In 1819, the great father of his dynasty died; and his idols died with him. Pagan as he was himself, his nation had outgrown Paganism; and there was a tabula rasa for any better creed.
2. With the reign of Liho-Liho began the influence of the missionaries—American, English, and French; the American and English with their respective forms of Protestantism, the French with Romanism. I have no inclination to meddle with the distasteful details of these mischievous contests. The ethnological result is the triple character of the influence now in operation. In politics, Hawaii is independent; independent and semi-constitutional; with its independence guaranteed by England, America, and France. In religion it is Protestant—with Romanism tolerated and something more; tolerated and making way amongst the people.
3. The improvement of the agriculture of the Sandwich Islands is going on steadily. Silk and sugar are beginning to be grown; and a healthier trade is replacing the sandal-wood monopolies.
I have admitted the previous notice of the character of Hawaiian civilization for the sake of comparing it with the present state and actual prospects of the islands. Cook, when he visited them, put the population at four hundred thousand—an exaggeration. Perhaps it came to half as much. In 1832 and 1836, there were censuses; of which the result was as follows:—
POPULATION.
| NAME. | AREA. | 1832. | 1836. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hawaii | 4,600 | 45,792 | 39,364 |
| Mowee | 620 | 35,062 | 24,199 |
| Lanai | 100 | 1,600 | 1,200 |
| Molokoi | 190 | 6,600 | 6,000 |
| Kakoolawe | 60 | 80 | 80 |
| Woahoo | 530 | 29,755 | 27,809 |
| Kanai | 500 | 10,977 | 8,934 |
| Niihau | 90 | 1,047 | 995 |
| Whole group | 6,090 | 130,313 | 108,579 |
This gives us a reduction; a reduction which has increased by 1840. This, I suppose, is the one from which Prichard takes his numbers, for two of the islands—
| For Maui | 18,000 |
| —— Woahoo | 20,000 |
Emigration will not account for this decrease. This we may see at once, from the proportion in 1840—the figures and reasoning are Sir G. Simpson's—in the single island of Kanai, between that part of the population which was under, and that part which was above, eighteen years of age.