HA WAIIAN G UIDE B OK. 33 



bridge and hear the constant revolntion of the powerful 

 machine^ with most unalloyed satisfaction. The ar- 

 rangements for the comfort of passengers on this ves- 

 sel are very good — awnings, seats and mattresses on 

 deck, with broad transoms and clean berths below. 

 The table is well supplied, and the store of ice and of 

 ice water is abundant — a luxury that none can fail to 

 appreciate, at sea in the tropics. 



A grand feature of the voyage consists in the licensed 

 observation of Hawaiian home life — manners, habits, 

 civilization, kind of dress, mode of rest, of retiring, 

 of arising, of eating, drinking, caring for wife, chil- 

 dren and family, the eating of poi with their fingers, 

 which every one should see ; — all these and an immense 

 deal more are to be witnessed in perfect freedom and 

 abandon on the steamer, and that in every degree of 

 caste, and demi-semi-civilization. The scene on deck, 

 when the vessel is crowded is an amusing one. The 

 natives are mostly deck passengers, paying one or two 

 dollars each, according to distance. Not unfrequently 

 they are so thickly congregated forward of the privi- 

 leged quarter-deck — reserved for foreigners who pay 

 for the privilege — that they are unable to He down, 

 but remain wedged up in a tangled mass of men, 

 women, children, dogs, mats and calabashes, suggesting 

 the idea of a nice mess when the inevitable channel is 

 encountered. When weary of the sights of this phase 

 of humanity, the step to perfect rest costs the turn of 

 an eye to the ocean and the coast, which, if Capt. Mar- 

 chant is in command, is close aboard. The Captain 

 knows every sounding in the islands, and gives the 

 tourist a near and safe observation wherever he may go. 



