Perfumes for Kapa. 171 



fusiform, indehiscent, filled with a pithy substance, within which are the seeds. Of early 

 introduction this plant has spread everywhere and become a troublesome weed. The 

 flower heads, the flor aroma of the Spaniards, are used by Buropean perfumers as 

 well as by the old Hawaiians to impart their lasting and not unpleasant odor to 

 various articles; with the latter, especiall}- to sheets of kapa. (Fig. loi.) 



Calophyllum Linn. Gen. n. 658. — Flores polygami. Sepala cum petalis 

 4-12, 2-3-seriatim imbricata. Stamina co, libera v. vix basi connata; filamenta brevi- 

 ter filiformia; antherse erectae, ovatse v. oblongse, 2-loculares, longitudiualiter dehis- 

 centes. Ovarium i-loculare; stylus longiusculus, stigmatepeltato; ovulum i, erectum. 

 Drupa indehiscens, putamiue crustaceo. Semen erectum, ovoideum v. globosum, 

 testa nunc tenui nunc fungoso-incrassata. — Arbores. Folia coriacea, nitida, creber- 

 rime striato-penninervia. Paniculse axillares v. terminales cymoso-trichotomse v. 

 racemiformes et minus stricte centrifugae. (H. & B.) 



C. Inophyllum L. — DC. Prod. I., 562. — A wide-spreading tree 40-60 ft. high, 

 glabrous throughout. Leaves coriaceous, shining, broadly oblong or obovate, 8X4 in., 

 rounded or emarginate, on petioles of nearly i inch. Racemes axillar3', 2-7 in. long, 

 the pedicels i-ij^ in. with short, soon deciduous bracts at the base. Sepals 4, 

 rounded, 4-5 lines long. Petals 4, rarel}' 6-8, white, oblong, 7-8 lines. Style 2-3 

 lines. Fruit globose, i in. or more thick. Flowers ver}' fragrant. This useful tree 

 furnished fine timber, excellent oil, and a grateful perfume. (Fig. 102.) 



While I have perforce omitted many of the dyestuffs used in other parts of the 

 kapa-making world, enough have been enumerated to show that the Hawaiians were 

 well supplied with the factors of several important colors, as yellow, red, brown, blue, 

 mainly indeed from vegetables, although the ochres pla^'cd no unimportant part. In 

 what manner then were they used? The principal Hawaiian word meaning to color 

 is Jiooluu^ meaning to dive into the water, to plunge into a liquid, hence to dj-e; and 

 this was the usual method of imparting color to pieces of kapa, but equally it was 

 dyeing when the liquid imparting the color was sopped into the fibres, which was a 

 common method used when the dye was in small quantity, or the piece of kapa to be 

 colored small. We are told that some of the Solomon Islanders spit the dye from the 

 mouth and rub it into the outlined figure with the finger. The application of color 

 by the ohekapala, or by the ruling pen, or any natural object, as a fern leaf, 

 was not dyeing but printing; the color was superficial and did not permeate all the 

 fibres of the kapa. We have seen, however, that oil-mixed colors as applied by the 



