The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1902-08-15

u making the rounds:
The language, religious rites,
manners customs and physical appear
ance indicate that the Hawaiians are a
branch of the Polynesian race which
people all the South Sea islands and
who are supposed to have come from
the East Indian archipelago.
The natives are not black like the
negro, but in color resemble more the
North American Indian. though entire
ly different than either race. They are
frequently called "dusky blondes
When not given to dissipation he is
one of the most perfect specimens or
healthy, robust manhood that can be
found, but the life of drunken debauch-
cry and Righteousness followed by so
many of them since the advent or the
white man and the Chinese is fast re-
ducing them both in numbers and
physique.
The Kanaka is an expert boatman
and defeated all corners in the interna-
tional tug-of-war at Honolulu. Their
canoes are only wide enough for one
person, are round botsomed and have
outriggers to prevent capsizing.
The native liquor is made from Ava
root by a group of natives who sit
around a calabash or gourd chewing
the root and expectorating the juice
(and a liberal amount of saliva) into
this dish. When fermented this stuff
is drunk They also illicitly distil
LIQUOR called okolehao and brew sort
of beer which they name "sVipes"
The marriage relation is esteemed
very lightly and there is no word in
the language to express the meaning
of virtue This fact has caused much
trouble by spreading leprosy in the ISL
ands. OF 1900 cases five years ago 1156
were Hawaiians. Through strict isoia-
ton this number has been reduced
through death rate to a trif1e more
than 500.
FORMER MODE OF LIVING.
The natives originally lived in pic
turesque grass houses, but these have
given way to- board shanties and but
few are to be seen today.
malo or breech cloth was formerly
the full dress for state occasions for
both sexes. but now the women wear
holokus, or mother hubbards, while the
men dress like other men. They still
go barefoot, and in early days when
shoes were first introduced they car
ried them in their hands to the church
door and put them on there.
The oily nuts from the kukui QighD
or candle nut tree were used for lights,
while fire was kindled by rubbing a
hard pointed stick in a groove made in
a piece of the soft hau tree wood.
Originally sharks teeth and hard,
grained lava stone were used to
make tools for building canoes and
making calabashes. That they were
proficient in the work is evidenced by
the fine speciments of bowls followed
from the trunks of hardwood trees as
in he
of which they were unsurpassed by any
of the south sea islanders.
For bedding they beat with clubs
called tapa sticks the inner bark of the
paper mulberry tree until it resembled
a large sheet of very tough paper.
This was colored in fantastic style by
the use OF berries The completed prod
uct was called kappa or tapa and makes
a very warm though light and thin
covering a few of these old quilts are
still in existence and command fancy |
prices.
CHARACTER AND DISPOSITION.
In olden times the Hawaiians were
a warlike race, but their dispositions
seem to have undergone an entire
change, until now they are of the most
gentle, amiable disposition imaginable. |
They are kind hearted, free from feel
ings of revenge and generous to fault. !
Does one lose his work he is at once
given a home by some of his more for
tunate neighbors. They are like one
large happy family, and it is not in
frequent that one of two who have en-
pIoyment will support five or six 9TH
ers. while many family has three or
four fathers or mothers" One ma
tive got excused from his work three
times in one year to attend his faith
er's" funeral. They are decidedly un-
like the father of our country at the
cherry-tree period of his life.
L is seldom that two natives have
trouble serious enough to allow the sun
to go down on their wrath. They Will
shake hands and be good friends five
minutes after fight and yet they rush
into court on any pretext. They enjoy
and are willing to pay for the expert /
ence.
The language is easy to learn and is
pleasing to the ear The twelve let
ters. a, e, i, o, u, h, k, l, m, n, p, W,
the alphabet. The pure Ha-
waiian dialect is composed chiefly OF
the five vowels and is not understood
or used by even the half-castes or
Younger natives. The language in gen.
eraI use is corruption of English and
commonly called hapa ha-
ole. or half white.
SUPERSTITION AND RELIGION. /
Occasionally a native will become so
angry as TO say: Il viii get kahuna
to pray you to death" The kahuna is
a priest and medicine man who,
through wearing a bone from some
dead infant, is supposed 10 have pow
er to cause death or to heal disease
through the spirit of the child. A
White uiE. even the feet of which are
washed and examined to be sure every
hair Is white. is given to the kahuna
and so strong is the native supersi-
ton that he invariably dies as re-