m JONV-Si a: ^ -~, Jv Q Ti U o - HAWAIIAN BY ClEO. M. DE LA SAN FRANCISCO, CAL. H. S. CROCKER COMPANY COPYRIGHT 1898 Sp n the advancing waves and he guides his boat with unerring skill beneath the toppling breakers and through the green vales of water, using the steering oar with the same instinctive deftness and power as a shark uses his guiding fin, as he cuts through the water. Xot a smile lights up his face as his boat crosses the bow of the other and bumps along- side 1 of the wharf it is a matter of course with him, not of congratulation. These Hawaiian boatmen are worthy of more than passing mention, for they are the masters of these southern seas, even as the Norseman was once the ruler of his wild northern waters. lie knows the ocean, he loves it, and the timid landlubber can place absolute confidence in his faithfulness, skill and cour- age. AY hen the boats have boon again swung to their places the Kinau steams along the Maui coast towards the Hawaii channel. It is now drawing towards evening, and the setting sun kindles his rosy watch tires on the heights of Ilaleakala, Manna Kea and Manna Loa. Then " At one stride comes the dark " and the ship is soon bucket- ing through the roaring seas, while the hours towards midnight stretch out to eternity and as you lean against your cabin door for a moment you hear the swish of the waters through the darkness and see the stars reeling in the sky. From a wretched doze you awake to find the ship lying in absolute quiet at Kawaihae. The desolate coast of Hawaii is hidden by the soft gloom, through which rises the shadowy bulks of Mauna Loa and Hua- lalai. Gladly you seek the fresh air on deck. The moon, which is but a golden rind in the low east, casts a faint light on the quiet waters of the bav and towards the shore can be heard 14 faintly the dip of the oars of one of the ship's boats. My friend, whom I shall call the "humorist," orders some black coffee and toast, while I restrict, myself l<> iced ginger ale and soda crackers. There is something so neutral about these crackers that you can cat them under the most trying conditions. The humorist with rare good breeding forbears making any reference to my recent illness but speaks of other matters. " Do yon notice those 1 black walls rising on the hill over there?" he asked, pointing towards the shore. >% They enclosed what was once the most famous temple on these Islands. In fact this place in the old days used to be the great sacred rendezvous for the natives and they were accustomed to come here by the thousands to sacrifice to the gods, and also to catch fish, both of equal importance in thoir eyes. Many varieties of fish abound in this bay and the water is so clear that you can see them thirty or forty feet down." " 'What were these sacrifices?" I inquired. 35 " Human, or rather inhuman/' he an- swered. " The priests used to slay their victims on the altar in the sacred ami and use their en- trails for the purpose of divination." As I looked again at that black square upon the shore it had acquired a new interest and meaning for me. There was a deeper darkness around it than came from the night, an exhal- ation of mystery arose from its walls. For cruel death and bloody sacrifice had been wrought within that enclosure, which gave it an unholy yet lasting consecration. It is not strange that the natives regard it with super- stitious fear. For them the somber place is filled with ghosts and evil spirits nesting thickly within the walls, or flying about on bat-like wings, like birds of evil omen. Soon the gray presence of the morn stepped quickly forth upon the land and sea, and cast from her shoulders the dark shadows of the night. Our ship, as the light grew stronger, turned upon her track and 16 sailed up the coast to Mauakona. The wind was blowing great guns, presumably thirteen- ineli, off shore and flattening 1 out the yeasty seas beneath its force. I'nder the circum- stances I refused the invitation of the humorist to go ashore in one of the boats. It happened lie was tax assessor for one of the islands, and said he desired to appraise the value of some of the blocks in Maua- kona, which place consisted of one white house and a weather-beaten store, while around it lay a country which was as desolate as only a tropical one can be when it decides to become a desert. Then he, with a brother assessor, who was aboard, and several other presumably intelligent individuals, climbed into the boat, and it was quickly lowered down the side. They waved to us, who were watch- ing them over the rail, and made audible comments on our lack of nerve. ."I shall telephone to Ililo," shouted back one, " that there is a party of distinguished congressmen aboard, who have 1 come down to spy out the land, and they will prepare some fatted pups for your luau." 17 "Better not tell them that there are any tax assessors in the bunch," retorted an individual leaning over the rail, " or the hospitable cit- izens will make our reception a trifle too tropical." The boat had now drifted away from the ship's side about seventy-five feet, when to our glad surprise we observed that they were not making any headway against the tremendous wind, though the sturdy natives were bending their oars through the water. The gray-whiskered old captain was looking down grimly from the bridge, for they had started in spite of his advice not to attempt a landing. Our party on deck tried to furnish them with helpful advice and add to their happiness by pleasant comments. " Is that the fast boat? If so, what is it fast to?" " Why don't you fellows in the stern take off your coats and help row?" remarked one. " Better throw up the sponge, along with the other things," suggested a pale convales- cent. 18 " Don't leave us in that unceremonious manner," protested a third. "Are you gen- tlemen going to Mauakona, Samoa, or are you going to stay?" " If you get there before we do," \ve all shouted in chorus. The party in the boat waved their hats and urged us " to come off our perch," which we firmly declined to do. Just then a note of tragedy came in, " Come back, George, dear," wailed a fem- inine voice at my elbow. " You will be drowned;" but George, who seemed somewhat despondent, could not come back, so he waved a deprecatory hand, and then looked over the boat's side. Just then there came a loud splintering sound. The bow oar, a big fat kanaka, had put on too much force, and his blade was shat- tered. Then the boat began to drift in earn- est, the steerer contenting himself with keep- ing her straight before the wind, and in a short time they were far astern. All hands 19 were now summoned aft to reassure the dis- tracted bride. " There was absolutely no danger," " This had happened before," " In a short time the steamer would pick them up." But it was all to no avail. She would glance for a moment at the boat, which was now a mere black speck, bobbing on the waters, then her shapely head would go down on the rail and she would moan, " Oh, George, I shall never, never see you again." Finally the purser's boat returned from the shore, and the steamer was swung round and headed towards the runaways. In ten min- utes we overhauled them. A quickly impro- vised reception committee had gathered on deck to receive them as they stepped pale and rather drenched, from the boat. " Fine place, Mauakona," said one of the committee, " so convenient to telephone from." " Nothing like having a boat of your own in which to sail the summer seas," remarked the chairman. 20 " It looked like a judgment on you tax as- sessors," said a third. " I don't know about that/' replied the humorist, imperturbably, " I shall value the land more highly than ever now." Meanwhile George was holding a reception that must have repaid him for all his trouble. "Think I shall certainly bring my wife next time," remarked an elderly gentleman sitting near the rail, " and try this little ex- periment. Nothing like danger for restoring the affections." We discovered afterwards that it was only a cold bluff on his part, and that he was not married at all. A few hours later we rounded the northern point of Hawaii and were soon steaming down the beautiful Hamakua coast. The black precipices rose in a continuous line of palisades from out the sea, with no white beach shelv- ing down. The great green surges, with the force of the Pacific behind them, rolled against the perpendicular walls, the dark surfaces of 21 which were veined at frequent intervals by the silvery lines of the waterfalls, or graced by the vines, which fell in straight lines or were looped in varied shapes. Beyond these cliffs there rose the splendid slopes, covered with great fields of cane. Here and there were groves of royal palms and slender cocoa trees, fit temples for the gods of ancient Hawaii, who were supposed to dwell in streams and groves and mountains. Still higher up the slopes grew the forests of koa and kukui. At times the skirts of the clouds, heavy with moisture, dragged along the lower slopes, and a soft gloom would diffuse itself over the landscape. Then the sun would roll the mists aside for the moment and the light would fall upon tropical vales, hills and slopes, with all the vividness of the early spring, and yet with the full, rich splendor of summer. We reached Hilo in the afternoon and re- ported no cholera and only a few cases of seri- ous seasickness. I met the humorist several hours after our arrival, down town, looking 22 for his trunk, which had not yet put in its ap- pearance. He seemed outwardly calm, and his language was restrained as he explained to the stout purser, who just came bustling up, and who had many excuses to offer; that he was perfectly aware of the fact that the steam- ship corporation was a noble organization and was run entirely in the interest of humanity, and though he did not wish to insinuate that it was carrying his trunk concealed about its person with felonious intent, nevertheless it contained things which would be of great and immediate use to him. " And why," he asked in reasonable tones, " should the company have superfluous suits on its hands? " He got the trunk. The next morning we procured, after much effort and diplomacy, two horses from the autocrat of the only livery stable in Hilo, and started on our ride of thirty-one miles to the volcano. It was overcast and muggy as we left the village, but after following the road for several miles up the gradual slope we emerged 23 from the overhanging growth into the sun- shine, while the air gradually lost its murky heaviness and became clear and vital. Along the distant coast was the ever present sea, ringing with its broad band of blue the island, and its calm surface was burnished with the glow of the white sun, which gazed from its own illimitable blue into the illimitable blue beneath. Before us rose from slow and mas- sive slopes to their sun-crowned heights, the two brothers, Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea. It is only Mauna Loa who keeps the sacred fire burning on his altars; the other dwells in unapproachable calm, robed in sunshine and girt with clouds. As we went on our way there rose continually before our eyes that distant pillar of gray white smoke, far up the slope of Manna Loa, which marked the mecca of our travels and sufferings by sea and land. We had been on the way a couple of hours when we overtook the four-seated stage. From both sides were the heads of the pil- grims craned out as they gazed at the tropical 24 foliage. They were all curiously and won- derfully decorated with tropical flowers, and wreathed with vines. As we rode past we told our steamer friends that they were a bit slow and that we would take great pleasure in ordering dinner for them at the \^olcano House. However, our pride was to receive a severe blow, for we had not ridden many miles when we were overtaken by a bicyclist, with head low bent, crouching form and stealthy tread. He passed us as if we had been an- chored to the road. But what to him was all the beauty surrounding him? He saw nothing but the black road that flew beneath his wheel and might just as well have been in the Desert of Sahara. " They are a strange people, these bicycle faddists," remarked the humorist, '' half human, half mechanical creatures." Perhaps our discomforture had something to do w T ith this cynical reflection. After lunch at the Half-way House, we rode into the coffee belt. Some of the places 25 appeared very home-like and pleasant, with their carefully cultivated rows of coffee shrubs, their scarlet berries shining amid the glossy green leaves, and with the fern-slab walks leading to the neat cottages, while chil- dren were at play in the yards or on the shaded road. Veritable oases of cultivation in the midst of the tangled wilderness of tropical growth. But I can hear the plain American citizen growling, " Hang your descriptions. How much per cent can we realize on our capital invested in this industry?" Don't ask me; ask the humorist, he has a coffee plantation of his own. He knows, but he won't tell. Then there is the Hawaiian government; it bubbles over with information on the subject. Further on, the road was like a narrow stream, running along the bottom of a ravine, with ferns and vines and matted vegetation along the steep sides. As the sun marked the middle of the afternoon we came out on a 26 high plateau, covered with old lava flows, only partially concealed by grass, ferns and small trees. If our horses had left the road on either side they would have been quickly swallowed up in one of the deep fissures, whose treacherous depths were concealed by the vegetation. We were now near our goal, and from the edge of the mesa could look over into the crater, from whose center was pour- ing a ceaseless flood of smoke. Tn the evening the stage arrived and we went out to welcome our belated friends. There was one young man in the crowd Avho made himself conspicuous. ]STothing pleased him and he let it be known. He insisted that he had been brutally deceived in the volcano, that it was nothing but smoke. He might have stated also that the mountains were noth- ing but a collection of dirt, and the sea an aggregation of salt water. It depends on the point of view. He demanded that the pro- prietor of the hotel should fire up his old vol- cano, or there would be immediate trouble. 2Y We feared that Madame Pele, who must have overheard his remarks, would sink entirely out of sight, or flare up in sudden anger, but she continued to smoke on in imperturbable peace. In the early dawn, before the sun had risen from the cold sea to loosen with his warm fingers the mist clinging to the mountain sides and while the steam was rising from the floor of the crater like the smoking campnres of a great army, the humorist and myself started down to the home of the God- dess of Fire. So much has been written in Pele's honor by great travelers and literati from the ends of the earth, that I shall make my necessary tribute to her a very brief one. Around her rose the perpendicular walls of the old crater, and between them and the smoking cauldron stretched the plain of ancient lava flows; in some parts they were broken into innumerable sharp bits, in other portions they still retained their earlier form. In some places the flow was in appearance 28 like a huge serpent, whose writhings had been preserved in a perfect petrifaction. After a walk of a mile and a half, we drew near the crater, and the humorist remarked to himself in a casual tone, "And her smoke rose up for ever and ever." It was appropriate. From the round crater, about a quarter of a mile in diameter, the smoke rolled, gushed and bellied out, white as summer clouds on the upper swells, and tinged with yellow sulphur, as it issued forth. It drifted slowly in a mas- sive column southward down the mountain slope, spreading out thinly towards the far- ofT sea. A few years back, looking down into this crater, one could see the earth's heart laid bare with its red and beating pulses. Xow there is nothing but this crowding, stifling vapor. Perhaps Pele's epitaph is written in this slowly drifting smoke. As the cool of evening draws near we sally forth again from the hotel to visit what might be called the side shows of Iviluaea. First there is Kiluaea Eke to the left of the main 29 volcano and about three quarters of a mile from the hotel. It is an extinct volcano, its crater forming a perfect amphitheatre, with a pool of black lava far down at the bottom. The white mists roll in as you look, and the whole crater is shut from view, and you hurry back before the narrow path through the undergrowth is obscured by the clinging folds of white. Much nearer the Volcano House are the sulphur banks, the yellow flakes of which crunch under your feet like snow, only it is snow that is soiled, and warm to the touch, such as might have fallen thickly in the at- mosphere of Dante's Inferno. The bushes overhanging the banks are incrusted with the yellow frost. As the sun sinks behind the far crest of Mauna Loa its yellow banners are withdrawn from the mountain side, and the slopes look almost bleak in the bluish light, with the great lava flows running down them like gigantic streams of ink. There is a nip of cold in the air, and you gladly seek the warmth of the 30 big fireplace in the old-fashioned sitting room of the hotel, where yon can sit in the circle of the fire light, the shadows wavering in the back part of the room, and listen to the stories of your fellow travelers, or watch the flames as they rush up the wide throat of the chim- ney. [MAUN A KEA. * Thou risest from the central purple seas; Thy brow doth wear a crown of Arctic snow, While round thy feet there stand the tropic trees ; The royal palm and slender cocoa slow Wave their dark plumes beneath the winds which blow From off the ocean's plain, and there doth rise Along the slope the elm and oak in row on row, While from slow-rising base to crest there lies The radiant light which dwells beneath the southern skies. Mauna Kea! From thine isolated throne Thou rulest realms which stretch to distant shores, Where on the northern strand the gray waves moan, (31) 32 Or where the Orient heaps its richest stores, And o'er this world thy cloudy banner soars; Thy compeers are the lofty Alpine peaks And Himalayan heights which reach the doors Of Heaven's blue, on whom God's light first seeks Its earthly place and where its latest presence speaks. When slow the sun begins its western course There come from valleys dark and seas a light; The loitering clouds, and soon in gathering force They form around thee in a ring of white. Thou sendest them on winds to take their flight, To thunder o'er the seas, or fill with rain The vales, till trees and slopes are hid from The storm to thy clear height cannot attain; As sea and isle grow dusk the light from thee doth wane. THE GHOST OF THE HEIAU. If you are tired of civilization arid desire to withdraw in absolute seclusion from this wicked and weary world, I know of no better place than Kipukai. It lies on the coast of Kauai and is shut in on the land side by per- pendicular cliffs, beneath which are a few thousand acres of grazing land; and these cliffs sweep around until they meet the sea and there you are, bottled up, but it is delight- ful, at least for a while. It is especially pleas- ant to lie in the hammock which swings in the shade of the broad lanai in front of the little white-washed cottage and watch the great blue billows of the Pacific as they roll be- tween the black lava headlands into the little bay and spread out thinly upon the white sand of the beach, the glazing water edged with foam. Lulled by the continuous and monot- (33) 34 onous roar of the waves you drop off into a profound sleep, and when you awake some hours later von decide it is too close under the lanai and accordingly move around to the lit- tle porch on the mauka side of the house, where you can raise your eyes from the novel you are reading and watch the shadows as they creep down the steep mountain sides just above you or study out the strange patterns of the forests clinging to them. These forests are like inlaid work with the dark leaves of the Koa intermingled with the creamy white of the Kukui. Sometimes they resemble to your eye rich old tapestries hung on the dark moun- tain walls. Old Hoary Head, the chieftain of the Kipukai Kange, has a distinction of his own as he has not the Gothic form of the other mountains, but is Byzantine in shape, with the great dome of green rising a thou- sand feet above the ridge. Tn the summer of 1896 a party consisting of half a dozen young fellows, college boys home for vacation, were over in Kipukai, not, 35 however seeking rest and repose, for they came to hunt the goats which infest the moun- tain ranges and to fish for the sharks which abound in the waters along the coast. One evening we were gathered on the lanai, as usual after supper, smoking our pipes and comparing notes on the day's fortunes. The members of the coast division who preferred sharking or gathering shells by the murmur- ing sea, had some remarkable tales to tell of the monsters of the deep they had either seen or caught, but they produced no extrinsic evi* dence; while the mountain division had a pair of horns but the goats they had shot had un- fortunately fallen over the cliffs just out of reach. " I'm sure 1 hit that old black Billy, didn't you see him limping off?" remarked one of the hunters. " Fell into the limpid sea, I suppose, and committed suicide, as usual," returned one of the sharkers. He was immediately sat upon, his sense of 36 humor not being appreciated by the majority. After this came anecdotes sacred, secular and profane, which I shall omit, being studious of brevity. Then, followed the usual talk whenever college boys get together. The man from Yale had a few words to offer, as he lay on his back puffing at his pipe, in regard to the relative merits of the Cook, Courtney and Lehman strokes, and also spoke of the actresses he had met. The Harvard repre- sentative explained philosophically why his University did not always win in athletics. The Cornell man spoke modestly of their ability to outrow anything on the waters, not barring Pennsylvania; while the Tech gradu- ate stated that at his institution there was more work than play. As it grew darker, with no light except that which came from the pipes or the glowing end of some cigar, the talk drifted into ghost lore, and several thrilling experiences were related by the various members of the "Amalgamated Order of Unsuccessful Hunters," as they 37 styled themselves. The only drawback to the solemnity of the occasion was the con- duct of the Yale man, who displayed unusual signs of fear at the wrong place. His teeth would chatter audibly and he would grasp the fellow next to him convulsively and consequently a fight would ensue. " What is that T hear," he exclaimed ex- citedly, at one point, " is it the waves moan- ing on the lonely beach?" When peace was restored, young Rowan, whose large frame was stretched out on the floor, with his head resting on the door-sill, spoke up : " I will tell you fellows a little in- cident that happened to me not long ago, if you care to hear it." We told him to fire away, as he was an un- usually intelligent young fellow who had lived a long time on the islands, and was reticent unless he had something to tell. " Most of you fellows know of that old heiau beyond Koloa on the slope about a 38 mile above the sea. It rises in the sliape of a square, looking like a deserted cattle pen, for of course the interior temple disappeared many years ago. ]}y the way you have no idea, unless you have lived among them, how superstitious the natives are about everything, especially in regard to these old temples. I will give you an instance of their disposition in that line. Some old hag of a kahuna, or sorceress, will obtain a lock of hair, or a piece of toe or ringer nail from some unfortunate kanaka, and by means of a black stick, a stone god and a bot- tle of gin, with various heathen incantations, will anaana or pray to death that particular heathen until he goes into a decline and finally gives up the ghost from actual fright; fear freezes the soul out of him. "Here is another illustration: You know that place on the road between Ivoloa and Lihue, just above the bridge where the lahala trees come down the slope. No native will pass that after 39 night, if he can help it, for it is haunted for him in some peculiar way of which we have no conception; but the site of one of their old heathen temples is the place of combined hor- ror and ghostliness for them. I wager that you might put up a house where one of the old heiaus once stood, fill the cellars with gin, the yard with fat pigs and string calabashes of poi along the veranda, and you could not get a kanaka to stay there over night, unless he was dead drunk; and then his friends would come and carry him away. I was perfectly aware of the fact that my men were afraid of this hoiau near Koloa and would never pass by it after night had fallen. One evening, how- ever, this state of affairs was brought forcibly to my attention. I was sitting on the lanai, smoking after a hard day's ride after cattle, when my head luna, an intelligent half white, who had graduated from one of the Honolulu schools, came dashing into the yard, and, throwing his bridle rein over the horse's head, came rapidly towards where I was sitting. I 40 may say, as a rule, he moved ratlier leisurely, except when he was on horseback. I saw there was something unusual the matter with him; he was trembling all over and there was a terrible fear lurking in his eyes. ' What's up/ I asked. He spoke in short, gasping breath as if he had been running : ' I was galloping along the road not five minutes ago and was just opposite the old heiau and going at a pretty good gait, when my horse suddenly sprang sideways into the ditch and stood trembling. I could not see anything at first and I spurred him, but it was no use.' He stopped for breath and looked furtively be- hind him. Then I went to the dining room and poured some brandy into a glass and brought it out to him. In a white man such fear would have been cowardly, but I knew with a native it w r as different. He continued: ' Then I saw something trying to crawl up the side of the stone wall of the heiau and it fell back into the grass with a kind of a moan; at this my horse jumped forward down the road, 41 and looking back I saw the thing wavering on the wall and then fall into the enclosure.' I realized this was rather serious, for I had confidence in the man's nerve, and I did not wish the report to spread among the men. " ' I don't deny, Henry,' I said, ' that you have sren something, but it is probably some cursed nonsense, as most all these cases are. More than likely it was one of the bushes in- side of the stone wall of the heiau waving in the moonlight anyway don't speak of this to the men and to-morrow night I will camp out there, and then we will see what's in it.' " ' Very well, sir,' he replied, as he walked away. At the edge of the lanai he stopped for a moment. ' Better take your revolver with you.' ' Not much,' I replied, ' what good would that do with a ghost? I w r ould rather have a kahuna.' I thought Henry laughed rather unpleasantly, as he swung himself onto his horse and rode out of the yard. " Late the next afternoon I had my horse 42 saddled, and, tying a roll of blankets on be- hind and filling my pockets with some Manila cigars, started off. Arriving near the heian I tied my horse to the roots of a lahala tree with the lasso, about two hundred yards from the road. Then I examined the heian; it was about one hundred feet square, surround- ed with heavy walls several feet thick com- posed of black lava rocks, and about six feet high. Jumping over into the sacred enclosure, I made a thorough examination, but found no prints of any kind in the red dirt near the center of the square. Most of the interior was covered with short grass. In three of the corners was a heavy growth of hau bushes. I selected the northeast corner for my resting place. Where the branches of the bushes almost swept the ground, and within their shelter the earth was cool and dry, and it was an excellent place to observe from, that is, if observation became necessary. But I fully expected to go to sleep and not wake until the sunshine was 43 pouring into the enclosure the next morning; how well I succeeded will appear later on. While putting my roll of blankets back in the corner I came upon a bottle half full of Japanese sake and a few dried fish, wrapped up in brown paper, and I immediately de- cided that this was the lunch room of one of the migratory Japs who travel between Lihue and Makaweli. After finishing my simple ar- rangements I sauntered down the slope toward the Spouting Horn, whose blasts came fitfully to my ears as its intermittent and gey- ser-like column of water shot up high in the air. It was a beautiful evening, quiet and peaceful. The sun sank into the tranquil sea, leaving a faint orange glow to mark his de- parture. I sat upon a rock smoking and watching the surge of the Pacific rolling with lazy force along the low rocky coast. I must have been there several hours before I decided to return to my camping place. It had be- come dark, and as I turned back up the slope the mild light of the tropical stars shone down 44 upon me. I could see the black walls of the heiau higher up and it did not look at all cheerful, and when in climbing over the wall a loosened stone fell down with a crash, 1 wished for some indefinable reason that it had not happened. I listened breathlessly for a moment and then crossed the enclosure to my corner, something like a prize-fighter you sec, only I had to face the shadowy powers of darkness, and it was not pleasant. As I lay on the outspread blankets I found it impos- sible to sleep. A heavy pall of darkness seemed to rest over the heiau and it was black as the depths of a well; while not a breath of air was stirring. The bushes in the corner opposite as motionless and black as if carved out of the palpable gloom, and as I rolled and tossed a stick snapped under me, sending a thrill through my nerves. Two hours must have passed when I was sure that I heard something mov- ing along the wall, and then the hau bushes were shaken violently above my head. Was 45 it climbing up the wall to drop upon me in another second? Suddenly the shaking ceased and I heard a low, heavy breathing, followed by a crunching sound. Seizing a rock, I climbed up on the wall and almost re- coiled backwards, for a black object was wav- ing in front of my eyes, when with a sudden snort of fear it bounded away, and to my in- tense relief, I recognized a large black steer which had been grazing near. Laughing at my fear, and with renewed confidence, I crawled under the sheltering hau bushes again: but my interest had somehow been aroused and sleep was banished from me. It must have been about midnight when I no- ticed a light gradually diffusing itself through the darkness, and, getting up, I crossed the heiau and looked over the wall. The great moon was rising in yellow splendor from the sea, banishing the darkness from the surface of the placid waters and casting long black shadows of trees and shrubs far up the slope. The dark line of the road was plainly visible 4G to the right, and there was my horse peace- fully grazing just on the other side of it, and his being there somehow gave me a sense of security and companionship. If I imagined that the light was going to add to the cheer- fulness of my surroundings, I was sadly mis- taken. Again and again I would start up on my elbow and gaze fixedly into the bushes op- posite, sure that there was something creeping amongst them, and the waving branches cast shadows which became dark and malignant forms creeping toward where I lay. Nothing came of it, but my nerves were at tension. I laughed at myself as being no better than the kanaka, but the shadow of some imminent danger rested upon me and I could not shake it off. Why was it that the spot of red in the center of the heiau, which was composed of nothing but red dirt, admirably adapted for growing sugar cane, took on a sinister aspect? It was right there that the blood had fallen, drop by drop, from the ghastly throats of the sacrificial victims. 47 " I set myself steadfastly to consider the work of the morrow, detail by detail; in fact, I laid out so much that there certainly would have been a strike among the men. But it was absolutely useless; all the wierd and haunting tales I had ever read came back to mo. One especially stayed in my mind; I had read it years ago in an old tattered maga- zine that was lying about the house. It ran through my memory thus: " ' The heavy tapestry was drawn slowly back and the insane mistress of the house, with a mastiff at her heels, stalked stealthily through the shadows towards the canopied bed, Avhere the guest lay peacefully sleeping. A scream, a gurgling sound, a Avild yell of laughter, and then a heavy knocking on the oaken door.' " What was that? It was no vision this time. ] opened my eyes and there it was, swaying on the wall; then came a thud. Crouching in the protection of the overhang- ing branches, with every sinew drawn to the 48 tension of steel, I looked across the open space into the shadows opposite. I felt there was something of dire menace to me lurking in the blackness yonder. For a moment I listened, tli ere was not a sound, and I began to persuade myself that a stone had rolled down into the enclosure, and the object on the wall was nothing but the waving branches. Just then there came a sound from the shadows opposite, unlike anything I had ever heard; it was not exactly a moan, but more resembling the labored breathing of some strange animal. Convulsively I seized a stone near, and, half rising, was about to hurl it into the bushes, and then with all the force of my frightened energy spring over the wall and on to my horse and dash for home; but it was too late; the creature, whatever it was, had evidently heard something that aroused its suspicion and was creeping from its hiding place. It stopped half in the shadow and half in the moonlight; then T could not have moved for the life of me. It stood on all 49 fours waving its head slowly back and forth, in the moonlight, and there came that labored breathing; an aura passed over my nerves. Slowly, inch by inch, it came; then with a cry it moved quickly to the red spot in the center of the heiau, and I started violently back. Would it spring upon me next? And my blood congealed around my heart. As it stood swaying there it partially rose and seemed trying to peer through sightless eyes, and just tjien the light fell upon its face. " Merciful Heavens ! I never saw its like before; it was not human. A mouth, if such it could be called, had eaten around into a cheek of awful corruption. It was the ghast- liness of living death; that thing belonged in the moldering grave. " What did it hear on the surface of the living earth, with a robe of beautiful moon- light falling all around it ? It crouched, wav- ering for a moment, while my breathing seemed almost stifled. A dim perplexity was in its attitude, as it bent forward with one 50 claw-like hand outstretched and resting its weight upon the mere club of the other. I would not have had that thing touch me for a thousand worlds. Then it came, and my every energy was suddenly loosened and I sprang through the bushes, but I was not quite quick enough. The grasp of its one hand rested on my arm, and I can feel it there right now; and that face was almost against me. I cast it aside, and the creature tottered, stumbling and moaning towards the ground. T don't recollect how I got over the wall. I found my horse lying on the ground with the rope pulled tightly around the neck, and his eyes rolling in his head. Quickly cutting the rope, I sprang on the horse and gaining the road, I galloped towards home. As I glanced back I saw the head of the creature looking over the wall, following me with its eyes. " I have never spent another night in that sacred enclosure, and when I pass by in the day time it does not look exactly right, and at 51 night as I gallop past I can feel tliat thing's eyes fixed upon my spinal column, and hear the sound of its wierd and mournful laughter. That's all." " Well, old man, you have gone and done it," remarked one of our group. " I shall not sleep to-night without seeing ghosts. I 'hope there are none of those things in this section of the country." " I believe there is an outlawed leper hid- ing in one of the caves on Hoary Head. The authorities are after him to send him to Molokai, and he does not propose to go. This was the case with my friend who called on me on that memorable evening in the old temple. You see his people had left the gin and fish for him in the corner of the heiau, and he came after them." HALEAKALA. * Lo, once tliou dwelt in torment and in pain; The flames lit up thy swelling smoke; The sky did show those passions which thine heart did try; The life blood rushed from out thy sides, like rain, Till black and cold it filled the lower plain; 'Twas then thy mighty friends from far Hawaii Signaled to thee in flames which surged on high. Xow upon thy quiet air there is no stain; And through those riven sides the white clouds roll, Filling each gash and every rising cone; Silence of death here reigns for thee alone; But hark ! far down there floats a bird's sweet song; The silvery notes do reach thy mighty soul; The strife is past and thou art scarred, yet strong. (52) THE LEGEND OF HALEAKALA. * We stood shivering on the brink. At our very feet was the crater of Haleakala, the House of the Sun, but that luminary had gone to his other realms and left his dwelling dark, unfathomable and void. No voice of nature was there, no murmuring breeze, no note of bird, no spirit of man or of God moved in those lone and abyssmal depths. Only the brilliant stars kept watch above, and they were immeasurable miles away. We, who stood there in the cold morning air, did not add in any way to the majesty of the scene, wrapped as we were in blankets red, white or gray. " Like lost spirits waiting for waftage to the other shore," remarked the humorist. " I am sure I have lost my spirits," said a shivering unfortunate, " I think the guide stole them." (53) 54 " Tt seems to me we look more like a group of savage Apaches on a l>leak mountain sum- mit sketched by Remington," suggested the artist of the crowd. " All, there she blows," cried the first speaker, pointing toward the east, where a shaft of light had just shot from the dark sea through the gray clouds. AVe all turned and looked, except the newly married couple ; they gazed into each other's eyes as was their cus- tom. " I am so cold, dearest," she murmured. I suppose he furnished her with a share of his red blanket, though I was not watching. '' Ladies and gentlemen," said the humor- ist, " the grand cyclorama of sunrise on Haleakala is about to open, and as a prelim- inary, I move we throw the poet over the brink as a propitiatory sacrifice to the God of the Sun, who appears to be shocked by our ap- pearance; and besides the poet will attempt to describe this scene and he can't." " Describe nothing," retorted the poet, 55 " my teeth are chattering so my tongue can't. Let's throw the guide over, that will pro- pitiate us anyway." But William, the guide, looked so calm and peaceful as he sat with his back against a rock, smoking a short, black pipe, that we had not the heart to disturb him. Meanwhile the sun rose. He has done this so often that it has become a matter of course with him. But rarely has he risen sur- rounded with such pomp of circumstance and kingly glory. It might well have been his coronation morning, with clouds of heavy gorgeousness upon his shining shoulders, and the quick heralds of light sent to glow the distant mountain heights and to awaken the dark and slumbering sea. We seemed to be moving in worlds unrealized as the light swept across the reach of clouds at our feet, broken as a sea of tumbled ice, while around the outer rim rose forms strange or fantastic, the clouds shaping themselves into huge animals or rounding in noble palaces or rising in 56 lofty pinnacles, and on every one the sun had set a crown of flame. The light with rosy hands pulled slowly back the shadows from the crater until it stood clearly revealed in its silence and vastness. Then from West Maui to Molokai stretched a heavy causeway of cloud, beneath which lay the sea dark and glowing like polished porphyry. Then the sun rose above the clouds and the common light of day lay round us. " 'Tis past, the visionary splendor fades," remarked the poet, but the remark was not original with him. Our party now adjourned to the stone house on the summit known as Craigealea, and after drinking some hot coffee and warm- ing ourselves around the open fire, the humor- ist and myself testified to our intention of tak- ing William and walking down into the crater. They all said that we were several kinds of idiots, and that they would take their exercise out in watching us. The newly married couple said nothing, but looked as 1 have be- fore stated. 57 " I think that haole can't go down," re- marked William, pointing to the humorist. " His legs too thin, they break." We all laughed except the humorist, who could not see the joke. "Break! you fat rascal," he exclaimed, " before I am done with you, you won't be anything but an animated brown shadow." With sarcastic comments which did not dis- turb our serenity, and much waving of hand- kerchiefs, we began the descent. We went down at a very rapid gait, the loose dirt smok- ing at our heels and the canteen thumping against William's fat sides. In a half hour we reached the floor of the crater and stopped to take breath. After William had lighted his pipe we went on our way. First across the black lava flows and broken aa. In the days of its storm and stress this had been the hot and glowing life-blood of the great vol- cano, but now it was cold, black and con- gealed. Beyond the flows we came to long- stretches of volcanic sand, and the lofty cones 58 rose above us, so perfect in form that it seemed the slightest breath of air would disturb their symmetry. Their coloring was wonderful velvety black, gray and red shading into one another. And through the vast silence the silvery notes of a bird floated down to us from the far battlements of the crater. After a toilsome tramp we reached the other side, where the trees come down the slope, and throwing ourselves down in the shade, we looked across the burning plain and enjoyed the coolness by way of contrast, as we smoked and took chance shots at stray goats coming down the ridge. '' Do you know any stories or legends con- nected with Haleakala, William ? " I inquired. '"Yes, I know one; my grandma always telling." " That's right, "William," said the humor- ist, " take down your harp from the weeping lahala tree and sing to us of the departed glories of your race." " You see my grandma great old woman, 59 "she kahuna, live at Hana. I hear this story every since f was kaiki. She says it comes clown from some old poets." And after gazing across the crater for a while, William began, in his native tongue: " In former times from the distant islands of the southern sea came a strange people to Hawaii. On their spears were the great sharks' teeth, and their tabu staffs were crowned with kapa, black or white. They were great of stature and became the mois of Hawaii. Then followed a people from be- yond the rising sun. Small and broad they were, and came in ships such as were never before seen within the Hawaiian seas. But stranger than these peoples was an alien race that came from out the distant north from whence the great trees come which float down to us upon the rivers of the sea, and where the trade winds take their rise, which come to cool our valleys and the burning sea. " It was in the days when Hua, the impious king, reigned in Hana. It chanced on the 60 third day before the feast of Lono in the early morning' when the fishermen were returning, six canoes came from out a mist that floated on the sea, and moved quickly in even line towards the curving beach. The night be- fore the omens had portended some dire event. The sacrifices had risen from the blood-stained lelc and stalked beyond the heian's gate, while from the heights of Haleakala issued the groanings of the Thun- der God. As the aliens strode upon the beach they were taller than our tallest chiefs. Their skins were red as Pele's blood that beats with- in her heart, but their eyes were black as is that blood when it cools upon the mountain sides, yet their glance shot fire as lightning from the thunder clouds. Their heads were encircled by high feather leis which swept backwards almost to the ground. Feathers were they, gray and white, such as never grew upon the birds that fly within the forests or float upon the sea. " The King took the strangers to his royal 61 Hale and gave them food and drink. There was a woman with them, the wife of their great chief. She appeared like a prophetess, only young. Her skin was pale as is the white sea foam. Her dark eyes seemed to gaze afar off, and her smile w r as like the flash of the sun upon the sea. When Ilua saw her he desired her for himself, and his women be- came as nothing in his eyes. Therefore Hua urged the red men to make their home near his Hale and they should be aliis in the land, though the priest, Luahomoe, warned the king that their coming would cast a shadow on his life. But the strangers would not dwell with the king nor with his people, but made their home far up on the slope of Haleakala, where the gray clouds ever hang and the white rain falls silently to the ground. " Sometimes when the feather hunters sought the mamo and the oo upon the moun- tains, they would see a figure of one of these men standing on the highest mountain peak against the black clouds as though carved of 62 stone, then suddenly he would raise his arms towards the sky and a cry would come quick as a javelin piercing to the heart, or they would hear a rustling 1 in the ferns and see a shape like a red moo moving through the green, hut whence it came or whither it went they could never tell. ''It chanced that on a certain day their great chief came down to the plain and went to see the king, who was stretched at ease in front of his Hale on a kapa moe. The great chief stood and would not sit upon the mat- ting brought by the attendant. Then the king made a sign to one of his retainers, who, in a short time, brought twelve maidens, with flowers decking their dark hair and ornaments of pearl and shells upon their ankles and their arms. They were the fairest in Una's court. The king waved his hand towards where they stood and said: " ' Take these, O chief, they are yours, but let the white queen dwell with me.' " Then the great chief folded his arms and 63 looked down at the king, while Tina's guard gathered close around him, for there was evil in the great chief's eye, and the king was a very little man before him. Then he grunted ' t'mph/ and, turning, left the presence of the king and went quickly to his mountain home. " But Una's heart was hot within his breast, so he vowed to take the great chief's life and bring the white queen to his royal Hale. Forthwith he sent his lunapais into every valley and along the sea to summon the alii and their warriors, but a messenger came the following day from the great chief, say- ing: " I know your plotting and your heart, O king. We will make an end of this matter. Place your kingdom against the possession of the white queen. Choose your mightiest warrior, and I will meet him. If I die, take the white queen, but if your warrior dies, your people and your lands are mine, O king. But this one condition; I will choose the place where this combat is to be fought.' 64 " The crafty Hua thought within his heart, ' I will accept this challenge, and if my cham- pion fall my warriors will surround him and his men and slay them. Then the white queen shall not escape me.' So he assented. The messenger then took the king, and, point- ing where the clouds were flowing through the Kaupo gap, he said: ' Tn yonder hollow mountain fights the chief.' " The king's heart was troubled then, but he dare not return upon his spoken word. Among the alii there was none so tall and powerful as the young Kuala. In all the sports of peace he was pre-eminent. While in war none could hurl the spear so swiftly, nor use the javelin with such skillful hands, and when, he whirled the battle axe above his head none could see it for the speed. He was chosen champion by the king. '" For many days the priests consulted the oracles within the enclosure of the sacred ami, but the omens puzzled them, and they said the Gods were not at peace among themselves. 65 " It was on the evening before the day set, just as the sun sank into the sea, there came a cloud, blacker than the kapa for the dead, moving slowly above the sea, and the gray rain following as a veil behind it. The air around was very still. Then suddenly the cloud turned to crimson and the mountain and the thousands on the beach were reddened as though by the glow from a great fire. All were frightened, but Kuala only laughed and said : ' If it storms now it will be cooler on the morrow.' The old priest shook his head and said: ' My son, that mountain height will be plenty cool enough for thee.' " Late in the afternoon of the destined day the hosts of Maui were gathered in the arms of the great mountain. Foremost stood the king. Around his shoulders fell the yellow mamo cloak, and on his head a helmet yellow as his robe, save its crest, which was red with the feathers of the scarlet bird. Behind him stood the priests in feather cloaks red as the blood of their sacrifices, while in a half circle 66 rose the hundred alii in cloaks with colors mingled of the royal yellow and the priestly red. As the sunlight shone upon them they were in form and color as the rainbows bent above the valleys green, and on the rounded hills of sand above them stood the warriors thicker than the leaves upon the forest trees, and their thousand spears made the red hills black. A murmur ran amongst them as when the voice of the sea conies on the south wind and the sky is gray. The priests chanted in low tones the meles of Kuala's race, and waved their arms as they sang of heroic deeds. Kuala stood quietly by the king and looked across the lava plain where, in the distance, could be seen the red men moving, one behind the other in a line. They came very swiftly. When they reached a hundred paces from where stood the king they stopped. The white queen stood forth before them. Her color was no longer as the pale foam, for the blood beat quickly in her cheeks, and she J. t/ breathed as though she had been running, 67 while her eyes shone so that even Hua turned his glance away. The great chief stood near her, but impassive as though carved of stone. Behind them the warriors stood lean and red with strange colors on their faces, and their heads were crowned with warlike feathers. They moved not, nor looked upon the war- riors on the hills, regardless of them as though they were but crawling ants. Then the mes- senger of the chief advanced across the sand and stood before the king. " ' O, King, the chief is ready now to offer the victim chosen by you for the sacrifice.' " Hua replied : ' My champion is here at my right hand, and to-night we will wrap your chief in the funereal kapa, and the black sharks will dine upon his flesh.' He would have spoken more, but the messenger turned upon his heel and left the king. " Kuala threw aside his feathered cloak and advanced slowly towards the level sand. Then there rose a shout from the hosts upon the hills louder than the thunder of the great 68 waves falling on the beach, and the priests chanted in loud tones, beating wildly on their sacred drums. The great chief advanced to meet his foe, then stopped, and with arms out- stretched towards the sun, gazed straight into its burning light while his voice reached to the remotest warrior on the hills, though none could understand the words, so strange they were. Then he turned and faced Kuala, who stood twenty paces distant. All was quiet as is the air before a coming storm. Kuala slowly raised his spear above his head, and bending quickly forward, sent it with such force that none could see it in the air, but the great chief was quicker than the spear, and it went past him deep into the sand. His spear flew so close to Kuala that he felt the wind of its speed upon his cheek. The second time they raised their arms together and sent the weapons whirling through the air. The war- rior's spear struck some feathers from the great chief's head, but his spear went straight toward 3Cuala's heart, yet before it touched 69 his body lie caught it with his hands and turned its course aside, but staggered back- wards with the force. Then the warriors cried in lamentation on the hills, but when they saw he was unhurt a shout arose louder than the first. The last spear Kuala poised above his head was of polished koa, tipped with ivory, whose point had been dipped in Po's dark waters, and carrying death upon its slightest touch. But it never reached the red chief, for the two spears met in the air with a great clash and fell broken on the sand. Then the two warriors rushed towards each other and met midway on the sand, their jave- lins clashing as they met. Suddenly the light had faded, while gray clouds covered the crater as with a roof, and the white rain began to fall thick and fast, laying like white stars on cloaks of alii and of king. Kuala and the great chief could be dimly seen as they whirled around each other in the strife, faster than seabirds on the wing. Now rushing to- gether, now stepping quick aside, but Kuala's 70 "breathing could be heard by the king and his alii standing near, while the great chief moved quicker than the red lightning from the clouds, without a sound save when his javelin struck the warrior's. But moving back- ward from Kuala's rush, his heel struck upon a stone, and he swayed slightly. Then the warrior's javelin tore his shoulder till the red blood came. With a cry that made the king and all his followers shiver as with cold, he sprang past Kuala's javelin and fastened his teeth within his flesh, and his face was like a demon as he tore the warrior's throat, and Kuala fell slowly back upon the sand, writh- ing in quick death. Then the Ilulumanu, standing by the king, threw his spear and pierced the great chief, who fell face down- ward on the sand. From the hills the war- riors came with a mighty rush, as slides the land from the steep mountain sides, while the red men waited their coming with faces lean and fierce. They stood as does a rock within the sea when the great waves surge upon it 71 and fall back in beaten foam until one mightier than the rest o'erwhelms it. So stood, so fell the red men on that day. Una marked not the raging of the strife, but through the tumult pushed his way toward where the white queen stood alone. She fled with exceeding swiftness, moving like a shadow through the falling mist. Una, in furious anger, raised his spear and sent it straight towards her as she fled. Then the cloud grew thicker and closed around them. Instantly a great cry was heard, and the king's people found him bleeding on the sand, with his spear point centering in his breast. Whither the white queen went none ever knew. But sometimes the hunter, following his lonely trail through the great mountain, sees a woman's form wrapped in moving mist, and with dark hair floating wildly around the pallor of her face." " That's all," said the guide. " That's quite a lie, William," said the humorist. 72 " 1 don't know; the old lady says it is just so." As we started on our homeward trail the clouds began rolling through the two gaps and an opaque mist soon lay around us. William headed the procession, and we had gone about a quarter of a mile and were near the great cone when William stopped sud- denly and grasped the humorist by the arm, almost white with terror. " Look," he said, pointing towards where the fog had lifted somewhat, and a current of air was whirling the mist, and in the mist a woman's form and face could be clearly seen. I looked inquiringly at the humorist. " Can such things be," he said, " and over- come us like a summer cloud, without our special wonder." " There are more things in earth and Heaven, Horatio," I suggested. Then we went on in silence through the falling mist, but the humorist took the lead. THE SOUTHERN CROSS. * Thou hangest at the girdle of the night When night is the dark priestess of the seas. Soft shines, emblem of love, the Pleiades; In Orion's belt the sword of war is bright, But thou dost show unto our earthly sight A deeper vision than can come from these Of Him who drained earth's grief unto the lees, Whose cross of wood is changed to stars of light. Thou art low set in depths of tropic skies While sleeps the sea beneath the balmy air; Yet where far south the stormy waters rise In waves of tossing gray, clear thou dost bear On high thy sign of hope for searching eyes; The gloom of night but shrines thy presence there. (73)