EMEKSON] UNAVRITTEN LITERATUEE OF HAWAII 143 



would seem, that must be taken into the account in estimating the value 

 of the drum. Attention may be directed first to its tone-character, 

 the quality of its note which touches the heart in its own peculiar 

 way, moving it to enthusiasm or bringing it within the easy reach 

 of awe, fear, and courage. Again, while, except in the orchestra, 

 the drum and other instruments of percussion may require no exact 

 pitch, still this does not necessarily determine their effectiveness. 

 The very depth and gravity of its pitch, made pervasive by its wealth 

 of overtones, give to this primitive instrument a weird hold on the 

 emotions. 



This combination of qualities we find well illustrated in the pahu 

 and the ipu, the tones of which range in the lower registers of the 

 human voice. The tone-character of the pu-niu, on the other hand, 

 is more subdued, yet lively and cheerful, by reason in part of the 

 very sharpness of its pitch, and thus affords an agreeable offset to 

 the solemnity of the other two. 



Ethnologically the pahu is of more world-wide interest than any 

 other member of its class, being one of many varieties of the kettle- 

 drum that are to be found scattered among the tribes of the Pacific, 

 all of them, perhaps, harking back to Asiatic forbears, such as the 

 tom-tom of the Hindus. 



The sound of the pahu carries one back in imagination to the 

 dread sacrificial drum of the Aztec teocallis and the wild kettles of 

 the Tartar hordes. The drum has cruel and bloody associations. 

 When listening to its tones one can hardly put away a thought of 

 the many times they have been used to drown the screams of some 

 agonized creature. 



For more purely local interest, inventive originality, and sim- 

 plicity, the round-bellied ipu takes the palm, a contrivance of strictly 

 Hawaiian, or at least Polynesian, ingenuity. It is an instrument of 

 fascinating interest, and when its crisp rind puts forth its volume 

 of sound one finds his imagination winging itself back to the mys- 

 terious caverns of Hawaiian mythology. 



The gourd, of which the ipu is made, is a clean vegetable product 

 of the fields and the garden, the gift of Lono-wahine — unrecognized 

 daughter of mother Ceres — and is free from all cruel alliances. No 

 bleating lamb was sacrificed to furnish parchment for its drumhead. 

 Its associations are as innocent as the pipes of Pan. 



4. The ha-eke-el'€, though not drumlike in form, must be classed 

 as an instrument of percussion from the manner of eliciting its note. 

 It was a simple joint of bamboo, open at one end, the other end 

 being left closed with the diaphragm provided by nature. The tone 

 is produced by striking the closed end of the cylinder, while held in 

 a vertical position, with a sharp blow against some solid, nonresonant 

 body, such as the matted earth floor of the old Hawaiian house. In 



