The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1893-06-17

| sweet sounus promise TO evolve low
ana loving Kindness, these thought
less, nameless, hopeless myriads
swarm into being, seemingly Great
only 10 yell and murder anu desecrat,
the beautiful life which surround
them. An early traveller says: %
heard shrek expressive of the ut
most horror, when q powerful maj
ran rapidly past me and threw him
self on the ground, senseless in n con
vulsiOn. Ii was almost impossible Il
arouse or control him, and il appeared
that the man thought himself pur
sued by his own wrath"
8 Between .3oO,OOO and 100000, at tn,
| time of Cooks visit
| 9Jarvis
There were tribes and individuals OF
the milder type; the charming cry
Aloha" ("greeting," or Glove to
| you'') voices the gentler phase of the
native life, which, at present, prepon-
derates under the protection of gov
| ernment, and yet is none the less in
abject subsection to ghoul and shark
| fend, Pele's fire and kahuna's threat.
Although capable of great exertiOn,
| on sea or land, the grandiy muscular
bodies of the natives, if influenced by
fright or dread, absolutely lack ten
| acity of life. In 1853, alarmed by
smallpox, thousands threw them
selves into the water, to stop the
fever, and many died in the act. An
epidemic of measles, a few years later,
proved harmless to the whites, but
several thousand natives persisted 10
10 The whites never die of boohoo
fever, a disease imported TO these islands
from Panama. but the resistance of the
native population Is so weak that great
numbers yield, at times, to this aiiment."-
EnCr or Eahr
Mr.. Bishop thinks that this "ready
surrender to sickness is, in most cases,
due to a definite belief in a demon
whom the native feels working in his
vitals, and whom it is hopeless to re-
sist" IL
IL Rev. S. E. Bishops ~ Why Are the
HawaIians Dying Out?"
In 1873 a native called at the shop of
Mr.. {. r.. Williams, an undertaken in
Honolulu, and bought for himself and
wife two collins; went home, bathed,
changed his dress, and was buried
with his wife. There was no suspi-
cion OF poisoning.
A native workman who had been in
Mr.. Williams employ for many
years, admiring one day a snowy
coffin of kOa wood which he himself
had polished, strongly limited his de-
sire to be Inferred therein. ayes,
Moku, when you die it shall be your
pahu (bOx)," said the employer. But
the impatient Moku could endure for
but one brief day, for he was buried
within forty hours of acquiring his
new possession. In the latter instance
some emotion other than fear-ambi-
ton, perhaps, or avarice, seemed to
Influence the early death. II
II Mr.. Williams is most trustworthy
witness.
1t is nearly impossible to induce a
native, when sick, to submit TO medi-
cal treatment. Here the power of the
ordinary kahuna, one of the saving
sort, is displayed. Black pigs are
roasted for the invalid and his friends
and the kahuna, while communica-
lions, well paid for, are held with the |
powers above and below. There is then
no limit to the fortitude with which
the patient will endure suffering I'M
relieved. Pretending to obey the for |
eign physician, he follows the direc- |
tions of the kahuna, who, in his |
twofold function of doctor and priest, |
is preaching and practising behind the |
scenes and throwing away the mix
lures of his foreign rival (perhaps of |
questionable adaptation themselves). |
Is In chronic diseases Il talisman or
charm (aumakua) is often natives sole
reliance. The protecting charm may be a
shell, nut, or small IDOL which the pa
tient worships, begging for relief in his
sickness. A gentleman, partly Hawaiian
Oy birth. now IN this country, tells the
writer that during his mothers last illness
ne TO nd her obstinately depending for
cure unon an object wrapped in ii leaves.
rnis was by direction of a kahuna. The
niece, young GIRL also ailing, iav "unat-
ended, ~ with star to take care of her, as
iumakua, enwrapped in her thoughts.
Thus a doomed race courts death.
What We have now seen of character,
habit and surroundings of the native
clearly shows that it would
De possible to exert any deadly iuflu-
nee upon these people through
hreats, or their own fears and super
titiOns, or the slightest exposure or
hook.
The processes of praying to death
re as follows: "Any native sUhose
FOODS acre desired, or who might
therwis5 have given cause of offense,
by auaana, instantly sus-
'ended his avocation'' and, fastening
o the kahuna, crouched in AFFECT SUBJ
nission to his will, [l4l until death
ook place, usually in a few hours and
pparently from exhaustion. ID
Ii Jarvis.
ID brigham says (nOJe y, NeneraOIe L
AT present poisons are often {
land it is reasonable to attribute i
1ese tragIcal deaths chiefly to the use of t
olson. kalaipahoa, the poison god, is I
Ippo> ed to have been carved out of a poi
0nous wood" APO leo was the art of ;
epriving person of the power of articu- :
tie speech. The kahnna prayed at night
} Mi and Hiiska, presenting them with !
18th ava (the native intoXIcant. piper l
lethysticum). The next day he sought
is victim ana Git was believed) ne para s
'zed his voice. The sufferer might die IN T
few days if the sorce-er persisted. Con {
ensed from Alexander Brief History.
Frequently kahuna repairs in per-
On to the abode of his victim and
laces himself in the presence of the
ian, thereupon muttering incanta- !
ons and prayers. The kBhuna's own {
Ivorite god is usually addressed and
lso such aumakuas and deities as are {
opposed to have been offended by the 1
scused. [l61 The subject sits quietly 6
efore his antagonist, takes no food /
nd but little drink, and dies in few
avs. II Q
16 The kahuna informs him that he has ]
,mmitted some act such as the violation S
a vow, which has offended the family
city, or aumakua, and through mental r
Dprehension the effect of sickness ensues." g
Bishop. q
II I'm many instances Mr.. Bishop @
VS.. death is due to superstltions belief !
a demon whom the native feels working