The next trip (1860) proposed by His Majesty was to the extinct volcano of Healeala, and orders were given that we should all go in boats from Lahaina to Wailuku. It was a beautiful sight; the waters were calm, each boat was ornamented with the Hawaiian flag, the royal standard fluttered from that of the king, and as we coasted along the shores, we could see the people on the land following our course and interested in our progress; there were, I think, twelve boats in all. We arrived without accident, ascended the mountain, and passed a night on the border of the crater. We had our tents, and there was shelter in the caves and crevices for the remainder of the party. All passed off gayly. There was little sleep, however, some of us being afflicted with asthmatic attacks which the excessive rarity of the air at that altitude made very severe. Such was my portion; but as I sat up, not daring to lie down lest I might lose my breath, I could hear the merry sounds of the singing and dancing which from one tent or another was going on around me.

  The first halt in our enjoyment was when word was received that the little Prince of Hawaii, then but a little more than a year old, was ill.

  The king was deaf to the entreaties of the queen to be allowed to go directly to her child, because he thought it would delay his own departure and arrival at the bedside of his boy. Fortunately the illness passed away without serious consequences; yet it seemed the first break in our festivities, and was followed by an event of a most tragical nature.

  We descended the mountain and returned to Lahaina, where I, accompanied by Mrs. Bishop, left them, and went back to Honolulu. The first news we received was that the king in a fit of passion had shot and mortally wounded one of the party, his own secretary, Mr. H. A. Neilson. After the occurrence all that the tenderest of brothers could have done was proffered by the king to the wounded man; but after lingering for some months, Mr. Neilson died. No legal notice of the event was in any way taken; no person would have been foolhardy enough to propose it. It is not my purpose to defend the right of the king to this execution of summary vengeance, especially as it was done in a moment of anger; yet beyond the sadness of the act, it has a certain bearing on this sketch of my life as one of the descendants from the ruling families of Hawaii.

  There were causes which were apparent to any of our people for something very like righteous anger on the part of the king. His Majesty was trying to make us each and all happy; yet even during moments of relaxation, undue familiarity, absence of etiquette, rudeness, or any other form which implied or suggested disrespect to royalty in any manner whatsoever, would never be tolerated by any one of the native chiefs of the Hawaiian people. To allow any such breach of good manners to pass unnoticed would be looked upon by his own retainers as belittling to him, and they would be the first to demand the punishment of the offender. It was in this case far too severe. No one realized that more than the king himself, who suffered much distress for his victim, and was with difficulty dissuaded from the abdication of his throne. The temper of the Kamehamehas had descended to the young prince, and was also the cause of his death. For when the child was about four years old, he became dissatisfied with a pair of boots, and burst into an ungovernable fit of passion. His father sought to cool him off by putting the boy under an open faucet of cold, running water. The lit-tie one appeared to be unharmed, but later in the day broke down with nervous weeping, and could not be comforted. Then it was discovered that the cold douche and shock had brought on an attack of brain fever. From this he did not recover, but died on the 27th of August, 1862. The king and queen had the sympathy of all parties in their bereavement; but Kamehameha IV. completely lost his interest in public life, living in the utmost possible retirement until his death.

  It may be in place here to notice the opening of the reign of Kamehameha IV.'s successor. It has already been seen that the right of life and death was unchallenged; that whatever it may be in other countries, as late as an epoch thirty years in the past it belonged to the highest chief of the Hawaiian people. In like manner it may be said that the whole people owed its national life to the throne. The first constitution was given to the realm in 1840, and was a voluntary act on the part of the king, Kamehameha III. The second succeeded it in 1852. Both of these were doubtless drafted under the supervision and advice of the missionaries, of whom, even at the latter date, the Hawaiian nation was beginning to feel a little justifiable jealousy. So when Prince Lot came to the throne in 1863, under the title of Kamehameha V., his first official act was to refuse to take the oath to maintain the existing constitution. His success as Minister of the Interior under his brother had been remarkable, and his character was said to resemble that of Kamehameha the Great; it is presumable, therefore, that he understood the needs of his people better than those of foreign birth and alien affinities. In the month of May, 1864, the king issued a call for a constitutional convention, subsequently making a tour of the islands to explain his plans to the electors. In July of that year the convention assembled in Honolulu; but its time being given to what Kamehameha considered useless deliberations instead of business, on Aug. 13 he declared the convention dissolved, dismissed the delegates, publicly abrogated the constitution of 1852, and one week after that date he proclaimed a new constitution of his own devising, under which Hawaii was happily ruled for twenty-three years. There will be no disputing the fact that this was a period of increasing prosperity; yet until the late King Kalakaua was constrained by the foreign element to abrogate this constitution (which my brother did much against his own will and better judgment in 1887), all parties had lived together in harmony throughout the kingdom of the Hawaiian Islands, under a constitution devised and promulgated by one man, and he of the race of the Hawaiian chiefs. I hope this fact will be recalled when I come to speak of the history of the reign of my brother Kalakaua, and my own administration of public affairs. Let it be repeated : the promulgation of a new constitution, adapted to the needs of the times and the demands of the people, has been an indisputable prerogative of the Hawaiian monarchy.

  CHAPTER IV

  MY MARRIED LIFE

  I WAS engaged to Mr. Dominis for about two years; and it was our intention to be married on the second day of September, 1862. But by reason of the fact that the court was in affliction and mourning, our wedding was delayed at the request of the king, Kamehameha IV., to the sixteenth of that month; Rev. Dr. Damon, father of Mr. S. M. Damon, at present the leading banker of the Islands, being the officiating clergyman. It was celebrated at the residence of Mr. and Mrs. Bishop, in the house which had been erected by my father, Paki, and which, known as the Arlington Hotel, is still one of the most beautiful and central of the mansions in Honolulu. To it came all the high chiefs then living there, also the foreign residents; in fact, all the best society of the city.

  My husband took me at once to the estate known as Washington Place, which had been built by his father, and which is still my private residence. It is a large, square, white house, with pillars and porticos on all sides, really a palatial dwelling, as comfortable in its appointments as it is inviting in its aspect; its front is distant from the street far enough to avoid the dust and noise. Trees shade its walls from the heat of noonday; its ample gardens are filled with the choicest flowers and shrubs; it is, in fact, just what it appears, a choice tropical retreat in the midst of the chief city of the Hawaiian Islands. Opposite its doors is the edifice, recently erected, known as the Central Union Church, which is attended by the missionary families, and indeed most of the foreign residents of American birth or sympathies.

  Captain Dominis, father of my husband, had but little enjoyment from the homestead he had planned. He last sailed from the port in 1846, just as the house was on the point of completion, and the ship he commanded was never heard of more. His widow expected, hoped, and prayed, but no tidings of his fate were ever received; slowly she was compelled to recognize the truth so many sailors' wives are constantly learning, and to hope long deferred succeeded grief for irreparable loss. For this reason she clung with tenacity to the affection and constant attentions of her son, and no man could be more devoted than was General Dominis to his mother. He was really an only child, although there had been two daughters older; but while he was an infant they both died in the United States, where they had been left to gain their education. Mrs. Dominis was a native of Boston.

  As she felt that no one should step between her and her child, naturally I, as her son's wife, was considered an intruder; and I was forced to realize this from the beginning. My husband was extremely kind and considerate to me, yet he would not swerve to the one side or to the other in any matter where there was danger of hurting his mother's feelings. I respected the closeness of the tie between mother and son, and conformed my own ideas, so far as I could, to encourage and assist my husband in his devotion to his mother. Later in life Mrs. Dominis seemed to fully realize that there had been some self-sacrifice, and she became more and more a tender and affectionate mother to me as her days were drawing to a close.

  Soon after our marriage, Prince Lot invited my husband and myself, with Mr. and Mrs. Robert Davis, who were married about the same time, to accompany him on a trip to Hawaii, the largest island of the group, from which its name is taken. We accepted, and it became really my bridal tour. Prince Lot's accession to the throne as Kamehameha V. was then very near. Invitations were also extended to Mr. and Mrs. John Sumner, Mr. Haalelea, another member, like my husband, of the staff of His Royal Highness, and a few other friends of the royal party. It was a most enjoyable trip; we were gone many weeks, but the time passed away most delightfully.

  As there are no hotels in our islands, a few words as to the entertainment of the chiefs, with such guests as they might have with them, may not be out of place here. I have always said that under our own system in former days there was always plenty for prince or for people. The latter were not paid in money, nor were they taxed in purse. The chief, by the overseer he appointed, took proper care of their needs, and they in turn contributed to the support of his table. It was a repetition of the principle of family life by extending the same over a large number of retainers. So on the estates of the high chiefs who generally resided at Honolulu were built houses which were sacred to their residence, exclusively devoted to such occasions as the present, when they might choose to visit their people.

  Prince Lot had his houses and lands in Hawaii and elsewhere. It was to these we went. His people welcomed our presence; and no matter how protracted our stay, Hawaiian hospitality, or love and loyalty, whichever it may please the reader to call it, was never exhausted. It was the same with all the chiefs of the ancient families, with Mrs. Bishop, for example, who would have found a home on any part of her landed estate; nor has the custom altogether passed away by the many changes which have been wrought through the hands of the foreigner in the Hawaiian Islands. Were any person of the blood of the chiefs, myself for example, to visit Hawaii to-day, scarcely would the knowledge that we had reached the port of Hilo get to the ears of our people when a house would be provided for our occupancy, food would be brought to our doors, and we would be made welcome amongst our people for weeks, months, indeed years, if we chose to continue our residence.

  On this visit to Hilo (1862) occurred the first chapter of an interesting history of which the sequel was the nomination of a younger brother of mine to the throne, although he did not live to enter upon his reign. One of the retainers of the Princess Ruth was in our company, and it was near the time of that lady's confinement. As Kalaikuaiwa, one of her people, was about to return to the neighboring island of Oahu, she inquired of Prince Lot what message she could carry back to Honolulu, to be delivered to Princess Ruth in regard to the little stranger about to enter this world. The prince, in reply, told the attendant to charge his sister from him on no account to give the coming child away, to which that messenger responded that it had been already promised to Mrs. Pauahi Bishop, her cousin. The prince repeated his injunction with still more emphasis, saying,"You must go back and tell my sister that on no account is she to give that child to another. I am an adopted child myself, deprived of the love of my mother, and yet I was a stranger in the house of my adoption." He referred to his own and Lunalilo's grandfather, Hoapili-kane. The prince made no further explanations, save to impress it upon the messenger that such must be the message delivered; and as we started for our trip around the great island of Hawaii, the attendant left for her mistress's houses and home in Honolulu.

  I may anticipate a little in order to continue the thread of this story. When our tour was over, and we returned to Honolulu, the first day of our arrival was a day of rest; but on the succeeding day, possibly a little later, Prince Lot, Queen Emma, Mrs. Bishop, and perhaps some others, were summoned to be present at the birth of the child of the Princess Ruth. The babe was born that afternoon at about three o'clock, in the house called Halaniani, on the veranda of which the prince waited for tidings of the mother and child for hours. Finally, at half-past five, Queen Emma appeared, and addressing the prince, asked him if he had heard from his sister, to which he replied that he had not. She expressed much surprise, and told him that the newly born infant had been taken away as her own by Mrs. Bishop over an hour ago. This intelligence was extremely unpleasant to the prince, and he at once declared that he would never have anything to do with that child. He carried his purpose into immediate execution by insisting within a week from that time that his sister Ruth should legally adopt as her own my brother Leleiohoku, whom she had taken from his parents at birth. He then made out two instruments of adoption for his sister to sign. By one she gave her child to Mrs. Bishop irrevocably, cutting it off from all interest in her property, and by the other she adopted as her child and heir, William Pitt Leleiohoku, the second of that name. All the papers were carefully drawn up by the prince, and everything connected with the adoption was made complete, so that in no event could the legality of my brother's position be doubted. The innocent cause of this disturbance, the child thus adopted by Mrs. Bishop and named Keolaokalani, died in about six months; my brother lived to be named heir apparent, and indeed to fill the office of regent during the absence of Kalakaua.

  After making the tour of Hawaii, Prince Lot, accompanied by his guests, returned as far as the island of Maui, where it is possible we might have remained longer had it not been for the illness of his brother, the reigning king. Having been notified that this was approaching a fatal termination, and that his presence was required at the capital, His Royal Highness returned at once to Honolulu, where Alexander, Kamehameha IV., died on Nov. 30, 1863, after a reign of nine years, and being at the time of his death still a young man of twenty-nine. His widow, Queen Emma, although once a candidate for the throne, was never again in public life. She went abroad, however, in 1865, being received in England in a manner becoming her rank. She returned to Honolulu in 1866 on the United States ship Vanderbilt, commanded by Admiral Henry Knox Thatcher, only to learn at once of a new affliction in the death of her adopted mother, Mrs. T. C. B. Rooke.

  On the accession to the throne of Prince Lot as Kamehameha V., the last of the Hawaiian monarchs to bear that name, my husband was at once appointed his private secretary and confidential adviser, which position he occupied during the entire reign. The king was surrounded by his own people, with whom he was in perfect accord, but showed this mark of royal favor to my husband simply because he preferred to advise with him on matters of public importance. My husband was further made governor of the island on which Honolulu is situated; and although the appointment was nominally for four years, yet it was always renewed, without the least discussion or hesitation, as long as he lived It was a part of his official duty to make a tour of the whole island at least once a year; this was always rendered a most agreeable excursion, and I invariably accompanied him in the journey. Besides this position he held other offices of importance under the Hawaiian government, being at one time governor of the island of Maui; commissioner of the administration of the crown lands; attached to the suite of my brother, the late King Kalakaua, on his visit to this country in 1874 in the interest of reciprocity; and finally being a member of the Hawaiian embassy which visited this country and Great Britain in 1887, representing our nation at the Queen's Jubilee. But in the fall of 1891, Governor Dominis, who was then lieutenant-general of the kingdom with the rank of His Royal Highness Prince Consort, was in rapidly failing health; and on the 27th of August of that year, seven months after my accession to the throne, he died. His remains were laid in state in the palace; and on Sunday, Sept. 6, he was buried with royal honors.

  His death occurred at a time when his long experience in public life, his amiable qualities, and his universal popularity, would have made him an adviser to me for whom-no substitute could possibly be found. I have often said that it pleased the Almighty Ruler of nations to take him away from me at precisely the time when I felt that I most needed his counsel and companionship.