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Burros and Beans
by Jim Lightner
Photo: Kona Historical
Society |
(A study of the economic effects of Equusasinus
on the coffea arabica industry)
A well-conditioned, mature donkey can carry about a
125 pound load at the speed of a human’s stroll
all day long. The donkeys were a key component in developing
the Kona coffee industry on the steep slopes of Hualalai
Volcano.
In 1825, coffee plants came to Oahu and during the
same year four donkeys arrived aboard the ship Active.
Sir Richard Charlton, the first British Counsel to the
Kingdom of Kamehameha, imported the burros from Chile
or England. The surefooted animals were sold at auction
and became haulers of people and merchandise in Honolulu.
When coffee became a commercial crop on the rugged
sides of Hualalai, donkeys were the backbone of the
transportation system. Originating from the arid mountains
of northern Africa, the donkeys, or burros as they are
also called, were able to thrive in their new enviroment.
Loaded with two bags of coffee, the donkeys would pick
their way down the lava rock trails to the harbors of
Kealakekua, Keauhou, and Kailua-Kona. On the trip back,
the donkeys would carry merchandise and household goods.
Without burros, the Kona coffee industry would have
been limited to the lower altitudes. Only on the higher
elevations does the unique combination of soils and
temperatures exist that gives Kona coffee its signature
flavor.
Photo: Kona Historical
Society |
Donkey power provided inexpensive and reliable transportation
to the coffee farmers. The advantages of using them
were many. For example, no special breeding programs
were necessary. Their hooves did not need shoes unless
heavy hauling was being done. Food was available wherever
there was greenery. Little supervision or shelter was
required when the burros were not working. Donkeys watched
out for themselves avoiding injuries, dehydration or
heat exhaustion. Once trained, the animals were able
to perform their duties until they were too old to bear
a load. In addition, donkeys disliked coffee beans,
bark and leaves, and their manure fertilized the fields.
An added advantage to using donkeys was that their territorial
feelings helped warn the farmers of approaching strangers
and kept the coffee field clear of wild dogs and pigs.
Trained with care and affection, they made family pets.
Most of the raw materials needed for the pack rig could
be obtained locally and the coffee farmers built their
own. A cross-tree saddle with a coffee sack stuffed
with hair or grass as a pad was the standard rig. The
pad quickly took the shape of the burro’s back
providing customized protection from the load. Straps
around the front and back of the animal kept the burden
from shifting. A simple rope halter was used since pack
donkeys were trained to follow the leader.
Saddling was a one person job with the cooperative
donkey knowing that good conduct brings rewards such
as piece of ti leaf or a scratch on the ears. Loading
the saddle usually took two strong people – one
to hold the coffee bag and the other to tie the lashings.
A seasoned handler could load on his own using a T-shaped
stand to support the single bag while he ran around
to the other side to hoist the other. The load had to
be balanced within a few pounds to prevent sliding to
the side and also unbalancing the donkey. With a load
of two coffee bags that weighed one hundred pounds each,
the trip to the market was taken slowly with frequent
stops to browse and drink water. For trail-side snacks,
the donkey enjoyed leaves, twigs and a variety of vegetation.
Jim Lightner at home
with his pet donkey, Baby |
A Honaunau coffee farmer, who grew-up on his family’s
small farm in the 1920’s and 1930’s, remembers
donkey trains of neighboring farmers hauling their parchment
coffee to the buyer at the market. The donkeys were
just the right height to be comfortably handled by their
owners. Only one of the much taller mules was used for
packing in South Kona, and the farmer suspected that
was mostly an ego-thing. Soyu (soy sauce) came in five
gallon kegs and rice in 100 pound bags, so the common
burden up the hill was a bag of rice on one side of
the burro and kegs of soyu on the other. Nobody seemed
to ride their donkeys except for keikis, probably due
to the uncomfortable nature of the pack saddle, the
expense of a riding saddle and the teardrop shape of
a burro’s back. He recalls that each donkey had
a distinctive call that could be identified from a distance.
After the coffee season, remaining on the ground was
a huge pile of coffee hulls and pulp which had to be
recycled to the fields. A wooden box was rigged on the
pack saddle with coffee bags hanging on each side and
the bottom of the bags had a draw-string opening. Then,
up and down the rows of coffee trudged the farmer with
the waste dribbling from the bags. The work was hard
and life was enjoyable. Camping trips to the ocean were
possible with the donkey hauling the gear to the beach,
then bearing the additional load of fish back home.
Firewood was hauled for cooking and heating the family
futo, the traditional Japanese hot-tub. In those days,
all the male donkeys were called “Charlie”
and the females “Mele”, the senior farmer
clearly recollected.
A full-grown standard donkey weighs 400 to 500 pounds
and stands 48 to 52 inches high at the shoulder. Pound
for pound the donkey is as strong as the horse or the
mule. Its durability is amazing with natural good health
and a sense of self-preservation that keeps it out of
trouble. They don’t spook like a horse, instead
when frightened, the “donk” will run a few
yards then stop to ascertain exactly what the trouble
might be. Combining the size and trainability of the
horse with the agility and smarts of the donkey is the
mule. A female horse, a mare, is bred to a male donkey,
a jack, and the hybrid offspring is a mule. “Stubborn
as a mule” is a familiar saying that has some merit.
Poorly trained mules or donkeys feel no need to cooperate
with their trainers and must be forced to do the master’s
bidding. The forcing process is an unpleasant experience
for both.
Jim Lightner at home
with his pet donkey, Baby |
Thus, good training procedures were important. Plenty
of human touch and talk as soon as they are born gives
the proper start to the training of donkeys. The mother,
called a jenny, will be naturally protective at first.
If she trusts her handler, she will soon allow her foal
to be patted. Once a rapport has been established with
the young burro, training of basic commands such as
walk, stop, right, left, back and over quickly follow.
Actually the words are requests, since you can’t
command a donkey. Burros respond to both sound and food
rewards. Occasional physical punishment of a slap on
the nose should be only administered for dangerous actions
like biting, kicking and rearing. Remedial training
for older animals is possible with generous amounts
of patience and tender loving care. Responding to regular
training of a few hours a week, donkeys can learn to
spin around, push a ball, carry a pail, pick-up papers,
jump over logs and stand on a platform as well as carry
a pack. Training for riding or pulling a cart can start
in their third year after the asinine equivalent of
the terrible teens is over. Donkeys learn slower than
horses; however, they remember their training longer.
Their inquisitive nature and friendly personalities
produce a unique relationship with their owners.
As pets, the jennys and neutered males make loyal friends
of the family. Jacks with all their equipment have one-track
minds and are difficult and sometimes dangerous to have
around people. Jennys should be bred no sooner than
their fourth birthday which is after their adult teeth
come in and their joints mature. Every 28 days, the
jenny is ready to mate and shows her willingness with
a wide range of communications. The product of donkey
bred to a donkey is a donkey. Gestation varies from
11 to 14 months. A donkey that has had good care could
have a life span of 30 to 40 years.
From the 1820’s to just after World War II, the
donkeys enabled the Kona coffee farmers to haul their
crops to market over unimproved trails. When rough roads
were built, mule-drawn wagons were used for the longer
trip down to the harbors and donkeys were still the
means to haul from the fields to the roads. In the late
1940’s, inexpensive US Army jeeps became available
as war surplus and displaced the four-footed bean haulers.
Many of the coffee donkeys were released into the kiawe
shrub and formed the wild herds that still exist in
the Kaupulehu area where the Hualalai Resort and Kona
Village Resort are today. Long ears and longer noses
provide an effective long distance communication system
for the burros. They can generate sound from either
the incoming or outgoing air, hence the “hee…..haw”
multi-toned call. The brays of the Kona nightingales
are still heard in the evenings as pet donkeys communicate
with each other and their wild kin.
Presently on the Big Island, donkeys may be purchased
from Maverick Kawamoto who is the agriculture department
instructor at Konawaena High School, phone 323-4539,
and Rachel Keolanui-Epperson owner of Donkey Tales,
located in Mountainview, which gives trail rides and
camping trips with donkeys at Kapapala Ranch, phone
968-6585, e-mail pre@bigisland.net. Donkey pack saddles
may be purchased from Shane Balukan in Kealakekua, phone
322-2078. Helpful books on donkeys are Training Mules
and Donkeys by Meredith Hodges, The Definitive Donkey
by Paul and Betsey Hutchins, Packin’ In on Mules
and Horses by Smoke Elser. The Brayer Magazine of the
American Donkey and Mule Society is published every
two months, Web site www.lovelongears.com . Another
good donkey Web site is www.orednet.org/~jrachau/school.htm
. Also, the writer of this article would be happy to
talk donkeys with you at lightner@westhawaii.net
Thanks to the Bishop Museum, the Kona Historical Society,
the Honaunau farmer, and photographer Alan Bram, for
providing assistance, direction and background for this
article.
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Story appeared originally in Coffee Times print magazine and appears online for archival purposes only. Any use or reprinting of these stories without the expressed written consent of the author is prohibited.
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