528 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS they are demonstrative and laughter-loving, and are capable of a fair degree of intellectual and moral elevation. Their songs or meles man- ifest genuine poetic feeling. In arithmetic, geometry, and music they show special apti- tude. They are not naturally an industrious race, but they now cultivate the soil with con- siderable skill ; they manufacture sugar, molas- ses, salt, and arrowroot, and work in iron and other metals. At the time of Cook's visits they had abandoned cannibalism, but were characterized by licentiousness and brutality, and living under the reign of terror imposed by the cruel tyranny of the tabu. Their char- acter is not yet essentially civilized, although it has been much modified by education. The population of the islands is steadily decreasing. In 1779 it was roughly estimated by Cook at 400,000, which was doubtless a great exagger- ation. An estimate in 1822 gave 142,000. Official censuses have since been made at dif- ferent periods, which gave: in 1832, 130,313; in 1836, 108,579; in 1850, 84,165; in 1853, 73,138; in 1860, 69,800; in 1866, 62,959; in 1872, 56,899. In the 21 years from 1832 to 1853 the decrease was 44 per cent. ; in the 19 years from 1853 to 1872 it was 22 per cent. This lessening rate of decrease, however, must be in part attributed to the increasing number of half-breeds and of foreigners. The number of foreigners upon the islands in 1850 was 1,962; in 1853, 2,119; in 1860, 2,716; in 1866, 4,194 ; in 1872, 5,366 (1,938 Chinese, 889 Amer- icans, 619 English, 395 Portuguese, 234 Ger- mans, and 88 French). There were 51,531 natives (2,487 half-breeds). The decrease of the aborigines is due to many causes, of which those now principally active may be traced to their contact with the whites. The main cause is that foreign diseases are extremely fatal to them. In 1853 the smallpox carried off 1,200 out of a population of 2,800 in Ewa, near Honolulu. Measles, influenza, and venereal diseases have been prevalent and fatal ; licen- tiousness prevails in spite of missionary effort, and is a considerable check upon population. Diseases of the heart and lungs, dysentery, fe- vers, and leprosy are frequent. A hospital has been established of late years upon the W. part of Molokai for the seclusion of lepers. The discontinuance of ancient sports, the introduc- tion of foreign dress, and the rapid change in the habits of the people, formerly in natural re- lation with their circumstances, have tended strongly in the same way. The introduction of clothes appears to have been especially fatal, the Hawaiian being utterly careless about pre- cautions respecting dampness and ventilation. The pure native race seems destined to disap- pear, and the half-caste population is increas- ing rapidly. The marriages of the Chinese and Americans with the native women are usual- ly fruitful of healthy children; but marriages between the natives are not prolific. Educa- tion has been diffused among the Hawaiians to an extent perhaps unexampled elsewhere. Of 8,931 children between the ages of 6 and 15, 8,287 were attending 245 schools of various grades in 1872. There is one teacher for eve- ry 27 children in the group, and scarcely a Ha- waiian of proper age cannot read and write his own language. Comparatively little effort has been made to teach the natives English. The schools receive subsidies from the government, and are under its supervision. A number of newspapers, in Hawaiian and English, are sus- tained. The people maintain churches by vol- untary effort, and are extremely liberal in their contributions for various religious objects. A large proportion of the inhabitants are commu- nicants. There is however a tendency to sub- side into the habits and practices of barbarism, and the native superstitions are with difficulty kept in check. But life and property are as secure as anywhere in the world, and capital offences are extremely rare. In 1820 the first missionaries from America arrived at the isl- ands. There was no written language; the land was owned by the king and the chiefs, to whom the people were absolutely subject. But Kamehameha II. had just abolished idolatry, and he, and still more his successor, were friendly to the mission, which soon gained great success. The islands rapidly assumed the appearance of a civilized country. In 1822 the language was reduced to writing; and since that time more than 200 works, mostly educational and religious, have been publish- ed in Hawaiian. The total number of Protes- tant missionaries sent to the islands, clerical and lay, including their wives, is 156. The cost of the mission up to 1869 was $1,220,000. It has been formally discontinued, but a consider- able number of the missionaries still remain, supported by their churches or engaged in business. The whole number of persons ad- mitted to the Hawaiian Protestant churches up to 1873 inclusive was 67,792; and the total membership of the same churches in 1873 was 12,283. Several of the Protestant missionaries and their children have filled places in the gov- ernment. In 1827 a French Catholic mission was established at Honolulu. In 1829 the Ha- waiian government directed the priests to close their chapels ; some of the proselytes were confined in irons, and Roman Catholic mis- sionaries arriving afterward were not allowed to land. In 1839 the French government sent a frigate to Honolulu, and compelled Kameha- meha III. to declare the Catholic religion free to all. The whole number of the Catholic population of the islands in 1872 was stated to be 23,000. An English Reformed Catho- lic mission was sent out in 1862, and met with favor from Kamehameha V., who was less in sympathy with the Protestant missionaries than his predecessor had been. An Anglican bishop of Hawaii was appointed, who remained till 1870. Since his return in that year to England the mission has attracted less interest, and its success has been small. These islands were known to the Spaniards more than a cen-
