The first real excitement was our arrival at Honolulu on July 9th, where we were allowed one day. The city, with its beautiful location and tropical vegetation, is too well known to need description. We went first by automobile to Mt. Pali, quite a distance in the country; here we had a wonderful view looking across a long level stretch to a point beyond which were rice-fields in the stage of early green, and beyond that a sugar plantation, and beyond that still farther off a mass of green foliage. The landscape at once marked Honolulu as being somewhat akin to Java. The mountains here are volcanic in their origin.
Returning from Pali, we went to the Punch Bowl and Diamond Head, an extinct volcano. Next, we took a long drive along the sea front to the beautiful hotel called Moana, where we met friends. The ride led through one of the principal residence streets, and we noticed beautiful homes with their extensive grounds and profusion of palms, shrubs, and flowers. We also saw the former palace of the Queen, which is now reserved as the Governor's residence. We then went to Young's Hotel for lunch, and, after that, visited some minor points of interest and some shops, returning to the steamer in the late afternoon, feeling that Honolulu was indeed one of the beauty spots of earth. On reaching the ship, it seemed as if every passenger—man, woman, and child—was decorated with long wreaths of flowers reaching to the ground; the flowers are ruthlessly pulled to pieces and strung together to tempt the tourists. It was really a very beautiful sight, but unfortunately the flowers soon faded.
The day following we saw the battle fleet, only about two miles distant, en route for Yokohama; there were fifteen war-vessels, and it was indeed a wonderful spectacle.
We arrived in the harbor of San Francisco at noon on July 14th, and, after the usual delay with the health officer, we were soon in the throes of the custom house, and it was an ordeal never before experienced. We had been told by the steward on the steamer that we must strictly follow the regulations laid down in the circular issued by the Government, December, 1907. I paid the penalty of my honesty, and the law was strictly enforced. I said to the custom house officer: "The lady opposite was through nearly an hour ago." He remarked: "She probably told a good many lies." And that was the consolation I had; having paid my duty in a resigned frame of mind, believing in a protective tariff, I departed.
The view of the harbor as we entered had seemed quite as it was of old, and indeed its beauty impressed me more than ever before; but, as I left the wharf and drove along some of the streets of the earthquake-stricken city, there was a heartache, so much of wreck and ruin was evident. My companion, who was in San Francisco two years before, told me that the renovation seemed wonderful,—an opinion in which I concurred after arriving at the St. Francis Hotel, for there were fine blocks newly built in the vicinity.
I remained a few days in San Francisco, and visited certain familiar points, most of my friends being out of the city in the month of July. I went across to the beautiful suburb of Oakland and visited some shops which seemed to me quite equal (except in their buildings) to those of old. No one can visit San Francisco at the present time without being impressed with the energy and enthusiasm displayed and by the amount of work being accomplished.
I left on July 20th, over the Shasta route of the Southern Pacific. This way is so widely known for its beauty of scenery that it seems unnecessary to attempt any description. Mt. Shasta wore a smiling face the morning of our arrival, the recent heat wave having melted much of the snow that crowns its rugged summit.
Portland has a splendid location, with mountains and the sea alike accessible, broad streets, and an unusually fine residence portion. Mt. Hood was, however, wreathed in smoke on account of the prevailing forest fires. The railway journey from Portland to Seattle is not lacking in interest, as there is varied scenery the entire way.