Fragrant sandalwood trees, or ‘iliahi, whose heartwood was used for incense and medicines, had long been abundant in the Hawaiian Islands. In about 1790, foreign seamen opened up trade between Kamehameha I and the sandalwood markets in Canton, China. The commercial trade exploded between 1821 and 1823 during Liholiho’s reign, with American ships selling an average of 21,000 piculs (1,400 tons) of Hawaiian sandalwood per year to Canton at $8 per picul.1 But the Kingdom’s profits were eaten by debts that Liholiho and other ali‘i incurred to purchase luxury goods at inflated prices, often paid for with promises to deliver more sandalwood in the future. And the human toll on the maka‘āinana was immense, as people were forced to gather and transport sandalwood on their backs, often neglecting the crops needed to survive. By 1840, the once plentiful sandalwood forests were stripped and the Chinese market had collapsed.
R. Racoma, Hauling ‘iliahi logs to the measuring pits, Used with permission from Kamehameha Schools.— Rev. William Ellis, Polynesian Researches: Hawaii, p. 397
— Ralph S. Kuykendall, The Hawaiian Kingdom, Vol. 1, 1778-1854, p. 89