It is itself shaded by date palms and
algarobas, and is surrounded by hibiscus, oleanders, and the datura
arborea(?), which at night fill the air with sweetness. I am the
only guest, and the solitude of the guest house in which I am
writing is most refreshing to tired nerves. There is not a sound
but the rustling of trees.
The first event to record is that the trade winds have set in, and
though they may yet yield once or twice to the kona, they will soon
be firmly established for nine months. They are not soft airs as I
supposed, but riotous, rollicking breezes, which keep up a constant
clamour, blowing the trees about, slamming doors, taking liberties
with papers, making themselves heard and felt everywhere, flecking
the blue Pacific with foam, lowering the mercury three degrees,
bringing new health and vigour with them,--wholesome, cheery,
frolicsome north-easters. They brought me here from Oahu in
eighteen hours, for which I thank them heartily.
You will think me a Sybarite for howling about those eighteen hours
of running to leeward, when the residents of Kauai, if they have to
go to Honolulu in the intervals between the quarterly trips of the
Kilauea, have to spend from three to nine days in beating to
windward.
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