FEATHER GARMENTS. 



15 







105. A cape, unusual both in shape and design, beloiig-ing to J. Edge-Part- 

 j'ngton, Esq. (Fig. 15.) It is of 00 and iiwi feathers, 17 inclies long, 27 inches at the 

 neck, 12 inches in front, and about 5 feet around the bottom. 



106. A cloak said to have been de- ax 



stroyed in the conflagration caused acciden- 

 tally in the attempt of the Board of Health 

 to stamp out the bubonic plague in the Chi- 

 nese quarter of Honolulu. At the time when 

 the claims for losses caused by this great 

 fire were presented to the Commission ap- 

 pointed for the purpose, my assistant, Mr. 

 Allen M. Walcott, obtained from the claim- 

 ant, Peleioholaui, a carpenter by trade, the 

 following particulars : The cloak was called 

 "Eheukani" and was made in the time of 

 Keeaiimoku (the father of Kaahumanu) and 

 finished shortl}' before the Ijattle of Mokuohai 



101 



mf 14. Jm> ^iil# w^ 



VIC. 12. CI.OAK .\T BERNK. 





FIG. 13. C.\PE .AT CAMBRIDGE, MASvS. 



( July, 1782) between Kamehameha and Kiwalao. Keeaumoku's wife gave it to Pele- 

 ioholani's grandmother. Principally mamo'* feathers with a small crescent of red 

 iiwi in each upper corner; between the shoulders a round spot of black 00 feathers, 

 from which a line of red iiwi led down to a trifle below the middle of the cloak. The 

 cords at the neck were of human hair, an uniisual thing. It must be remembered that 



8 Probably oo, for a genuine niamo ahuula was devoid of any adulteration by other colored feathers. It should be stated that Peleio- 

 holani's claim to be the owner of this cloak was disputed and it was said to have been taken from the palace years ago ; but from what 

 I have seen of the observation of natives whose duty it was to care for the royal robes. I do not believe one of them could describe the 

 pattern of the cloaks he or she had seen for years. 



[449] 



