Elizabeth Stanton (AP 69) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 90 text:

1, Bandstand--Honolulu, T. H. 2. Entering Pearl Herbor. 3. Our President Passes On. 4. Oahu, Ho! 88

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awaii A startling, vivid contrast of the Orient and the Occidentg the tenuous land where the fringe of the tropics meets the modernity of the West, that is Hawaii. Our first View of the storied uParadise of the Paciiicn was of Pearl Harbor and Honolulu, Naval Base and metropolis, on the island of Oahu, tawdry at best and tarnished still further by the heavy hand of war. A strug- gling, unimpressive city in whose narrow streets the brown skinned natives are engulfed by waves of Navy white and Army khaki. To judge the islands by metropolitan Honolulu is to be bitterly disil- lusioned, but leaving the sprawling core of the city the full vista of semi- tropical beauty bursts upon you. Magnificent homes, half hidden by the, luxuriant growth of the huge hanging ferns and encircled by towering palm and coconut trees. Brutally rugged mountains, from whose sheer cliffs the ancient warriors drove their enemies hurtling to their death, dominate the panorama, at times bright in the shimmering sunlight, then darkly ominous as the shrouding mists conceal their crests in gloom. Mountains, whose steep precipices tumble down interminably, endlessly into fertile, crater-like val- leys, relics of the extinct volcanoes in whose silence the origin of Hawaii is hidden. Fabulous Waikiki, dream resort of the world, where the lilting strains from the Royal Hawaiian linger on the soft breezes of the restless Pacific and where the thunder of the morning of December 7th seems very far away. From Oahu to Kauai, our other stop in the archipelago, is a step from the urban to the rural, from the cosmopolitan to the provincial. Fittingly called wfhe Garden lsland, Kauai, intermittently drenched by nourishing tropical rain and warmed by the vigor of perfect tropical sunshine, is a land of mar- velous fertility-Iields of pineapple stretching to the horizon, banana trees thriving in the damp, soft soil along the banks of sluggish streams, papayas and avocados, an infinite profusion of fruits to delight every tongue. ' From the delight of taste to the delight of sight, brilliant tropical flowers illumine the scope of vision. lndescribably beautiful in their raiment of divinely tinted colors, the variety is breath taking. Most impressive of all is the purple majesty of the climbing, vine-like bougainvillea, enveloping the landscape in a royal mantle of climactic loveliness. Perfection in beauty is the only apt description of these islands whose white beaches are kissed by the warm waters of the gently surging Pacific, now brilliant green, where the jagged reefs lurk so menacingly, now dark mysterious blue, where the hidden depths tenaciously grip their secrets. Beauty, whose memory will always be in our hearts and which will lure us back for a longer visit in the days of peace ahead. 87

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.,..es. . ....-..,. . H... . ,. ,. . -. . MA., lar, V M M I e F Z C? 5 l Q 11 1 L Q 1. Th R al Hawaiian. 3. Moana on the Beach. 5. A-Quiet Hotel. e oy 2. Diamond Head and Waikiki. 4. Hawaiian Outrigger Under the Palms. 6. Diamond Head-Surf at Play 89