Birthday of the King.

The day passed partially in happiness and partially in sadness. Being that the one whose day this holiday of the lahui is for is there languishing in weakness. The celebration here for his 39th birthday was held peacefully with proper cheer. With the break of dawn of the morning of Saturday, the town was rattled by the boom of the cannons from the battery of Puowina.¹ Before the passing of 11 o’clock, out came the firemen as they paraded on the streets with their fire trucks decorated with the verdure of the forest and flowers, until they returned once again to their station. At each fire station, they had prepared a banquet for themselves while their fine friends were invited to share in this with them. When 11 o’clock arrived exactly, cannons were shot off again from Puowina, along with the warship, Tenedos, which was docked in the harbor; and in the evening as well, cannons were shot off a third time from Puowina. Parties were held at many places, and the streets were teeming with people and those on horseback. All of the flagpoles on land and those on the ships were decorated with flags; the warship Tenedos was adorned from bow to stern.

The nature of the day and its sights were peaceful; there were no commotions aroused, nor were there many drunken people seen on the streets.

¹Puowina is one of the many variants for what we see mostly as Puowaina today [Punchbowl].

(Ko Hawaii Ponoi, 2/4/1874, p. 2)

Ko Hawaii Ponoi, Buke I, Helu 34, Aoao 2. Feberuari 4, 1874.