General | Page 150 | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

February 4, 2019 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Four Minute Men

“Men and nations are at their worst or at their best in any great struggle. The spoken word may light the fires of passion and unreason or it may inspire to highest action and noblest sacrifice a nation of freemen.”

“Upon you Four-Minute Men, who are charged with a special duty and enjoy a special privilege in the command of your audiences, will rest, in a considerable degree, the task of arousing and informing the great body of our people …”

“… so that when the record of these days is complete we shall read page for page with the deeds of army and navy the story of the unity, the spirit of sacrifice, the unceasing labors, the high courage of the men and women at home who held unbroken the inner lines.”

“My best wishes and continuing interest are with you in your work as part of the reserve officer corps in a nation thrice armed because through your efforts it knows better the justice of its cause and the value of what it defends.” (Woodrow Wilson, November 9, 1917)

The Four Minute Men, a nation-wide organization of volunteer speakers, was organized June 16, 1917, for the purpose of assisting the various Departments of the Government in the work of national defense during World War I.

They delivered short pro-war speeches, as part of an effort to galvanize public support for the war and suppress dissent. The subject matter was prepared and the speaking was directed from Washington under the authority of the Government. (Four Minute Men, Committee on Public Information, November 25, 1917))

“‘The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth’ – that is the kernel of the messages the Four Minute Men are asked to convey to the American people.”

“The truth about the war, we believe, is such that it need but to be spread clearly in order to convince the public that we must fight on. Those who do not so believe should not attempt to convince others.” (Four Minute Men, Committee on Public Information, 1918)

“Our cause were weak, indeed, if we needed to bolster it up in the approved Prussian fashion by hiding of facts, statements of half truths, exaggerations, and sophistries.”

“Our cause is strong in so far as we can afford to be frank and open, and the speaker who is frank and open ready to concede the contrafacts, willing to admit doubt wherever doubt rightfully exists, and making no claims beyond authentic authoritative knowledge, is powerful, because he. stands on the rock of fairness. His honesty shines through his words.”

“At no time should our audiences be led to feel that Government speakers appear before them to implant thoughts skillfully designed to create some “desired impression.” The public should realize rather that the Government sends its representative to state indisputable facts.”

“To impress others with our honesty we need but to be honest. Then, honesty is the armor, frankness and fairness are the weapons, and the champion of the Right becomes invincible.”

“As a matter of policy, too, we can not emphasize too strongly that the most conservative statement is the most powerful. Calling the Kaiser a devil, condemning everything done in war by the enemy, indulging generally in tirades, may bring applause from partisans, but it does not make a single convert.”

“Our audiences may be divided into three classes – those favoring the war, those in doubt, and those who are so imbued with pacifism or pro-German sentiments that no appeal to the heart to reason or common sense can draw them to us. It is our problem to reach the second class; with the other two classes we are but indirectly concerned.”

“The doubters want reasons and facts, not vituperation. If the speaker shows blindness to common sense, unwillingness to view facts in perspective, if he browses around to find extremest arguments, the purpose of the speech is lost.”

“But if he drives home the facts, the terrible proven facts, then he leaves no loophole for counterargument, and the case against Germany stands out—unassailable!”

In preparing speakers, the program provided the following ‘Four Minute Hints’:

“Stick to your time allowance. Five minutes means a guess; four minutes makes a promise.”
“Begin with a positive, concrete statement.”
“Tell them something at the start.”
“Use short sentences. The man who can’t make one word do the work of two is no four minute speaker.”
“Avoid fine phrases. You aren’t there to give them an ear full but a mind full.”
“Talk to the back row of your audience; you’ll hit everything closer in.”
“Talk to the simplest intelligence in your audience; you’ll hit everything higher up.”
“Be natural and direct. Sincerity wears no frills.”
“Give your words time. A jumbled sentence is a wasted sentence. You can’t afford waste on a four-minute allowance.”
“Don’t fear to be colloquial. Slang that your hearers understand is better than Latin that they don’t.”
“Don’t figure the importance of your job on a time basis. Four hours of thinking may go into four minutes of speaking.”
“You represent the United States of America. Don’t forget it. And don’t give your audience occasion to forget it.”
“Finish strong and sharp. The butterfly is forgotten as soon as he departs, but you recall the hornet because he ends with a point.”
“Finally, and always – Stick to your pledge and the four-minute limit.” (Four Minute Men, Committee on Public Information, 1918)

The Four-Minute Men idea was born in Chicago and has grown into a national division of war work; Hawaii participated in the Four Minute Men program.

“The success of the Four Minute Men is assured here, and their opportunities for usefulness are not restricted to patriotic speeches in the motion-picture houses of the city. They have a far wider field where their utterances should be valuable.” (Star Bulletin, December 6, 1917)

“The Four-Minute Men in Hawaii plan to furnish on short notice speakers on patriotic subjects for gatherings or meetings of any nature. It is now aiding the local food pledge campaign by four-minute speeches each evening at the Bijou and Liberty theaters. The organization is to become a permanent one.” (Star Bulletin, December 4, 1917)

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February 3, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Lucy Peabody

Lucy Peabody was the daughter of a prominent island family, Dr and Mrs Parker Peabody, who settled on the island of Maui early in the last century. (Honolulu Star Bulletin, August 10, 1928) She was born January 1, 1840 at Luaehu, Lahaina, Maui.

“Miss Lucy Peabody (was) a Hawaiian of rank revered by us all, and one deeply learned in the lore of her native country.” (Damon) She was from a high ali‘i family and descendants of Isaac Davis, the British seaman, who along with John Young served as an adviser to Kamehameha I, in his attempts to unite the Hawaiian Islands. (NPS)

Davis and Young became great favorites of King Kamehameha, “especially when he had become apprised of the fact that they were experts in the handling of firearms, the use of which was unknown in Hawaii at that period. The day was fast approaching when the fate of two young people would be a matter of great importance.”

Davis “gained the sanction of the sovereign to wed a Hawaiian lady of rank. They had two daughters and a son. The elder daughter became the wife of an Englishman of later arrival, Captain Adams, owner of valuable properties in Honolulu and adjacent districts. Her sister was married into the royal family of Kauai, but unfortunately died without issue.”

“Hueu, the son, married the high chiefess Kaanapilo of the Waimea line of chiefs, who raised a large family of eight sons and daughters, from which Miss Lucy Peabody (is) descended.”

“So the adventures of these enterprising Englishmen ensued not only in distinction and affluence for themselves, but in highest positions for some of their posterity – notably, one as Queen Emma of revered memory, and another as daughter-in-law of a king.” (Pratt) Peabody’s mother was Elizabeth K Davis, a granddaughter of Isaac Davis. (Kanahele)

“Peabody herself was prominent among the entourage that accompanied Queen Emma on the latter’s well documented sojourn to Kauai in 1871, shortly after the queen inherited the Lāwa‘i ahupua‘a from her uncle, James Kanehoa Young, and his third wife, Kinoni.” (Griffin)

Peabody, “four years Emma’s junior, was a high chiefess who served as one of Emma’s maids-of-honor” (Kanahele) and was the queen’s life companion. (NPS)

Peabody was active in the Hui Hawaii Aloha ‘Āina (Hawaiian Patriotic League). “The object of this association is to preserve and maintain, by all legal and peaceful means and measures, the independent autonomy of the islands of Hawai‘i nei …”

“… and if the preservation of our independence be rendered impossible, our object shall then be to exert all peaceful and legal efforts to secure for the Hawaiian people and citizens the continuance of their civil rights.” (Hawaiian Gazette, March 21, 1893)

“Invited are the Men, the Women, and all the young people of the Hawaiian Patriotic League (Hui Aloha ‘Āina,) and all friends, to go immediately with great enthusiasm and festivity to fill the meeting with numbers of Twenty and more thousand people.”

“(T)he Woman’s Hawaiian Patriotic League and the Hawaiian Patriotic League (sent) out by special messengers to every district in the Hawaiian Islands petitions against annexation for signature by Hawaiian citizens in order that the people’s will may be accurately ascertained as a plebiscite is not at present to be permitted by the Annexation Oligarchy.” (The Independent, September 13, 1897)

Their 556-page petition totaled 21,269-names, 10,378-male and 10,891-female. Of these 16,331 adults were adults and 4,938-minors. (The petition is now stored at the US National Archives.)

Lucy Peabody, resurrected and re-chartered the ‘Ahahui Ka‘ahumanu on June 14, 1905 at Kawaiaha‘o Church. “The ‘Ahahui was originally chartered on August 8, 1864 by Princess Victoria Kamāmalu, Chiefess Lydia Kamaka‘eha Dominis, crowned Queen Lili‘uokalani in 1891, and Chiefess Bernice Pauahi, who later became Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop.”

“The society was named ‘Ka‘ahumanu Society’ after Princess Victoria’s aunt, Ka‘ahumanu, Kūhina Nui of the Hawaiian Kingdom under Kamehameha the Great. … Unfortunately the group disbanded two years later in the fall of 1866 after the unexpected passing of the young Princess Kamāmalu.” (Ka‘ahumanu Society)

“Edgar Henriques and Miss (Lucy) Kalani Davis (Peabody’s niece) were quietly married at the home of Miss Lucy Peabody, Vineyard street, last evening [June 10, 1898], the Rev. Alex. Mackintosh officiating. Only the relatives were present. The newly married couple have gone to Waikiki for their honeymoon.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, June 24, 1898)

Lucy Peabody shared the vision with her niece of improving healthcare in North Hawaii. “When Lucy Peabody died (August 9) 1928, she left a 12-acre parcel of land in Waimea – Makahikilu – to … Lucy Henriques. Upon her death in 1932, Lucy Davis Henriques left Makahikilua and $100,000 in her will to fulfill the dream the two cousins had shared during their lifetimes.”

“Throughout the years, the trust funds, administered by Bishop Trust Company, grew significantly. When probate was completed in the 1960s, funds were appropriated for feasibility studies. Preliminary plans were drawn up for a 120-bed acute-care facility, the Northern Hawaii Hospital, but the timing was not right.”

“The population of the Big Island was not large enough to support a full-service acute-care facility in Waimea. So in 1969, Lucy Henriques Medical Center, Inc (LHMC), was chartered as a non-profit corporation responsible for ensuring outpatient medical care for the communities of North Hawaii – the place and its people that were so loved by Lucy Peabody and Lucy Henriques.”

When North Hawaii Community Hospital (NHCH) opened in 1996, the adjoining Medical Center simultaneously opened a brand new nine-bed renal dialysis unit to complement the new array of inpatient and outpatient services available to the community. In 1999, NHCH and LHMC merged to create the entity we see today. (NHCH)

Click HERE for a performance of ‘Lucy Peabody’ (Portrayed by Karen Kaulana) at Mission Houses Cemetery Pupu Theatre (sorry it is dark.)

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February 2, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Washington Monument

Plans for a national monument to commemorate George Washington began as early as 1783 when Congress proposed that an equestrian statue of George Washington be erected. Although the Monument was authorized by Congress, little action was taken, even after Major Peter Charles L’Enfant selected its site in his 1791 Federal City plan.

Washington’s 1799 death rekindled public aspiration for an appropriate tribute to him, and John Marshall proposed that a special sepulcher be erected for the General within the Capitol itself. Lack of funds postponed construction.

In an elaborate Fourth of July ceremony in 1848, the cornerstone was laid. The Washington Monument was built between 1848 and 1884 as a tribute to George Washington’s military leadership from 1775-1783 during the American Revolution.

Its construction took place in two major phases, 1848-56, and 1876-84 – a lack of funds, political turmoil, and uncertainty about the survival of the American Union caused the intermittent hiatus.

The outbreak of Civil War of 1861 exacerbated the society’s difficulties with fund-raising efforts. When Lt Col Thomas L Casey resumed work on the project in 1876, he heavily altered the original design for the monument so that it resembled an unadorned Egyptian obelisk with a pointed pyramidion

The US Army Corps of Engineers of the War Department was charged with completing the construction, and the monument was dedicated on February 21, 1885, and officially opened to the public on October 9, 1888.

Weighing 81,120 tons, the Washington Monument stands 555′ 5-1/8″ tall. The walls of the monument range in thickness from 15′ at the base to 18” at the upper shaft.

They are composed primarily of white marble blocks from Maryland with a few from Massachusetts, underlain by Maryland blue gneiss and Maine granite. A slight color change is perceptible at the 150′ level near where construction slowed in 1854. (LOC)

Over 36,000 stones were used to construct the monument. But those are not the only stones in it – over the years almost 200- “commemorative stones” (also referred to as “memorial stones” and “presented stones”), presented by individuals, societies, cities, States, and nations of the world, have been added to the inside walls of the monument. Most of the stones date from 1849 to 1855.

Back in 1911, Hawaii was looking to have its representation in the Washington Monument. At that time, forty states and sixteen cities and a variety of other organizations were represented in the monument with memorial tablets.

“The series of memorial stones begin at the 30-foot elevation and continue up to the 280 foot level. In all there are 170 of these stones all containing tributes to the memory of Washington and many of them notable for their beauty elaborate carving or origin.”

“It is possible that the Sons of the American Revolution and the Hawaiian Historical Society may be enlisted in the proposition. There are many historic places around the Islands many connected with the career of Kamehameha the Great from which a suitable historic stone could be obtained.” (Hawaiian Gazette, March 24, 1911)

Most of the stones date from 1849 to 1855. Sixteen stones date to the twentieth century. The last stone was installed in 2000. There is a stone from every state, and also from fraternal and community organizations, cities and towns, foreign countries, and individuals. Stone types include granite, marble, limestone, sandstone, soapstone, and jade.

Hawaii would have to wait another 25-years before its memorial stone was added to the Washington Monument. The work of installation was begun on January 21, 1936 and completed on February 26, 1936.

It’s a 4-foot by 2-foot and 6-inches thick “Coral sandstone from Waimanalo, Hawaii donated by Grace Brothers, Ltd” with the words “Hawaii” followed by “Ua Mau Ke Ea O Ka Aina I Ka Pono.” It sits at the 360-foot landing of the monument.

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January 31, 2019 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Keeping Up With The Joneses

In the 1820s, two notable men with the last name Jones were in the Islands. John Coffin Jones Jr (US Agent for Commerce and Seamen) and Thomas ap Catesby Jones (of the US Navy).

The first to arrive was John Coffin Jones Jr; he was appointed US Agent for Commerce and Seamen on September 19, 1820 and began to serve in October of 1820, at the port of Honolulu.

John Coffin Jones Jr was the only son of a prominent Boston businessman (in mercantile and shipping business) and politician. (John C Jones Sr served as speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives and was legislative colleague of John Quincy Adams (and one of the signors for Massachusetts of the Ratification of the US Constitution for that State.))

This Jones (also known in Hawaiian documents as John Aluli) became the ﬁrst ofﬁcial US representative in the Hawaiian Islands. His role was to help distressed American citizens ashore, both seamen and civilians, serving without salary from the US government and required to report on commerce in Hawai‘i.

(The post of commercial agent was raised to Consul effective July 5, 1844, and held by Peter A. Brinsmade, who had already been appointed commercial agent on April 13, 1838.)

Jones was already agent for the prosperous Boston firm of Marshall and Wildes (one of four American mercantile houses doing business in Honolulu,) and by accepting the additional responsibility from his country, the firm and he might hope that through his reports to Washington the voice of commerce in the Pacific would be heard more clearly by the US Government. (Hackler)

When Jones arrived, the sandalwood trade with China was still thriving. King Kamehameha I had monopolized, the cutting and exporting of sandalwood during his reign, but after his death in 1819, Kamehameha II was unable to enforce the conservation policies of his father, and unrestricted cutting of sandalwood soon threatened to deplete the hillsides of this rare wood.

But, while the wood lasted and the market held up in Canton, the American merchants in Honolulu competed fiercely with each other for the valuable cargoes, and pressed on the Hawaiians all sorts of goods which were to be paid for in sandalwood. (Hackler)

He was considered an advocate for commercial interests in Hawaiʻi and immediately collided with the missionary group led by Rev. Hiram Bingham. For the next couple of decades he contended for commercial advantages for the US. He set up his own trading firm in 1830 and made many voyages to California during the next ten years. (Kelley)

“Since the discovery of the whale fishery on the coast of Japan, and the independence of the republics of the western coasts of North and South America, the commerce of the United States at the Sandwich islands has vastly increased.”

“Of such importance have these islands become to our ships which resort to the coast of Japan for the prosecution of the whale fishery, that, without another place could be found, possessing equal advantages of conveniences and situation, our fishery on Japan would be vastly contracted, or pursued under circumstances the most disadvantageous.” (Jones, to Captain Wm B Finch, October 30, 1829)

As US Agent for Seamen, Jones had a burdensome responsibility. Many seamen were put ashore because of illness, and they became the special concern of Jones. This was a responsibility and an expense.

In his first report to the Secretary of State on December 31, 1821, Jones complained of the commanders of American ships who were in the habit of discharging troublesome seamen at Honolulu and taking on Hawaiian hands. (Hackler)

In addition, Jones reported to the Department that 30,000 piculs of sandalwood were sent to China in American ships that year, and estimated that the price for this wood in Canton should be about $300,000. The Hawaiian chiefs were becoming increasingly indebted to the American merchants in Honolulu and payment was slow in coming.

He wrote that the only solution was the posting of a US naval vessel at Honolulu, at least during the periods between March and May, and October and December, when the whalers gathered at the port. (Hackler)

The desertions, debt and disorder led to the arrival of the second Jones, Thomas ap Catesby Jones (the ‘ap’ in his name is a Welsh prefix noting he is ‘Thomas, the son of Catesby Jones.’)

Thomas was a Navy man; he received an appointment as a midshipman and joined the US Navy (at the time, 1805, it had only 29-vessels.) He moved up through the ranks. (Smith) He later fought in the War of 1812.

Growing concerns over treatment, safety and attitudes toward American sailors (and therefore other US citizens in the Islands) led the US Navy to send Jones to the Islands, report back on what he learned, banish the bad-attitude sailors and maintain cordial relations with the Hawaiian government.

“The object of my visit to the Sandwich Islands was of high national importance, of multifarious character, and left entirely to my judgment as to the mode of executing it, with no other guide than a laconic order, which the Government designed one of the oldest and most experienced commanders in the navy should execute”. (Jones, Report of Minister of Foreign Affairs)

“Under so great a responsibility, it was necessary for me to proceed with the greatest caution, and to measure well every step before it was taken; consequently the first ten or fifteen days were devoted to the study and examination of the character and natural disposition of a people who are so little known to the civilized world, and with whom I had important business to transact.”

“The Sandwich Islanders as legislators are a cautious, grave, deliberate people, extremely jealous of their rights as a nation, and are slow to enter into any treaty or compact with foreigners, by which the latter can gain any foot-hold or claim to their soil.”

“Aware of these traits in the character of the Islanders with whom I had to negotiate, I determined to conduct my correspondence with them in such a manner as at once to remove all grounds of suspicion as to the object and views of the American Government, and to guard against misrepresentation and undue influence”.

“(I also wanted to) give the Chiefs and others in authority, the means of understanding perfectly the nature of my propositions, I took the precaution to have all official communications translated into the Oahuan language, which translation always accompanied the original in English”.

“(B)y giving them their own time to canvass and consult together, I found no difficulty in carrying every measure I proposed, and could I have been fully acqainted with the views of my government, or been authorized to make treaties, I do not doubt but my success would have been complete in any undertaking of that character.” (Jones Report to Navy Department, 1827)

Jones resolved the sailor desertion issue, the chiefs agreed to pay in full the debts and then Jones negotiated ‘Articles of Arrangement’ noting the “peace and friendship subsisting between the United States and their Majesties, the Queen Regent and Kauikeaouli, King of the Sandwich Islands, and their subjects and people,” (later referred to as the Treaty of 1826, the first treaty signed by the Hawaiians and US.)

“Capt (Thomas ap Catesby) Jones, as a public officer, carefully sought to promote the interests of commerce and secure the right of traders, pressed the rulers to a prompt discharge of their debts, and negotiated articles of agreement with the government for the protection of American interests …”

“… in which Kaahumanu, as regent, is conspicuous; and secured for himself among the people the designation of ‘kind-eyed chief’ – a compliment falling on the ear of many of different classes”.

In contrast, by 1829, John Coffin Jones Jr seemed to have fallen out of favor with the Hawaiian rulers. At that time the King and the principal chiefs addressed a protest to Captain Finch of the USS Vincennes, accusing Jones of maltreating a native and lying about royal morals. (Hackler)

John Jones’ several marriages caused additional concern. He married Hannah Jones Davis, widow of his partner, William Heath Davis Sr, in 1823. Jones continued to live with Hannah but also lived with Lahilahi Marin, daughter of Don Francisco Marin, and had children by both. In 1838, he married Manuela Carrillo of Santa Barbara, California and deserted Hannah and Lahilahi.

In December, 1838, returning from one of his periodic business trips to California, he introduced Manuela as his wife. This apparently enraged Hannah Holmes Jones, who promptly petitioned the Hawaiian Government for a divorce on grounds of bigamy.

The charge was upheld by the King and led to his writing Jones on January 8, 1839, that “… I refuse any longer to know you as consul from the United States of America.” (Kamehameha III; Hacker)

John Jones left the Islands and settled in Santa Barbara in 1839 and continued as a merchant both in California and Massachusetts. He died on December 24, 1861, leaving his wife and six children. (Kelley)

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January 29, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Whence?

“(T)he first thought which presents itself to our minds, when we cast our eyes upon these islands on the map of the great ocean, is, surprise to find isles so remote from the world, with whose history we are acquainted, peopled by our own species …”

“… it may be as well, therefore, to make a few remarks, under the guidance of such information as we possess, concerning the first inhabitants of the group, and upon the probable means of their transport from the land from which they seem to have proceeded.”

“Future historians of this little state will not be spared the perplexities which have obstructed the first steps of all who have endeavoured to trace the course of events by which small societies became mighty nations.”

“We may pass very lightly over certain speculations, which cannot be wholly overlooked, tending to show that the natives of this group, if not those of the rest of the Polynesian isles, are descended from the lost tribes of the Jews.”

“These conjectures are founded upon the observation of several customs among the islanders, which are the same or similar to those believed to have been peculiar to the Jewish people.”

“The more remarkable of them are: the offering of their first-fruits to their deities; circumcision, which was also here a religious ceremony, and performed by the priests …”

“… the strict seclusion of the women after the birth of a child, and during other periods of natural infirmity, with the ceremonies of purification, under pain even of death; and the possession of cities or places of refuge, similar in design to those of that people.”

“The circumstances that chiefly strike us, when we compare one people with another, with a view to ascertain what ‘propinquity and property of blood’ they possess, are their physical conformation generally, but more particularly the features of the face, and their colour …”

“… and, after this, their language, their religion, and their well-established customs. For such examination of those that are at distances too remote from us to admit of especial or frequent observation, we have usually, and certainly in our case, to rely upon the accounts of navigators, missionaries, travellers, and merchants.”

“Now we find almost the universal testimony of all who have visited the Pacific islands, that the inhabitants of the whole of the groups, as well as of New Zealand, resemble one another in several, or in all these particulars …”

“… and, moreover, that they all bear in their type and physical conformation a greater resemblance to the Malay race, than to any other of the ancient inhabitants of the globe.”

“But all difficulties in the way of establishing the theory of their having sprung from that race will disappear when we consider certain traditions among the natives, in conjunction with known facts concerning the intercourse between the inhabitants of distinct groups …”

“… and some other circumstances which I myself, in common with others, learned in the capacity of traveller during these inquiries in the Pacific.”

“There are traditions among the Sandwich islanders regarding the land from which their ancestors came, and of an intercourse formerly carried on between different groups, and it is commonly believed by them, that they came from Otaheite.”

“They believe also that their progenitors, at a very remote period, possessed canoes of much larger dimensions and greater capability of navigating the ocean than the frail craft since in use among them.”

“If, indeed, such canoes or vessels of any kind did ever exist, this fact alone is sufficient to settle the question of the intercourse formerly carried on between the islands, as well as that of the origin of the inhabitants.”

“Let us then see what external information we have to corroborate these traditions. We know, from history, that every country bordering on the sea has from the earliest ages abounded in maritime adventurers …”

“… and, if we are acquainted with many circumstances which indicate the restraints that were put upon foreign enterprise and lawful trading, we also know that no laws have ever been able to suppress the marauding propensities of a nautical people …”

“… or of the organization even of direct systems of piratical adventure. Now, although we should suppose that no very long voyages were ever performed by any of the ‘Sea Kings,’ or Northmen of the Pacific …”

“… we have evidence in abundance, of the vessels of the Chinese and the Japanese being picked up by European whalers, after having been blown off the coasts of China and Japan, some of them with whole families on board.”

“In 1832, a junk, after being tempest-tossed for eleven months, was cast on the shore even of Woahoo, with four men of her crew still surviving, and some of these vessels have been known to reach even the coast of America.”

“During the voyage, with which this volume commences, there were but few old sailors among the seamen and officers on board our ship; but these had been long sailing in whalers in the Pacific, and especially upon the coasts of China and Japan …”

“… and they related to me many instances known to them of junks being blown off those coasts, and picked up after they were incapable of returning, and of their crews having been carried back to their own country.”

“In one of these cases, one of our officers was himself a party to the rescue of a junk and her crew, long after her pilots had lost all hopes of reaching their own shore.”

“Now it is clear, that it would be quite enough for any single one of these vessels to reach any island, provided there were but one man and one woman surviving, to people at least the whole group to which that island belonged …”

“… though it is extremely unlikely, that from a single vessel, probably cast on the shore, others should proceed to undertake the long voyage which the great distance between the groups would involve.”

“Nevertheless, if we even reject altogether the idea of intercourse between the groups generally, we have the same probability left, of the peopling of all the groups, one by one, by the same accident …”

“… which would equally account for the common Malay origin of their inhabitants, and also for such variation as we discover in their natural traits, customs, and language, by the variation of the character of the different nations of Malay origin, from which they might have come.” (All here is from Hill.)

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Hawaiian Islands from Hill-1856