HAWAIIAN GROUP. 37 



square tapas were those used for their sleeping and screens, the long 

 and narrow ones for female dresses. 



The size of the hog, dog, &c, varied according to the size of the 

 ili. The taxes were paid into the hands of the immediate superior, and 

 so on until they reached the king, before whom they were exhibited in 

 a large heap. In this mode of transmission, opportunities for holding 

 back a large amount were afforded. 



Besides this tax for the maintenance of the king, there were customs 

 and rules which made it necessary to make presents to the king, espe- 

 cially when he was travelling, at which times himself and retinue were 

 to be supported by presents from the people. This might be con- 

 sidered a forced tax, for, if sufficient supplies were not furnished, the 

 inhabitants suffered every kind of extortion from the king's attendants ; 

 and one may have some idea of the extent of these requisitions, when 

 informed that the king's party sometimes consisted of upwards of a 

 thousand persons. Another direct tax was imposed on the work of 

 the people, the king having a right to call out all classes of the com- 

 munity to perform any kind of labour he might desire ; nor was there 

 any limit as to the amount of time, or any rules for fixing it. 



The manner in which the notice of a call for labour was made, was 

 for the king to give his orders to a chief of rank, who issued his direc- 

 tions to other chiefs, and so on until it reached the lowest tenant. If 

 the work was of any magnitude, such as building temples, or labour in 

 honour of the dead, then the king issued his order to all the chiefs of 

 rank, and it thence extended to the people. In such cases the highest 

 persons in the nation, both male and female, were to be seen carrying 

 stones on their shoulders, and engaged in other kinds of labour. 



After they had intercourse with foreigners, the mode of taxation 

 became changed, and its amount was somewhat increased. 



In the case of furnishing sandalwood, the burden became at last 

 quite irksome and severe. It is calculated that the traffic in this 

 article lasted about thirty years, and yielded in that time upwards of 

 one million of dollars. It is considered fortunate that the supply has 

 become exhausted, as the collection of this wood was the most onerous 

 of all the ways in which the chiefs exacted taxes from the people. 

 The trade in sandalwood was likewise carried on in shares, and there- 

 fore, that gathered by taxation was but a moiety of that which has 

 been derived from these islands. 



There was yet another mode of taxation practised until a year or 

 two before our visit ; this was by a duty on so much of the produce 

 of the islands as was carried to market. At Honolulu this amounted 



D 



