The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1881-07-23 00:00:00

THE KING OF THE SANDWICH
ISLANDS.

The Daily News of Monday had an interesting article on
King Kalakaua's journey to England, from which we make the
following extract :

King Kalakaua at present sojourning at Claridge's
Hotel, has for the last six months been making the
most important voyage ever undertaken by a Poly-
nesian potentate. In the commencement of the present
year the King determined on his present voyage. His
Council of State is composed of four Ministers, only
two of whom are of English birth and two Hawaiian-
born Americans. The journey being decided on, the
King set out on January 20, accompanied by Mr.
William N. Armstrong, one of the four Ministers
of State for the Hawaiian Kingdom, and Colonel
Hon. Charles Hastings Judd, his Majesty's Lord
Chamberlain. From Honolulu King Kalakaua
sailed for San Francisco, where he was hospitably
entertained by the authorities for more than a
week, and then went across the Pacific to Japan.
His arrival in what ha § been aptly called the
England of the Pacific was the occasion of a great
manifestation of sympathy and friendship. He was
met by the representatives of the Emperor, and, at
the conclusion of a long series of entertainments, was
accompanied by them to the limits of the Empire.
Grand theatrical performances were organized in his
honour at Tokio, and the Emperor received him
at a great banquet. Perhaps a more remarkable
fete was that organized by the Club of the Nobles,
an institution as famous for its entertainments as
the magnificent club at Havana. The dinner given to
King Kalakaua lasted six hours, was composed entirely
of Japanese dishes, and was served Japanese fashion—
on the floor. During the banquet a series of dramatic
performances was given on a slightly raised platform.
The object of these plays was to depict ancient
Japanese life as it
.exited a thousand years ago, and
great care was taken and no expense spared to satisfy
the requirements of the most exacting archEeologist.
Many of the costumes were very costly and the banquet
altogether was superbly complete. From Japan the
King went to Shanghai, when the mandarins met him
with every demonstration of cordiality, and thence
to Tientsin, where his arrival was awaited by
Li-hung-Chang, the generalissimo of the Chinese
armies, .and at this moment the most import-
ant living member of the Celestial Empire-
At a dinner at Li-hung-Chang's the host caused a
toast to be read proposing King Kalukaua's health,
and thanking him in the name of the Emperor of
China for the kind and just treatment that his sub-
jeets had received from the Hawaiian Government.

Considerable importance is attached to this toast
of Li-hung-Chang's by the Hawaiian King, for it is to
the fair treatment they have received in his domi-
nions that the great immigration of Chinamen is
due. . . .

King Kalakaua, who converses freely on this and
other matters affecting his kingdom, is not inclined to
take a gloomy view of the situation. rho reciprocity
treaty which enables Hawii to find an Ameri-
can market for her large make of sugar has
greatly enriched his country, the revenue of which has
enormously increased during his reign. Hence he is
hopeful that the great rewards held out to the emi-
grant will secure in time a population other than
Chinese. Help in this way is expected from a long
unlooked-for source. Times are not good in the
Azores, and it is not improbable that a large emigra-
tion will take piace to the archipelago on the other
side of the globe. Doubtless Li-hung-Chang is per-
fectly aware that coolies from his own country are
as little liked in Hawaii as elsewhere ; but he
nevertheless could not refrain from testifying to the
fair treatment they had received from the authorities.
Accordingly King Kalukaua parted from him on very
friendly terms, and shortly afterwards put his foot for
the first time on English soil, if that term can be ap-
plied to the detestable spot known as Hong Kong,
Here he was heartily received and entertained at
Government House by Sir John Pope Hennessey, and
presently took his departure for Siam, where extra-
ordinary honours were paid him. Five days were
passed at the dream-like city of the South, the Venice
of the Indian seas; the most sacred temples thrown
open to and the most sacred elephants mounted by the
Hawaiian King and his suite. Decorations, too, were
given and received ; to wit, the Order of Kamehameha
and the Order of Kalakaua of Hawaii; and the
Order of the Rising Sun of Siam. A great
State banquet was given, as well as a theatrical
show, and a Siamese nautch, a singularly grace-
ful and elegant variety of the ballet. After these
rejoicings Singapore must have appeared somewhat
dull; but Sir Frederick Weld did all that was pos-
sible to entertain his Royal guest, and the Maharajah
of Johore characteristically came to the rescue with a,
great banquet. And so the Kng went on, always ac-
companied by his Minister, Mr. Armstrong, and his
Chamberlain, Colonel Judd, by Penang and Rangoon
to Calcutta, where they were hospitably received by
the officials in charge, but were obliged to give up
part of their intended tour on account of the frightful
heat. Visiting only Benares where the sun was un-
bearable, King Kalakaua came on by rail to Bombay,
where he remained three days, and then journeyed by
Peninsular and Oriental boat to Suez, whither the
Khedive sent a special train and embassy to meet
and bring him to Cairo. After a short sojourn in
the Khedive's Palace lie went on with the Khedive to
Alexandria, and thence to Naples, where he was re-
ceived by the Queen Of Italy in the absence of her
husband. Pompeii and Rome were visited in turn,
and the King had a special audience of the Pope. who
was possibly not awat e that he was receiving a Free-
mason of the highest grade (33), an enthusiast in the
craft whereof there is no lack of lodges in Honolulu,
who had delivered a lecture on Freemasonry during
his stay in Cairo. From Rome the journey was made
straight through to London in order to be in time
for the great review af the Volunteers last Saturday
week.
On the arrival of the King on the 6th instant, the
Foreign Office assigned Mr. K. Follett Synge to
attend upon him, and his life has been one of almost
perpetual motion. He conveys his views freely, how-
ever, on a variety of matters to those fortunate enough
to secure his attention in the rare intervals of almost
incessant entertainment. As King Kalakaua has been
Photographed at least once since his arrival, and his
counterfeit presentment will therefore be in every
printseller's window before long, there can be no
reasonable objection to describing his personal ap-
pearance as that of a well-grown, broad-shouldered
man of the warm olive hue of the Hawaiian race.
His features express extreme good humour and
bonhomie, and a soft rich musical voice almost
veils the slight, very slight, Bostonian accent. The
King was educated at a college at Honolulu where
they appear to teach English remarkably well. It is
needless perhaps to explain that he is a thoroughbred
Hawaiian, and not a half-breed like the interesting
Queen Emma, conoerning whom the Queen made
many inquiries at the reception at Windsor on Mon-
day last, when King Kalakaua was charmed by the
cordiality of the English Royal family. As a matter
of course he wears, when he receives visitors,
the ordinary costume of a private gentle-
man, with the usual complement of rings,
and the gold bracelet, originally brought into
fashion by Prince Achille Murat. A very few
minutes conversation convinces the visitor that
King Kalakaua is an extensive reader. It is, in fact,
his wide reading which impelled him to see that world
of which he had read so many descriptions. The
I cricket match at Lord's astonished him not at all, for
'as he will quietly say, in his musical tones, We
have several clubs in Honolulu, and I know of others
in India." He is very fully informed as to the
scope and bearing of our Volunteer organiza-
tion, and greatly impressed by the display at
Windsor. His Majesty is also charmed by the
manner in which he has been received in this
country, at the Review, and again at Windsor
Castle by the Queen, by the visits of the Prince of
Wales, and by the kindly attention shown to him by
Mr. Gladstone, Lord Granville, and other Ministers of
State, members of Parliament, and distinguished
Englislsrnen of all kinds. He was especially gratified
at Lady Spencer's reception at South Kensington,
where he headed the procession with the charming
hostess. At the conclusion of his visit his Hawaiian
Majesty will take his departure for France, Belgium,
Germany, and Portgal.