The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1893-12-22
MAP OF HAWAIIAN ISLANDS.


nounced exactly like long in line and
prime; as a in fate, as ee In feel, as
90 in COO and all other letters as in English.
When ii follow a vowel. the first is
sounded with that vowel and the second
alone. Thus Hawaii is Hah-wy-ee, ac-
cented on the second syllable.
1t is the consonants which make the
trouble. To say that the language has
no constant consonants would be scarce
ly an exaggeration. The vowels are al
ways pronounced clearly and strongly,
in many cases with real lingering
sweetness, but not so the consonants.
In fact, if a clear voiced talker should
omit tho consonants entirely, a native
would generally understand him. One
must listen carefully to distinguish be-
tween and |, between { and k, and so
of many other doubles, and in the older
works on the islands one finds the names
thus spelled indiiferently. as taro or
kalo, Kilauea or Tirauea, or more COM
monty Krauea, Peie.. .Tele or Kele, etc.
My first lessons were in the Book OF
Mormon" my local mentor being mis-
sionary of that persuasion, and this
book, unlike. most. loses nothing in trans
lation. The spirit of the original could
not evaporate, as Max Muller puts it. be-
cause in English. the book is aptly de-
scribed as "chloroform in print"-hope-
lessly dull. Nevertheless the Mormons
have done wonderful work on the is
lands, and this would be one of their
strongest outposts if their converts had
not, Kanaka fashion, died off SO rapidly.
In Utah is an extensive family Of Nebe-
kers, cousins, believe, OF the present
United States treasurer One Of these
did so good work in Kauai that his
most talented converts took his name.
After my return to Salt Lake City !
heard one of these Kanaka Nebekers de-
liver an address there in his native
tongue which a returned missionary
translated, and though by no means an
expert in Kanaka understood enough
to realize that thatinterpreter was phe-
nomenally brilliant liar
The American missionaries reached
the islands in 1920 and soon had the ma
tive speech reduced to written Ian
guage. Now every adult Kanaka can
read and write. Some 300 books have
been published in the language, and the
Kanaka journals are read by every one
Bearing in mind the rules above given,
the reader will easily see that Oahu is
pronounced O-ah-hoo; Maui, Mow-ee;
Kilauea, Kee-low-a-ah; Liliuokalaii i,
Lee-lee-oo-oh-ka-la-nee. and so on of all
other places and persoI The main is
land gives a name to the whole group
with the addition of Nei (Nay-eel, aword
signifying union. or the whole; hence
the official designation of the kingdom
is Hawaii-Nei.
Hawaii is nearly twice as large as all
the other islands together, but Oahu is
politically the most important, having
the capital and by far. the best harbor in
the islands, and Kauai Is rather the most
advancedsin agriculture. did not know
the reason Of this. till ! found it out, and
was quite suddenly put in the way of
fndingit out at Hilo. in Hawaii 1t was
perfectly lovely day, and Twas writing
and lounging by turns when there came
q strange quiver; my inkstand danced
over the table like quicksilvered toy
man, felt sudden nausea, there was a
grinding sensation in the very light
frame walls, and subsequent proceed
ings interested me no more" in that
room-for / was in the middle of the
street with several other people. 1t
was over in a minute. Then every
body laughed and pointed out that even
if one of these houses fell on fellow it
would not hurt him much, for they are
very light in structure Heavy stono
buildings are all very wei! for Oahu and
Kauai, and will barely do in Maui and
Molokai, but not in Hawaii.
The explanation is, to my mind, very
curious. The islands were all builtup
by volcano and earthquake. Nature be-
gan the, job at the northwest end Of the
chain with some small islands, mere
rocky peaks; as she moved southeast
ward she built up successfully larger is
lands, and she is still at it--intends TO
keep at it, the ''rock sharps" say. till she
makes a real island continent. While
she is binding an island it is of course
powerful uneasy and mighty uncer-
tain, "but when she has finished il it
settles down to quiet maturity. Hence
the comparative steadiness of Oahu and
Kauai; hence the instability of Hawaii
Only five years before my visit thcro
was Pele to pay in that island. (Pele is
the native devil Of Hawaii, or deviless
rather, for it is a female.) For many
days together the whole island shook
like giant in an ague fit. The propri-
etor of the hotel at the Kilauea crater
said in letter to the Honolulu Adver-
tiser that "Pele sent Rodman 20-inch
shot with such precision that 1t struck
ihe ground within an inch OF my bed.
ran and cid not return" Nearly all the
stone buildings In Hilo were shaken
down. The missionaries record with
sort of grim humor that their bookcases