The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1894-09-27

rows in fighting but many Of them are now
armed with guns They have large war
canoes with tall prows and sterns, which
rise in the form of wooden pillars and are
adorned with most picturesque and elab-
crate carvings.
The men and women wear no clothing
but a loin band, and at Rubiana, one of
their principal towns, they worship gro
tesque idol formed of an upright block of
wood which bears the likeness OF human
face and has inlaid rings for eyes and ears.
In war they are invetprHte head hunters,
and their victims are devoured. Ii Is said
that at the time Alverdo de Mcndana dis
covered the islands in 1861 the natives
looked upon cannihaism rs such matter
of course that the chief Of San Isabel sent
the Spanish navigator part Of the body Of a
boy, just as lac would have offered half Of
bullock, and was much offended when Men
dana ordered the present buried.
Until very recently the crews Of traders
aud whalers did not dare land on the is /
lands, owing to the trenchery and murder
Gus propenstieS OF the natives, and allowed
but few canoes to come alongside the ship
at one time. The chiefs were permitted to
come on board as much for the sake OF Sc
curing them as hostages in the event of
hostilities ~ to do them honor so long as
they behaved themselves. The bulwarks
were also protected to considerable
height by hammock nettings IN order to
preclude n sudden boarding of the vessel
by the islanders, but in spite OF these pre-
cautions number OF ships have fallen into
the hands of the cannibnls, and their crews
were mg rdered and devoured Although a
few missionaries are now hard at work
| among the islanders, there are still many
places where a small party Of white men
would lose their heads in short order If the
natives were convinced that their fate
would remain mystery.
Since the British gunboat Rapid has
shelled IA number Of native villages, how
ever, and claimed life for a life every time
white man was murdered, the islanders
have confined themselves to amusements
that were less provocative OF grape and
canister and an aftermath OF shot and shell.
: Not long ago IA trader named Duval was
murdered in Mott bay, among the southern
islands of the group shortly after the
commission Of the crime the Rapid steam
ed into the bay, cleared for action and then
sent word to the chief OF the island where
| the murder occurred that il the slayer of
| Mr.. Duyal We're not delivered aboard the
| ship in two hours the village would be
| plowed with shells and sowed with mum.
Der Of choice varieties OF grape and canis-
ter.
The chief had either experienced speci.
| men of this method OF British cultivation
or had heard all about how it was done.
for he caught the murderer instanter tum-
bled into war canoe with him and with
| breathless haste padded him TO the Rapid.
| The accused man confessed his crime, and
| the next morning he was taken ashore un-
| der guard Of strong force Of marines and
sailors and shot in the presence Of several
| hundreds Of his friends and fellow head
hunters. Such lessons as the Duyal case
are rapidly convincing the islanders that
killing and eating "a white man is such an
expensive luxury that 1t is quite out OF
| date.
There is something OF romance connect
| ed with the naming Of the islands Mendana
gave them the name they now bear ito the
end that the Spaniards, supposing them to
be those isles whence Solomon fetched gold
TO adorn the temple of Jerusalem, might be
more desirous TO 20 and inhabt the same"
| Mendana's colonization scheme failed, how
ever, for when he set out to find them again
he was unable to do so, and they were lost
sight Of until Carteret rediscovered them
exactly a century later and formed French
settlement on San Christoval, which was
finally abandoned on account Of the un-
tamable ferocity Of the natives.
The islands are of volcanic origin, and
they possess one active crater. The gold
that Mendana endeavored TO use as bait
to lure colonists to the group was all in his
mind, and naturally none Of il has ever
been found on the islands The land is gen
orally fertile, yielding breadfruit, cocoa
nuts, yams and sago In abundance, and may
also be cultivated for cotton and sugar