Three Accounts of the Vasil'ev-Shismarev Expedition of 1819-1822

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with the telegraph that the king some time ago had established his residence on Vahu [Oahu] Island, having an excellent harbour, and that we were to go there for this reason.

We approached the small harbor of Tiatatua toward three o'clock, and were completely becalmed. At this time we saw a large pirogue [dug-out canoe] accompanied by a multitude of small ones coming to us from the shore. Soon they approached the side, and the governor of the island stepped on deck, the uncle of the king, known under the name of Mer-Adems.³ Such a tremendous human figure we had not before had occasion to see. He was seven feet tall and correspondingly fat. He presented himself to us dressed in a brown frockcoat, the same kind of breeches, and with a round straw hat. By the way, he was without any stocking or shoes. He spoke English rather fluently. He brought us presents of coconuts, bananas, pineapples, watermelons, patatas or sweet potatoes, and taro, a root constituting the main food of these islanders, and about which I shall talk in more detail later. Our sailors traded such fruit from other islanders for various knickknacks and walrus teeth, but the natives did not value them very highly and took more willingly Spanish piasters, valuing them, incidently, very low. They remained with us until five o'clock. Then, a rather fresh wind arising from the NE forced them to leave, and toward morning we approached Vahu Island. But getting becalmed here, we were obliged to spend the night at sea. After midnight, there arose a light SW breeze with which we

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very brilliant vegetable colors. Having undressed, the king lay down on the mats and invited us to do the same. Then he started to inquire of us through the interpreter, the Frenchman Rivés, about Russia, whereby he expressed a desire to visit the Emperor Alexander; about our American colonies, known to him from the expedition of some fortune hunter, Doctor Sheffer [Georg Anton Shäffer], who presuaded the manager Baranov [of the Russian-American Company] that there was nothing easier than to occupy Vahu Island from which he was exiled by the late father of the king; and finally, about the purpose of our expedition, which he could in no way understand, and asked, what concern is it of our Emperor whether water or land are found in the North? Our captains asked his permission to set up tents on shore for astronomical observations, and he immediately ordered a place set aside for us on the right side of the fortress. When we wanted to take our leave, he took it into his head to invite us to his yacht. He got dressed again, and went with us on our tender. On the yacht, we were treated to wine and fruit. When we left, he ordered a salute of five shots, which were answered by as many from the "Discovery."

The next day, His Hawaiin Majesty honored us with his visit. He appeared in the uniform of a British admiral in a straw hat and in shoes [without stockings]. He was accompanied by the above mentioned Kraimoku, Governor Poki, like the king, in the uniform of the English fleet, and his favorite wife, Kamehameha [Kamamalu] in a white satin dress although her hair was made up in the Hawaiin manner, and her feet were without

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they stand in three rows, and all suddenly make the same body movements according to the rhythm. The musicians, or singers, stood behind them.

This was the political, moral, and social condition of the Sandwich or Hawaiian Islands in 1821, having undergone big changes in every respect since that time.

The Sandwich language is soft, pleasant to the ear, and every easily pronounced by foreigners. It has very many vowels in its words, but "r" is almost not heard at all. On all the islands, they speak a common language, and some differ only in pronunciation or lack of letters, as for instance, on Vahu Island where there is no letter "k" at all, they instead, use a "t"; for instance on Ovahi, a priest is called kahuna and on Vahu, tahuna; on it, too, the queens, Kahumanna and Kalihameha are called Tahumanna and Talihameha.

On April 3rd, we were ready to sail, but then the king sent someone to summon our doctors. His favorite wife, Queen ]]Kalihameha]] [Kamamalu] suddenly fell sick. Immediately we dispatched both doctors on shore. They found that the attacks were really dangerous, whereupon our sailing was postponed. She was in danger until the seventh, then she recovered, and we hastened to leave this beautiful island, having the best climate on the globe and freed from all the tormentors of the human race living in the tropics such as mosquitos, poisonous gnats, snakes, and others, to go back to the North for misery and deprivations.