The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1917-03-20
HAWA|ANSFA
D|SAPPEAR|NGNOW
Local Writer Gives Vivid Picture
Of Life Of Old In
Islands

lIfOm the pen Oh IhuBhhh mac
Caughey, professor at the College OF
Hawaii, appearing in the current Pear.
son s Magazine. The article, in its
entirety, follows;
"Afar in the sunset glory Of the
western sea lie the tranquil islands of
Hawaii Between the bold promon,
tories Of the Golden Gate and their
palm-girt shores stretches a week Of
blue serene Pacific. The long combsrs
chant their eternal diapason against
the encircling reef. The shining coral
strand IL Uttered with sea.wrack. The
friendly palms lean sunvard over the
beach. But the beach Is bare Of
human life. The Hawaiian who dwelE
here for a thousand years has passed.
4 "The grass-thatched villages that
| once nestled under the shadowy,
rustling palms have all vanished
every one. The ancient Hawaiian was
a beaeh-lover, dweller in the low
lands. He did not make his home in
the rugged, rainy mountains. Up there
the days were too often fog-hid, the
nights too often dreary and rain
drenched. He went up into the noun
1
little plantations of banana, ava, and
olonaj TO snare the coveted bright
plumaged birds; to fell the great
trees for his war canoes. These were
but temporary expeditions and, his
labors ended, he FASTENED down to the
warm lowlands, and TO the smiling,
sunny beach.
To-day the picturesque villages of
the olden, golden age are gone forever;
the modern native Is dweller in ugly
wooden shaeks and cabins, or in the
city slums There is scarcely single
oldtime grass house in the whole archi-
pelago. The beautifully simple archi-
lecture of the ancient hOuse-eof.
strueted wholly of poles, cord Che had
no metal), and long grass--architecture
as effective in it's simple way as that
Of q BIRDS nest, Is all forgotten, a lost
art.
"Another vanished Industry "a tho
kappa making. This is the famous
bark-cloth of Polynesia. The wauke
bush, tall shrub Of the mulberry
family, was cultivated by the men in
region. They stripped the flbrons thin
bark from the wand like branches, and
brought the bundles down to the
! womenfolk Of the village.
II SIT was the woman 3 task 10 cleanse
and macerate the bark, and pound the
narrow strips together into beautiful,
strong, paper-like sheet. This was
stained with various primitive dyes
brown, black, pink, or yellow--and q
pattern worked upon it with small
carved bamboo instruments. Cheerful
! in those days was the sound Of the
kappa heaters upon the resonant wood
en- Hanvils, I" and the soft.voiced
, Rhythmic chanting of the women.
Pleasant the sight of the broad sheets
spread out on the grass to dry. How
the little naked children crowded round
the margin of the cloth, as the won.
: derful intricate pattern grew under
) mothers skilful fingersl Years ago
the introduction of the cheap cotton
cloths of England and America ended
the kapa-making, and today not a
single anvil resounds with CHEEKY beat.
:. 1.-THE best fshing-line in the world
was made in old Hawaii. From the
long, fine fbers of the olona were
woven the heavy lines for the deep.
sea fishing, the lesser lines for the
reef fishing, and the fine cordage for
the casting-nets. Much Of this old fish!
ing gear has been in use for nearly
= 'NnNASN yNeioJ anu 10 80 BOOu bOuuy
Z as the day of its making. It's durabil.
ity and excellence are well known to
! hall who have had experience in the ma
Tive fishing, yet today the culture OF
J. the olona is abandoned, and the skill
: ful -handiwork Of the old regime is re-
! placed by the cheap cotton eordage
!. from abroad. The fishing industry II
= self has passed almost wholly into the
: hands of the astute and haFdwOrking
Z Oriental, and the modern Hawaiian
= whose waters teem with fish, contents
: himself with little sporadic reef Ash.
= ing, and with cheap canned salmon
l. from Puget Sound.
2 leone, too, are the great sailing
7 canoes, wherewith the ancient Hawaii,
= ans for over century maintained In.
= tercourse across the vast stretches OF
= the Pacific with their kinfolk Of the
y South Seas. Lost forever, that exten
= sive and minute astronomical lore
: whereby they sailed successfully those
trackless seas i,s.G
HThe old var canoes, hewn from 4
single mighty koa log, and capable OF
carrying a hundred warriors, have long
F, ago rotted into Oblivion. Were Il moi
4 for the old prints and records Of thu
y early European explorers, one would
n NoNSh Wv PSoeAtAAty VI buCu CHuDCu
"a and such warrior spirit, 80 greatly
4 has the Hawaiian life been modified
=. by the agencies of civilization. Ths
q ancient spears and war.clubs, made Of
y wood like iron in weight and Hardness
hang now in museum cabinets; no,
one may be found among the peopl,
themselves.
1 ""of course the arts and crafts as
% sociated with the ancient rule Of tn,
q. nobility (aliiD have all vanished. Tn,
10 manufacture Of the royal insignia, ~
ID marvelously gorgeous garments anS
Z. helmets of feather!work; the statsl,
In feather kahilis,--was under the i'm
g. mediate supervision Of the royal won
he en-. A single feather cape required
TX years for completion, and represented
he the feathers of thousands Of scarle
as and golden-yellow birds. The exten
10 sive stone temples or heiaus, OF the oil,
religious system; the carved WOO,
- gods OF the Polynesian pantheon; tn
n great stone walls Of the royal fish
y pondsi the long roadways, paved witt
n smooth lava b0ulders; the elaborat