LETTERS FROM HAWAII 



hardly less so; but Monday was hot, intensely hot; 

 mercury 103 in the car, in crossing Iowa." 



Next come some of the family letters from Hawaii. 



MRS. JAMES D. DANA TO E. S. DANA 



" HAUKU ISLAND, OFF MAUAI, August 4, 1887. 



" I am left here at the charming home of Mr. Henry 

 Baldwin, with our late hostess, Mrs. Merritt, while father 

 and the others have gone up the mountain Haleakala. 

 It is an ascent of ten thousand feet, and from the top 

 there is a descent of two thousand feet into an extinct 

 volcano of great size and interest. The party, five gentle- 

 men and three ladies (a stranger from Oakland having 

 availed herself of the chance) ; Professor Alexander, Mr. 

 Merritt, Oliver Carter, Mr. Walsh, and father make up 

 the number. They had two pack-mules and a native on 

 a third, and were well provided with blankets, tents, etc. 



" They moved off about 2.30 yesterday, expecting, after 

 three or four hours' ride, to spend the night at Olinda in 

 houses. To-day they finish the climb, descend two 

 thousand feet, on the animals, into the crater, and there 

 pass the night. To-morrow P.M. I hope to report them 

 all safe back. I can see the mountain from the veranda 

 where I write, and I much fear that there may be rain 

 there, but it is impossible to judge correctly. 



' We left Honolulu Monday, on the Like-Like* (not 

 leaky in fact, if in sound). It is a very rough trip, and 

 there were few besides our three who were not flat on the 

 mattresses on deck before we had been an hour out ! It 

 was there we all passed the night. My next neighbor on 

 one side was a large dog! He was quiet, and I much 

 preferred him to the noisy natives with their necklaces 

 ' leis ' of jasmine and tuberose. We escaped wonder- 

 fully, but it was an experience we do not care to repeat, 

 nor to dwell upon ! We landed early, and were glad of 

 an invitation to eat the lunch brought with us in a pleas- 

 ant house near the wharf, where hot coffee was provided 

 for us, and we were much revived thereby. There are 



* The native pronunciation is " Leeky-Leeky." 

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