Journey of the sloop Good Intent to explore the Asiatic and American shores of Bering Strait, 1819 to 1822. Part three

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Typescript of Chapter Five for a book Dorothy Jean Ray planned to write about the Vasilev-Shishmarev Expedition of 1819-1822. Contains the translation from the Russian by Rhea Josephson of part three of Karl K. Hillsen's journal, Journey of the sloop "Good Intent" to explore the Asiatic and American shores of Bering Strait, 1819 to 1822 (Puteshestvie na shliup︠i︡e Blagonam︠i︡erennyĭ dl︠i︡a issl︠i︡edovani︠i︡a beregov Azii i Ameriki za Beringovym prolivom s 1819 po 1822 goda).

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die down and Bottle decided to guide us in without waiting for an answer, especially as it was impossible to expect a refusal.

With the aid of a tow, we safely crossed the passage, which is no wider than a hundred sazhens and cast anchor at the depth of nine sazhens directly opposite the fortress of Kahumanna, which immediately saluted us with eight shots and received the same number as an answer to its greeting.

The "Discovery" entered soon after us, and was met with the same honor.

The fortress, Kahumanna [now usually spelled Kaahumanau] so-called after the name of the stepmother of the reigning king, is built not at the entrance, but on the low bank right across the middle of the harbor and consists of a square redoubt with a low earthen rampart on which are placed 32 castiron firearms of various caliber beginning with a 12-pound cannon to a 48-pound howitzer. They all stood on naval guncarriages. The engineer who built this fortress evidently was a native, because it was impossible to choose a worse place for it. The shore on which it stands and the rampart itself are so low that cannon balls from the smallest vessel could, without effort, knock the firearms off the emplacements and silence them.

Hanaruro Harbor of the same name as the settlement beyond the fortress extending along the shore is not very large and you can accomodate no more than 50 vessels, but is very

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quiet. The coral reef protecting it from the sea surf leaves such a narrow opening that the surf cannot penetrate inside, especially as the passage is located on the west side of the island, and in the tropics where the trade winds prevail, the surf generally advances from the east. This naturallyformed harbor is unique in the whole group of Hawaiin Islands, and since it was formed from a coral reef, which usually expands gradually, the opening must close in time, and then navigators will lose a quiet beautiful spot for rest and for provisioning with fresh food and water. Some native elders remembered when the passage was three times as large as then. The shores, up to the mountains, which constitute the interior of the island, are in the shapre of a sloping plane covered with perpetual greenery, bordered right near the water by a narrow sandy strip beyond which is located in a semicircle the settlement of Hanaruro, consisting of native huts and two houses built in the European style. One of these houses, situated directly opposite the harbor, was built in two stories from boards by American traders and sold to the king. But the king domself does not live in it, and gave it to his stepmother, Kahumanna. On the top story are her private rooms and below are quartered her court retinue.

The other house, situated on the northeastern end of the settlements, is a stone one, surrounded by the same kind of wal, six feet high, belonged to a Spaniard who settled there by the name of Marhini [Francisco de Paula Marin] . The houses,

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or rather, the huts of the islanders, arranged without any plan, sometimes a few together, or one by one, are built of poles in the shape of a house roof, set directly into the ground and covered with long grass. Window openings are in but few guts. However, almost every one has two doors at opposite sides of the hut. The doors are curtained only with mats. The huts of the common people are two to four square sazhens in size. The royal ones, which belong to their lordships, are much more spacious and have approximately 20 square sazhens. The inside of these huts is the same everywhere, that is, the floor is covered with every clean patterned grass mats. At one end it has an elevation, which is seperated from the other part of the hut by a curtain of the same material, and serves as a bedroom. The whole difference between the royal huts and the common ones is that the walls of the royal ones are covered with mats. The settlement seems very large because [even] the porest Sandwicher must have two huts, one for himself and his sons, and the other for his wives and daughters. However, the king and the lords have a seperate hut for every wife and daughter.

At a distance of three versts to the right of the settlement, right near the foot of the mountains, American missionaries of the Moravian bretheren sect established with the permission of the late king, Tameamea I [Kamehameha I] their dwelling, consisting at that time of two small wooden houses with offices, and of a large hut built as a house and serving

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as a church.

Directly beyond the settlement begin the plantations of the inhabitants. In these they plant sugar cane, patatas or sweet potatoes--reaching the size of a human head and having a cloyingly sweet taste--watermelons, melons, pineapples, and cucumbers imported by the Europeans. But the main objects, the roots grown by them,are named taro and iniams, very similar to each other both in external looks and taste. Taro is a root resembling in looks and size our turnip, with the only difference that it has a black exterior skin, and an interior as white as snow. It likes a damp swampy soil, the reason why its cultivation is connected with much toil. Having sown the taro, the inhabitants surround the place with an earthen dike, which for greater durability they cover with sod, and conduct a water supply from a small river flowing nearby, which, upon evaporation, they renew.

Once a place is sown, it is not necessary to repeat the sowing after every gathering of the fruit. Pulling out the root, they cut it from the leaves, leaving a small piece of the fruit with the greens so that the leaves stay together, and stick it back into the same place. In three months, the root renews itself and can be cut off again. In good soil, and with efficient care, this procedure may be repeated about ten times. The root is used for food in the following way. Washing in sea water, they place the roots, each wrapped separately in banana leaves, into pits dug into the earth

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surrounded by red-hot stones. They cover it with red-hot stones, and cover them with earch. In a few hours the root is baked. Then they are cleaned of the skin and ground in troughs, diluting the dough with hot water until it turns into a kissel, or rather, a mass resembling diluted starch.7 Then the root is ready, and is used by the natives with every other dish like bread. This root has a strange property. Not baked, but boiled, it causes an unbearable burning in the mouth and throat. To avoid this burning, it has to be boiled three times, letting it cool every time. Prepared in such a manner, and then cut into slices and fried in oil, this root constitutes a very pleasant and wholesome food. The iniams do not have this property, and for this reason the islanders do not like them as much. The iniams cannot be converted into kissel by means of grinding.

Besides these vegetables, the natives also produce in quantity, kava or ava, known for a long time from the descriptions of other travelers. But not its use is going out of style, especially among the common people, and only the nobility drink the beverage prepared from it.

Fruits here are coconuts, bananas, nizang, breadfruit, oranges, lemons, and grapes. The last three species were brought here during the last few years and grow very successfully, except grapes, for which the climate is too warm, although planted in the shade by the Spaniard, Marini.

Concerning the animal kingdom, there is no country

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