Sandalwood in Hawaii — St. John 
19 
hiawa, cut in the near-by gulches and ridges 
and destined for the kitchen stoves of Hono¬ 
lulu. A considerable proportion of the logs 
were sandalwood. 
Numerous writers have recorded the deci¬ 
mation of the native forests on the Hawaiian 
Islands by many agents such as sandalwood 
cutters, grazing cattle, and fire, and by lum¬ 
bering for firewood, timber, or charcoal. 
Hence, there is no doubt that the forests, 
until the coming of the white man, covered 
a large portion of the islands. On Oahu the 
forest did not stop at the 1,000- or 1,500- 
foot line, but came down in places right to 
the sea. What trees made up this forest can¬ 
not be completely known, but the trees now 
found at the lower, drier edge of the forest 
probably combined to form a forest over 
part of this area. They are the koa ( Acacia 
Koa ), olopua ( Osmanthus sandwicensis ), 
iliahi ( Santalum Freycinetianum) , aalii 
(Dodonaea viscosa ), ohia ha ( Eugenia 
sandwicensis ), ohia lehua ( Metrosideros 
collina ssp. polymorpha vars.), pukeawe 
[Styphelia Tameiameiae) , kopiko [Straussia 
Mariniana ), and naupaka kuahiwi [Scaevola 
Gaudichaudiana ). The Leilehua or Scho¬ 
field plains between the two mountain for¬ 
ests were densely and continuously forested. 
On the lowest, driest slopes, an open forest 
or savanna doubtless spread, largely of wili- 
wili [Erythrina sandwicensis ) but also con¬ 
taining the ohe ( Reynoldsia sandwicensis). 
Charles S. Judd (1927: 43) expressed the 
opinion that the "sandalwood evidently 
never occurred in pure stands, but was found 
in small groups or as scattered individuals"; 
but Seemann (1853, vol. 2: 83) wrote of the 
splendid groves which formerly existed. To 
the writer, Judd’s conclusion seems a better 
description of the present status than a re¬ 
construction of the past. Professor J. F. 
Rock (1916: 13-14) had the same view as 
Seemann: 
Sandalwood must certainly have formed a large 
percentage of the tree growth in the drier regions 
or mixed forests, in the early days, before the 
value of the wood became known to the natives of 
these Islands. It must have existed in pure stands, 
or as forests, or it would have been next to impos¬ 
sible to export as much as $400,000 worth per 
annum. 
S. Freycinetianum has recovered so far to¬ 
day as to be common and widespread, and at 
numerous parts of Kawailoa, Waimea, and 
Kaunala, it now forms the lower forest at 
1,000 to 1,200 feet altitude. This is at the 
lower border of the present native forest, 
but not the natural lower limit of the sandal¬ 
wood in former times. As E. Y. Hosaka 
observed during his 92 trips from 1931 to 
1934 to study the vegetation of Kipapa 
Gulch, the sandalwood grew well there at 
the present lower edge of the forest at about 
1,200 feet altitude. Lower down on the 
sides of the gulch at 700 and 800 feet alti¬ 
tude there were other sandalwood trees, 
definitely healthier and more vigorous than 
those above. This was true despite the fact 
that the surroundings were nearly denuded 
of native plants and trees, and were more 
exposed, drier, and more eroded. 
The heaviest stands of former times were 
doubtless at lower elevations, below the Koa 
Forest Zone of that time. The existing out¬ 
lying stations of old trees as low as 500 feet 
elevation, and the greater luxuriance at 
lower elevations, give an indication of where 
the old sandalwood stands were. As is true 
today, there were small stands on ridges or 
dry habitats far up into the forested moun¬ 
tains up to 2,000 or 2,400 feet altitude. 
Doubtless the large stands grew at even 
lower elevations than those of today, ap¬ 
proaching or even reaching the shore in 
regions of moderate rainfall such as Kawai¬ 
loa and Waimea, at the northern end of the 
Koolau Range. To judge by the many thou¬ 
sands of piculs of heartwood gathered, san¬ 
dalwood must have been abundant. Hence, 
the writer deduces that there were heavy 
stands of sandalwood either abundant in, or 
dominant in, a forest zone from about 300 
