THE KAMEHAMEHAS. HE Sandwich Islands or in other words the Hawaiian the Hawaiian Kingdom-Hawaii the Home of the Kamehamehas. Kamehameha I, a man of shrewd sense and courage, formed the islands into one kingdom, and in 1810 caused them to be placed under British protection. Under Kamehameha II idolatry was abolished throughout the islands. Kamehameha III granted a constitution, consisting of King, Assembly of nobles, and representative council. In 1843 the independence of the Hawaiian Kingdom was declared. Kamehameha IV came on in 1854, and after a brief and useful reign of nine years, was succeeded by his brother, Kamehameha V. Lunalilo was elected in 1873, Kalakaua in 1874. On the death of Kalakaua I, January 20th, 1891, his sister, Princess Liliuokalani, became Queen of Hawaii. The first missionaries came in 1820. In forty years. the entire Hawaiian nation was taught Christianity, besides learning to read and write, to cipher and to But there was good material to work withnever the like in any known heathen land,-and the finest climate the sun ever shone upon! A guileless, happy, laughter-loving, flower-loving, songloving, willing-to-be-taught race, with hands and feet and heart eager to help on the work! No dearth of fruit in the valleys and on the hill-sides-no scarcity of fish, no lack of water! This chain of islands runs from southeast to northwest, and lies in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. While the largest of the group, Hawaii, has an area of nearly 5000 square miles, the next largest, Kauai, has but 780, Maui 750, Oahu 600, Niihau, the smallest of the seven, 110. There are a few islets. The entire population is about 90,000. These islands are of volcanic origin, and contain the largest volcanoes, both active and quiescent, in the world. The most prominent physical features of the group are the two lofty mountain peaks of Hawaii, Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa, each of which is 14,000 feet in height. Kilauea, on the Mauna Loa mountain, the largest active volcano in the world, has a crater nine miles in circumference, and is 6000 feet above sea-level. On Maui, the crater of Hale-a-ka-la (House of the Sun,) by far the largest extinct crater known, is nearly thirty miles in circumference, and stands 10,000 feet above sea-level. The channels between the islands are very rough, and there are few good harbors, Honolulu being the chief one. |