The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1891-09-23
THROUGH KONA TO HILO.

LAldhC5 A1As hCOOuS1ll COio1ol 1ilSIItt-
ton doubly welcome. Our genial friend,
John S. Antoine, has provided two good
horses, so we are soon on the road. kai-
lua looks very lively. A large crowd is
on the shore to welcome Her Highness
Poomaikelani, and in expectant prepare
ton also for the visit of Her Majesty the
Queen. 1t is nearly impossible to rescue
ones things from the tangle Of legs on
the wharf. Road, did l say? There is
a trail over the pahoehoe which luns
northeast towards Hualalai till it meets
the upper road. 1t is called a " Govern
ment road" Under the impetus given
to all road work during the Thurston adj
ministration, work was commenced at
Kailua to make good wagon road of
this. It can and ought to be done,
whether it will, remains to be seen. For
a short distance all is desolation, but
soon signs of Kona's wonderful produc-
tive capacity begin to appear. Grasses
are found in all the cracks and wherever
little soil has gathered in the pahoehoe
baCins. An "a field is a solid mass of
growth. Before reaching Mr.. McDou-
CALLS We find the guava, pineapple,
papaia, orange, lime, coffee. custard-
apple and multitude of others valuable
for fruit, shade, feed and mechanical
purposes. Cultivated? Not bit of it
Nature is too generous in that land of
fervid sun and fertile soil. At MCDou
CALLS we are entertained with true hospi
tally, and have delightful and most
inviting rest. At that altitude one
sleeps without tear of mosquitoes, but
needs one or two blankets, for the night
wind comes down silently but very chill
from the SHOWS on the mountains. In
the morning we go on full Of new life
and an unwonted vigor for the tropics.
Another steep trail takes us two or three
hundred feet higher, and we are on the
upper road. Here is Kona, in all of her
lonely and unknown glory! For climate,
matchless! For fertility, unsurpassed!
Below, reaching in places nearly to the
hot and desolate shore is the natural
home of the pineapple; out of that, but
mingled like the colors of the rainbow,
runs the coffee belt, lying between aIti-
tudes of from eight hundred up to two
thousand feet. 1t will grow below and
above, but perhaps not with equal pro-
Dougall's to Kealakekua is one constant
pleasure. Below, far off and like a mirror
lies the ocean; then the black and for
bidding coast line, fringed with white
line of breakers whose roar seldom
reaches up here. An occasional grove
of cocoanuts partly hiding the sleepy
villages at the beach, breaks the mono
tony of the view. Nearer, lie grassy
fields and little plantations of tobacco Or
pineapples. The natives used to raise
the tobacco, but it requires some work
and now the tireless Chinaman has
come in and has nearly monopolized the
industry. Perhaps the Hawaiian Won
ders why he hasn't thought of that be-
fore. Now he leases his kuleana to
John, draws the rent, lies down, smokes,
sleeps and enjoys life Why shouldn't
he, sure enough? 1t is easy to live in
Kona. Mans wants are alter all but
very few, and without incentive why
should he work? 1t is so much easier to
try just little, then 60 out whenever
dame nature is ready and pick the
ripe and delicious fruits, so lavishly pro-
duced, or go to the seashore and get
few fish which abound in this quiet and
sunny sea. The one thing needed to
complete the perfect happiness is to
abolish all taxes, for taxes require
money and money must be earned by
labor, that is if the rent has been ex-
hausted and not all of the men own
kuleanas.
But all Kona is not asleep. There are
some most encouraging signs of life.
Many of the younger Hawaiians are
waking up and are reaching out to grasp
and master, instead of being swallowed
up by the civilization of the day. Coffee
grows wild from one end of Kona to the
other. It is often planted but that is
all. When once putt the ground it is
left to care for itself. It starts out in
the race with everything else and seems
generally to hold its own. 1t grows
heartily and well and SO does the vast
tangle of ferns, grasses, vines, MOSES
and other groWths. By and by the
owner, possibly he is the planter, but
nowadays he is very likely the son or
grandson of the planter, comes along,
pulls aside the tangled mass of trailing
vines and leaves and looks for crop. I
Wherever it has had chance the
branches are loaded with berries, but
the chances are few and the branches
largely bare, so his heart fails within
him. With tears in his eyes, and the
vigor gone from his arms he scrapes off
few bags Of berries then lies on his
belly and means. Pretty soon an idea
strikes him; he gets up goes home and
writes letter to tho paper and says,
Coffee growing is failure in Kona,
but it is Gods will and we must be re-
signed. The blight is coming on, soon
there will not be healthy tree left in
the district. / know it. have tried it, |
tried it years ago and it is fail
ure." By and by a stranger from some |
live country comes along and asks:
" What are you doing for this blight? |
It is not very bad, but must iniure your
crops" Doing for it Nothing |
Nothing can be done. I:have lived here
for long time, have seen several kings
reign and die, but nothing can be done |
for thisl" Why don't you cut down
that worthless mangotree in your field !
of coffee, it is covered with blight, and
is perfect hotbed of it; see how it has
spread directly from that to all sides ?''
" Cut down that mango!" almost shrieks
the astonished and indignant kamaaina.
Why, my dear Sir, that mango has
stood there for these twenty yearsp'