78 



Ka Han a Kapa. 



counts of travellers or the colle(?tions in museums show us used no form so specialized 

 as that on the Hawaiian group. Of those in this Museum the general dimensions and 

 material are given in the following table : 



Na Kua Kuku. Anvils ox which Kapa is Beaten. 



Museum No. 



710 



711 

 712 

 713 

 715 

 717 

 718 

 719 

 720 

 721 



724 

 726 



727 

 6688 



6689 



6690 



9409 



9693 



Length. 



59-5 i 

 68.5 

 70.7 

 61 



73-7 

 71-5 

 73 

 70 



69-5 



65-5 

 68.5 



66.2 



68.7 



59-2 

 64.2 

 70.4 

 60.5 

 66.5 



75 

 637 



HeiRht. 



4 



7.2 



6 



5-7 

 6.7 



4-7 



4-7 



5 



7-7 



4 



6.7 



3-5 

 4-5 

 3-5 

 6.7 



5-2 

 5-5 

 3-7 

 3-2 

 6.2 



Top 

 Width. 



2.7 



3 

 2.7 



3-7 

 2.7 



4 



4.2 



4.2 



3 

 4.2 



3-2 



3-7 

 5 



2-5 



4-5 



3-5 



4 



3-5 



5 



2.7 



Bottom 

 Width. 



5 



5-7 



5 

 6 



6.2 



Old and in good condition. 

 Heavy dark wood. 



Kolea wood. 



Kawau wood. ( Bvi'onia saudivicoists.) 

 Shown in Fig. 32. 



Kawau wood ? Deverill coll. 

 Dracaena aurea ? 



In use these laaii kui kapa or kiia kapa were supported on two stones. The under 

 side was excavated longitudinally and the ends were bevelled as shown in Fig. 32. 

 Supported thus these logs were quite resonant, and the old Hawaiians had a use for 

 this beyond the titillation of the ear. The blows of the beater on this anvil could be 

 heard at a considerable distance and were not unpleasing, damped as thej' were by the 

 moist fibre between the opposed surfaces. Talking by means of a well understood 

 code of signals (a sort of Morse alphabet), the old ladies beating kapa could dissemi- 

 nate the latest gossip telephonicallv through a long vallev, and I have found the news 

 of my coming had passed through the air long before I came in sight of a part}- of 

 kapa-makers, as I rode up a vallev trail. I was assured that when everyone was 

 making kapa (usually during the forenoon) a message could be, and often was sent 

 around an island b}^ frequent rela3-s. The signals used are now forgotten, but if my 

 memor}' does not fail me, aolc (no) was one blow, ac (^-es) was two. The vocabulary 



