64 



HAWAIIAN STONE IMPLEMENTS. 



of pliallic form not uncommon among the Hawaiians. They are generally well wrought 

 and would seem to belong to a comparatively^ late period. They are large and heavy, 

 not easil}^ transported. A common form of Hawaiian stone lamp is cj^lindrical, of vary- 

 ing height and diameter but remark- 

 ably uniform in appearance. The cup 

 is also of nearly the same capacity in 

 -••----.--> all. In height they vary from six to 



nine inches. No. 1202 was found at 

 i Haiku, Maui, but the provenance of 



the others is imknown. All are made 

 of the same porous lava, .seeminglj' 

 nnsuited to hold any liquid, but in 

 use the oil soon burns to an imper- 

 vious crust. The last in the group 

 of Fig. 63 is what was called a polio- 

 u'lKi or canoe lamp used in the in- 

 frequent night vo3'ages and also for 

 fishing. This last use seems to be 

 better illustrated in Fig. 64, which 

 represents an unusual form in that it 

 is of redlangular se(5lion with sliglit- 

 l}- rounded corners, and the bowl is 

 much larger than usual in house 

 lamps. The lower half tapers from 

 a shoulder. The bowl was filled with 

 fat, and with a wick of twisted rush 

 or kapa, bright but flaring light was 

 obtained. The lamp could be placed in the hole in the thwart intended for the mast, 

 or in a similar hole in a board proje(51;ing over the gunwale. Night fishing was a favor- 

 ite sport among the Hawaiians, although the lama or torch was generally used instead 

 of a fixed lamp. I do not know much about the stone lamps of the other Polynesians 

 except the Tahitians, and from that group I have seen only the finely designed and 

 wrought lamps in the British Museum, and in that at Cambridge, England, the latter 

 brought home by Tyerman and Bennet, if ni}- memory serves. These are called 

 "Sorcery Lamps", and may be corredlly designated, but no more definite information 

 has come to me of the way in which they were used. The name suggests a use like 

 that of the Hawaiian kapuuhi kuni auaana of Fig. 57. No part of the Pacific has re- 

 tained less of the olden time than the Society islands. The conversion from ancient 



[396] 



FIG. 64. FISHING LAMP. 



