From the Pauahi, the Beloved One

A Traveling Hawaiian Aliʻi.

Through the kindness of J. B. Keliikanakaole,* we have acquired the precious letter below, written by one of the Royal Scions of Hawaiʻi nei who is traveling about Europe. Here below:

Rome, Italy, Jan. 19, 1876.

J. B. Keliikanakaole; Aloha to you all:

Yesterday I received your letter of the 11th of November as well as of the 6th of December. My heart was delighted at seeing the contents of the letters; how you all are doing well, and that all of you are in good health.

I was perhaps mistaken to complain about not receiving any correspondence from you, come to find out that I did; it was the mail carriers’ fault, and also because of how far they had to bring them.

I wrote to you while the two of us were staying with Mr. Williams folks at a number of places in Switzerland. After that, we traveled to Munich, that being the capital of Bavaria; three days there—we were always on the go; after breakfast until night; we came back to the hotel, dined, and went to bed tired, our bodies sore, shivering with cold; it was just so cold, it snowed everyday from when we left Munich until Trieste in Austria—of the two of us, Bishop is the one who cried because of the cold, saying in this manner, “I will not leave Hawaiʻi again to travel once more in the cold lands. I am fortunate to return to the warm lands.” These words are true; his hands turned red and swollen due to the cold. But I believe his health will be better after this, because we were here during the cold months.

From Munich, the two of us traveled to Vienna, the capital of Austria; we spent a week there. We saw all the sights. We spent one day traveling with our consul to that nation, along with an officer of the Austrian man-o-war that first stopped in Honolulu these past years, to visit the estate of an aliʻi at Saxenburg, about eight miles from Viennna. We traveled by sleigh; the ground is covered by snow and it is just so cold. But I put up with it because riding this vehicle is fun. It has no wheels, but it has a long, sharp thing like a sharp knife, and it is pulled by horses, with sleigh bells around the horses’ necks. What is that, the jingling of bells, from Vienna to Trieste, an area by the sea. When going there, I admired the beauty of the land, the tall mountains, and the railway laid cleverly on the cliffs of the mountain. At 12 o’clock midnight, we arrived there. We stayed there three days, and met with the admiral of the Austrian man-o-war, as well as his wife and all of their family. They were kind to the two of us; we were made welcome and dined with them. And so too with other people. They came to get us to dine with them. And we met a high-ranking nobility of the nation of Wertemberg.

From Trieste we traveled to Venice, a city located in Italy, but it is an island standing in the ocean, and the only means by which it is connected to the land is a by a single long bridge. This is an amazing city. There are no horses, no carriages, no wheelbarrows, none at all. Gondolas are the only means they use to transport goods and passengers. There is also a walkway, and many small bridges. I have seen many strange things in this old city, but there is not enough time to write to you about those things; when I return home, I will chat about them until you all are tired.

We stayed there for a week and went on to Naples, to the south of Italy. However we took a break for a day in Rome and went to Naples; when we reached there, it was beginning to warm up for the first time. This is the largest city of Italy, with a population of 480,000 people. And looking at them, I compare them to our people. This is how they are greater than us, they don’t drink alcohol; and this is how we are greater than they are, we are clean and they are filthy; their homes are dirty.

One day the two of us went to see the two cities [Pompeii and Herculaneum] that were covered over by volcanic ash. This is something new, and I will chat about the story of these cities when I return home. We spent ten days here, and then came here to Rome. We were here for four weeks, the first place we stayed for a long while, and we stayed there as if we were kamaʻāina.

On the road I saw the King of Italy, his successor, and his wife. And we went along with many others to see the Pope; the churches here in Rome are just so beautiful, and there are many astonishing things performed within the churches.

On the 24th of this month, the two of us traveled to Florence.

That is what I have to tell you about the two of us. As for most of the things that I am seeing, once I get home, I will tell you all in person. Pray for us, as we pray for you all, along with our tiny nation.

Pauahi Bishop.

*J. B. Keliikanakaole is also seen as J. B. Kealiikanakaole and J. B. Kanakaole.