field of battle, where they plucked glory from the standards of their foes. But now the race of warriors has gone, and a few wild goats take refuge in the sides of these giant landmarks. The plains of Kualoa contain about twelve thousand acres, over whose surface may be traced tangible evidences of a large population long since extinct.

Nothing can surpass this spot when the sun sets below the mountains, and reflects their massive shadows far out on the plain. Twilight reigns below, while all above seems bathed in the glory of the descending orb. And when night throws its veil over nature, and every sound is hushed, the very silence becomes oppressive, and the mountains stand like giant sentinels to protect the contiguous plains from all evil.

CHAPTER IX.

JOURNEY TO WAIALUA.

Road to Ewa-Repairing Roads.-Paahao Labor.-Natives as Laborers.-A Trial of Patience.-Balaam and his Ass.-The Prophet's Conclusion.-Philosophy of Patience.—A Trial of Speed.— Ewa.-Church and Station.-A Patriarchal Missionary. — Ecclesiastical Discipline.—Singular Case of Divorce.-A Night at Ewa.

THE road leading from Honolulu to Ewa contains but little of the picturesque. As far out as the Salt Lake, it is exceedingly rugged, and presents a scene of savage nakedness. It ranges along the foot of the huge slopes stretching from the summits of the Konahuanui Mountains.

At the time I passed over it, this road was undergoing repairs, but certainly not before they were needed. This was done by an express order from government. The work was done by persons who preferred rather to work out their roadtax than liquidate it by paying cash. Every native is compelled to work six days in the year on the public roads in his own district, or it may be commuted by paying three dollars. Until recently, women, who had trampled on the law of virtue,

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were compelled to work out a certain term of imprisonment to hard labor on the public roads of the islands; in other words, they had to repair the high-ways, because they had failed to repair their own. The traveler rides over many a thoroughfare that has been this sort of labor.

constructed, from first to last, by

The system of road-making is very different from what it was once. Then, as now, that sort of labor was denominated paahao. In former days it was a portion of a system whose every feature and aim were unqualified despotism. From the highest chief down to the lowest subject, it was a gradation of usurped power, each subordinate being oppressed by his superior. This state of affairs is well illustrated by the laws which were appended to the first Constitution, published in 1842 by KAMEHAMEHA III. They may be regarded as a literary curiosity, and that is the principal inducement to a few brief citations:

Formerly, besides the regular government tax, there was another tax laid by the local governors, another by the higher landlords, and another still by their subordinates.

"If the landlords became dissatisfied, they at once dispossessed their tenants, even without cause, and then gave their land to whoever asked for it.

'Formerly, a prohibition rested even on the ocean, so that men must not take fish from it.

"If the king wished for the property of any man, he took it without reward; even seized it by force, or took a portion only, just in accordance with his choice, and no man could refuse him. The same was true of their chiefs, and even the landlords treated their tenants thus.

“The chief could call the people from one of the islands to the other to perform labor.

"

If the people did not go to the work of the king when required, the punishment was that their houses were set on fire and consumed."-Laws of Kamehameha III., chap. liv.

This labor-tax was the greatest of all scourges to the common people. The uncertain tenure of their possessions broke

down their public spirit, and introduced evils that tended to a depopulation of the race.

Bad as was the condition of the road over which I was traveling, I could but conclude that the labor bestowed upon it would render it little or no better. About fifty natives were employed in doing repairs, or rather in trying to do them. Where the road-supervisor was, I knew not; but certainly he was much needed. Clothed as I was in a regular Sandwich Island suit-and that is just such a suit as a man chooses to wear- -and approaching the group of idlers, it seems I must have been looked upon as their foreman, for every man seized his tools and commenced his work in good earnest. They were soon undeceived, however; for, on coming close up with them, they all laughed at their panic, threw down their tools, and recommenced their jokes on each other. As a general thing, there is no class of men so difficult to employ as Hawaiians. A mere tithe of what was formerly extorted from them by the hand of a relentless despotism, can not now be obtained from them by kindness and a good remuneration. No beast of prey watches his victim with a closer scrutiny than the Kanaka watches his employer. In his presence he makes every effort to appear active and useful; but the very moment he disappears, it is the signal for a general cessation of work, and one keeps a “look-out," while the group indulge in every variety of gossip. On the reappearance of their master, the sentinel gives the alarm, and every man is found to be at work as though he meant never again to lay down his implements. The employer may have watched them through a clump of foliage, or from the window of his house, and, on coming back, tell them of their remissness; but they will swear him out of the use of his eyes, and insist upon it that he was altogether mistaken.

But there was a special cause why these road-repairers recognized me as not being their supervisor, and that cause was the personal appearance and conduct of my horse. The characteristics which composed his animal nature I am perfectly at a loss to describe; but I did feel that, in making

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I found much difficulty

him, Nature had made a mistake. in getting him out of the town. Of this his owner had advised me; also, that he would do very well when fairly on the road. The first of the predictions was verified to the letter; the latter it was impossible, as yet, to realize. I was unable to decide whether or not the beast knew he had left the town two miles behind; but I was conscious that, so far, I had been compelled to work my passage. And when he arrived at that part of the road where repairs were going on, he positively refused to go another step. The laborers indulged in a good deal of mirth at my expense. But when the horse came to a dead halt, I was compelled to dismount, much to my own chagrin and the boisterous mirth of the natives.

I had already applied both whip and spur, until my limbs were fatigued. The day was very warm, and the perspiration actually streamed down into my boots. To have that horse stand and look me in the face with a dogged independence, and to see those natives fairly rolling with laughter on the rugged road, was more than my endurance could subserve. Feeling like losing some command over my temper, I examined the girth and appendages, and once more mounted. With all the strength of an excited arm, I applied my heavy ridingwhip to my steed; and in return, with all the independence of his nature, he madly and rapidly plunged and reared for the purpose of throwing me off. It was in vain; the ugliness of his temper only drew down upon him a heavier whipping.

It was a great relief to get away from those grimacing natives. My beast made a start at last. For the next two or three miles, and until after I had passed Alia-paakai, he would trot, walk, or come to a stand, just as it suited him; and when I arrived at an elevation of the road, he stood as still as a sculptured war-steed.

To be frank with the reader, I am constrained to admit that at that moment I felt placed in a very unenviable position. I lost all patience. My spur had broken down, and my arm was tired from using the whip.

Before this experiment in horsemanship, I had often cen

sured the prophet Balaam for his abuse of his ass. I had many a time pictured to myself the bearded prophet mounted on his beast, journeying to meet the king and the princess of Moab. I could see the old man urging along his steed, and the refractory steed endeavoring to urge its way back again, and, in its efforts, crush its master's foot against the wall of the vineyard.

Under such circumstances, Balaam lost his temper. It was no wonder. And he wished for a sword, that he might slay his beast.

Situated as I then was, I could freely forgive the incensed seer. At that moment I perfectly understood his case, and I exclaimed to myself, Henceforth and forever I can pity his misfortunes and forgive his weakness. If the prophet had possessed a sword, he would have left his beast breathless on the spot; and had I been in possession of a pistol at that moment, my sorry brute would never have baffled the efforts of another rider. The prophet was pardonable, and so was the ass; for the beast could see what his master could nota supernatural phenomenon. With my steed, however, it was not so; for I was well assured that the spirit of no Hawaiian warrior could come back to dispute my right of way to Waialua.

1

For the second time I dismounted, and commenced a speculation on patience. It occurred to me that the old adage, "Patience is a virtue," was undisputably true; but, at the same time, I was compelled to differ from some philosophers on what patience actually signified, and the conclusion I came to was simply this: that a man who never loses his patience has none to lose, and that its occasional test is a satisfactory evidence of its existence.

But Fortune-if the goddess yet lives-had not quite abandoned me; for, while philosophizing on patience, I casually turned to survey a part of the road I had traveled over, and two native horsemen came galloping along. Under the impression that my horse would travel in company with their own, I once more mounted him. It turned out to be a wise