island of Cuba, and their area, excluding that of the four uninhabited islands, is estimated at 4,250,000 acres, or about 6,640 square miles; of this amount about 2,500,000 acres, or about 3,900 square miles, are included in the area of the island of Hawaii. The population, according to the census of 1890, amounted to 90,000 souls, comprising 34,500 natives, 15,000 Chinese, 12,000 Japanese, 8,500 Portuguese, and the remainder of various nationalities, nearly two thousand of whom are Americans. At the discovery of these islands by Captain Cook in 1778, the population was estimated at 200,000, but, from official and other data, obtained at various periods since that date, it appears that the native race is in the course of gradual extinction. This is ascribed to the fact that leprosy and other diseases have been introduced from abroad as well as to the reason that the female population is much smaller than that of the other sex and that only about one of three married women bears children.

The natives of Hawaii are, in stature and development, as fine as those of any of the Pacific islands. They have a reddishbrown complexion, very black and straight or wavy hair, broad faces, thick lips, thin beards, and rather flat noses. They are naturally a good-tempered, light-hearted, and pleasureloving people, fond of sports, swimming, and horseback riding. They are besides a brave and fearless race, though by no means bloodthirsty or revengeful; and, while they have always kindly received and hospitably entertained strangers, they have never hesitated to resent the insults and repel the attacks of those wandering buccaneers who, like the followers of Captain Cook, have sought to degrade their men and debauch their women.

The field, orchard, and garden products of the islands are generally the same as those of Cuba, except that corn, wheat, and rice are also grown in considerable quantities. Sugar,

however, is the chief staple agricultural product, of which 250,000,000 pounds, valued at $12,159,585, were exported in 1890. The total exports of all products during that year amounted to $13,023,000, and the imports for the same period amounted to the sum of $6,962,000. The sugar industry was enormously stimulated by the reciprocity treaty between the United States and Hawaii that was proclaimed in 1875, by the terms of which the sugar from these islands was admitted free of duty into United States ports; and this measure, amounting to a bonus of almost ten cents per pound on their sugar, gave them a degree of prosperity never before enjoyed and diverted ninety-one per cent of their trade to the United States. The passage of the McKinley bill, however, removing the tariff upon the raw sugar of the West Indies, has proved a severe blow to the sugar interests of Hawaii; since, owing to high-priced labor, dear food supplies, and the difference in freights, the sugar planters there cannot compete with those of Cuba and Puerto Rico. In view of this desperate condition, which, if not ameliorated, must involve them in bankruptcy, the people are beginning to direct their attention to the growing of coffee. The prospect of success from this diversion of their agricultural interests is heightened by the fact that the islands are the natural habitat of the coffee plant and that, while the wild berry is of quite as good quality as that from South America, the cultivated article is fully equal to that of Java. The serious phase of the case

seems to be involved in the fact that labor is thrice as dear as in South America, but this apprehension loses much of its apparent force when it is remembered that the coffee planter may cultivate his lands with one tenth of the labor that is required to till them in sugar.

The climate of the Hawaiian Islands is remarkably genial and propitious, for, although they are situated in the torrid

zone, their natural isolation exposes them to refreshing sea breezes, and, for nine months of the year, to the steady blowing northeast trade winds. Scarcely a country can be found where the temperature is more equable and the elements kindlier mixed. The diurnal range of the thermometer is twelve degrees and the extremes mark fifty-three and ninety degrees. The lofty mountain peaks, some of which are covered with perpetual snows, that form such a distinguishing feature of these islands, afford a charming diversity of temperature; for at the height of four thousand feet the thermometer ranges from forty to seventy degrees and fires are often comfortable even in the month of July. The vast quantities of vapor floating up from the sea drape the mountain tops in fantastic summer clouds or, condensed by the cooler atmosphere of these high elevations, fall in refreshing showers upon the hills and valleys below.

Upon approaching Hawaii the objects that first engage the attention and enlist the admiration of the beholder are the stupendous volcanic mountains, apparently rising abruptly from the sea and lifting their summits two and a half miles into the sky. Clad in perennial verdure and isolated in their grand proportions, they appear, from the distant ships, like stupendous curtains hung up upon the azure heavens. One of these, Kilauea, is the largest active volcano in the world. Its crater, four thousand feet above sea level, is three and a half miles long and two and a half miles wide; within this and filling its area to the brim is a lake of boiling lava, which, at night, illumines the overhanging clouds and skies and which, in periods of great eruption, rolls in rapid seething rivers down through forests and over precipices to the sea.

The first Protestant mission sent out to the Hawaiian Islands, consisting of seven Americans with their families and three Hawaiians, twenty-two in all, sailed from Boston,

October 23, 1819, and, after a protracted and uneventful voyage around Cape Horn, arrived safely off the islands on March 30, 1820. It was a most auspicious moment for the success of their mission, since, King Kamehameha having lately died, his son had marked his advent to the throne by abolishing idolatrous customs, destroying the sacred images, and tearing down the temples of worship. The strangers were soon visited by many of the natives from shore and each party, in their accustomed manner, exchanged kindly sentiments of friendship and hospitality. The chiefs also, with their wives, came on board, and, after having received every demonstration of consideration, they manifested great pleasure at the coming of the party and extended to them sincere expressions of welcome and invitations to come upon shore. An audience with the king having been arranged and presents having been freely distributed among his family and retainers, he was induced, after much delicate tact and mild persuasion, to permit the missionaries to take up their residence in the islands and to disseminate their religion for the space of one year. He was averse to granting even these terms, because the idolatrous priests having hitherto weakened the power of the government, he feared that, by the admission of a new religion, similar results would ensue. Under these favorable auspices the foundations of Christianity were laid, and they were so solidly based and firmly cemented by the discreet conduct and devout life of these pious persons that the idolatrous nation was quickly and permanently converted to the Christian religion; so that now the peals of Sabbath bells and the notes of hymned praise, the Sabbath school and divine service, are settled features of the life of this interesting people.

In the year 1843, a British ship of war visited Hawaii to settle certain complications that had arisen between the

British consul and the government; and, although these difficulties were clearly traceable to the arrogance and unreasonableness of the British representative, the captain of the royal navy sent a communication to the king couched in most offensive terms and demanding humiliating concessions coupled with the threat that, if prompt and full compliance with his demands was refused, he would open his batteries upon the port of Honolulu. The king, despairing of any effectual resistance, acceded to his demands, but only to learn that this imperious dictator had framed a second series of demands, more insulting and excessive than the first. Seeing that contention was useless and that further concessions would provoke renewed exactions, the government at last determined, in the face of impending ruin, to cede the islands to Great Britain and proceeded to frame a treaty to that effect. This action, consummated under the stress of such notoriously unjustifiable circumstances, everywhere aroused public indignation and especially in the United States, in consequence of which the British government hastened to disavow any responsibility and to repudiate the cession of the islands. This was followed by a convention of the leading powers and the adoption of a treaty, by the terms of which the independence of the islands was recognized and guaranteed. American influences, always in the ascendant there, have grown so great during the past ten years that the country is now in all except government under the control of the United States, There have been various measures in recent years, semiofficial or otherwise in their nature, looking to an American protectorate over these islands or for their absolute cession to the United States, but the settled and wise policy of the government to abstain from foreign interference and the acquisition of distant and isolated possessions has prevented the consummation of such schemes, and it may well be questioned