A STRANGE STORY FROM HA WALF

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXII, Issue 7826, 19 August 1887, Page 3

A STRANGE STORY FROM HA WALF

In some notes on "Scenes in Hawaii,'' contributed to the Toronto Week hy Jfinnie I'orsyth Grant, the following passage occurs ;—" The native superstition is very great, ns no ilonbt all aboriginal superstition must be ; but there is one thing which— one must say so from personal experience' on our own part — is most extraordinary, and I can imagine that some of my readers will scarcely credit what I have to tell. As the death of a high chief approaches a swarm of tiny red lish invariably come about the harbor of Honolulu or his birthplace. At no other time do they appeal-. During our stay in the islands the. throe last great chiefs of the line of Kamehameha died, and each time, just before their deaths, did the swarm of fish come, reddening the waters till they looked like blood. The first to die was Princess Ruth (Keelikolani), a woman of enormous stature and extraordinary plainness of appearance. She had been ill for some time, and had been under the inlluence of her native kahunas, or praying doctors, to such an extent that she made a journey to the foot of JVTanu Loa, intending to be carried up the mountain to sacrifice white chickens and_ pigs to tiie (turning lake, thereby hoping to appease the wrath of the goddess Pele, who is supposed even yet to be the presiding deity of the volcano. On arriving at the mountain, however, it was found . that her Royal Highness's enormous bulk quite precluded the hope ot getting her up herself ; so she was obliged to have the .sacrifice made by proxy, sending some of her numerous retinue to peiform the rites; but to no avail, as some time later she died. Mrs Bishop was the next to follow. 1 forget her native name, which was a very long one. She was a half-white, but on her mother's side was a direct descendant of Kamehameha I. She was a very handsome woman, and of great wealth, holding large properties in the islands. She had married a Mr Jiishop, an Englishman and a banker. Their home in Honolulu was a very beautiiiil one, with lovely | gardens, and the house itself a perfect museum of Hawaiian curiosities. Mrs Bishop's death was almost unexpected, but the deadly swarm of red tish came into the harbor, again the herald of disaster. | The last death was indeed a grievous calamity, for with Queen Emma expired the last of her race ; she was the last

lineal descendnnt of Kamehameha T., her own son dying at an early ane. Queen Emma was adored by the Natives, and she wight well he, for she. made herself almost poor by her constant charities amongst them ; and she supported many of them entirely herself. She also had a lovely house and grounds in Honolulu, but spent most of her time at a country home down by Pearl River, some miles east of the town. The Queen was a sweet-faced woman, with a low musical voice and great dignity of manner. She died very suddenly — indeed, without warning almost— and this time the red fish made their appearance at Hilo on Hawaii, where much of Queen Emma's early youth was spent."