Page:A Lady's Cruise in a French Man-of-War.djvu/397

Rh of all the Sandwich Isles. It is a very tempting possibility, yet the element of doubt as to whether she really will go at all, exists so clearly, that it seems wiser for me to take passage in the Paloma to San Francisco, and thence return to Honolulu by mail-steamer. It is a terribly long round; for whereas Honolulu is 2000 miles from here, San Francisco is at least 4000, as the crow flies, and as ships go, the voyage is often one of 5000 miles, or even more—a long voyage to undertake in a brigantine of 230 tons!

Aleck Brander has been giving us most interesting accounts of his reception in Honolulu by all the royalties and high chiefs of Hawaii. As I have before mentioned, they all count blood-relationship with the high chiefs of Tahiti; and though they rarely meet, a visit from one to the other is a great event. So Aleck's first visit was celebrated by a true native welcome, and he had the luck of seeing such traces of old Hawaiian custom as have not yet quite died out. But it sounds odd to hear of presentations of food, and of crouching servants, quite à la Fiji, combined with very smart American-Parisian dresses, very much décolletée. At least the photographs, of which Aleck has brought a large supply, represent the great ladies of Hawaii in very low-necked and short-sleeved dresses of gorgeous material. Certainly the simple robes of Tahiti are infinitely preferable.

Saturday, 9th March. The die is cast, the sad partings over, and I have bidden a long farewell to the kindest and most affectionate community I have yet discovered in all my wanderings. I took leave of them all yesterday morning, for the Paloma had gone to Hitiaa, on the other side of the island, there to load with oranges.

My only fellow-passengers are a very kind couple, Mr and Mrs Boyd, who are accompanied by a pretty fair-haired child. We came together from Papeete, in a comfortable coach with canvas cover, and had a most lovely sixty miles' drive along the shore, with the distant hills standing out clearer and more beautiful than I had ever yet seen them, and the foliage seeming richer than ever,