SANDWICH ISLANDS.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 4411, 10 May 1875, Page 3

SANDWICH ISLANDS.

TO THE EDITOK. Sin, —As considerable attention is being paid just now to the various islands in the Pacific, you may perhaps consider the following particulars regarding the Hawaiian or Sandwich Islands, which I gathered during the brief stay of the steamer at Honolulu, worthy of a place in your columns on some occasion when more interesting matter may not be at hand. The group consists of eight islands, having an area- of 4,000,000 acres. Hawaii is the largest, and contains 2,500,000 acres, with a population of 16,000. The island of Oahu, on which Honolulu is situated, has 350,000 acres and a population of 20,671, of which number 14,852 are in Honolulu. The total population of the whole group in 1872, according to the census taken in that year, was 56,897 ; this number comprised 49,044 natives, 2487 halfcastes, 1938 Chinamen, 889 Americans, 619 English, 849 Hawaiians born of foreign parents, and 1071 Germans, French, and other foreigners. The natives have decreased 7234 since 1866, and the foreigners have increased by 1172 since that date ; during the same period the half-castes have also increased by 847.

The chief products of the group are sugar, rice, coffee, hides, tallow, and wool. The total value of exports in 1874 amounted to £311,071; the value has remained pretty stationary at about this amount ever since 1865.

The following are the details of the principal items exported in 1874 : —Sugar, 10,967 tons ; molasses, 90,060 gallons ; paddy, 192 tons ; rice, 530 tons ; coffee, 75,4961b5.; salt, 730 tons ; fungus, 50,9551b5. ; bananas, 6494 bunches; beef, 117 barrels ; goatskins, 71,955 in number ; hides, 22,620 in number ; tallow, 125,5961b5. ; *pulu, 418,3201h5.; wool, 399,926 lbs. The total value of imports in 1874 amounted to £237,237. The greater part were received from the United States, Germany, Great Britain, and • Australia and New Zealand, the total value from each being as under : ■ From the United States, £154,290 ; Germany, £30,013 ; Great Britain, £18,636 ; Australia and New Zealand, £8928. The merchants and planters complain of the dulness of business at the present time, but they expect great improvement to result from the reciprocity treaty with the United States, which is now under negotiation between the two Governments. The draft treaty has not been made public yet, but it is generally understood that it will provide for the admission of sugar and other Hawaiian produce into the United States free of duty, in consideration of American produce and manufactures being admitted into Hawaii free of duty. The sugar now produced from the Hawaiian plantations is of superior quality, being white and crystalline, and I therefore think that American sugar producers in the Southern States, and especially the sugar refiners in San Francisco, will use all their influence to oppose the treaty. _ Should they be successful in this opposition, it is not at all improbable that the Hawaiian Government, in their anxiety to find a profitable market for the produce of the islands, may make overtures to Australia and New Zealand for commercial reciprocity. . There are fifty-four Hawaiian registered vessels, of 8101 tons. Sixteen of these, mostly barques and brigs, are engaged in the foreign trade, and the remainder are coasters. The group is of volcanic formation, the hills being high and peaked, and those in Oahu (the only ones I saw closely) are deeply furrowed from summit to base, but everywhere covered with verdure. The earth is of a dark chocolate color, similar to the soil around Auckland, and the garden and plantation fences for the most part are formed of scoria. The temperature ranges from 67° to 87° ; the mean for the year 1874 was 67° s'. The total rainfall in 1874 was 53'78 inches. The greatest fall was 11-05 inches in the month of February, and the least 0-32, in August. These results are from the published meteorological record kept at the Haliakala boys’ school, East Maui. The form of government established in the group is a Constitutional Monarchy, of which Kin" David Kalakana is the head. He is assisted by a Privy Council of State and a Cabinet, comprising Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Interior, Finance, and an AttorneyGeneral. The annual revenue averages about, £BO,OOO, i and is derived from duties on imports, and from a tax of one-half of 1 per cent, on real and personal property, and from store licenses, rents, &c. The public debt is £80,000;; but efforts are now being made to increase it. 1 Kamehameha 1., a powerful chief through his successes as a warrior, .was the first King. He commenced his reign in 1782, and reigned, thirty-seven years. Kamehameha 11. reigned five years ; his successor, also a Kamehameha, reigned for twenty-one years ; then followed two other Karnehameha’s —IV. and V.—one reigning eight and the other nine years. Following the Kamehameha’s came Lunalilo, who reigned little over a year. It is said that he was seldom sober, so that his weakness for alcoholic drinks probably accounts for the shortness of his reign. The present King is not a lineal descendant of the late reigning dynasty, but was elected by the Council and Nobles against the wish—it is said—of the people at large, who were in favor of the Dowager Queen Emma. This want of unanimity among the governed must greatly weaken the influence of the new King, and will probably pave the way for the abolition of the kingly office, and the advent of an entirely * Polu—This Is a product of tho tree-fern, and Is classed as moss. Its use being for upholstery, In which it has been found to give satisfaction, especially in colder climates. The tree-fern, which produces It, grows luxuriantly on the highlands of Hawaii, frequently stretching to a height of forty or fifty feet. Although tho fern grows abundantly on every island in the Pacific Ocean, in no other group has it been found to produce the excellent product it yields here. Pulu la a silky substance of a brownish color, which envelopes the young fronds of tho plant. When dried it possesses a softness and elasticity that well adapt it for mattresses, pillows, &0., for which it has been used by the natives from timo immemorial. In northern latitudes, it possesses tho warmth and characteristics of feathers, which recommends It for mattresses. Tho market value of the article here varies from 7 to 9 cents pec pound,—Hawaiian OoJKttl.

new state of things, in which American influence is sure to play an important part. To a stranger arriving at Honolulu for the first time, the whole form of government, with its King, Court, and Nobles, for a population of less than 60,000 souls, appears very like a mere travestie on the time-honored institutions of the old and powerful States of Europe, and impresses him with a feeling that it cannot last long. There are almost always two or three men-of-war of different nationalities in the barbor of Honolulu, and the dignity and apparent importance of the kingdom is countenanced and enhanced by the residence of no less than three diplomatic representatives, viz., the United States Minister President, the Commissioner and Consul-General of England (Mr. J. H. Wodehouse, whom many of the old Wellington residents. wall remember as the * Private Secretary of Sir George Grey, in 1851 and 1852), and the Commissioner and Consul of France. There are also resident in Honoiidu no less than thirteen consuls and viceconsuls of various countries ; and lastly, but not least, there is an Anglican and a Homan Catholic Bishop, each presiding over a number of clergymen located throughout the group. I should add that the figures and statistics given above are taken from the Custom-house published statistics, and from other authentic sources.—l am, &c., William Seed. Macgregor, s.s., at sea, March 16.