Narrative of a tour through Hawaii, or, Owhyhee: with observations on the natural of the Sandwich Islands. And remarks on the manners, customs, traditions, history, and language of the inhabitants / By William Ellis.

  • Ellis, William, 1794-1872.
Date:
1827
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Narrative of a tour through Hawaii, or, Owhyhee: with observations on the natural of the Sandwich Islands. And remarks on the manners, customs, traditions, history, and language of the inhabitants / By William Ellis. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    —Far different are the impressions produced on the minds of the missionaries who have resided for some years in the islands. Having acquired their language* observed their domestic economy* and become acquaint- ed with the nature of their government* the sanguinary character of their frequent wars* their absurd and oppressive system of idolatry, and the prevalence of human sacrifices* they are led* from the indubitable facts which have come under their notice* to more just and accurate conclusions;—conclusions in awful accordance with the faithful testimony of divine revelation. Although ten in number* only eight of the Sandwich Islands are inhabited* the other two being barren rocks* principally resorted to by fishermen. They lie within the tropic of Cancer* between 18° 50' and 22° 20' north latitude* and between 154° 53' and 160° 15' west longitude from Greenwich* about one-third of the dis- tance from the western coast of Mexico* towards the eastern shores of China. The Sandwich Islands are larger than the Society Islands* or any of the neigh- bouring clusters. Hawaii* the principal island of the group, resembles in shape an equilateral triangle* and is somewhat less than three hundred miles in circumference* being about ninety-seven miles in length, seventy-eight in breadth* two hundred and eighty miles in circumference, and covering a surface of 4000 square miles. It is the most southern of the whole* and* on account of its great elevation* is usually the first land seen from vessels approaching the Sandwich Islands. Its broad base and regular form renders its outline different from that of any other island in the Pacific with which we are acquainted. The mountains of Hawaii*