The Hawaiian Archipelago - Six Months Among The Palm Groves, Coral Reefs, And Volcanoes Of The Sandwich Islands By Isabella L. Bird
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I Was Glad To Be Able To Answer Truthfully That I Had Never
Seen A State Pageant Or Ceremonial That I Had Enjoyed Half So Much,
Or That Had Impressed Me So Favourably.
He has a very musical
voice, and a natural nobility and refinement of manner, with an
obvious tact and
Good feeling, rather, I should think, the result of
amiable and gentlemanly instincts than of training or consideration,
all which combine to make him interesting, altogether apart from his
position as a Polynesian sovereign.
Where there are no servants, a party involves the hosts and their
friends in the bustle of personal preparation, but all worked with a
will, and by sunset the decorations were completed. All the Chinese
lamps in Hilo were hung in the front verandah, and seats were placed
in the front and side verandahs, on which the drawing-room opens by
four doors, so there was plenty of room, though there were thirty
people. The side verandah was enclosed by a drapery of flags, and
the whole was tastefully decorated with festoons and wreaths of
ferns. The king arrived early with his attendants, and was received
by the host and hostess, and like a perfectly civilized guest, he
handed Mrs. S. into the room. The great wish of the genial
entertainers was to prevent stiffness and give the king a really
social evening, so the "chair game," magical music, and a refined
kind of blind man's buff, better suited to the occasion, but less
"jolly" than the old riotous game, were shortly introduced.
Lunalilo only looked on at first, and then entered into the games
with a heartiness and zest which showed that he at least enjoyed the
evening.
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