The Hawaiian gazette., 1893-09-19

IneIn ana their language to obtain &C
cess to these ancient sepulchers.
The other mode of burial to which
referred, and which l consider to b.
much more recent than that of tn,
caves, was in the sand of the seashore
Until within comparatively few
years, specimens of crania and othel
bones from these burying-ground.
could be obtained readily in many
places. Six or eight miles from HO'
nolulu there was such place twenty
years ago, where for several miles on
the seashore these human remains lay
bleaching in hundreds under the trop-
zeal sun, until they had attained the
color and texture of ivory. 1 have
seen several similar places on the ISL
land OF Oahu and on Kauai particu-
larry, but they have ceased to exist.
In some places the grass has grown
completely over the sand-mounds, and
cattle pasture over whatever bones
may remain beneath. In others the
native people, jealous of their removal,
have taken care to break and demol-
ish the skulls, thus rendering them
useless. And the South Sea Island
laborers have sought everywhere for
I JllO ohullo anu ItDlONtu llC IttIu lOI
| the purpose of making necklaces of
them, of which they are very fond.
Realizing more the value of these
ancient remains, now that they are so
difficult to obtain, | recently spent a
week on journey to the island of
Hawaii for the purpose of visiting
some of these lava caves and securing
if possible some of their treasures. l
was fortunate in being able to obtain
the assistance of a friend whose knowl-
edge of the native people and their
language made him especially valua-
bic, and / may say indispensable to
my success. A voyage of perhaps two
hundred miles from Honolulu brought
us to the vicinity of the caves. Pro-
viding ourselves with candles, stout
cord, etc., we at once engaged the SER
vice of an old native who claimed to
know all about the object of our
search, and spent the first day in a
vain endeavor to find the ancient cave.
Whether the native knew less than
he had professed, or whether at the
last his courage failed, and he feared
the result of guiding us Alright, we
did not know, but we suspected the
latter reason was the true one.
The next day we secured two guides,
and after riding many miles over
rough lava-cOvered land, we reached
a spot which our guides pointed to as
a burial-cave. 1t was near the sea-
shore, far from any human dwelling,
and from any place that could support
a habitation. We could not believe
at first that an opening could exist
10 oVant1prh IN admit q hn1u
but with much labor we succeeded in
removing the rocks so that by consid-
cradle effort we were able to force our
selves through. Leaving our unwill-
ing guides at the entrance, we fastened
a cord securely to the opening of the
cave, lighted our candles, and proceed
ed to work our way down. Descending
among the rocks until we were at
least fifty feet below the surface, we
suddenly entered a large room, per-
haps forty feet high. There were no
bodies here, but opening from this
room on several sides there were low,
narrow passages. Entering one of
these, we followed it for perhaps a
quarter of a mile. Part of the way
we were obliged to crawl with great
difficulty through the narrow tunnel.
We were finally rewarded by again
suddenly finding ourselves in large
room, and surrounded on every side
by the objects of our search. Near
the entrance some of the bodies lay
as if hastily deposited, but most of |
them were laid away with care, some |
upon shelves partly made with sticks |
laid in the rock at the side of the cave,
more in an opening at the side, which |
the remains of stone wall showed to |
have been at some time walled off |
from the rest of the cave, while the |
dim light of our candles showed us |
several openings in different directions
which doubtless led to other similar |
burial caves.
The knees were usually drawn up to |
the breast, tied with a cord, and the |
whole wrapped in many folds of the
native cloth or tapa. By the side of |
each had apparently been left some
food, and perhaps his fish-hook or
spear, that he might not want for food /
in his future home. The air being
very dry, and perhaps having some
antiseptic property, many of the bod
les were completely mummified. Deep /
dust lay upon everything, and the
stiffness of death was over all. We
could easily imagine with what awe
the friends of those lying here had
crept down at night and laid away
their dead. For the greatest secrecy
must be observed, so that no one could
ever find them. 81 do not WISH" said
4 dying chief, "that my bones should
De made into arrows to shoot mice
With, or into fish-hooks"
We secured as many specimens of
,rania only as we were able to carry,
them in bags. 1t was grow
ng dark when we emerged from the
ave, and when our natives, who were
waiting outside, saw our bags of bones
md realized that they must help US to
AIRY them home, they were in utter
1t was with difficulty
hat they could be persuaded to place
hem upon their horses, and then, re
,ardless of US, of road or path, they
ook the shortest way home as fast as
heir horses could carry them, not
laring to look behind lest they should |
ee the pursuing ghosts of their ances-
ors, leaving us to pick our way as
'est we could over the rocks in the
ark, without even a path, the eight
r ten miles to our lodging place.
We have been taught that primitive
IeODle living i'm SimDle conditions I