The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1871-06-10

trees above and thousands OF oiros singing ~
evening hymn. We enjoyed it Tor q fuil nan noul,
- fai3 -or;vad ond regenerated after our rapid rae
of % miles from HilO. we "aAeu '" ~
hardt's with exhilarated feelings ero
Good cheer and a sound sleep PrePa'eu
beautiful day, although the next morning u sui,
1;Eo q ween;no beauty. occasionally smiled through
tears. We were out early anu cliNO
THE KAPoHo HILLS,
Surrounding a beautiful and fe-nie naliey, 80 81 .be
tiyated and nesting down deep soisoU
valley is a beautiful little lake, mnion Pa -bs
crater of an extinct volcano. Inc pai"
hreadfruit waved over this tropical gem. 1here are
six of these small craters III a nhe' anu L Va ~
near the head of the valley forms anothe,
peopled with the golden sun nsh. these nHAo
TTerY old formation, the lava has all been decomposeu
.nj but a few rocks are visible. They pear a
strong resemblance to some OF tue NoI0"uio ntHo
Auvergne. They are clothed WIN Il1n "s ~
some guava bushes. The grape Wouiu grow { u
their sloping sides. From the nlghes' Poin'' oH ~
northern rim of hills, is a splendid view. The Wnole
of the district of Puma and a great portion OF hau
and Hilo are visible. The snowy peak Cl '1auna
Kea doomed up magnihcently ana Ieminueu me VI
Or;zaba in Mexico. From Kapoho the view appears
III farent from every other point-lt is a broad trun-
Gated pyramid. The far southern point OF haWah
was visible, and sweeping the eye arCunu over d
dome of Mauna Loa and the smoke cloud OF the Iur-
mace of Kilaaea and by Mauna kea, the view eX-
tended far bevond Hilo. above Kaupakuea then the
ocean and the undulations of the coast, were visible
for at least one third of the circumference OF the
island.
The evening was clear and agreeable, an" we con-
cluded that we would again try the luxury of a
bath but seeing some dark looking stones on the
summit of the symmetrical
HILL OF KUKI,
l proposed that we should ascend it and examine
what they were. The hill is so regular in its out
line, that it appears like a work of art-a giant
effort of the mound-builder Its general form re-
sembles very much the pyramid of Cholulu In
Mexico, and from this fact l felt a great interest in
climbing it. We proceeded-Conway, Eldhardt,
Kaiser and l -on foot up the grassy slope of the
hill. There was an absence of all volcanic matter
no stone on the hill except what had been brought
there by the hand of man. AS we arrived near the
summit, we came upon great square blocks of hewn
stone, overgrown by shrubbery, and on reaching the
summit we found that it had been leveled and
squared according to the cardinal points and paved.
We found two square blocks of hewn stone embedded
in the earth in an upright position, some fifteen feet
apart, and ranging exactly east and west. Over the
platform was rank grass and a grove of cocoanuts,
some hundred years old. Examining further l found
that the upper portion of the hill had been terraced,
the terraces near the summit could be distinctly
traced, and the terraces had evidently been faced
with hewn stone. The stones were in perfect squares
of not less than three feet in diameter, many of
them of much greater size. They were composed of
a dark vitreous basalt, the most durable of all stone.
1t is remarkable that every slab was faced and
polished upon every side, so that they could ut to-
gether like sheets of paper. They reminded me
much of the polished stones in some of the walls Of
Tiahuanuco and other ruins in Peru. Many of the
blocks were lying detached, probably some had been
removed, but there were still some thirty feet of the
facing on the lower terrace partly in position. But
all showed the ravages of time and earthquakes, and
were covered with accumulated soil, grass and
shrubbery. Conway and myself, in descending the
hill, had our attention attracted by a direct line of
shrubbery running from the summit to the base OF
the hill on the western side, to the cocoanut grove
below. Upon examination we found it to be the re-
mains of "a stairway, evidently of hewn stone, that
had led from the foot of the hill to the first terrace.
a height of nearly 800 feet. Within this stairway,
near the base, we found a cocoanut tree growing,
more than 200 years old, the roots pressing out the
rocks. The site for a temple is grand and imposing,
and the view extensive, sweeping the ocean, the
mountains and the great lava plain of Puma. 1t was
also excellent in a military point of view as a look
out. From the summit it appeared as an ancient
green island, around which had surged and rolled a
sea of lava and SO it evidently has been.
BY whom and when was this hill terraced and
these stones hewn? There is a mystery that hangs
around this hill, which exists nowhere else in Hawaii
mel. All the heiaus, so nUmerously scattered over
the group, are made of rough stone. there is no at
tempt at a terrace, there is no flight of steps leading to
them, there IS no hewn or polished stone, nor is there
any evidence of the same architectural skill evinced.
They are the Oldest ruins yet discovered, and were
evidently erected by a people considerably advanced
in arts, acquainted with the use of metallic instru-
ments, the cardinal points and some mathematical
knowledge. Were they the ancestors OF the present
Hawaiians, or of a different race that has passed
away? My theory is that they were constructed by
the ancestors of the present race, and that they were
members of the great Nahoa family, or civilized
aboriginies of America, of which the Aztecs were a
branch. | go further and maintain that all Polyne-
STA was originally peopled by this race, and that
their remains are found ut Strong's Island, Assem-
sion, Bonape and others in the Pacific. 1t may he
asked why they did not progress in civilization, pos
sesslng az they did the rudiments? The answer is
obvious. The theatre in which their lot was cast was
too limited. Civilization has always been CONT
mental. No isolated ocean island ever worked out an
CIVILIZATION. AS colonlsts they never i'm
proved on the civilization they originally possessed,
but degenerated. Various influences operate to pro-
duce this, climate, the struggle for subsistence, their
no outside influences operating upon them,
10 commerce to stimulate the intellect or awake new
ideas. They found the island wild and savage, pro-
ducing little, and their whole existence became g
struggle for subsistence. The knowledge of art they
brought with them was spent in their first temple,
their descendants only looked upon it in awe and
wonder, aud but roughly and feebly initiated it in
the many heiaus in the islands. On the coast of
Puma, they were first driven ashore, while the hills
Of Kukii and Kapoho yet formed an island before it
was connected with Mauna Loa by Lava flows. The
III the rocks between Kaimu and Ke-
1uhOu, and in a cave at Kapapala. are similar to the
early Aztec hierOglyphics, and very probably pos
'essed the same Specification. 1t is highly probable
hat further search and excavation in the hill of
Aukii may furnish conclusive evidence. intend to
it for that purpose the last of August or first of
September next, and will then give a more detailed
account.
The terraces, the entrance to the west, and the
of the whole structure to the cardinal
points, are identical with the earlier Aztec temples
n the ella. more especially those at Casa Blanca,
and the temple of the sun at the
uncture of the Salinas with the Rio Verde. There
5 also a general resemblance between those ruins
nd those of Uxmal and other ruined cities in Yucca
an, which L will point out more particularly on fur
her examination
1t happened that as We were returning from the S
Ill we met the oldest natives in the vicinity return
1g from church. They could only give vague and {
onfused traditions concerning it, and these were I
The only points they agreed upon
as that it had never been used within the memory Z
man, and that it was the first structure erected on s
lie island. They also mentioned that there was an s
old structure in Kona, whose history IS lost. .
here may have been two points where the nrst ~
abitants landed-in Puma and IN kona- but
have already run out this article to a great
myth, and must close.
Very truly yours, La ~
On III A r 5,