The sense of security is a very special charm, and one enjoys it as
well in lonely native houses, and solitary days and nights of
travelling, as in the foreign homes, which are never locked
throughout the year. There are no burglarious instincts to dread,
and there is no such thing as "a broken sleep of fear beneath the
stars." The person and property of a white man are everywhere
secure, and a white woman is sure of unvarying respect and kindness.
There are no inevitable hardships. The necessaries, and even the
luxuries of civilization can be obtained everywhere, and postal
communication with America is now regular and rapid.
When I began this letter, a long procession of counterbalancing
disadvantages passed through my mind, but they become "beautifully
less" as I set them down in black and white. If I put gossip first,
it is because I seriously think that it is the canker of the foreign
society on the islands. Its extent and universality are grotesque
and amusing to a stranger, but to live in it, and share in it, and
learn to enjoy it, would be both lowering and hurtful, and you can
hardly be long here without being drawn into its vortex. By GOSSIP
I don't mean scandal or malignant misrepresentations, or reports of
petty strifes, intrigues, and jealousies, such as are common in all
cliques and communities, but nuhou, mere tattle, the perpetual
talking about people, and the picking to tatters of every item of
personal detail, whether gathered from fact or imagination.
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