Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1898-09-05

those Interesting temples and gathered n
great deal Of material concerning their
history.
The following is one of the legends oh
t;pincd and written by him concerning tho
heiau in the Mapulahu gulch on that is
land. Ho obtained it from one Of the old
est natives on tho island: "A company of
spirits who brought over the stones of this
hciau from Waillu, Ruich on the other
side of the island. Each spirit got only
one stone to- build this immense hoiau.
The name Of tine company of spirits was
kamcnchuni.'
Whatever tho legend may Ee. there is
| ample evidence TO Prove where the stones
| came from which went TO form this build
| ing. Is is said that they wero passed over
the mountain from the other side of the
| island by natives standing III row about
six feet apart and handing them from one
| to the ether.
IS the structure is $50 feet long and goo
| feet broad. with an average height of 10
| feet, some idea may he formed Of the cnor-
NOUS reputation that must have existed
upon Molokai at that period. Ii took near
ly 10000 cubic yards of material to build
| this temple.
At present the inhabitants of the Ha-
wa!ian Islands are Christians, but they
| still have a certain reverence for these Old
| temples ana look upon them as the great
present. The first mention in civilized
records of these buildings appears u have
been about 1879. Travellers and mission
| aries were beginning To enter the country,
and tho most striking objects were natu-
rally thc immcnse( piles of stone, totally
different from any other buildings in tho
| world.
At this time KamehamCha / had sue
| ccCded in curqUcTinS and subduing the
afivcs of the adjoining islands and their
chiefs mad been compelled To acknowledge
his supreme authority Us king. AMI these
people, for tine first time in their history,
were to bc united under one governments.
II took nearly so years 10 accomplish
this unity, but Kamehamcha was Il man
Of iron and well deserves the name be
bears in Hawaiian history, 1.-THE conquer
or.
During these years of conquest and
bloodshed n great change was coming over
these most interesting people, and the last
acts If heathcnisn. accompanied by hor-
riblc human sacrifices and other abonS-
nable customs, wens passing away.
Some doUbt forsleriy existed as TO
whether cannihalism ever prevailed in the
Hawaiian group or was p-ICticcd at any
time. The natives themselves always
manifested degree Of shame, horror ard
confusion when spoken TO upon the sub
ject aud this led the great navigator, Cap
-
direct evidence, TO believe in its existence,
bus later voyagers disputed this conciu-
sion. Their own historians. however, and
the general Acknowledgements Of the Pco-
Pic have fairly established the custom be
yond doubt though IL appears to have
somewhat ahated previous 10 Cooks visit
and had gradually decreased until scarcely
a ycSJigc o: any of the horrible custom rc-
nlainsL There can bc no doubt this hui
manizing Improvements, 50 different from
their other habits, was the result OF the
example and instruction received from the
tdrls est white visitors, well as seh
conviction Of its own sboIninatiOn- y
strong public sentiment of disgust in re-
sssryi to-it PREVAILED at that time, and x
was highly orSditabie 10 them as nation
and distinguished them from their more
savage contemporaries of the other groups
OF the Pacific.
II was IN this state Of transition that
the early settlers found these islanders,
ard it was but the work OF a very few
years 10 tear down the last barriers OF
hcafscnisin.
OF those times there stiil remain in per
fest preservation, as relics of the horrible
past, the stone temples, or hciaus, which