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THE  VALUE  OF  THE  HAWAIIAN  FOREST. 
A Paper  read  by  Mrs.  F.  M.  Swanzy  at  the  First  Meeting  of  the 
Woman’s  National  Rivers  and  Harbors  Congress  of  Hawaii , 
March  31st , 1909. 
What  was  the  primeval  forest  of  Hawaii  nei  ? One  of  the  early 
historians  stated  some  seventy  years  ago  that  “the  Hawaiian  for- 
ests are  usually  very  dense  and  the  trees  overgrown  with  masses  of 
fern  and  parasitical  vines  thickly  interlaced  and  spreading  their 
shoots  in  all  directions,  which  makes  it  a task  of  great  difficulty 
to  penetrate  their  recesses” ; he  also  mentioned  “the  upland  region 
of  Kauai,  cold  and  wet,  supporting  a heavy  growth  of  timber  fre- 
quented only  by  wood  cutters.”  Mrs.  Judd  writes  in  1830  of  the 
Health  Station  at  Waimea,  Hawaii,  and  the  “long  walk  through 
a thickly  tangled  forest  muddy  with  frequent  rains  and  the 
trampling  of  the  wild  cattle,”  beyond  which  “the  sun  and  day- 
light shone  once  more.”  Other  writers  of  the  time  refer  to  the 
heavily  wooded  country  on  the  windward  side  of  the  islands,  so 
that  it  is  not  difficult  to  evolve  a mental  picture  of  the  original 
forest  sweeping  down  the  stately  slopes  of  Mauna  Kea  to  the 
precipitous  cliffs  of  the  Hamakua  coast,  or  from  the  mountains 
above  Lihue  (Kauai)  reaching  almost  to  the  white  sands  of  the 
beach.  This  vision  brings  with  it  a thought  of  regret  that  in 
their  primeval  luxuriance  these  forests  are  largely  a thing  of  the 
past,  and  the  same  thrill  of  regret  comes  as  one  rides  up  the  long 
curves  of  Haleakala  above  Makawao,  where  are  still  to  be  seen 
vestiges  of  great  koa  groves.  Gaze  on  our  own  Nuuanu  val 
ley  with  a sigh  for  the  beautifully  shaded  groups  of  koa  and 
kukui  that  once  clustered  thickly  there.  A century  ago  sandal- 
wood was  abundant,  and  in  order  to  pay  certain  debts  of  the  king 
and  country,  its  collection  was  industriously  enforced  on  all  the 
islands  and  vast  quantities  were  gathered  together.  “From 
1810  to  1825  the  sandalwood  trade  was  at  its  height,  and  it  was 
sold  in  Canton  for  incense  or  manufacture  of  fancy  articles. 
While  it  lasted  this  wood  was  a mine  of  wealth  to  the  king  and 
chiefs  who  bought  by  its  means  guns  and  ammunition,  liquors, 
boats  and  schooners,  as  well  as  silks  and  other  Chinese  goods  for 
which  they  paid  exorbitant  prices.”  Liholiho’s  monopoly  of  the 
trade  was  carried  to  a disastrous  extent,  $80,000  in  sandalwood 
having  been  paid  for  the  one  item  of  “Cleopatra’s  barge,”  a yacht 
sent  out  from  Boston.  As  a result,  this  tree  was  almost  exter- 
minated and  is  now  to  be  found  only  in  small  numbers.  It  is  a 
far  cry  from  those  old  days  to  these  but  the  point  of  view  of  senti- 
ment specially  appeals  to  those  of  us  who  are  kamaaina,  children 
of  the  land,  although  to  all  gathered  here  today,  the  question  of 
the  destruction  of  the  ancient  forest  by  one  means  or  another  and 
its  disasterous  results  must  be  of  the  greatest  interest. 
