know why; and in short, I let them do with me as
they desired. No creditor intervening, I spent the first half of the day
inquiring into the conditions of the tea and silk market under the
auspices of Sharpe; lunched with him in a private apartment at the
Hawaiian Hotel--for Sharpe was a teetotaler in public; and about four in
the afternoon was delivered into the hands of Fowler. This gentleman
owned a bungalow on the Waikiki beach; and there, in company with
certain young bloods of Honolulu, I was entertained to a sea-bathe,
indiscriminate cocktails, a dinner, a _hula-hula_, and (to round off
the night) poker and assorted liquors. To lose money in the small hours
to pale intoxicated youth has always appeared to me a pleasure
overrated. In my then frame of mind, I confess I found it even
delightful; put up my money (or rather my creditors') and put down
Fowler's champagne with equal avidity and success; and awoke the next
morning to a mild headache and the rather agreeable lees of the last
night's excitement. The young bloods, many of whom were still far from
sober, had taken the kitchen into their own hands, _vice_ the Chinaman
deposed; and since each was engaged upon a dish of his own, and none had
the least scruple in demolishing his neighbour's handiwork, I became
early convinced that many eggs would be broken and few omelets made. The
discovery of a jug of milk and a crust of bread enabled me to stay my
appetite; and since it was Sunday, when no business could be done, and
the festivities were to be renewed that night in the abode of Fowler, it
occurred to me to slip silently away and enjoy some air and solitude.

I turned seaward under the dead crater known as Diamond Head. My way was
for some time under the shade of certain thickets of green thorny trees,
dotted with houses. Here I enjoyed some pictures of the native life:
wide-eyed, naked children, mingled with pigs; a youth asleep under a
tree; an old gentleman spelling through glasses his Hawaiian Bible; the
somewhat embarrassing spectacle of a lady at her bath in a spring; and
the glimpse of gaudy-coloured gowns in the deep shade of the houses.
Thence I found a road along the beach itself, wading in sand, opposed
and buffeted by the whole weight of the Trade: on one hand, the
glittering and sounding surf, and the bay lively with many sails; on the
other, precipitous, arid gullies and sheer cliffs, mounting towards the
crater and the blue sky. For all the compa