Читать книгу The Story of Hawaii: History, Customs, Mythology, Geography & Archaeology - Fowke Gerard - Страница 30

KAUAI ISLAND

Table of Contents

There seems to be less evidence of Hawaiian occupancy on Kauai than on any other of the five principal islands. Comparatively few heiaus are reported. Some of those which were in existence when the whites came have been destroyed or defaced to such a degree in establishing sugar plantations that their original form is uncertain; while others are so covered with vegetation, either natural or due to cultivation, that nothing definite can be ascertained as to their size or structure.

The site which might be considered as possessing the greatest interest is an aboriginal quarry and workshop where material for stone implements was obtained and shaped into desired forms. There can be no doubt as to the existence of such a place; but no one now knows its location, unless it be some of the older Hawaiians, who, however, profess entire ignorance in regard to it. Mr. William H. Rice, of Lihue, once induced some natives to conduct him to the spot. He believes that if he alone had gone his guides would have fulfilled their promise; but unfortunately several other men joined him, and the natives, either suspicious of their intentions, or not wishing the premises to become publicly known, pursued a devious and wearisome journey through the jungle, crossing gulches and clambering up and down cliffs until the white men were thoroughly bewildered and exhausted; then announced that they "couldn't find it," and led the party home.

LIHUE

At Niumahu, 2 miles from Lihue, on the road leading south and west from the harbor of Nawiliwili, is a fish pond known as Alakoka. It is a short distance above the mouth of the river, where the little valley widens in a half-moon shape, the stream flowing close to the bluff on the right. The bottom land on the other side is so low as to be swampy. Along the river bank on this side is a heavy wall of stone and earth, reaching the higher land at each end, thus forming a pond of 15 or 20 acres in which the ancient Hawaiians kept their surplus catch of fish. The wall has been raised and strengthened by its present owner, a Chinese, who raises ducks instead of fish.

WAILUA

Near the mouth of the Wailua River, 6 miles from Lihue, is the former abode of the royal family. The place is so overgrown, except in the few cultivated spots, that no examination of it can be made. No traces of the residences are apparent, although the stone boundary walls of the grounds are still standing. The site of the royal cemetery is set aside as public property. There is nothing now to indicate that any interments were ever made in it. The "Birthstone," on or by which all prospective heirs to the throne must be born in order to insure their right to the succession, still lies in the brush near the foot of a little cliff. In case of a dispute among the claimants to the throne this stone had the power, by some means of which the knowledge has now been lost, to determine which, if any, of the contestants was entitled to possession.

The "Sacrifice Stone," also, is in its original place, being so large that it can not be easily removed. Formerly this had a grass roof over it, supported by high poles. When the victim's life was extinct his body was suspended to a rafter or crossbeam at the top of the structure and left there until the flesh had decayed. The bones were then interred on top of the bluff in the rear. It is said that the corpses of chiefs and others of high rank were wrapped in banana leaves and steamed until the flesh fell away. The skeletons were then buried.

A mile from the mouth of the Wailua River, on a narrow plateau between it and a small tributary, the summit level being about 200 feet above the water, is a heiau in fairly good condition. It is one of the large structures of its kind, but is so overgrown that measurements or close description are not possible. It is supposed to be the one which was sacred to the devotions of the highest priesthood. The common people were not allowed to venture near it, and even the king could not visit it without special permission involving the most complicated ceremonies. It has passed into possession of the county and will be restored as nearly as can be to its pristine state and thus preserved.

On a mass of loose rocks, resulting from disintegration of an old lava flow, projecting into the ocean half a mile east from the mouth of the Wailua River, and near the race track, is a heiau of irregular construction. The extreme measurements are 80 feet north and south by 200 feet east and west. The wall on the side toward the sea is higher and wider along the central half than it is nearer the ends. Small inclosures, bounded by single rows of stones, probably mark the sites of houses for priests and attendants. Along the inner side of the wall next to the water are four depressions, remains of partially filled well-like or cistern-like excavations; similar hollows, obscured by brush, are also next to the inner foot of the opposite wall. A large rock in the form of a triangular prism, standing upright, with one end firmly imbedded in the ground, was no doubt a "god" of some kind; it has a slight hollow or "cup" pecked in the flat top. There are several irregular rows of stones outside of the inclosure. Dense growth prevents the examination necessary for a closer description.

DUNE BURIALS

Four miles east of Lihue a spur of the plantation railway was run into the dunes to procure sand for making fills. In the course of this work human bones were found, the remains of one individual in one spot and of at least two others not far away. None of these bones seemed to have been long underground. Search in the vicinity, over bare spots among the ridges whose upper portions have been carried away by the winds, revealed indications of burials in at least six other places. Such bones as were found were decayed or in fragments. Among them was part of the skull of a very young infant. A quantity of cooking stones, some coral rasps or files, and a much weathered fragment of a wooden bowl, denoted that camps had been made on the dunes. As the beach is smooth, firm, and extensive, providing an excellent place for landing canoes or dragging seines, these remains probably pertain to parties or families who maintained fishing camps here.

At the mouth of the Wailua River, on the east side, was a "City of Refuge." It is now partially destroyed, many of the stones having been taken away to make a fill in the road. It was rectangular in form, 360 feet east and west, 60 feet north and south, made of large stones, some of them weighing a ton or even more. The eastern portion of the interior is artificially made a foot higher than the western. The structure is 300 feet from the water. Midway down the gentle slope in front, opposite the western end, is a slightly crooked row, 100 feet long, of very large stones. A similar row is near the water on the side between the inclosure and the river.

WAIMEA

There were formerly several heiaus within a few miles of Waimea. Some of them have been destroyed by cultivation, while others are difficult to find and impossible to examine in the cane fields or dense brush.

At the east foot of a rocky peak 13 miles by road from Waimea, at an elevation of more than 3,600 feet, is a small heiau almost on the brink of the canyon. Within the walls it is 30 feet across each way. On the south line are three large stones in line, one at each corner, the third about midway between them. No doubt their position determined the location of the structure. It stands on a slight slope. The west wall is 2 feet high inside, the earth having washed down level with its top outside. The north wall is a foot higher than the floor at the west end, and is completely buried at the east, as are the south and west walls along their entire length except for a protruding stone here and there. In fact, the whole interior seems to have received a heavy deposit of earth, carried in from the outside by wind and rain. All these features give an appearance of antiquity to the ruin.

Directly below it, well toward the bottom of the canyon, which is said to be 3,000 feet deep, is a long, narrow, curved ridge with rounded top and almost vertical sides. The upper part, apparently an old lava flow, is darker in color than the surrounding precipices, its surface checkered and seamed by weathering and erosion, so that it has an almost startling resemblance to a huge serpent crawling out of the side of the mountain and, with head laid flat on the extreme point of the cliff, watching something in the stream bed a thousand feet below. If the old Hawaiians had been familiar with ophidians, as were the American Indians, this "Snake God" would no doubt have held high rank among their divinities.