[1]Honolulu literally translates as “protected bay” (Pukui, Elbert, and Mookini, Place Names of Hawaii, 49–50). A January 1847 census reported more than 1,400 structures in town, the vast majority of which were native-style thatch houses. The Polynesian declared that few of Honolulu’s buildings had “any pretensions to taste or elegance,” while the Sandwich Islands News complained that they showed “the world’s worst taste, or lack of it” (Honolulu Polynesian, Jan. 9, 1847; Honolulu Sandwich Islands News, Nov. 4, 1847). Honolulu’s population in 1850 was reportedly between fourteen and fifteen thousand (Schmitt, Demographic Statistics of Hawaii, 70). Latter-day Saint missionary Simpson Molen noted that from the sea Honolulu “presented a most charming and magnificent aspect, far more so, than it does on arriving at it and travling through it. . . . The City is not laid out with much regard to the points of compass” (Molen journal, Sept. 27–28, 1854). One visitor to Honolulu in 1853 observed that the “town can boast of few well-laid-out streets. The only good one is that running up from the Custom-house into the Nuuanu Valley” (Sandwich Island Notes, 83). Upon his arrival in February 1853, missionary Nathan Tanner described Honolulu as having “a very singler apearance to those coming from a cold climit & . . . seeing the markets full of garden vegatbls squashes melons green beans tomatoes letice & all kinds of flours in the gardens & sum of the most beutiful shades & walks that you can a magin & from that to sum of the most disgustin little huts you can a magin” (Tanner journal, n.d., 47–48). For overviews of Honolulu during the mid-nineteenth century, see Baker, Honolulu in 1853; Greer, “Honolulu in 1847”; Daws, “Honolulu in the 19th Century”; Sandwich Island Notes, 31–37, 59–104.

[2]A whaleboat is a small, open boat, pointed at both ends, and designed for use in hunting whales. The stern sheets are the portion of an open boat behind the built-in seats.

[3]John Bull is the title character representing England in John Arbuthnot’s 1712 satirical work, The History of John Bull, which condemns Great Britain’s role in the War of Spanish Succession. Eventually the popular press came to portray Bull as a short, middle-aged, paunchy country gentleman.

[4]To “square the yards,” sails were brought parallel to each other and perpendicular to the length of the ship.

[5]Keeler provided additional details of the missionaries’ first day in Hawai‘i: “The captain went on shore this afterknoon and reported the ship and sent word to us that we had to go on shore and get our pasport before fore a clock this afterknoon or we could not get them to day so this afterknoon we all went on shore except Father Morace we walked about the Town awhile got something to eat went to the custom house and got our pasport for which they charged us one dollar per man stayed on shore un[til] about dark this evening then went on board of the ship” (Keeler journal, Dec. 12, 1850).

[6]Nu‘uanu literally translates as “cool height” (Pukui, Elbert, and Mookini, Place Names of Hawaii, 167). One visitor to Honolulu in 1853 wrote of the Nu‘uanu Valley: “It is located immediately at the back of the town, from which place it has a gradual ascent until it reaches the famous Pali [cliff] of the same name. . . . Its formation is of a mixed character: its lower part is open; its upper is inclosed between two heavy ridges” (Sandwich Island Notes, 90).

[7]Benjamin F. Johnson later provided a more detailed description of Kapena Falls: “The pond . . . is Surrounded on three sides by High Rocks the watter pouring of[f] the Rock about fifteen feet forming a Basin perhaps fifty Rods in surcumference, the Senter of which i[s] verry deep I have often witnessed the native[s] jumping into it from Rocks Elevated Some fifty feet above the watter” (Johnson diary, Dec. 31, 1853).

[8]Keeler reported that the missionaries traveled “about one mile from the falles” in a “northeasterly direction” (Keeler journal, Dec. 13, 1850).

[9]According to Keeler, Clark asked each missionary to “tell what he most desired that we should prey for” (Keeler journal, Dec. 13, 1850). Farrer wrote that Clark “offered up a prayer to the Lord that he would open the way that we might be enabled to preach the Gospel on these Islands, and that we might have his Spirit to be with us at all times to guide us in the way of truth and be preserved from the powers of the adversary and from every evil, and that the honest in heart might embrace the truth when they heard it” (Farrer diary, Dec. 13, 1850).

[10]Cannon later recalled concerning the meeting, “The spirit of the Lord rested powerfully upon us, and we were filled with exceeding great joy” (Cannon, My First Mission, 9). When Cannon returned to Hawai‘i in 1900, he tried unsuccessfully to find the spot where the missionaries met and dedicated the islands, which was then a portion of Honolulu known as Pacific Heights: “I could not locate the exact spot where we built the altar as the face of the ground has been much changed by attempted improvements” (Cannon journal, Dec. 17, 1900; spelling standardized).

[11]The “difficulties” may refer to the persecution suffered by members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which resulted in their expulsion from Missouri (1838–1839) and Illinois (1846). These events contributed to the Saints settling the Salt Lake Valley. The Sandwich Islands constitution guaranteed a degree of religious freedom, upholding Christianity but not the native Hawaiian religion. In 1845 King Kamehameha III told the Hawaiian legislature, “We consider it the first of our duties to protect Religion, and promote good morals and general education.” While the king would continue to stress this ideal, reality was often different for minority religions. Shortly after Cannon arrived in Hawai‘i, the king addressed the 1851 legislature regarding inequalities faced by Catholics: “It is . . . my wish that, by careful investigation and consideration of facts, you place yourselves in a position to decide if the equality between the Catholics and Protestants, under the protection of the Constitution and the laws, does not still require something for its perfect application” (Lydecker, Legislatures of Hawaii, 9, 17, 30).

[12]Cannon later provided a more extensive account of their casting lots:

“The president did not like to pair us off, nor to say which of the islands we should go to; but he consented, with his partner, to select four out of the eight to preside, one on each of the islands. . . .

“. . . My mind had not rested on any one as my choice for partner, and I was at a loss for a few moments whom to select. Then the spirit of the Lord plainly told me to choose Bro. J. K. I did so. I was both surprised and pleased at the manner in which he received my choice; for I, being so young, and he so much my senior, had thought that he would prefer a partner of more mature years and experience. He afterwards told me that when the four were chosen, and he found that I was one of them, he had slipped out and prayed to the Lord that I might be led to elect him to go with me. His prayer was heard and answered, and we both were gratified.

“In casting lots for islands, Maui fell to us. When we were sailing past it my feelings were drawn towards that island, and I felt that I would like that to be my field of labor. I knew not why this should have been so, except that the Lord gave me the feeling. . . . My joy was very great that evening, because of these precious manifestations of God’s goodness. I felt that he was near at hand to hear and answer prayer, and to grant the righteous desires of our hearts” (Cannon, My First Mission, 10–11).

[13]A bethel is a place of worship established specifically for seamen. The Bethel Union Church, located on the corner of King and Bethel streets, was dedicated by the American Seamen’s Friend Society in 1833. It was later opened to the permanent English-speaking population (Baker, Honolulu in 1853, 17). For additional information, see Sandwich Island Notes, 62–63.

[14]Bigler identified the building as “the Kings chapel” (Bigler autobiography, “Book A,” Dec. 15, 1850). Formally known as the Kawaiahao Church, the edifice was also called the “Stone Church” to differentiate it from the other Hawaiian-language church in Honolulu at the time, the Kaumakapili Church, popularly referred to as the “Native Church.” Begun in 1836 under the direction of Kamehameha III and dedicated in 1842, Kawaiahao Church was built of giant coral slabs hewn from ocean reefs. Within the building, royal coronations, weddings, christenings, and funerals were held. Kawaiahao Church is still in use today (Baker, Honolulu in 1853, 16–17; Sandwich Island Notes, 59–61). Additional information about Kaumakapili Church can be found in Baker, Honolulu in 1853, 18–19.

[15]In May 1843, Addison Pratt, Knowlton F. Hanks, Noah Rogers, and Benjamin F. Grouard were called on missions to the Sandwich Islands. These missionaries, however, never reached Hawai‘i. During the voyage from New Bedford, Massachusetts, on a whaler bound for the Pacific, Hanks died and was buried at sea. On April 30, 1844, Pratt, Rogers, and Grouard arrived at the island of Tubuai, four hundred miles south of Tahiti. Having found a people receptive to the gospel message, Pratt remained on Tubuai while Rogers and Grouard continued on to Tahiti. Pratt and Rogers subsequently returned to the United States, but Grouard remained on the Society Islands, having married a local Polynesian woman. In October 1849, Pratt, James S. Brown, and Hiram Blackwell were called on missions to the Society Islands to assist Grouard. They traveled to California at the same time Cannon and others were bound for the gold fields. While Pratt and Brown sailed for Tahiti, arriving in May 1850, Blackwell remained in California until he was called to the Hawaiian Islands (Ellsworth and Perrin, Seasons of Faith and Courage, 3–5, 10, 12, 17–18; Cannon “Twenty Years Ago,” 22). For overviews of Latter-day Saint missionary work in French Polynesia, see Ellsworth and Perrin, Seasons of Faith and Courage; Ellsworth, Journals of Addison Pratt; Ellsworth, History of Louisa Barnes Pratt, 110–91; Britsch, Unto the Islands of the Sea, 3–90.

[16]Built in 1850 and located on Queen Street, the Market House brought together in one location many vendors previously scattered throughout the city. The Market House was closed to commercial endeavors on Sundays (Baker, Honolulu in 1853, 13–14).

[17]Cannon later wrote of Lahaina: “Looking from the sea at the town, it is not very imposing. It lies on a level strip of land, and is stretched along the beach, and the houses are almost hidden by the foliage” (Cannon, My First Mission, 12). One 1853 visitor observed, “Viewed from the anchorage, Lahaina is the most picturesque town on the Hawaiian group,” largely because “the background of the picture is the most impressive and grand. The [West Maui] mountains rise to a height of rather more than six thousand one hundred feet above the sea, and are cleft asunder by precipices thousands of feet in depth. To come and gaze on these splendid footprints of the Almighty, it is worth a journey of thousands of miles.” This same visitor concluded that “Lahaina has a very different appearance to a stranger when ashore. It is a difference as great as that which exists between dream-life and life that is real. It has but one principal street, intersected by a few others running at right angles. They are all too narrow, and without any regular grading. . . . Their surface is composed chiefly of a red tufaceous lava-dust, deep, hot, and dry during a very large portion of the year, and very obnoxious to pedestrians. But all these features are relieved by a various and extensive foliage” (Sandwich Island Notes, 290–93). Reddick Allred found Lahaina “butifuly situated on the lee side of Maui and . . . well ornimented with shades of different kinds, fig trees, bread fruit, banana, orringes &c &c, which is the principle orniment of the place as there was but few good houses” (Reddick Allred journal, Mar. 17, 1853). King Kamehameha I made Lahaina his residence following the capture of Maui by his forces in 1795. Lahaina continued to serve as the seat of government for the Hawaiian Kingdom until King Kamehameha III designated Honolulu as the capital by 1845 (Kuykendall, Hawaiian Kingdom, 1:47, 257; Lahaina Restoration Foundation, Story of Lahaina, 5). Throughout the 1840s and during Cannon’s time in Hawai‘i, Lahaina served as “the principal anchorage for America’s Pacific whaling fleet.” In 1846, Lahaina was visited by more than four hundred whaling ships, while Honolulu could boast fewer than two hundred, although more merchant ships visited Honolulu. Instead of anchoring in a harbor with docks, vessels anchored in an open roadstead (Maui Historical Society, Lahaina Historical Guide, 7). In 1846 Lahaina comprised 3,445 natives, 112 foreigners, 528 dogs, 882 grass houses, 155 adobe houses, 59 stone and wooden houses, two churches (one for seamen and foreigners, the other for natives), and numerous businesses catering to the sailing industry (Schmitt, Missionary Censuses of Hawaii, 44–45). Lahaina literally means “cruel sun,” a likely reference to the infrequent rain it receives (Pukui, Elbert, and Mookini, Place Names of Hawaii, 127). Further information concerning Lahaina can be found in Lahaina Restoration Foundation, Story of Lahaina; Maui Historical Society, Lahaina Historical Guide; Nickerson, Lahaina: Royal Capital of Hawaii.

[18]On December 21 Cannon wrote to Clark that there were two white families in Lahaina and no more than thirty or forty white men total, including sailors (cited in Hiram Clark and Thomas Whittle to John Dixon and William Farrer, Jan. 2, 1851, WFC). Cannon later noted with some understatement, “The white people were not numerous at Lahaina, and there were but very few at any other place on the island of Maui” (Cannon, My First Mission, 14). In 1850 Hawai‘i’s population exceeded 84,000, of which approximately 1,600 were haole [non-native Hawaiians regardless of race] (Kuykendall, Hawaiian Kingdom, 1:336). In December 1853 another census was conducted following a devastating smallpox epidemic. At that time the population of the islands had fallen to 73,137, of which 2,118 were nonnatives. Out of a total Maui population of 17,574, the 1853 census identified only 244 foreigners (“Report of the Minister of Public Instruction to the Legislature of 1854,” Honolulu Polynesian, Apr. 15, 1854).

[19]Cannon afterward related additional information about the missionaries’ house hunting and provided insight into the Hawaiian way of life at the time:

“We had considerable difficulty in procuring a suitable place to stop. There was a hotel and boarding houses; but we could not live at any of them very long, for our funds were low. We secured a native house of one room. . . . These native houses are built by putting posts in the ground, on which a board is laid as a plate for the rafters to rest upon. When the frame of posts and rafters is built, poles, about the size of hoop-poles, are lashed horizontally, about six inches apart, on to the posts and rafters. The house is then thatched by fastening a durable grass, which they have in that country, on to the poles. When finished, a house looks, in shape and size, like a well built hay stack. Such houses are only suited to a warm country where they never have frost. Inside the house they have no board floors. The ground is covered with grass, on which mats are laid. . . . the mats answer the purpose of beds, tables and chairs. They sit upon them; when they eat, their food is placed upon them, and they form their bed, though in many houses they have the place of sleeping raised above the ordinary floor; but even then, they have mats spread out, upon which to sleep.

“In consideration of our being white men, the man of whom we rented the house procured a table and three chairs for us. We employed him to cook our food, which consisted principally of sweet potatoes and fish, or meat” (Cannon, My First Mission, 12–13).

[20]Cannon originally wrote the date as December 19 but changed it to December 20.

[21]The Hawaiian Islands had four governors appointed by the king—one each for the islands of O‘ahu and Hawai‘i, one for Kaua‘i and the nearby island of Ni‘ihau, and one for the islands of Maui, Moloka‘i, Lana‘i, and Kaho‘olawe. The 1840 Hawaiian constitution declared that these governors not only had “charge of all the King’s business on the island” but also had “power to decide all questions, and transact all island business which is not by law assigned to others” (Lydecker, Legislatures of Hawaii, 11–12).

[22]Deseret, a Book of Mormon term meaning “honey bee” (Ether 2:3), was the collective name the Mormon pioneers gave to their settlements in the intermountain west. In 1849, Latter-day Saint leaders petitioned the United States Congress to create the state of Deseret, which was to encompass the Great Basin and the Colorado River drainage areas (embracing either all or part of present-day Utah, Nevada, Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and California) as well as a link to the Pacific Ocean that included the area from Los Angeles to San Diego, California. Instead, in September 1850 Congress granted California’s request for statehood and created a much smaller Territory of Utah (For additional information on the State of Deseret, see Morgan, State of Deseret; Leonard, “Mormon Boundary Question”).

[23]Cannon subsequently explained the missionaries’ desire to meet the governor:

“Our mission we felt to be of such importance that we wished to introduce it to the highest authority we could find. I made it a rule on those islands never to go into a place without waiting upon the leading and prominent men, stating my business, testifying to the work which God had commenced and asking their aid to enable me to lay the proclamation of which I was the bearer before the people. In this way I had interviews with princes, nobles, governors, officers of the government, missionaries and the leading men in every locality where I visited. This course might not be a wise one in every nation and under all circumstances; but I was led to take it there and the effects were good. I had a fearlessness and a strength given me which I would not have had if I had kept myself in a corner, and acted as though I was ashamed of my mission. I gained influence also with the people, and they learned to respect me; for, however much men may differ in their views about religion and other matters, they generally respect sincerity and courage” (Cannon, My First Mission, 13).

[24]During the 1830s, construction began on Hale Piula, or the “house of the tin roof,” to serve as a palace for Kamehameha III. The king, however, preferring the traditional Hawaiian way of life, chose instead to live in a nearby small thatched hut, and the large two-story stone structure was never finished. After the seat of government was moved from Lahaina to Honolulu in the 1840s, the building became home to the district court at Lahaina and continued in that capacity until it was badly damaged by a storm in 1858 (Bartholomew and Bailey, Maui Remembers, 17; Maui Historical Society, Lahaina Historical Guide, 22; Kuykendall, Hawaiian Kingdom, 1:257).

[25]Cannon later explained the missionaries’ decision to learn Hawaiian:

“We soon became satisfied that if we confined our labors to the whites, our mission to those islands would be a short one. . . .

“. . . The question arose directly, ‘Shall we confine our labors to the white people?’ It is true that we had not been particularly told to preach to the natives of the islands, but we were in their midst. . . . For my part I felt it to be clearly my duty to warn all men, white and red; and no sooner did I learn the condition of the population than I made up my mind to acquire the language, preach the gospel to the natives and to the whites whenever I could obtain an opportunity, and thus fill my mission. I felt resolved to stay there, master the language and warn the people of those islands, if I had to do it alone; for I felt that I could not do otherwise and be free from condemnation; the spirit of it was upon me. Elders Bigler and Keeler felt the same” (Cannon, My First Mission, 14).

In 1822 the Protestant missionaries published a Hawaiian alphabet, consisting of seventeen letters. Four years later, five letters were dropped (b, d, r, t, and v), reducing it to its current twelve letters (a, e, i, o, u, h, k, 1, m, n, p, and w). As a result of having one of the smallest alphabets, “Hawaiian has more words with multiple meanings than almost any other language” (Pukui and Elbert, Hawaiian Dictionary, [xiii]; Missionary Album, 101, 165).

[26]Written over he.

[27]The 1845 Organic Act, establishing the executive ministry, created the position of minister of the interior and stipulated that he was to fulfill the position of premier, or kuhina-nui. While the king remained “technically and ceremonially” the highest officer in the land, the premier took the more active part in the routine administration of the kingdom (Kuykendall, Hawaiian Kingdom, 1:64, 262–63). Created in 1819 following the death of Kamehameha I, the office of premier was described in the 1840 Hawaiian constitution: “All business connected with the special interests of the kingdom, which the King wishes to transact, shall be done by the Premier under the authority of the King. . . . The King shall not act without the knowledge of the Premier, nor shall the Premier act without the knowledge of the King” (Lydecker, Legislatures of Hawaii, 11; Kuykendall, Hawaiian Kingdom, 1:63–64). As promised, Governor Young did write his brother:

“I wish to inform you about some new minister of the church, they are Mormons, and they asked me for permission to hold services; I did not consent; neither did I refuse. Then they again asked me for Halepiula as a place for them to worship, and I refused, that it was not for me to give out the Government’s place, that it was with the Minister of the Interior, that I was only the caretaker.

“They told me that there were some of their ministers there, and they informed me that they had been allowed to hold services over the market there. But, I did not grant it until I have heard from you” (Kanehoa to Ana Keoni, Dec. 21, 1850).

[28]Hawaiians anciently worshipped numerous objects, including four great gods—Kane, Kanaloa, Ku, and Lono—that were frequently depicted as statues. Ancient Hawaiians also worshipped deceased ancestors and the mysterious and terrible powers of nature, such as volcanoes and sharks. For discussions of ancient Hawaiian gods and religious practices, see Malo, Hawaiian Antiquities; Alexander, Brief History of the Hawaiian People, 35–79. The native religion was abolished following the death of King Kamehameha I in 1819. While Christianity filled much of the religious void, Reddick Allred reported in 1854 that some natives continued to worship “the smallest vegetable to the largest animal, bird fish, or pele [volcano], and even the spirts of their dead friends” (Reddick Allred journal, May 12, 1854).

[29]Regarding the practice of praying people to death, Reddick Allred noted that “their faith were so founded that all that was required to Kill a man was to turn his enemy, and go thro. a cirten performence with prayr” (Reddick Allred journal, June 8, 1853). John Woodbury reported that when a man wished to pray his enemy to death, he “engages a Kahuna [priest] who understands the operation (if he does not understand it himself or has not the power to do it) to act for him. he then by some means obtains a peace of his enimies clotheing and spittle &c. &c. the Kahuna takes them and goes through sertain ordenances and prayers and if the person hears he is praying him to death he believes it and frequently dies, unless he can get an other Kahuna (docter) to operate against the other, and save his life” (Woodbury diary, Apr. 21, 1854).

[30]Orson Pratt, Interesting Account of Several Remarkable Visions. First printed in 1840 and then revised and republished in 1848 with the shortened title Remarkable Visions, this pamphlet presents an overview of the beginnings of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. For additional information, see Crawley, Descriptive Bibliography, 1:127–29, 160–61, 191–92; 2:63–64, 262–65; Flake and Draper, Mormon Bibliography, 2:105–6, 108–11.

[31]Keeler reported the meeting this way: “[Mr. Taylor] said that he had now [no] objections to our havin the Chapel to preach in this afterknoon at half past three o clock Bro C then asked him if he would give out [t]he apointment at this survice he said that he would he thought that it would bee best for him Br C to write it out and that he would read it off at his survice” (Keeler journal, Dec. 22, 1850).

[32]Begun in 1828 and completed in 1832, the Waine‘e Church was the first stone meeting house built in the Islands. The building was originally “two stories high with galleries to seat 3,000 people in the native manner, close together on the floor.” In 1848 the galleries were reframed, a sixty-foot steeple was added, and the building was made to conform “to the general style of churches in the United States.” The church was destroyed twice by storms and twice by fire between 1858 and 1951 (Maui Historical Society, Lahaina Historical Guide, 25–27).

[33]Keeler provided additional details regarding the meeting: “[We] waited untill half past three o clock then we went to our apointment there was but a small congregation as there was but few inhabitents in the plase whites as the natives could not understand inglish generaly we opened our meating Br C wread a hymn in the seamans hymn book he then [a]sked if there was any one that could sing it Mr Taylor spoke and said that there was none[,] except some one off [of] us could lead C told him that we was not singers then Br B got up and told them that He would read a chapter in the acts of the apostles 2 chapter then preyed then spoke (Keeler journal, Dec. 22, 1850). Bigler noted the reason he preached the sermon: “The brethren said as I was the oldest that I must lead out and speak first” (Bigler autobiography, “Book A,” Dec. 22, 1850). Approximately the same number attended the missionaries’ meeting as attended the Reverend Taylor’s service (Clark and Whittle to Dixon and Farrer, Jan. 2, 1851, WFC).

[34]Corrected in pencil from there.

[35]Proverbs 27:17: “Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.”

[36]Two undecipherable words have been crossed out at this point.

[37]On December 20, 1850, the Hawaiian government established a postal system that included regular schedules for interisland and transoceanic mail delivery. Letters would be sent from Honolulu to San Francisco weekly and received from San Francisco approximately twice a month. Interisland mail would be “once a week, or as often as opportunity for sending offers” (“Decree Establishing a Post Office in Honolulu,” Honolulu Polynesian, Dec. 21, 1850; “Honolulu Post Office,” Honolulu Polynesian, Dec. 28, 1850; Cahill, Hawaiian Stamps, 4–5). The custom house at Lahaina also served as the local post office.

[38]The arrival of the French warship La Serieuse at Honolulu harbor on December 13, 1850, immediately raised concerns in the islands because of difficulties that had existed between France and the Sandwich Islands for more than a decade. After the Hawaiian government passed laws banishing all Catholic teachers from the kingdom and making the teaching of Catholicism illegal—and placing a heavy duty upon imported liquor in an attempt to encourage temperance—France dispatched a man-of-war to Honolulu in 1839 in response to what was seen as a direct attack upon its religion and products. Under this threat of bombardment of Honolulu, the anti-Catholic edicts were removed. Following complaints from the French consul about the continued duty on imported liquors and inequalities between the Catholic and Protestant school systems, Honolulu was again besieged by two French warships in August 1849. With the ships’ guns aimed at the city, French troops marched ashore, sacked the fort and disabled its cannons, and seized the customhouse. The guns remained pointed at the city for a week before the vessels withdrew.

Concerning this latest episode, Richard Armstrong, Hawaiian Islands minister of public instruction, wrote in his journal: “This is a week of some apprehension, the French commissioner, M. Perrin having arrived a few days since in the corvette ‘Seriuse’ & no salute having as yet been fired. It is impossible to tell what to expect from such a people as the French” (Armstrong journal, Dec. 20, 1850). Finally, on Christmas day, sailors from La Serieuse went ashore, marching peacefully to attend Mass. On December 31, representatives of the Hawaiian government were finally invited on board ship to meet with Perrin, beginning discussions that led to a resolution of the difficulties in March 1851 (Armstrong journal, Dec. 20, 25, 31, 1850; Kuykendall, Hawaiian Kingdom, 1:399–403). There is no indication that the La Serieuse actually blockaded the harbor. For an overview of the relationship between Hawai‘i and France, see Kuykendall, Hawaiian Kingdom, 1:161–67, 388–407.

[39]Cannon originally wrote the date as December 26 but changed it in pencil to December 27.

[40]Cannon later reported that the Hawaiians took an interest in the Latter-day Saint missionaries because of their conduct: “White men who go to the Sandwich Islands do not always behave themselves as they should. We saw some who acted most disgracefully. They seemed to think that, because they were among the natives, they could abandon all decency. The natives are very close observers. They soon saw that we were not like many of the whites whom they had seen, and they began to take an interest in us. They readily helped us to pronounce and read their language” (Cannon, My First Mission, 15). The attitude of many visitors to the islands is captured in a saying popular among sailors of the time: “No God west of [Cape] Horn” (Story of Lahaina, 9).

[41]An annual day of thanksgiving was observed in the islands during November or December (see “Thanksgiving—Order in Council,” Honolulu Polynesian, Dec. 28, 1850; “Thanksgiving,” Honolulu Polynesian, Dec. 13, 1851; “Thanksgiving,” Honolulu Friend, Nov. 1852). A privy council is a body of government officials and dignitaries chosen by a monarch to serve as advisors to the crown. Formally constituted as part of the Hawaiian government in 1845, and similar to the British Privy Council, the Privy Council of the Hawaiian government was a continuation of the old council of chiefs first established in 1780 and later modified and strengthened by Kamehameha I. The Privy Council consisted of the five ministers who had charge of the five executive departments of government (ministers of the interior, foreign relations, finance, and public instruction, and the attorney general), the four governors, and other appointees (Kuykendall, Hawaiian Kingdom, 1:32, 263).