The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1890-06-10
The Barking Sands Of Kauai and
Niihau.

Mr. EDITOR: The so-called clark
ing sands of Kauai are mentioned
in the works of several travellers in
the Hawaiian Islands, and have
world wide fame as a natural curio
sity as rule, however, the
printed accounts are meagre in de-
tails and show the authors to have
been unacquainted with similar
phenomena elsewhere.
Jointly with Dr.Alexis A.Julien of
Columbia College, New York, 1 have
been studying the properties of SON.
orous sand for long time, and have
visited many localities in America,
Europe and Asia; hence, l was able
during recent visit to Kauai to
make some notes and comparisons
that may interest the residents of
this kingdom.
Notwithstanding recent rains l
found the sand on the dune at
Mana dry to the depth of four or
five inches, and when pushed down
the steep incline, it gave out deep
bass note having a tremulous char
acter. This hardly resembles the
i" barking" of dog; but a sound
somewhat like it IS produced by
plunging the hands into the sand
and bringing them vigorously to-
gether. Another way is to fill a
long bag three-quarters full OF sand
and then, dividing its contents into
two parts, holding one IN each
hand, to clap the two portions to-
gether. This 1 had found to be a
good method for testing the sono-
rousness of sand on sea beaches. A
bag of the sand will preserve its
acoustic qualities long time if
kept dry, and not too frequently
manipulated. The angle at which
the sand lies where it falls over the
dune is 80; the sonorousness ex.
tends several hundred feet along
the dune, being interrupted by a
creeping vine that thrives marvel
ousIy in such soil.
A similar dune of sonorous sand
occurs on Niihau, as has long been
known to residents of the island /;
and it has been also reported to oc-
cur near Koloa.
These observations, simple as
they are, have been of special In
terest to me because they show
that the sand of these localities
forms a link between that of the
sea-beaches and that of certain
hill on the Gulf of Suez known as
Jebel Nagous, and which 1 visited
in April, 1889. Sonorous sand is of
more common occurrence than gen.
orally supposed; it is found on the
Atlantic coast of the United States,
from Maine to Florida, on the Pa
cific coast, in Europe, Japan, Africa,
Tasmania, ETC., as we'll as on the
shores of many fresh water lakes.
In these localities it forms areas
generally between low tide and the
base of adjoining dunes, and emits
sounds only when subjected to
friction by the feet and hands, or
in bag as described. AT Jebel
Nagous in Arabia, on the other
hand, the sand rests in ravine and
produces sound only when it rolls
down the incline, (Which it often
does spontaneously and fails to re-
spond to kicks and cuffs. The sand
at Mana, as shown. unites in itself
both these acoustic properties. The
angle at which the sand lies at
Jebel Nagous is the same as at
Mana, 81 deg. being the "angle of
rest for fine dry sand. The mus
ical notes obtained at these far
localities are also the
same, but in Arabia the incline is
800 feet high and consequently the
sounds are far louder, especially as
they are further magnified by being
echoed from adjoining cliffs.
The sand at Kauai and Niihau is
made up of fragments of shell and
coral, while that of all other local
tiles known to us lover one humid
red in number) is siliceous. This
shows that the sonorousness is in
dependent of material. Examina
ton under the microscope further
shows that the sonorous quality is
not connected with the shape of the
grains. Sonorous sand is distin-
guished by being remarkably free
from fine dust or silt; the individual
grains are very uniform in size. 1t
is very easy to deprive sand of it's
acoustic power by mixing little
earth with 1t, or by wetting it. 1t
is difficult, If not impossible, to re-
store to sand its sonorous quality
when once "killed."
A number of hypothesis have
been proposed to explain the cause
of this curious property of certain
sands. The prevalent idea in these
islands that the sound is due
to the cellular structure of the