THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS.

Evening Star, Issue 7212, 14 May 1887, Page 5 (Supplement)

THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS.

(Concluded ) In the foregoing memoranda, classed generally under the head “ Political,” the endeavor has been to set forth in a concise and intelligible form the polity ol the Hawaii m Kingdom, with an especial view to the suggestion of comparison with the institutions of New Zealand, and as illustrating a somewhat extraordinary phase of political development. The little kingdom, is indeed, a curiosity in States, and the problem presented as to how things are under the extraordinary circumstances which prevail must needs bo interesting to the practical politician as well as to those who study the science of politics. I shall now run off from the abstract consideration of facts and statistics to the statement of the impressions conveyed by what came under my notice during the few hours’ stay at Honolulu on March 11 and 12. First, a few words may be said as to the steamer Alameda, in in which I was a passenger from Auckland. I do not hesitate to affirm that in every essential this vessel is most admirably suited for the passenger service in these seas. Having had a long and varied experience at sea in all sorts and descriptions of craft, I may state that I never travelled in more thorough comfort. As a fact, there was no single matter which could give reasonable ground for complaint; whilst from the genial captain to the staff ot stewards it seemed the object of everyone connected with the ship to make the voyage as pleasant as possible. The humors of ocean steamship life have been written up ad nauseam, from Thackeray (in ‘ Cornhill to Cairo ’), more than forty years ago, to the eloquent twaddle of Mr Froude in* Oceana.’ I shall not therefore trouble myself to sketch the stereotyped society of the saloon. We had an “omnium gatherum” of about one hundred, among them many intelligent gentlemen. The wealthy-travelled snobs arc, of course, to the fore, and I am constrained to say that this element was decidedly British. Americans are very agreeable people to travel with, courteous and communicative when any desire is shown to make their acquaintance, cordial in manner, and very obliging. As reports to my own knowledge have been spread to the contrary, I may state that the table was excellent throughout the voyage, superior, indeed, to that—good us it is—spread on the Union Steam Ship boats; whilst the attendance is decidedly better. There is no bar, but liquors of all kinds must be purchased, if at all, by the bottle—the result of this is that there is little drinking in the saloon, except in the ordinary way at meal times. No constant nipping as on the coastal boats. Man, however, “being reasonable, will get drunk,” the poet says, and we had three or four shocking examples, who afforded the usual amusement to ill-regulated minds. Enough, however, of the ship, about which I have been led into saying very much more than I intended.

Early in the afternoon of March 11, after a fine-weather passage from Auckland, we sighted the island of Oahu, and shortly afterwards the roofs and spires of Honolulu were visible gleaming amidst tropical foliage. A fleet of American whalers, about a dozen ships, were cruising off the port, waiting, as was subsequently ascertained, for orders to proceed to the Northern fisheries. The pilot came on board and took the ship through tho narrow gap in the coral reef which encloses the harbor. We at once warped in to the wharf, where some 900 tons of sugar were piled ready to be put on board. The loading commenced forthwith, the work being done by the manual labor of Portuguese and Hawaiian laborers. Gangs relieved each other all night, tho last bag being on board by eight o'clock on the morning of the 12th. As well as the sugar, a large quantity of bananas were shipped as deck cargo. There was a motley crowd of many nationalities on the wharf, conspicuous among whom might be noticed Mr J. S. Webb, evidently a big man in these parts, Mr Oreighton, and Mr E. if. Ward. The last-named gentleman is practising his profession with fair success, but was unfortunate in having lost everything, house, office, law library, etc., in the great lire which, in April last year, devastated sixty acres of the most populous section of the city. The rules of practice in the law Courts are in some respects peculiar. Verdicts, for instance, in all ordinary cases, do not carry costs; each party has to pay his own before commencing proceedings ; the plaintiff has to deposit a good round sum as security for Court expenses. This, it need hardly be said, is a considerable check,, on litigation. The laws of debtor and creditor are based on the principle that the creditor who recklessly gives credit is as much to blame as the debtor who recklessly incurs debt. There is absolutely no imprisonment for debt, and creditors have no remedy beyond what they can get out of the existing estate. There are several erstwhile Otago residents in the city and neighborhood, and an hon. member of our House of Representatives whom we had on board discovered to his great delight in the person of a local policeman, elaborately uniformed and " bearded like the pard," an old constituent of Hibernian extraction. Father Larkin, well known some years .ago in New Zealand, was for some time in the Hawaiian Kingdom, where much interest is still felt in him ; ho is now settled at Hyde Park, a suburb of Chicago, and, his many friends will be glad to hear, is comfortably located. Honolulu is situated, on land sloping gradually towards the sea at the base of a range of volcanio hills. The city contains many handsome buildings, public and private, but the streets and roads are in execrable repair, and in wet weather it must be difficult to got along at all on foot. There is, however, a service of most excellently-appointed carriages, which make locomotion, if expensive, certainly most agreeable. They are said to be the best hack vehieles in the world, and this may well be believed. Emerging from the immediate vicinity of the wharves, tho stranger at once observes that the telephone is in ordinary common use. The wires stretch out in al l directions, and I found subsequently that the large majority of private houses and the villas in the suburbs for miles out are connected. The great clrarm of tho city consißts in the environment of so many of the buildings, public and private, with trees, plants, and shrubs, gorgeous in tropical foliage. The gardens of tho Royal Palace and of the Hawaiian Hotel are especially to be noted for their extent and picturesque beauty. Especially remarkable, and very striking to those who have been in tropical countries, is the bright emerald green of the grass, owing to the absolutely unlimited supply of water, obtainable anywhere through artesian wells. It is characteristic of the Anglo-Saxon to gravitate when setting foot on a foreign shore to the best-known hotel. The 'Alameda's passengers soon therefore found their way to the Hawaiian Hotel, which, by the way, is "Hobson's choice," since it is the only establishment of the kind allowed to be carried on, and is, I believe, a Government speculation. Having a monopoly, the charges are high, but the accommodation and entertainment are really first-class, and the situation lovely. Saloons for the sale of liquors are lieensed. in the city without limitation as to number, but the licensee has to pay an annual license fee of LOOOdol, and, further, give security for good conduct ef his business to the amount of 2,000d01. The charge for drinks is a quarter of a dollar each, whether lemonade or the best cognac. This brings me to another very marked characteristic of the capital of King Kalakauo, namely, the high ruling prices of all articles of use and consumption. It is no exaggeration to say that a dollar goes little further than a shilling in Dunedin. The Bible precept of "taking in " strangers is most religiously complied with, and it is literally a case of bleeding dollars whilst in temporary sojourn. Whether the residents pay such prices as are demauded from visitors I am much inclined to doubt, not believing, indeed, that they could possibly afford to do so. In consideration of the population of the kingdom, Honolulu certainly appears to be a very thriving business place,; but the trade prosperity is princi- , pally to be attributed to its being the depot for the sugar and other Island produce and the headquarters of the American North Pacifio whaling fleet. Retail business is very much in the hands of the Chinese, who occupy streets of handsomely-fitted and well-stocked shops, and are manifestly well to do.

S.s. Alameda, March 18,1.887. It may be useful to colonists intending to

visit the Old Country to note certain advantages of the San Fraucisco route. We, for instance, left Dunedin by the Wairarapa on February 23 (and might have the mail by leaving two days later by train to Christchurch) and shall be in San Francisco to-morrow evening (March 19). There is therefore ample time to catcli the Cunard steamer which leaves New York on Saturday, March 26, and crosses in six days at the outside, reaching Liverpool April 1— i.e., in a little over five weeks from Dunedin. Tho voyage across the Pacific is generally t\ fine weather _ one, and there is a pleasant and interesting break at Honolulu. On the other hand, it has to be considered that on this_ route there are great and rapid changes of climate. At this time of the year we pass from the tropics into and through the extreme cold of the early spring in America. The passage across the Atlantic is frequently very tempestuous, almost always so in the spring and autumn. People travelling with families aud luggage, unless money is very little object, would find many objections to this route, e.g., the break of steamers, the long railway journey, and tho piling on of extra expenses, especially in America, where you have literally to shed dollars as yon go, and expenditure which would rightly be deemed extravagant in New Zealand is absolutely unavoidable. As regards the mail steamer from Auckland to San Francisco, the Alameda and Mariposa, sister boats, are exceedingly comfortable and suitable to the general character of the voyage ; but the Zealandia, the third boat, is not so well spoken of. I have not seen her, but I know the style of ship, and it is one to avoid for a tropical voyage. The fuct of these vessels being under the American flag, by no means militates against the comfort of the passengers. The officers of this ship are certainly exceedingly agreeable fellows, and the stewards department is well managed, the men being civil, active, and intelligent. I hear the same of the Mariposa; and no doubt the Zealandia is run on the same principles.