THE first teacher of the Hawaiian College at Lahainaluna, Maui, Sandwich Islands, has in possession a mass of old Hawaiian Meles (Songs) which he gathered and wrote down with much care from the mouths of natives. They are somewhat after the old style of the old Greek Rhapsodists, and they are said, by competent judges who have seen them in manuscript, to be good specimens of the decent sort of unwritten Hawaiian Literature, containing the curious jumble of Hawaiian mythology, and all the Norse-like fables of their giant kings and gods. But like the talk of Gratiano in the Play, it is all an infinite deal of confused nonsense and nothing. All that's worth preserving is as two grains of wheat in two bushels of chaff; you shall seek all day ere you find them; and when you have them they are not worth the search.

A later mele, on the creation, by Ke-Kupuohi, an old chief woman of Hawaii, composed after hearing read, for the first time, the first chapter of Genesis, Mr. Andrews has translated, as follows:

A MELE ON THE CREATION.

God breathed into the empty space,
And widely spread his power forth,
The spirit flying, hovered o'er;

A spirit 'tis, a shadow of what is good,
A shadow of heaven is the Holy Spirit.

His power grasped the moveable, it was fast,
Fast was the separating mass, lest it should move;
It moved not, God made it fast:

It was fast by the power of His will.

The earth became embodied,

The islands also rose, they rose to view, The land was bare of verdure,

And desolate the earth.

'Twas earth alone;

Earth also was man,

'Twas God that made him,

By him also were all things made.

He caused to grow the verdure; The earth was decked with beauty, He adorned with flower, the shrubs. Beautiful was the earth From the hand of God.

God made this wide-extended heaven; He made the heavens, long, long ago; He established the heavens a dwelling-place; He dwelt alone, Jehovah by himself, The Spirit with him.

His power created multitudes, Thousands, myriads, numberless,

Until the heaven was full, and full the earth;

Filled with righteousness, with power, with goodness,
With glory, with holiness, with mercy;
Great were all his works.

Through God's abounding goodness,
Vast are the extended heavens,
Great are the heavens and the earth,
Great are the mountains, and the sea;
The work of God alone,
And his alone the power.

He fixed the sun his place;

But the islands moved, moved the islands,
With sudden, noiseless, silent speed;
We see not his skillful work,

God is the great support that holds the earth. The following is by the same woman, who was one of the wives of Kalainopu, the reigning King of Hawaii, when the island was first visited by Capt. Cook. When she composed it she was on a visit to Mr. Ruggles, at Kuapehu, where there was growing a luxuriant grape-vine, which was the occasion of this mele. The fragment of it that follows, is a good specimen of the old Hawaiian poetry Christianized, and suggested probably to the mind of this ancient survivor of heathenism, by the New Testament figure of Christ as the true vine:

Once only hath that appeared which is glorious; It is wonderful, it is altogether holy;

It is a blooming glory; its nature is unwithering; Rare is its stock, most singular, unrivaled,

The branch that adheres to it becomes fruitful;

The fruit comes forth fruit; it is good fruit,
Whence its character is clearly made known.
Let the branch, purely making fair show, be cut off,
Lest the stock should be injuriously encumbered;
Lest it be also by it wrongfully burdened.

One of the graduates of the Lahainaluna Seminary wrote an ode, a sort of funeral elegy, on the death of a son of Dr. Judd, a translation of which is inserted in Mr. Jarves' History of the Sandwich Islands, that is truly touching and beautiful. Some others have occasionally appeared elsewhere that possess considerable merit. I have been not a little amused with perusing some intercepted letters that passed at one time between sundry lads of the Lahainaluna Seminary and certain of the lasses of Lahaina. They are too good specimens of the Hawaiian madrigal, and of an Hawaiian's sensibility to love, to pass unnoticed. Anacreon himself certainly never did better in an ode to his mistress. We transcribe some extracts, taken down as Rev. Mr. Alexander, the missionary teacher, was interpreting them for our amusement. The first is from one of the damsels of Lahaina, to her lover, up at the Seminary.

Love to you, who speakest sweetly, whom I did kiss. My warm affections go out to you with your love. My mind is oppressed in consequence of not having seen you these times. Much affection for thee dwelling there where the sun causeth the head to ache. Pity for thee in returning to your house, destitute as you supposed. I and she went to the place where we had sat in the meeting house, and said she, let us weep two wept for you. And we conversed about you. We went to bathe in the bread-fruit yard: the wind blew softly from Lahainaluna, and your image came down with it. We wept for you. Thou only art our food when we are hungry. We are satisfied with your love.

So we

It is better to conceal this; and lest dogs should prowl after it, and it should be found out, when you have read this letter, tear it up

FROM ONE OF THE LADS, BOKI.

Love to thee, thou daughter of the Pandanus of Lanahuli. Thou hina hina,* which declarest the divisions of the wind. Thou cloudless sun of the noon. Thou most precious of the daughters of the earth.-Thou beauty of the clear nights of Lehua.-Thou refreshing fountain of Keipi.—

* Supposed to mean a beautiful flower that grows on the tops of the mountains, where the sea and land breezes meet.

Love to thee, Oh Pomare, thou royal woman of the Pacific here. Thou art glorious with ribands flying gracefully in the gentle breeze of Puna. Where art thou, my beloved, who art anointed with the fragrance of glory? Much love to thee, who dost draw out my soul as thou dwellest in the shady bread-fruits of Lahaina. O thou who art joined to my affection, who art knit to me in the hot days of Lahainaluna.

Hark! when I returned great was my love. I was overwhelmed with love like one drowning. When I lay down to sleep I could not sleep; my mind floated after thee. Like the strong South wind of Lahaina, such is the strength of my love to thee, when it comes. Hear me; at the time the bell rings for meeting on Wednesday, great was my love to you. I dropped my hoe and ran away from my work. I secretly ran to the stream of water, and there I wept for my love to thee. Hearken-my love resembles the cold water far inland. Forsake not thou this our love. Keep it quietly, as I do keep it quietly here.

A THIRD FROM ONE OF THE STUDENTS.

Love to thee, by reason of whom my heart sleeps not night nor day, all the days of my dwelling here. O thou beautiful one, for whom my love shall never ceasc. Here also is this-at the time I heard you were going to Wailuku, I was enveloped in exceeding great love. And when I heard you had really gone, great was my regret for you, and exceeding great my love. My appearance was like a sick person who cannot answer when spoken to. I would not go down to the sea again, because I supposed you had not returned. I feared lest I should see all the places where you and I had conversed together, and walked together, and I should fall in the streets on account of the greatness of my love to you. I however did go down, and I was continually longing with love to you. Your father said to me, won't you eat with us? I refused, saying I was full. But the truth was I had eaten nothing. My great love to you, that was the thing which could alone satisfy me. Presently, however, I went to the place of K—, and there I heard you had arrived. I was a little refreshed by hearing this. But my eyes still hung down. I longed to see you, but could not find you, though I waited till dark. Now, while I am writing, my tears are dropping down for you; now my tears are my friends, and my affection to you, O thou who wilt forever be loved. Here also is this: consent thou to my desire, and write me, that I may know your love. My love to thee is great, thou splendid flower of Lanakahula.

Now we have no hesitation in saying that these love-lorn products of Lahainaluna and Lahainalalo, meant for the eye of the loved alone, but accidentally brought to my inspection, will compare favorably with many a sonnet, of world-wide notoriety,

"Made to his mistress's eyebrow,"

by the poet-lover, in lands of chivalry and song. These are the strictly natural, unsophisticated, and therefore by no means silly effusions of the youthful Hawaiian mind under the liquescent process of that almost universal mental solvent, of which Coleridge says,

All thoughts, all passions, all delights,
Whatever stirs this mortal frame,
All are but ministers of love,

And feed his sacred flame.

Perhaps it is hardly fair to make such a use of intercepted Hawaiian madrigals, but they will have interest for the curious and the philosophic, as well as for the swelling heart of youth, be: cause they prove, if nothing else, how the human mind, under the sway of the passion of Love, as well as under the teachings of Religion, expresses itself after the same way, and evinces the same phenomena, whether in polite Greek, or protean English, or simple Hawaiian.

Let us now compare with these, sui generis, specimens of Cupid's Epistolography at the Sandwich Islands, the following epistle from the same part of the world to the writer of this paper, elicited by only the ordinary sentiments of sincere friendship, and perhaps Christian esteem.

HILO, HAWAII.

Love to you, Mr. C. Great is our love to you, in consequence of our dwelling together so pleasantly at Hilo here. Therefore, for our love to you, we have made a palule for you.

We remember all your words, and your commands. It is our mind to keep them all.

This also. We are living together pleasantly and in peace, we school-girls of Mrs. Coan. If you should hear we are doing those things which are not right, then your heart would be heavy.

327

This also.- We remember our pleasant walks with you in Hilo.

Will you pray much that we may live in the peace (literally cool shade) of our Lord!

By the waves and the winds of the ocean is borne this our thought of love to thee. From the Girls of the Boarding School at Hilo By me, KALAHA

Could anything be more interesting than such ingenuous, child-like, workings of the native Polynesian mind, in the first generation after it has come forth in its grave clothes, as it were, out of the utter darkness of heathenism? The course of Divine Providence and grace, in the regeneration of the Sandwich Islands, is a subject for adoring wonder, gratitude and praise; and the developments of the intellect, as well as of the resources of the Islands under the benignant. productive, yea, creative influences of the Gospel, should be matter of deepest interest, even to the mere philosopher. It was concerning one of those new-created Hawaiian minds, Kapiolani by name, that Carlyle tells this story in his characteristic quaint way, in the course of one of his volumes of Cromwell's Letters and Speeches : "A certain Queen in some South Sea Island, I have read in missionary books, had been converted to Christianity; did not any longer believe in the old gods. She assembled her people; said to them, 'My faithful people, the gods do not dwell in that burning mountain in the centre of our Isle. That is not God; no, that is a common burning mountain-mere culinary fire burning under peculiar circumstances. See, I will walk before you to that burning mountain; will empty my wash-bowl into it, cast my slipper over it, defy it to the utmost, and stand the consequences!' She walked accordingly, this South Sea Heroine, nerved to the sticking-place; her people following in pale horror and expectancy. She did her experiment; and I am told they have truer notions of the gods in that Island ever since. Honor to the brave, who deliver us from Phantom-dynasties, in South-Sea Islands and inNorth!

"GOD wills but ill," the doubter said

"Lo, time doth evil only bear; Give me a sign His love to prove

His vaunted goodness to declare."

The poet paused by where a flower,

A simple daisy, starred the sod, And answered, Proof of love and powerBehold-behold a smile of God."