There are many "littles," but few "mickles" here. It is among the
last that two foreign gentlemen have successfully accomplished the
ascent of Mauna Loa, and the mystery of its fires is solved. I
write "successfully," as they went up and down in safety, but they
were involved in a series of pilikias: girths, stirrup-leathers,
and cruppers slipping and breaking, and their sufferings on the
summit from cold and mountain sickness appear to have been nearly
incapacitating. Although much excited, they are collected enough to
pronounce it "the most sublime sight ever seen." They, as well as
several natives who have passed by Kilauea, report it as in full
activity, which bears against the assertion that the flank crater
becomes quiet when the summit crater is active.
Another and sadder "mickle" has been the departure of ten lepers for
Molokai. The Kilauea, with the Marshal, and Mr. Wilder who embodies
the Board of Health, has just left the bay, taking away forty lepers
on this cruise; and the relations of those who have been taken from
Hilo are still howling on the beach. When one hears the wailing,
and sees the temporary agony of the separated relatives, one longs
for "the days of the Son of Man," and that his healing touch, as of
old in Galilee, might cleanse these unfortunates. Nine of the
lepers were sent on board from the temporary pest-house, but their
case, though deeply commiserated, has been overshadowed by that of
the talented half-white, "Bill Ragsdale," whom I mentioned in one of
my earlier letters, and who is certainly the most "notorious" man in
Hilo. He has a remarkable gift of eloquence, both in English and
Hawaiian: a combination of pathos, invective, and sarcasm; and his
manner, though theatrical, is considered perfect by his native
admirers. His moral character, however, has been very low, which
makes the outburst of feeling at his fate the more remarkable.
Yesterday, he wrote a letter to Sheriff Severance, giving himself up
as a leper to be dealt with by the law, expressing himself as ready
to be expatriated to-day, but requesting that he might not be put
into the leper-house, and that he might go on board the steamer
alone. The fact of his giving himself up excited much sympathy, as,
in his case, the signs of the malady are hardly apparent, and he
might have escaped suspicion for some time.
He was riding about all this morning, taking leave of people, and of
the pleasant Hilo lanes, which he will never see again, and just as
the steamer was weighing anchor, walked down to the shore as
carefully dressed as usual, decorated with leis of ohia and
gardenia, and escorted by nearly the whole native population. On my
first landing here, the glee club, singing and flower-clad, went out
to meet him; now tears and sobs accompanied him, and his countrymen
and women clung to him, kissing him, to the last moment, whilst all
the foreigners shook hands as they offered him their good wishes.
He made a short speech in native, urging quiet submission to the
stringent measures which government is taking in order to stamp out
leprosy, and then said a few words in English. His last words, as
he stepped into the boat, were to all: "Aloha, may God bless you,
my brothers," and then the whale boat took him the first stage
towards his living grave. He took a horse, a Bible, and some legal
books with him; and, doubtless, in consideration of the prominent
positions he has filled, specially that of interpreter to the
Legislature, unusual indulgence will be granted to him.
At the weekly prayer meeting held this evening in the foreign
church, the medical officer gave a very pathetic account of his
interview with him this morning, in which he had feelingly requested
the prayers of the church. It was with unusual fervour afterwards
that prayer was offered, not for him only, but for "all those who,
living, have this day been consigned to the oblivion of the grave,
and for the five hundred of our fellow-subjects now suffering on
Molokai." A noble instance of devotion has just been given by
Father Damiens, a Belgian priest, who has gone to spend his life
amidst the hideous scenes, and the sickness and death of the ghastly
valley of Kalawao.
I.L.B.