The Independent. [volume] (Honolulu, H.I.) 1895-1905, 1897-09-14
Continued from LIST page.)


January IS, 1878. "The very instant
l leaped ashore he writes, "the col
lected body of natives fell fiat upon
their faces" They had managed to
confuse him with the divine Lono,
whose second advent had been long
predicted,
A native historians version Isl
1.-THE chiefs entered the ship, and
saw the people with white foreheads,
bright eyes, loose garments, corner.
shaped heads, and unintelligible
speech. They thought they were
all women, because their heads were
like women's heads They saw the
quantity of iron in the ship, and
were filed with wonder and delight"
They came later to regard the god
Lono and his companions with a
more chsstened satisfaction. In a
few months Lono was back again
this time to stay. For many weeks
his divinity was sumptuously pro-
pitiated, until there was scarce
hog or yam left in the country,
and the contour OF the bluejackets'
figures had gained an appreciable
curve. Lono had outstayed his
welcome. And when he sailed at
last, it was only to reappear a day
or two later with a strained topmast.
Moreover, sailor had been buried
on shore, and gods do not die. And
to crown the folly of it all, Lono
tried to seize the king as hostage
for stolen boat which he could not
restore. In the melee Lono stun
bled and uttered groan, and the
people cried, "He groans; he is not
a godl" and slew him. The bubble
of poor Cooks divinity was not
pricked even then, for we know'now
that some Of his bones we're "kept
by the priests as objects of wor-
ship"
There are two hoary fallacies
about Captain Cook that have sur
vived thousand exposures-frst
that he introduced pigs into the
South Seas; and, second that he was
a benefactor to the natives; whereas,
in fact, fresh pork was the object of
his visit to many OF the islands, and
he left track Of disease and famine
wherever he went He was a good
seaman, and plain, brave English
man, no worse than the naval cap
tains of his time, but certainly no
better. For the disease he left be-
hind him they do not love his mem
DRY in Hawaii. There followed the
era Of whalers and gunpowder, in
which such morals as the people
had, died violent death; and the
era of American missionaries and
Bible, in which an equally violent
but less successful attempt was
made to bring them to life again.
On the heels OF the missionaries
came Progress, which means clothes
and wooden houses, and shipping,
and shops, and tramways, and all
the blessings we know, with, of
course, a Royal Court with real
courtiers, and in course Of
time franchise (for the whitss) and
a great revolution. The natives
took kindly to the grogshop side of
Progress, and even enjoyed a time
of playing at kings and queens until
the fun became too fast for them,
and they sat down to look on.
You cannot plant sugar without
laborers, and the natives would not
work, preferring to gallop about the
country on horseback, while some
$4,000 laborers from Portugal,
China, and japan sweated in the
sun, the sons OF the Yankee mission
aries governed the country, and the
other whites grew fat on theresult.
And 80 when the American tariff
shut out Hawaiian sugar, and the
planters cried Annexation or ruinp
and poor futile Liliuokalani, other
wise Mrs. Dominis, talked OF dis