The Hawaiian gazette., 1895-10-11

by lines and dots in rude imitation @
, the printed calicoes worn by thos
who could boast such foreign fashions
but "tappa,n being merely kind o
paper, is but poor defense against tn
weather in the rainy season, and un
pleasantly warm wearing in the sum-
mer, so that cotton or cloth is at {
high premium, and print dress is a
much an article of luxury with thes'
islanders as velvet robe Is with us.
Incomparatively the raggedest o
men was a spare, sailow fellow o
about forty, with an unmistakablt
New England cast of features and 6
Yankee drawl which would have be-
come Uncle Sam himself. His name
was Warren, and he was married tc
the prettiest and most refined looking
young woman on the island, q
daughter of Edward Christian the
elder, and sister to the handsome Lad
whom 1 had noticed in the boat.
Warren had deserted from a whaler
that had touched at Pitcairn some
eight years before our arrival, and
made up his mind to cast his lot in
with the simple community with
which he found himself, and had
married the belle of the standard a
very pretty, nice-mannered body she
was, with two chubby children,
neither of whom showed the slightest
trace of the rounded features that
mark the imperfect evolution of the
Kanaka and Maori race, which seems
to be about halfway between the
negro and the Aryan. Kanaka
beauty, in fact, puts one in mind of
the lovely but sensuous girls that used
to queen it at the so-called "Creole"
balls in New Orleans before the war.
Mrs. Warren, however, is, and it
must be said, all the female popula-
ton OF this ''geni of the ocean" are,
perfectly modest and ladylike, quiet
and reserved in manner and dignified
in demeanor. The only lively laugh
ing lassies among them are those of
the Clan Mccoy, who, being descend
ed on the male side from Pat Mccoy,
mutinOus foretopman of the Bounty,
have the Celtic temperament, "half
sunshine, half tearsm together with
the blue eyes and ready wit of their
ancestor.
Members of the Clan Christian, on
the contrary, show tie innate quiet
reserve that we are accustomed to
attribute to the British upper classes,
and are the aristocracy of this micro
cosm of the Pacific, the community
being always presided over by one of
that family, who, like the tribal rul-
ers of old, is priest and chieftain both,
from whom there is no appeal.
The female element of Pitcairn is de-
scended from the Kanaka girls, who |
followed their white husbands and |
lovers in the Bounty, on her depart !
ure from the Sandwich Islands, the |
presence of whom on board was a |
prime cause of the mutiny against |
Captain Bligh, who disapproved of |
the feminine Eruption into his ship,
and had ordered the sweethearts and
wives to be summarily divorced and i
left behind.
The girls hid themselves on board
and did not make their appearance
till the ship was in blue water, when
it was plain that not even the
Kanakas' dexterity in swimming
could bring them safely to land if, as
the skipper proposed, they should be
overheard.
Even in the early days of the settle
ment on Pitcairn, when the muffin
GERS, 10 imitation of XerXes and his
army had burned their boats" the
presence of the ladies led to strife,
those of the men who were wifeless
to adopt the methods of the
Romans with the Sabine lasses, and
TO take by force what they could not
win by love, while those who had
wives aud sweethearts were minded to
keep them at all risks.
Only the statesmanship of the Chris
tan OF that day sufficed to quiet the
and to persuade the un-
willing bachelors to possess their souls
n patience till the rising generation
should arrive at manageable age, a
ask which would have taxed Glad
stones political sagacity and powers
If persuasion to the utmost, and the
of which speaks well for the
.loqueDce OF the chieftain and the
of the British tars thus con- /
iemned to choose their mates In the
cradle and bring them up in the way
hey should go, themselves meantime !
whitening on the virgin thorn.n
The task, however, was accom- j
,lished, and in the fullness OF time all
we're accommodated with partners,
he late corners having the laugh at r
be Others in that their Rachels, :
Tough long waited for, were young ;
nd blooming, while their rival Leahs j
we're grown gray and blear-eyed. But 5
his is ancient history. '
We mounted the sloping, winding, +
ocky path leading from the beach up +
D cluster of cabins, built of bamboo :
nd matched with neatly plated pal :
letto strips, accompanied with the q
rowd of natives which had received q
8. n
Green shining leaves of the bread
nit tree, with its curious globes of
Irina, the sharp spears of the Spanish r
ayonet plants, lime shrubs, with =
leir little verdant balls of fruit !,
ranges, with their golden spheres :
nd fragrant flowers; cocoa palms, z
18th feathery crowns about their =
eads and great pendulous cases of y
ugh fibre, protecting the delicious
lily and refreshing milk within; Gus.
I'd apples, with crystals of grape '
Igar gemming their cups of nectar I
Id ambrosia; bananas laden with
eir vegetable sausages, vines OF va
Ous species with their purple or am
II clusters glowing in the sunlight in
se the jewel fruit of the Eastern tale,
ID flowers of all kinds, coloIs and
euts, blooming on trees, shrubs and q
silises, or wreathing the path with -
rlands, made the ascent daylight u
cam, from which we aroused to find Z
rselves on level green, on which
bod Christians pretty cottage and