July 19th 
1861 
July 2oth 
Saturday 
Huly 21st 
Sunday 
July 22nd 
July 23rd 
I suppose I have got to stand this (?) I vail or no : 1 am very lazy, 
I know, but this is a little too much idleness for me. 
One week gone i thank fortune I had "an experience" last night out 
of which was manufactured a little excitement. After lolling, and 
walking, sleeping, and gazing, and otherwise killing time all day, 
and going through with much the same performance during the evening, 
which by the way was a beautiful moonlight I was lying awake looking 
out on the heaps of white sand that lay shining in the moonlight, 
and trying to imagine myself "at home" in the winter, when all at 
once there was a scramble of feet over the pebbles, and a shout from 
the natives house, and before I could fairly get to the door they 
were upon it shouthing "Loke maku kapu" we hear guns. Where? What 
king? how many ? I ask in one breath: "to windward we just heard 
two cannon fired about a minute apart • " Now the thought struck 
me that I had been very awake sometime and as my ears were as good 
as theirs and fully alive to all the sounds about me, that I ought 
to have heard the guns as well as they, but they were so very 
positive, and told such a plausible story that I thought it prob¬ 
able that some vessel had made the island by moonlight and wanted 
to signalize herself, so I prepared to return the fire — but no 
more guns were fired, and I made up my mind that it was sheer 
imagination on the natives part ~ which it must have been as no 
vessel made her appearance this morning. But how very excitable these 
people are i You would have though that Gabriel's trump had sounded 
to them instead of a bit of gravel tumbling from one coral stone to 
another in the wall of their house, which must have been the noise 
they dignified into a nocturnal salute. They are already scared and it 
takes but little to unsettle their nerves• 
How eery quiet it is — what is Sunday to me when all days are Sundays 
I merely keep this journal so as not to lose the date 
Several smart showers. So far there has been but one day without 
rain since I came on the island. 
Eain and surf. I cnat think of anything more absurd than bringing 
water to such a place as this provided this is anything like a sample of 
the weathero 
