FROM SAN FRANCISCO TO HONOLULU.--SIGHTS ON THE PACIFIC OCEAN.--A PORTUGUESE MAN-OF-WAR.--NEARING THE SANDWICH ISLANDS.--THE MOLOKAI CHANNEL.--SURF-BEATEN SHORES OF OAHU.--ARRIVAL AT HONOLULU.--A PICTURESQUE PORT.--DISCOVERY AND HISTORY OF THE SANDWICH ISLANDS.--CAPTAIN COOK.--HIS TRAGIC DEATH.--HOW THE PEOPLE HAVE BEEN CIVILIZED.--WORK OF THE MISSIONARIES.--SCHOOLS AND CHURCHES.--PRESENT CONDITION OF THE POPULATION.--OLD CUSTOMS.--SIGHTS AND SCENES IN HONOLULU.--TARO AND POI.--A NATIVE DINNER.--THE COSTUMES OF THE ISLANDERS.--PECULIARITIES OF THE CLIMATE.--THE HULA-HULA AND OTHER DANCES.
"Dead ahead, sir!" was the reply; but it was almost drowned by the buzz of excitement which the announcement produced. The passengers, who had been strolling about the decks or listlessly lounging in their chairs, rushed hastily forward, in their eagerness to catch a glimpse of the land which had been reported "dead ahead."
This happened on board the steamship _Alameda_, early one pleasant afternoon as she was nearing the Sandwich Islands on a voyage from San Francisco. There were three passengers who did not join in the scramble towards the bow of the ship, but remained quietly seated in their chairs. They had been through the experience of sighting land from a steamer at sea too many times to regard it as a novelty.
They were our old friends, Doctor Bronson and his nephews, Frank Bassett and Fred Bronson, whose experiences and adventures in various parts of the world are familiar to many American youths. Not content with what they had seen in Asia, Africa, and Europe, they were now bound on a voyage to the antipodes with the intention of adding another volume to the series in which their wanderings are recorded.[1]
[1] "The Boy Travellers in the Far East" (five volumes), and "The Boy Travellers in South America," "The Boy Travellers in the Russian Empire," and "The Boy Travellers on the Congo" (three volumes). See complete list at the end of this book.
It was on the eighth day of a voyage over the lovely azure waters of the broad Pacific that the _Alameda_ neared the land, and many of her passengers half regretted that they were about to separate. The weather had been delightful, the breezes were light, the sky was nearly always clear, and the temperature high enough to make thick clothing uncomfortably warm, and an awning over the deck desirable. Since the second day out from San Francisco not a sail had been seen, as the sailing-ships take another track in order to obtain stronger and more favoring winds. Four or five whales had shown themselves, and a few schools of porpoises played around the vessel from time to time as though they wished to make the acquaintance of the strange monster.