90 BtTREAtr Of AMERICAlSr ETHNOLOGY [bull. 38 



heard distinctly. It would require an audiphone to illustrate per- 

 fectly the difference between this method of pronunciation and the 

 ai-ha'a, which was employed m the recitation of cantos III and V. 

 The ai-ha'a was given in a strained and guttural tone. 



The poetical reciter and cantillator, Avhether in the halau or in the 

 king's court, was wont to heighten the oratorical effect of his recita- 

 tion by certain crude devices, the most marked of which was that of 

 choking the voice down, as it were, into the throat, and there letting 

 it strain and growl like a hungry lion. This was the ai-ha'a, whose 

 organic function was the expression of the underground passions of 

 the soul. 



