So I thought
one moment. The next I heard a droning, humming sound, which
certainly was not the surf upon the reef. It came nearer--there
could be no mistake. I felt a stab, and found myself the centre of
a swarm of droning, stabbing, malignant mosquitoes. No, even this
is not paradise! I am ashamed to say that on my first night in
Honolulu I sought an early refuge from this intolerable infliction,
in profound and prosaic sleep behind mosquito curtains.
I.L.B.
LETTER III.
HAWAIIAN HOTEL, Jan. 28th.
Sunday was a very pleasant day here. Church bells rang, and the
shady streets were filled with people in holiday dress. There are
two large native churches, the Kaumakapili, and the Kaiwaiaho,
usually called the stone church. The latter is an immense
substantial building, for the erection of which each Christian
native brought a block of rock-coral. There is a large Roman
Catholic church, the priests of which are said to have been somewhat
successful in proselytizing operations. The Reformed Catholic, or
English temporary cathedral, is a tasteful but very simple wooden
building, standing in pretty grounds, on which a very useful
institution for boarding and training native and half-white girls,
and the reception of white girls as day scholars, also stands.
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