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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Those Who Know The Natives Best Were Taken By Surprise, And Are
Compelled To Recognise That A Restive, Half-Sullen, Half-Defiant
Spirit Is Abroad Among Them, And That The Task Of Governing Them May
Not Be The Easy Thing Which It Has Been Since The Days Of Kamehameha
The Great.
Nor do the foreign residents, especially the Americans,
feel so safe as formerly, without the presence of a man-of-war in
the harbour, since the people of Oahu have so unexpectedly developed
one of the prominent arts of civilized democracy, cruel, reckless,
and unreasoning mobbing.
Of King Kalakaua, who began his reign under such unfortunate
auspices, little at present can be said. Island affairs have not
settled down into their old quietude, and party spirit, arising out
of the election, has not died out among the natives. The king chose
his advisers wisely, and made a concession to native feeling by
appointing a native named Nahaolelua to a seat in the cabinet as
Minister of Finance, but his first arrangement was upset, and a good
deal of confusion has subsequently prevailed.
The Queen, Kapiolani, is a Hawaiian lady of high character and
extreme amiability, and both King and Queen have been exemplary in
their domestic relations.
Kalakaua's first act was to proclaim his brother, Prince Leleiohoku,
his successor, investing him at the same time with the title, "His
Royal Highness," and his second was to reorganize the military
service, with the view of making it an efficient and well-
disciplined force.
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