The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1901-04-09
CL|MPSES
Of HAWAII
A Schoolmistress
and Her Life
Here.
A TALE OF
RURAL JOYS
What the Change From a New
England City to Wlndward
Oahu Means.


field fMass.) Republican, OF March %:
WAIANAE, Oahu, February, 1901
My housework is all done, and the tiny
nome is neat as a pin. My lunch of
coffee. carried for convenience in one
time beer bottle, and sandwiches, plac-
ed in one end OF a hour-bag, which my
books in the other end are to balance,
l go down the terraced lawn4thar over
looks the blue Pacific. At the stable,
I saddle and bride my little buckskin
mule, and with a farewell I'VE haw"
from her adoring sister, Janice Mere
dith, ride slowly down the steep hill.
Our road winds down the lantana-
covered hillside to. the main road, as
we denominate the one which leads
from the coffee plantation at the head
of the valley. to the government road,
that follows the rough shore line all
the way around the Island.
This week the lantana is all in bloom
because of the heavy rains, and the
branches wave in the soft air far above
my head. Lantana here, you know, is
not the polite plant of our eastern con-
Servatories, but wild turbulent affair,
covering mountains and valleys with
its dense and prickly growth. 1t is said
to have been introduced some dozen
years ago by woman who brought
one tiny plant for her garden. On good
land the trunks are Otter TWO or three
inches in diameter.
AT last have gotten myself and you,
gentle reader, down the hill, and now
I ride for half a mile past a small
coffee plantation. which Is brilliant
with it's crop of bright red berries.
The japanese are hard at work, their
heads strapped tight with a towel as
if in preparation for cram for ex-
ANS the rest of them incased in blue
dungaree 1 '+oheyo'' them as I pass
for they are a kindly lot, these nearest
fT1sa icrtoh Of inc X
run out from under the papaia trees to
see what's up, and with a grunt de-
part as rapidly. His two small sons
Kechi and Boss Henry, grin at me as
I pass. Their round heads have
fringe of straight black hair around
the crown. Their small kimonos tied
around their fat stomachs float in the
breezes as they run, displaying to the
admiring hens and chickens, the main
part of their anatomy. Down, ever
down, the rocky road / ride, still slow
| ~, for the combination of hill, stone
and mud is too much, even for fleet
/ footed Jenny, who tucks her little
| hoofs down so neatly and wags her
| brown-tipped ears in a most incense
Quential way. In the lower coffee-p piece
| I spy six white and brown wild tur-
keys, who depart from my vicinity as
rapidly as Kimura'S pigs. Still lower
down the valley in my neighbor's taro-
patches, I count eight beautiful wild
peacocks and two tiny mudhens. In
/ the rushing brook I see a solitary gray
and black bird waiting patiently for
| his chance TO seize the oopu, the one
| fish of our mountain stream.
| At last I am off, with wild rush
uphill and then down over the smooth
er roads to the flats below. The air
/ is sweet with lantana, the mynah
birds chatter in the bushes, and as
canter swiftly along, in shirtwaist and
old bicycle skirt, clutching my coffee
bottle, I laugh aloud to think Of the
contrast Of my former goings to school
in the staid New England city l stu
call home. There in correct tailor
suit and swagger hat Il still wear the
hat minus the swagger), I walked Sc
dately down the beautiful elm-shade6
street past the venerable college, will
houses of wealth and culture standing
each in its own garden. meeting ia
NOUS professors and business men, til
1 reached school, which had its Paris
branch for those who desire unusua
facilities" etc. Soon | come TO my
friend En- One, a kindly Chinese, who
is cultivating a small kuleana, which
is grant OF land to some native os
a king. Twice a week he presents ms
with a bag Of cabbages. lettuce, onions
tomatoes and parsley, just because NJ
has imbibed the generosity OF these
lovely Islands. Just below his place
stop for a chat with my only woman
| a
in the family house of the owner o.
this valley.
1t was the scene of many big lua1
in former days, when the family wa!
rich and powerful. Under the shad
of the huge willow-like pepper tree
with palms and banyan and orang'
trees near by, the huge grass ma
would be spread for the native feast
Pigs roasted underground fish baket
in lai leaves. kalabashes of poi, taro
} ana, kukui nut and chilli pepper, llml
| and gallons of okolehao were the dam
. ties placed before the guests. all dec
GRATED with odorous flower leis- An
other mile of dusty road, partly shades
by the feathery aIgaroba tree, where
only meet stray cattle. and tie m.
mule in the shade near the beach
Here wait for the tram from Homo
? lulu that bears me to my native schoo
| in the nearby valley.
AS I wait / watch the long. Whlt
rollers combing up on the hard sano
or dashing against the lava crags 0
Mauna Lahilahi. lone mass OF roc
300 feet high that was left on tines
coral-bordered shores in the ages whe
the volcanoes were throwing out tnei
fiery floods Near shore / see schoc
of fish. pursued by some aquatic enc
, my, jumping far out Of their elemen
/, while far away see the ing ~ =
a school of whales, or the white sail
of q vessel bound for far-on port:
with It's burden of sugar. Turning m
: head, I look up the beautirui valley
Far away l see the shining roof OF m
little home on the slopes OF Kawiw
while all around rise the inaccessibl
). sides of the Waianae mountains. TIL
soft green of lantana is broken b
patches of red earth or black Law
crags. 1t is impossible TO desc ribe til
wealth of coioring or the marvelou
formations of the mountains. froI
IN, NIT of &c a fas
of rock, has bog on It's cloud-cappe
r summit, to the mountain across froi
J my home, with its buttresses and dee
ravines. whence come the call of limit
merable wild goats.
To me this valley IS one OF perfec
A beauty, for cen I not always see III
ocean and the mountains, the wor
drous blue of the sky and sea ard Il