The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1894-03-05

WAsHfAGT0N, Feb, 8, Professor
Alexander, the Hawaiian Commits
si0nef nov ia Washington, has III bls
possession lot OF HlOst interesting
facts about the wonderful naYi2at@fs
who originally e0ionlzed the sand
Wich Islands.
1T seems that ia the twelfth century,
at tine time when the vikings were
performing such nautical exploits jp
the North Atlantic ocean, nayigatofs
Of another race were making even
greater achievements on the other
side Of the world. These men of Ma
laynn stock, having started from
southeastern Asia, were discovering
and populaLing the arehtpsIaR0es 81
the Southern Pacific, which up 70
that time had been uniDbabiied> They
were the ancestors Of the PolyDeslans
Of today.
They had invented the deep-kee1ed
canoe, with sail and outriggef. The
boat was sharp at both ends. Some
times IL was dug out Of q single log
or, If there was not a big enough tree
handy, planke were sewn together
with braid Of cOcoanut fibre called
"slnnet." One of the most i'm porfaoI
features OF the craft was the Ousriggef,
by which it was enabled, though 30
long and narrow, TO stand up against
the wind. When IL blew hard tie
sailors would climb out upon tbis zse-
pendage to steady her, just az men
manouvre for the same purpose Oh
board of modern yacht.
II is easily imagined hOw the race
which originally populated the arcbi-
pelagoes of oceauica began the bCsi-
ness of voyaging ia q small way. pad
ding about from one coral Isle 70
another at easy distances. As their
skill of navigation Increased they
ventured farther on the sea. and thus
group after group was discovered and
peopled, each new island beoomiDg q
fresh starting point for exploration
When people have improved their
apparatus beyond their opportunities
they seek larger opportunities These
savages found themselves at length
provided with means for making voy
ages of indefinite duration with
safety. So the time arrived, I'D the
twelfth century, when more titan one
PoIynesian Columbus deliberately set
forth i'm his frail canoe across thou
sands OF miles of unknown and track
less sea in search of rev lands
These "Norsemen of the Pacific y as
Professor Otis I. Mason calls them,
did not fear the sea. Why should
they? Being as much at home in the
they would right her, bail her out
with cocaanut shells and get aboard
again. They did not hesitate 10 at
tack the biggest man-eating shark IN
the fish's native element. Having
learned 70 make -four from the tarO
root, they could carry in small com
pass provisions for long voyage.
The ocean upon which they thus
Jared forth is eleven thousand miles
wide, Compared with it. the ATTAIN
tic is a mere pond. With only the
sun. moon and stars 10 steer by, 1t Il
marvellous how these untutored navi-
gators. having once come upon such
isolated bits OF terra fiYnla as Easter
Island and the Hawaiian group,
should have been able 10 find their
way home and make trips TO and fro,
as they did, carrying new coloBists
ON each voyage out.
Possibly they may have been eu56-
ed originally to the discovery o. these
and other lands by the flights of 0irSs
The people who first landed upoa the
Hawaiian Islands came all the way
from Tahiti-a voyage 10 the north Of
more than 1900 miles. Conceive what
the subsequent passenger traffic be-
tween those islands and Tahiti must
have been TO furnish pTogeners for the
population Of four hundred thousand 4
souls which Captsiu Cook found when 4
he visited Hawaii.
Similarly, Easter Island, though 4
but a block Of lava thrown up from i
the depths of the sea and having an i
area Of only thirty-two square miles, 4
once had n population Of twenty /
thousand. 1t Is literally honey i
combed with caves, formed by bubbles i
of expanding gases during volcanic
action, in which the inhabitants for
merlv tiwelt. When they died their
bones were stored IN the caveTns,
great numbers Of which today are
found crowded with innunlerable
skeletons. Gigantic stone images and
other works Of art left behind bv this
people remain an enduring
evidence Of wonderful seIiai-civili-
ZatiO0,
BY the time OF Captain Cook this
race had occupied every 4
island I'm the Pacific that was capable
Of supporting life. New Zealand was
discovered and populated by them
They actually made voyages 10 Mada-
oascar, the present Inhabitants Of
which, the HOvas, are their descend
ants. Many scientific men are Of the
opinion that they were the first dis
coverers of An1egfca-tl1e ancestors OF
the ancient peruvians and other 5TibeS
Of South America, if not Of the North
Indians
There are marked ethnic differences