Hawaiian Stools. 



193 



were perhaps borrowed from Tahiti or other southern islands whither the adventurous 

 Hawaiians are known to have sailed in ancient times. One of these Hawaiian stools 

 is shown in Fig. 8 (which is repeated here for convenience of reference). It is on the 

 right, a well cut but unornamented block of ohia wood; heavy and solid, it resembles 

 a Samoan tanoa unexcavated. It is 1S.7X17.2 inches on top and 9 inches high. On 

 the left of the figure is an ancient stool once the propert}' of a chief of Anaa in the 

 Paumotu Archipelago; on the top of the first is a stool from the Marquesas used by 

 the copra graters as indicated b3' the projection (which is an integral part of the stool), 

 armed with a piece of rough coral for grating. Many of the European and American 



FIC. 17I: 



POLYNESIAN STOOLS. 



museums have Tahitian stools of light and graceful form, but the pattern is in all 

 cases the same, and all are, I believe, monoxylon. The Hawaiian stools are very rare 

 and the present specimen (B, M. 4345) is the only one I have seen. A more fantastic 

 stool is in the British Museum ; it represents a female figure, not unlike those figured 

 in the second Memoir of this volume : she is on all fours, the head raised and the legs 

 trailing. This is shown on Plate XXXV (d). 



Omitting the last carved example, all the stools from the Polynesian groups 

 are of one general pattern, and enough alike to suggest a common origin. The curved 

 seat reminds one of the Central American metate or grinding stones, beautifully carved 

 examples of which have been figured by Dr. Hartmanu from Porto Rico. Some of 

 these are light enough to be a petrifadlion of the best Polynesian forms, except that 



Memoiks B. p. B. Museum, Vol. II. No. 3.— 13. L377 J 



