58 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 38 



handle that strangely effective drunilike instrument, the ipu, the one 

 musical instrument used as an accompaniment in this hula. The 

 ipu is made from the bodies of two large, pear-shaped calabashes 

 of unequal sizes, which are joined together at their smaller ends in 

 such a manner as to resemble a figure-of-eight. An opening is left 

 at the toj) of the smaller calabash to increase the resonance. In 

 moments of calm the musicians allow the body to rest upon the heels ; 

 as the action warms they lift themselves to such height as the bended 

 knee will permit. 



The ala'a-papa is a hula of comparatively moderate action. AAliile 

 the olapa employ hands, feet, and body in gesture and pose to illus- 

 trate the meaning and emotion of the song, the musicians mark the 

 time by lifting and patting with the right hand the ipu each holds in 

 the left hand. If the action of the ]:>lay runs strong and stirs the 

 emotions, each hoopa'a lifts his ipu wildly, fiercely smites it, then 

 drops it on the padded rest in such manner as to bring out its deep 

 mysterious tone. 



At a signal from the kumu, who sits with the hoopa'a, the jjoo- 

 fucCa^ leader of the olapa, calls the mele {kahea i ka mele) — that is, 

 he begins its recitation — in a tone differing but little from that of 

 ordinary conversation, a sing-song recitation, a vocalization less 

 stilted and less punctilious than that usually employed in the utter- 

 ance of the oli or mele. The kumu, the leader of the company, now 

 joins in, mouthing his words in full observance of the mele style. His 

 manner of cantillation may be either Avhat may be called the low 

 relief, termed koH-honua^ or a pompous alto-relievo style, termed 

 ai-hci'a. This is the signal for the whole company to chime in, in the 

 same style as the kumu. The result, as it seems to the untutored ear, 

 is a confusion of sounds like that of the many-tongued roar of the 

 ocean. 



The songs cantillated for the hula ala'a-papa were many and of 

 great variety. It seems to have been the practice for the kumu to 

 arrange a number of mele, or poetical pieces, for presentation in the 

 hula in such order as pleased him. These different mele, thus ar- 

 ranged, were called pale, compartments, or mahele, divisions, as if 

 they were integral parts of one whole, while in reality their relation 

 to one another was only that of the juxtaposition imposed upon them 

 by the kumu. 



The poetical pieces first to be presented were communicated to the 

 author as mahele, divisions— hardly cantos — in the sense above de- 

 fined. They are, however, distinct poems, though there chances to run 

 through them all a somewhat similar motive. The origin of many of 

 these is referred to a past so remote that tradition assigns them to 

 what the TIawaiians call the um fo, the night of tradition, or they 

 say of them, no ke akua mat, they are from the gods. It matters not 



