Saturday press. [volume] (Honolulu, H.I.) 1880-1885, 1885-05-09

THE kOyI COAST
From Honolulu H. KaHua-7he Const,ng
Trtp-A Fem Notes on kona-Ko"
From Mr Sea
II one is not sea sick before ones time
tina, is, before reaching the Molokai Channel
the panorama one sees from the deck of an
outgoing vessel is superb. Sea, land and sky
lend each to the other beauty that makes the
combination unique. Perfection Of color, per.
lection Of outline, perfection OF form land
seape framed by sky and sea one horizon
half cloud, half wave the other, a serra,e sky
line, or else the winds within pleases-
a smooth or tossing drift Of snowy or tinted or
leaden cloud.
beautiful. The beauty Of storm is magnih.
cen, the beauty of calm is enchanting
have never been off the Honolulu Harbor in
a kona. But from the deck Of the Alameda,
as she lay at her wharf, have seen the lance
like lines OF impetuous rain, storm.drivcn
against the slopes Of the nearer valleys. and all
the further landscape obscured by the shifting
curtains Of the mist. From The roof OF Oahu
jail have seen the clouds form on Tan,alus
and fall gently over the mountain walls Of
Manoa and Pauoa or come slowly down
Nuuanu till barred and beaten and driven back
by long line of sunset half mile above Judd
street. And l have seen the long ridge from
BARRIERS Point to Coco Head withou, even the
A. rtn I'll
woocd Konohuanui in silhouette against the
blue. The infinite details Of the picture are
seen TO the best advantage from an outgoing
steamer. Sailing down the harbor and out the
channel, the view from the upper stern deck Is
practically unbroken. II toe many clouds con-
ceal the marvellous intricacy of the sky line,
those very clouds increase the apparent hight
Of the ridge. which is increased again by con
tras, with Punchbowl and Diamond Head.
From a few miles distance every imperiec.
ton Of the city and the plains and the valleys
is concealed or transformed and every beauty
is intensified. Waimea, Eva, Kalihi, Nuuanu,
Pauoa, Manoa, Palolc, Waikiki the half
seen, hall. concealed city, the prismatic har
Dor, the surf line, along the reef the sandy
beach, the fleecy, cvanescent foam, the trees
the hills, the clouds, the sky; the tall spine o
Kaumakapili, the flag on lolani Palace, tn,
battlemcnts Of Punchbowl, the Lunalilo Home
the Spreckels mansion, the Waikiki villas, thu
incompatible outlines of Leahi
A picture 2 It is a poem.
Look along that fringe Of cocoa palms No
one OF them all is a ''worn out buster, each il
colossal kahili. No one of those countless
algarobas, that culver green-golden in the sun
shine hides either malignant thoms or not les
malign mosquitoes. There are no naples
lepcrs in that pink painted enclosure surel
that is pleasure garden. And under tn
perpetual rainbow that spans Manoa neithc
vice nor envy nor even political discon,en
goes either out or in
A peerless picture know not. A perfect
Yes. And the Hawaiian who does not valu
it. aye, lore it, is unfit for citizenship or den
renship and unworthy any Hawaiian residenc
save the dark cells Of Oahu Jail.
But we are passing Coco Head-and thi
whi,e.capped water which the sailors ca
Molokai Channel and the map calls tn
Channel of Kaiwi, is a "nawsty bit Of sea.
So my friend the general secretary, and m
friend the young merchant, and my friends III
pretty girls have already soush, the seclusio
which their cabins grant Lord Ross and
have watched the red hot sun plunge into Il
steel gray sea. We have watched the huddle
medly of Kanakas, Hawaiian and Chinese, al
Hawaiian and demi.semi Hawaiian wahine
wrestling with sea.sickness and coquettir
with poi, during an hour Of fascinating fat
study. We have watched two industrio
guils, gorging themselves on the suppcrs OF %
comrades and we have buttoned our pharisa
coats--for the night is chill--taking to on
selves JUNCTION that we are not as other Sc
farers are. When we awake tomorrow v
shall see Hawaii,
Kona is one Of the historic localities
Hawaii Kailua is among its mos, histor
spots. In iSa3. Rev. Asa Thurston estima,,
its population to he $500. 1t has now pro
ably less than 100 inhabitants. II has be-
thc residence Of many powerful Hawaiii
chiefs and was the hvorte home Of the Ia
Princess Ruth. But the seal Of neglect h
been Sc. upon il. and foreign energy and e
eign capital must redevelop its productive ps
Nbl..,ies If they are ever to be redevelope
From Kailua to Hookena, some twen,y.h
miles south, the shore line was once alm'
walled by huis, heiaus and burial houses.
recently as iSa3 many Of the heiaus were
bel hest
them is little better than pile Of rocks. I
villages tina, Ellis tells Of, locating then
intervals averaging less than two miles,
either entirely deserted OF represented each
. few houses only. The heiaus Of "kauail
haola" and "Kaloaoka lani" aud one OF I
Others may still be located and imaginatl
may make something OF them. The city
refuge At Honaunau is in comparatively -
preservation, by aid Of the figures Of
original dimensions -7Is by 400 feet,
walls IS feet thick and "a fee, high --one u
readily understand what it must once h
been. Vet, without imagination, one u
find very little in |, worth seeing.
Forty years ago the kona villages
each It's historian. Who knew the hist
not only 81 his village but OF his
tsict. am told that the legends and
authentic stories Of many Of these pla
sleep forgotten, in the graves Of the
men and women who remembered them.
an assured by those who ough, to know
young Hawai- does no, go in for histo'
begging pardon Of the board Of senealo'