Pine Bluff daily graphic. (Pine Bluff, Ark.) 1893-1942, 1899-04-23
pERpLEXING HAWAII
AN ISLAND WI Oh HAS NO NORTH,
SOUTH, EAST OR WEST.

r,,o Dia5cultv of Getting Ones Bearings
Terms Used in Indicating the DlneFen'
e,aa. of streets-Are official and Usea IN
All Legal Documents.
vis,+ors to Honolulu are often per
I'D -o.to 70 oet the points of the compass
fixed in their minds WIN leieaglles stiII
streets and locations. 1heg az r.
more perpleXed to fnd NOBODY s,s + bo
Knows them and nobody VINO lee i9.4 ll,e
need Of knowing them. 10 the 1IIieI.
osneciaIly from the MISSISSIPPI ati9S
where the Congressional survey ~
nnhIic lands has laid out every thlns
four.sguare, so that direetlohs anu ~
diS+anees are always thought Oh III
fboir relation to north, south, east VI
west this is ineomprehenslole.
R,,+ if does not take very lohS ie
aidanoa there to learn that the points
of fine compass in the ordinary IIlat ...1
~ direction are of very little praetleail
nea and the prevailing system lhol,
coting locations and direction, adapted
from that used by the native HaHaI-
ans and continuing the use oil tlleif no,
menclature, is very pracucal one anu
well adapted to conditions. -
me islands are small and Of volcanic
ORIGIN There is at least one mani
ranoe of mountains on each island
thonoh there may be subsidiary ones.
As is we'll known mountains dc not
rim with special reference to the points
of the compass. And the narrow val
lows cllt and erowdedout Of the volean-
il mass and extending from the noun
tains to the sea bear stlll less apl1teel-
able relation to them. 80 that II one
were to establish the points CT the com
with relation to any one OF THESE VA
Ievs a quarter of mile would eflhS
him to another, where he would nave
to take his bearings all afresh. But
there are two objects he can never 2et
ont of sight of. These are the noun
tain and the sea. Aid on this fact the
basis both of the nomenclature and oil
the system of direction rests. Win re-
| lation to any point the two cardinal Oil,
rections are toward the mountain ano
toward the sea. Now, the native HaW
allan terms for these are +mauka, TO
ward or in direction of the mountain
and "makai9 toward or in direction OF
the sea.
The topography of the country a ser
les of valleys extending from the
| mountain to the sea. and the feuda
tenure under which land WAS held Il
| the ancient day, led to the division o.
| the country into narrow strips, or dis
| tricts-moku. as the larger We're called
ahupuoa, the next smaller, and iii
those still smaller but all, with yer!
few exceptions, extending from TIT
seashore to the top Of the mountain il
this way common people. restricted t.
their own Ills. vet had access to the Sc;
to fish and swim and ride the surf, t
the mountains for fireWood an,
building material and to land be
tween to cultivate tare. The boundarie
of these districts were all carefully &c
fined in time immemoIial and remain
the same to-day. Moreover. each dis
triet had its name, ana that name re
mains.
With the mountain above and the SCI
below and the narrow districts in Sic
cession, each with its boundaries ant
name well defined. the basis of tn
system and nomenclature Of direction
was complete. A given point or obiec
is 'mauka, toward the mountain, o
"makai" toward the sea. in rela
ton TO another object or point am
and it is "waihihi or eva" in the iii
rection of the district of Eva, for tn
other relations of direction.
So that in Honolulu, for instance
where no street runs north and south
or east and west. and few streets rul
straight in any direction for any grea
distance, no one speaks of the north o
south side Of the stfeet-no one can
nor of the east and west sides. Blu
every street has mauka and maka
side, or a waihihi and eva side S.
a particular corner may be precisel,
and accurately described as the ma
uka- waihihi corner, or the makaf-ewa
These terms are not only colloquial
but official. They are used in contracts
deeds wills and statutes. They sui
conditions and have grown out o
them.