o the abundance of the dead produce of air,
earth, and sea, which it contained, but to the large number of gaily
attired purchasers.

Saturday is a half-holiday in Oahu, and all the plantation and mill
hands came galloping into Honolulu on horseback, chattering and
laughing, dressed in the brightest colours, and covered with flowers.
The latter are not so plentiful nor so beautiful as in Tahiti, but
still, to our English eyes, they appear very choice. For fruit, too,
we have been spoilt in the South Seas. The fish-market here, however,
is unrivalled.

Fish--raw or cooked--is the staple food of the inhabitants, and almost
everybody we saw had half-a-dozen or more brilliant members of the
finny tribe, wrapped up in fresh green banana leaves, ready to carry
home. Shrimps are abundant and good. They are caught both in salt and
fresh water, and the natives generally eat them alive, putting them
into their mouths, ana either letting them hop down their throats, or
crushing them between their teeth while they are still wriggling
about. It looks a very nasty thing to do, but, after all, it is not
much worse than our eating oysters alive.

[Illustration: Chalcedon Imperator.]

From the fish-market we went to the prison, a large and apparently
admirably managed establishment, built of stone, and overlooking the
harbour. After a pleasant drive along shady fragrant roads, we
returned to Emma Square, to hear the excellent performance of the
Saturday afternoon band. There was a good assemblage of people, on
horseback, in carriages, and on foot, and crowds of children, all more
or less white, languid, and sickly-looking. Poor mites! I suppose the
climate is too hot for European constitutions. Still, they abound
among the foreigners, while the natives are gradually, but surely,
dying out. Among the whole royal family there is only one child, a
dear little girl of rather more than a year old. Princess Kauilani
('Sent from Heaven') she is always called, though she has a very long
string of additional names. She is heiress-presumptive to the throne,
and is thought a good deal of by everybody. Among twenty of the
highest chiefs' families there is only one baby. On the other hand,
all the foreign consuls, ministers, missionaries, and other white
residents, appear to have an average of at least half a dozen in each
family.

After the performance was over, we walked to the Princess Likelike's
house, where we were entertained at a _poi_