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June 3, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Day 143 – March 13, 1820

March 13, 1820 – The heat is more oppressive in passing the Equatorial regions than it was in the Atlantic. We have had the sun more nearly vertical for a greater number of days. Yesterday the mercury stood at 84° below deck, and at 124° in the sun.
Today another shark has been caught with a hook, and a second this evening seized and held for some time but at length escaped. So the quickened sinner sometimes breakes away at the moment when he seem to be fastened by the truth and almost drawn into the kingdom of Christ. (Thaddeus Journal)

March 13th, We find the weather truly uncomfortable, this time passing the Equator. The winds became very light between two and three degrees before we reached the Line, and have so continued, bringing us to about the same distance north. You can hardly realize the exhaustion which is felt nights, from want of air, in our confined rooms, with narrow bertha. We cannot open windows and shut window blinds, I wake sometimes and feel that it is with difficulty I can breathe at all. Yet GOD is good to us,—strikingly so. This is the tenth day we have been in this region but just moving, still the health of all is preserved—no one is on a couch of sickness, neither are we experiencing such a calm as many have. We have each day made some progress. In the midst of all the languor, we have been sometimes, within a few days, animated with the hope that we are to experience the breath of the spirit. There is reason to believe the enquiry, “what shall I do to be saved?” has seized the minds of one of the Officers—one too whose profaneness, when passion made him forget the gentleman, has pained us. Satan is alarmed, for his agents ply assiduously the weapon ridicule, lest the poor captive should escape the snare. 0, with what a load of guilt will those go down to woe who have held others in their chains! Precious truth I Christ is stronger than the strong man armed—his almighty Arm shall bring forth the captives He has purposed to redeem. Mr. B— was prepared to address them yesterday, sabbath,— his subject such as I hoped would carry conviction with it. But Divine Providence did not permit. The bell rang, but sudden clouds, with rain, soon put the seamen in motion and sent us below. We had a favored season in the cabin, and tho we could not use direct means for the benefit of these poor souls, I think GOD gave us his Spirit to intercede in their behalf.- – – A circumstance, on Saturday, of interest, which I must mention. The ocean was very calm, and sea-bathing, in this sultry region, was thought so conducive to health, as to induce a few to venture in, notwithstanding the possibility of meeting with monsters of the Deep. Mr. B— was one. He had tried it in the Atlantic. I had always trembled, yet avoided manifesting feminine fears. Judge then what were my feelings, when, but little more than an hour after, while in conversation with my dear friends, congratulating myself that bathing was over, the cry was, a shark.
The horrid monster came along side and was soon hauled on deck. He was of the true voracious kind. His frightful jaws struck terror, while my heart melted in view of GOD’s preserving mercy. In his intestines were found a Variety, taken in whole. 0, may I have in remembrance this providential escape! How my heart might have been wrung with anguish! Another shark was caught to-day, but escaped again. (Sybil Bingham)

March 13. 2 deg 40 m N Lat. The weather continues extremely warm. For 8 or 10 days past we have had but a very light breeze. Some of the time we have sailed 2 or 3 miles an hour, and then again, the vessel has moved but little more than to rock from side to side. The heat is somewhat oppressive. A shark was caught day before yesterday, and another today. The only two taken on the passage. As you requested me to be particular in mentioning every circumstance as it occurred, I have endeavored to comply with your request. I have noted down many things which, to a stranger, might appear too trivial to be named, but I Trust they will be read by you with a degree of interest. (Mercy Partridge Whitney Journal)

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June 3, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Baibala

“The BIBLE, I say, the BIBLE only, is the Religion of Protestants!” (William Chillingworth (October 12, 1602 – January 30, 1644); The Religion of Protestants A Safe Way to Salvation)

Missionaries Wanted Hawaiians to Read the Word of God

Every Protestant believer is essentially expected to read scripture directly – not simply listen to teachings from scripture, presented by priests (as done by Catholics). (StackExchange)

“The first object with the missionaries … was to prepare elementary books, and to multiply copies, so that the ability to read intelligibly might become as extensive as possible. Their next object was to translate the Scriptures, and thus put it within the power of the whole population, who would take the trouble to learn, to read the word of God in their own language.” (Christian Observer, June 1832)

“For them, the Bible was the very voice of God, and any manifestation of religion without a Bible to depend on would quickly go astray and soon become only one more man-made religion. Had they converted all Hawaiians, but left them without a Bible, their mission, by their own standards, would have been incomplete and, in the end, doomed to failure.” (Lyon)

Hawaiians were Seeking the ‘New Technology’ of Literacy

“The missionary effort is more successful in Hawai‘i than probably anywhere in the world, in the impact that it has on the character and the form of a nation. And so, that history is incredible; but history gets so blurry …”

“The missionary success cover decades and decades becomes sort of this huge force where people feel like the missionaries got off the boat barking orders … where they just kind of came in and took over. They got off the boat and said ‘stop dancing,’ ‘put on clothes,’ don’t sleep around.’”

“And it’s so not the case ….”

“The missionaries arrived here, and they’re a really remarkable bunch of people. They are scholars, they have got a dignity that goes with religious enterprise that the Hawaiians recognized immediately. …”

“The Hawaiians had been playing with the rest of the world for forty-years by the time the missionaries came here. The missionaries are not the first to the buffet and most people had messed up the food already.”

“(T)hey end up staying and the impact is immediate. They are the first outside group that doesn’t want to take advantage of you, one way or the other, get ahold of their goods, their food, or your daughter. … But, they couldn’t get literacy. It was intangible, they wanted to learn to read and write”. (Puakea Nogelmeier)

“I think literacy was … almost like the new technology of the time. And, that was something that was new. … When the missionaries came, there was already contact with the Western world for many years…. But this was the first time that literacy really began to take hold. The missionaries, when they came, they may have been the first group who came with a [united] purpose. They came together as a group and their purpose was to spread the Gospel the teachings of the Bible. …”

“But the missionaries who came, came with a united purpose … and literacy was a big part of that. Literacy was important to them because literacy was what was going to get the Hawaiians to understand the word of the Bible … and the written word became very attractive to the people, and there was a great desire to learn the written word. … Hawai‘i became the most literate nation at one time.” (Jon Yasuda, one of the intern translators who participated in the Ali‘i Letters translation project)

Translation of the Bible

“The Hawaiian translation of the Bible (Baibala in Hawaiian) remains the largest single volume ever printed in Hawaiian, with over 1,400 densely packed pages in its most recent incarnation (2012), slimmed down from an original (and unwieldy) 2,300 pages (1837-1839).” (In making of the Baibala in to the Hawaiian language, they translated the Hebrew Bible and Greek New Testament – it was not a translation from or to English.)

“It is probably also the largest and most demanding single literary project since Hawaiian became a written language, requiring the active involvement of at least nine regular participants (four American ministers and five Native scholars) and numerous others who contributed to a lesser, but significant, degree over a period of more than ten years.”

“The participants were the elite scholars of their nations: the Americans were the best-educated men of their generation, skilled to a surprising degree in the ancient biblical languages, while the Hawaiians were among the highest-ranking ali‘i ‘chiefs’ and kākā‘ōlelo ‘chiefly advisors’, each one a profound scholar in the language and oral literature of Hawai‘i. The result of their long and fruitful cooperation was a superb Bible translation, far exceeding what either group could have produced on its own.”

“Two of the qualities that mark a good translation are fidelity and readability. The ideal translator has a firm and nuanced command of the source language (in this case, Hebrew, Aramaic, and ancient Greek) and is, ideally, a well-educated native speaker of the target language (here, Hawaiian).”

“Not one of those who worked on the Baibala possessed both of these qualifications. The result of their collaborative efforts is a testament to both.” (Lyon)

This is only a summary; Click HERE to read more on the Baibala.

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Baibala

June 2, 2019 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

Tiki (or Tacky)

Remember the pre- and post-war (WW II) proliferation of “Tiki” bars and restaurants?

OK, I wasn’t even born then, but as the phenomenon grew into the 1950s and 60s (by then, I was around,) I do recall the tacky tourist joints in Waikīkī and elsewhere.

Thing is, though, those rum-based watering holes didn’t start here; they were the brainchild of a couple entrepreneurs on the continent, who eventually brought their establishments to our shores.

Starting in 1934, Ernest Raymond Beaumont Gantt (who?) – aka Donn Beach – opened the first Polynesian motif bar in Los Angeles, just off Hollywood Boulevard.

Named “Don the Beachcomber,” his bar seated about two dozen customers and he scattered a few tables in the remaining space. The place was decorated with faux South Pacific décor, along with old nets and parts of wrecked boats he scavenged from the oceanfront.

The Polynesian Pop revival was underway.

Not to be out-done, Victor Jules Bergeron (who?) – aka Trader Vic – in 1936 converted his Oakland “Hinky Dink’s” pub into a South Seas tropical retreat with tiki carvings, bamboo and outrigger canoes and rechristened it “Trader Vic’s.”

I still recall my 21st birthday and the celebration of my first legal consumption of alcohol at the downtown Denver Trader Vic’s, while I was a student at University of Denver – we had Mai Tais.

Polynesian Pop spread like wildfire and tiki-themed eateries opened across the country. While others have followed, none bettered the tiki and tacky of Don’s and Vic’s.

Along with the décor, rum-based concoctions were the signature drinks in these themed establishments. And that brings us to a discussion on who really invented the themey-est Polynesian Pop umbrella drink of all … the Mai Tai.

Some say Donn, some say Vic – others suggest a quiet barkeep at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel.

Here is what I have found and it’s based mostly on the self-professed statements from each of their websites.

While Don the Beachcomber started the whole tackiness, he apparently does not claim “invention” rights to the Mai Tai. Although the Mai Tai was served in Donn’s establishments, then and now, his signature rum-based theme drink was the Zombie.

The New York Times ran a brief obituary that painted him as a sort of Thomas Edison of the thatched-roof bar and the inventor of 84 bar drinks (Mai Tai, not included.)

The honor of invention of the Mai Tai seems to be directed at Trader Vic.

The story goes that the original Mai Tai was created by Victor J. Bergeron in 1944 by combining 2 ounces of 17-year-old J. Wray Nephew rum with juice from one fresh lime, 1/2 ounce each of Holland DeKuyper Orange Curacao and French Garnier Orgeat, and 1/4 ounce Rock Candy Syrup. The mixture is hand shaken and poured over shaved ice with a fresh mint garnish and 1/2 the lime rind.

The story seems to indicate he then asked some Tahitian friends to taste his new concoction and they reportedly exclaimed “maitaʻi” – the Tahitian expression for “good”; but today the drink is spelled as two words, sometimes hyphenated or capitalized.

Reportedly, in 1953, Vic brought his wildly acclaimed Mai Tai to the Hawaiian Islands when he was asked by the Matson Steamship Lines to design the cocktail menu for the bars at their Royal Hawaiian, Moana and Surfrider Hotels.

The Mai Tai became such a popular cocktail in the 1950s and 1960s that virtually every restaurant, particularly tiki-themed restaurants or bars, served them.

Nelia and I find ourselves returning to Waikīkī every now and then, rotating between the Royal Hawaiian and Halekūlani for Mai Tai sunset sips and pupu.

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don-the-beachcomber-bar

Donn Beach

Victor_Bergeron-Trader_Vic’s_Invents_Mai_Tai-1944

Mai-Tai

Zombie-Don_the_Beachcomber

Hinky_Dinks-Saloon-forerunner of Trader Vic’s

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Trader_Vic’s_Opens_First_Franchise_in_Hawaii-1950

Trader_Vic’s_Matchbook_cover

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Trader_Vic’s_International_Marketplace

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Trader Vic’s Ward Avenue

Trader Vic’s Open First Operation in Seattle-1940

Trader Vic’s International Market Place

Trader-Vics-first-at-926-Ward-Avenue-in-Honolulu.-It-opened-in-the-early-1950s-and-moved-to-the-International-Marketplace-after-1967

Hawaii_Kai…in_New_York

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Don the Beachcomber

June 1, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kaupō Field System

At the time of initial contact, Hawaiian subsistence economy was dominated by two distinct agricultural ecosystems: (1) irrigated ponds (primarily for taro production) near permanent streams that could feed irrigation canals and (2) extensive tracts of dryland, rain-fed intensive cultivation (focused on the cultivation of sweet potatoes.)

Although irrigated ponds continued after contact, the intensive dryland field systems were abandoned in the early decades of the nineteenth century (probably due to greater labor demands for the dryland systems.)

Until recently, no intensive, dryland rain-fed field systems had been identified on Maui. However, now, there is clear evidence of such a system at Kaupō.

Before getting into the specifics of the field system, let’s recall what was happening in and around Kaupō in late pre-contact times.

Kaupō is associated in Hawaiian oral traditions with Kekaulike, a famous Maui king (ali‘i nui) who on genealogical estimates is dated to approximately the early eighteenth century.

Kekaulike made Kaupō his residential seat, and assembled his army at Mokulau, preparing for a war of conquest against his rivals on Hawai‘i Island.

After returning from his invasion of Kohala, Kekaulike resided at Kaupō, where he died. The succession of the Maui kingship demonstrated the importance that Kaupō had in the late pre-contact Maui kingdom.

Kaupō is on the south-eastern flanks of Haleakalā, Maui.

The district is dominated by the “Kaupō Gap,” a breach of the southern wall of Haleakalā Crater with a rejuvenation phase of a massive outpouring of lava flows (and one major mudflow) through the Kaupō Gap and down to the sea, creating a vast accretion fan. The Hawaiians called this fan Nā Holokū (“The Cloak.”)

It was this great fan of young lavas with high nutrient content, combined with ideal climate conditions that provided the environmental potential for intensive agricultural production in Kaupō.

Given its use as a Royal Center for Island Ali‘i, there was a definite need for sufficient crop production. Fortunately, the area has an ideal combination of soils, elevation and rainfall making it also a predictable environment for an intensive dryland field system to feed the people.

Historic records note that this region was identified as “the greatest continuous dry planting area in the Hawaiian islands,” both in ancient times and well into the 1930s. But this old culture was vanishing due to a combination of economic and climatic circumstances.

Oral traditions state that sweet potatoes were cultivated from sea level up to about 2,000 feet elevation and great quantities of dry taro were planted in the lower forest belt from one end of the district to the other.

Using high-resolution color aerial photographs of Kaupō and then confirming their findings on the ground, archaeologists identified grid patterns over significant parts of the landscape, confirming the existence of a major dryland field system, the first to be identified for Maui Island.

The field system a closely spaced grid of east-west embankments and small field plots bisected at right angles by longer north-south trending walls; it covered an area of 3,000 to nearly 4,000-acres and could have supported a population of 8,000-10,000 people.

A range of smaller features such as enclosures, shelters and platforms are found within the field system area indicating the presence of a complex social community integrated within the system.

This was truly dryland agriculture, there was no evidence to level terraces as in irrigated pondfield systems (taro lo‘i,) and there was no evidence of water control features or channels; so the conclusion was the system was strictly rainfed.

The most common feature type consists of stacked or core-filled stone-walled enclosures; many of these are rectangular and may be the foundation walls for thatched houses, but a few larger, irregular enclosures may be animal pens.

On Hawai‘i Island, field system complexes are associated with prominent ceremonial structures (heiau) and royal residential centers, such as Mo‘okini Heiau at the northern tip of Kohala, and the royal centers at Kealakekua and Hōnaunau in Kona.

This strong association between field systems and ceremonial architecture is not surprising, given that these intensively cultivated field complexes provided the underpinning of the elite economy.

Like other areas, two heiau at Kaupō stand out for their massive size and labor invested in their construction, Lo‘alo‘a and Kou.

Lo‘alo‘a Heiau is one of the largest on Maui and indeed in the entire archipelago and is associated in Hawaiian traditions with King Kekaulike, who ruled Maui in the early 1700s. Kou Heiau, on a lava promontory jutting into the sea is on the western end of the Kaupō field system.

It is believed that Kaupō with its field system at one time played an important role in the emerging Maui population, particularly in the final century prior to European contact, when it became the seat of the paramount Kekaulike.

The enormous capacity of these field systems enabled the rise of a population center; Lo‘alo‘a and Kou heiau on either side of the Kaupō fields illustrate the inseparable links between agriculture and the religious traditions of ancient Hawai‘i. (Lots here from Kirch.)

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Naholoku Fan at Kaupo Gap-(Kirch)

Kaupo_Dryland_Field_System

Kaupo-Gap-(WC-Forest_&_Kim_Starr)

Image-of-Enbankments-at-Pauku-Kirch

Kaupo-Gap_(upper)-(WC-Forest_&_Kim_Starr)

GIS Map of Linear Features-(Kirch)

Kaupo_Gap-(upper)-(WC-Forest_&_Kim_Starr)

Map of Features and Soil Age-(Kirch)

Kaupo_Gap_(WC-Forest_&_Kim_Starr)

Photo of Naholoku Fan at Kaupo Gap-(Kirch)

Kou Heiau-(Kirch)

Loaloa Heiau-(Kirch)

Illustrative Cross Sections-(Kirch)

Historic_Mokus_of_Maui_Map_(Kaupo)

Map of Islands noting Majory Dryland Field Systems-(Kirch)

June 1, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Day 144 – March 14, 1820

March 14, 1820 – no entry. (Thaddeus Journal)

March 14th. “At sunrise hoisted the long-boat out of the chocks, and broke open the main hold; hoisted our large guns on deck and sundry other articles. At 11 a.m. found the remains of poor Tom, our cat. He has been missing for about two weeks. Previous to his disappearing he had been subject to fits of delirium and other ways indisposed.” Lat. by obs. 3° 07′ N.

March 14th. To-day my little comforts have been increased again by the opening of the Hartford box of books. I found many presented to me, which was very pleasant as an evidence of kind remembrance on the part even of some to whose attention I had no claim. I would have my sisters present my thanks, tho I do not mention all. Prom Mr. Hopkins a valuable set of six volumes—
One from Miss Ann Perkins—Some from my dear Friend Mrs. Strong. One little volume from Georgiana May, which, while I was looking at, wondering if Mrs. May, whose kindness I many years since experienced, when but recently an orphan, thus remembered me, when I came across the fan with Sister L—’s note, which confirmed it all* You will tell her my heart felt the kindness. It awakened tender emotions of “the days of other years,” when, a sorrowful child, she sought to comfort me. In all her afflictions may GOD comfort her. I shall do myself the pleasure to write her a line. (Sybil Bingham)

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