John D. Whidden

“In the morning light the scene was beyond compare. The mountains and the hills were bathed in the soft light of the coming day, and the glowing, richly tinted clouds that encircled them. The lighter green of the hillsides contrasted with the deeper shades of the valleys and the graceful foliage of the waving palms that extended around the beach. The groves of orange trees bending with their golden fruit, mingled with the breadfruit trees, and the banana with its great green leaves, while the morning breeze, laden with the breath of flowers, came from the shore, distilling a fragrance rarely inhaled in other lands.”
― John D. Whidden, Ocean Life in the Old Sailing Ship Days

“Tattooing was a fine art in these islands. In those days it was almost universal among sailors, to a greater or less extent. It was not long before the crew found an old native who was a past master in the art, and before the ship sailed I do not think there was a member of the crew upon whom he had not exercised his skill. The specimens of his work on my arms today, although nearly sixty years have elapsed, are as fresh and bright as when first put in.”
― John D. Whidden, Ocean Life in the Old Sailing Ship Days