The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1879-12-27
Opinion By Me- Gully

hui y - III y q -E--E ~ IIU- -N u u
Of Maui, den0minated an a~hupuaa, which wa
awarded by the Commissioners to Quiet Ian.
Titles, by name without descT. ption Of Its bound
aries.
After the surrender by Kamehameha III, II
lo4o, Of the greater part Of the land Of the King
dom to his chiefs and people, the necessity Of
speedy distribution Of it in accordance with wha
may be called the feudal rights Of the chiefs, re
quired that awards Of lands be made by namt
only without survey. No body Of surveyor
could have been found in the country, or practi
cally. could have been brought here who nigh.
have surveyed these large estates within the life
time Of half the grantees, so that every award
should have been issued az Of a tract defined by
metes and bounds or with even an approximate
statement Of the acreage. The " Mabele'' OF di-
vision was therefore made without survey.
Tracts OF land known to HawaIians as an Ahu-
puaa or Iii were awarded 10 those entitled by
name Of the Ahupuaa or Iii. By such grant was
intended TO be assigned whatever was included
in such tract according to its boundaries as
known and used from ancient times.
With the Hawaiiaus, from prehistoric times
every portion Of the land constituting these Isl-
ands was included in some division larger or
smaller, which had a name, and of which the
boundaries were known 10 the people living
thereon or in the neighbOrhOOd. Some persons
were specially taught and made the repositories
OF this knowledge, and IL was carefully delivered
from father to son.
The divisions Of the lands were to a great ex-
tent made % national lines, following a ridge,
the bottom Of a ravine or depression, but they
were often without these and sometimes IN dis
regard OF them. Sometimes a stone OF rock
known to the aboriginals and notable from some
tradition, or sacred uses, marks a corner or de-
termInes a line. The line Of growth Of a certain
kind OF tree, herb or grass, the habitat Of a Ger
tain kind Of bird sometimes made q division.
Through some parts of the country which must
always have been unfrequented by the general
population, as thick forests, rough and barren
mountain lands, their division lines lay, where
they could be traced out by some persons at least
in charge Of the territory, whose business it was
to know them.
A principle very largely obtaining in these d.
visions Of territory, was that a land should run
from the sea TO the mountains, thus ~affOrding to
the chief and bis people 4 fishery residence at the
warm sea side together with the products of the
high lands, such as fuel. canoe timber, mountain
birds, and q right of way to ----a and
all the varied products Of the intermediate land
as might be suitable to the soil and climate of
the different attitudes from sea soil to mountain
side or top. But this mode of allotment had
numerous exceptions, because some Of the lands
were for some reasons not always understood,
and perhaps arbitrary in the beginning, very
wide at the top, cutting off a great number Of
other lands from the mountain, others in like
manner wide in the lowlands, cut off land from
the sea.
The contour Of lands which have been surveyed
and plotted is most irregular. The only general
description would be that the lines are not recti-
linear and that there is no preference for right
angles In size, Ahupuaas are found Of from a
hundred acres up to thousands, in several in
stances containing more than one hundred thou
sand and more than two hundred thousand acres.
The statute which establishes the Office of
Commissioner Of Boundaries prescribes that the
holders of lands granted by mann only shall ap-
ply TO such commissioner for the settlement and
determination Of the boundaries Of what is
claimed, presenting n general description of them
by 8 survey OF otherwise" After notice to
owners Of adjacent lands the commissioner sits to
hear evidence Of what are the ancient lines Of the
land in question, hearing what is offered by the
petitioner and adversely to him by others whose
interests are affected. lie may aid his information
by going on the ground, and is to endeavor to
obtain all information possible to enable him 10
arrive &C q just decision. An appeal lies to the
Supreme or Circuit Court, on record OF the EVIL
dence vi witnesses before the commissioner which
may be supplemented by further testimony.
The late owner of the Ahupuaa OF Pulehunui,
Governor W. l.. MOehOnua, since deceased, hav-
ing made application to the commissions Of bound
ares, regular proceedings were had and the com
missioner arrived at a judgment which is fOrmu-
lated in the description notes and map OF a Ger
tain survey made on behalf Of the petitioner OF Of
the representatives Of his estate. That IL 10 say
the petitioner showed to the satisfaction of the
commissioner that the survey which he presented
and claimed by, followed the true and ancient
boundaries Of PulehunuI. And the Judgment Of
the commissioner was that PulehunuI be and was
by metes and bounds, courses and distances and
in area as set forth ia his certificate, adopting
the notes Of the survey.
Appeal is brought to this Court by the owners
Of the adjacent land Of Waikapu. The cOntro-
yersy may perhaps be made Ineligible without
a diagram from verbal description. PulehunuI as
given by the Commissioner contains an area Of
6,6S7 7S-lOO acres. 1t extends from the peak
of Kilohana on the rim Of the crater Of Haleakala
at an altitude Of 10000 feet, in a nearly west
mountain portion is comparatively narrow, often
less than bali a mile vic The western portion
reaches to the law land Of the island and grows
broader up to the western boundary joining the
land Of Waikapu, being ut this end from three to
four miles wide
The matter in dispute is the western boundary.
The appellants claim that the judgment OF the
commissioner gives Pulehunui about 5000 acres
belonging to Waikapu, which should be cut off
from Pulehunui by a western boundary lying
within though not parallel to that awarded.
The boundary given by the commissioner in
eludes about 1000 feet along the sen coast from a
sand spit known as KIhei to a point of rocks
called KalaepOhaku. The line claimed for Wal
kapu would cut Pulehunui of from the sea.
This is one Of the most explicit issues in the case.
The question before the Court is one OF fact,
and we deem it proper to set forth the testimony,
EOEIGNUlL AT large = int D1-AE lE OuE GULuuAEuN
on its character and force, and the judgment at
which we arrive.
Before the Commissioner the following wit
nesses gave testimony
H0Hlai says : was born on Pulehunui and
have lived there till now. My parents had the
charge Of this land. | have had the division of
the fish. there being a sea fishery to Pulehunui.
I know the boundaries OF Pulehunui. Where it
Joins Waikapu, at the sea it runs from Kihei to
Kalaspohaku. The boundary joins Kealia pond.
The water from the mountain runs to this pond,
on the north lor right hand slde) Of the bed of
the stream is Pulehunui, on the south or LETT
hand is Waikapu, and the boundary az the sea
shore is a sand hill, not adjacent to the Wal
kapu sand bills.
The land of Pulehunui extends to KaOpala,
which is a level place, Kaopala is an ancient
name where the water ran down and stood still
that was called KaOpala. The boundary Of Pu-
Iehunui ran through Kaopala, the stream or
sl-enrn he'd heina the hnnndlrH- AZ kaonaIa