governed and policed. Honolulu is the paradise of the Chinese, and furnishes a sharp contrast to their status in San Francisco and elsewhere on the Pacific Coast. It is a pleasant sight to see them about their shops fondling their little children. It is a still pleasanter sight to see these same children, of a little larger growth, flocking home from school, playing by the wayside, and exercising their lungs in the manner of healthy and untrammelled childhood, their pigtails lengthened by strands of bright pink cord which end in a tassel that strikes their little heels as they run. The more tidy and thoughtful gather up the queue and carry it over the arm, as a fine lady carries her train. But the native dress, which they all wear, the queue, and the manila bag full of school books are an Occidental and Oriental combination which it would be difficult to find outside Hawaii. It gave evidence of a healthy democracy and a cosmopolitan broadmindedness among the white children who had not been biassed by acquired or inherited prejudice.

The servants are almost exclusively Chinese or Japanese, usually Chinese. In well-to-do households four or five are employed - the cook, the house-boy, the "yard-boy" and his assistant: "yard-boy" being Hawaiian for gardener. They are usually model servants, obedient, industrious and clean, excellent cooks and incomparable house servants, doing their work without fuss or noise, and doing it quickly, systematically, and thoroughly. A Honolulu house

1893.]

CHINESE SERVANTS.

95

seems, apparently, to keep itself; one hears and knows nothing of the friction of the domestic machinery.

There are of course exceptions. Shortly after my arrival I saw the housekeeper in the hotel shaking a rebuking index finger at an abashed "boy," who bore her high-pitched tirade in French very much as a spiritless dog might have submitted to a shower of kicks and blows. Inquiring into the nature of his misdeeds, I was told that he had exceeded his instructions in the matter of dusting, and had washed a costly gilt clock with a very wet towel. My own especial "neat-handed Phyllis" was a smiling, pockmarked creature, who drifted into my room and drifted out again without leaving much evidence of his labour behind him. One morning he voluntarily and unassisted removed a withered bouquet from my dressing-table, flourished his big dust-brush like an amiable demon in an incantation scene, waved his hand, said "Velly nice," and then stood with his arms folded, waiting my official approval. An uninvited caller shortly afterwards invaded my verandah, and left behind him the abomination of the tobacco chewer. When I called John's attention to it, he came with his mop, remarking, with the fadeless smile of his race, "Some man spit velly bad."

The Chinese servants employed in Hawaii rarely live in the house; they have their own lodgings elsewhere, coming early in the morning, and leaving in the evening after dinner has been served. This

is inconvenient, as it leaves no one to attend the door unless this office is performed by some member of the household, as it usually is, with that kindly informality which is half the charm of Hawaiian life. The only holiday the Chinese servant expects is the week of the Chinese New Year- in February. Then preparations must be made for his entire and continued absence. The cook usually prepares a supply of bread, cakes, cold meats, and like food, enough to last several days; and the ladies must then allot the work amongst themselves and manage it until the domestic staff return. Prior to their departure there is a formal presentation of gifts to "mamma," as they invariably call their mistress. These gifts consist of flowers, Chinese sweetmeats, nuts, embroidery, and gaudy, cheap vases. "Mamma" usually gladdens the heart of her servitors in return with something which she knows is especially desired. The streets are a perpetual panorama, full of life and colour. In the Chinese quarters are rows of small shops. It is like a lesser China-town, except that here in peaceful Honolulu the industrious Mongolian is not molested. In these tiny shops there are no show windows, the entire front being open to the street, and closed with heavy, wooden shutters at night. There are a great many tailors; and the Chinaman in his native dress and queue running a sewing machine, making cotton holokus for native women, is one of the curious mixtures of