he is about to
be sacrificed by the king to appease
the anger Of the pagan gods, proposes |
that he fly to her tribe and act as their
leader in making terms of peace with /
the great Kamehameha, who is on the
point of attacking the Island, having
Just conquered Maui. Her only stipu-
lation is. that he take her for his wife.
Owing to the priests pledge of celiba
cy, he bids her go. Later in the day,
Kamehameha lands with his followers, !
and. having been informed by Aloha
of the place where Kalanikupule has
gathered his men, hastens to save the
life of the white god. But he is too
late, for as they draw near the temple
of sacrifice, built of bleached bones
and grinning skulls, the priest, his
body bruised and charred beyond rec
ognition, springs out from the pillar
of smoke, only to fall dead at their
feet.
The volume is supplemented with
An Historical Sketch of the Hawaii
an Islands from the Earliest Times
TO the Present Day" which is rather
fragmentary but interesting. OF the
victory of Kamehameha over Kalani-
kupule, Professor Frank Woodward /
the author of the historical sketch
says:
In 1875, Kamehameha undertook
the conquest of the island of Oahu. I.
The king OF this island, Kalani1upule, |
had just received a few English guns
from Captain Brown, who had landed /
at Honolulu in the schooner Jackal. !
Kamehameha, in planning to attack |
Oahu, raised the largest army ever
seen in the Islands, including about
sixteen thousand men, of whom sixteen
were foreigners, in charge of his can
mons and musketry. 1t is said that his /
war-canoes lined the shore for four
miles. The decisive battle occurred in /
q long, sloping valley called Nuuanu
which cuts transversely, with vertical
sides, through the mountains and ends
in steep precipice called the Pail,
over thousand feet high. The army
of Kalanikupule fought well, until
their leader was killed by cannon
ball, when they weakened, and those
who were not killed were driven over
the precipice To death. For many
years the bones of these warriors
could be found in heaps below. Soon
afterward, the only other large island,
Kauai, gave itself up to Kamehameha,
and the work of uniting the Islands
under one government was complet-
ed