Incredible Hawaii. Terence Barrow

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Incredible Hawaii - Terence Barrow

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      Incredible as it might seem, Hawaii is like a gigantic raft, drifting slowly with the centuries. According to the latest theory, the vast Pacific plate on which Hawaii sits glides over the earth’s semi-fluid under-crust, and as this plate passes over a hot lava vent, new islands are formed. The upper end of this giant plate moves under Japan and other parts of Asia, causing recurrent earthquakes.

       Early Hawaiian dogs did not bark. If they whined or made singing sounds, like the “barkless” dogs of New Guinea, it was probably because they were not the Hawaiians’ best friends, but were used chiefly as food.

       Who would want to have his tongue tattooed? That happened to Hawaiians, especially at a time of mourning. Aristocrats were tattooed to add to their beauty, and dots were sometimes put on the inner eyelids of noble captives.

       Feathers, not to be taken lightly, were symbolic of Hawaiian aristocracy. The yellow cloak of Kamehameha I contained 450,000 feathers from 80,000 contributing feathered friends.

       Hawaii’s Gibraltar is a majestic volcanic cone overlooking Waikiki. It is called Diamond Head, and it was once thought that its calcite crystals, sparkling in the sun, were a fabulous fortune in gems. Nonetheless, it is a symbolic stone of great value today.

       Many famous literary characters found Hawaii charming as well as incredible. Twain, Dana,

      (continued on inside back cover)

      Cover design by Ray Lanterman

      Incredible Hawaii

      Representatives

      For Continental Europe:

      BOXERBOOKS, INc., Zurich

      For the British Isles:

      PRENTICE-HALL INTERNATIONAL, INC., London

      For Australasia:

      BOOK WISE (AUSTRALIA) PTY. LTD.

      104-108 Sussex Street, Sydney 2000

      Published by the Charles E. Tuttle Company, Inc. of Rutland, Vermont & Tokyo, Japan

      with editorial offices at

      Osaki Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo 141-0032

      © 1974 by Charles E. Tuttle Co., Inc. All rights reserved

      Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 74-77226

      International Standard Book No. 978-1-4629-0450-1 (ebook)

      First printing, 1974

      Ninth printing, 1986

      Printed in Japan

       Table of Contents

       Publisher’s foreword

       Acknowledgments

       1 A Hawaiian story of creation

       2 Hawaiian origins and navigational skills

       3 The Hawaiian canoe

       4 The demi-god who fished up islands

       5 Drifting islands of Hawaii

       6 The little people of the night

       7 Animal guardians of Hawaii

       8 Dogs that did not bark

       9 The humuhumunukunukuapua’a and other fish

       10 The king of beasts in old Hawaii

       11 Banana, breadfruit and pandanus

       12 Poi: the Hawaiian staff of life

       13 Cocus nucifera: the tree of life

       14 Tree oddities of Hawaii

       15 Temples and shrines of Hawaii

       16 Waikiki and its kahuna stones

       17 Black magic arts of the old kahuna

       18 Desecration of the dead

       19 The tattooists’ art in old Hawaii

       20 Games and leisure in old Hawaii

       21 Surfing on land and sea

       22 Sacred hula of old Hawaii

       23 Cockfighting as a sport

      

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