410-411

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Reports of Committee on Foreign Relations 1789-1901 Volume 6 pp410-411 300dpi scan (VERY LARGE!)

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	Page.
Individual characteristics of islands:
Oahu	419
Coast	419
Interior	419
Cities, towns, and ports, Honolulu	420-423
Other than Honolulu	423,424
Hawaii	424
Coast	424
Interior	425
Cities, towns, and ports	426,427
Maui	428
Coast	428
Interior	429
Cities, towns, and ports	429,430
Kauai	431
Coast	431
Interior	431
Cities, towns, and ports	432,433
Molokai	433
Coast	433
Interior	433
Cities, towns, and ports	434
Lanai	434
Niihau	434
Cities, towns, and ports	434,435
Kahulaui	435
Kaula	435
Lenua	435
Molokini	436
Communications	436
Railroads	436
Roads	437
Telegraphs, telephones	437
Inter-island steamers and vessels	437
Leprosy	437-440

Report on the Hawaiian Islands.

The Hawaiian Islands lie between parallels 18° 50' and 23° 5' north latitude, and between meridians 154° 40' and 101° 50' west from Greenwich. A line drawn through the axis of the group would approximate roughly the segment of a circle convex towards the northeast; the chord connecting the most widely separated points would have a length of about 400 statute miles.

Honolulu, the capital and chief city, lies 2,080 miles from San Francisco; approximately 3,800 miles from Auckland; 4,500 miles from Sydney; and 4,800 miles from Hongkong.

Mean time Honolulu noon is equivalent to 10h. 31m. 26s. Greenwich mean time.

COMMUNICATIONS WITH THE UNITED STATES.

San Francisco to Honolulu.—The Australia of the Oceanic Steamship Company and the Zealandia (W. J. Irwin) leave San Francisco and return every other Tuesday.

The Oceanic Steamship Company's steamers Alameda, Mariposa; and the Union Steamship Company's steamer Monowai, leave San Francisco for New Zealand via Honolulu once a month.

Time.-San Francisco to Honolulu, seven days.

Sailing vessels, with good passenger accommodations, run regularly from San Francisco to Honolulu.

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Sailing time.-San Francisco to Honolulu, ten to eighteen days.

Pacific mail steamers, San Francisco to China and Japan, stop at Honolulu every other trip.

"A new company sends its first steamer this month (February, 1893), from Tacoma and Seattle to Honolulu. Steamers of the Occidental and Oriental line to China and Japan [N. Y. Tribune, February 16] are due to stop at Honolulu."

Steamers of the Oceanic and Pacific Mail companies are under the United States flag.

POSITION, AREAS, AND GEOGRAPHICAL FEATURES.

The strategic value of the islands and their geographical position are indicated on the accompanying chart (A). In general the islands are mountainous, covered with verdure, and in parts, especially of Hawaii, possessing very considerable areas of forest, whose vegetation is that of the tropics.

The Hawaiian group is composed of eight inhabited, and of four uninhabited islands. [Chart B.] The names and dimensions of the inhabited islands are:

Name.	Length.	Breadth.	Area.
	Miles.	Miles.	Square miles.
Hawaii	90	74	3,950
Oahu	46	25	530
Maui	48	30	620
Kauai	25	22	500
Molokai	40	7	190
Lanai	17	9	100
Niihau	20	7	90
Kahulaui	11	8	60

The first five of these islands contain the bulk of the population as well as the chief industries.

Three of the four uninhabited islands of the group are Kaula, Lenua, and Molokini.

The total area of the inhabited islands is about 6,040 square miles.

"All of these islands are volcanic. No other rocks than volcanic are found upon any of them, excepting a few remnants of raised sea beaches composed of consolidated coral sands. All the larger ones are very mountainous.

"The culminating points of the island Hawaii are Mauna Kea, 13,900 feet, and Mauna Loa, 13,700 feet," the highest points of the group.

"In general the island group consists of the summits of a gigantic submarine mountain chain, projecting its loftier peaks and domes above the water."*

On the island of Hawaii the volcanic forces are still in operation; on the other islands they are extinct.

None of the mountains are of sufficient height to reach the line of eternal snow.

*See Hawaiian volcanoes, Capt. C. E. Dutton, U.S.A. Capt. (now Major) Dutton adds: "Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea, referred to their true bases at the bottom of the Pacific, are therefore mountains not far from 30,000 feet in height." Maj Dutton is frequently quoted in the following paragraphs relating to the physical characteristics of the islands.

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