Thomas Square

August 1, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Honorary Member of the Mission

In 1840, a land dispute between Mr. Richard Charlton, the first British ambassador to Hawaiʻi, and the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi would spark the infamous “Paulet episode” which led to the forced cession of the Hawaiian Islands to Britain in 1843. (KSBE)

“Admiral Thomas, immediately on hearing of the usurpation by his inferior officer, without waiting for instructions from his government, hastened to the Islands, resolved to atone for the indignity done to the king and his people as effectually and speedily as possible.”

“The king was at once, in the most formal and honorable manner, reinstated in his authority. This was on the 31st of July, 1843. The king and chiefs then repaired to the great Stone Church to offer thanks for the gracious interposition of Providence.”

“The deportment of Admiral Thomas toward all parties, while at the Islands, was honorable to his character, and he has ever since been gratefully remembered.” (Anderson)

“The restoration of the Hawaiian Monarchy in July 1843 – ending the five-months-long illegal seizure and occupation by the Englishman, Lord George Paulet – created the chief, and indeed the only, notable site in Kulaokahu‘a.” (Greer)

It was later (1850) named Thomas Square.

“The king made a short address, stating that according to the hope expressed by him when he ceded the Islands, ‘the life of the land’ had been restored to him…”

“… that now they – the people of his Islands – should look to him, and his rule over them should be exercised according to the constitution and laws.”

“This address was followed by the interpretation of Admiral Thomas’s declaration; after which John Ii delivered an animated address suited to the joyful occasion.”

“He referred to the gloom which had shrouded the nation, and the despondency which had brooded over many minds; these were now dispelled; joyful hope had sprung up, making every thing around bright and smiling.”

“He referred to the auspicious event of the restoration as of the Lord, who had been mindful of the nation in its low estate, and as demanding from all grateful thanks and praise.”

“The whole deportment of Admiral Thomas while at the Isl. ands, towards the king and his people, and the mission, was of the most courteous and honorable character …”

“…and his example, counsels, and influence will long be gratefully remembered. Law and order were restored, the nation has been inspired with new courage, and all measures for its improvement have received a fresh impulse.” (ABCFM, Report 1844)

“Hawaii’s sovereignty had been restored.” (Greer)

“‘Her Majesty’s Government, we learn in a letter from the Earl of Aberdeen, ‘viewed with the highest approbation, the whole of his proceedings at the Sandwich Islands, as marked by a great propriety and an admirable judgment throughout …’”

“‘… and as calculated to raise the character of British authorities for justice, moderation, and courtesy of demeanor, in the estimation of the natives of those remote countries, and of the world.’” (Polynesian, August 3, 1850)

“Richard (Darton) Thomas was born at Saltash, county of Cornwall. … This officer entered the navy the 26th of May, 1790, on board the Cumberland 74, Captain John M. Brule, and sailed in the course of the same year with a squadron under Rear Admiral Cornish, for the West Indies”. (Polynesian, August 3, 1850)

“The King too, Kamehameha III, moved by gratitude, intimated a wish that the Rear Admiral would sit for his portrait in full uniform, that His Majesty ‘might have and preserve in his palace the likeness of a British officer who …’”

“‘… in restoring to him his kingdom, dared to act on his own sense of right, counting upon the approval of his magnanimous, Queen, in which he was not disappointed.’” (Polynesian, August 3, 1850)

“No nobler men ever touched those Islands, than some of the officers of the American and English navies.” (Richard Armstrong)

“(Armstrong’s) home ‘Stone House’ was named after the English residence of Admiral Thomas, of the British Navy, who restored the national flag which his subordinate, Lord George Paulet, had, in his absence, hauled down, taking possession of the Islands in the name of the Queen.”

“Lord George was compelled by the Admiral to restore the flag and salute it with his own guns. The day was thereafter kept as a national holiday, and the name of Admiral Thomas is held in grateful remembrance.” (Richard Armstrong)

“(T)he Rear Admiral (Richard Thomas) received the thanks of the Government of the United States for his conduct relative to the American residents in the Sandwich Islands; and that he was elected an ‘honorary member of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions.’” (Polynesian, August 3, 1850)

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July 30, 2019 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

On January 22, 1850, the King’s Privy Council addressed “Another suggestion to set apart a day for marking out the boundaries of the square on the Plains of Waikiki to be called by the name of Admiral Thomas was also approved of by vote.” (Privy Council Minutes, January 22, 1850)

Then, on the anniversary of sovereignty restoration that year, “At sunrise a gun was fired, His Majesty’s large standard was hoisted at the Palace, the Hawaiian ensign on the Fort, on the Hill, and on all Hawaiian vessels.”

“At eight o’clock all the Foreign Consuls displayed their flags. The foreign vessels in port hoisted their ensigns, and some of them were beautifully decorated with flags, private signal, pendants, &c.”

“Amongst them all, was conspicuous HBM’s schooner Cockatrice, being dressed out with great taste, and having the Hawaiian ensign flying from the fore, during the day.”

“The merchant’s offices, warehouses, stores, and shops were more generally closed, than during any preceding anniversary.”

“It being generally known that it had been the King’s intention, had health permitted, to have ridden out in state, to the plain, and there given the name of Thomas Square, to the exact spot on which the gallant admiral of that name, restored his Flag, numerous parties on horseback, during the day, visited the spot.” (Polynesian, August 3, 1850)

“The exact locale – the future Thomas Square – leaped into history with, literally, a bang. On the morning of July 31, two pavilions decorated with greens and a flagstaff stood on the plain east of town.”

“On the street line to the west, tents from warships in port punctuated their arid surroundings. A thick mat of rushes paved the line of march. Thousands waited for the ceremonies of the day.”

“At 9:30, Rear Admiral Richard Thomas of the British navy called on the King to sign official documents. A half hour later, several companies of English sailors and marines were drawn up on a line facing the sea, with an artillery corps on their right.”

“Admiral Thomas and his staff arrived in the King’s state carriage, while the Monarch himself came on horseback, accompanied by the household troops. The artillery honored His Majesty with a 21-gun salute.”

“At a given signal, the British flag officer bowed his colors; the British flag was then lowered and the Hawaiian flag raised amid salvos, first from Thomas’s HMS Carysfort, then from English and American warships, merchantmen and whalers, and finally from the Honolulu fort and the Punchbowl battery.”

“A great cheer arose as the wind caught the folds of the Hawaiian flag. Admiral Thomas read a long declaration, after which marines, sailors, and artillery passed in a review witnessed by Commodore Lawrence Kearney and officers of the USS Constellation. Hawaii’s sovereignty had been restored.” (Greer)

Later, the Kingdom was looking for ways to replenish a budget shortfall. “In its search for additional funds, the official eye rested on Kulaokahu‘a, also called the Waikiki Plain or just The Plain.”

“This unpalatable stretch of real estate sprawled between the American mission and Makiki Stream. An area which an overheated promoter might have referred to as one of sweeping vistas, Kulaokahu‘a was best known for dust storms and impressive nothingness.”

“It was so empty that after Punahou School opened in July 1842, mothers upstairs in the mission house could see children leave that institution and begin their trek across the barren waste. Trees shunned the place; only straggling livestock inhabited it.” (Greer)

The government proposed to raise funds by selling lots in Kualokahu‘a and placed an advertisement in the Polynesian, “Building Lots – The Minister of the Interior is prepared to sell or lease Building Lots between Honolulu and Waikiki, on application being made according to law. [Nov. 14,1846]”

“In advance of this announcement, the government had built three roads with arched stone bridges. The former were extensions of King, Young, and Beretania Streets; the bridges spanned Makiki Stream. At about the same time certain lots were surveyed and numbered”.

“These preliminary sales hardly constituted a stampede. At this rate, great civilizations might have waxed and withered away ere the Waikiki Plain became a blooming, peopled suburb.” (Greer)

“Hoping to project a more urban image of The Plain, government decreed that after May 4, 1850 no horses, cattle, or other animals could run at large there. The creatures thus addressed could not decipher this message, and more than 30 years later agents were being appointed to take up strays.”

“As 1853 ended, the lots were ‘not in demand,’ a phrase repeated by Bishop in April 1855. Apparently Kulaokahu‘a’s desert environment transmitted dry rot to land values there.”

“Bishop wrote in 1856 that he had sold his two lots at auction for $25 each. Kulaokahu‘a plots were in mid-1858 almost worthless, only two or three of all sold having been improved.”

“In the early 1850s, some ceremonies celebrated the Restoration, but the practice faded away. As a recreational mecca, the dusty waste of the Square had the pull of a sauna in the Sahara. The Pacific Commercial Advertiser in 1864 called for a public park.”

“The unfenced and unimproved Thomas Square could have been made into an ornament of the city and a lever to raise property values around it. But this decorative hoist did not materialize. Nine years later, some small prospect of a park appeared.” (Greer)

“Honolulu now had a paper park in a paper subdivision.”

“But events move slowly in this Kingdom, except in the way of contracting debt, and for a long time Thomas Square was only a name.”

“In 1882 the Legislature appropriated a small sum of money for the improvement of Thomas Square, and every session since then money, in scant supply, has been voted for the same object.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, April 7, 1887)

“Very fortunately the control of Thomas Square was given to the Hon. A. S. Cleghorn, whose knowledge of landscape gardening is only equalled by his desire to beautify all public parks and grounds about Honolulu.”

“In the sixties little or no attention was paid to it, and it was soon overgrown with weeds. About 1875 I took charge and had the Square laid out and piped for water, and also had a band stand erected.” (Cleghorn; Thrum 1909)

“The Banyans now growing there are from ‘Ainahau,’ while most of the other trees are from the Government Nursery. There were crotans planted round the band stand and also in clusters about the grounds.” (Cleghorn; Thrum 1909)

“The square of seven acres had been laid out to scale in circles and half circles by the Hon. Robt. Stirling, and Mr. Cleghorn worked upon these plans.”

“Walks were laid out; valuable trees, flowering shrubs and flowers were planted, and an untiring supervision was given to the work, until today Thomas Square, at a trifling expenditure of money, is one of the most agreeable places of public resort to be found anywhere in the world compressed into the same limited space on a dead level.”

“But this did not suffice. Mr. Cleghorn, when the grounds had been sufficiently improved, went around among his friends in the city and raised sufficient money to build a grand stand for the band and provide seats for several hundred people in the grounds.”

“The grand stand was erected by Mr. F. Wilhelm, and is in every respect an improvement upon that in Emma Square. It is about double the size of the latter, and has a ceiling and sounding board.”

“There are thirty-four seats on the ground, ten of which are iron, recently imported from England. The remainder are of wood and were made to order here. They are fixtures.”

“The seats were placed in position yesterday. Hon. Mr. Cleghorn personally superintended the distribution of the seats, which afford shade during the day and an opportunity of enjoying the music by night. As a convenient and agreeable resort for all classes of citizens Thomas Square will be found unrivalled.”

“A wide path, close to the outer fence on its four sides is being opened, so that pedestrians may enjoy the luxury of an agree able promenade instead of walking along the dusty road.”

“The Royal Hawaiian Band, as already stated, plays at Thomas Square for the first time this evening. We bespeak a large and enthusiastic attendance.”

“Only one word of warning: do not touch plant or flower. These are grown for public gratification and should be held sacred. Let persons in charge of children remember this.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, April 7, 1887)

In 1925, a Joint Resolution of the legislative session set aside Thomas Square as a public park and placed it under the management of the Park Board of the City and County of Honolulu. It remains this today. It was recently refurbished by the City and a statue of Kamehameha III erected.

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No._2._View_of_Honolulu._From_the_Catholic_church._(c._1854)-Honolulu_to_Waikiki

West of Thomas Square-Reg1998-1901

No._2._View_of_Honolulu._From_the_Catholic_church._(c._1854)-Honolulu_to_Waikiki-Detail

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Kawaiahao Church in 1885-Look towards Diamond Head

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Thomas Square-StarAdv

Thomas Square-Historic Hawaii Foundation

king-kamehameha-iii-statue

1843 (July) – May 1845 Early version of the present flag

July 31, 2016 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

He ‘Ōlelo Lokomaikai

For a while the Islands were under the rule of the British commission set up by Lord George Paulet. Queen Victoria, on learning these activities, immediately sent an envoy to the islands to restore sovereignty to its rightful rulers. Finally, Admiral Richard Thomas arrived in the Islands on July 26, 1843 to restore the kingdom to Kamehameha III.

Then, on July 31, 1843, Thomas declared the end of the Provisional Cession and recognized Kamehameha III as King of the Hawaiian Islands and the Islands to be independent and sovereign; the Hawaiian flag was raised.

This event is referred to as Ka La Hoʻihoʻi Ea, Sovereignty Restoration Day, and it is celebrated each year in the approximate site of the 1843 ceremonies, Thomas Square.

“After five months of embarrassment and suffering under the misrule of the new powers the 31st of July opened a brighter scene”. (Bingham)

“On the 31st of July, a treaty of peace, providing for friendly intercourse between the Islanders and the subjects of Great Britain, was signed by the king of the Islands, Kamehameha, and the British admiral Thomas.”

“A parade of several hundred English marines appeared on the plain of Honolulu with their officers, their banners waving proudly, and their arms glittering in the sunbeams.”

“Admiral Thomas and the suspended king proceeded thither in a carriage, attended by the chiefs and a vast multitude of the people, who formed a line parallel with the troops.”

“The English standard bearers advanced towards his majesty, their flags bowed gracefully, and a broad, beautiful Hawaiian banner, exhibiting a crown and olive branch, was unfurled over the head of the king and his attending chieftains …”

“… which was saluted by the English troops with field pieces, then by the guns of the Carysfort, whose yards were manned in homage to the restored sovereign.”

“Then succeeded the roar of the guns of the fort, Punch-bowl Battery, the admiral’s ship, Dublin, the United States’ ship, Boston, and others. The day was a day of rejoicing and congratulations, enhanced by the issuing of the following edict:” (Bingham)

“He Olelo Lokomaikai
Act of Grace”

“Accorded by His Majesty King Kamehameha III, by and with the advice of his Chiefs in Council, to all his Subjects upon the occasion of his resuming the reins of Government.”

“WHEREAS certain difficulties and apparent misunderstandings have recently arisen between Us and the Government of Great Britain, in the course of which some of our Subjects, subsequent to our Provisional Cession of the Sovereignty of the Islands to Great Britain …”

“… and up to the period when we resumed the exercise of our Kingly Power, have accepted office, and otherwise performed acts not so required to do by Us, or our duly constituted Authorities. And, whereas, certain persons have been imprisoned within the time abovementioned not by our Authority,”

“WE, anxious to express our Gratitude to God, and to give the fullest proof of our attachment to the English Nation, and to manifest our joy at the Restoration of our National Flag, hereby Proclaim,”

“First, That none of our Subjects shall be punished by our Authority, for any act committed by them or any of them to the injury of our Government between the 25th of February, 1843, and the date hereof.”

“Second, That all prisoners of every description, from Hawaiʻi to Niʻihau, be immediately discharged.”

“Third, All Government business will be suspended for ten days after this date, that all persons may be free to enjoy themselves in the festivities and rejoicings appropriate to the occasion.”

“Given at Honolulu, Oahu, Island of Oahu, this thirty-first day of July, 1843.”

“(Signed,) Kamehameha III
(Signed,) Kekāuluohi”

“The king and chiefs repaired to the stone meetinghouse (Kawaiahaʻo Church) to offer public thanks for the singular interposition of Providence in favor of the nation. The king made a short address …”

“… stating that according to the hope expressed by him when he ceded the islands, ‘the life of the land’ had been restored to him; that now, they, the people of his islands, should look to him, and his rule over them should be exercised according to the constitution and laws.”

“This address was followed by the interpretation of the declaration of Admiral Thomas; after which, John Ii (a counsellor and orator) delivered an animated address suited to the joyful occasion.”

“He referred to the gloom which had shrouded the nation, and the despondency which had brooded over many minds, but which were now dispelled, and succeeded by hope, and joy, and brightening prospects.”

“He referred to the auspicious event of the restoration as of the LORD, who had been mindful of the nation in its low estate, and as demanding from all, gratitude and praise.”

“The sentiments of the 126th Psalm apparently inspired his heart: “When the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream. Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing. Then said they among the heathen, ‘The Lord hath done great things for them.’”

“What a contrast between this scene and that of a human sacrifice in a heathen temple, which the orator of the day once saw offered by his prince, Liholiho, and his father!”

“It affords pleasure to add here, the testimony of the American Board, ‘that the whole deportment of Admiral Thomas, while at the islands, towards the king and his people, and the mission, was of the most courteous and honorable character; and his example, counsels, and influence will long be gratefully remembered.’”

“The king being restored to the free use of his sovereignty under the constitution, and once more regarding himself as the head of the people, took the lead again by example and influence, and by such means as were in his power, to favor the cause of temperance and order.” (Bingham)

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Hawaiian Flag – 1816-1845

February 22, 2016 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

Linekona School

In 1865, the board of education adopted a policy of separating school children by sex, and the Town Free School became the Mililani Girls School. (Town Free School was successor of Oʻahu Charity School – the first English-language-focused school, primarily for half-Hawaiian/half-foreign children.)

Most all the boys were sent to the Royal School; however, some of the students instead went to the Fort Street School, a newly formed private school.

In 1873, the Fort Street School went public, and in 1895 was split to create Kaʻiulani Elementary and the islands’ first public high school – Honolulu High School.

“The Honolulu High School is especially adapted to the needs of those who speak the English language as a mother tongue and to no others. It accommodates but passably a few of the exceptionally bright pupils of the much larger class who have the language to learn after entering school.”

“Taking into account the number of English speaking persons in Honolulu, it will be observed that the high school is of very creditable size.” (Report of the Minister of Public Instruction, 1899)

The high school met at the former palace of Princess Ruth on Emma Street (Keoua Hale) until 1908. At that time a new structure was built across from Thomas Square (at the corner of Beretania and Victoria streets – in William Maertens’ former home, where the University of Hawaiʻi started.)

The high school moved in and it was renamed President William McKinley High School, after President William McKinley, whose influence brought about the annexation of the Hawaiian Islands to the US.

The building served that function until the larger, present McKinley High was erected in 1923. At this time, the school was renamed Linekona (Lincoln) Elementary; it was the main elementary school in Honolulu. (NPS)

“A very marked improvement has been attained in the architecture of buildings recently erected in Hawaiʻi and the school-houses, constructed within the last few years, have kept pace with the movement. This is notably true of the imposing … building which compares most favorably with any of its kind in the world.”

“This structure, built of hollow concrete blocks, is two stories high and contains eight properly ventilated well-equipped class-rooms, a physical and a chemical laboratory, an up-to-date commercial department, a library and a comfortable and spacious assembly hall.”

“In addition there is a principal’s office, ladies’ retiring room, each provided with all conveniences, two hat rooms for the use of students, a specimen and apparatus room for the physics laboratory, a private chemistry laboratory and a dark room connected with the chemical laboratory.”

“The stage in the assembly hall is fourteen by twenty-four feet provided with a sliding curtain. The hat rooms are furnished with shelves and hooks for hanging garments and also umbrella racks.”

“The toilets have enameled closets without wooden tops, and rooms with shower baths are in one corner. The building is lighted throughout with electricity.”

“The ceilings and walls are plastered and tinted with colors pleasing to the eye. A wainscot extends from the floor to the blackboard and all the woodwork throughout the building is natural finish.”

“Large windows admit an abundance of light and these, together with the open transoms on the inside walls of the rooms assure good ventilation.” (King; Thrum, 1908)

The building housed Linekona School until 1956 when a new elementary school (renamed President Abraham Lincoln Elementary School) was built on Auwaiolimu Drive.

In 1957, the former Ala Moana School, which taught children with learning difficulties, occupied the building. Starting in the early 1970s, the building was used to teach English as a second language. (NPS)

In 1990, the building was renovated as the “Academy Art Center at Linekona,” the largest art private school in Hawaiʻi, under the administration of the Honolulu Academy of Arts.

The building is now used as the Honolulu Museum of Art School, reaching out to children and adults through studio art classes, workshops with visiting artists, school programs, outreach programs and exhibitions.

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Lincoln School-(vintagehawaii)-1940

Linekona-HHF

McKinley High School-Linekona-Academy_Art_Center-(ksbe)

Honolulu Museum of Art School

McKinley_HS-Then_Linekona_School-Now_the_Academy_Art_Center

July 30, 2014 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

The Feast

271 hogs, 482 large calabashes of poi, 602 chickens, 3 whole oxen, 2 barrels salt pork, 2 barrels biscuit, 3,125 salt fish, 1,820 fresh fish, 12 barrels luau and cabbages, 4 barrels onions, 80 bunches bananas, 55 pineapples, 10 barrels potatoes, 55 ducks, 82 turkeys, 2,245 coconuts, 4,000 heads of taro, 180 squid, oranges, limes, grapes and various fruits.

But we are already getting ahead of ourselves, let’s look back.

On April 25, 1825, Richard Charlton arrived in the Islands to serve as the first British consul. A former sea captain and trader, he was already familiar with the islands of the Pacific and had promoted them in England for their commercial potential (he worked for the East India Company in the Pacific as early as 1821.)

Charlton had been in London during Kamehameha II’s visit in 1824 and secured an introduction to the king and his entourage. By the time he arrived in Hawai‘i in 1825, instructions had already arrived from Kamehameha II that Charlton was to be allowed to build a house, or houses, any place he wished and should be made comfortable. This apparently was due to favors Charlton had done for the royal party. (Hawaiʻi State Archives)

In 1840, Charlton made a claim for several parcels of land in Honolulu. To substantiate his claim, Charlton produced a 299-year lease for the land in question, granted by Kalanimōku. There was no disagreement over the parcel, Wailele, on which Charlton lived, but the adjoining parcel he claimed, Pūlaholaho, had been occupied since 1826 by retainers and heirs of Kaʻahumanu.

In rejecting Charlton’s claim, Kamehameha III cited the fact that Kalanimōku did not have the authority to grant the lease. At the time the lease was made, Kaʻahumanu was Kuhina Nui, and only she and the king could make such grants. The land was Kaʻahumanu’s in the first place, and Kalanimōku certainly could not give it away. (Hawaiʻi State Archives) The dispute dragged on for years.

This, and other grievances purported by Charlton and the British community in Hawai‘i, led to the landing of George Paulet on February 11, 1843 “for the purpose of affording protection to British subjects, as likewise to support the position of Her Britannic Majesty’s representative here”.

On February 25, the King acceded to his demands and noted, “In consequence of the difficulties in which we find ourselves involved, and our opinion of the impossibility of complying with the demands in the manner in which they are made … “

“… we do hereby cede the group of islands known as the Hawaiian (or Sandwich) Islands, unto the Right Honorable Lord George Paulet … the said cession being made with the reservation that it is subject to any arrangement that may have been entered into by the Representatives appointed by us to treat with the Government of Her Britannic Majesty…”

Under the terms of the new government the King and his advisers continued to administer the affairs of the Hawaiian population. For business dealing with foreigners, a commission was created, consisting of the King (or his representative,) Paulet and two officers from Paulet’s ship. Judd served as the representative of the King. (Daws)

On April 1, 1843, Lord Aberdeen, on behalf of Her Britannic Majesty Queen Victoria, assured the Hawaiian delegation that: “Her Majesty’s Government was willing and had determined to recognize the independence of the Sandwich Islands under their present sovereign.”

On November 28, 1843, the British and French Governments united in a joint declaration and entered into a formal agreement recognizing Hawaiian independence (Lord Aberdeen signed on behalf of Britain, French ambassador Louis Saint-Aulaire signed on behalf of France.)

After five months of British rule, Queen Victoria, on learning the injustice done, immediately sent Rear Admiral Richard Darton Thomas to the islands to restore sovereignty to its rightful rulers. On July 31, 1843 the Hawaiian flag was raised. The ceremony was held in area known as Kulaokahuʻa; the site of the ceremony was turned into a park Thomas Square. After five-months of occupation, the Hawaiian Kingdom was restored.

July 31, 1843 is now referred to as Ka La Hoʻihoʻi Ea, Sovereignty Restoration Day, and it is celebrated each year in the approximate site of the 1843 ceremonies. The plot of land on which the ceremonies took place was known as Thomas Square. Kamehameha III later officially gave this name to the area and dedicated it as a public park.

“In the afternoon Kamehameha III went in a solemn procession with his chiefs to Kawaiahaʻo Church …A ten-day celebration of Restoration Day followed, and was annually observed. The last of the Restoration Day celebrations came in 1847.” A thousand special riders, five abreast … were followed by 2,500 regular horsemen …” (Helena G Allen)

As the procession crossed Beretania street on Nuʻuanu royal salutes were fired from the fort and the king’s yacht, the Kamehameha III. They were headed to Kaniakapūpū, Kamehameha III’s summer home. (Thrum)

Kaniakapūpū (translated roughly as “sound (or song) of the land shells” sits on land in the Luakaha area of Nuʻuanu Valley. The structure at Kaniakapūpū (modeled on an Irish stone cottage) was completed in 1845 and is reportedly built on top or in the vicinity of an ancient heiau. It was a simple cottage, a square with four straight walls.

The royal party reached the picnic grounds at about 11 o’clock in a pouring rain; in fact it rained in occasional showers throughout the day … A man stationed at the first bridge for the express purpose, counted 4,000 horses going up the valley and 4,600 returning-visitors from Koʻolau making the difference in numbers. (Thrum)

Before dinner, which was set for 2 pm, the guests were entertained with some of the ancient games – a mock fight with spears ; the lua, hand to hand combat, and the hakoko, or wrestling match.

The dinner – the feeding of the immense crowd of men, women and children – was a sight to be remembered. Henry St John, the king’s steward, had the care of this department, and he well understood his business.

For the foreign guests, who were not supposed to squat on the mats with natives, tables were provided in the cottage, where was an abundant supply of food cooked in foreign style, but the multitude were fed in the long lanais, at the far end of which was seated the royal party, the ministers and chiefs.

First there was singing of hymns by a choir of native school children, led by Messrs. Marshall and Frank Johnson, to airs that sounded sweetly to New England ears. Grace before meat was solemnly said by John Ii, and then, on a signal from the king, the assembly went vigorously to work on the immense stores of food before them.

While the feast was going on, several old women in the immediate neighborhood of where the king sat, kept up a constant chanting of metes – native poems – in his honor and that of his ancestors, accompanying the chant with gyrations and motions of the arms. And in the evening, after the most of the company had departed, a company of hula girls gave a “concert” with their attendant drum and calabash beaters. (Thrum)

In the evening there were religious services at Kawaiahaʻo church, which was filled to overflowing, the king and queen being present. A sermon apropos of the occasion was preached by Rev. Richard Armstrong, the text being taken from Psalms 37, 3 – ‘Trust in the Lord and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.’ There could have been no question but that his hearers had been fed on that day. (Lots here from Thrum)

The image shows ruins of Kaniakapūpū, the summer home of Kamehameha III and site of the luau for 10,000. In addition, I have added other images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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