We were at sea about twenty-two days without falling in with land.  It was late one evening when we sighted Woahoo, the largest of the Sandwich Islands, of which Honolulu is the chief port and capital of the kingdom. It was dark by the time we brought up in the roadstead outside the harbour.  As I, of course, had read how Captain Cook was killed by the Sandwich Islanders, and had often seen prints in which a number of naked black fellows are hurling their spears and darts at him, I had an idea that I knew all about them, and had pictured to myself exactly what I should see when next morning we went on shore with our boat's crew well-armed to trade with them.  The next morning at daybreak the anchor was hove up, and with a light breeze we stood in through a narrow passage in a coral reef, which extends from one point of land to another, and forms the harbour.  What was my surprise to see before us, when we dropped our anchor, a neat, pretty-looking town, with a fort on the right side bristling with cannon, a fertile valley extending far into the country on the left, and lofty mountains rising in the distance.  Over the fort flew the Hawaian flag.  It is formed of the British union-jack, with alternate blue, red, and white stripes.  The streets are broad, and run at right angles to each other.  There were numerous hotels, some of them really very handsome buildings on an extensive scale, and managed after the American fashion, while in the streets were a number of large and well-furnished shops.  There are several churches and chapels of very respectable architectural pretensions.  The Custom House is a handsome stone building near the fort, and the regulations as to duties are strictly observed.  The chief place of business is in the centre of the town; and the most fashionable locality, where the residences of the leading people among the natives are situated, is a green sward skirted by the beach and shaded by lofty cocoa-nut and plantain trees.  The European villas are generally further back--many of them very prettily built, and surrounded by gardens full of the most delicious fruit and flowers.  Many of the foreign consuls and merchants live in villas a few miles up the country.  Good wharves have been built, and ships of 700 tons can refit alongside them. Altogether Honolulu is a very wonderful place.