THE HAWAIIAN PEOPLE. 71 



Tapa Making a Fine Art. 



The plain or colored tapas were, often, beautifully and tastefully 

 printed with int;enious figures or patterns of various designs. The pattern to be 

 transferred to the cloth was first cut on the side of a narrow strip of bamboo. 

 The bamboo was then dipped into the color and the pattern carefully printed on 

 the tapa by pressing the stick on the tapa and against the hand. This operation 

 was repeated until little by little the intended design was completed. Often 

 the entire tapa was printed with various designs and colors in this primitive 

 manner. Some kinds were marked with a string dipped in the color to be trans- 

 ferred. The string was then drawn taut across the tapa and the color snapped 

 on it in the same manner in which the chalk line is commonly used. 



In the preparation of their "printing inks" the colors were frequently mixed 

 with kukui nut oil. Some tapas were saturated with cocoanut oil to render them 

 waterproof and to make them more durable. Tapas which were not oiled could 

 not be washed. For this reason the laundrj' work to be done in the Hawaiian 

 family was reduced to the minimum, but the amount of time and labor expended 

 in the manufacture of the tapa must have been enormous, since three or four 

 daj's were required to beat an average sized tapa and a new set was required 

 about once a month. Other materials were used by the Hawaiians in the manu- 

 facture of tapa, the most important being the bark of the maniake, which grew 

 wild in the woods. It was gathered by the women and steamed in an oven 

 with a certain fern that gave ofl^ a dark red coloring matter. The bark from 

 tender breadfruit stems was sometimes used, as was also the bark from the 

 hau tree. 



Provision was commonly made for carrying on this work by providing a 

 special house devoted to the purpose and also by the setting aside of certain special 

 gods to preside over the undertaking. Certain of their tapas were delicately 

 perfumed with the root of the kupaoa; maile and mokihana were al.so used in 

 this way on account of their delicate and lasting scents. 



It is worthy of remark that tapa beating was common among all the 

 Poljmesian islanders, when suitable material was to be had. It was an art that 

 was old in the hands of the pioneer Plawaiians at the time of their settling 

 on these islands. While tapa making was generally practiced over the whole of 

 the Pacific, and indeed almost the whole world, it fell to the painstaking 

 Hawaiian women to carry the manufacture of paper cloth to the highest degree 

 of excellence attained among any primitive people. Their best tapas were but 

 little, if any, inferior to the fine cotton fabrics that have entirely displaced 



(Deseription of Plate Continued from Opposite Page.) 



.5. Small kahili. (5. Slop bowl ornamented with human teeth. 7. Stone lamps of various 

 forms. 8. Feather Ci),pe [ahuula]. 9. Tapa beater. 10. Poi pounders (ring form). 11. 

 Pandanus baskets. 12. Finger bowls of variou.s designs. 13. Spittoons. 14. Large anc) 

 small umekes or bowls. 15. Hanai poepoe. 10. Carved dish for baked ]>ig. 17. Gourd 

 hula drums. 18. Hawaiian fans. 19. Coooamit wood hula rlrnms. 20. Uliuli hula or 

 rattles. 21. Mortar and pestle. 



