Chapter M: T. M (15)

Mauna Loa ("Great Mountain"), on the S., is by far the largest volcano
in the world; from a base measuring at sea-level about 75 m. from N.
to S. and 50 m. from E. to W., it rises gradually to a height of
13,675 ft. On its E.S.E. side, at an elevation of 4000 ft. above the
sea (300 ft. above the adjoining plain on the W.) is Kilauea, from
whose lava-flows the island has been extended to form its S.E. angle.
To the N.N.E. of Mauna Loa, and blending with it in an intervening
plateau, is Mauna Kea ("White Mountain," so named from the snow on its
summit), with a much smaller base but with steeper slopes and a
crowning cinder cone 13,823 ft. above the sea, the maximum height in
the Pacific Ocean; blending with Mauna Loa on the N.N.W. is Mauna
Hualalai, 8269 ft. in height; and rising abruptly from the extreme
N.W. shore are the remains of the oldest mountains of the island, the
Kohala, with a summit 5505 ft. in height. On the land side the Kohala
Mountains have been covered with lava from Mauna Kea, and form the
broad plains of Kohala, having a maximum elevation of about 3000 ft.;
on the ocean side, wherever this lava has not extended, erosion has
gone on until bluffs 1000 ft. in height face the sea and the enormous
gorges of Waipio and Waimanu, with nearly perpendicular walls as much
as 3000 ft. high and extending inland 5-6 m., have been formed. Mauna
Kea is not nearly so old as the Kohala Mountains, but there is no
record of its eruption, nor have its lavas a modern aspect. The last
eruption of Mauna Hualalai was in 1801. Mauna Loa and Kilauea are
still active. Cinder cones are the predominant type of craters on both
Mauna Kea and the Kohala Mountains, and they are also numerous on the
upper slopes of Mauna Hualalai; but the more typically Hawaiian pit or
engulfment craters also abound on Mauna Hualalai and Mokuaweoweo,
crowning the summit of Mauna Loa, as well as Kilauea, to the S.E. of
it, are prominent representatives of this type. Kilauea is the largest
active crater in the world (8 m. in circumference) and is easily
accessible. Enclosed by a circular wall from 200 to 700 ft. in height
is a black and slightly undulating plain having an area of 4.14 sq.
m., and within this plain is a pit, Halemaumau, of varying area (about
2000 ft. in diameter in 1905), now full of boiling lava, now empty to
a depth of perhaps 1000 ft. When most active, Halemaumau affords a
grand spectacle, especially at night: across the crust run glowing
cracks, the crust is then broken into cakes, the cakes plunge beneath,
lakes of liquid lava are formed, over whose surface play
fire-fountains 10 to 50 ft. in height, the surface again solidifies
and the process is repeated.[1] According to an account of the
natives, a violent eruption of Kilauea occurred in 1789, or about that
time, and deposits of volcanic sand, large stones, sponge-like scoria
(pumice) and ashes for miles around are evidence of such an eruption.
Since the Rev. William Ellis and a party of American missionaries
first made the volcano known to the civilized world in 1823, the
eruptions have consisted mainly in the quiet discharge of lava through
a subterranean passage into the sea. In the eruptions of 1823, 1832,
1840 and 1868 the floor of the crater rose on the eve of an eruption
and then sank, sometimes hundreds of feet, with the discharge of lava;
but since 1868 (in 1879, 1886, 1891, 1894 and 1907; and once, before
1868, in 1855) this action has been confined to Halemaumau and such
other pits as at the time existed.

Mokuaweoweo, on the flat top of Mauna Loa, is a pit crater with a
floor 3.7 sq. m. in area and sunk 500-600 ft. within walls that are
almost vertical and that measure 9.47 m. in circumference. Formerly,
on the eve of a great eruption of Mauna Loa, this crater often spouted
forth great columns of flame and emitted clouds of vapour, but in
modern times this action has usually been followed by a fracture of
the mountain side from the summit down to a point 1000 ft. or more
below where the lava was discharged in great streams, the action at
the summit diminishing or wholly ceasing when this discharge began.
The first recorded eruption of Mauna Loa was in 1832; since then there
have been eruptions in 1851, 1852, 1855, 1859, 1868, 1880-1881, 1887,
1896, 1899 and 1907. The eruptions of 1868, 1887 and 1907 were
attended by earthquakes; in 1868 huge sea waves, 40 ft. in height,
were raised, and, as they broke on the S. shore, they destroyed the
villages of Punaluu, Ninole, Kawaa and Honuapo. But the eruptions of
Mauna Loa have consisted mainly in the quiet discharge of enormous
flows of lava: in 1859 the lava-stream, which began to run on the 23rd
of January, flowed N.W., reached the sea, 33 m. distant, eight days
later, and continued to flow into it until the 25th of November; and
the average length of the flows from seven other eruptions is nearly
14 m. The surface of the upper slopes of Mauna Loa is almost wholly of
two widely different kinds of barren lava-flows, called by the
Hawaiians the _pahoehoe_ and the _aa_. The _pahoehoe_ has a smooth but
billowy or hummocky surface, and is marked by lines which show that it
cooled as it flowed. The _aa_ is lava broken into fragments having
sharp and jagged edges. As the same stream sometimes changes abruptly
from one kind to the other, the two kinds must be due to different
conditions affecting the flow, and among the conditions which may
cause a stream to break up into the _aa_ have been mentioned the
greater depth of the stream, a sluggish current, impediments in its
course just as it is granulating, and, what is more probable,
subterranean moisture which causes it to cool from below upward
instead of from above downward as in the _pahoehoe_. The natives are
in the habit of making holes in the _aa_, and planting in them banana
shoots or sweet-potato cuttings, and though the holes are simply
filled with stones or fern leaves, the plants grow and in due time are
productive. Another curious feature of Mauna Loa, and to some extent
of other Hawaiian volcanoes, is the great number of caves, some of
them as much as 60 to 80 ft. in height and several miles in length;
they were produced by the escape of lava over which a crust had
formed. In the midst of barren wastes to the S.E. and S.W. of Kilauea
are small channels with steam cracks, along which appears the only
vegetation of the region.

_Maui_, lying 26 m. N.W. of Hawaii, is composed of two mountains connected by an isthmus, Wailuku, 7 or 8 m. long, about 6 m. across, and about 160 ft. above the sea in its highest part.

Mauna Haleakala, on the E. peninsula, has a height of 10,032 ft., and
forms a great dome-like mass, with a circumference at the base of 90
m. and regular slopes of only 8 deg. or 9 deg. It has numerous cinder
cones on its S.W. slope, is well wooded on the N. and E. slopes, and
has on its summit an extinct pit-crater which is one of the largest in
the world. This crater is 7.48 m. long, 2.37 m. wide, and covers 19
sq. m.; the circuit of its walls, which are composed of a hard grey
clinkstone much fissured, is 20 m.; its greatest depth is 2720 ft. At
opposite ends are breaks in the walls a mile or more in width--one
about 1000 ft., the other at least 3000 ft. in depth--through which
poured the lava of probably the last great eruption. From the floor of
the crater rise sixteen well-preserved cinder-cones, which range from
more than 400 ft. to 900 ft. in height. Along the N. base of the
mountain are numerous ravines (several hundred feet deep), to the
bottom of which small streams of water fall in long cascades, but
elsewhere on the eastern mountain there is little erosion or other
mark of age. That the mountainous mass of western Maui is much older
is shown by the destruction of its crater, by its sharp ridges and by
deeply eroded gorges or valleys. Its highest peak, Puu Kukui, rises
5788 ft. above the sea, and directly under this is the head of Iao
Valley, 5 m. long and 2 m. wide, which has been cut in the mountain to
a depth of 4000 ft. This and the smaller valleys are noted for the
beauty of their tropical scenery.

_Kahoolawe_ is a small island 6 m. S.W. of Maui. It is 14 m. long by 6 m. wide. Its mountains, which rise to a height of 1472 ft., are rugged and nearly destitute of verdure, but the intervening valleys afford pasturage for sheep.

_Lanai_ is another small island, 7 m. W. of Maui, about 18 m. long and 12 m. wide. It has a mountain range which rises to a maximum height, S.E. of its centre, of about 3480 ft. The N.E. slope is cut by deep gorges, and at the bottom of one of these, which is 2000 ft. deep, is the only water-supply on the island. On the S. side is a rolling table-land affording considerable pasturage for sheep, but over the whole N.W. portion of the island the trade winds, driving through the channel between Maui and Molokai, sweep the rocks bare. Kahoolawe and Lanai are both privately owned.

_Molokai_, 8 m. N.W. of Maui, extends 40 m. from E. to W. and has an average width of nearly 7 m. From the S.W. extremity of the island rises the backbone of a ridge which extends E.N.E. about 10 m., where it culminates in the round-topped hill of Mauna Loa, 1382 ft. above the sea. Both the northern and southern slopes of this ridge are cut by ravines and gulches, and along the N. shore is a steep sea-cliff. At the E. extremity of the ridge there is a sudden drop to a low and gently rolling plain, but farther on the surface rises gradually towards a range of mountains which comprises more than one-half the island and attains a maximum height of 4958 ft. in the peak of Kamakou. The S. slope of this range is gradual but is cut by many straight and narrow ravines, in some instances to a great depth. The N. slope is abrupt, with precipices from 1000 to 4000 ft. in height. Extending N. from the foot of the precipice, a little E. of the centre of the island, is a comparatively low peninsula (separated from the mainland by a rock wall 2000 ft. high), on which is a famous leper settlement. The peninsula forms a separate county, Kalawao.

_Oahu_, 23 m. N.W. of Molokai, has an irregular quadrangular form. It is traversed from S.E. to N.W. by two roughly parallel ranges of hill separated by a plain that is 20 m. long and in some parts 9 to 10 m. wide. The highest point in the island is Mauna Kaala, 4030 ft., in the Waianae or W. range; but the Koolau or E. range is much longer than the other, and its ridge is very much broken; on the land side there are many ravines formed by lateral spurs, but to the sea for 30 m. it presents a nearly vertical wall without a break. The valleys are remarkable for beautiful scenery,--peaks, cliffs, lateral ravines, cascades and tropical vegetation. There are few craters on the loftier heights, but on the coasts there are several groups of small cones with craters, some of lava, others of tufa. The greater part of the coast is surrounded by a coral reef, often half a mile wide; in several localities an old reef upheaved, sometimes 100 ft. high, forms part of the land.

_Kauai_, 63 m. W.N.W. of Oahu, has an irregularly circular form with a maximum diameter of about 25 m. On the N.W. is a precipice 2000 ft. or more in height and above this is a mountain plain, but elsewhere around the island is a shore plain, from which rises Mount Waialeale to a height of 5250 ft. The peaks of the mountain are irregular, abrupt and broken; its sides are deeply furrowed by gorges and ravines; the shore plain is broken by ridges and by broad and deep valleys; no other island of the group is so well watered on all sides by large mountain streams; and it is called "garden isle."

_Niihau_, the most westerly of the inhabited islands, is 18 m. W. by S. of Kauai. It is 16 m. long and 6 m. wide. The western two-thirds consists of a low plain, composed of an uplifted coral reef and matter washed down from the mountains; but on the E. side the island rises precipitously from the sea and attains a maximum height of 1304 ft. at Paniau. There are large salt lagoons on the southern coast.

_Climate_.--The climate is cooler than that of other regions in the
same latitude, and is very healthy. The sky is usually cloudless or
only partly cloudy. The N.E. trades blow with periodic variations from
March to December; and the leeward coast, being protected by high
mountains, is refreshed by regular land and sea breezes. During
January, February and a part of March the wind blows strongly from the
S. or S.W.; and at this season an unpleasant hot, damp wind is
sometimes felt. More rain falls from January to May than during the
other months; very much more falls on the windward side of the
principal islands than on the leeward; and the amount increases with
the elevation also up to about 4000 ft. The greatest recorded extremes
of local rainfall for a year within the larger islands range from 12
to 300 in. For Honolulu the mean annual rainfall (1884-1899) was 28.18
in.; the maximum 49.82; and the minimum 13.46. At sea level the daily
average temperature for July is 76.4 deg. F., for December 70.7 deg.
F.; the mean annual temperature is about 73 deg. F.--68 deg. during
the night, 80 deg. during the day--and for each 200 ft. of elevation
the temperature falls about 1 deg. F., and snow lies for most of the
time on the highest mountains.

_Flora._--The Hawaiian Islands have a peculiar flora. As a result of
their isolation, the proportion of endemic plants is greater here than
in any other region, and the great elevation of the mountains, with
the consequent variation in temperature, moisture and barometric
pressure, has multiplied the number of species. Towards the close of
the 19th century William Hillebrand found 365 genera and 999 species,
and of this number of species 653 were peculiar to this part of the
Pacific. The number of species is greatest on the older islands,
particularly Kauai and Oahu, and the total number for the group has
been constantly increasing, some being introduced, others possibly
being produced by the varying climatic conditions from those already
existing. Among the peculiar dicotyledonous plants there is not a
single annual, and by far the greater number are perennial and woody.
Hawaiian forests are distinctly tropical, and are composed for the
most part of trees below the medium height. They are most common
between elevations of 2000 and 8000 ft.; there are only a few species
below 2000 ft., and above 8000 ft. the growth is stunted. The
destruction of considerable portions of the forests by cattle, goats,
insects, fire and cutting has been followed by reforesting, the
planting of hitherto barren tracts, the passage of severe forest fire
laws, and the establishment of forest reserves, of which the area in
1909 was 545,746 acres, of which 357,180 were government land. In
regions of heavy rainfall the ohia-lehua (_Metrosideros polymorpha_),
a tree growing from 30 to 100 ft. in height, is predominant, and on
account of the dense undergrowth chiefly of ferns and climbing vines,
forms the most impenetrable of the forests; its hard wood is used
chiefly for fuel. The koa (_Acacia koa_), from the wood of which the
natives used to make the bodies of their canoes, and the only tree of
the islands that furnishes much valuable lumber (a hard cabinet wood
marketed as "Hawaiian mahogany"), forms extensive forests on Hawaii
and Maui between elevations of 2000 and 4000 ft. The mamane (_Sophora
chrysophylla_), which furnishes the best posts, grows principally on
the high slopes of Mauna Kea and Hualalai. Posts and railway ties are
also made from ohia-ha (_Eugenia sandwicensis_). In many districts
between elevations of 2000 and 6000 ft., where there is only a
moderate amount of moisture, occur mixed forests of koa, koaia
(_Acacia koaia_), kopiko (_Straussia oncocarpa_ and _S. hawaiiensis_),
kolea (_Myrsine kauaiensis_ and _M. lanaiensis_), naio or bastard
sandalwood (_Myoporum sandwicense_) and pua (_Olea sandwicensis_); of
these the koaia furnishes a hard wood suitable for the manufacture of
furniture, and out of it the natives formerly made spears and fancy
paddles. The wood of the naio when dry has a fragrance resembling that
of sandalwood, and is used for torches in fishing. The kukui
(_Aleurites triloba_) and the algaroba (_Prosopis juliflora_) are the
principal species of forest trees that occur below elevations of 2000
ft. The kukui grows along streams and gulches; from its nuts, which
are very oily, the natives used to make candles, and it is still
frequently called the candlenut tree. On the leeward side, from near
the sea level to elevations of 1500 ft., and on ground that was
formerly barren, the algaroba tree has formed dense forests since its
introduction in 1837. Forests of iron-wood and blue gum have also been
planted. Sandalwood (_Santalum album_ or _freycinetianum_) was once
abundant on rugged and rather inaccessible heights, but so great a
demand arose for it in China,[2] where it was used for incense and for
the manufacture of fancy articles, that the supply was nearly
exhausted between 1802 and 1836; since then some young trees have
sprung up, but the number is relatively small. Other peculiar trees
prized for their wood are: the kauila (_Alphitonia ponderosa_), used
for making spears, mallets and other tools; the kela (_Mezoneuron
kauaiense_), the hard wood of which resembles ebony; the halapepe
(_Dracaena aurea_), out of the soft wood of which the natives carved
many of their idols; and the wiliwili (_Erythrina monosperma_), the
wood of which is as light as cork and is used for outriggers. In 1909,
on six large rubber plantations, mostly on the windward side of the
island of Maui, there were planted 444,450 ceara trees, 66,700 hevea
trees, and 600 castilloa trees. About the only indigenous
fruit-bearing plants are the Chilean strawberry (_Fragaria chilensis_)
and the ohelo berry (_Vaccinium reticulatum_), both of which grow at
high elevations on Hawaii and Maui. The ohelo berry is famous in song
and story, and formerly served as a propitiatory offering to Pele. The
number of fruit-bearing trees, shrubs and plants that have been
introduced and are successfully cultivated or grow wild is much
greater; among them are the mango, orange, banana, pineapple, coconut,
palm, grape, fig, strawberry, litchi (_Nephelium litchi_)--the
favourite fruit of the Chinese--avocado or alligator pear (_Persea
gratissima_), Sapodilla pear (_Achras sapota_), loquat or mespilus
plum (_Eriobotrya japonica_), Cape gooseberry (_Physalis peruviana_),
tamarind (_Tamarindus indica_), papaw (_Carica papaya_), resembling in
appearance the cantaloupe, granadilla (_Passiflora quadrangularis_)
and guava (_Psidium guajava_). Most of the native grasses are too
coarse for grazing, and some of them, particularly the hilo grass
(_Paspalum conjugatum_), which forms a dense mat over the ground,
prevent the spread of forests. The pili grass (_Heteropogon
contortus_) is also noxious, for its awns get badly entangled in the
wool of sheep. The native manienie (_Stenotaphrum americanum_) and
kukai (_Panicum pruriens_), however, are relished by stock and are
found on all the inhabited islands; the Bermuda grass (_Cynodon
dactylon_), a June grass (_Poa annua_), and Guinea grass (_Panicum
jumentorum_) have also been successfully introduced. The _Paspalum
orbiculare_ is the large swamp grass with which the natives covered
their houses. On the island of Niihau is a fine grass (_Cyperus
laevigatus_), out of which the beautiful Niihau mats were formerly
made; it is used in making Panama hats. Mats were also made of the
leaves of the hala tree (_Pandanus odoratissimus_). The wauke plant
(_Broussonetia papyrifera_), and to a less extent the mamake
(_Pipturus albidus_) and _Boehmeria stipularis_, furnished the bark
out of which the famous kapa cloth was made, while the olopa
(_Cheirodendron gaudichaudii_) and the koolea (_Myrsine lessertiana_)
furnished the dyes with which it was coloured. From several species of
_Cibotium_ is obtained a glossy yellowish wool, used for making
pillows and mattresses. Ferns, of which there are about 130 species
varying from a few inches to 30 ft. in height, form a luxuriant
undergrowth in the ohia-lehua and the koa forests, and the islands are
noted for the profusion and beautiful colours of their flowering
plants. Kalo (_Colocasia antiquorum_, var., _esculenta_), which
furnishes the principal food of the natives, and sugar cane
(_Saccharum officinarum_), the cultivation of which has become the
chief industry of the islands, were introduced before the discovery of
the group by Captain Cook in 1778. Sisal hemp has been introduced, and
there is a large plantation of it W. of Honolulu.

Over seventy varieties of seaweeds, growing in the fresh-water pools
and in the waters near the coast, are used by the natives as food.
These _limus_, as they are called by the Kanakas, are washed, salted,
broken and eaten as a relish or as a flavouring for fish or other
meat. The culture of such algae may prove of economic importance;
gelatine, glue and agar-agar would be valuable by-products.

_Fauna_.--A day-flying bat, whales and dolphins are about the only
indigenous mammals; hogs, dogs and rats had been introduced before
Cook's discovery. Fish in an interesting variety of colours and shapes
abound in the sea and in artificial ponds along the coasts.[3] There
are some fine species of birds, and the native avifauna is so
distinctive that Wallace argued from it that the Hawaiian Archipelago
had long been separated from any other land. There were native names
for 89 varieties. The most typical family is the _Drepanidae_, so
named for the stout sickle-shaped beak with which the birds extract
insects from heavy-barked trees; Gadow considers the family American
in its origin, and thinks that the _Moho_,[4] a family of
honey-suckers, were later comers and from Australia. The _mamo_
(_Drepanis pacifica_) has large golden feathers on its back; it is now
very rare, and is seldom found except on Mauna Loa, Hawaii, about 4000
ft. above the sea. The smaller yellow feathers, once used for the war
cloaks of the native chiefs, were furnished by the _oo_ (_Moho
nobilis_) and the _aa_ (_Moho braccatus_), now found only occasionally
in the valleys of Kauai near Hanalei, on the N. side of the island;
scarlet feathers for similar mantles were taken from the _iiwi_
(_Vestiaria coccinea_), a black-bodied, scarlet-winged song-bird,
which feeds on nectar and on insects found in the bark of the koa and
ohia trees, and from the _Fringilla coccinea_. In the old times birds
were protected by the native belief that divine messages were conveyed
by bird cries, and by royal edict forbidding the killing of species
furnishing the material for feather cloaks, contributions towards
which were long almost the only taxes paid. Thus the downfall of the
monarchy and of the ancient cults have been nearly fatal to some of
the more beautiful birds; feather ornaments, formerly worn only by
nobles, came to be a common decoration; and many species (for example
the Hawaiian gallinule, _Gallinula sandwicensis_, which, because of
its crimson frontal plate and bill, was said by the natives to have
played the part of Prometheus, burning its head with fire stolen from
the gods and bestowed on mortals) have been nearly destroyed by the
mongoose, or have been driven from their lowland homes to the
mountains, such being the fate of the mamo, mentioned above, and of
the Sandwich Island goose (_Bernicla sandwicensis_), which is here a
remarkable example of adaptation, as its present habitat is quite
arid. This goose has been introduced successfully into Europe. A bird
called moho, but actually of a different family, was the _Pennula
ecaudata_ or _millsi_, which had hardly any tail, and had wings so
degenerate that it was commonly thought wingless. The turnstone
(_Strepsilas interpres_) arrives in the islands in August after
breeding in Alaska. There are no parrots. The only reptiles are three
species of skinks and four of the gecko; the islands are famed for
their freedom from snakes. Land-snails, mostly _Achatinellidae_, are
remarkably frequent and diverse; over 300 varieties exist. Insects are
numerous, and of about 500 species of beetle some 80% are not known to
exist elsewhere; cockroaches and green locusts are pests, as are,
also, mosquitoes,[5] wasps, scorpions, centipedes and white ants,
which have all been introduced from elsewhere.

_Soil._--The soil of the Territory is almost wholly a decomposition of
lava, and in general differs much from the soils of the United States,
particularly in the large amount of nitrogen (often more than 1.25% in
cane and coffee soil, and occasionally 2.2%) and iron, and in the high
degree of acidity. High up on the windward side of a mountain it is
thin, light red or yellow, and of inferior quality. Low down on the
leeward side it is dark red and fertile, but still too pervious to
retain moisture well. In the older valleys on the islands of Kauai,
Oahu and Maui, as well as on the lowland plain of Molokai, the soil is
deeper and usually, too, the moisture is retained by a heavy clay. In
some places along the coast there is a narrow strip of decomposed
coral limestone; often, too, a coral reef has served to catch the
sediment washed down the mountain side until a deep sedimentary soil
has been deposited. On the still lower levels the soil is deepest and
most productive.

_Agriculture._--The tenure by which lands were held before 1838 was
strictly feudal, resembling that of Germany in the 11th century, and
lands were sometimes enfeoffed to the seventh degree. But in the
"Great Division" which took place in 1848 and forms the foundation of
present land titles, about 984,000 acres, nearly one-fourth of the
inhabited area, were set apart for the crown, about 1,495,000 acres
for the government, and about 1,619,000 acres for the several chiefs;
and the common people received fee-simple titles[6] for their house
lots and the pieces of land which they cultivated for themselves,
about 28,600 acres, almost entirely in isolated patches of irregular
shape hemmed in by the holdings of the crown, the government or the
great chiefs. Generally the chiefs ran into debt; many died without
heirs; and their lands passed largely into the hands of foreigners. At
the abolition of the monarchy in 1893, the crown domains were declared
to be public lands, and, with the other government lands, were by the
terms of annexation turned over to the United States in 1898. They had
been offered for sale or lease in accordance with land acts (of 1884
and 1895--the latter corresponding generally to the land laws of New
Zealand) designed to promote division into small farms and their
immediate improvement. In 1909 the area of the public land was about
1,700,000 acres. In 1900 there were in the Territory 2273 farms, of
which 1209 contained less than 10 acres, 785 contained between 10 and
100 acres, and 116 contained 1000 acres or more. The natives seldom
cultivate more than half an acre apiece, and the Portuguese settlers
usually only 25 or 30 acres at most. Of the total area of the
Territory only 86,854 acres, or 2.77%, were under cultivation in 1900,
and of this 65,687 acres, or 75.6%, were divided into 170 farms and
planted to sugar-cane. In 1909 it was estimated that 213,000 acres
(about half of which was irrigated) were planted to sugar, one half
being cropped each year. The average yield per acre of cane-sugar is
the greatest in the world, 30 to 40 tons of cane being an average per
acre, and as much as 10(1/4) tons of sugar having been produced from a
single acre under irrigation. The cultivation of the cane was greatly
encouraged by the Reciprocity Treaty of 1875, which established
practically free trade between the islands and the United States, and
since 1879 it has been widely extended by means of irrigation, the
water being obtained both by pumping from numerous artesian wells and
by conducting surface water through canals and ditches. The sugar
farms are mostly on the islands of Hawaii, Oahu, Maui and Kauai, at
the bases of mountains; those on the leeward side have the better
soil, but require much more irrigating. The product increased from
26,072,429 lb. in 1876 to 259,789,462 lb. in 1890, 542,098,500 lb. in
1899 and about 1,060,000,000 lb. (valued at more than $40,000,000) in
1909. Nearly all of it is exported to the United States. Rice was the
second product in importance until competition with Japan, Louisiana
and Texas made the crop a poor investment; improved culture and
machinery may restore rice culture to its former importance. It is
grown almost wholly by Japanese and Chinese on small low farms along
the coasts, mostly on the islands of Kauai and Oahu. In 1899 the
product amounted to 33,442,400 lb.; in 1907 about 12,000 acres were
planted, and the crop was estimated to be worth $2,500,000. Coffee of
good quality is grown at elevations ranging between 1000 to 3000 ft.
above the sea; the Hawaiian product is called Kona coffee--from Kona,
a district of the S. side of Hawaii island, where much of it is grown.
In 1909 about 4500 acres were in coffee, the value of the crop was
$350,000; and 1,763,119 lb. of coffee, valued at $211,535, were
exported from Hawaii to the mainland of the United States. A few
bananas and (especially from Oahu) pineapples of fine quality are
exported; since 1901 the canning of pineapples has been successfully
carried on, and in the year ending May 31, 1907, 186,700 cases were
exported, being packed in nine canneries. Oranges, lemons, limes,
figs, mangoes, grapes and peaches, besides a considerable variety of
vegetables, are raised in small quantities for local consumption. In
1909 the exports of fruits and nuts to the continental United States
were valued at $1,457,644. An excellent quality of sisal is grown.
Rubber trees have been planted with some success, particularly on the
eastern part of the island of Maui; they were not tapped for
commercial use until 1909. In 1907 there were vanilla plantations in
the islands of Oahu and Hawaii. Tobacco of a high grade, especially
for wrappers, has been grown at the Agricultural Experiment Station's
farm at Hamakua, on the island of Hawaii, where the tobacco is
practically "shade grown" under the afternoon fogs from Mauna Kea.
Cotton and silk culture have been experimented with on the islands;
and the work of the Hawaiian Agricultural Experiment Station is of
great value, in introducing new crops, in improving old, in studying
soils and fertilizers and in entomological research. Honey is a crop
of some importance; in 1908 the yield was about 950 tons of honey and
15 tons of wax. The small islands of Lanai, Niihau and Kahoolawe are
devoted chiefly to the raising of sheep and cattle--Niihau is one
large privately owned sheep-ranch. There are large cattle-ranches on
the islands supplying nearly all the meat for domestic consumption,
and cattle-raising is second in importance to the sugar industry. It
was estimated in 1908 that there were about 130,500 cattle and about
99,500 sheep on the islands. The "native" cattle, descended from those
left on the islands by early navigators, are being improved by
breeding with imported Hereford, Shorthorn, Angus and Holstein bulls,
the Herefords being the best for the purpose. In the fiscal year 1908,
359,413 lb. of wool (valued at $58,133) and 928,599 lb. of raw hides
(valued at $87,599) were shipped from the Territory to the United
States.

_Minerals._--The islands have large (unworked) supplies of pumice,
sandstone, sulphur, gypsum, alum and mineral-paint ochres, and some
salt, kaolin and sal-ammoniac, but otherwise they are without mineral
wealth other than lava rocks for building purposes.

_Manufactures._--The manufactures are chiefly sugar, fertilizers, and
such products of the foundry and machine shop as are required for the
machinery of the sugar factories. Most of the manufacturing
industries, indeed, are maintained for supplying the local market,
there being only three important exceptions--the manufacture of sugar,
the cleaning of coffee and the cleaning and polishing of rice. The
manufacture of sugar, which began between 1830 and 1840, has long been
much the most important of the manufacturing industries: thus in 1900
the value of the sugar production was $19,254,773, and the total value
of all manufactures, including custom work and repairing, was only
$24,992,068. Next to sugar, fertilizers were the most important
manufactured product, their value being $1,150,625; the products of
the establishments for the polishing and cleaning of rice were valued
at $664,300. Of the total product in 1900, only 18.5% (by value) is to
be credited to the city of Honolulu. The growth of manufacturing is
much hampered by the lack of labour. Excellent water power is utilized
on the island of Kauai in an electric plant.

_Communications._--There are good wagon roads on the islands, some of
them macadamized, built of the hard blue lava rock. Hawaii had in 1909
about 200 m. of railway, of which the principal line is that of the
Oahu Railway & Land Company (about 89 m.), extending from Honolulu W.
and N. along the coast to Kahuku about one-half the distance around
Oahu; another line from Kahuku Mill, the most northerly point of the
island, S.E. to Honolulu, was projected in 1905; on the island of
Hawaii is the Hilo Railroad (about 46 m.), carrying sugar, pineapples,
rubber and lumber; other railways are for the most part short lines on
sugar estates and in coffee-producing sections of the islands of
Hawaii and Maui. Each of the larger islands has one or more ports
which a local steamboat serves regularly, and Honolulu has the regular
service of seven trans-Pacific lines (the American-Hawaiian Steamship
Co., the Canadian-Australian Steamship Co., the Matson Navigation Co.,
the Oceanic Steamship Co., the Pacific Mail Steamship Co., the Mexican
Oriental and the Toyo Kisen Kaisha); it is a midway station for
vessels between the United States (mainland) and Australia and
Southern Asia. In 1908 five steamship companies were engaged in
traffic between island ports and the mainland (including Mexico).
Honolulu has cable connexion with San Francisco and the East, and the
several islands of the group are served by wireless telegraph.

_Commerce._--The position of the archipelago, at the "cross-roads" of
the North Pacific, has made it commercially important since the days
of the whale fishery, and it has a practical monopoly of coaling,
watering and victualling. Its main disadvantage is the lack of
harbours--Honolulu and Pearl Harbor are the only ones in the
archipelago; but under the River and Harbour Act of 1905 examinations
and surveys were made to improve Hilo Bay on the island of Hawaii.
Pearl Harbor is the U.S. naval station, and a great naval dock, nearly
1200 ft. long, was projected for the station in 1908. Within recent
years commerce has grown greatly in volume; it has always been almost
entirely with the United States. In 1880 the value of imports from the
United States was $2,086,000, that of exports to the United States was
$4,606,000; in 1907 the value of shipments of domestic merchandise
from the United States to Hawaii was $5,357,907, and the value of
shipments of domestic merchandise from Hawaii to the United States was
$31,984,433, of which $30,111,524 was the value of brown sugar,
$133,133 the value of rice, $601,748 the value of canned fruits,
$124,146 the value of green, ripe or dried fruits, $117,403 the value
of hides and skins, and $105,515 the value of green or raw coffee. The
shipments of foreign merchandise each way are relatively
insignificant. In the fiscal year 1908 the exports from Hawaii to
foreign countries were valued at $597,640, ten times as much as in
1905 ($59,541); the imports into Hawaii from foreign countries were
valued at $4,682,399 in the fiscal year 1908, as against $3,014,964 in
1905.

_Population._--The total population of the islands in 1890 was 89,990; in 1900 it was 154,001, an increase within the decade of 71.13%; in 1910 it was 191,909. In 1908 there were about 72,000 Japanese, 18,000 Chinese, 5000 Koreans, 23,000 Portuguese, 2000 Spanish, 2000 Porto Ricans, 35,000 Hawaiians and part Hawaiians and 12,000 Teutons. Of the total for 1900 there were 61,111 Japanese, 25,767 Chinese and 233 negroes; of the same total there were 90,780 foreign-born, of whom 56,234 were natives of Japan, and 6512 were natives of Portugal. There were in all in 1900, 106,369 males (69.1%; a preponderance due to the large number of Mongolian labourers, whose wives are left in Asia) and only 47,632 females. About three-fifths of the Hawaiians and nearly all of American, British or North European descent are Protestants. Most of the Portuguese and about one-third of the native Hawaiians are Roman Catholics. The Mormons claim more than 4000 adherents, whose principal settlement is at Laie, on the north-east shore of Oahu; the first Mormon missionaries came to the islands in 1850. The population of 1910 was distributed among the several islands as follows: Oahu, 82,028; Hawaii, 55,382; Kauai and Niihau, 23,952; Kalawao, 785; and Maui, Lanai, Kahoolawe and Molokai, 29,762. The population of Honolulu district, the entire urban population of the Territory, was 22,907 in 1890, 39,306 in 1900, and 52,183 in 1910.

Native population.

The aboriginal Hawaiians (sometimes called Kanakas, from a Hawaiian word _kanaka_, meaning "man") belong to the Malayo-Polynesian race; they probably settled in Hawaii in the 10th century, having formerly lived in Samoa, and possibly before that in Tahiti and the Marquesas. Their reddish-brown skin has been compared in hue to tarnished copper. Their hair is dark brown or black, straight, wavy or curly; the beard is thin, the face broad, the profile not prominent, the eyes large and expressive, the nose somewhat flattened, the lips thick, the teeth excellent in shape and of a pearly whiteness. The skull is sub-brachycephalic in type, with an index of 82.6 from living "specimens" and 79 from a large collection of skulls; it is never prognathous. Most of the people are of moderate stature, but the chiefs and the women of their families have been remarkable for their height, and 400 pounds was formerly not an unusual weight for one of this class. This corpulence was due not alone to over-feeding but to an almost purely vegetable diet; stoutness was a part of the ideal of feminine beauty. The superiority in physique of the nobles to the common people may have been due in part to a system of massage, the _lomi-lomi_; it is certainly contrary to the belief in the bad effects of inbreeding--among the upper classes marriage was almost entirely between near relatives.

The Rev. William Ellis, an early English missionary, described the natives as follows: "The inhabitants of these islands are, considered physically, amongst the finest races in the Pacific, bearing the strongest resemblance to the New Zealanders in stature, and in their well-developed muscular limbs. The tattooing of their bodies is less artistic than that of the New Zealanders, and much more limited than among some of the other islanders. They are also more hardy and industrious than those living nearer the equator. This in all probability arises from their salubrious climate, and the comparative sterility of their soil rendering them dependent upon the cultivation of the ground for the yam, the arum, and the sweet potato, their chief articles of food. Though, like all undisciplined races, the Sandwich Islanders [Hawaiians] have proved deficient in firm and steady perseverance, they manifest considerable intellectual capability. Their moral character, when first visited by Europeans, was not superior to that of other islanders; and excepting when improved and preserved by the influence of Christianity, it has suffered much from the vices of intemperance and licentiousness introduced by foreigners. Polygamy prevailed among the chiefs and rulers, and women were subject to all the humiliations of the tabu system, which subjected them to many privations, and kept them socially in a condition of inferiority to the other sex. Infanticide was practised to some extent, the children destroyed being chiefly females. Though less superstitious than the Tahitians, the idolatry of the Sandwich Islanders was equally barbarous and sanguinary, as, in addition to the chief objects of worship included in the mythology of the other islands, the supernatural beings supposed to reside in the volcanoes and direct the action of subterranean fires rendered the gods objects of peculiar terror. Human sacrifices were slain on several occasions, and vast offerings presented to the spirits supposed to preside over the volcanoes, especially during the periods of actual eruptions. The requisitions of their idolatry were severe and its rites cruel and bloody. Grotesque and repulsive wooden figures, animals and the bones of chiefs were the objects of worship. Human sacrifices were offered whenever a temple was to be dedicated, or a chief was sick, or a war was to be undertaken; and these occasions were frequent. The apprehensions of the people with regard to a future state were undefined, but fearful. The lower orders expected to be slowly devoured by evil spirits, or to dwell with the gods in burning mountains. The several trades, such as that of fisherman, the tiller of the ground, and the builder of canoes and houses, had each their presiding deities. Household gods were also kept, which the natives worshipped in their habitations. One merciful provision, however, had existed from time immemorial, and that was [the _puuhonuas_] sacred inclosures, places of refuge, into which those who fled in time of war, or from any violent pursuer, might enter and be safe. To violate their sanctity was one of the greatest crimes of which a man could be guilty." The native religion was an admixture of idolatry and hero-worship, of some ethical but little moral force. The king was war chief, priest and god in one, and the shocking licence at the death of a king was probably due to the feeling that all law or restraint was annulled by the death of the king--incarnate law. The mythic and religious legends of the people were preserved in chants, handed down from generation to generation; and in like poetic form was kept the knowledge of the people of botany, medicine and other sciences. Name-songs, written at the birth of a chief, gave his genealogy and the deeds of his ancestors; dirges and love-songs were common. These were without rhyme or rhythm, but had alliteration and a parallelism resembling Hebrew poetry. Drums, gourd and bamboo flutes, and a kind of guitar, were known before Cook's day.

When the islands first became known to Europeans, the Hawaiian family was in a stage including both polyandry and polygyny, and, according to Morgan, older than either: two or more brothers, with their wives, or two or more sisters with their husbands, cohabited with seeming promiscuity. This system called _punalua_ (a word which in the modern vernacular means merely "dear friend") was first brought to the attention of ethnologists in 1871 by Lewis H. Morgan (who was incorrect in many of his premises) and was made the basis of his second stage, the _punaluan_, in the evolution of the family. These conditions did not last long after the coming of the missionaries. Descent was more commonly traced through the female line. As regard cannibalism, it appears that the heart and liver of the human victims offered in the temples were eaten as a religious rite, and that the same parts of any prominent warrior slain in battle were devoured by the victor chiefs, who believed that they would thereby inherit the valour of the dead man. Under _taboo_ as late as 1819 women were to be put to death if they ate bananas, cocoa-nuts, pork, turtles or certain fish. In the days of idolatry the only dress worn by the men was a narrow strip of cloth wound around the loins and passed between the legs. Women wore a short petticoat made of _kapa_ cloth (already referred to), which reached from the waist to the knee. But now the common class of men wear a shirt and trousers; the better class are attired in the European fashion. The women are clad in the holoka, a loose white or coloured garment with sleeves, reaching from the neck to the feet. A coloured handkerchief is twisted around the head or a straw hat is worn. Both sexes delight in adorning themselves with garlands (_leis_) of flowers and necklaces of coloured seeds. The Hawaiians are a good-tempered, light-hearted and pleasure-loving race. They have many games and sports, including boxing, wrestling (both in and out of water), hill-sliding, spear-throwing, and a game of bowls played with stone discs. Both sexes are passionately fond of riding. They delight to be in the water and swim with remarkable skill and ease. In the exciting sport of surf-riding, which always astonishes strangers, they balance themselves lying, kneeling or standing on a small board which is carried landwards on the curling crest of a great roller. All games were accompanied by gambling. Dances, especially the indecent _hula_, "danse du ventre," were favourite entertainments.

Even at the time when they were first known to Europeans, they had stone and lava hatchets, shark's-tooth knives, hardwood spades, _kapa_ cloth or paper, mats, fans, fish-hooks and nets, woven baskets, &c., and they had introduced a rough sort of irrigation of the inland country with long canals from highlands to plains. They derived their sustenance chiefly from pork and fish (both fresh and dried), from seaweed (_limu_), and from the kalo (_Colocasia antiquorum_, var. _esculenta_), the banana, sweet potato, yam, bread-fruit and cocoa-nut. From the root of the kalo is made the national dish called _poi_; after having been baked and well beaten on a board with a stone pestle it is made into a paste with water and then allowed to ferment for a few days, when it is ready to be eaten. One of the table delicacies of former days was a particular breed of dog which was fed exclusively on poi before it was killed, cooked and served. Like other South Sea Islanders they made an intoxicating drink, _awa_ or _kava_, from the roots of the _Macropiper latifolium_ or _Piper methysticum_; in early times this could be drunk only by nobles and priests. The native dwellings are constructed of wood, or occasionally are huts thatched with grass at the sides and top. What little cooking is undertaken among the poorer natives is usually done outside. The oven consists of a hole in the ground in which a fire is lighted and stones made hot; and the fire having been removed, the food is wrapped up in leaves and placed in the hole beside the hot stones and covered up until ready; or else, as is now more common, the cooking is done in an old kerosene-oil can over a fire.

The Hawaiian language is a member of the widely-diffused Malayo-Polynesian group and closely resembles the dialect of the Marquesas; Hawaiians and New Zealanders, although occupying the most remote regions north and south at which the race has been found, can understand each other without much difficulty. Various unsuccessful attempts have been made to prove the language Aryan in its origin. It is soft and harmonious, being highly vocalic in structure. Every syllable is open, ending in a vowel sound, and short sentences may be constructed wholly of vocalic sounds. The only consonants are _k_, _l_, _m_, _n_ and _p_, which with the gently aspirated _h_, the five vowels, and the vocalic _w_, make up all the letters in use. The letters _r_ and _t_ have been discarded in favour of _l_ and _k_, as expressing more accurately the native pronunciation, so that, for example, _taro_, the former name of the _Colocasia_ plant, is now _kalo_. The language was not reduced to a written form until after the arrival of the missionaries. A Hawaiian spelling book was printed in 1822; in 1834 two newspapers were founded; and in 1839 the first translation of the Bible was published.

In spite of moral and material progress--indeed largely because of changes in their food, clothing, dwellings and of other "advantages" of civilization--the race is probably dying out. Captain Cook estimated the number of natives at 400,000, probably an over-estimate; in 1823 the American missionaries estimated their number at 142,000; the census of 1832 showed the population to be 130,313; the census of 1878 proved that the number of natives was no more than 44,088. In 1890 they numbered 34,436; in 1900, 29,834, a decrease of 4602 or 13.3% within the decade. To account for this it is said that the blood of the race has become poisoned by the introduction of foreign diseases. The women are much less numerous than the men; and the married ones have few children at the most; two out of three have none. Moreover, the mothers appear to have little maternal instinct and neglect their offspring. It is, however, thought by some that these causes are now diminishing in force, and that the "fittest" of the race may survive. The part-Hawaiians, the offspring of intermarriage between Hawaiian women and men of other races, increased from 3420 in 1878 to 6186 in 1890 and 7835 in 1900.

Immigration.