Although I enjoy "Letters from Hawaii" much better than the re-written version in _Roughing It_, I always saw the purpose of those end chapters as Twain's further extension of the Frontier. If you read the book as a geographic journey, obviously it seems an easy extension. From a manifest destiny viewpoint it remains for Twain, as you said, "the essential Western plot" - just another territory ripe for western/American colonial and commerical expansion. But it fascinates me that by the time Twain is re-writing these Hawaiian chapters for _RI_, he is already in transition from a pro-imperialist to an anti-imperialist; and that he will eventually have much more sympathy for the plight the (geographical) external Other (Hawaiians, Philipinos) than the American internal Other (Native Americans). The chapters almost give us a glimpse of his 'political thought process' (sorry, I think this Washingtonian atmosphere is affecting _my_ thought process!). By the way, any ambitious tour guides at the Kilauea Volcano? -Beth Regish