NARRATIVE OF THE CRUISE. 
763 
mooring, anchors are buried at suitable distances trom each other on the reef on the 
western side of the harbour, and ships moor by letting go their own anchors as holdfasts 
in the centre of the anchorage ground, and then secure their sterns by chains to the 
anchors on the reef. One chain is sufficient in the summer time, but it is advisable to 
have two in the winter, when southerly winds occasionally blow. 
The channel into the harbour is buoyed on each side, and there are two lighthouses 
which serve as leading marks either by night or day. One of these lighthouses is erected 
on a point of the reef on the western side of the harbour, and the other, which is very 
difficult to distinguish, at the corner of a row of houses facing the harbour. These marks, 
together with the buoys, are sufficient to enable vessels whose draught does not exceed 
15 or 16 feet to enter without a pilot, but vessels of larger draught should take pilots, 
especially if unacquainted with the port, for as the channel is narrow and the buoys are 
not moored taut, it does not do to keep midway between them, for they may be out in 
the channel on one side and over on the reefs on the other side. Of course buoys would 
not be required at all if the water were clear, but as it is frequently turbid the channel 
cannot be distinctly seen from aloft. 
The harbour is said by the local authorities to be silting up slightly. A survey 
by the Americans, undertaken shortly before the visit of the Expedition, shows a depth 
of 22 feet on the bar. There appears, however, to be some doubt as to the datum 
mark to which the soundings have been reduced, for although the rise and fall is very 
slight, it appears that there is a difference of a foot or so in the mean level of the sea at 
different seasons of the year ; so that a reduction of a sounding obtained to low water 
does not allow of a comparison between surveys of different dates. The Government of 
the Sandwich Islands had at the time of the visit established a surveying and land office 
at Honolulu and commenced a trigonometrical survey of the group, and doubtless they 
will establish permanent marks to which soundings are in future to be referred. 
The harbour of Honolulu is almost deserted in the summer time, but in the winter is 
much frequented by whaling vessels. At the time of the visit there was regular com- 
munication between the Sandwich and Society Islands, the vessels carrying cattle and 
sheep to the Society group, and bringing back oranges. A quarantine hospital has been 
established at Honolulu on some reclaimed ground on the western side of the harbour. 
Besides Honolulu there are two other harbours on the island of Oahu ; one, the 
Pearl Lochs; 5 miles to the westward, a large inlet with ample water in it for heavy 
ships, but which is unfortunately barred by shoals having about 12 feet over them ; 
the other, a small harbour on the northeast side of the island, used occasionally by the 
local schooners, which appears shallow and intricate. 
In the Government buildings at Honolulu there is a public library, which is 
accessible to all visitors from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and as it contains numbers of the original 
editions of the works of the old voyagers in the Pacific, it is well worth a visit. 
