50 AROUND THE WORLD VIA INDIA. 



were in the islands 30,000 Japanese, 24,000 Chinese and 

 16.000 Portuguese, and since that time the number of 

 foreign laborers must have certainly rather increased 

 than otherwise, as there has been a considerable influx 

 from Porto Eico since the Spanish-American war. 



The effects of civilization on the natives has been 

 harmful as well as beneficial. The first missionaries 

 came to Honolulu in 1820, when it was a village of huts, 

 with 3,000 inhabitants. For a long time they labored 

 in vain, but in 1837 a strong religious movement swept 

 over the islands, and in a very few years paganism had 

 entirely disappeared, at least on the surface. Ee- 

 ligion. however, did not change the habits of the people 

 to any extent, for 



"Nothing is stronger than custom." — Ovid. 



The missionaries have brought these people the in- 

 estimable blessings of religion and education, but 



"No sooner is a temple built to God, but the 

 Devil builds a chapel near by." — Herbert. 



Education in Hawaii is now compulsory, and within 

 the reach of every child. There is no need for any 

 young man or woman to leave the islands for a good 

 general education, as Honolulu has most excellent 

 schools, including a college and high school. Churches 

 are numerous, both Catholic and Protestant. The 

 churches are better attended than in the states, and 

 the people pay closer attention to the worship than our 

 own. They are emotional and easily influenced for 

 right and wrong. On the whole, the moral status of the 

 Hawaiian would compare well with that of any of our 

 communities. On the other hand, the whites brought 

 to the islands the devastating infectious diseases which 

 have already destroyed nine-tenths of the population, 

 and which threaten complete extinction. The rum shops 

 and gambling are likewise the fruit of the white man's 

 invasion. Syphilis was unknown until the sailor and 

 the adventurer disgraced the soil of Hawaii. It must 



