I will now return to the date of the departure of my brother, King Kalakaua, to the United States. Yielding to the wishes of those residents of his domains who were from American or missionary stock, my brother had organized the negotiation of a treaty of closer alliance or reciprocity with the United States; and even before leaving home he had commissioned Judge Allen and Minister Carter to submit such a treaty to the American government. To advance the interests of this movement by his personal presence, he accepted passage for himself and his suite on the ship-of-war Benicia, and sailed for San Francisco in the autumn of 1874. My husband, the late General J. O. Dominis, and United States Minister Henry A. Pierce accompanied him on his travels. One of the officers of this steamship was Lieutenant Whiting, who received permission to accompany King Kalakaua to Washington. He is now a commander, and has since married Miss Afong, one of a large, family of children, all girls, whose mother is one of our people, but whose father was a rich Chinese resident, now returned to his native land. From the moment of landing my brother made friends, and was treated with the kindest consideration by the American people of all classes. There was a very strong feeling of friendship between the king and the late General U. S. Grant. It amounted almost to recognized fraternity.
The result of this visit is well known. It secured that for which the planters had gained the endorsement of the king; it resulted in the reciprocity treaty of Jan. 30, 1875. So this, one of the first official acts of King
