Hawaii's Story by Hawaii's Queen Read online

  Published by the Charles E. Tuttle Company, Inc.

  of Rutland, Vermont & Tokyo, Japan

  with editorial offices at

  Yaekari Building 3rd Floor, 5-4-12 Osaki

  Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo 141-0032.

  Copyright in Japan, 1964, by Charles E. Tuttle Co., Inc.

  All rights reserved.

  Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 63-23301

  International Standard Book No. 978-1-4629-0197-5

  First Tuttle edition published, 1964

  Twenty-eighth Printing, 1991

  PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES

  CONTENTS

  LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS xiii

  PUBLISHER'S FOREWORD xv

  CHAPTERS

  I. A SKETCH OF MY CHILDHOODA 1

  II. SOME INCIDENTS OF MY YOUTHS 10

  III. KAMEHAMEHA IV 16

  IV. MY MARRIED LIFE 22

  V. HAWAIIAN MUSIC, AND A DUCAL GUEST 30

  VI. KAMEHAMEHA V 35

  VII. QUEEN EMMA 43

  VIII. KING KALAKAUA 52

  IX. HEIR APPARENT 56

  X. MY FIRST VISIT TO THE UNITED STATES 61

  XI. MAUNA LOA 69

  XII. KALAKAUA'S TOUR OF THE WORLD 75

  XIII. MY REGENCY 79

  XIV. A SERIOUS ACCIDENT 86

  XV. KALAKAUA'S RETURN 93

  XVI. CORONATION CEREMONIES 100

  XVII. PRINCESS RUTH AND MRS. BERNICE PAUAHI BISHOP 106

  XVIII. BENEVOLENT SOCIETIES 111

  XIX. QUEEN KAPIOLAIN'S JOURNEY 116

  XX. WASHINGTON—THE WHITE HOUSE—MOUNT VERNON 121

  XXI. BOSTON AND NEW YORK—EN ROUTE TO ENGLAND 128

  XXII. ARRIVAL—LIVERPOOL—SOME ENGLISH TOWNS 135

  XXIII. SOVEREIGN OF ENGLAND AND INDIA 142

  XXIV. THE RECEPTION AT THE FOREIGN OFFICE 147

  XXV. THE JUBILEE—AT THE ABBEY—AT THE PALACE 151

  XXVI. THE PRINCE OF WALES, "GRAND MASTER" MASON 160

  XXVII. ENGLAND'S HOMES AND HOSPITALITY 164

  XXVIII. ILL NEWS FROM HAWAII—OUR RETURN 171

  XXIX. "THE BAYONET CONSTITUTION" 177

  XXX. INVITED TO CONSPIRE AGAINST THE KING 185

  XXXI. THE KING THREATENED AND OPPRESSED 191

  XXXII. ATTEMPTED REVOLUTION 198

  XXXIII. THE KING'S DEPARTURE—AGAIN REGENT 202

  XXXIV. THE KING'S RETURN—MY ACCESSION 208

  XXXV. THE LAST SLEEP—LYING IN STATE 213

  XXXVI. MY CABINET—PRINCESS KAIULANI 217

  XXXVII. MY HUSBAND MADE PRINCE CONSORT—HIS DEATH 220

  XXXVIII. HAWAIIANS PLEAD FOR A NEW CONSTITUTION 226

  XXXIX. THE "CRIMES I AM CHARGED WITHAL" 237

  XL. OVERTHROW OF THE MONARCHY 243

  XLI. SOME IMPORTANR INQUIRIES 252

  XLII. ATTEMPT TO RESTORE THE MOARCHY 262

  XLIII. I AM PLACED UNDER ARREST 267

  XLIV. IMPRISONMENT—FORCED ABDICATION 273

  XLV. BROUGHR TO TRIAL 278

  XLVÍ. SENTENCED—MY PRISON LIFE 289

  XLVII. RELESED ON PAROLE 295

  XLVIII. MR. JOSEPH KAHOOLUHI NAWAHI 300

  XLIX. A CHANGE OF SCENE TO FORGET SORROW 305

  L. A NEW ENGLEAND WINTER 313

  LI. WASHINGTON—PSEUDO-HAWAIIANS 322

  LII. PRESIDENT AND MRS. CLEVELAND 335

  LIII. INAUGURATION OF PRESIDENT MCKINLEY 341

  LIV. MY LITERARY OCCUPATION 349

  LV. MY OFFICIAL PROTEST TO THE TREATY 354

  LVI. THE TREATY ANALYZED 358

  LVII. HAWAIIAN AUTONOMY 366

  APPENDIX A. 375

  APPENDIX B. 376

  APPENDIX C. 394

  APPENDIX D. 396

  APPENDIX E. 399

  APPENDIX F. 404

  APPENDIX G. 408

  EPILOGUE 411

  BIBLIOGRAPHY 413

  LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

  HER MAJESTY, QUEEN LILIUOKALANI, Constitutional Queen of Hawaii................Frontispiece.

  HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS, THE PRINCE CONSORT, GEN. JOHN OWEN DOMINIS, GOVERNOR OF OAHU................opposite Frontispiece.

  Grand Commander of the Royal Order of Kamehameha.

  Grand Commander of the Royal Order of Kalakaua.

  Grand Commander of the Royal Order of Crown of Hawaii.

  Grand Commander of the Order of the Star of Oceanic.

  Grand Commander of the Order of Francis Joseph.

  Grand Commander of the Royal Order of Isabella Katolic.

  Grand Commander of the Royal Order of the Rising Sun and of the Chrysanthemum.

  WASHINGTON PLACE..............page 22

  The private residence of Liliuokalani, originally the home and property of Mrs. Dominis, mother of the Prince Consort, J. O. Dominis.

  BERNICE PAUAHI BISHOP MUSEUM ..............page 42

  HIS MAJESTY, KING KALAKAUA..................page 50

  A VIEW ON THE ROAD TO THE VOLCANO KILAUFA . . page 74

  KING KALAKAUA, HIS CABINET AND STAFF..........page 92

  IOLANI PALACE PALACE (Front view)..........page 102

  "My palace was my prison." In the room at the right hand corner on the second story Liliuokalani, Queen of Hawaii, was imprisoned. The long low-roofed building at the east side of the palace is the" Bungalow" to which frequent reference has been made.

  PRINCESS KIAULANI, The Niece of Liliuokalani, and the Heir- Apparent of Hawaii............page 116

  THE FISH POND. Scenery on the Estate of Princess Kaiulani, page 122

  HER MAJESTY, QUEEN KAPIOLANI. The Dowager Queen, and Widow of King Kalakaua..........page 142

  GOVERNMENT BUILDING............page 186

  FUNERAL PROCESSION OF KING KALAKAUA.....page 210

  KING KALAKAUA LYING IN STATE................page 216

  The throne room of the palace. The widowed queen is standing, and the Princess Poomaikelani, her sister, is sitting by the king's casket. The plume standards are Kahilis, which are emblems of royalty and nobility.

  HANALEI VALLEY, ON THE ISLAND OF KAUAI .... page 222

  KING STREET, WITH GOVERNMENT BUILDING AND OPERA HOUSE.................page 232

  The car obstructs the view of Arion Hall, where the American troops were stationed—less than two hundred feet from the palace. When Mr. Poepoe and Mr. Walker protested against their occupancy, Mr. Stevens replied, "We are here, and we mean to stay."

  PALACE SQUARE IN FRONT OF IOLANI PALACE .... page 252

  This view is near the place where the men from the Boston drew into line Jan. 16, 1893. The face of Admiral Skerrett is blurred. The man in white with his hand to his hat is President Dole. Next to him is Captain Wiltze, and in front facing Admiral Brown is Lieutenant Washburne. To the right of the admiral, and wearing a light colored derby, stands H. W. Severance, United States Consul during the time of Minister Stevens.

  THE QUEEN'S GUARDS AND THE BARRACKS.....page 268

  THE THRONE ROOM.............page 286

  Here all receptions of State were held, here King Kalakaua's body lay in state, and here the Provisional Government held the trial of her majesty Liliuokalani, and compelled her to sign her abdication.

  HER MAJESTY, QUEEN LILIUOKALANI: WITH HER LADY-IN-WAITING AND HAWAIAN SECRETARY.........page 306

  DISBANDMENT OF THE ROYAL HOUSEHOLD GUARDS . . page 380

  Mr. Soper, representing the Provisional Government, reads their dismissal, with Captain Nowlein in command of the guard by his side.

  PUBLISHER'S FOREWORD

  In accordance with our policy of making available significant out-of-print books pertaining to the Pacific area, we are reprinting this story of 19th-century Hawaii. Originally published in 1898, it has long been
unobtainable. Hawaii's Story by Hawaii's Queen could as aptly be called The Queen's Story of Hawaii, for here is a compelling and personal account of the last years of a monarchy that was inevitably and inexorably swept along toward democracy. Told with pride in, and love for, her royal predecessors as well as her people, the facts of Queen Liliuokalani's account do not differ from those of other writers and historians of the era, but her presentation, naturally enough, is colored by her deep affection and loyalty.

  Liliuokalani would have been an outstanding woman in any age, any country. What is most amazing is that a woman of Victorian times, born and educated in a tiny Pacific island kingdom at the time when its written language was less than twenty years old, could attain such a level of knowledge, understanding, and accomplishment. The answer is undoubtedly the combination of her natural intelligence, her eagerness to learn, her deeply religious zeal, and her sympathy and love for her subjects.

  A paradoxical personality—imperious, warmhearted, stubborn, modest, poised, devout—Liliuokalani believed firmly in the divine right of absolute monarchy, yet she personally organized and supported efforts to improve the native Hawaiians' health, welfare, and education in an age when more "advanced" rulers did relatively less. She traveled, observed, and learned in both the United States and Europe, where she met in regal style the royalty and leaders of all the countries she visited. An honored guest at Queen Victoria's Jubilee in 1887, she continued her friendship with the queen until Victoria's death. President and Mrs. McKinley entertained Liliuokalani both publicly and privately. A lavish and generous hostess, even by Hawaii's fabulous standards, she entertained many world-famous figures at her various homes. The Duke of Edinburgh, Victoria's son, was a memorable visitor, and it is said that the luau she gave in his honor at her Waikiki villa has never been surpassed.

  If Liliuokalani had never done more than follow her avocation as a musical composer, she would be forever famed as the writer of the once-heard-never-forgotten "Aloha Oe." And this is only one of her many musical works.

  The great qualities of her character are most clearly revealed in the final chapter of the book. Deposed, retired, widowed, she begs for understanding, not of herself but of her cause: Hawaiian autonomy. Without rancor or passion and in simple and eloquent manner, she states her case and pleads that the American conscience judge. It is an especially moving document despite the fact that a Hawaiian kingdom was a political and practical impossibility in a world where smaller entities could no longer prevail against or compete with the ever-growing great powers.

  Now that Hawaii is the fiftieth American state, Liliuokalani's story is part of the American heritage, and, to place it in its frame, a brief background setting is necessary.

  Uncounted centuries ago the Hawaiian archipelago burst through the then unnamed Pacific Ocean from a submerged volcano, and during many more hundreds of years the resultant rock mass gradually became verdant land, unknown and uninhabited for possibly an equally long period. One theory is that the first settlers were migrant seafarers from Polynesia around the 5th century A.D. Evidence of their existence is found in temple remains, fish ponds, and irrigation canals. These first settlers vanished mysteriously at some later date, and it was not until about A.D. 1000 that a second migratory group arrived—this time, it is believed, from Tahiti. The newcomers were a very different type—rulers, warriors, priests—and they settled on the various islands, bringing with them their amazing collection of awe-inspiring gods, superstitions, and taboos. Since they did not read or write, only their chants remain to tell of their fierce and constant warfare through the next several centuries. Corroboration is found in the accounts of the first white men to visit the islands. Captain Cook is credited with their discovery in 1778, although it is likely that unrecorded white men had landed there a hundred or two hundred years before. Cook, who was killed on the big island, Hawaii, named the archipelago after his patron, the Earl of Sandwich, and for many years and on old maps and charts they were known as the Sandwich Islands. After a lapse of some years, other white explorers began to arrive at these islands, and two of them —an American and an Englishman—were captured by the Hawaiians and eventually made chiefs. These men later became influential advisers to Kamehameha I, the warrior who during this period succeeded in conquering and uniting all the islands under his rule and that of his successors.

  The influence of the white man led to an interest in the Christian faith on the part of the native rulers, and after the conversion of some of the chiefs the old idols and taboos were overthrown. The moment was appropriate for the arrival of the first missionary group in 1820—a band of about twenty sturdy Congregationalist New Englanders. Their efforts and successes in teaching and converting were crowned by their establishment of the first Hawaiian alphabet. The Hawaiians' ardent desire to read and write accounts for their achieving widespread literacy in an incredibly brief space of time. Gratitude toward the missionaries led the rulers to seek their guidance in other fields —government, agriculture, public health, commerce—and their advice became a dominating factor in the life of the islands.

  Naturally not all was idyllic in the development of this island kingdom to a modern American state. Opposing the missionary viewpoint were business and shipping interests, adventurers from many nations. Disease and disaster struck in these beguiling islands as elsewhere in the world. Political differences arose, were settled, and arose again. External influences, however, gradually weakened the monarchist hold, and during the next sixty to seventy years various constitutions were promulgated, lessening the kings' power. Good and bad rulers came and went, and eventually the greater strength of the white man, along with other pressures, brought about the situation and the events of the story so movingly told in the following pages by Liliuokalani, Hawaii's last monarch.

  HAWAII'S STORY

  CHAPTER I

  A SKETCH OF MY CHILDHOOD

  THE extinct crater or mountain which forms the background to the city of Honolulu is known as the Punch-Bowl; at its base is situated the Queen's Hospital, so named because of the great interest taken in its erection by Emma, the queen of Kamehameha IV. Funds for the cause were solicited by the reigning sovereigns in person, and the hospital building was completed in 1860. Very near to its site, on Sept. 2, 1838, I was born. My father's name was Kapaakea, and my mother was Keohokalole; the latter was one of the fifteen counsellors of the king, Kamehameha III., who in 1840 gave the first written constitution to the Hawaiian people. My great-grandfather, Keawe-a-Heulu, the founder of the dynasty of the Kamehamehas, and Keoua, father of Kamehameha I., were own cousins (he was also brother of Mrs. Bishop's ancestress, Hakau), and my great-grandaunt was the celebrated Queen Kapiolani, one of the first converts to Christianity. She plucked the sacred berries from the borders of the volcano, descended to the boiling lava, and there, while singing Christian hymns, threw them into the lake of fire. This was the act which broke forever the power of Pele, the fire-goddess, over the hearts of her people. Those interested in genealogies are referred to the tables at the close of this volume, which show the descent of our family from the highest chiefs of ancient days. It has often happened in the history of nations that the most eminent men have won the crown, and then, instead of ascending the throne, have placed the executive office in the hands of another. Kamehameha I. was, indeed, the founder of Hawaiian unity, and worthy of the surname of the Great; but it is truthfully recorded in the early histories of the Islands, —those written by such men as Mr. Pogue, Mr. Dibble, and others, —that he owed his selection for the monarchy to the chiefs from whom the latest reigning family, my own, is descended. This indebtedness was fully recognized during the life of that monarch.

  Naihe, the husband of Kapiolani, was the great orator of the king's reign; his father, Keawe-a-Heulu, was chief counsellor to Kamehameha I.; while had it not been for the aid of the two chiefs, Keeaumoku and Kameeiamoku, cousins of the chief counsellor, the Hawaiian Islands must have remained for a long time, if not un
til this day, in a state of anarchy. My grandfather, Aikanaka, had charge of the guns of the fort on Punch-Bowl Hill, which had been brought from the larger island of Hawaii; as the chiefs, their families, and followers had settled here from the time of the final battle, when all the forces contending against Kamehameha I. were driven over the Pali.

  For the purpose of enhancing the value of their own mission, it has been at times asserted by foreigners that the abundance of the chief was procured by the poverty of his followers. To any person at all familiar, either by experience or from trustworthy tradition, with the daily life of the Hawaiian people fifty years ago, nothing could be more incorrect than such assumption. The chief whose retainers were in any poverty or want would have felt, not only their sufferings, but, further, his own disgrace. As was then customary with the Hawaiian chiefs, my father was surrounded by hundreds of his own people, all of whom looked to him, and never in vain, for sustenance. He lived in a large grass house surrounded by smaller ones, which were the homes of those the most closely connected with his service. There was food enough and to spare for every one. And this was equally true of all his people, however distant from his personal care. For the chief always appointed some man of ability as his agent or overseer. This officer apportioned the lands to each Hawaiian, and on these allotments were raised the taro, the potatoes, the pigs, and the chickens which constituted the living of the family; even the forests, which furnished the material from which was made the tapa cloth, were apportioned to the women in like manner. It is trué that no one of the common people could mortgage or sell his land, but the wisdom of this limitation is abundantly proved by the homeless condition of the Hawaiians at the present day. Rent, eviction of tenants, as understood in other lands, were unknown; but each retainer of any chief contributed in the productions 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 married to Paki, also â high chief; their only daughter, Bernice Pauahi, afterwards Mrs. Charles R. Bishop, was therefore my foster-sister. In speaking of our relationship, I have adopted the term customarily used in the English language, but there was no such modification recognized in my native land. I knew no other father or mother than my foster-parents, no other sister than Bernice. I used to climb up on the knees of Paki, put my arms around his neck, kiss him, and he caressed me as a father would his child; while on the contrary, when I met my own parents, it was with perhaps more of interest, yet always with the demeanor I would have shown to any strangers who noticed me. My own father and mother had other children, ten in all, the most of them being adopted into other chiefs' families; and although I knew that these were my own brothers and sisters, yet we met throughout my younger life as though we had not known our common parentage. This was, and indeed is, in accordance with, Hawaiian customs. It is not easy to explain its origin to those alien to our national life, but it seems perfectly natural to us. As intelligible a reason as can be given is that this alliance by adoption cemented the ties of friendship between the chiefs. It spread to the common people, and it has doubtless fostered a community of interest and harmony.