THE "INIMITABLE" ON HIS TRAVELS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 733, 28 September 1870, Page 2

THE "INIMITABLE " ON HIS TRAVELS.

The following letter from Thatcher, addressed to a friend in Auckland, is published in the Southern Cross. It is dated Honolulu, Aug. 22 : — Since writing my last .letter I have had ample leisure to form permanent impressions of Honolulu. And now first as to climate. The weather for the last 10 days has been dreadfully sultry, the thermometer ranging from 80deg to 84deg, and even to 90deg. This may not be considered very warm, when in Australia it is frequently llOdeg to 1 15deg, but we must recollect that a change of wind or a thunderstorm, which invariably ensues there after intense heat, will send the thermometer down to 70deg, and even as low as 55deg. Here it is always pretty equable, with little or no variation. The feeling of lassitude that this produces is very trying. You seem incapable of doing anything in the shape of bodily exertion, while the mental faculties are prostrated. Were it not for the trade winds, the climate would be unbearable, and like Calcutta. At night it is certainly cooler, but then the mosquito " winds his tiny horn " and comes in numbers. I thought I was pretty well seasoned to the attacks of this insect, by long residence in Australia, but my neck and chin were so disfigured by these relentless little cusses that, in shaving, j I would bleed in half-a-dozen places, and had to go for a week to a barber; and here resides one of the first-class. A large establishment, frith chairs fitted with proper machinery to raise or depress the body, none of those uncomfortable head-rests, as in Auckland, and operators of the first ability. A shampoo here is a luxury unknown in Australia or New Zealand. A quarter of a dollar is the price charged, and the machine brashes are not used. One of the curiosities of the Sandwich Islands is the Hawaiian Gazette, a paper subsidised by the Government to the tune of £2000 a year. This paper is a weekly one, and slavishly subservient to his Majesty and his Ministers. The only papers here are the Pacific Commercial Gazette (a really first-class journal) and Bennett's Own, a small sheet, yet written with ability. Your Mr Shaw, of the Thames Times, is engaged on it. These two journals have to pay a duty on the paper they use, while the Government paper pays none, and what makes it more unjust is, that the Hawaiian Gazette advertises to do job printing, &c. In my first concert here, I brought this and other Government doings so prominently forward that the Minister of the Interior refused to grant me a second license, a document costing six dollars, one of which I beg to enclose. The papers here, as you will see by the enclosed paragraphs, took my part, and the Government relented, and granted me a second license. Six miles from here, up the Valley, is a place called the Pali, which is a kind of mountain range, and you arrive at a high rock over which numbers of natives were hurled in one of their former barbaric wars. From Honolulu it is a gradual ascent till the top of the range is reached, and then there is a magnificent view of the flat land below, with the ocean in the distance, and a coral reef on which the sea beats. I rode down to the valley one afternoon, and came to a village with a native church. Service in the Kanaka language was going on, and I walked inside and was \ truly astonished at the scene I beheld. An old native stood up and prayed most fervently. The singing was good, many of the women harmonising their voices well. Then a passage of Scripture was read by one of the white missionaries . who presided, and then the natives would stand up in turn and discpurse on and expound the meanings of the various passages. I was not prepared to see such a Christian development among these islands, and this was on a week day. The Chinese muster strongly here, and are coming very fast, being imported by the Government, and their services put up to auction. The people here are decidedly opposed to the coolie labour system, as it supersedes white labour and brings with it a train of evils. Animal life here is very meagre; no wild animals exist, and the only bird seen is an imported dove. Centipedes are often found, but they have not the venom

of the Australian ones. On opening a music cover on the piano I found a scorpion inside, which I killed by pouring on it spirits of camphor. He died game, and bit and twisted his sting viciously, but the variety here is small, and by no means very poison-! ous. The mosquitoes have been imported' here, as at one time they were unknown. There is a Temperance Society here called the Good Templars, and they have effected much good. The Government regulations as regards intoxicating drinks are very stringent. Any one selling grog to a Kanaka is liable to a ruinous fine. Each public-house pays £200 a year for a license. Molasses is not permitted to be made into rum. Of course the natives do manage to get bottles of grog, bnt they are exceedingly temperate. There is little crime here. Defaulters find it impossible to get away. Should any one contract a debt, tbe creditor hands the bill to the Collector of Customs, and the debtor is not allowed to go till it be settled. Everyone who remains here over one month must get a passport, and the captain of the vessel is responsible that this demand is complied with. There is a curious epidemic here somewhat resembling Panama fever, called the Boohoo, so named from the patient having low spirits and a fit of cryinsr. I have not had it since being here. Living here is very monotonous, and the climate very trying to new arrivals ; but this is the hottest part of the year. Cases of sunstroke are almost unknown. When the wind is in the south here it is called the sick wind, and it is considered unhealthy. Last Sunday fortnight, at a quarter to four in the morning, we experienced a smart shock of earthquake, and I felt the ground under me quite lively. It lasted only a few minutes, and compared with one I experienced once in Hawke's Bay was no great shakes. It is supposed Kilanea, or rather the volcano of Mauna Loa, on the larger island, is getting ready for another eruption. There is a remarkable old lady here, a Mrs Thurstow, the wife of a departed missionary, who came here 50 years ago. On Monday last she read her early reminiscences of missionary effort in the Sandwich Islands, in the Fort street Church. Some of the anecdotes she told were ludicrous enough, and provoked laughter, but to me it was but a tame affair. The hymn-book used here is the Plymouth collection,* compiled by Beecher, and as a collection of sacred lyrics is infinitely before any hymn-book used in our colonies. It contains nearly 1400 of the best and grandest compositions of Watts, Wesley, Toplady, Newton, Lyte, Bonar, and all the shining lights of Christian poetry. This collection must be seen to be estimated at ita real value. It is ridiculous to see written up over the Government offices, or rather shanties, the imposing title of " Minister of the Interior and of War," when there is no such thing as an army, and a 40-ton Sydney schooner with a ten-pounder gun could hold the place at its mercy. The Ministry seem to be a nice snug family party, who keep on the right side of the King. His Majesty is said to be fond of money, and loses no opportunity to increase his revenue. On the Sunday morning after my first concert, the King's chamberlain came down at the early hour of six to another member of the Government, to know what had been said about tbe King. This betrays a keen sensitiveness, and, to tell the truth, the Government cannot endure being " set to music." There is a capital laundry here, and quite on a grand scale. Every person's linen is marked with a certain number, a plan which I strongly recommend to our Auckland " blanchisseuses," who frequently make great blunders by delivering the wrong articles. There is a good-sized gaol here, but there are no whites there, I believe, but merely Chinamen and a few Kanakas. In reality crime is almost unknown here. We leave our doors open all night, and gold watches and rings lie about promiscuously, but nothing is ever taken. There are a great number of American merchants here, and it is a wonder so many stores can exist. I would strongly advise people not to come here with tbe idea of starting in business. Nothing but American goods sell, and newcomers are not encouraged. There are seven or eight doctors, and an English surgeon would have no chance. The prejudice is in favour of everything American. The ugliest American square pianos, with legs as thick as those of a hippopotamus, are the ones used, and the sound is very tinny. I got only fifty pounds for the new trichord Erard " cottage " I brought with me, although it was worth £70 at least. Pianos are very plentiful — there must be over 100 here. Few of the ladies play or sing well. Here and there you meet an exception. What disgusts a stranger is the great number of lean and mangy dogs that are allowed to prowl about. Fortunately hydrophobia is unknown. The native churches are very large ; and one, the Kaumakapili, would easily seat 2000 persons. Concerts are given in this church. Montgomery gave his readings, and Madame Anna Bishop sang in it. Native labour is cheap. A Kanaka boatman took me off to an American man-of-war, and brought me back for half-a-dollar, and was well satisfied. In our garden we have mangos, tamarinds, and guavas. very plentiful. The flavour of the mango is turpentiny, and is very cloying. The pineapple is the best fruit, but it is not equal in flavour to the Queensland one. The strawberries here are cheap, but very small, nor is the flavour so good as in New Zealand. All sorts of money circulate here except the English coin. We have heaps of French 5 frano pieces, Spanish dollars and reals. The commonest silver coin is the American halfdollar. Our English shillings circulate, and in value are equal to the quarter-dollar ; but no one will give more than 19 shillings value for an English sovereign. Water is laid on here in abuadance, and each garden has a long hose and all the trees are watered regularly. The servants are mostly all Chinamen. As J told you in my former letter, everyone

drives here. There are no gasworki : they were tried once, but proved a failure. Kerosime reigns triumphant. Beef and mutton are reasonable. I have never seen pork here. The horses are fed on grass, and I believe if they were ever to get a taste of oats or chaff the consequences would be alarming. I must now conclude. I have in these humble sketches endeavoured to give an idea of Honolulu. I have extenuated nothing, not set down aught in malice. It is the fashion for people, when they get clear of this place, to blackguard it and make reflections on the inhabitants. I shall certainly not follow suit. Many reforms doubtless are needed ; but, on the whole, Honolulu is a credit to the Pacific, and its inhabitants a quiet, order-loving, and conscientious people. I leave the place not < without regret at leaving many whose acquaintance was to me a real pleasure.