About twelve o’clock we thought it was time to say good-bye, as it was Saturday night.  Beneath a brilliant full moon the drive to the wharf and row off in the boat were delightful.

Sunday, December 31st.—­I was on deck at six o’clock, and saw what I had often heard about—­a team of twenty oxen, driven by a man in a cart, drawing by means of a rope, about a quarter of a mile in length, a large ship through the opening in the reef, the man and cattle being upon the coral.[15]

[Footnote 15:  The following notice appeared in the Hawaiian Gazette recently:  ’TO BE REPAIRED.—­That staunch little craft the “Pele,” which Capt.  Brown has for so long a time successfully commanded, is now being hauled up for the purpose of repairs.  She will probably be laid up for six or eight weeks, and in the meantime the antique plan of towing vessels in and out of the harbour with teams of oxen on the reef will be resumed.’]

About half-past eight Mabelle and I were just going overboard for a swim, when I thought I saw the upper fin of an old familiar enemy, and directly afterwards the cry was echoed all over the ship, ’A shark, a shark!’ It was a ground shark, and very nearly aground in the shallow water.  They say this is the worst kind of all, and on making inquiry I was told that the safest way to enjoy a dip here is to bathe with a number of other people.  The splashing and noise made by a whole ship’s company frighten the sharks away.  This discovery puts an end therefore to our hopes of enjoying an occasional peaceful bath.

We went to eleven o’clock service at the cathedral.  It is a pleasant small building, beautifully cool, and well adapted to this climate.  The Bishop was unfortunately away, but the service was well performed.

Later, Tom read the evening service to the men, and we afterwards landed and dined late at the hotel; so late, indeed, that we could hardly get anything to eat, and they began to shut up the room and put out the lights before we had half done.  Luckily, we were a large party, and an indignant protest and threatened appeal to the landlord brought the Chinese waiters to their senses, and induced them to grant us half an hour’s law.  On our way back to the boat, the streets looked much more lively than they had hitherto done, being full of people returning from rides, drives, and excursions into the country.  As a rule, directly after dark not a creature is to be seen about the streets, for every one disappears in the most mysterious manner.

We went on board, and sat in the calm moonlight, thinking and talking over the events of the year, whose end was so swiftly approaching, and wondering what its successor may have in store for us.  So ends, with all its joys and sorrows, its pleasures and pains, its hopes and fears, for us, the now old year, 1876.

CHAPTER XVII.

HONOLULU—­DEPARTURE FOR JAPAN.