OCR Text |
Show t v II ' i' A 'u & ?v The Ideal Life in Halawa. out exploitation. In the tablelands above the territory has erected another an-other barrier against Invasion by creating a forest reserve of thousands thou-sands of acres. No Money Used There. One of the remarkable customs TRAVELER, novelist, naturalist, natural-ist, poet and philosopher have dreamed consistently of a "lost land." They haven't wanted to find It because It would then no longer be "lost" They merely wanted proof that is being preserved by the tribe In the Halawa valley is to live without money. Thens was no currency cur-rency among the native Hawaiians before they were discovered. The cynic If not the economist may see In this fact alone a sufficient reason rea-son for preserving even a small part of the strange domain In Its original state. Peace, plenty and contentment , are the unique characteristics of Halawa, almost mythical In its contrast con-trast to even the remotest parts of the known world. There are no picnic pic-nic grounds In these Elyslan fields. It is a place to be spoken of with awe and wonder, not to be visited. The title may change hands but possession has so far remained with the little hand of aborigines who still vaguely believe that the heavens and the waters and the earth were created for the sustenance sus-tenance of mankind, without benefit bene-fit of deed or abstract of title. of Its existence. There would be the setting for flights of fiction and fancy. There would be the locale of romance supreme and undiluted by fact It would be peopled by the fabled "lost tribe." It may be the valley of Halawa, on the island of Molokai, right within the boundaries of the United States. Few have ever seen it but ft Is known to be there, a walled Paradise, Par-adise, almost as virgin In primitive primi-tive peace and plenty as if It were the Garden of Eden rediscovered. What Is known as civilization has not yet dawned there. Steps have been taken to prevent It from dawning. Even the birds have not learned the almost universal lesson of animate ani-mate llfe that the struggle for existence ex-istence leads to natural enmity, pitting pit-ting one species and one tribe In a conflict against another. An Isolated Eden. The people are In the same blissful bliss-ful state of Isolation. They want nnrhinir frmn mitcMo nnri nn nun yet has shown a desire to get what they have. Impassable walls of rock shut them out from the land. A rift gives them an outlook upon the calm Pacific. Ships pass but do not stop. Occasionally an airplane blots the blue sky but never lands. Buffalo and deer are the only strangers that have ever Invaded this quiet valley since Its known history first began. The people, so far as they can tell, came with Nuu, the Hawaiian Noah. Nuu brought very few animals except song birds. The buffalo and deer have been introduced since Captain Cap-tain Cook discovered the Islands. The hunter has not followed them Into Halawa. It has been too diffi- fci M iiilji." nil iy . u , 'I. 11 I',1 'I I . 1 - ? C T v f I Spearing Fish. cult and deer have been so abundant abun-dant in the open parts of Molokai that there has been no inducement Halawa wears the purple robes of a royal domain. Sheer walls, rich In varied tones, that extend from blue to orange, rise abruptly from the floor, festooned richly with loops of swinging vine and plumed with arboreal vlrdure. Over a vertical precipice at the head of the vailed two streams pour their crystal waters, the treble melody of the sineine birds supported by the diapason harmony of thundering thunder-ing falls. Purchased for Preservation. The few families of Polynesians dwelling here have maintained the simple customs and habits of their ancestors. They, are as unconcerned uncon-cerned with the world outside as are the birds and animals. They are practically unaware that they have been "discovered." The pineapple and sugar planter passed them by In the general invasion in-vasion of the Islands. Their own little Eden supplies all their wants. All that Is necessary to their happiness hap-piness Is that they be left alone. Civilization, however, like nature, abhors a vacuum and even a lost land had to have protection from being found. Some weak spot in the Halawa walls might have developed de-veloped but for their recent reinforcement. rein-forcement. Mr. and Mrs. Paul L Fagan, of California and Hawaii, decided that the valley of Halawa must be left If possible, as a legacy to the future. fu-ture. They have purchased the 9,000 acres for the purpose of maintaining maintain-ing It In Its primitive state with- |