LETTER II. 



First Impressions of Honolulu — Tropical Vegetation — The Nuuanu Pali — 

 Female Equestrianism — The Hawaiian Hotel — Paradise in the Pacific 

 — Mosquitos. 



Hawaiian Hotel, Honolulu, Jan. 26th. 



Yesterday morning at 6.30 I was aroused by the news 

 that "The Islands" were in sight. Oahu in the distance, a 

 group of grey, barren peaks rising verdureless out of the lonely 

 sea, was not an exception to the rule that the first sight of land 

 is a disappointment. Owing to the clear atmosphere, we 

 seemed only five miles off, but in reality we were twenty, and 

 the land improved as we neared it. It was the fiercest day we 

 had had, the deck was almost too hot to stand upon, the sea 

 and sky were both magnificently blue, and the unveiled sun 

 turned every minute ripple into a diamond flash. As we ap- 

 proached, the island changed its character. There were lofty 

 peaks, truly — grey and red, sun-scorched, and wind-bleached, 

 glowing here and there with traces of their fiery origin ; but 

 they were cleft by deep chasms and ravines of cool shade and 

 entrancing greenness, and falling water streaked their sides — 

 a most welcome vision after eleven months of the desert sea, 

 and the dusty browns of Australia and New Zealand. Nearer 

 yet, and the coast line came into sight, fringed by the feathery 

 cocoanut tree of the tropics, and marked by a long line of surf. 

 The grand promontory of Diamond Head, its fiery sides now 

 softened by a haze of green, terminated the wavy line of palms ; 

 then the Punchbowl, a perfect, extinct crater, brilliant with 

 every shade of red volcanic ash, blazed against the green skirts 

 of the mountains. W e were close to the coral reef before the 

 cry, " There's Honolulu ! " made us aware of the proximity of 

 the capital of the island kingdom, and then, indeed, its exist- 

 ence had almost to be taken upon trust, for besides the lovely 

 wooden and grass huts, with deep verandahs, which nestled 

 under palms and bananas on soft green sward, margined by 

 the bright sea sand, only two church spires and a few grey 

 roofs appeared above the trees. 



