Wednesday, January 3rd.—­This was sure to be a disagreeable day, since it was to be the concluding one of our short stay in this pleasant place.  The final preparations for a long voyage had also to be made; stores, water, and live stock to be got on board, bills to be paid, and adieux to be made to kind friends.

I was on deck at six o’clock, in order to take some photographs and to stow away the coral, shells, curiosities, and presents of various kinds, that the King, Queen, Prince and Princess, as well as other kind friends, had sent us.  Before seven the yacht was surrounded by boats, and the deck was quite impassable, so encumbered was it with all sorts of lumber, waiting to be stowed away, until the boats could be hoisted on board and secured for the voyage.  The large mizen-sail, which had just been repaired and sent on board, looked enormous as it lay on the deck, surrounded by hen-coops, sheep, geese, sacks of coal, and baskets and parcels of every size and shape.  One really began to wonder whether space could possibly be found on board for such a miscellaneous collection.  Several visitors, who had been unable to come yesterday, arrived in the midst of the confusion.  They must have carried away in their minds a different impression of the yacht from what they would have done had they seen her looking as trim and smart as she did yesterday.  It could not, however, be helped; for the departure of a small vessel, with forty people on board, on a voyage of a month’s duration, is a matter requiring considerable preparation.

At eleven o’clock we landed and went to see the interior of the Queen’s Hospital.  It is a fine and well-kept building, containing, at the time of our visit, about ninety patients, the men occupying the lower, the women the upper story.  Each ward is tastefully decorated with bouquets, and the name is written up in bright mauve bougainvillea or scarlet hibiscus, tacked on to white calico.  Many of the convalescents wore wreaths and garlands of flowers, and even those in bed had a few beside them, or in some cases a single spray laid on the coverlet.  The effect was bright and cheerful; and it seemed a kind and sensible idea to endeavour to gratify, instead of to repress, the instinctive love of flowers universally felt by the natives of these and of the South Sea Islands.

From the hospital we went to pay farewell visits, to lunch at the hotel, and to settle sundry bills.  At three we were to go to the Royal Mausoleum.  This was a special privilege, and, I believe, the greatest compliment that has been paid to us anywhere.  No foreigners are allowed to enter, except admirals on the station; and very few inhabitants of Honolulu have ever seen the interior.  The King has one key, the Dowager Queen Emma another, and the Minister of the Interior the third.