LOCALITY OF THE GROUP — CONFORMATION AND CLIMATE OF HAWAII — APPEARANCE AND DRESS OF THE MEN — FEATHER MANTLES AND HELMETS — SINGULAR RESEMBLANCE TO CLASSIC MODELS — APPEARANCE OF THE WOMEN — A HAWAIIAN BEAUTY — DRESS OF THE WOMEN — MODES OF WEARING THE HAIR — BRACELETS AND OTHER ORNAMENTS — FONDNESS FOR PIGS AND DOGS — OCCUPATIONS OF THE WOMEN — HOSPITALITY TO STRANGERS — FISH PONDS, AND MODE OF MAKING THEM — TREATMENT OF WOMEN — SEMI-AMPHIBIOUS NATURE OF THE SANDWICH ISLANDERS — INGENIOUS METHOD OF OBTAINING SOUNDINGS.

Considerably to the northward of the Society Islands lie the Sandwich Islands, so called by Captain Cook, in honor of the Earl of Sandwich. The entire group consists of eight inhabited islands, and a few which are too barren and rocky to maintain human beings. The largest and most important of them is Hawaii, or Owhyhee, as the word is spelt in Cook’s “Voyages.” It was on the shore of a bay on the western side of this island that Captain Cook was killed in 1779. Owing to the interchange of the letters l and r, which is so prevalent among the Polynesian languages, the name of this bay is sometimes spelt as Karakakooa, and sometimes as Kealakekua.

The capital city of the Sandwich Islands is not situated in Hawaii, but in Oahu, or Woahu, one of the smaller islands, and is called Honolulu. It rightly deserves the name of a city, because it is the seat of a bishopric. The climate of the Sandwich Islands is said to be the most charming in the world. The variation is exceedingly trifling, as near the sea the temperature is below that of sultry English summer-time, while on the coldest winter’s day the thermometer never sinks below 62° Fahr. Owing, however, to the mountainous nature of these islands, any one may live throughout the year in almost exactly the same temperature, by ascending into a cooler atmosphere when the weather is too hot, and descending into the warmer strata during the months of winter.

Adhering to the principle which has been followed in this work, I shall say but little of the present Europeanized condition of the natives of these islands, and confine myself as far as possible to the manners and customs of the people as they were before the white men had introduced their own mode of civilization. Even at the present day, however, the old savage character continually shows itself, and among the very people who seem to be most completely under the influence of civilization the original old heathenism exhibits itself when they are off their guard, or when they think themselves out of the ken of white men. It will be understood, therefore, that although the present tense may be used in the following pages, all descriptions apply to them as they were originally, and not to them as they are at the present day.

The men are tall, active and powerful, and in color are of an olive brown, the precise depth of tint varying much according to the exposure to the sun, so that the skins of the chiefs are much lighter than those of the commonalty. The hair is jet black, and not in the least woolly, being sometimes quite straight, and sometimes wavy. The face is mostly wide, and is a very handsome one, the only fault in it being a tendency to width across the nostrils.

The men all wear the maro or malo, i. e. the slight girdle of cloth which has already been mentioned, and having this, they consider themselves dressed for all purposes of decency. They also have a tappa, or bark-cloth garment, which is twisted round the waist, and falls below the knees, while the better class wear also a sort of mantle, to shelter their skin from the darkening sunbeams.

The great chiefs have also mantles made of a sort of network, into each mesh of which are interwoven the feathers of various birds, the most precious of them being that which supplies the yellow feathers. This is a little bird called Melithreptes pacifica. It is one of the honey-birds, and under each wing there is a single yellow feather, one inch in length. The late king, Kamehameha, had a cloak made of these feathers alone. It was four feet long, and eleven feet wide at the bottom. No less than nine successive kings died before this priceless mantle was finished.

The headdress of the chiefs is of so graceful and classical a form as absolutely to startle the spectator. It is a helmet made of wicker-work and covered with feathers, the shape being exactly that of the ancient Grecian helmet even to the elevated crest which runs over the top. One of these beautiful helmets is shown on the 1097th page. It is not intended as a protection for the head, the material being too fragile for such a purpose, but is simply a badge of rank and wealth. Mostly they are covered with scarlet and yellow feathers, disposed in bold bands or belts, and the wealth of the wearer may be known by the proportion which the yellow and scarlet feathers bear to each other.

Examples of these beautiful ornaments may be seen in several museums, where it is to be hoped that they will be kept from the destructive moths and beetles, inasmuch as they form the sole memorials of a time now passed away.

The birds which furnish these feathers are eagerly sought by the Sandwich Islanders, who have the same love of scarlet that distinguishes not only all Polynesians but all savages and children. The birds are usually caught by means of a tenacious substance much resembling our birdlime, and used in a similar manner by being smeared on twigs and poles, to which the birds are attracted by means of baits.

The natural taste in color is as good as that which displays itself in form, and although the brightest and most boldly contrasting colors are used by the Sandwich Islanders, they are used with such admirable judgment that they do not look gaudy, or even obtrusive.

The women, when young, are singularly beautiful, and retain their good looks longer than is usual among Polynesians. Like the other sex, however, they generally attain to great size in their latter years, those of the better sort being remarkable for their enormous corpulence. This development is probably owing, like that of the Kaffir chiefs, to the great quantity of porridge which they are continually eating. When young, however, they are exceedingly beautiful, their features having a peculiar charm of their own, and their forms being like those of the ancient Grecian statues. An American traveller, writing under the nom de plume of Haöle, i. e. foreigner, gives a most animated description of a native girl, in his interesting work on the Sandwich Islands, showing that the partial civilization to which the natives have been subjected has not destroyed their beauty of features nor symmetry of form.

“In truth to nature, it may be safely asserted that beauty is not confined merely to the saloon of the monarch, nor to the tapestried chambers of the patrician. It is more frequently found amid the lowlier walks of life, on the desert, or the distant isle of the ocean. In this instance I wish to be understood as speaking of physical beauty only. On leaving the shore-road to ascend the mountains for Halawa, I met just such a specimen as has often driven men mad, and whose possession has many a time paved the way to the subversion of empire on the part of monarchs.

“She was rather above the medium size of American women. Her finely chiselled chin, nose, and forehead were singularly Grecian. Her beautifully moulded neck and shoulders, looked as though they might have been borrowed from Juno. The development of her entire form was as perfect as nature could make it. She was arrayed in a single loose robe, beneath which a pretty little nude foot was just peeping out. Her hair and eyebrows were as glossy as a raven’s wing. Around her head was carelessly twined a wreath of the beautiful native ohelo flowers (Gaultheria penduliflorum). Her lips seemed fragrant with the odor of countless and untiring kisses. Her complexion was much fairer than the fairest of her countrywomen, and I was forced into the conclusion that she was the offshoot of some white father who had trampled on the seventh precept in the Decalogue, or taken to his embrace, by the marriage relation, some good-looking Hawaiian woman.

“But her eyes! I never shall forget those eyes! They retained something that spoke of an affection so deep, a spiritual existence so intense, a dreamy enchantment so inexpressibly beautiful, that they reminded one of the beautiful Greek girl Myrrha, in Byron’s tragedy of ‘Sardanapalus,’ whose love clung to the old monarch when the flame of the funeral pile formed their winding sheet.

“In no former period of my life had I ever raised my hat in the presence of beauty, but at this moment, and in such a presence, I took it off. I was entirely fascinated, charmed, spell-bound now. I stopped my horse; and there I sat, to take a fuller glance at the fair reality. And the girl stopped, and returned the glance, while a smile parted her lips, and partially revealed a set of teeth as white as snow, and of matchless perfection. I felt that smile to be an unsafe atmosphere for the nerves of a bachelor; so I bowed, replaced my hat, and passed on my way, feeling fully assured that nothing but the chisel of Praxiteles could have copied her exquisite charms. And as I gently moved past her, she exclaimed, in the vocabulary of her country ‘Love to you.’”

The same writer mentions in several other places the beauty of the young girls whom he saw in Hawaii. There was no reason for the surmise that the girl who impressed him so deeply was a half-caste, because, as has already been mentioned, people of the better class are much fairer than those of lower rank, and are scarcely so dark as the inhabitants of Southern Europe.

The dress of the Sandwich Islands women is much like that of the Tongans, and consists essentially of a wrapper of bark cloth passing round the waist and falling below the knees. It is often arranged so that the end may be thrown over the shoulders, and many of the better class of women have a separate piece of cloth which is used as a mantle. When young they wear no clothing at all.

The methods of wearing the hair are somewhat various. The women generally cut it behind, but allow it to grow to its full length on the rest of the head. The men sometimes divide the hair into a number of locks, and plait or twist each lock into a sort of tail about the thickness of a man’s finger. These tails are allowed to grow to their full length, and stream for some distance down the back. The length of tail seems to be much valued among these people, who are in the habit of adding to their length by supplementary additions of hair woven into their own locks. The hair is often stained of a reddish color by the use of lime, as is done in Fiji and other parts of Polynesia. Sometimes the men shave the whole of the hair on either side of the head, leaving only one crest of long hair to run from the forehead to the nape of the neck, just like the crests of the feather helmets.

Captain Cook remarks that the Sandwich Islanders stand almost alone among Polynesians in refusing to perforate their ears, and that they have no idea of wearing ornaments in them. They are fond of ornaments, some of which are worth a brief description. They have a sort of necklace made of black cord, doubled forty or fifty times, and supporting a piece of wood, shell, or bone cut into the form of a broad hook. Necklaces made of small shells strung together are also common, as are also necklaces of dried flowers.

Bracelets of various kinds are valued by the women. Some of these ornaments are made of hog’s teeth placed side by side, with the concave parts outward, and joined by a string running through the middle. Some of these bracelets are made entirely of the long curved tusks of boars, and are really handsome ornaments. Others are formed from pieces of black wood, fastened together in a similar manner, and being variegated by small pieces of hog’s teeth let into them.

The men sometimes wear on their heads tufts of feathers tied to slight sticks. The most valuable of these plumes are those which are made of the tail-feathers of the tropic bird. Others, which are not so valuable, are made of white dog’s hair. The sticks are sometimes two feet in length.

Tattooing is but slightly practised among the Sandwich Islanders, though some of them have the arms and chest decorated with lines and figures tolerably well executed.

Like many of the Polynesians, the Sandwich Islanders have an absurd liking for pigs and dogs, carrying them about and feeding them when young, as if they had been children. Even when the animals attain their full growth, they are petted to no small extent. The “Haöle” narrates an amusing example of the extreme tenderness which the Hawaiian women evince for these animals, and the artist has represented the description in engraving No. 2, on the preceding page. He was travelling through the island, and noticed a group of women sitting under the shade of a pandanus tree, and surrounding something in which they seemed to be greatly interested. On coming closer, he found that the object of their attention was an enormous hog.

The women were taking it to market, a task which usually devolves upon them, and had to drive the animal for a considerable distance over lofty mountains, a task which could not occupy them less than thirty-six hours. To produce the hog in good condition was evidently their principal object, and they would therefore hurry it as little as possible, coax it along, rather than drive it, by day, and sleep by its side at night. It so happened that the day was a very warm one, and the hog, which was in very good condition, was oppressed with its own fat, with the heat and the fatigue of the journey. Accordingly, the women had led their charge to a shady spot, taken off their only garments, soaked them in water, and spread them over the panting animal, which uttered occasional grunts of satisfaction at the coolness caused by the wet garments, and the continual fanning which the women kept up with leaves.

When the pig is of smaller size, and the market is near at hand, so that there is no danger the animal may get out of condition, a much simpler plan is followed, the legs of the pig being tied together, and a pole run between them, which is lifted on the shoulders of two or four men, according to the weight of the animal.

Although the Sandwich Islanders will eat dogs, pigs, and cats too, when they can afford themselves the luxury, they are so fond of them while living that a man will sooner resent an injury done to his dog or pig than to his child. When travelling, accompanied by their dogs, they treat the animals just like children, taking them in their arms, and carrying them over any rough or muddy places, lest perchance the poor animals should hurt or soil their feet. It is possible that this extraordinary predilection may arise from the fact that none of these animals are indigenous, but have been introduced by Europeans.

It will be seen that the women do not spend their lives in idleness. Indeed, though they are not treated with the harshness that too often falls to the lot of women in uncivilized countries, they do a very fair share of the work. The cooking, for example, is entirely their business, and they are as great adepts at procuring as at cooking food. For example, if a stranger should call at the house of a native, the wife is sure to come out, pass her hand over him, and inquire whether he is hungry. Should he reply in the affirmative, she or another girl runs out to one of the fish ponds, launches a small canoe, and in a very short space of time she has caught some fish, broiled them, cooked some taro, and laid them on plantain leaves before the guest.

These fish ponds are very common in Hawaii, and are mostly made by the women. They are formed by taking advantage of the coral beach, which has numerous small bays or inlets with comparatively narrow mouths. Across the mouths of these bays the natives pile pieces of coral rock so as to prevent any fish from escaping. They are deepened as occasion may require, and it is not an uncommon thing to see a number of women up to their waists in mud and water busily employed in cleaning out a fish pond, and evidently enjoying the work rather than thinking it a hardship. While they are thus at work on land, their husbands and brothers are equally hard at work on sea, catching the fish which are to be transferred to the pond.

The natives rely much for their supplies of food on these ponds, as fish forms a considerable portion of their diet, pork and fowls being too expensive to be considered anything but luxuries, and only to be eaten constantly by the rich. The ponds vary much in size, but are generally of considerable dimensions. Few of them cover less than an acre of ground, while others are a hundred times as large. One or two of the largest are very ancient, and may be considered as historical monuments, the coral blocks which shut them off from the sea being of such enormous size as to tell of the time when the kings or principal chiefs were absolute, and could command any amount of human labor.

Even at the present time the natives rely much on their fish ponds for their supplies of food, and the size of the pond is an invariable test of the rank and wealth of the owner. They are watched as carefully as game preserves in our own country, and suffer as much from poachers, who, however, seldom escape detection.

While, therefore, the women do their share of the work, their life is by no means a laborious one, because there is so little work to be done. The taro patch has to be prepared and cultivated, but this is not a very laborious task; the fish ponds have to be made and left in order, the cooking has to be done, and the bark cloth to be made. Of all these tasks the second is the hardest, and this is rather considered as an amusement than a labor, the women being so amphibious in their habits that to spend half the day in mud and water is no hardship to them, as is seen by the merry talk and laughter that accompany the work.

Mr. Bennett mentions one instance in which a woman was badly treated by her husband. Being in a state of intoxication, he ordered her to carry him on her back up one of the precipices with which these islands abound. In spite of the almost perpendicular rocks, which are in that spot so steep that the white visitors could barely climb up them without any burden at all, the woman undertook the task, and succeeded in reaching the summit in safety.

The semi-amphibious nature of the Sandwich Islanders has already been mentioned. The mode in which both sexes turn their aquatic powers into a means of amusement will be presently described, but we are now dealing with the work done by the women, and not with their amusements. There is a salt-water lake called Loki Nomilu, which was said by the natives to be the handiwork of the terrible fire-goddess Pele, who dug deep into the ground in search of fresh water, but was baffled by the sea finding a subterranean entrance, although the lake is many yards from the shore. Being angry with the sea for its misconduct she took her departure, and took up her abode in the crater of the great volcano of Hawaii, which is called by her name. There is little doubt that the lake in question is itself the crater of an extinct volcano. The “Haöle” went to visit this extraordinary lake, and gives the following account of the mode by which its actual depth was ascertained:—

“Having been informed that this lake was fathomless, I felt only more solicitous to test the mystery. There were no means, however, on the premises; and, two women excepted, the little village was temporarily deserted. There were several canoes on the shore, but the lake was much disturbed by a heavy north wind, so that they would have been rendered nearly useless. But I felt as though I could not abandon the expedition. The gentleman who accompanied me thither informed the women of my object in coming, and assured them I was extremely anxious to know the depth of the water in that lake, and that we would wait until some of the men returned from their fishing excursion.

“But one of them soon provided a remedy. She proposed swimming into the lake with a sounding-line to make the required measurement. Our remonstrance against such a measure was in vain, for she resolutely assured us it would be not only an easy performance, but afford her much satisfaction to have an opportunity of serving me. She procured a piece of wili-wili wood, exceedingly light, about six feet long, and as many inches in diameter. This she insisted on carrying to the north end of the lake, where, under the lee of the high hills, she launched the log of wood. After wading in until it was deep enough to swim, she placed the log firmly under her chest, keeping it there with one hand, and retaining the sounding-line with the other. In this position she struck down the lake, stopping at short intervals to let down the line, which she knotted at the surface of the water every time she found the bottom. This done, she would gather up her line, replace her log, and resume her course. And she pursued this plan until her task was done.

“It would be superfluous to say that this feat excited our admiration, or that we compensated her for her pains. It was the most novel expedition I had ever seen; nor could I fully realize it until I remembered that in these islands, as in other parts of Polynesia, and in the Caribbean Sea, the women and girls are the best swimmers. The Hawaiians are almost amphibious. Volumes might be written detailing their extraordinary feats in the water. It is owing to their frequent bathing that many of the women of Polynesia display such an exquisite contour.”

The woman who performed the feat was the mother of nine children, all of whom were living—an extraordinary event in the life of an Hawaiian woman, so many children perishing either by neglect, disease, or intentional violence.