Scenes in the Hawaiian Islands and California

Monday afternoon we went on board the little steam-schooner, Annie Laurie, bound for the island of Kauai [Kow-i]. Hon. R. C. Wyllie was on board, and a band of music accompanied us for a short distance. Music is music the world over, but this was the only brass band on the islands.

One of the gentlemen on board was asked, the next morning, how he felt, and replied, "I feel as if I had swallowed a kitten and a mouse, and the kitten was after the mouse!" – the best description I have ever heard of sea-sickness.

We arrived at Hanalei, Kauai, about twelve on Tuesday, and were met on the beach by the missionaries, Messrs. Johnson and Wilcox, who escorted us on horseback to the house of the former gentleman. The next morning we breakfasted at Mr. Wilcox's, then at twelve had a meeting in the church, where a goodly number of natives were assembled; among them Kanoa, the governor of Kauai, who afterwards dined with us.

At three o'clock, Mr. Wyllie sent down a boat for our party, to take us to his estate, called Princeville. It was a delightful row up the river, the foliage on either bank was the richest and most luxuriant we had seen. There was hardly a ripple on the water, and no sound was to be heard but the gentle dip of the oars.

First, we visited the sugar-mill, which is the finest and most expensive on the islands. There we witnessed the whole process, from the grinding of the cane to the grained sugar. After that we went up to the agent's house, and were cordially welcomed by his family, and shown over the beautiful garden surrounding the house. There was a hedge of lovely roses, with a profusion of fragrant blossoms. They gave us strawberries, peaches, pine-apples, and sugar-cane to take with us, – a citron, too, such as our preserved citron for cake is made of. It looked like an enormous lemon. Besides this, we had an elegant bouquet of flowers, – a magnificent fragrant magnolia, that queen of flowers, looking so waxen with its heavy white leaves, and in beautiful contrast with it the scarlet pomegranate blossoms: a fair white lily and snowy japonica completed a bouquet fit for a royal gift.

The view from the piazza is exquisite. Mountains rise peak above peak in the distance, while a beautiful valley, with its meandering stream, lies at your feet. Tropical trees and lovely flowers are all around you. I do not wonder that Mr. Wyllie is proud of Kikiula valley, with its waving fields of sugar-cane. He called his estate Princeville after the young Prince of Hawaii, who is now dead.

On Thursday morning, bright and early, we started on our travels again. The roads of Kauai are better than on any of the other islands. Several members of the party started a little before the others, and rode up Kikiula valley through Princeville. After a ride of about two and a half miles, we dismounted, and ascended a little eminence. What a scene was before us! Far below was the river with its rapids, the course of which we could trace down the valley for some distance. Around us were the mountains, on the left a bluff, and before us the Twin Peaks, with cascades in the distance. We galloped back, and soon overtook our cavalcade. We had a fine ride that day through groves of tropical-looking lohala-trees. Verdant valleys and lovely cascades, winding streams and wooded precipices, abound. After fording a narrow arm of the sea, grandma's horse gave himself so violent a shake that the girth of the saddle broke, throwing both her and the saddle to the ground. Fortunately, no bones were broken, as where she fell the sand was quite deep, but she felt the shock for several days. We lunched at the house of a German, who kept a small store, and then rode on several miles to Kealia Park, the residence of Mr. Krull, a kind German gentleman, who hospitably entertained us overnight. Mr. Krull has a large dairy, which in part supplies the Honolulu market with butter. He has a well-conducted, elegant, and tasteful establishment; indeed, it was difficult to imagine that no lady's hand was employed in it. The grounds about the house are prettily laid out, and two walks lead to a picturesque summer-house, called "Bellevue," from which one looks off over an extensive plain to the sea. We slept in a nice grass house, with matting on the side instead of paper. Familiar engravings adorned the walls, and the beds, with their pretty muslin mosquito-curtains, looked inviting enough to the weary traveler.

We saw many kinds of tea-roses, with their delicate tints. The garden abounded in a variety of vegetables, and we feasted on strawberries which were hanging on their stems in the morning. Within sight was a fine bluff extending down to the sea. About fifty feet from the top of the ledge was a round hole, through which we could see the sky. The bluff was very steep and thin, and exceedingly bold in its outlines, as almost all the ranges of hills are here.

But now we must go to tea.

XVII

Kauai and Oahu

"COME aunty, come!" said Alice; "Willie and Carrie sent me to call you." So I went with my little messenger.

We left Mr. Krull's on the morning of May 15, and had a sandy and uninteresting ride until noon. The only pleasant thing about it, beside good company, was an exquisite bouquet of beautiful tea-rosebuds, from our kind entertainer's garden. At noon a carriage met us, kindly sent by a foreign resident at Lihue, and the older members of the party got into it. It was a heavily-built English barouche drawn by two horses. Two native outriders, when a steep hill was to be ascended, attached lassos to the carriage, which were fastened to their saddles, so that, with the aid of their horses, the carriage went steadily and quickly over the ground, and the occupants had the satisfaction of riding in a coach and four.

"What are lassos?" asked Alice.

A lasso is a long rope, sometimes made of leather. It is generally used to catch wild horses or cattle with; but it did excellent service in the way in which it was used that day.

We arrived at Mrs. Rice's, Lihue, in good season, and stayed there overnight. We visited another sugar-mill there, and found it like the others, – a sweet place.

Early on Saturday morning, I started on an excursion to Wailua Falls, about six miles distant. We rode over field and meadow, when suddenly my companion reined in his horse, and came for me to dismount. "But where are the falls?" said I. "You will see soon." A few steps brought me to the brink of an abyss. What a beautiful scene burst upon my astonished eye! Right before me was this huge sheet of water, pouring into a dark circular pool beneath. One side of the fall was heavy, the other so thin that it seemed as if every drop fell by itself; while covering the black rocks beneath, as if with emerald velvet, were delicate ferns and mosses. How pure and fleecy it looked! while far, far below us the river gleamed like silver through the leaves. The hight of this fall is one hundred and eighty-six feet, and it is fifty feet broad. Two miles farther up the river is another fall nearly as high, but divided into two cascades, one about one hundred feet, the other perhaps seventy.

There is a fine estate not far from the falls that seemed more like an American country-seat than any I saw on the islands. A large square house is built upon the edge of what was once an old crater, but which is now transformed into a fine garden, abounding in flowers. This is a dairy-farm, and is well kept. Our sixteen miles' ride was performed in less than three hours, which we thought fast riding, there being no road most of the way.

We left Lihue at ten o'clock, and rode over to Koloa, ten miles, in the barouche, arriving there in time for dinner.

After tea the young people of the mission went down upon the beach to see the "Spouting Horn." Through an underground channel, the waves are driven in with so much force as to make, through a small hole in the rock, a fountain forty or fifty feet high, with a sound that is heard for some distance. There is also a blow-hole, reminding one of the volcano, and a "boiler," – a round cavity where the waves sink, and then suddenly boil over.

On the Sabbath, grandpa addressed the natives in the morning. The governor of the island of Kauai was present. In the afternoon he preached to the foreigners. Quite a party came over from Lihue, making a goodly number in all. Almost all the native churches on the Sandwich Islands are pretty and neat. The people seem to take a great deal of pride in them, and keep them in good repair. All are furnished with bells, so that the sound of the "church-going bell" is heard in every village.

Monday morning we started for Waimea with a large cavalcade, our friends wishing to see us safely over the first half of our way. Mr. Rowell, of Waimea, met us. The country as we neared Waimea grew desolate. They had had no rain there for a year, and nearly all vegetation had dried up. Not a blade of grass was seen, and only a few green trees relieved the eye in that arid region. The reason of the drought is that Waimea is on the leeward side of the mountains, which are a barrier to the clouds and rain.

"What is leeward?" asked Harry.

On the opposite side from that upon which the wind blows. We were met with great cordiality by the entire family. "Old Jona" came to see us, an aged Hawaiian of Kamehameha I.'s time. A very interesting old man he was too.

The next morning there was a meeting at the church, and grandpa addressed the natives. "Old Jona" sat in front of the pulpit, and when anything grandpa said pleased him particularly, he would turn round to him, smile, and nod his head. It was amusing to observe his evident enjoyment.

Some of us went down to the beach. The tide was coming in, and the boys made what they called sandboats. They built a bank in the shape of a boat, and watched to see the waves wash it away. At length they made a heavy sand fort, which they called Sumter, that seemed strong enough to defy the assaults of the water. Wave after wave dashed against and over it, and finally it, too, disappeared like the others.

In the afternoon we rode up into the valley, where Mr. Rowell's garden is. There everything was green, in striking contrast with the scene near his house. We found some nice peaches, and brought home a pretty bouquet of white roses and nasturtions. The next day, Wednesday, we started for Koloa. Dr. Smith and party met us at Wahiawa. We stopped to dine at Mr. Duncan McBride's, a Scotchman's, where we were sumptuously entertained. After tea at Dr. Smith's, we embarked on the steam-schooner Annie Laurie, and soon after seven, took our farewell look at the island of Kauai.

Two nights and a day were spent on the deck of that schooner, with a chopped sea, a head-wind, and sea-sickness, – a weary, dreary time. We were somewhat comforted about three o'clock on Friday morning by hailing the bark Young Hector, just outside of Honolulu harbor; for we knew that before long home letters would be in our hands, and we had received none for a month. About five o'clock, our steamer reached the wharf, and we were soon in our comfortable quarters at Mr. Clark's. About eight o'clock our letters came.

We had little time for rest; for the next day, Saturday, May 23, we started on our tour around Oahu.

We saw among the Moanalua hills a curious little salt lake, as salt as the sea. Here a slight shower dampened our clothes, but not our spirits. About fifteen miles from Honolulu we stopped at Ewa, where grandpa was to hold a meeting in the church. Quite a number of natives came, and we had a pleasant greeting. The lunch was served for us at Mr. Bishop's house, and we then resumed our journey over a good road, and finished our ride of thirty-five miles about five o'clock. We stayed at Mr. Emerson's, Waialua, and had two services in the native language on the Sabbath. We really enjoyed these meetings with the natives, and constantly exclaimed, "What hath God wrought!" Only a few years ago, these islands were in the depths of barbarism and idolatry; now, what a change! The people are well dressed; in the house of God they are respectful and attentive, have their own deacons, their own choir, are intelligent. Most of them can read, and when the text was given out, or a chapter read, often the Bible would be opened to the place, and they would follow the reading with great apparent interest.

On Monday the younger members of the party rode to a grove about eight miles distant to get tree-shells, and brought home quite a number.

Tuesday morning we started for Kualoa. Grandpa and grandma rode in Mr. Emerson's wagon drawn by two horses; the rest of us were on horseback. The roads were good, our spirits excellent, and the weather fine; so, of course, all was well. Mr. Charles H. Judd met us with his double team about five miles out, and we lunched at Mr. Moffatt's. Mr. Moffatt is an Englishman, who has here a fine place, and large herds of cattle. He has a pretty bathing-place near the house, perhaps twenty feet in diameter, half in sunlight, half in a grotto, with delicate ferns almost hiding the rock.

There were several peacocks sunning themselves on a wall near the house; but none of them condescended to spread their beautiful feathers for us to admire. Before the house are two large stone idols, the only ones we saw on the islands.

"Are they worshiped, aunty?" asked Alice.

No, they are placed there as curiosities.

Grandpa and Mr. Judd had an engagement, and started before us. Grandma rode in Mr. Judd's wagon, and we left Mr. Moffatt's about two.

XVIII

Oahu

THE next day at four, I took my customary seat, surrounded by my little group, and resumed my narrative.

About ten miles from Kahuku, at Hauula, is a church with a native pastor, – Mr. Kuaia. We attended a meeting there, and afterward dined at his house. He is a well-educated and gentlemanly man, and his wife an interesting woman. They live in a neat grass house, furnished simply but comfortably in American style. The dinner passed off in a very satisfactory manner. They had pretty wreaths prepared for us; some were made of a small orange-colored apple, others of yellow marigolds strung on a cord. After dinner we rode another ten miles, and were tired enough with our long day's ride to sleep well.

The next morning we rode over to the house of a friend to see the lassoing of cattle. The house was on quite an eminence, so that we had a good view of a level plain before it. A herd of cattle were driven into the valley, and three gentlemen on trained horses, with lassos in their hands, each selected their animal, and started in pursuit. It seemed as if in an instant the creature knew it was hunted, for it would move from place to place, and then start on a run, endeavoring to elude its pursuers; but the horseman, never for a moment losing sight of his prey, galloped on, turning this way and that as the creature did, until near enough, and then the lasso sped through the air coiling round and round the poor animal's legs, generally throwing him on his knees. Then the hunter leaped from his saddle, the intelligent horse standing still, and the lasso was drawn tighter and tighter until the animal fell on his side. Finally, a rope was tied round the hind legs, and the work was done. It was very exciting, as once in a while a horse would stumble and fall, sometimes throwing his rider; and oftentimes the chase was long, the animal eluding the hunter's grasp just as he thought he had cornered him.

"Oh, I wish I had been there!" said Harry.

Yes, I don't doubt that you would have enjoyed it; but I felt so sorry for the poor cattle that it tired me.

In the afternoon, we young people went on an excursion of about twenty miles on horseback to see the Falls of Ka Liuwaa. After passing about eight miles on the beach, we turned up a mountain ravine; two miles more brought us to the end of our ride. We dismounted and had a lunch, sitting in the branches of a fallen kukui-tree, and drinking water from a cup made of a taro leaf. We took off our riding-skirts, threw them over the saddle, and leaving our horses in the care of a native man, walked up the narrow gorge, or gulch, as they call it here, seldom more than one or two hundred feet wide, with precipitous sides rising sometimes a thousand feet above us. At times we were just on the edge of the stream, but as often jumping from rock to rock in the very bed of the brook. Towards the termination of the gorge, is a place in the rock called "The Canoe," a half-circle gouged right down the precipice as smooth as if chiseled out, about fifty feet wide, and a thousand feet deep.

"Why do they call it 'The Canoe'?" asked Willie.

There is a story connected with it, as with everything on these islands. One of their gods was angry with another god, and sought to kill him. I believe the latter, who was running away, slipped his canoe down the rock, making the groove I have described, and escaped to the sea.

Soon we came to the fall itself, and here the precipices on each side were one and two thousand feet high. The fall is about a hundred feet, running through a narrow gulch from a lake above, and probably never was seen by a foreign eye. It was a lovely and romantic place. The water fell into a small, but deep, circular pond. Exquisite varieties of ferns and mosses grew upon the rocks lining its sides, and no sound was heard but the plashing of water.

Some of the natives are said to have a superstitious fear of the place, the remains of their old religion; and the way up was lined with offerings, consisting of a leaf with a few stones piled on it. I don't believe they are much afraid, for they laughed if the stones were thrown over.

The next day we rode on fifteen miles to Kaneohe. Here we met Rev. Mr. Parker's people. On our way we passed several rice-fields. Rice is grown in wet places, like the taro. It looks very much like grain as you see it in the distance, but it is of a very brilliant green.

Early the next morning we left for Honolulu. Soon after we started, our baggage-horse ran away. One of the bags which he bore got loose and frightened him. Our horses saw him coming with one bag swinging back and forth under his body, and began to be uneasy, so we turned them off to the side of the road, and he rushed past us. The gentlemen and natives started in pursuit. The poor horse crossed a river, and was finally caught in a taro-patch. Our bags were torn to pieces, and many of their contents scattered over the plain; some were wet through or stained with the green mud from the taro-fields.

"Did you find all your things?" asked Harry.

Almost everything; the poor horse looked sadly jaded and tired, but he had to carry the baggage the rest of the way.

We rode up a precipitous ascent two or three thousand feet high, by a zigzag road cut into its sides. The adjacent precipices are some of them much higher. Over one of these Kamehameha I. drove the defeated warriors of Oahu, in his last battle on the island. That was savage warfare. The precipice up which we rode is called "The Pali," or precipice; it is at the head of Nuuanu valley. The finest approach to it is from Honolulu. Masses of rock rise high above you on either side, while a beautiful panorama of hills, valleys, cottages, winding streams, and verdant plantations all opens to your astonished eye, and bounding the distant view is the ocean.

Riding down Nuuanu valley, we were again surrounded by our Honolulu friends. Our tour of the Hawaiian Islands was ended.

The next day, May 30, the steamer Kilauea came into port, bringing missionaries from the other islands to attend the general meeting appointed to be held in Honolulu in the month of June.

The meeting opened June 3, and every morning and afternoon there were business meetings until the 16th, when the examination of Oahu College at Punahou commenced. It was a fine examination, – the same studies as in our New England academies. It lasted through two days, and on the third day there was an exhibition in the evening at the stone church. The house was prettily decorated, the king lending his royal reception-flag for the occasion, an enormous banner forty feet long. This was suspended by the four corners from the ceiling, forming a sort of canopy over the platform. There were also American, French, British, Spanish, and Hawaiian flags, together with wreaths, mottoes, and bouquets. The church was crowded with foreigners and natives. The speeches were good, the young men doing themselves credit, and the singing was fine; indeed, there are some superior singers in Honolulu. Commencement ended, as in our own country, with the president's levee. Everybody seemed to be present, and to enjoy themselves, and did ample justice to the abundant collation spread in the college hall. The evening closed with patriotic songs, and thus ended the college year of 1863.

General meeting was resumed after the exercises at Punahou were concluded. Almost every missionary was present, and had brought a part or the whole of his family. The Pastor of the Foreign Church, the Seamen's Chaplain, President of Oahu College, native pastors and delegates were all present. It was delightful to witness the harmony pervading this large body, and to see how strong the Christian and missionary tie that bound them together. There they sat day after day, exchanging their opinions, discussing questions, and settling matters of great importance to them and the people, meeting and praying together, and it seemed as if the spirit of Christ rested upon them; for no jar or discord was allowed to enter.

The work of the Lord in those islands is very great. There are now only 67,000 inhabitants, and yet in these forty-three years in which the mission has been in operation there have been 52,413 converts, and 19,679 are now connected with the churches. Surely, this may be called a Christian nation. There was another "Cousins' Meeting" on the evening of June 6th. I wish you could peep in upon one of these gatherings. Thirty or forty young people together, all united by the missionary tie, the ladies wearing light or white muslins, with gay belts and sashes, flowers in their hair, and happy, joyous, faces; the gentlemen with a rose in their button-hole, in summer dress; windows, doors, and blinds all open; and after the business of the meeting is over, numerous happy couples promenading to and fro on the piazza. All this gives a festive look, and one has a feeling of interest not felt in gatherings in our own land. At parties there, one never expected a greater variety of refreshments than cake, coffee, and strawberries; so they can be conducted without much expense, and little companies are the order of the day. Then it is so easy getting about; no cold winter snows to trudge through, no chilling wind to guard against; everybody has a horse or vehicle of some kind, or his next neighbor has, and is willing to be neighborly.

But we must leave Honolulu parties, and go to an American supper.

XIX

Honolulu again

WEE little Alice came for me, with her bright face, at four o'clock next day, to lead me to my accustomed seat in the sitting-room, where my happy little group were always awaiting me.

The general meeting occupied most of the days until three o'clock, and we ladies took our sewing and listened to the grave debates. It was an interesting season to all present.

Half a dozen of us started on horseback one afternoon, to visit Kalihe valley, one of the beautiful gulches near Honolulu; but when we reached the entrance of the valley, it rained so that we could not explore its charms. But we turned off to the residence of an aged blind man, and rambled in his garden among peach, orange, and mango-trees, and then sat on the piazza eating mangoes and chatting for an hour. One of the most valued trees in this whole garden was a little dwarf apple-tree, with two good-sized apples on it. Those were some of the first ever grown on the islands, I believe. After our mango feast, we had a brisk gallop back to the town.

One day we occupied in making wreaths and mottoes to decorate the schoolhouse, where the annual meeting of the Cousins' Society was to be held in the evening. Over the middle window, opposite the door, were the letters "X L C R" [Excelsior], and below were a wreath and festoon, with pendants intermixed with beautiful flowers. On either side, was "Unity, 1852" [when the society was formed], and "Harmony, 1863." In the arch of each window hung a wreath of maile, a pretty green vine. Between each window was a tin candle-stand, trimmed with the vine and flowers. Over the door were four small American flags intertwined with one Hawaiian flag. The reports of the officers were read, and various addresses made, and "Unity" and "Harmony" were the watch-words of the meeting. We had one more meeting at the schoolhouse, when grandpa addressed the Cousins, reminding them of the responsibility resting on them; that as their fathers laid the burden down, they must take it up, and be to the Hawaiian people a help and support. They answered that they were ready and willing, and, God helping them, they would try and be faithful to the people committed to their care.