THE HAWAIIAN PEOPLE. 35 



their wants. For tliis reason, among' others, their life was not the one of 

 indolence it is sometimes thoug'ht to have been, yet eoiulitioiis were niiiforinly 

 more favorable to life in llaw.-iii than were tliose met willi in certain other 

 gronps in the Pacific to which I'olynesians migrated and settled, presumably 

 as they did in these islands. 



Fauna and Flora Explored by the Hawamans. 



So much must be said of the animals and plants in anothci- conneeliori thai, 

 though they form an important feature of environment, it will suffice here to 

 note the salient facts. The flora furnished trees for the construction of theii- 

 canoes and houses, the implements of their warfare and peaceful pursuits, the 

 raw material for the manufacture of their clothing, nets, calabashes, medicines, 

 and above all, a sufficient amount of Avholesome food throughouf tlie year to pro- 

 vide for their sustenance. 



The most important animals existing on the islands at th(> time of their dis- 

 covery by the whites were the swine and the dogs, both of which were freely used 

 as food. There were domestic fowls of the same species as were common 

 throughout the Polynesian islands. The waters about the group provided a 

 never failing supply of fish food. The insects were all inconspicuous and harm- 

 less. The only game birds, as ducks and plovers, were not abundant, while the 

 reptiles were represented by a few species of small, inotfensive lizards that 

 were of little importance. 



The Hawaiians were preeminently an agricultural people with a natural 

 love for the soil and its cultivation. They had an appreciation of the beautiful 

 in flower and foliage that has had an abiding influence on their homes and 

 home surroundings. They were also skilled fishermen. The lack of animals, 

 domestic or wild, other than the few species mentioned, in-evented them from 

 following the hunting and pastoral life, and as a result they were settled in 

 permanent villages, usually along the coast. 



Since there were no noxious insects, poisonous serpents or dangerous birds 

 or beasts of prey, there was no occasion for the alertness and constant fear that 

 so frequently makes life in a tropical country a never-ending strain if not an 

 actual burden. 



Food and Its Effect on the People. 



While the chiefs and the more prosperous of the people were well supplied 

 with meat, the common people had it only at I'ai-c intervals. They were forced 

 to subsist on a diet chiefly vegetal)le, which wa^-- lacking in variety, and. althoueli 

 fat-producing, was also difl:'use and hnlky. To the cliaracter of their food ni;iy 

 be attributed the hal)it of alternately gorgini; and Tasting, whicli was so com- 

 mon a trait of the ancient Hawaiians, and which is believed to have resulted in 

 the abnormal development of the abdomen, formally so noticeable anions theiii. 



Although taro was the staff of life in Hawaii, sweet potato, oi' yam, 

 also figured largely in the every day di;'t of the comnioii people. Tlion-^li meat 

 was never al)uiidant, as lias been s1ate(l. tlie\- wei-e not eiitireh' witlioiit aiii- 



