The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1908-10-09
}. 1915. Hanalei. Kauai.

departure, / prepared myself to leave
/ found the table spread with refresh
ments for the voyage, of which I wa'
glad to avail myself, after which
left the house silently, not wishing t.
disturb my kind friends. so early. The
| the grand mountains, the valleys and
| the bay. Not sound broke the still
ness save the gentle splashing of the
waves as they broke on the beach. A
short walk brought me to the house
where the crew of my canoe were
sleeping. 1t was with some difficulty
that / reused them up, and got them
| to move along. / had given them ex-
plicit orders the day before to have
everything ready when l should come
down, but when | arrived, expecting
to find the canoe rugged, they were
anything but ready. The canoe was
not loaded and the men were not to-
gether, but part IL one place and part
in another. After a delay of an hour
and half, we showed off through the
surf and directed our course toward
Waimea.
A light breeze sprang up, and the
houses and beach of Hanalei were soon
lost in the distance. The coast which
we were passing was too dim for us
to distinguish objects on shore, but as
I had ridden past it shortly before,
did not particularly regret this. The
sun was just rising when we reached
the point where the great pals or
preeipices begin. These precipices are
one of the grandest wonders of the
Islands, but the danger Of examining
them on the passage deters many per-
sons from visiting them. There are those
who will travel by land sixty miles
rather than sail these fifteen by canoe,
and I was warned not to try. But
with me curiosity was stronger than
caution.
I must confess that when we passed
the first landing, and were fairly en-.
tering on the dangerous part, / felt a
little timid, for if any accident should
happen, there was no help for us. The
rocks rose perpendicularly from the
water without any landing place, and
if upset, the only hope would be the
chance of being picked up by some
passing canoe. In fact, canoe max
ing the passage was capsized a few
days before and her cargo lost. The
natives, however, are so expert that
they have little or no fear at such
times; the canoe was soon righted, and !
the man 3 escape with his life was
considered hardly worth talking about. |
We had not sailed far along the pail, |
when we came near sharing a similar !
fate. BY some careless maneuver of !
the natives, the outrigger, which serves
to balance the canoe, rose clear out
of the water. Tn a moment more, Il /
all hands had not thrown their weight |
on that side, we should have been In |
the sea. The natives, however, did |
not seem to notice it, and they took
the scolding that I gave them with |
most provoking Indifference. As the |
canoe passed on, the cliffs grew more |
and more lofty The sea was smooth |
and, there being no wind, our passage |
was pleasant, giving us an opportunity |
to examine the varying appearances of /
the pail. The sea was dashing up
against the base of the precipice, and !
roaring through the caves, which have !
been worn by the constant action Of !
the waves. The summit of the noun /
tain took the most wild and fantastic |
shapes. Sometimes sharp spires shot |
up hundreds of feet, and again |
rounded battlement would present its
front like a turreted citadel of feudal |
days, and then deep valley but a
few rods wide might be seen, shut ~ |
by steep walls II is no wonder that |
the natives give credence to the viii |
legends which are connected with |
various points of this range. A few |
of these | viii relate as they were
repeated to me, while we sailed along, !
and served to beguile the tediousness
of the voyage.
AS the canoe was passing rock that |
seemed blackened by volcanic fires, the !
captain gave orders to stop. and to !
paddle close in to the rocks. As we
drew near, he pointed out an arch |
large enough to admit a small canoe. |
The water within, being confined, was
agitated so that I did not care to
venture in, but went near enough to !
see that it was a kind of volcanic |
chimney. It's inner walls showed the |
effects of the mighty fires, and from an |
aperture on the top of the bluff, the !
light came struggling down, giving the !
place weird look. The tradition is |
that Pele came to these Islands from |
some foreign land, that Kauai was the |
first island that she visited, and that
she landed at the very spot that | have |
Just described She tried the founda |
tiOns of the Island, to ascertain if there |
was a sufficient quantity of food to be !
obtained, and this pit or chimney is
the place where she descended She |
commenced her operations. but soon |
found that the water was in too close
proximity for her convenience For she /
and old Neptune were deadly enemies, |
and in their contests exhibited the fiere-
est rage, to the destruction of all who |
might be involved in it. Not liking |
this situation. she moved on from is |
land to island, till she finally settled |
on Hawaii.
In another place two small, upright |
rocks are called ''the children who, |
it is said, wandered up to the heights, |
and there persisted from thirst. were |
deified, and became objects of worship |
One place is pointed out as the scene +
of comparatively recent occurrence. /
The old Governor, Kaikioewa. was on |
this side of the island, and arrived, Ct |