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April 13, 2024 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Orteric

A century after Captain James Cook’s arrival in Hawaiʻi, sugar plantations started to dominate the landscape. What encouraged the development of plantations in Hawaiʻi?

For one, the gold rush and settlement of California opened a lucrative market. Likewise, the Civil War virtually shut down Louisiana sugar production during the 1860s, enabling Hawai‘i to compete with elevated prices for sugar.

In addition, the Treaty of Reciprocity-1875 between the US and the Kingdom of Hawai‘i eliminated the major trade barrier to Hawai‘i’s closest and major market. Through the treaty, the US gained Pearl Harbor and Hawai‘i’s sugar planters received duty-free entry into US markets.

However, a shortage of laborers to work in the growing (in size and number) sugar plantations became a challenge. The only answer was imported labor.

Starting in the 1850s, when the Hawaiian Legislature passed “An Act for the Governance of Masters and Servants,” a section of which provided the legal basis for contract-labor system, labor shortages were eased by bringing in contract workers from Asia, Europe and North America.

There were three big waves of workforce immigration: Chinese – 1852; Japanese – 1885 and Filipinos – 1905. Several smaller, but substantial, migrations also occurred: Portuguese – 1877; Norwegians – 1880; Germans – 1881; Puerto Ricans – 1900; Koreans – 1902 and Spanish – 1907.

Reasons why people left their homeland to come work in the Hawai‘i sugar plantations varied: some were looking for opportunity and a better life; some were looking for work (there was economic turmoil in their homeland); some left because of political strife … some thought they could make/save some money and return.

An often-overlooked issue with the emigration of these foreign workers to the Islands was the means of getting there. Many sugar workers came in groups. One such (and not necessarily the norm) was the sailing of the Orteric.

Of British registry, “The Orteric is a large vessel, fitted with accommodations for about twenty cabin passengers. And is a large cargo carrier, being able to accommodate 10,000 tons dead weight. She can steam twelve to thirteen knots an hour and has 3000 indicated horsepower.”

“She belongs to the Weir line and is on her maiden voyage, having been launched at Greenock, England, on January 28, 1911. She will probably join other Weir liners, which operate between Seattle and Orient ports.”

“She has a length of 460 feet and is fifty seven feet breadth. … The Orteric sailed from London on February 16 [1911] and at Oporto picked up a batch of immigrants, taking on 305 there. At Lisbon 260 people were taken on, and at Gibraltar 960 Spaniards were sent on the vessel.”

“‘They appear to be a fine lot of people,’ said Secretary of the Territory Mott-Smith, when he went among them. Dr Victor Clark head of the territorial immigration board agreed with him. The doctor stated that the Portuguese came from agricultural districts back of Lisbon, while the Spanish came from the districts of Seville land mountain districts.” (Hawaiian Gazette, April 14, 1911)

“The immigrants are decidedly glad that their journey has ended. ‘Vive la Republique’ shouted one husky looking Spaniard, as he fairly leaped from the gangway of the steamer to the wharf.”

“He shouted so that the shed resounded with his exultation. He leaped as he sped through the shed and when he reached the open air and felt the soil of Hawaii under his feet he waved his hat.” (Hawaiian Gazette, April 14, 1911)

But the arrival was about the only good news about their voyage to Hawai‘i.

“Death stalked among the fifteen hundred Spanish and Portuguese Immigrants aboard the British immigrant steamer Orteric, which arrived yesterday after its long voyage from Spain and Portugal. Fifty eight deaths were recorded among the children during the voyage.”

“Measles was the cause as entered on the ships log and in all but one instance the bodies were consigned to the sea for burial but the federal quarantine officers detected evidences of scarlet fever …”

“… and the territorial board of health, which looked after the body of the child who died just as the steamer was about to enter the harbor announced last evening that death was due to scarlet fever and the immigrants were ordered sent to quarantine Island.” (Hawaiian Gazette, April 14, 1911)

“[A] Portuguese middle aged and carrying heavy bundles ran down the gangway his eyes almost glittering as he ran through the shed knocking his countrymen right and left shouting: ‘Away from that jail away from that jail!’”

“He turned a look of disgust upon the ship and it is little wonder he wished to leave it for death and filth had full sway upon the vessel for nearly fifty days.” (Hawaiian Gazette, April 14, 1911)

“Upon the arrival of the vessel at Honolulu an inspection thereof was made by the customs officers under the direction of the Collector of the Port, who thereafter rendered a report to the Collector of the Port, wherein they found that the master of the vessel, James F. Findlay, had violated the … Passenger Act of Aug. 2, 1882”. (US Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit, July 12, 1915))

The Passenger Act was implemented to address reforms to passenger conditions on board ships and set minimum standards for berths, light and ventilation, food, hospitals, discipline and cleanliness and reporting requirements upon entering US ports.

“Owing to the great number of deaths, the grand jury, which was in session at the time, went on board and made an exhaustive examination of the vessel.”

“On the lower deck on which passengers were berthed neither latrines nor conveniences were provided for the passengers, in many instances empty meat cans being used; all of the latrines were on the upper deck and could be used only by passengers able or willing to climb there, and they were flushed but twice a day.”

“No proper method was adopted to protect the vessel against the filthy conditions which were thus necessarily created; the decks were not washed and the filth apparently was permitted to remain, in alternate layers of filth, sawdust and disinfectants …”

“… the result was an almost intolerable stench which filled the dark and poorly ventilated compartments and existed even up to the day when the vessel was examined by the grand jury. No conveniences were originally provided for the use of children and such as were provided were improvised after the vessel commenced her voyage, and were wholly unfit from all standpoints.”

“Although the vessel crossed the equator twice on the voyage, no bathrooms were provided, and up to within a few weeks of the completion of the voyage the only way in which a bath of any kind could be taken was in the public washroom.”

“No attempt appears to have been made to muster the passengers on deck when weather permitted as required by law; or to air or clean the bedding during the entire voyage, and when the vessel arrived at Honolulu it became necessary to burn all the mattresses.”

“The grand jury stated that no opportunities were afforded the passengers for keeping clean and that it is to be wondered no more deaths occurred than actually took place.” (American Marine Engineer, Jan 1912)

“Charged with the worst case of neglect of steerage passengers on record under the Passenger Act of 1882, the owners of the British steamer Orteric have been fined $7,960 by Acting Secretary Cable of the Department of Commerce and Labor.”

“Among her 1,242 passengers there were in the eight weeks of her voyage fifty-eight deaths, being children; the births numbered fourteen; the sexes were not properly segregated during the larger part of the time …”

“… the ventilation of the ship was inadequate and greately increased the mortality rate; the hospital facilities were and without proper equipment, while the sanitary conditions of the vessel were almost beyond belief.”

“Acting Secretary Cable, after giving ample opportunity for the ship’s agent to make a defense, directed today that the full penalties be imposed.” (New Mexico Review, Dec 14, 1911)

April 12, 2024 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kiawe

‘Kiawe’ means to sway in the breeze. ‘Kia’ means a pillar, post, prop, mast of ship. Ka ua kiawe i luna o ka lāʻau, the rain streaming down on the tree. (Ulukau) The English Hawaiian Dictionary defines kiawe as: a tree with wood used to smoke meat. 2. to stream, as rain, to sway. (Logan)

Humans have used the kiawe family of trees since at least 6500 BC for food, fuel and basic raw materials. Wood has been found in tombs in many archaeological sites in Peru dating as far back as 2500 BC. In Arizona, bedrock mortars have been found and it is now believed that these are special implements designed to grind the pods into flour.

In Hawaiʻi (in 1916,) it was believed that “no introduced tree has been of greater benefit to the islands than the kiawe (algarroba) – one of the mesquites.” (Judd, Hawaiian Forester and Agriculturist, 1916)

It is also known as the honey locust, honey pod, cashew, and July flower (the algaroba name comes from “Al-kharrubah,” the Spanish name of the carob tree, or St. John’s bread, the pods of which it resembles in flavor.) (We call it kiawe.)

The native home of kiawe is from California to Texas and through parts of Mexico, Central and South America, as far south as Buenos Aires.

While the history of its introduction to Hawaiʻi is not definite, the conclusion seems to be that the first tree planted in the islands was raised from seed brought by Father Bachelot when he started out from Bordeaux in the early part of 1827. The seed reportedly came from the Jardin du Roi de Paris and not from Mexico or Chile. (Judd, Hawaiian Forester and Agriculturist, 1916)

The tree was planted in December, 1828, in the north corner of the Fort Street Catholic church yard in Honolulu near Beretania Street. “By 1837 there were already several algarroba trees from the seed of the first one”.

“As the worn down missionary left his mission house never again to return to it, he looked upon the plant with moistened eyes and said as though prophetically: ‘Even as this young tree by Divine Providence will thrive and cover the whole of the island with its shade,’ etc.”

To make room for the expanding development of downtown, the original tree was severely topped in 1906. The 92-year-old tree had a diameter at breast height of 3 feet 3 inches when it was cut down in 1919. (Logan)

Sandalwood, Curley Koa, Naio, Willi Willi, Hala Pepe and others at one time, covered much of the leeward coast. The unsustainable harvesting of Sandalwood lead to nearly complete deforestation and major changes to the hydrology.

“Perhaps because of a history of human disturbance, the vegetation of the dry leeward zone is more fragmented and difficult to characterize than that of wet windward zones.” (Logan)

The leeward coasts of all islands in the state of Hawaiʻi tend to be arid to semi-arid, subtropical/tropical climates; there, the kiawe thrives.

Certainly, no man could have left a greater or more abiding monument, for the kiawe now covers vast areas on the different islands of mostly stony, arid, and precipitous land, which formerly was utterly worthless for other purposes. (Judd, Hawaiian Forester and Agriculturist, 1916)

More than 150,000-acres of dry kiawe forests in Hawaiʻi are descended from the single tree planted in 1828 in downtown Honolulu.

In August 1832, the tree was found to be hearing fruit. By 1840, progeny of the tree had become the principal shade trees of Honolulu and were already spreading to dry, leeward plains on all of the islands.

The following are some of the main products of the Kiawe and the chief uses considered in Hawaiʻi (as thought in 1916:)

Wood for fuel, charcoal, timbers, and posts.
Pods for fodder in their natural state and crushed into meal.
Blossoms for bee pasturage.
Trees for reclamation of waste land, ornament, and shade.
Young trees for hedges.

The historic value of the kiawe in Hawaiʻi has been enhanced by the ease with which it can be propagated and its ability to grow in arid regions. The tree belongs to the leguminous family, and begins to bear pods when six years old and even younger.

These are eaten by stock, but the small seeds are not crushed while passing through the alimentary system but rather are prepared for quick germination by the action of the digestive fluids. The spread of the tree in these islands has, therefore, been due solely to stock and by this means the kiawe has become a wild forest tree.

It is estimated that it would have cost at least one-million-dollars to plant by human agency the 80,000-odd acres in these islands which have been covered with more or less density by kiawe forests. And this wonderful and comparatively rapid spread of the tree has been accomplished without the expenditure of one cent for planting.

The kiawe, moreover, has been spread mainly on the barren lowlands, although it has gradually been working up the valleys and slopes until it is now found well established at elevations 1,800-feet above the sea.

Although the tree will grow “with its toes in the sea,” its foliage is somewhat sensitive to the salt air when blow in by the strong trades. (Judd, Hawaiian Forester and Agriculturist, 1916)

Although most kiawe trees have thorns with strong spines, often 1-inch long, an estimated 25-percent of the mature trees produce only small, hard stipules rather than long, spike-like spines. (Long-thorn varieties can get to up to 4-inches long.)

The thornless characteristic has been noted for years, and as early as 1937, Hawaiʻi shipped seed from thornless kiawe trees to Cuba, Arabia, Australia, Fiji and South Africa. (Forest Service)

Irrespective of how folks felt about it 100-years ago, kiawe is considered an invasive pest and a noxious weed, because of the aggressive and expansive nature.

It produces a large number of easily-dispersed seeds and also establishes itself by suckering, producing thick stands that shade out nearby plants. It requires less than 4-inches of annual rainfall to propagate and grow. It is efficient in drawing water from the soil that it deprives other plants of water.

April 11, 2024 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

How Much Land Do We Need To Be Food Self-Sufficient?

Given the on-going conversations on food “self-sufficiency” and “sustainability,” in trying to answer the above question, I first looked to existing State plans to see the estimates and computations noted there.

To my surprise, there is no detail in the Hawaii 2050 Plan (the State’s long-range planning document) that quantifies how much land is needed for food self-sufficiency.

While it does use “happy words” (as I describe its text) generalizing that we need to do this or that; however, no roadmap to get there or measures of success are included.

I then did an internet investigation into the matter to see if ‘rules of thumb’ or other standards could apply. The evidence is variable.

As noted by the graphic used here, some suggest, at a self-subsistence level, a family of four can live off of approximately 2-acres of land.

Extend that to the Hawai‘i’s existing defacto population of about 1.5-million people, we need about 750,000-acres of land to feed everyone. (Of course, there are economies of scale when moving from individual family subsistence production to commercial scale production, so this number is inflated.)

(By the way, de facto population is defined as the number of persons physically present in an area, regardless of military status or usual place of residence. It includes visitors present but excludes residents temporarily absent, both calculated as an average daily census.)

The 750K acres for 1.5M people conflicts with a prior report on feeding the people in the city of Detroit. In that report, Detroit’s 5.4-million people would require only 164,250-acres to feed everyone there, per year.

Extrapolating that to Hawai‘i’s 1.5-million de facto population that means, under the Detroit analysis, Hawai‘i only needs about 45,625-acres of farmland to feed the State. Hmmm.

Another study on Costa Rica “Quantifying Sustainable Development: The Future of Tropical Economies” suggests that it takes about 495,000-acres of land to feed 1.2- to 1.6-million people.

Of course, all of these estimates do not include the significant dietary supplement we are able to use in Hawai‘i by harvesting seafood from the surrounding ocean.

Nor does it include opportunities that concentrated farming offer, like aquaponics, hydroponics, intensive grazing, etc.

So, while we talk about food “self-sufficiency” and “sustainability” what are we doing about it?

Lately, I think the only ‘action’ has been talk – folks go to a meeting, talk, then they prepare a plan. They meet again, and talk some more. Then everyone goes away satisfied that they are ‘doing’ something (until the next happy words meeting.)

Presently, the State designates about 1.9-million acres as “Agriculture.” The USDA reports Hawai‘i’s total farm acreage is 1.1-million acres of land.

And, of course, you can farm lands that are not designated ‘agriculture;’ meaning, a lot more land is available for food production from lands under other land use classifications (including everyone’s own backyard.)

Given that, should we all feel comfortable there will be food for us in the future?

Not quite.

I think it is about time we have a frank discussion about what our needs are and start to take the necessary steps to ultimately realize our goal of food self-sufficiency and sustainability.

The world is changing in lots of ways – we cannot blindly go along with business as usual (with just happy words) in addressing this important and critical need.

April 10, 2024 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Jack London and Waipio

In 1906, Jack London announced he was planning a trip on a boat – the Snark – he was to build and do blue-water sailing on a round-the-world cruise. (The Snark was named after one of Lewis Carroll’s nonsense poems.)

“‘Honolulu first,’ said London yesterday. ‘After that we are not very definite. Everybody’s in good health, the bourgeoise tradesmen have finally freed us, the boat is staunch, the weather fine. What more a man wants I don’t know.’”

“‘Meet me in Paris,’ called Mrs. Jack London back through the megaphone as the boat disappeared. ‘Isn’t it glorious? Good-by, everybody!” [April 23, 1907] Jack and his wife Charmian came to the Islands twice, 1907-09 & 1915-16.

Later, Charmian wrote of Jack London’s impression of the Islands, “Jack, with his unquestionable love of natural beauty,

was ever impressed with man’s lordly harnessing of the outlaw, Nature, leading her by the mouth to perform his work upon earth.”

“‘’Do you get the splendid romance of it?’ he would say. ‘Look what these engineers have done – reaching out their hands and gathering and diverting the storm wastage of streams over the edge of this valley thousands of feet here in the clouds. …”

“[O]ne day, riding in a drizzle, Jack and I happened upon the broad, steep trail of the 2500-foot eastern scarp, into Waipio, and mushed through its mud down into a sunnier level, meeting strings of ascending mules laden with garden produce.”

“An old chronicler referred to the condition of the ‘roads’ hereabout as ‘embarrassing.’ Our horses tried very fractiously to refuse the descent.”

“This was one of the prettiest little adventures we two ever had together, dropping into the sequestered vale that opened wondrously as we progressed to the lovely banks of a wooded river that wound to the sea, widening to meet the surf that thundered upon a two-mile shingle.”

“On the banks of the stream we could see wahines at their washing, and hear the ringing sweet voices of children at play-survivors of a once thick population, as evidenced by remains that are to be found of fish-ponds, taro-patches, and the like. Here the last Hawaiian tapa cloth was made.”

“That same chronicler says: ‘There was something about that valley so lovely, so undisturbed … it seemed to belong to another world, or to be a portion of this into which sorrow and death had never entered.’”

“At the head of this great break in the coast nestles the half-deserted, half-ruined village of Waipio, and behind it there wedges into the floor of the valley a tremendous rock bastion veiled in waterfalls to its mid-hidden summit.”

“A second river curved from beyond its feet, and joined the one that flowed into the sea. We rode on across reedy shallows to a pathway once sacred to the sorcerers, kahunas, the which no layman then dared to profane with his step.”

“Only approaching twilight held us back from the beach trail that leads to a clump of tall coconuts, marking the site of a onetime important temple of refuge in this section of Hawaii, Puuhonua, built as long ago as the thirteenth century by a Kauai king.”

“There is reason to believe that there were several lesser temples in the neighborhood. They do say that Kamehameha the Great was born here in Waipio.”

“One would like to think that first seeing the light of day in so superlatively grand and beautiful a vale might make for greatness!”

“That day, moving along the bases of the cloud-shadowed precipices, we planned happily how we should some day come here, restore one of the abandoned cottages and its garden, and live for a while without thought of time.”

“What a place for quietude and work!”

“For once Jack seemed to welcome the idea of such seclusion and repose. Little as he ever inclined toward folding his pinions for long, Hawaii stayed them more than any other land.”

“‘You can’t beat the Ranch in California – it’s a sweet land,’ he would stanchly defend, ‘but I’d like to spend a great deal of my time down here.’”

“We bemoaned the weather that prevented us from climbing the zig-zag stark above our heads into Waimanu.” (London, Our Hawaii)

April 9, 2024 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kahuku Pali

Kahuku is the largest of the 1300 ahupuaʻa (traditional land divisions) in Hawaiʻi. Located in the vast Kaʻū district, the ahupuaʻa of Kahuku originally extended from the summit caldera of Mauna Loa to the sea. (NPS)

The oldest dated feature within Kahuku is from about 1400 AD, though older evidence has been found nearby near Ka Lae (South Point).

Widespread settlement in this dry, volcanic area came later than in most parts of Hawai’i. By the mid-1400s, Ka‘ū (and perhaps Kahuku) had intensively managed agricultural fields in mid-elevation land with adequate rain and soil. Food crops included sugar cane, ʻuala, and maiʻa (bananas). (NPS)

Kahuku pali has two Hawaiian names: Pali o Mamalu, for its mauka (inland) section, and Pali‘okūlani, for its makai (seaward) section. It was formed by a geologic fault. Its average height is 400 ft, but its maximum height, which is equal to the amount of offset (movement) on the fault, is approximately 560 ft.

The origin of the Kahuku pali is still debated. One hypothesis is that the pali is a scissors fault, with zero offset above Highway 11 and increasing amounts of offset toward the south—similar to the way the two cutting surfaces of scissors get farther apart as you move from hinge to tip. On the Kahuku pali, the west side of the fault dropped down relative to the east side.

An alternate hypothesis is that the submarine portion of the pali is the headwall of a catastrophic landslide, with the west side falling away and leaving the mile-high scarp. Both hypotheses have pros and cons, and today, there is no definitive answer as to the origin of the pali. (USGS)

“In the lee of the great cliff (which was caused by a geologic fault) named Pali-o-Mamalu (Cliff-of-Protection) is Wai-o-‘Ahu-kini. The trade winds pass a thousand or more feet above it, which gives it a scorching desert climate in the daytime; but when the sun goes down it cools rapidly and the nights are cool.”

“Southerly cyclonic storms sweep in over the low shore, inundating the whole area. That is why there is, and has been, no permanent habitation here.” (Handy, Handy & Pukui)

“(T)he population settled in the two western ahupua‘a of Ka‘ū. Wai-o-‘Ahu-kini (Water of Ahukini) close by, with its spring, pond, and canoe haven, and the best fishing ground in all Hawaii …”

“… was awarded in the ancient land allotment to Pakini, then one of the most verdant of the plains areas of cultivation. Doubtless it was Pakini’s numerous population, which gave its ali‘i power, that was responsible for this award.”

“From the cliff above Wai-o-‘Ahu-kini and from the trail going down can be seen a stagnant pool close to the shore; this was evidently the ‘water’ of ‘Ahu-kini.” (Handy, Handy & Pukui)

Cooks’ journal entry for January 5, 1779; reported his ship had rounded the south point of the island … “On this point stands apritty large village, the inhabitants of which thronged off to the Ship with hogs and women … As we had now got a quantity of salt I purchased no hogs but what were fit, for salting, refuseing all that were under size …”

“… in general they being no other at first, but when they found we took none but the large ones, several went a shore and returned with some, however we could seldom get one about 50 or 60 Ib weight.”

“As to fruit and roots we did not want and it was well we did not for it was very little of either they brought with them, indeed the Country did not seem capable of producing many of either having been destroyed by a Volcano.” (Cook’s Journal)

“Some of the canoes that greeted Cook’s ship may have come not only from the South Point village, but also from those at Wai‘ahukini and Ka‘iliki‘i to the west and Keana and Kaalualu to the east.” (Kelly)

“One of the earliest foreigners to visit Ka‘ū was Archibald Menzies, the surgeon and naturalist on Vancouver’s voyage. Menzies had been in the Hawaiian Islands previously as surgeon on the furtrader Prince of Wales under Captain Colnett in the years 1787 and 1788, but he had not kept a journal of that visit.”

“Vancouver’s ships were in the Islands three times – 1792, 1793, and 1794. “On the 1794 trip Menzies was able to get to the top of Hualālai and of Mauna Loa. His successful ascent of Mauna Loa was on a trail that leads up from Kapāpala.”

“The approach to this trail from Kona, where Vancouver’s ships were anchored, was by canoe to Ka‘iliki‘i, or Wai‘ahukini in Pi‘ikini, Kalli, and then overland on foot to Kapāpala.” (Kelly)

Menzies, on his way to be the first white man to reach the summit of Mauna Loa, climbed the pali … “we left our canoes at Pakini and set out early on the morning of the 10th [of February 1794] to prosecute the remainder of our journey by land.”

“We had not travelled far when we found we had to ascend an elevated steep rugged bank that took its rise at the south point of the island and running along the southern side of Pakini Bay continued its direction inland behind the village.”

“On gaining its summit, which was not an easy task, an extensive tract of the most luxuriant pasture we had yet seen amongst these islands rushed at once upon our sight, extending itself from the south point to a considerable distance inland.”

“It was cropped with fine soft grass reaching up to our knees, and naturally of a thick bottom that would afford excellent feeding for cattle, where herds of them might live at their ease, if it was not for scarcity of fresh water, which we experienced in all the low grounds we had yet visited….”

“Close by us was a fine plantation belonging to Kamehameha, called Kahuku, where our purveyor was particularly ordered to demand supplies for our journey …” (Menzies)

“In the afternoon we resumed our journey and soon after reached the upper plantations, when instead of ascending directly up the mountain as we expected, they led us across these plantations to the north-eastward at a distance of five or six miles from the shore by a narrow winding path which in some places was very rugged and seldom admitted more than one person at a time …”

“… so that we followed one another in a string, and occupied a considerable space in length from the number of our party and the crowds that followed us from village to village through curiosity and flocked to see us, from far and near.”

“This path we found to be the public road leading to the east end of the island, and at small eminences here and there, we met cleared spots for resting on, where the wearied travellers generally sit down to chew sugar cane and admire the surrounding prospect.” (Menzies)