Growth in travel to the Hawaiian Islands increases during Kamehameha's reign.

Mark Twain, who arrives in in March 1866 aboard the Ajax, stays for four months under his real name, Samuel Clemens, writing letters back to the Sacramento Union describing the islands.

Twain describes the king: "He was a wise sovereign; he had seen something of the world; he was educated & accomplished, & he tried hard to do well by his people, & succeeded. There was no trivial royal nonsense about him; He dressed plainly, poked about Honolulu, night or day, on his old horse, unattended; he was popular, greatly respected, and even beloved." (Mark Twain (1997). Edgar Marquess Branch. ed. Mark Twain's Letters: 1872–1873. Volume 5. University of California Press. p. 565.)