CHARM OF HAWAII.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 67, 20 March 1937, Page 1 (Supplement)

CHARM OF HAWAII.

LEISURE AND INDUSTRY.

A VISITOR'S IMPRESSIONS

(By BERT ANDERSON.)

With eager eyes we begin to look forward to the scenes which will greet us as we begin to approach that small cluster of islands in the middle of the Pacific known as the Hawaiian Croup. We are up at dawn to find that the ship is inside the harbour and that landmarks can be distinctly seen. One building which stands out distinctly from the others is the famous Royal Hawaiian Hotel. The Moana-Seaside stands near by in contrast with the beautiful green hills and white floating clouds which surround the city and cap the mountains down to the foothills. In front of these, between the calm blue waters of the bay, can be seen that famous Waikiki Beach, the beach which makes Hawaii noted for its tourist trade.

One of the big four-motor clipper 'planes which carry the mails from the California coast to the Philippine Islands comes soaring overhead like a large grey bird. The clipper 'planes carry both mail and passengers between the islands and California in eighteen hours' flying time, over a distance of about two thousand miles. They are run by a. private company, but land at Pearl Harbour, the naval harbour, until their own special airport, which is under construction, can be finished. The ships are equipped to land on the water, and have been in operation for over a year, with no serious accident, for every precaution known to man has been used, and ships do not leave if storms are reported. The Lei Sellers. Then, going down the wharf, one soon meets with lei sellers. There are strings of many beautiful flowers grown on the island and ' strung or woven by the patient native women. You may come upon "Sallie the lei seller," who is known to many on the island. There she will sit with the freshly made leis and a broad smile. The Hawaiians use the same greeting to each other as the Maoris, and although you will not be met with the same greeting should you chance to have friends in Honolulu when you land you will be met with a lei, and when it is placed around your neck it is a sign of courtesy to wear it for the rest of the day, out of respect for your friend. This custom holds true for men and women. After having heard the Hawaiian band as the ship docks, you begin to wonder about those girls in the grass skirts

that you have heard so much about. At some places in the town you will find the "hula girls." As they dance, decorated with beautiful leis around their jet-black hair, the grace of their voting, slender bodies is something to make any woman cast a longing eye, and the visitor, gazing at them and then, perhaps, at the taro growing in the fountain beyond, begins to feel something of the exotic and leisurely charm of the tropics.

Just a short distance from the city of Honolulu the road begins to pass through long fields of sugar cane. The fields are laid out in plots, for it must be grown under irrigation, as there is not enough rainfall for it to thrive at its best. Small shoots can be seen in some fields, which look like grass pastures, whila near by will be seen some still larger. Some fields have gone to seed, and one may see the long, silky plumes as they wave gently in the breeze

Pineapple Fields. The road begins to climb gradually to the upland, or plateau, and one may find oneself passing through occasional tropical showers. This group of islands seldom knows intense tropical heat, although it does possess most of the tropical fruits and vegetables, or they can be grown. Most of the soil is of volcanic origin and very dark red, like some clay I have seen in New Zealand. However, it seems to be very rich and to be adapted on the plateaus for the growing of pineapples, with only the natural rainfall, which comes in showers there most of the year and at frequent intervals. The pineapple plants are set in rows about four feet apart and about thirty inches in the row. Heavy paper is spread across the field where the rows are to be, and the plants are set through holes punched in the paper at the desired places. This is known as mulching paper, and is used to retain the moisture in the ground and also to keep down weeds, for it takes about two years for the plant to produce its first "pine." It is only allowed to produce one pineapple the first year of bearing, after which more shoots are allowed to come on and two "pines" are produced, although they will be smaller. The field is then ploughed up and replanted, or allowed to lie idle. Along the low marshy places it is a common sipht to see Chinese men wading in the paddies behind an old horse, or, perhaps, a water buffalo, ploughing up the muddy land. The rice is grown very thick in a nursery bed, then transplanted by hand. The planting, weeding and harvesting are all done by hand by the man and all his family, for the land must be continually flooded at all times. The rice is cut by hand and gathered up the same way, so as to leave most of the straw on the field, and then taken to a threshing floor, tramped out by the animals, and shaken and thrown into the air to bio— % >e chaff away.

"Jack the poi grinder" may be seen on some of the travels around as he sits and grinds the taro by hand in his wooden calabash. The poi is a much used food of the Hawaiian and is to be recommended to all visitors. The taro is first planted in marshy places and covered with some water. After about two years the roots are ready to harvest and usually they are ltoiled. although the fresh poi can be made by just mashing the raw root* to a fine pulp which resembles some of those goocl mashed potatoes I used to get in New Zealand. It is of a blue prey colour and may have a slight reddish tint, but being of the vegetable family nothing more is added. Like other things, it must be eaten several times before one acquires a liking for it, but the best way is to pet the sweet poi and make a milk cocktail out of it. Poi is considered very healthful in the Hawaiian climate, and recommended by all doctors if used in moderation. The Papaia.

Growing sometimes in orchards or in plots around the small quaint houses may be seen rather tall trees which will remind one of palm trees; but what are those many clusters of green fruit that grow next to the leaves? Those are a native fruit known as papaia (pronounced pa-pia). Some of the trees may be only a few months old and growing low to the "round. The trees prow from the seeds, which are black and about the size of a small pea seed. The trees grow very fast in the red volcanic come into bearing at about six months if planted in the spring. The blossoms are waxy and of a whitish yellow in colour. They are often used for makinp leis, for the blossoms have a verj- strong odour which is pleasant to the "nostrils. The papaia is of two varieties, the solo and the common type. The solo papaia is small but very sweet and has no seeds. The common variety has seeds and is not so sweet, nut It Is much larger. The fruit is a rich dark green before it is ripe and turns slowly to a light or deep yellow. The flavour is not that which will suit the palate of all visitors. However, as with some other fruits and vegetables, the more one eats of it the better it becomes. At first, and, if the individual desires, afterwards, a small piece of lemon is to be recommended. They sell and become quite a tropical fruit for a cocktail, or, as a New Zealander would say, a fruit salad.

And later, as one strolls at leisure along the Waikiki beach, the soft moon of the tropics reflecting through the clouds, the faint ripple of the water on the bay causes one to remember the friends which were left behind. Thinsrs have been new, things have been different, and during the day, in the hustle and bustle of the city life, one has forgotten the things one left behind; but when night monies, happy thoughts carry one back to "God's Own Country."