He was always civil, and always ready, and never forgot a
benefit. I once took care of him when he was in, getting medicines
from the ship's chests, when no captain or officer would do anything
for him, and he never forgot it. Every Kanaka has one particular
friend, whom he considers himself bound to do everything for, and with
whom he has a sort of contracts- an alliance offensive and
defensive,- and for whom he will often make the greatest sacrifices.
This friend they call aikane; and for such did Hope adopt me. I do not
believe I could have wanted anything which he had, that he would not
have given me. In return for this, I was always his friend among the
Americans, and used to teach him letters and numbers; for he left home
before he had learned how to read. He was very curious about Boston
(as they call the United States); asking many questions about the
houses, the people, etc., and always wished to have the pictures in
books explained to him. They were all astonishingly quick in
catching at explanations, and many things which I had thought it
utterly impossible to make them understand, they often seized in an
instant, and asked questions which showed that they knew enough to
make them wish to go farther.
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