Nuhou, Volume II, Number 18, 26 September 1873 — Were Spaniards [ARTICLE]

Were Spaniards

On tiiesc islands bcfbre their diseuveiy Captain Co(sk? is a question whieh \ve ought to separate froiu the one m to whether or not he luiew of their prior existenee anel observations before lie carae. That iron was found and other relies to prove the existenee here of Europeans at somc remote period anterior to arriyal of the great navigatoi% may have nothing to do vvith any reeorded knowiedge to s;uide hiin on hiē vvay, | We would rather believe in the ytories of Spanish wreck and settlement, bat vve simply sav that nothlng of the kind is proven, No proof is furnished that a real historian ean depend upon; and so far we have had no real lustorian to take in hand a faithfiil aceount of vvhat is known about these islands. Bingham glves a pattiaj aceount of an ecclesiastical mission, Jarves has written romance from liis transeendental, spiritualieiie point of view, and a lot of writers have given hasty, incorreet newspaper sketches whieh are especially esernplified in the Nordhofl* papers tor HarperVMagazine ; but we have not yet had any true hißtory about these is!auds. There has been no of native traditions m sueh a form as will 3ātisfy a critical writer as having any characterlof authenticity. A repetition of tradition nsSu\e present time, m sul>jeet as it muBt foreign inflnences, will have little or no weight. The desire of the natives tu satisfy the wonder of a fbreign enquirer often induces them to assert a good deal respeeting cannibalism and c>ther questions, whieh has originated iuainly: 'in their imagination. Moderii Hawaiians are not' be depended upon in respeet to ancient tradi-' tion ; but there was a time when traditiun might have been so collected, recorded and authentieated, as to be some sort oi* basis fbr !iistorv, but ■S ' V ī that opportunity been neglected. There has certainly heen no record preserved to prove the existence here <>f Hpnniards prior to diseovery, It is an assumption of tradition iuamly mspired by foreigiV. enquiry , Th'ere is one relic, a stone idoL now in posSession of Judge Widemami 5 whieh is considered a strong circumstantial proof of the intereourse of Spaniards with aneient Ilawaiiane. Tt is a rttde that hns th< appnianee of a ruff round the ueek such as .wpm by Spanish officers of the«ixteenth eentury. But auy one who will esamine plate- of the ancient eshumedldols of Java and other islands of Oeeaniea, will see in sonie iustances a sort of collar for the neek. having some resemblanee tu the ruff of ii cavalier. And a- this image is the only tangibl£ fljingjhat ean }>e produced in the vvay of evidenee o? Spahish presence, its value as a proof of the event is jnsignificant indeed, lf we had preserved a wellauthī}nticated svvord !>lade or some trifling pieee of mctal beiouging to a ship, or weapuu the period of this alleged discovei % y (Irs settieineut, theū we would have something to ta!k about, There ls uo such relie in esistence; yet there dught to be something if white*iuen weiv ever here*Kl u Captain Cook an»ve !