The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1874-06-20
THE PACIFIC
Commercial AObtrtlser.
SATURDAY. JUNE ~.
Honolulu Sixty-Five Years Ago.

ADLER observers but my long residence has given
me opportunities of noticing many things which
have escaped others and to these | shall, as
much as possible, confne my remarks.
The natives, although not tall. are stout and
robust in their make, particularly those Of the
higher rank their complexion IL nut-brOwn, and
they are extremely cleanly IN their persons.
They are distinguished by great ingenuity in all
their arts and manufactures, a. well as by a most
persevering industry.
They are divided into two great classes the
Frees, or chiefs, and the CaunakamOwree or
people. The former are the prOpriet0rs Of the
land, the latter are all under the dominion OF
some chief, for whom they work, or cultivate the
ground, and by whom they are supported in old
age. They are not, however, slaves, or attached
to the soil, but at liberty TO change masters
when they think proper.
The supreme government is vested in the king,
whose power seems 10 be completely absolute.
He is assisted by the principal chiefs, whom he
always keeps about his person many of these
have particular departments to attend to one
chief took charge Of the household, and appointed
the different services to be performed by every
individual another, named COweeowranee, acted
as ~paymaster his province was to distribute
wages and provisions amongst the people in the
kings service.
An elderly chief, of the name Of Naai, took a
general charge of the whole, and was, IN fact,
prime minister. lie was commonly called Billy
Pitt by the white people, and was by no means
pleased when they addressed him by any other
appellation.
The principal duties of the executive were,
however, entrusted to the priests; by them the
revenues were collected, and the laws enforced.
Superstition is the most powerful engine by which
the latter purpose is effected actual punishment
being rare. knew only one instance Of capital
punishment; which was that of a man who had
violated the sanctity of the moral. Having got
drunk, he quilted it during taboo time, and
entered the house of n woman. lie was imme-
dlately seized and carried back to the moral,
where his eyes were put out. After remaining
two days in this state, he was s%trangled, and his
body exposed before the principal idol.
The method Of detecting theft OF robbery,
affords a singular instance Of the power of super
stition over their minds. The party who has
suffered the loss applies to one of the priests, to
whom he presents a pig, and relates his story.
The following ceremony is then performed the
priest begins by rubbing two pieces of green
wood upon each other, till, by the friction. a
kind of powder, like snuff, is produced, which is
30 hot, that on being placed in dry grass, and
blown upon, it takes fire with this, a large pile
Of wood is kindled, and allowed to burn a certain
time. He then takes three nuts of an oily
nature, called tootooee having broken the shells,
one OF the kernels is thrown into the fire, at
which time he says an anana, or prayer and
while the nut is cracking in the fire, repeats the
words Muckeeroio kanaka al kooee. that is, kill
or shoot the fellow. The same ceremonies take
place with each of the nuts, provided the thief
does not appear before they are consumed.
This, however, but seldom happens the culprit
generally makes his appearance with the stolen
property, which is restored to the owner, ard the
offence punished by a fine of four pigs. He is
then dismissed, with strict injunctions not to
commit the like crime in future, under pain of a
more severe penalty. The pigs are taken to the
moral, where they are offered up as sacrifices,
and afterwards eaten by the priests.
Should it happen that the unfortunate criminal
does not make his appearance during the awful
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island to bestow, not one word of the prayer
could be recalled, nor the anger of the EtoOah
appeased. The circumstance is reported to the
king, and proclamation made throughout the
and that those who are guilty have been prayed
to death.
So firm is their belief in the power of these
prayers, that the culprit pines away, refusing to
take any sustenance, and at last falls a sacrifice
to his credulity.
The priests also practice medicine. Bathing is
their great specific. If the patient is too weak
to be carried to the sea, he is washed with salt
water. The oil extracted from q nut, called
tootooee, is used as n purgative and black min
eral substance, reduced to a powder, as an emetic.
This is very powerful in it's effects half the
quantity that can be laid ON n sixpence forming n
sufficient dose.
L have but few particulars to give of their
religious opinions. Their principal god, to whom
they attribute the creation Of the world, is called
Etooah and they have seven or eight subordinate
deities, whose images are IN the moral, and to
whom offerings are made as well as to the Etooah.
Their names l cannot reeollect.
They believe in a future state, where they will
be rewarded or punished for their conduct in this
life. Their belief In the efficacy Of prayer has
already been remarked. During the time | lived
with the king, it was reported that some person
had prayed him to death in order to counteract
the effects of this, tho daughter of q chief, pros
trated herself before the house, and turning
towards the setting sun, prayed with great fer
Yency. | did not then understand the language,
and imagined that she was addressing that lumin-
airy but William Moxly explained that part to
me. She said, How could the sun rise and set,
or the moon perform her revolutions, if there
were not some Superior Being who regulated
their motions.
They have a tradition of a general deluge.
According to their account, the sea once over
flowed the whole world, except Mouna Kaa, in
0whyhee, and swept away all the inhabitants
but one pair, who saved themselves on that
mountain, and are the parents of the present race
of mankind.
Their morals. or places of worship, consist of
one large house, or temple, with some smaller
ones round it, in which are the images of their
inferior gods. The tabooed, or consecrated pre-
cincts, are marked out by four square posts,
which stand thirty or forty yards from the build
ing. In the inside Of the principal house there
is a screen or curtain of white cloth, hung across
one end, within which the image of EtOoah is
placed. When sacrifices are offered, the priests
and chiefs enter occasionally within this space,
going in at one side and out Mt the other.
Although present on one occasion, | did not
enter this recess, partly because | was doubtful
of the ~propriety of doing so, and also on account
of the difficulty l had in moving myself, and the
risk of getting my wounds injured among the
crowd.
On the outside are placed several images made
of wood, as ugly as can be well imagined, having
their mouths all stuck round with dogs teeth.
Their holidays took place about four times a
month, and the ceremonies lasted from sunset on
the day preceding, to sunrise on the following
day during which no person was permitted to
pass the bounds of the moral. This time was
spent in prayer, in sacrificing pigs, in eating the
sacrifices, and in conversation. | attended only
once, and was not. at that time, sufficiently