The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1905-08-15
GLlMPSES OF MOLOKAI
BY A. P. TAYLOR.


MoIokai isle, lined and scanned with
deem euIches and ravfnes and almost
dividedifnt6tw two separate and distinct re-
gions by rugged mountain range whose
towering backbone is almost enveloped
in feecy mists, is the one island OF
the Hawaiian group which is the least
known and too frequently the most
maIigned. islanders and strangers alike
have peculiar conceptions concerning
This long. narrow, mountainous and in
teresting island.
To the world in general the island OF
.fclcksi is associated with the scourge
so yiyidly described in Ben Hur." To
speak of Molokai is to at once conJure
an isIet in the wide eXpanse of the
Pacific ocean, devoted entirely to the
segregation of the thousand and one
Il fortunate inmates, who, by law. nave
been isola ted in Settlement by them
selves. And that is one reason why
the WOTu ~dOlohdi liiS oOAAoA " NAN>
is.ards in the commercial and travel
lns worlds. But the true Molokai is
an island which nature seemed to have
designed for just the purpose of afford
iny a most complete isolation of the
unfortunate afflicted ones, on the one
band, and making it rich in agricul-
tn,ai possibilities on the larger and
more important section, on the other
hand For this larger portion is rich
in cattle and sheep pasturage and fair
ly well adapted for the development OF
small farming The Settlement is COM
pletely and absolutely apart from the
remainder of the island. The great
backbone of the Molokai pail rises to
precipitous heights where few may
climb, and this forms a natural barrier
between the two sides of the island.
Therefore it is the greater part of
Molokai which has much of interest to
the traveller and to the Islander. Bleak
and barren as it is on the leeward and
windward shores nearest Oahu, the
portions closest to Maui are wonderful
~ beautiful. 1t is a veritable isle OF
waterfalls dashing down the sides of
massive and preclpitous cliffs rising
hundreds of feet sheer out of the ocean,
and to whose lava walls cling the
greenest of vines and MOSES.
BEAUTIFUL MOAULA FALLS.
Perhaps nowhere else in the islands
may be seen a more beautiful scene
valley Like a giant w laid fiat on
the island, with the widest part open
ing out upon the sea, the valley is
largely devoted to the raising of taro,
from which those engaged in it's culti-
walton derive most satisfactory profits.
Quaint little native grass huts and
small, but modern, cottages, dot the
landscape, some hidden under and be-
hind masses of foliage of mango, kukui
and mountain apple trees. The sides
Of the valley are covered with giant
tree ferns. Tropical is the word that
expresses all it's beauty. Coursing
down the center of this attractive re-
treat is a wide stream supplying all the
taro patches and the gadens, the waters
thereof being fed by the Moaulu falls.
From perennial springs flowing out of
the very topmost portion of the Pail
the silvery cascades have their source.
Through a cleft in the Pail the great
mass of water falls over a cliff, the
spray dashing upon projecting lava
;x.%
which ever and always in the sunlight
shows prismatic colors. For a hundred
or more feet the cascade falls until it
loses itself in a pool lined with tree
ferns, and then again through another
cleft it courses only to fall over sec
ond cliff of moss and vine-covered lava
and into a second pool. emerging once
more for it's last great and inspiring
leap of several hundred feet over a
third cliff and into a great chasm, al
most circular, and perhaps more than a
hundred feet across, forming a lake in
miniature, whose depth has never yet
been touched by daring Hawaiian div
ers. 1t is most fascinating spot, one
in which the artist would revel and
rave over its rare possibilities for trans
fer to his canvas. The shores of the
pool are covered with trees indigenous
to the soil of the islands
THE AVA GATHERER.
Ava, the root which many Ha-
waiians have an Unsuitable desire to
possess, is grown in a mysterious spot
somewhere near the source of the falls
An old Hawaiian woman knows the
secret of the locality AID to her the
natives of the valley pay dollar apiece
when they wish section of root The
old woman climbs a steep trail leading
over the cliffs as if she We're still a
young and athletic girl. But with dol
lars as the prize and the appetites of
ner patrons as the incentive, she fire.
quently makes the hazardous climb
Why don't the natives raise their own
ava roots in their own yards? you ask
Well, anywhere else in the islands the
answer could be the same One'sneigh-
Dor might covet your patch and one
would have to grow il in a Stealpro