Honolulu

the capital and chief port of the Hawaiian Islands. It lies just below the Tropic of Cancer, in the direct route from San Francisco to the Philippines. It is the commercial metropolis of Polynesia and is a port of call for nearly all lines of Pacific steamers. It is from eleven to sixteen days distant from San Francisco. The population at the beginning of the present century was about 40,000, 7,000 of whom were white. There is an excellent harbor, protected by a natural breakwater of coral. The city is laid out in checkerboard fashion. The residences are chiefly of a light summer cottage style. Houses require to be well roofed, as the rainfall averages fifty inches annually. The construction is slight. The streets and dooryards are shaded by tropical trees, including the cocoa-palm, breadfruit, and bamboo. Ornamental shrubs and flowers are in bloom the year around, frost being unknown. Artificial ice is made by the ammonia process. A marine aquarium is an object of interest. One of the native curiosities kept in the capitol is a yellow feather war cloak once the property of a Hawaiian king. It is composed of tufts of down, each taken from a spot beneath the wing of a rare mountain bird. The islanders were two centuries in securing enough material for the garment. There are over a score of public school buildings, numerous churches, city water works, an electric light system, and an electric street railway. A number of manufacturing interests are well established. Shipbuilding is an important industry. Wireless telegraphy is maintained with a mountain top near San Francisco. Seven lines of steamers connect Honolulu with the world. Seventeen small steamers ply between the city and the various islands. See Hawaii