one o'clock dinners, six o'clock suppers. If people want anything
with you, they come at any hour of the day, but if they only wish to
be sociable, the early evening is the recognized time for "calling."
After supper, when the day's work is done, people take their
lanterns and visit each other, either in the verandahs or in the
cheerful parlours which open upon them. There are no door-bells, or
solemn announcements by servants of visitors' names, or "not-at-
homes." If people are in their parlours, it is presumed that they
receive their friends. Several pleasant people came in this
evening. They seem to take great interest in two ladies going to
the volcano without an escort, but no news has been received from it
lately, and I fear that it is not very active as no glare is visible
to-night. Mr. Thompson, the pastor of the small foreign
congregation here, called on me. He is a very agreeable,
accomplished man, and is acquainted with Dr. Holland and several of
my New England friends. He kindly brought his wife's riding-costume
for my trip to Kilauea. The Rev. Titus Coan, one of the first and
most successful missionaries to Hawaii, also called. He is a tall,
majestic-looking man, physically well fitted for the extraordinary
exertions he has undergone in mission work, and intellectually also,
I should think, for his face expresses great mental strength, and
nothing of the weakness of a sanguine enthusiast. He has admitted
about 12,000 persons into the Christian Church. He is the greatest
authority on volcanoes on the islands, and his enthusiastic manner
and illuminated countenance as he spoke of Kilauea, have raised my
expectations to the highest pitch. We are prepared for to-morrow,
having engaged a native named Upa, who boasts a little English, as
our guide. He provides three horses and himself for three days for
the sum of thirty dollars.
I.L.B.