“That boy of yours is the readiest fellow on his feet in controversy that I ever laid eyes upon!”
Honolulu, August 14.
To-morrow we embark once more upon our Boat of Dreams, for the Big Island. Thence, if the engines prove satisfactory, and our new skipper, Captain James Langhorne Warren of Virginia, measures up to Jack’s judgment, we shall sail from Hilo in earnest for the South Seas. Captain Rosehill and the crew had failed to assimilate.
And now, a few notes upon these latter days on Oahu.
No one interested should fail to visit the Entomological and Sugar Cane Experiment Station, where the clear-eyed and sometimes weary-eyed scientists are glad to explain the remarkable work being done in coping with all pestiferous enemies of profitable agriculture in the Territory. Mr. “Joe” Cooke, midway in a drive to the polo field, allowed us a fascinating hour or two with our eyes glued to wondrous microscopes that showed us an undreamed world of infinitesimal life.
In the open air once more, we set out for Moanalua Valley, to see the polo ponies that were being conditioned for the great game, which we attended two days later. The players of Hawaii cherish a widespread and enviable reputation for their keen, clean game.
Saturday dawned clear and fine, after a hard rain. The beautiful course around the slippery field was lined with automobiles, while an upper terrace furnished the parked carriages an unobstructed view. Miss Rose Davison, astride a mighty red roan, officer of the S. P. C. A., and a splendidly efficient character, marshaled the crowd, with the assistance of a staff of mounted Hawaiian police—magnificent fellows all. Every one loves the Hawaiian police for their ability, courtesy, and distinguished appearance.
Mr. and Mrs. Longworth declared that this tournament, set in the exquisite little valley, and played so inimitably, was quite the most exciting they had ever witnessed anywhere.
We had heard of the Bishop Museum as being one of the world’s best, embracing exhibits from every isle in the Pacific Ocean, historical, geographical, ethnological, zoological; and hither one afternoon we went. Despite the exalted repute of this storehouse of antiquity, we had passed it by, for the idea of wandering through a stuffy public building on a hot day, concerning ourselves with lifeless relics, when we might be out in the open-air world of the quick, had never appealed.
Once inside the portals of koa wood, as ornamental as precious marbles, we knew no passing of time until the hour of their closing for the day. The building alone is worthy of close inspection, finished as it is throughout with that incomparable hardwood. In the older sections, the timber has been fantastically turned, much of its splendid grain being lost in convolutions of pillar and balustrade; but modern architects have utilized the timber in all its beauty of rich gold, mahogany-red, maple-tints, and darker shades, with sympathetic display of its traceries that sometimes take the form of ships at sea, heads of animals, or landscapes.