mss142-vasilevShishmarev-i5-015

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On March 24 we sighted, entering the harbor, a squadron
of small vessels under the Sandwich flag, consisting of two
brigs and four schooners. One of them, sailing in front, was
the yacht belonging to the king, on which he himself was. This
yacht was bought by him from an American trader for 80,000
piasters, and although it was decorated inside with gold leaf
and mirrors and had 16 copper carronades of 12-pound caliber,
it was not worth, however, by any means, such an enormous sum.
The king, in the company of his adviser by the name of Krai-
moku, detailed to him by his late father, went immediately to
visit his sick stepmother upon landing. Following him, we,
too, went ashore, wishing to pay him a visit there. We were
conducted to the upper floor. We though that we would see in
the rooms of the queen-regent, royal adornment, if not at least
some kind of furnishings. How surprised we were when our eyes
met naked walls and a large, empty room in all that place.
The floor was covered with mats upon which, in the middle of
the room, lay the sick queen, Kahumanna. She was treated by
women in the Sandwich manner, that is, they pressed her stom-
ach with all their might with their knees, and at the same
time, not only these women physicians, but about a dozen other
women sitting in a corner of the room, howled and cried in a
heart-rending voice. To this cry answered also the innumerable
crowd of natives situated below. When the king entered, his
stepmother lifted her head and started to cry. This was a
new signal to the general outcry in which the king himself