Rice, and Mrs. Rice played to
them on her piano, an instrument which they had not seen before, and
sang songs to them in Hawaiian. Mr. and Mrs. R. teach in and
superintend a native Sunday-school, and have enlisted twenty native
teachers, and in order to keep up the interest and promote cordial
feeling, they and the other teachers meet once a month for a regular
teachers' meeting, taking the houses in rotation. Refreshments are
served afterwards, and they say that nothing can be more agreeable
than the good feeling at the meetings, and the tact and graceful
hospitality which prevail at the subsequent entertainments.
The Hawaiians are a most pleasant people to foreigners, but many of
their ways are altogether aggravating. Unlike the Chinamen, they
seldom do a thing right twice. In my experience, they have almost
never saddled and bridled my horse quite correctly. Either a strap
has been left unbuckled, or the blanket has been wrinkled under the
saddle. They are too easy to care much about anything. If any
serious loss arises to themselves or others through their
carelessness, they shrug their shoulders, and say, "What does it
matter?" Any trouble is just a pilikia. They can't help it.
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