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 
