ʻAukake 22-26: Māhele 2 – No ke Kuahaua a Admirala de Tromelin

August 24, 2018 ʻOihana no kō nā ʻĀina ʻĒ

August 22-26, 1849: Part 2 – Admiral de Tromelin’s Broadside

Jean Charlot’s article, An 1849 Hawaiian Broadside, describes the events leading up to the French invasion of Honolulu. Of particular interest is his description of a broadside that was circulated in Hawaiian:

On a Sunday morning, August 26, 1849, this broadside was posted extensively–against the laws of the Kingdom–on the walls of Honolulu. The circumstances were tense. Offshore, French warships were poised menacingly. On the 25th, French marines had landed and occupied the Fort. They were now busy dismantling it and spiking its guns. Huddled inside the Palace, the king and cabinet expected worse to come.

The broadside, composed by Admiral de Tromelin, was purportedly translated into Hawaiian by Bishop Louis Maigret, Apostolic Vicar for the Sandwich Islands.  Below is a full transcription of this broadside:

AUHEA OUTOU
E KA POE
HAWAII

No ta mea, ua hoopaapaa mamua iho nei to Farani me to Havaii no ta malama ole i ke Kuitahi, ua hele mai maanei ta mea i tatauia ta inoa malalo, ta Ademirala de Tromelin, me ta manaolana no e hooponopono ia mea, me ta oluolu a me te aloha; nolaila ua noi atu oia e halavai pu me teʻLii nui a me tona poe tutatutamalu, i mea e hoatataiaʻi malaila me ta oluolu na tumuolelo o na aoao elua. Ua hoole mai na Kuhina o te Lii, ta poe i hooleia mamua no ta latou hana paevaeva ana a me te tumuole, e na Kanitele o na aina nui o Farani, o Amerika Huipuia, a me Beritania, i ta la 13 o Dec. 1848, imua o teʻLii no. No laila, o ta mea nona ta inoa i tatauia malalo, hai aku no oia ia latou i tona manao hope; hoole hou mai no ua poe Kuhina nei. No ia mea, ua laveia na mea kaua o teia ava e na mea itaita o Farani. E mau no nae ta Hae Havaii i teia manava a mahope atu no. Aole manao ta mea nona ka inoa i tatauia malalo e lave i ta aina, aole hoi e noho totua; e haalele tote atu no te aeia mai na pono a pau ana i noi atu ai. Paa nae tona manao e malama i na pono o na Haole a pau o tela pule o teia pule, o tela aina o teia aina. Ma na mea e pili ana i to Farani, o te Kuitahi i aeia i ta matahiiti o ta Haku 1839, e Cap. Laplace, oia te tumuh[a]na me teia Aupuni, a e lite me te ano o ua Kuitahi la, elima hapa haneri no ta utu Dute no na vaivai kalepa a pau mai Farani mai, e hooleiia ma utu nei.

Legoarant de TROMELIN
rear Admiral.