USA > Hawaii > Honolulu: sketches of life, social, political, and religious, in the Hawaiian Islands from 1828 to 1861 > Part 2
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Is it enchantment? Can it be a reality that I am on dear mother earth again? A clean, snug little chamber all to ourselves! I can go to the door, and by the light of the moon see the brown village and the distant, dark green hills and valleys. Strange sounds meet the ear. The ocean's roar is exchanged for the lowing of cattle on the neighboring plains; the braying of donkeys, and the bleating of goats, and even the barking of dogs are music to me.
III.
VI&en Incident-Servants-My Birthday Walk- Native Huts and Habits-Presents-Kaahumanu -Visiting the Sick-Lydia Namahana-Robert and Hakahii-Sea Captains-Call on Boki-What I Saw There.
April 1, 1828.
M RS. FAGHAM, who is in feeble health, allowed me the privilege of superintending the breakfast this morning, as I am eager to be useful in some way. I arose quite early, and hastened to the kitchen. Judge of my dismay on entering, to find a tall, stalwart native man, clad much in the style of John the Baptist in the wilderness, seated before the fire, frying taro. He was covered from head to foot with that unmentionable cutaneous malady common to filth and negligence. I
stood aghast, in doubt whether to retire, or stand my ground like a brave woman, and was ready to cry with annoyance and vexation. The cook's wife was present, and her keener perceptions read my face; she ordered him out to make his toilet in foreign attire. I suppose travelers in southern Italy become accustomed to this statuesque style, but I am verdant enough to be shocked, and shall use all my influence to increase the sale and use of American cottons.
April 2, 1828.
This is my twenty-fourth birthday. Have received our baggage from the ship. Found time to take a stroll with my husband, and on our way visited the grass church, where Mr. Bingham preaches to an audience of
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Honolulu.
two thousand. The building is sadly dilapidated, the goats and cattle having browsed off the thatching, as high as they could reach. The strong trade-wind always blowing, sweeps through, tossing up the mats, which are spread upon the bare earth, and raising a disagreeable cloud of dust. The church is surrounded by a burying- ground, already thickly tenanted. I saw some small graves, where lay sleeping some of the children of the pioneer missionaries.
We looked into some of the native huts, primitive enough in point of furniture ; mats, and tapa in one cor- ner for a bed, a few calabashes in another, hardly sug- gesting a pantry, were all. Their principal article of food is "poi," a paste made of baked taro, which they eat with fish, often raw and seasoned with salt. It is the men's employment to cultivate and cook the taro. Housekeeping I should judge to be a very light affair, the manufacture of mats and tapa being almost the sole employment of the women. There are no cold winters to provide for; the continuous summer furnishes food with but little labor, so that the real wants of life are met, in a great degree, without experiencing the original curse pronounced upon the bread winner.
Such quantities of native presents as we have received to-day, from the natives coming in procession, each one bearing a gift ! Among these were fish, lobsters, bananas, onions, fowls, eggs, and watermelons. In exchange, they expect us to shake hands and repeat "aloha." Their childish exclamations of delight are quite amusing-as, for example, when they request us to turn around, so that they may examine our dresses and hair behind.
They all express themselves delighted in having a phy- sician among them, and one man said, on being intro- duced to Dr. Judd, " We are healed."
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Calls and Callers.
Her Royal Highness dined with us again to-day. She had been sending in nice things for the table all the morning, but did not seem quite satisfied, kindly inquir- ing if there was not something the strangers would like, not on the bill of fare. Mr. Bingham remarked, "You have been very thoughtful to-day." She looked him in the face, and asked with an arch smile, " Ah, is it to-day only?" No mother's tenderness could exceed hers to- ward Mr. and Mrs. Bingham. As she is an amazon in size, she could dandle any one of us in her lap, as she would a little child, which she often takes the liberty of doing.
April 3, 1828.
I visited some sick people with my husband-also called on Lydia Namahana, a sister of Kaahumanu. She is not so tall as her royal sister, but more fleshy. I should like to send home, as a curiosity, one of her green kid gaiters ; her ankle measures eighteen inches without exaggeration. She is kind and good, and the wife of a man much younger than herself, Laaniu, one of the sa- vants of the nation, who assists in translating the Bible. " Robert," a Cornwall youth, and his wife, Halakii, reside with these chiefs as teachers. They are exemplary Christians, and have been very useful. I am sorry to say that they are both quite ill of a fever.
Several captains from the whaling fleet have called on us to-day, who appear very pleasant and friendly. We have also received the compliments of Governor Boki (who was absent on our arrival), requesting an interview at his house at two o'clock P. M. We shook the wrinkles from our best dresses, arrayed ourselves as becomingly as possible, and at the appointed hour were on our way.
The sun was shining in its strength, and we had its full benefit in the half-mile walk to the Governor's house.
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Honolulu.
He met us at the gate and escorted us into the reception- room in a most courtly manner. There we found Madam Boki, sitting on a crimson-covered sofa, and dressed in a closely-fitting silk. She was surrounded by her maids of honor seated on mats, and all wrapped in mantles of gay-colored silk. I counted forty of them, all young, and some pretty. The room was spacious, and furnished with a center-table, chairs, a mahogany secretary, etc., all bespeaking a degree of taste and civilization. Madam arose as we were individually presented by name, and courtesied to each. Mr. Bingham was presented with the Governor's welcome in writing, which he interpreted to us as follows : " Love to you, Christian teachers, I am glad to meet you. It is doubtless God who sent you hither. I regret that I was at another place when you arrived .- NA BOKI."
I did not think he appeared very hearty in his welcome ; time, however, will show. As this was our formal pres- entation to the magnates of the land, several speeches were made by those present. Kaahumanu presented hers in writing, as follows :
" Peace, good-will to you all, beloved kindred. This is my sentiment, love and joy in my heart towards God, for sending you here to help us. May we dwell together under the protecting shadow of his great salvation. May we all be saved by Jesus Christ.
" NA ELIZABETA KAAHUMANU."
Governor Boki and lady visited England in King Liholiho's suite in 1823. Kekuanaoa, husband of Kinau, a daughter of Kamehameha I., was also of the favored number received at Buckingham Palace. They would grace any court. The best-looking man in the group was a son of Kaumualii (Tamoree), King of Kauai. He
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Four Queens too Many.
is a captive prince, as his father was conquered by Kamehameha I., and is not allowed to return to his native island. They all appear deeply interested on the subject of religion, and enter earnestly into every plan for the improvement of the people. The schools are under their especial patronage. To-day Mrs. Bingham gave us an account of her first presentation at the Hawaiian Court seven years ago. It was at the palace of Liholiho, before any of the natives had visited foreign countries. The palace was a thatched building, without floor or windows, and with a door but three feet high. His Majesty's apparel was a few yards of green silk wrapped about his person. Five queens stood at his right hand, two of them his half sisters. After the three foreign ladies had been introduced, the king remarked to the queen nearest him, " These foreigners wish to remain in our kingdom, and teach a new religion. One of their peculiar doctrines is, that a man must have but one wife. If they remain, I shall be obliged to send away four of you." "Let it be so," was the prompt answer, "let them remain, and be it as you say." This was Kamamalu, who accompanied the king to England two years after, and died in London, whom, being the favorite, he retained as his only wife. The other four are happily married to men of rank. They are all of immense proportions, weighing three or four hundred pounds each. I have been silly enough, in my younger days, to regret being so large; I am certainly in the right place now, where beauty is estimated strictly by pounds avoirdupois !
IV.
Laundry -- English Consul's Lady and her Sister- Visiting the Sick-Kaahumanu-Ruth-Mrs. Bing- ham-Shirts and a Coat for Royalty-Letter to a Friend - Weddings in Church - Fees - Death of Robert and Wife.
T HE natives are doing our six months' washing. I have been at the stream to see them. They sit in the water to the waist, soap the clothes, then pound them with smooth stones, managing to make them clean and white in cold water. But the texture of fine fabrics suf- fers in this rough process. Wood is scarce, being brought from the mountains, without the convenience of roads or beasts of burden.
Mrs. Charlton, wife of the English consul, and Mrs. Taylor, her sister, called on us to-day. They have been here but a short time, and are the only white ladies in the place, excepting those of the mission. Mrs. Taylor is particularly agreeable.
Visited again our sick friends, Robert and wife, and fear they are not long for earth, as they appear to be in the first stages of rapid consumption. On our way home we called on our friend, Kaahumanu, and found her re- clining on a divan of clean mats, surrounded by her attendants, who had evidently been reading to her. She was wrapped in a "kihei" of blue silk velvet. This " kihei " is a very convenient article, answering for both wrapper and bed-spread, and is made of every variety of material. It is as easy here to take up one's bed and walk as it was in Judea.
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Kaahumanu.
Kaahumanu insists that we shall live with her; she will give us a house and servants, and I must be called by her name. We do not like to refuse, but the plan is thought to be impracticable, so we propose to have her come and live with us. She has a little adopted daugh- ter, "Ruth,"* whom she wishes me to take and educate as my own. There is certainly before us enough, and we need wisdom to choose wisely between duties to be done, and what is to be left undone.
In conversation with Mr. and Mrs. Bingham to-day, they related some anecdotes of our good queen-mother in former times. Quite a number of chiefs embraced the new religion, were baptized, and received into the Church, before this haughty personage deigned to notice the for- eign teachers at all. It was after a severe illness, during which she had been often visited, and the wants of her suffering body attended to, that her manner softened toward them. The native language had been reduced to writing; a little book containing the alphabet, a few lessons in reading, and some hymns had been printed. Mr. and Mrs. Bingham took a copy of this little book and called on her one evening, hoping and praying to find some avenue to her heart. They found her on her mats, stretched at full length, with a group of portly dames like herself, engaged in a game of cards, of which they were passionately fond. This was the first accom- plishment learned from foreigners, and they could play cards well before they had books, paper, pen or pencil.
The teachers waited patiently until the game was fin- ished ; they then requested the attention of her ladyship
* Ruth Keelikolani is the daughter of Mataio Kekuanaoa and Pauahi formerly wife of Kamehameha II. On Pauahi's death Gov. Kekuanaoa married Kinau, from whom were born Lot and Alexander, who became Kings of Hawaii, and the Princess Victoria Kamamalu.
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Honolulu.
to a new " pepa " (paper), which they had brought her. (They called cards "pepa," the same word applying to books.) She turned toward them and asked, "What is it?" They gave her the little spelling-book in her own language, explaining how it could be made to talk to her, and some of the words it would speak. She listened, was deeply interested, pushed aside her cards, and was never known to resume them to the day of her death. She was but a few days in mastering the art of reading, when she sent orders for books, to supply all her house- hold. She forsook her follies, and gave her entire ener- gies to the support of schools, and in attendance upon the worship in the sanctuary.
It is no marvel that Mr. and Mrs. B- looked thin and care-worn. Besides the care of her own family, Mrs. B- boarded and taught English to a number of native and half-caste children and youth. Fancy her, in the midst of these cares, receiving an order from the king to make him a dozen shirts, with ruffled bosoms, followed by another for a whole suit of broadcloth! The shirts were a comparatively easy task, soon finished with the efficient aid of Mrs. Ruggles, who was a host in anything she undertook. But the coat, how were they going to manage that? They were glad to be valued for any ac- complishment, and did not like to return the cloth, saying they had never learned to make coats. No, that would not do, so after mature deliberation, Mrs. Ruggles got an old coat, ripped it to pieces, and by it cut one out for His Majesty, making allowance for the larger mass of human- ity that was to go into it. Their efforts were successful, and afforded entire satisfaction to the king, who was not yet a connoisseur in the fit of a coat.
A strange scene occurred in the church at the Wed- nesday lecture of this week. At the close of the usual
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Wedding Scenes.
services, nineteen couples presented themselves at the matrimonial altar, arranged like a platoon of soldiers. As I can not understand much that is said, I must con- fine my observations to what I saw. One bride was clad in a calico dress, and a bonnet, procured probably from some half-caste lady, who has a foreign husband. The. groom wore a blue cloth coat with bright buttons, which, I am informed, is the property of a fortunate holder who keeps it to rent to needy bridegrooms. This coat is always seen on these occasions. Most of the brides wore some article of foreign origin ; one sported a night-cap scrupulously clean, but a little ragged, abstracted, per- haps, from the washing of some foreign lady. Another head was bandaged with a white handkerchief, tied on the top of the head in an immense fancy knot, over which was thrown a green veil, bringing down the knot quite on to her nose, almost blinding the poor thing. The scene was so ludicrous, I could hardly suppress laughter, especially at the response of " Aye, aye," pro- nounced loud enough to be heard all over the neighbor- hood.
There seems to be quite a furore for the marriage serv- ice. Mr. Richards, at Lahaina, says he has united six hundred couples in a few months. It is certainly a vast improvement upon the old system of living together like brutes, and it is to be hoped they will find it conducive to much greater happiness. The usual fee to the offici- ating clergyman is a few roots of kalo, or a fowl, a little bundle of onions, or some such article for the table, to the value of twenty-five cents. Cheap matrimony this, even counting the cost of outfit or for the rental of clothes.
I am grieved to record that our beloved friend Robert and his wife are both dend. We have just returned from
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Honolulu.
the funeral. Many of the chiefs were present, dressed in black, as a tribute of respect to the departed teachers, so lovely in their lives, and in death not divided. Such a Christian burial affords a striking contrast to former times, when teeth were knocked out, and indulgence granted to every excess of passion and violence. " What hath God wrought!" we may well exclaim.
V.
Assembling of Missionaries-A Sick Child -- Fashions -The Children-Native School Exhibition-Dress -Progress -Rival Families of Chiefs-Principles.
April 22, 1828.
T HE missionaries stationed on the different islands, Hawaii, Maui, and Kauai, have assembled here for the purpose of a general council, and to locate the newly arrived company.
These islands are separated by channels of fifty and a hundred miles in width, as boisterous often as the sea off Cape Horn. The voyages are made in small schooners, nav- igated by natives not over careful, and with no provisions but those carried by the passengers for themselves, who have to dispute for space with pigs and dogs, to say nothing of the dirty masses of humanity who crowd these vessels, voyaging profitlessly from island to island.
Mr. Artemas Bishop comes from Kailua in his desola- tion. We brought many parcels for Mrs. Bishop from her American friends, but she has gone where every want is satisfied. Her poor little boy also suffers from the loss of his mother, although provided with a native nurse, and has the care of Mrs. Ruggles. I have been bathing and dressing the little sufferer after his long voyage, weeping and wondering at the mystery of Divine wisdom in removing this young, loving mother's life, and leaving her helpless infant motherless.
We are enjoying a rare season of Christian intercourse
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in this union with our missionary associates. Mrs. R of Lahaina, with her three sons, is a perfect sunbeam Most of the number look feeble and overworked.
· I employ my leisure in trimming and repairing bon- nets for the ladies, making dresses, and modernizing their wardrobes generally. Miss Ward makes herself very useful in this department. Fashions have changed some- what in seven years. It is a great pleasure to do this, as it brightens the depressed, and diverts the minds of the desponding. Some of them have not spirit enough to smile.
My greatest pleasure is to gather the children about me, and tell them tales of the fatherland, of snow and ice, of great churches, of wide streets, of lofty trees, and broad, deep rivers.
April 28, 1828.
The grand annual exhibition of all the schools on this island is to be held at the church. Adults compose these schools, as the children are not yet tamed. The people come from each district in procession, headed by the principal man of the land (konohiki), all dressed in one uniform color of native cloth. One district would be clad in red, another in bright yellow, another in pure white, another in black or brown. The dress was one simple garment, the " kihei" for men, and the "pau " for women.
It is astonishing how so many have learned to read with so few books. They teach each other, making use of banana leaves, smooth stones, and the wet sand on the sea beach, as tablets. Some read equally well with the book upside down or sidewise, as four or five of them learn from the same book with one teacher, crowding around him as closely as possible.
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A People at School.
The aged are fond of committing to memory, and re- peating in concert. One school recited the one hun- dred and third Psalm, and another, Christ's Sermon on the Mount; another repeated the fifteenth chapter of John, and the Dukes of Esau and Edom. Their power of memory is wonderful, acquired, as I suppose, by the habit of committing and reciting traditions, and the genealogies of their kings and priests.
As yet, only portions of the Bible are translated and printed. These are demanded in sheets still wet from the press. Kaahumanu admires those chapters in Paul's epistles, where he greets his disciples by name ; she says, " Paul had a great many friends."
The children are considered bright, but too wild to be brought into the schools. We intend, however, to try them very soon.
. Among the Hawaiian aristocracy there are two rival families, like the houses of York and Lancaster. Gov- ernor Boki represents the claims of one, and our good queen the other. Both claim the guardianship of the young king, Kauikeaouli, and are equally anxious for paramount influence, but with widely different views. The governor has visited foreign lands. He is ambitious to gain the influence of the resident foreign traders, and the captains of ships to his party. He favors the old order of things, and is very oppressive in his exactions from the common people, but utterly regardless of the public interests in his extravagant expenditures. His levy of sandal-wood has kept the poor people in the mountains for months together, cutting it without food or shelter, other than that afforded by the forests.
Kaahumanu, on the other hand, is anxious to lighten the burdens of the people. She makes frequent tours around the islands, assembling them at each hamlet, ex
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Honolulu.
horting them to forsake every heathen custom, learn to read, and listen to the teachings of God's word and law. She watches the young king with the solicitude of a ten- der mother, weeping and rejoicing alternately, as he yields to, or resists, temptation to wrong-doing.
VI.
Visit to Lahaina-Yachting-Native Navigators- Lahaina-The King and Princess-Language.
LAHAINA, June, 1828.
A T the close of the general meeting, we accompanied our friends to this place, to spend some weeks. The channel is seventy miles wide, and we were four days in making the distance, beating up against the strong trade-winds.
When the ladies in Clinton, N. Y., were preparing my outfit, good old Mrs. T- suggested a blue calico and some checked aprons. She said she heard I was expect- ing to spend a good deal of my time in visiting the differ- ent islands, but should think that I would find it my duty to stay at home and work. Dear old soul, how I wish she could know something of the pleasure of these voy- ages! They are made in a little schooner, stowed to its „ utmost capacity with men, women, and children, lumber, poi, poultry, horses, horned cattle, pet pigs and dogs, , and all manner of creeping things ; and we are utterly prostrated and helpless, with that merciless malady, which falls on all alike, master and servant, the mal de mer.
f
The native navigators often go to sleep even at the helm, though the trade-wind may blow a gale. The sea is often very rough, and then again we are under a lee shore, in a dead calm, with the sails flapping and the schooner pitching in the trough of the sea, with enough
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Honolulu.
violence to take the masts out of her, not to say the breath out of our bodies. If I had ever dreamed of "yachting by moonlight among the Isles of the Pacific," one trip has dispelled the illusion forever.
Lahaina is richer in tropical vegetation than Honolulu. Beautiful trees and flowering shrubs, with the rich green patches of kalo, grow down to the water's edge. The village is shut in by mountains, which gives one a pent- up and prison-like feeling.
We had the honor, to-day, of an introduction to the young king, who is living here. He has just returned from his first visit to the greatest natural wonder in his kingdom, the volcano of Kilauea. He was dressed like a midshipman, in a blue jacket and white pantaloons, and a straw hat. He is nearly fifteen. He seemed much pleased when told that ten white lady teachers were added to his kingdom. He noticed my calico dress with shaded stripes, red and brown, and said the color was like the " ohai" flowers (Pride of Barbadoes), and he sent out one of the servants to make a wreath of those flowers, which he presented to me. I felt obliged to wear it at dinner, although it was not to my taste, for I had given away all my muslins, ribbons, and embroideries when I became a missionary; but now, to my surprise, I find people are estimated somewhat by the exterior. The chiefs and higher class of natives, who are anxious to improve in the art of dress, are keen observers.
The young princess, Nahienaena, is more sprightly than her royal brother. They both have excellent voices, and are the patrons of large singing schools.
The Hawaiian alphabet, as written by the missionaries, contains but twelve letters. The vowels, except u (o0) are pronounced the same as in French and Italian Neither syllables nor words ever end in a consonant.
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The Hawaiian Language.
Words are almost spelled in pronouncing them-a-ló-ha, O-á-hu, for example. The orthography of the language is very simple, and to learn to read and write it is the work of a few days only.
The grammatical construction is more difficult. There is properly no verb "to be" in the language. The pro- nouns are numerous and complicated, there being forms for the dual and also forms for excluding or including the person addressed. L and R, K and T, are used in- terchangeably ; it is said that a native can distinguish no difference between "kalo" and "taro," or "Waikiki" and "Waititi." If the Italian is the language of the gods, the French of diplomacy, and the English of business men, we may add that the Polynesian is the dialect of little children. It is easier to say "hele mai," than "come here," and "i wai," than "give me water." Nouns are placed before adjectives, as, "pua ala," "flower fragrant." Verbs are also placed at the begin- ning of a sentence, as, "Plucked I the flower fragrant." Some words are very expressive, for which we have no equivalent in English, as " pilikia," which signifies "to be in a tight place," or "difficulty." " Hoomanawanui" signifies " to bear patiently-to persevere."
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