The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1892-07-28
TO WINDWARD.
Observations Written BY an
EXcurSiOnist.

the days OF the old steamer Kilauea
when one rolled around the deck il
the company of dogs. feas and
nausea, for it is hopelessly out Of
date in this era of the clean and
comfortable Kinau. The short voy
age OF thirty hours, never out Of
sight OF land, is a revelation oil
beauty and color, and offers new
features of interest from beginning
to end. For those who are superior
to NAL de mer, the journey should be
one Of unbroken enjoyment, and
even for the less fortunate who are
tributaries to the sea, the quiet
waters under the lee of the land
offer speedy relief.
The view of Honolulu from the sea
has been described thousand times,
and | am not going to add fresh
description to the tale Tor tally. The
blue of the long mountain chain
'~sinks lower and lower, and if you are
no sailor you do not wait to see it
lose itself between sky and water,
but rather seek the seclusion which
the cabin grants. A little tumbling
in the channel, and your troubles are
over. You turn out on deck and
there is Lahaina sleeping in the
shadow Of her mighty mountain. The
sea is as calm as a lake among the
hills, with only gentle motion on
the surface and here and there a rip
pie to fash back the light of the full
moon. The air has tropic langour,
the boats are lowered amid confusion
and some profanity, the oars splash
in the water and then there is silence
again, which is soon broken by the
boys of the Oahu College Glee Club,
who are speedily tumbling aboard
and shaking hands all round.
Lahaina is an aged and decayed
seaport, living on the memories of
the whaling feet, as the Republicans
live on the memories of the war.
Nothing has happened there for the
past thirty years, and the only ex-
element which ever stirs the little
hamlet from its innocuous vacuity
comes when the Court goes over
there to try the cases which always
arise somewhere else. There is no
thing to keep the steamer there long,
and If she stays it must be because
she weakly succumbs to the lazy at
mosphere. With us it was up anchor
and away, through moonlight and over
placid waters to Maalaea Bay, and
then on to Makena, where the surf
breaks on barren rocks under the
great dome of Haleakala. The rocks
produce the most delicious pine
apples, Of the native variety Of
course, but large, and so juicy that
it ia an undertaking to eat them.
You soon have one peeled, grabbing
it by the stem end, and are "treat-
ing" insidiously offering it to the
ladies as a sure specific against sea-
sickness. Then MAIZENA, is left, the
Hawaii channel is reached, the
smooth inland sea with its glorious
encircling mountains, is behind you,
and your patients have good chance
to test the virtue of your specific.
The night is soon passed, and 8
o'clock in the morning the Kinau is
lying In smooth water at Mahukona.
A strong wind is blowing off shore,
and the sea is brilliantly blue and
flashing with white caps as far as to
the horizon, while on the land rise
the splendid domes of three noun
tains-Hualalai, Mauna Kea and
Mauna Loa. The pause at Mahu-
kona is long one, as it Is at Ka-
waihae, and some of the passen'
gers take advantage of the op
portunity to go ashore, while others
are content to watch from the boat
the shifting lights and cloud sha
dows on the Kohala mountains
There is no rough water until Upolr
Point is rounded, after which the
sea responds little to the sweep O.
the trade wind. But all the way
from here to Hilo the scene is one O
ever varying beauty beginning will
the cane fields Of Kohala which
stretch their sea of green almost tt
the very edge of the red cliffs, anC
on past the grand Waimanu bluff
which extends in one long blHe
sweep from the inland heights unit
it makes its tremendous 1900 foo
leap into the surf. At Laupahoeho
the fresh land breeze comes across tn
water bringing with it odors of ferI
and moist woodland, and couple o
hours later the steamer is anchored
in Hilo Bay-of which it is too darl
to see ything-shore boats ar,
alongside, and few minutes see th
weary traveller ashore, rolled off in
fine wagonette, Hospitality received
housed, fed and put to bed.
Time, which moves rapidly enoug
elsewhere has not been very bustliD
at Hilo. Yet one notes man
changes. The telephone has come
so have the water works. Macadan
lied roads have brought the ca
rage, the heavy wagonette and th
light buggy, and there are ne
houses, new faces and new idea
But the village still retains it's d.
lightful, indescribable charm. tt
grass encroaches, as of old, upon tt
lanes which do duty for roads. I'll
sound of falling waters, the gurglin
of the brooks, the softened murmu
Of the waves, fill the ear just as the
used, and the groves of mango ar
bamboo glisten in the hot, sleeE
sunshine just as they did when v
were boys. Hilo has not lost a sing
one of its charms which endear it
memory and make it, out of all que
ton, one of the most blessed al
beautiful spots on earth.
But Hilo cannot live by its beau
alone, and it has needs which Dug
Il,