THE MAMO 213 



each bird wore suitable, so that many thousands of 

 birds had to be destroyed to furnish the material 

 for a single robe. Formerly, as we ojather from 

 Mr. Lucas, the kings, chiefs, and other noble 

 Hawaiians wore these flowing capes or robes when- 

 ever they appeared in public on state occasions, 

 either in peace or war, these garments having the 

 same significance and being as eagerly coveted as 

 the ermine and purple in feudal Europe. One of 

 the most gorgeous of these robes was that belonging 

 to Katnehamcha i., a powerful king, who not only 

 conquered but united all the islands of the group 

 under his sway. Mr. Scott Wilson, who visited 

 the Sandwich Islands specially to search for the 

 Mamo, H-AyH that the manufacture of this great 

 yellow war - cloak had been in progress during 

 the reign of eight preceding kings. " Its length is 

 four feet, and it has a spread of eleven and a half 

 feet at the bottom, the whole having the appearance 

 of a mantle of gold." With the above facts before 

 us, it is not improbable that savage man has exter- 

 minated many brilliantly-coloured birds of which 

 we have not any knowledge whatever. There is 

 another allied bird in the Sandwich Islands which 

 has suffered much persecution for the sake of its 

 feathers, the O-o (Acrulocercus nobilis), but in this 



