LETTER XVIII.] 



QUEEN EMMA. 



173 



It stands in pleasure-grounds of about an acre in extent, with a 

 fine avenue running through them, and is approached by a 

 flight of steps which leads to a tolerably spacious hall, decorated 

 in the European style. Portraits of Louis Philippe and his 

 queen, presented by themselves, and of the late Admiral 

 Thomas, adorn the walls. The Hawaiians have a profound 

 respect for this officer's memory, as it was through him that the 

 sovereignty of the islands was promptly restored to the native 

 rulers, after the infamous affair of its cession to England, as 

 represented by Lord George Paulet. There are also some orna- 

 mental vases and miniature copies of some of Thorwaldsen's 

 works. The throne-room takes up the left wing of the palace. 

 This unfortunately resembles a rather dreary drawing-room in 

 London or New York, and has no distinctive features except a 

 decorated chair, which is the Hawaiian throne. There is an 

 Hawaiian crown also, neither grand nor costly, but this I have 

 not seen. At present the palace is only used for state recep- 

 tions and entertainments, for the king is living at his private 

 residence of Haemoeipio, not far off. 



Miss W. kindly introduced me to Queen Emma, or Kalele- 

 onalani, the widowed queen of Kamehameha IV., whom you 

 will remember as having visited England a few years ago, when 

 she received great attention: She has one-fourth of English 

 blood hi her veins, but her complexion is fully as dark as if she 

 were of unmixed Hawaiian descent, and her features, though 

 refined by education and circumstances, are also Hawaiian ; 

 but she is a very pretty, as well as a very graceful woman. She 

 .was brought up by Dr. Rooke, an English physician here, and 

 though educated at the American school for the children of 

 chiefs, is very English in her leanings and sympathies, an at- 

 tached member of the English Church, and an ardent supporter 

 of the " Honolulu Mission." Socially she is very popular, 

 and her exceeding kindness and benevolence, with her strongly 

 national feeling as an Hawaiian, make her much beloved by the 

 natives. 



The winter palace, as her town house is called, is a large, 

 shady abode, like an old-fashioned New England house exter- 

 nally, but with two deep verandahs, and the entrance is on the 

 upper one. The lower floor seemed given up to attendants and 

 offices, and a native woman was ironing clothes under a tree. 

 Upstairs, the house is like a tasteful, English country house, 

 with a pleasant English look, as if its furniture and ornaments 

 had been gradually accumulating during a series of years, and 



