These islands, which are situated in the Pacific Ocean, are eleven in number. They were discovered by Captain Cook and Captain King in the year 1778, and have been subsequently visited by Vancouver, Meares, Turnbull, and various other navigators. These islands received their name from the Earl of Sandwich, during whose administration they were discovered. In their climate they resemble the West India islands, which lie in the same latitude, although, on the whole, the temperature is more moderate; nor are they subject to the dreadful hurricanes which desolate the West India Islands. The thermometer during the day never rises higher than 88°, but its mean height at noon is about 83°. There is a constant land and sea breeze every night. The vegetable productions differ little from those in the rest of the South Sea islands. The bread-fruit thrives, the sugar-canes are of unusual size, and large vegetable roots are produced, shaped like a yam, and from six to eight pounds in weight, which yield a juice that was found to be an excellent substitute for sugar. These islands are evidently peopled by the same race which is found in the islands of New Zealand, the Society and Friendly Islands, and the Marquesas; a race that possesses, without any intermixture, all the known lands between the latitudes of 47° south and 20° north, and between the longitudes of 184° and 260° east. The natives are in general above the middle size, graceful in all their movements, and capable of bearing great fatigue. They are of a much darker complexion than the Otaheitans, and are altogether an inferior people, though many have fine open countenances, and a number of the women have a sweetness and sensibility which renders them very engaging. They are distinguished from Europeans by one pecu- liarity, namely, a fulness of the nostril, without any flat- ness or spreading of the nose. They are praised by Cap- tain King for their mild and affectionate dispositions; yet it is difficult to reconcile such dispositions with the habits of savage life, which are always ferocious and cruel. Hu- manity, mildness, and all the gentler sympathies of the human heart, are fostered by civilization. They are the re- sult of cultivation, and not the spontaneous produce of the human heart; and, accordingly, they come to no maturity in the adverse soil of barbarism. Besides, they are inferi- or to the other islanders in that sure test of humanity, namely, respect for women. It has even been suspected, though no positive evidence of the fact has been found, that they are or have been in the practice of eating the bodies of their enemies; and it is well known, that the sacrificing of human victims was commonly practised among them, which is certainly no index of any mildness in their man- ners; and the same ferocious spirit is indicated by their wearing, as ornaments the most precious and invaluable, which are handed down as a sort of heir-looms in families, the bones of their enemies slain in battle, which are fashion- ed into various forms. Their natural capacity when they were first visited by Europeans was found to be good; they had made some improvements in agriculture and manufac- tures; and the eager curiosity with which they attended the armourer's forge, and the many expedients they invented for working the iron procured from Europeans, afforded strong proofs of their docility and their ingenuity. They had, how- ever, all the peculiar customs of the most savage nations, and are still in the practice, along with all the other inhab- itants of these islands, notwithstanding the example and exhortations of the missionaries settled among them, of ta- tooling their bodies, and also their face, which is peculiar to them and to the New Zealanders. The common dress of all ranks of people consists only of a piece of thick cloth ten or twelve inches broad, which they pass between the legs and tie round the waist. They have another dress appropriated to ceremonial occasions, which consists of a feathered cloak and helmet, and which is remarkable for its beauty and magnificence, and is reserved chiefly for persons of high rank. The common people chiefly subsist on fish and vegetables, such as yams, sweet potatoes, ta- mow, plantains, sugar-canes, and bread. To these the people of a higher rank add the flesh of hogs and dogs, dressed in the same manner as at the Society Islands. They also eat fowls. For further particulars, and a more full account of these islands, see POLYNESIA.