s,
apparently well satisfied with a trifling present of stumps of cigars.

One great detriment to health is removed, in the article of spirits.
Like all the Indian races, they are extravagantly fond of it but in
Hawaii there is not a drop to be had, and in the other islands of the
cluster, a heavy penalty is rigidly inflicted for disposing of it to a
native.

Among their favorite dishes is that of raw fish, and as a great rarity a
_luau_ dog! Under the most solemn pledges of secrecy, I was permitted to
witness the exhuming of one of these animals, with the privilege of
making a meal, in case he was found to be palatable. These solecisms on
modern cookery and viands are severely frowned upon by the missionaries;
and with much caution, we were taken to a small hut, back of the
village, and when a venerable kanaka had been placed on guard in a cane
brake, to prevent surprise from _Kaikos_, we entered the tenement. A
huge calibash was placed on the ground, filled with the national
preparation of _poee-poee_. It was a white mixture, made of smashed and
fermented taro, of the consistency of a stiff paste, and it is not
considered the mode to eat it with aught else but fingers--one, two,
three, or the whole hand, according to its liquidity. The Hawaiians heat
the Neapolitan lazzaroni in dextrous use of their digits and digestions!
whereas the latter beggars can only suck down several continuous leagues
of maccaroni without a bite, and be satisfied, the native will make a
cone of hand and fingers, and with the whirling velocity of a
water-spout, he takes up enough of the plaster of Paris like liquid to
make a thorough cast of mouth and jaws, with the energy to repeat the
impression every minute! Where it all goes to is a mystery. It has been
suggested that they are hollow, like bamboos, down to their heels; but
it is a mooted point. I tasted this _poee-poee_, by way of an
appetizer--found it not unlike sour starch, and felt no further
inclination to make a hearty meal. By this time stones and leaves were
taken from a sunken oven in the corner of the hut, and lo! the barker
was exposed to view! The warning of _Cave Canem_, which I had seen in
former years at Pompeii, never struck me forcibly until now! I had
heard, too, a metaphor about "the hair of a dog being good for a bite,"
but the moment I beheld the entire animal, with his white jaws and
tongue lolling out, I felt no inclination for even a bite--lost my
appetite, and ca