Statewide County HI Archives News.....Wiki Mo’olelo – Part 21 B Early Commercial Trade - #2- Sandalwood. December 28, 2008 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/hi/hifiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Darlene E. Kelley donkeyskid@msn.com December 28, 2008, 8:03 pm Keepers Of The Culture, A Study In Time Of The Hawaiian Islands December 28, 2008 Contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Darlene E. Kelley donkeyskid@msn.com December 28, 2008 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Historical Collections of Hawaii Keepers of the Culture, A study in Time of the Hawaiian Islands Wiki Mo’olelo – Part 21 B Early Commercial Trade - #2- Sandalwood. by Darlene E. Kelley ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Wiki Mo’olelo – Part 21 - B EARLY COMMERCIAL TRADE. #2 SANDALWOOD. Fur traders looking for alternative goods for the Canton market started the Sandalwood trade. Chinese used the fragrant heart wood for incense, medicinal purposes, for architectural details and carved objects. Hawaiians were long familiar with the wood they called ‘illahi; seven species grew in the islands. While trade in Hawaiian sandalwood began as early as the 1790s. it did not take off until fur prices began to drop in 1810. In 1811, an agreement between Boston ship captains and Kamehameha I established a monopoly on sandalwood exports with Kamehameha re- ceiving 25% of the profits. This agreement stood for only one shipment, though, and shortly thereafter the War of 1812 resulted in a British blockade of Hawaii for two years. When a vigorous trade resumed in 1814, Kamehameha controlled it as a near-monopoly through the use of his agents. While a few individual chiefs also dealt directly with traders, it was not until the death of Kamehameha I that a wholesale pillaging of sandalwood forests took place. While Kamehameha I still held the reigns, he placed a kapu on young trees and no transaction was ever done on credit. As trade and shipping brought Hawaii into contact with a wider world, it also enabled the acquisition of Western goods, including arms and ammunition. Kamehameha used Western cannon and guns to great advantage in his unification of the islands and also acquired Western style ships, buying the brig Columbia for a price of two shiploads of sandalwood in 1817. After Kamehameha’s death, his son Kamehameha II fell into debt with sandalwood traders. Having given away his own lands, he relied on the wood supplies of others, but he was unable to stop other chiefs from negotiating their own trade deals. By 1826, American traders were complaining about the debts owed by the King and chiefs and a general tax was imposed to pay off some of their collective debt. Traders played off the rivalry among chiefs to get the best price, ultimately accelerating the depletion of forests. The wood was sold by weight using a measure called a picul (133 1/3 pounds or about what a strong man could carry on his back.) Traders made a profit of three to four dollars on each picul they bought in Hawaii ( at $7 -$10 ) and then sold in Canton. As logging continued, wood quality degenerated and strands of sandalwood were harder to find. Natives set fire to areas to detect the trees by their sweet scent. While mature trees could withstand the fire, the flames wiped out new seedlings. By 1830, the trade in sandalwood had completely collapsed. Hawaiian forests were exhausted and sandalwood from India and other areas in the Pacific drove down the price in Canton and made the Hawaiian trade unprofitable. Although forests were ravaged, sandalwood trees still survive today, tucked away on less accessible mountain slopes. The debts were not fully paid when the U.S. Ship Vincennes came to Honolulu in 1829, he commander, at the solicitation of the agents, reminded Hawaii and its chiefs of their promises to pay off these debts. So new notes were again signed and the people were ordered to cut more sandalwood and By 1829, the wood was nearly completely depleted and the trade was at an end. The notes signed in that year were not paid off until 1843. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Next Part 21 - C # 3, Early commercial trade -- Whaling File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/hi/statewide/newspapers/wikimool118nnw.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/hifiles/ File size: 4.8 Kb