le was of the most brutal type,
revelling in human gore. We were told of rows of stone altars on which a
hundred victims are known to have been sacrificed at one time, the
altars still standing as memorials of the wretched idolatrous worship of
the past. Such scenes were of frequent occurrence among the aborigines,
surrounded by a climate which was nearly perfect, and by a profuseness
and bounty of vegetation that made the support of life a mere holiday
existence. They poured out human blood like water upon the altars
erected to their idols, and fattened upon human flesh. It is strange
indeed that some of the most lovely parts of the world should have been
peopled by cannibals. We speak in the past tense; but all travellers in
savage, half-civilized lands know that there are many waste places of
the earth which are to-day the abode of the anthropophagi.

In those early days the several islands of the Hawaiian group had each a
separate king. Bitter wars were frequent among them, and the savages of
the Pacific islands always ate their prisoners taken in battle. King
Kamehameha finally subjected the several isles to his sway, and founded
the government which has lasted to our day.

Many of the streets of Honolulu present a grateful shade along the
sidewalks, being lined by choice ornamental trees, of which the
cocoanut, palm, bread-fruit, candle-nut, and some others are indigenous;
but many have been introduced from abroad and become thoroughly
domesticated. The tall mango-tree with its rich, glossy leaves, the
branches bending under the weight of its delicious fruit, was seen
growing everywhere, though it is not a native of these islands. It was
impossible not to observe with acute interest the great variety of
fruit-trees, most of whose pendulous branches were heavy with luscious
products. Among them were the feathery tamarind, the orange, lime,
alligator-pear, citron-fig, date, palm, rose-apple, and some others
whose names we did not learn. Of all the flowering trees the brilliant
_Ponciana regia_ was most conspicuous and attractive, with its cloud of
scarlet blossoms, each cluster as large as a Florida orange.

Some of the thoroughfares, especially that known as King's Street, are
lined by pretty, low-built cottages, standing a hundred feet and more
back from the roadway, with broad, inviting verandas, the whole front
festooned and nearly hidden by tropical and semi-tropical plants in full
bloom. This delightful aspe