ts, and their heads adorned with
wreaths of flowers. They answered the midshipmen's salutations with
shouts of laughter, and either supposing that they had had an invitation
to do so, or, which is not improbable, not thinking it necessary, they
joined company, and away midshipmen and maidens galloped with a speed
which would have tried less hardy steeds. Before long they overtook
other parties of girls; on they went till a hill was reached, over which
they scampered, descending at breakneck speed into a plain of still
larger dimensions, on the other side. Here the road compelled them to
keep closer together, as it passed between several sugar plantations.
Tom had fixed upon a pretty Kanaka as his companion, who could speak a
few words of English, as was the case with many of the others; indeed,
most of the young ladies, though not very rigid in their manners, were
fairly educated, and remarkably intelligent. Away they went for several
miles, till one of the elder damsels, looking at the sun, declared that
it was time to go back again; and, wheeling round their steeds, they
returned as fast as they had come. On nearing the town, they made signs
to the young officers to fall into the rear, while they advanced at a
more sedate pace, when they scattered in various directions to their
different homes. This was only one of their many excursions on shore.

Honolulu is a capital city, though a small one; few cities of its size
contain more churches and schools; but, unhappily, they are not all of
one denomination, for Protestants, Episcopalians, and Roman Catholics
have of late years entered the field with the Presbyterians or
Independents, by whose means the natives were converted to Christianity.
It now boasted of a cathedral and an English bishop, who, while the
ships were there, headed a grand procession, with banners, and bands
playing, terminated by a display of fireworks and healths drunk in
champagne opposite the king's palace; but whether it was of a religious
or merely social character, our midshipmen's friends were unable to
determine.

A considerable amount of trade is carried on, the chief export being
sugar to the United States. There are merchants and inhabitants of all
nations, but by far the greater number are Americans, who hold also some
of the chief offices of State. There was a theatre, in which not only
plays but operas were performed, and there were various other places of
amusement. It was, ind