In the cool of the evening, when tired from a day of sight-seeing, the traveler may listen to the Honolulu Band, on some public square. It is composed of native musicians, but the instruments are those of the ordinary American brass band, and but for the cosmopolitan character of the audience one might imagine himself in a city of southern California or some other subtropical part of the United States.
Besides having the most equable climate in the world Honolulu claims the most perfect bathing-resort on earth, Waikiki Beach. The water is certainly all that could be desired, but the not infrequent sharp masses of coral that project up through the white sand of the otherwise perfect beach are decidedly objectionable, and the writer cut a gash in his foot, by stepping on one of these pieces of coral, that was many days in healing.
ROYAL PALMS, HONOLULU.
Another of the points of interest in the city is the Royal Mausoleum, where are the bodies of many of the royalty of the Hawaiian dynasties. The Hawaiian alphabet consists of but twelve letters, and the preponderance of vowels in many words seems remarkable to an English-speaking person. For example one of the bodies in the Royal Mausoleum is that of "Kaiminaauao, sister of Queen Kalakaua"; it will be noticed that eight of the eleven letters in this name are vowels. In this Mausoleum doubtless now rest the remains of Liliuokalani, the last queen of Hawaii, who was deposed in 1893 for attempting to force a less liberal constitution upon the people. She married an American and twice visited the United States, after his death.
If time permit, and the pocketbook too, most interesting side trips to the other islands of the group may be made, especially to the active volcano, Mauna Loa, 13,760 feet high, with Kilauea on its eastern slope, situated on the Island of Hawaii.
While the Hawaiian Islands may not be as perfect as they are advertised, they nevertheless give a very fair imitation of Paradise, and a better place in which to rest and enjoy nature in her kindest moods would be hard to find.
Transcriber's Notes:
Inconsistencies in the hyphenation of words retained. (nearby, near-by)
Pg. 45, unusual spelling of word "variagated" retained. (and large and variagated smells)