Pike County press. (Milford, Pa.) 1895-1925, 1899-06-16
PERPLEXING HAWAII
AN ISLAND VIII cH HAS NO NORTH
SOUTH, EAST OR WEST.


Th. n,mc,i,, os dating ones Bearings-
Terms Used in Indicating the Dihrren'
Sides Of streets.-Are Ofacial and Used u
All Legal Documents
visitors to Honolulu are often per
nlexed to get the points of the cohpass
fxed in their minds with reference tt
streets and locations. They are SUI
more perplexed to find nobody whC
knows them and nobody VINO Ieeis tht
need of knowing them. To the VISITOR
especially from the Mississippi valley
where the Congressional survey OF
public lands has laid out everything
four square. so that directions anC
distances are always thought of II
their relation TO north, South, Sst OF
west. this is incOmprehGnslL%>N
But 1t does not take very long re
sidence there to learn that the points
of the compass in the ordinary matters
of direction are of very little practica
use, and the prevailing system indi
eating locations and direction, adapteC
from that used by the native Hawaii
ans and continuing the use of their no
menclnture. is Il very practical one anc
well adapted TO conditions.
The islands are small and of volcanic
origin There is at least one maiI
range of mountains on each island
though there may he subsidiary ones
AS is well known. mountains do not
run with special reference to the points
of tbe compass. And the narrow val
levsc cut and crowded out Of the vOlcAn
&C. mass and extending from the noun
tains TO the sea bear still less appreci
able relation to them. So that If one
were TO establish the points Of the com
with relation to any one Of these val
levs n quarter of a mile would bring
him to another, where he would have
to take his bearings all afresh. But
there are two objects he can never get
out of sight of. These are the noun.
tain and the sea. And on this fact the
basis both of the nomenclature and OF
the system of direction rests. With re
Iation to any point the two cardinal d.
rections are toward the mountain and
toward the sea. Now, the native Haw.
allan terms for these are "mauka.' to-
ward or in direction of the mountain
md ''mnkni' toward or In dissection of
the sea.
The topography OF the country, ser
les of valleys extending from the
mountain to the sea, and the teudal
tenure under which land was held IN
the ancient day, led to the division of
the country into narrow strips, or dis.
trlcts-moku, as the larger were calledi
ahupuoa. the next smaller, and Ill,
those still smaller but all, with very
few exceptions, extending from the
seaShore to the top of the mountain. In
this way common people, restricted to
their own Ills. yet had access TO the sea
to fish and swim and ride the sWf, tO
the mountains for firewOod and
building material. and to land be
tween to cultivate taro. The boundaries
of these districts were all carefully de
fined in time immemorial and repH !
the same to-day. Moreover, each dis
trict had its name, and that name re
mains.
With the mountain above and the sea
below and the narrow districts in sue
cessiont each with its boundaries and
name well defined the b1M is Of the
system and nomenclature d direction
was complete. \ given poiIH or object
is "mauka," toward the yiHntain, oI
"makai," toward the sA in rela
ton TO another object or bint; and
and It is "walhihi, or "ewa, n the di
rection of the district of En- for the
other relations of direction.
SO that in Honolulu, fol instance
where no street runs north d south
or east and west, and few trcets run
straight in any direction for my greaI
distance. no one speaks Of Il north Ol
south side of the street NJ one can
nor Of the east and west des. Bu'
every street has mauka md maka
side, or a waihihi and eva side Sc
n particular corner may he precisely
and accurately described as the ma
uka- wnihihi corner, or the makai-ewa
These terms are not only collOQulal
| but official They are used in contracts
| deeds, wills and statutcs They sli
conditions aud have grown out ot
them