THE ONLY ROYAL PALACE IN THE UNITED STATES

Above, the Iolani Palace, Honolulu Hawaii
​Below, the Throne Room

On a recent visit, my first, to Hawaii, I was pleased to visit this palace in the center of Honolulu, built in the 1880's. The palace boasted the latest in indoor flushing sanitary conveniences, electric lighting, and telephones, all installed at the behest of King Kalakaua (1836-1891).

I was very interested in reading about Hawaii’s history. The islands were created by the gradual accumulation of lava from underwater volcanoes deep below the Pacific Ocean. According to the sources I read, over millions of years the islands grew until they broke through the surface, one by one, thousands of miles from other land masses.  

 Scientists at the Bishop Museum (above) showed us evidence of a new island forming and in only 30,000  years (or was it 300,000?), the will be a new island emerging, already named Lo'ihi. The “new” land was composed of lava, which is sometimes solid rock, other times pulverized by wind and waves. Flora and eventually fauna arrived by wind, ocean currents, birds, and insects. Over millions of years, the islands developed in near isolation. The oldest of the islands is Kauai, which is also the greenest. 
Below, Opaeka'a Falls, Kauai

Estimates vary, but human arrivals probably began less than two thousand years ago. People from far away islands in Polynesia came, probably in outrigger canoes (modern versions on the beach, below), an amazing feat.  Each island was slowly inhabited but the details can be discovered only in legend and myth. The oral tradition is the only source of history before the 18th century.  Some speculate that Spanish and/or Portuguese explorers stopped by before, but if so, the specific evidence is still undiscovered.

Captain James Cook (1728-1779) visited Hawaii two times on his third Pacific voyage in 1776-79.  A skilled cartographer, his maps of previously little-known lands were met with great interest by the British. The artists and scientists on board his ships brought back the sketches and stories of distant and exotic lands, as well as many artifacts and plants, some of which were planted at Kew Gardens and elsewhere. Below, Cook, by Nathaniel Dance, 1775-76.

Cook himself was killed in Hawaii in what is commonly thought to be a partially accidental incident. A town on the big island is named Captain Cook (note the shot I snapped as our tour bus passed the post office).  The spot where he was killed is marked by an obelisk, and a statue of Cook stands on the island of Kauai near his first landing.

It was not long before the Christian missionaries followed the explorers to all the areas visited, including the Hawaiian Islands, which Cook named Sandwich Islands.  For several decades, the quarrels and occasional battles among the tribes living on the various islands continued.  The pre-European- arrival culture of the islands is preserved in some locations, such as the Pu'uhonua O Honaunau National Historic Park, below.

I've taken up way too much space to give you the interior of the palace this time, so come back next week for more. 
Aloha!