The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1906-10-25
"A California WOMAN
IN THE TRANQUIL ISLES
Climate Is Soft and Languorous- Scenery Wild
and Tropical--valleys of Surprising Fertil
ity Here--Many Races in Hawaii.

HONOLULU, Sept. 23.-That first
elfYnnse of the Paradise of the Pacific
we so rapturous, so foreign to any ex-
perience that ever came into my life
that it will never fade from memory.
Let me dwell little upon it once
more, before beginning to tell about
what the traveller sees when once
among the islands.
On the morning of the seventh day
out from San Francisco, the passenger
on the steamer between the United
States and Hawaii gets his first
glimpse of these lovely and fertile ISL
ands in the South Sea. If the air is
clear he may see for 100 miles. The
ship is blowing through the bluest OF
sapphire seas. the sky above is a dark
cerulean, and breezes in these south
ern ATTITUDES come cool and soft as a
caress to ones cheeks. The steamer
is headed toward the island of Oahu
and the harbor Of Honolulu.
The earliest objects one sees as the
boat nears the Hawaiian Islands, are
the tall, serrated, black, volcanic
mountains that rear themselves sew
eral miles in the air. Presently one
discerns a dozen distant waterfalls,
amid the deep tropical verdure, look
ing like silver threads on a curtain of
green velvet. Then fringes of cocoa
nut trees and towering palms along
the seashore come into view. The
strange iridescent hues of vapors that
overhang the active volcanoes, attract
enthusiasm. Sailing past the wind
ward side of the Island of Molokai
one has a glimpse of the famous leper
settlement close about the base of a
ragged mountain, where about 1900
miserable and diseased people are dy-
ing while they live.
A half hour later the bay of Homo
lulu is straight ahead. The scene is
one of the most beautiful that may
come into any travellers experiences.
Robert Louis Stevenson said it was
the most charming marine view he
ever saw. The water is so clear and
blue that one can look down in it for
many feet. The atmosphere is soft
and pungent. The lanscape slopes
smoothly down to the water, and ser
rated volcanoes are a picturesque
background. The city of Honolulu is
ahead, with its clear white spires and
domes projecting amid a mass of
heavy foliage. To the right are tufted
palms and cocoanut trees along a
beach of white sand. Farther back
one gets vistas of green valleys, roads
bordered by white cottages set among
strange tropical trees, beds of gay
flowers and orchards Of ripening fruit.
AS the steamer moves along the bay
shore the song of birds is heard and
often there is a rainbow of unusual
brilliance spanning the bay. Surely
there can be no scene like this any
where else.
The Hawaiian group of islands are
more generally known as the Sand
wich Islands. The latter name was
given them by their discoverer, Cap
tain James Cook, in 177S, in honor of
the first Lord Of Admiralty at that
time, Earl of Sandwich. There are
eight islands in the group. The dis
lance from the north to the south end
OF the chain is 3s6 miles, and the area
of the islands is 1000 square miles, or
about the size of Massachusetts, or
New Jersey.
Hawaii is the largest island in the
group. 1t is a little smaller than Con-
necticut. Oahu is the most populous
and has an area of 600 square miles.
Maui is the most generally fertile ISL
and. Millions of dollars in sugar plan