ences of unwholesome ease are not yet eradicated. Christianity
has achieved almost miraculous triumphs, and the conditions of
modern life in crowded communities are helping to harden the native
temperament. The leper colony in Molokai is one of several sad sights
which are, perhaps, better left unseen. Also the clandestine Saturnalia
still kept up on the old lines, with some winking or dozing on the part
of natives in authority.

Trips can be made to the surrounding islands, famous for their volcanic
mountains and tropical verdure. The largest active crater in the world
is that of Kilauea, being nine miles in circumference, with vertical
sides about one thousand feet deep and at the bottom a lake of molten
lava, boiling furiously in some parts and throwing off fibres like spun
silk which float in the air. These craters are apt to break into
activity without warning.

City life in Honolulu, as already remarked, can almost delude a
Southerner into fancying himself at home. It is quite cosmopolitan in
its degree. There are well-equipped hotels, an English library, street
railways, electric lights, telephones, insurance offices, colonies and
clubs of American and British lawyers, business men, physicians and
journalists. Modern progress is strikingly impressed on the visitor who
draws his own picture of the primitive semi-savages he expects to see,
when he hears the familiar hum of mills and factories, the roar and
pounding noises of foundries, and the imposing array of wharves and
vessels. Hawaii is a natural hub of the wheel of world-traffic. From its
ports there is a large and fast-growing steamship trade with the
principal commercial centres all over the globe. We shall pass from
Honolulu round to the Philippines in the easiest fashion. One is
surprised at the number of Chinese and Japanese laborers in Hawaii, some
of whom have prospered and own large business establishments. The
foreign element in the labor field has been a source of mild trouble but
is now in a fair way to solve itself. A gratifying feature is the public
school system. Everywhere are centres of light and learning, promising a
grand future for the island population. The abundant yield of rice,
sugar, coffee, bananas, and other foodstuffs is mostly bought for the
American people.

* * * * *

The pleasures and pains of the voyage to the Philippines have been the
subject of too many public letters since the war to need r