Polynesian. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu], Hawaii) 1844-1864, 1855-08-11
QDc 1DoIpuesiau.
Review,
Review.
SANDWICH ISLAND NoTEs. BY A HAoLE Har-
per and Brothers, Nele York, 1854
FIRST Notice |

Observing the work entitled as above amongst
list of books these islands advertised in our last
tissue by Mr.. Whitney, it occurred TO us that no no.
tice of Mr.. Washington Bates production has ever
Iyet appeared here. Certainly more imperturba-
ibe little community than our own, in regard TO the
opinion of the world at large, never existed. Peo
pie here, form their opinions right or wrong
commit them to the press, and what do we care?
Letters are written about rs. crltIques our con-
ldtlon, dolngs and prospects appear and circulate
amongst millions of foreign readers, while re-
REMAIN apparently stupidity Indifferent alike to
praise and blame a donkey is TO the dispar-
agement of would be purchaser the chanting
of the individual whose chattel he is. Is il the
want of proper pride that numbs us? Is it con-
tempt of public opinion that steels us; Orare we
like Meiggs, Swan and others of that stamp nsen-
slble to every consideration but the acquisition Of
money?
The author of the Notes publishes his work
under the name ola IIaole or foreigner We
have been distressed to learn that the gentleman IS
at present the inmate of public building, where
the Peter of the place, I'm whose hands are the
keys, knows him neither by the above that
by which his friends and acquainiances were used
to recognize him. They say that system of emu
merauOn prevails there, and that instead of being
known and described as the Haoe. or otherwise as
Washington Bates, he is spoken of as NO. "a or
some similar combination of figures, which, to pre-
vent mistakes, he, in common with his companions,
bears upon his outer garment. We never like to
hear of writer's being incarcerated; II seems like
an interference with the liberty of the press.
According TO old established custom. author
begins his account of the Sandwich Islands By de-
tscrIbng matters and things great way Oh-In this
case more than two thousand miles distant-and
treats Us to voyage in the Sovereign OF the
Seas. tur space, however, will not allow us TO
accompany him either on water or land. few
IdlslOnted remarks must suffice.
These Sands ch Island Notes emanlte from
the steam-Press of the enterprsing Harper and
Brothers. who no doubt calculated that long before
the then existing fever for annexation subsidized The
first edition would be out and their stereotype
plates IN requiStiUR The author and his publish
IerS appear to have had common aim, namely, the
production Of book that would be read, because
1t went along with of the popular lusts OF the
lday. NolW outstanding the over-luxuriauce Of w e.
BIS style, there crops out every here and there
amongst the tangled mass of verbiage paragraph
or page in which the art of book making succunbs
to common sense. See, for instance, what he says
on page 285:
The only mode of properly testing native character IS
simply this: man must not go among them with min
serlal suit Of clothes ministerial department, Gs
the missionaries do. This Is why many resident cler-
nj teacher has failed accurately test native character
when he ought TO have known all about it. But let a
man-any man-put a rough suit, and put off, to a
certain extent his stOca gravity let him 90 and sit on
their mats SHIRE their ood-if nature will permit him
and smoke with them, and indugein in little Eete-a-tse
and in one tour the group he will more than
many permanently located missionary viii see in
twenty years. "
In councxion with the Tnhaina Luna Seminary
he says, p. 3O6:
" The whole seemed to me to be almost total failure
of an object once inherently good and because
the earlier instructors were not emnenty practical and
systematic men. For twenty-five years the young men
of the group have been boring away ut their intellectual
pursuits amid all the poverty of their native language
For twenty-five years exertons have been making to
produce grand failure -
On pp. 422-3 occurs the following;
eff, however, there seause for congratullton that
good has been achieved there remains one cause Of
grand failure in missionary enter rise to those islands,
and that cause is the almost universal rejection Of the
English language in the public schools and the univer
sal use of the Hawaiian in all clerical instruction OF
public and private nature Not say any thing Of the
absolute yilencss Of the native language its extreme pow
erty IS sufficient argument ag 'inst its use
Agrin on PIP. pa:
with these ftcts before them it IS truly surprising
that, for thrtythree years the native hngulge should
have been the vehicle Of public instruction not less than
Of political power Is thoroughly understood that the
English ingllge IS the best medium, not only Of
merce but of civilization. The Hlwajilns readily learn
English aud its universal exclu ion from their public
instructions HIS eiusd them TO experience great pub
lie and private loss .
The causrs he alleges TO have been iGstrumeu-
tai in reducing The nltye population to mere hand
ful are no doubt amongst the true ones. See pages
342-7.
il is onlv fair to state that the work is carefully
written in point OF fact elaborated beyond the
point attained by most ephemera of It's class. The
language is generally speaking pure if the ideas
CONVEYED are often quite the reverse. The author
Is fond of pretty words and brings them in well
enough. For instance, p 80, ''when [ thought
how in the hour of strife and death, many Of them
had been sustained by the all consoling presence
of the Nizlrene" and p. log - Ike the silver
which Judas received for bctrayiag the Nazlrene,
/ 1t was the price of blood. - Also p. 35S. e when
the Naz1rpne was arraIgned before the bar of Pr
/ late, . &C. Something too much of this repeti
ton Of well soundngwUrds clogs after while
- Nude IS a good substitute for = aked once
in while, but our author releases naked y from
ali duty.
The Notes' are nevertheless worthy Of being
used as text book by those who wish 10 learn the
art of boak-inaking. Let US run over the pages
and see whether in literature as elsewhere fine fea-
,hers make fine birds. On page ~ the author
quotes originally enough the Once more upon the
waters. yet once m"re' passage. Several whole
pages are made up after this fashion p. l73.
But On this point it is shown that though. according
% humDot1l, a n@claFe k1OouL - ~S4eSt Va tAe
bast land il Mexico viii pgodIoe less than $500
POUNDS Of raw Sugar and that this Is double tie
amount produced from the same quantity Of land IN
Cuba, yet Mr. Wafford Of St Mary's Louisiana. made
the past season. forty Of land in that parish,
1870 hoQshead of sugar, Of 1000 pounds each, $40
pounds per hectare-beatng the best lnd of Cuba or
Mexico more than two to one. Many planters in the
vicinity Of Franklin Louisiana, have Just made upward
Of hogshead Of sugar, Of 1000 pounds each per acre
or 1900 to the hecare, exceeding Humboldts highest
< 81. ~ 4.
kins ESQ of the parish of ST. James, made the past
season. 45 hogsheads twelve acres Of ground
Harpour Of Pointe Coupe, made on some Of bis land
this season 900 pounds per hecare, nearly doubling