496 AUSTRALASIA. 



Anglicans, Methodists, and Catholics, followed by local revolutions and the inter- 

 vention ol foreign powers, kept the archipelago in a state of ferment for many years. 



As in most other Polynesian groups the indigenous population is steadily 

 decreasing, having fallen from perhaps three hundred thousand at the time of the 

 discovery in 1778 to forty thousand in 1884. The natives are now being replaced 

 by the immigration of foreigners of all nationalities, who already outnumber the 

 aboriginal element, which must rapidly disappear by extinction and absorption 

 amongst the new arrivals. To the other causes of decay was added in 1848 the 

 terrible scourge of leprosy, here called mai pake, or "Chinese malady," which is 

 absolutely incurable. When attacked by the loathsome disease the patients are 

 removed to the island of Molokai, between Maui and Oahu, where about 800 are 

 usually confined till relieved of their sufferings by death. Amongst recent victims 

 was the heroic Catholic priest, Father Damien, who had voluntarily selected this 

 island prison as the field of his religious administration. 



In virtue of a reciprocity treaty with the United States the foreign trade of the 

 archipelago is almost monopolised by North America. Even the exchanges with 

 Europe are made chiefly by the overland route, by which Honolulu may be reached 

 from London in about twenty-four days. In the islands of Hawaii and Maui a few 

 short railways have been opened, while the postal, telegraph, and telephone services 

 are more developed than in most European states. All the natives without excep- 

 tion can read and write, and at the Paris Exhibition of 1878 Hawaii was awarded 

 the grand prize for primary instruction. 



Hilo, the capital of the island of Hawaii, lies on a bay open to the north-east 

 trade winds, and partly silted up with alluvial deposits. A more convenient position 

 is occupied by Lahaina, chief town of Maui, on a roadstead sheltered by the islands 

 of Lauai and Kalulaui. Honolulu, capital of Oahu, and of the whole archipelago, 

 is well protected from the dominant winds by an amphitheatre of hills, and from 

 the variable currents by a double line of fringing reefs. Since its discover}^ in 

 1794 Honolulu has completely superseded the old capital, Kailua, on the west 

 coast of Hawaii, north of the bay where Cook was murdered. From the sea little 

 is visible of the town, which is scattered over some square miles of gardens, orange 

 groves, and forest trees. The roadstead is commanded on the east side by the 

 extinct volcano of Diamond Head, and at the back of the city rises the jjerfectly 

 regular cone known by the name of the " Punch-bowl." Honolulu is the centre of 

 the intellectual movement in the archipelago, and here are issued nearh^ all the 

 local English and native newspapers. 



According to the constitution of 1887 Hawaii is a constitutional monarchy, 

 with two chambers, both elected by all citizens whether native or foreign, the 

 Upper House for six, the Lower for two years. 



The official Kanaka (Hawaiian) language is being gradually replaced by 

 English, already the chief medium of intercourse throughout the Pacific Ocean. 

 The schools are constituted on the model of the American system, the schoolbooks, 

 weights, measures, and currency are American, and the group itself is practically 



