“Honolulu : Sighted the Lepper Island, one of the Hawaiian group, at 8 a.m. Everybody hurried over breakfast and got on deck. The islands are of volcanic origin. On entering the harbour the hills and cliffs facing the sea are barren, little or no vegetation being visible, but in steaming into the port and up to the jetty many villas and cottages come into view surrounded by tropical plants of ever3 7 kind. The town is pleasantly situated and John Chinaman is the principal shop keeping medium. There was great ex citement as to what the Monowai’s despatches from the United States Gov ernment would contain. Martial law had been proclaimed a few days previously. The population of the group i 3 set down at 180,000. The heat is - almost unbear able and very similar to that experienced at Colombo. “ Samoa : The Hawaii natives reminded me of bur own aborigines, the Maoris, and I conversed with several.who seemed to understand me. The harbour of Apia is a vast semicircular expanse of rich blue water, so transparent that you can look over the ship’s sile and distinctly see the variegated coral grottoes fathoms below, and notice the bright fish darting here and there in flashing shoals. Inside the reef the anchorage is perfect, with sufficient of a break or entrance to allow ships to enter with comparative ease. In rough weather the surf breaks sometimes as high as the yard-arm. Our stay at the Samoan capital was a brief one of three hours ; just sufficient to land and have a walk round. Here again are stately cocoa-nut palms, umbrageous bananas flanked with limes and oranges, and the air is laden with sweet perfume from flowers and aromatic plants. We were greeted as we strolled about with the kindly expression in the 3oft idiom of the native language * Talofa,’ i.e., ‘My love to you.’ The Samoans evidently take kindly to Australasian colonists.
