Images of Old Hawaiʻi

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Humehume

Humehume was born on Kauai in about 1797 to King Kaumuali‘i and, apparently, a commoner wife. Kaumuali‘i decided to send his son to America; he George was about six years old when he sailed into Providence, RI on June 30, 1805. He eventually enlisted in the US Navy and was wounded during the War of 1812. After the war, Humehume was taken under the wing of the ABCFM and was sent to be educated at the Foreign Mission School at Cornwall, CT.

He returned to the Islands with the Pioneer Company of American Protestant missionaries. Shortly following the death of his father, Humehume joined a group of Kauai chiefs in an unsuccessful rebellion. He was captured and spent the last 1½ years in custody; a victim of influenza, Humehume died on May 3, 1826, six years to the day of his return to Waimea, Kauai.

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Hono O Nā Pali

Hono O Nā Pali Natural Area Reserve encompasses almost 3,600 acres on the north coast island of Kauai. The Reserve was designated in 1983 and expanded in 2009 to preserve native natural communities in the Hanalei and Waimea Districts, including the Hanakāpī‘ai, Hanakoa and Waiahuakua ahupua‘a. it’s “one of the best remaining forest ecosystems in Hawai‘i, as well as the rare and endangered plant and animal species it supports.”

“The mountains along the shore, for eight or ten miles, are very bold, some rising abruptly from the ocean, exhibiting the obvious effects of volcanic fires; some, a little back, appear like towering pyramids”. “Except for a very narrow, dangerous foot-path, with yawning abysses on each side, this bluff is impassable.” (The Tourist’s Guide, Whitney, 1895) The trail was originally built around 1860 (portions were rebuilt in the 1930s) to foster transportation and commerce for the residents living in the remote valleys.

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Anahola

Kauai is the fourth largest island in the Hawaiian chain, comprised of a land area of 352,000-acres. Kauai was traditionally divided into 5 moku (districts) including: Koʻolau, Haleleʻa, Nā Pali, Kona and Puna. Moku were changed in the late 1800s to Kawaihau, Hanalei, Waimea, Kōloa and Līhuʻe. In 1877, Hanalei and Līhuʻe shared a common boundary. Kawaihau was set apart by King Kalākaua, who gave that name to the property lying between the Wailua River and Moloa‘a Valley.

Formerly, Anahola (fish poison cave) was part of the moku or district of Ko‘olau. The Kalale‘a mountain at Anahola includes two prominent mountain peaks known as Hōkū‘alele peak and Kalale‘a Mountain. This latter pu‘u can be seen from land and sea and is spoken of in chants and mele. With the Anahola Stream as its main water source, generations of native Hawaiians thrived in the ahupua‘a of Anahola inhabiting mostly the valley and nearby coastal areas.

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First Sight of Land

In January 1778, Captain James Cook aboard the Resolution and Captain Charles Clerke aboard the Discovery were sailing from the Society Islands to the Northwest coast of North America on Cook’s Third Expedition of the Pacific Ocean. “On the 19th, at sunrise, the island first seen, bore east several leagues distant. This being directly to windward, which prevented our getting near it, I stood for the other, which we could reach; and not long after discovered a third island in the direction of west north-west, as far distant as land could be seen.”

“Seeing no signs of an anchoring place at this eastern extreme of the island, I bore away to leeward, and ranged along the south east side, at the distance of half a league from the shore. … We passed several villages; some settled near the sea, and others farther up the country. The inhabitants of all of them crowded to the shore, and collected themselves on the elevated places to view the ships. … Of what number this newly-discovered Archipelago consists, must be left for future investigation. We saw five of them, whose names, as given to us by the natives, are Woahoo (O‘ahu,) Atooi (Kauai,) Oneeheow (Ni‘ihau,) Oreehoua (Lehua) and Tahoora (Kaula.)” … Contact …

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Fifteen Days in the Islands

In January, 1778, Captain Cook was travelling from Christmas Island (“As we kept our Christmas here, I called this discovery Christmas Island” (Cook,)) heading across the north Pacific to the Oregon coast of North America. He wasn’t looking for Hawai‘I, but saw it and landed on Kauai.

Then, “after spending more time about these islands than was necessary to have answered all our purposes, we were obliged to leave them before we had completed our water and got from them such a quantity of refreshments as their inhabitants were both able and willing to have supplied us with.” The Discovery and Resolution left Hawai‘i on February 2, 1778.