12 



BR f CHAM ON HAWAIIAN FEATHER WORK. 



fasten the feathers to, the method used b^' the Hawaiians could uot be followed. Most 

 of the feathers are green, but the red ones of the outer row, and of scattered patterns 

 elsewhere, are from the now extinct Kua^ a bird closel\' resembling the Hawaiian iiwi. 



While devoid of the grace- 

 ful and attractive form 

 of the mahiole this head 

 band must have given 

 some dignity to the tatued 

 face beneath. The length 

 is 18.5 inches; the width 

 8.2 inches. The red color 

 is nearly that of the apa- 

 paue so much used on 

 Hawaii. I have every rea- 

 .son to believe this bit of 

 Marquesan feather work 

 very old, but the border is 

 certainly recent. Fig. 11. 

 No additional informa- 

 tion has been obtained 

 of the Hawaiian feather 

 iinrli)^ mentioned in the 

 previous paper, but it 

 certainly had none of 

 the interest that a simi- 

 lar garment possessed 

 among the southern 

 Pol3-nesians. At Raiatea, 

 "When a new king was 

 consecrated, by ceremo- 

 FIG. 8. MAHIOLE AT OXFORD. nies too filthy to be de- 



tailed,'' he was invested with the niaro or hereditarv robe of rovaltv, of network covered 

 with red feathers, and to which an additional lappet is annexed at the accession of each 

 sovereign. This splendid train, which was wont to be wound about the bodv, and flowed 

 upon the ground, is 21 feet in length, and six inches broad. The needle by which the 

 fabric is wrought is still attached to it, and according to report no stitch could be taken 

 with it but thunder was forthwith heard in the heavens. The symbolical marks which 

 are apparent on the plumage and texture indicate that manj- hundreds of human victims 



^ It is a missionary who is writing, and it is proliable that the ceremonies of this function were most interesting from an ethnological 

 point of ^^ew. [446] 



