Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-11-30
SEENN HAWAII.
Barking Sands - A Missionary Who
Reads Greek at Night-A Grass House.

| Barking Sands - A missionary Who
Reads Greek at Night-A Grass House.
Letter ia ProUidencs Journal.
Among the curiosities in Western
! Kauai are the famous barking sands. This
I phenomenon Of sound is attributed to the
| attrltl0n OF the angular grains of sand
I against each other when the mass is in
slight movement. 1t is especially notice
able in dry times, and scarcely percepti-
bic after rain. Happily, one may see
the thing, or rather hear it, on a small
scale. 1t is COMMON for those residing in
/ the region 10 keep bag Of sand at home.
When this is taken in the hands and re-
yersed repeatedly, allowing the sand to
fall, first to one end of the bag and then to
the other, faint sound results, though it
requires some Imagination to liken it to a
bark OF yelp. The same phenomenon
may be observed at Manchester-by-the-
sea in Massachusetts and other localities
in the United States.
During our stay in Wanna we went
down the face OF the red cliffs TO the bot
tom OF the valley, dIstanceOf some hun
dred feet, by rude path, whose stones
were laidin earlier years by the veteran
missionary beneath whose roof we found
shelter. In the garden at the foot of the
pail were twenty-five kinds of fruit, also
planted and trained by him. This same
man, who has spent lifetime in this re-
tired spot, has the reputation of being the
finest classical scholar in the islands. l
noticed at family prayers that he read
Win great elaboration and from an I'M
usual-lOOklng New Testament, and found
on investigation that he was reading from
the Greek, translating at the moment. On
his study table lay new and abstruse
philosophical work, with critical notes in
pencil on its margins.
On this pedestrian excursion we saw
one OF the grass houses now so rare. 1t
was no hut, but the grass was neatly
braided In large strands. Its green had
changed by age TO a silVery tint, which
was very pretty. The interior was lined
with PUSHES, and in this climate one could
not ask more comfortable abode. The
principal room was a small shop, where
we tarried to rest little and refresh our
selves with glass of mineral water,
which we were surprised to find in this
out of the way place. The owner was
fine-lOOking man. three-fOrths Hawaiian,
One-fOurth white. He was evidently
above the average of his class, and the
blood OF the OLD chefs is in his veins. He
IS worker on Hawaiian woods, and
specimens Of his skill in this line won
admiration in the Hawaiian department
OF the Centennial exhibition, IN Philadel-
phia, in 1876. We learned that some
years since his wife became a leper
the law for isolation, the husband did
observe ii in fact. Close by their home
he built small but separate house for the
poor victim Of the disease, Of whom he
took the best care, though refusing to
deliver her up, locking her in for her own
protection. One happy day for her, when
engaged IN some simple duty. she sudden
ly fell and instantly expired. The disease,
which had never displayed itself in q
lOathsOme form, had probably reached the
seat of life. He evidently has a happy
home once more, and appears devoted to
his young wife and little daughter. The
former is a Hawaiian belle, but has a
/ sensible look, her cOuntenance beaming
with intelligence and good Will. AS we
/ were passing another house not far dis
/ tant, we saw a little girl whose swollen
/ face, too old for her size, indicated to the
practiced eye the presence Of the dread
disease "She was my pupil year ago."
said my friend, with no outward indica-
tons of the lepTOsy. The father of the
child, a Hawaiian dandy, is one of thiT-
teen children, whose mother received a
| medal for her success in rearing so large
a family Hawaiian women are deplOr-
/ ably deficient in maternal skill, and
/ infants often die in consequence of this
4 ignorance and inexpeTience. At present
| there are but two births to three deaths
on the island of Kauai.