THE HAWAIIAN PEOPLE. 77 



equally rare oo were used by the old Hawaiians. The feathers of other birds 

 as the iiwi. apapane, on. koae and iwa were used in combination with the 

 foregoing or in various other ways, in the diit'erent articles mentioned, that 

 chiefs and those who could afford tlicm might have capes; but the yellow feathers 

 were reserved for ro.yalty only. The ground work for the capes and cloaks was a 

 fine netting made of the native olona ; to this the feathers were firmly fastened in 

 such a way as to overlap each other and form a smooth and uniform surface. 



The Kahili. 



The kahili, a tly lirush or plumed staff of state, was the emblem and emliellish- 

 ment of royalty and was held in the time of which we write, solely as an adjunct of 

 the alii. A few of these curious feather plumes were of enormous proportions, 

 there being records of some that were borne on poles thirty feet in length. The 

 plume was composed of feathers arranged in bunches, boinul on stems, which 

 were attached to the central staff in such a way as to form a loose, fluffy, 

 cylinder-shaped head, sometimes two or more feet in diameter by three or four 

 feet in length. The handle was occasioiuiUy made of alternate rings of ivory 

 and tortoise shell. In some instances the bones of the famous alii slain in 

 battle were placed on the stem as trophies of victory or as savage ornaments. 

 However, the kahili handle was commonly made of a stout spear-like shaft of 

 kauila wood. ;\l;niy of tiie sinallei' kahilis were definitey used for the 

 purpose of fly flaps and are thought to be the form from which the larger and 

 more ornamental ones were evolved. 



Their helmets, which were exceedingly picturesque aiul striking ornaments, 

 were generally worn liy the I'hicfs on state occasions. They were made of 

 wicker work of the aerial ieie roots, covered with the feathers of several species 

 of the birds mentioned, red and yellow being chiefly used, and were extremely 

 variable in form. 



Hideous effigies of the powerful war god Kul<ailimoku - were made of 

 wicker work and feathers, like the helmets, and were usually- supplied with 

 .staring pearl-shell e.ves and horrible grinning mouths set round with dogs' 

 teeth. We are told that not more than a dozen of these curious feather gods 

 have been preserved in various museum collections. 



Leis. 



The feather lei was the simplest form of feather work wrought by the 

 Hawaiians, and may be regarded as the royal counterpart of the more com- 

 mon and perishable garlands made of flowers, nuts and seeds. The flower 

 and feather leis were twined through the hair or slung gracefully around 

 the necks of both sexes, and seem to have had but little real significance other 

 than to gratify a taste for (uniament. Durable leis were aLso made of such 

 objects as sea and hiiid sliclls, boars' fusks and dried fruits 



An ornament much woi'in In- the ciiiefesses was a nerkiacc that consisteil of 



■Ku = a god: kiiilinnku = to-take-the-islaiid. 



