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1894.]

BIRDS.

311

about the fields upon the backs of pigs and cattle, and stealing whatever it can find and carry off. The superintendent of a mill told me that there was, in the building over which he had supervision, a room which had been closed for several months. When they finally opened it, they found a great heap of rubbish in the centre of the floor, for which no one could account until a hole in the roof was discovered, through which it was realised immediately that the mynahs had entered, bringing frequent additions to their hoarded stealings. Rags, string, paper, handkerchiefs, bits of lace and ribbon, were found in the heap, which had been growing steadily during the entire time that the room had been closed.

CHAPTER XXV.

THE PASSING OF THE NATIVE.

AWAII is a veritable land of the lotus-eater.

HAWAI

After a few days one is content to drift along indifferent to the realities of life, and to what in the exacting temperate zone we call "duty." The climate explains a great deal in native character that has defied the Christianising of half a century, and yet finds solace in certain rites and ceremonies, surreptitiously performed, which are a very marked contrast with the belief in abstract virtue, as it is embodied in orthodoxy. Flowers, music, ease,

these seem to be the essentials of

enough to eat
life among the Hawaiians.
physically attractive.

As a people they are

Many of them are tall, vig

orous, well proportioned, with a freedom and grace which are the result of loose and simple clothing and of life spent almost wholly in the open air. They have dark skin, silken, jet-black hair, flashing black eyes, with long lashes, rather thick lips, and teeth of dazzling whiteness. They are a most amiable and light-hearted people, the embodiment

1894.]

NATURAL AFFECTION.

313

of generosity, cheerfulness, and hospitality. The latter trait I have already noted; what is theirs is yours, freely and without reservation. If a native is hungry, he does not even ask food of his neighbour, but enters his house, and the calabash of poi is at his service the common supply of all who come. Clothing is borrowed in the same manner, and it would be despicable meanness so much as to hint that a return, even though delayed, is expected.

I had a very touching example of their affection. I had accompanied Mrs. H-, the ex-Queen's chief lady-in-waiting, to an entertainment given at the Kawaiahao Church. We occupied one of the elevated pews in the rear which had been set apart for the ladies of the Court. Near us were seated many of the Hawaiian friends of Mrs. H At the conclusion of the programme she introduced me to several of them, explaining that I was Admiral Brown's sister.

"Not sister," I corrected, "but cousin."

"We have no word cousin' in the Hawaiian language" (she had been speaking in Hawaiian to her friends, many of whom could not speak English); "our only terms are 'mother' and 'sister;' we do not recognise the relationship of cousin."

It requires very little to support life here. There is no winter that demands outlay for fuel, heavy clothing, and meat, which are so expensive and so necessary in colder climates; cotton trousers and

shirt and a straw hat constitute the ordinary attire of working men, while the women consider themselves sufficiently well clad with a chemise, a single petticoat, and a holoku.

It is said that the vices that have decimated the Hawaiian race so fearfully have been those with which our own vaunted civilisation is not unfamiliar ―gin and licentiousness. The Islands were at one time so densely populated that artificial ponds for fish-raising had to be constructed; and out upon the mountain sides, enclosed in low stone walls, are yet to be seen the small tracts allotted to families, upon which they were forced to raise additional supplies of food.

Alcohol in any form, it is well known, is fatal in hot climates; and the natives of Hawaii, although enjoying a more moderate temperature than might be expected in this latitude, have not greater physical resistance against its ravages than is met with nearer the Equator. The census of 1896 fixed the total population at 109,020, of which there are but 31,019 native Hawaiians. The native population in 1890 was 34,436, of which 18,364 were males and 16,072 were females. The loss since 1884 had been 5,578, a decrease which the census of 1896 shows has continued. On the other hand, there has been a gain of 1,968 half-caste - a gain that has been, perhaps, proportionally maintained.

The natives, like all aborigines, are peculiarly

1894-]

NATIVE HOUSES.

315

susceptible to contagion, all contagious diseases being amongst them extremely fatal. In 1848 the measles, which were introduced from California, spread through the Islands, and it is estimated that one-tenth of the people died from the disease.

In 1853 smallpox was introduced, also from California. Every precaution was taken to prevent its spread, but again there was terrible mortality, although vaccination was resorted to as a preventive measure. The total number of deaths was between two thousand five hundred and three thousand.

With their decay in numbers their skill in the beautiful arts which they once employed is becoming obsolete that, especially, of building what are called "native houses." I was taken out to the plantation of Mr. S. M. Damon to see two which Mr. Damon had had constructed as examples of the work of old Hawaiians. A grass hut, as such a house is commonly called, conveys an idea of a rude habitation, roughly constructed, with little idea of comfort or beauty. These houses have both the latter qualities in high degree. The framework consisted of upright timbers of native wood, those at either end of the house lengthening towards the centre timber, which was the highest. There was no ridge-pole, but across the top slanting lengths of bamboo had been placed at close intervals, and tied to the timbers at either end with fine cord made of cocoa fibre. The grass attached to this beautiful frame

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