The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1858-01-21
Commercial Advertiser.
Diss of tbe "alorninq Star" to tbe sflar-
qutsas.-slo. s.
Omoa Bay.-Aw.IL Inland.

Onaoa Bay.-A Walk Inland.
xseaving the mission, for a few rods you wall
usR the rolling stones of the beach, pass few
houses ON the right-then enter the path narrow
walled in either side, and thick set by weeds
and low bushes, from which the frightened snort
of running hogs comes startlingly near your very
feet. The whole land seems divided into small
aclosures by stone walls, some OF which are very
eatly laid, but seldom, however, reaching above
|ne waist. These enclosures have this pecuiarity
IF the wall is built by women, they are common
o ALL but if by men, they fabu; no women
AN cut across-they must go around them.
Aekela tells US that every possession of land is
distinctly marked. To own quarter of an acre
is to be an independent chief. and entities the
owner to wear the insignia of rank-these are the
nklet, clump of black feathers braided on CO.
soanut cord, and the ivory jewels which puff out
holes good sized gimblet might have bored in
the ear of the lusty fellow who stops to look at
the strangers. The Omoan, from the manner he
throws out his ancles, and feels of his ears, is
IL evidently proud of his ornaments. Why not
hey are his gems-the only diamonds he pos
esses- He admires them, and thinks we must
DO. He seems proud of the variegated tattoo
Thich makes head, face and body look like a
niscape garden, so beautifully is it marked off,
which, say the small Of his back, we can
zee represented several porpoIseA. and a shark or
Ehale sporting Why shouldn't he be proud?
Is his wealth. 1t costs the Marquesan little
ftune 1t is his satin vest, broadcloth coat
nd spring-bottom pants. 1t is to him better
ban beauty, for had ne not received this coating
IF tattoo Marquesan lass would marry him,
Enough perfect Adonis. He bitches up the
bose roll of tapa that gravitates like sailor,1>
loose duck earthward, says kauoha, - (alohal -
passes on, independent, ignorant, happy; king
in the cannibal islands.
The soil under our feet is black loan. made up
of decomposed lava, and vegetable mould, mixed
up with stones all covered with weeds and bushes,
knee high, except in the small patches where the
taro (upland) fumeric and tapa plant is culti-
vated-the whole shaded by bread-fruit, cocoa
nut, Hawaiian milo, koae, ihi hutu, and other, to
US. and strange trees, that the glare of the
sun, with difficulty, penetrates to the ground.
:. That says Kekela, pointing out a large,
strong framed building which, though incomplete,
was nevertheless the best in the islands,
IS That is the house were building Makou-
nuts land for the mission when he drove us off
by his i'll treatment. (Makounui is the chief
who came Honolulu for missionaries.) Our
wives brought those pebbles We brought those
stones from the beach Mr.. Bicknell and our
selves cut and hewed the timber, set up the frame
and put on the roof. We split the bamboo and
put on the lattice work. 1t looked desolate.
Passing on few steps we enter, without knock
ing the house of the celebrated tabu chief,
Makounui. We surprised. Nothing here
eomports with the dignity of the greatest chief
of the island. The building is fashioned after
the Hawaiian model, but is nowhere complete.
The stones ON the floor would be hardly less
roughly laid had they been tumbled together by |
a 81 Roaring Brook A bed-place, in the Mar
uuesan style, is at the farther end, but its COM
forts consist in a single mat and dirty roll of |
tapa-nothing Ore. On this the great man lies, |
and quite as Indifferent if he had never seen |
civilization. Hardly wonderful, since many |
white men on the island wear Adams everyday |
elothing-some out of choice, some because they |
have not got any civilised trousers. We were
eeived with dignity addressed in broken English, |
and were shown by him his proficiency in writing. |
Two of his four wives were in the house-of these
four. two were enticed and stolen from their hus-
bands on Hiyaoa- This the only case of
polvgamy we heard of in the islands. The female
of rank has the privilege of husbands ad hbitun,,
according to her fancy. We.ard of a dandy
husband, a fisherman husband, and a cook-hus-
band-the perquisites of one female. Hardly
Mahometan paradise that
We were walking inland-every step was full
of new sights, rousing ideas, and filling the
mind with thoughts enough to fill book. The
breld-fruit trees had leaves double the size Of
those on Hawaii nei, and though not the season,
there still rei.ained much ripe fruit The cocoa
nuts were enormous. sumo containing three pints
Of milk, and then we often met trees which had
upwards of go nuts hanging on them- Their
trunks were so long and slender that they resembed
stem rather than trunk. There were strange
trees, Of a species never seen by us before, and
occasionally strange birds flew out of the thick
flage- There were tall banana stalks, of the
Tahiran species, supporting huge bunches OF
green fruit. There were native houses raised by
four posts, 81 feet from the ground, common to
males alone, but fa5rz for all females. There
were sacred spots where the spirits of ancestors +
impose the spell of death the violator of their
hallowed ground. There were huiahuLa places
(daneing grounds), ornamented by eyeiess
skulls. An interesting chapter might be written
about these alone. There was pad (precipicel
where bodies slain in war were exposed, and
which is still the haunt of their spirits. The |
houses Of the natives were very peculiar, the back
coming down from the ridge-pole like the back
Of capital letter A. The whole house of the
most simple construction, sometimes four upright
posts about l5 feet high, in the middle. In
erOoSe AT the top resIs the fluSe-Poie, 'hiee VI
four rafters the back side reach 10 the ground,
the same number the front come within three
feet. and then rest beam which forms the
only cave to the bouse-every side is thatched
with either bread-fruis leaves strung on bamboo,
or braided cocoanut leaves tied on BY bark strings
to the raffers- The houses were invariably eie- |
vated above the ground upon leveled pavement
OF stones the inside was never more than eight |
or nine feet wide, varyng according to the wealth
Of the proprietor, to twenty-five thirty feet In
length the bed-place was sunk six inches below /
the door Of the building, not quite half the length