HONOLULU. 373 
accordingly. On approaching the land there was no town to be seen, 
and every one then knew that a mistake had been made, of which no 
one was willing to assume the blame. Instead of being off Honolulu, 
we were under the high land of Mauna Kaala, on the west side of 
Oahu, near the small village of Wainai. 
The appearance of Oahu is by no means inviting; it has a greater 
resemblance to the desert coast of Peru than any other of the Polyne- 
sian islands we had visited, and has as little appearance of cultivation. 
The country would be termed at first sight barren and rocky. The 
land in places is very much broken, and rises into high ridges, here 
and there divided by deep and narrow ravines, with little vegetation, 
except on the mountain ranges. From the published descriptions of the 
Hawaiian Islands, I was prepared to see them, and particularly Oahu, 
a perfect garden. I was inclined to impute my disappointment to our 
approach being made on its lee side, which is unusual; but I regret to 
say that any side of it, when seen from the sea, is very far from having 
an inviting appearance. 
Judging myself still to leeward of our port, as our observations, on 
calculating them up, proved, I made a tack off, and by four o’clock 
we saw the town of Honolulu, which is very conspicuous from the sea, 
and has more the appearance of a civilized land, with its churches and 
spires, than any other island in Polynesia. It is, therefore, strange that 
it should have been forgotten by those who had once seen it. 
As it was too late to reach the anchorage, I concluded to beat to 
windward till the morning of the 24th, when, at 85 30™ a. m.. we came 
to anchor in the roads, and found the tender had arrived a few days 
before us, all well. 
Honolulu exhibits, even to a distant view, many dwellings built in the 
Kuropean style, with look-outs, and several steeples rising above the 
habitations. Some edifices of large size are also seen in the progress 
of construction. Native houses, with thatched roofs, however, pre- 
dominate, which prevent it from losing the appearance of a Polynesian 
town, and are associated with ideas of a semi-civilization. To look 
upon it was, notwithstanding, a source of pleasure, as it gave evidence 
of a change being in progress, in which some of our own countrymen 
are performing a prominent part. It has for several years past been 
their scene of action, and bears testimony to their spirit of enterprise. 
They still constitute the majority of the foreign residents. Many of us, 
also, expected to meet friends, and all knew that the squadron was 
anxiously looked for, while letters for us had certainly been accumu- 
lating, in which news from home was to be found. 
The aspect of the country around Honolulu, as seen from the roads, 
