To each of these addresses the king made a brief and pertinent reply. Not having sufficient confidence in his English, he spoke in the native language,—his minister of finance, Mr. Judd, acting as interpreter. There was no parade, or affectation of court phraseology in what he said. His language was remarkable for its directness and simplicity. His reply concluded with these words: “Commodore, I thank you for your visit to our islands; your words will long be remembered; may you be happy.” The king is about thirty-four years of age, of a stout frame, dark complexion, and with good humor, rather than strength of intellect, betrayed in his features. He wore a blue military uniform, with gold epaulettes and sword. The prince and chiefs were without any badge of distinction, except a star worn on the breast. Their costume was all in the European style. The cabinet, consisting of the minister of finance, the minister of foreign affairs, the minister of instruction, and the attorney-general, all of whom, except the second, are Americans, were in plain garb. You see more parade at Rome in five minutes, when the Pope steps from the Vatican into St. Peter’s, or a red-stockinged cardinal enters his carriage, than you would here in six months.
The king confides the affairs of government very much to his ministers. Succeeding to power at an early age, without a political education, or established principles of action, his policy would be inconsistent and wavering, but for the steady influence of those around him. He evinces his moderation in foregoing the dictates of an arbitrary will, and consulting the judgments of those whose intelligence and experience have given them a broader scope of vision. The foreigners who have settled in his island, and who seek to undermine the influence of his counsellors, are the most subtle and dangerous enemies with which he has to contend. Their selfish and mischievous dispositions are masked under professions of friendship. They talk of changes for the better, but they aim at revolution. They are willing to run the hazard of the great political earthquake, for the chance of being hove into stations of emolument and power. But if the present social fabric falls, they will be buried in its ruins; and there they may lie, sepulchred under the horrors of a betrayed people, and the execrations of the civilized world.
Preparations are making for the erection of a royal residence, which shall be in keeping with the progress of the arts in these islands. The mansion at present occupied by the king, is the property of one of his chiefs. It is built of coral; a graceful portico adorns the front, and the whole is surmounted by an elegant belvidere. The grounds are ample, tastefully laid out, and shaded by beautiful forest trees. No splendid coach dashes through its avenues; no train of servile retainers lounge in its shades; no throng of parasites disturb its domestic quietude and social ease.
The amusements of the king are with the bow and arrow, in his bowling-alley, and at his billiard-table. In these pastimes he is cheek by jowl with his chiefs, and any well-bred gentleman. He was inclined in his youth to habits of dissipation; and often drained, at the expense of his dignity, the inebriating bowl. But he is now at the head of a national temperance society. He is perhaps the only monarch, civilized or savage, who has abjured, in his own example, all intoxicating drinks. Go, ye potentates of prouder thrones, and take a lesson of practical wisdom from this sable brother.
Friday, June 19. Our ride to-day has been to the Salt Lake, which lies some five miles west of the town, on the margin of the sea. It is cradled in the crater of an old volcano. You reach it by a steep ascent of one hundred feet, and rapid descent of as many more. It is the third of a mile in circuit; and, standing by its breathless margin, the rock-bound rim of the hollow cone soars above you in wild grandeur.
The lake is on a level with the sea, and is undoubtedly fed from it through unseen fissures. The salt is crystalized out of the water, through a rapid evaporation, occasioned by the intense heat to which it is subjected. It steams up as if the central fires, which once found an escape here, were again seeking for a vent. Should they burst forth, this lake will be thrown sky-high; and not only the geologist be bereaved of a rare curiosity, and the king deprived of an important source of revenue, but the kanacka will be obliged to eat his poi and fish without salt.
Nothing here has amused me more than the surf sports of the young chiefs. Each takes a smooth board, of some eight feet in length, leads it over the coral shallows far out into the sea, and when a tremendous roller is coming in, jumps upon it, and the roller carries him upon its combing top, with the speed of an arrow, to the shore. A young American, who was among them, not liking to be outdone in a sport which seemed so simple, thought he would try the board and billow. He ventured out a short distance, watched his opportunity, and, as the roller came, jumped upon his plank, was capsized, and hove, half strangled, on the beach.
“There, breathless, with his digging nails he clung
Fast to the sand, lest the returning wave,
From whose reluctant roar his life he wrung,