Images of Old Hawaiʻi

by Peter T Young 2 Comments

Charles Furneaux

Charles Furneaux (1835–1913) was born in Boston and became a drawing instructor in that area. For many years he lived in the town of Melrose, Massachusetts.

In 1880, Furneaux came from Boston to Hawaiʻi as a tourist, intending to spend a few months in the Islands. The climate and the scenery appealed to his health and artistic eye, and he decided to remain in the Islands. (Hawaiian Gazette, November 11, 1913)

While living in Honolulu he taught at the private schools Punahou and St. Albans (now known as ʻIolani School.) He spent most of his time (about 25-years) in Hilo.

For many years and until the annexation of Hawaiʻi to the United States he was the American consular agent and United States shipping commissioner at the port of Hilo.

He reported, “A bill is now before the Hawaiian Legislature asking for an appropriation to construct a wharf on the east side of Hilo Bay. A wharf, such as contemplated, would greatly facilitate the loading and unloading of vessels, which, at present, is accomplished by lighters. Hilo Bay affords safe anchorage for the largest class of vessels.”

“In this connection, I may say, it is generally conceded that a diversity of industries will increase the wealth and importance of this island. Hawaiʻi, of which Hilo is the principal port, contains an area of 2,500,000-acres.”

“There are large tracts of unoccupied lands well suited to the culture of coffee, bananas, papayas, pine-apples, water-lemons, and other tropical fruits that would admit of transportation to the United States, where they would undoubtedly find a market. I am fully convinced that the introduction of steam communication will add materially to the importance of Hilo as a commercial port.” (Consular Reports, August 18, 1890)

Furneaux was president of the Hilo Agricultural Society. At a meeting of the group, “President Furneaux read an exhaustive paper on “Banana Culture” which contained much interesting and valuable information regarding various methods of cultivation and corresponding success, which had come to his attention.”

“There is a marked difference between the Hilo banana and the Honolulu banana. The skin of the latter is much tougher and consequently bears transportation easier. The Hilo banana if not properly wrapped becomes bruised and discolored, and unsalable. He suggested that greater care be exercised in the wrapping of fruit shipped from here.” (Hilo Tribune, April 22, 1904)

“Furneaux has had considerable experience in planting coffee and is the owner of some fine coffee lands in Olaʻa. … He noted, “All authorities seem to agree that coffee requires shade … (and) decomposed vegetable matter is one of the most valuable of fertilizers.” (Consular Report)

A successful farmer and responsive diplomat … but, Furneaux is best known as an artist.

His reputation is mainly based on the paintings he created in Hawaiʻi, especially those of erupting volcanoes. The Bishop Museum, the Brooklyn Museum, the Honolulu Museum of Art, ʻIolani Palace and Mount Holyoke College Art Museum (South Hadley, Massachusetts) are among the public collections holding works by Charles Furneaux.

As a painter, Furneaux attained considerable distinction, especially of the Volcano of Kilauea and other Hawaiian volcanoes. He was an intimate friend of the noted painter Jules Tavenier.

Furneaux was well known throughout Hawaiʻi. When the news reached Hilo that the annexation treaty had passed congress and had been signed by the commissioners of the United States and the Republic of Hawaiʻi, Furneaux was the happiest man in the metropolis of the Big Island.

While some of his art were landscapes, many were portraits. Furneaux spent the rest of his life in Hawaiʻi as a painter, teacher and coffee farmer. He died in Hawaiʻi in 1913. A lane in downtown Hilo is named for him.

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Koʻanakoʻa

The name Koʻanakoʻa literally means the settling of coral, referring to Maro’s expansive coral reefs. Another name, Nalukakala, describes surf that arrives in combers, such as the surf that froths over shallow reefs. (PMNM)

In 1820, the ships Maro and Rambler of Nantucket, commanded respectively by Captains Joseph Allen and Benjamin Worth, in company with the Syren of London, rendezvoused at the Sandwich islands.

At this same time, Honolulu was described as a scattered, irregular village of thatched huts, of 3,000 or 4,000-inhabitants. (Maly)

Here they met Captain Winship of the ship O’Cane, a veteran northwest coast merchantman, who informed them that while crossing on his many voyages from the Sandwich Islands to Canton, China, he observed a great number of sperm whales off the coast of Japan. (Allen on the Maro is credited with discovering the “Japan Grounds.”)

One of the principal benefits to the economy of the Islands was the rendezvousing of the Pacific whaling fleets from the US and other countries at the various ports of the islands for many years, and the transshipment of oil and bone from these ports.

By 1820, the calls of whalers at Honolulu were quite frequent. Americans were quick to see the superiority of the islands for recruiting and refitting over other stations in the Pacific, and very soon all the American vessels in the Pacific, and quite a few from other countries, were touching at the islands regularly. (US Commission of Fish and Fisheries, 1901)

It was that year, after his discovery of Gardner Pinnacles, that Captain Joseph Allen on the Maro, sighted and named the reef after his whaling ship, Maro.

Maro Reef has less than one acre of periodically emergent land; at very low tide, only a small coral rubble outcrop of a former island is believed to break above the surface. As a result, Maro supports no terrestrial biota.

In contrast, the shallow water reef system is extensive, covering nearly a half-million acres and is the largest coral reef in the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument (Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.)

It is also one of the chain’s most ecologically rich shallow water marine ecosystems, with 64-percent coral cover over the entire area, among the highest percentage observed in the Monument.

Unlike the classic ring-shaped atoll, Maro is a complex maze of linear reefs that radiate out from the center like the spokes of a wheel.

The documented marine biota at Maro Reef includes 37-species of corals and 142-species of reef fish. Fish species endemic to the Hawaiian Archipelago make up half of all fish recorded here.

Maro’s reefs are intricate and reticulated (like a net or network,) forming a complex network of reef crests, patch reefs and lagoons. Deepwater channels with irregular bottoms cut between these shallow reef structures.

Because the outermost reefs absorb the majority of the energy from the open ocean swells, the innermost reefs and aggregated patch reefs are sheltered and have the characteristics of a true lagoon. Given the structural complexity of this platform, its shallow reefs are poorly charted and largely unexplored. (PMNM)

While Maro Reef has very healthy reefs, it may be ‘on the verge of drowning’ because the reefs are narrow, unconnected, and unprotected from storm waves. Others feel that the health of the corals suggest that Maro Reef is a complicated reef system on a large seamount, living in balance with the elements. (FWS)

As Chair of the Board of the Land and Natural Resources I made the recommendation to the rest of the BLNR (and we then voted unanimously) to impose the most stringent measures to assure protection of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.

In helping people understand why, I have referred to my recommendation to impose stringent protective measures and prohibit extraction as the responsibility we share to provide future generations a chance to see what it looks like in a place in the world where you don’t take something.

That action created Refuge rules “To establish a marine refuge in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands for the long-term conservation and protection of the unique coral reef ecosystems and the related marine resources and species, to ensure their conservation and natural character for present and future generations.“ Fishing and other extraction is prohibited.

The BLNR’s action started a process where several others followed with similar stringent protective measures.

Koʻanakoʻa (Maro Reef) is now part of Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, a State and Federal (State of Hawaiʻi, Department of the Interior’s US Fish and Wildlife Service and the Commerce Department’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) co-managed marine conservation area.

The monument encompasses nearly 140,000-square miles of the Pacific Ocean – an area larger than all the country’s national parks combined.

On July 30, 2010, Papahanaumokuakea was inscribed as a mixed (natural and cultural) World Heritage Site by the delegates to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO.) It is the first mixed UNESCO World Heritage Site in the US and the second World Heritage Site in Hawaiʻi (Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park was inscribed in 1987.)

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Chiefess Kapiʻolani

“Ever since missionaries arrived (1820,) Kapiʻolani has constantly been situated near them, and for nearly two years has listened to the words of eternal life in her own language.” (Bingham)

In 1822, Naihe and Kapiʻolani (husband and wife) were among the first chiefs to welcome instruction and accept Christianity. Kapiʻolani was the daughter of Keawemauhili, who was the high chief of the district of Hilo (the uncle of Kiwalaʻo.) (Westervelt)

Naihe (the spears) was said to be the national orator or best speaker on government affairs among the chiefs. Kapiʻolani (the-bending-arch-of-heaven) was very intelligent, quick-witted, and fearless.

They were both so influential that they were chosen by Kamehameha, as members of his council of chiefs and were retained by his son Liholiho (later, Kamehameha II.) (Westervelt)

“Kapiʻolani was one or the most distinguished of the female chiefs of the Islands. She was the wife of Naihe, a high chief on the island of Hawaii, who was an early convert, and became one of the most influential Christian chiefs, and one of the ablest counsellors of the missionaries.”

“The conversion of Kapiʻolani, and her elevation in character, is perhaps one of the most delightful instances of the results of missionary labour.” (Lucy Thurston)

“She told the missionaries she had come to strengthen their hearts and help them in their work. They rejoiced in the salutary influence which she exerted in favor of education and reform, an influence felt at once and happily continued when she had returned home.” (Bingham)

In February 1824, Chiefs Kapiʻolani and Naihe helped build a church at Kaʻawaloa, the first church in South Kona, near the site of Captain Cook’s demise. They offered this thatched church and parsonage to the Reverend James Ely and his family.

The Ely family accepted the call and arrived in April 1824. Fourteen years later, the Kaʻawaloa Church was moved to Kepulu in order to increase its accessibility. In 1839, missionary Cochran Forbes, with the aid of Kapiʻolani, began constructing a church of stone, it was called Kealakekua Church.

“Kapiʻolani was early converted to the truth, – applied herself to study, – readily adopted the manners and usages of civilized life, – and soon became distinguished for devoted piety, for intelligence, and for dignity of manners.”

“She took a bold stand against the vices and superstitions of her people, and exerted a decided influence in favour of Christianity.” (Thurston)

She won the cause of Christianity by openly defying the priests of the fire goddess Pele in 1825. In spite of their threats of vengeance she ascended the volcano Mauna-Loa, then clambered down to the great lake of fire – Kilauea – the home of the goddess, and flung into the boiling lava the consecrated ohelo berries which it was sacrilege for a woman to handle. (Tennyson)

Missionary son Sereno Bishop recalls visiting Kapiʻolani’s home at Kaʻawaloa as a boy, noting “I was born there at the house of Mr. and Mrs Ely, only a few rods from the rock where Captain Cook was slain, and where his monument now stands.”

“We often visited Kaʻawaloa, probably twice a year, going by water in a double canoe, generally starting two or three hours before daylight, so as to carry the land breeze a good part of the way.”

“We would run up the little bay, and step ashore upon Cook’s rock, whence it was only a few rods to the nice premises of the good Princess Kapiʻolani. These were prettily thatched cottages on a platform of white masonry which was studded with black pebbles.”

“Kapiʻolani’s quarters were neatly furnished within. She was generally there to receive us with the most cordial hospitality.” (Bishop)

Later, daughter of missionaries, Lucy Thurston wrote, “March 3, 1839 … One morning the three families (Thurston, Andrews and Forbes) started at 6 o’clock to visit the residence of Kapiʻolani, about two miles distant.”

“At six o’clock we arrived at her new stone house. … The rooms were neatly furnished in American style. The floors were carpeted with fine mats, and the windows curtained with light calico. A large thatched house stood in the same yard, the one she formerly occupied, which is now converted into a dining-room.”

“A long table was spread for our refreshment … For the accommodation of her visiters during the night, she had three rooms, furnished with two beds, and three settees.” (Thurston)

So rapid was her improvement in knowledge and character, that the missionaries early styled her the ‘admirable Kapiʻolani,’ and have often remarked, that one could scarcely avoid the belief that she was educated among an enlightened people.”

“In 1826, it was said of her, ‘Kapiʻolani is indeed a mother in Israel,’ and this character she has well sustained for sixteen years.”

“She died on the 5th of May, 1841. In communicating the intelligence, Mr. Forbes writes: ‘The nation has lost one of its brightest ornaments.’”

“’She was confessedly the most decided Christian, the most civilized in her manners, and the most thoroughly read in her Bible, of all the chiefs this nation ever had, and her equal in those respects is not left in the nation. Her last end was one of peace, and gave decided evidence that your missionaries have not laboured in vain.” (Thurston)

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by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Kaʻohe

Looking at land divisions on the Island of Hawaiʻi, “the common ahupuaʻa is found to be a strip say 1,000-feet average width, and running from the seashore, not by any means to the top of the mountains, but to the zone of timber land that is generally exists between 1,700 and 5,000-feet line of elevation. The ordinary ahupuaʻa extends from half a mile to a mile into this belt.”

“Then there are the large ahupuaʻa which are wider in the open country than the others, and on entering the woods expand laterally so as to cut off the smaller ones, and extend toward the mountain till they emerge into the open interior country not however to converge to a point at the tops of the respective mountains.”

“Only a rare few reach those elevations, sweeping past the upper ends of all the others, and by virtue of some privilege in bird-catching, or some analogous right, taking the whole mountain to themselves.”

“Thus Mauna Loa is shared by three great lands, Kapapala and Kahuku from Kaʻū, and Humuʻula from Hilo. Possibly Keauhou from Kona may yet be proved to have had a fourth share.”

“The whole main body of Mauna Kea belongs to one land from Hāmākua, viz., Kaʻohe, to whose owners belonged the sole privilege of capturing the ʻuaʻu, a mountain-inhabiting but sea-fishing bird.” (Kaʻohe translates to ‘bamboo;’ the name may relate to a bamboo water carrier.)

“High up on its eastern flank, however, stretched the already mentioned land of Humuʻula, whose upper limits coincide with those of the māmane, a valuable mountain acacia, and which, starting from the shore near Laupāhoehoe, extends across the upper ends of all other Hilo lands to the crater of Mokuʻāweoweo.”

“These same lands generally had the more extended sea privileges. While the smaller ahupuaʻa had to content themselves with the immediate shore fishery extending out not further than a man could touch bottom with his toes …”

“… the larger ones swept around outside of these, taking to themselves the main fisheries much in the same way as that in which the forests were appropriated.”

“Concerning the latter, it should here be remarked that it was by virtue of some valuable product of said forests that the extension of territory took place.”

“For instance, out of a dozen lands, only one possessed the right to kalai waʻa, hew out canoes from the koa forest. Another land embraced the wauke and olona grounds, the former for kapa, the latter for fish line.” (Lyons, The Islands, July 9, 1875)

“From the mass of evidence taken we find that in ancient time the main value of the land of Kaʻohe was the uwaʻo, a sea-bird, whose habitat was the dry, rocky and elevated portion of the mountain.” (Appeal from Boundary Commissioner, May 31, 1892)

Kaʻohe is an irregular ahupua‘a because it only occupies a narrow (and relatively resource-poor) band along the coast where most of the residents would have lived.

But as Kaʻohe ascends the eastern slope of Mauna Kea and emerges above the forest near 6,000-feet in elevation, it expands to occupy the entire summit region. The uplands of Kaʻohe would have contained few food resources beyond ground-nesting birds.

The primary evidence of pre-contact human utilization of Kaʻohe’s vast mountain region is the adze quarry, which would have provided Kaʻohe with a valuable resource to exchange with other ahupua‘a. (Mills)

The adze quarry area was “the largest workshops in the world for making of stone tools.” (Kenneth Emory) It covers an area of roughly 7 ½-square miles on the south slope of Mauna Kea. The main activity was concentrated in a zone that is 1-to-1½ miles wide between the 11,000 and 12,400 ft. elevation.

The landscape is dotted with numerous cinder cones, the principal one of which in the quarry area is Puʻu Koʻokoʻolau. The upper slopes of Mauna Kea have been described as a stony alpine desert. There is little vegetation and the ground surface has the appearance of a desert pavement.

Kaʻohe effectively crosses and includes all regions going from the sea to the summits of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa. Some of the general regions include (from top to bottom:)

Kuahiwi – the mountain top, which is too high in elevation for heavy vegetation to grow. It has strong winds and extreme climates (sometimes very hot and sometimes very cold.)

Kualono – the region near the mountain top. Likewise, very few plants and animals live here. Māmane and naio (hardwoods) are the only hardy trees to grow at this height.

Waomaʻukele – the region named for the wet, soggy ground. The main trees that live in this area are the koa and ʻōhiʻa. This area was located in the rain belt of the island, especially on the koʻolau side of each island.

Waoakua – the forested region, the realm of the god and where the rain forest begins. This sacred area was kapu to most kānaka.

Waokānaka – where kānaka live and farm the land. Wood was harvested for tools, weapons and canoes; many other useful things for everyday living were gathered here.

Kula – the upland plain or open country. Pili was harvested and used mostly for thatching hale (houses).

Kahakai – the edge of the ocean. Here ʻākulikuli, with succulent green leaves, resists wind and salt water. Its leaves contain a special chemical that acts like a natural steroid.

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by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Sarah Rhodes von Pfister

Sarah Rhodes von Pfister was not only a tutor and governess, but also a trusted mentor and confidante to one of Hawaiʻi’s Queens. Sarah played an important role in her growing up during her adolescence. (Kanahele)

Let’s look back.

Siblings, (the boys) Henry and Godfrey Rhodes, and (the girls) Mary Ann, Annie, Sarah and Sussannah (Mrs Brown, Mrs. Covington, Mrs. von Pfister, and Mrs. Robinson) were children of a prominent officer of the Bank of England.

The von Pfister family came of good stock and was among the early settlers in New York; the brothers were Frank M, Edward H and John R von Pfister. (Brown)

Members of both families came to the Islands. John von Pfister courted and married Sarah Rhodes. They had two children, Ida and Ramsay.

In 1842, George Rhodes and Frenchman John Bernard “obtained a lease from the government for fifty years, on two parcels of land, ninety acres east and sixty acres west of the (Hanalei) river, and there started a coffee plantation.”

“This was a new industry for Kauai, although coffee berries had been brought to Honolulu from Brazil in 1825 on the British frigate Blonde, and a few plants had then been started in Manoa Valley on Oahu.

“Four or five years later the missionaries at Hilo and other planters in Kona on the island of Hawaii had begun to grow coffee around their houses, but it was from the original source in Manoa Valley that the seed and young were obtained for Hanalei.”

In October of 1845, Godfrey Rhodes and John von Pfister formed a partnership. By 1846, the Rhodes and Company Coffee Plantation covered seven hundred and fifty acres, so that the two plantations counted over one hundred thousand trees and “a great part of the valley, at least to the extent of a thousand acres, was under cultivation in coffee at this time.” (Damon)

“In May, 1847, just as the trees were in good condition of full bearing, they had “severe rains for two weeks which did much damage to the valley, flooding the coffee plantations.”

“Masses of rock, trees and earth were loosened and carried by force of water, crushing several hundred trees and doing much other damage.”

“Recovering from this pullback another difficulty was met with the following year by the California gold fever, rendering labor scarcer and dearer.” (Thrum)

John caught the Gold Fever and headed to California.

Placards posted around told the sad news, “Posted around San Francisco was a placard stating that a reward of $5,000 would be paid for the apprehension of Peter Raymond, who murdered John R von Pfister at Sutter’s Mill, or for his head in case he could not be taken alive.” (Grimshaw)

Widowed, Sarah managed to get along by teaching school, which filled a long-felt want in the community. (Brown)

Sarah moved to Honolulu and set up a “select” school for the children of Honolulu’s elite, which was located on Smith and Beretania Streets. (Kanahele)

Smith Street was opposite the old Kaumakapili church, and was named after its pastor, Rev. Lowell Smith. Sarah lived nearby and had a school there. (Unfortunately Sarah’s building burned down, but she was able to get a new school site.) (Brown)

Then came the new special student for Sarah Rhodes von Pfister. At the age of five, the child had entered the Chiefs’ Children’s School.

That school was created by King Kamehameha III; the main goal of the school was to groom the next generation of the highest ranking chief’s children of the realm and secure their positions for Hawaii’s Kingdom.

Seven families were eligible under succession laws stated in the 1840 Constitution of the Kingdom of Hawai‘i; Kamehameha III called on seven boys and seven girls to board in the Chief’s Children’s School.

The Chiefs’ Children’s School was unique because for the first time Aliʻi children would be brought together in a group to be taught, ostensibly, about the ways of governance.

Amos Starr Cooke (1810–1871) and Juliette Montague Cooke (1812-1896), missionaries from the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, were selected by the King to teach the 16-royal children and run the school.

The school closed in 1849; then, when the school closed, Thomas Rooke, hānai father of Emma Naʻea Rooke, hired Sarah Rhodes von Pfister to tutor his daughter for the next four years.

As noted above, Sarah not only taught the young girl, she also became her friend.

On June 19, 1856, Emma married Alexander Liholiho (who a year earlier had assumed the throne as Kamehameha IV) and became Queen Emma.

In March 1853, Robert Crichton Wyllie bought the coffee plantation at Hanalei. In 1860, he hosted his friends King Kamehameha IV, Queen Emma and their two-year-old son, Prince Albert, at his estate for several weeks. In honor of the child, Wyllie named the plantation the “Barony de Princeville”, the City of the Prince (Princeville.)

Members of Queen Emma’s family are interred in the Wyllie Crypt at Mauna Ala: Queen Emma’s mother, Kekelaokalani; her hānai parents, Grace Kamaikui and Dr. Thomas Charles Byde Rooke; her uncles, Bennett Namakeha and Keoni Ana John Young II; her aunt, Jane Lahilahi; and her two cousins, Prince Albert Edward Kunuiakea and Peter Kekuaokalani.

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