418-419

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Reports of Committee on Foreign Relations 1789-1901 Volume 6 pp418-419 300dpi scan (VERY LARGE!)

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than any other in the world. The yield will average about 5,000 pounds of sugar to the acre, and choice fields sometimes yield twice that amount. Large amounts of American capital have heen invested in the plantations and in the accessory commerce."

Large flocks of sheep and herds of cattle are found. These animals are raised chiefly for their wool and hides. On the island of Lanai great flocks of sheep pasture, while in Hawaii considerable numbers of wild cattle are still found in the mountains;* wild goats and wild hogs also exist in great numbers, and it is said that wild horses and asses are also found.

DISEASES (OTHER THAN LEPROSY).

It is asserted that diseases, other than leprosy, are not as troublesome as in most places considered healthful. Malarial fevers are thought to be infrequent, nevertheless in the monthly table (March, 1891) the greatest number of deaths for the year, 89, is recorded as due to "fever."

Consumption (probably imported cases) comes next with 74; "old age" next with 59. Amongst the other more important causes of death are diarrhea, 29; dysentery, 15. From diseases of the liver but 2 died, while 25 died of disease of the heart.

From this it would seem that the diseases common to the tropics—fever and stomach troubles—are to be guarded against. Rheumatism is prevalent in many of the damper localities; smallpox occasionally appears; and measels has on one or two occasions carried off many of the natives, owing to their manner of life, but this disease is now easily controlled when it makes its appearance. Lung and chest troubles are almost unknown to natives of the islands. In fact, the Hawaiian Islands are regions of unusual healthfulness.

The general health of the natives is steadily improving; leprosy, now largely under medical control, is gradually being stamped out, (See Leprosy.)

MANNER OF LIFE, CLOTHING.

The whites live, of course, much as they live at home, and usually in well-constructed houses of European style. The natives live as a rule in grass huts, upon native food, largely taro and fruit, and wear clothing of light cotton stuff, a straw hat, but shoes rarely.

Woolens are not in general use, but very light flannels are recommended for strangers at all seasons.

At night blankets are rarely needed, but a light blanket is often comfortable. Houses have no fireplaces.

For troops clothing for all seasons should be light flannel drawers and shirts, wide straw hats or helmets, and the light quality of outer garments issued to troops on the southern stations.

Ample tentage should be provided for use in localities where heavy and sudden rainfalls are frequent, and light blankets should be carried.

The ration should be suited to the requirements of a warm climate.


*Descended from the animals introduced by Vancouver in 1792.

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INDIVIDUAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE EIGHT INHABITED ISLANDS OF THE HAWAIIAN GROUP.

Island of Oahu (Map C).

This island has the form of an irregular quadrangle; it lies 23 miles northwest of the nearest island of the group, Molokai. Length about 46, breadth about 25 miles.

Oahu, though not the largest, is the most important of the Hawaiian group, as it contains Honolulu, the capital, chief seaport, and principal city.

Coast.—The greater part of the island is surrounded by a coral reef often half a mile wide.

The windward side of the island presents a gigantic cliff hardly accessible, except at one point reached by a road cut with great labor from the mountain side; but the leeward side descends from the mountain to the sea in very moderate slopes deeply cut by ravines.

The northeastern coast of the island is generally a rugged plateau descending by gentle slopes to the water. When viewed from the ocean, this coast appears to be formed of detached hills rising steeply and covered with woods. The intervening valleys are fertile and well cultivated. From the southeast extremity of the island, called Makapuu Point, to the Mokapu Peninsula, the coast is often marked by scattered islets and rocks; and beyond, the peninsula is indented by a considerable bay extending to Kaoio Point, thence to Kahuku, the northern point of Oahu. Along this part of the coast is a narrow strip of land, varying from a half to 2 miles in breadth, only a few feet above the level of the sea. It is very fertile, and has a gradual ascent to the foot of the mountains.

From Kahuku to the village of Waimea lies a level plain from 2 to 6 miles wide, and but slightly above the level of the sea. It is a good pasture, and at many of its frequent holes and crevices may be seen streams of clear and cool fresh water making their subterranean way from the mountains to the outlets in the sea below low-water mark.

The southwest side of the island is composed chiefly of craggy mountains, some descending abruptly to the sea, others terminating a small distance from it; thence a low border of land extends to a shore formed by sandy beaches, bounded by rocks on which the surf beats heavily.

The southwest extremity is Laeloa, or Barber Point; thence the shore continues low, flat, and covered with bushes to the entrance of Pearl River, about 12 miles from Honolulu.

Some of the land in this vicinity is of extreme fertility.

Interior. —Two parallel ranges of hills traverse Oahu from southeast to northwest, separated by a low plain. The highest point is Kauia, 4,000 feet, in the west range. The east range is much longer than the other, and its ridge is very broken; lateral spurs extend from many ravines on the land side, but for 30 miles on the other side the range presents to the sea a nearly vertical wall without a break. There are few craters in the loftier heights; volcanic activity seems to have ceased; but several groups of small cones with craters, some of lava, some of tufa, exist. Valleys are numerous, with lateral ravines, in which water courses and cascades are found.

A chain of mountains rises near the center of the east part of the island to 3,175 feet, and descends near the middle into the Ewa Plain, which divides this range from the distant and elevated mountains that


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