Walker Lake bulletin. (Hawthorne, Nev.) 1883-1926, 1903-01-16
MYTHS OF HAWAII.
caauibaiism Not a Habit OF the In-
land Aborigiues.


land Aborigines.
Nothing seems to be more firmly fixed
In foreign opinion about the native peo-
ole of Hawaii than the Idea that they
once were cannibals and that. at the
time OF Capt. Cooks visit, they num-
bered 400. 900 souls. A recent issue Of
the Anglican Church Chronicle quotes
the Rev. DIR. George W. Nandewater as
saying that a congregation of o,Oo0 ma
tive Hawallans showed what had been
done by the church with people who.
but fifty years ago, were eaters Of hui
man flesh" II was a most amazing
statement to come from any pulpit,
says the Honolulu Advertiser, but II
fairly represents the average, unitteiii'
gent opinion of the masses. To such
critics all islands between Cancer aud
Capricorn were once inhabited by can.
nIbals, though scientists declare that
very many of them indeed, including
particularly the Hawaiian group. had
no man-eatlng savages.
The native traditions here, 50 far as
can be traced, are quite accurate. For
example, there mele, which Tells of the
arrival on the beach some 300 years ago
Of two white strangers. who when they
got ashore, knelt and told their beads,
corresponds almost precisely as 10 date
with the Spanish narrative of the loss
of ships by Kona storm from fleet
of galleons passing south Of here, while
trading between Acapulco and Manila,
As to the Cook tradition, as II exists In
the Kona district, where the British
navigator was killed and where the ma
tives are more nearly In their primitive
state than elsewhere, 1t dlscards the
cannibal theory by means OF a simple
explanation.
According to the account, after the
death of Capt. Cook. who, during mosl
of his intercourse with the natives, had
been regarded by them as god, II was
decided by the natives to make an offer
ing Of his body to the gods. The Wis
cera were taken out and placed In a
calabash to be offered to one of tht
powerful gods of the sea of the Hawaii
an theogony, the viscera being consld
cred a higher and better Offering thar
any other part of the body. The re
mainder of the body was to be offered
to less powerful god. While the Wis
cera were In the calabash 1t was found
by some children, who mlstaking Il
for the viscera of pig, which was con
sidered a great delicacy, built fire
cooked and ate It or part of It. The re
mainder of the body, as all accounts
substantially agree, was afterward re
turned to Cooks successor in command
Of the vessel"
A bit Of circumstantial evidence lies
In the fact that, many years ago, ma
tive lived in Hawaii who was practi
cally an outcast among his people be
cause he was believed to have once
eaten human flesh.
A name indicative OF horror and con
tempt was coined for him.
As to the theory that 100000 people
lived here In Cooks time 1t was disput'
ed about forty years ago by James
Jackson Jarves and has never appealed
strongly to other investigators. The
100000 estimate was Cooks own. and
he based 1t on the vast crowds he met
at every landing place and upon the
number OF natives he saw along shore.
He did not know that Hawalans, good
walkers and runners all. followed his
ship from point to point and that he
was seeing thousands over and over
again. Furthermore, there was not
food enough In this group for 100000,
nor was the social system of the people
calculated to stimulate the growth of
population. Between the wars and the
sacrifice Of the young and the occasion
al lean years, 1t Is doubtful If the abor-
igines, when at their numerical zenith,
had among them more than 10000
souls.
Quaint Inscriptions.