IN AND AROUND HONOLULU.--PUBLIC BUILDINGS.--THE THEATRE.--ROAD TO THE
PALI.--A MAGNIFICENT VIEW.--VILLAS NEAR THE CITY.--GIRLS ON
HORSE-BACK.--TARO-FIELDS.--THE WATER SUPPLY.--MOUNTAIN-PASS.--HAWAIIAN
COW-BOYS.--HILO AND THE VOYAGE THITHER.--APOCHRYPHAL STORIES ABOUT THE
RAIN.--SURF-SWIMMING.--THE GREAT VOLCANO OF KILAUEA.--OVER THE
LAVA-FIELDS.--DIFFICULT ROADS.--THE VOLCANO HOUSE.--A DISTURBED
NIGHT.--BURNING LAKES.--SIGHT-SEEING UNDER DIFFICULTIES.--TERRIFYING
SCENES.--KILAUEA AND MAUNA LOA.--THE GREATEST VOLCANO IN THE
WORLD.--HISTORIC ERUPTIONS.--CRATER OF HALEAKALA.--SUGAR CULTURE IN
HAWAII, ITS EXTENT AND INCREASE.--OTHER INDUSTRIES.--RETURNING BY
SCHOONER TO HONOLULU.--LEPER ISLAND OF MOLOKAI.--A DAY AMONG THE LEPERS.
The next day was devoted to excursions in the immediate vicinity of
Honolulu, a carriage-drive through the principal streets of the town, a
visit to the palace and other Government buildings, and two or three
calls to present letters of introduction. The visit to the palace
included an introduction to the King, Kalakaua, who received his
visitors politely and devoted a short time to their entertainment. The
conversation referred mainly to the United States, and barely touched
upon matters connected with the islands.
In their drive about the city Frank and Fred found that Honolulu is a
well-built town with narrow streets. The houses are mostly of wood,
dropped down rather carelessly in many places, with little attempt at
uniformity, and not much decoration. The amount of tropical verdure,
which almost concealed many of the villas and detached residences in the
side streets and outskirts of the place, recalled Ceylon and other
regions near the equator which they had visited in their former travels.
Frank thought he could readily imagine himself in the suburbs of
Colombo, while Fred was inclined to close his eyes for a moment and
think he had been transported on the enchanted carpet of the Arabian
Nights to Batavia or Buitenzorg, in Java. In many of the court-yards
fountains were playing, the drops of water sparkling in the bright
sunshine, and adding materially to the beauty of the scene.
[Illustration: LAHAINA, ISLAND OF MAUI.]
There are some fine residences in Honolulu, but none that would be
considered of much consequence in a wealthy capital of Europe. The best
buildings are the public ones, and in the list we must include the
Hawaiian hotel, as it was built by the Government at an expense that was
considered a heavy one for the country to bear. Near the hotel is the
theatre, which is also a Government affair, and brings very little
revenue to its owners. It is in use occasionally whenever a strolling
company on a voyage between Australia and America happens along and
gives a few performances. Honolulu is hardly able to support a theatre
through the entire year, as the portion of the population able and
willing to patronize it is very small.
[Illustration: WOMEN ON HORSE-BACK, HONOLULU.]
Frank and Fred were amused at the equestrian performances of the
natives, and particularly at the dash and energy with which the laughing
girls pushed their horses at full speed. They rode "man-fashion,"
bestriding the horse instead of sitting on a side-saddle, and few of
them seemed contented with any but the most rapid pace. The horses of
the Hawaiian Islands are small but strong, and capable of great
endurance; in fact, if they were otherwise it is evident they would not
live long, when the habits of the natives are remembered. In travelling
in the Hawaiian Islands it is necessary to carry your saddle, as
carriage-roads are not numerous, and a good many places that one wishes
to visit cannot be reached by wheeled vehicles. Of course it is possible
to hire saddles when hiring horses, but this is by no means universally
the case.
The afternoon drive was extended to the Pali, a mountain-pass six miles
out of the town, and one of the chief attractions to visitors who can
only make a brief stay at Honolulu. Outside of the business portion of
the place our friends entered upon a straight and very dusty road, which
for the first two miles and more led among the villas belonging to the
merchants and other well-to-do people who make Honolulu their home. Each
villa stands in a garden by itself, and the houses are often rendered
invisible by the masses of foliage that surround them, and the creeping
and climbing plants that rise to their very tops. The road steadily
rises, and consequently the occupants of the houses have fine views of
the bay and town; while the mountains rise behind them to form a
background. Fred was so charmed with the beauty of the scene that he
wished to sketch some of the villas, but the recollection of their
limited time prevented his carrying the desire into execution.
Beyond this region of villas the carriage entered the foot-hills, where
the road wound with a steep grade among taro-fields, in which men were
at work up to their knees in water tending the plants which yield to the
Hawaiian the staff of life. The water which irrigates the taro-fields is
brought by innumerable streams from the sides of the mountains, to which
it is supplied by the clouds borne by the trade-winds. Honolulu receives
its water from the mountains, and there is certainly an abundance of it.
[Illustration: A MOUNTAIN VALLEY.]
Beyond the taro-fields there is good grazing for cattle and sheep, of
which there are numerous herds and flocks. Frank called attention to a
water-fall some distance away, which made a pretty contrast with the
dark sides of the mountain, and was evidently nearly, if not quite, two
hundred feet in height. At one of the turns of the road the carriage
came in contact with a cart which was descending the slope too swiftly
for safety; the damage was trifling, but for a few moments things wore a
serious aspect, as there was a good chance of being tossed over the side
of the almost precipitous slope.
There were not many travellers along the road, the most picturesque
being groups of girls on horseback and the herders who were driving
cattle to market or for a change of pasture. The girls were generally in
bright-colored robes, which were gathered in at the waist with brighter
sashes that streamed behind them as they dashed along the road. Most of
them wore straw hats on their heads, and generally the hats were adorned
with flowers in wreaths and festoons, which were most liberally
bestowed. Now and then Frank's attention was drawn to a pretty face
which surmounted a neck adorned with a string of blossoms of gaudy
colors; the necklace formed an admirable setting for the complexion, but
sometimes the blossoms were not chosen with due regard to the contrast
of colors.
[Illustration: HAWAIIAN TEMPLE.
(_From a Russian Engraving about 1790._)]
The Hawaiian cow-boys, or cattle-drivers, were not unlike their American
prototypes, as they wore broad-brimmed hats and bright-colored scarfs;
they were mounted on tough little horses, and sat in saddles of the
American cow-boy pattern, the pommel rising high, and the stirrups made
of wood. Then there were strings of pack-mules and horses coming down
from the points in the mountains inaccessible to wheeled vehicles, and
now and then our friends met a Chinese gardener taking the produce of
his little patch to market on the back of a pack animal, and in some
instances on a wheelbarrow. A few groups of men and women on foot were
encountered, but the number was so small that Frank and Fred concluded
that the Hawaiians were a home-loving people, and did not wander about
much.
Near the Pali the road passed through thickets of how-trees, which
resembled the growths of manzanita on the slopes of the California
foot-hills. These thickets are so dense that it is impossible for man or
horse to pass through them; in fact they are impenetrable to any but the
smallest animals. Frank thought he would like to cut a cane as a
souvenir, but refrained from doing so when reminded by Fred that he
could probably buy all the canes he wanted in Honolulu.
[Illustration: MOUNTAIN SCENE IN THE SANDWICH ISLANDS.]
Suddenly from the other side of the narrow pass a wonderful panorama was
presented. Around on each side were the rugged cliffs of the mountain
range, while in front they looked from a height of eight or nine hundred
feet above the sea-level upon a picture which included every variety of
scenery. In the distance was the blue Pacific washing the sandy shores
and curving reefs of coral, and between the ocean and the point where
our friends were standing were grassed and wooded foot-hills, and long
stretches of lowlands dotted with coffee and sugar plantations,
taro-fields, and other evidences of careful cultivation, together with
villages and clusters of huts that marked the dwelling-places of the men
engaged in this tropical agriculture.
"We could almost say that we had the colors of the rainbow in this bit
of landscape," said Fred, afterwards, while describing the scene. "The
blue sky and sea were tinged with purple, the distant mountains varied
in shades of blue and gray, the foot-hills and plains gave us every
verdant tinge that you can name, from the bright green of the mountain
grass to the dark foliage of the vegetation that surrounded the
villages; and as for yellow, you had it in every variety, from the
reddish tint of the sinuous roads to the bright and almost white belt of
sand that separated land from sea. We recalled several similar views in
different parts of the world, but could give none of them preference
over this. It was the view from the Baidar Gate in the Crimea, combined
with Wockwalla near Point de Galle, and a bit of the scene from the
Righi Culm in Switzerland."
Whoever goes to the Hawaiian Islands will consider his visit incomplete
unless he includes the island of Hawaii and the great volcano of Kilauea
in his tour. Doctor Bronson desired that the party should proceed
thither at the earliest moment, and found on inquiry that a steamer was
to leave for Hilo on the second morning after their arrival at Honolulu.
"Prepare for wet weather," said his informant, "as it rains all the time
at Hilo. They say they have seventeen feet of rain there annually, and
sometimes there are days and days together when it rains without letting
up a minute. Gum-coats and water-proofs are in order, and the more you
have of them the better."
Continuing, the narrator said that a Hilo man once made an experiment by
knocking out the heads of an oil-cask, and it rained in at the bung-hole
faster than the water could run out at the ends! Frank asked for the
documents in the case--the affidavits before the justice of the peace,
and the certificate of the resident clergyman--but they were not
forthcoming. Another story was that the fishes frequently swam up into
the air a distance of three or four hundred yards before discovering
they were not in the bay, the showers being so dense that it was
impossible for them to distinguish the one from the other. Fred declared
himself skeptical on this subject, as the showers consisted of fresh
water, while the bay was salt, and a salt-water fish does not usually
show a willingness to swim up a fresh water stream except in the
spawning season.
[Illustration: HILO.]
The run to Hilo was made in about forty hours, the steamer making
several stops on the way. It rained "cats and dogs" when the party
landed, but as all the baggage had been wrapped in water-proof
coverings, nothing was damaged. Arrangements were speedily made for
departure on the following morning without regard to the weather: horses
and guides were engaged, the best animals being selected for the saddles
and others for packing purposes, and a substantial lunch was made ready
for the mid-day meal. Doctor Bronson insisted that the horses should all
be freshly shod before starting, and an extra supply of shoes and nails
carried along. The road goes over the lava-beds for nearly the whole
distance, and if a horse loses a shoe he will go lame in a very few
minutes, so rough and cutting is the lava.
[Illustration: SURF-BATHING AT HILO.]
Fortunately the morning was fine, and the bay of Hilo presented a pretty
appearance. Groves of palm and other tropical trees lined the shore, the
surf broke in regular pulsations upon the curving stretch of beach, and
was made animate by dozens of men and boys at play in the waves. For the
first time our friends saw some of the sport in the water for which the
islanders are famous, though less so at present than in the days that
are gone. Fred thus described it:
"Each man had a surf-board, which was a thick plank twelve or fifteen
feet long and perhaps thirty inches wide, and said to be made from the
trunk of a bread-fruit tree. There were five or six of the natives to
whom we had promised half a dollar each for the performance. They pushed
out with their planks to the first line of breakers and managed to dip
under it and swim along by the help of the under-tow. They passed the
second line in the same way, and finally got beyond the entire stretch
of surf into comparatively smooth water.
"Then they tossed up and down for a while, waiting for their chance.
What they wanted was an unusually high swell, and they tried to find a
place in front of it so that it would sweep them towards the shore just
where it broke into a comber. They tried several times but failed, and
we began to get out of patience.
"At last they got what they had waited for, while some were kneeling on
their planks and others lying extended with their faces downward, and
just ahead of the great comber they swept on at a speed of little, if
any, less than forty miles an hour. There they were just ahead of the
breaker, and apparently sliding downhill; one of them was swamped by it,
but he dived and came up behind the wave and made ready for the next.
The others kept on, and were flung high and dry by the surf, and as soon
as they could rise from their planks they ran towards us to receive
their pay. One of the fellows stood erect on his plank while in the
surf, just as the Nubians at the first cataract of the Nile stand up
while descending through the foaming water."
[Illustration: THE VOLCANO HOUSE.]
Meanwhile the guides were busy getting the cavalcade in readiness, and a
little before eight o'clock the party was under way for the great
volcano. From Hilo to the Volcano House is a distance of thirty miles.
The horses go for the most of the time at a walk, and though the ride
has been accomplished in six hours, it is better to allow not less than
ten for it, and "take things easily." This will give time for a rest of
an hour for lunch at the Half-way House--the lunch being the one which
we have already prepared.
Frank wanted to try the effect of a gallop, but to guard against
accidents Doctor Bronson suggested that gallops would be out of order
for the day. The path over the lava is full of holes, and very rough and
broken in many places. The natives trot and gallop along the road, but
the novice should refrain from so doing. At a walking pace there is
little discomfort and practically no danger, and parties of ladies and
children can make the journey without excessive fatigue. "Chi va piano
va sano," as the Italians say.
The youths found the ride from Hilo to the volcano full of interest.
They amused themselves by comparing the lava-fields with those of the
volcanoes they had visited in other parts of the world, and they studied
the ferns, of which there were many varieties, the largest of them
having stalks three or four feet in diameter and a height of fifteen or
twenty feet. Other ferns were very small, and between the small and
large there were all shades of colors and all possible sizes. One of the
guides showed that the ferns were not altogether ornamental plants, as
he plucked from one of them a woolly substance he called _pulu_, and
said it was used for stuffing beds and pillows. Many tons of pulu are
exported every year to America and other countries.
At the Half-way House everybody was hungry, and the lunch was speedily
disposed of. A little after six o'clock in the evening the Volcano House
was reached, and here the party spent the night. A good supper was
prepared and eaten, and the incidents of the day and plans of the morrow
were discussed; then the youths joined Doctor Bronson, at the suggestion
of the latter, in a sulphur vapor-bath of Nature's own preparation, and
after it all retired to sleep. The accommodations were limited, but
everybody was weary enough to be willing to put up with the most
primitive style of lodging, provided nothing better could be obtained.
Here is what Frank wrote concerning the visit of our friends to the
crater of the volcano:
"We took a hearty breakfast and left the house about half-past eight
o'clock in the morning, to make acquaintance with the crater. We put on
our strongest shoes but did not encumber ourselves with heavy clothing,
as the guide said we should not need it. The house is quite near the
crater, almost on its edge, and so we didn't have far to go to begin
sight-seeing; in fact, we had begun it on the previous evening, and all
through the night, as the light of the volcano was almost constantly in
our eyes. Two or three times during the night we saw the lava spurting
up like a fountain above the edge of one of the small craters, and
altogether the scene was an exciting one.
"It is fully three miles from one side of the crater of Kilauea to the
other; but you do not walk in a straight course across it, for the
simple reason that you can't. The crater is a great pit varying from
eight hundred to fifteen hundred feet in depth; its floor consists of
lava, ashes, and broken rocks, the lava predominating. It is rough and
uneven, and in several places there are small craters sending up jets of
flame, smoke, and steam, and there are numerous cracks from which smoke
and steam issue constantly. In many places the lava lies in great rolls
and ridges that are not easy to walk over, and some of them are quite
impassable. Consequently the path winds about a good deal, and you may
be said to walk two miles to get ahead one.
"The floor of the crater is hardly the same from week to week, and if I
should make a map of it, and describe the place very carefully, you
might not know it if you come here a year from now. In many places it is
so hot that you cannot walk on it. Lava cools very slowly, and the
thicker the bed of it the longer the time it requires for cooling.
"The Hawaiians say that the volcano is under the control of the Goddess
Pele; she is a capricious deity, and you never know for any great length
of time beforehand what she will do. Whenever the mood strikes her she
orders an eruption, and straightway the fires are lighted, the mountain
trembles, and the earth all around is violently shaken. Flames burst
forth from the crater and shoot high in air, and sometimes the floor of
the whole area is lifted and tossed like the waves of the sea. Kilauea
may be said to be constantly active, as the fires never cease; but there
are periods of great activity followed by seasons of comparative quiet.
[Illustration: VIEW OF ONE OF THE BURNING LAKES.]
"Over the floor of the great crater we picked our way for nearly three
miles to the Burning Lakes; and what do you suppose these lakes are?
"Their name describes them, as they are literally burning lakes--lakes
of fire so hot that if you should be foolish enough to try to bathe in
them, or so unfortunate as to fall into their waves, you would be burned
up in less than a minute. We had to climb up a steep bank of lava to get
in sight of them, and then what a spectacle was presented!
"There were two little lakes or ponds, five or six hundred feet in
diameter, and separated by a narrow embankment which the guide said was
occasionally overflowed, and either covered entirely or broken down for
a while. These lakes are on the top of a hill formed by the cooling of
the lava, and at the time we saw them their surface was perhaps one
hundred feet below the point where we stood on the outer edge or rim.
The wind blew from us over the lakes, and carried away the greater part
of the smoke and the fumes of sulphur; but in spite of the favoring
breeze we were almost choked by the noxious gases that rose from the
burning lava, and the numerous crevices in the solid banks where we
stood.
"I said the bank was formed by the cooling of the lava; I should rather
say by its hardening, as it was far from cool. It was so hot that it
burned our feet through the soles of our thick shoes, and we stood first
on one foot and then on the other, as turkeys are said to stand on a hot
plate. Fred sat down to rest, but he stood up again in less than half a
minute, as it was like sitting on a hot stove. We had brought a canteen
of water which the guide placed on the ground near us; when I went to
pick it up for a drink, the air and exertion having made me very
thirsty, it was so hot that I burned my fingers in trying to hold it.
The water in the canteen was like a cup of tea as good housewives like
to pour it steaming from the kettle.
"Our faces were blistering with the heat that rose from the surface of
the lakes, and then we scorched our hands in trying to protect our
faces. We were blinded and suffocated; we coughed and spluttered, and
found it difficult to speak, and in a little while concluded we had had
quite enough of the lakes. We used our eyes rapidly, as there was a
great deal to look at, and the whole scene was such as does not often
come into one's opportunities.
"The molten lava seethed, bubbled, boiled, and rolled below us, its
surface covered with a grayish and thin crust, out of which rose
irregular circles and patches of fire that seemed to sweep and follow
one another from the circumference to the centre of the lake. Every
minute or so the lava in the centre of the lake bulged up and broke into
an enormous bubble or wave which sometimes rose twenty or thirty feet
into the air, and then broke and scattered just as you see a bubble
breaking in a kettle of boiling paste or oatmeal porridge. I know the
comparison is a homely one, but I can't think of anything that will
better describe what we saw.
"The bank of the lake down near where the lava came against it was red
hot, and so you may imagine if you can a mass of liquid fire rolling and
surging against a solid one. One of the lakes was much more agitated
than the other, and the liquid lava seemed to break upon its sides very
much like a sea upon a rocky shore. Owing to the half-plastic condition
of the lava, it could not break into surf and spray like the waves of
the ocean, but it made a dull roar, something like that of the Pacific
on the beach near San Francisco just after the subsidence of a storm.
[Illustration: VIEW ON A LAVA FIELD.]
"The surface of the lava changes its height from time to time. The guide
said it occasionally rose until it overflowed the sides of the basin
enclosing the lakes, and formed streams that spread out over the level
area of the great crater. Sometimes it sank so that it was fully four
hundred feet from the edge of the rim down to the lava; but whether it
was high or low, there was never a time when it was wholly inactive.
"The guide called our attention to cones which had formed on the rim of
the lake; they were caused by the cooling of the lava around vent-holes,
and as successive jets of lava were thrown up and cooled they had
formed cones fifteen or twenty feet high, and some of them as much as
thirty feet. When the height became so great that the lava sought an
outlet elsewhere, it generally left a hole in the top of the cone. We
looked down some of these holes and saw the seething mass of lava
threatening each moment to rise and destroy the very frail foundation
where we were standing. The guide said there was little real danger, as
the lava had receded since the cones were formed. I observed that the
crust where we stood was not more than a foot or so in thickness; and as
the lava is very brittle, the spot was certainly not a safe one.
Besides, the fumes that rose from the vent-holes were absolutely
stifling; and though the sight was a fascinating one, it was impossible
to remain there long, owing to the difficulty of breathing.
[Illustration: HAWAIIAN WARRIORS OF A CENTURY AGO.]
"We have visited volcanoes in other parts of the world, but none that
equalled this, and never have we seen anything to compare with the
Burning Lakes of Kilauea. What a magnificent sight it must be to see an
eruption of Kilauea or Mauna Loa--especially the latter, as it is much
the larger of the two. Just now it is quiet, but when it does break out
it is, I believe, the greatest volcano in the world. Let me give you a
few figures:
"Mauna Loa has had eight great eruptions in forty years, an average of
one eruption every five years. It is 13,700 feet high, and in several of
its eruptions it has sent streams of lava fifty miles in length to the
sea. The flow of these streams is slow, usually requiring eight or ten
days, and sometimes longer, to cover the distance from the mountain to
the sea. In one eruption it was estimated that 38,000,000,000 cubic feet
of lava were poured out, and in another 17,000,000,000. Kilauea is
properly a spur of Mauna Loa, and less than 4000 feet high, but
nevertheless it is the largest constantly active volcano in the world.
[Illustration: CHAIN OF EXTINCT VOLCANOES, ISLAND OF KAUAI.]
"When the lava from Mauna Loa reaches the sea there is an immense cloud
of steam rising from the point where the molten mass enters the water;
the ocean is heated for miles around, and fishes by millions perish from
the heat. The ground all over the island is devastated, earthquakes are
frequent, and altogether Hawaii must be an unpleasant place of residence
at that time.
"We got back to the hotel about five o'clock in the afternoon,
thoroughly tired out with the day's excursion, which had given us so
many curious and terrible sights. It has been an experience which we
shall long remember."
Our friends wanted to visit the great crater of Haleakala, on the island
of Maui, in order to be able to compare an extinct volcano with a live
one, but time did not permit. They talked with a gentleman who had been
there, and that, said Fred, was the next best thing to seeing with their
own eyes. Here is the substance of what they learned concerning
Haleakala:
"You have a ride of about twelve miles to reach the summit, and you
ought to go up so as to sleep at the top and get the view at sunrise.
There is no house there, but of this there is no need, as there are
several caves in the lava--they are really broken lava-bubbles, which
are each large enough to shelter half a dozen persons comfortably. Of
course you must have a guide and must carry plenty of blankets, or you
will suffer from the cold. Water and wood can be found near the top of
the mountain.
"The crater of Haleakala is thirty miles in circumference, or ten miles
across, and it is two thousand feet from the edge of the rim that
surrounds it to the floor of the crater; over this floor are spread ten
or twelve smaller craters and cones, some of them large enough to be
good-sized mountains by themselves, as they are nearly, if not quite, a
thousand feet high.
"You can descend into the great crater if you wish, and there is a path
by which you can traverse it; but it is very necessary that you should
not turn from the path, as the lava is so sharp that it would endanger
your horse's feet to go even a few yards over it. Stick to the route,
and implicitly obey your guide."
Fred obtained a map of Haleakala, which we give on the following page.
It shows the shape of the crater and the openings at either end, where
the lava is supposed to have made an outlet for itself; these openings
are called Koolau Gap and Kaupo Gap, the former being something more
than two miles across, and the latter a trifle less.
Before leaving Hilo, Doctor Bronson arranged for a schooner to meet the
party at a point on the Puna coast, which was easily reached in a day's
ride from the crater of Kilauea. Before sunset they had paid the guide
for the hire of the horses and his own wages, and the evening saw them
dashing through the waters on the way to Honolulu. The trade-wind bore
them swiftly along; Hawaii is to windward of Oahu, and while it takes a
schooner or other sailing-vessel four or five days to beat from Honolulu
to Hilo, the return journey can be made in from twenty-four to thirty
hours. The second morning from Puna saw the schooner anchored in the
harbor of the capital, and our friends had the satisfaction of
breakfasting at the spacious and comfortable Hawaiian hotel.
[Illustration: MAP OF THE HALEAKALA CRATER.]
Through the courtesy of a gentleman engaged in the sugar culture, our
friends made a visit to a sugar plantation, the culture of the
saccharine product being the principal industry of the Hawaiian Islands.
We have not space for an account of all they saw and heard, but will
give a summary from Fred's note-book.
"Sugar is grown on all the four large islands of the group, but the
principal seat of the industry is on Maui, which seems peculiarly
favorable to it. We were told that the yield was sometimes between five
and six tons to the acre, four tons was not an unusual amount, and it
would be considered a poor plantation that did not give two or two and a
half tons. The volcanic soil seems to be just what the sugar-cane loves;
the seasons are such that planting can be done in many places at any
time of the year, and there is not the least danger of frost, as in the
sugar area of the United States.
"The common custom is to raise two crops, and then let the ground lie
idle for two seasons; so that taking a series of years together,
allowance must be made for the idle time in estimating the yield of
sugar. In some localities, especially those where the ground is
artificially irrigated, this plan is not always followed, as it does
not appear to be necessary. To show the growth of the industry, let me
say that the export of sugar in 1860 was 1,414,271 pounds, while in
1871, eleven years later, it was 21,760,773 pounds. Last year it was in
the neighborhood of fifty million pounds.
[Illustration: KAMEHAMEHA I., FIRST KING OF THE SANDWICH ISLANDS.]
"In the early years of the sugar culture the work was performed by the
natives, but in course of time it grew to such an extent that the local
supply of labor was not sufficient. A great number of Chinese and
Portuguese were introduced, and laborers have been brought from other
islands of the Pacific Ocean, so that the population of the country is
now a mixed one. By the census of 1878 the population was 57,986; 44,088
of these were natives, 5916 Chinese, 4561 whites, and 3420 half-castes.
In 1882 the population was estimated at 66,895, including 12,804
Chinese. In the two years ending March 31, 1884, there was an
immigration of 6166 Portuguese from the Azores Islands. Among the whites
the Americans are most numerous, but the Germans are steadily increasing
in numbers, a large part of the sugar interest and the commerce
dependent upon it being in their hands. The commercial king of the
islands is Claus Spreckels, who is of German origin, and practically
controls the sugar culture. He owns a steamship line between Honolulu
and San Francisco, and the local steamers plying to the various islands
are mostly in his hands.
"Rice and coffee are also products of the islands, but they occupy a low
position when compared to that of sugar. Hides, tallow, wool, and salt
are also exported, but the quantity is not great. The value of the
exports of the islands is from eight to ten million dollars annually,
and the imports amount to about two millions less than the exports. The
principal imports are textile fabrics, clothing, implements, machinery,
and provisions."
So much for the commercial condition of the kingdom of Hawaii. Let us
now turn to other matters.
[Illustration: WATER-FALL ON ISLAND OF KAUAI.]
Our friends took a day, or rather two nights and a day, for a visit to
the famous Leper Hospital on Molokai Island. Leaving Honolulu late one
evening, they were landed the next morning on Molokai for their strange
excursion. We will let Frank tell the story of the visit.
"The leper settlement is on a plain, which is surrounded by mountains on
three sides and the sea on the fourth. The mountains are so rugged as to
be impassable except at a few points, which are always carefully
guarded. The sea-front is also watched, so that escape from the
settlement is practically impossible.
[Illustration: IMPLEMENTS OF DOMESTIC LIFE.
_a_, Calabash for poi.--_b_, Calabash for fish.--_c_, Water-bottle.--_d,
d_, Poi mallets.--_e_, Poi trough.--_f_, Native bracelet--_g_,
Fiddle.--_h_, Flute.--_i, i_, Drums.]
"Any person in the Hawaiian kingdom suspected of leprosy is arrested by
the authorities, and if a medical examination shows that he is afflicted
with the disease he is sent to Molokai. The sentence is perpetual,
leprosy being considered incurable except in its earliest stages. A man
sent to Molokai is considered dead. His wife may obtain a decree of
divorce and marry again if she likes, and his estate is handed over to
the courts and administered upon as though he had ceased to exist. Great
care is exercised to prevent the banishment of any one about whose case
there is any doubt. There is a hospital near Honolulu where all doubtful
cases are sent, and the physician in charge keeps them there until the
certainty of the presence or absence of the disease is settled beyond
question.
[Illustration: HAWAIIAN PIPE.]
"The doctor who accompanied us through the settlement assured us that
leprosy is neither epidemic nor contagious in the ordinary sense of the
latter word. It can only be communicated by an abraded surface coming in
contact with a leprous sore; and he said that the practice among the
natives of many persons smoking the same pipe had done much to spread
the disease. He shook hands freely with the victims of leprosy during
our visit, and did not take the trouble to wear gloves, even when the
hands of the others were covered with sores.
"He told us that the disease first showed itself by a slight swelling
under the eyes and in the lobes of the ears; then the fingers contracted
like birds' claws, the face swelled into ridges that were smooth and
shiny, and later these ridges broke into festering sores. Sometimes
these symptoms on the face do not appear, the attacks being principally
on the hands and feet. The fingers and toes wither and decay; they seem
to dry up and shrink, as we saw several persons whose finger-nails were
on their knuckles, the fingers having shrunk away and disappeared.
"It is a curious circumstance that the victims of leprosy rarely suffer
pain. The decay of the extremities is gradual, and the shiny ridges on
the face may be pinched with the fingers or punctured with a pin without
giving any sensation. Among the nine hundred and odd persons in the
leper settlement we saw very few sad faces. The people were enjoying
themselves very much as they would in Honolulu--talking and laughing,
walking or lounging about, or riding horses, and in one place they were
playing a game that evoked a good deal of shouting and hilarity. Many
were at work in the fields and gardens, or making salt along the shore.
There is a leper governor for the settlement, and the usual number of
subordinates that such a place requires. There is a store where goods
are sold at cost, and many of the lepers receive money from their
friends and spend it at the store. The Government provides the lepers
with clothes and lodging, and gives them sufficient food for their
subsistence. Those who can work are encouraged to do so, and all that
they produce is bought by the Board of Health and paid for out of the
store.
"Then they have two churches--one Catholic and the other Protestant. The
latter has a native pastor, and the former a white priest, who has
volunteered to seclude himself among these unfortunate people for their
religious good. There are three white men and eight Chinese who have
been sent here as lepers. It has been charged that the Chinese brought
leprosy to the islands, but the doctor says this is not so, the disease
having existed here before the Chinese came; and besides, it is quite
unlike the malady of that name in China. There it principally attacks
the skin, while the Hawaiian form belongs to the blood.
"The location of the settlement is an excellent one, as it is on the
windward side of the island, and constantly swept by the pure breezes
from the ocean. For those who are unable to move about there are large
and well-kept hospitals, where the patients are waited upon by other
lepers that have not reached the disabled stage. Access and escape are
alike difficult, and everything seems to have been done to make life as
comfortable as possible to the unfortunate victims who are sent here."