The Bishop Collection of Curios.
One of the Most Interesting Sights In Honolulu Pleasantly Described.
HONOLULU, Feb. 8.—Above the inner entrance to the Museum of Hawaiian and Polynesian History is a tablet of polished mottled stone, in which is engraved in letters of gold the following inscription:
To the Memory of
BERNICE PAUAHI BISHOP,
FOUNDER OF THE KAMEHA-
MEHA SCHOOLS OF HO-
A Bright Light Among Her Peo-
ple; Her Usefulness Survives
Her Earthly Life.
A Bernice Pauahi, she was related to the royal family of the Kamehameha dynasty, and the cousin of Queen Emma, two women who have indelibly inscribed their names upon the hearts of…
BERNICE PAUAHI BISHOP.
…all Hawaiians, whether by birth of association. She married the Hon. C. R. Bishop, and with her immense wealth and her kindly deeds through life, created a new life among the Hawaiians. Upon her death she left most of her wealth to endow the Kamehameha Schools, a separate school for boys and a separate one for girls. These schools are kept up entirely from the income of her estates, which have become so vast as to render it necessary to erect other buildings throughout the Islands in order to expend the revenue. In memory of his wife, the Hon. C. R. Bishop dedicated the museum in her name, laying aside a princely endowment. Collectors have scoured the Hawaiian Islands for curios of historical and intrinsic value and have succeeded by the most diligent effort and at great expense, in depositing in the museum an invaluable collection of ancient materials which would warm the cockles of the antiquarian’s heart beyond measure. Calabashes, large and small, ancient and modern, have come into the museum; some were in the possession of families, relics passed from one generation to another; others were found in the caves where in ancient times were buried kings and chiefs. Idols of grotesque shapes, dedicated to all the elements of nature, good and evil; some dedicated to Pele, the Goddess of Volcanoes; others to the poison god and to the fish god; some made of stone, others of the valuable koa and kou woods; one made of the trunk of the poison tree, its wood, upon being steeped in water, being a most powerful, yet undetectable poison which acts upon the heart, and which was used by the kahunas and chiefs. Beautiful feather cloaks of wonderful sheen and delicate texture, worn by Kamehameha the Great during his tour of conquest a century ago. Continue reading