The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1905-06-11

the milk of the land. One bold ruler
came to grief by sending his followers
forth to give battle to the hog and
destroy it. When approached the ami
NAL seemed docile enough and was led
, away an unresisting captive. When
the god-for the hog was really that
| in those old days-judged he had gone
a proper distance he suddenly turned
and tore his captors to pieces. After
this he was treated like a hero and for
centuries was regarded as one of the
country's greatest warriors. This
yarn about the hogs prowess as a
fighter. if it takes a notion, has been
handed down to posterity as a warn
ing to all persons to approach this
much priced animal With caution.
WHY THE VOLCANO COOLED.
Another pretty legend is that con-
corning the fire goddess, who lived in a
volcano. She was the most beautiful
woman on the earth, and yet she kept
alive the blazing hell that smoldered
in the belly of the mountain, threaten
ing the lives of all the inha bitants
roundabout. One day she took a jour-
ney to a far-off mountain to rest her
self. Soon after her arrival she was
disturbed by the tum tum of a drum.
She looked about and found that it
was being beaten to keep time for a.
prince who was dancing the hula. She
straightway took part in the gaiety
by singing the refrain to words of her
own composition.
The prince was naturally surprised
and enchanted by the appearance of
the beautiful singer. When the song
was ended he invited the fair stranger
to the royal enclosure, offering her re-
freshments and food. After a short
courtship they were married. After
living happily together for some time
the fire goddess informed the prince
that she must return to her old home
and attend to her duties, as the fires of
the volcano had died down until there
was nothing but little sparks left. She
had never revealed to her husband that
she was the fire goddess, though he
instinctively felt that she was some
thing more than an ordinary mortal.
He was 10th to have her depart and
finally prevailed upon her to remain as
his consort. That is why the heart
of the volcano became cold and is no
longer a menace to the safety of the
people.
POWER OF NATIVE WIZARDS.
No reference to the old order of
things in Hawaii would be complete
without mention of the kahuna, or ma
tive doctor He was a sort of wizard
or soOthsayer, who was reverenced and
feared by all the people. He was sup
posed to have the power of life and
death, and it was accepted as a matter
of fact that he could pray ones life
away. Next to the voodoo priests of
Hayti, the Hawaiian kahuna is the
most mysterious Individual of whom
we have any account. They say it is
not at all unusual for a man or woman
to be prayed to death, and tie explana-
ton is the use of suggestion. When
the idea of death becomes fully lodged
in the mind of a patient the end is
easy from the sheer force of ina gina
ton.
1t has been charged that vegetable
poisons figure in these fatal prayings
but there seems to be uoI evidence to
substantiate this claim. THE reader
may scott at the idea of man being
able to pray a person to death, but one
has only to see the baneful light in
the kahuna's eyes to recognizes the
presence of some strange powerL/Once
the idea of death suggests itself to a |
sick person medicine can do him no
good. There are those who assert that |
the beautiful Princess Kaiulani was a |
victim of the kahunas. 1t is certain |
that the house was surrounded by |
them at the time of her death.
When her mother died she too was |
strongly Influenced by the belief that |
the kahunas We're praying her life !
away. She remarked to one of her |
white friends that it was no use for
her to try to live against the influence
IF the native wizards. The white ply
sicians tried to force medicine down |
her throat but she resisted with all |
her strength. She asserted that her
Tine had come and that she was ready
to go. This is not generally spoken |
IF but it is known to be true by many
people in Honolulu.
SOOTHSAYERs DRESS GAILY.
OF course the kahunas do not have
the same hold upon the people that
hey had in days gone by. The belief
n them is a superstition which really
belongs to the old generation. They
ire now regarded a doctors who prac-
ice without a license and are treated
Sometimes an old inhab-
tant Will insist upon being treated by i
I kahuna. but if the native doctor fails
Z white physician is then called in.
One of these sOothsayers is easily dis
-inguished on the streets Of Honolulu /
BY the scarlet handkerchief he wears
around his neck. When indoors he is |
very gay in his dress. but on the street
ne only allows himself a trace of scar
et.
There is one venerable wizard that is
said to be over ninety years of age.
living in the hills near Honolulu. and |
Who is noted for the wonderful power
If his eye. He is filthy, ragged and |
lnkempt. but the strange light in his |
,ye holds the natives in awe and at
racts many curious white people who |
want to see what he is like
And now. leaving the legends and
of the fair island behind,
We come to what may be called Ha-
waits skeleton in the closet. It is the |
4eper Settlement in the mountains OF |
1olokai. 1t is located on a peninsula |
4 some five thousand acres in extent.