CHAPTER VIII
KING KALAKAUA
My brother’s reign began on Feb. 12, 1874; and on the fourteenth of the same month he appointed, by the consent of the nobles under the twenty-second article of the constitution of 1864, our younger brother, William Pitt Leleiokoku, his successor to the throne. The prince became regent during the first absence of Kalakaua from his kingdom, on a tour abroad of which I shall soon speak. He was a very popular young man, about twenty years of age, having been born on the 10th of January, 1854. But the amiable prince was not to live to ascend the throne, or even for any extended enjoyment of those social pleasures in which he bore so prominent a part. He died on the 10th of April, 1877, having been in the position of heir apparent for about three years. He had the same love of music, the like passion for poetry and song, which have been so great a pleasure to me in my own life, as well as to our brother, King Kalakaua. He had a taste for social pleasures, and enjoyed the gay and festive element of life. During the absence of the king, there were three separate clubs or musical circles engaged in friendly rivalry to outdo each the other in poetry and song. These were the friends and associates of the prince regent, those of the Princess Likelike,
