LETTER XXXI.] 



GOSSIPPING TENDENCIES. 



289 



Honolulu, the languid airs of Hilo, the balmy breezes of Onomea, 

 the cool bluster of Waimea, or the odorous stillness of Kona, 

 it is always the same. The grim gloom of our anomalous 

 winters, the harsh malignant winds of our springs, and the 

 dismal rains and overpowering heats of our summers, have no 

 counterpart in the endless spring-time of Hawaii. 



Existence here is unclogged and easy, a smalf*sjncome goes a 

 long way, and the simplicity, refinement, kindliness, and soci- 

 ability of the foreign residents, render society very pleasant. 

 The life here is truer, simpler, and happier than ours. The 

 relation between the foreign and native population is a kindly 

 and happy one, and the natives, in spite of their faults, are a 

 most friendly and pleasant people to live among. With a know- 

 ledge of their easily-acquired language, they would be a cease- 

 less source of interest, and every white resident can have the 

 satisfaction of helping them in their frequent distresses and 

 illnesses. 



The sense of security is a very special charm, and one enjoys 

 it as well in lonely native houses, and solitary days and nights 

 of travelling, as in the foreign homes, which are never locked 

 throughout the year. There are no burglarious instincts to dread, 

 and there is no such thing as " a broken sleep of fear beneath 

 the stars." The person and property of a white man are every- 

 where secure, and a white woman is sure of unvarying respect 

 and kindness. 



There are no inevitable hardships. The necessaries, and 

 even the luxuries of civilization can be obtained everywhere, 

 and postal communication with America is regular and rapid. 



When I began this letter, a long procession of counter- 

 balancing disadvantages passed through my mind, but they be- 

 come " beautifully less " as I set them down in black and 

 white. If I put gossip first, it is because I seriously think that 

 it is the canker of the foreign society on the islands. Its 

 extent and universality are grotesque and amusing to a stranger, 

 but to live in it, and share in it, and learn to enjoy it, would be 

 both lowering and hurtful, and you can hardly be long here 

 without being drawn into its vortex. By gossip I don't mean 

 scandal or malignant misrepresentations, or reports of petty 

 strifes, intrigues, and jealousies, such as are common in all cliques 

 and communities, but nuhou, mere tattle, the perpetual talking 

 about people, and the picking to tatters of every item of per- 

 sonal detail, whether gathered from fact or imagination. 



A great deal of this is certainly harmless, and in some 



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