Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-02-10
magic. full Of marvels, inhabited by super
natural beings.


natural beings.
A Pacific Marco Polo.
One Of the Hawaiian traditions relates to
an ancient navigator named Paumakua,
who voyaged all the way to Tahiti and
brought back with him two white men Of
priestly Office, called Kaokae and Maliu, to-
gether with a prophet named Malola. This
last was a wizard. who had power over the
winds. a function not altogether uncommon
In those days. when the whole contents Of
Eolus' cave could be kept in one small cal
abash along with dead mans bones. The
description OF these mysterious strangers
as fair and tall, stout and ruddy, with
sparkling eyes. is suggestive Of Vikings Of
the Saxon type: but the priestly function
does not seem to be in keeping with the
character Of the piratical Norsemen.
The agriculture Of the ancient Polynes-
ians was mainly the growing Of taro, the
root Of which was ground into flour and
made into all sorts of cakes and other nu-
tritious dishes. When the crop was ripe
the occasion was usually celebrated by a
human sacrifice. Hence the story Of the
fatal taro patch" Everybody is familiar
with the plant with huge. green. heart
shaped leaves, which is used for decorative
purposes in parks and about fountains
Elephant leaf Is a common name for It,
Pacific.
Human sacrifices were very common
among the Polynesians, some families be-
ing devoted for generation after generation
to furnishing such offerings. The priests,
being regarded as embodying various del
Ties and hence termed "god-boxes," could
designate anybody they disliked as a suit
able victim After being slain the latter
was usually devoured. The practice of
cannibalism was carried SO far that pa
rents would even eat their own children.
From this unhealthy appetite for long
pig the missionaries have done their best
to wean the islanders Of today.
These people only use the bow and ar
row to kill rats with. They fought with
clubs and spears. Clothing they made by
beating out the inner bark Of the mulberry
tree They invented a method Of Ash
farming, using for that purpose pools
among the coral reefs which were pre-
pared by damming the inlets and scraping
the bottoms smooth. Fishes caught in the
sea~the hooks employed had no barbs and
transferred to the ponds. Various imple-
ments were made of polished stone and
from the shell of the giant clam, which
cuts like an AK.
the march of civilization the Polynesians
have succumbed to the alcohol and dis
eases Of the white man. The native Ha-
waiian population Is today only one-tenth
as numerous as when Capt Cook sailed.
Thanks to that great navigator most Of the
islands of Oceanica are Over-run with pigs,
his rule having been to leave pair of
them wherever he landed. No large man.
because they could not reach them.
The Root Of All Existence.
The savage Polynesians even now COM
monty call the white people "sky-breakers."
They think that the heavens shut down
over the earth at the horizon and that the
pale-faces must have burst through the
wall Of sky from beyond in order to reach
their islands. They believe that the world
Is a cocoanut shell Of enormous dimensions.
at the top of which is a single aperture
communicating with the upper air. where
human beings dwell. At the very bottom
Of the shell Is a stem gradually tapering to
a point, which represents the beginning of
all things. This point is spirit or demon
without human form. whose name is Root
of All Existence" By him the entire fabric
Of creation il sustained.
In the interior Of the cocoanut shell, at
its very bottom. lives female demon. So
narrow is the space into which she Is crowd
ed that she Is obliged to sit forever with
knees and chin touching. Her name Is
sprung numerous spirits. They inhabit five
different floors into which the great cocoa
nut Is divided. From certain of these spir-
Its mankind Is descended. The islanders,
regarding themselves as the only real men
and women, were formerly accustomed to
look upon strangers as evil spirits in the
guise of humanity, whom they killed when
they could. Offering them as sacrifices.
Hades. or the land Of ghosts, is supposed
to be inside the mighty cocoanut shell. be-
meath the surface OF the earth, which is
merely thin crust over q vast hollow
Some OF the islands. being Of volcanic orr
gin, are honeycombed with caves and
irightful chasms, down the deepest of which
the corpses of the dead are thrown, SO that
the Survivors not unnaturally imagine the
entrance to the neither world to be down
one or more Of these pits. Existence in
This strange spirit land is pursued by the
immortals very much as people living on
eaTtn Iney are numerous and their WAYS
are mostly FAR from engaging. Some tribes
OF them are cannibals whose delight 10 20
entrap and feed upon the souls of morta,s
otners have only one eye apiece.
10 these natives Of the South Pacific th.
cocoanut Is vegetable product of the mr.
most Importance. Its origin was divine
Ihe.e was a young woman, daughter ~ q
GODDESS, who lived In a cave close nv which
ran a stream that was filled with aais
One Gay while bathing she was surprised
~ huge eel, which rapidly assumed the
torn OF handsome youth. He informed
ner tnat ne was the god Of the cells. They
oecame lovers. but finally he was Compelled
10 DID her farewell. Before doing so. how
ever. ne appeared in his eel shape and Al
rected her to cut of his head and bury ~
Sne did SO. and it sprouted into a tree
FROM this tree all the cocoanuts in tho
worid were derived. and on each nut are
lnVariapiy found the two eyes and n,onth
OF the young man. The white karno, =.
commonly referred to in Polynesia as his