EMKUsu.N] UNWRITTEN LITEBATUEE OF HAWAII 179 



every day of his life and which are to be regarded as parts of that 

 universal shorthand vocabulary of unvocalized speech that is used 

 the world over from Naples to Honolulu, rather than stage-conven- 

 tions of the halau. It will suffice to mention one motion or gesture 

 of this sort which the author has seen used with dramatic effect. An 

 old maji was describing the action of Hiiaka (the little sister of l*ele) 

 while clearing a passage for herself and her female companion with 

 a great slaughter of the reptilian demon-horde of mo'O that came 

 out in swarms to oppose the progress of the goddess through their 

 territory while she was on her way to fetch Prince Lohiau. The 

 goddess, a delicate piece of humanity in her real self, made short 

 work of the little devils who covered the earth and tilled the air. 

 Seizing one after another, she bit its life out, or swallowed it as if it 

 had been a shrimp. The old maji re})resented the action most vividly : 

 pressing his thumb, forehnger, and middle finger into a cone, he 

 brought them quickly to his mouth, while he snapped his jaws to- 

 gether like a dog seizing a morsel, an action that pictured the story 

 better than any words. 



It might seem at first blush that facial expression, important as it 

 isj owing to its short range of effectiveness, should hardly be put in 

 the same category with what may be called the major stage-gestures 

 that were in vogue in the halau. But such a judgment would cer- 

 tainly be mistaken. The Cxreek use of masks on the stage for their 

 " carrying power " testified to their valuation of the countenance as 

 a semaphore of emotion ; at the same time their resort to this artifice 

 was an implicit recognition of the desirability of bringing the win- 

 dow of the soul nearer to the audience. The Hawaiians, though they 

 made no use of masks in the halau, valued facial expression no less 

 than the Greeks. The means for the study of this division of the 

 subject, from the nature of the case, is somewhat restricted and the 

 pursuit of illustrations makes it necessary to go outside of the halau. 



The Hawaiian language was one of hospitality and invitation. The 

 expression mai, or honno mai^ this way, or come in, was the most 

 connnon of salutations. The Hawaiian sat down to meat before an 

 open door; he ate his food in the sight of all men, and it was only 

 one who dared being denounced as a churl who would fail to invite 

 with word ajid gesture the passer-by to come in and share with him. 

 This gesture might be a sweeping, downward, or sidewise motion of 

 the hand in which the palm faced and drew toward the speaker. 

 This seems to have been the usual form when the two parties were 

 near to each other; if they were separated by any considerable dis- 

 tance, the fingers would perhaps more likely be turned upward, thus 

 making the signal more distinctly visible and at the same time more 

 emphatic. 



