[Transcriber's Notes: The following words are noted as having changedbetween the publication of this book and the year 2004: 'NuuanuValley', versus 'Nuanu'; 'lei', vs. 'le' for a flower garland; 'holoku'vs. 'holaku' for a Hawaiian black dress; 'Wailua', vs. 'Waialua';'Kealakekua Bay' vs. 'Kealakeakua'; 'Kahului' vs. 'Kaului'; 'kuleana'vs. 'kuliana' for a small land-holding; 'kulolo' vs. 'kuulaau' for ataro pudding; 'piele' vs. 'paalolo' for a sweet-potato and coconutpudding; 'Koa' trees vs. 'Ko'; 'Sausalito' vs. 'Soucelito'; 'Klickitat', vs. 'Klikatat'; and 'Mount Rainier' vs. 'Mount Regnier'. Also, in chapter 1, the author mis-stated information on taro fields;it should say that a square forty feet on each side will support aperson for a year; this is equivalent to a square mile feeding 15, 000. An explanation of footnotes in the Appendix: The book has both footnotesat the bottom of each page, to which I assigned letters, and four pagesof notes at the end of the Appendix. The latter includes comments bythe translator in brackets, therefore these notes, which use numbers, will not be enclosed in the normal [Footnote: ] brackets to avoid anyconfusion. The lettered footnotes follow the numbered notes at theend. ] [Illustration: THE HAWAIIAN ARCHIPELAGO. ] NORTHERN CALIFORNIA, OREGON, AND THE SANDWICH ISLANDS. BY CHARLES NORDHOFF, AUTHOR OF "CALIFORNIA: FOR HEALTH, PLEASURE, AND RESIDENCE, " &c. , &c. NEW YORK: HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS, FRANKLIN SQUARE. 1875. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1874, by HARPER & BROTHERS, In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. TO MY FRIENDS, MR. AND MRS. HENRY A. DIKE, OF BROOKLYN, N. Y. PREFACE. The favor with which my previous volume on California was received by thepublic induced me to prepare the present volume, which concerns itself, as the title sufficiently shows, with the northern parts of California, Oregon (including a journey through Washington Territory to Victoria, inVancouver's Island), and the Sandwich Islands. I have endeavored, as before, to give plain and circumstantial details, such as would interest and be of use to travelers for pleasure orinformation, and enable the reader to judge of the climate, scenery, and natural resources of the regions I visited; to give, in short, suchinformation as I myself would like to have had in my possession beforeI made the journey. Since this book went to press, Lunalilo, the King of the Sandwich Islands, has died of rapid consumption; and his successor is the Hon. DavidKalakaua, a native chief, who has been prominent in the political affairsof the Islands, and was the rival of the late king after the death ofKamehameha V. Colonel Kalakaua is a man of education, of better physicalstamina than the late king, of good habits, vigorous will, and a strongdetermination to maintain the independence of the Islands, in which he issupported by the people, who are of like mind with him on this point. Hisportrait is given on the next leaf. [Illustration: KING KALAKAUA. ] CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. HONOLULU AND THE ISLAND OF OAHU CHAPTER II. HILO, WITH SOME VOLCANOES CHAPTER III. MAUI, AND THE SUGAR CULTURE CHAPTER IV. KAUAI, WITH A GLANCE AT CATTLE AND SHEEP CHAPTER V. THE HAWAIIAN AT HOME: MANNERS AND CUSTOMS CHAPTER VI. COMMERCIAL AND POLITICAL CHAPTER VII. THE LEPER ASYLUM ON MOLOKAI * * * * * NORTHERN CALIFORNIA: ITS AGRICULTURAL VALLEYS, DAIRIES, FORESTS, FRUIT-FARMS, ETC. CHAPTER I. THE SACRAMENTO VALLEY: A GENERAL VIEW, WITH HINTS TO TOURISTS ANDSPORTSMEN CHAPTER II. WINE AND RAISINS--PROFITS OF DRYING FRUITS CHAPTER III. THE TULE LANDS AND LAND DRAINAGE CHAPTER IV. SHEEP-GRAZING IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA CHAPTER V. THE CHINESE AS LABORERS AND PRODUCERS CHAPTER VI. THE MENDOCINO COAST AND CLEAR LAKE--GENERAL VIEW CHAPTER VII. AN INDIAN RESERVATION CHAPTER VIII. THE REDWOODS AND THE SAW-MILL COUNTRY OF MENDOCINO CHAPTER IX. DAIRY-FARMING IN CALIFORNIA CHAPTER X. TEHAMA AND BUTTE, AND THE UPPER COUNTRY CHAPTER XI. TOBACCO CULTURE--WITH A NEW METHOD OR CURING THE LEAF CHAPTER XII. THE FARALLON ISLANDS CHAPTER XIII. THE COLUMBIA RIVER AND PUGET SOUND--HINTS TO TOURISTS * * * * * APPENDIX. CONTRIBUTIONS OF A VENERABLE SAVAGE TO THE ANCIENT HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIANISLANDS NOTES ILLUSTRATIONS. MAP OF THE HAWAIIAN ARCHIPELAGO KING KALAKAUA DIAMOND HEAD AND WAIKIKI HONOLULU--GENERAL VIEW HAWAIIAN HOTEL, HONOLULU GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS, HONOLULU ROYAL SCHOOL, HONOLULU COURT-HOUSE, HONOLULU MRS. LUCY G. THURSTON KAWAIAHO CHURCH--FIRST NATIVE CHURCH IN HONOLULU DR. JUDD DR. COAN BETHEL CHURCH DR. DAMON QUEEN'S HOSPITAL, HONOLULU NATIVE SCHOOL-HOUSE IN HONOLULU COCOA-NUT GROVE, AND RESIDENCE OF THE LATE KING KAMEHAMEHA V. , AT WAIKIKI, OAHU HAWAIIAN POI DEALER THE PALACE, HONOLULU EMMA, QUEEN OF KAMEHAMEHA IV. A HAWAIIAN CHIEF THE CRATER OF KILAUEA--ONE PHASE KEALAKEAKUA BAY, WHERE CAPTAIN COOK WAS KILLED THE VOLCANO HOUSE HAWAIIAN TEMPLE, FROM A RUSSIAN ENGRAVING, ABOUT 1790 LAVA FIELD, HAWAII--FLOW OF 1868 VIEW OF THE CRATER OF SOUTH LAKE IN A STATE OF ERUPTION, FROM THE CREST OFTHE NORTH LAKE HILO SURF BATHING LAHAINA, ISLAND OF MAUI CASCADE AND RIVER OF LAVA--FLOW OF 1869 MAP OF THE HALEAKALA CRATER WAILUKU, ISLAND OF MAUI KEAPAWEO MOUNTAIN, KAUAI CHAIN OF EXTINCT VOLCANOES NEAR KOLOA, ISLAND OF KAUAI WAIALUA FALLS, ISLAND OF KAUAI IMPLEMENTS GRASS HOUSE HAWAIIAN WARRIORS LUNALILO KAMEHAMEHA I. QUEEN OF KAMEHAMEHA I. ANCIENT GODS OF HAWAII HAWAIIANS EATING POI NATIVE HAT PEDDLER HULA-HULA, OR DANCING-GIRLS HAWAIIAN STYLE OF DRESS NATIVE PIPE NECKLACE OF HUMAN HAIR MAP OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA A CALIFORNIA VINEYARD WINE VATS TRAINING A VINE A BOTTLING-CELLAR INDIAN RANCHERIA PIEDRAS BLANCAS POINT ARENA LIGHT-HOUSE SHIPPING LUMBER, MENDOCINO COUNTY A WATER-JAM OF LOGS MOUNT HOOD, OREGON COAST VIEW, MENDOCINO COUNTY INDIAN SWEAT-HOUSE ANOTHER COAST-VIEW, NORTHERN CALIFORNIA A SAW-MILL PORT ON PUGET SOUND CAPE HORN, COLUMBIA RIVER SAW-MILL WOOD-CHOPPER AT WORK MOUNT HOOD, OREGON INDIANS SPEARING SALMON, COLUMBIA RIVER CHINOOK WOMAN AND CHILD VIEW ON THE COLUMBIA RIVER LUMBERING IN WASHINGTON TERRITORY--PREPARING LOGS VICTORIA HARBOR, VANCOUVER'S ISLAND PORT TOWNSEND, WASHINGTON TERRITORY POINT REYES COLUMBIA RIVER SCENE STREET IN OLYMPIA, WASHINGTON TERRITORY "TACOMA, " OR MOUNT RAINIER INDIAN CRADLE, WASHINGTON TERRITORY RUNNING THE ROOKERIES--GATHERING MURRE EGGS LIGHT-HOUSE ON THE SOUTH FARALLON ARCH AT WEST END, FARALLON ISLANDS SEA-LIONS THE GULL'S NEST SHAGS, MURRES, AND SEA-GULLS CONTEST FOR THE EGGS THE GREAT ROOKERY INDIAN GIRLS AND CANOE, PUGET SOUND SALEM, CAPITAL OF OREGON SEATTLE, WASHINGTON TERRITORY VICTORIA, BRITISH COLUMBIA MAP OF PUGET SOUND AND VICINITY THE DUKE OF YORK QUEEN VICTORIA NANAIMO, VANCOUVER'S ISLAND ANCIENT HAWAIIAN IDOL THE TARO PLANT [Illustration: DIAMOND HEAD AND WAIKIKI. ] NORTHERN CALIFORNIA, OREGON, AND THE SANDWICH ISLANDS. * * * * * CHAPTER I. HONOLULU AND THE ISLAND OF OAHU. The Hawaiian group consists, as you will see on the map, of elevenislands, of which Hawaii is the largest and Molokini the smallest. Theislands together contain about 6000 square miles; and Hawaii alone has anarea of nearly 4000 square miles, Maui 620, Oahu (which contains Honolulu, the capital) 530, and Kauai 500. Lanai, Kahoolawe, Molokai, Niihau, Kaula, Lehua, and Molokini are small islands. All are of volcanicorigin, mountainous, and Hawaii contains the largest active crater in theworld--Kilauea--one of the craters of Mauna Loa; while Maui containsthe largest known extinct crater, Haleakala, the House of the Sun--a pitthirty miles in circumference and two thousand feet deep. Mauna Loa andMauna Kea are nearly 14, 000 feet high, as high as Mount Grey in Colorado;and you can not ride anywhere in the islands without seeing extinctcraters, of which the hill called Diamond Head, near Honolulu, is anexample. [Illustration: HONOLULU--GENERAL VIEW. ] The voyage from San Francisco to Honolulu is now very comfortably made inone of the Pacific Mail Company's steamers, which plies regularly betweenthe two ports, and makes a round trip once in every month. The voyage downto the Islands lasts from eight to nine days, and even to persons subjectto sea-sickness is likely to be an enjoyable sea-journey, because afterthe second day the weather is charmingly warm, the breezes usually mild, and the skies sunny and clear. In forty-eight hours after you leavethe Golden Gate, shawls, overcoats, and wraps are discarded. You put onthinner clothing. After breakfast you will like to spread rugs on deckand lie in the sun, fanned by deliciously soft winds; and before you seeHonolulu you will, even in winter, like to have an awning spread over youto keep off the sun. When they seek a tropical climate, our brethren onthe Pacific coast have to endure no such rough voyage as that acrossthe Atlantic. On the way you see flying-fish, and if you are lucky anoccasional whale or a school of porpoises, but no ships. It is one of theloneliest of ocean tracks, for sailing-vessels usually steer farther northto catch stronger gales. But you sail over the lovely blue of the PacificOcean, which has not only softer gales but even a different shade of colorthan the fierce Atlantic. We made the land at daylight on the tenth day of the voyage, and bybreakfast-time were steaming through the Molokai Channel, with the high, rugged, and bare volcanic cliffs of Oahu close aboard, the surf beatingvehemently against the shore. An hour later we rounded Diamond Head, andsailing past Waikiki, which is the Long Branch of Honolulu charminglyplaced amidst groves of cocoa-nut-trees, turned sharp about, and steamedthrough a narrow channel into the landlocked little harbor of Honolulu, smooth as a mill-pond. It is not until you are almost within the harbor that you get a fair viewof the city, which lies embowered in palms and fine tamarind-trees, withthe tall fronds of the banana peering above the low-roofed houses; andthus the tropics come after all somewhat suddenly upon you; for theland which you have skirted all the morning is by no means tropical inappearance, and the cocoa-nut groves of Waikiki will disappoint you ontheir first and too distant view, which gives them the insignificantappearance of tall reeds. But your first view of Honolulu, that from theship's deck, is one of the pleasantest you can get: it is a view of grayhouse-tops, hidden in luxuriant green, with a background of volcanicmountains three or four thousand feet high, and an immediate foreground ofsmooth harbor, gay with man-of-war boats, native canoes and flags, andthe wharf, with ladies in carriages, and native fruit-venders in what willseem to you brightly colored night-gowns, eager to sell you a feast ofbananas and oranges. There are several other fine views of Honolulu, especially that from thelovely Nuanu Valley, looking seaward over the town, and one from the roofof the prison, which edifice, clean, roomy, and in the day-time emptybecause the convicts are sent out to labor on public works and roads, hasone of the finest situations in the town's limits, directly facing theNuanu Valley. From the steamer you proceed to a surprisingly excellent hotel, which wasbuilt at a cost of about $120, 000, and is owned by the government. You will find it a large building, affording all the conveniences of afirst-class hotel in any part of the world. It is built of a concretestone made on the spot, of which also the new Parliament House iscomposed; and as it has roomy, well-shaded court-yards and deep, coolpiazzas, and breezy halls and good rooms, and baths and gas, and abilliard-room, you might imagine yourself in San Francisco, were it notthat you drive in under the shade of cocoa-nut, tamarind, guava, andalgeroba trees, and find all the doors and windows open in midwinter; andladies and children in white sitting on the piazzas. [Illustration: HAWAIIAN HOTEL, HONOLULU. ] It is told in Honolulu that the building of this hotel cost two of thelate king's cabinet, Mr. Harris and Dr. Smith, their places. The Hawaiianpeople are economical, and not very enterprising; they dislike debt, anda considerable part of the Hawaiian national debt was contracted to buildthis hotel. You will feel sorry for Messrs. Harris and Smith, who were formany years two of the ablest members of the Hawaiian cabinet, but you willfeel grateful for their enterprise also, when you hear that before thishotel was completed--that is to say, until 1871--a stranger landing inHonolulu had either to throw himself on the hospitality of the citizens, take his lodgings in the Sailors' Home, or go back to his ship. It is notoften that cabinet ministers fall in so good a cause, or incur the publicdispleasure for an act which adds so much to the comfort of mankind. The mercury ranges between 68° and 81° in the winter months andbetween 75° and 86° during the summer, in Honolulu. The mornings areoften a little overcast until about half-past nine, when it clearsaway bright. The hottest part of the day is before noon. Thetrade-wind usually blows, and when it does it is always cool; with asouth wind; it is sometimes sultry, though the heat is never nearly sooppressive as in July and August in New York. In fact, a New Yorkerwhom I met in the Islands in August congratulated himself as much onhaving escaped the New York summer as others did on having avoided thewinter. The nights are cool enough for sound rest, but not cold. It is not by any means a torrid climate, and it has, perhaps, thefewest daily extremes of any pleasant climate in the world. Forinstance, the mercury ranged in January between 69° at 7 A. M. , 75-1/2°at 2 P. M. , and 71-1/2° at 10 P. M. The highest temperature in that monthwas 78°, and the lowest 68°. December and January are usually thecoolest months in the year at Honolulu, but the variation is extremelyslight for the whole year, the maximum of the warmest day in July(still at Honolulu) being only 86°, and this at noon, and the lowestmark being 62°, in the early morning in December. A friend of mineresident during twenty years in the Islands has never had a blanket inhis house. It is said that the climate is an excellent one for consumptives, andphysicians here point to numerous instances of the kindly and healingeffect of the mild air. At the same time, I suspect it must in thelong-run be a little debilitating to Americans. It is a charming climatefor children; and as sea-bathing is possible and pleasant at all times, those who derive benefit from this may here enjoy it to the fullest extentduring all the winter months as well as in the summer. Of course you wear thin, but not the thinnest, clothing. White isappropriate to the climate; but summer flannels are comfortable in winter. The air is never as sultry as in New York in July or August, and theheat is by no means oppressive, there being almost always a fresh breeze. Honolulu has the reputation of being the hottest place on the islands, and a walk through its streets at midday quickly tires one; but in amountainous country like this you may choose your temperature, of course. The summits of the highest peaks on Hawaii are covered with almostperpetual snow; and there are sugar planters who might sit around a fireevery night in the year. Unlike California, the Islands have no special rainy season, thoughrain is more abundant in winter than during the summer months. But thetrade-wind, which is also the rain-wind, greatly controls the rain-fall;and it is useful for visitors to bear in mind that on the weather sideof every one of the Islands--that side exposed to the wind--rains arefrequent, while on the lee side the rain-fall is much less, and in someplaces there is scarcely any. Thus an invalid may get at will either a dryor moist climate, and this often by moving but a few miles. Not only isit true that at Hilo it sometimes rains for a month at a time, while atLahaina they have a shower only about once in eighteen months; but you may_see_ it rain every day from the hotel piazza in Honolulu, though you getnot a drop in the city itself; for in the Nuanu and Manoa valleys thereare showers every day in the year--the droppings of fragments of cloudswhich have been blown over the mountain summits; and if you cross the Palito go the windward side of the island, though you set out from Honoluluamidst brilliant sunshine which will endure there all day unchanged, youwill not ride three miles without needing a mackintosh. But the residents, knowing that during the greater part of the year the showers are light andof brief duration, take no precautions against them; and indeed an islandshower seems to be harmless to any one but an invalid, for it is not aclimate in which one easily "takes cold. " The very slight changes in temperature between day and night make theclimate agreeable, and I think useful, to persons in tender health. But Ido not believe it can be safely recommended for all cases of consumption. If the patient has the disease fully developed, and if it has beencaused by lack of nutrition, I should think the island air likely to beinsufficiently bracing. For persons who have "weak lungs" merely, but noactual disease, it is probably a good and perfectly safe climate; and ifsea-bathing is part of your physician's prescription, it can, as I saidbefore, be enjoyed in perfection here by the tenderest body all the yearround. [Illustration: GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS, HONOLULU. ] Honolulu, being the capital of the kingdom, contains the governmentoffices; and you will perhaps be surprised, as I was, to find an excellentpublic hospital, a reform school, and other proper and well-managedcharities. When you have visited these and some of the numerous schoolsand the native churches, and have driven or ridden to Waikiki for asea-bath, and have seen the Nuanu Valley and the precipice called thePali, if you are American, and familiar with New England, it will berevealed to you that the reason why all the country looks so familiarto you is that it is really a very accurate reproduction of NewEngland country scenery. The white frame houses with green blinds, thepicket-fences whitewashed until they shine, the stone walls, the smallbarns, the scanty pastures, the little white frame churches scatteredabout, the narrow "front yards, " the frequent school-houses, usually withbut little shade: all are New England, genuine and unadulterated; andyou have only to eliminate the palms, the bananas, and other tropicalvegetation, to have before you a fine bit of Vermont or the stonier partsof Massachusetts. The whole scene has no more breadth nor freedom about itthan a petty New England village, but it is just as neat, trim, orderly, and silent also. There is even the same propensity to put all thehousehold affairs under one roof which was born of a severe climate inMassachusetts, but has been brought over to these milder suns by theincorrigible Puritans who founded this bit of civilization. [Illustration: ROYAL SCHOOL, HONOLULU. ] In fact, the missionaries have left an indelible mark upon these islands. You do not need to look deep to know that they were men of force, men ofthe same kind as they who have left an equally deep impress upon so largea part of our Western States; men and women who had formed their own livesaccording to certain fixed and immutable rules, who knew no better countrythan New England, nor any better ways than New England ways, and towhom it never occurred to think that what was good and sufficient inMassachusetts was not equally good and fit in any part of the world. Patiently, and somewhat rigorously, no doubt, they sought from thebeginning to make New England men and women of these Hawaiians; and whatis wonderful is that, to a large extent, they have succeeded. As you ride about the suburbs of Honolulu, and later as you travel aboutthe islands, more and more you will be impressed with a feeling of respectand admiration for the missionaries. Whatever of material prosperity hasgrown up here is built on their work, and could not have existed but fortheir preceding labors; and you see in the spirit of the people, in theiroften quaint habits, in their universal education, in all that makes theseislands peculiar and what they are, the marks of the Puritans who camehere but fifty years ago to civilize a savage nation, and have done theirwork so thoroughly that, even though the Hawaiian people became extinct, it would require a century to obliterate the way-marks of that handful ofdetermined New England men and women. [Illustration: COURT-HOUSE, HONOLULU. ] Their patient and effective labors seem to me, now that I have seen theresults, to have been singularly undervalued at home. No intelligentAmerican can visit the islands and remain there even a month, withoutfeeling proud that the civilization which has here been created in somarvelously short a time was the work of his country men and women; and ifyou make the acquaintance of the older missionary families, you will notleave them without deep personal esteem for their characters, as well asadmiration of their work. They did not only form a written languagefor the Hawaiian race, and painfully write for them school-books, adictionary, and a translation of the Scriptures and of a hymn-book; theydid not merely gather the people in churches and their children intoschools; but they guided the race, slowly and with immense difficulty, toward Christian civilization; and though the Hawaiian is no more aperfect Christian than the New Yorker or Massachusetts man, andthough there are still traces of old customs and superstitions, thesemissionaries have eradicated the grosser crimes of murder and theft socompletely, that even in Honolulu people leave their houses open allday and unlocked all night, without thought of theft; and there is not acountry in the world where the stranger may travel in such absolute safetyas in these islands. The Hawaiian, or Sandwich Islands, were discovered--or rediscovered, assome say--by Captain Cook, in January, 1778, a year and a half afterour Declaration of Independence. The inhabitants were then what we callsavages--that is to say, they wore no more clothing than the climatemade necessary, and knew nothing of the Christian religion. In theperiod between 1861 and 1865 this group had in the Union armies abrigadier-general, a major, several other officers, and more than onehundred private soldiers and seamen, and its people contributed to thetreasury of the Sanitary Commission a sum larger than that given by mostof our own States. [Illustration: MRS. LUCY G. THURSTON. ] In 1820 the first missionaries landed on the shores of these islands, andMrs. Lucy G. Thurston, one of those who came in that year, still lives, abright, active old lady, with a shrewd wit of her own. Thirty-three yearsafterward, in 1853, the American Board of Missions determined that "theSandwich Islands, having been Christianized, shall no longer receive aidfrom the Board;" and in this year, 1873, the natives of these islandsare, there is reason to believe, the most generally educated people in theworld. There is scarcely a Hawaiian--man, woman, or child--of suitableage but can both read and write. All the towns and many country localitiespossess substantial stone or, more often, framed churches, of the oddestNew England pattern; and a compulsory education law draws every child intothe schools, while a special tax of two dollars on every voter, and anadditional general tax, provide schools and teachers for all the childrenand youth. [Illustration: KAWAIAHO CHURCH--FIRST-NATIVE CHURCH IN HONOLULU. ] Nine hundred and three thousand dollars were given by Christian people inthe United States during thirty-five years to accomplish this result; andto-day the islands themselves support a missionary society, which sendsthe Gospel in the hands of native missionaries into other islands at itsown cost, and not only supports more than a dozen "foreign" missionaries, but translates parts of the Bible into other Polynesian tongues. Nor was exile from their homes and kindred the only privation themissionaries suffered. They came among a people so vile that they had noteven a conception of right and wrong; so prone to murder and pillage thatthe first Kamehameha, the conqueror, gave as excuse for his conquest thatit was necessary to make the paths safe; so debauched in their commonconversation that the earlier missionaries were obliged for years rigidlyto forbid their own children not only from acquaintance with the nativesamong whom they lived, but even from learning the native language, becauseto hear only the passing speech of their neighbors was to suffer thegrossest contamination. Of those who began this good work but few now remain. Most of them havegone to their reward, having no doubt suffered, as well as accomplished, much. Of the first band who came out from the United States, the only oneliving in 1873 is Mrs. Lucy G. Thurston, a bright, active, and lively oldlady of seventy-five years, who drives herself to church on Sundays in aone-horse chaise, and has her own opinions of passing events. How she haslived in the tropics for fifty years without losing even an atom of theNew England look puzzles you; but it shows you also the strength whichthese people brought with them, the tenacity with which they clungto their habits of dress and living and thought, the remorselessdetermination which they imported, with their other effects, around CapeHorn. [Illustration: DR. JUDD. ] Then there was Dr. Judd, who has died since these lines were written, whocame out as physician to the mission, and proved himself in the islands, as the world knows, a very able man, with statesmanship for some greatemergencies which made him for years one of the chief advisers of theHawaiian kings. It was to me a most touching sight to see, on a Sundayafter church, Mrs. Thurston, his senior by many years but still alertand vigorous, taking hold of his hand and tenderly helping him out of thechurch and to his carriage. [Illustration: DR. COAN. ] And in Hilo, when you go to visit the volcano, you will find Dr. Coan, oneof the brightest and loveliest spirits of them, all, the story of whoselife in the remote island whose apostle he was, is as wonderful and astouching as that of any of the earlier apostles, and shows what greatworks unyielding faith and love can do in redeeming a savage people. WhenDr. And Mrs. Coan came to the island of Hawaii, its shores and woods werepopulous; and through their labors and those of the Reverend Mr. Lymanand one or two others, thousands of men and women were instructed inthe truths of Christianity, inducted into civilized habits of life, andfinally brought into the church. As you sail along the green coast of Hawaii from its northern point toHilo, you will be surprised at the number of quaint little white churcheswhich mark the distances almost with the regularity of mile-stones; if, later, you ride through this district or the one south of Hilo, you willsee that for every church there is also a school-house; you will seenative children reading and writing as well as our own at home; you mayhear them singing tunes familiar in our own Sunday-schools; you will seethe native man and woman sitting down to read their newspaper at the closeof day; and if you could talk with them, you would find they knew almostas much about our late war as you do, for they took an intense interest inthe war of the rebellion. And you must remember that when, less than fortyyears ago, Dr. And Mrs. Coan came to Hilo, the people were naked savages, with but one church and one school-house in the district, and almostwithout printed books or knowledge of reading. They flocked to hear theGospel. Thousands removed from a distance to Hilo, where, in theirrapid way, they built up a large town, and kept up surely the strangest"protracted meeting" ever held; and going back to their homes after manymonths, they took with them knowledge and zeal to build up Christianchurches and schools of their own. Over these Dr. Coan has presided these many years; not only preachingregularly on Sundays and during the week in the large native church atHilo, and in two or three neighboring churches, but visiting the moredistant churches at intervals to examine and instruct the members, andkeep them all on the right track. He has seen a region very populouswhen he first came to it decrease until it has now many more deserted andruined house-places than inhabited dwellings; but, also, he has seen agreat population turned from darkness to light, a considerable part of itfollowing his own blameless and loving life as an example, and very manyliving to old age steadfast and zealous Christians. On your first Sunday at Honolulu you will probably attend one or other ofthe native churches. They are commodious buildings, well furnished; and agood organ, well played, will surprise you. Sunday is a very quiet day inthe Islands: they are a church-going people, and the empty seats inthe Honolulu native churches give you notice of the great decrease inpopulation since these were built. [Illustration: BETHEL CHURCH. ] If you go to hear preaching in your own language, it will probably be tothe Seamen's Chapel where the Rev. Mr. Damon preaches--one of the oldestand one of the best-known residents of Honolulu. This little chapel wasbrought around Cape Horn in pieces, in a whale-ship many years ago, andwas, I believe, the first American church set up in these islands. It isa curious old relic, and has seen many changes. Mr. Damon has lived heresince 1846 a most zealous and useful life as seamen's chaplain. He is, inhis own field, a true and untiring missionary, and to his care the portowes a clean and roomy Seamen's Home, a valuable little paper, _TheFriend_, which was for many years the chief reading of the whalemen whoformerly crowded the ports of Hawaii; and help in distress, and fatherlyadvice, and unceasing kindness at all times to a multitude of seamenduring nearly thirty years. The sailors, who quickly recognize a genuineman, have dubbed him "Father Damon;" and he deserves, what he has longhad, their confidence and affection. [Illustration: DR. DAMON. ] The charitable and penal institutions of Honolulu are quickly seen, anddeserve a visit. They show the care with which the Government has lookedafter the welfare of the people. The Queen's Hospital is an admirablykept house. At the Reform School you will see a number of boys trained andeducated in right ways. The prison not only deserves a visit for itself, but from its roof you obtain, as I said before, one of the best views ofHonolulu and the adjacent country and ocean. [Illustration: QUEEN'S HOSPITAL, HONOLULU. ] Then there are native schools, elementary and academic, where you will seethe young Hawaiian at his studies, and learn to appreciate the industryand thoroughness with which education is carried on all over theseislands. You will see also curious evidence of the mixture of races here;for on the benches sit, and in the classes recite, Hawaiian, Chinese, Portuguese, half white and half Chinese children; and the littlepig-tailed Celestial reads out of his primer quite as well as any. [Illustration: NATIVE SCHOOL-HOUSE IN HONOLULU. ] In the girls' schools you will see an occasional pretty face, but fewerthan I expected to see; and to my eyes the Hawaiian girl is rarely veryattractive. Among the middle-aged women, however, you often meet with fineheads and large, expressive features. The women have not unfrequentlya majesty of carriage and a tragic intensity of features and expressionwhich are quite remarkable. Their loose dress gives grace as well asdignity to their movements, and whoever invented it for them deservesmore credit than he has received. It is a little startling at first to seewomen walking about in what, to our perverted tastes, look like calicoor black stuff night-gowns; but the dress grows on you as you becomeaccustomed to it; it lends itself readily to bright ornamentation; itis eminently fit for the climate; and a stately Hawaiian dame, marchingthrough the street in black _holaku_--as the dress is called--with a longnecklace, or _le_, of bright scarlet or brilliant yellow flowers, bare anduntrammeled feet, and flowing hair, surmounted often by a low-crownedfelt hat, compares very favorably with a high-heeled, wasp-waisted, absurdly-bonneted, fashionable white lady. [Illustration: COCOA-NUT GROVE, AND RESIDENCE OF THE LATE KING KAMEHAMEHAV. , AT WAIKIKI, OAHU. ] As you travel through the country, you see not unfrequently one ofthe tall, majestic, large women, who were formerly, it is said by oldresidents, more numerous than now. I have been assured by several personsthat the race has dwindled in the last half century; and all old residentsspeak with admiration of the great stature and fine forms of the chiefsand their wives in the early days. It does not appear that these chiefswere a distinct race, but they were despotic rulers of the common people;and their greater stature is attributed by those who should know to theirbeing nourished on better food, and to easier circumstances and morefavorable surroundings. When you have seen Honolulu and the Nuanu Valley, and bathed and drunkcocoa-nut milk at Waikiki, you will be ready for a charming excursion--theride around the Island of Oahu. For this you should take several days. Itis most pleasantly made by a party of three or four persons, and ladies, if they can sit in the saddle at all, can very well do it. You shouldprovide yourself with a pack-mule, which will carry not only spareclothing but some provisions; and your guide ought to take care of yourhorses and be able, if necessary, to cook you a lunch. The ride is easilydone in four days, and you will sleep every night at a plantation or farm. The roads are excellent for riding, and carriages have made the journey. It is best to set out by way of Pearl River and return by the Pali, as thus you have the trade-wind in your face all the way. If you areaccustomed to ride, and can do thirty miles a day, you should sleep thefirst night at or near Waialua, the next at or near what is calledthe Mormon Settlement, and on the third day ride into Honolulu. If ladies are of your party, and the stages must be shorter, you canride the first day to Ewa, which is but ten miles; the next, to Waialua, eighteen miles further; the third, to the neighborhood of Kahuku, twelvemiles; thence to Kahana, fifteen miles; thence to Kaalaea, twelve miles;and the next day carries you, by an easy ride of thirteen miles, intoHonolulu. Any one who can sit on a horse at all will enjoy this excursion, and receive benefit from it; the different stages of it are so short thateach day's work is only a pleasure. On the way you will see, near Ewa, the Pearl Lochs, which it has recently been proposed to cede as anaval station to the United States; and near Waialua an interestingboarding-school for Hawaiian girls, in which they are taught not onlyin the usual school studies, but in sewing, and the various arts of thehousewife. If you are curious to see the high valley in which the famousWaialua oranges are grown, you must take a day for that purpose. BetweenKahuku and Kahana it is worth while to make a detour into the mountains tosee the Kaliawa Falls, which are a very picturesque sight. The rock, at aheight of several hundred feet, has been curiously worn by the water intothe shape of a canoe. Here, also, the precipitous walls are coveredwith masses of fine ferns. At Kahana, and also at Koloa, you will seerice-fields, which are cultivated by Chinese. You pass also on your roadseveral sugar-plantations; and if it is the season of sugar-boiling, you will be interested in this process. For miles you ride along thesea-shore, and your guide will lead you to proper places for a middaybath, preliminary to your lunch. After leaving the Mormon Settlement, the scenery becomes very grand--itis, indeed, as fine as any on the Islands, and compares well with anyscenery in the world. That it can be seen without severe toil gives it, for such people as myself, no slight advantage over some other sceneryin these Islands and elsewhere, access to which can be gained onlyby toilsome and disagreeable journeys. There is a blending of sea andmountain which will dwell in your memory as not oppressively grand, andyet fine enough to make you thankful that Providence has made the world solovely and fair. As you approach the Pali, the mountain becomes a sheer precipice for somemiles, broken only by the gorge of the Pali, up which, if you are prudent, you will walk, letting your horses follow with the guide--though Hawaiianhorsemen ride both up and down, and have been known to gallop down thestone-paved and slippery steep. As you look up at these tall, gloomyprecipices, you will see one of the peculiarities of a Sandwich Islandlandscape. The rocks are not bare, but covered from crown to base withmoss and ferns; and these cling so closely to the surface that to youreye they seem to be but a short, close-textured green fuzz. In fact, thesegreat rocks, thus adorned, reminded me constantly of the rock scenery insuch operas as Fra Diavolo; the dark green being of a shade which I donot remember to have seen before in nature, though it is not uncommon intheatrical scenery. The grass remains green, except in the dry districts, all the year round;and the common grass of the Islands is the _maniania_, a fine creepinggrass which covers the ground with a dense velvety mat; and where it iskept short by sheep makes an admirable springy lawn. It has a fine deepcolor and bears drought remarkably well; and it is the favorite pasturegrass of the Islands. I do not think it as fattening as the alfilleria ofSouthern California or our own timothy or blue grass; but it is a valuablegrass to the stockmen, because it eats out every other and less valuablekind. On your journey around Oahu you need a guide who can speak some English;you must take with you on the pack-mule provisions for the journey; andit is well to have a blanket for each of your party. You will sleep eachnight in a native house, unless, as is very likely to be the case, youhave invitations to stop at plantation houses on your way. At the nativehouses they will kill a chicken for you, and cook taro; but they haveno other supplies. You can usually get cocoa-nuts, whose milk is verywholesome and refreshing. The journey is like a somewhat prolonged picnic;the air is mild and pure; and you need no heavy clothing, for you are sureof bright sunny weather. For your excursions near Honolulu, and for the adventure I have described, you can hire horses; though if you mean to stay a month or two it isbetter to buy. A safe and good horse, well saddled and bridled, brought toyou every morning at the hotel, costs you a dollar a day. In that caseyou have no care or responsibility for the animal. But unless there aremen-of-war in port you can buy a sufficiently good riding-horse for fromtwelve to twenty-five dollars, and get something of your investment backwhen you leave; and you can buy saddles and all riding-gear cheaply inHonolulu. The maintenance of a horse in town costs not over fifty centsper day. Your guide for a journey ought to cost you a dollar a day, which includeshis horse; when you stop for the day he unsaddles your horses and tiesthem out in a grass-field where they get sufficient nourishment. For youraccommodation at a native house, you ought to pay fifty cents for eachperson of your party, including the guide. The proprietor of the Honoluluhotel is very obliging and readily helps you to make all arrangements forhorses and guides; and if you have brought any letters of introduction, ormake acquaintances in the place, you will find every body ready to assistyou. Riding is the pleasantest way of getting about; but on Oahu the roadsare sufficiently good to drive considerable distances, and carriages areeasily obtainable. One of the pleasant surprises which meet a northern traveler in theseislands is the number of strange dishes which appear on the table and inthe bill of fare. Strawberries, oranges--the sweetest and juiciest I haveeaten anywhere, except perhaps in Rio de Janeiro--bananas and cocoa-nuts, you have at will; but besides these there are during the winter months theguava, very nice when it is sliced like a tomato and eaten with sugar andmilk; taro, which is the potato of the country and, in the shape of poi, the main subsistence of the native Hawaiian; bread-fruit; flying-fish, the most tender and succulent of the fish kind; and, in their season, the mango, the custard-apple, the alligator-pear, the water-melon, therose-apple, the ohia, and other fruits. Taro, when baked, is an excellent and wholesome vegetable, and from itsleaves is cooked a fine substitute for spinach, called _luau_. Poi alsoappears on your hotel table, being the national dish, of which manyforeigners have become very fond. It is very fattening and easilydigested, and is sometimes prescribed by physicians to consumptives. As you drive about the suburbs of Honolulu you will see numerous taropatches, and may frequently see the natives engaged in the preparation ofpoi, which consists in baking the root or tuber in underground ovens, andthen mashing it very fine, so that if dry it would be a flour. It isthen mixed with water, and for native use left to undergo a slightfermentation. Fresh or unfermented poi has a pleasant taste; whenfermented it tastes to me like book-binder's paste, and a liking for itmust be acquired rather than natural, I should say, with foreigners. [Illustration: HAWAIIAN POI DEALER. ] So universal is its use among the natives that the manufacture of poi iscarried on now by steam-power and with Yankee machinery, for the sugarplanters; and the late king, who was avaricious and a trader, incurred thedislike of his native subjects by establishing a poi-factory of his ownnear Honolulu. Poi is sold in the streets in calabashes, but it is alsoshipped in considerable quantities to other islands, and especially toguano islands which lie southward and westward of this group. On theselonely islets, many of which have not even drinking-water for the laborerswho live on them, poi and fish are the chief if not the only articles offood. The fish, of course, are caught on the spot, but poi, water, salt, and a few beef cattle for the use of the white superintendents are carriedfrom here. Taro is a kind of _arum_. It grows, unlike any other vegetable I know ofunless it be rice, entirely under water. A taro patch is surrounded byembankments; its bottom is of puddled clay; and in this the cutting, whichis simply the top of the plant with a little of the tuber, is set. Theplants are set out in little clumps in long rows, and a man at work in ataro patch stands up to his knees in water. Forty square feet of taro, itis estimated, will support a person for a year, and a square mile oftaro will feed over 15, 000 Hawaiians. [Illustration: THE PALACE, HONOLULU. ] By-the-way, you will hear the natives say _kalo_ when they speak of taro;and by this and other words in common use you will presently learn ofa curious obliquity in their hearing. A Hawaiian does not notice anydifference in the sounds of _r_ and _l_, of _k_ and _t_, or of _b_, _p_, and _f_. Thus the Pali, or precipice near Honolulu, is spoken of as thePari; the island of Kauai becomes to a resident of it Tauwai, though anative of Oahu calls it Kauai; taro is almost universally called _kalo_;and the common salutation, _Aloha_, which means "Love to you, " and is thenational substitute for "How do you do?" is half the time _Aroha_; Lanaiis indifferently called Ranai; and Mauna Loa is in the mouths of mostHawaiians Mauna Roa. Indeed, in the older charts the capital of thekingdom is called Honoruru. Society in Honolulu possesses some peculiar features, owing in part to thesingularly isolated situation of this little capital, and partly to thecomposition of the social body. Honolulu is a capital city unconnectedwith any other place in the world by telegraph, having a mail once a monthfrom San Francisco and New Zealand, and dependent during the remainder ofthe month upon its own resources. To a New Yorker, who gets his news hotand hot all day and night, and can't go to sleep without first lookingin at the Fifth Avenue Hotel to hear the latest item, this will seemdeplorable enough; but you have no idea how charming, how pleasant, howsatisfactory it is for a busy or overworked man to be thus for a whileabsolutely isolated from affairs; to feel that for a month at least theworld must get on without your interfering hand; and though you may dreadbeforehand this enforced separation from politics and business, you willfind it very pleasant in the actual experience. As you stand upon the wharf in company with the élite of the kingdom towatch the steamer depart, a great burden falls from your soul, because fora month to come you have not the least responsibility for what may happenin any part of the planet. Looking up at the black smoke of the departingship, you say to yourself, "Who cares?" Let what will happen, you are notresponsible. And so, with a light heart and an easy conscience, you geton your horse (price $15), and about the time the lady passengers on thesteamer begin to turn green in face, you are sitting down on a spacious_lanai_ or veranda, in one of the most delightful sea-side resorts in theworld, with a few friends who have determined to celebrate by a dinnerthis monthly recurrence of their non-intercourse with the world. [Illustration: EMMA, QUEEN OF KAMEHAMEHA IV. ] The people are surprisingly hospitable and kind and know how to makestrangers at home; they have leisure, and know how to use it pleasantly;the climate controls their customs in many respects, and nothing ispursued at fever heat as with us. What strikes you, when you have foundyour way into Honolulu society and looked around, is a certain sensiblemoderation and simplicity which is in part, I suspect, a remainder of theold missionary influence; there is a certain amount of formality, whichis necessary to keep society from deteriorating, but there is no strivingafter effect; there are, so far as a stranger discovers, no petty cliquesor cabals or coteries, and there is a very high average of intelligence:they care about the best things. They know how to dine; and having good cooks and sound digestions, theyadd to these one requisite to pleasant dining which some more pretentioussocieties are without: they have leisure. Nothing is done in haste inHonolulu, where they have long ago convinced themselves that "to-morrow isanother day. " Moreover, you find them well-read, without being blue; theyhave not muddled their history by contradictory telegraphic reports ofmatters of no consequence; in fact, so far as recent events are concerned, they stand on tolerably firm ground, having perused only the last monthlyrecord of current events. Consequently, they have had time to read andenjoy the best books; to follow with an intelligent interest the mostnotable passing events; and as most of them come from families or havelived among people who have had upon their own shoulders some consciousshare of government, political, moral, or religious, these talkers arenot pedantic, but agreeable. As to the ladies, you find them charming;beautifully dressed, of course, but they have not given the whole dayand their whole minds to the dress; they are cheerful, easily excited togayety, long accustomed to take life easily, and eating as though they didnot know what dyspepsia was. Indeed, when you have passed a month in the Islands you will have a betteropinion of idleness than you had before, though in some respects the oddeffects of a tropical climate will hardly meet your approval. Euchre, for instance, takes the place here which whist holds elsewhere as theamusement of sensible people. [Illustration: A HAWAIIAN CHIEF. ] Finally, society in Honolulu is respectable. It is fashionable to bevirtuous, and if you were "fast, " I think you would conceal it. TheGovernment has always encouraged respectability, and discountenanced vice. The men who have ruled the Islands--not the missionaries alone, but thepolitical rulers since--have been plain, honest, and, in the main, wisemen; and they have kept politics respectable in the little monarchy. Thedisreputable adventurer element which degrades our politics, and invadessociety too, is not found here. You will say the rewards are not greatenough to attract this vile class. Perhaps not; but at any rate it is notthere; and I do not know, in short, where else in the world you would findso kindly, so gracefully hospitable, and, at the same time, so simple andenjoyable a society as that of Honolulu. No one can visit the Islands without being impressed by the boundlesshospitality of the sugar planters, who, with their superintendentsand managers, form, away from the few towns, almost the only whiteinhabitants. Hospitality so free-handed is, I suspect, found in fewother parts of the world. Though Honolulu has now a commodious hotel, theresidents keep up their old habits of graceful welcome to strangers. Thecapital has an excellent band, which plays in public places several timesa week; and it does not lack social entertainments, parties, and dinners, to break the monotony of life. Not only the residents of foreign birth, but a few Hawaiians also, people of education, culture, and means, entertain gracefully and frequently. As for the common people, they are by nature or long custom, or both, askindly and hospitable as men can be. If you ask for lodgings at night-fallat a native hut, you are received as though you were conferring a favor;frequently the whole house, which has but one room, is set apart for you, the people going elsewhere to sleep; a chicken is slain in your honor, andfor your exclusive supper; and you are served by the master of the househimself. The native grass-house, where it has been well built, is a verycomfortable structure. It has but a single room, calico curtains servingas partitions by night; at one end a standing bed-place, running acrossthe house, provides sleeping accommodations for the whole family, howevernumerous. This bed consists of mats; and the covers are either of tapacloth--which is as though you should sleep under newspapers--or ofblankets. The more prosperous people have often, besides this, an enormousbedstead curtained off and reserved for strangers; and you may see thewomen take out of their chests, when you ask hospitality, blankets, sheets, and a great number of little pillows for the bed, as well as oftena brilliant silk coverlet; for this bed appears to be like a Cape Codparlor--for ornament rather than use. The use of the dozen little pillowspuzzled me, until I found that they were intended to tuck or wedge me in, so that I should not needlessly and uncomfortably roll about the vast bed. They were laid at the sides, and I was instructed to "chock" myself withthem. On leaving, do not inquire what is the cost of your accommodations. The Hawaiian has vague ideas about price. He might tell you five or tendollars; but if you pay him seventy-five cents for yourself and yourguide, he will be abundantly and thoroughly satisfied. [Illustration: THE CRATER OF KILAUEA--ONE PHASE. ] CHAPTER II. HILO, WITH SOME VOLCANOES. Hilo, as you will perceive on the map, lies on the eastern or windwardside of the Island of Hawaii. You get there in the little inter-islandsteamer _Kilauea_, named after the volcano, and which makes a weekly tourof all the Islands except far-off Kauai, which it visits but once a month. The charge for passage is fifteen dollars from Honolulu to Hilo, andtwenty-five dollars for the round trip. The cabin is small; and as you are likely to have fine weather, you will, even if you are a lady, pass the time more pleasantly on deck, where thesteward, a Goa man and the most assiduous and tactful of his trade, willplace a mattress and blankets for you. You must expect to suffer somewhatfrom sea-sickness if you are subject to that ill, for the passage is notunlikely to be rough. On the way you see Lahaina, and a considerable partof the islands of Maui and Hawaii; in fact, you are never out of sight ofland. If you start on Monday evening you will reach Hilo on Wednesday--and"about this time expect rain, " as the almanac-makers say. They get aboutseventeen feet of rain at Hilo during the year; and as they have sometimesseveral days without any at all, you must look for not only frequent butheavy showers. A Hilo man told me of a curious experiment which was oncemade there. They knocked the heads out of an oil-cask--so he said--and itrained in at the bung-hole faster than it could run out at the ends. Youmay disbelieve this story if you please; I tell it as it was told me; butin any case you will do well to provide yourself for Hilo and the volcanojourney with stout water-proof clothing. Hilo, on those days when the sun shines, is one of the prettiest places onthe Islands. If you are so fortunate as to enter the bay on a fine dayyou will see a very tropical landscape--a long, pleasant, curved sweep ofbeach, on which the surf is breaking, and beyond, white houses nestlingamong cocoa-nut groves, and bread-fruit, pandanus, and other Southerntrees, many of them bearing brilliant flowers; with shops and stores alongthe beach. Men and boys sporting in the surf, and men and women dashing onhorseback over the beach, make up the life of the scene. Hilo has no hotel; it has not even a carriage; but it has a veryagreeable and intelligent population of Americans, and you will find goodaccommodations at the large house of Mr. Severance, the sheriff of Hawaii. If his house should be full you need not be alarmed, for some one willtake you in. This is the usual and most convenient point of departure for the volcano. Here you hire horses and a guide for the journey. Having gone to Hilo onthe steamer, you will do best to return to Honolulu by schooner, whichleaves you at liberty to choose your point and time of departure. Hawaiilies to windward of Oahu; and a schooner, which might need four orfive days to beat up to Hilo, will run down from any part of Hawaii intwenty-four hours. If you are an energetic traveler, determined to seeevery thing, and able to endure a good deal of rough riding, you may spendsix weeks on Hawaii. In that time you may not only see the active volcanoof Kilauea, but may ascend Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea, whose immense slopesand lofty and in the winter snow-clad summits show gloriously on a clearday from Hilo; and you may ride from Hilo along the north-easterncoast, through the Hamakua and Kohala districts, ending your journey atKealakeakua Bay where Captain Cook was killed. There you can take schoonerfor Honolulu; or if your energies hold out ride through Kau and Punaback to Hilo. The Hamakua and Hilo coasts you will see from the steamer, which sailsclose along this bold and picturesque shore on her way to Hilo. This partof the island is but an extension of the vast slope of Mauna Kea; andall the waters which drain from its cloud-laden summit pour into thesea through numerous deep channels, or gorges which they have worn forthemselves, and occasionally dash into the ocean from high cliffs, formingwater-falls visible from the ship's deck. Of the gorges or cañons, thereare seventy-nine in a distance of about thirty miles; many of them arefrom five to eight hundred feet deep; and as you ride along the coast, youhave no sooner emerged from one of these deep pits than you descend by aroad seldom easy, and often very steep indeed, into another. The sides ofthese gorges are lined with masses of the most magnificent ferns, and attheir bottoms you find sparkling streams; and as you look up the cañonsyou see picturesque water-falls. In short, to the lover of bold andstrange scenery this ride offers many pleasures; and that its difficultiesmay not be exaggerated to any one's apprehension, I will mention thatduring the spring of 1873 an English lady, taking with her only a nativewoman as guide, made the tour of the whole seventy-nine gulches, andthought herself amply rewarded for her toils by what she saw. As formyself, I must confess that four of these gulches--the four nearestHilo--satisfied me; these I saw in visiting some sugar-plantations. [Illustration: KEALAKEAKUA BAY, WHERE CAPTAIN COOK WAS KILLED. ] If you do not intend such a thorough exploration of Hawaii, but mean onlyto see the volcano of Kilauea, your pleasantest plan is to ride from Hiloby the direct road to the crater, and return by way of Puna. You will haveridden a trifle over one hundred miles through a very remarkable and insome parts a beautiful country; you will have slept one night in a nativehouse, and will have seen much of Hawaiian life, and enjoyed a tiring butat the same time a very novel journey, and some sights which can not bematched outside of Iceland. To do this, and spend two or three days inpleasant sight-seeing near Hilo, will bring you back to Honolulu in fromtwelve to fourteen days after you left it. Your traveling expenses will be sufficiently moderate. At Hilo you pay forboard and lodgings eight dollars per week. The charge for horses is tendollars each for the volcano journey, with a dollar a day for your guide. This guide relieves you of all care of the animals, and is useful invarious ways. At the Volcano House the charge for horse and man is fivedollars per day, and you pay half-price for your guide. There is a chargeof one dollar for a special guide into the crater, which is made in yourbill, and you will do well to promise this guide, when you go in, a smallgratuity--half a dollar, or, if your party is large, a dollar--if he givesyou satisfaction. He will get you specimens, carry a shawl for a lady, andmake himself in other ways helpful. [Illustration: THE VOLCANO HOUSE. ] When you get on your horse at Hilo for the volcano, leave behind you allhope of good roads. You are to ride for thirty miles over a lava bed, along a narrow trail as well made as it could be without enormous expense, but so rough, so full of mud-holes filled with broken lava in the firstpart of the journey, and so entirely composed of naked, jagged, and raggedlava in the remainder, that one wonders how the horses stand it. A canter, except for two or three miles near the Volcano House, is almost out of thequestion; and though the Hawaiians trot and gallop the whole distance, astranger will scarcely follow their example. You should insist, by-the-way, upon having all your horses reshod the daybefore they leave Hilo; and it is prudent, even then, to take along anextra pair of shoes and a dozen or two horse-nails. The lava is extremelytrying to the horse's shoes; and if your horse casts a shoe he will golame in fifteen minutes, for the jagged lava cuts almost like glass. Moreover, do not wait for a fine day; it will probably rain at any ratebefore you reach the Volcano House, and your wisest way is to set outresolutely, rain or shine, on the appointed morning, for the sun maycome out two or three hours after you have started in a heavy rain. Eachtraveler should take his water-proof clothing upon his own saddle--it maybe needed at any time--and the pack-mule should carry not only the spareclothing, well covered with India-rubber blankets, but also an abundantlunch to be eaten at the Half-way House. India-rubber or leather leggings, and a long, sleeveless Mackintosh seemedto me the most comfortable and sufficient guards against weather. Ladiesshould ride astride; they will be most comfortable thus. There are nosteep ascents or abrupt descents on the way. Kilauea is nearly fourthousand feet higher than the sea from which you set out; but the riseis so gradual and constant that if the road were good one might gallop ahorse the whole distance. You should set out not later than half-past seven, and make up your mindnot to be hurried on the way. There are people who make the distancein six hours, and boast about it; but I accomplished it with a party ofladies and children in ten hours with very little discomfort, and did notenvy the six-hour people. There is nothing frightful, or dangerous, ordisagreeable about the journey, even to ladies not accustomed to riding;and there is very much that is new, strange, and wonderful to Americansor Europeans. Especially you will be delighted with the great variety andbeauty of the ferns, which range from minute and delicate species to thedark and grand fronds of the tree-fern, which rises in the more elevatedregion to a height of twenty feet, and whose stalk has sometimes adiameter of three or four feet. From a variety of this tree-fern thenatives take a substance called pulu, a fine, soft, brown fuzz, used forstuffing pillows and mattresses. Your guide will probably understand very little English: let him beinstructed in your wishes before you set out. The native Hawaiian is themost kind and obliging creature in the world, and you will find your guideready to do you every needful service. You can get nothing to eat on theroad, except perhaps a little sugar-cane; therefore you must provide asufficient lunch. At the Half-way House, but probably nowhere else, youwill get water to drink. When you reach the Volcano House, I advise you to take a sulphurvapor-bath, refreshing after a tedious ride; and after supper you will sitabout a big open fire and recount the few incidents and adventures of theday. The next day you give to the crater. Unless the night is very foggy youwill have gone to sleep with the lurid light of Kilauea in your eyes. Madame Pele, the presiding goddess of the volcano, exhibits finefire-works at night sometimes, and we saw the lava spurting up in the airabove the edge of the smaller and active crater, one night, in a quitelively manner. On a moderately clear night the light from the burninglakes makes a very grand sight; and the bedrooms at the little VolcanoHouse are so placed that you have Madame Pele's fire-works before you allnight. The house stands but a few feet from the edge of the great crater, and youhave no tedious preliminary walk, but begin your descent into the pitat once. For this you need stout shoes, light clothing, and, if you haveladies in your party, a heavy shawl for each. The guide takes with him acanteen of water, and also carries the shawls. You should start aboutnine o'clock, and give the whole day to the crater, returning to dinner atfive. The great crater of Kilauea is nine miles in circumference, and perhapsa thousand feet deep. It is, in fact, a deep pit, bounded on all sidesby precipitous rocks. The entrance is effected by a series of steps, andbelow these by a scramble over lava and rock debris. It is not difficult, but the ascent is tiresome; and it is a prudent precaution, if you haveladies with you, to take a native man for each lady, to assist her overthe rougher places, and up the steep ascent. The greater part of thecrater was, when I saw it, a mass of dead, though not cold lava; and overthis you walk to the farthest extremity of the pit, where you must ascenda tolerably steep hill of lava, which is the bank of the fiery lake. Thedistance from the Volcano House to the edge of this lake is, by the roadyou take, three miles. [Illustration: HAWAIIAN TEMPLE, FROM A RUSSIAN ENGRAVING, ABOUT 1790. ] The goddess Pele, who, according to the Hawaiian mythology, presides overKilauea, is, as some say all her sex are, variable, changeable, mutable. What I shall tell you about the appearance of the crater and lake is trueof that time; it may not have been correct a week later; it was certainlynot true of a month before. We climbed into the deep pit, and thenstood upon a vast floor of lava, rough, jammed together, broken, jagged, steaming out a hot sulphurous breath at almost every seam, revealing rollsof later lava injections at every deep crack, with caverns and high ridgeswhere the great mass, after cooling, was forced together, and with a steepmountain-side of lava at our left, along the foot of which we clambered. This floor of lava, which seems likely to be a more or less permanentfeature, was, three or four years ago, upon a level with the top of thehigh ridge, or ledge, whose base you skirt. The main part of the craterwas then a floor of lava vaster even than it now is. Suddenly one day, andwith a crash which persuaded one or two persons at the Volcano House thatthe whole planet was flying to pieces, the greater part of this lava floorsank down, or fell down, a depth of about five hundred feet, to the levelwhereon we now walked. The wonderful tale was plain to us as we examinedthe details on the spot. It was as though a top-heavy and dried-outpie-crust had fallen in in the middle, leaving a part of the circumferencebent down, but clinging at the outside to the dish. [Illustration: LAVA FIELD, HAWAII--FLOW OF 1868. ] After this great crash the lava seems from time to time to have boiled upfrom beneath through cracks, and now lies in great rolls upon the surface, or in the deeper cracks. It is related that later the lake or caldron atthe farther end of the crater boiled over, and sent down streams of lavawhich meandered over the black plain; that, continuing to boil over atintervals, this lake increased the height of its own banks, for the lavacools very rapidly; and thus was built up a high hill, which we ascendedafter crossing the lava plains, in order to look down, in fear and wonder, upon the awful sight below. What we saw there on the 3d of March, 1873, was two huge pits, caldrons, or lakes, filled with a red, molten, fiery, sulphurous, raging, roaring, restless mass of matter, to watch whoseunceasing tumult was one of the most fascinating experiences of my life. The two lakes were then separated by a narrow and low-lying ledgeor peninsula of lava, which I was told they frequently overflow, andsometimes entirely melt down. Standing upon the northern bank we could seeboth lakes, and we estimated their shortest diameter to be about 500 feet, and the longest about one-eighth of a mile. Within this pit the surface ofthe molten lava was about eighty feet below us. It has been known to sinkdown 400 feet; last December it was overflowing the high banks and sendingstreams of lava into the great plain by which we approached it; and sinceI saw it, it has risen to within a few feet of the top of the bank, and has forced a way out at one side, where, in September, 1873, it wasflowing out slowly on to the great lava plain which forms the bottom ofthe main crater. What, therefore, Madame Pele will show you hereafter is uncertain. What wesaw was this: two large lakes or caldrons, each nearly circular, withthe lower shelf or bank, red-hot, from which the molten lava was repelledtoward the centre without cessation. The surface of these lakes was of alustrous and beautiful gray, and this, which was a cooling and tolerablysolid scum, was broken by jagged circles of fire, which appeared of avivid rose-color in contrast with the gray. These circles, starting atthe red-hot bank or shore, moved more or less rapidly toward the centre, where, at intervals of perhaps a minute, the whole mass of lava suddenlybut slowly bulged up, burst the thin crust, and flung aloft a huge, fierywave, which sometimes shot as high as thirty feet in the air. Then ensueda turmoil, accompanied with hissing, and occasionally with a dull roar asthe gases sought to escape, and spray was flung in every direction; andpresently the agitation subsided, to begin again in the same place, orperhaps in another. Meantime the fiery rings moved forward perpetually toward the centre, anew one re-appearing at the shore before the old was ingulfed; and notunfrequently the mass of lava was so fiercely driven by some force fromthe bank near which we stood, that it was ten or fifteen feet highernear the centre than at the circumference. Thus somewhat of the depth wasrevealed to us, and there seemed something peculiarly awful to me in thefierce glowing red heat of the shores themselves, which never cooled withexposure to the air and light. Thus acted the first of the two lakes. But when, favored by a strongbreeze, we ventured farther, to the side of the furthermost one, a stillmore terrible spectacle greeted us. The mass in this lake was in yet moreviolent agitation; but it spent its fury upon the precipitous southernbank, against which it dashed with a vehemence equal to a heavy surfbreaking against cliffs. It had undermined this lava cliff, and for aspace of perhaps one hundred and fifty feet the lava beat and surged intoglaring, red-hot, cavernous depths, and was repelled with a dull, heavyroar, not exactly like the boom of breakers, because the lava is so muchheavier than water, but with a voice of its own, less resonant, and, as wewho listened thought, full of even more deadly fury. It seems a little absurd to couple the word "terrible" with any action ofmere inanimate matter, from which, after all, we stood in no very evidentperil. Yet "terrible" is the only word for it. Grand it was not, becausein all its action and voice it seemed infernal. Though its movement isslow and deliberate, it would scarcely occur to you to call either theconstant impulse from one side toward the other, or the vehement and vastbulging of the lava wave as it explodes its thin crust or dashes a fierymass against the cliff, majestic, for devilish seems a better word. Meantime, though we were favored with a cool and strong breeze, bearingthe sulphurous stench of the burning lake away from us, the heat of thelava on which we stood, at least eighty feet above the pit, was so greatas to be almost unendurable. We stood first upon one foot, and then on theother, because the soles of our feet seemed to be scorching through thickshoes. A lady sitting down upon a bundle of shawls had to rise because thewraps began to scorch; our faces seemed on fire from the reflection ofthe heat below; the guide's tin water-canteen, lying near my feet, becamepresently so hot that it burned my fingers when I took it up; and atintervals there came up from behind us a draught of air so hot, and soladen with sulphur that, even with the strong wind carrying it rapidlyaway, it was scarcely endurable. It was while we were coughing andspluttering at one of these hot blasts, which came from the numerousfissures in the lava which we had passed over, that a lady of our partyremarked that she had read an excellent description of this place in theNew Testament; and so far as I observed, no one disagreed with her. After the lakes came the cones. When the surface of this lava is sorapidly cooling that the action below is too weak to break it, the gasesforcing their way out break small vents, through which lava is thenejected. This, cooling rapidly as it comes to the outer air, forms by itsaccretions a conical pipe of greater or less circumference, and sometimesgrowing twenty or thirty feet high, open at the top, and often withopenings also blown out at the sides. There are several of these cones onthe summit bank of the lake, all ruined, as it seemed to me, by some tooviolent explosion, which had blown off most of the top, and in one casethe whole of it, leaving then only a wide hole. Into these holes we looked, and saw a very wonderful and terrible sight. Below us was a stream of lava, rolling and surging and beating againsthuge, precipitous, red-hot cliffs; and, higher up, suspended from other, also red or white hot overhanging cliffs, depended huge stalactites, likemasses of fiercely glowing fern leaves waving about in the subterraneouswind; and here we saw how thin was in some such places the crust overwhich we walked, and how near the melting-point must be its under surface. For, as far as we could judge, these little craters or cones rested upona crust not thicker than twelve or fourteen inches, and one fierce blastfrom below seemed sufficient to melt away the whole place. Fortunatelyone can not stay very long near these openings, for they exhale a verypoisonous breath; and so we were drawn back to the more fascinating butless perilous spectacle of the lakes; and then back over the rough lava, our minds filled with memories of a spectacle which is certainly one ofthe most remarkable our planet affords. When you have seen the fiery lakes you will recognize a crater at sight, and every part of Hawaii and of the other islands will have a new interestfor you; [Illustration: VIEW OF THE CRATER OF SOUTH LAKE IN A STATE OF ERUPTION, FROM THE CREST OF THE NORTH LAKE. ] for all are full of craters, and from Kilauea to the sea you may traceseveral lines of craters, all extinct, but all at some time belching forththose interminable lava streams over which you ride by the way of the Punacoast for nearly seventy miles back to Hilo. I advise you to take this way back. Almost the whole of it is a land ofdesolation. A narrow trail across unceasing beds of lava, a trail whichin spots was actually hammered down to make it smooth enough for horses'feet, and outside of whose limits in most places your horse will refuse togo, because he knows it is too rough for beast or man: this is your road. Most of the lava is probably very ancient, though some is quite recent;and ferns and guava bushes and other scanty herbage grow through it. In some of the cavernous holes, which denote probably ancient cones orhuge lava bubbles, you will see a cocoa-nut-tree or a pandanus trying tosubsist; and by-and-by, after a descent to the sea-shore, you are rewardedwith the pleasant sight of groves of cocoa-nuts and umbrageous arbors ofpandanus, and occasionally with a patch of green. Almost the whole of the Puna coast is waterless. From the Volcano Houseyou take with you not only food for the journey back to Hilo, but water inbottles; and your thirsty animals get none until you reach the end ofyour first day's journey, at Kaimu. Here, also, you can send a more thanhalf-naked native into the trees for cocoa-nuts, and drink your fillof their refreshing milk, while your jaded horses swallow bucketfuls ofrain-water. [Illustration: HILO. ] It will surprise you to find people living among the lava, makingpotato-patches in it, planting coffee and some fruit-trees in it, fencingin their small holdings, even, with lava blocks. Very little soil isneeded to give vegetation a chance in a rainy reason, and the decomposedlava makes a rich earth. But except the cocoa-nut which grows onthe beach, and seems to draw its sustenance from the waves, and thesweet-potato, which does very well among the lava, nothing seems really tothrive. It will add much to the pleasure of your journey to Kilauea if you carrywith you, to read upon the spot and along the road, Brigham's valuableMemoir on the Hawaiian Volcanoes. With this in hand, you will comprehendthe nature, and know also the very recent date of some important changes, caused by earthquakes and lava flows, on the Puna coast. Near and atKaimu, for instance, there has been an apparent subsidence of the land, which is supposed in reality, however, I believe, to have been causedrather by the breaking off of a vast lava ledge or overhang, on which, covered as it was with earth and trees, a considerable population had longlived. In front of the native house in which you will sleep, at Kaimu, part of a large grove of cocoa-nut-trees was thus submerged, and you maysee the dead stumps still sticking up out of the surf. Kaimu is twenty-five miles from the Volcano House. The native houseat which you will pass the night is clean, and you may there enjoy thenovelty of sleeping on Hawaiian mats, and under the native cover of tapa. You must bring with you tea or coffee, sugar, and bread, and such otherfood as is necessary to your comfort. Sweet-potatoes and bananas, andchickens caught after you arrive, with abundant cocoa-nuts, are thesupplies of the place. The water is not good, and you will probably drinkonly cocoa-nut milk, until, fifteen miles farther on, at Captain Eldart's, you find a pleasant and comfortable resting-place for the second night, with a famous natural warm bath, very slightly mineral. Thence a ride oftwenty-three miles brings you back to Hilo, all of it over lava, most ofit through a sterile country, but with one small burst of a real paradiseof tropical luxuriance, a mile of tall forest and jungle, which looks morelike Brazil than Hawaii. One advantage of returning by way of the Puna coast, rather than by thedirect route from Kilauea, is that you have clear, bright weather all theway. The configuration of the coast makes Puna sunny while Hilo is rainy. If you desire a longer ride than that by the Puna coast, you can crossthe island, from the Volcano House, by way of Waiahino and Kapapala toKauwaloa on the western coast, whence a schooner will bear you back toHonolulu. A brief study of the map of Hawaii in this volume will show thedifferent routes suggested in this chapter. Moreover, when you are at Kilauea, you have done something towardthe ascent of Mauna Loa; and guides, provisions, and animals for thatenterprise can be obtained at the Volcano House, as well as such ampledetails of the route that I will not here attempt any directions. It isnot an easy ride; and you must carry with you warm clothing. A gentlemanwho slept at the summit in September, 1873, told me the ice made over twoinches thick during the night. If Mauna Loa is active, a traveler on the Islands ought by all means tosee it; for Dr. Coan assures me that it is then one of the most terrificand grand sights imaginable. I did not visit it, as it was not activewhile I was on the Islands, though its fires were alive. The crater is apit about three miles in circumference, with precipitous banks about twothousand feet deep. At the bottom is the burning lake, which has a curioushabit of throwing up a jet, more or less constant, of fiery lava, to theheight, this last summer, of four or five hundred feet from the surface ofthe lake. It is a fine sight, but, of course, somewhat distant. I amtold that this jet has at times reached nearly to the summit level of thecrater; and it must then have been a glorious spectacle. [Illustration: SURF BATHING. ] Near Hilo are some pretty water-falls and several sugar plantations, towhich you can profitably give a couple of days, and on another you shouldvisit Cocoa-nut Island, and--as interesting a spot as almost any on theIslands--a little lagoon on the main-land near by, in which you may seethe coral growing, and pick it up in lovely specimens with the stones uponwhich it has built in these shallow and protected waters. Moreover, the surf-beaten rocks near by yield cowries and other shells in someabundance; and I do not know anywhere of a pleasanter picnic day than thatyou can spend there. Finally, Hilo is one of the very few places on these islands where youcan see a truly royal sport--the surf-board. It requires a rough day anda heavy surf, but with a good day it is one of the finest sights in theworld. The surf-board is a tough plank about two feet wide and from six to twentyfeet long, usually made of the bread-fruit-tree. Armed with these, a partyof tall, muscular natives swim out to the first line of breakers, and, watching their chance to duck under this, make their way finally, by thehelp of the under-tow, into the smooth water far off: beyond all the surf. Here they bob up and down on the swell like so many ducks, watching theiropportunity. What they seek is a very high swell, before which they placethemselves, lying or kneeling on the surf-board. The great wave dashesonward, but as its bottom strikes the ground, the top, unretarded in itsspeed and force, breaks into a huge comber, and directly before this thesurf-board swimmer is propelled with a speed which we timed and found toexceed forty miles per hour. In fact, he goes like lightning, always justahead of the breaker, and apparently downhill, propelled by the vehementimpulse of the roaring wave behind him, yet seeming to have a speed andmotion of his own. It is a very surprising sight to see three or four men thus dashed fornearly a mile toward the shore at the speed of an express train, everymoment about to be overwhelmed by a roaring breaker, whose white crestwas reared high above and just behind them, but always escaping thisingulfment, and propelled before it. They look, kneeling or lying on theirlong surf-boards, more like some curious and swift-swimming fish--likedolphins racing, as it seemed to me--than like men. Once in a while, bysome mischance the cause of which I could not understand, the swimmer_was_ overwhelmed; the great comber overtook him; he was flung over andover like a piece of wreck, but instantly dived, and re-appeared beyondand outside of the wave, ready to take advantage of the next. A successfulshot launched them quite high and dry on the beach far beyond where westood to watch. Occasionally a man would stand erect upon his surf-board, balancing himself in the boiling surf without apparent difficulty. The surf-board play is one of the ancient sports of Hawaii. I am told thatfew of the younger generation are capable of it, and that it is thought torequire great nerve and coolness even among these admirable swimmers, andto be not without danger. In your journeys to the different islands you need to take with you, aspart of your baggage, saddle and bridle, and all the furniture of a horse. You can hire or buy a horse anywhere very cheaply; but saddles are oftenunattainable, and always difficult to either borrow or hire. "You might aswell travel here without your boots as without your saddle, " said a friendto me; and I found it literally true, not only for strangers, but forresidents as well. Thus you may notice that the little steamer's hold, as she leaves Honolulu, contains but few trunks; but is crowded with aconsiderable collection of saddles and saddle-bags, the latter the mostconvenient receptacles for your change of clothing. Riding on Hawaii is often tiresome, even to one accustomed to the saddle, by reason of the slow pace at which you are compelled to move. Whereveryou stop, for lunch or for the night, if there are native people near, you will be greatly refreshed by the application of what they call"lomi-lomi. " Almost everywhere you will find some one skillful in thispeculiar and, to tired muscles, delightful and refreshing treatment. To be lomi-lomied, you lie down upon a mat, loosening your clothing, orundressing for the night if you prefer. The less clothing you have on themore perfectly the operation can be performed. To you thereupon comes astout native, with soft, fleshy hands but a strong grip, and, beginningwith your head and working down slowly over the whole body, seizesand squeezes with a quite peculiar art every tired muscle, working andkneading with indefatigable patience, until in half an hour, whereas youwere sore and weary and worn-out, you find yourself fresh, all sorenessand weariness absolutely and entirely removed, and mind and body soothedto a healthful and refreshing sleep. The lomi-lomi is used not only by the natives, but among almost allthe foreign residents; and not merely to procure relief from wearinessconsequent on overexertion, but to cure headache, to relieve the achingof neuralgic or rheumatic pains, and, by the luxurious, as one of thepleasures of life. I have known it to relieve violent headache in a veryshort time. The old chiefs used to keep skillful lomi-lomi men and womenin their retinues; and the late king, who was for some years too stout totake exercise, and was yet a gross feeder, had himself lomi-lomied afterevery meal, as a means of helping his digestion. It is a device for relieving pain or weariness which seems to have noinjurious reaction and no drawback but one--it is said to fatten thesubjects of it. [Illustration: LAHAINA, ISLAND OF MAUI. ] CHAPTER III. MAUI, AND THE SUGAR CULTURE. Maui lies between Oahu and Hawaii, and is somewhat larger than thefirst-named island. It contains the most considerable sugar-plantations, and yields more of this product than any one of the other islands. It isnotable also for possessing the mountain of Haleakala, an extinct volcanoten thousand feet high, which has the largest crater in the world--amonstrous pit, thirty miles in circumference, and two thousand feet deep. There is some reason to believe that Maui was originally two islands, the northern and southern parts being joined together by an immense sandyplain, so low that in misty weather it is hardly to be distinguished fromthe ocean; and some years ago a ship actually ran aground upon it, sailingfor what the captain imagined to be an open passage. Maui has also the famous Wailuku Valley, a picturesque gorge several milesdeep, and giving you a very fair example of the broken, verdure-clad, andnow lonely valleys of these islands; which are in reality steep, narrowcañons, worn out of the mountains by the erosion of water. The oldHawaiians seem to have cared little how difficult a piece of country was;they not only made their taro patches in the streams which roar at thebottoms of such gorges, but they fought battles among the precipices whichyou find at the upper ends of these valleys, where the defeated usuallymet their deaths by plunging down into the stream far below. After seeing a live or burning crater like Kilauea, Haleakala, I thought, would be but a dull sight; but it is, on the contrary, extremely wellworth a visit. The islands have no sharp or angular volcanic peaks. Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea, on Hawaii, though 14, 000 feet high, are merebulbs--vast hills, not mountains; and the ascent to the summit ofHaleakala, though you surmount 10, 000 feet, is neither dangerous nordifficult. It is tedious, however, for it involves a ride of about twelvemiles, mostly over lava, uphill. It is best to ride up during the day, andsleep at or near the summit, where there are one or two so-called caves inthe lava, broken lava-bubbles in fact, sufficiently roomy to accommodateseveral persons. You must take with you a guide, provisions, and blankets, for the nights are cold; and you find near the summit water, wood enoughfor a small fire, and forage for your horses. Each person should havewater-proof clothing, for it is very likely to rain, at least on theMakawao side. [Illustration: CASCADE AND RIVER OF LAVA--FLOW OF 1869. ] The great crater is best seen at sunrise, and, if you are so fortunateas to have a tolerably clear sky, you may see, lying far away below you, almost all of the islands. Hawaii lies far enough away to reveal itsentire outline, with Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea rising near either end, andthe depression near which lies Kilauea in the middle. The cloud effects atsunrise and sunset are marvelous, and alone repay the ascent. But the crater itself, clear of fog and clouds in the early morning, andlighted up by the rising sun, is a most surprising sight. It is ten milesin diameter, and the bottom lies 2000 feet below where you stand. The vastirregular floor contains more than a dozen subsidiary craters or greatcones, some of them 750 feet high, and nearly as large as Diamond Head. Atthe Kaupo and Koolau gaps, indicated on the map, the lava is supposed tohave burst through and made its way down the mountain sides. The cones aredistinctly marked as you look down upon them; and it is remarkable thatfrom the summit the eye takes in the whole crater, and notes all itscontents, diminished of course by their great distance. Not a tree, shrub, or even tuft of grass obstructs the view. To describe such a scene is impossible. A study of the map, with thefigures showing elevations, will give you a better idea of it than a longverbal description. It is an extraordinarily desolate scene. A few wildgoats scramble over the rocks, or rush down the nearly perpendicularcliff; occasionally a solitary bird raises its harsh note; the wind howlsfiercely; and as you lie under the lee of a mass of lava, taking in thescene and picking out the details as the rising sun brings them out one byone, presently the mist begins to pour into the crater, and often by teno'clock fills it up completely. The natives have no tradition of Haleakala in activity. There are signsof several lava flows, and of one in particular, clearly much more recentthan the others. It must have presented a magnificent and terrible sightwhen it was in full activity. I did not ride into the crater, but it ispossible to do so, and the natives have a trail, not much used, by whichthey pass. If you descend, be careful not to leave or lose this trail, forin many parts your horse will not be able to get back to it if you sufferhim to stray off even a few yards, the lava is so sharp and jagged. As youdescend the mountain on the Makawao side you will notice two finely shapedcraters on the side of the mountain, which also in their time spewed outlava. Nearer the coast your eye, become familiar with the peculiarshape of these cones or craters, will notice yet others; and, indeed, toappreciate the peculiarities of Sandwich Island scenery, in which extinctcraters and cones of all sizes have so great a part, it is necessary tohave visited Kilauea and Haleakala. The latter name, by-the-way, means "House of the Sun;" and as you watch the rising sun entering andapparently taking possession of the vast gloomy depths, you will think thename admirably chosen. If you carry a gun you are likely to have a shot at wild turkeys on yourway up or down. It is remarkable that many of our domestic animals easilybecome wild on the islands. There are wild goats, wild cats, wild chickensand turkeys; the cattle run wild; and on Hawaii one man at least has beenkilled and torn to pieces by wild dogs, which run in packs in some partsof the island. Sugar plantations are found on all four of the larger islands; and onall of them there are successful examples of this enterprise; but Mauicontains, I believe, the greatest number, and is thought to be the bestfitted for the business. It is on this island, therefore, that the curioustraveler can see this industry under its most favorable aspects. Thereis no doubt that for the production of sugar these islands offer someextraordinary advantages. [Illustration: MAP OF THE HALEAKALA CRATER. ] I have seen a field of thirty acres which two years ago produced nearlysix tons of sugar to the acre. Four tons per acre is not a surprisingcrop; and, from all I can hear, I judge that two and a half tons per acremay be considered a fair yield. The soil, too, with proper treatment, appears to be inexhaustible. The common custom is to take off two crops, and then let the field lie fallow for two years; but where they irrigateeven this is not always done. There is no danger of frost, as inLouisiana, and cane is planted in some part of the islands in almostevery month of the year. In Lahaina it matures in from fourteen to sixteenmonths; in some districts it requires eighteen months; and at greateraltitudes even two years. But under all the varying circumstances, whether it is irrigated or not, whether it grows on bottoms or on hill slopes, in dry or in damp regions, everywhere the cane seems to thrive, and undoubtedly it is the one productof the islands which succeeds. A worm, which pierces the cane near theground and eats out the pith, has of late, I am told, done some damage, and in some parts the rat has proved troublesome. But these evils do notanywhere endanger or ruin the crop, as the blight has ruined the coffeeculture and discouraged other agricultural ventures. The sugar productof the islands has constantly increased. In 1860 they exported 1, 444, 271pounds of sugar; in 1864, 10, 414, 441 pounds; in 1868, 18, 312, 926 pounds;and in 1871, 21, 760, 773 pounds of sugar. What is remarkable is that, with this rapid increase in the productionof sugar, you hear that the business is unprosperous; and if to this youreply that planters, like farmers, are hard to satisfy, they show you thatthe greater number of the plantations have at some time been sold by thesheriff, some of them more than once, and that, in fact, only six or sevenare to-day in the hands of their founders. I do not doubt that there has been bad management on many plantations, and that this accounts in part for these failures, by which many hundredthousand dollars have been lost. For the advantages of the sugar planteron these islands are very decided. He has not only, as I showed you above, a favorable climate and an extraordinarily fertile soil, but he hasa laboring population, perhaps the best, the most easily managed, thekindliest, and--so far as habits affect the steadiness and usefulnessof the laborer--the least vicious in the world. He does not have to payexorbitant wages; he is not embarrassed to feed or house them, for foodis so abundant and cheap that economy in its distribution is of no moment;and the Hawaiian is very cheaply housed. But bad management by no means accounts for all the non-success. There aresome natural disadvantages serious enough to be taken into the account. In the first place, you must understand that the rain-fall variesextraordinarily. The trade-wind brings rain; the islands are bits ofmountain ranges; the side of the mountain which lies toward the rain-windgets rain; the lee side gets scarcely any. At Hilo it rains almostconstantly; at Lahaina they get hardly a shower a year. At CaptainMakee's, one of the most successful plantations on Maui, water is storedin cisterns; at Mr. Spencer's, not a dozen miles distant, also one of thesuccessful plantations, which lies on the other side of Mount Haleakala, they never have to irrigate. Near Hilo the long rains make cultivationcostly and difficult; but the water is so abundant that they run theirfire-wood from the mountains and their cane from the fields into thesugar-houses in flumes, at a very great saving of labor. Near Lahainaevery acre must be irrigated, and this work proceeds day and night inorder that no water may run to waste. Then there is the matter of shipping sugar. There are no good ports exceptHonolulu. Kaului on Maui, Hanalei and Nawiliwili on Kauai, and one or twoplantations on Oahu, have tolerable landings. But almost everywhere thesugar is sent over vile roads to a more or less difficult landing, whenceit is taken in launches to the schooners which carry it to Honolulu, whereit is stored, coopered, and finally reshipped to its market. Many landingsare made through the surf, and I remember one which, last spring, was unapproachable by vessel or boat for nearly four weeks. Each sugar planter has, therefore, problems of his own to solve. He cannot pattern on his neighbors. He can not base his estimate on theirs. Hecan not be certain even, until he has tried, which of the ten or a dozenvarieties of cane will do best on his soil. He must look out for wood, which is by no means abundant, and is often costly to bring down from themountain; he must look out for his landing; must see that taro grows nearat hand; must secure pasture for his draught cattle: in short, he mustconsider carefully and independently many different questions before hecan be even reasonably sure of success. And if, with all this uncertainty, he embarks with insufficient capital, and must pay one per cent. A monthinterest, and turn his crop over to an agent in Honolulu, who is hiscreditor, and who charges him five per cent. For handling it, it will notbe wonderful to any business man if he fails to grow rich, or if even heby-and-by becomes bankrupt. Many have failed. Of thirty-four plantations, the number worked in all the islands at this time, only six or seven arein the hands of their founders. Some, which cost one hundred thousanddollars, were sold by the sheriff for fifteen or eighteen thousand; some, which cost a quarter of a million, were sold for less than a hundredthousand. If you speak with the planters, they will tell you that their greatdifficulty is to get a favorable market; that the duty on their sugarimported into San Francisco eats up their profits; and that the onlycure--the cure-all, I should say, for all the ills they suffer--is atreaty with the United States, which shall admit their product duty free. Of course any one can see that if the sugar duty were remitted to them, the planters would make more money, or would lose less. An ingenuousplanter summed up for me one day the whole of that side of the case, bysaying, "If we had plenty of labor and a free market for our sugar, weshould be thoroughly satisfied. " But I am persuaded that, as there are planters now who are prosperous andcontented, and who make handsome returns even with the sugar duty againstthem, so, if that were removed, there would be planters who would continuetheir regular and slow march toward bankruptcy; and for whom the remittedduty would be but a temporary respite, while it would deprive them of acheap and easy way to account for their failure. Wherever on the islandsI found a planter living on his own plantation, managing it himself, and_out of debt_, I found him making money, even with low prices for hissugar, and even if the plantation itself was not favorably placed; notonly this, but I found plantations yielding steady and sufficient profits, under judicious management, which in previous hands became bankrupt. Buton the other hand, where I found a plantation heavily encumbered withdebt and managed by a superintendent, the owner living elsewhere, I heardusually, though not always, complaints of hard times. If a sugar planterhas his land and machinery heavily mortgaged at ten or twelve per centinterest; if he must, moreover, borrow money on his crop in the field toenable him to turn that into sugar; if then he sends the product to anagent in Honolulu, who charges him five per cent. For shipping it to SanFrancisco; and if in San Francisco another agent charges him five percent. More, _on the gross returns including freight and duty_, for sellingit; if besides all this the planter buys his supplies on credit, and ischarged one per cent. A month on these, compounded every three monthsuntil it is paid, and pays almost as much freight on his sugar from theplantation to Honolulu as from there to its final market--it is highlyprobable that he will, in the course of time, fail. There are not many legitimate enterprises in the world which would bearsuch charges and leave a profit to the manager. But it is on this systemthat the planting of sugar has been, to a large extent, carried on foryears in the Islands. Under it a good deal of money has been made, but notby the planters. Nor is this essentially unjust. In the majority of cases, planters began rashly with small means, and had to borrow largely tocomplete their enterprises and get to work. The capitalist of course tooka part of the profits as interest. But the capitalist was in manycases also the agent and store-keeper in Honolulu; and he shaved offpercentages--all in the way of business--until the planter was reallyno more than the foreman of his agent and creditor. When, under suchcircumstances, a planter complained that he did not make the fortune heanticipated, and reasoned that therefore sugar planting in the Islands isunprofitable, he seemed to me to speak beside the question--for his agentand creditor, his employer in fact, made no complaint: _he_ always mademoney; and as he had invested the money to carry on the enterprise, thiswas but the natural result. The planters make a grave mistake in not acting together and advisingtogether on their most important interests. There are so few of them thatit should be easy to unite; and yet for lack of concerted action theysuffer important abuses to go on. For instance, it is a serious lossto the planter that when he ships or engages a hand he must pay a large"advance, " amounting usually to at least half a year's pay. This custom ishurtful to the laborer, who wastes it, and it inflicts a serious lossupon the planter. Suppose he employs a hundred men, and pays fifty dollarsadvance, he invests at once five thousand dollars for which he gets nointerest, though if, as is probable, he borrowed it, he must pay oneper cent. A month. This abuse could be abolished in a day by the simpleannouncement that no planter would hereafter pay more than ten dollarsadvance. But it has gone on for years, and the sum paid gets higher everyyear merely by the planters outbidding each other. Again, it is possible to ship sugar from some of the Islands direct toSan Francisco, and for but little more than is now paid for shipping itto Honolulu. Half a dozen planters on Hawaii or Maui, clubbing together, could easily get a ship or half a dozen ships to come for their sugar, andthus save five per cent. On their gross returns, now paid to agents. Butthis is not done, partly because so many planters are in need of money, which they borrow in Honolulu, with the understanding that they willsubmit their produce to the management of agents there. Again, the planters err, I think, in not giving personal study to thequestion of a market for their sugar. They leave this to the agents tomanage. No doubt these gentlemen are competent; but it is easy to see thattheir interests may be somewhat different from those of the planter. Forinstance, some years ago an arrangement was offered by the San Franciscosugar refineries by which these agreed to take two-thirds of the productof the plantations in crude sugar, to furnish bags to contain thisproduct, and to pay cash for it in Honolulu. Under this system the planterwas saved the heavy expense of sugar kegs, and the cost of two agenciesof five per cent. Each, besides getting cash in Honolulu, whereas now hissugar is usually sold at three months in San Francisco, and he probablyloses six months' interest, reckoning from the time his sugar leaves theplantation. This arrangement, several planters told me, was profitable tothem; but it was discontinued--it was not to the advantage of the agents;its discontinuance was no doubt a blunder for the planters. Moreover, the Australian market has been too long neglected; but the advantage ofpossessing two markets instead of one is too obvious to require statement. It is a reasonable conclusion, from all the facts in the case, thatsugar planting can be carried on at a fair and satisfactory profit in theHawaiian Islands, wherever skill and careful personal attention are given, and due economy enforced by a planter who has at the same time sufficientcapital to carry on the business. The example of Captain Makee and Mr. A. H. Spencer on Maui, of Mr. Isenberg on Kauai and others sufficientlyprove this. If I seem to have given more space to this sugar question than it appearsto deserve at the hands of a passing traveler, it is because sugar enterslargely into the politics of the Islands. It is the sugar interest whichurges the offer of Pearl River to the United States in exchange for atreaty of reciprocity; and it is when sugar is low-priced at San Franciscothat the small company of annexationists raises its voice, and sometimesthreatens to raise its flag. There is room on the different islands for about seventy-five or eightymore plantations on the scale now common; and there are, I think, stillexcellent opportunities for making plantations. The sugar lands unoccupiedare not high-priced; and men skilled in this industry, and with sufficientcapital, can do well there, and live in a delightful climate and amongpleasant society, in a country where, as I have before said, life andproperty are more absolutely secure than anywhere else in the world. ButI strongly advise every one to avoid debt. It has been the curse of theplanters, even of those who have kept out of debt, for it has preventedsuch unity of action among them as must have before this enabled them toeffect important improvements. For instance, were they out of debt thereis no reason that I can see why they should not succeed in making theirmarket in Honolulu, and drawing purchasers thither instead of sendingtheir sugar to far-off markets at their own risk and expense. If ships canafford to sail in ballast to more distant islands for guano, calling atHonolulu on the way, it is reasonable to suppose they could afford to comethither for the more valuable sugar cargoes. [Illustration: WAILUKU, ISLAND OF MAUI. ] The planters err, I think, in not planting the mountain sides, whereverthese are accessible and have soil, with trees. The forests of the countryare rapidly disappearing, especially from the higher plains and thegrass-bearing slopes. Not only is the wood cut for burning, but the cattlebrowse down the young growth; and a pestilent grub has of late attackedthe older trees and destroyed them in great numbers. Already complaintsare heard of the greater dryness and infertility of certain localities, which I do not doubt comes from suffering the ground to become bare. Atseveral points I was told that the streams were permanently lower thanin former years--of course because evaporation goes on more rapidlynear their head waters now that the ground is bare. But little careor forethought is exercised in such matters, however. A few extensiveplantations of trees have been made, notably by Captain Makee on Maui, whohas set out a large number of Australian gum trees. The universal habitof letting cattle run abroad, and the dearness of lumber for fencing, discourages tree planting, which yet will be found some day one of themost profitable investments in the islands, I believe; and I was sorry tosee in many places cocoa-nut groves dying out of old age and neglect, andno young trees planted to replace them. It remains to describe to you the "contract labor" system by which thesugar-plantations are carried on. This has been frequently and, as itseems to me, unjustly abused as a system of slavery. The laborers hirethemselves out for a stated period, usually, in the case of natives, fora year, and in the case of Chinese for five years. The contract runs inEnglish and in Hawaiian or Chinese, and is sufficiently simple. Thus: "This Agreement, made and entered into this ---- day of ----, A. D. 18--, by and between the owners of the ---- plantation, in the island of ----, party of the first part, and ---- ----, party of the second part, witnesseth: "I. The said party of the second part promises to perform such labor upon the ---- plantation, in the district of ----, island of ----, as the said party of the first part shall direct, and that he will faithfully and punctually perform the same as becomes a good workman, and that he will obey all lawful commands of the said party of the first part, their agents or overseers, during the term of ---- months, each month to consist of twenty-six working days. "II. The party of the first part will well and truly pay, or cause to be paid, unto the said party of the second part, at the end of each month during which this contract shall remain in force, compensation or wages at the rate of ---- dollars for each month, if said party of the second part shall well and truly perform his labor as aforesaid. " The law requires that this contract shall be signed before a notarypublic. The wages are usually eight dollars per month and food, or elevendollars per month without food; from which you will see that three dollarsper month will buy sufficient poi, beef, and fish to support a nativelaborer in these islands. The engagement is entirely voluntary; the menunderstand what they contract to do, and in all the plantations where theyare well treated they re-enlist with great regularity. The vicious customof "advances" mentioned above has become a part of the system; it arose, I suppose, from the fact that the natives who shipped as whalemen receivedadvance pay; and thus the plantation laborers demanded it too. Thelaborers are commonly housed in detached cottages, and live with theirfamilies, the women forming an important, irregular laboring force atseasons when the work is hurried. But they are not "contract" laborers, but paid by the day. It has been found the best plan on most of theplantations to feed the people, and food is so cheap that it is suppliedwithout stint. This system has been vigorously, but, I believe, wrongly, attacked. Therecent census is an uncommonly barren document; but there is strong reasonto believe that while there is a general decrease in the population, onthe plantations there is but little if any decrease. In fact, the Hawaiianliving in his valley on his kuliana or small holding, leads an extremelyirregular life. He usually sups at midnight, sleeps a good deal duringthe day, and has much idle time on his hands. On the plantations he worksregularly and not too hard, eats at stated intervals, and sleeps allnight. This regularity conduces to health. Moreover, he receives promptand sufficient medical attendance, he lives a more social and interestinglife, and he is as well fed, and mostly better lodged. There are very fewinstances of abuse or cruelty; indeed, a plantation manager said to me, "If I were to wrong or abuse one of my men, he would persuade a dozen ortwenty others not to re-enlist when their terms are out, and wouldfatally embarrass me;" for it is not easy to get laborers. There is good reason to believe, therefore, that the plantation laborersare healthier, more prosperous, and just as happy as those who liveindependently; and it is a fact that on most of the islands the greaterpart of the younger people are found on the plantations. Churches areestablished on or very near all the sugar estates, and the childrenare rigorously kept at school there as elsewhere. The people take theirnewspaper, discuss their affairs, and have usually a leader or two amongthe foremen. On one plantation one of the foremen in the field was pointedout to me: he was a member of the Legislature. There is a good deal of complaint of a scarcity of labor. If moreplantations were opened it would be necessary to import laborers; butfor the present, it seems to me, the supply is not deficient. Doubtless, however, many planters would extend their operations if they could getworkmen readily. Chinese have been brought over, though not in greatnumbers; and of late the absurd and cruel persecution of these people inCalifornia has driven several hundred to take refuge in the Islands, wherethey are kindly treated and can live comfortably. The machinery used in the sugar-houses is usually of the best; the largerplantations all use vacuum-pans; and the planters are usually intelligentgentlemen, familiar with the best methods of producing sugar, and with thelatest improvements. Yet it is a question whether the expensive machineryis not in the long run a disadvantage, as it disables them from profitablymaking those low grades of sugar which can be cheaply turned out with thehelp of an "open train, " and which appear to have, in these days, the mostready sale and the best market. [Illustration: KEAPAWEO MOUNTAIN, KAUAI. ] CHAPTER IV. KAUAI, WITH A GLANCE AT CATTLE AND SHEEP. Kauai lies farthest to leeward of the main islands of the Hawaiian group;the steamer visits it usually but once a month; and the best way to seeit without unnecessary waste of time is to take passage in a schooner, sotiming your visit as to leave you a week or ten days on the island beforethe steamer arrives to carry you back. We took passage on a little sugar schooner, the _Fairy Queen_, of aboutseventy-five tons, commanded by a smart native captain, and sailing oneafternoon about two o'clock, and sleeping comfortably on deck wrapped inrugs, were landed at Waimea the following morning at day-break. When you travel on one of these little native schooners you must providefood for yourself, for poi and a little beef or fish make up the searation as well as the land food of the Hawaiian. In all other respects youmay expect to be treated with the most distinguished consideration andthe most ready and thoughtful kindness by captain and crew; and thepicturesque mountain scenery of Oahu, which you have in sight so long asdaylight lasts, and the lovely star-lit night, with its soft gales andwarm air, combine to make the voyage a delightful adventure. As usual in these Islands, a church was the first and most conspicuouslandmark which greeted our eyes in the morning. Abundant groves ofcocoa-nuts, for which the place is famous, assured us of a refreshingmorning draught. The little vessel was anchored off the shore, and ourparty, jumping into a whale-boat, were quickly and skillfully steeredthrough the slight surf which pours upon the beach. The boat was pulledupon the black sand; and the lady who was of my party found herselfcarried to the land in the stout arms of the captain; while the rest of uswatched our chance, and, as the waves receded, leaped ashore, and managedto escape with dry feet. The sun had not yet risen; the early morning wasa little overcast. A few natives, living on the beach, gathered aroundand watched curiously the landing of our saddles and saddle-bags from theboat; presently that pushed off, and our little company sat down upon anold spar, and watched the schooner as she hoisted sails and bore away forher proper port, while we waited for the appearance of a native personof some authority to whom a letter had been directed, requesting him toprovide us with horses and a guide to the house of a friend with whom weintended to breakfast. Presently three or four men came galloping alongthe beach, one of whom, a burly Hawaiian, a silver shield on whose jacketannounced him a local officer of police, reported that he was at ourservice with as many horses as we needed. [Illustration: CHAIN OF EXTINCT VOLCANOES NEAR KOLOA, ISLAND OF KAUAI. ] It is one of the embarrassing incidents of travel on these Islands thatthere are no hotels or Inns outside of Honolulu and Hilo. Whether he willor no the traveler must accept the hospitality of the residents, andthis is so general and so boundless that it would impose a burdensomeobligation, were it not offered in such a kindly and graceful way as tobeguile you into the belief that you are conferring as well as receivinga favor. Nor is the foreigner alone generous; for the native too, if youcome with a letter from his friend at a distance, places himself and allhe has at your service. When we had reached our friend's house, I askedmy conductor, the policeman, what I should pay him for the use of threehorses and his own services. He replied that he was but too happy to havebeen of use to me, as I was the friend of his friend. I managed to forceupon him a proper reward for his attention, but I am persuaded that hewould have been content without. Kauai is probably the oldest of the Hawaiian group; according to thegeologists it was the first thrown up; the bottom of the ocean began tocrack, up there to the north-west, and the rent extended gradually in thesouth-easterly direction necessary to produce the other islands. It wouldseem that Kauai must be a good deal older than Hawaii; for, whereas thelatter is covered with undecayed lava and has two active volcanoes, theformer has a rich and deep covering of soil, and, except in a few places, there are no very plain or conspicuous cones or craters. Of course thewhole island bears the clearest traces of its volcanic origin; and nearKoloa there are three small craters in a very good state of preservation. Having thus more soil than the other islands, Kauai has also more grass;being older, not only are its valleys somewhat richer, but its mountainsare also more picturesque than those of Maui and Hawaii, as also they aremuch lower. The roads are excellent for horsemen, and for the most partpracticable for carriages, of which, however, there are none to be hired. The best way to see the island is to land, as we did, at Waimea; ride toa singular spot called the "barking sands"--a huge sand-hill, gliding downwhich you hear a dull rumble like distant thunder, probably the result ofelectricity. On the way you meet with a mirage, remarkable for this thatit is a constant phenomenon--that is to say, it is to be seen daily atcertain hours, and is the apparition of a great lake, having sometimeshigh waves which seem to submerge the cattle which stand about, apparently, in the water. From the sands you return to Waimea, and can ride thence next day to Koloain the forenoon, and to Na-Wiliwili in the afternoon. The following day'sride will bring you to Hanalei, a highly picturesque valley which lies onthe rainy side of the island, Waimea being on the dry side. At Hanaleiyou should take the steamer and sail in her around the Palis of Kauai, astretch of precipitous cliff twenty-five miles long, the whole of which isinaccessible from the sea, except by the native people in canoes; andmany parts of which are very lovely and grand. Thus voyaging, you willcircumnavigate the island, returning to Na-Wiliwili, and thence in a nightto Honolulu. It is easy and pleasant to see Kauai, taking a store of provisions withyou and lodging in native houses. But if you have made some acquaintancesin Honolulu you will be provided with letters of introduction to some ofthe hospitable foreign families on this island; and thus the pleasure ofyour visit will be greatly increased. I do not, I trust, violate thelaws of hospitality if I say something here of one of these families--theowners of the little island of Niihau, who have also a charming residencein the mountains of Kauai. They came to Honolulu ten or twelve yearsago from New Zealand in a ship of their own, containing not only theirhousehold goods, but also some valuable sheep. Thus fitted out they weresailing over the world, looking for such a little empire to own as theyfound in Niihau; and here they settled, selling their ship; and here theyremain, prospering, and living a quiet, peaceful, Arcadian life, withcattle and sheep on many hills, and with a pleasant, hospitable house, where children and grandchildren are clustered together, and where thestranger receives the heartiest of welcomes. It was a curious adventure toundertake, this sailing over the great Pacific to seek out a proper home;and I did not tire of listening to the account of their voyage and theirsettlement in this new and out-of-the-way land, from the cheery anddelightful grandmother of the family, a Scotch lady, full of the sturdycharacter of her country people, and altogether one of the pleasantestacquaintances I made on the Islands. [Illustration: WAIALUA FALLS, ISLAND OF KAUAI. ] Kauai has many German residents, mostly, like these Scotch people Ihave spoken of, persons of education and culture, who have brought theirlibraries with them, and on whose tables and shelves you may see the bestof the recent literature, as well as the best of the old. A New Yorker whoimagines, cockney-like, that civilization does not reach beyond the soundof Trinity chimes is startled out of this foolish fancy when he findsamong the planters and missionaries here, as in other parts of theseIslands, men and women of genuine culture maintaining all the essentialforms as well as the realities of civilization; yet living so freeand untrammeled a life that he who comes from the high-pressure socialatmosphere of New York can not help but envy these happy mortals, who seemto have the good without the worry of civilization, and who have caughtthe secret of how to live simply and yet gently. Kauai has four or five sugar-plantations, some of which are nowsuccessful, though they were not always so. Success has been attained bya resolute expenditure of money in irrigation ditches, which have madethe land yield constant and remunerative crops. But I could see here, aselsewhere, that close and careful management--the eye of the master andthe hand of the master--insured the success. But a large part of the island is given up to cattle. In the mountainsthey have gone wild, and parties are made to hunt and shoot these. But onthe plains, of course, they are owned and herded. The raising of cattle isan important and considerable business on all the Islands; and at present, I believe, the cattle owners are making a good deal of money. In 1871, 19, 384 hides were exported, as well as 185, 240 pounds of tallow, 58, 900goat skins, and 471, 706 pounds of wool. The market for beef is limited, and the stockman boils down his beeves. In many cases the best machinery is used for this purpose; the boiling isdone in closed vessels, and the business is carried on with precision. Itseemed to me, who remembered the high price of beef in our Eastern States, like a sad waste to see a hundred head of fat steers driven into a corral, and one after the other knocked on the head, slaughtered, skinned, cut up, and put into the boilers to be turned into tallow. But it is the only useto make of the beasts. The refuse, however, is here always wasted, whichappeared to me unnecessary, for it might well be applied to the enrichmentof the pastures. On many of the ranches you see open try pots used; it is a more wastefulprocess, I imagine, but it is simpler and requires a smaller expenditureof capital for machinery. The cattle are managed here, as in California, on horseback and with the help of the lasso; and he who on our Pacificcoast is called a _vaquero_, or cow-herd, is here known as a "Spaniol. "Such a native man is pointed out to you as an excellent Spaniol. Thiscomes from the fact that in the early days of cattle-raising here thenatives knew nothing of their management, and Spaniards had to be importedfrom California to teach them the business. The native people now makeexcellent vaqueros; they are daring horsemen, and as they work cheaplyand are easily fed and lodged, the management of cattle costs less here, I imagine, than even in California. But it is necessary to take care thatthe pastures shall not be overstocked; and the vast number of horses keptby the natives is on all the Islands a serious injury to the pasturage ofboth sheep and cattle. The Hawaiian, who seventy-five years ago did not know that there existedsuch a creature as a horse, and even fifty years ago beheld it as ararity, now can not live without this beast. There are probably morehorses than people on the Islands; and the native family is poor, indeed, which has not two or three hardy, rough, grass-fed ponies, easy to ride, sometimes tricky but more often quite trustworthy, and capable of livingwhere a European donkey would die in disgust. At a horse auction you see asingular collection of good and bad horses; and it is one of the jokes ofthe Islands to go to a horse auction and buy a horse for a quarter of adollar. The Government has vainly tried to put a check to the recklessincrease of horseflesh by laying a tax on these animals, and by impoundingthem if the tax is not paid. I was told of a planter who bought on oneoccasion fifty horses out of a pound, at twenty-five cents a head, and hadthem all shot and put into a manure pile. But if the horse is worth histax it is pretty certain to be paid; and it is not easy to keep them offthe pastures. Cattle ranchos usually extend over from fifteen to thirty thousand acresof land; though many are smaller, and some, on Hawaii, larger. The grassis of different varieties, but the most useful, as well as now the mostabundant, is the _manienie_, of which I have before made mention. Horsesand sheep, as well as cattle, become very fond of this grass, and eat itdown very close. The handling of the cattle is intrusted to native people, who live on the rancho or estate; and the planter or stock farmer hasan advantage, in these Islands, in finding a laboring population livingwithin the bounds of his own place. The large estates were formerly theproperty of the chiefs. They are the old "lands. " But when the kuliana lawwas made, the common people were allowed to take out for themselves suchsmall holdings as they held in actual cultivation. These kulianas theystill hold; and thus it often happens that within the bounds of a largeestate fifty or sixty families will live on their little freeholds;and these form a natural and cheap laboring force for the plantation orrancho. On the Island of Niihau, I was told, there are still about three hundrednative people. The sheep are allowed to run at large on the island, therebeing no wild animals to disturb them; at lambing and shearing times theproprietors hire their native tenants to do the necessary work; and thesepeople at other times fish, raise water-melons and other fruits, and makemats which are famous for their fine texture and softness, and sell athandsome prices even in Honolulu. Where, as is the case almost universally, the relations between thestockman and the native people are kindly, there is a reciprocity of goodoffices, and a ready service from the people, in return for management andprotection by the great proprietor, which is mutually agreeable, and inwhich the proprietor stands in some such relation to the people as thechief in old times, though of course with not a tithe of the power theancient rulers had. At Kauai you will also see rice growing. This is one of the products whichis rapidly increasing in the Islands. Of rice and paddy, or unhulled rice, the exports were in 1871, 417, 011 pounds of the first, and 867, 452 ofthe last. In 1872 there were exported 455, 121 pounds of rice and 894, 382pounds of paddy. The taro patches make excellent rice fields; and it is an industry inwhich the Chinese, who understand it, invest their savings. They employnative labor; and it is not uncommon to find that a few Chinese have hiredall the taro patches in a valley from their native owners, and thenemploy these natives to work for them; an arrangement which is mutuallybeneficial, and agreeable besides to the Hawaiian, who has not much ofwhat we call "enterprise, " and does not care to accumulate money. Thewindward side of the Islands of Oahu and Kauai produces a great deal ofrice, and this is one of the products which promises to increase largely. The rice is said to be of excellent quality. [Illustration: IMPLEMENTS. _a_, Calabash for _poi_. --_b_, Calabash forfish. --_c_, Water bottle. --_d_, _Poi_ mallets. --_e_, _Poi_ trough. --_f_, Native bracelet. --_g_, Fiddle. --_h_, Flute. --_i i_, Drums. ] Kauai contained once the most important coffee-plantations; and the largesugar-plantation of Princeville at Hanalei was originally plantedin coffee. But this tree or shrub is so subject to the attacks of aleaf-blight that the culture has decreased. Yet coffee grows wild in manyof the valleys and hills, and here and there you find a small plantationof a few hundred trees which does well. The coffee shrub thrives best inthese Islands among the lava rock, where there seems scarcely any soil;and it must be sheltered from winds and also from the sun. I have seensome young plantations placed in the midst of forests where the trees gavea somewhat dense shade, and these seemed to grow well. [Illustration: GRASS HOUSE. ] CHAPTER V. THE HAWAIIAN AT HOME: MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. As we rode one day near the sea-shore I heard voices among the rocks, andsending the guide ahead with the horses, I walked over to the shorewith the lady and children who were my companions. There we saw a sightcharacteristic of these islands. Three women decently clothed in a garmentwhich covered them from head to foot, and a man with only a breech-clouton, were dashing into the surf, picking up sea-moss, and a little univalveshell, a limpet, which they flung into small baskets which hung from theirshoulders. They were, in fact, getting their suppers, and they werequite as much surprised at our appearance as we at theirs. They came outpolitely, and showed the children what was in their baskets; the man, understanding that our horses had gone ahead, kindly volunteered to pilotus over the rocks to a village near by. I do not imagine that he wasembarrassed at his lack of clothing, and after the first shock of surpriseI am quite sure we were more inclined to admire his straight muscularfigure and his shining dark skin than to complain of his nakedness. Presently, however, he slipped away into the bush, and re-appeared in ahat, and a shirt which was so short that even my little girl burst intolaughter at this ridiculous and futile effort toward decency; and thusarrayed, and with the kindly and gracious smile which illuminates aHawaiian's face when he puts himself to some trouble on your account, thisfunny guide led us to our horses. In the evening I related this incident to our host, an old resident, andsaid, "I suppose this man could read?" "Read!" he replied; "he can readand write as well as you. I know him very well; he is a prosperous man, and is to be the next justice of the peace in that district. He doubtlesswent home and spent the remainder of the afternoon in reading hisnewspaper. " Native life in the Islands is full of such contrasts, and I found, onexamining the labor contracts on several sugar-plantations, that almostwithout exception the working people signed their own names. According to a census taken in December, 1872, the Hawaiian Islandscontained 56, 897 souls, of whom 51, 531 were natives and half-castes, and5366 were foreigners. In six years the native population had decreased7234, and the foreigners had increased 1172. Since 1866, therefore, theIslands have lost 6062 souls. Of the foreigners the Chinese are the most numerous, outnumbering all theother foreign nationalities together except the Americans. Chinese havebeen brought over here as coolie laborers on the plantations. They readilyintermarry with the native women, and these unions are usually fruitfulof healthy and bright children. It is said that the Chinese insist upontaking better care of their children than the native women, uninstructed, usually give them, and that therefore the Chinese half-caste familiesare more thrifty than those of the pure blood Hawaiians. Moreover, theChinaman takes care of his wife. He endeavors to form her habits upon thepattern of his own; and requires of her the performance of fixed duties, which add to her happiness and health. In fact, the number of half-castesof all races has increased thirty per cent. In the last six years. The native population is admirably cared for by the authorities. TheIslands are divided for various governmental purposes into districts;and in every district where the people are much scattered the governmentplaces a physician--a man of skill and character--to whom it gives asmall salary for attending upon the common people, and he is, I believe, expected to make a tour of his district at stated intervals. Of course heis allowed to practice besides for pay. The sugar planters also usuallyprovide medical attendance for their laborers. The Government maintains a careful guard over the schools. A compulsoryeducation law obliges parents, under fixed penalties, to send theirchildren to school; and besides the common or primary schools, there are anumber of academies, most of which receive some help from the Government, while all are under Government supervision. The census gives the number ofchildren between six and fifteen years of age at 6931; and there are 324teachers, or one teacher for every twenty-seven children in the wholegroup. Attendance at school is, I suspect, more general here than in anyother country in the world. The last report of W. P. Kamakau, the Presidentof the Board of Education, made in March, 1872, returns 8287 childrenactually attending upon 245 schools of various grades, 202 being commonschools. Under this system there is scarcely a Hawaiian of proper age whocan not both read and write. Churches they maintain by voluntary effort, and their contributions arevery liberal. They take a pride in such organizations. Dr. Coan's nativechurch at Hilo contributes $1200 per year to foreign missions. There are no beggars, and no public paupers except the insane, who arecared for in an asylum near Honolulu, and the lepers, who are confinedupon a part of Molokai. The convicts and the boys in the reform schoolcontribute to their own support by their labor. The Queen's Hospital isonly for curable cases, and the people take care of their own infirm, agedand otherwise incapable dependents. It seems to me that very unusual judgment has been shown in the mannerin which benevolent and penal institutions have been created and managedamong these people; for the tendency almost everywhere in countries whichcall themselves more highly civilized is to make the poor dependentupon charity, and thus a fatal blow is struck at their character andrespectability. Here, partly of course because the means of living arevery abundant and easily got, but also, I think, because the governmenthas been wisely managed, the people have not been taught to look towardpublic charity for relief; and though we Americans, who live in a bigcountry, are apt to think slightingly of what some one called a toykingdom, any one who has undertaken to manage or organize even a smallcommunity at home will recognize the fact that it is a task beset bydifficulties. But in these Islands a state, a society, has been created within a quarterof a century, and it has been very ably done. I am glad that it has beendone mainly by Americans. Chief-justice Lee, now dead, but whose memoryis deservedly cherished here; Dr. Judd, who died in August, 1873; Mr. C. C. Harris, lately Minister of Foreign Relations, and for many years occupyingdifferent prominent positions in the Government; Dr. J. Mott Smith, latelythe Minister of Finance; Chief-justice Allen, and Mr. Armstrong, long atthe head of the Educational Department, the father of General Armstrong, President of the Hampton University in Virginia, deserve, perhaps, thechief credit for this work. They were the organizers who supplemented thelabors of the missionaries; and, fortunately for the native people, theywere all men of honor, of self-restraint, of goodness of heart, who knewhow to rule wisely and not too much, and who protected the people withoutdestroying their independence. What they have done would have given themfame had it not been done two thousand miles from the nearest continent, and at least five thousand from any place where reputations are made. Of a total native population of 51, 531, 6580 are returned by the censusas freeholders--more than one in every eight. Only 4772 are returnedas plantation laborers, and of these probably a third are Chinese; 2115returned themselves as mechanics, which is a very large proportion ofthe total able-bodied population. I believe that both freeholders andmechanics find employment on the plantations as occasional laborers. A people so circumstanced, well taught in schools, freeholders to a largeextent, living in a mild and salubrious climate, and with cheap and properfood, ought not, one would say, to decrease. There are, of course, severalreasons for their very rapid decrease, and all of them come from contactwith the whites. These brought among them diseases which have corruptedtheir blood, and made them infertile and of poor stamina. But to this, which is the chief cause, must be added, I suspect, another less generallyacknowledged. The deleterious habit of wearing clothes has, I do not doubt, done much tokill off the Hawaiian people. If you think for a moment, you will seethat to adopt civilized habits was for them to make a prodigious change intheir ways of life. Formerly the maro and the slight covering of the tapaalone shielded them from the sun and rain. Their bodies became hardyby exposure. Their employments--fishing, taro-planting, tapa-making, bird-catching, canoe-making--were all laborious, and pursued out-of-doors. Their grass houses, with openings for doors and windows, were, at anyrate, tolerably well ventilated. Take the man accustomed thus to live, and put shoes on his feet, a hat on his head, a shirt on his back, andtrowsers about his legs, and lodge him in a house with close-shuttingdoors and windows, and you expose his constitution to a very seriousstrain, especially in a country where there is a good deal of rain. Being, after all, but half civilized, he will probably sleep in a wet shirt, orcumber his feet with wet shoes; he will most likely neglect to open hiswindows at night, and poison himself and his family with bad air, to theinfluence of which, besides, his unaccustomed lungs will be peculiarlyliable; he will live a less active life under his changed conditions; andaltogether the poor fellow must have an uncommonly fine constitution toresist it all and escape with his life. At the best, his system will berelaxed, his power of resistance will be lessened, his chances of recoverywill be diminished in the same degree as his chances of falling ill areincreased. If now you throw in some special disease, corrupting the blood, and transmitted with fatal certainty to the progeny, the wonder is that apeople so situated have not died out in a single generation. In fact they have died out pretty fast, though there is reason to believethat the mortality rate has largely decreased in the last three years;and careful observers believe even that in the last year there has beenan actual increase, rather than a decrease in the native and half castepopulation. In 1832 the Islands had a population of 130, 315 souls; in1836 there were but 108, 579; in 1840, only 84, 165, of whom 1962 wereforeigners; in 1850, 69, 800, of whom 3216 were foreigners; and in 1860, 62, 959, of whom 4194 were foreigners. The native population has decreasedover sixty per cent. In forty years. In the same period the foreigners have increased very slowly, until thereare now in all 5366 foreigners and persons born here, but of foreignparentage, on the Islands. You will see that while the Hawaiians have sorapidly decreased that all over the Islands you notice, in waste fieldsand desolate house places, the marks of this loss, foreigners have notbeen attracted to fill up their places. And this in spite of the factsthat the climate is mild and healthful, the price of living cheap, theGovernment liberal, the taxes low, and life and property as secure as inany part of the world. One would think that a country which offers allthese advantages must be a paradise for poor men; and I do not wonder thatin the United States there is frequent talk of "annexing the Islands. "But, in fact, they offer no advantages, aside from those I have named, towhite settlers, and they have such serious natural disabilities as willalways--or, at least, for the next two or three millions of years--repelour American people, and all other white settlers. In the first place, there is very little of what we call agriculturalland on the Islands. They are only mountains rising from the sea, withextremely little alluvial bottom, and that usually cut up by torrents, andwater-washed into gulches, until it is difficult in many parts to finda fair field of even fifty acres. From these narrow bottoms, where theyexist, you look into deep gorges or valleys, out of which issue thestreams which force their way through the lower fields into the sea. These valleys are never extensive, and are always very much broken andcontracted. They are useless for common agricultural purposes. In severalthe culture of coffee has been begun; but they are so inaccessible, theroads into them are so difficult, and the area of arable soil they containis, after all, so insignificant, that, even for so valuable a product ascoffee, transportation is found to be costly. But it is along and in the streams which rush through the bottoms of thesenarrow gorges that the Hawaiian is most at home. Go into any of thesevalleys, and you will see a surprising sight: along the whole narrowbottom, and climbing often in terraces the steep hill-sides, you will seethe little taro patches, skillfully laid so as to catch the water, eitherdirectly from the main stream, or from canals taking water out above. Such a taro patch oftenest contains a sixteenth, less frequently an eighthof an acre. It consists of soil painfully brought down from above, andsecured by means of substantial stone walls, plastered with mud andcovered with grass, strong enough to resist the force of the torrent. Eachlittle patch or flat is so laid that a part of the stream shall flow overit without carrying away the soil; indeed, it is expected to leave somesediment. And as you look up such a valley you see terrace after terraceof taro rising before you, the patches often fifty or sixty feet above thebrawling stream, but each receiving its proper proportion of water. Near by or among these small holdings stand the grass houses of theproprietors, and you may see them and their wives, their clothing tuckedup, standing over their knees in water, planting or cultivating the crop. Here the Hawaiian is at home. His horse finds its scanty living on thegrass which fringes the taro patches; indeed, you may see horses herestanding belly deep in fresh water, and feeding on the grasses which growon the bottom; and again you find horses raised in the drier parts ofthe islands that do not know what water is, never having drunk any thingwetter than the dew on the grass. Among the taro patches the house placeis as narrow as a fishing schooner's deck--"two steps and overboard. " Ifyou want to walk, it must be on the dikes within which the taro land isconfined; and if you ride, it must be in the middle of the rapid mountaintorrent, or along a narrow bridle-path high up on the precipitous side ofthe mountain. Down near the shore are fish ponds, with wicker gates which admit thesmall fry from the sea, but keep in the large fish. Many of these pondsare hundreds of acres in area, and from them the Hawaiian draws one ofhis favorite dishes. Then there may be cocoa-nuts; there are sure to bebananas and guavas. Beef costs but a trifle, and hogs fatten on taro. Thepandanus furnishes him material for his mats, and of mats he makes hisbed, as well as the floor of his house. In short, such a gorge or valley as I have tried to describe to youfurnishes in its various parts, including the sea-shore, all that isneeded to make the Hawaiian prosperous; and I have not seen one whichhad not its neatly kept school-house and church, and half a dozen framedhouses scattered among the humbler grass huts, to mark the greater wealthof some--for the Hawaiian holds that the wooden house is a mark of thriftand respectability. But the same valley which now supports twenty or thirty native families incomfort and happiness, and which, no doubt, once yielded food and all theappliances of life in abundance to one or two hundred, would not tempt anywhite man of any nation in the world to live in it, and a thousand suchgorges would not add materially to the prosperity of any white nation. That is to say, the country is admirably adapted to its native people. It favors, as it doubtless compelled and formed, all their habits andcustoms. But it would repel any one else, and an American farmer would notgive a hundred dollars for the whole Wailuku Valley--if he had to live init and work it--though it would be worth many thousands to the natives ifit were once more populous as of old. As you examine the works of the old Hawaiians, their fish ponds, theirirrigation canals, their long miles of walls inclosing ponds and tarofields, you will not only see the proofs that the Islands were formerlyfar more populous than now, but you will get a respect for the feudalsystem of which these works are the remains. The Hawaiian people, when they first became known to the world, wereseveral stages removed from mere savagery. They had elaborated a tolerablyperfect system of government and of land tenure, which has since beenswept away, as was inevitable, but which served its day very well indeed. Under this system the chiefs owned every thing. The common people weretheir retainers--followers in war and servants in peace. The chief, according to an old Hawaiian proverb, owned "all the land, all the sea, and all the iron cast up by the sea. " [Illustration: HAWAIIAN WARRIORS. ] The land was carefully parceled out among the chiefs, upon the plan ofsecuring to each one from his own land all that he and his retainersneeded for their lives. What they chiefly required was taro ground, thesea for fish, the mulberry for tapa, and timber land for canoes; but theyrequired also _ti_ leaves in which to wrap their parcels, and flowers ofwhich to make their _les_, or flower necklaces. And I have seen modernsurveys of old "lands" in which the lines were run very irregularly, andin some cases oven outlying patches were added, because a straight linefrom mountain to sea was found to exclude some one product, even sotrifling as the yellow flowers of which _les_ are often made. On such a "land, " and from it, the chief and his people lived. He appearsto have been the brains and they the hands to work it. They owed him twodays' labor in every seven, in which they cultivated his taro, cleaned hisfish pond, caught fish for him, opened paths, made or transported canoes, and did generally what he required. The remainder of the time was theirown, to cultivate such patches of taro as he allowed them to occupy, or todo what they pleased. For any important public work he could call out allhis people, and oblige them to labor as long as he chose, and thus werebuilt the surprisingly solid and extensive walls which inclose the oldfish ponds, and many irrigating canals which show not only long continuedindustry, but quite astonishing skill for so rude a people. The chief was supreme ruler over his people; they lived by his tolerance, for they owned absolutely nothing, neither land, nor house, nor food, norwife, nor child. A high chief was approached only with abject gestures, and no one dared resist his acts or dispute his will. The sense ofobedience must have been very strong, for it has survived every change;and only the other day a friend of mine saw a Hawaiian lady, a chiefess, but the wife of an American, and herself tenderly nurtured and a woman ofeducation and refinement, boxing the ears of a tall native, whom she hadcaught furiously abusing his wife, and the man bore his punishment asmeekly as a child. "Why?" "He knows I am his chief, and he would not dareraise even an angry look toward me; he would not think of it, even, " washer reply, when she was asked how she had courage to interfere in what wasa very violent quarrel. Yet the present law recognizes no allegiance dueto a chief. When the young king Lunalilo returned to the palace after the coronation, the pipe-bearer, an old native retainer, approached him on his knees, and was shocked at being ordered to get up and act like a man. The oldernatives to this day approach a chief or chiefess only with humble anddeprecatory bows; and wherever a chief or chiefess travels, the nativepeople along the road make offerings of the fruits of the ground, andeven of articles of clothing and adornment. One of the curious sightsof Honolulu to us travelers, last spring, was to see long processions ofnative people, men, women, and children, marching to the palace tolay their offerings before the king, who is a high chief. Each broughtsomething--a man would walk gravely along with a pig under his arm; afterhim followed perhaps a little child with half a dozen bananas, a womanwith a chicken tied by a string, a girl with a handkerchief full of eggs, a boy with a cocoa-nut, an old woman with a calabash of poi, and so on. In the palace yard all this was laid in a heap before the young king, whothereupon said thank you, and, with a few kind words, dismissed the peopleto their homes. As an illustration of the power of the old chiefs, as well as of thedensity of the population in former times, it is related that when thewall inclosing a certain fish pond on the windward side of Oahu was to bebuilt, the chief then ruling over that land gave notice that on a certainday every man, woman, and child within his domain must appear at adesignated point, bearing a stone. The wall, which stands yet, is half amile long, well built, and probably six feet high; and it was begun andcompleted in that one day. [Illustration: LUNALILO. ] I was shown, on Kauai, a young man of insignificant appearance, and of noparticular merit or force of character. To him an old woman recently dyinghad by a will, written out for her by a friend of my own, left all herproperty--a taro patch, a house, and some other land. My friend askedwhy. He is my chief, was the reply; and sure enough, on inquiry my frienddiscovered, what he had not before known, that the man was a descendantof one of the chief families, of whom this old woman had in her early daysbeen a subject. As the chief was the ruler, the people looked to him for food in a time ofscarcity. He directed their labors; he protected them against wrong fromothers; and as it was his pride that his retainers should be more numerousand more prosperous than those of the neighboring chief, if the headpossessed brains, no doubt the people were made content. Food wasabundant; commerce was unknown; the chief could not eat or waste more thanhis people could easily produce for him; and until disturbing causes camein with Captain Cook, no doubt feudalism wrought satisfactory resultshere. One wonders how it was invented among such a people, or who it wasthat first had genius enough to insist on obedience, to make rules, toprescribe the tabu, and, in short, to evolve order out of chaos. The tabu was a most ingenious and useful device; and when you hear of theuses to which it was put, and of its effectiveness, you feel surprisedthat it was not found elsewhere as an appurtenance of the feudalmachinery. Thus the chief allowed his people to fish in the part of theocean which he owned--which fronted his "land, " that is to say. He tabuedone or two kinds of fish, however; these they were forbidden to catch; butas a fisherman can not, even in these islands, exercise a choice as to thefish which shall enter his net or bite at his hook, it followed that thetabued fish were caught--but then they were at once rendered up to thechief. One variety of taro, which makes poi of a pink color, was tabuedand reserved for the chiefs. Some birds were tabued on account of theirfeathers; one especially, a black bird which has a small yellow featherunder each wing. The great feather cloak of Kamehameha I. , which isstill kept as a sign of royalty, is made of these feathers, and containsprobably several thousand of them, thus gathered, two from each bird. Further, a tabu prohibited women from eating with men, even with theirhusbands; and when, on the death of the first Kamehameha, his QueenKahumanu, an energetic and fearless virago, dared for the first time toeat with her son, a cry of horror went up as though "great Pan was dead;"and this bold act really broke the power of the heathen priests. A tabu forbade women to eat cocoa nuts and some other articles of food;and the prohibition appears to have been used also to compel sanitary andother useful restraints, for I have been told that a tabu preserved girlsfrom marriage until they had attained a certain age, eighteen, I believe;and to this and some other similar regulations, rigorously enforced in theold times, I have heard old residents attribute the fertility of the racebefore foreigners came in. [Illustration: KAMEHAMEHA I. ] He who violated a tabu was at once killed. Capital punishment seems tohave been an effective restraint upon crime among these savages, contraryto the theories of some modern philosophers; probably it was effective fortwo reasons, because it was prompt and because it was certain. One wondershow long the tabu would have been respected, had a violator of it beenlodged in jail for eighteen months, allowed to appeal his case throughthree courts, and at last been brained amidst the appeals for mercy ofthe most respectable people of his tribe, and had his funeral ceremoniesperformed by the high-priest, and closed with a eulogy upon his character, and insinuations against the sound judgment and uprightness of the chiefwho ordered the execution. The first Kamehameha, who seems to have been a savage of considerablemerit, and a firm believer in capital punishment, subdued the Islands tohis own rule, but he did not aim to break the power of the chiefs overtheir people. He established a few general laws, and insisted on peace, order, and obedience to himself. By right of his conquest all lands weresupposed to be owned by him; he gave to one chief and took away fromanother; he rewarded his favorites, but he did not alter the condition ofthe people. [Illustration: QUEEN OF KAMEHAMEHA I. ] But as traders came in, as commerce began, as money came into use, thefeudal system began to be oppressive. Sandal-wood was long one of themost precious products of these islands--their Chinese name, indeed, is"Sandal-wood Islands. " The chiefs, greedy for money, or for what the shipsbrought, forced their unhappy retainers into the mountains to gather thiswood. Exposed to cold, badly fed, and obliged to bear painful burdens, they died in great numbers, so that it was a blessing to the Islanderswhen the wood became scarce. Again, supplies of food were sold by thechiefs to the ships, and this necessitated unusual labor from the people. One famous chief for years used his retainers to tow ships into the narrowharbor of Honolulu, sending them out on the reef, where, up to theirmiddle in water, they shouldered the tow-line. Thus when, in 1848; the king, at the instance of that excellent man andupright judge, Chief-justice Lee, gave the kuliana rights, he relieved thepeople of a sore oppression, and at a single blow destroyed feudalism. The kuliana is the individual holding. Under the kuliana law each nativehouseholder became entitled to the possession in fee of such land ashe had occupied, or chose to occupy and cultivate. He had only to makeapplication to a government officer, have the tract surveyed, and pay asmall sum to get the title. It is creditable to the chiefs that, under theinfluence of the missionaries, they consented to this important change, fully knowing that it meant independence to the common people and an endof all feudal rights; but it must be added that a large part of theirlands remained in their hands, making them, of course, still wealthyproprietors. Thus the present system of land tenure on the Islands is much the same asour own; but the holdings of the common people are generally small, andthe chiefs, or their successors in many cases foreigners, still maintaintheir right to the sea fisheries as against all who live outside the oldboundaries of their own "lands. " The families of most of the great chiefs have become extinct. Their wealthbecame a curse to them when foreigners came in with foreign vices andforeign luxuries. They are said to have been remarkable as men and womenof extraordinary stature and of uncommon perfection of form. I have beentold of many chiefesses nearly or quite six feet in height, and manychiefs from six feet two inches to six feet six, and in one case six feetseven inches high. There is no reason to doubt the universal testimonythat they were, as a class, taller and finer-looking than the commonpeople; but the older missionaries and residents believe that this arosenot from their being of a different race, but because they were absolutelyrelieved from hard work, were more abundantly and carefully fed, and usedthe lomi-lomi constantly. It is supposable, too, that in the wars whichprevailed among the tribes the weaklings, if any such were among thechiefs, were pretty sure to be killed off; and thus a natural selectionwent on which weeded out the small and inefficient chiefs. Their government appears to have been a "despotism tempered byassassination, " for great as was the respect exacted by a chief, andimplicit as was the obedience he commanded, if he pushed his tyranny toofar, his people rose and slew him. Thus on Kauai, in the lower part ofthe Hanapepe Valley, a huge cliff is shown, concerning which the traditionruns that it was once the residence of the chief who ruled this valley. This person, with a Titanic and Rabelaisian humor, was accustomed todescend into the valley in the evening, seize a baby and carry it to hisstronghold to serve him as a pillow. Having slept upon it he slew it nextmorning; and thus with a refinement of luxury he required a fresh babyevery evening. When patience had ceased to be a virtue, according to ourmore modern formula, the people went up one night and knocked his brainsout; and there was a change of dynasties. [Illustration: ANCIENT GODS OF HAWAII. ] The Hawaiian of the present day reads his Bible and newspaper, writesletters, wears clothes, owns property, serves in the Legislature orParliament, votes, teaches school, acts as justice of the peace and evenas judge, is tax collector and assessor, constable and preacher. In spiteof all this, or rather with it, he retains the oddest traces of the habitsand customs of another age. For instance, he will labor for wages; buthe will persistently and for years give away to his relations all his payexcept what he needs for his actual subsistence, and if he is prosperoushe is pretty sure to have quite a swarm of people to support. A lady toldme that having repeatedly clothed her nurse in good apparel, and findingthis liberal soul, every time, in a day or two reduced to her originalsomewhat shabby clothing, she at last reproached her for her folly. "Whatcan I do?" the woman replied; "they come and ask me for the holaku, or thehandkerchief, or whatever I have. Suppose you say they are yours--thenI will not give them away. " Accordingly, the next new suit was formallydeclared to belong to the mistress: it was not given away. An old woman, kept chiefly for her skill in lomi-lomi by an American family, asked hermaster one day for ten dollars. He gave her two five-dollar gold pieces, and, to his amazement, saw her hand them over immediately, one to a littlegirl and one to a boy, who had evidently come to get the money--not forher use at all. A cook in my own family asked for the wages due him, whichhe had been saving for some time; he received forty-four dollars, and gavethe whole amount at once to his father-in-law, who had come from anotherisland on purpose to get this money. Nor was it grudged to him, so far asany of us could see. "By-and-by, if we are poor and in need, they will doas much for us, " is the excuse. As you ride along in the country, you will see your guide slyly putting astone or a bunch of grass on a ledge near some precipice. If you look, youwill see other objects of the same kind lying there. Ask him about it andhe will tell you, with a laugh, that his forefathers in other times didso, and he does the same. It is, in fact, a peace offering to thelocal divinity of the place. Is he, then, an idolater? Not at all; notnecessarily, at least. He is under the compulsion of an old custom; andhe will even tell you that it is all nonsense. The same force leads himto treat with respect and veneration a chief or chiefess even if abjectlypoor, though before the law the highest chief is no better than the commonpeople. They are hearty and even gross feeders; and probably the onlychristianized people who live almost entirely on cold victuals. A Hawaiiandoes not need a fire to prepare a meal; and at a _luau_, or feast, all thefood is served cold, except the pig, which ought to be hot. Hospitable and liberal as he is in his daily life, when the Hawaiianinvites his friends to a _luau_ he expects them to pay. He provides forthem roast pig, poi, baked ti-root, which bears a startling resemblance inlooks and taste to New England molasses-cake; raw fish and shrimps, limu, which is a sea-moss of villainous odor; kuulaau, a mixture of taro andcocoa-nut, very nice; paalolo, a mixture of sweet-potato and cocoa-nut;raw and cooked cuttle-fish, roast dog, sea-eggs, if they can be got; and, if the feast is something above the ordinary, raw pickled salmon withtomatoes and red-pepper. The object of such a luau is usually to enable the giver to pay for hisnew house, or to raise money for some private object of his own. Noticeof the coming feast is given months beforehand, as also of the amount eachvisitor is expected to give. It will be a twenty-five cent, or a fiftycent, or a dollar luau. The pigs--the centre-piece of the feast--havebeen fattening for a year before. The affair is much discussed. It isindispensable that all who attend shall come in brand-new clothing, and anative person will rather deny himself the feast than appear in garmentswhich have been worn before. A few of the relatives of the feast-giver actas stewards, and they must be dressed strictly alike. At one luau which Ihad the happiness to attend the six men who acted as stewards were arrayedin green cotton shirts and crimson cotton trowsers, and had green wreathson their heads. I need not say that they presented a truly magnificentappearance. To such a luau people ride thirty or forty miles; arriving often theevening beforehand, in order to be early at the feast next day. When theysit down each person receives his abundant share of pig, neatly wrapped inti-leaves; to the remainder of the food he helps himself as he likes. Theyeat, and eat, and eat; they beat their stomachs with satisfaction; theytalk and eat; they ride about awhile, and eat again; they laugh, sing, and eat. At last a man finds he can hold no more. He is "pau"--done. Hedeclares himself "mauna"--a mountain; and points to his abdomen in proofof his statement. Then, unless he expects a recurrence of hunger, hecarefully wraps up the fragments and bones which remain of his portionof pig, and these he must take with him. It would be the height ofimpoliteness to leave them; and each visitor scrupulously takes awayevery remaining bit of his share. If now you look you will see a calabashsomewhere in the middle of the floor, into which each, as he completes hismeal, put his quarter or half dollar. In the evening there are dancing and singing, and then you may hear andsee the extremely dramatic meles of the Hawaiians--a kind of rapid chant, the tones of which have a singular fascination for my ears. A man andwoman, usually elderly or middle-aged people, sit down opposite eachother, or side by side facing the company. One begins and the otherjoins in; the sound is as of a shrill kind of drone; it is accompanied bygesticulations; and each chant lasts about two or three minutes, and endsin a jerk. The swaying of the lithe figures, the vehement and passionatemovements of the arms and head, the tragic intensity of the looks, and thevery peculiar music, all unite to fasten one's attention, and to make thisspectacle of mele singing, as I have said, singularly fascinating. The language of the meles is a dialect now unused, and unintelligible evento most of the people. The whole chant concerns itself, however, with adetailed description of the person of the man or woman or child to whichor in whose honor it is sung. Thus a mele will begin with the hair, whichmay be likened in beauty to the sea-moss found on a certain part of Kauai;or the teeth, which "resemble the beautiful white pebbles which men pickup on the beach of Kaalui Bay on Maui;" and so on. Indeed an ancientHawaiian mele is probably, in its construction, much like the Song ofSolomon; though I am told that the old meles concerned themselves withpersonal details by no means suitable for modern ears. A mele is alwayssung for or about some particular person. Thus I have heard meles for thepresent king; meles for a man or woman present; meles for a chief; and onone occasion I was told they sang a mele for me; and I judged, from thelaughter some parts of it excited, that my feelings were saved by myignorance of the language. On all festive occasions, and on many others, the Hawaiian loves to dresshis head with flowers and green wreaths. Les or garlands are made ofseveral substances besides flowers; though the most favorite are composedof jasmine flowers, or the brilliant yellow flowers of one kind of ginger, which give out a somewhat overpowering odor. These are hung around theneck. For the head they like to use wreaths of the maile shrub, which hasan agreeable odor, something like that of the cherry sticks which smokerslike for pipe stems. This ornamentation does not look amiss on the young, for to youth much is forgiven; but it is a little startling, at a luau, to see old crones and grave grandfathers arrayed with equal gayety; and Iconfess that though while the flowers and leaves are fresh the decoratedassembly is picturesque, especially as the women wear their hair flowing, and many have beautiful wavy tresses, yet toward evening, when themaile has wilted and the garlands are rumpled and decaying, this kind ofornamentation gives an air of dissipation to the company which it by nomeans deserves. Finally, the daily life of the Hawaiian, if he lives near the sea-coastand is master of his own life, is divided between fishing, taro planting, poi making, and mat weaving. All these but the last are laboriousoccupations; but they do not make hard work of them. Two days' labor everyweek will provide abundant food for a man and his family. He has from fiveto ten dollars a year of taxes to pay, and this money he can easily earn. The sea always supplies him with fish, sea-moss, and other food. He isfond of fussing at different things; but he also lies down on the grassa good deal--why shouldn't he?--he reads his paper, he plays at cards, he rides about a good deal, he sleeps more or less, and about midnight hegets up and eats a hearty supper. Altogether he is a very happy creature, and by no means a bad one. You need not lock your door against him; and anelection and a luau occasionally, give him all the excitement he craves, and that not of an unwholesome kind. What there is happy about his life he owes to the fine climate and themissionaries. The latter have given him education enough to read his Bibleand newspaper, and thus to take some interest in and have some knowledgeof affairs in the world at large. They and their successors, the politicalrulers, have made life and property secure, and caused roads and bridgesto be built and maintained; and the Hawaiian is fond of moving about. Thelittle inter-island steamer and the schooners are always full of peopleon their travels; and as they do not have hotel bills to pay, but live ontheir friends on these visits, there is a great deal of such movement. It would hardly do to compare the Hawaiian people with those of NewEngland; but they will compare favorably in comfort, in intelligence, in wealth, in morals, and in happiness with the common people of mostEuropean nations; and when one sees here how happily people can live in asmall way, and without ambitious striving for wealth or a career, hecan not but wonder if, after all, in the year 2873, our pushing andhard-pushed civilization of the nineteenth century will get as greatpraise as it gets from ourselves, its victims. [Illustration: HAWAIIANS EATING POI. ] CHAPTER VI. COMMERCIAL AND POLITICAL. Commercial relations form and foster political alliances, especiallybetween a weak state and a strong one. The annual report for 1872 ofimports and exports, made up by the Collector-general of the HawaiianKingdom, shows how completely the Islands depend upon the United States. Of 146 merchant vessels and steamers entered at Hawaiian ports during1872, 90 were American, only 15 were English; 6 were German, 9 belongedto other nations, and 26 were Hawaiian. Of a total of 98, 647 tons ofshipping, 73, 975 were American, 6714 Hawaiian, and but 7741 British. Of 47whaling vessels calling at Island ports during the year, 42 were American, 2 Hawaiian, and 3 British. Of a little less than 16, 000, 000 pounds of sugar exported during thesame year, 14, 500, 000 were sent to the United States; of 39, 000 poundsof coffee 34, 000 were sent to us; of 1, 349, 503 pounds of rice and paddyexported, 1, 317, 203 pounds came to the United States. All the cotton, allthe goat-skins, nearly all the hides, all the wool, the greater partof the peanuts and the pulu, in short, almost the whole exports of theIslands, are sent to the United States. On the other hand, of $1, 234, 147, the value of duty-paying merchandiseimported during 1872 into the Islands, $806, 111 worth came from the UnitedStates, $155, 939 from Great Britain, and $205, 396 from Germany. Besidesthis, of the total value of bonded goods, $349, 435, the large amountof $135, 487 was brought from sea by whalemen, almost all of whom wereAmericans; and $99, 567 worth was goods from the United States; or $235, 000of American products against $21, 801 of British, and $23, 904 of Germanimportation, in bond. It is plain that the Island trade is so largely in our hands that no othernation can be said to dispute it with us. If our flag flew over Honoluluwe could hardly expect to have a more complete monopoly ofHawaiian commerce than we already enjoy. Moreover, almost all thesugar-plantations--the most productive and valuable property on theIslands--are owned by Americans; and the same is true of the greaternumber of stock farms. Our political predominance on the Islands is as complete as thecommercial. In the present cabinet all the ministers except one areAmericans. This was true also of the cabinet of the late king. Of theSupreme Court, two of the judges are Americans, and one is German. Almostall the executive and administrative offices are in the hands of Americansor Hawaiians. Nor can any foreign power rightly find fault with this state of things. What the Islands are they are because of American effort, Americanenterprise, American capital. American missionaries civilized them;Americans gave them laws wisely adapted to the customs and habits oftheir people; American enterprise and Boston capital established the sugarculture and other of the important industries; perhaps I ought to add thatAmerican sailors spread among the Islands the vices and diseases which, more than all else, have caused the rapid decrease of the population, and to combat and check which added toil and trouble to the labors of theAmerican missionaries. The government of the Hawaiian Islands consists of a king and aParliament. The Parliament meets once in two years; and under the lateking consisted of but a single House. The present king has promised tocall together two Houses, of which but one will be elected. The otherconsists of "Nobles, " who are nominated or created by the king for life, but have no title nor salary unless they are called to office. By theConstitution the reigning king appoints his successor, but his nominationmust be confirmed by the Nobles. As, however, he may at pleasure increasethe number of Nobles, the appointment virtually rests with him. If he dieswithout naming a successor, the Parliament has the right and duty to electa new sovereign. There is a slight property qualification for voters, and a heavier one formembers of Parliament. The revenue of the Government, which amounts to about half a millionper annum, is derived from the various sources specified in the officialreturns of the Minister of Finance, which I copy below. It must beunderstood that this report covers two years: The balance in the Treasury at the close of the lastfiscal period (March 31, 1870) was . . . . . . . . $61, 580. 20 And there has been received from Foreign Imports 396, 418. 15 " " " Fines, Penalties, and Costs 47, 289. 13 " " " Internal Commerce 98, 982. 51 " " " Taxes 215, 962. 51 " " " Fees and Perquisites 22, 194. 45 " " " Government Realizations 124, 071. 37 " " " Miscellaneous Sources 60, 038. 23 ----------- $964, 956. 35 ----------- $1, 026, 536. 55 The expenditures during two years are detailed thus in the same report: For Civil List . . . . . . . . $50, 000. 00 " Permanent Settlements . . . . 18, 000. 00 " Legislature and Privy Council . . 15, 281. 63 " Department of Judiciary . . . . 73, 562. 61 " " Foreign Affairs and War 98, 028. 24 " " Interior . . . . 396, 806. 41 " " Finance . . . . 141, 345. 29 " " Attorney-general . 88, 412. 17 " Bureau of Public Instruction . . 88, 347. 79 ----------- $969, 784. 14Balance on hand March 31, 1872 . . . . . . . $56, 752. 41 ------------ $1, 026, 536. 55 The internal taxes include the property tax, which is quite low, one anda half per cent. Every male adult pays a poll tax of one dollar, a schooltax of two dollars, and a road tax of two dollars. The following is thedetail of the internal taxes for the two years 1870-72: Real Estate and Personal Property $97, 685. 11Horses . . . . . . . . . 53, 006. 00Dogs . . . . . . . . . . 22, 271. 40Mules . . . . . . . . . . 6, 140. 00Carriages . . . . . . . . 3, 125. 00Poll . . . . . . . . . . 27, 841. 00Native Seamen . . . . . . . 5, 894. 00 ----------- $215, 962. 51 Among the licenses the monopoly of opium selling brings the Government$22, 248, a prodigious sum when it is considered that there are but2500 Chinese in the Islands; these being the chief, though not the onlyconsumers. There is, besides, a duty of ten per cent. On the opium whenimported, and the merchant must make his profit. I had the curiosityto look a little into the opium consumption. It is said that its use isslowly spreading among the natives, particularly where these are employedwith Chinese on the plantations. But the quantity used by the Chinesethemselves is prodigious. I was shown one man, a cook, whose wages, fourteen dollars per month, were entirely spent on opium; and whose mastersupplied the poor creature with clothes, because he had nothing left outof his pay. In other cases the amount spent was nearly as great. Eight thousand two hundred and sixty-five dollars were also realized forawa licenses. Awa is a root the use of which produces a frightful kindof intoxication, in which the victim falls into stupor, his featuresare contorted, and he has seizures resembling epilepsy. The body of thehabitual awa drinker becomes covered with white scales; and it is saidthat awa drinking predisposes to leprosy. The manner of preparing awais peculiarly disgusting. The root is chewed by women, and they spit outwell-chewed mouthfuls into a calabash. Here it settles, and the liquor isthen drunk. It is said that in old times the chiefs used to get togetherthe prettiest young girls to chew awa for them. The king receives a salary of $22, 500 per annum; the cabinet ministers andthe chief-justice receive $5000, and the two associate justices $4000per annum. These are the largest salaries paid; and in general the publicservice of the Islands is very cheaply as well as ably and conscientiouslyconducted. There is an opportunity for retrenchment in abolishing some ofthe offices; but the saving which could thus be effected would after allnot be great. The present Government means, I have been told, to undertakesome reforms; these will probably consist in getting the king to turn thecrown lands into public lands, to be sold or leased for the benefit of thetreasury. They are now leased, and the income is a perquisite of the king, a poor piece of policy, for the chiefs from among whom a sovereign isselected are all wealthy; the present king, for instance, has an incomeof probably $25, 000 per annum from private property of his own. It is alsoproposed to lessen the number of cabinet ministers; but this will scarcelybe done. They are but four in number now, having charge of ForeignAffairs, Finance, and the Interior and Law Departments. There is a debt of about $300, 000 which is entirely held within thekingdom; and the public property is of value sufficient to pay three timesthis sum. It is probable, however, that, like many other governments, the Hawaiian ministry will have to deal with a deficit when the nextLegislature meets; and this will probably bring reform and retrenchmentbefore them. There is not much hope of increasing the revenue from new andstill untouched sources, for there are but few such. The taxable industries and wealth of the Islands can not be very greatlyincreased. Finding yourself in a tropical country, with a charming andequable climate, and with abundant rains, you are apt to think that, givenonly a little soil, many things would grow and could be profitably raised. It is one of the surprises of a visitor to the Hawaiian group to discoverthat in reality very few products succeed here. Coffee was largely planted, and promised to become a staple of theIslands; but a blight attacked the trees and proved so incurable thatthe best plantations were dug up and turned into sugar; and the export ofcoffee, which has been very variable, but which rose to 415, 000 poundsin 1870, fell to 47, 000 pounds in the next year, and to 39, 276 pounds in1872. Sea-island cotton would yield excellent crops if it were not that acaterpillar devours the young plants, so that its culture has almostceased. Only 10, 000 pounds were exported in 1872. The orange thrives in sofew localities on the Islands that it is not an article of commerce: onlytwo boxes were exported last year, though San Francisco brings this fruitfrom Otaheite by a voyage of thirty days. A burr worse than any foundin California discourages the sheep-raiser in some of the Islands. Thecacao-tree has been tried, but a blight kills it. In the garden of Dr. Hillebrandt, near Honolulu, I saw specimens of the cinnamon and allspicetrees; but again I was told that the blight attacked them, and did notallow them to prosper. Wheat and other cereals grow and mature, but theyare subject to the attacks of weevil, so that they can not be stored orshipped; and if you feed your horse oats or barley in Honolulu, these havebeen imported from California. Silk-worms have been tried but failed. Ricedoes well, and its culture is increasing. Moreover, there is but an inconsiderable local market. A farmer onMaui told me he had sent twenty bags of potatoes to Honolulu, and sooverstocked the market that he got back only the price of his bags. Eggsand all other perishable products, for the same reason, vary much inprice, and are at times high-priced and hardly attainable. It will not dofor the farmer to raise much for sale. The population is not only dividedamong different and distant islands, but it consists for much the largestpart of people who live sufficiently well on taro, sweet-potatoes, fish, pork, and beef--all articles which they raise for themselves, and whichthey get by labor and against disadvantages which few white farmers wouldencounter. For instance, the Puna coast of Hawaii is a district where for thirtymiles there is so little fresh water to be found that travelers must bringtheir own supplies in bottles; and Dr. Coan told me that in former daysthe people, knowing that he could not drink the brackish stuff whichsatisfied them, used to collect fresh water for his use when he made themissionary tour, from the drippings of dew in caves. Wells are here outof the question, for there is no soil except a little decomposed lava, andthe lava lets through all the water which comes from rains. There arefew or no streams to be led down from the mountains. There are no fields, according to our meaning of the word. Formerly the people in this district were numbered by thousands: evenyet there is a considerable population, not unprosperous by any means. Churches and schools are as frequent as in the best part of New England. Yet when I asked a native to show me his sweet-potato patch, he took meto the most curious and barren-looking collection of lava you can imagine, surrounded, too, by a very formidable wall made of lava, and explainedto me that by digging holes in the lava where it was a little decayed, carrying a handful of earth to each of these holes, and planting there ina wet season, he got a very satisfactory crop. Not only that, but beingdesirous of something more than a bare living, this man had planted alittle coffee in the same way, and had just sold 1600 pounds, his lastcrop. He owned a good wooden house; politely gave up his own mats for meto sleep on; possessed a Bible and a number of other works in Hawaiian;after supper called his family together, who squatted on the floor whilehe read from his Scriptures, and, after singing a hymn, knelt in familyprayers; and finally spent half an hour before going to bed in lookingover his newspaper. This man, thoroughly respectable, of good repute, hospitable, comfortable in every way so far as I could see, lived, and lived well, on twenty or thirty acres of lava, of which not even aVermonter would have given ten cents for a thousand acres; and which wasworthless to any one except a native Hawaiian. Take next the grazing lands. In many parts they are so poorly suppliedwith water that they can not carry much stock. They also are oftenastonishingly broken up, for they frequently lie high up on the sides ofthe mountains, and in many parts they are rocky and lava-covered beyondbelief. On Hawaii, the largest island, lava covers and makes desolatehundreds of thousands of acres, and on the other and smaller islands, except, perhaps, Kauai, there is corresponding desolation. Thus the areaof grazing lands is less than one would think. But on the other hand, cattle are very cheaply raised. They require but little attention; and thestock-owners, who are now boiling down their cattle and selling merelythe hides and tallow, are said to be just at this time the most prosperouspeople on the Islands. Sheep are kept too, but not in great flocks exceptupon the small island of Niihau, which was bought some years ago by twobrothers, Sinclair by name, who have now a flock of fifteen or eighteenthousand sheep there, I am told; on Molokai and part of Hawaii; and uponthe small island of Lanai, where Captain Gibson has six or eight thousandhead. One of the conspicuous trees of the Hawaiian forests is the Kukui orcandle-nut. Its pale green foliage gives the mountain sides sometimes adisagreeable look; though where it grows among the Ko trees, whose leavesare of a dark green, the contrast is not unpleasant. From its abundanceI supposed the candle-nut might be made an article of export; but thecountry is so rough that the gathering of the nuts is very laborious; andseveral persons who have experimented in expressing the oil from the nuthave discovered that it did not pay cost. Only two thousand poundsof Kukui nuts were exported in 1872. Sandal-wood was once a chief article of export. It grows on the highermountain slopes, and is still collected, for 20, 232 pounds were exportedin 1872, and a small quantity is worked up in the Islands. The cocoa-nutis not planted in sufficient quantities to make it an article of commerce. Only 950 nuts were exported last year. Of pulu 421, 227 pounds wereshipped; this is a soft fuzz taken from the crown of a species of fern;it is used to stuff bedding, and is as warm, though not as durable, asfeathers. Also 32, 161 pounds of "fungus, " a kind of toad-stool which growson decaying wood, and is used in China as an article of food. There has been no lack of ingenuity, enterprise, or industry among theinhabitants. The Government has imported several kinds of trees andplants, as the cinnamon, pepper, and allspice, but they have notprospered. Private effort has not been wanting either. But nature does notrespond. Sugar and rice are and must it seems continue to be the staplesof the Islands; and the culture of these products will in time beconsiderably increased. This, it appears to me, decides the future of the Islands and thecharacter of their population. A sugar or rice plantation needs at mostthree or four American workmen aside from the manager. The laboringforce will be Hawaiians or Chinese; for they alone work cheaply, and willcontent themselves in the situation of plantation laborers. It is likely, therefore, that the future population of the Islands will consist largely, as it does now, of Hawaiians and Chinese, and a mixture of these tworaces; and, no doubt, these will live very happily there. [Illustration: NATIVE HAY PEDDLER. ] For farming, in the American sense of the word, the Islands are, as thesefacts show, entirely unfit. I asked again and again of residents thisquestion: "Would you advise your friend in Massachusetts or Illinois, afarmer with two or three thousand dollars in money, to settle out here?"and received invariably the answer, "No; it would be wrong to do so. "Transportation of farm products from island to island is too costly; thereis no local market except Honolulu, and that is very rapidly and easilyoverstocked; Oregon or California potatoes are sold in the Islands ata price which would leave the local farmer without a profit. In short, farming is not a pursuit in the Islands. A farmer would not starve, forbeef is cheap, and he could always raise vegetables enough for himself;but he would not get ahead. Moreover, perishable fruits, like the banana, have but a limited chance for export. The Islands, unluckily, lie towindward of California; and a sailing vessel, beating up to San Francisco, is very apt to make so long a passage that if she carries bananas theyspoil on the way. Hence but 4520 bunches were shipped from the Islands in1872--which was all the monthly steamer had room for. These circumstances seem to settle the question of annexation, which issometimes discussed. To annex the Islands would be to burden ourselveswith an outlying territory too distant to be cheaply defended; andcontaining a population which will never be homogeneous with our own; acountry which would neither attract nor reward our industrious farmers andmechanics; which offers not the slightest temptation to emigration, excepta most delightful climate, and which has, and must by its circumstancesand natural formation continue to have, chiefly a mixed population ofChinese and other coolies, whom it is assuredly not to our interest totake into our family. I suppose it is a proper rule that we should notencumber ourselves with territory which by reason of unchangeable naturalcauses will repel our farmers and artisans, and which, therefore, will notbecome in time Americanized. If this is true, we ought not to annex theHawaiian Islands. Moreover, there is no excuse for annexation, in the desire of the people. The present Government is mild, just, and liked by the people. They caneasily make it cheaper whenever they want to. The native people are verystrongly opposed to annexation; they have a strong feeling of nationality, and considerable jealousy of foreign influence. Annexation to our own orany other country would be without their consent. As to the residents of foreign birth, a few of them favor annexation tothe United States; but only a few. A large majority would oppose it asstrenuously as the native people. Most of the planters see that it wouldbreak up their labor system, demoralize the workmen, and probably foryears check the production of sugar. One thing is certain, however. If the Islands ever offer themselves to anyforeign power, it will be to the United States. Their people, foreign aswell as native, look to us as their neighbors and friends; and the kinglast summer blurted out one day when too much wine had made him imprudent, this truth: that if annexation came, it must be to the United States. As I write a negotiation has been opened with the United StatesGovernment, for the purpose of offering us Pearl River in exchange for areciprocity treaty. Pearl River is an extensive, deep, and well-protectedbay, about ten miles from Honolulu. It would answer admirably for a navalstation; and if the United States were a second-rate power likely to bebullied by other nations, we might need a naval station in the PacificOcean. In our present condition, when no single power dares to make warwith us, and when, unless we become shamelessly aggressive, no alliance ofEuropean powers against us for purposes of war is possible, the chief useof distant naval stations appears to me to be as convenient out-of-the-wayplaces for wasting the public money. Pearl River would be an admirablespot for a dozen pleasant sinecures, and the expenditure of three or fourmillions of money. It seems to me, therefore, that it would be a dearbargain. For the accommodation of merchant steamers and ships and theirrepair, Honolulu offers sufficient facilities. There are ingeniousAmerican mechanics there who have even taken a frigate upon a temporarydry-dock, and repaired her hull. [Illustration: HULA-HULA, OR DANCING-GIRLS. ] But justice, kindly feeling, and a due regard for our future interests inthe Pacific Ocean ought to induce us to establish at once a reciprocitytreaty with the Hawaiian Government. We should lose but little revenue;and should make good that loss by the greater market which would be openedfor our own products, in the Islands. Such a treaty would bring morecapital to the Islands, increase their prosperity, and, at the same time, bind them still more closely and permanently to us. It would pave the wayto annexation, if that should ever become advisable. The politics of the Hawaiian Kingdom are not very exciting. In thosefortunate Isles the Legislature troubles itself chiefly about the horseand dog tax. The late king, who was of an irascible temper, did not alwaystreat his faithful Commons with conspicuous civility. He sometimes toldthem that they had talked long enough and had better adjourn; and theyusually took his advice. The present king, who belonged to "his majesty'sopposition" during the late reign, has yet to develop his qualities as aruler. He has shown sound judgment in the nomination of his cabinet;and he is believed to have the welfare of the people at heart. He isunmarried; but is not likely to marry; and he will probably nominate asuccessor from one of the chief or ruling families still remaining. Thelist from which he can choose is not very long; and it is most probable, as this is written, that he will nominate to succeed him Mrs. BernicePauahi Bishop, wife of the present Minister of Foreign Affairs. Mrs. Bishop is a lady of education and culture, of fine presence, every way fitto rule over her people; and her selection would be satisfactory to theforeign residents as well as to the best of the Hawaiian people. [Illustration: HAWAIIAN STYLE OF DRESS. ] CHAPTER VII. THE LEPER ASYLUM ON MOLOKAI. So much has been said and written of late about the disease called leprosyand its ravages in the Sandwich Islands that I had the curiosity to visitthe asylum for lepers at Molokai, where now very nearly all the peoplesuffering from this disease have been collected, under a law which directsthis seclusion. The steamer _Kilauea_ left Honolulu one evening at half-past five o'clock, and dropped several of us about two o'clock at night into a whale-boatnear a point on the lee side of Molokai. Here we were landed, andpresently mounted horses and rode seven or eight miles to the house of aGerman, Mr. Meyer, who is the superintendent of the leper settlement, andalso, I believe, of a cattle farm which belongs to the heirs of the lateking. Mr. Meyer has lived on Molokai since 1853. He is married to a Hawaiian, and has a large family of sons and daughters who have been carefully andexcellently brought up, I was told. Mrs. Meyer, who presided at breakfast, is one of those tall and grandly proportioned women whom you meet amongthe native population not infrequently, who enable you to realize how itwas that in the old times the women exercised great influence in Hawaiianpolitics. She seemed born to command, and yet her benevolent countenanceand friendly smile of welcome showed that she would probably rule gently. From Mr. Meyer's we rode some miles again, until at last we dismounted atthe top or edge of the great precipice, at the foot of which, two thousandfeet below, lies the plain of Kalawao, occupied by the lepers. At thetop we four dismounted, for the trail to the bottom, though not generallyworse than the trail into the Yosemite Valley, has some places which wouldbe difficult and, perhaps, dangerous for horses. From the edge of the Pali or precipice the plain below, which containsabout 16, 000 acres, looks like an absolute flat, bounded on three sides bythe blue Pacific. Horses awaited us at the bottom, and we soon discoveredthat the plain possessed some considerable elevations and depressions. Itis believed to have been once the bottom of a vast crater, of which thePali we clambered down formed one of the sides, the others having sunkbeneath the ocean, leaving a few traces on one side. It has yet oneconsiderable cone, a hill two hundred feet high, a well-preservedsubsidiary crater, on whose bottom grass is now growing, while alittle pool of salt water, which rises and falls with the tide, shows aconnection with the ocean. A ride along the shore showed me also severalother and smaller cones. The whole great plain is composed of lava stones, and to one unfamiliarwith the habits of these islanders would seem to be an absolutelysterile desert. Yet here lived, not very many years ago, a considerablepopulation, who have left the marks of an almost incredible industry innumerous fields inclosed between walls of lava rock well laid up; and inwhat is yet stranger, long rows of stones, like the windrows of hay in agrass field at home, evidently piled there in order to secure room in thelong, narrow beds thus partly cleared of lava which lay between, to plantsweet-potatoes. As I rode over the trails worn in the lava by the horsesof the old inhabitants, I thought this plain realized the Vermonter'ssaying about a piece of particularly stony ground, that there was not roomin the field to pile up the rocks it contained. Yet on this apparently desert space, within a quarter of a century morethan a thousand people lived contentedly and prosperously, after theirfashion; and this though fresh water is so scarce that many of them musthave carried their drinking water at least two or even three miles. Andhere now live, among the lepers, or rather a little apart from them atone side of the plain, about a hundred people, the remnant of the formerpopulation, who were too much attached to their homes to leave them, andaccepted sentence of perpetual seclusion here, in common with the lepers, rather than exile to a less sterile part of the island. When we had descended the cliff, a short ride brought us to the house ofa luna, or local overseer, a native who is not a leper; and of this house, being uncontaminated, we took possession. By a law of the kingdom it is made the duty of the Minister of theInterior, and under him of the Board of Health, to arrest every onesuspected of leprosy; and if a medical examination shows that he has thedisease, to seclude the leper upon this part of Molokai. Leprosy, when it is beyond its very earliest stage, is held to beincurable. He who is sent to Molokai is therefore adjudged civilly dead. His wife, upon application to the proper court, is granted a decree ofabsolute divorce, and may marry again; his estate is administered uponas though he were dead. He is incapable of suing or being sued; and hisdealings with the world thereafter are through and with the Board ofHealth alone. In order that no doubtful cases may be sent to Molokai there is a hospitalat Kalihi, near Honolulu, where the preliminary examinations are made, andwhere Dr. Trousseau, the skillful physician of the Board of Health, son ofthe famous Paris physician of the same name, retains people about whom heis uncertain. The leper settlement at Molokai was begun so long ago as 1865; but the lawrequiring the seclusion of lepers was not enforced under the late king, who is believed to have been himself a sufferer from this disease, andwho, at any rate, by constantly granting exemptions, discouraged theofficers of the law. Since the accession of the present king, however, ithas been rigidly enforced, and it is this which has caused the sudden andgreat outcry about leprosy, which has reached even to the United States, and has caused many people, it seems, to fear to come to the Islands, asthough a foreigner would be liable to catch the disease. You must understand that the native people have no fear of the disease. Until the accession of the present king lepers were commonly kept in thehouses of their families, ate, drank, smoked, and slept with their ownpeople, and had their wounds dressed at home. If the disease werequickly or readily contagious, it must have spread very rapidly in suchconditions; and that it did not spread greatly or rapidly is one ofthe best proofs that it is not easily transmitted. When I remember howcommonly, among the native people, a whole family smokes out of the samepipe, and sleeps together under the same tapa, I am surprised that so fewhave the disease. There are at this time eight hundred and four persons, lepers, in thesettlement, besides about one hundred non-lepers, who prefer to remainthere in their ancient homes. Since January, 1865, when the first leperwas sent here, one thousand one hundred and eighty have been received, of whom seven hundred and fifty-eight were males and four hundred andtwenty-two females. Of this number three hundred and seventy-threehave died, namely, two hundred and forty-six males and one hundred andtwenty-seven females. Forty-two died between April 1 and August 13 of thepresent year. The proportion of women to men is smaller than I thought;and there are about fifty leper children, between the ages of six andthirteen. Lepers are sterile, and no children have been born at theasylum. So great has been the energy and the vigilance of the Board of Health andits physician, Dr. Trousseau, that there are not now probably fifty lepersat large on all the islands, and these are persons who have been hiddenaway in the mountains by their relatives. In fact if there was ever anyrisk to foreign visitors from leprosy, this is now reduced to the minimum;and as the disease is not caused by the climate, and can be got, asthe widest experience and the best authorities agree, only by intimatecontact, united with peculiar predisposition of the blood, there is notthe least ground for any foreign visitor to dread it. When a leper is sent to Molokai, the Government provides him a house, andhe receives, if an adult, three pounds of paiai or unmixed poi, per day, and three pounds of salt salmon, or five pounds of fresh beef, per week. Beef is generally preferred. They are allowed and encouraged to cultivate land, and their products arebought by the Health Board; but the disease quickly attacks the feet andhands, and disables the sufferers from labor. There are two churches in the settlement, one Protestant, with a nativepastor, and one Catholic, with a white priest, a young Frenchman, who hashad the courage to devote himself to his co-religionists. There is a store, kept by the Board of Health, the articles in which aresold for cost and expenses. The people receive a good deal of money fromtheir relatives at home, which they spend in this store. The Governmentalso supplies all the lepers with clothing; and there is a post-office. The little schooner which carried me back to Honolulu bore over twohundred letters, the weekly mail from the leper settlement. For the bad cases there is a hospital, an extensive range of buildings, where one hundred patients lay when I visited it. These, being helpless, are attended by other lepers, and receive extra rations of tea, sugar, bread, rice, and other food. Almost every one strong enough to ride has a horse; for the Hawaiians cannot well live without horses. Some of the people live on the shore andmake salt, which you see stored up in pandanus bags under the shelter oflava bubbles. When I was there a number were engaged in digging a ditchin which to lay an iron pipe, intended to convey fresh water to the denserpart of the settlement. Such is the life on the leper settlement of Molokai; a precipitous cliffat its back two thousand feet high; the ocean, looking here bluer andlovelier than ever I saw it look elsewhere on three sides of it; the softtrade-wind blowing across the lava-covered plain; eternal sunshine; a mildair; horses; and the weekly excitement of the arrival of the schooner fromHonolulu with letters. There is sufficient employment for those who canand like to work--and the Hawaiian is not an idle creature; and altogetherit is a very contented and happy community. The Islander has strongfeelings and affections, but they do not last long, and the people hereseemed to me to have made themselves quickly at home. I saw very few sadfaces, and there were mirth and laughter, and ready service and pleasantlooks all around us, as we rode or walked over the settlement. And now, you will ask, what does a leper look like? Well, in the firstplace, he is not the leper of the Scriptures; nor, I am assured, is thedisease at all like that which is said to occur in China. Indeed, thepoor Chinese have been unjustly accused of bringing this disease to theIslands. With the first shipload of Chinese brought to these Islandscame two lepers "white as snow, " having, that is to say, a disease verydifferent from that which now is called leprosy here. They were notallowed to land, but were sent back in the ship which brought them out. The Hawaiian leprosy, on the other hand, has been known here for a quarterof a century, and men died of it before the first Chinese were broughthither. The name Mai-Pakeh was given it by an accident, a foreigner sayingto a native that he had a disease such as they had in China. There are butsix Chinese in the Molokai leper settlement, and there are three white menthere. The leprosy of the Islands is a disease of the blood, and not a skindisease. It can be caught only, I am told, by contact of an abradedsurface with the matter of the leprous sore; and doubtless the familiarhabit of the people, of many smoking the same pipe, has done much todisseminate it. Its first noticeable signs are a slight puffiness under the eyes, and aswelling of the lobes of the ears. To the practiced eyes of Dr. Trousseauthese signs were apparent where I could not perceive them until he laidhis finger on them. Next follow symptoms which vary greatly in differentindividuals; but a marked sign is the retraction of the fingers, so thatthe hand comes to resemble a bird's claw. In some cases the face swellsin ridges, leaving deep furrows between; and these ridges are shiny andwithout feeling, so that a pin may be stuck into one without giving painto the person. The features are thus horribly deformed in many instances;I saw two or three young boys of twelve who looked like old men of sixty. In some older men and women, the face was at first sight revolting andbaboon-like; I say at first sight, for on a second look the mild sad eyeredeemed the distorted features; it was as though the man were looking outof a horrible mask. At a later stage of the disease these rugous swellings break open intofestering sores; the nose and even the eyes are blotted out, and the bodybecomes putrid. In other cases the extremities are most severely attacked. The fingers, after being drawn in like claws, begin to fester. They do not drop off, but seem rather to be absorbed, the nails following the stumps down; and Iactually saw finger-nails on a hand that had no fingers. The nails were onthe knuckles; the fingers had all rotted away. The same process of decay goes on with the toes; in some cases the wholefoot had dropped away; and in many the hands and feet were healed over, the fingers and toes having first dropped off. But the healing of the soreis but temporary, for the disease presently breaks out again. Emaciation does not seem to follow. I saw very few wasted forms, and thoseonly in the hospitals and among the worst cases. There appears to be anastonishing tenacity of life, and I was told they mostly choke to death, or fall into a fever caused by swallowing the poison of their sores whenthese attack the nose and throat. Those diseased give out soon a very sickening odor, and I was much obligedto a thoughtful man in the settlement, who commanded the lepers who hadgathered together to hear an address from the doctor to form to leewardof us. I expected to be sickened by the hospitals; but these are so wellkept, and are so easily ventilated by the help of the constantly blowingtrade-wind, that the odor was scarcely perceptible in them. You will, perhaps, ask how the disease is contracted. I doubt if any oneknows definitely. But from all I heard, I judge that there must be somedegree of predisposition toward it in the person to be contaminated. Ibelieve I have Dr. Trousseau's leave to say that the contact of a woundedor abraded surface with the matter of a leprous sore will convey thedisease; this is, of course, inoculation; and he seemed to think no othermethod of contamination probable. I was careful to provide myself with apair of gloves when I visited the settlement, to protect myself in case Ishould be invited to shake hands; but I noticed that the doctor fearlesslyshook hands with some of the worst cases, even where the fingers weresuppurating and wrapped in rags. There are several women on the Islands, confirmed lepers, whose husbandsare at home and sound; one, notably, where the husband is a white man. Onthe other hand, a woman was pointed out to me who had had three husbands, each of whom in a short time after marrying her became a leper. Thereare children lepers, whose parents are not lepers; and there are parentslepers, whose children are at home and healthy. There are three white men on the island, lepers, two of them in a very badstate. So far as I could learn the particulars of their previous history, they had lived flagitiously loose lives; such as must have corrupted theirblood long before they became lepers. In some other cases of native lepersI came upon similar histories; and while I do not believe that every case, or indeed perhaps a majority of cases, involves such a previous career ofvice, I should say that this is certainly a strongly predisposing cause. As to the danger of infection to a foreign visitor, there is absolutelynone, unless he should undertake to live in native fashion among thenatives, smoking out of their pipes, sleeping under their tapas, andeating their food with them; and even in such an extreme case his riskwould be very slight now, so thoroughly has the disease been "stamped out"by the energetic action of Mr. Hall, the Minister of the Interior, Mr. Samuel G. Wilder, the head of the Board of Health, and Dr. Trousseau, itsphysician. In short, there is no more risk of a white resident or travelercatching leprosy in the Hawaiian Islands than in the city or State of NewYork. [Illustration: NATIVE PIPE. NECKLACE OF HUMAN HAIR. ] I have heard one reason given why this disease has been more frequent inthe last ten years. Ten or twelve years ago the Islands were visited bysmallpox. This disease made terrible ravages, and the Government at onceordered the people to be vaccinated. There seems to be no doubt that thevaccine matter used was often taken from persons not previously in soundhealth; this was perhaps unavoidable; but intelligent men, long residentin the Islands, believe that vaccination thus performed with impure matterhad a bad effect upon the people, leaving traces of a resulting corruptionof their blood. The choice of the plain of Kalawao as the spot on which to seclude thelepers from all the Islands was very happy. It can not be said that to anagile native the place is inaccessible, for there are, no doubt, severalpoints in the great precipice where men and women could make theirway down or up; and there are instances of women swimming around theprecipitous and surf-beaten shore, seven or eight miles, to reach husbandsor friends in the settlement to whom they were devotedly attached. Butit is easily guarded, and, for all practical purposes, the seclusion isperfect. A singular tradition, related to me on the island, points to its use forsuch a purpose and gives a sad significance to the leper settlement. It issaid that in the time of the first Kamehameha, the conqueror and hero ofhis race, upon an occasion when he visited Molokai, an old sorceress orpriestess sent him word that she had made a garment for him--a robe ofhonor--which she desired him to come and get. He returned for answer acommand that she should bring it to him; and when the old hag appeared, the king desired her to tell him something of the future. She replied thathe would conquer all the Islands, and rule over them but a brief time;that his own posterity would die out; and that finally all his race wouldbe gathered together on Molokai; and that this small island would be largeenough to hold them all. It is probable, of course, that this tale is of recent origin, and that nopriestess of Kamehameha the First possessed so fatal and accurate a giftof prophecy; but the tale, told me in the midst of the leper asylum, pointed to the gloomy end of the race with but too plain a finger. TheHawaiians, once so numerous as to occupy almost all the habitable partsof all the Islands, have so greatly decreased that they might almost findtheir support on the little island of Molokai alone. Happily the decreasehas now ceased. The great Pali of Molokai, one of the most remarkable and picturesquesights of the Islands, stretches for a dozen miles along its windwardcoast. It is a sheer precipice, in most parts from a thousand to twothousand feet high, washed by the sea at its base, and having, in mostparts, not a trace of beach. This vast wall of rock is an impressivesight; here the shipwrecked mariner would be utterly helpless; but woulddrown, not merely in sight of land, but with his hands vainly grasping foreven a bush, or root, or a projecting rock. NORTHERN CALIFORNIA: ITS AGRICULTURAL VALLEYS, DAIRIES, FORESTS, FRUIT-FARMS, ETC. [Illustration: NORTHERN CALIFORNIA. ] [Illustration: A CALIFORNIA VINEYARD. ] CHAPTER I. THE SACRAMENTO VALLEY: A GENERAL VIEW, WITH HINTS TO TOURISTS ANDSPORTSMEN. The State of California extends over somewhat more than ten degrees oflatitude. If it lay along the Atlantic as it lies along the Pacific coast, its boundaries would include the whole shore-line from Cape Cod to HiltonHead, and its limits would take in the greater portion of ten of theoriginal States. It contains two great mountain ranges--the Sierra Nevada and the CoastRange. These, running parallel through the State, approach each other soclosely at the south as to leave only the narrow Tejon Pass between them;while at the north they also come together, Mount Shasta rearing itssplendid snow-covered summit over the two mountain chains where they arejoined. Inclosed within these mountain ranges lies a long, broad, fertile valley, which was once, no doubt, a great inland sea. It still contains in thesouthern part three considerable lakes--the Tulare, Kern, and BuenaVista--and is now drained from the south by the San Joaquin River, flowingout of these lakes, and from the north by the Sacramento, which rises nearthe base of Mount Shasta. These two rivers, the one flowing north, theother south, join a few miles below Sacramento, and empty their watersinto the bay of San Francisco. That part of the great inland plain of California which is drained by theSacramento is called after its river. It is more thickly inhabited thanthe southern or San Joaquin Valley, partly because the foot-hills on itseastern side were the scene of the earliest and longest continued, as wellas the most successful, mining operations; partly because the SacramentoRiver is navigable for a longer distance than the San Joaquin, and thusgave facilities for transportation which the lower valley had not; and, finally, because the Sacramento Valley had a railroad completed throughits whole extent some years earlier than the San Joaquin Valley. The climate of the Sacramento Valley does not differ greatly from that ofthe San Joaquin, yet there are some important distinctions. Lying furthernorth, it has more rain; in the upper part of the valley they sometimessee snow; there is not the same necessity for irrigation as in the lowervalley; and though oranges flourish in Marysville, and though the almonddoes well as far north as Chico, yet the cherry and the plum take theplace of the orange and lemon; and men build their houses somewhat moresolidly than further south. The romance of the early gold discovery lies mostly in the SacramentoValley and the adjacent foot-hills. Between Sacramento and Marysville laySutter's old fort, and near Marysville is Sutter's farm, where you maystill see his groves of fig-trees, under whose shade the country peoplenow hold their picnics; his orchards, which still bear fruit; and hishouse, which is now a country tavern. Of all his many leagues of land the old man has, I believe, but a fewacres left; and of the thousands who now inhabit and own what once washis, not a dozen would recognize him, and many probably scarcely knowhis name. His riches melted away, as did those of the great Spanishproprietors; and he who only a quarter of a century ago owned a territorylarger than some States, and counted his cattle by the thousands--if, indeed, he ever counted them--who lived in a fort like a European noble ofthe feudal times, had an army of Indians at his command, and occasionallymade war on the predatory tribes who were his neighbors, now lives upon asmall annuity granted him by the State of California. He saved little, Ihave heard, from the wreck of his fortunes; and of all who were with himin his earlier days, but one, so far as I know--General Bidwell, of Chico, an able and honorable gentleman, once Sutter's manager--had the ability toprovide for the future by retaining possession of his own estate of twentythousand acres, now by general consent the finest farm in California. As you go north in California the amount of rain-fall increases. In SanDiego County they are happy with ten inches per annum, and fortunate ifthey get five; in Santa Barbara, twelve and a half inches insure theircrops; the Sacramento Valley has an average rain-fall of about twentyinched, and eighteen inches insure them a full crop on soil properlyprepared. In 1873 they had less, yet the crops did well wherever thefarmers had summer-fallowed the land. This practice is now very general, and is necessary, in order that the grain may have the advantage of theearly rains. When a farmer plows and prepares his land in the spring, letsit lie all summer, and sows his grain in November just as the earliestrain begins, he need not fear for his crop. There is less difference in climate than one would suppose betweenthe Sacramento and the San Joaquin valleys. Cattle and sheep liveout-of-doors, and support themselves all the year round in the ShastaValley on the north as constantly as in Los Angeles or any other of thesouthern counties. The seasons are a little later north than south, butthe difference is slight; and as far north as Red Bluff, in the interior, they begin their harvest earlier than in Monterey County, far south buton the coast. Snow rarely lies on the ground in the northern counties morethan a day. The best varieties of the foreign grapes are hardy everywhere. Light frosts come in December; and in the flower-gardens the geraniumwithers to the ground, but springs up from the roots again in March. Theeucalyptus flourishes wherever it has been planted in Northern California;and as far north as Redding, at the head of the valley, the mercury veryrarely falls below twenty-five degrees, and remains there but a few hours. [Illustration: WINE VATS. ] As you travel from Marysville, either northward or southward, you will seebefore and around you a great wide plain, bounded on the west by the blueoutlines of the Coast Range, and on the east by the foot-hills of theSierra: a great level, over which as far as your eye can reach arescattered groves of grand and picturesque white oaks, which relieve thesolitude of the plain, and make it resemble a well-planted park. Whereverthe valley is settled, you will see neat board fences, roomy barns, andfarm-houses nestling among trees, and flanked by young orchards. You willnot find a great variety of crops, for wheat and barley are the stapleproducts of this valley; and though the farms here are in general of 640acres or less, there are not wanting some of those immense estates forwhich California is famous; and a single farmer in this valley is said tohave raised on his own land last year one-twentieth of the entire wheatcrop of the State. Northwest of Marysville the plain is broken by a singularly lovely rangeof mountains, the Buttes. They rise abruptly from the plain, and theirpeaks reach from two to three thousand feet high. It is an extremelypretty miniature mountain range, having its peaks, passes, and cañons--allthe features of the Sierra--and it is well worth a visit. Butte is a wordapplied to such isolated mountains, which do not form part of a chain, andwhich are not uncommon west of the Mississippi. Shasta is called a butte;Lassen's Peaks are buttes; and the traveler across the continent hears theword frequently applied to mountain. It is pronounced with the _u_ long. Along the banks of the Sacramento there are large quantities of land whichis annually overflowed by the river, and much of which is still only usedfor pasturage during the dry season, when its grasses support large herdsof cattle and sheep, which are driven to the uplands when the rains beginto fall. But much of this swamp and tule land has been drained and diked, and is now used for farm land. It produces heavy crops of wheat, andits reclamation has been, and continues to be, one of the successfulspeculations in land in this State. It will not be long before the shoresof the Sacramento and its tributaries will be for many miles so diked thatthese rivers will never break their bounds, and thus a very considerablearea will be added to the fertile farming lands of the State. Already, however, the Yuba, the Feather, and the American rivers, tributaries of the Sacramento, have been leveed at different points forquite another reason. These rivers, once clear and rapidly flowing withindeep banks, are now turbid, in many places shallow, and their bottoms havebeen raised from twenty to thirty feet by the accumulation of the washingsfrom the gold mines in the foot-hills. It is almost incredible thechange the miners have thus produced in the short space of a quarter of acentury. The bed of the Yuba has been raised thirty feet in that time; andseeing what but a handful of men have effected in so short a period, thework of water in the denudation of mountains, and the scouring outor filling up of valleys during geological periods becomes easilycomprehensible. All our Northern fruits thriftily in the Sacramento Valley, and alsothe almond, of which thousands of trees have been planted, and a fewconsiderable orchards are already in bearing. The cherry and the plum doremarkably well, the latter fruit having as yet no curculio or blight; andthe canning and drying of peaches, plums, apricots, nectarines, and pearsare already, as I shall show in detail farther on, a considerable as wellas very profitable business. Dried plums, in particular, sell at a pricewhich makes the orchards of this fruit very valuable. Excellent raisinshave also been made, and they sell in the open market of San Franciscofor a price very little less than that of the best Malaga raisins. Theclimate, with its long dry summer, is very favorable to the drying andcuring of every fruit: no expensive houses, no ovens or other machinery, are needed. The day is not distant when the great Sacramento plain willbe a vast orchard, and the now unoccupied foot-hills will furnish a largepart of the raisins consumed in the United States. For the present thepopulation is scant, and cattle, horses, and especially sheep, roamover hundreds of thousands of acres of soil which needs only industriousfarmers to make it bloom into a garden. [Illustration: TRAINING A VINE. ] The farmer in this State is a person of uncommon resources and ingenuity. I think he uses his brains more than our Eastern farmers. I do not mean tosay that he lives better, for he does not. His house is often shabby, eventhough he be a man of wealth, and his table is not unfrequently withoutmilk; he buys his butter with his canned vegetables in San Francisco, andbread and mutton are the chief part of his living, both being universallygood here. But in managing his land he displays great enterprise, and haslearned how to fit his efforts to the climate and soil. The gathering of the wheat crop goes on in all the valley lands withheaders, and you will find on all the farms in the Sacramento Valley thebest labor-saving machinery employed, and human labor, which is always themost costly, put to its best and most profitable uses. They talk here ofsteam-plows and steam-wagons for common roads, and I have no doubt thesteam-plow will be first practically and generally used, so far as theUnited States are concerned, in these Californian valleys, where I haveseen furrows two miles long, and ten eight-horse teams following eachother with gang-plows. Withal, they are somewhat ruthless in their pursuit of a wheat crop. Youmay see a farmer who plows hundreds of acres, but he will have his wheatgrowing up to the edge of his veranda. If he keeps a vegetable garden, hehas performed a heroic act of self-denial; and as for flowers, they mustgrow among the wheat or nowhere. Moreover, while he has great ingenuity in his methods, the farmer of theSacramento plain has but little originality in his planting. He raiseswheat and barley. He might raise a dozen, a score, of other products, manymore profitable, and all obliging him to cultivate less ground, but itis only here and there you meet with one who appreciates the remarkablecapabilities of the soil and climate. Near Tehama some Chinese have inthe last two years grown large crops of pea-nuts, and have, I was told, realized handsome profits from a nut which will be popular in America, I suppose, as long as there is a pit or a gallery in a theatre; but thepea-nut makes a valuable oil, and as it produces enormously here, it willsome day be raised for this use, as much as for the benefit of theold women who keep fruit-stands on the street corners. It would not besurprising if the Chinese, who continue to come over to California ingreat numbers, should yet show the farmers here what can be done on smallfarms by patient and thorough culture. As yet they confine their cultureof land mainly to vegetable gardens. To the farmer the valley and foot-hill lands of the Sacramento will be themost attractive; and there are still here thousands of acres in the handsof the Government and the railroad company to be obtained so cheaplythat, whether for crops or for grazing, it will be some time before themountainous lands and the pretty valleys they contain, north of Redding, the present terminus of the railroad, will attract settlers. But for thetraveler the region north of Redding to the State line offers uncommonattractions. The Sacramento Valley closes in as you journey northward; and atRed Bluff, which is the head of navigation on the river, you have amagnificent view of Lassen's Peaks on the east--twin peaks, snow-clad, andrising high out of the plain--and also of the majestic snow-covered cragwhich is known as Shasta Butte, which towers high above the mountains tothe north, and, though here 120 miles off, looks but a day's ride away. Redding, thirty miles north from Shasta, lies at the head of theSacramento Valley. From there a line of stage-coaches proceeds northinto Oregon, through the mass of mountains which separates the SacramentoValley in California from the Willamette Valley in Oregon. The stage-roadpasses through a very varied and picturesque country, one which fewpleasure travelers see, and which yet is as well worth a visit as any partof the western coast. The Sacramento River, which rises in a largespring near the base of Mount Shasta, has worn its way through the highmountains, and rushes down for nearly a hundred miles of its course animpetuous, roaring mountain stream, abounding in trout at all seasons, and in June, July, and August filled with salmon which have come up herethrough the Golden Gates from the ocean to spawn. The stage-road followsalmost to its source the devious course of the river, and you ride alongsometimes nearly on a level with the stream, and again on a road-bed cutout of the steep mountain side a thousand or fifteen hundred feet abovethe river; through fine forests of sugar-pines and yellow pines many ofwhich come almost up to the dimensions of the great sequoias. The river and its upper tributaries abound in trout, and this region isfamous among Californian sportsmen for deer and fish. Many farm-housesalong the road accommodate travelers who desire to stay to enjoy the finescenery, and to hunt and fish; and a notable stopping-place is Fry's SodaSpring, fourteen hours by stage from Redding, kept by Isaac Fry and hisexcellent wife--a clean, comfortable little mountain inn, where you getgood and well-cooked food, and where you will find what your stage ridewill make welcome to you--a comfortable bath. The river is too cold forbathing here in the mountains because of the snow-water of which it iscomposed. About ten miles south of Fry's lies Castle Rock, a remarkableand most picturesque mountain of white granite, bare for a thousand feetbelow its pinnacled summit, which you see as you drive past it on thestage. Fry's lies in a deep canon, with a singular, almost precipitous, mountainopposite the house, which terminates in a sharp ridge at the top, one ofthose "knife-edge" ridges of which Professor Whitney and Clarence Kingoften speak in their descriptions of Sierra scenery. If you are a mountainclimber, you have here an opportunity for an adventure, and an excellentguide in Mr. Fry, who told me that this ridge is sharp enough to straddle, and that on the other side is an almost precipitous descent, with a finelake in the distance. If you wish to hunt deer or bear, you will findin Fry an expert and experienced hunter. He has a tame doe, which, I wastold, is better than a dog to mark game on a hunt, its sharp ears andnose detecting the presence of game at a great distance. If you area fisherman, there are within three minutes' walk of the house poolsabounding in trout, and you may fish up and down the river as far as youplease, with good success everywhere. In June and July, when the salmoncome up to spawn, they, too, lie in the deepest pools, and with salmoneggs for bait you may, if you are expert enough with your rod, take many afat salmon. [Illustration: A BOTTLING-CELLAR. ] It is astonishing to see how the salmon crowd the river at the spawningseason. The Indians then gather from a considerable distance, to spear andtrap these fish, which they dry for winter use; and you will see at thisseason many picturesque Indian camps along the river. They set a crotch oftwo sticks in a salmon pool, and lay a log from the shore to this crotch. Upon this log the Indian walks out, with a very long spear, two-pronged atthe end and there armed with two bone spear-heads, which are fastened tothe shaft of the spear by very strong cord, usually made of deer's sinews. The Indian stands very erect and in a really fine attitude, and peers intothe black pool until his eye catches the silver sheen of a salmon. Thenhe darts, and instantly you see a commotion in the water as he hauls uptoward the surface a struggling twenty-five or thirty pound fish. Thebone spear heads, when they have penetrated the salmon, come off from thespear, and the fish is held by the cord. A squaw stands ready on the shoreto haul him in, and he is beaten over the head with a club until he ceasesto struggle, then cleaned, and roasted on hot stones. When the meat isdone and dry it is picked off the bones, and the squaws rub it to a finepowder between their hands, and in this shape it is packed for future use. From one of these pools a dozen Indian spearmen frequently draw out fourhundred salmon in a day, and this fish forms an important part of theirfood. Of course they kill a great many thousand female salmon during theseason; but so far, I believe, this murderous work has not been found todecrease the number of the fish which annually enter the river from theocean, and go up to its head waters to spawn. If you visit this region during the last of June or in July, you may watchthe salmon spawning, a most curious and remarkable sight. The great fishthen leave the deep pools in which they have been quietly lying for someweeks before, and fearlessly run up on the shallow ripples. Here, animatedby a kind of fury, they beat the sand off the shoals with their tails, until often a female salmon thus labors till her tail fins are entirelyworn off. She then deposits her eggs upon the coarse gravel, and thegreedy trout, which are extravagantly fond of salmon eggs, rush up to eatthem as the poor mother lays them. They are, I believe, watched and beatenoff by the male salmon, which accompanies the female for this purpose. When the female salmon has deposited her eggs, and the male salmon hasdone his part of the work, the two often bring stones of considerable sizein their mouths to cover up the eggs and protect them from the predatoryattacks of the trout. And thereupon, according to the universal testimony of the fishermen ofthese waters, the salmon dies. I was assured that the dead bodies oftencumber the shore after the spawning season is over; and the mountaineersall assert that the salmon, having once spawned up here, does not go downto the ocean again. They hold that the young salmon stay in the upperwaters for a year, and go to sea about eighteen months after hatching; andit is not uncommon, I believe, for fishermen hereabouts to catch grilseweighing from two to four pounds. These bite sometimes at the fly. Thesalmon bite, too, when much smaller, for I caught one day a young salmonnot more than six inches long. This little fellow was taken with a baitof salmon eggs, and his bright silvery sides made him quite different fromthe trout which I was catching out of the same pool. His, head, alsohad something of the fierce, predatory, hawk-like form which the oldersalmon's has. Fry is an excellent fisherman himself, and knows all the best pools withinreach of his house, and, if you are a mountaineer, will take you a dozenmiles through the woods to other streams, where you may fish and hunt fordays or weeks with great success, for these woods and waters are as yetvisited by but few sportsmen. And if you happen to come upon Indian fishermen on your way--they are allpeaceful hereabouts--you may get the noble red man's opinion of thegreat Woman Question. As I stood at the road-side one day I saw an Indianemerging from the woods, carrying his rifle and his pipe. Him followed, at a respectful distance, his squaw, a little woman not bigger than atwelve-year-old boy; and _she_ carried, first, a baby; second, threesalmon, each of which weighed not less than twenty pounds; third, a wildgoose, weighing six or eight pounds; finally, a huge bundle of some kindof greens. This cumbrous and heavy load the Indian had lashed togetherwith strong thongs, and the squaw carried it on her back, suspended by astrap which passed across her forehead. When an Indian kills a deer he loads it on the back of his squaw to carryhome. Arrived there, he lights his pipe, and she skins and cleans theanimal, cuts off a piece sufficient for dinner, lights a fire, and cooksthe meat. This done, the noble red man, who has calmly or impatientlycontemplated these labors of the wife of his bosom, lays down his pipe andeats his dinner. When he is done, the woman, who has waited at one side, sits down to hers and eats what he has left. "Who would be free, themselves must strike the blow. " Miss Anthony andMrs. Cady Stanton have good missionary ground among these Indians. Onewonders in what language an Indian brave courts the young squaw whom hewishes to marry; what promises he makes her; what hopes he holds out;with what enticing views of wedded bliss he lures the Indian maiden to thealtar or whatever may be the Digger substitute for that piece of churchfurniture. One wonders that the squaws have not long ago combined andstruck for at least moderately decent treatment; that marriages have notceased among them; that there has not arisen among the Diggers, the PitRiver Indians, and all the Indian tribes, some woman capable of leadingher sex in a rebellion. But, to tell the truth, the Indian women are homely to the last degree. "Ugly, " said an Oregonian to me, as we contemplated a company ofsquaws--"ugly is too mild a word to apply to such faces;" and he wasright. Broad-faced, flat-nosed, small-eyed, unkempt, frowzy, undersized, thickset, clumsy, they have not a trace of beauty about them, either youngor old. They are just useful, nothing more; and as you look at them andat the burdens they bear, you wonder whether, when the Woman's Rightsmovement has succeeded, and when women, dressed like frights in suchBloomer costume as may then be prescribed, go out to their daily toil likemen, and on an equality with men--when they have cast off the beauty whichis so scornfully spoken of in the conventions, and have secured theirrights--whether they will be any better off than these squaws. When youhave thoughtfully regarded the Indian woman perhaps you will agree withGail Hamilton that it is woman's first duty to be useless; for it is plainthat here, as in a higher civilization, when women consent to work as men, they are sure to have the hardest work and the poorest pay. [Illustration: INDIAN RANCHERIA. ] As you ascend the Sacramento you near Mount Shasta, and when you reachStrawberry Valley, a pretty little mountain vale, you are but a short ridefrom its base. It is from this point that tourists ascend the mountain. You can hire horses, guides, and a camp outfit here, and the adventurerequires three days. You ride up to the snow-line the first day, ascend tothe top the following morning, descend to your camp in the afternoon, andreturn to the valley on the third day. Mount Shasta has a glacier, almost, but not quite, the only one, I believe, within the limits of the UnitedStates. The mountain is an extinct volcano. Its summit is composed oflava, and if your eye is familiar with the peculiar shape of volcanicpeaks, you can easily trace the now broken lines of this old crater as youview the mountain from the Shasta plain on the north. There are many extremely pretty valleys scattered through these mountains, and these are used by small farmers, and by sheep and cattle owners whoin the winter take their stock into the lower valleys, but ascend into themountains in May, and remain until October. This is also a timber region, and as it is well watered by permanent streams you see frequent saw-mills, and altogether more improvement than one expects to find. But, proceedingfurther north you come upon a large plain, the Shasta Valley, in whichlies the considerable town of Yreka, notable during the last winter andspring as the point from which news came to us about the Modoc war. From Yreka you may easily visit the celebrated "lava beds, " where theIndians made so stubborn and long-continued a defense against the UnitedStates troops; and at Yreka you may hear several opinions upon the meritsof the Modocs and their war. You will hear, for instance, that the Indianswere stirred up to hostilities by mischievous and designing whites, thatwhite men were not wanting to supply them with arms and ammunition, andthat, had it not been for the unscrupulous management of some greedy andwicked whites, we should not have been horrified by the shocking incidentsof this costly Indian trouble, in which the United States Government forsix months waged war against forty-six half-starved Modocs. The Shasta Valley is an extensive plain, chiefly used at present asa range for cattle and sheep. But its soil is fertile, and the valleycontains some good farms. Beyond Yreka gold mining is pursued, and, indeed, almost the whole of the mountain region north of Redding yields"the color;" and at many points along the Upper Sacramento and themountain streams which fall into it, gold is mined profitably. One day, at the Soda Spring, several of us asked Mr. Fry whether he could findgold near the river. He took a pan, and digging at random in his orchard, washed out three or four specks of gold; and he related that when he wasplanting this orchard ten years ago he found gold in the holes he dug forhis apple-trees. But he is an old miner, and experience has taught himthat a good apple orchard is more profitable, in the long run, than a poorgold mine. A large part of the Sacramento Valley is still used for grazing purposes, but the farmers press every year more and more upon the graziers; and thepolicy of the Government in holding its own lands within what are called"railroad limits"--that is to say, within twenty miles on each side of therailroad--for settlement under the pre-emption and homestead laws, as wellas the policy of the railroad company in selling its lands, the alternatesections for twenty miles on each side of the road, on easy terms and withlong credit to actual settlers, prevents land monopoly in this region. There is room, and cheap and fertile land, for an immense populationof industrious farmers, who can live here in a mild climate, and tilla fertile soil, and who need only intelligence and enterprise to raiseprofitably raisins, orchard fruits, castor-oil, peanuts, silk, and adozen other products valuable in the world's commerce, and not producedelsewhere in this country so easily. It is still in this region a time oflarge farms poorly tilled; but I believe that small farms, from 160 to 320acres, will prove far more profitable in the end. The progress of California in material enterprises is something quitewonderful and startling. A year brings about changes for which one canhardly look in ten years. It is but eighteen months ago that the idea of asystem of irrigation, to include the whole of the San Joaquin Valley, wasbroached, and then the most sanguine of the projectors thought that togive their enterprise a fair start would require years, and a great numberof shrewd men believed the whole scheme visionary. But a few experimentsshowed to land-owners and capitalists the enormous advantages ofirrigation, and now this scheme has sufficient capital behind it, andlarge land-holders are offering subsidies and mortgaging their landsto raise means to hasten the completion of the canal. Two years agothe reclamation of the tule lands, though begun, advanced slowly, and arguments were required to convince men that tule land was a safeinvestment. But this year eight hundred miles of levee will be completed, and thousands of acres will bear wheat next harvest which were overflowedeighteen months ago. Two years ago the question whether California couldproduce good raisins could not be answered; but last fall raisins whichsold in the San Francisco market beside the best Malagas were cured byseveral persons, and it is now certain that this State can produce--andfrom its poorest side-hill lands--raisins enough to supply the wholeUnion. Not a year passes but some new and valuable product of the soil isnaturalized in this State; and one who has seen the soil and who knows theclimate of the two great valleys, who sees that within five, or, at most, ten years all their overflowed lands will be diked and reclaimed, and alltheir dry lands will be irrigated, and who has, besides, seen how wide isthe range of products which the soil and climate yield, comes at last tohave what seems to most Eastern people an exaggerated view of the futureof California. But, in truth, it is not easy to exaggerate, for the soil in the greatvalleys is deep and of extraordinary fertility; there are no forests toclear away, and farms lie ready-made to the settlers' hands; the range ofproducts includes all those of the temperate zone and many of the torrid;the climate is invigorating, and predisposes to labor; and the seasons areextraordinarily favorable to the labors of the farmer and gardener. Thepeople have not yet settled down to hard work. There are so many chancesin life out there that men become overenterprising--a speculative spiritinvades even the farm-house; and as a man can always live--food beingso abundant and the climate so kindly--and as the population is as yetsparse, men are tempted to go from one avocation to another, to do manythings superficially, and to look for sudden fortunes by the chances ofa shrewd venture, rather than be content to live by patient and continuedlabor. This, however, is the condition of all new countries; it will passaway as population becomes more dense. And, meantime California has giftsof nature which form a solid substratum upon which will, in a few years, be built up a community productive far beyond the average of wealthy orproductive communities. This is my conclusion after seeing all parts ofthis State more in detail than perhaps any one man has taken the troubleto examine it. [Illustration: PIEDRAS BLANCAS. ] CHAPTER II. WINE AND RAISINS--PROFITS OF DRYING FRUITS. I have now seen the grape grow in almost every part of California wherewine is made. The temptation to a new settler in this State is alwaysstrong to plant a vineyard; and I am moved, by much that I have seen, torepeat here publicly advice I have often given to persons newly cominginto the State: Do not make wine. I remember a wine-cellar, cheaply built, but with substantial and costly casks, containing (because the vineyardwas badly placed) a mean, thin, fiery wine; and on a pleasant sunnyafternoon, around these casks, a group of tipsy men--hopeless, irredeemable beasts, with nothing much to do except to encourage eachother to another glass, and to wonder at the Eastern man who would notdrink. There were two or three Indians staggering about the door; therewas swearing and filthy talk inside; there was a pretentious tasting ofthis, that, and the other cask by a parcel of sots, who in their heartswould have preferred "forty-rod" whisky. And a little way off there was ahouse with women and children in it, who had only to look out of the doorto see this miserable sight of husband, father, friends, visitors, andhired men spending the afternoon in getting drunk. I do not want any one to understand that every vineyard is a nest ofdrunkards, for this is not true. In the Napa and Sonoma valleys, inthe foot-hills of the Sierra, at Anaheim and elsewhere in the southerncountry, you may find many men cultivating the grape and making wine inall soberness. But everywhere, and in my own experience nearly as often, you will see the proprietor, or his sons or his hired men, bearing themarks of strong drink; and too often, if you come unexpectedly, you willsee some poor wretch in the wine-house who about four o'clock is maudlin. [Illustration: POINT ARENA LIGHT-HOUSE. ] Seeing all this, I advise no new settler in the State to make wine. He runs too many risks with children and laborers, even if he himselfescapes. In giving this advice, I do not mean to be offensive to the great body ofwine growers in California, which numbers in its list a great manyable, careful, and sober men, who are doing, as they have done, much andworthily for the prosperity of the State and for the production of goodwine, and whose skill and enterprise are honorable to them. But the bestand most thoughtful of these men will bear me out when I say that winegrowing and making is a business requiring eminent skill and greatpractical good sense, and that not every one who comes to California withmeans enough to plant a vineyard ought to enter this business or can inthe long run do so safely or profitably. Fortunately, no one need make wine, though every man may raise grapes;for it is now a fact, established by sufficient and practical trial, that raisins, equal in every respect to the best Malaga, can be made inCalifornia from the proper varieties of grapes, and can be sold for aprice which will very handsomely pay the maker, and with a much smallerinvestment of capital and less skill than are required to establish awine-cellar and make wine. The vineyard owners already complain that theycan not always readily sell their crude wine at a paying price; but themarket for carefully-made raisins is, as I am told by the principal fruitdealers in San Francisco, open and eager. To make wine requires uncommonskill and care, and to keep it so that age shall give it that merit whichcommands a really good price demands considerable capital in the necessaryoutlay for casks. While the skillful wine-maker undoubtedly gets a largeprofit on his vines, it begins to be seen here that there is an oversupplyof poorly-made wine. But any industrious person who has the right kind of grapes can makeraisins; and raisin-making, which in 1871 had still a very uncertainfuture in this State, may now safely be called one of the established andmost promising industries here. In 1872 I ate excellent raisins in Los Angeles, and tolerable ones inVisalia; but they sell very commonly in the shops what they call"dried grapes, " which are not raisins at all, but damp, sticky, disagreeable things, not good even in puddings. This year, however, Ihave seen in several places good native raisins; and the head of thelargest fruit-importing house in San Francisco told me that oneraisin-maker last fall sold the whole of his crop there at $2 per boxof twenty-five pounds, Malagas of the same quality bringing at thesame time but $2. 37-1/2. There is a market for all well-made raisinsthat can be produced in the State, he said, and they are preferred tothe foreign product. At Folsom, Mr. Bugby told me he had made last year 1700 boxes of raisins, and he was satisfied with the pecuniary return; and I judge from thetestimony of different persons that at seven cents per pound raisins willpay the farmer very well. The Malaga and the White Muscat are the grapeswhich appear here to make the best raisins. Nobody has yet tried theSeedless Sultana, which, however, bears well here, and would make, Ishould think, an excellent cooking raisin. For making raisins they wait until the grape is fully ripe, and thencarefully cut off the bunches and lay them either on a hard clay floor, formed in the open air, or on brown paper laid between the vine rows. Theydo not trim out poor grapes from the bunches, because, as they assert, there are none; but I suspect this will have to be done for the veryfinest raisins, such as would tempt a reluctant buyer. The bunches requirefrom eighteen to twenty-four days of exposure in the sun to be cured. During that time they are gently turned from time to time, and such as areearliest cured are at once removed to a raisin-house. This is fitted with shelves, on which the raisins are laid about a footthick, and here they are allowed to sweat a little. If they sweat too muchthe sugar candies on the outside, and this deteriorates the quality of theraisin. It is an object to keep the bloom on the berries. They are kept inthe raisin-house, I was told, five or six weeks, when they are dry enoughto box. It is as yet customary to put them in twenty-five pound boxes, but, no doubt, as more experience is gained, farmers will contrive otherparcels. Chinese do all the work in raisin-making, and are paid one dollara day, they supplying themselves with food. There is no rain during theraisin-making season, and, consequently, the whole outdoor work may bedone securely as well as cheaply. Enormous quantities of fruit are now put up in tin cans in this State;and you will be surprised, perhaps--as I was the other day--to hear of anorchard of peach and apricot trees, which bears this year (1873) its firstfull crop, and for one hundred acres of which the owners have received tenthousand dollars cash, gold, selling the fruit on the trees, without riskof ripening or trouble of picking. Yet peaches and apricots are not the most profitable fruits in this State, for the cherry--the most delicious cherries in the world grow here--isworth even more; and I suspect that the few farmers who have orchardsof plums, and carefully dry the fruit, make as much money as the cherryowners. There has sprung up a very lively demand for California driedplums. They bring from twenty to twenty-two cents per pound at wholesalein San Francisco, and even as high as thirty cents for the best quality;and I am told that last season a considerable quantity was shippedEastward and sold at a handsome profit in New York. The plum bears heavily and constantly north of Sacramento, and does notsuffer from the curculio, and the dried fruit is delicious and wholesome. Some day the farmers who are now experimenting with figs will, I do notdoubt, produce also a marketable dried fig in large quantities. At SanFrancisco, in October, 1873, I found in the shops delicious dried figs, but not in great quantities, nor so thoroughly dried as to bear shipmentto a distance. The tree nourishes in almost all parts of the State. Usually it bears two and often three crops a year, and it grows into anoble and stately tree. I am told that when Smyrna figs sell for twenty to thirty cents per pound, California figs bring but from five to ten cents. The tree comes into fullbearing, where its location is favorable, in its third or fourth year; andought to yield then about sixty pounds of dried figs. I suspect the costof labor will control the drying of figs, for they must be picked by hand. If they fall to the ground they are easily bruised, and the bruised partturns sour. They are dried in the shade, and on straw, which lets the air get to everypart. Irrigation is not good after the tree bears, as the figs do not dryso readily. Birds and ants are fond of the fruit; and in one place I wastold the birds took almost the whole of the first crop. There are manyvarieties of the fig grown in this State, but the White Smyrna is, Ibelieve, thought to be the best for market. There are no large plantationsof this tree in the State, but it is found on almost every farm andcountry place, and is a very wholesome fruit when eaten green. When the farmers of the Sacramento Valley become tired of sowing wheat, and when the land comes into the hands of small farmers, as it is nowdoing to some extent, it will be discovered that fruit-trees are surer andmore profitable than grain. A considerable emigration is now coming intoCalifornia; and I advise every one who goes there to farm to lose no timebefore planting an orchard. Trees grow very rapidly, and it will be manyyears before such fruits as the cherry, plum, apricot, or the raisin-grapeare too abundant to yield to their owners exceptionally large profits. [Illustration: SHIPPING LUMBER, MENDOCINO COUNTY. ] CHAPTER III. THE TULE LANDS AND LAND DRAINAGE. While you are talking about redeeming the New Jersey marshes thesego-ahead Californians are actually diking and reclaiming similar and, insome cases, richer overflowed lands by the hundred thousand acres. If you will take, on a map of California, Stockton, Sacramento, and SanFrancisco for guiding points, you will see that a large part of the landlying between these cities is marked "swamp and overflowed. " Until withinfive or six years these lands attracted but little attention. It was knownthat they were extremely fertile, but it was thought that the cost anduncertainty of reclaiming them were too great to warrant the enterprise. Of late, however, they have been rapidly bought up by capitalists, andtheir sagacity has been justified by the results on those tracts whichhave been reclaimed. These Tule lands--the word is pronounced as though spelled "toola"--aresimply deposits of muck, a mixture of the wash or sediment brought downby the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers with the decayed vegetable matterresulting from an immense growth of various grasses, and of the reedcalled the "tule, " which often grows ten feet high in a season, and decaysevery year. The Tule lands are in part the low lands along the greaterrivers, but in part they are islands, lying in the delta of the Sacramentoand San Joaquin rivers, and separated from each other by deep, narrow"sloughs, " or "slews" as they are called--branches of these rivers, infact. Before reclamation they are overflowed commonly twice a year--in thewinter, when the rains cause the rivers to rise; and again in June, whenthe melting of the snows on the mountains brings another rise. You mayjudge of the extent of this overflowed land by the following list of theprincipal Tule Islands: Acres. Robert's Island. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 67, 000Union Island. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. . 50, 000Grizzly Island. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. . 15, 000Sherman Island. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. . 14, 000Grand Island. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. . 17, 000Ryer Island. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 11, 800Staten Island. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. . 8, 000Bacon Island. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 7, 000Brannan Island. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 7, 000Bouldin Island. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 5, 000Mandeville Island. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. . 5, 000Venice Island. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. . 4, 000Tyler Island. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 4, 000Andros Island. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. . 4, 000Twitchell Island. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 3, 600Sutter Island. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. . 3, 000Joyce Island. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 1, 500Rough and Ready Island. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 1, 500Long Island. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. . 1, 000 In all. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 217, 400 These are the largest islands; but you must understand that on themainland, along the Sacramento and its affluents, there is a great deal ofsimilar land, probably at least twice as much more, perhaps three times. The swamp and overflowed lands were given by Congress to the State; andthe State has, in its turn, virtually given them to private persons. Ithas sold them for one dollar per acre, of which twenty per cent. Was paiddown, or twenty cents per acre; and this money, less some small chargesfor recording the transfer and for inspecting the reclamation, isreturned by the State to the purchaser if he, within three years after thepurchase, reclaims his land. That is to say, the State gives away the landon condition that it shall be reclaimed and brought into cultivation. During a number of years past enterprising individuals have undertakento reclaim small tracts on these islands by diking them, but with notencouraging success, and it was not until a law was passed empowering themajority of owners of overflowed lands in any place to form a reclamationdistrict, choose a Board of Reclamation, and levy a tax upon all the landin the district, for building and maintaining the dikes or levees thatthese lands really came into use. [Illustration: A WATER JAM OF LOGS. ] Now, this work of draining is going on so fast that this year nearly sixhundred miles of levee will be completed among the islands alone, notto speak of reclamation districts on the main-land. There seems to bea general determination to do the work thoroughly, the high floods of1871-72 having shown the farmers and land-owners that they must build highand strong levees, or else lose all, or at least much, of their labor andoutlay. During the spring of 1872 I saw huge breaks in some of the levees, which overflowed lands to the serious damage of farmers, for not only isthe crop of the year lost, but orchards and vineyards, which flourish onthe Tule lands, perished or were seriously injured by the waters. Chinese labor is used almost entirely in making the levees. An engineerhaving planned the work, estimates are made, and thereupon Chinese forementake contracts for pieces at stipulated rates, and themselves hire theircountrymen for the actual labor. This subdivision, to which the perfectorganization of Chinese labor readily lends itself, is very convenient. The engineer or master in charge of the work deals only with theChinese foremen, pays them for the work done, and exacts of them the dueperformance of the contract. The levee stuff is taken from the inside; thus the ditch is inside of thelevee, and usually on the outside is a space of low marsh, which presentlyfills with willow and cotton-wood. You may sail along the river or slough, therefore, for miles, and see only occasional evidences of the embankment. The soil is usually a tough turf, full of roots, which is very cheaply cutout with an instrument called a "tule-knife, " and thrown up on the levee, where it seems to bind well, though one would not think it would. Atfrequent intervals are self-acting tide-gates for drainage; these are madeof the redwood of the coast, which does not rot in the water. The rise andfall of the tides is about six feet. The levees have been in some placestroubled with beaver, which, however, are now hunted for their fur, andwill not long be troublesome. There is no musk-rat--an animal which woulddo serious damage here. The tule-rat lives on roots on the land, but isnot active or strong enough to be injurious. The levee is usually from six to eight feet broad on top, with the insidesloping; but I was told that experience had shown that the outside shouldbe perpendicular. It is not unusual for parts of a levee to sink down, but I could hear of no case of capsizing. The Levee Board of a districtappoints levee-masters, whose duty it is to look after the conditionof the work, and on the islands I visited there were gangs of Chinamenengaged in repairing and heightening the embankments. You land at a wharf, and, standing on top of the levee, you see before youusually the house and other farm buildings, set up on piles, for securityagainst a break and overflow; and beyond a great track of level land, twoor three or five feet below the level of the levee, and, if it has butlately been reclaimed, covered with the remnants of tules and of grasssods. When the levee is completed, and the land has had opportunity to draina little, the first operation is to burn it over. This requires time andsome care, for it is possible to burn too deep; and in some parts the fireburns deep holes if it is not checked. If the land is covered with drytules, the fire is set so easily that a single match will burn a thousandacres, the strong trade-wind which blows up the river and across theselands carrying the fire rapidly. If the dry tules have been washed off, a Chinaman is sent to dig holes through the upper sod; after him followsanother, with a back-load of straw wisps, who sticks a wisp into eachhole, lights it with a match, and goes on. At this rate, I am told, itcost on one island only one hundred dollars to burn fifteen hundred acres. When this work is done you have an ash-heap, extremely disagreeable towalk over, and not yet solid enough to bear horses or oxen. Accordingly, the first crop is put on with sheep. First the tract is sowed, usuallywith a coffee-mill sower or hand machine, and, I am told, at the rate ofabout thirty pounds of wheat to the acre, though I believe it would bebetter to sow more thickly. Then comes a band or flock of about fivehundred sheep. These are driven over the surface in a compact body, and atno great rate of speed, and it is surprising how readily they learn whatis expected of them, and how thoroughly they tramp in the seed. Dogs areused in this work to keep the sheep together, and they expect to "sheepin, " as they call it, about sixteen acres a day with five hundred animals, giving these time besides to feed on the levee and on spare land. Tule land thus prepared has actually yielded from forty to sixty bushelsof wheat per acre. It does not always do so, because, as I myself saw, it is often badly and irregularly burned over, and probably otherwisemismanaged. The crop is taken off with headers, as is usual in this State. For the second year's crop the land is plowed. A two-share gang-plow isused, with a seat for the plowman. It is drawn by four horses, who have tobe shod with broad wooden shoes, usually made of ash plank, nine by eleveninches, fastened to the iron shoes of the horse by screws. The soil does not appear to be sour, and no doubt the ashes from theburning off do much to sweeten it where it needs that. But several yearsare needed to reduce the ground to its best condition for tillage, and thedifference in this respect between newly-burned or second-crop lands andsuch matured farms as that of Mr. Bigelow on Sherman Island--who has beenthere eight or nine years--is very striking. It seemed to me that the farmers and land-owners with whom I spoke knew"for certain" but very little about the best ways to manage these lands, and that the advice of a thorough scientific agriculturist, like ProfessorJohnson of Yale, would be very valuable to them. Now, they know only thatthe land when burned over will bear large crops of wheat; and, of course, in all practical measures for economically putting in and taking off awheat crop the Californian needs no instructor. The soil seemed to me, so far as they dig into it--say six feet deep--tobe, not peat, but a mass of undecayed or but partly decayed roots, strongly adhering together, so that the upper part of a levee, taken ofcourse from the lowest part of the ditch, lay in firm sods or tussocks. These, however, seem to decay pretty rapidly on exposure to the air. The drainage is not usually deeper than four feet, and in places thewater-level was but three feet below the surface. The newly reclaimed landbeing very light, suffers from the dry season, and is often irrigated, which, as it lies below the river-level, can be quickly and cheaply done. Sherman Island was one of the earliest to be reclaimed, and there Ivisited the fine farm of Mr. Bigelow--a New Hampshire man, I believe, andapparently a thorough farmer. He has lived on tule land ten years, andhis fields were consequently in the finest condition. Here I saw athree-hundred-acre field of wheat, as fine as wheat could be. He thoughthe should get about forty-five bushels per acre this year. He had got, hetold me, between sixty-five and seventy bushels per acre, and without anyfurther labor the next year brought him from the same fields fifty-twobushels per acre as a "volunteer" or self-seeded crop. Here I saw luxuriant red clover and blue grass, and he had also a fieldof carrots, which do well on this alluvial bottom, it seems. But whatsurprised me more was to find that apples, pears, peaches, plums, grapes, apricots--all the fruits--do well on this soil. With us I think the pearwould not do well on peat; but here it withstood last year's flood, whichbroke a levee and overflowed Mr. Bigelow's farm, and the trees do notappear to have suffered. He had also wind-breaks of osier willow, which ofcourse grows rapidly, and had been a source of profit to him in, yieldingcuttings for sale. Timothy does not do well on tule land, as its roots do not push down deepenough, and the surface of such light soils always dries up rapidly. Mr. Bigelow told me that he once sowed alfalfa in February with wheat, andtook off forty-five bushels of wheat per acre, and a ton and a half ofalfalfa later; and pastured (in a thirty-acre field) twenty-five head ofstock till Christmas on the same land, after the hay was cut. They have one great advantage on the tule lands--they can put in theircrops at any time from November to the last of June. It was very curious to sit on the veranda at the farm-house, after dinner, with a high levee immediately in front of us almost hiding the SacramentoRiver, and with a broad canal--the inner ditch--full of fresh water, running along the boundary as far as the eye could reach, the level ofthe levee broken occasionally by tide-gates. The prospect would have beenmonotonous had we not had at one side the lovely mountain range of whichMount Diablo is the prominent peak. But the great expanse of clean fields, level as a billiard-table, and in as fine tilth as though this was a modelfarm, was a delight to the eye, too. It may interest grape-growers in the East to be told that of what we call"foreign grapes, " the Muscat of Alexandria succeeds best in these moist, peaty lands. It is the market grape here. Trees have not grown to a greatsize on the tule lands, but bees are very fond of the wild-flowers whichabound in the unreclaimed marshes, and, having no hollow trees to buildin, they adapt themselves to circumstances by constructing their hives onthe outside or circumference of trees. [Illustration: MOUNT HOOD, OREGON. ] Fencing costs here about three hundred and twenty dollars per mile. Theredwood posts are driven into the ground with mauls. Farm laborers receivein the tules thirty dollars per month and board if they are white men, butone dollar a day and feed themselves, where they are Chinese. On Twitchell Island I found an experiment making in ramie and jute, Mr. Finch, formerly of Haywards, having already planted twenty-six acres oframie, and intending to put seven acres into jute, for which he had theplants all ready, raised in a canvas-covered inclosure. He raised ramiesuccessfully last year, and sold, he told me, from one-tenth of an acre, two hundred and sixty three pounds of prepared ramie, for fifteen centsper pound. He used, to dress it, a machine made in California, whichseveral persons have assured me works well and cheaply, a fact which ramiegrowers in Louisiana may like to know; for the chief obstacle to ramieculture in this country has been, so far, the lack of a cheap andrapidly-working machine for its preparation. It struck me that Mr. Finch'sexperiment with ramie and jute would promise better were it not made onnew land from which I believe only one crop had been taken. When these tule lands have been diked and drained, they are sold for fromtwenty to twenty-five dollars per acre. Considering the crops they bear, and their nearness to market--ships could load at almost any of theislands--I suppose the price is not high; but a farmer ought to be surethat the levees are high enough, and properly made. To levee them costsvariously, from three to twelve dollars per acre. The tule lands which lie on the main-land, and which are equally rich withthe islands, are usually ditched and diked for less than six dollars peracre; and this sum is regarded, I believe, by the State Commissionersas the maximum which the owners are allowed to borrow on reclamationland-bonds for the purpose of levee building. I spoke awhile back of the existence of beavers in the tule country. Elkand grizzly bears used also to abound here, and I am told that on theunreclaimed lands elk are still found, though the grizzlies have gone tothe mountains. One of the curiosities hereabouts is the ark, or floatinghouse, used by the hunters, which you see anchored or moored in thesloughs: in these they live, using a small boat when they go ashore tohunt, and floating from place to place with the tide. On one of these arksI saw a magnificent pair of elk horns from an animal recently shot. [Illustration: COAST VIEW, MENDOCINO COUNTY. ] CHAPTER IV. SHEEP-GRAZING IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA. In the last year I have received a good many letters from persons desirousto try sheep-farming in California, and this has led me to look a littleclosely into this business as it is conducted in the northern parts ofCalifornia. There is no doubt that the climate of California gives some exceptionaladvantages to the sheep-grazer. He need not, in most parts of the State, make any provision against winter. He has no need for barns or expensivesheds, or for a store of hay or roots. His sheep live out-of-doors allthe year round, and it results that those who have been so fortunate asto secure cheaply extensive ranges have made a great deal of money, eventhough they conducted the business very carelessly. It ought to be understood, however, by persons who think of beginning withsheep here, that the business has changed considerably in character withintwo or three years. Land, in the first place, has very greatly risen inprice; large ranges are no longer easily or cheaply obtained, and in thecoast counties of Southern California particularly large tracts are nowtoo high-priced, considering the quality of the land and its ability tocarry sheep, for prudent men to buy. Moreover, Southern California has some serious disadvantages forsheep-grazing which the northern part of the State--the Sacramento Valleyand the adjoining coast-range and Sierra foot-hills--are without, andwhich begin to tell strongly, now that the wool of this State begins togo upon its merits, and is no longer bought simply as "California wool, "regardless of its quality. Southern California has a troublesome burr, which is not found north of Sacramento, except on the lower lands. InSouthern California it is often difficult to tide the sheep over the fallmonths in good order, whereas in the northern part of the State theyhave a greater variety of land, and do this more easily. The average ofsouthern wool brings less by five or six cents per pound than that of theSacramento Valley; and this is due in part to the soil and climate, and inpart to the fact that sheep are more carefully kept in the northern partof the State. Many of the sheep farmers in the Sacramento Valley have entirely done awaywith the mischievous practice of corraling their sheep--confining themat night, I mean, in narrow, crowded quarters--a practice which makes andkeeps the sheep scabby. They very generally fence their lands, and thusare able to save their pasture and to manage it much more advantageously. They seem to me more careful about overstocking than sheep farmersgenerally are in the southern part of the State, though it should beunderstood that such men as Colonel Hollester, Colonel Diblee, Dr. Flint, and a few others in the South, who, like these, have exceptionally fineranges, keep always the best sheep in the best manner. But smaller tracks, sown to alfalfa, are found to pay in the valleys where the land can beirrigated. In Australia and New Zealand sheep inspectors are appointed, who havethe duty to examine flocks and force the isolation of scabby sheep; anda careless flock-master who should be discovered driving scabby sheepthrough the country would be heavily fined; here the law says nothingon this head, but I have found this spring several sheep owners in theSacramento Valley who assured me that they had eradicated scab so entirelyfrom their flocks that they dealt also by isolation with such few singlespecimens as they found to have this disease. Moreover, I find that the best sheep farmers aim to keep, not the largestflocks, but the best sheep. There is no doubt that the sheep deterioratesin this State unless it is carefully and constantly bred up. "We mustbring in the finest bucks from Australia, or the East, or our own State, "said one very successful sheep farmer to me; "and we must do this all thetime, else our flocks will go back. " "It is more profitable to keep fewersheep of the best kind than more not quite so good. It is more profitableto keep a few sheep always in good condition than many with a period ofsemi-starvation for them in the fall, " said another; and added, "I wouldrather, if I were to begin over again, spend my money on a breed worth sixdollars a head, than one worth two or three dollars, and I would rathernot keep sheep at all than not fence. " He had his land--about twenty-fivethousand acres--fenced off in lots of from four to six thousand acres, andinto one of these he turned from six to eight thousand sheep, leaving themto graze as they pleased. He had noticed, he told me, that whereas thesheep under the usual corral system feed the greater part of the day, nomatter how hot the sun, his sheep in these large pastures were lying downfrom nine in the morning to four or five in the afternoon; and he oftenfound them feeding far into the night, and rising again to graze longbefore daylight. They were at liberty to follow their own pleasure, havingwater always at hand. An abundant supply of water he thought of greatimportance. [Illustration: INDIAN SWEAT-HOUSE. ] Of course, where the sheep are turned out into fenced land no shepherdsare required, which makes an important saving. One man, with a horse, visits the different flocks, and can look after ten or fifteen thousandhead. The farmer whom I have quoted does not dip his sheep to prevent or curescab, but mops the sore place, when he discovers a scabby sheep, with asponge dipped into the scab-mixture. He gets, he told me, from his flock of ten thousand merinoes, an averageof seven pounds per head of wool, and he does not shear any except thelambs, in the fall. It is a common but bad practice here to shear allsheep twice a year; and where, as is too often the case, a flock is veryscabby, no doubt this is necessary. He had long sheds as shelter for his ewes about lambing-time, so as toprotect them against fierce winds and cold rain storms; and he saved everyyear about two hundred tons of hay, cut from the wild pastures, to feedin case the rain should hold off uncommonly late. His aim was to keep thesheep always in good condition, so that there should never be any weakplace in the wool. His sheds cost him about one dollar per running foot. The sheep found their own way to them. I find it is the habit of the forehanded sheep-grazers in the SacramentoValley to own a range in the foot-hills and another on the bottom-lands. During the summer the sheep are kept in the bottoms, which are then dryand full of rich grasses; in the fall and winter they are taken to theuplands, and there they lamb, and are shorn. Where the range lies too faraway from any river, they drive the sheep in May into the mountains, wherethey have green grass all summer; and about Red Bluff I saw a curioussight--cattle and horses wandering, singly or in small groups, of theirown motion, to the mountains, and actually crossing the Sacramento withoutdriving; and I was told that in the fall they would return, each to itsmaster's rancho. I am satisfied that, except, perhaps, for the regionnorth of Redding, where the winters are cold and the summers have rain andgreen grass, and where long-wooled sheep will do well, the merino is thesheep for this State; and "the finer the better, " say the best sheep men. Near Red Bluff I saw some fine Cotswolds, and in the coast valleys northof San Francisco these and Leicesters, I am told, do well. A great deal of the land which is now used for sheep will, in the nextfive, or at most ten years, be plowed and cropped. There is a tendency totax all land at its real value; and, except with good management, it willnot pay to keep sheep on land fit for grain and taxed as grain land, whicha great deal of the grazing land is. As the State becomes more populous, the flocks will become smaller, and the wool will improve in quality atthe same time. I have seen a good deal of alfalfa in the Sacramento Valley, but I haveseen also that the sheep men do not trust to it entirely. They believethat it will be better for sheep as hay than as green food; and thislucerne grows so rankly, and has, unless it is frequently cut, so muchwoody stalk, that I believe this also. It makes extremely nice hay. Every man who comes to California to farm ought to keep some sheep; and hecan keep them more easily and cheaply here than anywhere in the East. For persons who want to begin sheep-raising on a large scale and withcapital the opportunities are not so good here now; but there are yet finechances in Nevada, in the valley of the Humboldt, where already thousandsof head of cattle, and at least one hundred thousand sheep, are now fed bypersons who do not own the land at all. I am told extensive tracts couldbe bought there at really low prices, and with such credit on much of itas would enable a man with capital enough to stock his tract to pay forthe land out of the proceeds of the sheep. The white sage in the HumboldtValley is very nutritious, and there is also in the subsidiary valleysbunch-grass and other nutritious food for stock. Not a few young men havegone into this Humboldt country with a few hundreds of sheep, and are nowwealthy. The winters are somewhat longer than in California, but the sheepfind feed all the year round; and they are shorn near the line of therailroad, so that there is no costly transportation of the wool. Muttonsheep, too, are driven to the railroad to be sent to market, and forstock, therefore, this otherwise out-of-the-way region is very convenient. Riding through the foot-hills near Rocklin--where I had been visitinga well-kept sheep-farm--I saw a curious and unexpected sight. There arestill a few wretched Digger Indians in this part of California; and what Isaw was a party of these engaged in catching grasshoppers, which they boiland eat. They dig a number of funnel-shaped holes, wide at the top, andeighteen inches deep, on a cleared space, and then, with rags and brush, drive the grasshoppers toward these holes, forming for that purpose awide circle. It is slow work, but they seem to delight in it; and theirexcitement was great as they neared the circle of holes and the insectsbegan to hop and fall into them. At last there was a close and rapidrally, and half a dozen bushels of grasshoppers were driven into theholes; whereupon hats, aprons, bags, and rags were stuffed in to preventthe multitudes from dispersing; and then began the work of picking themout by handfuls, crushing them roughly in the hand to keep them quiet, and crowding them into the bags in which they were to be carried to theirrancheria. "Sweet--all same pudding, " cried an old woman to me, as I stood lookingon. It is not a good year for grasshoppers this year; nothing like theyear of which an inhabitant of Roseville spoke to me later in the day, when he said, "they ate up every bit of his garden-truck, and then sat onthe fence and asked him for a chew of tobacco. " The sheep ranges of the northern interior counties are less broken up thanin the coast counties farther south; and it is better and more profitable, in my judgment, to pay five dollars per acre for grazing lands in theSacramento Valley than two dollars and a half for grazing lands farthersouth and among the mountains. The grazier in the northern counties hastwo advantages over his southern competitor: first, in the ability to buylow-lying lands on the river, where he can graze from three to six or eventen sheep to the acre during the summer months, and where he may plantlarge tracts in alfalfa; and, secondly, in a safe refuge against droughtin the mountain meadows of the Sierras, and in the little valleys andfertile hill-slopes of the Coast Range, where there is much unsurveyedGovernment land, to which hundreds of thousands of sheep and cattle areannually driven by the graziers of the plain, who thus save their ownpastures, and are able to carry a much larger number of sheep than theyotherwise would. Moreover, nearness to the railroad is an important advantage for thesheep-farmer; and I found that the most enterprising and intelligent sheepmen in the northern counties send their wool direct by railroad to theEastern States, instead of shipping it to San Francisco to be sold. Finally, much of the land now obtainable for grazing in the SacramentoValley, at prices in some cases not too dear for grazing purposes, is ofa quality which will make it valuable agricultural land as soon as thevalley begins to fill up; and thus, aside from the profit from the sheep, the owner may safely reckon upon a large increase in the value of hisland. This can not be said of much of the grazing land of the southerncoast counties, which is mountainous and broken, and fit only for grazing. Of course I speak here of the average lands only. There are large tractsor ranchos in the southern coast counties, such as the Lampoe ranchoof Hollester & Diblee, and lands in the Salinas Valley, which areexceptionally fine, and to which what I have said of the coast panchosgenerally does not apply. [Illustration: ANOTHER COAST-VIEW, NORTHERN CALIFORNIA. ] CHAPTER V. THE CHINESE AS LABORERS AND PRODUCERS. As I crossed from Oakland to San Francisco on a Sunday afternoon lastJuly, there were on the ferry-boat a number of Chinese. They were decentlyclad, quiet, clean, sat apart in their places in the lower part of theboat conversing together, and finally walked off the boat when she came toland as orderly as though they had been Massachusetts Christians. There were also on the boat a number of half-grown and full-grown whiteboys, some of whom had been fishing, and carried their long rods withthem. These were slouchy, dirty, loud-voiced, rude; and, as they passedoff the boat, I noticed that with their long rods they knocked the hats ofthe Chinese off their heads, or punched them in the back, every effort ofthis kind being rewarded with boisterous laughter from their companions. Nor did they confine their annoyance entirely to the Chinese, for theyjostled and pushed their way out through the crowd of men and women verymuch as a gang of pickpockets on a Third Avenue car in New York conductsitself when its members mean to steal a watch or two. These rowdies were "Hoodlums;" and it is the Hoodlums chiefly who clamorabout the Chinese, and who are "ruined by Chinese cheap labor. " Theanti-Chinese agitation in San Francisco has led me to look a littleclosely into this matter, and I declare my belief that there are not ahundred decent men who work for a living in that city engaged in thiscrusade against the Chinese. If you could to-day assemble there all whojoin in this persecution, and if then you took from this assemblage allthe Hoodlums, all the bar-room loafers, and all the political demagogues, I don't believe you would have a hundred men left on the ground. That isto say, the people who actually earn the bread they eat do not persecutethe Chinese. If an Eastern reader suggests that it argues a lack of public spiritin the decent part of the community to allow the roughs to rule in thismatter, I take leave to remind him of the time, not very long ago, whenthe same combination of Hoodlum and demagogue mobbed negroes in New York, and threatened vengeance if colored people were allowed to ride in thestreet-cars. Here, as there then, there are unfortunately newspaperswhich ignorantly pander to this vile class, and help to swell the cry ofpersecution. And here, as in New York a few years ago, it results thatthe proscribed race is hardly dealt with, not only by the roughs, butsometimes in the courts, and gets scant and hard justice dealt out to it. The courageous and upright action of Mayor Alvord in vetoing the inhumanand silly acts of the city supervisors, which, by-the-way, has made himone of the most popular men in California, for the moment shamed thedemagogues and silenced the rowdies; but there are means of annoying theChinese within the law, which are still used. For instance, there is anordinance declaring a fine for overcrowding tenement-houses, and requiringthat in every room there shall be five hundred cubic feet of air for eachoccupant, and for violating this a fine of ten dollars is imposed. Thisordinance is enforced only against the Chinese--so I am assured on thebest authority, and they only are fined. But justice would seem to demandnot only that the law should be enforced against all alike, but that theowner of the property should be made liable for its misuse as well as theunfortunate and ignorant occupants. The Chinese quarter in San Francisco consists, for the most part, of a lotof decayed rookeries which would put our own Five Points to the blush. TheChinese live here very much as the Five Points' population lives in NewYork. And here, as there, respectable people--or people at any rate whowould think themselves insulted if you called their respectability inquestion--own these filthy and decayed tenements; live in comfort on therent paid them by the Chinese; perhaps go to church on Sunday, and, nodoubt, thank God that they are not as other people. It is very goodto fine a poor devil of a Chinaman because he lives in an overcrowdedtenement; but what a stir there would be if some enterprising SanFrancisco journal should give a description of these holes, and thedifferent uses they are put to, and add the names and residences of theowners. California has, according to Cronise--a good authority--40, 000, 000 acresof arable land. It has, according to the last census, 560, 247 people, ofwhom 149, 473 live in San Francisco, and yet nowhere in the United Stateshave I heard so much complaint of "nothing to do" as in San Francisco. One of the leading cries of the demagogues here is that the Chinese arecrowding white men out of employment. But one of the complaints mostfrequently heard from men who need to get work done is that they canget nobody to do it. A hundred times and more, in my travels through theState, I have found Chinese serving not only as laborers, but holdingpositions where great skill and faithfulness were required; and almostevery time the employer has said to me, "I would rather, of course, employa white man, but I can not get one whom I can trust, and who will stickto his work. " In some cases this was not said, but the employer spokestraight out that he had tried white men, and preferred the Chinese asmore faithful and painstaking, more accurate, and less eye-servants. A gentleman told me that he had once advertised in the San Franciscopapers for one hundred laborers; his office was besieged for three days. Three hundred and fifty offered themselves, all presumably ruined byChinese cheap labor; but all but a dozen refused to accept work when theyheard that they were required to go "out of the city. " The charge that the Chinese underbid the whites in the labor market isbosh. When they first come over, and are ignorant of our language, habits, customs, and manner of work, they no doubt work cheaply; but they knowvery accurately the current rate of wages and the condition of the labormarket, and they manage to get as much as any body, or, if they take lessin some cases, it is because they can not do a full day's work. It is afact, however, that they do a great deal of work which white men willnot do out here; they do not stand idle, but take the first job that isoffered them. And the result is that they are used all over the State, more and more, because they chiefly, of the laboring population, will worksteadily and keep their engagements. Moreover, the admirable organization of the Chinese labor is anirresistible convenience to the farmer, vineyardist, and other employer. "How do you arrange to get your Chinese?" I asked a man in the country whowas employing more than a hundred in several gangs. He replied: "I haveonly to go or send to a Chinese employment office in San Francisco, andsay that I need so many men for such work and at such pay. Directly upcome the men, with a foreman of their own, with whom alone I have to deal. I tell only him what I want done; I settle with him alone; I complainto him, and hold him alone responsible. He understands English; and thissystem simplifies things amazingly. If I employed white men I shouldhave to instruct, reprove, watch, and pay each one separately; and of ahundred, a quarter, at least, would be dropping out day after day forone cause or another. Moreover, with my Chinese comes up a cook for everytwenty men, whom I pay, and provisions of their own which they buy. Thus Ihave nobody to feed and care for. They do it themselves. " This is the reply I have received in half a dozen instances where I madeinquiry of men who employed from twenty-five to two hundred Chinese. Anyone can see that, with such an organization of labor, many things can beeasily done which under our different and looser system a man would notrashly undertake. So far as I have been able to learn, such a thing asa gang of Chinese leaving a piece of work they had engaged to do, unlessthey were cheated or ill-treated, is unknown. Then they don't drinkwhisky. With all this, any one can see that they need not work cheaply. To a man who wants to get a piece of work done their systematic ways areworth a good deal of money. In point of fact, they are quick enough todemand higher wages. [Illustration: A SAW-MILL PORT ON PUGET SOUND. ] Of the population of Califoraia when the census of 1870 was taken, 49, 310were Chinese, 54, 421 were Irish, 29, 701 were Germans, and 339, 199 wereborn in the United States. In an official return from the California Stateprison, the number of convicts in 1871, the last year reported, is givenat 880; of whom 477 were native born, 118 were Chinese, 86 were Irish, 29 were German. This gives, of convicts, one in every 635 of the wholepopulation of the State; one in 711 of the native born; one in 417 of theChinese; one in 632 of the Irish born; and one in 1024 of the Germans. That is to say, of the different nationalities the Germans contribute thefewest convicts, the native born next, the Irish next, and the Chinese thegreatest number proportionately. But pray bear in mind the important fact that the Chinese here are almostentirely grown men; they have no families here, and but a small number ofwomen, almost all of whom are, moreover, prostitutes. If, then, you would compare these figures rightly you would have to leaveout of the count the women and children of all the other nationalities;it would, perhaps, then appear that the Chinese furnish a much smallerproportion of criminals than the above figures show; and this in spite ofthe well-known fact that Dame Justice commonly turns a very cold shouldertoward a Chinaman. I wonder that the comparison shows so favorably forthem. It is said that they send money out of the country. I wonder who sends themost, the Chinaman or the white foreigner? If one could get at the sumsremitted to England, Ireland, and Germany, and those sent to China, Idon't know which would be the greater. But a Chinese, to whom I mentioned this charge, made me an excellentanswer. He said: "Suppose you work for me; suppose I pay you; whatbusiness I what you do with money? If you work good for me, that allI care. No business my what you do your pay. " Surely he was right; theChinaman may send some part of his wages out of the country, though notmuch, for he must eat, must be clothed and lodged, must pay railroad andstage fares, must smoke opium, and usually gamble a little. When all thisis done, the surplus of a Chinaman's wages is not great. But suppose hesent off all his pay; he does not and can not send off the work he hasdone for it, the ditches he has dug, the levees he has made, the meals hehas cooked, and the clothes he has washed and ironed, the harvest he hashelped to sow and gather, and the vegetables he has raised; the cigars, and shoes, blankets, gloves, slippers, and other things he has made. Theseremain to enrich the country, to make abundance where, but for his help, there would be scarcity, or importation from other States or countries. But lately it is asserted that the Chinese have brought or will bringthe leprosy hither. This is a genuine cry of anguish and terror from theHoodlums; for, bear in mind that, according to the best medical opinionin the Sandwich Islands, where this disease is most frequent and has beenmost thoroughly studied, it is communicated only by cohabitation or themost intimate association. If you ask a policeman to pilot you throughthe Chinese quarter of San Francisco between eight and eleven o'clock anynight, you will see the creatures who make this outcry. They are Hoodlums, gangs of whom per ambulate the worst alleys, and pass in and out of thevilest kennels. I was curious to know something about the "Chinese Companies" of whichone frequently hears here, and which exercise important powers over theircountrymen all over the State. What follows concerning these organizationsI derived from conversation with several Chinese who speak English, andwith a missionary who labors among them. There are six of these companies, calling themselves "Yong Wong, ""Howk Wah, " "Sam Yup, " "Yen Wah, " "Kong Chow, " and "Yong Woh. " Theyare benevolent societies; each looks after the people who come from theprovince or district for whose behalf it is formed. When a ship comes into port with Chinese, the agents of the companiesboard it, and each takes the names of those who belong to his province. These then come into the charge of their proper company. That lodges, and, if necessary, feeds them; as quickly as possible secures them employment;and, if they are to go to a distant point, lends them the neededpassage-money. The company also cares for the sick, if they are friendlessand without means; and it sends home the bones of those who die here. [Illustration: CAPE HORN, COLUMBIA RIVER. ] Moreover, it settles all disputes between Chinese, levies fines uponoffenders; and when a Chinaman wishes to return home, his company examineshis accounts, and obliges him to pay his just debts here before leaving. The means to do all this are obtained by the voluntary contributions ofthe members, who are all who land at San Francisco from the province whicha company represents. In the Canton company, "Sam Yup, " I was told that the members pay sevendollars each, which sum is paid at any time, but always before they gohome. "Suppose a man does not pay?" I asked a Chinese who speaks English verywell. He replied, "Then the company loses it; but all who can, pay. Veryseldom any one refuses. " "Suppose, " said I, "a Chinaman refuses to respect the company's decision, in case of a quarrel?" He replied, "They never refuse. It is their owncompany. They are all members. " Naturally there are sometimes losses and a deficit in the treasury. Thisis made up by levying an additional contribution. "Do the companies advance money to bring over Chinese?" "No, " was thereply, "the company has no money; it is not a business association, but only for mutual aid among the Chinese here. " Nor does it act asan employment office, for this is a separate and very well organizedbusiness. It sends home the bones of dead men, and this costs fifteendollars; and wherever the deceased leaves property or money, or therelatives are able to pay, the company exacts this sum. It is evident that the Chinese in California keep up a very activecorrespondence with San Francisco as well as with China. They "keepthe run" of their people very carefully; and the poorer class, who haveprobably gone into debt at home for money to get over here, seem to paytheir debts with great honesty out of their earnings. It is clear to methat the poorer Chinese command far greater credit among their countrymenthan our laboring class usually receives, and this speaks well for theirgeneral honesty. I do not mean to hold up the Chinaman as an entirely admirable creature. He has many excellent traits, and we might learn several profitablelessons from him in the art of organizing labor, and in other matters. Buthe has grave vices; he does commonly, and without shame, many things whichwe hold to be wrong and disreputable; and, altogether, it might have beenwell could we have kept him out. The extent to which they carry organization and administration issomething quite curious. For instance, there are not only organized bandsof laborers, submitting themselves to the control and management of aforeman; benevolent societies, administering charity and, to a largeextent, justice; employment societies, which make advances to gangs andindividuals all over the State; but there is in San Francisco a society ororganization for the importation of prostitutes from China. The existenceof this organization was not suspected until during last summer some ofits victims appealed to a city missionary to save them from a life ofvice. Thereupon suit was brought by Chinese in the courts for money whichthey claimed these women owed; and, on an examination, I was told, noattempt was made to conceal the fact that a regularly formed commercialorganization was engaged in either buying or kidnapping young women inChina, bringing them to San Francisco, there furnishing them clothing andhabitations, and receiving from them a share of the money they gained byprostitution. But the Chinaman is here; treaty laws made by our Government with his givehim the right to come here, and to live here securely. And this is to besaid, that if we could to-day expel the Chinese from California, more thanhalf the capital now invested there would be idle or leave the State, manyof the most important industries would entirely stop, and the prosperityof California would receive a blow from which it would not recover fortwenty years. They are, as a class, peaceable, patient, ingenious, andindustrious. That they deprive any white man of work is absurd, in a Statewhich has scarcely half a million of people, and which can support tenmillions, and needs at least three millions to develop fairly its abundantnatural wealth; and no matter what he is, or what the effect of hispresence might be, it is shameful that he should be meanly maltreated andpersecuted among a people who boast themselves Christian and claim to becivilized. [Illustration: SAW-MILL. ] CHAPTER VI. THE MENDOCINO COAST AND CLEAR LAKE--GENERAL VIEW. Some of the most picturesque country in California lies on or nearthe coast north of San Francisco. The coast counties, Marin, Sonoma, Mendocino, Humboldt, Klamath, and Del Norte, are the least visited bystrangers, and yet with Napa, Lake, and Trinity, they make up a regionwhich contains a very great deal of wild and fine scenery, and whichabounds with game, and shows to the traveler many varieties of life andseveral of the peculiar industries of California. Those who have passed through the lovely Napa Valley, by way of Calistoga, to the Geysers, or who have visited the same place by way of Healdsburgand the pretty Russian River Valley, have no more than a faint idea ofwhat a tourist may see and enjoy who will devote two weeks to a journeyalong the sea-coast of Marin and Mendocino counties, returning by way ofClear Lake--a fine sheet of water, whose borders contain some remarkablevolcanic features. The northern coast counties are made up largely of mountains, butimbosomed in these lie many charming little, and several quite spacious, valleys, in which you are surprised to find a multitude of farmers living, isolated from the world, that life of careless and easy prosperity whichis the lot of farmers in the fat valleys of California. In such a journey the traveler will see the famous redwood forests of thisState, whose trees are unequaled in size except by the gigantic sequoias;he will see those dairy-farms of Marin County whose butter supplies notonly the Western coast, but is sent East, and competes in the markets ofNew York and Boston with the product of Eastern dairies, while, sealedhermetically in glass jars, it is transported to the most distant militaryposts, and used on long sea-voyages, keeping sweet in any climate for atleast a year; he will see, in Mendocino County, one of the most remarkablecoasts in the world, eaten by the ocean into the most singular andfantastic shapes; and on this coast saw-mills and logging camps, wherethe immense redwood forests are reduced to useful lumber with a prodigiouswaste of wood. He will see, besides the larger Napa, Petaluma, Bereyessa, and RussianRiver valleys, which are already connected by railroad with San Francisco, a number of quiet, sunny little vales, some of them undiscoverable on anybut the most recent maps, nestled among the mountains, unconnected asyet with the world either by railroad or telegraph, but fertile, rich incattle, sheep, and grain, where live a people peculiarly Californian intheir habits, language, and customs, great horsemen, famous rifle-shots, keen fishermen, for the mountains abound in deer and bear, and the streamsare alive with trout. He may see an Indian reservation--one of the most curious examples ofmismanaged philanthropy which our Government can show. And finally, thetraveler will come to, and, if he is wise, spend some days on, ClearLake--a strikingly lovely piece of water, which would be famous if it werenot American. For such a journey one needs a heavy pair of colored blankets and anovercoat rolled up together, and a leather bag or valise to contain thenecessary change of clothing. A couple of rough crash towels and a pieceof soap also should be put into the bag; for you may want to camp out, andyou may not always find any but the public towel at the inn where you dineor sleep. Traveling in spring, summer, or fall, you need no umbrella orother protection against rain, and may confidently reckon on uninterruptedfine weather. The coast is always cool. The interior valleys are warm, and during thesummer quite hot, and yet the dry heat does not exhaust or distress one, and cool nights refresh you. In the valleys and on much-traveled roadsthere is a good deal of dust, but it is, as they say, "clean dirt, " andthere is water enough in the country to wash it off. You need not ride onhorseback unless you penetrate into Humboldt County, which has as yetbut few miles of wagon-road. In Mendocino, Lake, and Marin, the roadsare excellent, and either a public stage, or, what is pleasanter and butlittle dearer, a private team, with a driver familiar with the country, is always obtainable. In such a journey one element of pleasure is itssomewhat hap-hazard nature. You do not travel over beaten ground, and onroutes laid out for you; you do not know beforehand what you are to see, nor even how you are to see it; you may sleep in a house to-day, in thewoods to-morrow, and in a sail-boat the day after; you dine one day ina logging camp, and another in a farm-house. With the barometer at "setfair, " and in a country where every body is civil and obliging, and whereall you see is novel to an Eastern person, the sense of adventure adds akeen zest to a journey which is in itself not only amusing and healthful, but instructive. [Illustration: WOOD-CHOPPER AT WORK. ] Marin County, which lies across the bay from San Francisco, and of whichthe pretty village of San Rafael is the county town, contains the mostproductive dairy-farms in the State. When one has long read of Californiaas a dry State, he wonders to find that it produces butter at all; andstill more to discover that the dairy business is extensive and profitableenough--with butter at thirty-five cents a pound at the dairy--to warrantthe employment of several millions of capital, and to enable the dairy-mento send their product to New York and Boston for sale. For the coast journey the best route, because it shows you much finescenery on your way, is by way of Soucelito, which is reached by a ferryfrom San Francisco. From Soucelito either a stage or a private conveyancecarries you to Olema, whence you should visit Point Reyes, one of the mostrugged capes on the coast, where a light-house and fog-signal are placedto warn and guide mariners. It is a wild spot, often enveloped in fogs, and where it blows at least half a gale of wind three hundred days inthe year. Returning from Point Reyes to Olema, your road bears you past Tomales Bay, and back to the coast of Mendocino County; and by the time you reach themouth of Russian River you are in the saw-mill country. Here the road runsfor the most part close to the coast, and gives you a long successionof wild and strange views. You pass Point Arena, where is anotherlight-house; and finally land at Mendocino City. Before the stage sets you down at Mendocino, or "Big River, " you will havenoticed that the coast-line is broken at frequent intervals by the mouthsof small streams, and at the available points at the mouths of thesestreams saw-mills are placed. This continues up the coast, wherever ariver-mouth offers the slightest shelter to vessels loading; for theredwood forests line the coast up to and beyond Humboldt Bay. When you leave the coast for the interior, you ride through mile aftermile of redwood forest. Unlike the firs of Oregon and Puget Sound, thistree does not occupy the whole land. It rears its tall head from a jungleof laurel, madrone, oak, and other trees; and I doubt if so many as fiftylarge redwoods often stand upon a single acre. I was told that an averagetree would turn out about fifteen thousand feet of lumber, and thus eventhirty such trees to the acre would yield nearly half a million feet. The topography of California, like its climate, has decided features. As there are but two seasons, so there are apt to be sharply-drawndifferences in natural features, and you descend from what appears to youan interminable mass of mountains suddenly into a plain, and pass fromdeep forests shading the mountain road at once into a prairie valley, which nature made ready to the farmer's hands, taking care even tobeautify it for him with stately and umbrageous oaks. There are a numberof such valleys on the way which I took from the coast at Mendocino Cityto the Nome Cult Indian Reservation, in Round Valley. The principal ofthese, Little Lake, Potter, and Eden valleys, contain from five to twelvethousand acres; but there are a number of smaller vales, little gems, bigenough for one or two farmers, fertile and easily cultivated. A good many Missourians and other Southern people have settled in thispart of the State. The better class of these make good farmers; but theperson called "Pike" in this State has here bloomed out until, at times, he becomes, as a Californian said to me about an earthquake, "a littlemonotonous. " The Pike in Mendocino County regards himself as a laboring-man, and inthat capacity he has undertaken to drive out the Indians, just as a stilllower class in San Francisco has undertaken to drive out the laboringChinese. These Little Lake and Potter Valley Pikes were ruined by Indiancheap labor; so they got up a mob and expelled the Indians, and the resultis that the work which these poor people formerly performed is now leftundone. As for the Indians, they are gathered at the Round Valley Reservation tothe number of about twelve hundred, where they stand an excellent chanceto lose such habits of industry and thrift as they had learned whilesupporting themselves. At least half the men on the reservation, thesuperintendent told me, are competent farmers, and many of the women areexcellent and competent house-servants. No one disputes that while theysupported themselves by useful industry in the valleys where were theirhomes they were peaceable and harmless, and that the whites stood in nodanger from them. Why, then, should the United States Government forciblymake paupers of them? Why should this class of Indians be compelled tolive on reservations? Under the best management which we have ever had in the Indian Bureau--letus say under its present management--a reservation containing tame orpeaceable Indians is only a pauper asylum and prison combined, a nuisanceto the respectable farmers, whom it deprives of useful and necessarylaborers, an injury to the morals of the community in whose midst it isplaced, an injury to the Indian, whom it demoralizes, and a benefit onlyto the members of the Indian ring. Round Valley is occupied in part by the Nome Cult Reservation, and in partby farmers and graziers. In the middle of the valley stands Covelo, oneof the roughest little villages I have seen in California, thegathering-place for a rude population, which inhabits not only the valley, but the mountains within fifty miles around, and which rides into Coveloon mustang ponies whenever it gets out of whisky at home or wants a spree. The bar-rooms of Covelo sell more strong drink in a day than any I haveever seen elsewhere; and the sheep-herder, the vaquero, the hunter, andthe wandering rough, descending from their lonely mountain camps, makeup as rude a crowd as one could find even in Nevada. Being almost withoutexception Americans, they are not quarrelsome in their cups. I was told, indeed, by an old resident, that shooting was formerly common, but ithas gone out of fashion, mainly, perhaps, because most of the men areexcellent shots, and the amusement was dangerous. At any rate, I saw not asingle fight or disturbance, though I spent the Fourth of July at Covelo;and it was, on the whole, a surprisingly well-conducted crowd, in spiteof a document which I picked up there, and whose directions were but toofaithfully observed by a large majority of the transient population. Thiswas called a "toddy time-table, " and I transcribe it here from a neatgilt-edged card for the warning and instruction of Eastern topers. TODDY TIME-TABLE. 6 A. M. Eye-opener. 3 P. M. Cobbler. 7 " Appetizer. 4 " Social Drink. 8 " Digester. 5 " Invigorator. 9 " Big Reposer. 6 " Solid Straight. 10 " Refresher. 7 " Chit-chat. 11 " Stimulant. 8 " Fancy Smile. 12 " Ante-lunch. 9 " Entire Acte _(sic)_. 1 P. M. Settler. 10 " Sparkler. 2 " A la Smythe. 11 " Rouser. 12 P. M. Night-cap. GOOD-NIGHT. My impression is that this time-table was not made for the latitude ofCovelo, for they began to drink much earlier than 6 A. M. At the bar, nearwhich I slept, and they left off later than midnight. It would be unjustfor me not to add that, for the amount of liquor consumed, it was thesoberest and the best-natured crowd I ever saw. I would like to write"respectable" also, but it would be ridiculous to apply that term tomen whose every word almost is an oath, and whose language in many casescorresponds too accurately with their clothes and persons. From Round Valley there is a "good enough" horseback trail, as they callit, over a steep mountain into the Sacramento Valley; but a pleasanterjourney, and one, besides, having more novelty, is by way of PotterValley to Lakeport, on Clear Lake. The road is excellent; the scenery ispeculiarly Californian. Potter Valley is one of the richest and alsoone of the prettiest of the minor valleys of this State, and your wayto Lakeport carries you along the shores of two pleasant mountainlakelets--the Blue Lakes, which are probably ancient craters. Two days' easy driving, stopping overnight in Potter Valley, brings youto Lakeport, the capital of Lake County, and the only town I have seen inCalifornia where dogs in the square worry strangers as they are enteringthe place. As the only hotel in the town occupies one corner of thissquare, and as in Californian fashion the loungers usually sit in theevening on the sidewalk before the hotel, the combined attack of thesedogs occurs in their view, and perhaps affords them a pleasing andbeneficial excitement. The placid and impartial manner with which thelandlord himself regards the contest between the stranger and thetown dogs will lead you to doubt whether his house is not too full toaccommodate another guest, and whether he is not benevolently lettingthe dogs spare him the pain of refusing you a night's lodging; but it isgratifying to be assured, when you at last reach the door, that the dogs"scarcely ever bite any body. " Clear Lake is a large and picturesque sheet of water, twenty-five mileslong by about seven wide, surrounded by mountains, which in many placesrise from the water's edge. At Lakeport you can hire a boat at a veryreasonable price, and I advise the traveler to take his blankets on board, and make this boat his home for two or three days. He will get foodat different farm-houses on the shore; and as there are substantial, good-sized sail-boats, he can sleep on board very enjoyably. Aside fromits fine scenery, and one or two good specimens of small Californianfarms, the valley is remarkable for two borax lakes and a considerabledeposit of sulphur, all of which lie close to the shore. At one of the farm-houses, whose owner, a Pennsylvanian, has made himselfa most beautiful place in a little valley hidden by the mountains whichbutt on the lake, I saw the culture of silk going on in that way inwhich only, as I believe, it can be made successful in California. Hehad planted about twenty-five hundred mulberry-trees, built himself aninexpensive but quite sufficient little cocoonery, bought an ounce anda half of eggs for fifteen dollars, and when I visited him had alreadya considerable quantity of cocoons, and had several thousand worms thenfeeding. It was his first attempt; he had never seen a cocoonery, but had read allthe books he could buy about the management of the silk-worm; and, ashis grain harvest was over, he found in the slight labor attending themanagement of these worms a source of interest and delight which was aloneworth the cost of his experiment. But he is successful besides; and hiswife expressed great delight at the new employment her husband had found, which, as she said, had kept him close at home for about two months. She remarked that all wives ought to favor the silk culture for theirhusbands; but the old man added that some husbands might recommend it totheir wives. Certainly I had no idea how slight and pleasant is the labor attendingthis industry up to the point of getting cocoons. If, however, you mean toraise eggs, the work is less pleasant. This farmer, Mr. Alter, had chosen his field of operations withconsiderable shrewdness. He planted his mulberry-trees on a dry side-hill, and found that it did not hurt his worms to feed to them, under thiscondition, even leaves from the little shrubs growing in his nursery rows. His cocoonery was sheltered from rude winds by a hill and a wood, and thusthe temperature was very equal. He had no stove in his house, the shelveswere quite rough, and the whole management might have been called carelessif it were not successful. I believe that the country about Clear Lake and in the Napa and Sonomavalleys will be found very favorable to the culture of the silk-worm;but I believe also that this industry will not succeed except where it iscarried on by farmers and their families in a small way. [Illustration: MOUNT HOOD, OREGON. ] Boat life on Clear Lake is as delightful an experience as a traveler orlounger can get anywhere. The lake is placid; there is usually breezeenough to sail about; and you need not fear storms or rainy weather in thedry season. If it should fall calm, and you do not wish to be delayed, youcan always hire an Indian to row the boat, and there is sufficient tosee on the lake to pleasantly detain a tourist several days, besides finefishing and hunting in the season, and lovely views all the time. Going to the Sulphur Banks on a calm morning, I hired an Indian from arancheria upon Mr. Alter's farm to row for us, and my Indian proved to bea prize. His name was Napoleon, and he was a philosopher. Like his greaternamesake, he had had two wives. Of the first one he reported that "Jimcatchee him, " by which I was to understand that he had tired of her, and had sold her to "Jim;" and he had now taken number two, a moderatelypretty Digger girl, of whom he seemed to be uncommonly fond. As he rowedhe began to speak of his former life, when he had served a white farmer. "Him die now, " said Napoleon; adding, in a musing tone, "he very good man, plenty money; give Injun money all time. Him very good white man, thatman; plenty money all a time. " Napoleon dwelt upon the wealth of his favorite white man so persistentlythat presently it occurred to me to inquire a little further. "Suppose a white man had no money, " said I, "what sort of a man would youthink him?" My philosopher's countenance took on a fine expression of contempt. "Suppose white man no got money?" he asked. "Eh! suppose he no gotmoney--him dam fool!" And Napoleon glared upon us, his passengers, asthough he wondered if either of us would venture to contradict so plain aproposition. The sulphur bank is a remarkable deposit of decomposed volcanic rock andashes, containing so large a quantity of sulphur that I am told that atthe refining-works, which lie on the bank of the lake, the mass yieldseighty per cent. Of pure sulphur. The works were not in operation when Iwas there. Several large hot springs burst out from the bank, and gas and steamescape with some violence from numerous fissures. The deposit looks verymuch like a similar one on the edge of the Kilauea crater, on the islandof Hawaii, but is, I should think, richer in sulphur. Near the sulphurbank, on the edge of the lake, is a hot borate spring, which is supposedto yield at times three hundred gallons per minute, and which ProfessorWhitney, the State Geologist, declares remarkable for the extraordinaryamount of ammoniacal salts its waters contain--more than any naturalspring water that has ever been analyzed. There is abundant evidence of volcanic action in all the country aboutClear Lake. A dozen miles from Lakeport, not far from the shore of thelake, the whole mountain side along which the stage-road runs is coveredfor several miles with splinters and fragments of obsidian or volcanicglass, so that it looks as though millions of bottles had been brokenthere in some prodigious revelry; and where the road cuts into the sideof the mountain you see the osidian lying in huge masses and in boulders. Joining this, and at one point interrupting it, is a tract of volcanicashes stratified, and the strata thrown up vertically in some places, asthough after the volcano had flung out the ashes there had come a terrificupheaval of the earth. The two borax lakes lie also near the shore of Clear Lake; the largestone, which is not now worked, has an area of about three hundred acres. Little Borax Lake covers only about thirty acres, and this is now worked. The efflorescing matter is composed of carbonate of soda, chloride ofsodium, and biborate of soda. The object of the works is, of course, toseparate the borax, and this is accomplished by crystallizing the borax, which, being the least soluble of the salts, is the first to crystallize. The bottom of the lake was dry when I was there; it was covered all overwith a white crust, which workmen scrape up and carry to the works, whereit is treated very successfully. My nose was offended by the fetid stenchwhich came from the earth when it was first put in the vats with hotwater; and I was told by the foreman of the works that this arose fromthe immense number of flies and other insects which fly upon the lakeand perish in it. Chinese are employed as laborers here, and give greatsatisfaction; and about eight days are required to complete the operationof extracting the borax in crystals. Earth containing biborate of lime is brought to this place all the wayfrom Wadsworth, in the State of Nevada--a very great distance, withseveral transhipments--to be reduced at these works; and it seems thatthis can be more cheaply done here than there, where they have neitherwood for the fires nor soda for the operation. Clear Lake is but twelve hours distant from San Francisco; the journeythither is full of interest, and the lake itself, with the natural wonderson its shores, is one of the most interesting and enjoyable spots inCalifornia to a tourist who wishes to breathe fresh mountain air and enjoysome days of free, open-air life. The visitor to Clear Lake should go by way of the Napa Valley, takingstage for Lakeport at Calistoga, and return by way of the Russian RiverValley, taking the railroad at Cloverdale. Thus he will see on his journeytwo of the richest and most fertile of the minor valleys of California, both abounding in fruit and vines as well as in grain. As there are two sides to Broadway, so there are two sides to the Bay ofSan Francisco. On the one side lies the fine and highly-cultivated SantaClara Valley, filling up fast with costly residences and carefully-keptcountry places. Opposite, on the other side of the bay, lies the RussianRiver Valley, as beautiful naturally as that of the Santa Clara, andof which Petaluma, Santa Rosa, Healdsburg, and Cloverdale are the chieftowns. It is a considerable plain, bounded by fine hills and distantmountains, which open up, as you pass by on the railroad, numerouspretty reaches of subsidiary vales, where farmers live protected by theprojecting hills from all harsh sea-breezes, and where frost is seldom ifever felt. As you ascend the valley, the madrone, one of the most striking treesof California, becomes abundant and of larger growth, and its dark-greenfoliage and bright cinnamon-colored bark ornament the landscape. Thelaurel, too, or California bay-tree, grows thriftily among the hills, andthe plain and foot-hills are dotted with oak and redwood. This valley isas yet somewhat thinly peopled, but it has the promise of a growth whichwill make it the equal some day of the Santa Clara, and the superior, perhaps, of the Napa Valley. [Illustration: INDIANS SPEARING SALMON, COLUMBIA RIVER. ] CHAPTER VII. AN INDIAN RESERVATION. A part of Round Valley, in Mendocino County, is set apart and used for anIndian reservation; and, under the present policy of the Government, anattempt has been made to gather and keep all the Indians of the northerncoast of California upon this reserve. In point of fact they are notnearly all there. One thousand and eighty-one men, women, and children, according to a census recently taken, or nearly one thousand two hundredaccording to the Rev. Mr. Burchard, the Indian agent, are actually withinthe reservation lines; and about four hundred are absent, at work forthemselves or for white men, but have the right to come in at any time tobe clothed and fed. Round Valley is a plain surrounded by high mountains. The plain is mostlyexcellent agricultural land; the mountain slopes are valuable for grazing. The reservation contains, it is said, sixty thousand acres; but only asmall part of this is plain, and the reservation occupies about one-thirdor perhaps only a quarter of the whole valley. The remainder is held bywhite farmers; and there is a rude little town, Covelo, in the centre ofthe valley, about a mile and a half from the reservation house. The reservation has a mill, store-houses, the houses of the agent and hissubordinates, two school-houses, and the huts of the Indians; the latterare either rough board one-roomed shanties, or mere wigwams built by theowners of brush, with peculiar low entrances, into which you must creep onall-fours. These they prefer for summer use, and I found that a numberof the board-shanties were empty and the doors nailed up, their ownerssensibly preferring to live in brush houses during the hot weather. When I arrived at the agency the Indians were receiving their ration offlour, and, as they gathered in a great court-yard, I had an opportunityto examine them. They are short, dark-skinned, generally ugly, stout, andwere dressed in various styles, but always in such clothing as they getfrom the Government; not in their native costume. Among several hundredwomen I saw not one even tolerably comely or conspicuously clean or neat;but I saw several men very well dressed. They carried off their rationsin baskets which they make, and which are water-tight. The agent orsuperintendent, Mr. Burchard, very obligingly showed me through the camp, and answered my questions, and what follows of information I gained inthis way. The Indian shanties contain a fire-place, a bed-place, and sometimesa table; once I saw a small store-room; and on the walls hung dresses, shoes, fishing-nets, and other property of the occupants. The agentpointed out to me that in most of the houses there were bags of flourand meal stowed away, and remarked, "Whatever they may say against thePresident, no one can say that he does not make the Indians comfortable;"and it is true that I saw everywhere in the camp the evidence of abundantsupplies of food and sufficient clothing in the possession of the Indians. The superintendent said to me, "They have plenty of every thing; they haveoften several bags of flour in the house at once; no man can say they arewronged. " The earthen floors of the houses were usually cleanly swept; there arewells at which the people get water; the school-houses are well furnished, and as good as the average country-school, and the Indians seem to sufferno hardship of the merely physical kind. The agent, Mr. Burchard, seems tobe a genuinely kind person, simple-hearted, and, I should think, honest;and his assistants, whom I saw, struck me as respectable men. Indeed, several persons in the valley, unconnected with the reservation, told methat under Mr. Burchard's rule the Indians were much better treated thanby his predecessor. I suppose, therefore, that I saw one of the mostfavorable examples of the reservation system. In what follows, then, I criticise the reservation system, so far, atleast, as it applies to the Indians of California, and not the managementat Round Valley; and I say that it is a piece of cruel and stupidmismanagement and waste for which there is no excuse except in theignorance of the President who continues it. Most of the Indians of these northern coast counties, as well as those ofSouthern California, have for some years been a valuable laboring forcefor the farmers. They were employed to clear land, to make hay, andin many other avocations about the farm; they lived usually in littlerancherias, or collections of huts, near the farm-houses; the women washedand did chores for the whites about the houses; and there has been, for atleast half a dozen years, no pretense even that their presence among thewhites was dangerous to these. Mr. Burchard told me himself that more thanhalf the Indian men at Round Valley were competent farmers, and thatthe Indian women were used at the agency houses as servants, and madeexcellent and competent house-help. Scattered through Potter, Little Lake, Ukiah, and other valleys, they wereearning their living, and a number of farmers of that region have assuredme that it was a serious disadvantage to them to lose the help of theseIndians. Nor was it even necessary to speak their language in order touse their labor, for the agent told me that, of the Potter Valley tribe, nine-tenths speak English; of the Pitt Rivers, four-fifths; of the LittleLakes, two-thirds; of the Redwoods, three-quarters; of the Concows andCapellos, two-thirds. The Wylackies and Ukies speak less; they have been, I believe, longer on the reservation. As I walked through the Indian camp, English was as often spoken in my hearing as Indian. The removal of the useful and self-supporting part of the Indianpopulation to the reservation was brought about by means which are adisgrace to the United States Government. There is in all this northerncountry a class of mean whites, ignorant, easily led to evil, andextremely jealous of what they imagine to be their rights. Among thesesomebody fomented a jealousy of the Indians. It was said that they tookthe bread out of white men's mouths, that their labor interfered withthe white men, and so forth. In fact, I suspect that the Indians weretoo respectable for these mean whites; and you can easily find people inCalifornia who say that it is to the interest of the Indian Bureau to makethe whites hate the Indians. The Indians were an industrious and harmless people; even the squawsworked; the Indian men had learned to take contracts for clearing land, weeding fields, and so forth; and many of them were so trustworthy thatthe farmers made them small advances where it was necessary. They were notturbulent, and I was surprised to be told that drunkenness was rare amongthem. After secret deliberations among the mean whites, incited by no one knowswho, and headed by the demagogues who are never found wanting when dirtywork is to be done, a petition was sent to the State Superintendent ofIndian Affairs at San Francisco for the removal of the Indians; but themore decent people immediately prepared and sent up a counter-petition, stating the whole case. This was in the spring of 1872. I do not know the State Indian agent, but I am told that he hesitated, didnot act, and, in May of the same year, a mob, without authority from himor from any body else, without notice to the Indians, and without evengiving these poor creatures time to gather up their household goods or toarrange their little affairs, drove them out of their houses, and sixtymiles, over a cruel road, to the reservation. [Illustration: CHISTOOK WOMAN AND CHILD. ] Against this act of lawless violence toward peaceable and self-supportingmen and women, who are, I notice, officially called "the nation'sunfortunate wards, " the proper officer of the United States Government, the Superintendent of Indian Affairs, did not protest, and for it no onehas ever been punished. But this was not all. The Indians being thus driven out, a meeting wascalled, at which it was announced that if they dared to return they wouldbe killed; and, in fact, three unfortunates, who ventured back after somemonths to see their old homes, were shot down in cold blood; and, thoughthe men are known who did this, for it no one has ever been punished. Why should they be? The mob was only carrying out the prevailing "Indianpolicy, " and the United States Government looked on with its hands folded. It happens that the Indians of these little valleys are a mild race, notprone to war. When the white settlers first came to this region they livedunmolested by the Indians, who were numerous then, and might easily have"wiped out, " to use a California phrase, the intruding white men. Ithappens that the Indians of the interior are braver and more warlike; and, accordingly, among them there were forty-five resolute Modocs, unwillingto be driven to a reservation, defying the United States for half a year. But from what I have written one can see how the Modoc war came about;for it arose from an attempt to force Captain Jack on to the KlamathReservation--an attempt made, not by United States troops, as it oughtto have been if it was to be done, but in their absence, and by men whopurposely and carefully kept the military ignorant of what they intendedto do; for there exists the utmost jealousy on the part of the Indianagents, of the War Department and the military authorities; and I repeatthat the removal of the Modocs was planned and attempted to be carriedout by the Indian Bureau officers, they keeping the military in carefulignorance of their designs. I do not say too much when I say that if General Schofield had beeninformed and consulted beforehand, there would have been no Modoc war, andGeneral Canby and Mr. Thomas might have been alive to-day. Accordingly, these "unfortunate wards of the nation" are driven on thereservation. If their agent happens to be honest and kindly, like Mr. Burchard, they get enough to eat and to wear. If he is not, they do notfare quite so well. Captain Jack said he was "tired of eating horse-meat. " But if you are a guardian, and have a ward, you are not satisfied if yourward, presumedly an ignorant person in a state of pupilage, merely hasenough to eat and to wear. You endeavor to form his manners and morals. Well, the Indian camp at Round Valley is in a deplorable state ofdisorder. No attempt is made to teach our wards to be clean or orderly, or to form in them those habits which might elevate, at least, theirchildren. The plain around the shanties is full of litter, and overgrownwith dog-fennel. As Mr. Burchard, the superintendent, walked about withme, half-grown boys sat on the grass, and even on the school-house steps, gambling with cards for tobacco, and they had not been taught mannersenough to rise or move aside at the superintendent's approach. As wesat in the school-house, one, two, three Indian men came in to prefera request, but not one of them took off his hat. We entered a cabin andfound a big he-Indian lying on his bed. "Are you sick?" inquired Mr. Burchard, and the lazy hound, without offering to rise, muttered "No; melying down. " The agent, in reply to my questions, said that they gambled a good dealfor money and beads during the week, but he had forbidden it on Sundays;and he would not allow them to gamble away their clothing, as theyformerly did. There are about eighty scholars on the school-list, and about fifty attendschool. Was there any compulsion used? I asked, and he said No. Now surelyhere, if anywhere, one might begin with a compulsory school-law. Did he attempt to regulate the conduct of the growing boys and girls? No. Do the Indians marry on the reservation? No. One chief has two wives; menleave their wives, or change them as they please. What if children are born irregularly? Well, the reservation feeds andsupports all who are on it. Nobody suffers. Are the women often diseased? Yes, nearly all of them. Have you a hospital, or do you attempt to isolate those who are diseased?No; the families all take care of their sick. The doctor visits them intheir shanties. (Bear in mind this reservation was established, and hashad Indians on it since 1860. ) Do the Indians have to ask permission to go to the town? No; they go whenthey please. Is there much drunkenness? No; singularly little. Do you attempt to make them rise at any specified hour in the morning? No. Have you a list or roster of the Indians who belong on the reservation?No. How many Indians own horses? I do not know. On Sunday there is preaching; the audience varies; and those who do notcome to church--where the preaching is in English--play shinny. Is not all this deplorable? Here is a company of ignorant andsemi-barbarous people, forcibly gathered together by the United StatesGovernment (with the help of a mob), under the pretense that they are the"unfortunate wards of the nation;" and the Government does not require theofficers it sets over them to control them in any single direction wherea conscientious guardian would feel bound to control his ward. How canhabits of decency, energy, order, thrift, virtue, grow up--nay, how canthey continue, if in the beginning they existed, with such management?Captain Jack and his forty-five Modocs were at least brave and energeticmen. Can any one blame them, if they were bored to desperation by such alife as this, and preferred death to remaining on the reservation? Nor is this all. Of the two thousand acres of arable land on thereservation, about five hundred are kept for grazing, and one thousandacres are in actual cultivation this year--seven hundred in grain andhay, one hundred and ninety-five in corn, and one hundred and ninein vegetables. A farmer, assistant-farmer, and gardener manage thisconsiderable piece of land. When they need laborers they detail such menor women as they require, and these go out to work. They seldom refuse;if they do, they are sent to the military post, where they are made to sawwood. Not one of the cabins has about it a garden spot; all cultivationis in common; and thus the Indian is deprived of the main incentive toindustry and thrift--the possession of the actual fruits of his own toil;and, unless he were a deep-thinking philosopher, who had studied out forhimself the problems of socialism, he must, in the nature of things, bemade a confirmed pauper and shirk by such a system, in which he sees nodirect reward for his toil, and neither receives wages nor consciouslyeats that which his own hands have planted. In the whole system of management, as I have described it, you willsee that there is no reward for, or incentive to, excellence; it is alldebauching and demoralizing; it is a disgrace to the Government, whichconsents to maintain at the public cost what is, in fact, nothing else buta pauper shop and house of prostitution. And what is true of this reservation is equally true of that on the TuleRiver, in Southern California, which I saw in 1872. In both, to sum up thestory, the Government has deprived the farmers of an important laboringforce by creating a pauper asylum, called a reservation; and, havingthus injured the community, it further injures the Indian by a system oftreatment which ingeniously takes away every incentive to better living, and abstains from controlling him on those very points wherein an uprightguardian would most rigidly and faithfully control and guide his ward. To force a population of laboring and peaceable Indians on a reservationis a monstrous blunder. For wild and predatory or unsettled Indians, likethe Apaches, or many tribes of the plains, the reservation is doubtlessthe best place; but even then the Government, acting as guardian, ought tocontrol and train its wards; it ought to treat them like children, or atleast like beasts; it ought not only to feed and clothe them, but alsoto teach them, and enforce upon them order, neatness, good manners, andhabits of discipline and steady labor. This seems plain enough, but itwill never be done by "Indian agents, " selected from civil life, be theseministers or laymen. An army officer, methodical, orderly, and having the habit of command, is the proper person for superintendent of a reservation; for drilland discipline, regular hours, regular duties, respectful manners, cleanliness, method--these are the elements of civilization that areneeded, and which an army officer knows how to impress without harshness, because they are the essence of his own life. But under our present Indianpolicy the army is the mere servant of the Indian agent. If it were notfor the small military force at Camp Wright, Mr. Burchard, the agent, could not keep an Indian on his reservation. But the intelligent, thoroughly-trained, and highly-educated soldier who commands therehas neither authority nor influence at the reservation. He is a merepoliceman, to whom an unruly Indian is sent for punishment, and whogoes out at the command of the superintendent, a person in every way hisinferior except in authority, to catch Indians when no mob is at hand todrive them in. A true and humane Indian policy would be to require all peaceable Indiansto support themselves as individuals and families among the whites, whichwould at once abolish the Round Valley and Tule River reservations; toplace all the nomads on reservations, under the control of picked andintelligent army officers, and to require these to ignore, except forexpediency's sake, all tribal distinctions and the authority of chiefs;to form every reservation into a military camp, adopting and maintainingmilitary discipline, though not the drill, of course; to give to everyIndian family an acre of ground around its hut, and require it tocultivate that, demanding of the male Indians at the same time two orthree days of labor every week in the common fields, or on roads andother public improvements within the reservation during the season whenno agricultural labor is required; to curb their vices, as a parent wouldthose of his children; to compel the young to attend schools; to insistupon a daily morning muster, and a daily inspection of the houses andgrounds; to establish a hospital for the sick; and thus graduallyto introduce the Indian to civilization by the only avenue open tosavages--by military discipline. Under such a system a reserve like that of Round Valley would not to-day, after thirteen years of occupation, be a mass of weeds and litter, withbad roads, poor fences, and an almost impassable corduroy bridge over alittle ditch. On the contrary, in half the time it would be a model ofcleanliness and order; it would have the best roads, the neatest cottages, the cleanest grounds, the most thorough culture; and when the Indians hadproduced this effect, they would not fail to be in love with it. Nor is it impossible to do all this with Indians. But it needs men used tocommand, well educated, and with habits of discipline--the picked menof the army. At present, an Indian reservation differs from an Indianrancheria or village only in that it contains more food, more vice, andmore lazy people. [Illustration: VIEW ON THE COLUMBIA RIVER. ] CHAPTER VIII. THE REDWOODS AND THE SAW-MILL COUNTRY OF MENDOCINO. Some years ago, before there was a wagon-road between Cloverdale andMendocino City, or Big River, as it is more commonly called up here onthe northern coast, the mail was carried on horse--or, more usually, onmule--back; and the mail-rider was caught, on one stormy and dark night, upon the road, and found himself unable to go farther. In this dilemmahe took refuge, with his mule and the United States mails, in a hollowredwood, and man and mule lay down comfortably within its shelter. Theyhad room to spare indeed, as I saw when the stage-driver pointed out thetree to me and kindly stopped until I examined it. At a road-side inn I found they had roofed over a hollow stump, and usedit as a capacious store-room. All these were large trees, of course; but there is no reason to believethat they were the biggest of their kind; and when you have traveled fortwo or three days through the redwood forests of the northern coast ofCalifornia you will scarcely be surprised at any story of big trees. The redwood seems to be found only near the coast of California; it needsthe damp air which comes from the sea and which blows against the mountainslopes, which the tree loves. The coast, from fifty miles north of SanFrancisco to the northern border of Humboldt County, is a dense redwoodforest; it is a mountainous and broken country, and the mountains are cutat frequent intervals by streams, some but a few miles in length, otherspenetrating into the interior by narrow cañons forty or fifty miles, anddividing in their upper waters into several branches. The man who wondered at the wisdom of Providence in causing greatrivers to flow past large cities would be struck with admiration atthe convenient outflow of these streams; for upon them depends theaccessibility of the redwood forests to the loggers and saw-mill men whoare busily turning these forests into lumber. At the mouth of every streamis placed a saw-mill; and up these little rivers, many of which wouldhardly aspire to the dignity of creeks in Missouri or Mississippi, loggersare busy chopping down huge trees, sawing them into lengths, and floatingthem down to the mills. The redwood has the color of cedar, but not its fragrance; it is a softwood, unfit for ship-building, but easily worked and extraordinarilydurable. It is often used in California for water-pipes, and makesthe best fence posts, for it never rots below ground. Moreover, it isexcellent material for houses. When varnished, it keeps its fine redcolor, but without this protection it slowly turns black with exposure tothe air. It is a most useful lumber, and forms a not unimportant part ofthe natural wealth of California. The saw-mills are mostly on so large a scale that about every one grows upa village or town, which usually contains several saloons or grog-shops, one or two billiard-rooms, a rude tavern or two, a doctor or two, severalstores, and, in some cases, a church. There are, besides, the houses ofthose mill-men who have families, shanties for the bachelors, and usuallyone or two houses of greater pretensions, inhabited by the owners or localsuperintendents. Not easily accessible, these little saw-mill ports are rarely visited bystrangers, and the accommodations are somewhat rude; but the people arekindly, and the country is wonderfully picturesque, and well repays avisit. The absolute coast is almost barren, by reason of the harsh, strong windswhich prevail during the greater part of the year. The redwood forestsbegin a mile or two back from the sea. The climate of this part of thecoast is remarkably equal, cool but not cold, all the year round; theyhave fires in the evening in July, and don't shut their doors, except ina storm, in December. They wear the same clothing all the year round, andseldom have frost. But when you get out of the reach of the sea, only amile back, you find hot weather in July; and in winter they have snow, quite deep sometimes, in the redwoods. Where the little saw-mill rivers enter the sea, there is usually a sortof roadstead--a curve of the shore, not enough to make a harbor, butsufficient to give anchorage and a lee from the prevailing north-westwind, which makes it possible, by different devices, to load vessels. There are rivers in Humboldt County where nature has not provided eventhis slight convenience, and there--it being impossible to ship thelumber--no saw-mills have been established. Vessels are frequently lost, in spite of all precautions; for, when thewind changes to south-west, the whole Pacific Ocean rolls into theseroadsteads; and, when a gale is seen approaching, the crews anchor theirships as securely as they can, and then go ashore. It has happened inMendocino harbor, that a schooner has been capsized at her anchorage by amonstrous sea; and Captain Lansing told me that in the last twenty yearshe had seen over a hundred persons drowned in that port alone, in spite ofall precautions. The waves have cut up the coast in the most fantastic manner. It isrock-bound, and the rock seems to be of varying hardness, so that theocean, trying every square inch every minute of the day for thousandsof years, has eaten out the softer parts, and worked out the strangestcaverns and passages. You scarcely see a headland or projecting pointthrough which the sea has not forced a passage, whose top exceeds alittle the mark of high tide; and there are caves innumerable, some withextensive ramifications. I was shown one such cave at Mendocino City, intowhich a schooner, drifting from her anchors, was sucked during a heavysea. As she broke from her anchors the men hoisted sail, and the vesselwas borne into the cave with all sail set. Her masts were snapped off likepipe-stems, and the hull was jammed into the great hole in the rock, whereit began to thump with the swell so vehemently that two of the frightenedcrew were at once crushed on the deck by the overhanging ceiling of thecave. Five others hurriedly climbed out over the stern, and there hung onuntil ropes were lowered to them by men on the cliff above, who drew themup safely. It was a narrow escape; and a more terrifying situation thanthat of this crew, as they saw their vessel sucked into a cave whose depththey did not know, can hardly be imagined outside of a hasheesh dream. The next morning the vessel was so completely broken to pieces that not apiece the size of a man's arm was ever found of her hull. [Illustration: LUMBERING IN WASHINGTON TERRITORY--PREPARING LOGS. ] I suppose all saw-mills are pretty much alike; those on this coast notonly saw lumber of different shapes and sizes, but they have also planingand finishing apparatus attached; and in some the waste lumber is workedup with a good deal of care and ingenuity. But in many of the mills thereis great waste. It is probably a peculiarity of the saw-mills on thiscoast, that they must provide a powerful rip-saw to rip in two the largerlogs before they are small enough for a circular saw to manage. Indeed, occasionally the huge logs are split with wedges, or blown apart withgunpowder, in the logging camps, because they are too vast to be floateddown to the mill in one piece. The expedients for loading vessels areoften novel and ingenious. For instance, at Mendocino the lumber is loadedon cars at the mill, and drawn by steam up a sharp incline, and by horsesoff to a point which shelters and affords anchorage for schooners. This point is, perhaps, one hundred feet above the water-line, and longwire-rope stages are projected from the top, and suspended by heavyderricks. The car runs to the edge of the cliff; the schooner anchorsunder the shipping stage one hundred feet below, and the lumber is sliddown to her, a man standing at the lower end to check its too rapiddescent with a kind of brake. When a larger vessel is to be loaded, theyslide the lumber into a lighter, and the ship is loaded from her. Theredwood is shipped not only to California ports, but also to China andSouth America; and while I was at. Mendocino, a bark lay there loading forthe Navigator Islands. A large part of the lumbering population consists of bachelors, and fortheir accommodation you see numerous shanties erected near the saw-millsand lumber piles. At Mendocino City there is quite a colony of suchshanties, two long rows, upon a point or cape from which the lumber isloaded. I had the curiosity to enter one of these little snuggeries, whichwas unoccupied. It was about ten by twelve feet in area, had a largefire-place (for fuel is shamefully abundant here), a bunk for sleeping, with a lamp arranged for reading in bed, a small table, hooks for clothes, a good board floor, a small window, and a neat little hood over thedoor-way, which gave this little hut quite a picturesque effect. Therewas, besides, a rough bench and a small table. It seemed to me that in such a climate as that of Mendocino, where theywear the same clothes all the year round, have evening fires in July, andmay keep their doors open in January, such a little kennel as this meetsall the real wants of the male of the human race. This, I suspect, is about as far as man, unaided by woman, would havecarried civilization anywhere. Whatever any of us have over and above sucha snuggery as this we owe to womankind; whatever of comfort or elegancewe possess, woman has given us, or made us give her. I think no wholesome, right-minded man in the world would ever get beyond such a hut; and Ieven suspect that the occupant of the shanty I inspected must have been inlove, and thinking seriously of marriage, else he would never have nailedthe pretty little hood over his door-way. So helpless is man! And yetthere are people who would make of woman only a kind of female man! As you travel along the coast, the stage-road gives you frequent andsatisfactory views of its curiously distorted and ocean-eaten caves androcks. It has a dangerous and terrible aspect, no doubt, to mariners, butit is most wonderful, viewed from the shore. At every projection you seethat the waves have pierced and mined the rock; if the sea is high, youwill hear it roar in the caverns it has made, and whistle and shriekwherever it has an outlet above through which the waves may force the air. The real curiosity of this region is a logging camp. The redwood countryis astonishingly broken; the mountain sides are often almost precipitous;and on these steep sides the redwood grows tall and straight and bigbeyond the belief of an Eastern man. The trees do not occupy the wholeground, but share it with laurels, dogwood, a worthless kind of oak, occasionally pine, and smaller wood. It is a kind of jungle; and theloggers, when they have felled a number of trees, set fire to the brushin order to clear the ground before they attempt to draw the logs to thewater. [Illustration: VICTORIA HARBOR, VANCOUVER'S ISLAND. ] A logging camp is an assemblage of rude redwood shanties, gathered aboutone larger shanty, which is the cook-house and dining-hall, and whereusually two or three Chinamen are at work over the stove, and settingthe table. The loggers live well; they have excellent bread, meat, beans, butter, dried apples, cakes, pies, and pickles; in short, I have dined inworse places. A camp is divided into "crews;" a crew is composed of from twenty totwenty-six men, who keep one team of eight or ten oxen busy hauling thelogs to water. A "crew" consists of teamsters, choppers, chain-tenders, jack-screwmen (for these logs are too heavy to be moved without such machinery), swampers, who build the roads over which the logs are hauled, sawyers, and barkers. A teamster, I was told, receives seventy dollars per month, achopper fifty dollars, chain-tenders and jack-screw men the same, swampersforty-five dollars, sawyers forty dollars, and barkers, who are usuallyIndians, one dollar a day and board besides, for all. The pay is not bad, and as the chances to spend money in a logging camp are not good, many ofthe men lay up money, and by-and-by go to farming or go home. They worktwelve hours a day. A man in Humboldt County got out of one redwood tree lumber enough to makehis house and barn, and to fence in two acres of ground. A schooner was filled with shingles made from a single tree. One tree in Mendocino, whose remains were shown to me, made a mile ofrailroad ties. Trees fourteen feet in diameter have been frequently foundand cut down; the saw-logs are often split apart with wedges, because theentire mass is too large to float in the narrow and shallow streams; and Ihave even seen them blow a log apart with gunpowder. A tree four feet in diameter is called undersized in these woods; and soskillful are the wood-choppers that they can make the largest giant of theforest fall just where they want it, or, as they say, they "drive a stakewith the tree. " To chop down a redwood-tree, the chopper does not stand on the ground, butupon a stage sometimes twelve feet above the ground. Like the sequoia, the redwood has a great bulk near the ground, but contracts somewhat afew feet above. The chopper wants only the fair round of the tree, andhis stage is composed of two stout staves, shod with a pointed iron at oneend, which is driven into the tree. The outer ends are securely supported;and on these staves he lays two narrow, tough boards, on which he stands, and which spring at every blow of his axe. It will give you an idea of thebulk of these trees, when I tell you that in chopping down the larger onestwo men stand on the stage and chop simultaneously at the same cut, facingeach other. They first cut off the bark, which is from four to ten, and often fifteeninches thick. This done, they begin what is called the "undercut"--the cuton that, side toward which the tree is meant to fall; and when they havemade a little progress, they, by an ingenious and simple contrivance, fix upon the proper direction of the cut, so as to make the tree fallaccurately where they want it. This is necessary, on account of the greatlength and weight of the trees, and the roughness of the ground, by reasonof which a tree carelessly felled may in its fall break and splitinto pieces, so as to make it entirely worthless. This happens notunfrequently, in spite of every care. So skillful are they in giving to the tree its proper direction that theyare able to set a post or stake in the ground a hundred feet or more fromthe root of the tree, and drive it down by felling the tree on top of it. "Can you really drive a stake with a tree?" I asked, and was answered, "Ofcourse, we do it every day. " The "under-cut" goes in about two-thirds the diameter. When it is finishedthe stage is shifted to the opposite side, and then it is a remarkablesight to see the tall, straight mass begin to tremble as the axe goes in. It usually gives a heavy crack about fifteen minutes before it means tofall. The chopper thereupon gives a warning shout, so that all may standclear--not of the tree, for he knows very well where that will go, and ina cleared space men will stand within ten feet of where the top of a treeis to strike, and watch its fall; his warning is against the branches ofother trees, which are sometimes torn off and flung to a distance by thefalling giant, and which occasionally dash out men's brains. At last the tree visibly totters, and slowly goes over; and as it goes thechopper gets off his stage and runs a few feet to one side. Then you hearand see one of the grandest and most majestic incidents of forest life. There is a sharp crack, a crash, and then a long, prolonged, thunderouscrash, which, when you hear it from a little distance, is startlingly likean actual and severe thunder-peal. To see a tree six feet in diameter, and one hundred and seventy-five feet high, thus go down, is a very greatsight, not soon forgotten. The choppers expressed themselves as disappointed that they could not justthen show me the fall of a tree ten or twelve feet in diameter, and overtwo hundred feet high. In one logging camp I visited there remained astump fourteen feet high. At this height the tree was fourteen feet indiameter, perfectly round and sound, and it had been sawn into seventeenlogs, each twelve feet long. The upper length was six feet in diameter. Probably the tree was three hundred feet long, for the top for a longdistance is wasted. So many of the trees and so many parts of trees are splintered or brokenin the fall, that the master of a logging camp told me he thought theywasted at least as much as they saved; and as the mills also waste agood deal, it is probable that for every foot of this lumber that goes tomarket two feet are lost. A five-foot tree occupies a chopper from twoand a half to three and a half hours, and to cut down a tree eight feet indiameter is counted a day's work for a man. When the tree is down the sawyers come. Each has a long saw; he removesthe bark at each cut with an axe, and then saws the tree into lengths. It is odd enough to go past a tree and see a saw moving back and forwardacross its diameter without seeing the man who moves it, for the treehides him completely from you, if you are on the side opposite him. Thencome the barkers, with long iron bars to rip off the thick bark; then thejack-screw men, three or four of whom move a log about easily and rapidlywhich a hundred men could hardly budge. They head it in the properdirection for the teamsters and chain-men, and these then drag it down tothe water over roads which are watered to make the logs slide easily; andthen, either at high tide or during the winter freshets, the logs are rundown to the mill. The Maine men make the best wood-choppers, but the logging camp is afavorite place also for sailors; and I was told that Germans are liked asworkmen about timber. The choppers grind their axes once a week--usually, I was told, on Sunday--and all hands in a logging camp work twelve hours aday. The Government has lately become very strict in preserving the timberon Congress land, which was formerly cut at random, and by any body whochose. Government agents watch the loggers, and if these are anywherecaught cutting timber on Congress land their rafts are seized and sold. At present prices, it pays to haul logs in the redwood country only abouthalf a mile to water; all trees more distant than this from a river arenot cut; but the rivers are in many places near each other, and the beltof timber left standing, though considerable, is not so great as one wouldthink. Redwood lumber has one singular property--it shrinks endwise, so thatwhere it is used for weather-boarding a house, one is apt to see thebutts shrunk apart. I am told that across the grain it does not shrinkperceptibly. Accidents are frequent in a logging camp, and good surgeons are in demandin all the saw-mill ports, for there is much more occasion for surgerythan for physic. Men are cut with axes, jammed by logs, and otherwisehurt, one of the most serious dangers arising from the fall of limbs tornfrom standing trees by a falling one. Often such a limb lodges or sticksin the high top of a tree until the wind blows it down, or the concussionof the wood-cutter's axe, cutting down the tree, loosens it. Falling fromsuch a height as two hundred or two hundred and fifty feet, even a lightbranch is dangerous, and men sometimes have their brains dashed out bysuch a falling limb. When you leave the coast for the interior, you ride through mile aftermile of redwood forest. Unlike the firs of Oregon and Puget Sound, thistree does not occupy the whole land. It rears its tall head from a jungleof laurel, madrone, oak, and other trees; and I doubt if so many as fiftylarge redwoods often stand upon a single acre. I was told that an averagetree would turn out about fifteen thousand feet of lumber, and thus eventhirty such trees to the acre would yield nearly half a million feet. [Illustration: PORT TOWNSEND, WASHINGTON TERRITORY. ] CHAPTER IX. DAIRY-FARMING IN CALIFORNIA. The great valleys of California do not produce much butter, and probablynever will, though I am told that cows fed on alfalfa, which is a kind oflucerne, yield abundant and rich milk, and, when small and careful farmingcomes into fashion in this State, there is no reason why stall-fed cowsshould not yield butter, even in the San Joaquin or Sacramento valleys. Indeed, with irrigation and stall-feeding, as one may have abundance ofgreen food all the year round in the valleys, there should be excellentopportunity for butter-making. But it is not necessary to use the agricultural soil for dairy purposes. In the foot-hills of the Sierras, and on the mountains, too, for adistance of more than a hundred miles along and near the line of therailroad, there is a great deal of country admirably fitted for dairying, and where already some of the most prosperous butter ranchos, as they callthem here, are found. And as they are near a considerable population ofminers and lumber-men, and have access by railroad to other centres ofpopulation, both eastward and westward, the business is prosperous in thislarge district, where, by moving higher up into the mountains as summeradvances, the dairy-man secures green food for his cows the summerthrough, without trouble, on the one condition that he knows the countryand how to pick out his land to advantage. Another dairy district lies on the coast, where the fogs brought in by theprevailing north-west winds keep the ground moist, foster the greennessand succulence of the native grasses during the summer, at least in theravines, and keep the springs alive. Marin County, lying north of San Francisco, is the country of butterranches on the coast, though there are also many profitable dairiessouth of the bay, in Santa Cruz and Monterey counties. In fact, dryas California is commonly and erroneously supposed to be, it exports aconsiderable quantity of butter, and a dairy-man said to me but recentlythat, to make the business really prosperous, the State needed a millionor two more inhabitants, which means that the surplus product is now sogreat that it keeps down the price. No small quantity of this surplus goesEast, as far as New York; and it is one of the curiosities of productionand commerce that, while California can send butter to the Atlantic, itbuys eggs of Illinois. One would have thought the reverse more probable. Marin County offers some important advantages to the dairy-farmer. Thesea-fogs which it receives cause abundant springs of excellent soft water, and also keep the grass green through the summer and fall in the gulchesand ravines. Vicinity to the ocean also gives this region a very equalclimate. It is never cold in winter nor hot in summer. In the milk-housesI saw usually a stove, but it was used mainly to dry the milk-room aftervery heavy fogs or continued rains; and in the height of summer themercury marks at most sixty-seven degrees, and the milk keeps sweetwithout artificial aids for thirty-six hours. The cows require no sheds nor any store of food, though the best dairymen, I noticed, raised beets; but more, they told me, to feed to their pigsthan for the cows. These creatures provide for themselves the year roundin the open fields; but care is taken, by opening springs and leadingwater in iron pipes, to provide an abundance of this for them. The county is full of dairy-farms; and, as this business requires rathermore and better buildings than wheat, cattle, or sheep farming, as well asmore fences, this gives the country a neater and thriftier appearance thanis usual among farming communities in California. The butter-maker musthave good buildings, and he must keep them in the best order. But, besides these smaller dairy-farms, Marin County contains some large"butter ranches, " as they are called, which are a great curiosity in theirway. The Californians, who have a singular genius for doing things ona large scale which in other States are done by retail, have managed toconduct even dairying in this way, and have known how to "organize" themaking of butter in a way which would surprise an Orange County farmer. Here, for instance--and to take the most successful and complete of theseexperiments--is the rancho of Mr. Charles Webb Howard, on which I had thecuriosity to spend a couple of days. It contains eighteen thousand acresof land well fitted for dairy purposes. On this he has at this time nineseparate farms, occupied by nine tenants engaged in making butter. To letthe farms outright would not do, because the tenants would put up poorimprovements, and would need, even then, more capital than tenant-farmersusually have. Mr. Howard, therefore, contrived a scheme which seems towork satisfactorily to all concerned, and which appears to me extremelyingenious. [Illustration: POINT REYES. ] He fences each farm, making proper subdivisions of large fields; he openssprings, and leads water through iron pipes to the proper places, andalso to the dwelling, milk-house, and corral. He builds the houses, whichconsist of a substantial dwelling, twenty-eight by thirty-two feet, a story and a half high, and containing nine rooms, all lathed andplastered; a thoroughly well-arranged milk-house, twenty-five by fiftyfeet, having a milk-room in the centre twenty-five feet square, with achurning-room, store-room, wash-room, etc. ; a barn, forty by fiftyfeet, to contain hay for the farm-horses; also a calf-shed, a corral, orinclosure for the cows, a well-arranged pig-pen; and all these buildingsare put up in the best manner, well painted, and neat. The tenant receives from the proprietor all this, the land, and, cows tostock it. He furnishes, on his part, all the dairy utensils, the neededhorses and wagons, the furniture for the house, the farm implements, andthe necessary labor. The tenant pays to the owner twenty-seven dollarsand a half per annum for each cow, and agrees to take the best care of thestock and of all parts of the farm; to make the necessary repairs, and toraise for the owner annually one-fifth as many calves as he keeps cows, the remainder of the calves being killed and fed to the pigs. He agreesalso to sell nothing but butter and hogs from the farm, the hogs beingentirely the tenant's property. Under this system fifteen hundred and twenty cows are now kept on nineseparate farms on this estate, the largest number kept by one man beingtwo hundred and twenty-five, and the smallest one hundred and fifteen. Mr. Howard has been for years improving his herd; he prefers short-horns, and he saves every year the calves from the best milkers in all his herd, using also bulls from good milking strains. I was told that the averageproduct of butter on the whole estate is now one hundred and seventy-fivepounds to each cow; many cows give as high as two hundred, and even twohundred and fifty pounds per annum. Men do the milking, and also the butter-making, though on one farm I founda pretty Swedish girl superintending all the indoor work, with such skilland order in all the departments, that she possessed, so far as I saw, themodel dairy on the estate. Here, said I to myself, is now an instance of the ability of women tocompete with men which would delight Mrs. Stanton and all the Woman'sRights people; here is the neatest, the sweetest, the most complete dairyin the whole region; the best order, the most shining utensils, the nicestbutter-room--and not only butter, but cheese also, made, which isnot usual; and here is a rosy-faced, white-armed, smooth-haired, sensibly-dressed, altogether admirable, and, to my eyes, beautiful Swedishlass presiding over it all; commanding her men-servants, and keeping everypart of the business in order. Alas! Mrs. Stanton, she has discovered a better business thanbutter-making. She is going to marry--sensible girl that she is--and sheis not going to marry a dairy-farmer either. I doubt if any body in California will ever make as nice butter as thispretty Swede; certainly, every other dairy I saw seemed to me commonplaceand uninteresting, after I had seen hers. I don't doubt that the youngman who has had the art to persuade her to love him ought to be hanged, because butter-making is far more important than marrying. Nevertheless, I wish him joy in advance, and, in humble defiance of Mrs. Stanton and herbrilliant companions in arms, hereby give it as my belief that the prettySwede is a sensible girl--that, to use a California vulgarism, "her headis level. " The hogs are fed chiefly on skim-milk, and belong entirely to the tenant. The calves, except those which are raised for the proprietor, are, byagreement, killed and fed to the pigs. The leases are usually for threeyears. The cows are milked twice a day, being driven for that purpose into acorral, near the milk-house. I noticed that they were all very gentle;they lay down in the corral with that placid air which a good cow has; andwhenever a milkman came to the beast he wished to milk, she rose at once, without waiting to be spoken to. One man is expected to milk twenty cowsin the season of full milk. On some places I noticed that Chinese wereemployed in the milk-house, to attend to the cream and make the butter. The tenants are of different nationalities, American, Swedes, Germans, Irish, and Portuguese. A tenant needs about two thousand dollars in moneyto undertake one of these dairy-farms; the system seems to satisfy thosewho are now engaged in it. The milkers and farm hands receive thirtydollars per month and "found;" and good milkers are in constant demand. Every thing is conducted with great care and cleanliness, the buildingsbeing uncommonly good for this State, water abundant, and manylabor-saving contrivances used. At one end of the corral or yard in which the cows are milked is aplatform, roofed over, on which stands a large tin, with a doublestrainer, into which the milk is poured from the buckets. It runs througha pipe into the milk-house, where it is again strained, and then emptiedfrom a bucket into the pans ranged on shelves around. The cream is takenoff in from thirty-six to forty hours; and the milk keeps sweet thirty-sixhours, even in summer. The square box-churn is used entirely, and isrevolved by horse-power. They usually get butter, I was told, in half anhour. The butter is worked on an ingenious turn-table, which holds one hundredpounds at a time, and can, when loaded, be turned by a finger; and alever, working upon a universal joint, is used upon the butter. Whenready, it is put up in two-pound rolls, which are shaped in a hand-press, and the rolls are not weighed until they reach the city. It is packed instrong, oblong boxes, each of which holds fifty-five rolls. The cows are not driven more than a mile to be milked; the fields beingso arranged that the corral is near the centre. When they are milked, theystray back of themselves to their grazing places. [Illustration: COLUMBIA RIVER SCENE. ] CHAPTER X. TEHAMA AND BUTTE, AND THE UPPER COUNTRY. General Bidwell, of Butte County, raised last year on his own estate, besides a large quantity of fruit, seventy-five thousand bushels ofwheat. Dr. Glenn, of Colusa County, raised and sent to market from hisown estate, two hundred thousand bushels. Mr. Warner, of Solano County, produced nine thousand gallons of cider from his own orchards. Asheep-grazer in Placer County loaded ten railroad cars with wool, the clipof his own sheep. For many weeks after harvest you may see sacks of wheatstacked along the railroad and the river for miles, awaiting shipment; forthe farmers have no rain to fear, and the grain crop is thrashed in thefield, bagged, and stacked along the road, without even a tarpaulin tocover it. In 1855, California exported about four hundred and twenty tons of wheat;in 1873, the export was but little less than six hundred thousand tons. In1857, six casks and six hundred cases of California wine were sent out ofthe State; in 1872, about six hundred thousand gallons were exported. In1850, California produced five thousand five hundred and thirty pounds ofwool; in 1872, this product amounted to twenty-four million pounds. Thirtymillion pounds of apples, ten million pounds of peaches, four and a halfmillion pounds of apricots, nearly two million pounds of cherries, arepart of the product of the State, in which the man is still living whobrought across the Plains the first fruit-trees to set out a nursery;while four and a half million of oranges, and a million and a half oflemons, shipped from the southern part of the State, show the rapid growthof that culture. In the northern counties, of which Tehama and Butte are a sample, they areusually fortunate in the matter of late as well as early rains; butclose under the coast range the country is dryer, as is natural, the highmountain range absorbing the moisture from the north-westerly winds. Theybegin to plow as soon as it rains, usually in November, and sow thegrain at once. Formerly the higher plains were thought to be fit only forgrazing; but even the red lands, which are somewhat harder to break up, and were thought to be infertile, are found to bear good crops of grain;and this year these lands bear the drought better than some that were andare preferred. Lambing takes place here in February, and they shear inApril. The grazing lands abound in wild oats, very nutritious, but apt torun out where the pastures are overstocked. Alfilleria is not found so farnorth as this; alfalfa has been sown all over the valley in proper places, and does well. They cut it three times in the year, and turn stock in onit after the last cutting; and all who grow it speak well of it. Red Bluff is one of the oldest towns in the valley; it stands at the headof navigation on the Sacramento, and was, therefore, a place of importancebefore the railroad was built. The river here is narrow and shoal, and itis crossed by one of those ferries common where the rapid current, pushing against the ferry-boat, drives it across the stream, a wire cablepreventing it from floating down stream. The main street of the townconsists mainly of bar-rooms, livery-stables, barber-shops, and hotels, with an occasional store of merchandise sandwiched between; and, if yousaw only this main street, you would conceive but a poor opinion of thepeople. But other streets contain a number of pleasant, shady cottages;and, as I drove out into the country, the driver pointed with pride to theschool-house, a large and fine building, which had just been completed ata cost of thirty thousand dollars, and seemed to me worth the money. Thetown has also water-works; and the people propose to bridge the Sacramentoat a cost of forty thousand dollars, and to build a new jail, to costfifteen thousand dollars. Such enterprises show the wealth of the peoplein this State, and astonish the traveler, who imagines, in drivingover the great plain, that it is almost uninhabited, but sees, in athirty-thousand dollar school-house in a little town like Red Bluff, thatnot only are there people, but that they have the courage to bear taxationfor good objects, and the means to pay. From Red Bluff two of the great mountain peaks of Northern Californiaare magnificently seen--Lassen's Peaks and Shasta. The latter, stillone hundred and twenty miles off to the north, rears his great, craggy, snow-covered summit high in the air, and seems not more than twenty milesaway. Lassen's Peaks are twins, and very lonely indeed. They are sixtymiles to the east, and are also, at this season, glistening with snow. Between Lassen's and the Sacramento, some thirty miles up among themountains, there is a rich timber country, whose saw-mills supply thenorthern part of the valley with lumber, sugar-pine being the principaltree sawed up. The valley begins to narrow above Red Bluff, and thefoot-hills and mountains still abound in wild game. Hunters bring theirpeltries hither for sale; and this has occasioned the establishmentat this point of a thriving glove factory, which turned out--from aninsignificant looking little shop--not less than forty thousand dollars'worth of gloves last year. Two enterprising young men manage it, and theyemploy, I was told, from fifty to eighty women in the work, and turn outvery excellent buckskin gloves, as well as some finer kinds. Such pettyindustries are too often neglected in California, where every body stillwants to conduct his calling on a grand scale, and where dozens of ways toprosperity, and even wealth, are constantly neglected, because they appeartoo slow. This whole country is only about four years in advance of the lower or SanJoaquin Valley, and the influence of climate and soil in bringing trees tobear early was shown to me in several thrifty orchards, already beginningto bear, on ground which four years ago was bought for two dollars andfifty cents per acre. The habit of raising wheat is so strong here, thatalmost every thing else is neglected; and I remember a farm where thewheat field extended, unbroken, except by a narrow path leading to theroad, right up to the veranda of the farmer's house. His family lived oncanned fruits and vegetables; and except here and there a brilliant poppy, which stubborn Dame Nature had inserted among his wheat, wife and childrenhad not a flower to grace mantle or table. I confess that it pleased meto hear this farmer complain of hard times, because, as he said, thespeculators in San Francisco made more money from his wheat than he did. If the speculators in San Francisco teach the farmers in California togrow something besides wheat, they will deserve well of the State. The upper waters of the Sacramento run through mountain passes, andbetween banks so steep that for miles at a time the river is inaccessible, except by difficult and often dangerous descents; and an old miner told methat when this part of the river, between where Redding now lies and itssource, near Mount Shasta, was first "prospected" for gold, the miners orexplorers had to build boats and descend by water, trying for gold by theway, because they could not get down by land. In those days, he said, if acompany of miners could not make twenty dollars a day each, the "prospect"was too poor to detain them; and they made but a short stay at most pointson the Upper Sacramento. The country was then full of Indians; and it was very strange, indeed, tohear this miner--a thoroughly kind-hearted man he was, and now the fatherof a family of children--tell with the utmost unconcern, and as a matterof course, how they used to shoot down these Indians, who waylaid them atfavoring spots on the river, and tried to pick them off with arrows. I remember hearing a little boy ask a famous general once how many men hehad killed in the course of his wars, and being disappointed when he heardthat the general, so far as he know, had never killed any body. I supposea soldier in battle but rarely knows that he has actually shot a man. Butone of these old Indian fighters sits down after dinner, over a pipe, andrelates to you, with quite horrifying coolness, every detail of the deathwhich his rifle and his sure eye dealt to an Indian; and when this one, stroking meantime the head of a little boy who was standing at his knees, described to me how he lay on the grass and took aim at a tall chiefwho was, in the moonlight, trying to steal a boat from a party ofgold-seekers, and how, at the crack of his rifle, the Indian fell hiswhole length in the boat and never stirred again, I confess I was dumbwith amazement. The tragedy had not even the dignity of an event in thisman's life. He shot Indians as he ate his dinner, plainly as a mere matterof course. Nor was he a brute, but a kindly, honest, good fellow, not inthe least blood-thirsty. [Illustration: STREET IN OLYMPIA, WASHINGTON TERRITORY. ] The poor Indians have rapidly melted away under the fervent heat offorty-rod whisky, rifles, and disease. This whole Northern country musthave been populous a quarter of a century ago; General Bidwell and otherold Californians have told me of the surprisingly rapid disappearance ofthe Indians, after the white gold-seekers came in. It was, I do not doubt, a pleasant land for the red men. They lived on salmon, clover, deer, acorns, and a few roots which are abundant on mountain and plain, and ofall this food there is the greatest plenty even yet. If you travel towardOregon, by stage, in June, July, or August, you will see at convenientpoints along the Sacramento parties of Indians spearing and trappingsalmon. They build a few rude huts of brush, gather sticks for the fire, which is needed to cook and dry the salmon meat; and then, while the men, armed with long two-pronged spears, stand at the end of logs projectingover the salmon pools, and spear the abundant fish, the squaws clean thefish, roast them to dryness among the hot stones of their rude fire-place, and finally rub the dried meat to a powder between their hands, or by thehelp of stones, when it is packed away in bags for winter use. What you thus see on the Sacramento is going on at the same time on halfa dozen other rivers; and I am told that these Indians come fromconsiderable distances to this annual fishing, which was practiced by themdoubtless a long time before the white men came in. Not unfrequentlyin these mountains you will find a castaway white man with a half-breedfamily about him; "squaw-men" they are called, as a term of contempt, bythe more decent class. As you drive by the farm-houses on the road, you may commonly see venisonhanging on the porch; and every farmer has a supply of fishing-rods andlines, so that you can not go amiss for trout and venison. Few of themknow, however, that a trout ought to be cooked as quickly as possibleafter he is caught; and if you do not take care, your afternoon fish willappear on the table next day as corned trout, in which shape I have noliking for it. The Shasta Valley contains a good deal of excellent farming land, butit is used now chiefly for cattle and sheep, and in many parts of itthe grazing is very fine. There are a number of lesser valleys scatteredthrough the mountains hereabouts. Indeed, the two ranges seem to open outfor a while, and Scott's Valley on the west, and the Klamath Lake countryto the east and north-east from Yreka, are favorite grazing regions. Herethere is occasional snow in the winter, and some cold weather; the springopens later and the rains last longer. The streams in all this region beargold, and miners are busy in them. Yreka, in the Shasta Valley, is thecentre of a considerable mining district, and therefore a busy place, evenwithout the Modoc war, which gave it a temporary renown during the winterand spring. Now that the Modoc war is closed, no doubt the famous lavabeds will attract curious visitors from afar. They can be reached inthirty-six hours from Yreka; and that place is distant thirty-six hoursfrom San Francisco. Aside from the public lands still open in small tracts of eighty andone hundred and sixty acres to pre-emption by actual settlers, underthe homestead law, and the railroad lands, to be had in sections ofsix hundred and forty acres, the Sacramento Valley contains a number ofconsiderable Spanish grants; and the following account of these, which Itake from the San Francisco _Bulletin_ will give an Eastern reader someidea of the extent of such grants, their value, and how they are used: "The first large tract of land north and west of Marysville is the Nealgrant, containing about seventeen thousand acres. This grant is owned bythe Durham estate and Judge C. F. Lott, though Gruelly owns a large sliceof it also. The Neal grant is mostly composed of rich bottom-lands; nearlyall of it is farmed under lease; the lessees pay one-quarter to one-thirdof the crops as rent. They do very well under this arrangement. "The next grant on the north is that of Judge O. C. Pratt. It containstwenty-eight thousand acres of bottom-land. Butte Creek skirts it on oneside for a distance of seventeen miles, and a branch of that creek runsthrough the centre. Nearly six thousand acres are covered with largeoak-trees. There are about one hundred miles of fences on this rancho;there are about ten thousand sheep, twelve hundred head of cattle, and twohundred horses on it; the land has been cultivated or used as pasturagefor about fourteen years. About ten thousand acres of it, I am informed, would readily sell in subdivisions for fifty dollars per acre; tenthousand acres would sell for about thirty dollars, and eight thousandacres at twenty dollars per acre. There are many tenants on this tract, having leases covering periods of three to five years; rent, one-fourth ofthe crop raised; the owner builds fences and houses for the lessees. Theaverage quantity of wool annually grown on this rancho is sixty thousandpounds; beef cattle, two hundred and fifty head; value of produce receivedas rent from tenants, twelve thousand dollars per year. Judge Pratt iswilling to sell farms of one hundred and sixty to three hundred and twentyacres at about the rates named, and on easy terms. "The Hensley grant, lying north of Judge Pratt's rancho, contains fiveleagues. It was rejected by the United States Courts, and was taken upby, and is covered with, settlers, who own one hundred and sixty to threehundred and twenty acres each, worth forty to sixty dollars per acre. Little or none of that land is for sale, the owners being too wellsatisfied with their farms to sell them, even at the highest ruling rates. "General Bidwell's rancho adjoins Judge Pratt's. It contains about twentythousand acres, of which about one-quarter is of the best quality, andwould readily sell at fifty to sixty dollars per acre. About five thousandacres more, lying along the Sacramento River, are subject to overflow. That portion is very rich grazing land, and is worth fifteen to twentydollars per acre. The other ten thousand acres lie near the foot-hills;they are extremely well adapted to grape culture, and are worth five totwelve dollars per acre. General Bidwell is not willing to sell. "The next rancho on the west is owned by John Parrot. It contains aboutseventeen thousand acres, and lies on the east bank of the SacramentoRiver. It contains about four thousand acres of first-class wheat or cornland; the remainder is composed of excellent pasturage; there are only afew thousand sheep, and a few cattle and horses on this rancho. It has forseveral years been cultivated by Morehead and Griffith, under a privatearrangement with the owner. It is understood that Parrot would sell, either in a body or in small tracts, to desirable purchasers; his priceswould probably range from fifteen to fifty dollars per acre. "The next large rancho is that of Henry Gerke, living twenty miles aboveChico. It now contains about eighteen thousand acres, of which a largeportion is suitable for wheat or corn growing, and grazing purposes. Oneof the largest and finest vineyards in the State is on this rancho; andthe wine it produces has a large sale in the State. The most of Gerke'sland is devoted to wheat raising; eighteen hundred tons of wheat wereraised on it last year, and about twenty-two hundred tons this year. It ismostly tilled by tenants. The land is worth from twenty to fifty dollarsper acre. The owner would sell the whole rancho, but it is not knownwhether he would sell in small tracts or not. He has a standing offer ofsix hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars for the land, vineyards, andimprovements. "General Wilson owns several thousand acres of the original Gerke grant. His land is altogether devoted to wheat growing, and is worth fortydollars per acre. "A. G. Towne's grant adjoins Gerke's on the north and west. It now containsabout twelve thousand acres; much of it is devoted to wheat growing, andis worth fifteen to forty dollars per acre, or an average all round oftwenty-five dollars. "At Tehama, on the west side of the Sacramento River, is Thome's grant. It contains about twenty thousand acres, one-third of which is of the verybest quality of wheat land, the remainder good grazing. It is understoodthat this land can be bought either as a whole or in small farms. Thebest of it is worth about forty-five dollars an acre; the body of it abouttwenty dollars. "The next grant, on the north, is that of William G. Chard. It is nearlyall cut up and owned in small farms. Colonel E. J. Lewis, a well-knownpolitician, is one of the largest owners on the Chard tract. He isextensively engaged in wheat raising. "Ide's grant is adjacent, on the north; it is also mostly divided andowned in small tracts of one hundred and sixty to four hundred acres each. "The Dye grant lies east of and opposite to Red Bluff. It was originallya large grant, but has been partially subdivided. It contains some goodbottomland, but is mostly adapted to grazing. "The most northerly grant in the State is that formerly owned by the lateMajor Redding. It is partially subdivided. Like the Dye grant, it containssome rich bottom-land, but, like it, is mostly adapted for grazing andgrape growing. Haggin and Tevis lately bought (or hold for debt) aboutfifteen thousand acres of this rancho, which are worth about one hundredthousand dollars, or about seven dollars per acre. It is understood frominquiries made from the owners of these two last named tracts, that theyare willing to sell grain lands at about an average of thirty dollars peracre. " Of course these grants make up, in the aggregate, but a small part of thearable land of the Sacramento Valley. [Illustration: "TACOMA, " OR MOUNT RAINIER. ] CHAPTER XI. TOBACCO CULTURE--WITH A NEW METHOD OF CURING THE LEAF. The manufacture of cigars is one of the largest industries of SanFrancisco. Last year the Government received taxes on 78, 000, 000 cigarsmade in the State of California, and in September alone taxes were paidon 8, 000, 000. But, though the State has thousands of acres of land wellfitted to produce tobacco, and though the "weed" has been grown here fortwenty years or more with great success, so far as getting a heavy crop isconcerned, I doubt if even 1, 000, 000 of cigars have, until this fall, beenmade of tobacco raised in California. There has, however, been no lack of efforts to produce here tobacco fit tomanufacture into cigars and for smoking and chewing purposes. The soil inmany parts of the State is peculiarly adapted to this plant; the climate, mild and regular, favored its growth and hastened its perfection. The bestseed was procured from Connecticut, Kentucky, Virginia, Florida, and Cuba. But for many years the product was rank, coarse, and fitter for sheep-washthan for any other purpose. Meantime, however, not a few men familiar with the old processes ofraising and curing the plant have tried their best ingenuity to improvethe quality. It was thought that the soil was too rich, because thetobacco makes a rapid and heavy growth; but planting on thinner or oldersoil did not answer. Several methods of curing were contrived, and thereis now reason to believe that the one known as the Culp process, from thename of its patentee, will produce the desired result. I had heard andread so much about it, and about the merit of the tobacco produced byit, that I went down to Gilroy, seventy or eighty miles south of SanFrancisco, to see what had really been accomplished. The account I givebelow will probably interest many tobacco growing and manufacturingreaders, while it will, I fear, painfully affect the spirits of theanti-tobacconists; for there is reason to believe that tobacco will becomepresently one of the most important and valuable crops of this State. I must premise that I am not an expert in tobacco, nor familiar with themethods pursued in the East. I have seen a tobacco-field and the inside ofa Connecticut curing-house, and that is about all. I give, therefore, notopinions, but facts. Gilroy stands in a long and broad plain, a very rich piece of alluvialbottom, with water so abundant that artesian wells are easily bored andvery common. At the depth of one hundred and thirty feet they get flowingwells, and it happened in one case of which I heard that the water came upwith such force as to prevent the casing going down into the well, andthe pressure of the water broke away the ground, enlarged the bore of thewell, and threatened to flood a considerable area, so that the farmersgathered in force, and by means of an iron caisson loaded with stones, andwith many cart-loads of stones besides, plugged up the dangerous hole. The land is a deep alluvial loam, easily worked, and here, and in someneighboring valleys, many tobacco growers have been engaged for thelast ten or twelve years. Mr. Culp, who was a tobacco grower, and, if Iunderstood him rightly, also a manufacturer in New York for some yearsbefore he came here, and who appears, at any rate, to be a very thoroughfarmer and a lover of clean fields, has planted tobacco here for fifteenyears. He has a farm of about seven hundred acres, four hundred ofwhich have this year been in tobacco. From him and others I learned thefollowing particulars of the way in which they cultivate the plant inCalifornia. They sow the seed from the 1st to the 10th of January, and sometimes evenin December. The beds are prepared and sown as in the East, except thatthey do not always burn the ground over, which, if I remember rightly, is invariably done in Missouri and Kentucky. In this season, the days arealways warm enough for the little plants; but there are light frosts atnight, and they are protected against these by frames covered with thincotton cloth. The fields are plowed--by the best growers--ten inches deep; cross-plowedand harrowed until the soil is fine, and then ridged--that is to say, twofurrows are thrown together. This saves the plants from harm by a heavyrain, and also makes the ground warmer, and is found to start the plantsmore quickly. Planting in the fields begins about the 8th of April; and the plants areset a foot apart in the rows, the rows being three feet apart, if they arefrom Havana seed; if Connecticut or Florida, they stand eighteen inches ortwo feet apart in the rows. They had grown, besides Havana and Florida, for their crop, Latakia, Hungarian, Mexican, Virginia, Connecticut-seed Standard, Burleigh, WhiteLeaf, and some other kinds, by way of experiment. Cultivators and shovel-plows are used to keep the soil loose and clean;if the weather should prove damp and cold, the shovel-plow is used to makethe ridges somewhat higher. They go over the fields twice in the seasonwith these tools, using the hoe freely where weeds get into the rows. Lastyear, in twenty-six days after they were done planting, they had gatheredtwo bales of tobacco. This, however, is not common, and was done by veryclose management, and on a warm soil. All the tobacco growers with whom I spoke assert that they are nottroubled with that hideous creature, "the worm. " They attribute this inpart to the excellence of their soil, and partly to the abundance of birdsand yellow jackets. They do not "worm" their crop, it seems, which mustgive them an enviable advantage over Eastern growers. They do not always "top" the Havana, and they do very little "suckering. "If the ground is clean, they let the suckers from the root grow, and thesebecome as large and heavy as the original plant. They believe that thesoil is strong enough to bear the plants and suckers, and that they get abetter leaf and finer quality without suckering. The planting is continued from April until the latter part of July, so asto let the crop come in gradually; the last planting may be caught by anearly frost, but whatever they plant before the 1st of July is safe inany season. Cutting begins about the 4th of June, and this year they werecutting still on the 19th of October. The earlier cut plants sprout againat once, and mature a second and even a third crop. Mr. Culp told me thathe had taken four crops of Havana in one year from the same field, and Isaw considerable fields of third crop just cut or standing; but in somecases the frost had caught this. "If the soil is in perfect order, we canhere make a crop of Havana in forty days from the planting, " said he. One man can prepare and take care of ten acres here, keeping it in goodorder. For planting and cutting, of course, an extra force is used. Oneman can set out or plant three thousand plants in a day of Havana; of theother kinds from fifteen hundred to two thousand. The tobacco is cut with a hatchet; if it is Havana, the toppers usuallygo just ahead of the cutters in the field, or they may be a day ahead. Florida is topped ten days or two weeks before cutting. You must rememberthat after April they have no rain here, so that all field work goes onwithout interruption from the weather, and crops can be exposed in thefield as a planter would not dare do in the East. Up to the cutting, themethods here differ from those used in the East, only so far as climateand soil are different. When the plant lies in the field Mr. Culp's peculiar process begins; andthis I prefer to describe to you as nearly as I can in his own words. He said that tobacco had long been grown in California even before theAmericans came. He had raised it as a crop for fifteen years; and beforehe perfected his new process, he was able usually to select the best ofhis crop for smoking-tobacco, and sold the remainder for sheep-wash. One year two millions of pounds were raised in the State, and, as it wasmostly sold for sheep-wash, it lasted several years, and discouraged thegrowers. Tobacco always grew readily, but it was too rank and strong. Theyused Eastern methods, topping and suckering, and as the plant had here avery long season to grow and mature, the leaf was thick and very strong. The main features of the Culp process are, he said, to let the tobacco, when cut, wilt on the field; then take it at once to the tobacco-house andpile it down, letting it heat on the piles to 100 degrees for Havana. It must, he thinks, come to 100°, but if it rises to 102° it is ruined. Piling, therefore, requires great judgment. The tobacco-houses are keptat a temperature of about 70 degrees; and late in the fall, to cure a latesecond or third crop, they sometimes use a stove to maintain a proper heatin the house, for the tobacco must not lie in the pile without heating. [Illustration: INDIAN CRADLE, WASHINGTON TERRITORY. ] When it has had its first sweat, it is hung up on racks; and here Mr. Culp's process is peculiar. He places the stalk between two battens, so that it sticks out horizontally from the frame; thus each leaf hangsindependently from the stalk; and the racks or frames are so arranged thatall the leaves on all the stalks have a separate access to the air. The tobacco-houses are frame buildings, 100 x 60 feet, with usually fourrows of racks, and two gangways for working. On the rack the surfacemoisture dries from the leaf; and at the proper time it is again piled, racked, and so on for three or even four times. The racks are of roughboards, and the floor of the house is of earth. After piling and racking for three weeks, the leaves are stripped from thestalk and put into "hands, " and they are then "bulked, " and lie thus aboutthree months, when the tobacco is boxed. From the time of cutting, from four to six months are required to make the leaf ready for themanufacturer. "Piling" appears to be the most delicate part of the cure, and they haveoften to work all night to save tobacco that threatens to overheat. Mr. Culp thinks the dryness of the climate no disadvantage. I was toldthat they find it useful sometimes to sprinkle the floors of thetobacco-houses. I saw racks, too, in the fields--portable, and easily carried anywhere;and on these a great quantity of Florida tobacco, used for chewing andsmoking, had been or was getting cured. It was piled in the field where itwas cut, and the whole curing process, up to "bulking, " is carried on inthe open air. Havana "fillers" they also cure in the field, as the finecolor is not needed for that. Mr. Culp thought his method of horizontal suspension allowed the juicesfrom the stalk to be carefully distributed among the leaves. He told methat a fair average crop was about 1500 pounds of Havana, or 2500 poundsof Florida, per acre, of merchantable leaf. In favorable localities thiswas considerably exceeded, he said. For chewing-tobacco, the cut plant ispiled but once. For four hundred acres of tobacco, about one hundred and twenty-fiveChinese were employed in cutting and curing. After planting and up to thecutting season they had but fifty men employed. The Chinese receive onedollar a day and board themselves, living an apparently jolly life inshanties near the fields. They get their Havana seed from Cuba. The Patent Office seed did notdo well. They do not like to risk seed of their own plants. He usedhome-grown seed for nine years; he could not say that there was a seriousdeterioration or change in the quality of the tobacco, but a singularchange in the form of the leaf took place. That from home-grown seed getslonger, and the veins or ribs, which in Havana tobacco stand out at rightangles from the leaf stalk, take an acute angle, and thus become longerand make up a greater part of the leaf. Of Florida tobacco the home-grownseed comes true. In summer the roads get very dusty in California, and this dust is adisadvantage to the tobacco planter. On the Culp farm I found they wereplanting double rows of shade trees along the main roads, and gravelingthe interior roads; also, they seem to feel the high winds which sweepthrough the California valleys, and were planting almonds and cotton-woodsfor windbreaks in the fields. It seemed odd to see long rows ofalmond-trees used for this purpose. This process has so far won the confidence of experts in tobacco in thisState, that a company with large capital has undertaken not only theraising of tobacco by its method, but also the manufacture into cigars, and plug, smoking, and fine-cut chewing-tobacco. They are just beginningoperations in Gilroy, on a scale which will enable them to manufacture allthe tobacco grown this year on about six hundred acres, and they mean toplant next year one thousand acres, and expect that from fifteen hundredto two thousand acres will be planted and cured by others under licensesfrom the patentee. Commercially, of course, their undertaking is yet anexperiment, though excellent cigars and tobacco have been made already;but the year 1874 will decide the result; and if it should prove assuccessful as is hoped, and as there is good cause to believe it will, a new and very profitable branch of agriculture will be opened for thefarmers of this State; for tobacco will grow in almost all parts of it. [Illustration: RUNNING THE ROOKERIES--GATHERING MURRE EGGS. ] CHAPTER XII. THE FARALLON ISLANDS. If you approach the harbor of San Francisco from the west, your firstsight of land will be a collection of picturesque rocks known as theFarallones, or, more fully, the Farallones de los Frayles. They are sixrugged islets, whose peaks lift up their heads in picturesque masses outof the ocean, twenty-three and a half miles from the Golden Gate, thefamous entrance of San Francisco Bay. Farallon is a Spanish word, meaninga small pointed islet in the sea. These rocks, probably of volcanic origin, and bare and desolate, lie ina line from south-east to north-west--curiously enough the same linein which the islands of the Hawaiian or Sandwich Island group have beenthrown up. Geologists say they are the outcrop of an immense granite dike. The southernmost island, which is the largest--just as Hawaii, thesouthernmost of the Sandwich Island group, is also the biggest--extendsfor nearly a mile east and west, and is three hundred and forty feet high. It is composed of broken and water-worn rocks, forming numerous angularpeaks, and having several caves; and the rock, mostly barren and bare, has here and there a few weeds and a little grass. At one point there is asmall beach, and at another a depression; but the fury of the waves makeslanding at all times difficult, and for the most part impossible. The Farallones are seldom visited by travelers or pleasure-seekers. Thewind blows fiercely here most of the time; the ocean is rough; and, topersons subject to sea-sickness, the short voyage is filled with themisery of that disease. Yet they contain a great deal that is strange andcurious. On the highest point of the South Farallon the Government hasplaced a light-house, a brick tower seventeen feet high, surmounted by alantern and illuminating apparatus. It is a revolving white light, showinga prolonged flash of ten seconds duration once in a minute. The lightis about three hundred and sixty feet above the sea, and with a clearatmosphere is visible, from a position ten feet high, twenty-five and ahalf miles distant; from an elevation of sixty feet, it can be seen nearlythirty-one miles away; and it is plainly visible from Sulphur Peak on themain-land, thirty-four hundred and seventy-one feet high, and sixty-fourand a half miles distant. The light-house is in latitude 37° 41' 8" north, and longitude 122° 59' 05" west. On our foggy Western coast it has been necessary to place the light-houseslow, because if they stood too high their light would be hidden infog-banks and low clouds. The tower on the South Farallon is, therefore, low; and this, no doubt, is an advantage also to the light-keepers, whoare less exposed to the buffetings of the storm than if their labor andcare lay at a higher elevation. As the Farallones lie in the track of vessels coming from the westward toSan Francisco, the light is one of the most important, as it is also oneof the most powerful on our Western coast; and it is supplemented by afog-whistle, which is one of the most curious contrivances of this kindin the world. It is a huge trumpet, six inches in diameter at its smallerend, and blown by the rush of air through a cave or passage connectingwith the ocean. One of the numerous caves worn into the rocks by the surf had a hole atthe top, through which the incoming breakers violently expelled the airthey carried before them. Such spout-holes are not uncommon on rugged, rocky coasts. There are several on the Mendocino coast, and a number onthe shores of the Sandwich Islands. This one, however, has been utilizedby the ingenuity of man. The mouth-piece of the trumpet or fog-whistle isfixed against the aperture in the rock, and the breaker, dashing in withvenomous spite, or the huge bulging wave which would dash a ship to piecesand drown her crew in a single effort, now blows the fog-whistle and warnsthe mariner off. The sound thus produced has been heard at a distance ofseven or eight miles. It has a peculiar effect, because it has no regularperiod; depending upon the irregular coming in of the waves, and upontheir similarly irregular force, it is blown somewhat as an idle boy wouldblow his penny trumpet. It ceases entirely for an hour and a half at lowwater, when the mouth of the cave or passage is exposed. [Illustration: LIGHT-HOUSE ON THE SOUTH FARALLON. ] [Illustration: ARCH AT WEST END, FARALLON ISLANDS. ] The life of the keepers of the Farallon light is singularly lonely andmonotonous. Their house is built somewhat under the shelter of the rocks, but they live in what to a landsman would seem a perpetual storm; theocean roars in their ears day and night; the boom of the surf is theirconstant and only music; the wild scream of the sea-birds, the howl ofthe sea-lions, the whistle and shriek of the gale, the dull, threateningthunder of the vast breakers, are the dreary and desolate sounds whichlull them to sleep at night, and assail their ears when they awake. In thewinter months even their supply vessel, which, for the most part, is theironly connection with the world, is sometimes unable to make a landing forweeks at a time. Chance visitors they see only occasionally, and at thatdistance at which a steamer is safe from the surf, and at which a girlcould not even recognize her lover. The commerce of San Francisco passesbefore their eyes, but so far away that they can not tell the ships andsteamers which sail by them voiceless and without greeting; and of theevents passing on the planet with which they have so frail a social tiethey learn only at long and irregular intervals. The change from sunshineto fog is the chief variety in their lives; the hasty landing of suppliesthe great event in their months. They can not even watch the growth oftrees and plants; and to a child born and reared in such a place, a sunnylee under the shelter of rocks is probably the ideal of human felicity. Except the rock of Tristan d'Acunha in the Southern Atlantic Ocean, I havenever seen an inhabited spot which seemed so utterly desolate, so entirelyseparated from the world, whose people appeared to me to have such aslender hold on mankind. Yet for their solace they know that a powerfulGovernment watches over their welfare, and--if that is any comfort--that, thirty miles away, there are lights and music and laughter and singing, aswell as crowds, and all the anxieties and annoyances incidental to what weare pleased to call civilization. But though these lonely rocks contain but a small society of humanbeings--the keepers and their families--they are filled with animal life;for they are the home of a multitude of sea-lions, and of vast numbers ofbirds and rabbits. The rabbits, which live on the scanty herbage growing among the rooks, are descended from a few pair brought here many years ago, when somespeculative genius thought to make a huge rabbit-warren of these rocks forthe supply of the San Francisco market. These little animals are not verywild. In the dry season they feed on the bulbous roots of the grass, andsometimes they suffer from famine. In the winter and spring they are fat, and then their meat is white and sweet. During summer and fall they arenot fit to eat. They increase very rapidly, and at not infrequent intervals theyoverpopulate the island, and then perish by hundreds of starvation andthe diseases which follow a too meagre diet. They are of all colors, and though descended from some pairs of tame white rabbits, seem to havereverted in color to the wild race from which they originated. The Farallones have no snakes. The sea-lions, which congregate by thousands upon the cliffs, and bark, and howl, and shriek and roar in the caves and upon the steep sunnyslopes, are but little disturbed, and one can usually approach them withintwenty or thirty yards. It is an extraordinarily interesting sight tosee these marine monsters, many of them bigger than an ox, at play in thesurf, and to watch the superb skill with which they know how to controltheir own motions when a huge wave seizes them, and seems likely to dashthem to pieces against the rocks. They love to lie in the sun upon thebare and warm rocks; and here they sleep, crowded together, and lying uponeach other in inextricable confusion. [Illustration: SEA-LIONS. ] The bigger the animal, the greater his ambition appears to be to climbto the highest summit; and when a huge, slimy beast has with infinitesquirming attained a solitary peak, he does not tire of raising hissharp-pointed, maggot-like head, and complacently looking about him. Theyare a rough set of brutes--rank bullies, I should say; for I have watchedthem repeatedly as a big one shouldered his way among his fellows, rearedhis huge front to intimidate some lesser seal which had secured a favoritespot, and first with howls, and if this did not suffice, with teeth andmain force, expelled the weaker from his lodgment. The smaller sea-lions, at least those which have left their mothers, appear to have no rightswhich any one is bound to respect. They get out of the way with an abjectpromptness which proves that they live in terror of the stronger membersof the community; but they do not give up their places without harshcomplaints and piteous groans. Plastered against the rocks, and with their lithe and apparently bonelessshapes conformed to the rude and sharp angles, they are a wonderful, butnot a graceful or pleasing sight. At a little distance they look like hugemaggots, and their slow, ungainly motions upon the land do not lessen thisresemblance. Swimming in the ocean, at a distance from the land, they areinconspicuous objects, as nothing but the head shows above water, and thatonly at intervals. But when the vast surf which breaks in mountain wavesagainst the weather side of the Farallones with a force which would ina single sweep dash to pieces the biggest Indiaman--when such a surf, vehemently and with apparently irresistible might, lifts its tallwhite head, and with a deadly roar lashes the rocks half-way to theirsummit--then it is a magnificent sight to see a dozen or half a hundredgreat sea-lions at play in the very midst and fiercest part of the boilingsurge, so completely masters of the situation that they allow themselvesto be carried within a foot or two of the rocks, and at the last andimminent moment, with an adroit twist of their bodies, avoid the shock, and, diving, re-appear beyond the breaker. As I sat, fascinated with this weird spectacle of the sea-lions, whichseemed to me like an unhallowed prying into some hidden and monstroussecret of nature, I could better realize the fantastic and brutal wildnessof life in the earlier geological ages, when monsters and chimeras direwallowed about our unripe planet, and brute force of muscles and lungsruled among the populous hordes of beasts which, fortunately for us, have perished, leaving us only this great wild sea-beast as a faintreminiscence of their existence. I wondered what Dante would havethought--and what new horrors his gloomy imagination would have conjured, could he have watched this thousand or two of sea-lions at their sports. The small, sloping, pointed head of the creature gives it, to me, apeculiarly horrible appearance. It seems to have no brain, and presentsan image of life with the least intelligence. It is in reality not withoutwits, for one needs only to watch the two or three specimens in the greattank at Woodward's Gardens, when they are getting fed, to see that theyinstantly recognize their keeper, and understand his voice and motion. But all their wit is applied to the basest uses. Greed for food is theirruling passion, and the monstrous lightning-like lunges through the water, the inarticulate shrieks of pleasure or of fury as he dashes after hisfood or comes up without it, the wild, fierce eyes, the eager and brutalvigor with which he snatches a morsel from a smaller fellow-creature, thereliance on strength alone, and the abject and panic-struck submissionof the weaker to the stronger--all this shows him a brute of the lowestcharacter. Yet there is a wonderful snake-like grace in the lithe, swift motions ofthe animal when he is in the surf. You forget the savage blood-shoteyes, the receding forehead, the clumsy figure and awkward motion, as hewriggles up the steep rocks, the moment you see him at his superb sport inthe breakers. It seemed to me that he was another creature. The eye looksless baleful, and even joyous; every movement discloses conscious power;the excitement of the sport sheds from him somewhat of the brutality whichre-appears the moment he lands or seeks his food. So far as I could learn, the Farallon sea-lions are seldom disturbed bymen seeking profit from them. In the egging season one or two are shot tosupply oil to the lamps of the eggers; and occasionally one is caughtfor exhibition on the main-land. How do they catch a sea-lion? Well, theylasso him, and, odd as it sounds, it is the best and probably the only wayto capture this beast. An adroit Spaniard, to whom the lasso or reatais like a fifth hand, or like the trunk to the elephant, steals up to asleeping congregation, fastens his eye on the biggest one of the lot, and, biding his time, at the first motion of the animal, with unerring skillflings his loose rawhide noose, and then holds on for dear life. It is theweight of an ox and the vigor of half a dozen that he has tugging at theother end of his rope, and if a score of men did not stand ready to help, and if it were not possible to take a turn of the reata around a solidrock, the seal would surely get away. Moreover, they must handle the beast tenderly, for it is easily injured. Its skin, softened by its life in the water, is quickly cut by the rope;its bones are easily broken; and its huge frame, too rudely treated, may be so hurt that the life dies out of it. As quickly as possible thecaptured sea-lion is stuffed into a strong box or cage, and here, in acell too narrow to permit movement, it roars and yelps in helpless fury, until it is transported to its tank. Wild and fierce as it is, it seems toreconcile itself to the tank life very rapidly. If the narrow space of itsbig bath-tub frets it, you do not perceive this, for hunger is its chiefpassion, and with a moderately full stomach the animal does well incaptivity, of course with sufficient water. The South Farallon is the only inhabited one of the group. The remainderare smaller; mere rocky points sticking up out of the Pacific. The MiddleFarallon is a single rock, from fifty to sixty yards in diameter, andtwenty or thirty feet above the water. It lies two and a half milesnorth-west by west from the light-house. The North Farallon consists, infact, of four pyramidal rocks, whose highest peak, in the centre of thegroup, is one hundred and sixty feet high; the southern rock of the fouris twenty feet high. The four have a diameter of one hundred and sixty, one hundred and eighty-five, one hundred and twenty-five, and thirty-fiveyards respectively, and the most northern of the islets bears north 64°west from the Farallon light, six and three-fifths miles distant. All the islands are frequented by birds; but the largest, the SouthFarallon, on which the light-house stands, is the favorite resort of thesecreatures, who come here in astonishing numbers every summer to breed;and it is to this island that the eggers resort at that season to obtainsupplies of sea-birds' eggs for the San Francisco market, where they havea regular and large sale. The birds which breed upon the Farallones are gulls, murres, shags, andsea-parrots, the last a kind of penguin. The eggs of the shags and parrotsare not used, but the eggers destroy them to make more room for the otherbirds. The gull begins to lay about the middle of May, and usually tendays before the murre. The gull makes a rude nest of brush and sea-weedupon the rocks; the murre does not take even this much trouble, but laysits eggs in any convenient place on the bare rocks. [Illustration: THE GULL'S NEST. ] The gull is soon through, but the murre continues to lay for about twomonths. The egging season lasts, therefore, from the 10th or 20th ofMay until the last of July. In this period the egg company which has foreighteen years worked this field gathered in 1872 seventeen thousand ninehundred and fifty-two dozen eggs, and in 1873 fifteen thousand two hundredand three dozen. These brought last year in the market an average oftwenty-six cents per dozen. There has been, I was assured by the manager, no sensible decrease in the number of the birds or the eggs during twentyyears. From fifteen to twenty men are employed during the egging season incollecting and shipping the eggs. They live on the island during that timein rude shanties near the usual landing-place. The work is not amusing, for the birds seek out the least accessible places, and the men mustfollow, climbing often where a goat would almost hesitate. But this is notthe worst. The gull sits on her nest, and resists the robber who comes forher eggs, and he must take care not to get bitten. The murre remains untilher enemy is close upon her; then she rises with a scream which oftenstartles a thousand or two of birds, who whirl up into the air in a densemass, scattering filth and guano over the eggers. Nor is this all. The gulls, whose season of breeding is soon past, areextravagantly fond of murre eggs; and these rapacious birds follow theegg-gatherers, hover over their heads, and no sooner is a murre's nestuncovered than the bird swoops down, and the egger must be extremelyquick, or the gull will snatch the prize from under his nose. So greedyand eager are the gulls that they sometimes even wound the eggers, striking them with their beaks. But if the gull gets an egg, he flies upwith it, and, tossing it up, swallows what he can catch, letting the shelland half its contents fall in a shower upon the luckless and disappointedegger below. [Illustration: SHAGS, MURRES, AND SEA-GULLS. ] Finally, so difficult is the ground that it is impossible to carrybaskets. The egger therefore stuffs the eggs into his shirt bosom untilhe has as many as he can safely carry, then clambers over rocks and downprecipices until he comes to a place of deposit, where he puts them intobaskets, to be carried down to the shore, where there are houses forreceiving them. But so skillful and careful are the gatherers that but feweggs are broken. The gathering proceeds daily, when it has once begun, and the whole groundis carefully cleared off, so that no stale eggs shall remain. Thus if aportion of the ground has been neglected for a day or two, all the eggsmust be flung into the sea, so as to begin afresh. As the season advances, the operations are somewhat contracted, leaving a part of the islandundisturbed for breeding; and the gathering of eggs is stopped entirelyabout a month before the birds usually leave the island, so as to givethem all an opportunity to hatch out a brood. [Illustration: CONTEST FOR THE EGGS. ] The murre is not good to eat. If undisturbed it lays two eggs only; whenrobbed, it will keep on laying until it has produced six or even eighteggs; and the manager of the islands told me that he had found as many aseight eggs forming in a bird's ovaries when he killed and opened it in thebeginning of the season. The male bird regularly relieves the female onthe nest, and also watches to resist the attacks of the gull, whichnot only destroys the eggs, but also eats the young. The murre feeds onsea-grass and jelly-fish, and I was assured that though some hundreds hadbeen examined at different times, no fish had ever been found in a murre'sstomach. The bird is small, about the size of a half-grown duck, but its egg isas large as a goose egg. The egg is brown or greenish, and speckled. Whenquite fresh it has no fishy taste, but when two or three days old thefishy taste becomes perceptible. They are largely used in San Francisco bythe restaurants and bakers, and for omelets, cakes, and custards. During the height of the egging season the gulls hover in clouds over therocks, and when a rookery is started, and the poor birds leave their nestsby hundreds, the air is presently alive with gulls flying off with theeggs, and the eggers are sometimes literally drenched. There is thus inevitably a considerable waste of eggs. I asked some of theeggers how many murres nested on the South Farallon, and they thought atleast one hundred thousand. I do not suppose this an extravagant estimate, for, taking the season of 1872, when seventeen thousand nine hundred andfifty-two dozen eggs were actually sold in San Francisco, and allowinghalf a dozen to each murre, this would give nearly thirty-six thousandbirds; and adding the proper number for eggs broken, destroyed by gulls, and not gathered, the number of murres and gulls is probably over onehundred thousand. This on an island less than a mile in its greatestdiameter, and partly occupied by the light-house and fog-whistle and theirkeepers, and by other birds and a large number of sea-lions! When they are done laying, and when the young can fly, the birds leave theisland, usually going off together. During the summer and fall they returnin clouds at intervals, but stay only a few days at a time, though thereare generally a few to be found at all times; and I am told that eggs insmall quantities can be found in the fall. The murre does not fly high, nor is it a very active bird, or apparentlyof long flight. But the eggers say that when it leaves the island they donot know whither it goes, and they assert that it is not abundant on theneighboring coast. The young begin to fly when they are two weeks old, andthe parents usually take them immediately into the water. The sea-parrot has a crest, and somewhat resembles a cockatoo. Its numberson the South Farallon are not great. It makes a nest in a hole in therocks, and bites if it is disturbed. The island was first used as asealing station; but this was not remunerative, there being but very fewfur seal, and no sea-otters. This animal, which abounds in Alaska, andis found occasionally on the southern coast of California, frequentsthe masses of kelp which line the shore; but there is no kelp about theFarallones. In the early times of California, when provisions were high-priced, theegg-gatherers sometimes got great gains. Once, in 1853, a boat absent butthree days brought in one thousand dozen, and sold the whole cargo at adollar a dozen; and in one season thirty thousand dozen were gathered, andbrought an average of but little less than this price. [Illustration: THE GREAT ROOKERY. ] Of course there was an egg war. The prize was too great not to bestruggled for; and the rage of the conflicting claimants grew to sucha pitch that guns were used and lives were threatened, and at last theGovernment of the United States had to interfere to keep the peace. Butwith lower prices the strife ceased; the present company bought out, Ibelieve, all adverse claims, and for the last fifteen or sixteen yearspeace has reigned in this part of the county of San Francisco--for theselonely islets are a part of the same county with the metropolis of thePacific. [Illustration: INDIAN GIRLS AND CANOE, PUGET SOUND. ] CHAPTER XIII. THE COLUMBIA RIVER AND PUGET SOUND--HINTS TO TOURISTS. In less than forty-eight hours after you leave San Francisco you findyourself crossing the bar which lies at the mouth of the Columbia River, and laughing, perhaps, over the oft-told local tale of how a captain, new to this region, lying off and on with his vessel, and impatientlysignaling for a pilot, was temporarily comforted by a passenger, an oldCalifornian, who "wondered why Jim over there couldn't take her safe overthe bar. " "Do you think he knows the soundings well enough?" asked the anxiousskipper; and was answered, "I don't know about that, captain; but he's been taking all sorts ofthings 'straight' over the bar for about twenty years, to _my_ knowledge, and I should think he might manage the brig. " The voyage from San Francisco is almost all the way in sight of land; andas you skirt the mountainous coast of Oregon you see long stretches offorest, miles of tall firs killed by forest fires, and rearing their bareheads toward the sky like a vast assemblage of bean-poles--a barren viewwhich you owe to the noble red man, who, it is said, sets fire to thesegreat woods in order to produce for himself a good crop of blueberries. When, some years ago, Walk-in-the-Water, or Red Cloud, or some otherColorado chief, asserted in Washington the right of the Indian to huntbuffalo, on the familiar ground that he _must_ live, a journalist given tofigures demolished the Indian position by demonstrating that a race whichinsisted on living on buffalo meat required about sixteen thousand acresof land per head for its subsistence, which is more than even we canspare. One wonders, remembering these figures, how many millions of feetof first-class lumber are sacrificed to provide an Indian rancheria inOregon with huckleberries. On the second morning of your voyage you enter the Columbia River, andstop, on the right bank, near the mouth, at a place famous in history andromance, and fearfully disappointing to the actual view--Astoria. Whenyou have seen it, you will wish you had passed it by unseen. I do notknow precisely how it ought to have looked to have pleased my fancy, andrealized the dreams of my boyhood, when I read Bonneville's "Journal" andIrving's "Astoria, " and imagined Astoria to be the home of romance and ofpicturesque trappers. Any thing less romantic than Astoria is to-day youcan scarcely imagine; and what is worse yet, your first view shows youthat the narrow, broken, irreclaimably rough strip of land never had spacefor any thing picturesque or romantic. Astoria, in truth, consists of a very narrow strip of hill-side, backed bya hill so steep that they can shoot timber down it, and inclosed on everyside by dense forests, high, steep hills, and mud flats. It looks likethe rudest Western clearing you ever saw. Its brief streets are paved withwood; its inhabitants wear their trowsers in their boots; if you step offthe pavement you go deep into the mud; and ten minutes' walk brings youto the "forest primeval, " which, picturesque as it may be in poetry, Iconfess to be dreary and monotonous in the extreme in reality. There are but few remains of the old trapper station--one somewhat largehouse is the chief relic; but there is a saw-mill, which seems to make, with all its buzz and fuzz, scarcely an appreciable impression upon thebelt of timber which so shuts in Astoria that I thought I had scarcelyroom in it to draw a full breath; and over to the left they pointed outto me the residence of a gentleman--a general, I think he was--who camehither twenty-six years ago in some official position, and had after aquarter of a century gained what looked to me from the steamer's deck likea precarious ten-acre lot from the "forest primeval, " about enough room tobury himself and family in, with a probability that the firs would crowdthem into the Columbia River if the saw-mill should break down. On the voyage up I said to an Oregonian, "You have a good timber country, I hear?" and his reply seemed to me at the time extravagant. "Timber?" hesaid; "timber--till you can't sleep. " When I had spent a day and a half atanchor abreast of Astoria, the words appeared less exaggerated. Whereveryou look you see only timber; tall firs, straight as an arrow, big as theCalifornia redwoods, and dense as a Southern canebrake. On your right isOregon--its hill-sides a forest so dense that jungle would be as fita word for it as timber; on the left is Washington Territory, and itshill-sides are as densely covered as those of the nearer shore. Thisinterminable, apparently impenetrable, thicket of firs exercised upon mymind, I confess, a gloomy, depressing influence. The fresh lovely greenof the evergreen foliage, the wonderful arrowy straightness of the trees, their picturesque attitude where they cover headlands and reach downto the very water's edge, all did not make up to me for their drearycontinuity of shade. Astoria, however, means to grow. It has already a large hotel, which thetimber has crowded down against the tide-washed flats; a saw-mill, whichis sawing away for dear life, because if it stopped the forest woulddoubtless push it into the river, on whose brink it has courageouslyeffected a lodgment; some tan-yards, shops, and "groceries;" and if youshould wish to invest in real estate here, you can do so with the help ofa "guide, " which is distributed on the steamer, and tells you of numerousbargains in corner lots, etc. ; for here, as in that part of the West whichlies much farther east, people live apparently only to speculate in realestate. An occasional flash of broad humor enlivens some of the land circulars andadvertisements. I found one on the hotel table headed "Homes, " with thefollowing sample: 221 ACRES, Four miles east of Silverton; frame house and a log house (can live in either); log barn; 20 acres in cultivation; 60 acres timber land; balance pasture land; well watered. We will sell this place for $1575. Will throw in a cook stove and all the household furniture, consisting of a frying-pan handle and a broomstick; also a cow and a yearling calf; also one bay heifer; also 8400 lbs. Of hay, minus what the above-named stock have consumed during the winter; also 64 bushels of oats, subject to the above-mentioned diminution. If sold, we shall have left on our hands one of the driest and ugliest-looking old bachelors this side of the grave, which we will cheerfully throw in if at all acceptable to the purchaser. Old maids and rich widows are requested to give their particular attention to this special offer. Don't pass by on the other side. * * * * * HOME, SWEET HOME! Be it ever so humble, there's no place like Home! We still have a few more "Sweet Homes" for sale, consisting of, etc. , etc. , etc. [Illustration: pointing finger] Title perfect--a Warrantee Deed from the hub of the earth to the top of the skies, and Uncle Sam's Patent to back us! A further-reaching title one could scarcely require. I don't know where I got the belief that the Columbia was a second-rateriver. There must have been some blunder in the geographies out of which Igot my lessons and my notions of the North-west coast at school. Possibly, too, the knowledge that navigation is interrupted by rapids at theCascades and Dalles contributed to form an impression conspicuously wrong. In fact, the Columbia is one of the great rivers of the world. It seems tome larger, as it is infinitely grander, than the Mississippi. Between Astoria and the junction of the Willamette its breadth, its depth, its rapid current, and the vast body of water it carries to sea remindedme of descriptions I had read of the Amazon; and I suspect the Columbiawould rank with that stream were it not for the unlucky obstructions atthe Cascades and Dalles, which divide the stream into two unequal parts. [Illustration: SALEM, CAPITAL OF OREGON. ] For ten miles above Astoria the river is so wide that it forms really avast bay. Then it narrows somewhat, and the channel approaches now oneand then the other of its bold, picturesque shores, which often for milesresemble the Palisades of the Hudson in steepness, and exceed them inheight. But even after it becomes narrower the river frequently widensinto broad, open, lake-like expanses, which are studded with lovelyislands, and wherever the shore lowers you see, beyond, grand mountainranges snow-clad and amazingly fine. The banks are precipitous nearly all the way to the junction of theWillamette, and there is singularly little farming country on theimmediate river. Below Kalama there are few spots where there is even roomfor a small farmstead. But along this part of the river are the "salmonfactories, " whence come the Oregon salmon, which, put up in tin cans, arenow to be bought not only in our Eastern States, but all over the world. The fish are caught in weirs, in gill nets, as shad are caught on theHudson, and this is the only part of the labor performed by white men. Thefishermen carry the salmon in boats to the factory--usually a large framebuilding erected on piles over the water--and here they fall into thehands of Chinese, who get for their labor a dollar a day and their food. The salmon are flung up on a stage, where they lie in heaps of a thousandat a time, a surprising sight to an Eastern person, for in such a pileyou may see many fish weighing from thirty to sixty pounds. The workof preparing them for the cans is conducted with exact method and greatcleanliness, water being abundant. One Chinaman seizes a fish and cuts offhis head; the next slashes off the fins and disembowels the fish; it thenfalls into a large vat, where the blood soaks out--a salmon bleeds like abull--and after soaking and repeated washing in different vats, it fallsat last into the hands of one of a gang of Chinese whose business it is, with heavy knives, to chop the fish into chunks of suitable size for thetins. These pieces are plunged into brine, and presently stuffed into thecans, it being the object to fill each can as full as possible with fish, the bone being excluded. The top of the can, which has a small hole pierced in it, is then solderedon, and five hundred tins set on a form are lowered into a huge kettle ofboiling water, where they remain until the heat has expelled all the air. Then a Chinaman neatly drops a little solder over each pin-hole, and afteranother boiling, the object of which is, I believe, to make sure that thecans are hermetically sealed, the process is complete, and the salmon areready to take a journey longer and more remarkable even than that whichtheir progenitors took when, seized with the curious rage of spawning, they ascended the Columbia, to deposit their eggs in its head waters, nearthe centre of the continent. I was assured by the fishermen that the salmon do not decrease in numbersor in size, yet in this year, 1873, more than two millions of pounds wereput up in tin cans on the Lower Columbia alone, besides fifteen or twentythousand barrels of salted salmon. From Astoria to Portland is a distance of one hundred and ten miles, andas the current is strong, the steamer requires ten or twelve hours to makethe trip. As you approach the mouth of the Willamette you meet morearable land, and the shores of this river are generally lower, and oftenalluvial, like the Missouri and Mississippi bottoms; and here you findcattle, sheep, orchards, and fields; and one who is familiar with theagricultural parts of California notices here signs of a somewhat severerclimate, in more substantial houses; and the evidence of more protractedrains, in green and luxuriant grasses at a season when the pastures ofCalifornia have already begun to turn brown. Portland is a surprisingly well-built city, with so many large shops, somany elegant dwellings, and other signs of prosperity, as will make youcredit the assertion of its inhabitants, that it contains more wealth inproportion to its population than any other town in the United States. It lies on the right bank of the Willamette, and is the centre of alarge commerce. Its inhabitants seemed to me to have a singular fancyfor plate-glass fronts in their shops and hotels, and even in the privatehouses, which led me at first to suppose that there must be a glassfactory near at hand. It is all, I believe, imported. From Portland, which you can see in a day, and whose most notable sight isa fine view of Mount Hood, obtainable from the hills back of the city, thesight-seer makes his excursions conveniently in various directions; andas the American traveler is always in a hurry, it is perhaps well to showwhat time is needed: To the Dalles and Celilo, and return to Portland, three days. To Victoria, Vancouver's Island, and return to Portland, including thetour of Puget Sound, seven days. To San Francisco, overland, by railroad to Roseburg, thence by stage toRedding, and rail to San Francisco, seventy-nine hours. [Illustration: SEATTLE, WASHINGTON TERRITORY. ] Thus you may leave San Francisco by steamer for Portland, see the Dalles, the Cascades, Puget Sound, Victoria, the Willamette Valley, and themagnificent mountain scenery of Southern Oregon and Northern California, and be back in San Francisco in less than three weeks, making abundantallowance for possible though not probable detentions on the road. Thetime absolutely needed for the tour is but seventeen days. Of course he who "takes a run over to California" from, the East, predetermined to be back in his office or shop within five or six weeksfrom the day he left home, can not see the Columbia River and Puget Sound. But travelers are beginning to discover that it is worth while to spendsome months on the Pacific coast; some day, I do not doubt, it will befashionable to go across the continent; and those whose circumstancesgive them leisure should not leave the Pacific without seeing Oregon andWashington Territory. In the few pages which follow, my aim is to smooththe way for others by a very simple account of what I myself saw andenjoyed. [Illustration: VICTORIA, BRITISH COLUMBIA. ] And first as to the Cascades and the Dalles of the Columbia. You leavePortland for Dalles City in a steamboat at five o'clock in the morning. The better way is to sleep on board this steamer, and thus avoid anuncomfortably early awakening. Then when you do rise, at six or half past, you will find yourself on the Columbia, and steaming directly at MountHood, whose splendid snow-covered peak seems to bar your way but a shortdistance ahead. It lies, in fact, a hundred miles off; and when you havesailed some hours toward it the river makes a turn, which leaves the snowypeak at one side, and presently hides it behind the steep bank. The little steamer, very clean and comfortable, affords you an excellentbreakfast, and some amusement in the odd way in which she is managed. Mostof the river steamers here have their propelling wheel at the stern; theyhave very powerful engines, which drive them ahead with surprising speed. I have gone sixteen miles an hour in one, with the current; and when theymake a landing the pilot usually runs the boat's head slantingly againstthe shore, and passengers and freight are taken in or landed over thebow. At the wood-pile on the shore you may generally see one of the peoplecalled "Pikes, " whom you will recognize by a very broad-brimmed hat, afrequent squirting of tobacco-juice, and the possession of two or threehounds, whom they call hereabouts "hound-dogs, " as we say "bull-dog. " Andthis reminds me that in Oregon the country people usually ask you if youwill eat an "egg-omelet;" and they speak of pork--a favorite food of thePike--as "hog-meat. " The voyage up the river presents a constant succession of wild andpicturesque scenery; immense rocky capes jut out into the broad stream;for miles the banks are precipitous, like the Hudson River Palisades, onlyoften much higher, and for other miles the river has worn its channel outof the rock, whose face looks bare and clean cut, as though it had beenof human workmanship. The first explorer of the Columbia, even if he wasa very commonplace mortal, must have passed days of the most singularexhilaration, especially if he ascended the stream in that season when theskies are bright and blue, for it seems to me one of the most magnificentsights in the world. I am not certain that the wildness does not oppressone a little after a while, and there are parts of the river where thesmoothly cut cliffs, coming precipitously down to the water's edge, andfollowing down, sheer down, to the river's bottom, make you think withterror of the unhappy people who might here be drowned, with this coldrock within their reach, yet not affording them even a momentary support. I should like to have seen the rugged cliffs relieved here and there bythe softness of smooth lawns, and some evidences that man had conqueredeven this rude and resisting nature. But for a century or two to come the traveler will have to do withoutthis relief; nor need he grumble, for, with all its rugged grandeur, thescenery has many exquisite bits where nature has a little softened itsaspect. Nor is it amiss to remember that but a little way back from theriver there are farms, orchards, cattle, and sheep. At one point the boatfor a moment turned her bow to the shore to admit a young man, who broughtwith him a wonderful bouquet of wild flowers, which he had gathered athis home a few miles back; and here and there, where the hill-sides have amore moderate incline, you will see that some energetic pioneer has carvedhimself out a farm. Nevertheless it is with a sense of relief at the change that you at lastapproach a large island, a flat space of ten or twelve hundred acres, with fences and trees and grain fields and houses, and with a gentle andpeaceful aspect, doubly charming to you when you come upon it suddenly, and fresh from the preceding and somewhat appalling grandeur. Here theboat stops; for you are here at the lower end of the famous Cascades, and you tranship yourself into cars which carry you to the upper end, adistance of about six miles, where again you take boat for Dalles City. [Illustration: MAP OF PUGET SOUND AND VICINITY. ] The Cascades are rapids. The river, which has ever a swift and impetuouscurrent, is nearly two miles wide just above these rapids. Where the bedshoals it also narrows, and the great body of water rushes over the rocks, roaring, tumbling, foaming--a tolerably wild sight. There is nowhere anysudden descent sufficient to make a water-fall; but there is a fall of agood many feet in the six miles of cascades. These rapids are considered impassable, though I believe the Indians usedsometimes to venture down them in canoes; and it was my good fortune toshoot down them in a little steamer--the _Shoshone_--the third only, I wastold, which had ever ventured this passage. The singular history of thissteamboat shows the vast extent of the inland navigation made possibleby the Columbia and its tributaries. She was built in 1866 on the SnakeRiver, at a point ninety miles from Boise City, in Idaho Territory, andwas employed in the upper waters of the Snake, running to near the mouthof the Bruneau, within one hundred and twenty-five miles of the head ofSalt Lake. When the mining excitement in that region subsided there ceased to bebusiness for her, and her owner determined to bring her to Portland. Shepassed several rapids on the Snake, and at a low stage of water was runover the Dalles. Then she had to wait nearly a year until high water onthe Cascades, and finally passed those rapids, and carried her owner, Mr. Ainsworth, who was also for this passage of the Cascades her pilot, andmyself safely into Portland. We steamed from Dalles City about three o'clock on an afternoon so windyas to make the Columbia very rough. When we arrived at the head of theCascades we found the shore lined with people to watch our passage throughthe rapids. As we swept into the foaming and roaring waters the engine wasslowed a little, and for a few minutes the pilots had their hands full;for the fierce currents, sweeping her now to one side and then to theother, made the steering extraordinarily difficult. At one point thereseemed a probability that we should be swept on to the rocks; and it wasvery curious to stand, as General Sprague and I, the only passengers, did, in front of the pilot-house, and watch the boat's head swing against thehelm and toward the rocks, until at last, after half a minute of suspense, she began slowly to swing back, obedient to her pilot's wish. We made six miles in eleven minutes, which is at the rate of more thanthirty miles per hour, a better rate of speed than steamboats commonlyattain. Of course it is impossible to drive a vessel up the Cascades, anda steamboat which has once passed these rapids remains forever below. At the upper end of the Cascades a boat awaits you, which carries youthrough yet more picturesque scenery to Dalles City, where you spend thenight. This is a small place, remarkable to the traveler chiefly for thegeological collection which every traveler ought to see, belonging tothe Rev. Mr. Condon, a very intelligent and enthusiastic geologist, the Presbyterian minister of the place. You have also at Dalles City amagnificent view of Mount Hood, and Mr. Condon will tell you that he hasseen this old crater emit smoke since he has lived here. There is no doubt that both Mount Hood and Mount St. Helens have stillinternal fires, though both their craters are now filled up with ashes. There is reason to believe that at its last period of activity Mount Hoodemitted only ashes; for there are still found traces of volcanic ashes, attributable, I am told, to this mountain, as far as one hundred milesfrom its summit. Of Mount St. Helens it is probable that its slumberingfires are not very deeply buried. A few years ago two adventurous citizensof Washington Territory were obliged, by a sudden fog and cold storm, tospend a night near its summit, and seeking for some cave among the lavawhere to shelter themselves from the storm, found a fissure from whichcame so glowing and immoderate a heat that they could not bear itsvicinity, and, as they related, were alternately frozen and scorched allnight--now roasting at the volcanic fire, and again rushing out to coolthemselves in the sleet and snow. [Illustration: THE DUKE OF YORK. QUEEN VICTORIA. Puget Sound Chiefs. ] The rocks are volcanic from near the mouth of the Willamette to and abovethe Dalles, and geologists suppose that there have been great convulsionsof nature hereabouts in recent geological times. The Indians havea tradition, indeed, that the river was originally navigable andunobstructed where now are the Cascades, and that formerly there was along, natural tunnel, through which the Columbia passed under a mountain. They assert that a great earthquake broke down this tunnel, the siteof which they still point out, and that the debris formed the presentobstructions at the Cascades. Oregon, if one may judge by the fossil remains in Mr. Condon's collection, seems once to have been inhabited by a great number and variety ofpre-adamite beasts; but the most singular object he has to show is a verystriking ape's head, carved with great spirit and vigor out of hard lava. This object was found upon the shore of the Columbia by Indians, aftera flood which had washed away a piece of old alluvial bank. The rock ofwhich it is composed is quite hard; the carving is, as I said, done withremarkable vigor; and the top of the head is hollowed out, precisely asthe Indians still make shallow depressions in figures and heads whichthey carve out of slate, in which to burn what answers in their religiousceremonies for incense. But supposing this relic to belong to Oregon--and there is, I was told, no reason to believe otherwise--where did the Indian who carved it get hisidea of an ape? The Indians of this region, poor creatures that they are, have still the habit of carving rude figures out of slate and othersoft rocks. They have also the habit of cutting out shallow, dish-likedepressions in the heads of such figures, wherein to burn incense. Butthey could not give Mr. Condon any account of the ape's head they broughthim, nor did they recognize its features as resembling any object orcreature familiar to them even by tradition. The Dalles of the Columbia are simply a succession of falls and rapids, not reaching over as great a distance as the Cascades, but containing onefeature much more remarkable than any thing which the Cascades afford, andindeed, so far as I know, found nowhere else. The Columbia above the Dalles is still a first-class river, comparablein depth and width, and in the volume of its water, only with the LowerMississippi or the Amazon. It is a deep, rapidly-flowing stream, nearly amile wide. But at one point in the Dalles the channel narrows until it is, at the ordinary height of the river, not over a hundred yards wide; andthrough this narrow gorge the whole volume of the river rushes for somedistance. Of course water is not subject to compression; the volume of theriver is not diminished; what happens, as you perceive when you see thissingular freak of nature, is that the river is suddenly turned up on itsedge. Suppose it is, above the Dalles, a mile wide and fifty feet deep;at the narrow gorge it is but a hundred yards wide--how deep must it be?Certainly it can be correctly said that the stream is turned up on itsedge. The Dalles lie five or six miles above Dalles City; and you pass theserapids in the train which bears you to Celilo early the next morningafter you arrive at Dalles City. Celilo is not a town; it is simplya geographical point; it is the spot where, if you were bound to theinterior of the continent by water, you would take steamboat. There ishere a very long shed to shelter the goods which are sent up into thisfar-away and, to us Eastern people, unknown interior; there is a wharfwhere land the boats when they return from a journey of perhaps a thousandmiles on the Upper Columbia or the Snake; there are two or three laborers'shanties--and that is all there is of Celilo; and your journey thitherhas been made only that you may see the Dalles, and Cape Horn, as a boldpromontory on the river is called. What I advise you to do is to take a hearty lunch with you, and, if youcan find one, a guide, and get off the early Celilo train at the Dalles. You will have a most delightful day among very curious scenery; willsee the Indians spearing salmon in the pools over which they build theirstages; and can examine at leisure the curious rapids called the Dalles. A party of three or four persons could indeed spend several days verypleasantly picnicking about the Dalles, and in the season they would shoothare and birds enough to supply them with meat. The weather in this partof Oregon, east of the Cascade range, is as settled as that of California, so that there is no risk in sleeping-out-of-doors in summer. There is a singularly sudden climatic change between Western and EasternOregon; and if you ask the captain or pilot on the boat which pliesbetween the Cascades and Dalles City, he can show you the mountain rangeon one side of which the climate is wet, while on the other side it isdry. The Cascade range is a continuation northward of the Sierra Nevada;and here, as farther south, it stops the water-laden winds which rush upfrom the sea. Western Oregon, lying between the Cascades and the ocean, has so much rain that its people are called "Web-feet;" Eastern Oregon, avast grazing region, has comparatively little rain. Western Oregon, exceptin the Willamette and Rogue River valleys, is densely timbered; EasternOregon is a country of boundless plains, where they irrigate their fewcrops, and depend mainly on stock-grazing. This region is as yet sparselysettled; and when we in the East think of Oregon, or read of it even, itis of that part of the huge State which lies west of the Cascades, andwhere alone agriculture is carried on to a considerable extent. You will spend a day in returning from the Dalles to Portland, andarriving there in the evening can set out the next morning for Olympia, on Puget Sound, by way of Kalama, which is the Columbia River terminusfor the present of the Northern Pacific Railroad. It is possible to goby steamer from Portland to Victoria, and then return down Puget Sound toOlympia; but to most people the sea-voyage is not enticing, and there arebut slight inconveniences in the short land journey. The steamer leavingPortland at six A. M. Lands you at Kalama about eleven; there you getdinner, and proceed about two by rail to Olympia. It is a good plan totelegraph for accommodations on the pretty and comfortable steamer _NorthPacific_, and go directly to her on your arrival at Olympia. Puget Sound is one of the most picturesque and remarkable sheets of waterin the world; and the voyage from Olympia to Victoria, which shows you thegreater part of the Sound, is a delightful and novel excursion, speciallyto be recommended to people who like to go to sea without gettingsea-sick; for these land-encircled waters are almost always smooth. When, at Kalama, you enter Washington Territory, your ears begin to beassailed by the most barbarous names imaginable. On your way to Olympiaby rail you cross a river called the Skookum-Chuck; your train stops atplaces named Newaukum, Tumwater, and Toutle; and if you seek further, youwill hear of whole counties labeled Wahkiakum, or Snohomish, or Kitsap, orKlikatat; and Cowlitz, Hookium, and Nenolelops greet and offend you. Theycomplain in Olympia that Washington Territory gets but little immigration;but what wonder? What man, having the whole American continent to chosefrom, would willingly date his letters from the county of Snohomish, orbring up his children in the city of Nenolelops? The village of Tumwateris, as I am ready to bear witness, very pretty indeed; but surely anemigrant would think twice before he established himself either there orat Toutle. Seattle is sufficiently barbarous; Steilacoom is no better; andI suspect that the Northern Pacific Railroad terminus has been fixed atTacoma--if it is fixed there--because that is one of the few placeson Puget Sound whose name does not inspire horror and disgust. [Illustration: NANAIMO, VANCOUVER'S ISLAND. ] Olympia, which lies on an arm of Puget Sound, and was once a town ofgreat expectations, surprises the traveler by its streets, all shaded withmagnificent maples. The founder of the town was a man of taste; and heset a fashion which, being followed for a few years in this country ofabundant rains, has given Olympia's streets shade trees by the hundredwhich would make it famous were it an Eastern place. Unluckily, it has little else to charm the traveler, though it is thecapital of the Territory; and when you have spent half an hour walkingthrough the streets you will be quite ready to have the steamer set offfor Victoria. The voyage lasts but about thirty-six hours, and would beshorter were it not that the steamer makes numerous landings. Thus youget glimpses of Seattle, Steilacoom, Tacoma, and of the so-called saw-millports--Port Madison, Port Gamble, Port Ludlow, and Port Townsend--thelast named being also the boundary of our Uncle Samuel's dominions forthe present, and the port of entry for this district, with a custom-housewhich looks like a barn, and a collector and inspectors, the latter ofwhom examine your trunk as you return from Victoria to save you from thesin of smuggling. From Port Townsend your boat strikes across the straits of San Juan deFuca to Victoria; and just here, as you are crossing from Americanto English territory, you get the most magnificent views of the grandOlympian range of mountains and of Mount Regnier. Also, the captain willpoint out to you in the distance that famous island of San Juan whichformed the subject or object, or both, of our celebrated boundary disputewith great Britain, and you will wonder how small an object can nearlymake nations go to war, and for what a petty thing we set several kingsand great lords to studying geography and treaties and international law, and boring themselves, and filling enterprising newspapers with dozensof columns of dull history; and you will wonder the more at the stupidpertinacity of these English in clinging to the little island of San Juanwhen you reach Victoria, and see that we shall presently take that dulllittle town too, not because we want it or need it, but to save it fromperishing of inanition. It is something to have taste and a sense of the beautiful. Certainly theEnglish, who discovered the little landlocked harbor of Victoria and choseit as the site of a town, displayed both. It is by natural advantages oneof the loveliest places I ever saw, and I wonder, remote as it is, thatit is not famous. The narrow harbor, which is not so big as one of thebig Liverpool docks, is surrounded on both sides by the prettiest littleminiature bays, rock-bound, with grassy knolls, and here and there shadyclumps of evergreens; a river opening out above the town into a kind oflake, and spanned by pretty bridges, invites you to a boating excursion;and the fresh green of the lawn-like expanses of grass which reach intothe bay from different directions, the rocky little promontories withboats moored near them, the fine snow-covered mountains in the distance, and the pleasantly winding roads leading in different directions into thecountry, all make up a landscape whose soft and gay aspect I suppose isthe more delightful because one comes to it from the somewhat oppressivegrandeur of the fir forests in Washington Territory. In the harbor of Victoria the most conspicuous object is the long range ofwarehouses belonging to the Hudson Bay Company, with their little tradingsteamers moored alongside. These vessels bear the signs of traffic with asavage people in the high boarding nettings which guard them from stem tostern, and which are in their more solid parts pierced for musketry. Here, too, you see a queer little old steamboat, the first that ever vexedthe waters of the Pacific Ocean with its paddle-wheels. And as your ownsteamer hauls up to the wharf, you will notice, arrayed to receive you, what is no doubt the most shocking and complete collection of ugly womenin the world. These are the Indians of this region. They are very light-colored;their complexion has an artificial look; there is something ghastly andunnatural in the yellow of the faces, penetrated by a rose or carminecolor on the cheeks. They are hideous in all the possible aspects andvarieties of hideousness--undersized, squat, evil-eyed, pug-nosed, tawdryin dress, ungraceful in every motion; they really mar the landscape, sothat you are glad to escape from them to your hotel, which you find aclean and comfortable building, where, if you are as fortunate as thetraveler who relates this, you may by-and-by catch a glimpse or two ofa fresh, fair, girlish English face, which will make up to you for theprecedent ugliness. Victoria hopes to have its dullness enlivened by a railroad from themainland one of these days, which may make it more prosperous, but willprobably destroy some of the charm it now has for a tourist. It can hardlydestroy the excellent roads by which you may take several picturesquedrives and walks in the neighborhood of the town, nor the pretty views youhave from the hills near by, nor the excursions by boat, in which you canbest see how much Nature has done to beautify this place, and how littleman has done so far to mar her work. Silks and cigars are said to be very cheap in Victoria; and those whoconsume these articles will probably look through the shops and make afew purchases, not enough to satisfy, though sufficient to arouse thesuspicions of the Collector of Customs at Port Townsend. If you use yourtime well, the thirty-six hours which the steamer spends at Victoria willsuffice you to see all that is of interest there to a traveler, and youcan return in her down the Sound, and make more permanent your impressionsof its scenery. You will perhaps be startled, if you chance to overhear the conversationof your fellow-passengers, to gather that it concerns itself chiefly withmillions, and these millions run to such extraordinary figures that youmay hear one man pitying another for the confession that he made no morethan a hundred millions last year. It is feet of lumber they are speakingof; and when you see the monstrous piles of sawdust which encumber themill ports, the vast quantities of waste stuff they burn, and the hugerafts of timber which are towed down to the mills, as well as theships which lie there to load for South America, Tahiti, Australia, andCalifornia, you will not longer wonder that they talk of millions. Some of these mills are owned by very wealthy companies, who have had thegood fortune to buy at low rates large tracts of the best timber landslying along the rivers and bays. A saw-mill is the centre of quite atown--and a very rough town too, to judge from the appearance of the menwho come down to the dock to look at the steamer, and the repute of theIndian women who go from port to port and seem at home among the mill men. Having gone by sea to Oregon, I should advise you to return to Californiaoverland. The journey lies by rail through the fertile Willamette Valley, for the present the chief agricultural country of Oregon, to Roseburg, andthence by stage over and through some of the most picturesque and grandscenery in America, into California. If you are curious in bizarre socialexperiments, you may very well stop a day at Aurora, thirty miles belowPortland, and look at some of the finest orchards in the State, theproperty of a strange German community which has lived in harmony andacquired wealth at this point. Salem, too, the capital of Oregon, lying on the railroad fifty miles belowPortland, is worth a visit, to show you how rich a valley the Willametteis. And as you go down by stage toward California you will enjoy a longday's drive through the Rogue River Valley, a long, narrow, winding seriesof nooks, remote, among high mountains, looking for all the world asthough in past ages a great river had swept through here, and left in itsdry bed a fertile soil, and space enough for a great number of happy andcomfortable homes. May and June are the best months in which to see Oregon and Puget Sound. With San Francisco as a starting-point, one may go either to Portland orto Victoria direct. If you go first to Victoria, you save a return journeyacross Puget Sound, and from Olympia to Kalama, but you miss the sail upthe Columbia from Astoria to Portland. The following table of fares willshow you the cost of traveling in the region I have described: Time. Fare. From San Francisco to Portland. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 3 days $30 00From San Francisco to Victoria. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 3 " 30 00From Portland to Celilo. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. . 1 day 7 00Excursion tickets, good from Portland to Celilo andback. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 3 days 10 00From Portland by Olympia to Victoria. .. .. .. .. .. .. 3 " 12 25From Portland to San Francisco by railroad andstage. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. . 79 hours 42 00 Meals on these journeys are extra, and cost from half a dollar toseventy-five cents. They are generally good. All these rates are incoin. On the steamer from San Francisco to Portland or Victoria meals areincluded in the fare. When you are once in Portland, a vast region opens itself to you, if youare an adventurous tourist. You may take boat at Celilo, above the Dalles, and steam up to Wallula, where you take stage for Elkton, a station onthe Pacific Railroad, in Utah; this journey shows you the heart of thecontinent, and is said to abound in magnificent scenery. I have not madeit, but it is frequently done. If you have not courage for so long anoverland trip, a journey up to the mouth of Snake River and back toPortland, which consumes but a week, will give you an intelligent idea ofthe vastness of the country drained by the main body of the great ColumbiaRiver. The great plains and table-lands which lie east of the Cascades, and aredrained by the Columbia, the Snake, and their affluents, will some daycontain a vast population. Already enterprising pioneers are pushing intothe remotest valleys of this region. As you sail up the Columbia, you willhear of wheat, barley, sheep, stock, wool, orchards, and rapidly growingsettlements, where, to our Eastern belief, the beaver still builds hisdams, unvexed even by the traps and rifle of the hunter. [Illustration: ANCIENT HAWAIIAN IDOL. ] APPENDIX. CONTRIBUTIONS OF A VENERABLE SAVAGE TO THE ANCIENT HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIANISLANDS. [A] TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH OF M. JULES REMY, BY WILLIAM T. BRIGHAM. [I am indebted to Mr. William T. Brigham, of Boston, the translator of the following "Contributions of a venerable Savage, " and the author of a valuable treatise on the volcanoes of the Sandwich Islands, as well as of several memoirs on the natural history of the Islands, for his kind permission to use this very curious fragment, with his additions, in my volume. The original I have not been able to lay my hands on. It gives a picturesque account of the Hawaiian people before they came into relations with foreigners. It should be remembered by the reader that Mr. Remy is a Frenchman, and that his relations with the Roman Catholic missionaries somewhat colored his views of the labors of the American missionaries on the Islands. The "contributions" in this translation of Mr. Brigham were privately printed by him some years ago, and the following note by him explains their origin. It will be seen that Mr. Brigham translated the Mele, or chant of Kawelo, from the original. ] One evening, in the month of March, 1853, I landed at Hoopuloa, on thewestern shore of Hawaii. Among the many natives collected on the beachto bid me welcome and draw my canoe up over the sand, I noticed an oldman of average size, remarkably developed chest, and whose hairs, apparently once flaxen, were hoary with age. The countenance of thisold man, at once savage and attractive, was furrowed across theforehead with deep and regular wrinkles. His only garment was a shirtof striped calico. A sort of veneration with which his countrymen seemed to me to regard himonly increased the desire I at first felt to become acquainted withthe old islander. I was soon told that his name was Kanuha, that hewas already a lad when Alapai[1] died (about 1752), that he had knownKalaniopuu, Cook, and Kamehameha the Great. When I learned his nameand extraordinary age, I turned toward Kanuha, extending my hand. Thisattention flattered him, and disposed him favorably toward me. So Iresolved to take advantage of this lucky encounter to obtain from aneye-witness an insight into Hawaiian customs before the arrival ofEuropeans. A hut of pandanus had been prepared for me upon the lava by the care ofa missionary. I made the old man enter, and invited him to partake of myrepast of poi, [2] cocoa-nut, raw fish, and roast dog. While eating the poiwith full fingers, Kanuha assured me that he had lived under King Alapai, and had been his runner, as well as the courier of Kalaniopuu, hissuccessor. So great had been Kanuha's strength in his youth that, at thecommand of his chiefs, he had in a single day accomplished the distancefrom Hoopuloa to Hilo, more than forty French leagues. When Cook died, in1779, the little children of Kanuha's children had been born. When I spokeof Alapai to my old savage, he told me that _it seemed to him a matter ofyesterday_; of Cook, _it was a thing of to-day_. From these facts it may be believed that Kanuha was not less than onehundred and sixteen years old when I met him on this occasion. Thisremarkable example of longevity was by no means unique at the HawaiianIslands a few years since. Father Maréchal knew at Ka'u, in 1844, anaged woman who remembered perfectly having seen Alapai. I had occasion toconverse at Kauai with an islander who was already a grandfather when hesaw Captain Cook die. I sketched, at this very Hoopuloa, the portrait ofan old woman, still vigorous, Meawahine, who told any who would hear herthat her breasts were completely developed when her chief gave her as wifeto the celebrated English navigator. Old Kanuha was the senior of all these centenaries. I took advantage ofhis willing disposition to draw from him the historical treasures withwhich his memory was stored. Here, in my own order, is what he told meduring a night of conversation, interrupted only by the Hawaiian dances(_hulahula_), and by some pipes of tobacco smoked in turn, in the customof the country. OF GOVERNMENT AND SOCIETY WITH THE ANCIENT HAWAIIANS. The soil was the property of the king, who reserved one part of it forhimself, assigning another to the nobles, and left the rest to the firstoccupant. Property, based on a possession more or less ancient, wastransmitted by heritage; but the king could always dispose, according tohis whims, of property of chiefs and subjects, and the chiefs had the sameprivilege over the people. Taxes were not assessed on any basis. The king levied them whenever itseemed good to him, and almost always in an arbitrary way. The chiefsalso, and the priests, received a tribute from the people. The tax wasalways in kind, and consisted of: Kalo, raw and made into poi; Potatoes (_Convolvulus batatas_, L. ) manyvarieties; Bananas (_maia_) of different kinds; Cocoa-nuts (called _niu_by the natives); Dogs (destined for food);[3] Hogs; Fowls; Fish, crabs, cuttle-fish, shell-fish; Kukui nuts (_Aleurites moluccana_) for makingrelishes, and for illumination; Edible sea-weed (_limu_); Edible ferns(several species, among others the _hapuu_); Awa (_Piper methysticum_, Forst. ); Ki roots (_Cordyline ti_, Schott. ), a very saccharine vegetable;Feathers of the _Oo_ (_Drepanis pacifica_), and of the _Iiwi_ (_Drepaniscoccinea_): these birds were taken with the glue of the _ulu_ orbread-fruit (_Artocarpus incisa_); Fabrics of beaten bark (_kapa_)and fibre of the _olona_ (_Boehmeria_), of _wauke_ (_Broussonetiapapyrifera_), of _hau_ (_Hilasens tiliasens_), etc. ; Mats of Pandanus andof Scirpus; Pili (grass to thatch houses with); Canoes (_waa_); Wood forbuilding; Calabashes (serving for food vessels, and to hold water); Woodendishes; Arms and instruments of war, etc. , etc. A labor tax was also enforced, and it was perhaps the most onerous, because it returned almost regularly every moon for a certain number ofdays. The work was principally cultivating the _loi_, or fields of kalo, which belonged to the king or chiefs. The Hawaiian people were divided into three very distinct classes; thesewere: 1. The nobility (_Alii_), comprising the king and the chiefs of whateverdegree; 2. The clergy (_Kahuna_), comprising the priests, doctors, prophets, andsorcerers; 3. Citizens (_Makaainana_), comprising laborers, farmers, proletaries, andslaves. THE NOBILITY. NA'LII. The chiefs or nobles were of several orders. The highest chief bore thetitle of _Moi_, which may best be rendered by the word majesty. In aremote period of Hawaiian history, this title was synonymous with _Kalani_, heaven. This expression occurs frequently in ancient poems: _Auheaoe, e ka lani? Eia ae_. This mode of address is very poetic, and quitepleasing to the chiefs. The Moi was still called _kapu_ and _aliinui_. To tread on his shadowwas a crime punished with death: _He make ke ee malu_. The chief next thethrone took the title of _Wohi_. He who ranked next, that of _Mahana_. These titles could belong at the same time to several chiefs of theblood-royal, who were called _Alii kapu, Alii wohi_. The ordinary nobilityfurnished the king's aids-de-camp, called _Hulumanu_ (plumed officers). By the side of the nobility were the _Kahu alii_, literally guardians ofthe chiefs, of noble origin by the younger branch, but who dared not claimthe title of chief in the presence of their elders. The Kahu alii of themale sex might be considered born chamberlains; of the female, ladies ofthe bed-chamber. There were five kinds of Kahu alii, which are: Iwikuamoo, Ipukuha, Paakahili, Kiaipoo, Aipuupuu. These titles constituted as many hereditary charges reserved for thelesser nobility. The functions of the Iwikuamoo (backbone of the chief)were to rub his lord on the back, when stretched on his mat. The Ipukuhahad charge of the royal spittoons. The Paakahili carried a very long plume(_kahili_), which he waved, around the royal person to drive away theflies and gnats. The duties of this officer were continual and mostfatiguing, for he must constantly remain near the person of his master, armed with his kahili, whether the king was seated or reclining, eatingor sleeping. The Kiaipoo's special charge was to watch at the side of hisaugust chief during sleep. The Aipuupuu was the chief cook, and, besides, performed functions similar to those of steward or purveyor. There were, besides, other inferior chiefs, as the _Puuku_, attendants ofthe house or palace; _Malama ukana_, charged with the care of provisionsin traveling; _Aialo_, who had the privilege of eating in the presence ofthe chief; and, at the present day, the _Muki baka_, who had the honor oflighting the king's pipe and carrying his tobacco-pouch. Although the people considered these last four orders as belonging to thenobility, it seems that they were of lower rank than the citizens favoredby the chiefs. Finally, the king had always in his service the _Hula_, who, like thebuffoon or jester of the French kings, must amuse his majesty by mimicryor dancing. The _Kahu alii_, or _Kaukaualii_, as they are now styled, are attendants or followers of the high chiefs by right of birth. Theyaccompany their masters everywhere, almost in the same manner thata governess follows her pupil. [4] From the throne down nobility washereditary. The right of primogeniture was recognized as natural law. Nobility transmitted through the mother was considered far superior tothat on the father's side only, even if he were the highest of chiefs. This usage was founded on the following proverb: _Maopopo ka makuahine, aole maopopo ka makuakane_ (It is always evident who the mother is, butone is never sure about the father). Agreeably to this principle, thehigh chiefs, when they could not find wives of a sufficiently illustriousorigin, might espouse their sisters and their nieces, or, in default ofeither of these, their own mother. Nevertheless, history furnishes usseveral examples of kings who were not noble on the maternal side. [5] THE CLERGY. NA KAHUNA. The priests formed three orders: 1. The _Kahuna_ proper. 2. The _Kaula_, or prophets. 3. The _Kilo_, diviners or magicians. The priesthood, properly so called (_Kahuna maoli, Kahuna pule_), washereditary. The priests received their titles from their fathers, andtransmitted them to their offspring, male and female, for the Hawaiianshad priestesses as well. The priest was the peer of the nobility; he hada portion of land in all the estates of the chiefs, and sometimes acquiredsuch power as to be formidable to the alii. In religious ceremonies, thepriests were clothed with absolute power, and selected the victims for thesacrifices. This privilege gave them an immense and dangerous influence inprivate life, whence the Hawaiian proverb: The priest's man is inviolable, the chief's man is the prey of death, _Aole e make ko ke kahuna kanaka, oko ke 'lii kanaka ke make_. The kahuna, being clothed with supreme power in the exercise of hisfunctions, alone could designate the victim suitable to appease the angerof the gods. The people feared him much for this prerogative, which gavethe power of life and death over all, and the result was that the priesthad constantly at his service an innumerable crowd of men and women whollydevoted to him. It was not proper for him to choose victims from a peoplewho paid him every imaginable attention. But among the servants of thealii, if there were any who had offended the priest or his partisans, nothing more was necessary to condemn to death such or such an attendantof even the highest chief. From this it may be seen how dangerous it wasnot to enjoy the good graces of the kahuna, who, by his numerous clan, might revolutionize the whole country. History affords us an examplein the Kahuna Kaleihokuu of Laupahoehoe, who had in his service soconsiderable a body of retainers that he was able in a day, by a singleact of his will, to put to death the great chief Hakau, of Waipio, andsubstitute in his place Umi, the bastard son (_poolua_) of King Liloa, who had, however, been adopted by Kaleihokuu. Another example of thisremarkable power is seen in the Kahuna of Ka'u, who massacred the highchief Kohookalani, in the neighborhood of Ninole, tumbling down upon him ahuge tree from the top of the _pali_ (precipice) of Hilea. The _Kahuna_, especially those of the race of Paao, were the naturaldepositaries of history, and took the revered title of _Mo'olelo_, orhistorians. Some individuals of this stock still exist, and they are allesteemed by the natives, and regarded as the chiefs of the historicaland priestly caste. The sacerdotal order had its origin in Paao, whosedescendants have always been regarded as the _Kahuna maoli_. [6] Paaocame from a distant land called Kahiki. According to several chiefs, hisgenealogy must be more correct than that of the kings. Common traditiondeclares that Paao came from foreign countries, landing on the north-westshore of Hawaii (Kohala), at Puuepa, in the place where, to this day, areseen the ruins of the Heiau (temple) of Mokini, the most ancient of allthe temples, and which he is said to have built. The advent of Paao andhis erection of this heiau are so ancient, according to the old men, thatNight helped the priest raise the temple: _Na ka po i kukulu ae la Mokini, a na Paao nae_. These sayings, in the native tongue, indicate the highantiquity of Paao. [7] To build the temple of Mokini, which also served as a city of refuge, Paaohad stones brought from all sides, even from Pololu, a village situatedfour or five leagues from Mokini or Puuepa. The Kanakas formed a chain thewhole length of the route, and passed the stones from one to another--aneasy thing in those times--from the immense population of theneighborhood. Paao has always been considered as the first of the Kahuna. For thisreason his descendants, independently of the fact that they are regardedas _Mookahuna_, that is, of the priesthood, are more like nobles in theeye of the people, and are respected by the chiefs themselves. There are, in the neighborhood of Mokini, stones which are considered petrifactionsof the canoe, paddles, and fish-hooks of Paao. At Pololu, toward the mountain, are found fields of a very beautifulverdure. They are called the pastures, or grass-plots, of Paao (_Na mauu aPaao_). The old priest cultivated these fields himself, where no one sincehis time has dared to use spade or mattock. If an islander was impiousenough to cultivate the meadow of Paao, the people believe that a terriblepunishment would be the inevitable consequence of that profanation. Disastrous rains, furious torrents, would surely ravage the neighboringcountry. Some Hawaiians pretend that there exists another sacerdotal race besidesthat of Paao, more ancient even than that, and whose priests belonged atthe same time to a race of chiefs. It is the family of Maui, probablyof Maui-hope, the last of the seven children of Hina, [8] the same whocaptured the sea-monster Piimoe. The origin of this race, to which Naiheof Kohala pretends to belong, is fabulous. Since the reign of Kamehameha, the priests of the order of Maui have lost favor. The second class of the clergy was composed of the prophets (_Kaula_), an inoffensive and very respectable people, who gave vent to theirinspiration from time to time in unexpected and uncalled-for prophesies. The third order of the clergy is that of _Kilo_, diviners or magicians. With these may be classed the _Kilokilo_, the _Kahunalapaau_ and_Kahunaanaana_, a sort of doctors regarded as sorcerers, to whom wasattributed the power of putting to death by sorcery and witchcraft. [9] TheKahunaanaana and the Kahunalapaau have never been considered as belongingto the high caste of Kahuna maoli. The Kahunaanaana, or sorcerers, inherited their functions. They werethoroughly detested, and the people feared them, and do to this day. Whenthe chiefs were dissatisfied with a sorcerer, they had his head cut offwith a stone axe (_koipohaku_), or cast him from the top of a pali. The doctors were of two kinds. The first, the Kahunalapaau proper, comprised all who used plants in the treatment of disease. Just as thesorcerers understood poisonous vegetables, so the doctors knew the simpleswhich furnished remedies to work cures. The second kind comprised thespiritual doctors, who had various names, and who seem to have beenintermediate between priests and magicians, sharing at once in theattributes of both. They were: _Kahuna uhane_, the doctors of ghosts and spirits; _Kahuna makani_, doctors of winds; _Kahuna hoonohonoho akua_, who caused the gods to descend on the sick; _Kahuna aumakua_, doctors of diseases of the old; _Kahuna Pele_, doctors or priests of Pele, goddess of volcanoes. All the doctors of the second kind are still found in the islands, [10]where they have remained idolaters, although they have been for the mostpart baptized. There is hardly a Kanaka who has not had recourse to themin his complaints, preferring their cures and their remedies to thoseof the foreign physicians. Laws have been enacted to prohibit thesecharlatans from exercising their art; but under the rule of KamehamehaIII. , who protected them, these laws have not been enforced. THE CITIZENS. NA MAKAAINANA. The class of _Makaainana_ comprises all the inhabitants not included inthe two preceding classes; that is to say, the bulk of the people. There were two degrees of this cast: the _kanaka wale_, freemen, privatecitizens, and the _kauwa_ or servants. The Hawaiian saying, _O luna, olalo, kai, o uka a o ka hao pae, ko ke 'lii_ (All above, all below, thesea, the land, and iron cast upon the shore, all belong to the king), exactly defines the third class of the nation, called makaainana, theclass that possesses nothing, and has no right save that of sustenance. The Hawaiians honored canoe-builders and great fishers as privilegedcitizens. The chiefs themselves granted them some consideration; but itmust be confessed that the honorable position they occupied in society wasdue to their skill in their calling rather than to any thing else. Thesebuilders were generally deeply in debt. They ate in advance the price oftheir labor, which usually consisted of hogs and fowls, and they died ofstarvation before the leaves ceased to sprout on the tree their adze hadtransformed into a canoe. The _kauwa_, servants, must not be confounded with the _kauwa maoli_, actual slaves. A high chief, even a wohi, would call himself withoutdishonor _ke kauwa a ke 'lii nui_, the servant of the king. At present, their excellencies the ministers and the nobles do not hesitate to signtheir names under the formula _kou kauwa_, your servant; but it is nonethe less true, for all that, that formerly there were among the commonpeople a class, few in number, of slaves, or serfs, greatly despised bythe Hawaiians, and still to our days so lowered in public opinion that asimple peasant refuses to associate with the descendants of this caste. They point the finger at people of kauwa extraction, lampoon them, andtouch the soles of their feet when they speak of them, to mark the lownessof their origin. If they were independent, and even rich, an ordinaryislander would deem himself disgraced to marry his daughter to one ofthese pariahs. The slaves were not permitted to cross the threshold of the chiefs'palace. They could do no more than crawl on hands and knees to the door. In spite of the many changes infused into Hawaiian institutions, the kauwafamilies remain branded with a stigma, in the opinion of the natives, andthe laws, which accord them the same rights as other citizens, can notreinstate them. It seems certain that the origin of slavery among the Hawaiians mustbe sought in conquests. The vanquished, who were made prisoners, becameslaves, and their posterity inherited their condition. From time immemorial the islanders have clothed themselves, the men withthe _malo_, the women with the _pau_. The malo is bound around the loins, after having passed between the legs, to cover the pudenda. The pau is ashort skirt, made of bark cloth or of the ki leaves, which reaches fromthe waist half down to the knees. The old popular songs show clearly thatthis costume has always been worn by the natives. To go naked was regardedas a sign of madness, or as a mark of divine birth. Sometimes the kingswere attended by a man sprung from the gods, and this happy mortal alonehad the right to follow, _puris naturalibus_, his august master. Thepeople said, in speaking of him, _He akua ia_, he is a god. _Kapa_, a kind of large sheet in which the chiefs dressed themselves, wasmade of the soaked and beaten bark of several shrubs, such as the wauke, olona, hau, oloa. Fine varieties were even made of the kukui (_Aleuritesmoluccana_). In ancient times it was an offense punishable with death fora common man to wear a double kapa or malo. The Hawaiians have never worn shoes. In certain districts where lava isvery abundant, they make sandals (_kamaa_) with the leaves of the ki andpandanus. They always go bare-headed, except in battle, where they liketo exhibit themselves adorned with a sort of helmet made of twigs andfeathers. The women never wear any thing but flowers on their heads. Tattooing wasknown, but less practiced than at the Marquesas, and much more rudely. The Hawaiians are not cannibals. They have been upbraided in Europe aseaters of human flesh, but such is not the case. They have never killed aman for food. It is true that in sacrifices they eat certain parts of thevictim, but there it was a religious rite, not an act of cannibalism. So, also, when they ate the flesh of their dearest chiefs, it was to do honorto their memory by a mark of love: they never eat the flesh of bad chiefs. The Hawaiians do not deny that the entrails of Captain Cook were eaten;but they insist that it was done by children, who mistook them for theviscera of a hog, an error easily explained when it is known that the bodyhad been opened and stripped of as much flesh as possible, to be burnedto ashes, as was due the body of a god. The officers of the distinguishednavigator demanded his bones, but as they were destroyed, [B] those of aKanaka were surrendered in their stead, receiving on board the ships ofthe expedition the honors intended for the unfortunate commander. The condition of the women among the ancient Hawaiians was like that ofservants well treated by their masters. The chiefesses alone enjoyed equalrights with men. It is a convincing proof that women were regarded asinferior to men, that they could in no case eat with their husbands, andthat the kapu was often put upon their eating the most delicious food. Thus bananas were prohibited on pain of death. Their principal occupationsconsisted in making kapa, the malo and pau, and in preparing food. Marriage was performed by cohabitation with the consent of the relations. Polygamy was only practiced by the chiefs. Children were very independent, and although their parents respected them so much as seldom to dare layhands on them, they were quite ready to part with them to oblige a friendwho evinced a desire for them. Often an infant was promised before birth. This singular custom still exists, but is much less frequent. They had little regard for old men who had become useless, and even killedthem to get them out of the way. It was allowable to suffocate infants toavoid the trouble of bringing them up. Women bestowed their affection upondogs and pigs, and suckled them equally with their children. Fleas, lice, and grasshoppers were eaten, but flies inspired an unconquerable horror;if one fell into a calabash of poi, the whole was thrown away. [11] The Hawaiians practiced a sort of circumcision, differing from that ofthe Jews, but having the same sanitary object. This operation _(mahele)_consisted in slitting the prepuce by means of a bamboo. The mahele hasfallen into disuse, but is still practiced in some places, unbeknown tothe missionaries, upon children eight or ten years old. A sort of priest(kahuna) performs the operation. [12] The Hawaiian women are always delivered without pain, except in veryexceptional cases. The first time they had occasion to witness, in thepersons of the missionaries' wives, the painful childbirths of the whiterace, they could not restrain their bursts of laughter, supposing it tobe mere custom, and not pain, that could thus draw cries from the wives ofthe Haole (foreigners). The ancient Hawaiians cared for their dead. They wrapped them in kapawith fragrant herbs, such as the flowers of the sugar-cane, which had theproperty of embalming them. They buried in their houses, or carriedtheir bodies to grottoes dug in the solid rock. More frequently they weredeposited in natural caves, a kind of catacombs, where the corpses werepreserved without putrefaction, drying like mummies. It was a sacred dutyto furnish food to the dead for several weeks. Sometimes the remains werethrown into the boiling lava of the volcanoes, and this mode of sepulturewas regarded as homage paid to the goddess Pele, who fed principally onhuman flesh. THE STORY OF UMI; HIS BIRTH AND YOUTH. Liloa reigned over the island of Hawaii. In the course of one of hisjourneys through the province of Hamakua, he met a woman of the peoplenamed Akahikameainoa, who pleased him, and whose favors he claimed assupreme chief. Akahikameainoa was then in her menses, so that the malo of the king wassoiled with the discharge. Liloa said to the woman: "If you bring into theworld a man-child, it shall belong to me; if a girl, it shall be yours. I leave with you as tokens of my sovereign will my _niho palaoa_ (whale'stooth), and my _lei_. Conceal these things from all eyes; they will oneday be a souvenir of our relation, a proof of the paternity of the childwho shall be born from our loves. " That would, indeed, be an unexceptionable testimony, for by the law ofkapu a wife could not, under pain of death, approach her husband while inher courses. The soiled malo and the time of the child's birth would givecertain indications. Akahikameainoa carefully concealed the royal tokens of her adultery, saying nothing to any one, not even to her husband. The spot where shehid them is known to this day as _Huna na niho_, the hiding place of theteeth. Liloa then held his court at Waipio in all the splendor of the time. Besides a considerable troop of servants, he had in attendance priests(kahuna), prophets (kaula), nobles, and his only son, Hakau. The palacewas made merry night and day by the licentious motions of the dancers, andby the music of the resounding calabashes. Nine moons after her meeting with the king, Akahikameainoa gave birth toa man-child, which she called Umi, and brought up under the roof of herhusband, who believed himself the father. The child developed rapidly, became strong, and acquired a royal stature. In his social games, in thesports of youth, he always bore away the palm. He was, moreover, a greateater: _Hao wale i ka ai a me ka ia_. [13] In a word, Umi was a perfectKanaka, and a skillful fighter, who made his comrades suffer for it. At this time he conceived a strong affection for two peasants of theneighborhood, Koi of Kukui-haole and Omakamau, who became his _aikane_. One day his supposed father, angry at his conduct, was about to punishhim: "Strike him not, " exclaimed Akahikameainoa, "he is your lord andchief! Do not imagine that he is the son of us two: he is the child ofLiloa, your king. " Umi was then about fifteen or sixteen years old. His mother, after this declaration, startling as a thunder-bolt, went anduncovered the tokens Liloa had left as proof, and placed them before herhusband, who was motionless with fear at the thought of the high treasonhe had been on the point of committing. In the mean time, Liloa had grown old, and Akahikameainoa, deeming themoment had arrived, invested Umi with the royal malo, the niho palaoa, andthe lei, emblems of power, which high chiefs alone had the right to wear. "Go, " said she to him then; "go, my son, present yourself at Waipio toKing Liloa, your father. Tell him you are his child, and show him, inproof of your words, these tokens which he left with me. " Umi, proud enough of the revelation of his mother, at once departs, accompanied by Koi and Omakamau. The palace of Liloa was surrounded by guards, priests, diviners, andsorcerers. The kapu extended to the edge of the outer inclosure, and noone might pass on penalty of death. Umi advanced boldly and crossed thethreshold. Exclamations and cries of death sounded in his ears from allsides. Without troubling himself, he passed on and entered the end door. Liloa was asleep, wrapped in his royal mantle of red and yellow feathers. Umi stooped, and, without ceremony, uncovered his head. Liloa, awakening, said, "_Owai la keia_?--Who is this?" "It is I, " replied the youth; "it isI, Umi, your son. " So saying, he displays his malo at the king's feet. At this token Liloa, while rubbing his eyes, recognized Umi, and had himproclaimed his son. Behold, then, Umi admitted to the rank of high chief, if not the equal of Hakau, his eldest son, at least his prime minister bybirth--his lieutenant. The two brothers lived at court on an equal footing. They took part in thesame amusements, wrestling, drawing the bow, plunged with eagerness intoall the noble exercises of the country and the time. The people of Umi'ssuite matched themselves with those of Hakau in the combat with the longlance _(pololu)_, and the party of Umi was always victorious, compellingHakau to retire in confusion. Liloa, perceiving that his last hour was drawing near, called his twochildren to him, and said to them, "You, Hakau, will be chief, and you, Umi, will be his man. " This last expression is equivalent to viceroy orprime minister. The two brothers bowed, in token of assent, and theold chief continued: "Do you, Hakau, respect your man; and do you, Umi, respect your sovereign. If you, Hakau, have no consideration for yourman, if you quarrel with him, I am not disturbed at the results of yourconduct. In the same way, Umi, unless you render your sovereign the homageyou owe him, if you rebel against him, it will be for you two to decideyour lot. " Soon after, having made known his last wishes, Liloa gave upthe ghost. Umi, who was of a proud and independent character, foreseeing, no doubt, even then, the wicked conduct of his brother, would not submit to him, and refused to appear in his presence. Giving up his share of power, he departed from Waipio with his two _aikane_, and retired into themountains, where he gave himself up to bird-catching. Hakau then reigned alone, and ruled according to his fancy. Abusing hisauthority, he made himself feared, but, at the same time, detested by hispeople. He brought upon himself the censure of the chief attendants of hisfather, whom he provoked by all sorts of humiliations and insults. If hesaw any one of either sex remarkable for good looks, he had them tattooedin a frightful manner for his good pleasure. Meanwhile Umi, who had a taste for savage life, had taken leave of hisfavorites, and wandered alone in the midst of the forests and mountains. One day, when he descended to the shore at Laupahoehoe, in the districtof Hilo, he fell in love with a woman of the people, and made her hiscompanion without arousing a suspicion of his high birth. Devotinghimself, then, to field labor, he was seen sometimes cultivating theground, and sometimes going down to the sea to fish. By generous offerings, he knew how to skillfully flatter an old man namedKaleihokuu, an influential priest, who at last adopted him as one of hischildren. Umi always kept at the head of the farmers and fishermen, anda considerable number, recognizing his physical superiority, voluntarilyenrolled themselves under his orders and those of his foster-father;he was only known by the name of Hanai (foster-child) of Kaleihokuu. Meditating probably, even then, a way of acquiring supreme power, Umiexerted himself to gain the sympathies of the people, in whose labors hetook an incredible part. There are seen to this day, above Laupahoehoe, the fields which Umi cultivated, and near the sea can be seen the heiau, or temple, in which Kaleihokuu offered sacrifices to the gods. Hakau continued to reign, always without showing the least respect to theold officers of Liloa, his father. Two old men, high chiefs by birth, andhighly honored under the preceding reign, had persisted in residing nearthe palace at Waipio, in spite of the insults to which the nearness of thecourt exposed them. One day when they were hungry, after a long scarcityof food, they said to one of their attendants: "Go to the palace of Hakau. Tell his Majesty that the two old chiefs are hungry, and demand of him, inour name, food, fish, and awa. "[14] The attendant went at once to the kingto fulfill his mission. Hakau replied with foul and insulting terms: "Gotell the two old men that they shall have neither food, fish, nor awa!"The two chiefs, on hearing this cruel reply, commenced to deplore theirlot, and regret more bitterly than ever the time they lived under Liloa. Then rousing themselves, they said to their attendant, "We have heard ofthe foster-son of Kaleihokuu, of his activity, courage, and generosity. Lose no time; go directly to Laupahoehoe, and tell Kaleihokuu that twochiefs desire to see his adopted son. " The servant went with all speedto Laupahoehoe, where he delivered his master's message. Kaleihokuu told, him, "Return to your masters, tell them that they will be welcome, ifthey will come to-morrow to see my foster-son. " The old men, at this news, hastened to depart. Arrived at the abode of Kaleihokuu, they found no one, except a man asleep on the mat. They entered, nevertheless, and sat down, leaning their backs against the walls of the pandanus house. "At last, "said they, sighing, "our bones are going to revive, _akahi a ola na iwi_. "Then, addressing the slumbering man, "Are you, then, alone here?"--" Yes, "replied the young man; "Kaleihokuu is in the fields. "--"We are, " addedthey, "the two old men of Waipio, come expressly to see the priest'sfoster-son. " The young man rises without saying a word, prepares an abundant repast--anentire hog, fish, and awa. The two old men admired the activity and skillof the youth, and said to themselves, "At all events, if the foster-sonof Kaleihokuu were as vigorous a stripling as this, we should renew ourlife!" The young unknown served them food, and made them drunk with awa, and, according to the usage of those times, [16] gave up to them the womenof Kaleihokuu, that his hospitality might be complete. The next morning the old men saw Kaleihokuu, and said to him, "Here wehave come to become acquainted with your foster-son. May it please thegods that he be like that fine young fellow who entertained us at yourhouse! Our bones would revive. "--"Ah, indeed, " replied Kaleihokuu; "he whohas so well received you is my _keiki hanai_. I left him at the house onpurpose to perform for you the duties of hospitality. " The two old men, rejoiced at what they learned, told the priest and his adopted son the illtreatment they had received at the court of Hakau. No more was needed tokindle a war at once. At the head of a considerable troop of people attached to the service ofKaleihokuu, Umi went by forced marches to Waipio, and the next day Hakauhad ceased to reign. He had been slain by the very hand of the vigorousfoster-son of the priest. THE REIGN OF UMI. Umi ruled in place of Hakau. His two aikane, Koi and Omakamau, had joinedhim, and resided at his court. Piimaiwaa of Hilo was his most valiantwarrior. _Ia ia ka mama kakaua_--to him belonged the bâton of war, afigurative expression denoting the general-in-chief. Pakaa was one of thefavorites of Umi, and Lono was his kahuna. While Umi reigned over the eastern shores of the island, one of hiscousins, Keliiokaloa, ruled the western coast, and held his court atKailua. It was under the reign of this prince, about two centuries beforethe voyage of Captain Cook, that a ship was wrecked near Keei, in thedistrict of Kona, not far from the place where the celebrated Englishnavigator met his death in 1779. It was about 1570[C] that men of thewhite race first landed in the archipelago. One man and one woman escapedfrom the wreck, and reached land near Kealakeakua. Coming to the shore, these unfortunates prostrated themselves on the lava, with their faces tothe earth, whence comes the name Kulou, a _bowing down_, which the placewhich witnessed this scene still bears. The shipwrecked persons soonconformed to the customs of the natives, who pretend that there exists toour day a family of chiefs descended from these two whites. The PrincessLohea, daughter of Liliha, [16] still living, is considered of this origin. Keliiokaloa, who reigned over the coast where this memorable event tookplace, was a wicked prince, who delighted in wantonly felling cocoa-nuttrees and laying waste cultivated lands. His ravages induced Umi todeclare war against him. He took the field at the head of his army, accompanied by his famouswarrior, Piimaiwaa; his friends, Koi and Omakamau; his favorite, Pakaa;and Lono, his Kahuna. He turned the flanks of Mauna Kea, and advancingbetween this mountain and Hualalai, in the direction of Mauna Loa, arrivedat the great central plateau of the island, intending to make a descentupon Kailua. Keliiokaloa did not wait for him. Placing himself at the headof his warriors, he marched to meet Umi. The two armies met on the highplain bounded by the colossi of Hawaii, at the place which is called _Ahuaa Umi_. Two men of the slave race, called Laepuni, famous warriors of Keliiokaloa, fought with a superhuman courage, and Umi was about to fall under theirblows, when Piimaiwaa, coming to his rescue, caused the victory to inclineto his side. Although history is silent, it is probable that the king ofKailua perished in the battle. This victory completely rid Umi of his last rival; he reigned henceforthas sole ruler of Hawaii; and to transmit to posterity the remembrance ofthis remarkable battle, he caused to be erected on the battle-field, bythe people of the six provinces, Hilo, Hamakua, Kohala, Kona, Ka'u, andPuna, a singular monument, composed of six polyhedral piles of ancientlava collected in the vicinity. A seventh pyramid was raised by his noblesand officers. In the centre of these enormous piles of stone he builta temple, whose remains are still sufficiently perfect to enable one torestore the entire plan. The whole of this vast monument is called, afterthe name of its builder, the Heaps of Umi--_Ahua Umi_. Umi built another temple at the foot of Pohaku Hanalei, on the coast ofKona, called _Ahua Hanalei_. A third temple was also erected by him onthe flank of Mauna Kea, in the direction of Hilo, at the place calledPuukeekee. Traces of a temple built by the same king may also berecognized at Mauna Halepohaha, where are found the ruins of Umi's housescovered with a large block of lava. [17] They give Umi the name of King of the Mountains. Tradition declares thathe retired to the centre of the island, through love for his people, andthese are the reasons which explain the seclusion to which he devotedhimself. It was a received custom in Hawaiian antiquity that the numerousattendants of the chiefs, when traversing a plantation, should breakdown the cocoa-nuts, lay waste the fields, and commit all sorts of havocprejudicial to the interests of proprietors or cultivators. To avoid asort of scourge which followed the royal steps, Umi made his abode in themountains, in order that the robberies of his attendants might no longercause the tears of the people to flow. In his retreat Umi lived, with hisretainers, upon the tribute in kind which his subjects brought him fromall parts of the coast. In time of famine, his servants went through theforest and collected the _hapuu_, a nourishing fern which then took theplace of poi. Umi, however, did not spend all his time in the mountains. He came tolive at various times on the sea-shore at Kailua. He employed everywhereworkmen to cut stones, to serve, some say, in the construction of asepulchral cave; according to others, to build a magnificent palace. Whatever may have been their destination, the stones were admirablyhewn. [18] In our days the Calvinistic missionaries have used them in theerection of the great church of Kailua, without any need of cutting themanew. There are still seen, scattered in various places, the hewn stonesof King Umi, _na pohaku kulai a Umi_. It is natural to suppose that theyused to hew these hard, and very large stones with other tools than thoseof Hawaiian origin. Iron must have been known in the time of Umi, and itspresence is explained by the wrecks of ships which ocean currents may havedrifted ashore. It is certain that they were acquainted with iron longbefore the arrival of Cook, as is proved by the already cited passage froman old romance: _O luna, o lalo, kai, o uka, a o ka hao pae, ko ke'lii_. Umi, some time before his death, said to his old friend Koi: "There isno place, nor is there any possible way to conceal my bones. You mustdisappear from my presence. I am going to take back all the lands whichI have given you around Hawaii, and they will think you in disgrace. Youwill then withdraw to another island, and as soon as you hear of my death, or only that I am dangerously sick, return secretly to take away my body. " Koi executed the wishes of the chief, his _aikane_. He repaired toMolokai, whence he hastened to set sail for Hawaii as soon as he heard ofUmi's death. He landed at Honokohau. On setting foot on shore, he met aKanaka, in all respects like his dearly-loved chief. He seized him, killedhim, and carried his body by night to Kailua. Koi entered secretly thepalace where the corpse of Umi was lying. The guards were asleep, and Koicarried away the royal remains, leaving in their place the body of the oldman of Honokohau, and then disappeared with his canoe. Some say that hedeposited the body of Umi in the great pali of Kahulaana, but no one knowsthe exact spot; others say that it was in a cave at Waipio, at Puaahuku, at the top of the great pali over which the cascade of Hiilawe falls. From time immemorial it was the custom at Hawaii to eat the flesh ofgreat chiefs after death, then the bones were collected in a bundle, andconcealed far out of the way. Generally it was to a faithful attendant, adevoted _kahu_, that the honor of eating the flesh of his chief belongedby a sentiment of friendship, _no ke aloha_. If they did not always eatthe flesh of high chiefs and distinguished personages, they always tookaway their dead bodies, to bury them in the most secret caves, or in mostinaccessible places. But the same care was not taken with chiefs who hadbeen regarded as wicked during their lives. The proverb says of this:_Aole e nalo ana na iwi o ke 'lii kolohe; e nalo loa na iwi o ke 'liimaikai_--The bones of a bad chief do not disappear; those of a good chiefare veiled from the eyes of all the world. The high chiefs, before death, made their most trusty attendants swear toconceal their bones so that no one could discover them. "I do not wish, "said the dying chief, "that my bones should be made into arrows toshoot mice, or into fish-hooks. " So it is very difficult to find theburial-place of such or such a chief. Mausoleums have been built in someplaces, and it is said that here are interred the nobles and kings; butit would seem that there are only empty coffins, or the bodies of commonnatives substituted for those of the personages in whose honor thesemonuments have been raised. THE HISTORY OF KEAWE. Whatever the historian, David Malo, may say, it is very doubtful whetherthere were several chiefs of the name of Keawe. It is probable that therewas only one high chief of this name, that he was the son of Umi, and wascalled Keawe the Great--_Keawe nui_ _a Umi_. David Malo was interested, asthe natives know, in swelling the genealogy of the alii, and he wished toflatter both nobility and people by distinguishing Keawe nui, of the raceof Umi, from another Keawe. There are two Keawe, as seven Maui, and nineHina. It is not, indeed, so long a period from Umi to the present era, that we can not unveil the truth from the clouds which surround, it. The people, in general, only speak of one Keawe, who inherited the powerof his father Umi. He was supreme ruler in the island of Hawaii, and iseven said to have united, as Kamehameha has since done, all the groupunder his sceptre. Kamehameha conquered the islands by force of arms;Keawe had conquered them by his travels and alliances. While he passedthrough the islands of Maui, Molokai, and Oahu, he contracted marriageseverywhere, as well with the women of the people as with the highestchiefesses. These unions gave him children who made him beloved of allthe high chiefs of that time. He was regarded at Maui and Oahu as supremeking. The king of Kauai even went so far as to send messengers to declareto him that he recognized his sovereignty. Such is the origin of Keawe'spower. By his numerous marriages with chiefesses and common women withoutdistinction, this king has made the Hawaiian nobility, the present aliisay, bastard and dishonored. The chiefs descended from Keawe conceal theirorigin, and are by no means flattered when reminded of it. From Keawedown, the genealogies become a focus of disputes, and it would be reallydangerous for the rash historian who did not spare the susceptibilities ofchiefs on this subject. The principle on which those who condemn the conduct of Keawe rests is thepurity of the blood of the royal stock, required by ancient usages, whoseaim was to preserve the true nobility without alloy. Disdaining this rule, Keawe contracted numerous marriages, which gave him as mothers of hischildren women of low birth. The posterity of this chief, noble withoutdoubt, but of impure origin, likes not to have its lame genealogyrecalled. It is with the sensitiveness of the Hawaiians on this subject, as with many other things in this world: they attack bitterly the amoursof Keawe, and seem to forget that Umi, their great chief, whose memorythey preserve with so much care, was of plebeian blood by his mother. It seems certain that King Keawe usually resided at the bay of Hoonaunau, in Kona. The heiau of Hoonaunau, where may still be seen the stakes ofohia (_Metrosideros_) planted by Keawe, is called _Hale a Keawe_--Thehouse built by Keawe. It served also as a City of Refuge. [19] VARIOUS DOCUMENTS ON THE PROVINCE OF KA'U. The people of Ka'u are designated in the group under the name of _Na Mamoa ke kipi_--The descendants of the rebellion. The province of Ka'u hasalways been regarded as a land fatal to chiefs. At the present dayan inhabitant of Ka'u can be distinguished among other natives. He isenergetic, haughty in speech, and always ready to strike a blow whenoccasion presents. He is proud, and worships his liberty. Several Hawaiianchiefs have been killed by the people of Ka'u, among others Kohaokalani, Koihala, etc. THE HISTORY OF KOHAOKALANI. He was, according to tradition, the most important chief on the island, and reigned in royal state at Hilea. He it was who built the heiausituated on the great plain of Makanau. The sea worn pebbles may still beseen, which Kohaokalani had his people carry up on to the height, abouttwo leagues from the shore. These pebbles were intended for the interiorpavement of the temple. The people, worn out by the great difficulty oftransportation, tired of the yoke of royalty, and incited by disloyalpriests, began to let their discontent and discouragement show itself. Aconspiracy was soon formed by these two classes leagued against the chief, and a religious ceremony offered an occasion to rid themselves of thedespot. The temple was completed, and it only remained to carry a god up there. This divinity was nothing but an ohia-tree of enormous size, which hadbeen cut down in the forest above Ninole. At the appointed day the chiefpriests and people set to work to draw the god to his residence. In orderto reach the height of Makanau there was a very steep pali to be ascended. They had to carry up the god on the side toward Ninole, which was all thebetter for the execution of their premeditated plan. Arrived at the baseof the precipice, all pulled at the rope; but the god, either by thecontrivance of the priests, or owing to the obstacles which the roughnessof the rock presented, ascended only with great difficulty. "The godwill never come to the top of the pali, " said the Kahuna, "if the chiefcontinues to walk before him; the god should go first by right of power, and the chief below, following, to push the lower end; otherwise we shallnever overcome his resistance. " The high chief, Kohaokalani, complied withthe advice of the priests, placed himself beneath the god, and pushedthe end from below. Instantly priests and people let go the cord, and theenormous god, rolling upon the chief, crushed him at once. The death ofKohaokalani is attributed chiefly to the Kahuna. THE HISTORY OF KOIHALA. Koihala reigned at Ka'u. He was a very great chief--perhaps the entireisland recognized his authority. An abuse of power hastened his death. He had commanded the people of Ka'u to bring him food upon the plain ofPunaluu, at the place known under the name of Puuonuhe. A party of men setout with pounded kalo (_paiai_, differing from poi in not being diluted), bound up in leaves of ki, called _la'i_ (a contraction for _lau-ki_). Whenthey arrived at the top of the plateau, which is very elevated, they foundthat the chief had set out for Kaalikii, two leagues from Puuonuhe, andthat he had left orders for them to bring him the provisions in thisdistant place. The bearers hastened toward Kaalikii. As soon as theycame there, orders were given for them to proceed to Waioahukini, halfa league's walk in the same direction, and beneath the great pali ofMalilele, on the shore. They went on. Arrived at Waioahukini, they wereordered to go and join the chief at Kalae. There they had to climb againthe great pali, and two leagues more to go. When they reached the cape ofKalae, the most southern point of the Hawaiian group, they were sent toseek the chief at the village of Mahana; but he had left for Paihaa, avillage near Kaalualu, a little bay where the native vessels now anchor. There, at last, they must find the tyrant. Exasperated, dying of hunger, indignant at the cruel way in which the chief made sport of their pains, the bearers sat down on the grass and took counsel. First they decided toeat up the food, without leaving any thing for the chief who entertainedhimself so strangely in fatiguing his people _(hooluhi howa_). Theymoreover determined to carry to him, instead of kalo, bundles of stones. The trial of Koihala is ended, his insupportable yoke is about to fall. The determined conspirators, after satisfying their hunger, set off, andsoon arrived, with humble mien, in the presence of the chief, betweenPaihau and Kaalualu. "Prince, " said they, "here are your servants withprovisions. " They humbly laid at his feet their bundles wrapped in la'i. The wrappers were opened, and the scene changes. These people, apparentlyhalf dead, became in an instant like furious lions, ready to devour theirprey. They armed themselves with stones, and showered them upon Koihalaand his company, who perished together. Two other high chiefs of the island were exterminated by the same people. One was killed at Kalae, beaten to death by the paddles of fishermen; theother was stoned at Aukukano. These revolts against the chiefs have given birth, to several proverbialexpressions, applied to the district of Ka'u. Thus it is called _Ainamakaha_--Land of torrents: a nation which removes and shatters everything like a torrent; _Ka'u makaha_--Ka'u the torrent; _Ka lua kupapauo na'lii_--The sepulchre of the high chiefs; _Aina kipi_--The rebelliousland. LEGEND OF KALEIKINI. He was a chief of the olden time. On the sea-shore, between Kaalikii and Pohue, the waves were ingulfedbeneath the land, and shot into the air by a natural aperture some fiftyfeet from the shore. The water leaped to a prodigious height, disappearedin the form of fine rain, and fell in vapor over a circuit of two leagues, spreading sterility over the land to such an extent that neither kalo norsweet-potatoes could be grown there. The chief Kaleikini closed the mouthof the gulf by means of enormous stones, which he made the natives rollthither. It is plainly seen that this blow-hole has been closed by humanhands. There still remains a little opening through which the water hissesto the height of thirty or forty feet. Kaleikini closed at Kohala, on the shore of Nailima, a volcanic mouth likethat of Ka'u. On the heights of Honokane, he silenced the thunders of a water-fall bychanging its course. At Maui Hikina, he secured the foundations of thehill of Puuiki, which the great tides had rendered unstable. To do this, he put into the caverns of Puuiki a huge rock, which stopped the tumultsof the sea, and put an end to the trembling of the hill. For these feats of strength, and many others like them, Kaleikini wascalled _Kupua_--Wizard. [D] DOCUMENTS ON THE PROVINCE OF PUNA. According to common tradition, the district of Puna was, until twocenturies ago, a magnificent country, possessing a sandy soil, it is true, but one very favorable to vegetation, and with smooth and even roads. TheHawaiians of our day hold a tradition from their ancestors, that theirgreat-grandparents beheld the advent of the volcanic floods in Puna. Here, in brief, is the tradition as it is preserved by the natives: LEGEND OF KELIIKUKU. This high chief reigned in Puna. He journeyed to the island of Oahu. Therehe a prophet of Kauai, named Kaneakalau, who asked him who he was. "I am, "replied the chief, "Keliikuku of Puna. " The prophet then asked him whatsort of a country he possessed. The chief said: "My country is charming;every thing is found there in abundance; everywhere are sandy plains whichproduce marvelously. "--"Alas!" replied the prophet, "go, return to yourbeautiful country; you will find it overthrown, abominable. Pele has madeof it a heap of ruins; the trees of the mountains have descended towardthe sea; the ohia and pandanus are on the shore. Your country is no longerhabitable. " The chief made answer; "Prophet of evil, if what you now tellme is true, you shall live; but if, when I return to my country, I provethe falsity of your predictions, I will come back on purpose, and youshall die by my hand. " Unable, in spite of his incredulity, to forget this terrible prophecy, Keliikuku set sail for Hawaii. He reached Hamakua, and, landing, traveled, home by short stages. From the heights of Hilo, at the village ofMakahanaloa, he beheld in the distance all his province overwhelmed inchaotic ruin, a prey to fire and smoke. In despair, the unfortunatechief hung himself on the very spot where he first discovered this sadspectacle. This tradition of the meeting of Keliikuku and Kaneakalau is stillsometimes chanted by the Kanakas. It was reduced to metre, and sung by theancients. It is passing away in our day, and in a few years no trace of itwill remain. Whether the prediction was made or not, the fact is that Puna has beenravaged by volcanic action. LEGEND OF THE CHIEF HUA. The high chief Hua, being in Maui, said to Uluhoomoe, his kahuna, thathe wished for some _uau_ from the mountains (a large bird peculiar tothe island of Hawaii). Uluhoomoe replied that there were no uau in themountains--that all the birds had gone to the sea. Hua, getting angry, said to his priest: "If I send my men to the mountains, and they find anyuau there, I will put you to death. " After this menace, the chief ordered his servants to go to bird-hunting. They obeyed; but instead of going to the mountains (_mauka_), they setsnares on the shores (_makai_), and captured many birds of differentkinds, among others the uau and ulili. Returning to the palace, theyassured the chief that they had hunted in the mountains. Hua summoned his kahuna, and said to him: "There are the birds from themountains; you are to die. " Uluhoomoe smelled of the birds, and replied:"These birds do not come from the mountains; they have an odor of thesea. " Hua, supported by his attendants, persisted in saying, as hebelieved truly, that they came from the mountains, and repeated hissentence: "You are to die. " Uluhoomoe responded: "I shall have a witnessin my favor if you let me open these birds in your presence. " The chiefconsented, and small fish were found in the crops of the birds. "Behold mywitness, " said the kahuna, with a triumphant air; "these birds came fromthe sea!" Hua, in confusion, fell into a terrible rage, and massacred Uluhoomoeon the spot. The gods avenged the death of the priest by sending adistressing famine, first on the island of Maui, then on Hawaii. Hua, thinking to baffle the divine vengeance, went to Hawaii to escape thescourge; but a famine more terrible yet pursued him there. The chiefvainly traversed every quarter of the islands; he starved to death in thetemple of Makeanehu (Kohala). His bones, after death, dried and shrunk inthe rays of the burning sun, to which his dead body remained exposed. This is the origin of the Hawaiian epigram always quoted in recalling thefamine which occurred in the reign of Hua, an epigram which no one hasunderstood, and which has never been written correctly: _Koele na iwi o Hua i ka la_--The bones of Hua are dry in the sun. [E] On the island of Hawaii are many places called by the name of thiscelebrated chief. At Kailua, in the hamlet of Puaaaekolu, a beautifulfield, known by the name of Mooniohua, recalls one episode of Hua'smisery. Here it was that, one day, running after food which he could neverattain, he fell asleep, weary with fatigue and want. The word Mooniohua isprobably a corruption of _Moe ana o Hua_--The couch of Hua. THE STORY AND SONG OF KAWELO. Kawelo, of the island of Kauai, was a sort of giant; handsome, well made, muscular, his prodigious strength defied animate and inanimate nature. Inhis early youth, he felt a violent passion kindle in his bowels for thePrincess Kaakaukuhimalani, so that he sought in every way to touch herheart. But the princess, too proud, and too high a lady, did not deign tocast her eyes upon him. Despairing of making her reciprocate his love, Kawelo poured into hismother's bosom his grief and his tears. "Mother, " said he, "how shall Isucceed in espousing this proud princess? What must I do? Give me yourcounsel. " "My son, " replied his mother, "a youth who wishes to please ought to makehimself ready at labor, and skillful in fishing; this is the only secretof making a good match. " Kawelo too eagerly followed his mother's advice, and soon there was noton the island a more indefatigable planter of kalo, nor a more expertfisherman. But what succeeds with common women is not always the thingto charm the daughters of kings. Kaakaukuhimalani could make nothing of ahusband who was a skillful farmer or a lucky fisherman; other talents arerequired to touch the hearts of nobles, and hers remained indifferent, insensible to the sighs of Kawelo. Nobles then, as to-day, regardedpleasure above all things; and a good comedian was worth more to them thanan honest workman. In his great perplexity, Kawelo consulted an old dancing-master, who toldhim, "Dancing and poetry are the arts most esteemed and appreciated bythose in power. Come with me into the mountains. I will instruct you, and if you turn out an accomplished dancer, you will have a sure means ofpleasing the insensible Kaakaukuhimalani. " Kawelo listened to the adviceof the poet dancing-master, and withdrew into the mountains to pursue hisduties. He soon became a very skillful dancer, and an excellent reciter of themele; so the fame of his skill was not slow in extending through all thevalleys of the island. One day when Kaakaukuhimalani desired to collect all the accomplisheddancers of Kauai, her attendants spoke to her of Kawelo as a prodigy inthe art, who had not his equal from one end to the other of the group, from Hawaii to Niihau. "Let some one bring me this marvel!" cried theprincess, pricked with a lively curiosity. The old and cunning preceptorof the mountains directed his pupil not to present himself at the firstinvitation, in order to make his presence more ardently desired. Kawelo, understanding the value of this advice, did not obey until the thirdrequest; he danced before the princess with a skill so extraordinary thatshe fell in love with him, and married him. So Kawelo found himself raisedto princely rank. The happy parvenu had three older brothers. They were: Kawelomakainoino, with fierce look and evil eye; Kawelomakahuhu, with unpleasant countenanceand angry expression; Kawelomakaoluolu, with a lovable and gracious face. All three were endued with the same athletic strength as their youngerbrother. Jealous of the good fortune which a princely marriage had brought theirbrother, they resolved to humble him for their pleasure. Taking advantageof the absence of Kaakaukuhimalani, they seized Kawelo and poured acalabash of poi over his head. Poor Kawelo! The paste ran down from hishead over all his body, and covered him with a sticky plaster which almostsuffocated him. Overwhelmed with shame at having to undergo so humiliatinga punishment, Kawelo fancied that he could no longer live at Kauai; hedetermined to exile himself, and live in Oahu. He had already embarked in his canoe and prepared to set sail with somefaithful friends, when he saw his wife on the shore. Seated beneath theshade of a kou (_Gordia sebestena_) Kaakaukuhimalani waved her hand toKawelo, crying: Hoi mai Toi mai kaua! Mai hele aku oe! Return, Return with me! Go not away from me! Kawelo, touched with love for his wife, but immovably determined to leavehis island, chants his adieu, which forms the subject of the first canto. PAHA AKAHI. Aloha kou e, aloha kou; Ke aloha mai kou ka hoahele I ka makani, i ka apaapaa Anuu o Ahulua. Moe iho uei au I ka po uliuli, Po uliuli eleele. Anapanapa, alohi mai ana ia'u Ke aa o Akua Nunu. Ine ee au e kui e lei Ia kuana na aa kulikuli. Papa o hee ia nei lae. E u'alo, e u'alo Ua alo mai nei ia'u Ka launiu e o peahi e; E hoi au e, e hoi aku. CANTO I. Thou lovest me still! Oh yes Thou lovest me; thou, The companion who has followed me. In the tempest and in the icy Winds of Ahulua. I, alas! Sleep in dark night, in dark And sombre night. My eyes Have seen the gleaming flashes Of the face of the god Nunu. If I resist, I am smitten as by The thunder-bolts of the deepening storm. Go, daughter of Papa, away from this Headland; cease thy lamentations; Cease to beckon to me With thy fan of cocoa-nut leaves, I will come again. Depart thou! On his arrival at Oahu, Kawelo was well received by the king of thatisland, Kakuihewa, who loaded him with favors, and even accorded him greatprivileges, to do honor to his wonderful strength. Kawelo did not forgethimself in the midst of the pleasures his strength procured him. He hadvengeful thoughts toward Kauai for the injury he had received from hisbrothers. Retiring to a secluded place, and concealing himself as much aspossible from the notice of Kakuihewa, he secretly set about recruiting asmall army of devoted men for an expedition against the island of Kauai. When he had collected enough warriors, he put to sea with a fleet of lightcanoes. Hardly had he left the shore of Oahu, when the marine monster, Apukohai, met him--an evil omen. He was but the precursor of anothermonster, Uhumakaikai, who could raise great waves and capsize canoes. Theoldest sailors never fail to return to land at the first appearance ofApukohai; all the pilots then advised Kawelo to go back with all speed. But the chief, full of determination which nothing could shake, would notchange his course; he persisted in sailing toward his destination. This isthe subject of the second canto. PAHA ELUA. O ka'u hoa no ia, E hoolulu ai maua i ka nahele, I anehu au me he kua ua la I oee au me he wai la. I haalulu au me he kikili la. I anei wau me he olai la. I alapa au me he uila la. I ahiki welawela au me he la la. Melemele ka lau ohia, Kupu a melemele, I ka ua o na' pua eha, Eha, o na ole eha eha, O na kaula' ha i ke kua No paihi, o ka paihi o main. A Haku, Haku ai i ka manawa, E Pueo e kania, Manawai ka ua i ka lehua, E hoi ka ua a ka maka o ka lehua; La noho mai; E hoi ka makani A ka maka oka opua La noho mai E hoi ke kai a manawai Nui ka oo, la noho mai. E kuu e au i kuu wahi upena Ma kahi lae: E hei ka makani la'u. E kuu e au i kuu wahi upena Ma ka' lua lae, E hei ka ino ia 'u E kuu e au e kuu wahi upena Ma ka 'kolu lae, E hei ke kona ia 'u E kuu e au e kuu wahi upena Ma ka' ha lae, E hei luna, e hei lalo, E hei uka, e hei kai, E hei Uhumakaikai. I ke olo no Hina, E hina kohia i ka aa, Uhumakaikai. CANTO II. I had a friend with whom I lived peacefully in the wilderness. I swung like a cloud full of rain, I murmured like a rivulet, I shook like a thunder-bolt, I overturned every thing like an earthquake, I flashed as lightning, I consumed like the sun. Yellow was the ohia leaf; Unfolding, it turned yellow Under the rain of the four clouds, In the month of the four _ole_, When the fisherman, four ropes Upon his back, enjoyed calm and fair weather. Be Lord, be lord of the weather. O Owl, whose cries give life! Send down the rain upon the lehua; Let the rain come again upon The buds of the lehua. Rest, O Sun! Let the wind fly Before the face of the clouds. Rest, O Sun! Return, O Ocean of the mighty waters; Great is thy tumult! Sun rest here. Rest, O Sun! I will cast my net At the first headland; I shall catch the wind. I will cast my net At the second headland; I shall catch a tempest. I will cast forth my net At the third headland; I shall get the south wind. I will cast forth my net At the fourth headland; I shall take above, below, Land and sea-- I shall take Uhumakaikai. At a single word of Hina He shall fall; hard pressed Shall be the neck of Uhumakaikai. In the sixteenth verse of this second canto Kawelo invokes the owl, whichthe Hawaiians regarded as a god. In extreme perils, if the owl madeits cries heard, it was a sign of safety, as the voice of this birdwas sacred; and more than once has it happened that men, destined to beimmolated on the altar of sacrifices as expiatory victims, have escapeddeath merely because the owl (_Pueo_) was heard before the immolation. Itis easy to understand, after this, the invocation that Kawelo made to Pueowhen he found himself in combat with the terrible Uhumakaikai. In the third canto Kawelo endeavors to destroy the monster. He commencesby saying that he, a chief (_ka lani_), does not disdain to work as asimple fisherman. Then he pays a tribute to those who have woven thenet he is going to use to capture the monster of the sea. The olona(_Boehmeria_), a shrub whose bark furnishes the Hawaiians with anexcellent fibre, was regarded as a sort of deity. Before spinning itsfibres, they made libations, and offered sacrifices of hogs, fowls, etc. Kawelo refers to all this in his song. PAHA EKOLU. Huki kuu ka lani Keaweawekaokai honua, Kupu ola ua ulu ke opuu. Ke kahi 'ke olona. Kahoekukama kohi lani. O kia ka piko o ke olona, Ihi a ka ili no moki no lena, Ahi kuni ka aala, Kunia, haina, paia, Holea, hoomoe ka Papa, Ke kahi ke olona, Ke kau ko opua, Ke kea ka maawe Kau hae ka ilo ka uha, Ke kaakalawa ka upena: O kuu aku i kai, I kai a Papa; ua hina, E hina, kohia i ka aa O Uhumakaikai. CANTO III. I, a chief, willingly Cast my net of olona; The olona springs up, it grows, It branches and is cut down. The paddles of the chief beat the sea. Stripped off is the bark of the alona, Peeled is the bark of the yellow moki. The fire exhales a sweet odor; The sacrifice is ready. The bark is peeled, the board[F] is made ready, The olona is carded, And laid on the board. White is the cord, The cord is twisted on the thigh, Finished is the net! Cast it into the sea, Into the sea of Papa; let him fall, Let him fall, that I may strangle the neck Of Uhumakaikai. After having exterminated Uhumakaikai, the conqueror sailed unmolestedtoward Kauai, to defeat his other enemies. Kawelo had on this island twofriends, who were at the same time his relations; they were the chiefsAkahakaloa and Aikanaka. When these chiefs learned that their cousinintended to return to Kauai, they enrolled themselves in the ranks of hisenemies, and prepared to make a vigorous resistance to his landing. It wason perceiving their armies upon the shore that Kawelo commenced his fourth_paha_. PAHA EHA. O oe no ia, e ka lani Akahakaloa, Kipeapea kau ko ohule ia Kulamanu. Konia kakahakaloa: I kea a kau io k'awa Kiipueaua. Hahau kau kaua la. E Aikanaka. Kii ka pohuli E hoopulapula Na na na. E naenaehele koa Kona aina. CANTO IV. Ah! it is then you, chief Akahakaloa. A roosting-place is thy bald head become For the gathering birds. Disobedient Akahakaloa; Thou appearest as a warrior Offshoot of Kiipueaua. Defeat has come upon you in the Day of battle, O Aikanaka! You require transplanting-- Yes, a nursery of warriors-- You do, indeed. Unfruitful of warriors Is his country. In the following song Kawelo exhorts his two old friends, Kalaumakiand Kaamalama, who had followed him to Oahu, to fight bravely in theapproaching battle. The return of Kawelo was expected, and, foreseeing it, the islanders had taken advantage of his absence to roll, or carry, to thebank of the Wailua River immense quantities of stones. The relativesand friends of Kawelo, who had remained at Kauai during his exile, hadthemselves assisted in these warlike preparations, ignorant of theirobject. It is on beholding the hostile reception prepared for him thatKawelo chants the fifth song--a proclamation to his army. PAHA ELIMA. E Kaamalama, E Kalaumaki, E hooholoia ka pohaku; E kaua ia iho na waa; He la, kaikoonui nei; Be auau nei ka moana; He kai paha nei kahina 'lii[G] Ua ku ka hau a ke aa; Be ahu pohaku I Wailua. O ua one maikai nai Ua malua, ua kahawai, Ua piha i ka pohaku A Kauai. He hula paha ko uka E lehulehu nei. He pahea la, he koi, He koi la, he kukini; I hee au i ka nalu, a i aia, Paa ia'u, a hele wale oukou: E Kaamalama, E Kalaumaki, Ka aina o Kauai la Ua hee. CANTO V. O Kaamalama! O Kalaumaki! Behold how they heap stones. Let us draw our canoes ashore; This is a day when the surf rolls high; The ocean swells, the sea perchance Portends another deluge. Piles of pebbles are collected; A heap of stones Has the Wailua become. This beautiful sandy country Is now full of pits like the bed of a torrent; And all Kauai Has filled it with rocks. A dance perchance brings hither This great multitude; Games or a race-- Games indeed. If I cast myself upon the surf, I am caught: you will go free. O Kaamalama, O Kalaumaki, Fled is the land Of Kauai! The combat has commenced. The people of Kauai rain showers of stones uponthe landing troops. Kawelo, buried beneath a heap of stones, but stillalive, compares himself to a fish inclosed on all sides by nets, and thento the victims offered in sacrifices. He then begins his invocations tothe gods. PAHA AONO. Puni ke ekule o kai Ua kaa i ka papau Ua komo i ka ulu o ka lawaia. Naha ke aa o ka upena, Ka hala i ka ulua. Mohaikea. Mau ia poai ia o ke kai uli. Halukuluku ka pohaku A Kauai me he ua la. Kolokolo mai ana ka huihui Ka maeele io'u lima, Na lima o Paikanaka. E Kane i ka pualena, E Ku lani ehu e, Kamakanaka! Na'u na Kawelo, Na ko lawaia. CANTO VI. The ekule of the sea is surrounded; Stranded in a shallow, It is within the grasp of the fisherman. Broken are the meshes of the net Within the hala and ulua. A sacrifice is to be offered. Surrounded are the fish of the blue sea. The rocks fall in showers-- A storm of the stones of Kauai. The coldness of death creeps over me. Numb are my limbs, The limbs of Paikanaka. O Kane of the yellow flower; O Ku, ruddy chief; Kamakanaka! It is I, Kawelo, Thy fisherman. Left for dead beneath the heap of stones, Kawelo, perceiving his danger, continues his prayer. PAHA EHIKU. Ku ke Akua I ka nana nuu. O Lono ke akua I kama Pele. O Hiaka ke akua I ka puukii. O Haulili ke akua I ka lehelehe Aumeaume maua me Milu. I'au, ia ia; I'au, ia ia; I'au iho no: Pakele au, mai make ia ia. CANTO VII. O divine Ku, Who beholdest the inner places. O Lono, divine one, Husband of Pele. O holy Hiaka, Dweller on the hills. O Haulili, god Ruling the lips! We two have wrestled, Milu and I. I had the upper hand; I had the upper hand; Then was I beneath: I escaped, all but killed by him. PAHA EWALU. He opua la, he opua, He opua hao walo keia, Ke maalo nei e ko'u maka. He mauli waa o Kaamalama. Eia ke kualau Hoko o ka pouli makani, Oe nei la, e Kaamalama Ke hele ino loa i ke ao. Ua palala, ua poipu ka lani, Ua wehe ke alaula o ke alawela, He alanui ia o Kaamalama. Oe mai no ma kai, Owau iho no ma uka; E hee o Aikanaka I ke ahiahi. E u ka ilo la i ko' waha; Ai na koa i ka ala mihi. Ai pohaku ko' akua. Ai Kanaka ko maua akua. Kuakea ke poo I ka pehumu. Nakeke ka aue i ka iliili. Hai Kaamalama ia oe, Hae' ke akua ulu ka niho. Kanekapualena; E Ku lani ehu e; Kamakanaka, Na'n na Kawelo Na ko lawaia. CANTO VIII. Here is a cloud, there another. This cloud bears destruction; I have seen it pass before my eyes. The obscure cloud is the canoe of Kaamalama. This is the tempest, Wind in the darkness; Thou art the sun, Kaamalama, Rising clouded in the dawn. Dark and shaded are the heavens, A warm day begins to dawn. This is the path of Kaamalama. Thou art from the sea, I, indeed, beneath the land mountain. Fly, O Aikanaka, In the evening! Maggots shall fatten in thy mouth; The soldiers eat the fragrant mihi. Thy god is a devourer of rocks; Our god eats human flesh. Bleached shall be thy head In the earth-oven. Thy broken jaw shall rattle on the beach pebbles. Kaamalama shall sacrifice you, The god's tooth shall grow on the sacrifice. O Kane of the yellow flower; 0 Ku, bright chief; Kamakanaka, I am Kawelo, Thy fisherman. In the following canto Kawelo reproaches and menaces the chief Kaheleha, who had deserted him for Aikanaka. PAHA AIWA. Kulolou ana ke poo o ka opua, Ohumuhumu olelo una la'u: Owau ka! ka ai o ka la na. E Kaheleha o Puna Kuu keiki hookama Aloha ole! O kaua hoi no hoa Mai ka wa iki I hoouka'i kakou I Wailua; Lawe ae hoi au, oleloia: Haina ko'u make Ia Kauai. E pono kaakaa laau Ka Kawelo. Aole i iki i ka alo i ka pohaku. Aloha wale oe e Kaheleha O Puna. A pa nei ko'poo i ka laau, Ka laulaa o kuikaa. Nanaia ka a ouli keokeo. Papapau hoa aloha wale! Aikanaka ma, Aloha, Aloha i ka hei wale O na pokii. CANTO IX. The head of the cloud bears down And whispers a word in my ear: It is I! the food of a rainy day. O Kahelaha, of Puna, My adopted son, Heartless fellow! We two were comrades In times of poverty; In the day of battle We were together at Wailua. It might be said My death was proclaimed In Kauai. Good to look upon Is the strength of Kawelo. He knows not how to throw stones. Farewell to you, Kaheleha Of Puna. Thy head is split by my spear, A spliced container! The whitening form is to be seen. O Aikanaka, loving only in name, To you and yours, Farewell! Farewell to the ensnared, The youngest born. History declares, and this ninth canto confirms it, that Kaheleha of Puna, Kawelo's friend from his youth, and one of his powerful companions inarms at the descent on Wailua, believed that Kawelo was mortally woundedbeneath the shower of stones that had covered him, and this belief hadinduced him to go over to the camp of Aikanaka. Verses fourteen to sixteenare the words that Kawelo reproaches Kaheleha with saying before hisenemies. Kaheleha was slain by the hand of Kawelo at the same time withAikanaka. PAHA UMI. Me he ulu wale la I ka moana, O Kauai nui moku lehua; Aina nui makekau, Makamaka ole ia Kawelo. Ua make o Maihuna 'lii, Maleia ka makuahine; Ua hooleiia i ka pali nui, O laua ka! na manu Kikaha i lelepaumu. Aloha mai o'u kupuna: O Au a me Aalohe, O Aua, a Aaloa, O Aapoko, o Aamahana. O Aapoku o Aauopelaea: Ua make ia Aikanaka. CANTO X. Like a forest rising abruptly Out of the ocean, Is Kauai, with flowery lehua; Grand but ungrateful land, Without friends or dear ones for Kawelo. They have put to death Maihuna, As also Malei, my mother. They have cast from a great pali Both of them! Were they birds To fly thus in the air? Love to you, oh my ancestors: To you, Au and Aaloha, To you, Aua and Aaloa, Aapoko and Aamahana, Aapoku and Aauopelaea, Who died by the hand of Aikanaka. Maihuna was the father of Kawelo, and Aikanaka was his first cousin. Thelatter put to death all the family of Kawelo, after having employed them, with the other inhabitants of Kauai, in collecting the stones which wereto repulse his cousin. It was before the great battle of Wailua thatKawelo's family was put to death. In the last canto the hero reproaches his friends for abandoning him inthe day of danger. At the sight of his old friends, whose bodies hehad pierced with many wounds in punishment, he cries: "Where are thosemiserable favorites?" He had transfixed them with his lance--that lancemade, he says, for the day of battle. He compares Aikanaka to a long lance because of his power; he reproacheshim with having betrayed himself, who was comparatively but a littlelance--a little bit of wood (_laau iki_); then he ironically remarks thatKauai is too small an island for his conquered friends. PAHA UMIKUMAMAKAHI. Auhea iho nei la hoi Ua mau wahi hulu alaala nei Au i oo aku ai I ka maka o ke keiki A Maihuna? He ihe no ka la kaua. Pau hewa ka'u iu Me kau ai, Pau hewa ka hinihini ai A ka moamahi. Komo hewa ko'u waa Ia lakou. O lakou ka! ka haalulu I ka pohaku i kaa nei, Uina aku la i kahakaha ke one, Kuu pilikia i Honuakaha. Makemake i ka laau nui, Haalele i kahi laau iki. He iki kahi kihapai Ka noho ka! i Kauai, Iki i kalukalu a Puna. Lilo Puna ia Kaheleha Lilo Kona ia Kalaumaki, Lilo Koolau ia Makuakeke, Lilo Kohala ia Kaamalama, Lilo Hanalei ia Kanewahineikialoha. Mimihi ka hune o Kauluiki ma. Aloha na pokii i ka hei wale. CANTO XI. Where just now are those chiefs, Rebellious and weak, Whom the point of the spear Has transfixed--the spear of the Son of Maihuna? The spear made for the day of battle. Stolen was my fish, And the vegetable food-- Stolen the food raised by The conqueror. Mischievously did you Sink my canoes. O wretches! ye trembled When the rocks rolled down, At the noise they made on the sand. When I was in danger at Honuakaha, Ye who desire long lances And despise those that are small, Too small a place was Kauai, Your dwelling; Small was the kalukalu of Puna. Puna shall belong to Kaheleeha, Kona to Kalaumaki, Koolau to Makuakeke, Kohala to Kaamalama, Hanalei to Kanewahineikialoha. The poverty of Kauluiki and his friends grieves me. Farewell, little ones caught in the net! Here ends all that we were able to collect of this original and veryancient poetry. Tradition relates that Kawelo became king of Kauai, andreigned over that island to an advanced age. When old age had lessened his force, and weakened his power, his subjectsseized him and cast him from the top of a tremendous precipice. [Illustration: THE TARO PLANT. ] NOTES. [Additions by the translator are inclosed in brackets. ] (1. ) The name of Alapai is not found in the genealogy published by DavidMalo. Nevertheless, we have positive information from our old man andother distinguished natives that Alapai was supreme chief of Hawaiiimmediately before Kalaniopuu. (2. ) Poi is a paste made of the tuberous root of the kalo (_Colocasiaantiquorum_, var. _esculenta_, Schott. ). More than thirty varieties ofkalo are cultivated on the Hawaiian Islands, most of them requiring amarshy soil, but a few will grow in the dry earth of the mountains. Thetubers of all the kinds are acrid, except one, which is so mild that itmay be eaten raw. After it is freed from acridity by baking, the kalo ispounded until reduced to a kind of paste which is eaten cold, under thename of poi. It is the principal food of the natives, with whom it takesthe place of bread. The kalo leaves are eaten like spinach (_luau_), andthe flowers (spathe and spadix), cooked in the leaves of the cordyline(_C. Terminalis_, H. B. K. ), form a most delicious dish. It is not only aspoi that the tubers are eaten; they are sliced and fried like potatoes, or baked whole upon hot stones. It is in this last form that I have eatenthem in my expeditions. A tuber which I carried in my pocket has oftenbeen my only provision for the day. In Algeria, a kind of kalo is cultivated under the name of _chou caraibe_, whose tubers are larger, but less feculent. [In China, smaller and muchless delicately flavored tubers are common in the markets. ] (3. ) The Hawaiians have always been epicures in the article of dog-meat. The kind they raise for their feasts is small and easily fatted, like pig. They are fed only on vegetables, especially kalo, to make their flesh moretender and delicately flavored. Sometimes these dogs are suckled by thewomen at the expense of their infants. The ones that have been thus fed ata woman's breast are called _ilio poli_, and are most esteemed. (4. ) The Kahualii are still genuine parasites in the Hawaiian nation. Theyare, to use the language of a Catholic missionary, the Cretans of whomPaul speaks: "Evil beasts, slow bellies;" a race wholly in subjection totheir appetite, living from day to day, always reclining on the mat, orelse riding horses furiously; having no more serious occupation than todrink, eat, sleep, dance, tell stories; giving themselves up, in a word, to all pleasures, lawful and unlawful, without scruple or distinction ofpersons. The Kahualii are very lazy. They are ashamed of honest labor, thinking they would thus detract from their rank as chiefs. Islanders ofthis caste are almost never seen in the service of Europeans. When theirpatron, the high chief of the family, has made them feel the weight ofhis displeasure, these inferior chiefs become notoriously miserable, worsethan the lowest of the Kanakas (generic name of the natives). (5. ) [Kamehameha IV. And V. Were only noble through their mother, Kinau, the wife of Kekuanaoa. They were adopted by Kamehameha III. (Kauikeaouli). ] (6. ) The old historian Namiki, an intelligent man, and well versed in thesecrets of Hawaiian antiquity, has left precious unedited documents, whichhave fallen into our hands. His son, Kuikauai, a school-master at Kailua, one of the true historico-sacerdotal race, has given us a genealogy of hisancestors which ascends without break to Paao. (7. ) A tradition exists, mentioned by Jarves, that Paao landed atKohoukapu before the reign of Umi. According to the same author, Paao wasnot a Kanaka, but a man of the Caucasian race. However this may be, everyone agrees that Paao was a foreigner, and a _naauao_ (scholar; literally, a man with enlightened entrails, the Hawaiians placing the mind andaffections in the bowels). (8. ) Hina, according to tradition, brought into the world several sons, who dug the palis of Hulaana. It may be asked whether _Hina_, which means_a fall_, does not indicate a deluge (Kaiakahinalii of the Hawaiians), or some sort of cataclysm, and whether the islanders have not personifiedevents. (9. ) It is, however, improbable that there were ever genuine sorcerersamong the Hawaiians, in the sense that word has among Christians. It mayhave happened, and indeed it happens every day, that people die afterthe machinations of the kahuna-anaana; but it is more reasonable to referthese tragical deaths to the use of poison, than to attribute them to theincantations of the sorcerers. It is moreover known that there are on thegroup many poisons furnished by trees, by shrubs and sea-weeds; and thekahuna-anaana understood perfectly these vegetable poisons. The many knownexamples of their criminal use inclines us to believe that these kahunawere rather poisoners than magicians. [Kalaipahoa, the poison-god, wasbelieved to have been carved out of a very poisonous wood, a few chips ofwhich would cause death when mixed with the food. ] (10. ) During the summer of the year 1852, while I was exploring the islandof Kauai, I was near being the victim, under remarkable circumstances, ofan old kahuna named Lilihae. I was then residing under the humble roofof the Mission at Moloaa. Lilihae had been baptized, and professedChristianity, although it was well known that he clung to the worship ofhis gods. He was introduced to me by the missionaries as a man who, by hismemory and profession, could add to my historical notes. I indeed obtainedfrom him most precious material, and in a moment of good nature the oldman even confided to me the secret of certain prayers that the priestsalone should know. I wrote down several formulae at his dictation, onlypromising to divulge nothing before his death. The old man evidentlyconsidered himself perjured, for after his revelations he came no more tosee me. Some days had passed after our last interview, and I thought no more ofhim. All at once I lost my appetite and fell sick. I could eat nothingwithout experiencing a nausea, followed immediately by continual vomiting. Two missionaries and my French servant, who partook of my food, exhibitedalmost the same symptoms. Not suspecting the true cause of these ailments, I attributed them to climate and the locality, and especially to thepestilent winds which had brought an epidemic ophthalmia amongthe natives. Things remained in this condition a fortnight withoutimprovement, when one morning at breakfast a marmalade of bananas wasserved. I had hardly touched it to my lips when the nausea returned withgreater violence; I could eat nothing, and soon a salivation came on whichlasted several hours. In the mean while a poor Breton who had establishedhimself on the island some years ago, and had conformed to savage life, came to see me. Bananas were scarce in the neighborhood, and he found thatI had a large supply of them, and I offered him a bunch. Fortin, it washis name, on his way back to his cabin with my present, broke a bananaoff the bunch and commenced to eat it. He felt under his tooth a hardsubstance, which he caught in his hand. To his great surprise, it was asort of blue and white stone. He soon felt ill, and fortunately was ableto vomit what he had swallowed. Furious, and accusing me of a criminalintention, he returned to my quarters to demand an explanation. I examinedthe substance taken from the banana, and found that it was blue vitrioland corrosive sublimate. The presence of such substances in a banana wasfar from natural. I took other bunches of my supply, and found in severalbananas the same poisons, which had been skillfully introduced under theskin. After some inquiries I found, from Fortin's own wife, that similardrugs had been sometimes seen in the hands of Lilihae, who had bought themof a druggist in Honolulu for the treatment of syphilis. The riddle was atonce completely solved. A few days passed, and Lilihae killed himself bypoison, convinced that all his attempts could not kill me. In his nativesuperstition, he was satisfied that the gods would not forgive hisindiscretion, since they withheld from him the power of taking mylife; and he could devise no simpler way to escape their anger, and thevengeance of my own God, than to take himself the poison against whichI had rebelled. It was discovered that Lilihae had, in the first place, tried native poisons on me, and finding them ineffective, he thought thatmy foreign nature might require exotic poisons, which he had accordinglyserved in the bananas destined for my table. He went, without myknowledge, into the cook-house where my native servants kept myprovisions, and, under pretext of chatting with them, found means topoison my food. The unfortunate kahuna died fully persuaded that I wasa more powerful sorcerer than he. It was to be feared that, when hediscovered his impotency, he would intrust the execution of his designsto his fellows, as is common among sorcerers; but his suicide fortunatelyremoved this sword of Damocles which hung over my head. (11. ) At the present day, useless old men are no longer destroyed, nor arethe children, whom venereal diseases have rendered very rare, suffocated;but they do eat lice, fleas, and grasshoppers. Flies inspire the samedisgust, and the women still give their breasts to dogs, pigs, and youngkids. (12. ) [This operation is certainly still practiced extensively, if notuniversally; and the ancient form of _kakiomaka_, or slitting the prepuce, has given way, generally, to the _okipoepoe_, or the complete removal ofthe foreskin. The operation in a case that came under my notice on theisland of Oahu was performed with a bamboo, and attended with a feast andrejoicings; the subject was about nine years old. ] (13. ) The islanders, who admire and honor great eaters, have generallystomachs of a prodigious capacity. Here is an example: To compensate myservants, some seven in number, for the hardships I had made them endureon Mauna Kea, I presented them with an ox that weighed five hundred poundsuncooked. They killed him in the morning, and the next evening there wasnot a morsel left. One will be less astonished at this when I say thatthese ogres, when completely stuffed, promote vomitings by introducingtheir fingers into their throats, and return again to the charge. [It isequally true that the Kanakas will go for a long time without much food, and it can not be said they are a race of gluttons. ] (14. ) Awa (_Piper methysticum_) grows spontaneously in the mountains ofthe Hawaiian group. The natives formerly cultivated it largely [andsince the removal of the strict prohibition on its culture fields are notuncommon]. From the roots the natives prepare a very warm and slightlynarcotic intoxicating drink. It is made thus: women chew the roots, andhaving well masticated them, spit them, well charged with saliva, intoa calabash used for the purpose. They add a small portion of water, andpress the juice from the chewed roots by squeezing them in their hands. This done, the liquid is strained through cocoa-nut fibres to separate allthe woody particles it may contain, and the awa is in a drinkable state. The quantity drunk by each person varies from a quarter to half alitre (two to four gills). This liquor is taken just before supper, orimmediately after. The taste is very nauseous, disagreeable to thelast degree. One would suppose he was drinking thick dish-water of agreenish-yellow color. But its effects are particularly pleasant. Anirresistible sleep seizes you, and lasts twelve, twenty-four hours, oreven more, according to the dose, and the temperament of the individual. Delicious dreams charm this long torpor. Often when the dose is too great or too small, sleep does not follow; butin its place an intoxication, accompanied by fantastic ideas, and a strongdesire to skip about, although one can not for a moment balance himselfon his legs. I felt these last symptoms for sixty hours the first time Itasted this Polynesian liquor. The effects of awa on the constitution ofhabitual drinkers are disastrous. The body becomes emaciated, and the skinis covered, as in leprosy, with large scales, which fall off, and leavelasting white spots, which often become ulcers. (15. ) This usage still exists in certain families toward great personagesor people they wish especially to honor; but it is disappearing everyday. Formerly when a Kanaka received a visit from a friend of a remotedistrict, women were always comprised in the exchange of presents on thatoccasion. To fail in this was regarded as an unpardonable insult. Thething was so inwrought in their customs, that the wife of the visitor didnot wait the order of her husband to surrender her person to her host. (16. ) [Liliha was the wife of Boki, governor of Oahu under Kamehameha II. ] (17. ) The most curious thing which attracts the traveler's eye in theruins of the temples built by Umi is the existence of a mosaic pavement, in the form of a regular cross, which extends throughout the whole lengthand breadth of the inclosure. This symbol is not found in monumentsanterior to this king, nor in those of later times. One can not helpseeing in this an evidence of the influence of the two shipwrecked whitemen whose advent we have referred to. Can we not conclude, from theexistence of these Christian emblems, that about the time when the greatUmi filled the group with his name, the Spanish or Portuguese shipwreckedpersons endeavored to introduce the worship of Christ to these islands?Kama of Waihopua (Ka'u) has given us, through Napi, an explanation ofthe four compartments observed in the temple of Umi, represented by thefollowing figure; but if we accept this explanation of Kama, it is asdifficult to understand why this peculiarity is observed in the monumentsof Umi, and not in any other heiau; as, for example, Kupalaha, situated inthe territory of Makapala; Mokini, at Puuepa; Aiaikamahina, toward the seaat Kukuipahu; Kuupapaulau, inland at Kukuipahu-mauka. The remains of thesefour remarkable temples are found in the district of Kohala. Not the leastvestige of the crucial division is to be seen. The god Kaili [see thefirst page of the Appendix], a word which means a theft, was not knownbefore the time of Umi. [The temple of Iliiliopae, at the mouth ofMapulehu Valley, on Molokai, is divided as in the diagram, and the same istrue of many other heiau; and as it seems to have been the usual form, itis not probable that the form of the cross had any thing to do with it. ] +----------------------------------+------------------+ | Place of the god Kaili. | Place of the god Ku. | +----------------------------------+------------------+ | Place of the priest Lono. | Place of the chief Umi. | +----------------------------------+------------------+ (18. ) It does not seem improbable that a premature death removed theforeigner who could have given Umi the idea of an art until then unknown;and had the foreigner lived longer, these curious stones would haveserved to build an edifice of which the native architects knew not theproportions. (19. ) [The cities of Refuge were a remarkable feature of Hawaiianantiquity. There were two of these _Pahonua_ on Hawaii. The one atHonaunau, as measured by Rev. W. Ellis, was seven hundred and fifteen feetin length and four hundred and four feet wide. Its walls were twelve feethigh and fifteen feet thick, formerly surmounted by huge images, whichstood four rods apart, on their whole circuit. Within this inclosure werethree large heiau, one of which was a solid truncated pyramid of stone onehundred and twenty-six feet by sixty, and ten feet high. Several masses ofrock weighing several tons are found in the walls some six feet from theground. During war they were the refuge of all non-combatants. A whiteflag was displayed at such times a short distance from the walls, and hereall refugees were safe from the pursuing conquerors. After a short periodthey might return unmolested to their homes, the divine protection ofKeawe, the tutelary deity, still continuing with them. ] [Footnote A: The original _Récits d'un Vieux Sauvage pour servir al'histoire ancienne de Hawaii_ was read on the 15th of December, 1857, tothe Society of Agriculture, Commerce, Science, and Arts of the Departmentof the Marne, of which M. Remy was a corresponding member, and publishedat Chalons-sur-Marne in 1859. The translation is perfectly literal, andthe Mele of Kawelo has been translated directly from the Hawaiian, M. Remy's translation being often too free. A portion of this work wastranslated several years since by President W. D. Alexander, of OahuCollege, and published in _The Friend_, at Honolulu, by William T. Brigham. ] [Footnote B: This was not true. Liholiho carried some to England, and therest were probably hidden in some of the many caverns on the shores ofKealakeakua Bay. --_Trans_. ] [Footnote C: The Hawaiian Islands were discovered in 1555, by JuanGaetano, or Gaytan. --_Trans_. ] [Footnote D: Kaleikini may be considered the Hawaiian Hercules. ] [Footnote E: The more common form is, _Koele na iwi o Hua ma i ka la_--Dryare the bones of Hua and his company in the sun. --_Trans_. ] [Footnote F: On which the bark is beaten to make kapa. ] [Footnote G: The Hawaiians have a tradition of an ancient deluge, calledKaiakahinalii. ] THE END.