Our Contributors.

Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, Volume V, Issue 491, 29 March 1881, Page 2

Our Contributors.

[from our own COMUtSrONDENT.]

GOSSIPPY NOTES ON

HONOLULU

Honolulu is the capital of Oahu, one ' of the Hawiian islands, a group oj purely volcanic origin and formation, and , possessing a large active volcano. Oahu has, with the other islands, a population of about 40,000 natives, exclusive of foreigners. Among the latter theie'is a strong American element, who have succeeded in imparting to the tone of the Society of the Island, the free and enterprising spirit which characterises that people in their intercourse with each other and the world at large. The Hawiian group constitutes an independent kingdom, under the protection of its own flag, nnd governed by a native sovereign and a house of Representatives composed of natives and resident aliens. His Hawiian Majesty Kalakaua, has lately issued a proclamation declaring the strict neutrality of his kingdom during the present war. There is communication between all the islands of the group by means of a commodious local steamer, the Kilance. As regards the climate, there is no temperature more equal, or more suitable to chest maladies, than that of Honolulu. The highest day temperature in the shade is 80 ; the/ lowest night 70 dg. It is this slight variation, this imperceptible gliding of the day temperature into that of night, of night into that of day, which constitutes the value of this climate. You can live and sleep almost wholly in the open air with impunity. Glass windows are seldom or never used, French folding shutters fitted with Venetian blinds, talcing their place, and affording the needed privacy and protection, but freely admitting the air. About 10 a.m. the north-east trade sets in, and continues till 5 p.m. in a moderate breeze—a gale is unknown. Winter, or, more correctly speaking, the rainy season, lasts fram the end of Oct. to the end of period of two months. It seldom rains for more than 48 hours at a time ; a month's consecutive bad weather is unknown. During rain the atmosphere is moist and warm at about 70 dg. There is an excellent hotel at Honolulu, better planned and more comfortable than any 1 ever found in New Zealand. The size and airiness of its public and private sitting-rcons and corridors is delightful. Situate in a large garden, in the midst of magnificent algeroba, guava,

tamarind, and papaya trees, the balconies shaded with beautiful creepers, it surpassed my recollections of many a pleasant continental watering-place, the comparison being complete, when, as on

the evening of my visit, the King's

Royal Hawiian Band, of about 40 nativs • performers, is permitted to play on the smooth-shaven lawn, and the elite of the

town nnd neighborhood promenade in

its spacious drawiug-rooms, or eit and * lounge in its corridors and balconies. The cookery and attendance alone are not

up to the mark. With a good French

or Chinese cook and ready American waiters, this hotel would be perfect.

Society in Honolulu is cosmopolitan, agreeable, and easy. There is a freedom from formality, and a desire on the part of the inhabitants to ensure the happinese of visitors, which strikes one as a most pleasing feature in Hawiian hospitality. An instance of this came beneath my notice duiu'ng my stay. I was told that a subscription had been started by the residents to support the native band,but that strangers, temporarily stnying in the town, were exempted from the lists, being looked upon in the light of guests. Comfortable carriages and good riding hacks can be had on moderate terms. For those who prefer a promenade on the water, good boats are not wanting. The water in the harbor, protected '»y the coral reefs from the heavy rollers of the Pacific, is quite calmj and the view of the town, embowered in tropical vegetation and foliage, with its noble background of mountains, completed a scene which I had seen depicted in books of travel, but had scarcely hoped to realize in such perfection of loveliness. English is universally spoken, and so the visitor is not put to the inconvenience of learning a new language to interpret his wants or wishes. Running up from the wharves and landing-places are several main lines of streets, which constitute the town. These, crossed and recrossed in all directions, form the town suburbs. One only of the main streets is prolonged into the country. It forms the main artery of communication with the windward side of the island, rising 1200 feet in six miles from the sea to the summit-level. At this point, called the " Pali," 'the' good carriage-road bordered on either side by groves of trees •of low growth, resembling the mangrova in the wonderful chaos of roots and feelers by which they cling to the soil, ceases, and is continued by a mule path of rapid and steep descent 'to the plain billow. On each side of this road, called the Nnnanu Avenue, for a considerable distance from the town, are built the residences of the principal merchants and natives—charming houses and bungalows of one or two stories, in the cottage ornee style, deep verandahs shading fhem from the heat of the mid-day sun, and spacious rooms arranged en suite to permit a free current of air throughout the honse. Each house is detached, standing in the midst of a charming garden, in which grow the choicest tropical nnd other trees, the tamarind, banana, mnngo, cocoa-nut, and date-palm affording a grateful shade. A great variety _of creepers, of ferns, of beautiful climbing plants, give color and charm to the houses. Numerous fountains, common to every garden, give a delicious sense of coolness by their lazy splashing waters. The trees overhanging the road from the gardens on either side, meet in the centre, and form an almost unbroken avenue of leafy" shade, which the fiercest sun could scarcely penetrate

Wood is the favorite material for building, but there are many stone houses. At about three miles from the town the Nunanu Avenue passes through an extinct volcano, its precipitous sides, nearly 401)0 feet high, clothed with vegetation, the light green foliage of the trees forming a grateful contrast to the deeper shade "of the ferns and the turf below. On reaching the summit of the road, six miles "'•out of town, you find yourself overlooking a precipice, and gazing on a view unique of its kind— the view for which this island is justly celebrated. A vast plain lies below the spectator, green as " Erin's Isle." From its surface rise hills and rocks of fantastic shapes, the off issues of extinct volcanoes ; in parts clothed with timber, in parts with brushwood, in parts with rich grasses, on which graze sheep and cattle. Scattered here and there are deeper patches of green, revealing the presence of sugar plantations, interspersed and mingled with which rise the white houses of the planters, giving life and variety to the landscape. Far beyond is seen the blue Pacific Ocean, its waves breaking against the coral strand, flashing and glistening rainbow hues beneath the tropical sun. To the west rises a cham of mountains, rugged and bare, forming a boundary and framework for a picture of magic beauty. It was here that the ancient inhabitants were finally beaten and conquered by the Hawiian Napoleon, King Kamehameha I.

Turning to a brief survey of the natives themselves, I find them to be a fine, intelligent race, of good physique, though almost entirely deficient in the sterner and fiercer qualities of the Maoris, Morality amongst the natives is very lax, infanticide having been till lately a common offence. They are brought up in and profess Christianity. There are good native schools, which can show an attendance of over 7000 scholars, besides numerous well-con-ducted private establishments for the higher branches of learning. It is the general desire of the natives that their children should receive a thorough English educ .tion. As a race the islanders lack energy, and make very poor hands on the plantations, which are worked chiefly by Chinese coolies, who are in great demand. They arj fast becoming e.dinct, and it is probable that when

their places are filled by a steady and industrious working class, such as exists in New Zealand, the prosperity of the islands from a commercial point will be greatly increased. The natives are passionately fond of riding the small, weedy horses which are bred on the islands. The Mexican saddle, with its gay trappings and high peak, is in common use. The women, whose usual robe, a long, loose tunic, rejoicing in all the colors of the rainbow, and well calculated to enhance the natural grace and ease of their carriage, is peculiarly adapted to their somewhat startling mode of equitation, ride astride of their horses. In this position they seem quite at their ease, and o f ten evince great confidence and boldness. As far as actual cultivation is concerned, on the leeward side of the island it is at a very low ebb, the few vegetable gardens kept by Chinamen being almost the only signs of a digression from the natural features of vegetable life. There are a few sugar plantations on the windward side, but many of the other islands are far in advance of Oahu, some possessing plantations on an extensive scale, ancl a large area of rich soil. Honolulu, however, from its tendency to American style of life, and the fact that it possesses all the agre'emens and comforts of civilized life, has the reputation of being the paradise par excellence of the Hawiian islands.

Cr. S. S.