EMEUSON] UNWRITTEN LITERATURE OF HAWAII 151 



If Captain Burney (who, by the testimony of his father, perhaps the greatest 

 musical theorist of this or any other age, was able to have done it) has written 

 down in P^uropean notes the concords that these people sung, and if these con- 

 cords had been such as European ears could tolerate, there would have been 

 no longer doubt of the fact; but, as it is, it would, in my opinion, be a rash 

 judgment to venture to affirm that they did or did not understand counterpoint; 

 and therefore I fear that tliis curious matter must be considered as still remain- 

 ing undecided. (A Voyage to the Pacific Ocean, undertaken by tlie command of 

 His Majesty, for mailing discoveries in the Northern Hemisphere. Performed 

 under the direction of Captains Coolc, Gierke, and Gore, in His Majesty's ships 

 the Resolution and Discovery, in the years 1776, 1777, 1778, and 1780, 3 volumes, 

 London, 1784, in, 2d ed., 142, 143, 144.) 



"While we can not but regret that Captain King did not go into de- 

 tail and inform us specifically what were the concords those old-time 

 people " fell on," whether their songs were in the major or minor key, 

 and many other points of information, he has, nevertheless, put 

 science inider obligations to him by his clear and unmistakable testi- 

 mony to the fact that they did arrange their music in parts. His 

 testimony is decisive : " In this manner they sang in chorus, and not 

 only produced octaves to each other, according to their species of 

 voice, but fell on concords such as were not disagreeable to the ear." 

 When the learned doctor argues that to overturn this fact would be 

 an arduous task, we have to agree with him — an arduous task indeed. 

 Pie well knew that one proven fact can overthrow a thousand improb- 

 abilities. " AVliat man has done man can do " is a true saying; but it 

 does not thence follow that what man has not done man can not do. 



If the contention were that the Hawaiians understood counter- 

 point as a science and a theory, the author would imhesitatingly ad- 

 mit the improbal)ility with a readiness akin to that with Avhich he 

 would admit the improbability that the wild Australian understood 

 the theory of the boomerang. But that a musical people, accustomed 

 to pitch their voices to the clear and unmistakable notes of bamboo 

 pipes cut to various lengths, a people whose posterity one generation 

 later appropriated the diatonic scale as their own with the greatest 

 avidity and readiness, that this people should recognize the natural 

 harmonies of sound, when they had chanced upon them, and should 

 imitate them in their songs — the improbability of this the author 

 fails to see. 



The clear and explicit statement of Captain King leaves little to 

 be desired so far as this sort of evidence can go. There are, how- 

 ever, other lines of inquiry that must be developed : 



1. The testimony of the Hawaiians themselves on this matter. 

 This is vague. No one of whom inquiry has been made is able to 

 affirm positively the existence of j^art-singing in the olden times. 

 Most of those with whom the writer has talked are inclined to the 

 view that the ancient cantillation was not in any sense part-singing 

 as now practised. One must not, however, rely too much on such 



