MOLOKA‘I - Maui: Including Molokai and Lanai - page 597

sions. When the ship anchored in the choppy bay at Kalawao, the victims were
tossed overboard, followed by a few sealed barrels of food. Those too weak or sick
to stay afloat drowned; the others swam to shore. The crew waited nervously with
loaded muskets in case anyone attempted to return to the ship.
For the exiles who made landfall, life wasn't any easier. Women were raped. The
elderly were beaten. They could try to escape over the mountains, but if they were
caught, they would be sent back. Many unable to cope with the hellacious reality
their life had become swam into the ocean clutching stones to carry them to the bot-
tom.
Gradually life in Kalawao improved, but ever so slightly. Another settlement was
established on the peninsula's western shore about a mile from Kalawao. A few vo-
lunteers who had not contracted leprosy served as kokuas , or caretakers, but some
were so appalled by the living conditions that they turned back, leaving on the next
steamship.
That is, until the arrival of Father Damien. The Belgian-born priest himself over
to the betterment of living conditions for the exiles. Though he would eventually
succumb to leprosy himself, Father Damien brought hope to a dark place.
In the 150 years which have passed, a treatment has been found for Hansen's
disease which renders the afflicted noncontagious. In 1946, after 80 years of ban-
ishment to Kalaupapa, patients were free to leave. Most, however, chose to live out
their years on the only sliver of land they had ever known. A handful of patients
remain in Kalaupapa today. Many contracted the disease as children and are now
advanced in years. It's likely that the last of the exiles will leave Kalaupapa in the
next decade.
Nevertheless, a day trip to the sites along the eastern end of the island can still be one
of the best ways to spend a day on Moloka'i, as the views stretching back toward Maui are
only amplified by the “main highway,” which at some points nearly crumbles into the sea.
Life in eastern Moloka'i is relaxed, friendly, and refreshingly isolated, ticking along at its
own slow place.
Ali'i Fishpond
Driving east from Kaunakakai, one of the first sites you will come to is Ali'i Fishpond,
at mile marker 3 just before One Ali'i Beach Park. This 35-acre fishpond was originally
constructed with rocks which had been hand-carried 10 miles over the adjacent mountain.