To end this "backwash of wrath" let us give our merchant officers "A
Certificate of Competency" or any old thing but a "license." As a
matter of fact the officer's license looks very much like the license
displayed in saloon windows, permitting them to do business by virtue
of their payment of internal revenue taxes.
The yawl of the Britisher was an able, fine modeled boat, sported a
leg-o'-mutton rig and frequently, of a moonlight evening, the breeze
being fair, Hitchen and I would go out sailing with the mates of the
_British Monarch_. On one occasion Hauton and I took the yawl out
through the harbor entrance and beat our way as far east as Waikiki
Beach, expecting to sail back before it with a fair breeze. It fell
calm and we were compelled to beach her and leave the boat in charge
of a native, as she was too big an order for us to row back alone,
especially as we carried only one oar. This taught us a lesson, for
we had to walk back, not having a cent in our pockets. The next night
we went out by car with the two apprentice boys and a number of our
Hawaiian friends, who brought their ukuleles. The sail back into the
harbor was most enjoyable. These people have excellent voices, as a
rule, and sing with a haunting plaintive strain of sadness that can
never be forgotten.
In the undertow of human flotsam that circulated about the wharves and
waterfront saloons, there was considerable talk about the smuggling
of opium. It seemed a profitable business to engage in, judging by
the talk we heard. A leak in the customs, or some loophole in the
restrictions on the trade, allowed a lot of the drug to get into
Honolulu. Often, as we sailed about the harbor in the evening, we would
notice the small schooners coming in and out, many of these being
consigned to Chinese and Japanese merchants. The cleverest of the
smugglers would come into the port with their shipment of opium slung
under the keel of the vessel. Bearings would be taken at some point,
perhaps some time before letting go the anchor, and the contraband
tripped to the bottom. All that was necessary then was to deliver the
bearings; the consignee could go out and pick up his freight in a
fishing net when most convenient.
Going to sea breeds a garrulous curiosity among sailors. The shipping
in the harbor was a constant source of discussion aboard the _Fuller_.
Of fine trim sailing craft, Honolulu held more than her share in those
days. Such craft as the barkentine _Irmgard_, the bark _Nuuanu_, and
the _Foohing Suey_ were a delight to the eye. The bark _Rhoderick Dhu_
was also one of them, and eight years later I saw her come slambanging
into the broad harbor of Hilo, all sail set and a crowd of gaily
dressed women on her poop. She was still popular as a passenger
carrier, and came to anchor with the precision of a man-o'-war.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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