The Hawaiian gazette., 1906-08-17
MOANALUA

BY ]. w. Girvin.

M
ususuansnsnsM
| evidently the water does come down
| in great volume at times rs we Judged
| from the boulders In the creek-bed
but the paved way prevented injury to
| the road. Here and there We noticed
the great size the mimosa, elsewhere
n shrub will grow when sheltered.
Now the iful0ilvery-leaved kukui
| or candenut begins to fill the small
I ravines which open into the valley. Ia
( the olden time the kernels were thre ad
ed on the midrim of palm leaves and
used for torches. and were always used
/ as condiment with food. BY the way.
many years ago / was told that the
kukui of Moanalua had piquancy pc
culiar to the valley which caused them
to be sought for from long distances.
This | tod my Missourian and allowed
him to eat a few. When I thought he
| had had enough I told him of their
| drastic cathartic and emetic proper
| ties. He said they were very good
! and reminded him of some nut at home
of which he could not recall the name"
| He will recall these.
| A RESTFIrL MOUNTAIN RETREAT
| Now we passed house sheltered by
huge clump of hau, whose lanai
looked very inviting. What charm
| ing spot to retire to and enjoy the
| dolce far niente which good novel
| and lovely vista affords. Here we
noticed by the roadside trough fill
| ed with salt. at which the cattle In
| passing could get lick, so necessary
| for their welfare. 1t was merely one
, of the thoughtfulnesses which we no
ticed. We noted the good fences along
| the, roadway to protect the underbrush
| from the cattle. the loss of which has
| the destruction of so many of our
| fine forests. Miles of well-kept road
excited our admiration.
THE MOUNTAIN APPLE.
Turning one of the bends my COM
panion stopped me saying, 'Oh, here!"
Yes" | said, that is the name of ii"
He looked in amazeinent at tree
| filled with brilliant-colored mountain
apples, called by us ohia. The pecu-
| liar position of the beautiful fruit on
the tree was remarked by him, as 1t
| grows on the trunk or on the main
branches and never hangs pendulously
from the ends of twigs as almost all
fruit does. We gathered all we wanted
and proceeded up the valley. eating the
| luscious and acceptable apple, finding
that the trees became more plentiful
at every turn and that the ground was
covered with decayed fruit Here the
! great gnarled trunks of the ohias show
ed them to be very old, while myriads
of young trees strove to rear their
! heads to the sunlight. Forests of ku-
| kuis disputed with the ohias for the
supremacy at times, all of them being
covered with some clamboring para
site vine which created a dense shade.
VESTIGES OF HABITATION.
| Here and there breadfruit, gnarled
and crooked, stood out apparently
/ to show where a home or group of huts
had been in ancient times, for 1t is
! one of the trees which does not trans
! port itself without the aid of man.
These trees are silent witnesses to the
fact that the valley was densely in
/ habited in ancient times, while perhaps
| the innumerable caves along either of
the precipitous sides may contain the
4 remains OF the inhabitants. Today
! there Is not a house in the valley. save
two mountain retreats of the owner,
which are placed on sitely eminences
where fine vistas OF the lower val
= ley are to be had. Where have the
/ natives gone? Not a vestige of habita-
tion remains save the lone breadfruit
and occasionally the paved plot where
the hut stood On every alternating
tongue of land which fits into ravine
on the opposite side stood grass huts.
One has told me that he has seen ca
noes carried down the valley which
had been hewn from huge koa trees
That he has heard the kukuku of the
tapa beater as she pounded out cloth
from the bark of the wauke or paper
mulberry. That he and others have
gathered the olona, touchardia latifolia,
which was the fiber from which they
made their hsh1ines and nets by twist
ing it on the thigh.
WAIOLA.
Presently we came to point where
two streams met and where the upper
valley opened out On this promontory
or tongue of land formerly stood the
uppermost house i'm the valley. The
land was called Waio!a, water of life.
l asked the aged kamaaina for he was
born in Moanalua seventy-four years
ago, why 1t was so called and could he
tell me any tradition of 1t. He said
1t might have been puuhonua or city
of refuge; 1t might be that the water
WAS known to have healing properties;
he never heard, It always had been call
ed Waiola. He said his father had led
him up the pail from the Koolau side
and at that time a house stood there.
There was trail up the valley and
over into KOolau before the white man
came and with gunpowder blasted out
the road over Nuuanu pail Clouds of
rain began to drift In and we conclud- I
ed 1t advisable to turn back, but 1 !
should have liked to view the Koolau
country from the cliff at the head of
Moanalua.
STORY OF THE TITLE TO MO-
ANALUA.
on the way down we stopped at a
rustic pavilion built in imitation of
a japanese tea-house, and spread out
our lunch on the table, and while dis
cussing 1t | told the story of the title
A.