In hiring a horse from a Kanaka, you must have all your eyes about you, because you can rest satisfied that you are dealing with a shrewd unprincipled rascal.  You may leave your door open and your trunk unlocked as long as you please, and he will not meddle with your property; he has no important vices and no inclination to commit robbery on a large scale; but if he can get ahead of you in the horse business, he will take a genuine delight in doing it.  This traits is characteristic of horse jockeys, the world over, is it not?  He will overcharge you if he can; he will hire you a fine-looking horse at night (anybody’s—­may be the King’s, if the royal steed be in convenient view), and bring you the mate to my Oahu in the morning, and contend that it is the same animal.  If you make trouble, he will get out by saying it was not himself who made the bargain with you, but his brother, “who went out in the country this morning.”  They have always got a “brother” to shift the responsibility upon.  A victim said to one of these fellows one day: 

“But I know I hired the horse of you, because I noticed that scar on your cheek.”

The reply was not bad:  “Oh, yes—­yes—­my brother all same—­we twins!”

A friend of mine, J. Smith, hired a horse yesterday, the Kanaka warranting him to be in excellent condition.

Smith had a saddle and blanket of his own, and he ordered the Kanaka to put these on the horse.  The Kanaka protested that he was perfectly willing to trust the gentleman with the saddle that was already on the animal, but Smith refused to use it.  The change was made; then Smith noticed that the Kanaka had only changed the saddles, and had left the original blanket on the horse; he said he forgot to change the blankets, and so, to cut the bother short, Smith mounted and rode away.  The horse went lame a mile from town, and afterward got to cutting up some extraordinary capers.  Smith got down and took off the saddle, but the blanket stuck fast to the horse—­glued to a procession of raw places.  The Kanaka’s mysterious conduct stood explained.

Another friend of mine bought a pretty good horse from a native, a day or two ago, after a tolerably thorough examination of the animal.  He discovered today that the horse was as blind as a bat, in one eye.  He meant to have examined that eye, and came home with a general notion that he had done it; but he remembers now that every time he made the attempt his attention was called to something else by his victimizer.

One more instance, and then I will pass to something else.  I am informed that when a certain Mr. L., a visiting stranger, was here, he bought a pair of very respectable-looking match horses from a native.  They were in a little stable with a partition through the middle of it—­one horse in each apartment.  Mr. L. examined one of them critically through a window (the Kanaka’s “brother” having gone to the country with the key), and then went around