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) 



