and and Wife, and
another he called the Family Group, consisting of father, mother, and
rather a large progeny of twenty-five children, regular sons of Anak.
The father fell some time ago, and striking another tree broke off the
upper part. That portion measures 300 feet, and the part which still
stands 150--so that the whole tree was 450 feet in height. Three
hundred feet is the ordinary height of the giants of the forest. From
various calculations it would seem that these trees must have existed
for three thousand years at least--perhaps more; I can only say that I
considered the spectacle well worthy of the long journey I took to
behold it."

We thanked the stranger for the account he had given us. We heard many
other wonderful stories, the truth of some of which we had reason to
doubt, so I have not repeated them here. Captain Frankland was very
glad to get away from San Francisco without losing any of his own crew.
Probably, had he allowed them to have any communication with the shore,
this would not have been the case.

On our return on board, the first mate told the captain that a strange
brig had come into the harbour and anchored near us--that soon afterward
Manuel Silva was seen holding some communication with the people on
board. In a little time a boat came off from her, and after some
conversation with a man in the boat, he said that he must bid us
good-bye. No persuasions the mate used could induce him to stop, and he
stepped into the boat, and nothing more had been seen of him. We were
very sorry to lose him, and it struck us at the time, I remember, that
there was something mysterious in his way of departure.

We were at sea about twenty-two days without falling in with land. It
was late one evening when we sighted Woahoo, the largest of the Sandwich
Islands, of which Honolulu is the chief port and capital of the kingdom.
It was dark by the time we brought up in the roadstead outside the
harbour. As I, of course, had read how Captain Cook was killed by the
Sandwich Islanders, and had often seen prints in which a number of naked
black fellows are hurling their spears and darts at him, I had an idea
that I knew all about them, and had pictured to myself exactly what I
should see when next morning we went on shore with our boat's crew
well-armed to trade with them. The next morning at daybreak the anchor
was hove up, and with a light breeze we stood in through a narrow
passage in a coral reef,