I have noticed that there is often a centrifugal
force which acts upon passengers who have been long at sea together,
dispersing them on reaching port. Indeed, the temporary enforced
cohesion is often succeeded by violent repulsion. But in this
instance we deeply regret the dissolution of our pleasant
fraternity; the less so, however, that this wonderful climate has
produced a favourable change in Mr. D., who no longer requires the
hourly attention they have hitherto shown him. The mornings here,
dew-bathed and rose-flushed, are, if possible, more lovely than the
nights, and people are astir early to enjoy them. The American
consul and Mr. Damon called while we were sitting at our eight-
o'clock breakfast, from which I gather that formalities are
dispensed with. After spending the morning in hunting among the
stores for things which were essential for the invalid, I lunched in
the Nevada with Captain Blethen and our friends.
Next to the advent of "national ships" (a euphemism for men-of-war),
the arrivals and departures of the New Zealand mail-steamers
constitute the great excitement of Honolulu, and the failures,
mishaps, and wonderful unpunctuality of this Webb line are highly
stimulating in a region where "nothing happens.
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