Knoxville daily chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1882, 1873-05-16
FROM THE SANDWICH ISLANDS.
Interesting Facts About the Natives
Their Habits-G0vernmenta and Life.

Interesting Facts About the Natives
Their Habits-Governmcnt and Life.
An officer in the United States Navy
from Knoxville, writes the following inter
esting letter to his mother in this city:
HONOLULU, SANDWICH ISLANDS,
| March q, 1873. !
| The mail has come and gone once more,
the news brought by it cussed and discuss.
ed and the excitement and stir produced
have died away. The "Benicia," also sail
ed day before yesterday, SO that it is even
more quiet than hitherto.
Last night called on Major Dickson,
now residing here, who was on Gen. Scho-
months in Knoxville. He was quartered
| in Judge McKinney's house, for some time
and also stayed at Judge Temples, he told
me. did not remember him, but perhaps
you may have met him. He is a gentle
manly, pleasant man, though quite an in
valid. He has two brothers living here,
one of whom married daughter of the
Rev. Mr.. Judd, one of the first band of
missionaries, who came to these islands in
1929. Speaking of Mr.. Judd, some one has
wittily dubbed his family, which is quite
large one, ''the Judd Family Robinson"
DRESS OF NATIVE WOMEN. fIs
70 resume the description. 1t is little
surprising how readily one becomes accus-
toned to strange and unwonted sights
When I first came here the dress of the
but now, 1 hardly notice it. 1t is dress
made with yoke, L believe it is called,
very much like night gown, without belt
or waist, falling loosely from the shoulders
TO the feet. 1t is usually made of some
black material, though red and yellow cal
icoes are worn a great deal. Some wear a
straw hat, though they often go bare.head-
edy According to Mark Twain, back in
AIMS interior of the islands, "a smile or a
pair of spectacles is considered suf-
cient amount of apparel for this
not been in those parts, L cannot vouch for
the statement.
RIDING-COMPLEXION
The natives are extremely fond of horses,
which they always ride at full gallop, and
are bold and skillful riders. The women
ride like the men such a thing as side
saddle is unknown among them. They
are good-looking people, especially while
young, many of the girls being very pref
ty. They have the copper-colored skin
and black hair of the Malays, from whom
they are supposed to have originated. AS
seems to be the case wherever native tribes
come in contact with the whites, they are
rapidly decreasing in number. There are
now about 40, 900 of them seven years ago,
there were about As, 900, a decrease of 5000
in seven years. 4a aEHn.
SWIMMING AND DIvING-SERF-RIDING
They are very expert in swimming and
diving. / have seen boys swimming about
the ship for hours, and an instance is re-
corded of a woman who, having been ship
od for fhroo HaUS hofnra Sho
reached the land. The boys will dive and
bring up small pieces of money from the
bottom in twenty or thirty feet of water
and we had some men dive under this YES
sells bottom, and walk her entire length,
to examine the copper. A favOrite amuse-
ment with them is serf-riding. For this,
they have board fifteen or twenty feet
long, rounded at both ends, with which
they swim out beyond the outer line of
breakers, then lying flat on one end of the
board, they steady it on the outside or back
of a breaker, and ride in with it, often at
the rate of thirty miles an hour. They
rarely fail to do it successfully, though
once in while the board gets too far over
the crest of the breaker, and over they go,
end over end, yet they don't seem to mind
it, but pick up the board, swim out and
try it over again.
FOOD-HoUSES- ES-FEATHER- WORK.
Their food is principally "poi," which
have already described, and raw fish.
They seldom use fire except for boiling
tars. Their houses are made of light
frame work of poles, thatched over entirely
with straw or grass, without chimney or
windows, only one small hole for door
way. They possess considerable skill in
some kinds of work. They manufacture
a species of cloth, called "tapa." 1t is made
fro fho1 ,f oJ, ;ol,
first soaked in water till they become
pulpy, then they are beaten with cor
rugated club until thoroughly united into
thin, flat sheet, which looks something
like blotting-paper. 1t is then dried and
dyed. A sheet of it requires about three
weeks work before it is ready for use.
They are, also, skillful in feather-work.
There is bird living among the noun
tains which has single bright yellow
feather under each wing. These feathers
are very highly priced. They catch these
them go. One of the Kamahamehas had
large cloak made entirely of them. You
can imagine how many birds had to be
caught, and the amount of labor required,
to produce such a mantle. My description
of the natives applies to the masses. Many
of them are intelligent and educated, and
dress and live like their white neighbors.
GOVERNMENT NT-TRADE-SUGAR PLANTERS.
The King, Lanalilo, native, was elect
ed by the united votes of the whole people,
whites and natives, and is nominally at
least, at the head Of the government. But
his ministers are all foreigners. The
merchants and business men generally are
all whites, excepta few Cinnamon, and are
of nearly every nationality, though the
majority are Americans.
In former years, before the destruction of
the whaling fleet, this was the great rem
devious for all the whalers of the Pacific.
Once year they came here to the number
of one hundred and fifty to two hundred
to dispose of their oil, refit and purchase
supplies. This gave rise to an active trade,
and the merchants of Honolulu were pros
porous and made money. But now the
few remaining whalers, not more than
thirty, go to San Francisco and the only |
trade is the limited internal traffic between |
the islands. SO it is dull times with the |
merchants.