The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1878-10-19
Mrs. Brassey's New Book.

'ABoUSD The WORLD IL TIE YACHT sSUNBEAM;'
OUR HoxE on THE OcEAS TOR ELEVEN
MONTHS. By Mrs. Brassey. With nlastra-
,ions. New York; Henry Holt s CO. ISIS
The present day is prolific in new books upon
almost every conceivable subject, OF which those Of
voyages and travels are Lot the least Interesting.
The work Of Mrs. Brsssey ranks high in this class
Of literature, for its merits and principal charm
lie somewhat out Of the beaten track and style Of
writers to which we have been accustomed.
This book i written in the form Of 8 Journal,
giving the transactions and events Of the voyage
IS they occurred, and the language, plain and sim
ple-nothing stilted or grandiIcqueut-is jus. what
we should look for in the diary Of 81 educated
lady. written for the PerusAl and OBLIGATION Of
her personal friends. And in this pleasant, chatty
style consists the charm Of which re have spoken.
4 sentence from the Preface is the keynote {. the
volume 1.-THE ~practisei skill Of q professional
writer cannot reasonably be expected IN these sim
pie pages, but their object will have been attained
if they are the means Of enabling more housekeeping
friends TO share in the keen enjoyment Of the scenes
and adventures they describe"
We would like 10 quote largely from this book,
but. resisting the temptation, will give only a few
extracts to show the style in which the work is
written.
The SUNBEAM had arrived at Tahiti, and on the
first Sunday Mrs Brassey attended service at the
native church. After the usual service there were
two christenings, which she thus describes
The babies were held at the font by the men, who
looked extremely sheepish. One baby was grsndly st
six feet long dragging on the ground, and a lace cap with
cherry-cOlored bows; the other was nearly as smart, in a
bows. The christenings over, there was g hymn. some
mhsf R PsrTor SoiIo : : 70 h ni the ana adm mimi: a san Of Win tbe
sacrament. in which eoeoanut milk took the place Of
were originally used, but experience proved that, al
though the bread went round pretty well, the cup was
almost invariably emptied by the first two or three COM
municants, sometimes with unfortunate results.
Where can we find a better description of the
mango than that given On page 218!
The mango is certainly the king of fruit. It's flavor is
a combination of apricot and pineapple. with the slight
piquancy TO the whole. 1 dare say it sounds a strange
To enjoy manages thoroughly You ought not to eat them
in company, but leaning over the side of the ship, in the
Elbows 9 Dshng no Tnnh snd fork, but tearing esriha Oh the skim
with your teeth, and sucking the abundant juice.
Mrs. Brassey does not tell US what Mr.. Brassey,
the owner, C'Tom,'' as, he is Familiarity called
throughout the book or Captain Leckey thought
when, in answer to the signal for a pilot off the en-
trance Of Hilo Bay. a man put of in a boat, who in
formed them that he knew the entrance to the har-
Dor, but that the proper pilot had gone to Honolulu
on a pleasure trip.
Having arranged matters for a trip to the volcano,
the party went Tor q stroll . among neat houses and
pretty gardens, to the suspensiOn-bridge-
"over the river, followed by a crowd of girls. all
decorated with wreaths ard garlands, and wearing almost
the same dress that we had seen at Tahiti-a colored
long-sleeved loose gown reaching to the feet. The natives
lately been accustomed to, lilac, drab, brown, and other
dark prints being the favorite tints. Whenever I stopped
tn lOOk at n vie ono of IA iris UOnI1 come behind me
and throw q lei of flowers over my head, fasten it round
Judge of effect. The consequence was that, before the
end of our walk 1 had about a dozen wreaths, of various
as if I had a fur tippet on, they made me so hot; and yet
l did not take them of for fear of hurting the poor girls
feelings"
The fair authoress' relation of her experience in
visiting the market at the early hour Of 5 o'clock in
the morning, will awaken a sympathizing smile in
the mind of the reader.
The twelve piges which Mrs. Brassey devotes to
the account of her visit to the volcano and return,
give a graphic and most interesting description of
the crater Of Klauea; the more acceptable because
she does not indulge in the wild rhapsody of so many
visitors who have preceded her. She truthfully de-
clares that ." 40 words could adequately describe
such a scene"
One point of her experience of the visit we can
not refrain from giving. The party had retired a
little way from the brink of the crater to breathe the
fresh air, when at times great pieces of the crags
would break off and tumble 8 with a crash into the
burning lake, only to be remelted and thrown up
anew. 1 had for some time been feeling very hot
and uncomfortable, and on looking around the cause
was at once apparent. Not two inches beneath the
surface, the gray lava OIL which we were standing
and sitting was red-hot. A stick thrust through it
caught fire, and a piece IF paper was Immediately
destroyed "Hot and uncomfortable % We
should think SO.
Eighteen pages are devoed to Honolulu, in which
the authoress touches upon matters that most inter-
est strangers on their first visit to our metropolis.
Mrs. Brassey speaks of SEEING what she had often
heard about-a team of twenty oxen towing q ship
into the harbor, to which she appends a note in
which it is stated that the staunch little craft. the
Pele, was about being hauhd up for the purpose Of
repairs, and, inadvertently, We presume, wrongly
credits it to the Hatcaiian Gazette instead Of the
ADVERTISER.
The efforts of the party o get q late dinner at the
Hotel were rewarded with success, after a little diff
fculty with the Chinese writer's, who had begun to
shut up the room and put )ut the lights before they
had half done. The party was a large one, and an
indignant protest and threatened appeal to the land
,ord brought the Cinnamon to their senses, and in
duced them to grant the diners 4" half an hours
law"
The f~orty-one pages in which Mrs. Brassey gives
her impressions Of the Islands, their scenery and
people, win be found to be of great interest to our
residents generally, and We do not know where they
can gain q more pleasant evenings enjoyment than
is to be found in the pages of this beautiful book.
One singular error lard the book is not entirely
free of them) seems to have escaped the authoress
as well as the proof-relder. Mrs. Brassey says,
DID. 1928. that =" Thursday, January II, had no ex-
istence for us, as, in crossing the 1s0th parallel of