IQS HAWAII. [letter xx. J 



and after more water had been added it was poured into cocoa- 

 nut calabashes, and handed round. Its appearance eventuallyi 

 was like weak, frothy coffee and milk. The appearance of: 

 purely animal gratification on the faces of those who drank it, 

 instead of being poetic, was of the low, gross earth. Heads! 

 thrown back, lips parted with a feeble, sensual smile, eyes hazy, 

 and unfocussed, arms folded on the breast, and the mental 

 faculties numbed and sliding out of reach. 



Those who drink it pass through the stage of idiocy into a 

 deep sleep, which it is said can be reproduced once without 

 an extra dose, by bathing in cold water. Confirmed awa' 

 drinkers might be mistaken for lepers, for they are covered i 

 with whitish scales, and have inflamed eyes and a leathery skin, : 

 for the epidermis is thickened and whitened, and eventually 

 peels off. The habit has been adopted by not a few whites, i 

 especially on Hawaii, though, of course, to a certain extent i 

 clandestinely. Awa is taken also as a medicine, and was 

 supposed to be a certain cure for corpulence. 



The root and base of the stem are the parts used, and it is 

 best when these are fresh. It seems to exercise a powerful . 

 fascination, and to be loved and glorified as whisky is in I 

 Scotland, and wine in southern Europe. In some of the other 

 islands of Polynesia, on festive occasions, when the chewed 

 root is placed in the calabash, and the water is poured on, the | 

 whole assemblage sings appropriate songs in its praise ; and 

 this is kept up until the decoction has been strained to its | 

 dregs. But here, as the using it as a beverage is an illicit pro- 

 cess, a great mystery attends it. It is said that awa drinking 

 is again on the increase, and with the illicit distillation of 

 unwholesome spirits, the illicit sale of imported spirits and the 

 opium smoking, the consumption of stimulants and narcotics 

 on the islands is very considerable.* 



To turn from drink to climate. It is strange that with such 

 a heavy rainfall, dwellings built on the ground and never dried 

 by fires should be so perfectly free from damp as they are. On 

 seeing the houses here and in Honolulu, buried away in dense 

 foliage, my first thought was, " how lovely in summer, but how ' 

 unendurably damp in winter," forgetting that I arrived in the 

 nominal winter, and that it is really summer all the year. Lest 

 you should think that I am exaggerating the charms of the 



* According to the revenue returns for the biennial period ending March 

 31, 1874, the revenue derived from cava was over $9000, and that from 

 opium over $46,000. 



