Mark Twain in Hawaii: Roughing It in the Sandwich Islands

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The noted humorist’s account of his 1866 trip to Hawaii at a time when the Islands were more for the natives than the tourists. Includes an introductory essay from Mad About Islands by A. Grove Day and 16 pages of illustrations.

Weight 2 lbs
Dimensions 7 × 5 × 1 in
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Samuel Langhorne Clemens (1835-1910) had recently adopted his famed pen name of “Mark Twain” shortly before he landed in the Hawaiian Islands in 1866 to spend four months as a correspondent for the most prominent newspaper on the Pacific Coast. When, in 1872, he needed to supplement the chapters in his personal narrative Roughing It, he drew upon his twenty-five articles for The Sacramento Union and his personal notes to supply the additional recollections here presented.

The views of the “Sandwich Islands” reported by American’s most famous lecturer and beloved novelist in 1866 may differ somewhat from those of the visitor of the 1990s. “The Huckleberry Finn of foreign correspondents,” however, gives many faithful accounts of old Honolulu, the nobility and their ceremonies, the somnolent island of Maui, the native sport of surfriding, the City of Refuge on the Kona Coast, and the active volcano of Kilauea. And the light touch of the great humorist is seldom missing!

Chapter I

  • Honolulu • dress and habits of inhabitants • fruits and delightful effects

Chapter II

  • A horseback ride • a vicious animal • nature and art • interesting ruins • missionaries

Chapter III

  • A frightful leap • an appreciative horse • convenient brothers • an unwilling borrower • a new jockey trick • hay merchant • good country for horse lovers

Chapter IV

  • Sights • chief article of food • grand gala day • universal church membership • cats and officials • an overwhelming discovery

Chapter V

  • Prayers for an enemy • women’s rights and romantic fashions • the shorn idol • the desire for dress awakened • full dress—not Paris style • a game of empire • royal officers and salaries • foreign ambassadors • overwhelming magnificence

Chapter VI

  • Funeral procession • pomp at the tomb • a striking contrast • a sick monarch • human sacrifice at his death • disposal of the body • after burial orgies

Chapter VII

  • Once more upon the waters • our passengers • in the moonlight • oranges and peaches • sugar plantations

Chapter VIII

  • Kealakekua Bay • Capt. Cook’s assassination • Cook’s monument • the sleep of the innocent

Chapter IX

  • A temple built by ghosts • bevy of female bathers • the idol Pono • influence of women and whiskey • a fierce conflict of idolatry • an opportune arrival

Chapter X

  • A ride in a canoe • native surf bathing • escape from vengeance • plea of execution • wonderful rocks and their legions • lava curiosities • a petrified Niagara

Chapter XI

  • A visit to the water • the floor of the abyss • a lava of fire • hissing of the bubbling lava

Chapter XII

  • A visit to the North Lake • fountains of fire • surging billions of flame • streams of burning lava • prodigious tidal wave

Chapter XIII

  • The retired milk horse • another horse story • a picnicking excursion • dead volcano of Haleakala • compared with Vesuvius • an inside view

Foreword by: A. Grove Day