634 I'oniaiidcr Collection of Hawaiiivi folk-lore. 



who were selected commence pulling- and the canoe moves along until the canoe at- 

 tains a good speed, when the men who are pulling desist and the canoe director takes 

 charge from then on. A canoe coasting down a hill is faster than a galloping horse. 



If the road he rough, the canoe can be shifted to a smooth place; if a large tree 

 or a stone stand in the way, or the road be crooked, we think the canoe would be 

 broken, yet when it is coasting it is like sliding down a smooth-surfaced hill ; because 

 it is the man guiding who wrecks or saves the canoe. Arriving on the flat the multi- 

 tude drags again, and thus they go until the house is reached. But if it is a half- 

 witted man who directs the canoe, or a man with little ability, this will surely occur: 

 trouble will follow from the outset. I saw this happen continually at my birthplace. 



The man who guides the canoe rides in front by the crease; he holds on to a 

 short rope and a small stick made fast to the crease. As the rudder of a ship is used, 

 so is this used. If the canoe swerves from the path selected, this would be used as 

 a lever to head the canoe properly. If it is desired to land the canoe at any chosen 

 place, it can be done. If [the director] wishes to step back into the canoe while it is 

 coasting, it can be done. If he wishes to restrain the canoe so that those who arc 

 dragging it are unable to do so, it can be done. 



RULES FOR THE FINISIHNr, WORK. 



If the priest is hewing a canoe in a house, then the rule is that an aha cord be 

 stretched across the door of the house from side to side, so that some men would not 

 enter to talk, thereby diverting the attention of the canoe-building priest, and the ca- 

 noe be broken by careless hewing, thus causing trouble. Hence the aha cord is placed 

 across the door, so that a person would come and talk from the outside, and be im- 

 able to enter the house. If that person has an important idea the work is stopped and 

 the conversation then held. This is a rule strictly adhered to by some canoe-builders. 



There are two methods of hewing the canoe for its finishing: from the front 

 and from the rear. If the commencement of the hewing of a side be from the left, 

 do not change and work from the right, for it would be defective. If the commence- 

 ment of the work be from the fore part, continue in that direction until the stern is 

 reached, then quit; do not change the direction of the hewing from the stern." It is the 

 same with the other side, commence hewing from the stern and when the bow is 

 reached, then quit. Do not hew from the bow and the stern of the same side; else 

 there would be a hole in the middle. 



There are two kinds of adze used for building canoe: koi kupa. an adze for dig- 

 ging out the inside, and any other rough work ; and koi wili,^ a reversible adze, an adze 

 used for finishing ofif. The koi kupa" is used for digging out the inside and hewing 

 the rough of the outside [of the canoe] when it is thick; and when it is thinned then 

 the koi wili would be used to finish oft. 'i'hc koi wili could be used in hewing at wide 

 and narrow places. 



When the canoe is finished, the zcac'^" are i)laced in position; these are the parts 



"llcw with, not against the grain in all cases. "Koi kupa was tlic gouge-like adze for internal work. 



"Koi wili, a reversible adze, sometimes termed o-wili; '"VV'ae is the affixed brace to stiffen :md support the 



to twist or turn over. sides of the canoe. 



