The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1908-03-22

tered PolyneSian race originally camt
from Asia, as did some of the Ameri
can pioneers whose descendants ar,
our American Indians.
/ saw two ancient idols dug from be-
meath an old rice field on Pearl harbor
which instantly suggested the totem
poles of our Haida Indians; and have
seen Japanese students attempt con.
versation with Siwash Indians, mistak-
ing them for coolies of their owl
country.
HUNTING BURIAL CAVE.
A cave hunting equipment consists
of a long, stout rope for lowering ones
self into holes or over precipices that
| look promising; a pair of field glasses
for the examination of distant open
ings; mosquito netting for protecting
the face from insects and yellow Jack
cts which infest all Hawaiian caves; a
sharp Ratchet, or cane knife, for cut
ting away lantana, whose poisonous
| thorns make progress at times abso-
! lutely impossible; a reliable lantern
and pair Of thick gloves. Frequently
these caves present only small open
ings into the wall of some cliff hun
dreds of feet above the canyon, while
in other cases one must be lowered d.
| rectly into some dark hole at the risk
of being stung to death, and, again,
other caves are reached only by diving
/ beneath the oceans surface during
calm weather
In January, 1905, after two weeks of
the severest physical exertion and be-
ing repeatedly stung and lacerated by
lantana and eacti, we finally came upon
an ancient burial cave of considerable
magnitude. A half white native boy
whom I had lured into service, and
whose name curtailed to Pau from
one of sufficient length to have per-
spective, was removing the luscious
fruit from the abundant cacti, pre-
pairing it for lunch by rubbing off the
needle like thorns on his coat sleeve,
when he noticed the repeated flight of
bees from the cacti to a small opening
almost under our feet. A few mo-
ments of energetic work with our cane
knives, and the removal of a bushel
or two of lava rock revealed an open
ing just large enough for a mans body.
After burning out the bees and yellow
jackets, I lowered the native into the
opening to a distance of about 10 feet,
where he secured footing; fastening
the rope above, was about to join
him with my bicycle lamp, when in a
voice unnecessarily loud and agitated,
he began casting insinuations deroga-
tory to the moral character of insects,
past, present and future The yellow
jackets had gotten at him and stinu-
lated a subterranean vocabulary that
was positively poetic. A peculiar echo
of the cave made it seem that he was
swearing in two languages at once;
each oath being as neatly welded as
links in an endless chain. 1 hauled him
ont as quickly as possible, and in few
we both entered the cave well |
protected by mosquito netting and /
lighted by a calcium carbide lamp.
This cave led gradually down hill for
100 feet to an opening in the sheer
wall of cliff, where we could look
down for hundreds of feet to stream |
now where wild bananas and "hau'
trees were growing. The entrance
within the cave was thickly covered !
with disintegrated lava rock, but farth-
ar along we soon saw that the abode |
had been previously entered, and after |
much searching, that our path led
through a small opening about four
feet above the floor and into much
arger volcanic bubble, which was the
actual burial cave and which soon set
my blood tingling.
At the farther end of the cave, which
must have been 800 feet in length, sat I
I'VE giant human forms wrapped in
kama cloth with head and arms rest
ne upon the knees, covered with the /
lry dust of ages of rock disintegra-
ion. and apparently asleep. For mo-
nent I stood spellbound with my light
brown upon them, for it seemed that
surely thew must awaken at any mo-
nent, turn their parched and faded
toward me and demand
IN explanation. I found myself quot
ne Omar, as I did during student days
when I visited the "Capuccinf IN
Rome. under which the Capuchin frfars
ie mummffed in holy earth brought
rom Jerusalem. and where the living
md departed of the order look nearly
enough alike to make it embarrassing
or the visitor
when you and I behind the veil are
past,
IN bnt the long. long while the world ]
shall last,
which of our coming and departure /:
needs
cast
And even as I stood thus, they SEEM {
a to take up my thought and mumole
n unison:
ooh, but the long, long while the
world shall last"
NV reverie was suddenly interrupted
~ blood curdling moan which came
rom far away and back of me. Pau /
y attempting to escape in the dark
ess had fallen through the small open
no and was f1oundering about ike
,s+ souI cast into the bottomless PIT
% had lost his mosquito netting as /
,oll as his vocabulary, which was I'M t
or+rnate. for the yellow jackets We're :
+ him again. The five giant forms
.efore me were those of hardened war
iors of the old school, and had sat ]
, sU .svaiting' for fully 1000 years (
They all measured much over SIX /
oat in height, and in life must nav
.e,r,,ad fully 800 pounds, the taliest ny I
s+17a1 measurement being six feet nFe 6
ocbes in height. Near him was !
aIsbash and wooden plate, as wen % {
moi nounder of lava rock OF pa'.el4e '
: t ti,e hack to the earliest period Oh T
occupation; also an ehol
fitted Will I