very perfect extinct crater, brilliant with every shade of red
volcanic ash, blazed against the green skirts of the mountains. We
were close to the coral reef before the cry, "There's Honolulu!"
made us aware of the proximity of the capital of the island kingdom,
and then, indeed, its existence had almost to be taken upon trust,
for besides the lovely wooden and grass huts, with deep verandahs,
which nestled under palms and bananas on soft green sward, margined
by the bright sea sand, only two church spires and a few grey roofs
appeared above the trees.

We were just outside the reef, and near enough to hear that deep
sound of the surf which, through the ever serene summer years
girdles the Hawaiian Islands with perpetual thunder, before the
pilot glided alongside, bringing the news which Mark Twain had
prepared us to receive with interest, that "Prince Bill" had been
unanimously elected to the throne. The surf ran white and pure over
the environing coral reef, and as we passed through the narrow
channel, we almost saw the coral forests deep down under the
Nevada's keel; the coral fishers plied their graceful trade; canoes
with outriggers rode the combers, and glided with inconceivable
rapidity round our ship; amphibious brown beings sported in the
transparent waves; and within the reef lay a calm surface of water
of a wonderful blue, entered by a narrow, intricate passage of the
deepest indigo. And beyond the reef and beyond the blue, nestling
among cocoanut trees and bananas, umbrella trees and breadfruits,
oranges, mangoes, hibiscus, algaroba, and passion-flowers, almost
hidden in the deep, dense greenery, was Honolulu. Bright blossom of
a summer sea! Fair Paradise of the Pacific!

Inside the reef the magnificent iron-clad California (the flag-ship)