140 



HAWAII. 



[LETTER XIV. 



that had impressed me so favourably. He has a very musical 

 voice, a natural nobility and refinement of manner, and obvious 

 tact and good feeling, rather, I should think, the result of 

 amiable and gentlemanly instincts than of training or considera- 

 tion, all which combine to make him interesting, altogether 

 apart from his position as a Polynesian sovereign. 



Where there are no servants, a party involves the hosts and 

 their friends in the bustle of personal preparation, but all 

 worked with a will, and by sunset the decorations were com- 

 pleted. All the Chinese lamps in Hilo were hung in the front 

 verandah, and seats were placed in the front and side veran- 

 dahs, on which the drawing-room opens by four doors, so there 

 was plenty of room, though there were thirty people. The 

 side verandah was enclosed by a drapery of flags, and the 

 whole was tastefully decorated with festoons and wreaths of 

 ferns. The king arrived early with his attendants, and was 

 received by the host and hostess, and like a perfectly civilized 

 guest, he handed Mrs. S. into the room. The great wish of 

 the genial entertainers was to prevent stiffness and give the 

 king a really social evening, so the "chair game," magical 

 music, and a refined kind of blind man's buff, better suited to 

 the occasion, but less "jolly" than the old riotous game, 

 were shortly introduced. Lunalilo only looked on at first, and 

 then entered into the games with a heartiness and zest which 

 showed that he at least enjoyed the evening. Supper was 

 served at nine. Several nests of Japanese tables had been 

 borrowed, and these, dispersed about the room and verandah, 

 broke up the guests into little social knots. Three Hilo ladies 

 and I were the waitresses, and I was pleased to see that the good 

 things were thoroughly appreciated, and that the trifle was uni- 

 versally popular. After supper there was a little dancing, and as 

 few of the Hilo people knew any dance correctly, it was very 

 amusing for the on-lookers. There was a great deal of pro- 

 menading in the verandah, and a great deal of talking and 

 merriment, which were enjoyed by a crowd of natives who 

 stood the whole evening outside the garden fence. I don't 

 think that any of the Hilo people are so unhappy as to possess 

 an evening dress, and the pretty morning dresses of the ladies, 

 and the thick boots, easy morning coats, and black ties of 

 the gentlemen, gave a jolly " break-down " look to the affair, 

 which would have been deemed inadmissible in less civilized 

 society. 



Some of my photographs of some of our eminent literary 



