92 



PHYSICAL HISTORY OP MAN. 



wooden calabashes. The natives are unable to form any conjectures 

 as to the origin or object of the practice of tattooing. Formerly, the 

 body was much more covered with these markings than at present, 

 one side often being completely blackened : and to a certain extent, it 

 would have been possible to designate individuals by the copy of the 

 pattern." At present, letters are frequently inscribed, and I remarked 

 in some instances, the name of the individual. 



As at Taheiti, there is a central government. The succession is 

 maternal ; and moreover, the source of political power is vested in a 

 woman. Even at the present time, "the king does no act without 

 first obtaining the consent of this personage." There does not appear 

 to have been a distinct 'chief's language,' as at Samoa; but accord- 

 ing to the missionaries, " the chiefs and priests formerly used some 

 expressions that were not understood by the common people." 



It happened in former times, that " the brother of the king of 

 Hawaii made a friendly visit to Oahu, where he was received with 

 this greeting : ' you have come, it is well ; had it been your brother, 

 my calabash would have been full.' This was a sentence of death ; 

 the allusion being to the practice of preserving relics of great chiefs. 

 The alfair led to the extermination of the chiefs of Oahu ; for although 

 the king of Hawaii died soon after, his declared design was carried 

 into effect by his ally and dependant, the king of Maui." 



The missionaries further stated, that the Hawaiian dances were of 

 "three kinds; the first, licentious; the second, a kind of dirge, or 

 memorial ; and the third, a sort of panegyric addressed to their chiefs, 

 in which epithets were used improper to be applied to a mortal. On 

 the occasion of Cook's arrival, it was commonly supposed that he was 

 a god, who had been absent on a visit to Taheiti; or that he and his 

 companions, were some of their own relations returning from that 

 island." It appears that several of the conflicts with Europeans, 

 arose from the desire of ascertaining, whether the strangers really did 

 partake of the divine nature : all which may be compared with what 

 has already been stated respecting Polynesian demi-gods. " A super- 

 stitious reverence for lizards, existed in former times, at the Hawaiian 

 Islands." 



That a people unacquainted with the art of writing, should 

 possess a literature, was unexpected ; much less, that this should 

 be regarded as deserving of, and, from its extent, as requiring 

 the study of years. In respect to the Hawaiian poetry, there was 



