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September 27, 2022 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Kalauhaʻihaʻi Fishpond

In ancient Hawai‘i, fishponds were an integral part of the ahupua‘a. Hawaiians built enclosures in near shore waters to raise fish for their communities and families. It is believed these were first built around the fifteenth century.

A fish was kapu to the Hawaiians during its spawning season, to allow a variety of fish to reproduce. Although the chief or commoners were unable to catch fish in the sea at specific time spans, they were available in the fishponds because fishponds were considered a part of the land.

In 1848, when King Kamehameha III pronounced the Great Māhele, or land distribution, Hawaiian fishponds were considered private property. This was confirmed in subsequent Court cases that noted “titles to fishponds are recognized to the same extent and in the same manner as rights recognized in fast land.”

Maunalua Bay, located at the southeast end of Oʻahu, was once home to many large Hawaiian fishponds; one of these was Kalauhaʻihaʻi fishpond (sometimes referenced as Kalauhaʻehaʻe (and Lucas Pond/Spring.))

Its original owners were King Kamehameha I and Queen Kaʻahumanu who maintained a summer residence on Paikō Beach. Kalauhaʻihaʻi was once one of Oʻahu’s most thriving and productive fishponds, raising awa, aholehole, mullet and other favorites.

The name Kalauhaʻihaʻi refers to Queen Kaʻahumanu’s breaking of the old kapu (the ancient system of laws and regulations) when she became Christian, which is said to have taken place on the property.

King Kamehameha later gave the land, including the spring and pond, to Captain Alexander Adams (1780–1871.) “Many were the self-sacrificing services rendered Kamehameha and Kaʻahumanu by Captain Adams, and they both loved him for his loyal devotion.”

“In appreciation they gave him the whole of the land of Niu, Oʻahu, and included also in this gift their favorite resort subsequently called Kalauhaihai, the place where Kaahumanu first proclaimed her renunciation of ancient rites and customs, to adopt modern civilization and customs.”

“That was why the place was so named, meaning a scattering or dropping off of leaves; plucking withered leaves, a renunciation of the ancient customs to adopt the new.” (Thrum)

Ownership of the 2,446-acres were claimed by Alexander Adams under Claim No. 802 filed February 14, 1848, with the Land Commission at the time of the Great Māhele.

The claim states: “From the testimony of Governor Kekūanāoʻa … it appears that the claimant was created lord of konohiki of this land, in the time of Kamehameha I, and that he has exercised the konohikiship of the same without dispute ever since the year of Our Lord 1822.”

The Niu Valley estate was passed down to Adams’ granddaughter, Mary Lucas; Kalauhaʻihaʻi fishpond was later used for a family dairy by Mary Lucas. She started subdividing the property in the 1950s; Adam’s descendants remain in the area.

In the 1960s, Mr. Tad Hara had a two-story wooden house built over the still productive pond. The home was designed with a glass floor to allow Mr. Hara to view the fish in the pond.

The 3-foot-deep pond was filled with aholehole (Hawaiian flagtail,) ʻopae lolo (aloha prawn,)ʻamaʻama (mullet,) awa (milkfish,) hapawai (brackish water snail) and koi. In 1989, Mr. Hara registered his fishpond with the State Water Commission.

Widening Kalanianaʻole Highway (the fourth busiest highway in the State) in the early-1990s changed things.

During construction, they ruptured the lava tube connecting Kalauhaʻihaʻi Fishpond to the underground artesian source directly mauka of the pond that altered spring flow to the ocean, diverted the water to utility line trenches and the sewer.

A legal battle ensued to restore the spring’s flow; Mr. Hara eventually sold the property to the DOT.

A community effort to preserve the pond resulted in a NOAA-sponsored plan and legislation to keep the property in state hands and away from public auction (as well as providing statewide preference for the reconstruction, restoration, repair, or use of Hawaiian fishponds.)

Since 2007, Maunalua Fishpond Heritage Center has been working to save Kalauhaʻihaʻi; they happily reported that on July 11, 2013, they were given the keys to the property and permission to restore the fishpond and care for the grounds.

In 2021, Maunalua Fishpond Heritage Center worked with the State Legislature to secure $1 million to go to DLNR Engineering Branch for the reconnection and long awaited repair of the water flow at Kalauhaʻihaʻi.

September 26, 2022 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

“Swillauea”

In 1898, the US Army built a seawall and filled a submerged coral reef on the ‘Ewa (western) side of Kaʻākaukukui for a gun emplacement at Fort Armstrong to protect the mouth of adjoining Honolulu Harbor.

At the turn of the century, Ala Moana Boulevard was built at what was then the shoreline, and the broad areas on both sides of the future Kapiʻolani Boulevard consisted of rice fields.

The dredging of harbors, offshore areas and the Ala Wai Canal provided fill for the reclamation of the ‘swamps.’ The construction of the Ala Wai stopped the annual flooding of Waikīkī.

At the beginning of the twentieth-century, the stretch of coast makai of Ala Moana Boulevard between Fort Armstrong (Piers 1 & 2 at Honolulu Harbor) and Waikīkī was the site of the Honolulu garbage dump, which burned almost continually.

The residue from burned rubbish was also used to reclaim wetlands. This residue provided a fill that was quite inert and solid. Thus, a rubbish dump was considered a cost-free method for a landowner to reclaim swampy land.

Since at least the 1850s, the Hawaiian Monarchy was providing urban public services in Honolulu, including refuse collection and disposal. Horse-drawn wagons were first used for the collection of refuse; the horses were stabled in Kakaʻako.

Following Annexation and Territorial status (1900,) garbage removal was one of six items listed in the Oʻahu County’s 1905 monthly operating expenses, along with the police and fire departments, the electric light plant, city parks and the Royal Hawaiian Band. The only direct income for Oʻahu County was its refuse collection fees.

Oʻahu, like many other coastal communities, was ringed with tidelands. The area was traditionally noted for its fishponds and salt pans, and for the marsh lands where pili grass and other plants could be collected. About one-third of the coastal plain at Kakaʻako was a wetland. The entire shoreline was coral rubble bordered by fringing reefs and mudflats.

As time went on, when the fishponds were no longer used, they were more often than not filled with material dredged from the ocean or hauled from nearby areas, garbage and general material from other sources. These reclaimed areas provided valuable new land near the heart of growing urban Honolulu.

The ʻili of Kaʻākaukukui was awarded by land court to Victoria Kamāmalu; Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop inherited the land, which later became part of the Kamehameha Schools (formerly the Bishop Estate). The Territory of Hawai‘i acquired the land in 1919.

Just as the Army had done at Fort Armstrong, the government built a new seawall, extending east to reclaim more Kaʻākaukukui reef and submerged land.

During the 1920s, the channel and basin on the Waikīkī (eastern) side of the growing Kakaʻako peninsula was dredged as a small boat harbor, called Kewalo Basin, to relieve overcrowding at Honolulu Harbor by the sampan (tuna fishing) fleet.

Hawaiian Dredging Company completed Kewalo Basin’s wharf and channel in 1925, and by 1930 the sampan fishing fleet was relocated to their new base.

In 1930, a garbage incinerator was constructed on Mohala Street (now ʻĀhui Street) near the east end of the Kakaʻako seawall (near Kewalo Basin.) This moved the open dump fires into a more controlled and contained facility.

In 1931, the City and County of Honolulu dedicated the land on the Waikīkī-side of Kewalo Basin as Moana Park (the name was later changed to Ala Moana (“the path to the sea.”))

After the 1930 incinerator was constructed on ʻĀhui Street, the Star-Bulletin named it “Swillauea” (a play with words associated with the long burning fires of Kīlauea volcano on Hawai‘i Island) and lamented, “… Oh Swillauea-by-the-Sea … a monument to despair, foolishness and ugliness … all the king’s horses and all the king’s men couldn’t find another place to burn the City’s rubbish except in the City’s front yard ….” (Mason Architects)

In the 1940s, another, larger incinerator was added, as well as a significant new seawall, 500-feet seaward of the old shoreline, enclosing more acreage of tidelands to be filled with the post-combusted ash. (The large boulders laid in the wall lining Kewalo Channel and around the point came from Punchbowl Crater during the initial development of the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific by James W. Glover, Ltd.)

Incinerator Number One was later removed from service after the new incinerator on ʻOhe Street was constructed in 1946-48. With the completion of the seawall in 1949, filling operations began and by the mid-1950s the shallow reef of Ka’ākaukukui was completely covered over.

And, again, in 1950 another seawall was extended and ash filled areas making more usable acreage. Following statehood in 1959, government officials met to discuss the near-completion of the fill behind the seawall. As the height increased, the State expressed concern over the mountain of ash which was growing so rapidly.

The State finally told the City in 1971 to stop placing any more ash to the pile. Parts of the ash pile were then 25 feet above the top of the seawall.

The incinerator was finally shut down in 1977 because it could not meet the increasingly stringent air pollution standards. Then, in 1992, the State constructed Kakaʻako Waterfront Park on the ash pile (the young and young-at-heart now slide on cardboard down the steep grass-covered incinerator ash hill.)

The second incinerator, on ʻOhe Street, was renovated and is now used as the Children’s Discovery Center. (The initial incinerator on ʻĀhui Street was used in 1952 by United Fishing Agency as part of their fish auction facility – the fish auction has since relocated to the Commercial Fishing Village at Pier 38.)

(Lots of information here is from the Historic American Buildings Survey for the Kewalo Incinerator and Cultural Surveys.)

September 25, 2022 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kailua, Oʻahu

About 6,000 years ago and before the arrival of the Hawaiians, Kawainui (the large [flow of] fresh water) and Ka‘elepulu (the moist blackness) were bays connected to the ocean and extended a mile inland of the present coastline (as indicated by inland deposits of sand and coral.)

A sand bar began forming across Kawainui Bay around 2,500 years ago creating Kawainui Lagoon filled with coral, fish and shellfish. The Hawaiians probably first settled along the fringes of this lagoon. Gradually, erosion of the hillsides surrounding Kawainui began to fill in the lagoon with sediments.

About 500 years ago, early Hawaiians maintained a freshwater fishpond in Kawainui; the fishpond was surrounded on all sides by a system of ʻauwai (canals) bringing water from Maunawili Stream (winding/twisted mountain) and springs to walled taro lo‘i (irrigated fields.)

In 1750, Kailua (two seas (probably two currents)) was the Royal Center of power for the district of Koʻolaupoko and a favored place of the O‘ahu chiefs for its abundance of fish and good canoe landings (and probably enjoyed the surf, as well.) Kawainui was once the largest cultivated freshwater fishpond on Oʻahu.

Farmers grew kalo (taro) in the irrigated lo‘i along the streams from Maunawili and along the edges of the fishponds. Crops of dryland kalo, banana, sweet potato and sugarcane marked the fringes of the marsh. Fishermen harvested fish from the fishponds and the sea.

In 1845 the first road was built over the Nuʻuanu Pali (cool height – cliff) to connect Windward Oʻahu with Honolulu. It was jointly financed by the government and sugar planters who wanted easy access to the fertile lands on the windward side of Oʻahu. Kamehameha III and two of his attendants were the first to cross on horseback.

(In 1898 this road was developed into a highway and was later replaced by the Pali Highway. When the current Pali Highway and its tunnels opened (1959,) the original roadway was closed and is now used by hikers.)

Lili‘uokalani wrote “Aloha ‘Oe” (farewell to thee) after an 1878 visit to an estate in Maunawili. She and her brother King David Kalākaua were regular guests and attended parties or simply came there to rest. Guests would walk between two parallel rows of royal palms, farewells would be exchanged; then, they would ride away on horseback or in their carriages.

In the 1880s, Chinese farmers converted the Kawainui taro fields to rice; they later abandoned their farms by 1920. Cattle grazed throughout much of Kawainui. The marsh drains into the ocean at the north end of Kailua Beach through Kawainui Canal (Oneawa Channel – built in the late-1940s.)

In 1923, planning began for the Coconut Grove subdivision. That year, Elsie’s Store, the site of the existing Kalapawai Market (the rippling water or the shining water,) opened for business. Lanikai Store (heavenly sea,) currently Kailua Beach Center, was across the street. (Kāneʻohe Ranch)

Shortly after that, Kailua’s first real estate subdivision was built, called Lanikai Crescent. In 1926, Kailua Country Club opened; it was later named Mid-Pacific Country Club. (Kāneʻohe Ranch)

In 1939, the Oʻahu Jockey Club built the Kailua Race Track – the place was nicknamed the ‘Pineapple Derby.’ In a day and age when Seabiscuit and War Admiral were stealing continental sports headlines, more than 6,000 fans turned out for 10 races at the brand new Kailua Race Track. (Hogue, MidWeek) Races reportedly continued there into 1952.

It’s not clear when it opened, but in the 1940s and ‘50s, there is clear evidence of the “Kailua Airport” (apparently, gravel/grass runway) – where ʻAikahi Park is situated today (reportedly, privately-owned and operated by Bob Whittinghill.) (When work was started in 1948 on the new airport in Kailua, Kona, to avoid confusion with the Kailua Airport on Oʻahu, the Big Island’s airport was named “Kona Airport.”)

The 1950s saw expanded development and growing population in Kailua. Kāneʻohe Ranch Company, Paul Trousdale and Hawaiian Housing Corporation joined together with several housing developments, including developments in ʻAikahi (to eat all,) Kaimalino (calm or peaceful sea,) Kalāheo (the proud day,) Mōkapu (sacred district,) Olomana (forked hill) and Pōhakupu (growing rock.) (Kāneʻohe Ranch) Kailua’s population growth took a giant leap from 1,540 (in 1940,) to 7,740 (in 1950) – then another giant leap to over 25,600 people in 1960.

Homes were generally priced from $9,250 to $13,500. The first increment of homes in the Kalāheo subdivision, built by QC Lum, was selling for $9,250 on lots of 7,500-square feet. The annual land lease was $125, regardless of size. Later developments in Olomana, Pōhakupu and Kūkanono (stand strike) were priced at about $17,000. (Windward Rotary) The Pali Golf Course opened in 1953.

The first traffic signal in Kailua was installed at the intersection of Kuʻulei and Kailua Roads in 1954. That year, Foodland opened Windward Oʻahu’s first modern supermarket across from Kailua Beach Park. A couple years later (1957,) Times Supermarket opened in the new Kailua Shopping Center. (Kāneʻohe Ranch)

In 1956, the YMCA moved from its log cabin in Coconut Groove to the present site on Kailua Road. In 1957, Kailua High School graduated its first class. Prior to this time, mail delivery was directed to ‘Lanikai;’ at the end of the decade, the post office name was changed to Kailua.

Other subdivisions were developed at ʻAikahi Park, Keolu Hills (pleasant,) Olomana and Maunawili Estates. Homes in ʻAikahi Park sold for about $25,000. Shopping centers sprouted in ʻAikahi Park and Enchanted Lake to serve the incoming residents. (Windward Rotary)

Harold KL Castle donated land and Hawaiʻi Loa College (now known as Hawaiʻi Pacific University) opened in 1962. The SH Kress building was built near Liberty House (now Macy’s) in 1962, then closed its doors after a few years, and Long’s Drug later occupied the building.

In 1963, after another Castle land donation, Castle Hospital opened its doors. That year, Kailua High School moved into its own campus (its present site,) having separated from what is now only Kailua Intermediate School.

In 1964, Kailua Professional Center erected the first “high-rise” (six-story) building in Kailua. It was followed shortly by the 10-story Meridian East apartment building across the street. Campos Dairy farms gave way to apartment complexes and Holiday Mart (soon to be Target) in the late-1960s.

By the end of the 1970s, Kailua opened its community center with tennis courts and a swimming pool. Thaliana Hotel, later Pali Palms Hotel (1957-1980) gave way to the Pali Palms Professional Plaza.

From 1960 to 1970, Kailua’s population grew from 25,600 to almost 33,800. After that, growth was comparatively slow; the 2010 Census estimate Kailua’s population at just over 38,600.

Today is Lani-Kailua Outdoor Circle’s “I Love Kailua” Town Party held in the center of town. All of the proceeds from the “I Love Kailua” Town Party pay for major plantings in Kailua and their upkeep. (Come see how the town has changed … and stayed the same.)

September 24, 2022 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kāʻanapali

When chief Kekaulike died, his younger son Kamehamehanui (uncle to Kamehameha I) was named heir to rule Maui. In 1738, Kauhi‘aimokuakama (Kauhi,) his older brother, began to wage war to win the title of ruling chief.

Battles were fought across West Maui, from Ukumehame to Honokowai. Kamehamehanui engaged the forces of his uncle from Hawai‘i to fight with him, whose troops numbered over 8,000, and Kauhi brought troops of warriors from O‘ahu.

The war ended with the battle Koko O Nā Moku (“Bloodshed of the Islands.”) Over several days, the blood of fallen warriors from both sides flowed from a stream into the shorebreak and caused the ocean to turn red. (Kamehamehanui won.) (Kāʻanapali Historical Trail)

This occurred in the moku (district) of Kāʻanapali (“divided cliffs.”) A prominent feature noted at the beach is Pu‘u Kekaʻa (“the rolling hill”) – the outcrop that separates portions of the beach (commonly known as “Black Rock.”)

It was “ka leina a ka ‘uhane” – the place where a person’s soul left the earthly realm for the afterlife (these were usually at the westernmost point of the island.)

It was also a place for “lele kawa” (cliff jumping;) Kahekili gained respect from many warriors for his leaps from Pu‘u Kekaʻa, as most were frightened of the spirits who were in the area. (Kāʻanapali Historical Trail)

The island of Maui is divided into twelve moku; Kāʻanapali, Lāhainā, Wailuku, Hāmākuapoko, Hāmākualoa, Koʻolau, Hāna, Kīpahulu, Kaupō, Kahikinui, Honuaʻula and Kula.

An area in the moku of Kāʻanapali is referred to as Nā Hono A Piʻilani (The Bays of Piʻilani (aka Honoapiʻilani.)) In the 1500s, Chief Piʻilani (“stairway to heaven”) unified West Maui and ruled in peace and prosperity. His territory included the West Maui bays, a place he frequented.

From South to North, six of the identified bays are Honokōwai (bay drawing fresh water), Honokeana (cave bay), Honokahua (sites bay,) Honolua (two bays), Honokōhau (bay drawing dew) and Hononana (animated bay).

In the late-1800s and early-1900s there was a horse racing track (Koko O Na Moku Horse Racing Track) at Kāʻanapali Beach that stretched from the present day Kāʻanapali Beach Hotel to the present day Westin Maui Resort. Horse races ended in 1918.

In 1860, James Campbell started the Pioneer Mill Company; sugar cultivation proved to be very profitable. He later sold his interest in the Mill and, after subsequent transfers, in 1960, Pioneer Mill Company became a wholly owned subsidiary of American Factors (Amfac – one of Hawaiʻi’s Big 5.)

Kāʻanapali was the terminus for the plantation railroad; a landing on the northerly side of Puʻu Kekaʻa with a wharf and off-shore moorings served as the primary loading spot for shipping processed sugar from the island and bringing in supplies for the plantation camps.

After the sugar industry’s peak in 1930, production, acreage in sugar and profits declined. Seeing hard times ahead, Amfac took 1,200-acres of Pioneer Mill Company land out of cane to develop as a visitor resort destination (in 1999, Pioneer Mill closed its sugar operations.)

Then, a few years before Hawaiʻi became a state, before Maui County even had a mayor, in 1956, Pioneer Mill’s board of directors got together for a lūʻau on the beach near Puʻu Kekaʻa. There, they sketched out the whole Kāʻanapali Beach Resort master planning venture. (mauitime-com)

Seven years later, the grand opening for the Sheraton (the second, following the Royal Lāhianā completed the year before) put Kāʻanapali on the map as a resort area and featured celebrities like Bing Crosby, golfer Sam Snead and then-California Governor Pat Brown. It was a groundbreaking place, in more ways than one. (mauitime-com)

The land set-aside by Amfac became Hawaiʻi’s first master-planned resort. When it opened in 1962, it became known as the Kāʻanapali Beach Resort.

Today, along its 3-mile coastline, this self-contained resort has over 5,000 hotel rooms, condominium suites, timeshares and villas; 2-championship golf courses (in 1962, Bing Crosby took the inaugural shot on the Royal Kāʻanapali Course) and 35-tennis courts. It accommodates over half-a-million visitors each year.

Kāʻanapali Beach was ranked “Best Beach in America” in 2003 (Dr. Beach.) A beach walk runs parallel with the sand the entire length of Kāʻanapali interconnecting the five major resort hotels and six condominiums and timeshares, as well as the numerous recreational, shopping, dining and other activities in the area.

Twenty-five years after it started, the Urban Land Institute recognized Kāʻanapali Beach Resort with an Award of Excellence for Large-Scale Recreational Development.

In the early years, Kāʻanapali Airport, built on an old coastal road in 1961, serviced the resort first by transporting workers and materials for the new development and then it brought guests in/out.

Take-offs and landings were a thrill for pilots and passengers; the Airport’s runway (01-19) started just 30-feet from the shoreline and extended north a short 2,615-feet. Kahekili Beach Park now sits on the former Airport site.

The Airport was used exclusively by the commuter aircraft of Royal Hawaiian, initially using Cessna 402 aircraft. In 1987, Hawaiian Airlines built the nearby Kapalua Airport; the State took over that facility in 1993.

They must be doing something right, Maui and the visitor destinations of Lāhainā-Kāʻanapali-Kapalua continue to lead the neighbor islands in room occupancy and they lead the state in average daily room (ADR) rates and revenue per available room (ADR x occupancy rate.)

At the same time properties like the Kāʻanapali Beach Hotel are recognized as Hawaii’s Most Hawaiian Hotel for demonstrating an ongoing responsibility, commitment and dedication to honoring and perpetuating the Hawaiian culture for generations to come.

September 23, 2022 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Future Captains

Captain James Cook set sail on three voyages to the South Seas. His first Pacific voyage (1768-1771) was aboard the Endeavour and began on May 27, 1768. It had three aims; go to Tahiti to record the transit of Venus (when Venus passes between the earth and sun – June 3, 1769;) record natural history, led by 25-year-old Joseph Banks; and search for the Great South Land.

Cook’s second Pacific voyage (1772-1775) aboard Resolution and Adventure aimed to establish whether there was an inhabited southern continent, and make astronomical observations.

Cook’s third and final voyage (1776-1779) of discovery was an attempt to locate a North-West Passage, an ice-free sea route which linked the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. Cook commanded the Resolution while Charles Clerke commanded Discovery. (State Library, New South Wales)

“Every Fighting Service has, and must have, two main categories – ‘Officers’ and ‘Men.’ The Royal Navy in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries was no exception. The distinction existed: was indeed more than ordinarily marked. It was not only a naval distinction, but a sharp social one too.”

“‘Officers’ as contemporary society used that word, came from one walk of life, ‘Men’ from another: and, as it was not easy in Society to pass from a lower stratum to a higher, so in the Navy, it was not easy for a ‘Man’ to become an Officer. But it was possible.” (Captain Cook Society)

“Cook had chosen his subordinates well or had been lucky. The officers of the third voyage were a remarkably intelligent group of men.” (Captain Cook Society)

“All the great remaining voyages of the eighteenth century drew on Cook’s officers. Bligh, Portlock, Vancouver, Colnett, Riou, and Hergest all got their commands and served with great distinction. These men then passed on their skills to a second generation of men such as Flinders and Broughton.” (Mackay, Captain Cook Society)

We’ll look at three of these familiar names, here in the Islands, as well as the Pacific – Portlock, Bligh and Vancouver.

Nathaniel Portlock was born in Norfolk, Virginia in about 1748. At about the age of 24, he entered the Royal Navy as an able seaman on the St Albans. On March 30, 1776, he served as master’s mate on Captain James Cook’s third Pacific voyage aboard the Discovery. Portlock was transferred to the Resolution, also on the expedition, in August 1779.

Then, in 1785, a group of London merchants formed the “King George’s Sound Co” (also known as Richard Cadman Etches and Company,) for the purpose of carrying on the fur trade from the western coast of America to China, bringing home cargoes of tea from Canton for the East India Company. They bought two boats; Portlock and George Dixon were selected to sail them (Dixon also previously sailed with Cook to Hawai‘i.)

That year, the two traveled to the North Pacific. Portlock commanded the 1785-1788 expedition from the ship King George, while Dixon captained the Queen Charlotte. The purpose of the expedition was to investigate the potential of the Alaskan fur trade and to resume Cook’s search for a Northwest Passage through the continent.

The pair left England on August 29, 1785, and took nearly a year to reach Alaska, rounding Cape Horn and touching at Hawaiʻi on the way. During the course of their 3-year expedition, they made three trips to Hawaiʻi, first arriving off the coast of Kaʻū, May 24, 1786.

A favorite anchorage on Oʻahu for Portlock was at Maunalua Bay, between Koko Point and Diamond Head (which Portlock named King George’s Bay.)

Maunalua was thought to be well-populated in ancient times. Maunalua was known for its offshore fishing resources, a large fishpond, and sweet potato cultivation. Taro was farmed in wet areas, sweet potato was grown in the drier regions and a series of fishing villages lined the coast. (McElroy) Part of that area now carries the Portlock name.

William Bligh was part of the Cook’s crew on its third voyage. Bligh later captained the Bounty on a voyage to gather breadfruit trees from Tahiti and take them to Jamaica in the Caribbean. There, the trees would be planted to provide food for slaves.

According to a legend, the chief Kahai brought the breadfruit tree to Hawaiʻi from Samoa in the twelfth century and first planted it at Kualoa, Oʻahu. Only one variety was known in Hawaiʻi, while more than 24 were distinguished by native names in the South Seas. (CTAHR)

“This tree, whose fruit is so useful, if not necessary, to the inhabitants of most of the islands of the South Seas, has been chiefly celebrated as a production of the Sandwich Islands; it is not confined to these alone, but is also found in all the countries bordering on the Pacific Ocean.” (Book of Trees, 1837)

Bligh didn’t make it back on the Bounty, his crew mutinied (April 28, 1789;) one reason for the mutiny was that the crew believed Bligh cared more about the breadfruit than them (he cut water rationing to the crew in favor of providing water for the breadfruit plants.) Bligh’s tombstone, in part, reads he was the “first (who) transplanted the bread fruit tree.”

In the introduction to Captain George Vancouver’s journals of his voyage to the Pacific, his brother John wrote, “that from the age of thirteen, his whole life to the commencement of this expedition, (to the Pacific) has been devoted to constant employment in His Majesty’s naval service.” Vancouver was one of the seamen and midshipman who had travelled with Cook on his second and third voyages.

In 1791, Vancouver later entered the Pacific a dozen years later in command of the second British exploring expedition. (HJH) Vancouver visited Hawaiʻi three times, in 1792, 1793 and 1794.

On the first trip, Vancouver’s ships “Discovery” and “Chatham” first rounded the Cape of Good Hope, South Africa, and traveled to Tahiti, via Australia and New Zealand, and then sailed north to the Hawaiian Islands.

On his second trip in February 1793, the “Discovery” and “Chatham” first circled and surveyed the Island Hawaiʻi. From a meeting he had with Kamehameha, he noted in his Journal, that he was …

“… agreeably surprised in finding that his riper years had softened that stern ferocity, which his younger days had exhibited, and had changed his general deportment to an address characteristic of an open, cheerful, and sensible mind; combined with great generosity, and goodness of disposition.” (Vancouver, 1798)

When Kamehameha came aboard the ship, taking Vancouver’s hand, he “demanded, if we were sincerely his friends”, to which Vancouver answered in the affirmative. Kamehameha then said “he understood we belonged to King George, and asked if he was likewise his friend.”

“On receiving a satisfactory answer to this question, he declared the he was our firm good friend; and according to the custom of the country, in testimony of the sincerity of our declarations we saluted by touching noses.” (Vancouver, 1798)

In the exchange of gifts, after that, Kamehameha presented four feathered helmets and other items, Vancouver gave Kamehameha the remaining livestock on board, “five cows, two ewes and a ram.”

The farewell between the British and the Hawaiians was emotional, but both understood that Vancouver would be returning the following winter.

Just before Vancouver left Kawaihae on March 9, 1793, he gave Isaac Davis and John Young a letter testifying that “Tamaahaah, with the generality of the Chiefs, and the whole of the lower order of People, have conducted themselves toward us with the strictest honest, civility and friendly attention.” (Speakman, HJH)