IN BEAUTIFUL HAWAII

Taranaki Daily News, 10 November 1927, Page 15

IN BEAUTIFUL HAWAII

A DREAM CITY. TARANAKI LADY’S IMPRESSIONS. (From Our Whareroa Correspondent.) A most interesting and chatty letter has just been received by Mrs. E. Meuli, of Wharerra, from an aunt, Lady le Fleming, who has just returned from a trip to the Islands, Honolulu, and America. While on the Niagara some of the most charmingly interesting and scientific people she met included a sister-in-law of the British Ambassador at Berlin; Mr. Parkes, a noted botanist; Professor Lawson, the famous Californian geologist; and Dr. Bergfors, a young Swede who was studying the Polynesian races. Calling at Honolulu, this was found to be the dream city of warmth, fragrance, and colour, colour being everywhere, the incomparable blue of the sea ami sky, the yellow sands, the purple mountains, the glorious scarlet blossoms of the poineiana trees, the red-purple Bougainvillea, the golden allamanda, the huge eannas of every shade, the fragrant white ginger, the bewildering wealth of ferns of countless shades and forms, the golden shower trees bordering the streets, making the scene one of glorious beauty. The aquarium, out at Kapiolani Park, was worth crossing the ocean to see. The fish were as brilliantly coloured as the tropical flowers. One was as blue as a cornflower or delphinium. He had a beak and head like a bird, and a lovely crest like blue plush. Some were brilliant scarlet, some clear golden, some bright green, some rose and lemon, others a wondrous mixture of colours. “Dear little fishes with rainbow scales, Long may you wave your chiffon tails.”

Out at Fort Shaffer Lady le Fleming visited the famous Polynesian Bishop Museum, a description of the contents of which w’ould fill many volumes. Other noted places visited were the former Royal Palaces. The throne room of the one within the city was very beautiful, spacious, and magnificent, while the historical paintings were a revelation. The dining room, ballroom, staircases, and balconies were magnificence itself. The grandeur and beauty of the lovely Moandua Gardens at Fort Shafter seemed to be beyond mortal to describe. Then, too, were the treasures within the Archives Buildings, including the king’s crown, the historical one which was stolen for so many years, and now lies in a locked roa-wood casket. To touch it is supposed to bring death, but Lady le Fleming held it in her hand. Few- people know- anything of what a / wonderful history Hawaii of the olden days possessed. The older Hawaiians speak of “a greater Hawaii sleeping under the waters,” and from what one sees of the priceless antiques hidden away in the old palaces one can well believe that the islands once formed part of a continent—not Atlantis though. In one of the old palaces Lady le Fleming was fortunate enough to meet one of the former Court Ladies, and she very kindly told mpeh of the former monarchy and also showed numbers ol defies—dresses, jewels, tapestries, china, carvings, historical letters and documents. A chord struck on an old piano grand proved the tone to be still sweet. Other palaces and public buildings were brimful of interest.

Whilst in Honolulu Lady le Fleming motored out to Nuuanu, thenee to the dizzy height of the Pali, a precipice over which Kamehameha I. drove thousands of conquered Oahuans away back in the eighteenth century. The traveller also motored up to Mount Tantalus, the road on which ascends in a spiral, quite too J great a height to be comfortable. Deightful motor trips were also taken through scores of plantations, sugar, coffee, taro, rice, canna, pineapple, banana, sisal, ete., with visits paid to numbers of factories, mills, and canneries. Another trip was by gasoline train round the coasts, and out at Haleiwa a trip was taken in glass-decked boats over exquisite coral gardens. The beauty of form and colour of the coral, and the startling brilliance of the fish away out in that tropical sea defies description. The line runs for miles through algaroba trees which were brought from Spain and planted by the Spaniards away back long ago. The beans of these trees are ground into meal for the horses, cattle and mules on the plantations. Two hundred miles, by sea from Honolulu Lady le Fleming landed at Hawaii proper, “The Big Island,” as it is called. In the short tropical twilight, Molokai, with its sad. sad history, was passed. At nearly midnight, Maui was reached, where all landings are made by launch and small boats. The swiftness of the current round the coast renders the large expensive wharf there practically useless. A cultured native chaffeur motored the travellers all over the. island, and gave most interesting informtaion re the vegetation, the history, and legends, etc., of Hawaii, and escarted them over the most uncanny places in the lava flows, and on the edge of awesome craters, and also in the underground lava tubes. Plantations, factories, mills, etc. abound, and on all these islands is to be found a cosmopolitan population. In the towns such an array of colour— Japanese, Chinese, Hawaiians, Filipinos, Koreans. Russians. Spaniards, Americans, Solomon Islanders, Negroes, Italians, etc. The lava flows were a revelation of the stupendous forces of Nature, there being miles and miles of lava, in even flows, and rugged peaks and huge blocks. Some of the flows are over twenty feet deep, over a mile broad, and many miles long. Kaleakekua Bay is where Captain Cook was killed, and it was very interesting to see his monument. Then there were the ruins of the Ancient City of Refuge—walls of lava, twelve feet high. Palms have grown up Within the courtyards. Other features of interest were the First Church (all of coral) ever built in the islands, the sacrificial stones (worn in grooves by the bodies of the victims) outside Napoopoo, the famous Flack Lands, ete. In one of the coffee mills there were several Chinese women and children working. Some of the women had tiny infants on their backs or on trays beside them.

Tropical jungles on one side of the island were passed, where could be seen the sunken land, due to a sudden eruption, where scores of coconut trees were deep in water. On one of the islands a quaint and interesting sight was that of water buffaloes patiently working in the water of the rice fields. When motoring through the forests, one gathered guavas, mangoes, thimble berries, Srickly pears, and water lemons fa decioW fruit growing on vines)

Oue of the most weird and interesting wonders of the world is Kilauea, situated on the slopes of Mauna Loa, 4,000 feet above sea level. Long before reaching Volcano House, on the edge of the crater, the air is charged with sulphur, and jets of steam are issuing every here and there among the trees and huge ferns. The Volcano House is generally crowded with travellers from overseas. The crater is about nine miles in circumference, 600 feet deep at present, and encloses 2,650 acres. In the centre is the pit of Halemauman (house of everlasting fire). This pit Is two miles round and about 1,400 feet deep. The fern forests in this part of the island are more beautiful than one could imagine, and the orchids are of every hue and shape. Haleakala crater is 27 miles in circumference, the largest extinct crater in the world.

Whilst away on this wonderful trip, Lady le Fleming found much valuable evidence re psychic matters, and is convinced that we of the Western nations do not use more than one per cent, of our powers of either mind or body. A knowledge of etheric vibrations enabled one to enter a big world of new possibilities, while the mind becomes broadened and expanded beyond conception. Another interesting sight witnessed was the largest American ranch—a real ranch, with real cowboys, wild horses, etc., there being 560,000 acres of firstclass land alone, besides huge areas of other land, with 30,000 head of cattle, ete. Then there was a visit to a tremendous pineapple cannery, where 1,350,000 pineapples are canned a day! There are over 3,000 workers in the cannery, a community itself! There were visits to Buddhist and Mormon- temple?, the forrnji wllh

incense, the latter beautiful beyond anything one could imagine. The whole Mormon settlement was beautifully orderly and prosperous. The statuary in the temple grounds was most impressive, and the artificial lakes approaching the temples were exquisitely lovely.