From the hospital we went to pay farewell visits, to lunch at the
hotel, and to settle sundry bills. At three we were to go to the Royal
Mausoleum. This was a special privilege, and, I believe, the greatest
compliment that has been paid to us anywhere. No foreigners are
allowed to enter, except admirals on the station; and very few
inhabitants of Honolulu have ever seen the interior. The King has one
key, the Dowager Queen Emma another, and the Minister of the Interior
the third.
On our way up the hill to the Mausoleum, there was a funeral going on,
very much after the style of an Irish wake in one of the dwellings of
the poorer class. The house was decorated with flags, and was crowded
with people, all dressed in black, and generally with bright yellow
_leis_ over their heads and necks. They had evidently come from some
distance, judging by the number of carts and wagons drawn up outside
the door. Several people were sitting in an upper verandah. The corpse
was laid out in the lower room, facing the road, as we could see
through the open windows and door. It was surrounded by mourners, and
four women were waving large _kahilis_ slowly backwards and forwards
in front of it.
The Princess herself met us at the Mausoleum, which is a small but
handsome stone Gothic building, situated above the Nuuanu Avenue, on
the road to the Pali.
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