Mark Twain visited the Sandwich Islands /Hawaii in 1866. He wrote a very interesting journal and sent it home in the form of 25 letters which were published in The Sacramento Daily Union. Here are some quotes, and I add some of my bookmarks which I made in the manner of Hawaiian Quilts. (I wrote more about Hawaiian Quilts on January 28 here)
All letters can be found here, it's a very entertaining read:
The Sacramento Daily Union, October 25, 1866
Kilauea, June, 1866.
In this rainy spot trees and flowers flourish luxuriantly, and three of those trees - two mangoes and an orange - will live in my memory as the greenest, freshest and most beautiful I ever saw - and withal, the stateliest and most graceful. One of those mangoes stood in the middle of a large grassy yard, lord of the domain and incorruptible sentinel against the sunshine. When one passed within the compass of its broad arms and its impenetrable foliage he was safe from the pitiless glare of the sun - the protecting shade fell everywhere like a somber darkness.
http://www.twainquotes.com/18661025u.html
The Sacramento Daily Union, April 19, 1866
Honolulu, March, 1866.
THE CROWD ON THE PIER
By the time we had worked our slow way up to the wharf, under the guidance of McIntyre, the pilot, a mixed crowd of four or five hundred people had assembled - Chinamen, in the costume of their country - foreigners and the better class of natives, and "half whites" in carriages and dressed in Sacramento Summer fashion; other native men on foot, some in the cast off clothing of white folks, and a few wearing a battered hat, an old ragged vest, and nothing else at least nothing but an unnecessarily slender rag passed between the legs; native women clad in a single garment - a bright colored robe or wrapper as voluminous as a balloon, with full sleeves. This robe is "gathered" from shoulder to shoulder, before and behind, and then descends in ample folds to the feet - seldom a chemise or any other under garment - fits like a circus tent fits the tent pole, and no hoops. These robes were bright yellow, or bright crimson, or pure black occasionally, or gleaming white; but "solid colors" and "stunning" ones were the rule. They wore little hats such as the sex wear in your cities, and some of the younger women had very pretty faces and splendid black eyes and heavy masses of long black hair, occasionally put up in a "net;" some of these dark, ginger bread colored beauties were on foot - generally on bare-foot, I may add - and others were on horseback - astraddle; they never ride any other way, and they ought to know which way is best, for there are no more accomplished horsewomen in the world, it is said. The balance of the crowd consisted chiefly of little half-naked native boys and girls. All were chattering in the catchy, chopped-up Kanaka language; but what they were chattering about will always remain a mystery to me.
http://www.twainquotes.com/18660419u.html
The Sacramento Daily Union, May 24, 1866
Honolulu, April, 1866.
Verily, with its rank luxuriance of vines and blossoms, its groves of forest trees, its shady nooks and grassy lawns, its crystal brook and its wild and beautiful mountain scenery, with that charming far-off glimpse of the sea, Kalihi is the Valley of Enchantment come again!
http://www.twainquotes.com/18660524u.html
The Sacramento Daily Union, August 24, 1866
At four o'clock in the afternoon we were winding down a mountain of dreary and desolate lava to the sea, and closing our pleasant land journey. This lava is the accumulation of ages; one torrent of fire after another has rolled down here in old times, and built up the island structure higher and higher. Underneath, it is honey combed with caves; it would be of no use to dig wells in such a place; they would not hold water - you would not find any for them to hold, for that matter. Consequently, the planters depend upon cisterns.
The last lava flow occurred here so long ago that there are none now living who witnessed it. In one place it inclosed and burned down a grove of cocoa-nut trees, and the holes in the lava where the trunks stood are still visible; their sides retain the impression of the bark; the trees fell upon the burning river, and becoming partly submerged, left in it the perfect counterfeit of every knot and branch and leaf, and even nut, for curiosity seekers of a long distant day to gaze upon and wonder at.
http://www.twainquotes.com/18660824u.html
