Although the written history of the Hawaiian Islands begins with their discovery by Captain Cook in 1778, yet the aboriginal inhabitants had at that time an oral traditional history which extended back for several centuries.

ORIGIN.

As to their origin, these people formed but one branch of the Polynesian race, which at a remote period settled all the groups of islands in the central and Eastern Pacific, as far as New Zealand in the South and Easter Island in the East. This is shown by the close physical and moral resemblance between their inhabitants, as well as by the facts that they all speak dialects of the same language, and have the same manners and customs, the same general system of tabus, and similar traditions and religious rites.

The evidence of both language and physical traits tends to show that their remote ancestors came from the East Indian Archipelago, and that they were still more distantly related to the pre-Arian races of Hindostan.

It is also proved by concurrent traditions of the different groups that there was a general movement of population throughout central Polynesia during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries of the Christian Era, during which the Harvey Islands and afterwards New Zealand were colonized, and many voyages were made between the Hawaiian Islands and the Samoan and Society groups. This intercourse, however, seems to have ceased for four or five hundred years before the arrival of Captain Cook.

ARTS AND MANUFACTURES.

The ancient Hawaiians were not savages, in the proper sense of the term, but barbarians of a promising type. When we consider that they occupied the most isolated position in the world, and that they were destitute of metals and of beasts of burden, as well as of the cereal grains, cotton, flax and wool, we must admit that they had made a creditable degree of progress towards civilization. Like the other Polynesians, they had not invented the art of making pottery, or the use of the loom for weaving.

Their cutting tools were made of stone, sharks' teeth or bamboo. Their axes were made of hard, fine grained lava, chiefly found on the mountain summits. Their principal implement for cultivating the soil was simply a stick of hard wood, either pointed or shaped into a flat blade at the end. With these rude tools they cut and framed the timbers for their houses, which were oblong with long sides and steep roofs, and were thatched with pili grass, ferns or hala leaves. In the building as well as in the management of canoes they were unsurpassed. For containers they used a large gourd (cucurbita maxima, which was not found elsewhere in the Pacific), and also cut out circular dishes of wood as truly as if they had been turned in a lathe.

For clothing they beat out the inner bark of the paper mulberry and of some other trees, until it resembled thick flexible paper, when it was called kapa or tapa. For insignia of rank, they made splendid feather cloaks, and feather helmets, which were worn only by chiefs.

For lights they used the oily nuts of the kukui or candle-nut tree.

For food they chiefly depended upon the tuberous roots of the taro plant (Colocasia antiquorum), but sweet potatoes were cultivated in the dry districts, and yams in Kauai and Niihau. They also cultivated bananas and sugar cane and the awa or kava plant for its narcotic properties.

Fishing was carried on with great ingenuity and skill. Extensive fish ponds were built along the coasts, which must have cost immense labor.

Their food was cooked then, as now, by steaming it in an imu or underground oven with heated stones. Fire was produced by friction, viz., by rubbing a hard, pointed stick in a groove made in a piece of softer wood, until the little heap of fine powder collected at the end of the groove took fire.

There was no circulating medium which served the purpose of money, and all trade was conducted by barter.

CIVIL POLITY.

The civil polity of the ancient Hawaiians was far more despotic than that of any other Polynesian tribe. The community was divided into three classes, namely:

1.The nobility or Alii (N.Z. Ariki), comprising the kings and chiefs of various grades of rank.

2.The priests, Kahuna (N.Z. Tahunga), including priests, sorcerers and doctors.

3.The common people, Makaainana, or laboring class.

There was a wide and impassable gulch between the chiefs and common people. In fact, the distinction between them was primarily of a sacred and religious character. The chief was believed to be descended from the gods, and to be allied to the invisible powers.

The contrast in stature and appearance as well as in bearing between the chiefs and common people was very striking. Only a chief had the right to wear the feather cloak and helmet, or the ivory clasp, Niho Palaoa; his canoe and his sails were painted red, and on state occasions he was attended by men carrying kahilis or plumed staffs of various colors. When the highest chiefs appeared abroad, all the common people prostrated themselves with their faces upon the ground. It was death for a common man to remain standing at the mention of the king's name in song, or when the king's food, water or clothing was carried past; to put on any article of dress belonging to him, to enter his enclosure without permission, or to cross his shadow or that of his house. If a common man entered the dread presence of the sovereign, he must crawl prone on the ground, kolokolo, and leave in the same manner.

The head chief of an island was styled the Moi, and his dignity was generally hereditary. There were usually at least four independent kinglets in the group, and sometimes the single Island of Hawaii was divided between several independent chiefs.

LAND TENURE.

As a rule, the chiefs were the only proprietors of the soil. They were supposed to own not only the soil and all that grew upon it, not only the fish of the sea, but also the time and labor of their people.

The accepted theory was that all the lands belonged to the king, of whom they were held by the high chiefs in fief; i. e., on condition of rendering him tribute and military service. Each of these district chieftains divided up his territory among an inferior order of petty chiefs, who owed to him the same service and obedience that he owed to the king.

In this way the land was subdivided again and again, while at the bottom of the scale were the miserable serfs who tilled the soil. These last were simply tenants at will, liable to be dispossessed of their little holdings at any time, or to be stripped of their personal property at the requisition of the chief.

WAR.

Wars were frequent and cruel. There were numerous wars to settle the succession to the sovereignty of an Island, as well as contests between the head chiefs of the principal Islands. For example, the chiefs of Oahu often contended with those of Maui for the possession of Molokai, and there were frequent wars between the chiefs of Hawaii and those of Maui for the district of Hana.

Their weapons consisted of long spears, pololu; javelins, ihe; daggers, pahoa, and clubs made of hard wood. They never used the bow in war, but slings made of cocoanut fiber or human hair were extensively employed. They used no shields, but became wonderfully expert in catching or parrying spears thrown at them.

Sometimes they engaged in sea fights, with large fleets of canoes on each side. In general no quarter was given to the vanquished, but there were certain sanctuaries called puuhonuas, which afforded an inviolable refuge in time of war. Cannibalism was regarded by them with horror and detestation.

RELIGION.

The religious system of the ancient Hawaiians was very similar to that of other Polynesians. It consisted in a great measure of nature worship. To their minds all the powers of nature, especially those that are mysterious and terrible, were conceived of as living and spiritual beings. Thus the volcano, the thunder, the whirlwind, the meteor and the shark were feared as being either the embodiment or the work of malevolent spirits (akuas).

The four great gods, Kane, Kanaloa, Ku and Lono, who were worshiped throughout Polynesia, originally belonged to this class, as is shown by the cosmogony of the New Zealand Maoris. Among these four Kane held the primacy. The souls of great chiefs went to his abode after death.

Pele, the dread goddess of volcanoes, and her numerous family, dwelt in the crater of Kilauea, but also caused the eruptions of Mauna Loa and Hualalai. In Hawaii she was feared more than any other deity.

One large class of akuas were supposed to be incarnated in certain species of animals, which were feared or believed to have a supernatural character, as the shark.

Another class of deities, which included most of the professional gods, consisted of deified spirits of the dead. The Aumakuas were tutelar deities, attached to particular families, who were often deified ancestors. Sickness and disease were generally caused by their displeasure.

CEREMONIAL SYSTEM.

There were two hereditary orders of priests, endowed with lands, who kept up the elaborate liturgy and ritual of the temples, and also preserved whatever knowledge of astronomy, history, medicine, etc., had been handed down to them.

The tabu system covered the entire daily life of the people with a vast network of minute regulations and penalties. Thus, it was tabu for men and women to eat together, or even to have their food cooked in the same oven. Women were forbidden to eat pork, bananas, cocoanuts, or turtle and certain kinds of fish, on pain of death. There were certain tabu days when no canoe could be launched, no fire lighted, and when no sound could be made, on pain of death. Even dogs had to be muzzled and fowls shut up in calabashes for twenty-four hours at a time.

The human sacrifice was the crowning act of the ancient worship, offered only on certain solemn occasions, and at the temples (Heiaus) of the highest class.

Whenever a temple was to be dedicated, a new house to be built for the chief, or a new war canoe to be launched, many of the people fled to the mountains and lay hidden till the danger was past.

Besides the regular priesthood, there were many kinds of medicine men, necromancers or mediums, sorcerers and diviners, who preyed upon the superstition and credulity of their countrymen. The belief that all forms of disease were caused by evil spirits, and their fear of being "prayed to death" (anaana), kept the people in a state of abject fear.

There is too much reason to believe that during several centuries preceding the discovery of the Islands they had been deteriorating in many respects. As the historian Fornander has stated:

"It was an era of strife, dynastic ambitions, internal and external wars on each Island, with all their deteriorating consequences of anarchy, depopulation, social and intellectual degradation, loss of liberty, loss of knowledge, loss of arts."

DISCOVERY OF THEISLANDS.

It seems to be almost certain that one Juan Gaetano, a Spanish navigator, saw Hawaii in 1555 A.D. A group of islands, the largest of which was called La Mesa, was laid down in the old Spanish charts in the same latitude as the Hawaiian Islands, but 10 degrees too far east.

On the eighteenth of January, 1778, Captain Cook, the great navigator, while sailing due north from the Society Islands, discovered the Islands of Oahu and Kauai. The next day he landed at Waimea, Kauai, where he held friendly intercourse with the natives, and afterwards laid in supplies at Niihau. He finally sailed for Alaska, Feb. 2d. The Hawaiians looked upon him as an incarnation of the god Lono, and upon his crew as supernatural beings. Returning from the Arctic the following winter, he anchored in Kealakekua bay, January 17th, 1779. Here he received divine honors and was loaded with munificent presents of the best that the islands could produce. By his rash and arbitrary conduct, however, he involved himself in an affray with the natives, in which he was killed on February 14th, 1779.

The spot where he fell is now marked by an appropriate monument.

EARLY TRADERS.

For seven years after the death of Captain Cook no foreign vessel ventured to touch at the Islands. After that time many of the vessels engaged in the fur trade on the northwest coast of America called at the Islands for supplies on their way to Canton or ran down here to spend the winter. Waimea, Kauai, and Kealakekua bay were the two harbors most frequented by them. Fire arms, powder and shot were the articles most in demand among the natives.

THE RISE OF KAMEHAMEHA.

At the death of Kalaniopuu, Moi, of Hawaii, in 1782, a civil war broke out, which rent the Island into three petty sovereignties, which were presently reduced to two.

The districts of Kohala and Kona were held by Kamehameha, a nephew of the late king, while the other districts were loyal to his son, Keoua. After a sanguinary war lasting nine years (during which Kamehameha had ravaged West Maui and conquered the district of Hamakua), he became master of the whole of the Island of Hawaii by the assassination of his rival, Keoua, at Kawaihae, in 1791.

VISITS OF VANCOUVER.

The name of Capt. George Vancouver is still cherished as that of a wise and generous benefactor to these Islands. During his survey of the northwest coast of America in 1792-1794, he made three visits to the Islands. He uniformly refused to sell fire arms or ammunition to the chiefs, but gave them useful plants and seeds, and presented Kamehameha with the first cattle and sheep ever landed in the Islands. On the 25th of February, 1794, Kamehameha and his chiefs voluntarily placed Hawaii under the protection of Great Britain, in token of which the British flag was hoisted on shore at Kealakekua.

CONQUEST OF OAHU.

After the death of Kahekili, the sovereign of the leeward Islands, in 1794, a civil war broke out between his brother Kaeo and his son Kalanikupule, in which the former was killed. Soon after Kalanikupule treacherously massacred Captains Brown and Gordon, who had assisted him in the late war, and seized their vessels in the harbor of Honolulu.

Having put his guns and ammunition on board, he proposed to sail immediately for Hawaii, in company with a fleet of war canoes, to attack Kamehameha. But the English sailors who had been reserved to navigate the two vessels, suddenly rose at midnight, recaptured them, and sailed for Hawaii, where they informed Kamehameha of all that had occurred.

Kamehameha saw that his opportunity had now come, and lost no time in mustering all the war canoes and fighting men of Hawaii.

After overrunning West Maui and touching at Molokai, he landed in Waialea bay, Oahu, in the latter part of April, 1795. There he spent a few days in organizing his army before marching up the valley of Nuuanu, where Kalanikupule had prepared to make his last stand. The Oahu warriors were soon routed and pursued up the valley. Some of the fugitives were hemmed in and driven over the "Pali," or precipice, at the head of Nuuanu, a little north of the present road.

This victory made Kamehameha master of all the Islands except Kauai and Niihau. With the exception of a short insurrection in Hawaii, there was peace during the rest of his reign.

DECREASE OF POPULATION.

The decrease of the population during this period must have been very rapid. Vancouver in 1792, Broughton in 1796, and Trumbull in 1801, were strongly impressed with the misery of the common people and their rapid decrease in numbers. This was partly the result of wars, but was still more due to the diseases and vices introduced by foreigners. In the summer of 1804 a pestilence, supposed to have been the cholera, carried off half of the population of Oahu. Botany Bay convicts had introduced the art of distilling liquor before the year 1800, and drunkenness had become very prevalent.

THE SANDAL-WOOD TRADE.

During the first quarter of the present century the sandal-wood trade was at its height. This wood was in great request at Canton, where it was sold for incense and the manufacture of fancy articles. It was purchased by the picul of 133-1/2 pounds, the price varying from eight to ten dollars for the picul. This wood, while it lasted, was a mine of wealth for the chiefs, by means of which they were enabled to buy fire arms, liquor, boats and schooners, as well as silks and other Chinese goods, for which they paid exorbitant prices.

THE CESSION OF KAUAI.

In March, 1810, Kaumualii, the last King of Kauai, visited Honolulu in the ship Albatross, Capt. Nathan Winship, in order to have an interview with Kamehameha. It was then arranged between the two chiefs that Kaumualii should continue to hold his Island in fief of Kamehameha during his life-time, on condition of paying tribute.

RUSSIAN AGGRESSIONS.

During the year 1815 a Dr.Scheffer was sent to the Islands by Baranoff, the Russian Governor of Alaska. He built a fort at Waimea, for Kaumualii, on which the Russian colors were displayed, and urged him to place himself under the protection of Russia. On hearing of this, Kamehameha sent a large force to Honolulu, where a substantial fort was built during the year 1816. He also sent orders to Kaumualii to expel Dr.Scheffer, which was done.

DEATH OF KAMEHAMEHA.

KamehamehaI. died on May 8th, 1819, at Kailua, Hawaii. His work was done. He had consolidated the group under a strong government, put an end to feudal anarchy and petty wars, and thus prepared the way for civilization and Christianity.

ABOLITION OF IDOLATRY.

In accordance with his will, his eldest son, Liholiho, was installed as king, with the title of KamehamehaII., and Kaahumanu, his favorite queen, as premier, to exercise equal powers with the young prince, whose dissolute and reckless character is well known.

Their first important act was the abolition of the tabu system, which took place at a great feast held at Kailua in October, 1819, at which men and women ate together in public for the first time. This was followed by the general burning of idols and temples throughout the group.

Kekuaokalani, a cousin of Liholiho, put himself at the head of the adherents of the ancient faith, but was defeated and slain in the battle of Kuamoo, fought about December 20th, 1819.

THE ARRIVAL OF THE AMERICAN MISSIONARIES.

The pioneer company of American missionaries to these Islands arrived at Kailua, April 4th, 1820. They soon reduced the language to writing and commenced printing the first book in January, 1822. They found in the Hawaiians an amiable and highly receptive race, eager for knowledge and easily influenced for good or evil. The principal opposition to reform was made by foreigners.

THE WHALING FLEET.

The first whale ship called at Honolulu in 1820, and was soon followed by many others. Their number soon increased to 100 every year, and the furnishing of supplies for them became the chief resource of the Islands, as the sandal-wood became exhausted.

DEATH OF LIHOLIHO.

The young king, accompanied by his wife and six chiefs, embarked for England, November 27, 1823, on an English whale ship. On their arrival in London they received the utmost hospitality and courtesy, but in a few weeks the whole party was attacked by the measles, of which the king and queen both died.

REBELLION ON KAUAI.

Meanwhile, on the death of Kaumualii, a rebellion broke out in Kauai, led by his son, Humehume. A desperate assault was made on the fort at Waimea, which was repulsed with loss. Over 1,000 warriors were sent down from Oahu and Maui, and a battle was fought near Hanapepe, August 18th, 1824, in which the rebels were routed.

VISIT OF LORD BYRON.

The frigate "Blonde," commanded by Lord Byron, cousin of the poet of that name, was commissioned to convey the remains of the late king and queen, together with their retinue, back to their native land. It arrived at Honolulu, May 6th, 1825, when the royal remains were deposited in a mausoleum with impressive funeral ceremonies.

Kauikeaouli, the younger brother of Liholiho, was proclaimed king with the title of KamehamehaIII., and Kaahumanu as regent during his minority. Her administration was signalized by a series of outrages at Lahaina and Honolulu, committed by a depraved class of foreigners who resented certain regulations made to restrict public prostitution.

Com.Jones visited the Islands in the "Peacock" in 1826, and concluded the first treaty between the Hawaiian Islands and the United States. The next year the first written laws were published against murder, theft, adultery and gambling.

THE ROMAN CATHOLIC MISSION.

The first Roman Catholic missionaries arrived at Honolulu, July 7th, 1827, on the ship "Comet," from Bordeaux, and soon gathered a congregation. They were members of the so-called "Picpusian Order," or "Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary." Unfortunately, misunderstandings arose, and from a mistaken belief that they were fomenting discord and sedition, the chiefs caused them to be deported to San Pedro, California, in January, 1832.

ACCESSION OF KAMEHAMEHAIII.

Kaahumanu died June 5th, 1832, and was succeeded by Kinau, half-sister of the king. The king's minority was declared to be at an end in March, 1833. A tract of land was leased to Ladd & Co. in 1835, and about the same time a silk plantation was commenced by Peck & Titcomb. Cotton was raised and manufactured on a small scale at Kailua, Hawaii.

PERSECUTIONS.

During the next few years the chiefs persisted in a harsh and unjustifiable policy, which imperiled the independence of the country.

On the return of the two banished priests from California, in April, 1837, they were ordered to return in the same vessel in which they had come, and were obliged to go on board of it. Meanwhile the British sloop of war "Sulphur," Captain Belcher, and the French frigate "Venus," Captain Du Petit Thouars, arrived and interposed in behalf of the priests. As a compromise, they were landed again on condition that they should leave by the first favorable opportunity. Again on the 3d of November, another priest, Rev.L. Maigret, and a lay brother arrived from Valparaiso, but were not allowed to land. Finally Revs. Maigret and Bachelot left in a schooner for Bonabe, Micronesia. From 1835 to 1839 the persecution of native converts was resumed, but was at last put an end to by the declaration of rights promulgated June 4th, 1839, and the king's edict of toleration, issued June 17th.

VISIT OF THE "ARTEMISE."

In consequence of these proceedings the French frigate "Artemise," Captain Laplace, was ordered to Honolulu, where it arrived July 9th, 1839.

Captain Laplace immediately sent the Government a peremptory letter demanding that full religious liberty be proclaimed, and that the sum of $20,000 be brought on board by noon of the 12th, or hostilities would commence. The required treaty was signed and the money promptly paid, and on the 16th, a commercial convention was also signed.