[Seize Me Crystal Spears Epub Bud-high
Eliora Shopbell
Naihe, the husband of Kapiolani, was the great orator of the king'sreign; his father, Keawe-a-Heulu, was chief counsellor to Kamehameha I.;while had it not been for the aid of the two chiefs, Keeaumoku andKameeiamoku, cousins of the chief counsellor, the Hawaiian Islands musthave remained for a long time, if not until this day, in a state ofanarchy. My grandfather, Aikanaka, had charge of the guns of the forton Punch-Bowl Hill, which had been brought from the larger island ofHawaii; as the chiefs, their families, and followers had settled herefrom the time of the final battle, when all the forces contendingagainst Kamehameha I. were driven over the Pali.
For the purpose of enhancing the value of their own mission, it hasbeen at times asserted by foreigners that the abundance of the chief wasprocured by the poverty of his followers. To any person at allfamiliar, either by experience or from trustworthy tradition, with thedaily life of the Hawaiian people fifty years also, nothing could bemore incorrect than such assumption. The chief whose retainers were inany poverty or want would have felt, not only their sufferings, but,further, his own disgrace. As was then customary with the Hawaiianchiefs, my father was surrounded by hundreds of his own people, all ofwhom looked to him, and never in vain, for sustenance. He lived in alarge grass house surrounded by smaller ones, which were the homes ofthose the most closely connected with his service. There was foodenough and to spare for every one. And this was equally true of allhis people, however distant from his personal care. For the chiefalways appointed some man of ability as his agent or overseer. Thisofficer apportioned the lands to each Hawaiian, and on these allotmentswere raised the taro, the potatoes, the pigs, and the chickens whichconstituted the living of the family; even the forests, which furnishedthe material from which was made the tapa cloth, were apportioned to thewomen in like manner. It is true that no one of the common people couldmortgage or sell his land, but the wisdom of this limitation isabundantly proved by the homeless condition of the Hawaiians at thepresent day. Rent, eviction of tenants, as understood in other lands,were unknown; but each retainer of any chief contributed in theproductions of his holding to the support of the chief's table.
But I was destined to grow up away from the house of my parents. Immediately after my birth I was wrapped in the finest soft tapa cloth,and taken to the house of another chief, by whom I was adopted. Konia,my foster-mother, was a granddaughter of Kamehameha I., and was marriedto Paki, also a high chief; their only daughter, Bernice Pauahi,afterwards Mrs. Charles R. Bishop, was therefore my foster-sister. Inspeaking of our relationship, I have adopted the term customarily usedin the English language, but there was no such modification recognizedin my native land. I knew no other father or mother than myfoster-parents, no other sister than Bernice. I used to climb up on theknees of Paki, put my arms around his neck, kiss him, and he caressed meas a father would his child; while on the contrary, when I met my ownparents, it was with perhaps more of interest, yet always with thedemeanor I would have shown to any strangers who noticed me. My ownfather and mother had other children, ten in all, the most of them beingadopted into other chiefs' families; and although I knew that these weremy own brothers and sisters, yet we met throughout my younger life asthough we had not known our common parentage. This was, and indeed is,in accordance with Hawaiian customs. It is not easy to explain itsorigin to those alien to our national life, but it seems perfectlynatural to us. As intelligible a reason as can be given is that thisalliance by adoption cemented the ties of friendship between thechiefs. It spread to the common people, and it has doubtless fostered acommunity of interest and harmony.
At the age of four years I was sent to what was then known as the RoyalSchool, because its pupils were exclusively persons whose claims to thethrone were acknowledged. It was founded and conducted by Mr. Amos S.Cooke, who was assisted by his wife. It was a boarding-school, thepupils being allowed to return to their homes during vacation time, aswell as for an occasional Sunday during the term. The family life wasmade agreeable to us, and our instructors were especially particular toteach us the proper use of the English language; but when I recall theinstances in which we were sent hungry to bed, it seems to me that theyfailed to remember that we were growing children. A thick slice ofbread covered with molasses was usually the sole article of our supper,and we were sometimes ingenious, if not over honest, in our search forfood: if we could beg something of the cook it was the easier way; butif not, anything eatable left within our reach was surely confiscated. As a last resort, we were not above searching the gardens for anyesculent root or leaf, which (having inherited the art of igniting afire from the friction of sticks), we could cook and consume without theknowledge of our preceptors.
I can remember now my emotions on entering this the first school I everattended. I can recall that I was carried there on the shoulders of atall, stout, very large woman, whose name was Kaikai (she was the sisterof Governor Kanoa, and they were of a family of chiefs of inferiorrank, living under the control and direction of the higher chiefs). Asshe put me down at the entrance of the schoolhouse, I shrank from itsdoors, with that immediate and strange dread of the unknown so common tochildhood. Crying bitterly, I turned to my faithful attendant, claspingher with my arms and clinging closely to her neck. She tenderlyexpostulated with me; and as the children, moved by curiosity to meetthe new-comer, crowded about me, I was soon attracted by their friendlyfaces, and was induced to go into the old courtyard with them. Then myfears began to vanish, and comforted and consoled, I soon found myselfat home amongst my playmates.
Several of the pupils who were at the school with me have subsequentlybecome known in Hawaiian history. There were four children of Kinau,daughter of Kamehameha I., the highest in rank of any of the womenchiefs of her day; these were Moses, Lot (afterwards Kamehameha V.),Liholiho (afterwards Kamehameha IV.), and Victoria, of whom I shall soonspeak. Next came Lunalilo, who followed Kamehameha V. as king. Thencame Bernice Pauahi, who married Hon. Charles R. Bishop. Our family wasrepresented by Kaliokalani, Kalakaua, and myself, two of the threedestined to ascend the throne. Besides these I must mention Emma Rooke,who married one of the Kamehamehas, Peter Kaeo, Jane Loeau, ElizabethKaaniau, Abigail Maheha, Mary Paaina, and John Kinau Pitt; althoughthese were all not there at the same time. Queen Emma, I remember, didnot come in until after I had been at school some years.
We never failed to go to church in a procession every Sunday in chargeof our teachers, Mr. and Mrs. Cooke, and occupied seats in the immediatevicinity of the pew where the king was seated. The custom was for a boyand girl to march side by side; the lead being taken by the eldestscholars. Moses and Jane had this distinction, next Lot and Bernice,then Liholiho with Abigail, followed by Lunalilo and Emma (after thelater had joined the school), James and Elizabeth, David and Victoria,and so on, John Kinau and I being the last.
With the Princess Victoria, who died on the 29th of May, 1866, myyounger life was connected in the following manner. When I was takenfrom my own parents and adopted by Paki and Konia, or about two monthsthereafter, a child was born to Kinau. That little babe was thePrincess Victoria, two of whose brothers became sovereigns of theHawaiian people. While the infant was at its mother's breast, Kinaualways preferred to take me into her arms to nurse, and would hand herown child to the woman attendant who was there for that purpose. So shefrequently declared in the presence of my adopted mother, Konia, that abond of the closest friendship must always exist between her own babygirl and myself as aikane or foster-children of the same mother, andthat all she had would also appertain to me just as if I had been herown child; and that although in the future I might be her child's rival,yet whatever would belong to Victoria should be mine. This insistenceon the part of the mother was never forgotten; it remained in thehistory of Victoria's girlhood and mine until her death, although Kinauherself never lived to see her prophetic predictions fulfilled. Kinaudied on the 4th of April, 1839, not long after the birth of her youngestchild, Victoria.
On any occasion where the Princess Victoria was expected to be presentI was always included in the invitation, so that whenever Kekauluohi,the sister of Kinau, invited her niece to be with her, I was alsosummoned to her residence. This aunt lived in a large stone housecalled Pohukaina, which stood not more than two hundred feet from theRoyal School; and for our enjoyment she used to prepare all sorts ofsweetmeats and delicacies peculiar to the Hawaiians, such as (to callthem by our native names) kulolo, paipaiee, and koele-palau, with whichour childish tastes were delighted.
In 1847 Moses left school, and went to reside with his father. In 1848Jane Loeau married a Mr. Jasper. Abigail Maheha also left about thesame time to reside with her aunt, the Princess Kekauonohi, and it wasat this date that the epidemic of measles spread through the land; ofthose who fell victims to it were Moses Kekuaiwa, William PittLeleiohoku, who was a cousin of the Princess Kekauonohi and the firsthusband of the Princess Ruth (when later my younger brother was born,and adopted by Ruth, he took the name of her deceased husband); thethird of these deaths in the families of the royal children was that ofmy little sister Kaiminaauao, who had been adopted by Kamehameha III.and his queen, Kalama.
795a8134c1