{28} The kahili is shaped like an enormous bottle brush. The fines
are sometimes twenty feet high, with handles twelve or fifteen feet
long, covered with tortoiseshell and whale tooth ivory. The upper
part is formed of a cylinder of wicker work about a foot in
diameter, on which red, black, and yellow feathers are fastened.
These insignia are carried in procession instead of banners, and
used to be fixed in the ground near the temporary residence of the
king or chiefs. At the funeral of the late king seventy-six large
and small kahilis were carried by the retainers of chief families.
{40} A week after her sailing, this unlucky ship put back with some
mysterious ailment, and on her final arrival at San Francisco, her
condition was found to be such that it was a marvel that she had
made the passage at all.
{44} Dear old craft! I would not change her now for the finest
palace which floats on the Hudson, or the trimmest of the
Hutchesons' beautiful West Highland fleet.
{47} This temperature is, of course, in shallow water. The United
States surveying vessel, Tuscarora, lately left San Diego,
California, shaping a straight course for Honolulu, and found a
nearly uniform temperature of from 33 degrees to 34 degrees
Fahrenheit at all depths below 1100 fathoms. The following table
gives a good idea of the temperature of ocean water in this region
of the Pacific: -
100 . . 64 degrees 7
200 . . 48 degrees 7
300 . . 42 degrees 4
400 . . 40 degrees 4
500 . . 39 degrees 4
600 . . 38 degrees 6
700 . . 38 degrees 3
800 . . 37 degrees 5
900 . . 36 degrees 6
1000 . . 35 degrees 6
1200 . . 35 degrees 4
3054 . . 33 degrees 2
The Tuscarora found the extraordinary depth of 3023 fathoms at a
distance of only 43 miles from Molokai.
{59a} Metrosideros Polymorpha.
{59b} Colocasia antiquorum (arum esculentum).
{59c} Morinda Citrifolia.
{62} I have since learned that it is the same as the Kaldera bush of
Southern India, and that the powerful fragrance of its flowers is
the subject of continual allusions in Sanskrit poetry under the name
of Ketaka, and that oil impregnated with its odour is highly prized
as a perfume in India. The Hawaiians also used it to give a
delicious scent to the Tapa made for their chiefs from the inner
bark of the paper mulberry.
{65} See Brigham, on the "Hawaiian Volcanoes."
{66} In explorations some months later, I found nearly similar
phenomena, in two other of the streams on the windward side of
Hawaii.
{95} "Reef Rovings."
{121} In 1873 the export of sugar reached a total of upwards of
23,000,000 lbs.
{128} NOTE. - Throughout these letters the botanical names given are
only those which are current on the Islands. Those specimens of
ferns which survived the rough usage which befel them, are to be
seen in the Herbarium of the Botanical Garden at Oxford, and have
been named and classified by my cousin, Professor Lawson.
{138} "The road from Hilo to Laupahoehoe, a distance of thirty
miles, runs somewhat inland, and is one of the most remarkable in
the world. Ravines, 1,800 or 2,000 feet deep, and less than a mile
wide, extend far up the slopes of Mauna Kea. Streams, liable to
sudden and tremendous freshets, must be traversed on a path of
indescribable steepness, winding zig-zag up and down the
beautifully-wooded slopes or precipices, which are ornamented with
cascades of every conceivable form. Few strangers, when they come
to the worst precipices, dare to ride down, but such is the nature
of the rough steps, that a horse or mule will pass them with less
difficulty than a man on foot who is unused to climbing. No less
than sixty-five streams must be crossed in a distance of thirty
miles." - Brigham "On the Hawaiian Volcanoes."
{148} The Lord's Prayer in Hawaiian runs thus: - E ko mako Makua i-
loko o ka Lani, e hoanoia Kou Inoa E hiki mai Kou auhuni e malamaia
Kou Makemake ma ka-nei honua e like me ia i malamaia ma ka Lani e
haawi mai i a makau i ai no keia la e kala mai i ko makou
lawehalaana me makou e kala nei i ka poe i lawehala mai i a makou
mai alakai i a makou i ka hoowalewaleia mai ata e hookapele i a
makou mai ka ino no ka mea Nou ke Aupuni a me ka Mana a me ka
hoonaniia a mau loa 'ku. Amene.
{165} A small bird, Melithreptes Pacifica, inhabits the mountainous
regions of Hawaii, and has under each wing a single feather, one
inch long, of a bright canary yellow. The birds are caught by means
of a viscid substance smeared on poles. Formerly they were strictly
tabu. It is of these feathers that the mamo or war-cloak of
Kamehameha I., now used on state occasions by the Hawaiian kings, is
composed. This priceless mantle is four feet long, eleven and a
half feet wide at the bottom, and its formation occupied nine
successive reigns. It is one of the costliest of royal ornaments,
if the labour spent upon it is estimated, and the feathers of which
it is made have been valued at a dollar and a half for five.
{199} Cynodon Dactylon (?)
{203} Physalis Peruviana.
{215} This was almost his last exploit. A few days later the
sheriff had the painful duty of committing him as a leper to the
leper settlement on Molokai. He was a leading spirit among the Hilo
natives, and his joyous nature will be missed by everyone. He has
left a wife and some beautiful children, who, it is feared, will
eventually share his fate.
{223} In 1873 the export of wool had increased to 329,507 lbs.
{235} The Inspector of Schools has since told me that there is a
track as bad, if not worse, in the Hana district on Maui.
