The king "signified his intention to honour Mr. and Mrs. Severance
with his company" on the evening of the day after the reception, and
this involved a regular party and supper. You can hardly imagine
the difficulties connected with "refreshments," where few, if any,
of the materials which we consider necessary for dishes suitable for
such occasions can be procured at the stores, and even milk and
butter are scarce commodities. I had won a reputation as a cook by
making a much appreciated Bengal curry, and an English "roly-poly"
pudding, and when I offered my services, Mrs. S. kindly accepted
them, and she and I, with the Chinese cook and a Chinese prisoner to
assist us, have been cooking for a day and a half. I wanted to make
a gigantic trifle, a dish not known here, and we hunted every store,
hoping to find almonds and raspberry jam among the "assorted
notions," but in vain; however, grated cocoa-nut supplied the place
of the first, and a kind friend sent a pot of the last. The
Chinamen were very diverting. The cook looked on, and laughed
constantly, and perhaps was a little jealous: at all events when he
thought we had spoilt some cakes in the oven, he capered into Mrs.
S.'s room, gesticulating, and exclaiming satirically, "Lu, Lu! cakes
so good, cakes so fine!" No intoxicants were to be used on the
occasion, Hilo notions being rigid on this subject; but I hope it
was not a crime that I clandestinely used two glasses of sherry,
without which my trifle would have been a failure. We worked hard,
and made trifle, sponge cake, pound cake, spiced cake, dozens of
cocoa-nut cakes and drops; custards, and sandwiches of potted meat,
and enjoyed our preparations so much that we found it hard to
exchange kitchen for social duties, and go to "Father Lyman," who
entertained the king and a number of Hilo folk in the evening.
Their rooms, not very large, were quite full. When the king
entered, the company received him standing, and the flute band in
the verandah played the national anthem, and afterwards at intervals
during the evening sang some Hawaiian songs of the king's
composition. I was presented to him, and as he is very courteous to
strangers, he talked to me a good deal. He is a very gentlemanly,
courteous, unassuming man, hardly assuming enough in fact, and
apparently very intelligent and well read. I was exceedingly
pleased with him. He spoke a good deal of Queen Emma's reception in
England, and of her raptures with Venice, and some other cities of
the continent. He said he had the greatest desire to visit some
parts of Europe, Great Britain specially, because he thought that by
coming in contact with some of our leading statesmen, he might gain
a more accurate knowledge than he possessed of the principles of
constitutional government. He said he hoped that in two years
Hawaii-nei would be so settled as to allow of his travelling, and
that in the meantime he was studying French with a view to enjoying
the continent.
He asked a great many questions regarding things at home, especially
concerning the limitation of the power of the Crown. He cannot
reconcile the theoretical right of the sovereign to choose his
advisers with his practically submitting to receive them from a
Parliamentary majority. He seemed to find a difficulty in
understanding that the sovereign's right to refuse his assent to a
Bill which had passed both Houses was by no means the same thing in
practice as the possession of a veto. He said that in his reading
of our constitutional history, the power of the sovereign seemed
almost absolute, while if he understood facts rightly, the throne
was more of an "ornament," or "figure-head," than a power at all.
He asked me if it was true that Republican feeling was spreading
very much in England, and if I thought that the monarchy would
survive the present sovereign, on whose prudence and exalted virtues
he seemed to think it rested. He said he thought his little kingdom
had aped the style of the great monarchies too much, and that he
should like to abolish a good many high sounding titles, sinecure
offices, the household troops, and some of the "imitation pomp" of
his court. He said he had never enjoyed anything so much since his
accession as the hookupu of the morning, and asked me what I thought
of it. I was glad to be able to answer truthfully that I had never
seen a state pageant or ceremonial that I had enjoyed half so much,
or that had impressed me so favourably. He has a very musical
voice, and a natural nobility and refinement of manner, with an
obvious tact and good feeling, rather, I should think, the result of
amiable and gentlemanly instincts than of training or consideration,
all which combine to make him interesting, altogether apart from his
position as a Polynesian sovereign.
Where there are no servants, a party involves the hosts and their
friends in the bustle of personal preparation, but all worked with a
will, and by sunset the decorations were completed. All the Chinese
lamps in Hilo were hung in the front verandah, and seats were placed
in the front and side verandahs, on which the drawing-room opens by
four doors, so there was plenty of room, though there were thirty
people. The side verandah was enclosed by a drapery of flags, and
the whole was tastefully decorated with festoons and wreaths of
ferns. The king arrived early with his attendants, and was received
by the host and hostess, and like a perfectly civilized guest, he
handed Mrs. S. into the room. The great wish of the genial
entertainers was to prevent stiffness and give the king a really
social evening, so the "chair game," magical music, and a refined
kind of blind man's buff, better suited to the occasion, but less
"jolly" than the old riotous game, were shortly introduced.
Lunalilo only looked on at first, and then entered into the games
with a heartiness and zest which showed that he at least enjoyed the
evening. Supper was served at nine. Several nests of Japanese
tables had been borrowed, and these, dispersed about the room and
verandah, broke up the guests into little social knots. Three Hilo
ladies and I were the waitresses, and I was pleased to see that the
good things were thoroughly appreciated, and that the trifle was
universally popular. After supper there was a little dancing, and
as few of the Hilo people knew any dance correctly, it was very
amusing for the onlookers. There was a great deal of promenading in
the verandah, and a great deal of talking and merriment, which were
enjoyed by a crowd of natives who stood the whole evening outside
the garden fence. I don't think that any of the Hilo people are so
unhappy as to possess an evening dress, and the pretty morning
dresses of the ladies, and the thick boots, easy morning coats, and
black ties of the gentlemen, gave a jolly "break-down" look to the
affair, which would have been deemed inadmissible in less civilized
society.
Some of my photographs of some of our eminent literary and
scientific men were lying on the table, and the king in looking at
them showed a surprising amount of knowledge of what they had
written or done, quite entitling him to unite in Stanley's
"Communion of Educated Men." I had previously asked him for his
signature for my autograph collection, and he said he had composed a
stanza for me which he thought I might like to have in addition. He
called with it on the following afternoon, apologising for his
dress, a short jacket and blue trowsers, stuffed into boots
plastered with mud up to the knees. I was surprised when he asked
me if the lines were correctly spelt, for he speaks English
remarkably well. They are simply a kind wish, unaffectedly
expressed.
HILO. HAWAII, Feb. 26.
"Wheresoe'er thou may'st roam,
Wheresoe'er thou mak'st thy home,
May God thy footsteps guide,
Watch o'er thee and provide.
This is my earnest prayer for thee,
Welcome, stranger, from over the sea."
LUNALILO R.
It startles one sometimes to hear American vulgarisms uttered in his
harmonious tones. The American admiral and generals had just
arrived from the volcano, stiff, sore, bruised, jaded, "done," and
the king said, "I guess the Admiral's about used up." He is really
remarkably attractive, but I am sorry to observe a look of
irresolution about his mouth, indicative of a facility of
disposition capable of being turned to the worst account. I think
from what I have heard that the Hawaiian kings have fallen victims
rather to unscrupulous foreigners, than to their own bad instincts.
My last day has been taken up with farewell visits, and I finish
this on board the "Kilauea." Miss Karpe and I had to ride two
miles, to a point at which it was possible to embark without risk, a
heavy surf having for three weeks rendered it impossible for loaded
boats to communicate with the shore at Hilo. My clothes were soaked
when we reached the rocks, and Upa, very wet, carried us into a wet
whale-boat, with water up to our ancles, which brought us over a
heavy sickening swell into this steamer, which is dirty as well as
wet. I told Upa to lead my mare, and ride his own horse, but the
last I saw of him was on the mare's back, racing a troop of natives
along the beach. {215}
I.L.B.