THE HAWAIIAN PEOPLE. 47 



oft-repeated ceremonies. Others were special. Icinpofary jiiid ci-i-alic. liaving 

 their inception in the will or caprice of the king or tlie pleasnrc of the kalmnas. 

 Some of the more burdensome were sjjecific and dii-ected against certain persons 

 or objects. Eor example, the persons of llie chiefs and priests were lalni - 

 as were the temi)les and the temple idols. Some in effect were exceedingly 

 rigid requirements, others partook more of the force and importance of regula- 

 tions. There were four principal tabu periods during each month. During 

 these periods a devout chief was expected to spend much time in the heiau.-'^ 

 At such times women were forbidden to enter a canoe or have intercourse with 

 the other sex until the tabu was lifted. An especial edict nuide it incumbent 

 that during the whole period of her pregnancy the expectant mother nuist live 

 entirely apart from her husband, in accordance with a very ancient tabu. At 

 the periods sacred to the great gods many were put to death for infractions 

 of th(^ tabu, as many restrictions were promulgated and enforced at such sea- 

 sons, and, through ignorance, the people were liable to disregard them. 



We are informed by the people and through the records of early visitors 

 that at such times no person could bathe, or be seen abroad during the day-time, 

 no canoes could be launched, no fires were allowed, not even a pig could grunt, 

 a dog bark or rooster crow for fear the tabu might be broken and fail of its 

 purpose. Should it fail the offenders were made to pay the penalty with tlieir 

 lives. 



Any particular place or object might be declared tabu by tlie proper person 

 by simply affixing to it a stick bearing aloft a bit of tapa, this being a sufficient 

 sign that the locality was to be avoided. The bodies of the dead were especially 

 sacred objects and always tabu. As long as the body remained unburied it was 

 subject to the vagaries of the system. Those who remained in the house or had 

 to do with the corpse were defiled and forbidden to enter other houses in the 

 village. 



Owing to the tabu, two ovens must l)e nuiintained, one for tlie husl)and, the 

 other for the wife: two houses must be built t(» eat in, a third to sleep in. Tn a 

 thousand similar ways the system was fastened on every act of the daily life of 

 the people to such an extent that it was ever present, dominating their every 

 thought and deed. It o]')pressed their lives, cirtniled tluMi- libcM-ties. and dark- 

 ened and narrowed th(Mr horizon bevond belief. 



CHAPTER IV. 



THE RELIGION OF THE HAWAllAXS: THEIR :\[ETHODS OF WAR- 

 FARE AND FEUDAL ORGANIZATION. 



Complex and bewildering as was the Hawaiian system of tabus. Ilieir re- 

 ligious system was even more so. Moreovei'. the one was so inlerlwined with 

 the other that the two subjects cannot 1><' treated sepai'atelx-. Since the lla- 



^ Sacred. ^ Tenijile. 



