Sandalwood in Hawaii — St. John 
9 
Journal No. 5 
2 Dec. 1819. Poqui [Boki] buys boat of Capt. 
Luis for twice its full of Sanlegue [sandalwood]. 
19 March 1821. This day Craymoca [Kalani- 
moku] started to collect sandalwood and Poqui 
[Boki] for Quallanae [Waianae]. 
22 Oct. 1821. Pitt [Billy Pitt or Kalanimoku, 
the king’s prime minister and treasurer] bought 
schooner "Asta” for 1280 Piculs of Sanlegud [san¬ 
dalwood]. 
Journal No. 6 
15 Jan. 1822. Sandalwood for caulking. 
8 Aug. 1822. Embarked sandalwood on ship 
America. 
It will readily be seen that these historic 
documents are incomplete and lack details 
as to the exact localities where the sandal¬ 
wood trees grew. 
The tax levies increased, becoming more 
and more exacting, and as all chroniclers 
agree, they became an intolerable burden on 
the people. As the easily accessible sandal¬ 
wood stands had been felled, the people had 
to climb farther and farther into the wet, 
cold mountain forests and the quests were 
no longer like idyllic song fests. The people 
were driven to the task, and many died of 
exposure in the mountains. While they 
were away in the interior, crops and taro 
patches were neglected, so that famine came 
to the islands and took its toll of the king’s 
subjects. 
Eventually the shipments decreased and 
the wood gathered was smaller and of poor 
quality. In 1828-29, 13,000 piculs of san¬ 
dalwood were shipped. In 1830-31 the 
shipments, wholly of small and crooked 
sticks, brought only $1.50 a picul. This 
poor yield finished the sandalwood trade in 
the Hawaiian Islands. Says Mesick (1934: 
140): 
A few years later [than 1825], seeing that the sup¬ 
ply was rapidly diminishing, the government took 
steps to conserve it; but despite this tardy measure 
it is only occasionally that sandalwood trees are 
found in the Hawaiian forests. 
A similar summary (Kuykendall and 
Gregory, 1926: 116-117) reads: 
The reckless way in which the trees were cut de¬ 
stroyed the forests. Very little effort was made to 
preserve the young trees or to replace those which 
were cut down. In a few years sandalwood almost 
disappeared from the islands. Even to-day, a hun¬ 
dred years after the trade was at its height, only 
a few small groves are to be found. 
These statements emphasize the depletion 
of the stands of sandalwood, but exaggerate 
the present scarcity. 
bennett’s locality for sandalwood 
Since locality records given by the earlier 
botanists and explorers are few and are often 
lacking in detail, in general they are not 
quoted here. However, there is one of real 
interest. Dr. George Bennett (or Bennet) 
was a British physician who accompanied 
the Rev. Daniel Tyerman on a world tour. 
A detailed and readable report on the Chris¬ 
tian missions and also an account of their 
general observations was edited by James 
Montgomery (1831). The pair visited 
many island groups, some very remote. In 
the decade after their return to England, 
Bennett published several scientific or botan¬ 
ical accounts; then, after settling in Aus¬ 
tralia, he continued work in natural history. 
While in England he published "An account 
of the sandal wood tree” (1832). A speci¬ 
men of Santalum which he had collected on 
Oahu was deposited with his other collec¬ 
tions in the Botanical Museum at Berlin- 
Dahlem; no other herbarium seems to have 
any duplicates of his collections. 
Professor J. F. Rock (1916: 19-21) stud¬ 
ied this specimen in Berlin and stated in his 
notes that it agreed perfectly with an authen¬ 
tic Gaudichaud specimen of S. Freycine- 
tianum Gaud. The data are: "Santalum, 
Sandalwood Tree, Native name Iliahi or 
Lauhala. Wouhala, Oahu, Sandwich Islands, 
December, 1830. The tree is of slow growth 
and inhabits elevated and rocky situations. 
