They
dive apparently by a mere effort of the will. In the deep basin of
the Wailuku River, a little below the Falls, the maidens swim,
float, and dive with garlands of flowers round their heads and
throats. The more furious and agitated the water is, the greater
the excitement, and the love of these watery exploits is not
confined to the young. I saw great fat men with their hair streaked
with grey, balancing themselves on their narrow surf-boards, and
riding the surges shorewards with as much enjoyment as if they were
in their first youth. I enjoyed the afternoon thoroughly.
Is it "always afternoon" here, I wonder? The sea was so blue, the
sunlight so soft, the air so sweet. There was no toil, clang, or
hurry. People were all holidaymaking (if that can be where there is
no work), and enjoying themselves, the surf-bathers in the sea, and
hundreds of gaily-dressed men and women galloping on the beach. It
was so serene and tropical. I sympathize with those who eat the
lotus, and remain for ever on such enchanted shores.
I am gaining health daily, and almost live in the open air. I have
hired the native policeman's horse and saddle, and with a Macgregor
flannel riding costume, which my kind friends have made for me, and
a pair of jingling Mexican spurs am quite Hawaiianised. I ride
alone once or twice a day exploring the neighbourhood, finding some
new fern or flower daily, and abandon myself wholly to the
fascination of this new existence.
I.L.B.
LETTER VIII.
ONOMEA, HAWAII. JUDGE AUSTIN'S.
Mrs. A. has been ill for some time, and Mrs. S. her sister and
another friend "plotted" in a very "clandestine" manner that I
should come here for a few days in order to give her "a little
change of society," but I am quite sure that under this they only
veil a kind wish that I should see something of plantation life.
There is a plan, too, that I should take a five days' trip to a
remarkable valley called Waipio, but this is only a "castle in the
air."
Mr. A. sent in for me a capital little lean rat of a horse which by
dint of spirit and activity managed to keep within sight of two
large horses, ridden by Mr. Thompson, and a very handsome young lady
riding "cavalier fashion," who convoyed me out. Borrowed saddle-
bags, and a couple of shingles for carrying ferns formed my outfit,
and were carried behind my saddle. It is a magnificent ride here.
The track crosses the deep, still, Wailuku River on a wooden bridge,
and then after winding up a steep hill, among native houses
fantastically situated, hangs on the verge of the lofty precipices
which descend perpendicularly to the sea, dips into tremendous
gulches, loses itself in the bright fern-fringed torrents which have
cleft their way down from the mountains, and at last emerges on the
delicious height on which this house is built.
