-.^■^^A^>^:::-^^^ ^* . ^iit ^ v%^^ ■>4 >-/.^ * -J^' -^ v^ '*^' ^, ^ -^^ ^^;--^.--ne 448 Norwich 4=, i I'aris 73 Pauahi 60 Perth 44S Pittsfield 69 Pomare 71 Reis 80, 8 1 Saffron Walden 73 Starbuck 80 Sydne\- 4, 76 Victoria 63, 78, 79 Vienna 7 :; Waber -. . . 64, 444 Welling 68 York 447 Akakane 305 Akapane 299 Akeake 285 Akeka 285 Akekee 285 Akepa 305 Akialoa 306 Akihipolena 299 (.xi) Xll Index. PAGE Akikilii 303 Alae 280 Alala, or Crow i 2, 291 Alauda arveusis, Lark 291 Albatross • • • 266 Alexander helmet 443 Amakihi 3°° Anas 272-4 Anchors of Stone 346 Anoiis 261, 265 Anser hawaiiensis 276 Anson's Voyage 91 Anuu or Oracle 29, 30 Apapane 10, 299 Apekepeke 292 Ardea, Heron 277 Arenaria interpres 285 Asio accipitrinus 289 Atagen aquila 271 Auku, Heron 278 Aulick cloak 68 Balboa discovers the Pacific 89 Balls of Stone 348 Bardwell cape 61 Bath rubbers 349 Beechey's Voyage 93 Belcher's Voyage 93 Bellingshausen's Voyage 93 Berlin capes and cloaks 69 Beruicla sandvicensis 276 Bingham cape 68 Bird-lime for catching birds ■ 3 Birds furnishing feathers for cloaks 9 Birds of the Hawaiian Islands, Key to ... . 259 Bligh's Voyage of the Bouut}- 92 Bolton cloak 68 Booby, Blue-faced 271 Bougainville's Voyage 91 Bowls of vStone • ■ 385 Brachyotus galapagoensis, Owl 289 Brant, Blaek 275 Brassey cloak 71 Brigham on Hawaiian Feather Work i Index to the Islands of the Pacific .... 85 Ancient Hawaiian Stone Implements. • 333 Supplementary Notes on Feather Work 437 British Museum cloaks and capes 64, 90 Bryan on Hawaiian Birds 259 Bulweria bulweri 268 Bviteo solitarius, Hawk 289 Byron's Vovage of the Blonde 91 TAGE Calidris arenaria 284 Callipela calif ornica 286 Cannibalism in the Pacific 108 Canoe- breakers of Stone 341 Capes and cloaks, Aluuila 50 List of 56 Market value of 55 Carpodacus, Rice-bird 295 Carteret's \'oyage 91 Chgetoptila angustipluma 314 Challenger, Voyage of 93 Chapman cloak 68 Charadrius 284 Chasiempis 292 Chen hyperboreus 275 Chisels of Stone 423 Chloridops koua 312 Chlorodrepanis 297-302 Christy cloak 71 Chrysomitridops caeruleirostris 305 Circus hudsonius 289 Ciridops anna 300 Clark Cape 448 Climate of Pacific oceaij 98 Cloak burned, Honolulu 449 Clubs, Maori 359 New Guinea 358 Stone 387 Colgate Ahuula 80, 447 Colors of feathers 9 of kahili 17 Cook's Voyages 92 Coot, Hawaiian 280 Copenhagen Ahuula 70 Coral Islands 100 Corvus hawaiiensis 291, 437 Crake, Laysau 280 Crow, Hawaiian • • 291 Cunningham cloak 74 Cups of Stone 387 Curlew 284 Currents of the Pacific 95 Dafila acuta 274 Darwin on Coral growth loi Demiegretta sacra 277 D'Eutrecasteaux Voyage 92 Depth of the Pacific 94 Designs of Ahuula 52 Diomedea immutabilis 266 Dishes of vStoue 383 Door Stone 350 liidc. Xlll PAGE Dove, Chinese 2S7 Dover Museum Cloak 450 Drake's Voj-age 90 Drepauis 297 Drepauorhaniphus 298 Duck, Hawaiian 273 Duperre3-'s Vojage 93 D'Urville's Voyage 93 Dyed Feathers 12 Dysporus, see Sula 270 Edwards' Voyage 93 Elepaio 292 Ellis' Account of Feather work 6 Enima, Queen, Capes 60 Eye of shell and feathers ^.42 Fauna of the Pacific region 105 Feather Money, Santa Cruz 452 Feather Work of the Hawaiians i-Sr, 437 Figure carving in Stone 424 Files of Stone :;^o Finch, House 295 Eaysan 310 Scarlet 305 Fish gods of Stone 426 Fishing Stones 40^ Fitzroy's Voyage g^ Flora of the Pacific region , 103 Florence Ahuula yr Forms of Islands go Fregata aquila 271 Freycinet's Voyage 93 Fulica alai 280 Gallinule, Hawaiian 280 Gannet 271 Giglioli, \'oyage of the Magenta 93 Gill, E. Leonard, letter 440 Gilman Cape ^ 61 God wit, Pacific 2S4 Gottingen Cape y6 Golegole Club ^^^^ Goose, Hawaiian 276 Gouges, Stone 423 Greenstone described i;:^^ Grinding Stones 346 Gulls 262 G>'gis alba 265 Haalelea Capes 62, 77, 78 Hammers of Stone 340 Handles of human bone for kahili 16 Handling of Adzes 418 Hawk, Hawaiian tSq 1 r PAGE Helmet from Cook 41 Helmet covered with human hair 48 Helmet from New Ireland 40 Helmets in Berlin , •. British Museum 46, 47 Oxford 443 Newcastle-on-Tyne 443 Paris 45 Peabody Museum, Cambridge 48 Vienna 42 Helmets, List of 42 Hemignathus 306-9 Heron, Auku 2-7 Heteractitis 28^ Heterorhynchus 107-9 Himantopus, Stilt 282 Himatione 299 ^i^^'i 9, 299 Image from Manoa Valley 427 Images from Necker Island 427 Inhabitants of the Pacific to6 Inscriptions, Hawaiian 4^1 Ipswich cape -4 Iwa II, 271 Jade, Mauufaclures of -i^^ Joy Cloaks - 2 Judd Cape 62 Kahili branches jg Kahili, List of 21 Kahili of sugarcane 24 Kalauikauikalaneo cloak ^g Kamehameha cloak of mamo 58 Kapu in the Pacific 112 Kapa pressors of stone 383 Kapuahi kuni anaana ^89 Kauila handles of kahili 16 Kaulunanahoa on Molokai 365 Kearny cloak -2 Kelley cloak ^ j Ki stem j g Kiwalao cloak rg Knives of stone -^^ i Koae 1 1 , 2 70 Kolea, Plover 285 Koloa, Hawaiian Duck 273 Kotzebue's Voyage g3 Krusensteru's Voyage g3 Kua feathers 446 Kukailimoku 31-39, 440 Kukuluaeo, Stilt 282 Kuro sivva Current 95 XIV Indc cx PAGE Lamp, Fishing 396 I,amp of stone 391 Lamp, Tahitian Sorcery 397 Languages of the Pacific 109 Lark, Sky 291 Larus, Gull 262 Lee Cape 76 Leiden Cloak 74 Leihula Cape 79 Lei, List of 27 Lemaire's Voyage 91 Lophortyx californica 286 Loxioides 310 Loxops 304 Lucas Cloak 71 Liitke's Voyage 93 Lunalilo Cloak 63 Mackintosh Cape 45 1 Magalhaes' Voyage 89 Mahiole or Helmet 40, 443 Maidstone Cape 71 Maika, Game of 399 Malo of feathers 81 , 446 Malo of the Raiatean Kings 446 Mamo 9, 298 Marquesan head band 445 Mats of feathers 36, 67, 437 Meudaiia's Voyage 90 Menezes the Portuguese 90 Merganser 273 Microanous hawaiieusis 265 Mina, False ( Acridotheres tristis) 294 Mirrors of stone 398 Missions in the Pacific 1 1 1 Moriori stone knives 354 Mortars of stone 364 Munich Cape 75 Mud-hen 280 Munia nisoria 295 Murray theory of coral growth loi Moho ( Acrulocercus ) 312 Nahienaena, Princess 17 Nene, Hawaiian Goose 276 Nesochen saudvicensis 276 Nets for birds 13 Noio, Hawaiian Tern 265 Norwich Castle Museum Capes 451 Nunienius tahitiensis, Curlew 2S4 Nycticorax 278 Obsidian for cutting 342 Oceanodroma cryptoleucura 269 PAGE CEstrelata 267 Offertorium from Molokai 386 Olona cord and netting 50 Oo, Moho nobilis 313 Oreomyza 302-4 Otus brachyotus 289 On ( Psittacirostra psittacea) 8, 310 Owl, Hawaiian 12, 289 Pacific Ocean, Index to Islands 89 Palila ( Loxioides bailleui ) 310 Palmeria dolei 299 Pandion solitarius 289 Papamu for Konane 405 Paris Cloak 73 Partition of the Pacific 112 Partridge, Calif oruian 286 Passer domesticus, English Sparrow 294 Pa'u of Nahienaena 59 Pauahi Cape 60 Penguin, Voyage of 94 Pennula ecaudata 279 Perouse, Voyage of 92 Pestles of stone 352 Petrels 268 PliEeornis 315-17 Phaethon 270, 437 Phalacrocorax plagicus 269 Phalaropus lobatus 281 Phallic emblems 363 Phasianus torquatus 286 versicolor 287 Pittsfield Cape 69 Plegadis guarauna. Ibis 276 Poi pounders, Hawaiian 368 Making 375 Marquesan 371 Micronesian 372 Tahitian 370 Pomare Cloak ( Brassey ) 71 Porphyrio melanotus 280 Portlock and Dixon account of feather work 7 Porzanula pahneri 279 Pounders, Stone 381 Priofinus cuneatus 268 Procellaria 268 Pseudonestor xanthophrys 309 Psittacirostra psittacea 310 Pueo, Hawaiian Owl 12, 289 Puffinus • 268-9 Quail, California Valley 286 Quarries of Clinkstone 407 Index. XV PAGE Queen's Cloak 58 Querquedula circia 274 Qiiiros, Voyage of qi Raiatean Malo 446 Rail, Laj'saii, Saudwich, Wingless 279 Reis Cape 80, 81 Religions in the Pacific Ocean no Rhodacantliis 311 Rice Bird 295 Ring-cutting in shell or stone 404 Roggewein's Vojage 91 Ross, Sir James, Voyage of 93 Rotlischildia parva 302 Saffron Walden Cloak 73 Salt pans of stone 391 Sanderling 284 Sandpiper '283 Scherzer, Voyage of the Novara 93 Schouten and Leniaire, Voyage of 91 Shearwater 269 Sinkers, Squid-hook ; 351 Skylark 291 Slingstones 344 Snipe, Ash-colored 283 Sorcery Cups 390 Sorcery L,amp from Tahiti 397 Sparrow, Chinese 295 European House 294 Spatula clypeata. Shoveller 274 Squid-hook Sinkers 351 Star Club heads 355 Starbuck Cape So Sterna, various species 263-5 Stewart's description of feather work 19 Stilt, Hawaiian (Himantopus) 1S2 Stone Implements of Hawaii 337 Storm Petrel, Hawaiian 296 PAGE Strepsilas interpres 285 Sula, Booby 271 Sydney Cape 4, 76 Tachypetes=Fregata 271 Tahitian Poi pounders 370 Sorcery Lamp 397 Tasman's Voyage 91 Tatler, Wandering 283 Teal, Laysan 274 Teetotum Stones 430 Telespiza cantans 310 Temple Oracle, Model of 30 Tern, various species 264-5 Torches, Hawaiian 391 Tortoise-shell handles of kahili 16 Totanus= Heteractitis 2S3 Tringa acuminata, Sandpiper 283 Tropic Bird ( Phaethon ) 270 Turtur chineusi.s, Dove 287 Uluaihawane, Ciridops anna 300 Ulumaika Stones 399 Vancouver on feather work 7 Vancouver's Voyage 93 Vestiaria coccinea 299 Victorian Ahunla 63. 78, 79 Vienna Ahunla 75 Viridonia sagittirostris 302 Volcanic vSystems of Pacific 99 Voyages, in Pacific Ocean 89 Waber Cloak at Berne 64, 444 Wallis, Voyage of 91 Welling Cloak 68 Whaling Industry in Pacific 105 Wilkes Expedition 93 Wilson's Voyage in the Duff 93 Winds of the Pacific Ocean 90 U- 9 ^ "''■""' MEMOIRS OF THE BERN ICE PALI AH I BISHOP MUSEUM OF POLYxNESIAN ETHNOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY. Vol. I. — No. i. HAWAIIAN FEATHER WORK. BY WILLIAM ^IbRIGHAM. HONOLULU: HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. -^•^ 1899. Board of Trustees. Sanford B. Dole, LL.D., President. William O. Smith, Vice President. C. M. Hyde, D.D., Secretary. Heury Holmes, Treasurer. William F. Allen, Joseph O. Carter, Samuel M. Damon. Museum Staff. William T. Brigham, A.M., DircElor. William H. Dall, Honorary Curator of Mollusca. John F. G. Stokes, Assistant. Allen M. Walcott, Assistant. William A. Bryan, Taxidermist. J. J. Greene, Printer. HAWAIIAN t H WORK BY WILLIAM T. BRKiHAM. A.M.(Harv,), A.A.S.( 1867.) Cfln-fsf^t)iiii(iil (i/ ////■ Boliii (rrscllscl/a// fill- .lnllii(ip(il(>o-ii\ Ellniolooii- mui Urgeschiclitc; llir riiiladclphia Acad- ciiiv of Natural Sciences; tlic Califor- nia Academy of Sciences. A'lenihei- of the Massachusetts Horticul- tnial Society; and 0/ the I fenna Anthropol<\<;isehi!i ( rcsellscha/t. HONOLULU, H. L BISSHOI^ Mt'SKUM PRESS. J 1899. EXPLANATION OF THE PLATES. I. Helmet of Kaumvialii, King of Kauai. Printed in colors by L,owy, of Vienna, from a negative by the author. II. Tahitian gorget or portion of a dre.ss of ceremoiix'. From a photograph sent from S\dney by R. Etheridge, Jr., E.sq. III. Hawaiian with cloak (No. 5) and helmet (No. 2). Photographed by the Diredlor. IV. Small kahili in the liishop Museum. Photographed Ijy the author. V. Tropic bird (7463) and young (No. 7464). Photograiihcd 1)\- the Direcflor from mounted specimens in the Bishop Museum. \'I. Feather mats in the liritish Museum. Photograiihed by Mr. Henry Oldland for this use. \'II. Helmets in the Spanish National Museum at Madrid. From a lithographed plate kindh' furnished by Stewart Culin, lisq., of Philadelphia. VIII. Boki and Liliha. From the colored lithograph of a painting by John Hayter, published in September, 1824. The copy in the Picture Gallery of the Bishop Museum was given to Queen Elmma in 1885 by the Bishop of Rochester. I do not know where the original painting is. Boki, who was Governor of Oahu, wears a feather cloak and helmet; Liliha wears a lei of feathers, a nilio palaoa of human hair about her neck, and \\\^ pa' u or usual female dress of kapa. IX. Network used in feather cloaks. The upper figure shows three grades of olona net, the middle one a long tiia/o: the lower figure shows the back of a cloak where, from the looseness of the netting, the feathers have worked through. X. Cloak of Kiwalao (No. 2): in modern times styled the "Queen's cloak." XI. Network of tlie cloak of Kiwalao to show the jnecing. XII. Ahuula in the Boston Art Museum ( Nos. 58 and 59 )• XIII. Cloaks in the Museum of Her Majesty \'icT:oria at Windsor Castle (Nos. 19 and 20). Photographed by Russell & Co. XIV. Capes in Her Majesty's Collection at Windsor Castle ( Nos. a=2i , b— 87, c^86, d=;85). Photographed by Russell & Co. X\'. Cape in the Bisho]) Museum (No. 7). Printed in colors b>- Liiwy of X'ieuna from a negative bv the Director. The central crescent should be black instead of red. OCT 21 1899 HAWAIIAN FEATHER WORK. ,■:/// /iss(7]' nil ancient Haiuaiiaii Feather decoi'atioi/^ icitli a List of the tuni-e important remains. By Willinni T. BrigllciiTl, A. \I., Director of the Berniee Paitalii Bishop Miiseiiin. Thk love of personal decoration appears very early in the history of the liunian race. When the fierce struggle for existence and the pursnit of food and shel- ter allowed time for the consideration of family, the keen hnnters ninst have learned man\' a lesson from the beasts of the field and forest, — not less from the birds of the air, of the processes of Nature which Air. Darwin has called se.vitat selection. That any savage ever rea.sons ont these processes cannot be believed, but the sharp eye trained in daily hunts could not be blind to the patent fact that so many birds have plumage evidently intended for attra'5live decoration, and that it answers this purpose. Savage man at first put on the adornments in which he saw the male of so many birds and beasts was resplendent, and not until many ages after was the woman allowed to appropriate to her own use what in earh- tribal life was the exclusive property of the male. The lion's mane, tlie tiger's skin, the eagle's feather were man's earliest adorn- ment, and it is not impri)1xil:)le that woman in humble emulation of her lord made for herself clusters and bands of flowers or fruits, while the dwellers on the ocean shores soon took the sea-shells cast on the sandy beach. The warrior of the far North has the eagle and hawk from which to borrow, and the ancient war dress of a Mandan chief was decorated with spoil of these and other birds; but in the warmer regions of the earth, where Nature puts forth all her powers, and birds and insedls vie in coloring with the most brilliant flowers, uncivilized man has wantoned in the prodigalitA- and fashioned for himself a gorgeous decoration taken from the captives of his bow, net, or blow-gun. India still, through all the years of her changing civilization, has preserved the traces of early work in bird feathers in the superb piinlcas where the showy feathers of the peacock and pheasant have replaced the smaller and more beautiful feathers of earlier days. The rock-cut temples record on the efHgies of gods and heroes that line the walls or cluster about the columns the use of feather decoration both in civil and martial guise; a tale of very remote times. Eastward through the Siamese penin- sula, northward through China, the use of feather decoration extended, and in the latter Memoirs of the Bernice Pavahi IIisiun' MrsEi'M. Vol. I. ( i ) 2 B RICH AM ON HAWAIIAN FEATHER WORK. empire, where are seen in the glimpses we obtain of their remote history, so many germs of what we fondly consider onr ow^n inventions, feather mosaics are even at the present day made in abundance. I have seen in China the simple process of cement- ing the bright-colored feathers to metal surfaces in a form of jewelrv most popular with the middle classes. It was in the midst of the American continent that feather work in ancient times reached its best estate. In Brazil along the banks of the Amazon, in Venezuela on the Orinoco, where it is difficult to decide whether birds outnumber the flowers or the flowers are brighter in color than the .birds that flv among them, the strings and plumes of bright feathers were not merelv decorations: they were, and are, often symbols of chieftainship, and feather sceptres are found in most large museums of Ethnology, especiallv in Rome, Vienna and Berlin. In Central America the wonderful monoliths buried in the forests of Guatemala and Honduras bear the feather plumes of Ouetzalcoatl, and at Quirigua I have seen these plumes sculptured with rare fidelity. The Maya pic^itre writings that escaped the destroving hand of the bigoted Spanish priests, show feather standards, head- dresses and other ornaments, but when we follow the Conquistadores northward through many a league of unbroken forest, we come in Mexico to the roval domain of the ^' Ars pluiuaria.'" Here feather work was most admirable at the time of the Conquest and we have still preserved the grand tiara of Montezuma and a superb fan of the same period in the roval Museum at Vienna. These although differing from the class of work we are at present to consider, deserve a passing notice for their wonderful beauty not only of material but of artistic arrangement as well. Baron Ferdinand von Hoch- stetter has well described the first', and Dr. Franz Heger' the second. The plumes of the Quetzal {Pl/aroii/acins luon'i/i/o) and the vivid turquoise blue of the Xiuhtototl (Cotinga ciiiFta or arr/ilca) are prominent among charming spoils of less known birds. The Ara (Psittaciis luacao) furnished brilliant plumage as do scores of other parrots, and the Mexican of todav continues the prettv art bequeathed him by remote ancestors. Whichever way then the ancient inhabitants of the Polynesian groups entered the Pacific Ocean thev must have brought some knowledge of feather decoration. Central Asia has now little enough of this work, but the southern and eastern shores of Asia furnished and still furnish abundant illustration. New Guinea, the halting place for the east-bound, has among others the feathers of the Birds of Paradise and the helmets and diadems are no mean objedls among the manufa(5lures of a remarkably decorative people. If the immigrants came from the American shore and journeyed with the "Trades" they had no inferior preceptor in the people of greater Mexico. On the comparativelv barren islands the new comers found few birds of brilliant plumage. Two shades of j-ellow, two of red, a green, black and white exhausted the ^Ut'bcr mcxicanischc Rdiqinru tins tit'r Zt'it Montezuma's in dtn -Allnit-xicanisc/n' ReUquien aits item Schlosst' Anibras in Tirnl. i. /,-. ,-inidrasrr Sammlnng in den Di'nkschriften dcr fikilosophisch- Annalfn des k. k. naturhistorischen Ho/museums, Wien, 1895. histot'ischen Ctasse dcr kaisen'ii/t Aktldentic drr IVisst-nschaffen in iVicn. Bd. XXXV. [1884.] BRIGHAM ON HAWAIIAN FEATHER WORK. 3 palette, for the forests were not extensive, nor fruits abundant as in the East Indies or in Mexico. In Yiti the red feathers of the Lorius solitarius and in Samoa those of the Coryphilus friiigil/acciis were used to decorate choice mats, and feathers of the former were much sought in Tonga. In the Society Islands stiff gorgets were made of feathers and shark teeth (PI. II.) and ceremonial dresses or masks of pearl shell and feathers one of which is still preserved in the British Museum and another, less per- fect, in Florence. All these uses of feathers in a permanent form are crude and primitive: all vield to the beautiful and far more durable work of the Hawaiians which it is the object of this essay to illustrate. Hawaiian feather work seen in its remains which have come down to us consists, first, in Lci's or strings of feathers worn in the hair, or, in later times, about the neck; I\a/iilis or plumes of feathers used as royal insignia; Alitmla cloaks or capes worn on state occasions by chiefs and nobilit^■; Maliiolc or helmets designed for proteAion as well as ornament; images of the god Kitkailniioku the chosen war-god of Kamehameha I.; and finally a few other things, as a model of a temple oracle given to Captain Cook, and certain mat-like objects now in the British Museum, of which the probable use will be discus.sed in order. The birds which supplied the feathers, at least the choicer yellow, red and green, were inhabitants of the mountain regions into which as the abode of evil spirits tlie Hawaiian did not like to go. His home was on the shore where the fish were at hand, or in the w^ell-watered valleys where he could grow his kalo (Caladiitiii iscii/cii/uiii) . Hence a caste arose of hardy venturesome men, the bird-hunters, — fioc haliai luaiiu^ — who endured cold and privations in their hunt for the precious feathers which were indeed the gold currency in which tribute might be paid or by which coveted goods might be obtained. The old Hawaiian was a close observer of nature. Having neither books nor the modern curse of newspapers, his memory was strengthened and his eye sharpened. He had a name for every tree and plant and not less for every bird. It is true that he did not always conjoin the two sexes when they, as is not infrequently the case, differ greatly in coloration; but ornithologists of education have failed in the same way. The hunters knew well enough the haunts of the birds they sought and the seasons when the plumage was at its best. They knew the habits of the birds, their food and other matters that might facilitate their quest. For example, they recog- nized the curiosity of the birds and planted strange trees in the open places in the forests, and in these new trees placed the sticks smeared with bird-lime which would entangle the prying birds. Bows and arrows would have been of no avail, if they had possessed them, for the rarer birds were seldom killed but captured alive and when the few feathers desired were plucked, released to renew their plumage at the next moult- ing. When bird-lime made of the viscid juice of the "papala" ( Pisoiiia iiiiihellifoa) 4 B RICH AM ON HAWAIIAN FEATHER WORK. could be obtained it was preferred, although other kinds were known and snares and throwing nets were frequently used. The common sorts were often killed and eaten, and the oo could hardh' have survived the loss of nearly its entire plumage. It will be well to look at the description the earh- voyagers give of this feather work at a time when it was in perfe6lion, bearing in mind that in fifty years from the earliest account the making of feather cloaks had pradlically ceased, although the con- stru6lion of kahilis and the plaiting of leis continues to the present day. These latter works, however, require no especial skill and draw iipon very miscellaneous material. KIG. I. COOKS CAPE: NOW IN AUSTR.\LIAN MUSEUM. When Cook anchored off Waimea, Kauai, in 177S, on his first discover}- of the Hawaiian Group, he and his officers at once noticed the feather robes and helmets, and the artist Waber | not Webber] in the capital drawing made of the scene on shore delineates a chief wearing the mahiole and ahuula. The account is as follows: "Amoug-st the articles which they brought to barter this da>- [Jan. 21, 177S] we could not help taking- notice of a particular .sort of cloak and cap, which, even in countries where dress is more particularly attended to, might be reckoned elegant. The first are nearl)- of the size and shape of the short cloaks worn b>' the women in England, and by the men of Spain, reaching to the middle of the back and tied loo.sely before. The ground of them is a net-work, upon which the mo.st beautiful red and yellow feathers are so closely fixed, that the siirface might be compared to the thickest and richest velvet, which they resemble, both as to feel and glossy appearance. "The manner of varying the mixture is very different, some having triangular spaces of red and yellow alternately; others a kind of crescent, and some that were entirely red, had a yellow border which made them appear, at some distance, exactly like a .scarlet cloak edged with gold lace. The brilliant colours of the feathers, in those that happened to be new, added not a little to their fine FEATHER WORK IN COOK'S VOYAGES. appearance, and we IouikI that tlie\- were in higli estimation with their owners, for they wonld not, at first part with one of them for anything we offered, asking no less a price than a musket. However, some were after^vard purchased for very large nails. Some of them as were of the best sort, were scarce, and it would seem that they are only used on the occasion of some particular ceremony or diversion, for the people who had them always made some gesticulations which we had seen u.sed before by those who sung. "The cap is made almost exactly like a helmet, with the middle part, or crest, .sometimes of a hand's breadth; and it fits verj^ close upon the head having notches to admit the ears. It is a frame of twigs and osiers, covered with a net-work, into which are wrought feathers, in the same manner as upon the cloaks, though rather closer and less diversified; the greater part being red with some black, j-ellow or green stripes on the sides following the curve direction of the crest. These probably complete the dress with the cloaks, for the natives sometimes appeared in both together. "We were at a loss to guess from whence they could get such a quantity of these beautiful feathers; but were soon informed as to one sort for they afterward brought great numbers of skins of small red birds [//rr?] for sale, which were often tied up in bunches of tw'ent}' or more, or had a small wooden .skewer run through their nostrils. At the first tho.se that were brought consisted only of the skin from behind the nostrils forward, but we afterward got many with the hind part including the tail and feet. The first however struck us at once with the origin of the fable formerly adopted, of the birds of paradi.se (Paradisca apoda) wanting legs; and sufficiently explained that circum.stance. Probably the people of the islands east of the Moluccas, from whence the skins of the birds of paradise are brought, cut off their feet, for the very reason assigned liy the peo- ple of Atooi [Kauai] for the like practice, which was, that they hereby can preserve them with greater ease, without losing any part of which they reckon valuable. The red bird of our island was judged In- Mr. Anderson to be a species of merops, about the size of a sparrow; of a beautiful scarlet colour, with a black tail and wings; and an arched bill twice the length of the head, which with the feet was also a beautiful red- dish colour. The contents of the head were taken out, as in the birds of paradise, but it did not appear that they used any other method to preserve them than by simple drying; for the skins, though moist, had neither taste nor smell that could gi\'e room to suspect the use of anti-putrescent substances.' "They have another [dress] appropriated to their Chiefs, and used on ceremonious occasions, consisting of a feathered cloak and helmet, which in point of beauty and magnificence, is perhaps nearly equal to that of any nation in the world. As this dress has been already' described with great accuracy and minuteness, I have onh' to add that these cloaks are made of different length in propor- tion to the rank of the wearer, some of them reaching no lower than the middle, others trailing on the ground. The inferior chiefs have also a short cloak, resembling the former, made of the long tail feathers of the cock, the tropic and man-of-war birds, with a broad border of the small red and yellow iCook's I'oyagrs. Quarto Ed., 17S4, II., p. 206. fig. 2. hel.^iet t.vken to england bv v.\n- couver: now in the bishop museum. 6 B RICH AM OX flAW'AlfAX FEATHER WORK. feathers, and a collar of the same. Others again are made of feathers entirely white with variegated borders. The helmet has a strong lining of wicker-work, capable of breaking the blow of any war- like instrument and seems evidentl\- designed for that purpose. Fig. 2. "These feathered dresses seemed to be exceedingly scarce, appropriated to persons of the highest rank and worn by the men only. During the whole time we la>- in Karakakooa Bay [Keala- keakua], we never saw them used but on three occasions: in the curious ceremony of Terreeoboo's [Kalaniopuu] first visit to the ships; by .some chiefs who were seen among the crowd on shore when Captain Cook was killed: and afterward, when Eappo [?] brought his bones to us. "The exact re.semblance between this habit and the cloak and helmet formerly worn by the Spaniards was too striking not to excite our curiositx' to inquire whether there were any probable grounds for supposing it to ha^'e been borrowed from them. After exerting every means in our power of obtaining information on the subject, we found the>' had no immediate knowledge of any other nation whatever; nor any tradition remaining among them of these islands having been ever visited before by such ships as ours. But notwith.standing the result of these inquiries, the uncommon form of this habit appears to me a sufficient proof of its European origin, especially- when added to another circum.stance, that it is a singular deviation from the general resemblance in dress which prevails amongst all the branches of this tribe dispersed through the South Sea. We were driven indeed by this conclusion to a supposition of the shipwreck of some Buccaneer, or Spanish ship, in the neigh- borhood of these islands. But when it is recollected that the course of the .Spanish trade from Aca- pulco to the Manilas is but a few degrees to the Southward of the Sandwich Islands in their passage out, and to the Northward on their return, this sniiposition will not apjjear in the least improbable. "< To Captain King's accotmt nut.st be added that of the Surgeon of the fleet, William Ellis, who was both a ready writer and a good draughtsman. His relation of the last voyage of Cook, now a rare book, adds mttch to the information given in the official account. "The principal ornaments of the men are the feather caps and cloaks; some of the latter reach dfiwn to their heels, and have a most magnificent appearance. They are made for the most part of red and yellow feathers, which are tied upon fine net work; the caps are composed of the same kind of feathers which are ,sometimes intermixed with black: they are secured upon a kind of basket work made in the form of a helmet. Both caps and cloaks are made of various patterns and sizes. The cloaks are not all composed of the same kind of feathers, but are sometimes varied with the long tail feathers of the cock, with a border of yellow or red, and .sometimes with those of the tropick bird. Both caps and cloaks, however, are only to be seen in the posse,ssion of the principal people. The)' have also a kind of fly-flap, made of a bunch of feathers fixed to the end of a thin piece of smooth and polished wood: they are generally made of the tail feathers of the cock, but the better sort of people have them of the tropick bird's feathers, or those belonging to a black and \ellow bird called mo-ho [Oo] . The handle is \'ery frequentl\' made of one of the bones of the arm or leg of those wliom the)' have killed in battle, curiously inlaid with tortoise shell: these the\' deem very valuable, and will not part with them under a great price. This ornament is common to the superiors of both .sexes. "The women too have their share in the ornamental way: that which they value most is the erai \_lci'\. This is a kind of ruff or necklace made of red, green, black, and \ellow feathers, curi- ously put together, and in most elegant patterns, which really do honor to the fancy of the ladies, whose business it is to make them. They never think themselves dressed without one or two of the.se round their necks, and tho.se who can afford it wear many."^ ■^Journal of Captain King: Cook's I'omfct-s, III., p. i,^S. The sup- Kealiiokaloa. In 1553 Juan Gaetano discovered these islands when position that the Spaniards had preceded them was indeed cor- sailing from New Spain to the Moluccas. rect. Cook had doubtless read Anson's Voyage, which was pub- ^Aii attthrntic narratiTt' of a X'oyage pi'r/ornird by Ciif>tatn Cuok lished the year he .sailed from England, and in which was a copy atid Captain Ctej-ke, in his majesty's ships Resolution and Discovery of the Spanish chart captured on the galleon June 20. 1743, on the during the year 1776, 1777, /77S, /77<^ and 17S0; in search of a north- voyage from .\capulco to Manila. On this chart are laid down a -'.'est passage between the continents of Asia and America. Including group ' I.as Mesas" in nearly the latitude of the Hawaiian Islands, £7 fartlifni account of all their discoveries, and the unfortu?tate deat/t though some fifteen degrees out of the correct longitude, not an <>/ Captain Cook. By W. Ellis, assistant surgeon to both vessels, unusual error at that time. In November, 1527, shipwrecked Span- London, i7,S2. Vol. II.. p. 155. iards arrived at Keei. near Kealakeakua, Hawaii, in the reign of FEATHER WORK IN EARLY IVVAGES. In the voyages of Captains Portlock and Dixon in 1786 we read: "But the most beautiful ornament wore b>- the women is a necklace made from the variegated feathers of the humming bird which are fixed on strings so regular and even as to have a surface equally smooth as velvet; and the rich colours of the feathers give it an appearance equally rich and elegant. "The caps and cloaks wore by the men are still superior in beauty and elegance. The cloaks are in general about the size of tliose wore by the Spaniards; the ground is network and the feathers are sewed on in alternate squares or triangular forms of red and yellow, _ ,, . . which have a most brilliant appearance. The ground of the caps is wicker work, in the form of a helmet; the elevated part from the fore- head to the hind part of the neck, is about a liand's breadth and gen- eralh- covered with yellow feathers, the sides of the cap with red. This cap, together with the cloak, has an appearance equally splendid, if not superior to any .scarlet and gold whatever. "The.se truly elegant ornaments are .scarce, and only possessed by Chiefs of the highest rank, who wear them on extraordinary occa- sions. There are cloaks of an inferior kind, which have only a narrow liorder of red and yellow feathers, the rest being covered with feathers of the trojiic and man-of-war bird."'' Yanconver retnrning to Kealakekua Bay in 1792 met Kamehameha I. and he describes the dress of the yonng king as follows: "The largest canoe was rowed by eighteen paddles on each side; in this was his Hawaiian majesty, dressed in a printed linen gown, that Captain Cook had given to Kalaniopuu; and the mo.st elegant feather cloak I had yet seen, compcsed principally of beautiful bright yellow feathers and reaching from his shoulders to the ground on which it trailed. On his head he wore a very hand.some helmet, and made altogether a very handsome appearance."^ Dnring that visit the king presented X'ancoitver with fonr very handsome feathered helmet.s'* (one of these, Fig. 2, is now in the Bishop Mnsenm, No. 322); and later, when coming to see his good friend, — "Kamehameha conceiving this might be his last visit, presented me with a handsome cloak formed of red and >ellow feathers, with a small colledlion of other native curiosities; and at the same time delivered into my charge the superb cloak that he had worn on his formal visit on our arrival. This cloak was very neatly made of \ellow feathers: after he had displayed its beauty and had shewn nie the two holes made in different parts of it by the enemy's spears the first day he wore it, in his last battle for the sovereignty of this island, he ver>- carefully folded it up, ''""^ '""■"' and desired that on my arrival in England, I would present it in his name FIG. 3. BONE HANDLES OF to H . M. King George;' and as it had never been worn by an^- person but kahilis: b. p. b. m. himself, he strictly enjoined me not to permit an>- per.son whatever to throw it over their shoulders, saying it was the most valuable in the island of Hawaii, and for that reason he had sent it to so great a monarch, and so good a friend, as he considered the King of England. 'f Cat'tam (u\>!xr l'unit:ri. London. ^Foyagt' yoiiud the Zi'orld, but more particularly tn tlw .Xorthict'sl coast of America, pei'foimed in I'jSs-SS. Loudon. 1789. 4to, p. 271. 1A voyage of discoi'cry to the North Pacific Ocean and round the world, undertaken by his Majesty's command, principally with a viezc to ascertain the existence of any navi,^able communication between the North Pacific and North .Atlantic (heans. and perfio mcd in tht- yciir.\ /790-95. under the command 1798. Vol. II., p. 126. ^Loc. cil., p. 127. These are now. with the exception mentioned, in the British Museum. IL0C. cit.. p. 159. This cloak is supposed to he one of those now at Windsor Castle. It might be identified by the holes made by 8 BRrCrHAM ON HAWAHAN FEATHER WORK. "This donation I am wtll persuaded was directed 1)\- his own grateful heart, without having received the least hint or advice from any person whatever, and was the effect of principles, highly honorable to more civilized minds. The cloak I received and gave him the most positive assurance of ac5ling agreeably with his direclions." I have given the extraft.s from these early voyagers in full for it is the only authentic information that we have from foreigners: that from native sources is very meagre and indefinite. Even in recent times we can learn nothing very exacflly about these ancient cloaks: for example when King Lunalilo was buried, his father Kanaina insisted upon putting the fine feather cloak which had been laid over the remains, into the coffin with him. This was in 1S74, and hundreds must have seen this cloak as the a b c d FIG. 4. IIWI, Of AXD APAPAXK: SPHCIMHXS IX THK lUSHOl' .MLSHLM. royal corpse was exposed to the view of the people; I have questioned many most in- telligent foreigners and natives with the result that one saw the cloak and only remembers that it was yellow and large; another sa\-s it was not all 3-ellow but had some other color, btit whether red or black he cannot say: another is sure it had some pattern but whether crescents or triangles could not say: still another is under the impression that the cloak was entirely red! The most trustworthy testimony places a green crescent in the middle. Little of a more definite natttre is to be gathered from native song and tradition, although both cloaks and kahilis are mentioned and the royal birds play a ccnispictious part in many a fine old luelc. Then the absttrd stories repeated in almost every new book written abotit these islands, although false, seem immortal. How often is the statement repeated in book and on label that the bird of the spear, but at the tiiue of my last visit to England the Windsor private museum in the castle. All of these Her Majesty has gra- cloaks had "been sent to the furrier for repairs." Since my visit ciously allowed me to have photographed and they will be described renewed search has been made for this cloak at Windsor, but without in due order. The cloak Vancouver so carefully carried to his sov- success. other cloaks and capes were found and are now in the ereign has probabh' perished. OF THE HAU-AHAN BIRDS. 9 yellow feathers has but two of the precious decorations, — the fact being that the Oo has in each axil a tuft of from fifteen to twenty feathers, and the Manio has quite as many in the dorso-caudal region. Hut it is time lost to repeat the many wanderings from the truth that these m^-sterious birds have caused, and we may turn at once to a con- sideration of the birds that furnished the feathers for the old Hawaiiaus.'" BIRDS FlRXISHIXi; FEATHERS. liwi. — First the liwi ( I'cstiaria nnriiica, Reichenbach ), Fig. 4, a, the bright red bird, found all over the group, today as in former times tlie most abundant native bird, although, like all other natives disappearing. I have seen it in my garden in Xuuanu abed FIG. 5. 00 AXU MAMt): .SPKCniEX.S IX P,ISH(_)r Ml'SKUM. Valley about 120 feet above the sea, in fair weather, and it is often driven down to the shore from the mountain ridges, which are its usual haunt, by severe storms. It is a honey-sucker and frequents the arborescent Lobeliaceae so noticeable a feature of the Hawaiian Flora. The adult female is of a darker vermilion than the male, and her feathers are easily mistaken for those of the faded apapane. Total length, 5.75 inches. The breast furnishes the main supply of feathers. That there may be something more definite than the mere terms red, yellow, orange applied to these feathers, I have compared unfaded specimens with the color illustrations given in M. Leon Lefevre's Traite dcs Mafihrs m/ora/z/rs artificiellcs., Paris, 1S96, and the fresh feathers of the iiwi correspond to the roiige d'alizarine SX ^°For the nieasiireiueuts and ornithological names I am indebted tors, has trusted too much to the modern native, who neither remem- chiefly to Mr. Scott B. Wilson, whose Ave^ Hawaiti'iisn: Birds of bers nor cares for the ancient lore of the islands, but will not confess Ihr Sa>id:L'ich /slai/ds i^ replete with careful obser\'ation and much his ignorance, passing upon the unsuspecting stranger it may be the stud>'. In the case of native names. Mr. Scott, as most other coUec- name of a fish or flower, if the true nante is forgotten. lo BRIG HAM ON HAWAIIAN FEATHER WORK. sur soie 25% pate a 20% given on page 1402 of that great work. When the feather fades it assumes a yellow tone, and the color of these as of the 00 and mamo fades quickly in alcohol. Kept in the dark, as the ahuula were most of the time, the tint seems ver\- durable, some old leis and capes showing as bright as the freshly plucked feathers. Oo.^Next to this the Oo (Acniloceiriis nohilis, Wilson), Fig. 5, «''// (waist-cloth). Ou. — The On (Psi//aciroslra psittacca^ Temminck), Fig. 4, /; $ , ^(5' , has a range throughout the group, feeding large!}- on the ripe fruits of the ie-ie ( Frcyciuctia arborea^ Gaudichaud). The green color varies considerabl}-; only that on the head is brilliant while the body plumage is dull, and was not much used; only three or four capes and as many helmets showing these have survived. x'Vdult, 6.3 inches long. Other greens might have been obtained from the genus Honigiiatlnis or Hefcrorhyii- c////s, but this seems to have been rare anciently as well as at present. Apapane. — The Apapane {Hiniatioic sa)igiiiiica^ Cabanis), Fig. 4, r/? , ranges all over the islands, feeding on honey. Not much used in feather work; the dark crim- son feathers being inconspicuous at a distance. The color is croceine sur laine 2%, p. 461 of Lefevre, shaded with priniuline-|-;S napthol, p. 596. Adult length, 5.25 inches. A fragment of a cape ( Cat. No. 40) made largely of these fine feathers is now in Hono- lulu, and several leis where they appear mixed with other feathers are in this Museum. Mamo. — The beautiful Mamo (Diepa)iis pacifica^ Temminck) is rare in col- leAions, the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum having only four specimens, two of those in the Mills colle6lion having been given by Mr. Chas. R. Bishop to Mr. Scott B. OF THE HAWAIIAN BIRDS. II Wilson. It is probably nearly extinct, colleAors of late years having failed to find it. In 1890 I saw three in a sandal-wood tree under which I was camping on the slopes of Manna Hualalai on Hawaii (to which island the species is confined) at an elevation of yooodz feet. The Mills specimens were obtained, so Mr. Mills informed me in 1864, near Olaa in Puna. The Kamehameha cloak in the Bishop Museum ( No. i of the catalogue given below) is composed wholly of these feathers; so also is a fine lei in the same colleAion. The bird is about 8 inches long. Fig. 5, r, d. The general plumage is not of so rich a black as the 00, while the lower part of the body, the rump, thighs, anterior margin of wings and tail coverts are of a rich orange. Among Hawaiian birds the niamo is facile pr/j/ccps. Its name has been applied to all royal war-cloaks very much as "beaver" has clung to a soft hat no longer made of the fur of the Castor fiber. The principal color of the orange feather seems to be represented by the jaune metanile sur laine, 2% shown on p. 446 of Lefevre's work. To distin- guish these feathers when faded from the 00 is not always easy, but the orange of the former is separated from the black base by a marked white space, and the tips of the 00 feathers are thinner and larger. Koae. — The Tropic bird (P/ia?///i)ii (Clhcrfiis, Bloxam), Boatswain bird, Paille- en-queue, Pj'lstaart, is shown in PI. Y. with its young. It breeds among the loose rocks of the bird islands or on ledges of almost inaccessible cliffs on Oahu and other inhabited islands, where its white form hovering like a kite in the air against the green palis is often seen late in the afternoon. The long tail-feathers of the adult and the mottled plumage of the young were used to some extent in the fabrication of kahilis, but by no means so frequently as the feathers of the next species. Koae ula. — At present the Red-tailed Tropic bird {I'//ariIio)i ntbriiaiida, Salvin), while found occasionally on Niihau and the outlying islets is abundant on Nihoa and Necker Islands. On the latter island I have pulled the red tail feathers from the sitting bird who did not seem to greatly resent the outrage; perhaps at that season the feathers are more loosely attached, preparatory to moulting. While these two feathers form the important part, were greatly sought and highly valued, the satiny white of the body plumage was also much in demand for capes, although little of this white work is extant in museums: the only two specimens I have found are at Florence; Nos. 66 and 67 in the List of Ahuula. Iwa. — The Frigate bird [Fregata ai]nila, Gould), also called the Man-of-war hawk, was hunted for its long black metallic-tinted feathers, both for cloaks and for kahilis. Common in the nesting season on Necker Island. In ancient days fishermen made frequent excursions to Nihoa and Necker Islands. The landing places (only one on each island) were so situated that landing was possible on one or the other island in whatever wind. On the latter island, which is the narrow rim of a ruined 12 BRTGHAM ON HAWAIIAN FEATHER WORK. crater, are many stone constrnctions iised in worship or in tlie propitiation of the deities of sea, wind, fishing and liunting, as both fishers and hunters had their peculiar gods, images of which were found there a few years ago broken to fragments. Pueo. — The Hawaiian owl {Asia accipilri)ins^ Gurne}- ) was worshipped as a god, but Davida Malo says in his so-called Hawaiian Antiquities, — but which is really a compilation of native schoolboys' compositions, — that the feathers were used for kahilis, the bird being caught in snares placed near its burrows. y^' 4i. FIG. 6. PUEO, HAWAIIAN OWL. Alala. — The Crow {Corz'its tj-opiais, Gmelin) is found only in the southwest part of Hawaii. It was caught in snares. I have known one to be knocked down by a stick, caught and kept eighteen months in captivity. The black feathers were used for kahilis and for dressing idols much in the way common in New Guinea. The feathers of the barnyard fowl and of the gamecock were largely used for common capes or cloaks, as were those of the duck, and in recent times those of the latter were sometimes dyed red or yellow. Kahilis of such dyed feathers are in the Bishop Museum from the collection of Queen Emma." Dyed feathers have been much used for leis and for ahuula as well, so that it is very necessary to examine specimens "These dyed feathers are far from permanent in color, and in except on the two exhibition days each week quite in the dark, the past eight years four of these kahilis which were placed outside Two placed within the almost air-tight cases have preserved their the cedar cases in the Kahili room at the Museum have lost much of color better, their color although never exposed to the diren"rays of the sun and COLLECTING THE FEATHERS. 13 of feather work with care for this counterfeit. Fortunately both of the precious yellow feathers have black bases not present of course in the dyed specimens. Dr. Serrurier tells (Aarddri/ksk/iiidiir ]Veekhlad, 188 1, No. 19) an amusing story of dyed feathers as quoted by Director vSchmeltz:"' '"S)te l^ouificn bet Snubuncfl xVlljelu jfinbtc eiucit )Li(cI)CU Htnntcl mid) ivnciib eiucv Seftnuftcnuuci unb licjf \{)\\ bee (irollcu 5i>cvt[icci l)rtU)cu \\xx eiue l)ol)c Siinime uevitd)evu. "Tne 2d)iff titt 2d)tffbrud), abcv uadi ciuificv 3cit imivbc bie i^abmu} aufaafijfllt mib bcv Hcnutel fain uiicbcr 511111 !isLn-)d)eiu, iiibcjj uuii bov (iclbcu A-avbe bcr (Vcbcvii wax nid)tv mct)t iiLivio: bcr '•JJfaiitcl luav c]ciavbt gciueicn." Now even the old natives were aware of the action of ' " salt water on the genuine feathers and took great pre- caution when carrying their precious robes on canoe voy- ages. Surelv the prolonged saturation of a shipwreck would account for any loss of color. I have, however, soaked both manio and iiwi feathers in a saturated solu- tion of common salt for six mouths with but little loss of color. The story, although probabh' apocryphal, has L .served its purpose. It is unnecessary to more than mention the leis and capes made in recent times of the feathers of the peacock and pheasant, many of which were in the possession of Kalakaua and his sister; they were poor substitutes for the genuine Hawaiian feathers. Besides the method of capturing with bird-lime, nets of light thread and wide mesh were skilfully thrown over the flying bird, and sticks and stones were also re- sorted to with the larger birds. Peheapueo was a snare used especially for owls. One of the ancient nets for bird-catching is in this Museum (No. 138), and I have suc- ceeded without difficultv in capturing with it the so-called "mina" (Pasfnr frisfis) a bird about the size of the 00. This net is of considerable size and the mesh stick would be five inches wdde. In whate\'er waj- the birds were caught the feathers when plucked were tied to a thin but strong fibre and made up into small parcels as shown in Fig. 7. The hunters often padded the main feather with the small down (pa'u) to -^% FIG. 7. FEATHERS FROM THE HUNTER. 14 B RICH AM ON HAWAIIAN FEATHER WORK. make the parcel appear well. The feathers from under the wings were called rr, those over the rump///'/, while the tail feathers \\&r& piipt(a. The use of feathers as currency was common throughout Polynesia, as shell money was with the Papuans. In New Zealand, while cloaks of large size were made of the feathers of the Kiwi {Apteryx )j/aii/rl/i/\ etc.) , the fine black feathers of the Huia {Heleroloclia ar/itiros/ris, Gould) were used in the Polynesian way for barter as well as for cloak making. FEATHER KAHILIS. The name kahili is derived from the root verb /////, to braid or tie on, as feathers to a stem, or stone adzes to a handle: with the article it becomes ka-/iih\ the plaited thing. The kahili in its greatest development consisted of a pole sometimes twenty feet high, to the upper end of which was attached the I/ii/ii or cluster of feathers. This was sometimes of great extent; the Rev. C. S. Stewart, who was at the Islands when Lord Byron brought home the bodies of Liholiho and Kamamalu (in 1825), saw poles near thirty feet high with I//i/iiiimi/ii forming cylinders fifteen to eighteen inches in diameter and twelve to fourteen feet long." The largest in the Bishop Museum is thirty inches in diameter and four feet long. Neither Cook nor \'ancouver mention these immense kahilis, for they never saw them, no royal funeral occurring during their stay, and usuallv the poles were stripped of feathers when occasion passed, and the feathers were preserved in calabashes until again required. It is probable that a bunch of feathers used as a fly-flap was the primal form of feather work. Flies (iia/o) were here though not in such abundance as found by early explorers on other islands of the Pacific; but even for this useful purpose the bunch of feathers was no doubt preceded by a bunch of leaves, and the prototype of the kahili seems to have been a stem of that most useful plant the ki ( Cordyliiic /fniiiualis^ Kunth). Fig. 9, p. 16. On many of the islands of the Pacific a branch of ki was the symbol of peace, and on the Hawaiian Islands it shared in early times with a coconut leaf the representation of high rank. Its utility has survived its symbolism: and the native obtains food and drink from the large saccharine root. At first he made a kind of fer- mented beer, then taught by vicious whites the Hawaiian distilled this fermenting mass making a smoky whiskey called in the vernacular, from the name of the rude iron still, okolchao. The tough leaf is still the favorite wrapper for fish, and I have seen an unclothed and so pocketless native carry a score of oranges, each fruit wrapped neatly in one of the leaves still attached to the stem. These leaves are also acceptable fodder for animals. Very early the hand plumes became symbols of rank and on all public occasions kahili bearers {iia laivckaliili ) attended a chief, or while he ate or slept a haakiti ^iPi ivale Journal of a vuyagi- hi the Pacific Ocean, a?id lesidfiice at the Sand-wuh hiainh. in //ic min tSu-.'S. By C. S. Stewart. Xew York, 1828. p. 10. See extract below. FEATHER KAHILIS. 15 brushed away with smaller ones all troublesome insefts. In public they were tokens; in private fly-flaps. The picture of Nahienaena, sister of Kauikeaouli, shows one in her hand. Fig. 10, p. 17. When oil portraits were introduced those of chiefs often had small kahilis attached to the side of the frame. The small kahilis were easily made and became very common; were used as presents and so fell into the hands of others FIG. 8. KAHILIS. ""'■" than the nobility, thus losing much of their meaning. The late royal family, however, retained them to the end of the monarchy, and royal personages had them at their side at feasts or public receptions. Of these small kahilis the Bishop Museum has four score, and examples are found in most museums. The large kahilis used only on solemn occasions are now limited in number, all the important historic ones are in this INIuseum and no more will ever legitimateh- be made. I know of none in any foreign museum. The pole, at first a mere support or stem, became from the force of circum- stances the impersonation of the whole kahili in this way: a kahili was made for a chief, was named, and, when the occasion for its use had passed, its feathers were taken off and stored away; the form was dissolved and only the name remained to the pole which might when the next need arose be again clothed with the same or other feathers, and in similar or quite different form. Often the pole was a spear {pololu kani'la), or a stick of well rounded koa {Acacia koa^ Gray), and in later times cabinet i6 BRIG HAM OX //AU'A/IA.X FEATHER If 'OR A'. makers formed the stem of alternating native woods. Many of these last, both large and small, are in this ]\Iuseum bnt were unknown to the ancient Hawaiian. The old native had, however, a very elaborate form of handle made bv stringing disks of tor- toise-shell on a tough but slender core of kauila wood {Alplii Ionia cxceha^ Reis.sek), or in the small ones,- of whalebone. The tortoise-shell was either used alone or alter- nating with bone or ivory. Making these handles was amusement as wellas work for chiefs, and two that the high chief Paki, father of Mrs. Bishop, left unfinished at his death in June, 1S55, are in the Bishop Museum and show well the method of construc- tion: Fig. II. On the whalebone core '-4 jm f FIG. 9. STEM OF KI. were strung twent^• or more disks of the outer shell of the sea turtle, square or approximatelv rounded, then a ring of bone was pressed tight- Iv down on the parcel of disks and the whole filed into shape and polished. This is precisely the process used in the manufacture of shell monev once the common currencv of the people of the western Pacific, though not generally among Polynesians. In the large kahilis the bone is often omitted and the whole series pressed closelv together apparenth' without cement. Such handles are of great weight but always of elegant form and perfect finish. How early this manufacture began we ha^•e no means of knowing: the same work is shown in a fan handle once belonging to Kalaniopuu the King of Hawaii at the time of Cook's visit [B.M. No. 5011], and from the finish it can hardly have been a new process. Probablv, as the turtle were abundant and the shell easily worked, the manufac5lure is of considerable antiquit}-. The bone alternating with tortoise-shell is often human, as described b_v the early voyagers, and a good example is shown in Fig. 3, p. 7 | B. M. No. 24]. The kntiiii or principal bone is the right shin bone of Kaneoneo, a noted chief of Kauai who came to Oahu to fight for the religion of his fathers as well as for the independence of the island threatened bv Kamehameha, and who fell in the battle of Nuuanu [1795 |. The other bones, each from a different man, are of the bra\e chiefs who perished in the same FEATHER KAHILIS. 17 battle and were thus honored bv the conqueror.'^ It was an old Hawaiian custom to outrage the memor^' of an enemy by placing bits of his skeleton or teeth in some vessel of dishonor, or by making fishhooks or arrow points'' of them; hence the care taken to hide the bones of prominent chiefs. On the other hand it was honorable to have one's bones placed on a kahili handle or inlaid in a poi uniekc. The old men a generation ago knew the names of the chiefs whose bon}' relics are preserved in these kahilis while the rest of their anatom\' has long been dust, but probably no one can now tell the tale. When a chief is at the point of death these bones are supposed to rattle, but as the chiefs are all dead they seem now to have abandoned their heraldic vocation. Another similar handle, but without feathers | B. M. No. 117], shown in tlie same illustration, was given by Paki nearly half a century ago to Gorham D. Gilman to whom he told all the names of the bones in order; but when Mr. Gilman gave the handle to the Museum he had long since forgotten the interesting list. The feathers {//ii/i/ii/aiiii) were of every variety known to the Hawaiians, includ- ing such foreign ones as ostrich and peacock; but the old ones were of the tropic-bird, 00 (both yellow and black), frigate-bird, pueo, iiwi and the barnyard fowl. In later degenerate times dyed duck feathers were used. The method of the modern florist who fastens his short-stemmed flowers to wires that they may have due prominence in his boucpiet was praAised by the isl- ander of olden time, but as he liad no wire he pressed into service the tough, slim midrib of the coconut leaf. Several of these, or of other stiff fibres, he bound together with the thread of olona, attach- ing by the same thread the feathers to the separated ends of the main stem in a way shown more clearly in Fig. 12, p. 19. These feathered branches are tied together in small bundles and kept in quantity for use. How they were finally fastened to the kahili pole is shown in Fig. 13, p. 19. I believe that anciently, before white influence was felt, no thought was given to fitness of color to occasion, and it was only by foreign teaching that reds and yellows were reserved for coronations or general state funcTiions, while black and the sombre colors were appropriated to funerals. At the funeral of the Princess Pauahi ''Doubtless bones of Kaiana. a chief of distincftion, and of Kalaui- 'sThe only arrows used by Ihe Hawaiians were direc'ted solely kupule, the last king of Oahu, are among these trophies. against mice. Memoirs of the Berxice p.\t".\hi Bishop Musei'm. Wji.. I. (2) FIG. 10. NAHIENAENA, IX 1825. i8 B RICH AM ON HAWAIIAN FEATHER WORK. the kaliilis made especially for the funeral were of pure white as in keeping with her charaAer. No such distin(5lion held in the olden time. I do not forget that in the case of cloaks, and to a less degree with kahilis, yellow was a royal color as with so many oriental nations; possibly, as has been suggested, from gold the king of metals, but most likely from the sun the ruler of earthly life. The yellow robes of China, the yel- low umbrellas of the East Indies, the golden disks of Peru, — and we might go back to the life-giving orb of the Egyp- tian Ra, — all proclaim the regal essence of yellow. Formerly the base of the liiiliiiuaiui or cylinder of feathers was closed or ter- minated at the base by an inverted cone of feathers kept in place b\- bands of kapa. This simple form gave way to rather tawdry sleeves of silk bound with long ribbon streamers of the gaudA- colors dear to tlie colored races. The very grand effect of the kahilis carried in a funeral procession will not easily be forgotten by those who have been present at sucli functions. From every side they present the same aspect, and the graceful forms add dignity to the stream of humanity almost as palms do to a tropical sunset. Nor alone in pro- cession,—grouped about a throne or a bier the\- both decorate and add dignity to the place. The funeral of Kauikeaouli ( Kaniehameha III.), in January, 1S55, was sketched by a Swiss artist, Paul Emmert, and from his drawing the illus- tration, Fig. 14, p. 20, is given. The pall upon the coifin was the ro\-al robe of his sister Nahienaena, and many of the kahilis used on that occasion are now in the Bishop Museum. The officer in charge of the kahili was called Paakaliili. Before leaving the subject of kahilis we may recall the description given by Rev. C. S. Richards, in his Journal, of a celebration given in May, 1S22, in memory of Kamehameha the Great. The American Mission had been on the Islands but two FIG. II. UNFINISHED KAHILI HANDLES. KAHILIS IN PROCESSIONS. 19 3'ears, and native customs had not been greatly modified, at least b}- the missionaries. It was on the last day of a long revel: "Tameha-maru [Kamanialu, the favorite queen of Liholiho] on this da>- was, as usual, a con- spicuous object. The (■«■/• (V^f/rt/f in which she joined the processions passing in different directions consisted of an elegantly modelled whaleboat fastened firmly to a platform of wicker work thirtj- feet long by twelve wide, and borne on the heads of seventy men. The boat was lined, and the whole platform covered, first with imported broad- cloth, and then with beautiful patterns of tapa or native cloth of a variety of figures and rich colours. The men supporting the whole were formed into a solid bodv so that the outer rows KIG. 13. Hl'Ll'MAXr OF A KAHILI. only at the sides and ends were seen; and all forming these wore the splendid scarlet and yellow feather cloaks and helmets of which >-ou have read accounts; and than which, scarce anxthing can appear more superb. The only dress of the queen was a .scarlet of feathers. She was seated in the middle of the boat Chinese umbrella of scarlet damask [R. M. No. 5152] richl)' ornamented with gilding, fringe and tassels, and supported by a chief standing behind her, in a scarlet malo or girdle and feather helmet. On one quarter of the boat stood Karimoku [Kalaimoku] FIG. 12. BRANCHES OF A KAHILI. silk pa' H or native petticoat, and a coronet and screened from the sun bv an immense 20 BRIG HAM OX HAWAIIAN FEATHER WORK. the Prime Minister, and on the other Naihe, the national orator, both also in malos of scarlet silk and helmets of feathers, and each bearing a kahili or feathered staff of state near thirt\- feet in height. The upper parts of these kahilis were of scarlet feathers so ingeniously and beautifulh' arranged on artificial branches attached to the staff as to form cylinders fifteen or eighteen inches in diameter, and twelve or fourteen feet long; the lower parts or handles were covered with alternate rings of tortoise shell and ivory of the neatest workmanship and highest polish. "Imperfect as the image may be which my description will convey to your mind of this pageant of ro>-al device and exhibition, I think you will not altogether condemn the epithet I use when I say it was splendid. So far as the feather mantles, helmets, coronets and kahilis had an effect I am not fearful of extra\agance in the use of the epithet. I doubt whether there is a nation in Christendom which at the time letters and Christianity were introduced, could have presented a FIG. 14. PORTION OF THE FUNERAL PROCESSION OF KAMEHAMEHA III. court dress and insignia of rank so magnificent as these: and they were found here, in all their rich- ness, when the Islands were discovered by Cook. There is something approaching the sublime in the lofty noddings of the kahilis of state as they tower far above the heads of the group whose di.stincftion they proclaim: something conveying to the mind impressions of greater ma]'e,sty than the gleamiugs of the most splendid banners I ever saw unfurled."''' Not in the least doe.s the excellent niLssioiiarv exaggerate in his eulog}' on the grand kahilis. Those of tts who, in these latter days of the degeneration of all good native works and customs, have seen the kahilis wave above royalty, however faded, — the finely built and naked bronze statttes that bore the kahilis replaced by cltiins}-, ill- dressed, commonplace bearers of neither rank nor dignit^•, — even the withered rose, most of its fragrance gone, has yet appealed strongly to otir admiration and sympathy. The powerfully built chiefs, head and shoulders above the common crowd, free from all sartorial disfigitrements, stistained easily the great weight of these towering plttmes; but the modern bearer, stranger alike to the strength and virtties of his predecessors, has to call in the aid of stout straps of imported leather to bear the much smaller kahilis of the modern r/V77/crc/ days.'' It was a notable gathering of chiefs. Kamamaltt was a datighter of Kanieha- meha I. by Kaheiheimalie ( afterw^ards Hoapiliwahine), and as the wife of Liholiho w-ent with him to England where she died July 8, 1824. Kalaimokti or Kalanimoktt, sometimes called Pitt, was a chief, not of the highest rank, bttt w-as a valtted counsellor of Kamehameha ditriug his wars, and of considerable ability, energy and honesty, a ^^Pi ivatc Journal oj a Wnui^c tu the Pacijic Otcan and Hr^idence at times have been much longer on the march than in the early days ////■ Sandwich htands, in the years 1S22, aV.??, 1S24 and /S^s. By C. S. when streets wide enough for such displays were non e.xistent, the Stewart. New York, 1S2S: p. log. town was small, and the passa.ge from the palace to the royal mau- i^It is but fair to state that the funeral processions of modern soleum but a few rods long. LIS! OF LARGE KAHILIS. 21 combination of qualities useful, if rare, in the ofEce of Prime Minister which he held during the regenc}' of Kaahvimanu. He died February- 8, 1827. Naihe, called the national orator, was husband of Kapiolani, the enlightened alii who braved the goddess Pele in her ver}- den Kilauea. He died in 183 1. The grand old chiefs have passed away and not one descendant remains. With them have passed the gigantic kahilis of which the much smaller successors remain, no longer useful except as relics of the past. Of the large kahilis in the Bishop Museum the following list will show the variety. The group of most of these. Fig. 8, p. 15, well exhibits the variation in form. LIvST OF LARGE KAHILIS IN THE BISHOP MUSEUM. 1. Ash pole II feet high. Hulumanu 50 inches high, 24 inches in diameter; of black 00 feathers; branches bound with black but attached to the pole with white cord. Used at the funerals of H. R. H. Keelikolani and of Mrs. Bishop. Black and white silk trimmings. 2. Kauila spear 12 feet long. Hulumanu of blue peacock feathers arranged in globular form, 22 inches in diameter, with feather base. It belonged to Queen Emma. The name Noel .... is partlv obliterated. Orange trimmings. 3. Koa pole 10 feet high. Hulumanu of peculiar form, only 4 inches high and 34 inches in diameter; of peacock feathers. The conical silk base is 2 feet long. Pink and orange trimmings. A striking form, especially when alternating with the more common kind. 4. Kauila spear 12 feet long, with carved end. Hulumanu of green peacock feathers arranged in globular form, 22 inches in diameter; base of feathers. Kamaka- mao was the name of this kahili. Trimmings orange. 5. Koa pole 10 feet long. Hulumanu 4 inches high, 22 inches in diameter; of small black and white feathers. Princess Pauahi. Purple and lavender trimmings. 6. Painted pole ( to imitate tortoise-shell and ivory) 14 feet high. Hulumanu 34 inches high, 26 inches in diameter; of black and white feathers. It was in the pos- session of Queen Emma and was named Laielohelohe. Purple and white trimmings. 7. Painted pole 13 feet high. Hulumanu globular, 13 inches in diameter; of duck feathers dyed red. Blue, white and cherry trimmings. 8. Painted pole 14 feet high. Hulumanu globular, 15 inches in diameter; of soft grey and white feathers. It belonged to Queen Emma and bears the label, — "Kalelehoano he inoa no ia no ka Moiwahine Ema, o keia na kahili opuu i ukali i ko ka jNIoiwahine hoolewaia ana." Cherrv and terra cotta trimmings. 9. Kaulahoanalani, a metal-sheathed pole g'S feet high; the alternate sedlions to represent gold and silver. Hulumanu 40 inches high, 15 inches in diameter; of soft 22 B RICH AM OX HAU'AHAX FEATHER WORK. grey and white feathers in a close cylinder with red feather base. Given by the half- castes to the Prince of Hawaii, son of Kaniehameha I\'. Cherry and white trimmings. 10. Painted pole xa^Yz feet high. Hulumanu 15 inches high and 30 inches in diameter; of loose, grey feathers mixed with the red tail feathers of the tropic bird. The name was Kamakaalaneo. Cherry and lavender trimmings. 11. Kauila spear 10 feet long. Hulumanu 42 inches high and iS inches in diameter; of peacock feathers. Blue and orange trimmings. 12. Painted pole 14! 2 feet high. Hulumanu 24 inches high, 30 inches in diameter, of dark fluffy ostrich ( ? ) feathers. The inscription is, — "Kaleoaloha, he makana wale ia mai ka hulu; he inoa keia mawaena o ke alii a me kona haku kahili." Figured purple and plain orange ba.se, purple and orange trimmings. 13. Ash pole II feet high. Hulumanu 30 inches high, 18 inches in diameter; of black 00 feathers. "Kuniaka he inoa ia o kona kupunawahine oia ka makuahine o Kamalalawalu moi o Maui." Buff and black trimmings. 14. Painted pole 14 feet high. Hulunuinu 24 inches high, 18 inches in diam- eter; of black 00 feathers. 15. Pole, wound spirally with blue and white, 10 feet high. Hulumanu 30 inches high, 10 inches in diameter; of white feathers. Made by H. R. H. Liliuokalani for the Princess Pauahi's funeral. Pale blue trimmings. 16. Heavy kauila pole 14 feet high. Hulumanu 30 inches high, and 24 inches in diameter; of large feathers dyed red; "Leleoili he inoa keia no Kekelaokalani ko ka Moiwahine makuahine; he elua laua nei ma keia inoa." Orange and cherry trimmings. 17. Ash pole 10 feet high (cut down). Hulumanu 30 inches high, 26 inches in diameter; of iwa (Frigate bird) feathers from the guano islands. H. R. H. Ruta Keelikolani. Cherry and orange trimmings. 18. Pole of inlaid native woods 13 feet high. Hulumanu 36 inches high, 34 inches in diameter of tail feathers of the Pliacilioii nihricaiida. As there are but two feathers in the tail many hundred birds must have contributed to this kahili. Princess Pauahi. Cherry and white trimmings. 19. Tortoise-shell and ivory pole, slender and only 8 feet high. Hulumanu 24 inches high, 24 inches in diameter; of yellow 00 feathers; with its mate. No. 22, perhaps the most brilliant in the collection. H. R. H. Princess Victoria Kamamalu. Blue and yellow trimmings to a black feather base. 20. Kauila spear, turned, 12 feet long. Hulumanu 38 inches high, 36 inches in diameter; vellow 00 feathers and red tail feathers of the tropic bird; black feather base. As the tail feathers project 6-8 inches beyond the cylinder of 00 feathers they are often neatly spliced to eke out the length. Black and orange trimmings. 21. Ash pole 12 feet high. Hulumanu 30 inches high, 26 inches in diameter; of large white feathers. Made for Mrs. Bishop's funeral. Light blue and white trim- mings. LIST OF LARGE KAHILIS. 23 22. Tortoise-shell and ivory pole 12 feet high. Hiilumanu 3iV SMALL k'AH/L/S. 25 measurements given are approximate, as the kahilis are enclosed in sealed cases, but the^- are nearly correct. Notice is taken of the unornamental trimmings, but these are not the same the kahilis wore at their last public appearance, for they were redecorated by native women immediately before they were brought to their present cases and the Director is not responsible for the strange effects presented. A kahili handle | B. M. 117 | is shown in Fig. 3. It is made of tortoise-shell and human bone (those of Kaneoneo, Kalanikupule, Kaiana and other chiefs who perished in the battle of Nuuanu in 1795), was given by Paki to (rorham I). Gilmau many 3-ears ago, and by him to the Bishop Museum. Many other liandles of tortoise-shell and ivory are in the INIuseum collec^tion and some of them are doubtless handles of those kahilis described by the Rev. C. vS. .Stewart in the account of Kamamalu's pageant just quoted. No attempt is made to describe the many small kahilis in this Museum; speci- mens are found in most museums; and here, while the\- are in great number and variety-, and often of considerable beauty, they are generalh- quite modern and made of foreign feathers. Sufficient illustration is given in Figs. 8 and 16, and Plate 1\'. FIG. 16. SMALL KAHILIS. FEATHER LEIS. A lei Avas a ver\- primitive form of personal decoration. Among the Hawaiians the faA^orite form was a necklace of the fragrant fruits of the screw pine, — the Icihala^ "he leihala oe ma ka ai o ka poe naauao — thou art a hala necklace about the neck of the wise" Avell expressed the native estimation of this ornament. When made of feathers the name could hardly be translated necklace, for the lei of feathers was as often worn in the hair and about the head as about the neck: or the longer ones were thrown over the shoulder precisely as the long strings of flowers called lei at the present day are usually worn. It is best then to adopt the i ,_ Hawaiian word without "doing it into English." ^y^- , No feather work required less labor or jW -^ffl|^^ skill than tying feathers around a core ( usually ^""^^^^^^ of several strings of olona or, in modern times, of cotton or woolen cord), but unless the work was thoroughly done there was danger of disso- lution, and in case the lei came apart in windy weather the constituent feathers might be harder to retrieve than were the gold beads of our great- grandmothers when the retaining string acci- dentally parted. The illustration, Fig. 17, Avill show how the feathers were tied (hakii), and while the result was rather stiff, there was ample opportunity for displa}' of taste in the ar- rangement of feathers both in colors and size. The long feathers, such as were used in cloaks and capes were sometimes used, but generally the smaller feathers were re- served for this purpose. Large feathers made a very hot ornament; several strands of a smaller diameter were cooler. When not in use the joint of a bambu made a con- venient and safe receptacle. Leis of mamo and 00 are liighly valued at the present daj-. A superb one of mamo, an heirloom of the Kamehamehas [B. M. No. 2800] is valued at $1000, and another of 00 quite as large [B. M. No. 2801] is believed to be worth $800. Small ones of 00 not more than three-quarters of an inch in diameter and long enough to go around the neck ( iS to 20 inches long) are now valued at more than $200. Of these smaller ones the leis of n:alvaceous flowers (Sida Jci//a.v) strung and sold in the streets of Honolulu are, so far as color goes, a very got)d imitation. The flat bands of peacock or pheasant, or even of dyed feathers, are of course modern, often poorly made by sewing the feathers to a strip of cotton cloth, and used by natives and others for hat bands. FIG. 17. THE GROWING END OF A LEI. FEATHER LEIS. 27 The true feather leis are generally of uniform cylindrical section and either monochromatic (especially in the case of the more costly feathers) or made up of alter- nating bands or spirals of mixed colors. In some cases leis haye longer feathers inserted at regular interyals giving a pleasing variety of form. Figs. iS and 19 will show some of the leis in this Museum. FIG. 18. HAW.^IIAX FEATHER LHI.S. LIST OF FEATHER LEIS IN THE BISHOP MUSEUM. [The numbers are those the specimens hear in the ^luseum Catalogue.] 2800. Mamo feathers of the choicest quality; made from three ancient leis be- longing to the Kamehameha family. 3 inches in diameter, 24 inches long. 2801. Oo feathers, large and of brilliant yellow. While the property of the Goyernment it was sent to an exposition in Paris and there ruined by the upsetting of a bottle of ink; the stains cannot be removed by any ordinary washing. This lei is with the preceeding the largest I have seen either in museums or private hands; 24 inches long. 2802. Mamo under feathers, medium size, downy; 22 inches long. 2803. Mamo of even size; 24 inches long. 28 BRIG HAM ON HAWAIIAN FEAIHER WORK. 2804. Mamo, small, three-quarters of an inch by 20 inches long. 2805. Mamo, medium size with long narrow inserts; 22 inches long. 2806. Mamo similar to the last; 25 inches long. 2807. Mamo of medium size; 21 inches long. 2808. Apparently dyed to imitate mamo; 18 inches long. 2809. Mamo close and stiff, few long exerts; 19 inches long. 2810. IVlamo with three short spirals of black 00 and apapane; ver\- elegant; 21 inches long. 281 1. Mamo and iiwi, narrow spiral; 26 inches long. 2S12. Oo and apapane in narrow^ spirals; 23 inches long. 2813. Mamo and iiwi, three sections of each, medium size; 19 inches long. 2814. Oo and apapane, four se(51;ions each; 21 inches long. 2815. Mamo and ou, six sedlions each, orange and dark green; 17 inches long. 2816. Mamo and black 00,. five sedlions each, with long exerts, elegant; 24 inches long. 2817. j Oo long feathers; 20 inches long. 2818. I Oo, mate to the last; 19 inches long. 2S19. \ Oo and trimmed green feathers ( ? ), three se(5lions of each; 25 inches long. 2820. I Like the last; 23 inches long. 2821. Yellow dyed with long crim.son exerts, medium size, 24 inches long. 2822. Mamo and ou, three sections of each; 23 inches long. 2823. Mamo and 00, three sedlions each; 24 inches long. 2824. f Oo and ou (paiiku), three sections of each; 25 inches long. 2825. I Mate to the last, but 23 inches long. 2826. In sedlions arranged mamo, ou, mamo, apapane, mamo, ou; 24 inches long. 2827. Oo and apapane, three sedlions each; 19 inches long. 2828. \ Oo and iiwi, three seAions each; 17 inches long. 2829. 1 Mate to the last, but 20 inches long. 2830. Oo and iiwi; 23 inches long. 2831. Mamo and iiwi, fifteen se<5lions each; 24 inches long. 2832. Mamo and iiwi, sixteen sedlions each; 23 inches long. 2833. Oo and iiwi, sixteen sections each; 24 inches long. 2834. j Oo and apapane, four seAions each, very small and stiff; 21 inches long. 2835. I Mate to the last, but 23 inches long. 2836. Three crimson and three green (dyed?) sections, long open feathers; 23 inches long. 2837. Three green, two crimson sedlions (unfinished), mate to the last; 15 inches long. 6727. Oo and iiwi, three sections; 24 inches long. MODEL OF ANUU. 29 6728. Mamo, long open feathers with a few tinged with black; 23 inches long. 6729. Manic and apapane, fonr se(?lions each with long exserts; 21 inches long. It will be noticed in this list that leis are often made in pairs, but one slightly longer than the other, the longer one being twisted around the other when worn in the hair. FIG. 19. HAWAIIAN FEATHER LEIS. TEMPLE ORACLE: ANUU. A MOST interesting relic of Captain Cook's visit to Kealakekua and his deifica- tion there is preserved with other obje6ls from that voyage in the Hofmuseum at \"ienna, where Dr. Heger kindly allowed me to examine it. Cook, it will be remem- bered, was regarded by the Hawaiians as superhuman and the apokatastasis of Lono, a deified chief of former days. The account of his worship is given at length in Cook's Voyages, and the rather nauseating details need not be repeated here. The heiau or temple in which the Cook apotheosis took place is still extant, although ruinous, but the frail edifice that in outer appearance took the place of a church steeple has of course disappeared; and although I have often searched on this and other heiaus for traces of its location the general surface of all these is now so disturbed that no signs remain. Fortunately Cook gives some details both as to stru(?ture and appearance and his account of the first landing on Kauai may be quoted: "As we ranged down the coast from the East, in the ships, we had observed at every village one or more elevated white objec5ls, like pyramids or rather obelisks: and one of these which I gues.sed to be at least fifty feet high, was very conspicuous from the ships' anchoring station, and seemed to be at no great distance up this valley [Waimea]. To have a nearer inspecftion of it was the principal object of my walk. Our guide perfeclly understood that we wished to be conducted to it, but it happened to be so placed that we could not get at it, being separated from us by the pool of water. However there being another of the same kind within our reach about half a mile off, upon 30 BRIGHAM ON HAWAIIAN FEATHER WORK. our side of the valley, we set out to visit that. The moment we got to it we saw that it stood in a burying ground or moral: the resemblance of which in many respects to those we were so well ac- quainted with at other islands in this ocean, and particularly Otaheite [Tahiti], could not but strike us, and we also soon found that the several parts that compose it were called by the same names. It was an oblong space, of considerable extent, surrounded by a wall of stone about four feet high. The space enclosed was loosely paved with smaller stones: and at one end of it stood what I called the pyramid, but in the language of the island, is named hanananoo \^lie anuu~\, which appeared evidently to be an exact model of the larger one obsen'ed by us from the ships. It was about four feet square at the base and about twenty feet high. The four sides were composed of small poles interwoven with twigs and branches, thus forming an indifferent wickenvork hollow or open within from bottom to top. It seemed to be in rather a ruinous .state, but there were sufficient remaining marks to show that it had originally been covered with a thin light gra>- cloth [kapa] which these people, it would seem, consecrate to religious purposes; as we could see a good deal of it hanging in different parts of the morai, and some of it had been forced upon me when I first landed. On each side of the pyramid were long pieces of wickerwork."'*' Thi,s obelisk-like strii^ltire wa.s an important part of all large heiaus, although not fonnd in small private temples dedicated to personal gods, and was generally bnilt of bambn to a height of twenty feet or more and co\ered with kapa. Its plan was a rectangle but not a sqtiare. A single door in one of the longer sides, closed with a curtain, admitted the priest or chief to the interior where the voice of the god of the temple ( luakini ) was supposed to be atidible. Cook entered one of these and with the priest climbed some dis- tance tip the frail staging. The priests of Cook's heian ( at Kealakekua on Hawaii ) were well-to-do and influential men, were his friends to the last, although he destroyed their houses and goods and wantonly- pillaged the temple, — in his desire for fire-wood removing the sacred fence, — and it is probable that thej- had made for him this unique model of We have no other history of this model before it arrived in Europe. It was sold with other of the curiosities brought home by the expedition and passed to Austria, finally finding a home in the beautiful Hofmitseum. It is neatly made of basket work covered with red feathers of the iiwi and trim- med on the vertical edges with the yellow oo. The doorway on one of the wider sides is cased with tortoise-shell to which time has given the coloration of rusty iron. The total height is twenty-three and a half inches. In the picture given by Cook's artist, Waber, of a temple on Kauai the frame of a similar struAure is shown. As the cov- ering was very perishable, it is probable that it was renewed whenever the oracle was con- sulted, generally at the time of human sacrifices. With the Hawaiian colledlion at Vienna is a low-crowned, broad-brimmed hat of European form, once covered with feathers. ^^Cook^s Third Voyagr, 1784: II., 200. FIG. 20. MODEL OF AN the abode of the god-head. KUKAILIMOKU. The Polynesian trinity of Kane, Kii and Lono, worshipped with yarions attributes and together or indiyidually, deyeloped on the Hawaiian Group a number of yariations from the Polynesian originals ( as indeed was the case elsewhere), and from Ku was deriyed (not descended) the war-like deity especially honored by the great Umi,"' and later bj- Kamehameha who in other things as in parity of religion resembled his renowned prede- cessor. One recalls with Mr. Ellis"° that Taire | Kaili | was a famous war god of Tahiti. Kuakimotumotu is the Maori name of a cluster of stars FIG 21 KU- placed on the breast of Rangi | Lani, the heayens | by his son Tane KAii.iMOKr. j Kane I . Kamehameha was a religious man and from his war-like youth to the last scenes in his yery aftiye life Kukailimoku was the god to whom due rites were always paid. Hence it is not surprising that a number of effigies of this god, made in the most costly wa\- known to the Hawaiians, — of feather work — should liaye suryiyed the general destruAion of idols after the accession of Liholiho. It can hardly be out of place to trace briefly the conquest of the Group since Kukailimoku was considered the dire6ling deity. On the death of Kalaniopuu, King of Hawaii at the time of Cook's yisit, the kingdom was left to Kiwalao, his son by Kalola, and to his foster son Kamehameha jointly, although the son was to be moi in chief. This was at the beginning of 17S2 and before the year was half gone Kameha- -e> meha had slain his foster brother in the battle of Mokuohai. When Cook landed Kalaniopuu was king of all Hawaii and of East Maui; Kahekili of West Maui; Kunia- koa of Molokai; Keliiaa of Lanai; Kahahana of Oahu; and Keawe of Kauai. By the death of Kiwalao Kamehameha became nominal king of Hawaii, but l)y this time Kahekili had extended his power oyer all Maui, Lanai, Molokai and Oahu, and his brother Kaeo was king of Kaiiai. All this change was not effe(5led without great loss of life, and a part of the great decrease of population noticed by \\ancouyer in the four- teen years since his yisit as sub-officer of Cook was due to these wars, which if not always yery bloody certainly at times kept the ayerage a high one. After the con- Cjuest of Oahu Kahekili ayenged a conspiracy against his rule by so bloody a punish- ment that the Ka-po-luku or night of slaughter is said to haye choked with the bodies of the slain the stream of Niuhelewai, just west of Honolulu; and at Moanalua a house was built of the bones of the yi(5lims. Another terrible slaughter was at the hill of Kau- wiki in Hana, East ]Maui, the result of which was to make Kahekili master of all Maui. When Kamehameha heard of the capture of East Maui he at once prepared to reconquer it and collecfled a considerable fleet of canoes at Kamilo in sight of the oppo- '9Unii was the son of Liloa, King of Hawaii. For his romantic Coutribittioni,o/ a vftwrabU' sai'ugc to tht- ancit'iit Uistoiv I'f tht' Ha'tvaiiati story see Ri^cits d'nm I'i^tix' Sauz'agf pour sei"i'ir a I'histohe ancinutc dc Islands; Boston, iS6S, by the present author. ffaivaii, pat Jules Rt-mv; or a translation of the same work entitled -"Polyut'stau Rfsrarcltirs, 1., zyS. 31 32 BRIG HAM ON HAW AH AN FEATHER WORK. site shore and under the shadow of Haleakala, the "House of the Sun," that vast vol- cano that forms East ]\Iaui. To the invader Kahekili sent his younger brother Alapai witli this remarkable message: "Say to him 'wait until the black kapa [shroud] cover me and mv funeral rites shall be performed then come and receive your kingdom with- out the peril of war' — for indeed he is my son and from me he received his name after that of my elder brother."" Even Hawaii was not to become one king- dom without many a struggle. Keawemanhili, uncle of Kiwalao, had been the chief adviser in the coiirse which led to the disaffec- tion and death of his nephew, and after that event he held court in the dis- trict of Hilo, while K c o u a- kuahuula, half brother of Kiwa- lao, ruled Kau, both disputing the authority of Kamehameha. A long and bloody war resulted in the submission of the king of Hilo who assisted Kamehameha in his attack on Ka- hekili, a proceeding which roused the ire of Keoua who immediatelv marched against his former ally and killed him in the battle of Alae. In the ^-ear 1790 Kamehameha invaded Maui and defeated Kalaniku- pule, son of Ivahekili with great slaughter in the battle of lao. While this was going on in Maui, Keoua, hot with the vic9:or3- over Keawemanhili, marched into the district of Hamakua, Kamehameha's territorv. This hastened the return of Kamehameha and after several battles, in which gunpowder was used on both sides, Keoua retreated to Hilo. While marching thence to renew the contest his army passing by the volcano of Kilanea was partly destroyed by the last explosive eruption recorded from that crater." 2'It is generally believed that Keouakalanikiipuapaikalaiiimii. --Hor a full account of that eruption and the destruotion of Keoua's nephew of Alapainui. was the father of Kamehameha, hut of this no forces see yI» In the meantime Kamehameha was residing at Kawailiae and a priestl)- oracle had declared that a temple bnilt on the hill Puuokohala in that place would avert the perils of war and insure the final conquest of the group. The king built the heiau called from the name of the hill, and as each part was finished bathed it with the blood of many human sacrifices offered to Kukailimoku/"' From the dedication of this heiau his star was in the ascendant. Kahekili and his brother Keawe from Kauai fought the naval battle of Kepuwaliaulaula off the coast of Hamakua, near Waimanu, and were decis- ively routed by Ka- mehameha. The aged Kahekili re- treated to Oahu where he died in July, 1794, leaving the remains of his kingdom to his son Kalanikupule. Be- fore the end of 1 79 1 Keoua Kuahunla was treacherously slain at Kawaihae b}- Keeaumokupa- paiaaheahe and his body offered on the altar of Puukohala to Kukailimoku. After more than nine years of almost constant warfare Kamehameha was at last in fact king of Hawaii. In the spring of 1795 Kamehameha invaded Oahu and in the battle of Nuuanu defeated Kalani- kupule and his allies: the king fled to the mountains but was captured and his body offered to Kukailimoku. Kaiana, who had attained some prominence by a voj-age to China with Captain Meares, and who had deserted Kameha- meha while on this expedition to Oahu, was also slain, and the bones of these two warriors are believed to be among those decorating the kahili handles now in the Bishop Aluseura. Fig. 3, p. 7. In iSoo Kaumualii, king of Kauai, came to Kamehameha at Waikiki and FIG. 25. FIG. 24. 23For a good account of the building of this last great temple of the old worship, and the same method was always used, so far as we are informed, see An Accounl 'of the Polynesian Race, its origin and Memoirs of the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum. Vol. I. migrations, and the -indent Hntory of the Hawaiian people to the times of Kanieliameha I. By Abraham Korn.inder. London, 1880. II., 327. (3) 34 BRIG HAM ON HAWAIIAN FEATHER WORK arranged for the posthumous cession of his kingdom, and thus the sovereignty of the whole group came to the foster son of Kalaniopuu. After suppressing an insurreftion on Hawaii peace came at last to the chief, and he devoted his energies to promoting the comfort of his people: he was also friendly to foreigners and prote(?ted their commerce. Among his orders was one to the bird-catchers: "When you take a bird do not strangle it, l)ut having plucked the few feathers for which it is sought, set it free that others may grow in their place." They inquired, "Who will possess the bird set free? You are an old man." He added, "My sons will possess the birds hereafter.'"'' As death drew near and the priests could not heal the increasing infirmitv of the king, a special house was built for Kukailimoku at Kailua, on Ha- waii, where the king was living at the time, and human sacrifices were proposed, but tlie dying king declared, "The men are sacred to the king" (his son Iviholiho). And so the head of network covered willi red feathers which had been his deity, and the object of all his pravers and offerings, was held to still as Kamehameha went to his grave. There is little doubt that the image once in the cabinet of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Mis- sions in Boston, and now in the Bishop Museum I No. 7855 ] was the particular one to which the dviug king turned for unavailing help. Certainly those carried awav by Cook's officers aiul by Van- couver, and now in London and \'ieuna could not have been, and it is improbable that the idol of the founder of the family would have been destroyed in the general destru(5lion of the temples and gods in the beginning of the reign of Liholiho. And how is it that we have still extant a number of these feather-covered heads of varied form and more or less repulsive featiires? I do not know that there are more than those now stored in the museums of X'ienna, London and Honolulu, but it is quite possible that others were hidden in caves at the time of the overthrow of the an- cient Hawaiian religious system, as tradition claims. It must be remembered that although to the present generation Kukailimoku is known as Kamehameha's war-god, the deity had been the object of an ancient cult,'' and many images may have been made in various parts of Hawaii, and the process of manufa<5lure, as will be seen below, lent FIG. 26. -'■History of the Sandimh hlainis. By Sheldon Uibble. Lahaina- hina, 1849; p. 75. =5Krik.