632 /'(inlander CoUcctiou of Hazcaiia>i Folk-lore. 



After the tree is felled, the clepaio bird, the god of the canoe builders, flies and 

 alights on the tree. If the bird runs back and forth, without i)ecking here and there 

 of the tree, and then flies awav, it is a good canoe. Jf it i)eck along one side from 

 the front to the back, then hew that side for the mouth of the canoe. If it peck on 

 that side and this side [on both sides] it indicates a rotten canoe ; better leave it alone. 

 Tn cutting off the top there is a prayer for it. but 1 have not ol^ained it. 



HEWING. 



Tn hewing a canoe the outside is hewn first, and when the outside is finished, 

 then work on the inside. At this time, however, no particular way of hewing is ob- 

 served; anvway of dieging- out" is allowed, so that the canoe may be lightened for 

 dragging down to the beach. The canoe is nicely tapered in the front, and is large 

 and full in the rear. Some projections'"' are left in the canoe; as many as four, five or 

 perhaps six, according to the wishes of the priest and the size of the canoe. These 

 projections are used for parts to which are fastened the outrigger, the mast, and on 

 which are placed the seats. 



When this hew-ing is done, then the canoe-building priest reports to the owner 

 that the work is com])leted. If the owner wishes to go uj) and view the canoe, then 

 he accompanies the priest; if he does not so wish, the canoe is left alone until it is sea- 

 soned, when it is hauled down to the shore. 



DRAGGING. 



Dragging the canoe is another important work. It can not be done if men 

 are few; there must be many, ])erhaps forty, sixty or eighty. According to the size 

 of the canoe so will be the number of men required ; a small canoe requires fewer men. 

 The day set apart for dragging the canoe is a day of much pomp; like the day of the 

 funeral of a famous man, so is the day for dragging the canoe, for there will go up 

 men, women, children, and sometimes chiefs. Food, pigs, chickens, turkeys and fish 

 enough to feed the multitude are taken up. 



When the people arrive at the place where the canoe was left, preparations arc 

 made for dragging it. A rope is tied to the crease prepared for it, and when that is 

 ready then the procession is set from where the ro])e is tied to the canoe crease to the 

 end of the rope far ahead. Strong men are placed at the end of the roi)e, so that the rope 

 would be kept taut w^hen being pulled, and would not slacken, tanple, and hurt the men 

 when the canoe slides down a precipice. 



When the canoe is dragged until it is brought to a moderately steep hill where 

 it is impossible for many to ])ull together on account of the steepness of the hill, a re- 

 arrangement of the people is made, and fewer men are required to ]hi11 it down the 

 hill; it is then that we realize the skill of the man who guides the passage of the ca- 

 noe, and it is then also that he shows his great ability to the ])eople. When the prepa- 

 rations are complete, the man who will steer the canoe down the hill rides it; those 



'Other canoc-making countries use fire to facilitate "These, lenncd pcpeiao (oars), .are for the placciucnt 



this hollowing of the canoe, though no mention is made of seats. 



of a like method being observed here. 



