Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1899-07-15
RACE UP A MOUNTAIN
A KANAkA RUNNER DlSTANCED HALF
A DOZEN HORSES.
1t Was n Ter rifle Test OF Endurance,
ard ,hr sturdy subject of kaIai>uua
Wan Easily. Though Two of the
Horses Dropped Dead.

Did any 4 you ever hear of Il s..
mile strcp.c" ,ase for man and bcast!'
Inquired ons Of the California men III
1. party Of luri followers when stories
OF queer bets an iong shots were 60
in; aIOuli We'll. there was ~! af
fair Of ihat iHl down in the Hawai-
i'm buucl IL the fall of 1SS3. when
that genial rhilr concarnc proposition,
kalak;!ua. Was king of the islands.
islands ihcn and state messages and
mandates were carried by the inter
island steamers and delivered Ivy IA
nak;l lu2.t"'. These runners coul,i
gallop all day, IKE American Indians
III retreat or 81 the trail, and they
didn't hi!ow what getting win%lcd or
tired l!rnni.
"kala kaua thought Il good deal of
these ruii:!rlS of his. He always nlain-
Il: ned tia. they could go faster and
fulti!,r than horses over the rough
Hawaiian country. In this he was dis
putrd by Il number OF the white at
tarll,.; Of lis court. lialaknun wager
cl 5000 in gobs of 81 .ODU with five of
them ,h:i! he would pick ont Il runner
from among his kanakas who'd get
from ili!o To the top of the burning
lake of Kilau,n A., Il distance of 81 miles,
uuici;rr l!.:.n any horse and any rider
could d, The ir!i,. They snnpp"s. the
Ei::: Cp L, c"rl money. 1t looked as
if they lad the good end of it. The
ki!g and Il big party from Honolulu
sailed in exc Of the intrriSlAnd stcanl-
el's to lilo, Oh the main island of lIn-
wall, to see the finish
"'rhc king picked out Il huge. 1.-the,
sincwy kannk:i, Il man about 80 years
OLD, who had been employed as Il ruu
ncr on the island of Maui for Il num-
Der of years. to try the trick for him.
Eight KuMakas made the start
a-horsrback. on native ponies. bred
away back from western cayllscS--
strong. sure footed nppy tempered lit
tie demons. thoroughly used to the bad
roads and the climbing. The king and
his party had gone up to the Volcan"
House. ut the top of kilauea, in coach
es the da! before to be on hand to
greet the winner.
Now, | understand that that road
from liilo up to the burning lake of
Killura has been improved since the
time I'm speaking of. but it surely was
a bad trail then. 1t was only wide
enough for one wagon. and ii was
about Il ID degree affair in the climb
all the way up. The palms that lined
the road used to get blown across the
trail by the score in biz wind>tormS
and the coach drivers counted it Il part
Of their business to jump from their
seats every time they came to these
distractions and shoulder them our
of the way. Ibis work had all been
attended to carefully, however in al.
vance of the race by order of Kala'
kaua. and it lokcd like pipe for the
c:Iyrses. all of which had made til.
run up many time.
"Kalak:ua didn't ask for any handi'
cap allowance for his man. The Iun-
ner toed the scratch with the horses.
and they got of together ut the crack
of the gun. The horses distanccd the
runner from the jump. and he let them
distance him. He was dressed in
C string. and he just took up Il steady
lope and let the cayuses get out of his
sight. For ten miles the cayuses were
so far above him Oh the trail that he
couldn't even see them, but this Kama
ka knew how to wait. The horses be-