The Hawaiian gazette., 1902-08-15
LIFE ON REEF
AMONG WRECKS
In, Native, I've IRE, ard Easy
Lie on Sui Ws,h,d
tulks

IN small shhniles erected on the reef
which cncioscs iIonoiulu harb'r tlsre
nra a score ~ native families Twins
Far out from the city. across the sh1l-
low mats the native lives the same
life today ns be- did some nfty years
ago on the main portions ~ the iHl-
auds a. b. u far away from the ,u-
rious looks ~ white people. Japs and
chinese Doe pays little attention 10 dress
a loose calico or cotton skirt Tor the
women and white malo for the men
constitute the sole articles ~ dress.
put when the native crosses over tp
Honolulu Ia % surf boat he comes
dressed In ndYic fashion.
Years ago there were many wrecks on
the reef Coal ships went rown and no
attempt was at that time made to silvr
them. while many ships crashed on
the reef and were soon entirely sub
merged others were piled up and their
battered hulks remain there today.
There are some half dozen Of these lat
ter and from the wrecks the natives
secured timber and tin with which to
construct their rude shantios on the top
Of the hulks. Coral has been piled all
around the hulks, said dumped into the
center of this, and in that way some
strongly built shanties are now Clus-
tered along the barrier
There are about half dozen OF these
| reef shanties. The largest one Is sit
uated about a mile out from Quaran-
| tine Island and on this hulk live some
| eight families, all clustered In some
| three small rooms where men, women
| and children live together in perfect
harmony.
The natives gain their livelihood by
| diving into the old wrecks, securing
coal from the bottom and after drying
1t on the top of their shanty hulks take
it over to Honolulu for sale. After
| every small storm great quantities Of
broken timber are washed up from the
wrecks and tins floats on the sea. Men.
women and children SWIM out and tow
this refuse to the shanties. There It is
cut AMI dried and also sent away to
Honolulu to sell. The natives, dive for
coral and bring it also to Honolulu
where good prices are secured for fine
specimens at the Curio stores.
Many curious things are secured from
the old hulks. At times a native can
|
ties coming up from a place where a
wreck is known to be located. with
a wild shout he swims towards the
shanty hulk Those on the hulk are
excited. Some may think that one of
the hundreds of sharks that nfest the
waters about have attacked the native
diver, but as he swims closer to the
shanty its occupants notice that he is
carrying something. a moment later
he can be seen climbing up onto the
hulk and in his hand there Is a demi-
; john. The natives then jump up and
down with the widest enthusiasm and
after the demjohn IL opened and found
: to contain some choice gin, wine, whis-
key or some other liquor of great age
and mellowed by its long residence be-
meath the salt water. The excitement
becomes intense. \ surf boat is dis
patched to the other shanties and whel
> all the natives are gathered gigantic
luau Is set going. With no police near
the natives dance in the wild way thai
law is supposed to prohibit and fol
days the whole reef resounds witt
merriment. During these luaus the ma
tives go out in the water and swim
and dive and enjoy themselves atioat rs
well as ashore.
The natives do great deal of fish
ing but do not sell their catches as al
: are consumed in tn, shanties. 1t /:
the freest sort of a.life-the one they
lead. The year goes around with every
day Sunday and no one takes tbs
trouble to learn how many days the!
have spent on the reef.
Occasionally parties of young fellows
so out there on Saturday afternoons tc
visit the occupants of the shanties
They spend villa night out there un-
til on Monday morning they must re-
turn to the city to work.
The natives use canoes to communi'
cate with the shore. The native canoe
is loaded in the middle with wood OF
coal and "A native stands in each enc
of the boat with long poles which are
used to push the craft along. The wa
ter is not deep so the poles can easily
be used on the coral or sand bottom
and the canoe sent ahead at gooc
sneed.
The surf washes into these NATIVE
shanties on the reef and their occu
pants are usually wet most of the time
but in spite of this they lead health!
lives.