The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1871-10-14
Letters from Hawaii-No. 8.
[FRoM OUR CORRESPONDENT
September Sd, 1871.

LEAVING sREENwELLs,
After examining the school near his house, and another but
ing behind us the luxuriani vegetation that cbaracterizes thu
part Of Kona, and struck the beach again at "Kesuhou," on
Here we made our preparations for speeding The sabbath, an
little frame house stands near The beach, and from III
lanai" we have a pretty view of a pretty place. The htu
group Of cocoanut trees overshadow the cluster Of dwelling
that lie at its head. The people seem 70 be very well conten
road, and without being particularly swell or" even frou
their standpoint, do not probably suffer want. The Pun
district, so far, seems TO be as primitive as any on the island
and there, as well as here, the people seem to be able to rise u
Beyond that point, the majority do NOT rDish to go. And
they do, in most cases iti is through an ambitious desire 10 play
in doing 50. 50 far as to copy his vices and weaknesses. W,
have met some of these "~mummers," and were forcibiy re
minded Of the short and pithy saying Of Shakespeare, ." Mar
clothed in a little brief authority" &c. These brief season,
Of rest that are "sandwiched 7" In between our weekly trips
are very necessary to the comfort and enjoyment of the jour
ney, to say nothing of their value from a moral point Of view
The %church going fSeI,a II II not out Of !" sight Of the building
itself. But then We have unlimited facilities for rest, and we
thoroughly enjoy the unwonted stiffness that hangs over every
thing. The only sound, foreign to our own movements. that
aged rooster that pervades the enclosure in which our housc
stands. Even his half-strangied efforts to wake the echoes
dolent surmises as to what can induce him to take so much
pains to accomplish SO little, as are not inconsistent with ouI
people who Ego to church do so on horseback, disappearing
Why they do not stay at home, or get together in the school
house here, is one of those conundrums that we "give up" on
principle. Speaking of connndrums reminds me that we have
elaborated some Of the finest and funniest things in this line
% mans 1se's 8. NJ T. G is ps nsy; iaa, sSfI aGSo IN 5S. IL nns ens sp %l Y c. c.
hopes at some future day to electrify your readers by display.
ton Of the scholars that we meet with each day, keeps the
s. NJ: on the qui ciue, and so strong has the habit of asking
with some of his COMPOUNDED "stumpers" with which he
= nOOrs o,n ms little victims. How would you like Il yourself
question as this: If two men travelling around one island
for twenty-five days, how many chickens win three men,
travelling ar 9d two islands, eat in twenty-five days, suppOs-
squid, one boiled chicken, one gallon Of poi, one bottle OF
pickles, two cups Of coffee, three slices Of bread, one dish Of
kalo, one handful Of salt, one quarter box sardines, and one
large watermelon, is all that one man wants for one meal one
day, how many meals can he eat the next?"
How would you like, L repeat, Mr. Editor, to have about a
dozen OF such questions put to you, while filling your post
prandial pipe, by a hend in human form, stretched out on the
only available easy seat, under the solitary bit of shade with
IN reach, with his hat over his eyes; putting on airs because
Monday morning, at an early hour we set out, and between
Why there is such a pumber noboSy : Knows . 'nI Th ~ are small
in number, and the lowest in point Of standing that we have
with good teachers, would be of more benefit than the quarter
score now in existence.
Existence, :" l say, but it is that sort of existence that we
no sse y, 10 rhs GALVANIZED corpse: As soon as the operator
leaves them, they relapse into their former lifeless condition,
and nothing will do but to "born " them over again. The
a~bundantly here, furnishes the material out Of which is COM
pounded a liquor that taken 10 large quantities I" makes drunk
come and periodically the district is the scene Of wild revels,
continuing for weeks, in which the school teacher takes part
air with which some of the sleepy pedagogues here look on
while the s. M. is examining his scholars and we rub our
get from the justly indignant Inspector General.
The children under the care % Of these teachers, are bright,
and in spite Of the heavy drag put on them, show a disposition
to learn.
flying, &c, and we can't blame them. As long as we are
around, its all serene, but ii we look back a little way, we see
ing that, and will dismiss the subject by saying that, If the sober
people . PIE. living 1sh here d l. I'll; like it they had better set about mend
It was our intention to get as far as KihOlo tonight, but soon
after reaching
KAILUA,
The rain commenced to fall, and we concluded to wait
over. Thanks TO Mr.. GreenwellB thoughtful hospitality. as
embodied in Mr.. Smith, his agent at this place, we were as
sured of comfortable nights lodging, and in spite of the rain,
sailed forth after dinner TO pay our respects 10 Her Highness
the Governess of Hawaii, who is here for a short visit. We
found Her ENcellency at home, and spent a pleasant quarter
of an hour. The blight and ants that are destroying the coffee
crop in this region as they have done elsewhere, and the con-
sequent privations, that the people who have made the growth
OF the berry their main stay, will feel, were spoken of and the
cussed. That the Governess has the welfare of her people
much at heart is evident, and she listened with interest to the
3. MS description Of Ramie, and what it might do for the
here a fine specimen of the g double canoe .l.a. 80
used frequently by Her HighDess in fishing excursions near
Zone of the greatest objects Of interest here TO the stranger in
the ruins of the palace built and occupied by Kamehameha LIST,
together with the old fort, burial place, magazine and some
other relics in the shape of battered and worm-eaten stocks,
the armament of this place. These together with a canoe or
two, som old paddles, &c, are going TO ruin In the dilapidated
be made TO preserve them from wet, and weather, but little
will be left in a few years to recall the presence Of Hawaii nei's
first and greatest king The vault from which the bones Of the
s shlsi' a Were ,a 1s%S's : . sG%e s .Ssses si% oe a ase o %as b saSwn Us, se a =
turned in time to admire the fine view Of the mountain range
behind US,
HUALALAIy
Whose summit range was liz by the rays OF the sun that to ms
had dipped beneath the watery horizon. Upon the bull side, we
see the rambling old nest Of buildings known as the " Mission"
where Mr.. Thurston lived for many years. Every where
about here are ruins, ruins, ruins. On the one hand those ola
house. there four walls never completed. Looked at from a
pOin, Of view Ills very interesting, financially
this side Of the island is going backward in every sense Of the
word. Aside from the educational efforts made, (Which seem
to meet with a fair share of success) everything ieh TO the ma
tive is degenerating. Good men may deplore this state OF
things, but no one can blind themselves to the fact that the
moral and physical condition of the people cannot be what IL was
before :" Christianized I" Hawaiians were thrown on their own
mence the ascent Of the mountain, over the road that, to avoid
the grim, ~forbidding stretch of the lava fields that cover the
coast for miles, leaves the shore line for a while taking in eur
way one school on the road side at
KIHoLo,
Which, if it means Is nothing" is a very apropos name. As
for miles on either hand the heavy stone wall built along the
hillside years ago, to keep the wild cattle from coming down
to the beach, or going up TO the woods, 1 don't know which ;
the toGu is there anyhow, and in It's massive thickness and
there by balancing a stone or two on top of one or two more,
after The fashion OF the wall builders of the present day. On
each side Of the road, the
COFFEE TREES
Were struggling for life, with dense growth Of guava, wild
castor-bean, and every variety Of weed that is produced on
this side of the island. Before seeing the choked aud neglected
condition Of these once hourisbing Plantations, we hal the inn
preston that the comparative failure Of the coffee crop was
due to the presence of ants and blight, and that the pests
were unavoidable. Now that we have examined the 6elds, and
wonder is, that a just Providence has not visited the people
who pretend TO care for this crop, with a more signal express
climate, right kind Of soil, and beautiful location affords far
cultivatng. picking, drying and shipping thG crop, the trees
once planted ARE allowed TO struggle on with sitting weeds,
and entangiing trake Of wild guava, and then when the tender
bright leaves sicken and droop, and the plant, devoting all It's
strength to the task Of keeping alive, ceases 10 bear fruit, and
becomes a harbor for insects, and a resting place for blight
the lazy shiftless owner, cody attributes TO a natural cause,
the effects of his own Incidence. After riding for ten miles
with coffee trees growing on either hand, we can recall but one
piece of ground that was kept I'm decent order. And here. the
trees were straight, and bright leayed, their branches loaded
with bright red berries, and the whole plantation repaying its
owner abundanfly for the care taken with IL. Its thrifty,
beautiful appearance recalled the fine plantations on the side hill
near Matanzas, Cuba, and we all know that the quality Of the
berry grown ON this island with anything like decent care, is
quite as fine as anything produced in the West Indian Isles.
Another fruitful cause of neglect Is, that agents visit these
plantations, and buy anything in the shape Of coffee that 10
offered them. The natives are very quick 20 ind out some
way OF cheating, ar take advantage Of this lax made Of deal
ing one favorite plan being to dampen the centre Of sbag Of
coffee berries, and when the party inspecting the lot looks in.
he finds a very fair sample on top. and before he can look
again the bag is sewn up. weighed. found JuH weight, paid for,
and shipped. Of course the berry Is bound 90 mildew and
spoil, but by the time its condition is found out, the native
can't be. Husks, small stones, branches, and everything eise
is mixed, or allowed 10 remain whenever the grower can get a
chance 20 pass his goods without much regard TO its quality,
and as q natural consequence, much Of the coffee sent from
here Is branded Of q very low grade, and the whole crop falls
into disrepute. There was sent from this district last year
about 100000 pounds, and through mismanagement
and neglect, the crop this season win be much less. The
native Is actually the 6ghfest sufferer. for while he adopted