The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1897-02-26
TRIP 10 THE MARQUESAS.
LETTER WRITTEN BY REV. JAMES
II. ALEXANDER.
Fine Coffee Grown on the Islands-In-
come of Natives Goes to Pay Fines
Cocoanuts Furnish Liquor.

Rev. James ii. Alexander recently
returned to Oakland, California, after
visiting six months in the South Seas.
While making the tour he wrote to his
brother as follows:
~ presume you have heard how we
had long voyage of calm weather to
the Marquesas. y rowboat could have
gone all the way the sea was so
smooth. 1t was like sail on pleas
ure yacht and did us good.
I'VE found that the Marqursas
Islands had suffered from drouth for
four years. Their rugged mountains
were browner that usual, yet they had
considerable verdure and beauty, bat
they are more remarkable for the
grandeur than the beauty of their
scenery. | never saw grander rock
scenery than that of IIakani Valley,
next west of Taiohae on Nultuhina,
where great assemblage of peaks rise
together from the bed of the valley,
and a waterfall pours from two thou
sand feet elevation-th place where
the natives ran up the ridges and
rolled rocks on to the French soldiers
in their last battle with them, and
drove them back. The peaks of Ua-
pau, that rise like church steeples five
hundred to one thousand feet high
from the summit ridge, are magnif-
De-. ~ a.,
fern that covers all the ridges, the
bamboo-like brake that is sometimes
gay with plumes like sugar-cane tas-
sells, and the cocoanuts running up the
ridges are very beautiful.
Il saw hardly any land in the Mar
quesas that. could be plowed. It was
all like Kona, Hawaii very fertile, but
rocky. The finest coffee in the world
is raised on Hiuao. On the summit of
that island there is plateau of two
square miles of the richest of land
that could be plowed, ana would be
an ell dorado for coffee, cocoa, or va
nilla.
The Marquesans are the finest race
we have seen, taller on an average than
the people of the groups we have Wis
tied, muscular and finely proportioned
The Tahitians are taller and have more
delicate features and seem etfemnate
! The Marquesaus were, many of them,
frightfully tatoocd To meet a pow
erfu man, almost nude, alarmingly
tatooed, with knife two feet long, at
startling. But they were very friend
ly and generous.
"The French government having
stopped excessive use of opium rum,
and gin, the natives now make toddy
from cocoanuts. The gendarmes arrest
sometimes one hundred at time at
a toddy drunk, fine them five dollars
/ apiece, and get one-third of the fines.
/ Nine-tenths of the income of the na-
/ tiyes goes to pay fines.
1--WE had fine views of Huahino, Ia
wonderful pile of rock partly covered
with vegetation and with crater at
the top. The next morning we were
near Mauke of the Hervey or Cook
group, an island rarely visited by
ships. We landed there into a gayly
dressed crowd of natives with great
! garands of MALE and other vines and
flowers. They press d forward to shake
hands and say "lorana," Oife to YOU
We walked a mile inland on fine road
through a forest of hau, kamani, lu-
kui, hala and other trees covered with
vines, birds nests, ferns, etc, 60 the
settlement. Mauke is an elevated
coral island, one hundred and twenty
feet high. The oranges were the most
delicious we ever ate, the bananas like
honey. The church of the island is a
large building of coral, plastered over
The people are moral and happy be-
cause the mission work has not been
counteIacted by crews of ships. We
passed near Mtiaro, stopped at Atiu, q
coral island" one hundred and twenty
four feet high, and spent ten hours al
Aitutake, which we found to be very
delightful island.
"The natives of the IIervey or Cook
Islands seem to average taller than
the Tahitians, are quite handsome, ap
pear to have more character and GER
tainly are more religious. The re
sources of these islands have not beer
developed, but will some day bring al
income of many million dollars.
1--WE arrived at Auckland November
24th, having voyaged seven Thousand
miles from San Francisco, counting
our detours, and have had smooth
seas, except two days, Auckland is ;
beautiful city, built on hill and dale
with considerable fine shrubbery. Th,