s, but I have found it a good business rule
never to lose a good thing by trying for a better. I had accommodation
equal to two hundred and twenty-five dollars. Of course, I regretted I
dare not ask them one hundred dollars for condescending to go in their
boat. If I had been full of money I might have tried it. However, I was
quite happy and satisfied. That I might land in Sydney with nothing did
not trouble me. Three days after I went on board the steamer, and was
seen off by my friend the Irishman and one other.

I had never sailed on the Pacific, or at least that part of it, before,
and its wonders were strange to me. I had not seen coral islands, nor
cocoanuts growing. It grieved me that I could not afford to stay in
Honolulu and visit Kilauea. I only remained some hours, which I spent in
prowling about the town, which is like a tenth-rate city in America. And
the business American has his claw into it for good. The Hawaiians, in
truth, seem to care little. They go blithely in the streets crowned and
garlanded with flowers, and even the leprosy that strikes one now and
again with worse than living death seems far away.

On board the _Monowai_, most comfortable of ships, commanded by Captain
Carey, best of skippers, life was easy and delightful. Our one romance
was between San Francisco and the Islands, for an individual, with most
incredible cheek, managed to go first-class from California almost to
Honolulu without a ticket. Two days from the Islands he was bowled out,
and set to shovel coals. We left him in gaol at Honolulu, and steamed
south of Samoa.

It was good to be at last in the tropics, deep into them, and to wear
white all day and feel the heat tempered by the Trades. We played games
and sang and lazed and loafed, and life had no troubles. Why should I
think of future difficulties when there were none at hand, and the
weather was lovely? We ran at last into Apia, the harbour of Upolu, the
island where the late Robert Louis Stevenson lived. I rushed ashore, met
him, spent three more than pleasant hours with him, and away again round
the island reefs with our noses pointed for Auckland.

Some of our passengers had left us at Honolulu, others dropped off at
Samoa, but after Auckland, when the weather grew quite cold, we were a
thin little band, and our spirits oozed away. We could not keep things
lively, the decks seemed empty, I was glad to run into Sydney harbour. I
found I had just enough money to get