and Mrs. Damon seized upon me, and told me that a
lady friend of theirs, anxious for a companion, was going to the
volcano on Hawaii, that she was a most expert and intelligent
traveller, that the Kilauea would sail in two hours, that unless I
went now I should have no future opportunity during my limited stay
on the islands, that Mrs. Dexter was anxious for me to go, that they
would more than fill my place in my absence, that this was a golden
opportunity, that in short I MUST go, and they would drive me back
to the hotel to pack! The volcano is still a myth to me, and I
wanted to "read up" before going, and above all was grieved to leave
my friend, but she had already made some needful preparations, her
son with his feeble voice urged my going, the doctor said that there
was now no danger to be apprehended, and the Damons' kind urgency
left me so little choice, that by five I was with them on the wharf,
being introduced to my travelling companion, and to many of my
fellow-passengers. Such an unexpected move is very bewildering, and
it is too experimental, and too much of a leap in the dark to be
enjoyable at present.
The wharf was one dense, well-compacted mass of natives taking leave
of their friends with much effusiveness, and the steamer's
encumbered deck was crowded with them, till there was hardly room to
move; men, women, children, dogs, cats, mats, calabashes of poi,
cocoanuts, bananas, dried fish, and every dusky individual of the
throng was wreathed and garlanded with odorous and brilliant
flowers.
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