This is a collection of letters written by a woman to her mother about her seven weeks in Hawaii, published in 1920. I found it as a free ebook available through the New York Public Library.

Most of Crawford's time is spent around Honolulu, but she also visits the Big Island and describes Hilo and Kilauea. Her account is not as exhaustive as the one by Charles Maus Taylor Jr, but I greatly preferred her attitude. Whereas Taylor journeyed through perilous circumstances and expected utter servitude from those around him, Crawford utterly delights in her visit and she wishes to understand the native people. At one point, she becomes mournful as she hears Hawaiian singers and frets "their music is the requiem of a decaying people." This perspective can be grating, too, but I still found her empathy preferable to Taylor's domineering perspective on his trip some twenty years before.

Crawford's photographs are quite lovely throughout. I found it fascinating that she formed a friendship with the famous surfer Duke Kahanamoku at Waikiki. This is a fast read at only 112 pages. ( )