XII.— THE HULA PAHU 



The hula pahu was so named from the pahu," or drum, that was 

 its chief instrument of musical accompaniment (pi. x). 



It is not often that the story of an institution can be so closely 

 fitted to the landmarks of history as in the case of this hula ; and this 

 comes about through our knowledge of the history of the pahu itself. 

 Tradition, direct and reliable, informs us that the credit of intro- 

 ducing the big drum belongs to La'a. This chief flourished between 

 five and six centuries ago, and from having spent most of his life 

 in the lands to the south, which the ancient Hawaiians called Kahiki, 

 was himself generally styled La'a-mai-Kahiki (La'a-from-Kahiki). 

 The young man was of a volatile disposition, given to pleasure, and 

 it is evident that the big drum he brought with him to Hawaii on 

 one of his voyages from Kahiki was in his eyes by no means the 

 least important piece of baggage that freighted his canoes. On 

 nearing the land he waked the echoes with the stirring tones of his 

 drum, which so astonished the people that they followed him from 

 point to point along the coast and heaped favors upon him whenever 

 he came ashore. 



La'a was an enthusiastic patron of the hula and is said to have 

 made a tour of the islands, in which he instructed the natives in new 

 forms of this seductive pastime, one of which was the hula ka-eke. 



There is reason to believe, it seems, that the original use of the pahu 

 was in connection with the services of the temple, and that its adapta- 

 tion to the halau was simply a transference from one to another 

 religious use. 



The hula pahu was preeminently a performance of formal and 

 dignified character, not such as would be extemporized for the 

 amusement of an irreverent company. Like all the formal hulas, it 

 w\as tabu, by which the Hawaiians meant that it was a religious 

 service, or so closely associated with the notion of worship as to make 

 it an irreverence to trifle with it. For this reason as well as for its 

 intrinsic dignity its performance was reserved for the most distin- 

 guished guests and the most notable occasions. 



Both classes of actors took part in the performance of the hula 

 pahu, the olapa contributing the mele as they stood and went through 

 the motions of the dance, while the hoopaa maintained the kneeling 

 position and operated the big drum with the left hand. AVliile his 

 left hand was thus engaged, the musician with a thong held in his 



" Full form, pahu-hula. 



103 



