Prominent People | Page 119 | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

November 16, 2017 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Auna

Auna was trained to the priesthood by his father, a Raiatean chief, and that as a youth he became a well-known priest, warrior and member of the Arioi Society. Like many others from the Leeward Islands he joined Pomare’s forces during the latter’s exile on Moorea, fighting in the Tahitian campaigns of 1812 and at the battle of Feipi in 1815.

After Pomare’s successful reconquest of Tahiti Auna, by now a professing Christian, returned to Moorea and attended the school at Papetoai. In 1818 he accompanied the European missionaries to Huahine, the first mission station to be established in the Leewards; baptized a year later, he became one of the first four deacons of the Huahine church.

During the visit of the Rev. Daniel Tyerman and George Bennet, the deputation sent by the London Missionary Society to visit the missions in the Pacific and elsewhere, to Huahine in 1822 it was decided to send Auna and another deacon Matatore, with their wives, to preach the gospel to the Marquesans. (Maude)

Then, “the Tahitian missionary Auna … came to Hawaii with a visiting English delegation of missionaries in 1822.” (Barrere & Sahlins)

“As (Ellis) landed here with his little band of Tahitians, the wife of Auna met with her brother who is attached to the chiefs, – Jack, or Moa, of the Ship Bounty, Capt. Bligh) & who gladly introduced her and her husband to Kaahumanu, & procured for them a lodging at her house.”

“Finding them interesting and agreeable, an on acquaintance of three weeks becoming attracted to them, she & Taumuare, gave them a pressing invitation to remain here. Nor is Auna less desirous to stay but wishes that his beloved pastor Mr. (Ellis) may remain also.”

“The invitation, seconded by the other principal chiefs is extended to Mr. E. and his family — so that on the part of the government the way is perfectly open for his entrance here.” (Journal of the Sandwich Island Mission, May 9, 1822)

The American Mission saw benefit in working with Ellis and The Tahitians … “of bringing the influence of the Tahitian mission to bear with more direct and operative force upon this nation; trembling under the too great responsibility of the spiritual concerns of the whole nation, & looking with hesitating awe at the great and difficult work of translating the bible & continually casting about for help …”

“… we feel the need of just such talents and services as Brother (Ellis) is able to bring to the work, whose general views of Christian faith practice, & of missionary duty, which accord so well with ours, whose thorough acquaintance with the Tahitian tongue so nearly allied to this …”

“… & which it cost the mission almost a 20 years’ labor fully to acquire, & whose missionary experience, among the South Sea Islands’ kindred tribes, enable him to cooperate with us, with mutual satisfaction, and greatly to facilitate our acquisition of this kindred language …”

“… & the early translation of the sacred scriptures, & thus promote the usefulness, rather than supersede the labors, of all who may come to our aid from America.” (Journal of the Sandwich Island Mission, May 9, 1822)

“Auna is a chief from the Society Islands, of a tall commanding figure, placid & benignant countenance, intelligent, sober, discreet, & humbly devoted to the cause of missions; prays in his family & in the family of Kaahumanu, keeps a journal neatly written in his native language, & carefully takes & preserves sketches of the sermons he hears.”

“He was with Pomare in the battle at Tahiti in the last struggle to exterminate Christianity, witnessed the triumphs of the Lord of hosts, & the downfall & destruction of the ‘foolish Idols that Tahiti worshipped.’”

“His wife is in some respects like him as to the degree of civilization to which she has advanced -She is short, but rather above the midling stature of American females.” (Journal of the Sandwich Island Mission, May 11, 1822)

“It is a pleasure to hear this happy Christian pair converse, or sing together the songs of Zion in their native tongue, but it is pretty to see then how unitedly devoted to the work of converting this nation to Christianity.” (Journal of the Sandwich Island Mission, May 11, 1822)

“Auna, a Tahitian Raatira, who, as a teacher, had been designated to the Marquesas, was, with his wife, Auna wahine, hospitably received at Honolulu by Kaumuali‘i and Kaahumanu, and even invited to remain.”

“Auna was regarded as pious and exemplary. He was of a tall, commanding figure, placid and benignant countenance; sober, discreet, and courteous; and soon capable of imparting rudimental instruction, and making known the Christian doctrine.”

“He gave important testimony respecting the course of events at the Society and Georgian Islands. He had been with Pomare in a battle at Tahiti, in the last struggles of the heathen party there to keep off or exterminate Christianity, when the king and the Christian party, standing on the defensive …”

“… and calling on the name of the Lord of Hosts, proved triumphantly successful in resisting and repelling their attacks and maintaining his ascendency.”

“Having witnessed the success of the Gospel among those of his countrymen who had received it, and the downfall of the foolish gods that Tahiti worshipped, and having, with many others, shouted the triumphs of Jehovah there …”

“… he was now willing to devote himself, for a time, to the business of acquainting the Hawaiians with what he knew, so far as he could make their language available. For this purpose he and his wife, who was a help-meet, tarried a year before they returned home.” (Bingham)

“Auna, the Tahitian chief, led the exercises of the afternoon, before embarking on board the Waverley to return to the Society Islands, on account of the health of his wife. He is a noble example of the power of the Gospel on the heart and character of a pagan.”

“His wife is a very handsome woman; and in her general appearance and manners remarkably like one of the most polished females I ever saw.” (Stewart)

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Sketch of Auna’s house in Honolulu

November 14, 2017 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Seagull

“It happens every Friday evening, almost without fail … Old Ed comes strolling along the beach to his favorite pier. Clutched in his bony hand is a bucket of shrimp.”

“Before long, dozens of seagulls have enveloped him, their wings fluttering and flapping wildly. Ed stands there tossing shrimp to the hungry birds. As he does, if you listen closely, you can hear him say with a smile, ‘Thank you. Thank you.’”

“To the onlooker, rituals can look either very strange or very empty. They can seem altogether unimportant …. maybe even a lot of nonsense. …” (Swindoll)

Let’s look back …

Edward Vernon ‘Eddie’ Rickenbacker had first gained fame as a racecar driver from 1912-1917, racing in a number of events including the first Indianapolis 500. He even broke the land speed record, reaching 134 mph. (Nye)

When the war to end all wars broke out (WWI), “he became the nation’s ‘Ace of Aces’ as a military aviator despite the fact that he had joined the Army as a sergeant-driver on Gen. John J. Pershing’s staff.”

“He was named by Gen. William Mitchell to be chief engineering officer of the fledgling Army Air Corps. His transfer to actual combat flying – in which he shot down 22 German planes and four observation balloons – was complicated …”

“… not only by his being two years over the pilot age limit of 25, but also because he was neither a college man nor a ‘gentleman’ such as then made up the aristocratic fighter squadrons of the air service.” (NY Times)

After the war, he delved first into the automobile industry and then wound his way back to aviation, eventually becoming president of Eastern Air Lines.

“A self-made man whose formal education ended with the sixth grade, Rickenbacker was a driving leader. He put the stamp of his dominant personality on everything he touched.” (NY Times)

In 1942, the Army Air Force asked Rickenbacker to consult on operations in the Pacific theater. It was a secret mission touring air bases around the world, but also to deliver a secret message to General Douglas MacArthur, supreme commander of Allied forces in the Southeast Pacific Theater.

With a $1 a day salary, he set out for a tour of the Pacific. He first visited Hawai‘i en route to bases from Australia to Guadalcanal.

On October 20, Rickenbacker inspected air units stations on O‘ahu. Evidence of the Pearl Harbor attack were still present – bullet holes pockmarked hangars, sandbags surrounded public buildings and armed patrols enforced nightly blackouts. (Lewis)

From Hickam, their first stop would be Canton Island, an atoll in the Phoenix archipelago where Pan American had established a base in 1938.

The following are portions of a speech given by John Bartek. It is an account of the flight of Capt. Eddie Rickenbacker; Col. Hans Christian Adamson (Protocol Officer accompanying Rickenbacker); Capt. William T. Cherry, pilot; Lt. James C. Whittaker, co-pilot; Lt. John DeAngelis, navigator; Sgt. Frank Reynolds, radio operator; Pvt. John Bartek, flight engineer; and Sgt. Alex Kaczmarzyck, passenger returning to his unit after hospitalization.

“Well, anyway, as we approached the island we flew all night … as we approached the island we let down about an hour and a half ahead of time because we were on a secret mission. We just wanted to go in and locate the island without any interference.”

“Our time of arrival was overdue. In the meantime the navigator was beginning to look a little worried.”

“Oh, he said there was no problem. So then he called the island and he asked for lost plane procedure. But when he called about the lost plane procedure what took place then was the island called back and said we have had the equipment here for two weeks but we haven’t had time to set it up yet.”

“(W)e asked the island to fire anti-aircraft shells at 8,000 feet. We climbed to 8,000 feet to see whether we could see the burst at 8,000 feet. Well, we climbed to 8,000 feet and we didn’t see any burst for about a half an hour.”

“Captain Cherry then decided, well, the best we could do is we’ll fly around in what they call a square. You fly for maybe thirty minutes or forty-five minutes north, and you fly east, and you fly south, and then you fly west. We could look on each side of the plane to see whether we could see ships at sea or something down there.”

“Well, we flew the whole course and in the meantime we saw nothing out in the vast Pacific. We covered hundreds of miles and still nothing. I figured we would at least find somebody trying to get away from the war in some ship out there, some little sail boat or something, find the Japs or something, but there was nothing out there.”

“But we realized how big the ocean was.”

“So then Captain Cherry decided well, we’ve got to figure out a way to bring this plane in because we don’t have enough gas to go to the next island. … So we decided how we were going to ditch this plane.”

“Anyway, Captain Cherry was telling Rickenbacker how he would like to bring the plane in. Now no B-17 before had ever been brought in without cracking up in two and losing half of the crew.”

“I think first now we are coming in at a hundred miles an hour and when you are [up] a hundred feet or so a little bit everything looks still pretty quiet but as you get lower to the surface you realize that the waves are pretty high. We had about ten to fifteen foot waves out there and we were coming between the swells.”

“When we come between the swells I looked at Captain Cherry. He was in complete command of that ship. He knew exactly where he was going to put that plane. So I was pretty confident even coming in. I wasn’t scared, I was very confident. None of the men seemed to be scared of anything. I guess they had confidence in Cherry, too.”

“It suddenly started to flutter a little bit and in the meantime Captain Cherry hollered “cut.” When he hollered cut Cherry put the tail down in the water and that put a drag on the plane and then the plane flopped right down. It had flopped down but it stopped suddenly.” (All survived the crash.)

“When we come in and stopped the first thing I did I let one life raft out … In the meantime the other fellows were in the back of the plane they let the third raft down, but they had to do that by themselves. I got up on a fuselage and I got out to the wing and I saw the raft out there and the colonel and Rickenbacker was up there atop the fuselage.”

“(Cherry) was in the plane to see whether there was any food around so when we get to floating out there we’ve got something to eat. He come out with three oranges. Now DeAngelis who was in the raft in the back of the plane come out with one orange. So we had four oranges.”

“The first thing we did, we took inventory and the main thing is we didn’t have water, we didn’t have any food. We had a fishing line but that was sort of rotted. We had to double, triple up on that. We had about four fish hooks that weren’t too big. You couldn’t catch a big fish with it and we had no bait.”

“So the second day comes around we had an eighth of an orange and Rickenbacker was chosen to divide that orange. When I say an eighth of an orange I don’t think you’ve got scales in this whole university that could measure an eighth of an orange as accurate as he did.”

“An eighth of an orange with us hungry men all looking at that we made sure we got our eighth of an orange. No more and no less. One of the fellows says while we are eating the orange, he said don’t eat the peels. While thinking about that over a little bit, I said ‘I never heard of a man dying of eating orange peels but they do die of starvation.’”

“So the third day went on and we had another eighth of an orange and I figured today should be the day that the air force would be out to look for us because the search party had to go from Hawai‘i to Canton Island and then they had to get themselves together, oriented and then they would go search”.

“Now what happens is the nights are very cold. The nights are black, when I say black you don’t see anything. You can’t see your eyeball in front of you. I mean that’s how dark it is, you don’t see the other rafts. Plus on top of that it is cold and the salt spray gets on your face and gets on your eyes, and in the meantime we were thirsty, dying of thirst.”

“We didn’t have much to say because Eddie Rickenbacker told us we shouldn’t talk too much, we had to save the saliva in our mouth because when we dry it that would be the end. So the sixth day came along we had sighted nothing. No planes, no nothing but sharks.” (John Bartek)

“Eight days out, their rations were long gone or destroyed by the salt water. It would take a miracle to sustain them. And a miracle occurred. In Captain Eddie’s own words, “Cherry,” that was the B-17 pilot, Captain William Cherry, “read the service that afternoon, and we finished with a prayer for deliverance and a hymn of praise. “

“There was some talk, but it tapered off in the oppressive heat. With my hat pulled down over my yes to keep out some o the glare, I dozed off.” Now this is still Captain Rickenbacker talking … “

“‘Something landed on my head. I knew that it was a sea gull. I don’t know how I knew, I just knew. Everyone else knew too. No one said a word, but peering out from under my hat brim without moving my head, I could see the expression on their faces. They were staring at that gull. The gull meant food … if I could catch it.’”

“Captain Eddie caught the gull. Its flesh was eaten. Its intestines were used for bait to catch fish. The survivors were sustained and their hopes renewed because a lone sea gull, uncharacteristically hundreds of miles from land, offered itself as a sacrifice.”

For 24 days, they were drifting; Navy pilots rescued the members of the crew on November 13, 1942, off the coast of Nukufetau near Samoa. The men were suffering from exposure, dehydration, and starvation. Rickenbacker completed his assignment and delivered his message to MacArthur, which has never been made public.

“You know that Captain Eddie made it. And you also know … that he never forgot. Because every Friday evening, about sunset … on a lonely stretch along the eastern Florida seacoast … . you could see an old man walking … white-haired, bushy-eyebrowed, slightly bent.”

“His bucket filled with shrimp was to feed the gulls …. to remember that one which, on a day long past, gave itself without a struggle … like manna in the wilderness.” (Harvey)

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Rafts at Sea

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November 6, 2017 by Peter T Young 4 Comments

Elizabeth Jessamine Kauikeolani Low

Elizabeth Jessamine Kauikeolani Low “was named Clorinda by (her) father, as a nickname, way back when (she) was about six years old. (They) were living on a ranch, (she) loved horses, and had a very bad temper.”

“(Her father) read a book in which a child the same age had the same characteristics and was called Clorinda. So he called (her) Clorinda and it seems to be the one name that stuck all through (her) life”. (Lucas; Watumull)

She was born in Honolulu on August 9, 1895. Her father was Ebenezer Parker (Rawhide Ben) Low – he was married to Elizabeth Pu‘uki Napoleon (“really Napoli. … Became known as Napoleon later.”)

“(Her mother) was always known as Lizzie Low. (Her) mother’s people were not well known to us because she was hanaied by Judge and Mrs. Sanford B. Dole when she was about twelve years of age [circa 1879].”

“Judge Dole was a teacher at Kawaiaha‘o Sunday School and had in his class a little girl of about six whose name was Lizzie Napoleon. And he became very attached to this little girl so when she got a little older, he asked her mother if she wouldn’t allow her to live with them.”

“She didn’t want to go at first but she did finally become attached to both Judge and Mrs. Dole and lived there until she was married.” (Lucas; Watumull)

“(Her) father was known as Rawhide Ben because ever since he was knee high to a grasshopper, I guess, he loved the ranch life. And he was brought up as a member of the family in Mana and Kamuela with the rest of them.” (Lucas; Watumull)

She married Charles Williams (Charlie) Lucas on July 19, 1924; they had one child Laura Lucas (who later married Myron Bennett (Pinky) Thompson.) (His unusual nickname came from his mother. So convinced that she was pregnant with a girl, she decorated the baby’s room completely in pink and purchased pink clothes. Ever since, her son was known as ‘Pinky.’ (Gordon))

Family ties go back to Alexander Adams and John Palmer Parker. Captain Alexander Adams arrived in the Islands in 1811 on the American trading ship the ‘Albatross’ from Boston.

He became an intimate friend and confidential advisor to King Kamehameha I, who entrusted to him the command of the king’s sandalwood fleet. Lucas, a fourth-generation descendant of the John Palmer Parker family, was a notable community leader.

During most of her adult life, Clorinda Lucas devoted her time and attention to child welfare and the problems of Hawaiian people through the Liliuokalani Trust, the Department of Public Welfare and the Department of Public Instruction.

For three years following her graduation from Smith College (BA degree) in 1917, she Lucas worked in New York City for the national board of the YWCA in the Division of Education for Foreign-born Women. She was the first Hawaiian to have professional social work education. (NASW)

“I was with the Department of Public Welfare, we called it in those days. When I first came back from the New York School [of Social Work] in 1937, my first job was director of the Oahu Department of Public Welfare.”

“And I was there until we reorganized and then we had a social work division and a child welfare division and I don’t know, we had a real change tied in with the Social Security Act. And then I was director of the social work division.”

“And then from there I went into the Department of Education and headed the Division of Pupil Guidance and I was there for seventeen years, then retired in 1960.”

Lucas led the Humane Society. She notes, “My first social work job was with the Humane Society when they took care of children. I was there, I guess, about three or four years and then I went to the New York School [of Social Work] and got my training and then came back to the Department of Public Welfare.” (Lucas; Watumull)

Lucas’ daughter, Laura Thompson later became executive director. “(W)e’ve been tied up with animals just about all our lives and of course I’m very happy to know that Laura’s interested in animals too.” (Lucas; Watumull)

But of all the community projects she worked on and worked for that had been the most gratifying and most satisfying, was “of course my connection with the Liliuokalani Trust (she was Chair of the Board of Trustees) has pretty much circumscribed what is important for me to consider for Hawaiians and that has to do with the orphan and destitute children of Hawaiian blood.” (Lucas; Watumull)

“(Lili‘uokalani’s) Will said to build an orphanage and the orphanage was to be made of fireproof materials and it was to have the name Liliuokalani, no cross or steeple. These were all in her Will. But they just didn’t have enough money to do that.”

“Well, in the meantime it was obvious that children should not be brought up in orphanages, especially babies that have lost their parents. So then they went to court, when there was enough money to do something with it, went to court and got permission from the court to at least take care of the children in a little different way”

“Instead of building an orphanage, to find homes where they could have fairly close relationship with just one or two people instead of many. So this was allowed, with the understanding that the trustees would always have in the back of their minds that someday they would have to build an institution of some sort.” (Lucas; Watumull)

“So, since then, we have worked on this foster care program or adoption program, anything so that you put children with families where they can become an integral part of them.”

“And I would say probably that’s been the most satisfying experience for me. That to see this thing grow from a rather limited concept, which was the thing to do at the time she died, to what you could do today.”

“And I will say that the thing that to me is the most satisfying is we have done some very innovative things and with this trust money.” (Lucas; Watumull)

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Clorinda Lucas

November 4, 2017 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Growing US Influence

“It was the Napoleonic Wars more than anything else which allowed Hawai‘i to begin to shift from the British to the American sphere of influence.”

“In 1792, in 1793, and again in 1794 – while the French Revolution was spilling only French blood and the future Admiral Lord Nelson had no cause to marshal His Majesty’s ships at home – Capt. George Vancouver visited the budding conqueror Kamehameha and accepted his offer on behalf of George III of a pseudo-protectorate over Hawai‘i.” (Stauffer)

“Kamehameha’s chief foreign advisors, the British subjects Isaac Davis and John Young, continued their efforts to maintain close relations with their homeland by building on the great initial relations and understanding between the two nations …”

“… and as late as the 1810s Western naval officers recognized a special relationship, a de facto protectorate or alliance as some wrote, existing between Great Britain and Hawai‘i.”

“Into the breach created by the withdrawal of the British came the spirited American merchants, dissuaded from American-European trade by Jefferson’s embargo on Napoleonic combatants.”

“Although delayed slightly by the American-British War of 1812, American merchants experienced an economic boom through the sandalwood trade at the war’s close.”

“By 1820, the year of the establishment of the American-dominated whaling industry centered in Hawai’i as well as the landing of the first American missionaries there, Americans associated with Hawai’i played a key role in the political economy of the northern Pacific.”

“From the wild fur-trading camps of Astoria and Portland to the rollicking ports of Lahaina and Honolulu to the Chinese markets at Canton, business came increasingly under the domination of American traders.”

“Like the British during the previous hundred years, the Americans spread their political relations behind the advance formations of their merchants.”

“Only after decades of American commerce being established in the Pacific did the United States Navy follow.”

“In 1825 a Pacific Squadron made up of the single frigate United States and the small schooners Dolphin and Peacock was mobilized and sent to Peru to guard the routes of American shipping around the Cape.”

“And, as commerce had brought the Navy that far, it was not surprising when, one year later, commerce brought first one and then the other of those schooners to Hawai‘i to address the concerns of American whalers and traders.” (Stauffer)

“Thomas ap Catesby Jones was “Ordered to the Pacific Squadron in 1826, Jones, with the rank of Master Commandant (i.e., Commander) was in command of the sloop Peacock when he was sent to the South Seas and Hawai‘i later that year.”

“Jones’ sloop-of-war Peacock made good time from the Society Islands, arriving at Honolulu after a trip of just 22 days. Spying the whaler Foster out from Nantucket anchored off the mouth of Honolulu harbor, Jones boarded her at four o’clock in the afternoon of October 10, 1826, to gain a background report on the Islands.”

“By 3:30 p.m. the next day the Peacock had been brought into the harbor and was at anchor.”

“Lord Byron had put into port a year earlier and, while not bringing a cession treaty from London, he had reaffirmed the special interest and feelings existing between Great Britain and Hawai‘i.”

“In contrast, the American Navy had not been well represented in the Islands. In the War of 1812 an American privateer holding authentic Letters of Marque and Reprisal had sailed into Honolulu harbor only to be captured, together with several merchant ships, by the British warship Cherub.”

“The next American military ship to enter Honolulu was the sloop Dolphin, commanded by Lieutenant John ‘Mad Jack’ Percival, dispatched by Commodore Hull specifically to look into the matter of the alleged ‘debts,’ and received at port on January 26, 1826.”

“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’s first order of business was the matter of the deserters; after initial discussions with local Hawaiian officials about a comprehensive treaty, Jones proposed on October 31, 1826, that a ‘rule’ be established, “which ought never to be departed from”’ regarding foreigners in Hawai’i.

Under the proposed ‘rule,’ all American sailors who had deserted their ships would be immediately removed from the Islands no matter under what circumstances or how far back in the past the desertion had occurred. Secondly, any American otherwise living in Hawai’i who had no “visible means of making an honest livelihood” would be removed. Finally, Jones proposed that “all other foreigners who did not support a good character” should likewise be banished.

Governor Boki, as well as both the American and British representatives were in favor of the proposal. He then approached the issue of ’debts’ (on November 4, 1826) – these primarily dealt with the ‘payment’ of sandalwood that was promised to traders for goods given. The chiefs agreed to pay off all the ‘debts’ in full. (Staffer)

Then on November 13, “The communication … which accompanied some regulations of general interest to our commerce in the Pacific was not less successful”. (Jones Report to Navy Department, 1827)

On December 23, 1826, the US signed a treaty (Articles of Arrangement) with the Kingdom of Hawaii thus indirectly recognizing Hawaiian independence. (State Department Historian) It is generally referred to as the Treaty of 1826 and was Hawaiʻi’s first treaty with the US.

It “received the signatures of the Ruling Princes and Chiefs, in testimony of their approbation of them, and as a pledge of their sincere friendship and confidence in the American Nation, and their earnest desire to remain neutral and take no part in any foreign wars.” (Jones Report to Navy Department, 1827)

The meeting considered the ‘Articles of Arrangement,’ a trade agreement between the US and the Hawaiian Kingdom, which was accepted and signed by Thomas ap Catesby Jones, and Kaʻahumanu as Queen Regent, Kalanimōku as Prime Minister, and the principal chiefs Boki, Hoapili, and Nāmāhāna. (Gapp)

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Peacock-sloop

November 2, 2017 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Overboard

“On our way towards China my poor friend Thomas fell overboard. He was so careless, not knowing what he was about, he went outside of the ship and drew salt- water to wash plates with (for he was a cabin’s boy.) When the ship rolled he got in the water.” (‘Ōpūkaha‘ia)

“It was early in the morning, while my Captain was fast asleep in the cabin. But while I was in the water, longside of the ship, I called to one of my shipmates, who stood on the helm, ‘Mix, Mix’.”

“He heard me. Then he cried out, ‘Thomas is overboard.’ (Hopu)

“The Captain calls all hands upon the deck, and ordered to have all the sails pull down in order to let about-While we were working upon our sails, my friend Thomas was out of sight.” (‘Ōpūkaha’ia)

“At this time, the wind blew very high, so that the waves roared, and the ship was going at about nine knots an hour. It was a considerable time before the necessary orders could be given, to put the ship about for my rescue. In the mean time, I lost sight of the ship, after which I was swimming in the water.”

“In this situation, though I was an expert swimmer, I gave myself up for lost.” (Hopu)

“While he was in the water he pulls all off his clothes in order to be lighter. We turned our ship and went back after him.” (‘Ōpūkaha’ia)

“Then I cried to my god, Akooah, for help, and made my vow to him, in the hour of trouble, that if he would save me out of the great and mighty waters, and I might reach the ship, I would devote to my god, Akooah, a fine jacket, which I had received from my Captain, as a present.”

“And I also made several short prayers to the great Spirit, while I was swimming in the water, before that I could see the ship. I considered myself in the greatest danger of being swallowed up in the mighty ocean.”

“I expected to die before the ship would reach me. While the waves of the sea were breaking over my head, every moment, I then thought that it must be a very hard thing for me to die, in the full strength of this mortal body.”

“While I was thinking in this situation, I saw a bird come from God, as I thought, out of the clouds, down to me, on the water. I was very glad to behold him flying over my head, and I was greatly rejoiced to see such a messenger sent down to me from the great Spirit.”

“I then talked to him in these words, ‘If you are a bird of God, please to go back to your master, and tell him that I have already given a jacket to your master and come quickly and save me, that I perish not in this deep water, where is no bottom.’”

“Then the ship again reached me …” (Hopu)

We found him almost dead. He was in the water during the space of two and a half hours. O how glad was I then to see him for he was already gone.” (‘Ōpūkaha’ia)

“ … and I was taken on board: but I could not speak a word to any one of my shipmates, because I was almost dead when I got on board the ship.”

“Immediately after I got on board, a great shark came alongside of the ship. I suppose the shark followed my track.”

“O! What a wonderful mercy of God is this, that God who is infinite in kindness to so unworthy a creature as I am; and whose hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear.”

“When the poor cry for help, in their troubles, he is always near to save them.” (Hopu)

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