TIME AND CHANGE 



plies some of the merchants in the city and the sail 

 ors and stewards on the ocean steamers. What 

 admirable servants the Chinese make, so respectful, 

 so prompt, so silent, so quick to comprehend ! The 

 Japanese house servants on the islands also give 

 efficient and gracious service. 



I had gone to Honolulu reluctantly, but tarried 

 there joyfully. The fine climate, with its even 

 temperature of about eighty degrees Fahrenheit, 

 and with all that is enervating or oppressive in that 

 degree of heat winnowed out of it by the ceaseless 

 trade winds; the almost unbroken sunshine, per 

 fumed now and then by a sprinkle of sunlit rain 

 from the mountains; the wonderful sea laving the 

 shores on the one hand and the cool, cloud-capped, 

 and rain-drenched heights within easy reach on the 

 other; the green, cozy valleys; the broad sweep of 

 plain; the new, strange nature on every side; the 

 novel and delicious fruits; the pepsin-charged 

 papaya, or tree melon, which tickles the palate while 

 it heals and renews the whole digestive system; 

 the mangoes (oh, the mangoes!); the cordiality of 

 the people; the inviting bungalows; the clean 

 streets; the good service everywhere all made 

 me feel how mistaken was my reluctance. 



Most of the Americans one meets there are de 

 scendants of the missionaries who went out from 

 New England and New York early in the last cen* 

 tury, and one feels at home with them at once. 

 124 



