THE HAWAIIAN PEOPLE. 63 



Small stones of different shapes for various domestic purposes were used, 

 some for cooking birds, others as bath rubbers, and so on, but the principal 

 use of stone in the household was in the manufacture of poi pounders and 

 mortars, to which reference has been made in another chapter. Lastly, refer- 

 ence should be made to their wooden slop jars which were in common use as 

 receptacles for refuse food, banana skins, fishbones and offal. While many of 

 them were roughly made of kou, others were finished, and a few belonging to 

 the chiefs were inlaid with the bones of their enemies or those whom they 

 would dishonor. 



CHAPTER VI. 

 OCCUPATIONS OF THE HAWAIIAN PEOPLE. 



Agriculture Among the H.\wail\ns. 



Agriculture was one of the principal occupations of the ancient Hawaiians 

 and like almost everything they did, was accomplished by a set of more or less 

 elaborate religioiis ceremonies. They were particular to plant in the proper 

 time of the moon, and prayers were said, and offerings made and tabus kept 

 during the varioiLs stages of the growth of the plant. When necessary, prayers 

 were made for rain or to allay the wind, or to stop the ravages of insects, and at 

 last when the crop was ripe, prayers of thanksgiving were said and appropriate 

 offerings were made to the family gods. 



The growing of taro was the chief industry among their farming activi- 

 ties, and the simple dishes manufactured from this plant have always been their 

 principal and often only article of food. Two methods of planting were and 

 still are followed. Where running water was to be had from the streams taro, 

 or kalo, could be grown at all seasons, and only a scarcity of water could seri- 

 ously influence the yield. Where water could be led onto the ground from the 

 streams or be led to the fields by their primitive irrigation ditches, the crop was 

 always in a flourishing state of growth. The work necessary to prepare the 

 ground, plant, irrigate and cultivate the crop, then as now, formed the most 

 laborious part of the native farming. 



Taro Growing. 



Considering the character of the country, the natives had arrived at a 

 degree of skill in the cultivation of the useful taro plant that has been difficult 

 to improve upon. After a century of contact with European ingenuity and 

 learning, the crop is still cultivated in the ancient manner, with the exception 

 that the primitive digger or oo, made of wood, has been supplanted by some of 

 the more modern garden implements made of metal. 



The taro ponds are usually small and irregular in form, and vary in size 

 from a few yards to a half acre or more in extent. Tliey were formerly made 

 with the utmost care, bv first removing the earth down to a water level and 



