The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1898-03-14
A Writer Gives Some Facts On
History Of the Group.
FRENCH PROTECTORATE IN lS42
Early Hawaiian NaVigators Found
Their Way Thither the
Early Ports.

the local papers Of Honolulu ABOUT Ia
hiti and the neighboring Islands Of her
group, the names Of some of which,
as they have been printed, cannot be
found on the map, have been interest
ing and amusing to a lover of those
beautiful Isles, so near and yet so little
known to this land. And perhaps a
little more said on the subject will
not be out of place.
From information obtained from
Commandment Fort of the Duguay
Tourin, we find that the article copied
in the Advertiser from a periodical,
should have been in reference to the
annexation Of Raiatea, of the Society
Group, where the natives resisted the
French, and were subjugated by them
in the middle Of last year. The home
Government accepted the bill Of an
nexation, passed in the French cham
Der, at the close of the year on the
18th December, and thus the mistake
has easily been made.
When the French established the
protectorate Government in Tahiti, in
1912, they laid claim to all the Islands
~ 1SSW al as NTl1 W IAC llAu ol
side of the group, supposing them to
be part of the dominions of the Po
mares, as was also the Tuamotu or
Low Archipelago, which they included
in the protectorate. But after cor
respondence of upwards Of five years
between the French and English diplo-
mats, the independence of the Lee
ward Islands, under their respective
scvereigns, was established in 1S47 by
a treaty signed by the plenipotentia-
ries of England and France.
But that convention which stood
good for many years, could not ulti-
mately have secured those Islands from
other foreign aggression. And as the
time had come, when ether powers
were DESTROYS Of obtaining naval sta
tons for their fleets in the Pacific, and
some of them were endeavoring to Sc
cure the spacious harbors of Raiatea
and Porapora for that purpose, the
French. after anneXing Tahiti and it's
in 1880, extended their
protection over the LeeWard Islands
also, with the consent of the natives.
And after more diplomatic correspon-
dencee with England, the treaty of
1847 was abrogated in 1887, and the
following year, the French Governor
Of Tahiti hoisted the French flag over
all the LeeWard Islands, all the people
submitting to the inevitable except
most of the Raiateans, and hence the
late troubles ending in their recogni-
ton of French rule last year.
In reference to Tahiti, the Advertiser
says: 1T is doubtful if the French
have found profit or pleasure in the
possession Of the Island. It's COM
merce is of little value The theory
on which it is held is probably that it
may prove to be useful in the future,
in the growing trade of the Pacific"
In possessing the Society Islands the
French believe that they have the
Key to the Pacific" as some here say
America would have in taking these
Islands. Well watered and fertile
from plain TO mountain top, they are
capable of producing all that is Guilt
waited with success in this group, as the
few who have invested in such enter
prises there have found. Their vanilla,
coffee, sugar, and cocoanuts, are of the
finest quality, and in the numerous
great and small atols of the Tuamo-
.us, they have an ever yielding supply
III COCOdAuIo, anu pCcil 10 u FdlOC.
And it is to be hoped that those ISL
ands will ere long, hold their place
among the nations, as
they are so we'll fitted to do.
In referring to the lecture delivered
at the Y. NJ. G. A. by Mr.. Percy Smith
n December last, in regard to the long
voyages of the ancient Polynesian ma
sceptic wrote in the Adver
tiser, that it would have been like
hunting for a needle in a hay stack"
'or them to have tried to reach Tahiti
without a compass, as it is so small.
From this point Of view then, let us
follow out the course taken by those
lavigators who had no compass. Ia
liti, the largest island Of the Society
group, not so very small, and reigning
as Queen of the Pacific" lies
Ii deg south Of the Equator, close
east of the meridian $50, west of which
les Hawaii in the north. And, ac-
e0rding to old folk lore of these ISL
lnds, we find that they were we'll &C
Iuainted with each other for centuries
before and up to the arrival of Euro
bean ships at the shores.
1t is also acknowledged as fact by
Commander, Alexander; and other auth
.ntic writer's on the Hawaiian Islands,
hat the natives of the north and SOUTH |
orayed the broad ocean in their canoes
% visit each other, guided in their |
course by the sun and stars with |
which they were we'll acquainted. |
And Tahitian records also show that |
hey were close observers of the winds |
md currents of the sea, steadying their |
,anoes accordingly, and making the |
pest use of all weather.
From the authors above cited, we |
ind that in leaving the Hawaiian ISL |
nds for Tahiti, the natives directed |
heir course from Ke-ala-i-Kahiki in |
he Island Of KahOolawe, and also from |
Hawaii, and that in returning hither, |
hey followed the stars until the came |
n sight Of the red flames of Kilauea,
when they soon found themselves safe !
n these shores.
But in going south, what did they |
10 TO find Tahiti? In studying the |
nap we see that in leaving these Isl
nds, they took a southeasterly course;
hat in case of contrary winds. they
Weryed to the right, they ran among |