At the Sandwich Islands, in Hilo, they visit the volcano of Kilauea.  They descend the precipice, three hundred feet, which forms the wall of the old crater.  They ascend the present crater, and stand on the “edge of a precipice, overhanging a lake of molten fire, a hundred feet below us, and nearly a mile across.  Dashing against the cliffs on the opposite side, with a noise like the roar of a stormy ocean, waves of blood-red, fiery liquid lava hurled their billows upon an iron-bound headland, and then rushed up the face of the cliffs to toss their gory spray high in the air.”

They pass the island of Molokai, where the poor lepers end their days away from home and kindred.  At Honolulu they are entertained by the Prince, and then sail for Japan, China, Ceylon, through Suez, stopping in Egypt, and then home.  On their arrival, Lady Brassey says, “How can I describe the warm greetings that met us everywhere, or the crowd that surrounded us; how, along the whole ten miles from Hastings to Battle, people were standing by the roadside and at the cottage doors to welcome us; how the Battle bell-ringers never stopped ringing except during service time; or how the warmest of welcomes ended our delightful year of travel and made us feel we were home at last, with thankful hearts for the providential care which had watched over us whithersoever we roamed!”

The trip had been one of continued ovation.  Crowds had gathered in every place to see the Sunbeam, and often trim her with flowers from stem to stern.  Presents of parrots, and kittens, and pigs abounded, and Lady Brassey had cared tenderly for them all.  Christmas was observed on ship-board with gifts for everybody; thoughtfulness and kindness had made the trip a delight to the crew as well as the passengers.

The letters sent home from the Sunbeam were so thoroughly enjoyed by her father and friends, that they prevailed upon her to publish a book, which she did in 1878.  It was found to be as full of interest to the world as it had been to the intimate friends, and it passed rapidly through four editions.  An abridged edition appeared in the following year; then the call for it was so great that an edition was prepared for reading in schools, in 1880, and finally, in 1881, a twelve-cent edition, that the poor as well as the rich might have an opportunity of reading this fascinating book, Around the World in the Yacht Sunbeam.  And now Lady Brassey found herself not only the accomplished and benevolent wife of a member of Parliament, but a famous author as well.

This year, July, 1881, the King of the Sandwich Islands, who had been greatly pleased with her description of his kingdom, was entertained at Normanhurst Castle, and invested Lady Brassey with the Order of Kapiolani.

The next trip made was to the far East, and a book followed in 1880, entitled, Sunshine and Storm in the East; or, Cruises to Cyprus and Constantinople, dedicated “to the brave, true-hearted sailors of England, of all ranks and services.”