The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1859-08-11

brought from California by Vancouver. the celebrated
English navigator. in the year l7sS, during his Sec
opd voyage round the world. They were committed
10 the care of Kamehameha l., and were by him and
his successors put under a strict tabu for q long
t;me-,he natives say for thirty years. They were
frat landed at Kealakekua Bay and turned loose, a
hull and a COW, on the upland slopes Of Hualalai.
Here they rapidly increased. and, becoming a Hook,
were renewed to Waimea plains, from whence. breed
ing very fast, they spread inland and wandered on
among the hills and valleys of Mauna kea' ana De-
coming so numerous, that, VIXEN the taou was re-
moved some thirty years ago, the interior plain and
the three mountains of Hawaii were full of them, and
they were in some seasons hard pushed for feed,
Though generally very fat. A large portion OF the
country over which these focks roamed was entirely
destitute of water, three-fourths of the year, and
during the time when there was water it poured
down from the mountain side in an impetuous torrent,
sinking at once and disappearing in the sandy plains.
As the first cattle were brought from California
Monterrey, so the first bullock catchers came from
there to teach the Hawaiians how to use the lasso, to
Jerk beef, and TO cure hides. Their appearance was
novel, and they attracted crowds of the wondering
natives wherever they went. They belonged to a race
once numerous enough all over California, but now
confined mostly TO the lower country and Sonora,
whittier they have retired before the superior stock
management and tame herds of the Yankees. The
.vaouero., as he was called, with his little gay
colored profusely- buttoned jacket, worn over one
shoulder, his shiny, steeple crowned hat. his leather
leggings and huge jingling spurs, when mounted on
a spirited California horse and seated on that curious
continuance, n Spanish saddle, looking as though he
grew there and was an ipseparable part of the whole
afair-was a picturesque object, and would have at
tracted a crowd at any time in the streets of New
York OF London. They were generally light, but
well made, rs active as a cat, with eyes like a hawk
aud nerves of steel, and well fitted by nature for the
perilous calling of wild bullock catchers. At the
same time was imported q cargo of California horses,
of a superior breed in point of size and spirit. and
whose descendants still continue in demand among
the Hocks of waimea. to which place they were prin-
I cipally sent on their arrival at the islands. But the
imported vaqueros of Hawaii have disappeared before
the march Of time. and their perilous adventures in
pursuit of the wild cattle among the gulches and
over the hills and plains of Mama Kea are only re-
~membered and rehearsed by some of the old residents.
In their place has sprung up a class of Hawaiian
mountaineers, equally as skilful horsemen as their
foreign predecessors, but leading a ~vagabond sort of
life. alternating between ~hardships and privation on
the mountain and plenty and lavish expenditure on
their return to the settlements. During a recent trip
to Mauna Kea, | came across a camp of some thirty
Of these bullock hunters, and accompanying them on
one or two of their expeditions. was no little inter-
ested in their somewhat romantic and exciting mode
of life.
The government conjointly with the King, l believe.
are the owners of the unmarked wild cattle on Ha-
wall, and have sold or leased the right to slaughter
to private parties, upon what precise terms | am I'M
able to say. An agent resides at Waimea, who en-
cages the hunters, agreeing to pay them at the rate
of ST. Is for each BULBS hide, and 81 for each cows
hide, properly dried and delivered ut a certain point
on the mountain. From thence they are conveyed to
Waimea in carts. and after undergoing the process of
sailing, are shipped to Honolulu. where they figure
among our list of domestic exports, to a very respect
able amount. During the first two quarters of 1899,
according to the published Custom House statistics,
222, 10 lbs. of hides were exported, mostly. | pre-
sumo, to the United States, where a fain quotation
per last mail, would be 25 cents per h., giving us an
export value of S55,542, wherewith-t to help pay our
uebrs IN >ew FORK ana Boston. That the business
is profitable, would appear from the very good prices
paid the hunters, and from the fact that the exports
of hides for the second quarter exceeded those of the
first by FIVE times the quantity in weight. The Wild
cattle are now hunted almost solely for their hides,
and they possess the advantage over those of the tame
herds for the purposes of commerce that they are not
mutilated with the branding iron. Under the present
indscriminate and systematic slaughter of these cat
tie, by which young and old, male and female, are
hunted alike for the sake of their skins alone, they
have greatly diminished in numbers, and a few years
only will suffice to render a wild bullock a rare sight
where they now flock in thousands. The country
through which they roam is in many parts composed
of fine grazing lands. Thousands of acres could be
devoted to wheat growing, being composed, to a good
depth, of a light, sandy soil, capable of being plowed
ro,;1;,r IT,. o,l, H. ~ oIz - xl;o :, 49,;
cultural country, would be,-frst. the great scarcity
of water. second, the depredations of wild hogs. As
to the first, water no doubt could be found in plenty by
digging; and the hogs would have to be exterminated.
1 wonder that some one has not, ere this, purchased
the government right in these hogs, and set up a lard
factory on the mountain. Why would not it pay at
124 cents per lb..-or even for soap grease?
But l started to tell you something about the
life os the hide-hunters. First, for their camp. This
was situated on a side hill, in n grove OF koa trees,
sheltered Them somewhat from the trade winds,
here blow fresh and cold, and Furnished
them with frewood-no small consideration at
this elevation. The hut was built of three walls
Of stone, open to the south. the roof formed of koa
logs, plastered on the outside with dry grass and
mud. The ground was covered with hides for a
iooring, and perfectly swarmed with feas of enor-
nous size and bloodthirsty dispositions. In front,
within n few feet of the sleeping places, a large fire
vas constantly kept burning, and all around, for an
or so, the ground was covered with drying hides.
n the hut, within a space Of about Is by 20 feet,
ONE twenty-five or thirty native raqueros found a
leeping place by night. and a place to play cards in
day when not engaged in the chase. Near by
vas their corral - an enclosure of sticks and hides,
obtaining some sixty horses, all owned by natives,
nd which had been collected for a grand 'drive in,''
n take placo IN the mcrrow The 7 will ATTAIN 70
escribe.
Early in the morning, l repaired to the camp of
he bullock catchers, and found them to the number =
+ thirty or forty, including three native women,
eady mounted for the start. And an odd looking q
ompany it was. The men wore mostly flannel shirts,
5 did the women, but while some few had hats, the +,
rro.ah a.oLoadai I'll H.