HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS – CHAPTER 3

Warlike weapons – Armor – Feather cloaks and helmets – War – Preparation – Militia – Camps – Mode of fighting – Victors and vanquished – Truce – Peace – Festivals – Orators and Bards – Songs – Wailing – Games – Dances – Mourning ceremonies – Arts and Agriculture – Houses – Ceremonies before occupying – Clothing – Food – Fisheries – Commerce between different islands – Stated fairs – Method of computation – Knowledge and practice of medicine – Origin and cure of diseases – Modes of burial – Division of time – Hawaiian dialect

We now come to a consideration of the knowledge of the Hawaiians as developed in their arts, manufactures and customs. In considering these, however, it is fair to bear in mind the fact that the natural resources of their islands were extremely few, they furnishing no metals and but few minerals. When this is considered, we must award them the credit of no little ingenuity and skill in what they produced. Indeed it may be questioned whether they did not carry civilization in this point to the full extent of their feeble means. This one fact shows how important a civilized commerce has become. Without it the tribes of heathendom would still have been groping their isolated way in poverty and sensuality amid regions which required but the presence of commerce to add to them tenfold value and make them abodes for refined and intelligent beings.

The warlike weapons of the Hawaiians were few and simple. They consisted of spears, javelins, daggers and clubs, made from a tough wood, susceptible of high polish. These were their most effective weapons. They had no shields, javelins being used on the defensive as well as offensive, in the former of which they were even more expert than in the latter. Their lances were perfectly straight, flattened to a point at one end, and from twelve to twenty feet in length. Javelins were similarly constructed, barbed, and about six feet long.

The laau palau, a species of club or halbert, several feet longer, was employed either in thrusting or striking. The paloa, or dagger, was from sixteen inches to two feet in length, frequently pointed at both ends, with a string attached to the handle, by which it was made fast to the wrist. Bows and arrows were rarely used, being so poorly fabricated as to be of little utility. Slings, manufactured from human hair or the elastic fibres of the cocoanut husk, were a destructive weapon. The ammunition used was small, smooth stones, which were cast with great force and precision. Small swords, or saws, the edges of which were set with sharks' teeth, were common. Defensive armor was seldom employed.

Besides the malo, the cloth girded about the loins, a turban was occasionally worn. The helmets and war-cloaks, although they gave their wearers an imposing and martial appearance, must have proved an incumbrance. The former being made of wicker-work, and closely fitted to the crown, were too slightly constructed to afford any security against a well directed blow. Those worn by the high chiefs resembled the Grecian casque, and were exceedingly beautiful. They were surmounted by a lofty crest, sometimes ornamented with the tail-plumage of the tropic bird, and the whole thickly wrought with glossy red and yellow feathers. With the cloaks, they were admirably adapted to set off to advantage the towering figures of the chiefs. Cloaks or capes, made exclusively of yellow feathers, were reserved for the king.

The mamo, or feather war-cloak of Kamehameha, occupied nine generations of kings in its fabrication, not being completed until the reign of the father of the present sovereign. Its length is four feet, with eleven and a half feet spread at the bottom. The groundwork is a fine netting. To this the feathers, which are exceedingly small and delicate, being less than an inch in length, are skillfully attached. They overlap each other, and form a perfectly smooth surface. Around the borders the feathers are reversed.

The whole is of a beautifully bright yellow hue, giving it the appearance of a golden mantle. Such cloaks were rare, for savage despotism could not produce a richer or more costly garment. The birds from which the feathers are obtained are found in the mountainous parts of the islands, and caught by means of an adhesive substance smeared upon long poles, well baited, which are thickly scattered about their haunts. Alighting upon these, their feet become attached; the hunter then easily secures them, and plucks from under their wings, the two feathers all each bird produces which ate so much coveted. These feathers are highly valued, a piece of nankeen, of the value of one dollar and a half, being the price given for five, in modern times. If the labor expended on this cloak could be estimated, its nominal worth would be found equal to that of the most costly gems in the regalia of Europe. Those of other chiefs, being alternated with red and yellow, rhomboidal figures or lines, relieved with sections of dark purple or glossy black, were less expensive and beautiful. A smaller kind, manufactured of the same materials, was worn by those whose rank did not entitle them to the larger garment. An ornament, made from a whale's tooth, called a palaoa, suspended from the neck by braids of human hair, was much prized.

In their modes of warfare, they exhibited considerable address. Besides agriculture, war being a chief occupation, it was reduced to a system of which the following were the principal features.

In a war of magnitude, a universal conscription was enforced, none but those incapacitated by age or bodily infirmity, being excused from following their leaders to the field. All were drilled in the use of arms, and practiced warlike exercises, such as sham-fights, slinging stones at a mark, throwing the javelin, warding it off, or catching it in their hands, wrestling, etc. After war was declared, the king, principal warriors and priests determined the plan of attack, or the general method for its prosecution. Luna-pai, "war-heralds," were sent through all the districts, summoning such of the chiefs and their tenants as were to bear part in its operations. Women frequently fought in the ranks, or bore refreshments to their party, through the thickest of the fray. All were required to bring their own weapons and provisions, which were generally prepared beforehand, for emergencies of this nature. Should any refuse to obey the summons, their ears were slit, and they were led .into the camp with ropes around their bodies. So great was the disgrace attached to this punishment, that there was seldom occasion to resort to it.

Upon reaching the rendezvous, every chief reported the number and condition of his followers to the commander. Each division encamped around the hut of its leader, or occupied a large house by itself.

No fortifications were erected, though favorable natural sites for defense were selected for camps, and pickets stationed at the several approaches. The non-combatants were sent to strongholds, or fortresses erected on steep eminences, to which, in case of defeat, the whole army retired, and defended them to the last extremity.

Unlike most savages, they appear to have been deficient in the science of strategy; seldom lying in ambush, but making their assaults openly, and generally in the day time. Their methods of attack and defense were various, according to the nature of the ground and the force of the enemy, and exhibited much ingenuity. When on an open plain, the army was drawn up in the form of a crescent. A body of spear men, forming a kind of phalanx, composed the centre, while the slingers, and those armed with javelins, were distributed throughout the line. The commander was either the highest chief, or a warrior of distinguished bravery and address. His position was in the centre, and the other chiefs were stationed about the ranks, at his discretion. When an action took place in a narrow defile, the army was formed in a single column.

The first division was called welau, the extremity or point, and received the brunt of the onset. The strongest division, in the centre of which was the chief, was poohiwi, "the shoulder." Other portions were known by similarly descriptive terms. No banners were used, but idols were borne in the ranks; the priests of which, in the heat of the action, rushed forward, uttering terrific yells, and distorted their features into the most frightful forms, to spread dismay into the opposing force, and stimulate the courage of their own; the yells and grimaces being supposed to proceed from the images.

As the whole army seldom engaged at once, the battles were usually a succession of skirmishes, or but partial actions.

Naval engagements, in which several hundred canoes were employed on both sides, were not unusual. Flags, called puwalu, were then used, and attached to the triangular sails of the canoes. Boastful shouts, yells, cries of defiance, and every noise calculated to intimidate, resounded among the combatants. The bodies of the first slain on either side, received the greatest indignities, and their mangled remains were dedicated to the gods of the victors.

Sometimes a single warrior, deridingly carrying only a fan, would advance from the lines, and insult the opposite party with the most opprobious language, challenging it to begin the attack upon him singly. In reply to this rhodomonted, a dozen or more spears would be cast at him at once; these, by nimbly stooping, twisting and jumping aside, he would avoid. Occasionally, with a motion of his arm, he would ward them off, or catch them in his hands, and hurl them back upon the foe. Should he be slain, a bloody encounter ensued for the possession of the body.

The conflicts, which do not appear to have been very fatal, sometimes lasted for several successive days, and were then terminated by mutual consent; both parties, in contradiction of the vainglorious civilized custom in such cases, acknowledging themselves luka lua, beaten. More frequently one was routed, and fled for safety to the sacred enclosures, or their mountain retreats. Those overtaken were massacred, or else brought to the chiefs for their final decision.

Some were spared to be slaves; others for future sacrifices. When the chief was mercifully inclined, he spoke to or recognized the prisoners, who were then safe, and could either return to their own tribe, or join the train of their preserver, which they generally did. The victors erected cairns over the remains of their slain, leaving the bodies of the vanquished to be devoured by wild hogs and dogs. The subdued country was apportioned among the conquering chiefs; the wives and children of the captives being made slaves, and attached to the soil, to cultivate it for their new masters, who treated them with great harshness. Branches of the ti plant, or young banana trees, were used as flags of truce. When peace was sought, ambassadors were sent, bearing these symbols.

After arranging the preliminaries, the chiefs and priests of both parties met and adjusted the terms. This done, a pig was sacrificed, and its blood poured upon the ground emblematic of the fate of either party that should afterwards infringe its conditions. A sweet scented wreath was then woven by the leaders of both sides, and deposited, as a peace offering, in a temple. Feasts, dances and public games celebrated this return of good will, and heralds were sent to announce the termination of the war.

The professions of the orators and bards were hereditary and highly illustrious. The former were employed on all great occasions to plead cases, and in all national negotiations. The latter, some of whom were blind, were the repositories of the historical and sacred songs, and composers of new, which they sang in honor of their divine and temporal lords. They were handed down with great care from one generation to another; the sole occupation of the bards being their preservation, for which purpose they commenced repeating them by rote, from an early age, until they were indelibly fixed in their memories. Their language was highly figurative, often approaching the sublime; and their imagery well depicted and not without beauty. Their recitations, heightened by animated gestures and by a conciseness and euphony of language, or a wild, plaintive sadness, with local allusions, like the inspiring strains of Gaelic song, swayed with startling effect the passions of their untutored hearers.

Songs and chants were common among all classes, and recited by strolling musicians as panegyrics on occasions of joy, grief or worship. Through them the knowledge of events in the lives of prominent individuals or the annals of the nation, were perpetuated.

The Hawaiian dialect, from its great smoothness and multiplicity of vowels, is admirably adapted for this kind of poetry. The chief art lay in the formation of short metrical sentences, without much regard to their rhythmical termination, though the conclusion of each, or the end of several, were made to harmonize in cadence. So popular is this form of expression, that, even to the present day, the natives repeat their lessons, orders received, or scraps of ancient songs, or extemporize in this monotonous, sing-song tone, for hours together, and in perfect concord. Monosyllables, dissyllables and trisyllables had each their distinct tune.

Analogous to this was the mournful au-we, uttered on occasions of calamity and death. On the decease of a great chief, the wail was commenced at his couch, and borne from one individual to another, until it spread over the island. Night and day the dismal sound was prolonged; its first notes low, gradually swelling until one full, passionate burst of grief filled the air, and resounded among the neighboring rocks and hills, whose echoes threw back the sorrowful cry. During the night its effect, as thus borne from party to party, from one valley to another, now rising into almost a shriek of bitterness, then subsiding into a low, murmuring sound, was startling and impressive. Watch-fires, surrounded by groups of both sexes, wailing and weeping violently, tearing their hair, and giving way to other barbarous demonstrations of sorrow, completed the scene.

The same expressions were also uttered on occasion of an injury, surprise, the death of a favorite animal, or even any trivial disappointment. Its signification is, "alas! to sigh or to have a deep affection." Mourners were frequently hired; and the same party could be seen one moment buried, apparently, in the deepest affliction, and, in another, reveling in boisterous mirth about their food, while their places were supplied by a fresh set.

Moku-moku, or boxing, was a favorite national game, regulated by certain laws, for the proper execution of which managers were appointed, and umpires to decide upon rival claims. A spirit of clanship inspired the champions, who usually belonged to different chiefs.

The victor in one engagement paced the ring in triumph, until another antagonist appeared. The final conqueror received the highest honors. These boxing matches were often attended with fatal results. The spectators delighted in blows that brought blood, and stimulated the combatants with shouts and yells of applause, dancing and other wild expressions of delight, until, as it frequently happened, many were slain.

Foot races were common; the king's messengers attained great speed, frequently making the circuit of Hawaii, three hundred miles of bad road, in eight or nine days.

Sliding down steep hills, on a smooth board, was a common amusement; but no sport afforded more delight than bathing in the surf. Young and old, high and low, of both sexes, engaged in it, and in no other way could they show greater dexterity in their aquatic exercises. Multitudes could be seen when the surf was highest, pushing boldly seaward, with their surf-board in advance, diving beneath the huge combers, as they broke in succession over them, until they reached the outer line of breakers; then laying flat upon their boards, using their arms and legs as guides, they boldly mounted the loftiest, and, borne upon its crest, rushed with the speed of a race-horse towards the shore; from being dashed upon which, seemed to a spectator impossible to be avoided. But a dexterous movement turned their course again seaward, or they nimbly slipped off their boards, which the force of the waves threw far up the rocks.

The pahee was a game in great vogue. It consisted in throwing, or rather glancing, heavy darts, from two to five feet in length, along a level floor, prepared with great care for this purpose. The skill consisted in the nearness to certain marks at which the darts were east. Analogous to this was the ulu maika, a species of bowling, in which a circular stone, highly polished, with flat sides, was used. The konane was an intricate game of drafts, played with colored stones, upon a great number of squares. The puhenehene consisted in secreting a stone so adroitly, in the full gaze of all present, as to deceive the watchers in their guess as to the hiding place. Five loose bundles of cloth were prepared for this design, under one of which the stone was slipped.

Hakoko, wrestling; loulou, a trial of strength by hooking the fingers; honu-honu, swimming with the hands only, the feet being fast interlocked; uma, a trial of the strength of the arms; lele-kawa, leaping from precipices into water; lelekoali, rope swinging; kulakalai wrestling in the sea were sports in high repute. The ume, kilu and papu-hene were of an impure nature, and engaged in only under veil of night.

In general, games were seldom practiced except for the purpose of gambling, to which they were inordinately addicted. In betting, every article of lothing or property was staked, and their interest only stayed by the exhaustion of their means, when violent passions were usually aroused, and fierce brawls too often ensued.

Dances (hula) were of various character, sometimes interspersed with chants relating to the achievements of the past or present rulers, or in honor of the gods. Such was the hula alaapapa.

The dancers were decorated with necklaces of human hair, supporting ornaments of bone, or whale's teeth. Bracelets and buskins of net-work, thickly set with the teeth of dogs or hogs, encircled their wrists and ankles. Their motions were sometimes active, sometimes slow and graceful, and in perfect time with the music of rude drums, made from large calabashes, with apertures at the top, or hollow logs tastefully carved and covered at the ends with shark's skin. The former were alternately beaten with the palms of the hands, and struck on the ground, on which cloth was laid.

The gesticulations of the musicians were violent, and they also joined in the chants.

Dancing was as universal as swimming; all, of every age and character, engaging in it, though it was more commonly practiced by professional dancers in honor of the gods, or for the amusement of the chiefs. The dances of the latter consisted in a variety of uncouth motions and twistings of the body, of too lascivious a nature to bear description, and were generally preparatory to brutal revels. Their costumes were in conformity with their actions; garlands of flowers, necklaces of shells, and leis, beautiful wreaths, fabricated from red or yellow feathers, encircled the limbs of the females. Both sexes were tatooed, though not to such an extent as prevailed elsewhere. The dances of the youth were reported to be graceful and pleasing.

The ceremonies observed on the death of any prominent personage were extremely barbarous. The hair was shaved or cut close, teeth knocked out, and sometimes the ears were mangled. Some tatooed their tongues in a corresponding manner to the other parts of their bodies. These customs were intended to keep alive the memory of the deceased among his immediate relatives and retainers, and by many, the affection was estimated by the amount of bodily pain endured. Frequently the flesh was cut or burnt, eyes scooped out, and other even more painful personal outrages inflicted. But those usages, however shocking they may appear, were innocent, compared with the horrid saturnalia which immediately followed the death of a chief of the highest rank. Then the most unbounded license prevailed; law and restraint were cast aside, and the whole people appeared more like demons than human beings. Every vice and crime was allowed. Property was destroyed, houses fired, and old feuds revived and revenged.

Gambling, thefts and murder were as open as the day; clothing was cast aside as a useless incumbrance; drunkenness and promiscuous prostitution prevailed throughout the land, no women, excepting the widows of the deceased, being exempt from the grossest violation. There was no passion, however lewd, or desire, however wicked, but could be gratified with impunity, during the continuance of this period, which, happily, from its own violence, soon spent itself. No other nation was ever witness to a custom which so entirely threw off all moral and legal restraints, and incited the evil passions to unresisted riot and wanton debauchery.

In the mechanical arts and agriculture, the Havvaiians manifested considerable ingenuity. With no better instruments than those of hard stone, shell or bone, they made large and fine canoes, the longest of which were sixty feet in length; built neat thatched houses; ingeniously carved wood and stone, and manufactured all that was necessary for their domestic purposes.

The mats made from rushes or from the leaves of the pandanus, were very useful, prettily dyed, and of great size, fineness and beauty. They were used for beds, screens, partitions, and sometimes for clothing. In their cloth, manufactured from the morus papyriferus, equal skill was displayed. It was of every quality, from a thick, heavy article, nearly impervious to wind or water, to a more delicate and almost transparent fabric. The colors were various, some so prettily stained as to resemble printed cloths. Bowls and dishes, made from the kou tree, were very beautiful, and highly valued. But the most useful article, and one which can be applied to an almost endless variety of purposes, is the fruit of the cucurbita, the calabash or gourd. From it, their drinking vessels, dishes, masks and musical instruments were made. It still supplies the want of iron, glass, crockery and wooden ware. In journeys it answers for a trunk; at home for a closet. They are often prettily ornamented alter the same patterns as their tapas, and are of every size, from the smallest water-cup, to the great poi-dish, capable of holding ten gallons.

The houses of the common orders were mere hovels, made of straw, thatched upon a light wooden frame. They were low, small and damp, and generally filthy within and without. Those of the chiefs were better and neatly kept.

Double Canoe With Masked Rowers

There were professed trades; some men being expert in building canoes, others in carving and framing or thatching houses, etc. To finish the corners or the roofs of houses, properly and handsomely, was a difficult art, and understood but by few. Generally, every man worked at all as his wants required. When a chief ordered a dwelling to be erected, his tenants were required to take part in the labor, though to each party a distinct work was allotted. While some went to the mountains to procure the timber for the frame, others pulled grass for thatch, or made the twine with which the frame was to be held together, and the thatch fastened on. As soon as the materials were gathered, holes were dug for the posts, the timbers of the roof grooved, and the whole frame set up. The thatchers then performed their part; and in this manner a large house could be commenced and finished within three days. The timber, which was often of great size, was brought from far in the interior. Burdens were carried on poles, supported on the shoulders of men; the friction of which frequently caused large callous swellings, greatly disfiguring the form.

The best built houses lasted from ten to twelve years; the common not more than half that time. For such a climate, they were well adapted to the wants of the population, though, having no floors, obnoxious to damp and cold. Those of the chiefs were enclosed in large yards, and were sometimes raised on a stone embankment, which rendered them much more comfortable. Around the principal house or hall, as it had but one room, were the smaller huts, which served for eating and sleeping apartments and store-houses. The whole resembled a collection of hay-ricks.

Before a new house was occupied, a number of superstitious ceremonies were performed, to exorcise such evil spirits as desired to dispute the possession with the rightful owner. Offerings were made to the gods, and presents to the priests, who, uttering prayers, and performing divers rites, for a while resided in the house; the sanctity derived from their occupancy being considered as sufficient, ever after, to baffle all attempts of malignant beings, or the incantations of sorcerers.

Clothing was of the simplest nature. With the men, it consisted of a small strip of cloth, called the malo, wound around the loins, and passed between the legs; that of the women was the pau a garment attached to the waist, and reaching to the knee. Young children, of both sexes, went naked, as also did their parents, whenever inclination prompted.

Poi, the principal article of diet, was prepared from the kalo plant. The roots, after being baked under ground, were mashed on a large platter by a heavy stone pestle, or an instrument made of lava, resembling a stirrup, and were mixed with water, until a thick paste was formed. This is sometimes eaten in a sweet state, but generally put aside until it ferments, in which condition it is preferred. It is a highly nutritious substance, though, when solely used, has a tendency to produce acrid humors. The labor of its preparation, being too severe for females, is confined to the men.

In fishing, they were very expert, catching their prey either by hooks made from pearl shells, or in nets, some of which were of great size and fine workmanship.

A vegetable poison was also used. The herb containing it being stripped of its bark, and bruised, was placed beneath stones where the fishes frequented, which soon became affected, sickened and rose to the surface. As soon as they were taken, they were cleaned, to prevent the poison from spreading. Fishes were usually eaten raw, and in the state in which they were captured.

The manners and customs of these savages are too well known to require enlarged description. If their arts were few and simple, so were their wants. The skill displayed in supplying them is sufficient to excite admiration, and exhibits mechanical abilities, which since, under better auspices, have greatly improved.

A small commerce, through the medium of barter, was maintained between some of the islands. The tapas of Oahu were exchanged for the canoes and paddles of Kauai. On Hawaii, a heavy, strong tapa, called mamaki, suitable for cold weather, was manufactured and supplied to the other islands. At stated periods, markets or fairs were held in various places. The most celebrated resort was the banks of the Wailuku river, in the district of Hilo, Hawaii. Here, inhabitants from all portions of the island assembled, to make exchanges of property. Certain districts were noted for the goodness of their tapas; others, for their mats, live stock, or excellence of their poi, or dried fish. The peddlers cried their wares, which were exhibited in piles on either side of the stream, according to certain rules. When a bargain was in negotiation, the articles were deposited on a particular rock, where they could be mutually examined in the presence of inspectors, who were appointed as arbiters in cases of dispute, and also acted as a police for the preservation of order, receiving a remuneration for their services. A toll was required from all who crossed the river.

The Hawaiian method of computation resembled the ancient Atzec. It was simple and regular, and sufficient for the wants of an unlettered race, which seldom had occasion to express any complex combination of numbers. From one to ten was as follows: akahi, alua, akolu, aha, alima, aono, ahiku, awalu, aiwa, umi; eleven, was ten and one, umikumamakahi, kumama being the conjunctive; twelve, umikumamalua, and so on until twenty, which was expressed by a new term, iwakalua; twenty-one, iwakaluakumamakahi, etc.; thirty was kanakolu thirty-one, kanakolukumamakahi, etc.; forty, kanaha; they then commenced with one, and counted to forty again. A combination of terms were sufficient to express all numbers short of four hundred, for which a new word was required. Fifty was kanaha me ka umi, forty and ten; sixty, akahi kanaha me ka iwakalua, one forty and twenty, and so on; eighty was elua kanaha, two forties; one hundred was elua kanaha me ka iwakalua. Six hundred, hookahi lau a me na kanaka elima, one four hundred and five forties. Ten thousand, alua mano me na lau elima, two 4000's and five 400's.

Back to Contents          >  Chapter Four          Back to History