Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1899-04-08
DIRECTIONS IN HAWAII.
An leland which Has No North. south,
East or West.

Visitors 10 Honolulu are often per-
picked 20 get the points Of the compass
fixed In their minds with reference TO
streets and locations. They are still moro
perplexed To find nobody who knows them
and nobody who feels the need Of know
ing them. To the visitor, especially from
the Mississippi valley, where the congress
sional survey Of public lands has laid out
everything four square. ~ that directions
and distances are always thought of in
their relation 10 north south, east or west,
this is incomprehensible
But it does not take very long resi-
dencc here 10 learn that the points of the
compass in the ordinary matters of direc-
tion are Of very little practical use, and
the prevailing system of indicating loca-
tion and direction, adapted from that used
by the native Hawaiians and continuing
the use Of their nomenclature, is very
practical one and well adapted to condi-
tions.
The islands are all small and Of volcanic
origin. There Is at least one main range
of mountains on each island, though
there may be subsidiary ones As is we'll
known, mountains do not run with spe-
cial reference to the points of the compass.
And the narrow valleys cut and croded
out OF the volcanic mass and extending
from the mountains to the sea bear still
less apprcciablc relation to them, 50 that
II one were to establish the points of the
compass with relation To any one of these
valleys u quarter of 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 mountain and the
sea. And on this fact the basis both of
the nomenclature and of the system Of
direction rests With relation 10 any
point the two cardinal directions are
toward the mountain and toward the sea.
Now, the native Hawaiian terms for
these ''mauka, toward or in the dircc-
tion of the mountain, and ''makai' (pro-
nounccd makhi, the | lOngl, toward or in
the direction Of the scsL
The topography Of the country, u series
of valleys extending from the mountain
to the sea, and the fcudal tenure under
which land was held in the ancient day
led to the division of the country into mar
row strips or districts-moku, as the
larger We're called: ahupuoa, the next
smaller, and iii, those still smaller, but
all, with very few exceptions, extending
from the scashore to the top Of the noun
tain. In this way the common people, re-
stTiCtcu 10 tuciF OWN HIS Yet nilu ACCESS 70
the sea to fish and swim and ride the surf,
to the mountain for flrcwood and build
ing material and to the land between TO
cultivate taro. The boundaries of these dis
tricts We're all carefully defined from time
immemorial and remain the same today.
Moreover, each district had its name, and
that name remains.
With the mountain above and the sea
below and the narrow districts in success
sion. each with its boundaries and name
well defined, the basis OF the system and
A given point or objccE is ''mauka,"
toward the mountain, or makai, toward
the sea, in relation To another object or
point, and it is ''waihihi," in the direc.
tion Of the district of Waihihi, or ''ewa,"
in the direction of the district of Eva, for
the other relations of direction
So that in Honolulu, for instance,
where no street runs north and south or
east and west, and few streets run
straight in any direction for any great
distance. no one speaks of the north or
south side of the street.-the one can-no-
of the east and west sides. But ever,
street has n mauka and makai side, or n
waihihi and eva side. So particular
corner may be precisely and accurately de-
scribed as the mauka-waihihi corner or
the makai-ewa.
These terms are not only colloquial, but
official. They are used in contracts, deeds,
wills and statutes. They suit conditions
and have grown out of them. Honolulu
Letter in Chicago Record.