now in fullest sympathy with the spirit and regulations of the Board.
In the experiences of life hitherto I have found myself strangely guided and controlled in all the evidently crisis hours of decision as to plans and preferences. And in view of all these circumstances and considerations, in regard to the work of training Hawaiian pastors and Pacific Islands missionaries I am ready to give myself to it heartily and unreservedly, hoping that in this work I shall find fulfilled in the Master's special promise, "Lo, I am with you always."
Yours in the fellowship of the Gospel
Chas. M. Hyde12
This was a typical Hyde letter, tender in restraining concern for his family and resolute in answering a spiritual summons. He remained at Lee for almost two months after the Alden call, working not only on preparations for the journey to Hawaii but on the two histories which he wanted to be able to deliver in such shape as could readily be completed by successor hands.
He was told by Alden that there would be a "Missionary Convention" in Chelsea, Mass., March 21, 1877. He closed up at Lee, March 12, took a horse and carriage on the two-day trip to Brimfield, where he continued final preparations. He wanted to sell his Brimfield home but was finding no market. "It is a poor time to sell," he said, "and property off the line of the railroads is very unsaleable." He was writing to Alden from Brimfield and went on to say, ". . . If you do not find an opportunity for me to preach next Sunday, I shall stay here till Monday. Is there anything expected of me at the meeting in Chelsea? Has the order of service been arranged? Do you wish Mrs. Hyde to be with me there? . . .We already talk of Honolulu as 'home' and are planning and eager for the life work we anticipate there."13
He also wrote to his seminary confidante of Princeton days requesting a copy of the course of theological study for possible application in Hawaii. "I have many pleasant memories of my year at Princeton and hope that I may succeed in impressing upon others, as deeply as was impressed upon my own mind, the necessity of thorough Bible study, and the supreme authority of the Bible as every preacher's standard of truth and righteousness."14
Finally, after the many weeks of negotiation, Rev. Hyde was commissioned to the Hawaii mission as "head of this school of the Prophets." The official commissioning service was held at the First Congregational Church of Chelsea, March 21. The farewell exercises were those customarily held prior to departure for the field. This day there were ten missionaries of the American Board who would immediately leave for their respective fields. Dr. Hyde was one of the ten—his destination, Hawaii.
It was decided that the Hyde family, which now included two growing boys, Henry K., and Charles K., as well as Mrs. Hyde's sister and mother, Eunice B. Knight and Mrs. Thirza W. Knight, would all go to Hawaii.
The party of six did not need to suffer the long perilous voyage around Cape Horn. The travelers could get across to San Francisco in six days following the newly completed composite route by rail. Ten additional days, more or less, would land them in Honolulu.
Dr. Hyde in his usual painstaking way wrote back to the Rev. N. G. Clark, one of his correspondents on the American Board, as the party traveled westward. At Oberlin he preached at a fund raising service. He preached at Brimfield, Indiana, a town undoubtedly named for his former residence in Massachusetts. By May 14 the party was in Salt Lake City and in a few days had arrived in San Francisco where the departure of the S. S. Zealandia for Honolulu was awaited.15
The ocean leg of the journey forced a letup in literary activity, but Dr. Hyde conducted church services aboard ship. Finally, the Hawaiian islands came into view. He wrote his impressions of the physical beauty of the islands while still aboard. He finished with a description of the reception at dockside and the immediate details of settling in, the first free moment allowed him on land. This would constitute his first Hawaii letter to the American Board correspondents. The arrival portion of the letter can speak for anyone who has come to the islands by ship:
On the morning of the Eighth day out, Thursday, May 30, we came in sight of the islands, whose romantic history has interested many hearts most deeply, and in whose future destiny, spiritually, we had come to take a strong personal interest. As we neared the island of Oahu and the dim cloudy outline of the distant view unfolded, more and more clearly, the scene before us was one of enchanting beauty. Above the jagged outlines of the sharply serrated volcanic peaks, lay a mass of clouds repeating in soft vaporous folds the forms of solid majesty below. The morning sunlight brought out in bold relief the brown slopes of the mountainsides in sharp contrast with the intensely black shadows that marked the valleys which furrowed the ridges. Turning Cocoa [sic] Head, still lovelier scenes met our gaze. The bright soft brown of the steep slopes, was varied with patches of a bright, soft mossy green. The white fringe of breaking waves, dashing on the coral reef, was topped by a line of tall cocoa palms, whose graceful outlines served as a heading to the fringe. Diamond Head stood boldly out, its broad, serrated, hollowing top making it look like a solitaire, set with clasping circulets of gold. Passing this we had our first view of Honolulu.16
The ship's approach had been "announced" from a Diamond Head lookout so that unbeknownst to the passengers the welcomers with great anticipation were hastening to the dock from all parts of town to greet the newcomers. Their arrival had actually been looked forward to for several months. His letter continues:
At the head of the recess of a broad mouthed roadstead lay a low lying mass of greenery over which towered here and there, steeples and flags. Beyond, stretched up the steep mountainside a shady cleft, looking dark and cool, which we knew must be the famed Nuuanu Valley,—"valley of the cool ascent." A rounded summit of barren brownness on the right was evidently Punchbowl Hill. To the left, westward, the irregular outline of the Waianae's shadowy peaks closed in the view. The long roll of the open ocean was changed to short dancing waves. The deep blue of the outer water changed to green and then to brown the nearer we approached the shores. The pilot was in the offing, ready to guide us through the narrow channel, where the coral reef is divided by the fresh water of the stream flowing down Nuuanu Valley and finding its way ocean-ward, making it impossible for the coral insects to build up their barrier-home, where its water flows.
The sailors in the pilot's boat were the first Hawaiians whom I had ever seen. They had the swarthy faces of dwellers in tropic climes but they were bright with intelligence, their features pleasing from an air of intellectual discrimination, apparent in their countenances, as well as the look of generous hearted good nature. We soon neared the lighthouse on the reef, outside of which lay fishermen's canoes, long, narrow, deep, hollowed out of a tree and with curious projecting outriggers. On one of the canoes was piled a mass of nets and the little flotilla was patiently waiting the appearance of some school of fishes, when they would surround and capture them.
The anchorage for vessels between the reef and shore was much smaller in extent than I had fancied. Three Russian men-of-war, and another flying English colors, intimated, how easily the quietness and calm of these Pacific seas, might be broken in upon by the booming of cannon and the crash of the ponderous balls. The islanders had even surmised that the appearance of these war vessels indicated that hostilities had already begun between the Czar of all the Russias, advancing his armies too far Southward to suit English ideas, and the Queen of England, lately proclaimed Empress of the Indies. Strange that a quarrel on the banks of the Danube should inaugurate bloody strife in these far off seas!
A motley assemblage soon gathered on the wharfs at which we were to land. It took more time to turn our steamship in the narrow precincts of the anchorage. Some of our passengers in haste to greet waiting friends, put off in small boats that flitted about. Some, tired of the monotony of the steamer's narrow quarters, went ashore to indulge in a horseback ride about the town before breakfasting on shore at the Hawaiian Hotel. It was just time for the usual breakfast on board the steamer. . .soon we were surrounded by a multitude of friendly visitants, ready to welcome us to our new home and proffer the hospitalities of generous hearted friendliness. Dr. Damon's smiling face and cheery greetings were the only familiar features of the scene.
Introductions to new friends were soon followed by a distribution of our parcels. And then we were escorted ashore and to the carriages in waiting to take us to our temporary homes. We had paid the purser the head money, $2 for