The Washington bee., 1899-06-03
PERPLEXlNG HAWAII
AN ISLAND VIII ca HAS NO NORTH
SOUTH. EAST OR WEST.

The Difficulty of Getting Ones hearings
Terms Used in Indicating the Differen
Sides of >treets-Are Official and Used In
All Legal Documents.
Visitors TO Honolulu are often per
DIexed TO Get the points of the cOmpasi
fixed in their minis with reference tt
streets and locations. They are sui
more perplexed u find nobody whe
knows them 4Ad nobody who feels tbs
need of knowing them. To the visitor
especially from the Mississippi Valley
where the Congressional survey OF
public lands has laid out everything
foUr.sduare, so that directions anc
distances are always thought of in
their relation to north. south. east OF
west. this is incOmprehenSible.
But it 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 practical
use. and the prevailing system ndt
eating locations and direction, adapted
from that used by the native Hawaii
ans and continuing the use of their no
menclature. is a very practical one and
we'll adapted to conditions.
The islands are 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 well known. mountains do not
run with special reference to the points
of the compass. And the narrow val
leys cut and crowded out of the volean-
ic mass and extending from the noun
tains to the sea bear still less'apprecl-
able relation to them. SO that if one
were toestablish the points of the COM
with relation to any one of these val
leys a 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-
Eation to- any point the two cardinal di-
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,
and ''makai'' toward or in direction of
the sea.
The topography of the country, ser
les of valleys extending from the
mountain to the sea, and the feudal
tenure under which land was held in
the ancient day. led to the division OF
the country into narrow strips, or dis
trictS-moku. as the larger were called;
ahupuoa. the next smaller. and iii,
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 surf, to
the mountains for firewOOd and
building material. ann to land be-
tween to cultivate faro The boundaries
of these districts were all carefully de
fined in time immHmOrial and remain
the same to-day. Moreover. each dis
trict had it's name. and that name re-
mains.
With the mountain above and the sea
below and the narrow districts i'm sue
cessiOn. each with its boundaries and
name well defined. the basis of the
system and nomenclature of direction
wasbcomplete. a given point or object
is "mauka." toward the mountain or
Eldkdl. lONdltl tllt Stfl III Itlil-
tion to another OBJECT or point; and
and it is ''waihihi. or eva in the di
rectiOn of the district of Eva. for tha
other relations of direction.
So that in Ho1nlulu. 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 SI.nakS of the north OF
south side of the Street-nO one can
nor of the east and west sides. But
every street has maUka and makai
side. or q waihiE and eva side So
particular cornar' may be- precisely
and accurately described as the ma
uka- waihihi cOrncI. or the makai-ewa
These terms are not only colloquial
but official. They - used in contracts.
deeds. wills and atutes. They suit
conditions and have grown out of
them.