148 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 38 



time his iikeke, as the writer can testify from his own observation. 

 This Hawaiian musician was the one whose performances on the 

 nose-fiiite are elsewhere spoken of. When asked to give a sample of 

 his playing on the iikeke, he first gave heed to his instrument as if 

 testing whether it was in tune. He Avas evidently dissatisfied and 

 pulled at one string as if to loosen it ; then, pressing one end of the 

 bow against his lips, he talked to it in a singing tone, at the same 

 time plucking the strings with a delicate rib of grass. The effect was 

 most pleasing. The open cavity of the mouth, acting as a resonator, 

 reenforced the sounds and gave them a volume and dignity that was 

 a revelation. The lifeless strings allied themselves to a human voice 

 and became animated by a living soul. 



With the assistance of a musical friend it Avas found that the old 

 Hawaiian tuned his strings with approximate correctness to the tonic, 

 the third and the fifth. We may surmise that this self-trained musi- 

 cian had instinctively followed the principle or rule proposed by 

 Aristoxenus, who directed a singer to sing his most convenient note, 

 and then, taking this as a starting point, to tune the remainder of his 

 strings — the Greek kithara, no doubt — in the usual manner from 

 this one. 



While the ukeke was used to accompany the mele and the oli, its 

 chief employment was in serenading and serving the j^oung folk in 

 breathing their extemporized songs ' and uttering their love-talk — 

 lioipolpo. By using a peculiar lingo or secret talk of their own in- 

 vention, two lovers could hold private conversation in public and 

 pour their loves and longings into each other's ears without fear of 

 detection — a thing most reprehensible in savages. This display of 

 ingenuity has been the occasion for outpouring many vials of wrath 

 upon the sinful ukeke. 



Experiment with the ukeke impresses one with the wonderfid 

 change in the tone of the instrument that takes place when its lifeless 

 strings are brought into close relation with the cavity of the mouth. 

 Let anyone having normal organs of speech contract his lips into the 

 shape of an O, make his cheeks tense, and then, with the pulp of his 

 finger as a plectrum, slap the center of his cheek and mark the tone 

 that is produced. Practice will soon enable him to render a full 

 octave with fair accuracy and to perform a simple melody that shall 

 be recognizable at a short distance. The power and range thus ac- 

 quired will, of course, be limited by the skill of the operator. One 

 secret of the performance lies in a proper management of the tongue. 

 This function of the mouth to serve as a resonant cavity for a musical 

 instrument is familiarly illustrated in the jew's-harp. 



