The Hawaiian gazette., 1891-09-29
THROUGH EONA TO HILO.
Written for the G.zErrg.

makes MIR. McDougall's cordial invita-
ton doubly welcome. Our genial friend,
John :. Antoine, has provided two good
horses, SO We are soon on the road. Kali
lua looks very lively. A large crowd is
on the shore 10 welcome Her Highness
Poomaikelani, ami in expectant prspara-
ton also Tor .he visit OF Her Majesty the
Queen. 1t i nearly impossible TO rescue
ones things iron the tangle OF legs on
the wharf. Road, did 1 say? There is
: trail over the pahoehoe which runs
northeast towards Hualalai till it meets
the upper road. 1t is called " Govern
meut road" Under the impetus given
70 all road work during the Thurston ad-
ministration, work was commenced At
Kailua to make 3 good wagon road OF
this. 1t can and ought 10 be done,
whether If viii, remains to be seen. For
. short distance all is desolation, but
soon signs OF hona's wonderful produc
tive capacity begin 70 appear. Grasses
are found in all the cracks and wherever
3 little soil has gathered In the pahoehoe
basins. An IA field Is = solid mass OF
growth Before reaching Mr.. McDou-
gals We find the guavs, pineapple,
pspaIa, orange. lime, eoff. e. euSiard
apple and multitude Of others valuable
Tor fruit, shade, feed and mechanical
purposes. Cultivated? Not bit Of it
Nature Is too generous IN that land o.
4, Nil Ion
CALLS We are entertained with true hOSpi-
taliiy, AMI have q delightful and most
inviting rest. Al that altitude one
sleeps without tear OF mosquitoes but
ree,ls one or two blankets, for the night
wind comes down silently but very chill!
FROM the SHOWS on the mountains. In
the morning we 20 on iull OF new life
and an unwonted vigor Tor 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,
matchleSsi For fertility, unsurpassed!
Below, reaching in places nearly 10 the
no. 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 alii-
tudeS Of from eight hundred up TO two
thousand feet. 1t viii grow below and
above, but perhaps not with equal pro-
duetiOn OF fruit The ride from Nc
Dougall's TO kealakekua is one constant
pleasure. Below, lar OF and like I mirror
lies the ocean; then the black and for
bidding coast line, friHged with white
line Of breakers whose roar seldom
reaches up here An occasional grove
Of cocoanuts partly hiding tie sleepy
Yillages at the beach, breaks the mono
tOuv OF the view. Nearer, lie grassy
fields and little plantations Of tobacco or
pineGpples. The natives used 10 raise
the tobacco, but 1t requires some work
and now the tiTeless ChiUaman has
come in and has nearly mOnopolized the
industry. Perhaps the Hawaiian Won
ders why ne hasn't thought OF that be-
fore. Now he leases his kuleana 10
John. draws the rent, lies down, smokes,
sleeps and enjoys life. Why shouldn't |
he, sure enough2 1t Is easy 10 live in
Eona. Man's wants are alter all but |
very few. ami without incentive why
should he work. II Is 80 much easier TO
trv lust 3 little, then 90 out whenever !
dame nature Is ready and pick the
AAlA AElAEAlAc II nAk-s - AcA4tF FAC
duced. CT 20 10 the seashore and get a
few FISH which abound in this quiet and
sunny sea. The one thing needed 10
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-
hsusied and not all Of the men Own |
kuleSnas.
But al Kona is not asleep. There are |
some most encouraging signs OF life. |
Gany Of the younger Hawalians are |
waking up and are reaching out to gras . |
and master. instead Of being swallowed
ID by the civilization OF the day Coffee |
crows WILD from one end Of ko1a 10 The |
other. Ii IS often planted but that is
al. When once put in the ground 1t is |
Left 10 czre for itself. Il starts out in |
the race with everything else and seems |
general Y 70 hold its own L grows |
heartily and vel. and 20 does the vast
tangle q ferns, grasses, vines, moses
and ether gTOwtns. ~ and by the 1
owner. possibly he Is the planter, but /
nowadays lie i very likely the son or
grandson Of the planter, comes along, |
pulls aside the tangled mass Of trailing /
vines and leaves and looks for q crop. |
Wherever Il mas had 2 chance the /
branches ara loaded with berries, but i
the chances are few and the branches
largely bare, so his heart fails within
him. With tears IN his eyes, and the
vieOr gone from his arms he scraPes of
. few bags II berries then lies on his
beliy and means Pretty soon an idea
strikes him; he gels up goes home and
writes 2 letter TO tho paper snd says,
"Coffee growing is 2 failure in Kona,
but II Is Gods will and ne must be re-
signed. The blight is coming on. soon
there will not be q healthy tree left in
the district. know it. l have tried 1t,
tried II wears ago and it is 3 fail
ure." By and by a stranger from some
live country comes along and asks
a. What are you doing Tor this blight?
1t is not very bad, but must injgre your
crops" Doing for it Nothing
NCthing can be done. | have lived here
for s long time, have seen several kings
reign and die, but nothing can be done
for thisi'' Why don't you cut down
that worthless mango Iree in your field
Of cofFee, II Is covered with blight, and
i a perfect hotbed OF it; see how it has
suread directly from that TO ali sides % |
= Cut down that mango" almost shrieks
the astonished and indignant kamaaina-
why, my dear Sir, that mango has
stood there Tor these twenty years."
u WELL SAYS the vi-iior, I'VE have to
fight the blight and good many other
things in California Ii We did not, our
grape, orange and other crops would
suffer heavily" The kamaaina only
shakes his head, and says:
a That might do for California, but not
here" then sadly goes of, ties up the
head and hind legs OF q COW, and strug-
- I'll - - a,-barrt-d xrfth the calf 70 |