The Atlanta constitution. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-19??, 1892-09-13
THE HAWAIIANS.
TEE KANAKAS ATHOME AND THEIR
POLITICAL SITUATION.
Hawaifs Commercial observation-disclosures
and Customs of the Natives-Scenes
Near HonnoIulu-Other Things.

Sandwich iSlands-pOlitical, commercial
apd social-is peculiar and well worth
study, as it shows the influence Of Chris
tianity and civilization upon people or
curious native instincts and of exception
ally fine physique When Captain Cook
first explored these islands, a tritle over q
100 years ago, the Hawaiians numbered
over 100000. Today the pure-blood Hal
waiians do not exceed 10000. With tins
unparalleled falling off in numbers has
come a great deterioration of stamina, the
spread Of conta gious diseases that sap
the strength and vitality of the race, ana
the Introduction Of alien races which nave
produced mongrel types with less virtue
than their progenitors. Against this must
be set the abolition Of canniballSm ana
the advance in general intelligence, which
has been very great. Politically, the Islands
present the finest type of the opera
bouffe kingdom that can be found in the
world.
The Hawaiian Archipelago comprises q
group of eight inhabited islands, 1000
miles southeast of San Francisco. They
have an area of 6.4SO square miles, DelhS
about equal to Connecticut, Rhode Island
and Delaware combined, and having a
population twice the size of that OF the
least pOpulouS state of the union. Nevada,
and considerably more than the last adj
mitted state of Idaho. The chief city Is
Honolulu, the capital, with population
of $4,000. The government is at present
q limited constitutional monarchy with
form as to its royal branch superhcially
like that of England, but with a constitu-
ton modelled after that of the United
States. Executive power is vested III four
ministers appointed by the sovereign. The
legislature consists of two bodies Of
tWenty-fOur members each, the upper
house being composed of mobiles who are
elected by voters having an annual III
come of 5000, and who are able TO read
and write The electors of the lower house
must be able TO read and write, and pay
at lest So annually in taxes.
The native uncontaminated by foreign in
duence is happy. careless, fond of flowers
and music, full of sentiment and wholly I'M
touched by sordid cares If he takes fan
cy to one no favor is too grt IT to lay on the
altar of friendship. If not, he Will even
refuse to do business with the obnoxious
stranger The love of flowers is q marked
race characteristic and the group of Kama
ka women making wreaths on the sidewalk
flower market Is one Of the picturesque
sights of Honolulu. AS the women grow
Old they run 10 phenomenal obesity, ana no
woman is too old or too fat TO bCdeck her
self in wreaths and garlands on such II triy-
Ial occasion as going TO market. She may
be barefoOted, and her Mother hubbard,
which Is the universal dress among the
lower classes may be torn, but she is not
fully dressed without a jaunty sailor hat
having a crown of natural flowers rising on
the brim. The national drink Is sand pm
per GIN" and the national food is poi. This
Is a paste slightly soured, made OF taro root.
These roots are about the size of turnip,
and on being pounded to extract the fiber,
produce flour, starchy in character, which
Is mixed with water and allowed to ferment.
1t is properly eaten with the fingers. Paste
go thick that one finger only is required 10
capture a moutbful is called one-hnger poi.
The Poi Problem.
FerInenting a day longer it becomes thin
ner and requires two fingers to properly nan
de il. 1T is then called two-iinger poi. Be
youd the fOur-iinger limit 1t becomes I'M
manageable and requires thickening with
fresh stock. Poi is eaten with a little saitcd
fish as a relish. 1t is really undistinguisha-
BILE from a common bill stlcker 5 paste
somewhat sourcd. The taste for it has to
be cultivated, but once acquired 1t Is found
III ideal hOt-climate diet.
The Kanakas are, Of course, everywhere.
The more pretentious and luxurious homes
are, rule, these of Americans ana
English and the more wealthy natives and
half-castes The residences are almost III
variabIy low and made of wood, for the
Islands are subject to earthquakes, though
none of any severity have occurred III re-
buildings rarely rise beyond two stories,
though many Of the public buildings are I'M
posing and would be a credit To any rich
community. An absence OF chimneys
strikes the stranger as peculiar, ana there
Is probably not 4 heating stove or n ire
place in the whole city, and no excuse for
any as the temperature is like al American
June at it's best the year around. There is
about six degrees difference between sum-
mer and winter.
One of the saddest spectacles in Hawaii
Is the rapid decay of the native race. Dis
ease and death have made heavy inroads
among them. More even than the SamoanS
and Tahitians they seem to absorb all the
vices OF the white race. They are pleasure
loving, indOleut, gOodnatured and honest
but virtue among them is practically un
known. 1t IS still the custom to give q
guest the cOmpauiOnShip of the wife or the
most attractive daughter; in fact the qucs-
zion of morality does not bother the native
G1awaiiau. and he frankly admits it. The
Chinese have introduced the vice of opium
smoking, and they also bring in large Quan
titles Of rice brandy, which the native
Creaslng III size, and every census sees n
shrnkage in the already small number OF
this doomed race. The census Of 1854 gave
81 ,-,}2 liaWaians and half-caStes: that of
1890, 3S,614-a loss of 5.0ES in six years
The Chinese now number Il, 299, the Jap
0nese l2,244 and the Portuguese 9.1OO OF
this large number of Chinese, only about
Hawaiian loves next to old square fuse
AS they call gin.
One peculiar thing which is worthy the
attention Of the student OF ethn0ogy is that
the crossing of the Chinese and Hawaiials
makes Il better race, physically and men
tally, than either OF the originals Some of
the brightest young men in Hawaii have
Chinese fathers and Kanaka mothers
THESE half-caslcS are remarkably Shrewd
In business, while they have the agreeable
manners of the HaWaiIAns. The Portu-
guese thrifty, but they are a poor race.
They now tlOcking over To California
and going into the fruit and vineyard
districts, where their labor viii certainly
be better than that Of Chinese, for they are
eager to buy homes and settle. Civilized
vices and diseases and the leprosy threaten
to wipe out the native HaWaiians in the
next thirty years. They are disappearing
more rapidly than the AiaoriS, of New Yea
land, and for the same reason
The Hawaiians. even in their decadence,
hre a merry race, and their dances are cole
brated. The hula hula is probably the
most perfect of the South Sea island native
dances, in honor of the goddess of love.
1t is 81 lasciyious dance, which so greatly
excites the natives that it mas been pro-
hibited. and is only given now by stealth;
hut the people are SO fond of it that pro-
fessonal hula hula dancers are in great
demand, and 10 feast is complete without
Il, { -,