The Spell of the Hawaiian Islands and the Philippines Part 2

Hawaiians say that in the earliest days their forefathers had only coverings made of long leaves or braided strips of gra.s.s, until two of the great G.o.ds, Kane and Ka.n.a.loa, took pity upon them and taught them to make _kiheis_, or shoulder capes.

Tapa making was an important part of the work of the women. It was sometimes brilliantly coloured with vegetable dyes and a pattern put on with a bamboo stamp. Unlike the patterns which our Indians wove into their baskets and blankets, each one of which had its meaning, these figures on the tapa had no special significance, so far as is known. By lapping strips of bark over each other and beating them together, the tapa could be made of any desired size or thickness.

In the old legends, Hina, the mother of the demi-G.o.d Maui, figures as the chief tapa maker. The clouds are her tapas in the sky, on which she places stones to hold them down. When the winds drive the clouds before them, loud peals of thunder are the noise of the rolling stones. When Hina folds up her clouds the gleams of sunlight upon them are seen by men and called the lightning.

The sound of the tapa beating was often heard in the Islands. The story is told, that the women scattered through the different valleys devised a code of signals in the strokes and rests of the mallets by which they sent all sorts of messages to one another--a sort of primitive telegraphy that must have been a great comfort and amus.e.m.e.nt to lonely women.

In the early days, marriage and family a.s.sociations fell lightly on their shoulders, and even to-day they are somewhat lax in their morals.

The seamen who visited the Islands after their discovery by Captain Cook brought corruption with them, so that the condition of the natives when the first missionary arrived was indescribable. A great lack of family affection perhaps naturally followed from this light esteem of marriage. The adoption and even giving away of children was the commonest thing, even among the high chiefs and kings, and exists more or less to-day.

There were three distinctly marked cla.s.ses even among the ancient Hawaiians--chiefs, priests, and common people--proving that social distinctions do not entirely depend upon civilization. The chief was believed to be descended from the G.o.ds and after death was wors.h.i.+ped as a deity.

The priestly cla.s.s also included sorcerers and doctors, all called _kahuna_, and were much like the medicine men among the American Indians. As with most primitive peoples--for after all, when compared they have very similar tastes and customs--diseases were supposed to be caused by evil spirits, and the kahuna was credited with the power to expel them or even to install them in a human body. The ma.s.ses had implicit belief in this power, and "praying to death" was often heard of in the old days.[4]

Ancient Hawaiians wrapped their dead in tapa with fragrant herbs, such as the flowers of sugar-cane, which had the property of embalming them. They were sometimes buried in their houses or in grottoes dug in the solid rock, but more frequently in natural caves, where the bodies were dried and became like mummies. Sometimes the remains were thrown into the boiling lava of a volcano, as a sacrifice to Pele.

[Ill.u.s.tration: ANCIENT TEMPLE INCLOSURE.]

It is said no Hawaiians were ever cannibals, but in the early days man-eaters from the south visited these Islands and cooked their victims in the ovens of the natives. Human bones made into the shape of fish hooks were thought to bring luck, especially those of high chiefs, so, as only part of Captain Cook's body was found and he was considered a G.o.d, perhaps his bones were used in this way.

The _heiaus_, or temples, developed from Paao's time into stone platforms inclosed by walls of stone. Within this inclosure were sacred houses for the king and the priests, an altar, the oracle, which was a tall tower of wicker work, in which the priest stood when giving the message of his G.o.d to the king, and the inner court--the shrine of the princ.i.p.al idol. One of the most important heiaus, which still exists, although in ruins, is the temple of Wahaula on the island of Hawaii.

There was much that was hard and cruel about this religion. The idols were made hideous that they might strike terror to the wors.h.i.+pers. Human sacrifices were offered at times to the chief G.o.ds. The idols of the natives were much like those of the North American Indians, but the Kanakas are not like the Indians in character.

The oppressive tabu was part of the religion, and the penalty for breaking it was death. The word means prohibited, and the system was a set of rules, made by the chiefs and high priests, which forbade certain things. For instance, it was tabu for women to eat with men or enter the men's eating house, or to eat pork, turtles, cocoanuts, bananas and some kinds of fish. There were many tabu periods when "no canoe could be launched, no fire lighted, no tapa beaten or poi pounded, and no sound could be uttered on pain of death, when even the dogs had to be muzzled, and the fowls were shut up in calabashes for twenty-four hours at a time." Besides the religious tabus there were civil ones, which could be imposed at any time at the caprice of king or chiefs, who would often forbid the people to have certain things because they wished to keep them for themselves.

One is apt to think that in those early days the natives of these heavenly islands must have been happy and free-living, without laws and doing as they wished, with plenty of fruit and fish to eat; but it was not so at all, for they were obliged to crawl in the dust before their king; they were killed if they even crossed his shadow.

As a pleasant contrast to all these grim features, the Hawaiians, like the ancient Israelites, had cities of refuge, of which there were two on the island of Hawaii. Here the murderer was safe from the avenger, the tabu-breaker was secure from the penalty of death, and in time of war, old men and women and children could dwell in peace within these walls.

The curious belief in a second soul, or double, and in ghosts, the doctrines of a future state, and the peculiar funeral rites, all of which formed part of the native religion, seem strange to many present-day Christian Hawaiians.

In all Polynesia the four great G.o.ds were Kane, "father of men and founder of the world,"[5] Ka.n.a.loa, his brother, Ku, the cruel one, and Lono, to whom the New Year games were sacred. These four were also the chief deities of Hawaiians.

Besides the great G.o.ds there was a host of inferior deities, such as the G.o.d of the sea, the G.o.d of the fishermen, the shark G.o.d, the G.o.ddess of the tapa beaters, Laka, the G.o.ddess of song and dance, who was very popular, and Pele, the G.o.ddess of volcanoes. Still lower in the scale were the demi-G.o.ds and magicians of marvelous power, like Maui, for whom the island of Maui is said to be named, who pulled New Zealand out of the sea with his magic fish hook and stole the secret of making fire from the wise mud hens. His greatest achievement was that of la.s.soing the sun and forcing him to slacken his speed. He was a hero throughout Polynesia, and his hook is said to have been still preserved on the island of Tonga in the eighteenth century.

Like most primitive peoples, the Hawaiians danced in order that their G.o.ds might smile upon them and bring them luck, or to appease the dreaded Pele and the other G.o.ds of evil. The much-talked of _hula_ began in this way as a sacred dance before the altar in a temple inclosure, while the girls, clad in skirts of gra.s.s and wreaths of flowers, chanted their songs. There was grace in some of the movements, but on the whole the dances are said to have been "indescribably lascivious." After the missionaries arrived, the hula was modified, and to-day it has almost died out.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _A Hula Dancer_ _With some concession in costume to Western conventions_]

Many of the old chants were addressed to Laka, sometimes called the "G.o.ddess of the wildwood growths." These meles had neither rime nor meter and were more like chants or recitatives, as the singers used only two or three deep-throated tones. Curiously enough the verses suggest the modern _vers libre_. The chants include love songs, dirges and name songs--composed at the birth of a child to tell the story of his ancestors--besides prayers to the G.o.ds and historical traditions. As some of these early songs have real vigour and charm, I give a few examples.

The following is a very old chant of Kane, Creator of the Universe:

"The rows of stars of Kane, The stars in the firmament, The stars that have been fastened up, Fast, fast, on the surface of the heaven of Kane, And the wandering stars, The tabued stars of Kane, The moving stars of Kane; Innumerable are the stars; The large stars, The little stars, The red stars of Kane. O infinite s.p.a.ce!

The great Moon of Kane, The great Sun of Kane Moving, floating, Set moving about in the great s.p.a.ce of Kane.

The Great Earth of Kane, The Earth squeezed dry by Kane, The Earth that Kane set in motion.

Moving are the stars, moving is the Moon, Moving is the great Earth of Kane."[6]

I find the meles to Laka especially pretty, such as these, taken from Emerson's "Unwritten Literature of Hawaii":

"O G.o.ddess Laka!

O wildwood bouquet, O Laka!

O Laka, queen of the voice!

O Laka, giver of gifts!

O Laka, giver of bounty!

O Laka, giver of all things!"

"This is my wish, my burning desire, That in the season of slumber, Thy spirit my soul may inspire, Altar dweller, Heaven guest, Soul awakener, Bird from covert calling, Where forest champions stand, There roamed I too with Laka."

This one from the same collection is interesting in its simplicity and strength:

"O Pele, G.o.d Pele!

Burst forth now! burst forth!

Launch a bolt from the sky!

Let thy lightnings fly!...

Fires of the G.o.ddess burn.

Now for the dance, the dance, Bring out the dance made public; Turn about back, turn about face; Dance toward the sea, dance toward the land, Toward the pit that is Pele, Portentous consumer of rocks in Puna!"

The Hawaiian myths, I find, are not nearly so original or so full of charm as the j.a.panese and Chinese stories, and the long names are tiresome. They have, moreover, lost their freshness, their individuality and their primitive quality in translation and through American influence. They had been handed down entirely by word of mouth until the missionaries arrived. Many of the myths bear some resemblance to Old Testament stories as well as to the traditions told by the head-hunters of the Philippines. The legends of the volcano seem more distinctly Hawaiian.

There are many legends of Pele as well as chants in her honour, which generally represent her as wreaking her vengeance on mortals who have been so unfortunate as to offend her. I quote one that is told to account for the origin of a stream of unusually black lava, which long, long ago flowed down to the coast on Maui:

"A withered old woman stopped to ask food and hospitality at the house of a dweller on this promontory, noted for his penuriousness. His _kalo_ (taro) patches flourished, cocoanuts and bananas shaded his hut, nature was lavish of her wealth all around him. But the withered hag was sent away unfed, and as she turned her back on the man she said, 'I will return to-morrow.'

"This was Pele, G.o.ddess of the volcano, and she kept her word, and came back the next day in earthquakes and thunderings, rent the mountain, and blotted out every trace of the man and his dwelling with a flood of fire."

Another story goes that in the form of a maiden the G.o.ddess appeared to a young chief at the head of a toboggan slide and asked for a ride on his sled. He refused her, and started down without her. Soon, hearing a roar as of thunder and looking back, he saw a lava torrent chasing him and bearing on its highest wave the maiden, whom he then knew to be the G.o.ddess Pele. Down the hill and across the plain his toboggan shot, followed by the flaming river of molten rock. The chief, however, reached the ocean at last and found safety in the waters.

This condensed story of the Shark King is also a typical Hawaiian tale:

The King Shark, while sporting in the water, watched a beautiful maiden diving into a pool, and fell in love with her. As king sharks can evidently take whatever form they please, he turned himself into a handsome man and waited for her on the rocks. Here the maiden came one day to seek sh.e.l.lfish, which she was fond of eating. While she was gathering them a huge wave swept her off her feet, and the handsome shark man saved her life. As a matter of course, she straightway fell in love with him. So it happened that one day they were married; but it was only when her child was born that the shark man confided to her who he really was, and that he must now disappear. As he left, he cautioned her never to give their child any meat, or misfortune would follow.

The child was a fine boy, and was quite like other children except that he bore on his back the mark of the great mouth of the shark. As he grew older he ate with the men instead of the women, as was the custom, and his grandfather, not heeding the warning but wis.h.i.+ng to make his grandson strong, so that some day he might become a chief, gave him the forbidden meat. When in company, the boy wore a cape to cover the scar on his back, and he always went swimming alone, but when in the water he remembered his father, and it was then that he would turn into a shark himself. The more meat the boy ate the more he wanted, and in time it was noticed that children began to disappear. They would go in bathing and never return. The people became suspicious, and one day they tore the boy's mantle off him and saw the shark's mouth upon his back. There was great consternation, and at last he was ordered to be burned alive.

He had been bound with ropes and was waiting for the end, but while the fire was kindling he called on his father, King Shark, for help, and so it was that he was able to burst the ropes and rush into the water, where he turned into a shark and escaped.

The mother then confessed that she had married the Shark King. The chiefs and the high priests held a council and decided that it would be better to offer sacrifices to appease him rather than to kill the mother. This they did, and for that reason King Shark promised that his son should leave the sh.o.r.es of the island of Hawaii forever. It was true, he did leave this island, but he visited other islands and continued his bad habits, until one day he was really caught just as he was turning from a man into a shark on the beach in shallow water. He was bound and hauled up a canyon, where they built a fire from the bamboo of the sacred grove. But the shark was so large that they had to chop down one tree after another for his funeral pyre, until the sacred grove had almost disappeared. This so angered the G.o.d of the forest that he changed the variety of bamboo in this region; it is no longer sharp-edged like other bamboo on the Islands.

CHAPTER III

THE FIVE KAMEHAMEHAS

Hawaiian myths and traditions are confused and unreliable, and we know little real history of the "Bright Land," the "Land of Rainbows," before the coming of Captain Cook, in 1778. We do know, however, that, in those early days, the different tribes continually carried on a savage warfare among themselves. Not until the latter part of the eighteenth century did there arise a native chieftain powerful enough to subdue all the islands under his sway and bring peace among the warring tribes. This chief was Kamehameha I, or Kamehameha the Great, often called the Napoleon of the Pacific. The authentic history of Hawaii really begins with his reign. His portrait in the Executive Building in Honolulu shows him as a stern warrior.

The j.a.panese, as well as the Spaniards, had long known of the existence of islands in that part of the Pacific Ocean. Tradition tells of some s.h.i.+pwrecked Spanish sailors and some j.a.panese who settled there at a very early date. These Islands were, however, brought to the notice of the civilized world for the first time by Captain Cook.