LETTER XXIV. 



The Princess Keelikolani— The Paradise of Maui — An Island Sahara — 

 The Dead Volcano of Haleakala — Cloud Scenery— Maui Hospitality. 



Ulupalakua, Maui, May i2tk. 



It is three weeks since I left the Hawaiian Hotel and its 

 green mist of algarobas, but my pleasant visits in this island 

 do not furnish much that will interest you. There was great 

 excitement on the wharf at Honolulu the evening I left. It 

 was crowded with natives, the king's band was playing, old 

 hags were chanting md'es, and several of the royal family, and 

 of the " upper ten thousand " were there, taking leave of the 

 Governess of Hawaii, the Princess Keelikolani, the late king's 

 half-sister. The throng and excitement were so great, that we 

 were outside the reef before I got. a good view of this lady, the 

 largest and the richest woman on the islands. Her size and 

 appearance are most unfortunate, but she is said to be good and 

 kind. She was dressed in a very common black holoku, with a 

 red bandana round her throat, round which she wore a le of 

 immense oleanders, as well as round her hair, which was cut 

 short. She had a large retinue, and her female attendants all 

 wore leis of oleander. They spread very fine mats on the deck, 

 under j>ulu beds, covered with gorgeous quilts, on which the 

 Princess and her suite slept, and in the morning the beds were 

 removed, breakfast was spread on the mats, and she, some of 

 her attendants, and two or three white men who received in- 

 vitations, sat on the deck round it. It was a far less attractive 

 meal than that which the serene steward served below. The 

 calabashes, which contained the pale pink poi, were of highly 

 polished kou wood, but there were no foreign refinements. The 

 other dishes were several kinds of raw fish, dried devil-fish, 

 boiled kalo, sweet potatoes, bananas, and cocoa-nut milk. 



I had a very uncomfortable night on a mattress on the deck, 

 which was overcrowded with natives, and some of the native 



