49 



History of Botanical Exploration m Hawaii 



By Prof. Vaughan MacCaugiiey, College of Hawaii. 

 (Cofi eluded.) 



PERIOD IV. THE LATTER PERIOD. 



27. William Hillebrand, Hawaii's Greatest Botanist. 



As has been evident from the foregoing discussion, most of 

 the botanists who visited the Hawaiian Archipelago made but 

 comparatively brief stays in the Islands, collected in a few places, 

 and then worked up their material at leisure in places far remote 

 from the Pacific. The one man who made a prolonged residence 

 in the Islands, and a thorough survey of the entire flora, was 

 William Hillebrand. 



His Life. 



He was born in Nieheim, Westphalia, Nov. 13, 1821. His 

 education was of the typical German kind, terminating in univer- 

 sity studies at Gottingen, Heidelberg, and Berlin. He studied 

 medicine, and began his practice in Paderborn, a town near his 

 birthplace. A serious lung disease forced him to leave his native 

 country, in search of a more favorable climate. He sailed to 

 Australia, and after a brief stay there moved to Manila. The 

 climate of the latter place was distinctly unfavorable, and he was 

 soon compelled to renew his search for health. In a very serious 

 physical condition he engaged passage on a brig bound for San 

 h>ancisco. He was much benefited by his stay in California, 

 and from there he returned to Hawaii, where he had touched on 

 the east-bound voyage. 



Botanical Studies. 



In Honolulu he entirely regained his health, and he made that 

 city his home for a period of twenty years. He was an enthu- 

 siastic botanist, and visited all parts of the islands in search of 

 material. He surrounded his home in Nuuanu Valley with beau- 

 tiful gardens, which have remained famous to this day as "The 

 liillebrand Gardens." These are filled with choice exotics from 

 all parts of the tropics, and contain many rare specimens to be 

 found in no other parts of the islands. Dr. Hillebrand was active 

 in many responsible positions. He was physician for the 

 Queen's Hospital and the Insane Asylum; an active member of 

 the Board of Health and the Royal Hawaiian Agricultural So- 

 ciety ; a member of the Privy Council of King Kamehameha V, 

 and his private physician. 



