The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1867-10-12


a. 70 the design and the execution, showed some
degree Of skill. =. Ills name was said to be La
mahauO - (kanepnco , According to the native
historians, Kaneoneo and Keawe were chiefs Of
Kauai at that time. Captain Clerke could not
prevail upon this chief To 60 bclov, nor To remove
from the place where his attendants had first fixed
him. After come time he returned with the
same honors from the natives as when be came on
board. The Captain invited To return the
visit on Shore but being anxious to Join the ResO-
hifi0n, he did not accept it.
The very short and imperfect intercourse which
the Captain had with the natives did not permit
him to form correct opinion their mode Of
government; but, from the general customs and
honors paid TO the chiefs, he presumed it was the
same that prevailed in the other Islands Of the
Pacific. He believed their wars to bc equally
frequent among themselves, from the number Of
weapons tlat found in theiI possession, and
from the excellent order in which they were kept;
and they had proof of the fact from their own
confessions. lie attributes TO this the fact
that the population bears proportion to the
extent Of their ground capable of cultivation.
Their spears or lanccs were made of fine chest
nut-cOlorcl wood, beautifully polished, some of
which are barbed. They also hayea weapon mot
seen in the other isan,is) which was about foot
and-a-half long. -harIened at one or both ends,
and secured to the handle by string Its use was
TO stab in close Sight. Some of these were doubt
less double daggers with handle in the middle.
They also had bows and arrows; but from their
appearance and slender make it was inferred that
they were seldom used in battle. They had a
knife or saw which they both strike aud cut with
WHEN closely engaged. IL Is formed of flat,
OblOng, wooden instrument, about n foot long. 4
rounded ut the corners, with handle like the .
BafOOs Of New Zealand bat the clscs en- .
tirely surrounded with sharks teeth, strongly .
fixed IN IL and pointing outward There was a
hole in the handle, through which passed long
string, which was wTapt several times round the
wrist. IL was suspected that they used sings,
from which they threw hamG'ifes and stones
fashioned ike those used in New Caledonia in
slngs in l77+.
Little could be learned Of their religion. .
though their ceremonies and heiaus resembled
those of Tahiti and Tongataboo, except in the
burial Of the dead. The people Of Kauai inferred
both their common dead and human sacrifices.
They rescmbled the people Of Tahiti in Offering
vegetables and animals 20 their gods. The tain
prevailed 20 10 full extent, with much Tigor.
Priests were numerous.
There was n more striking coincidence Of Ian
gragc than manners and customs with the people
Of Tahiti. The language almost the same,
but it was softer and less harsh and cultural in
the sound than the language of Tahiti. The
language OF New ZEALAND and the Friendly Isl
ands seemed % have been derived from the sine
source. Captain Cook IN connection with this
subject remarks ON pages go, PSI, vol. ,:
E. How shall VIC account for this nation having
spread itself IN many detached islanIs, widely
d.joineI from each other In every quarter Of the
Pacifc Ocean We find il from New Zealand ia the
SOUTH as far as the Sandwich Islands, the North
And i another direction from the Faster Islands
the HebTiies That =, over an extent Of sixty de-
grees Of latitude twelve hundred leagues North
and South And eghty-threc degrees Of longitude
sixteen hundred and sixty leagues East AMI West
How much further ia either direction, its colonies
reach, IS not known; but what We know already in
consequence Of this and former voyage, warrants
our prOnouncing IL % Be, though perhaps not the
most numerous, certainly, by far, the most extensive
nation upon the earth
We will recur to this subject in future and
show the most reasonable hypothesis from whence
and how these Islands were populated. We be-
lieve with Captain Cook, that the STaniarls never
discovered the Hawaiian group. If ever dscoy-
cred By them, they would have used Kauai OF
some other Islands a recruiting station in their
annual VOYAGES from Acapulco to Manila. They
lie nearly midway between the first named port
and Guam Of the Lhdrones. which was their only
port in traversing this vast ocean. 1t was but
short distance out of their common route. These
reasons are strong, and to rcbut them requires
absolute proof of their discovery. That SIaniards
were occasionally wrecked upon the Islands, as
well as other mariners, who remained, and mixed
with the people, we have no doubt, because Ha-
waian traditions preserve the fact, but think
that the discovery of the e. Yslas de Ia Mesa by
Gaetano, may be classed among the fabulous
stories of the great age of discovery. Having
with minute detail given the history Of the early
discovery of Kauai, we will proceed TO give a
general summary of Its geography, topography,
geology, soil, productions and natural resources,
with its present position and future prospects.
Geography md Topography of kauai.
The Island of Kauai lies between 2I- 81 and .
3D. ~ Of north latitude, and between l5S7 80 I
and 1872 west longitude. 1t is 33 miles long
BY . broad, and i nearly circular. Ii contains .
n superficial ara Of $50 square miles, OF 500 I
acres. II Is sixty-fvc miles northwest from .
Oahu and fifteen southeast from Niihau.
Approaching Kauai from q distance it appears .
like a giant emerald gem set in the bosom Of the .
ocean, while an opal light in the pure and "a
diant atmosphere plays with the shadows of the .
variegated and veTdant mountains. The central I
point i Mount Waialiali, rising at the height of
six thousand feet above the level of the SEA. .
Around this i grouped the mountain system OF
the Island, in spurs but little inferior in height
to Waialiali, but gradually diminishing in every
direction towards the sea, until they terminate in
the foothills which border the plains. These I
mountains, taken a whole, are symctrically .
beautiful In tile district Of Napali, ON the .
,r.hv~-t Of the leland thi- "A -eyrtar