“see man from nature rising slow to art.”—pope.
mauna kea, the highest mountain of hawaii, occupies the northern portion of the island. in some places it descends in grassy slopes, sufficiently gentle to form plains, dotted here and there with the many armed pandanus and the thickly leaved kukui trees. from the resinous nuts of the latter the natives obtained their torches, while its rich foliage and grand proportions made it equally valuable for timber or shade.
at the distance of some twenty miles from the bay where the caravel was wrecked, there was a level and extensive plain fringed with forests of the above named trees, and backed by the snow-topped mountains. the front afforded a wide-spread view of the ocean, the breezes from which, added to an elevation of several thousand feet, gave it a climate much cooler and more bracing than that of the coast. on this account, and from its natural beauties, it had from time immemorial been used by the hawaiians as a spot on which to celebrate public games or sacred festivals. its verdant and carefully irrigated soil afforded food for the numerous priests who belonged to the different[53] “heiaus” or temples to be seen within its limits. these were built of basaltic stones, some of which were of great size, and nicely adjusted together without cement, according to their natural fractures. within the walls, which were massive and high, were the houses of the priests and the shrines where were deposited the most sacred images. each chief of importance had his family temple, around which had grown up villages, to accommodate himself and retainers in their periodical visits to this upland region.
for a month previous to the wreck, many thousands of the islanders had been gathered under their chiefs to engage in their annual athletic games. their principal object was, however, to celebrate the festival of lono. now lono was one of those mythic beings so common in america and polynesia, who in ages long gone by, after having done many notable things for the benefit of their fellow men, disappear like moses in some inexplicable manner, leaving behind them a memory always green, and a sort of implied promise to return with greater benefits in store. indeed, heroes of this character appear amid much traditionary fog, in the youth of almost all nations. in this instance, lono had killed his wife in a fit of jealousy, instigated by a hawaiian iago out of malice equal to the venetian’s. love’s reaction and contrition drove him frantic.[54] after founding games in honor of his victim, he put out to sea in an oddly shaped canoe,—so the tradition runs,—promising to return some future day with many good things to enhance his welcome. whether it was from love to him, or from faith in the expected increase of comforts and riches, that they so venerated his memory, i am at this day unable to say, but certain it is that a more popular god did not exist in hawaii. his festival was therefore celebrated with peculiar unction.
on this occasion it had been honored with unusual solemnity, on account of the presence of the most powerful and best beloved chief of this island, whose territory embraced the fertile bay where the caravel went ashore.
it was the custom on the most sacred festivals to enforce perfect silence from man and beast during certain rites. while the festival lasted, peace was universal, property respected, and under the solemn influence of the magic “tabu,” human law and police seemed unnecessary; for there was implied in this simple word, if but its spirit were infringed, all the awful judgments, both temporal and supernatural, that the imagination could conceive, and even more, for the very uncertainty of the fate which was to attend its violation, added ten-fold force to its terrors. the simple symbol, therefore, which denoted the application of the tabu to any object, carried with it a power such as no civilized code ever exercised, and which the tortures of the inquisition failed to establish.
the word tabu, as applied to religious matters,[55] was a ritual in itself. hence when the high-priest set apart a certain time as tabu to lono, the entire population knew what ceremonies were to be performed, and what was expected of each of them. during the present holidays it had been specially enjoined that the valley in which kiana, a descendant of lono and the supreme chief of more than half of hawaii, resided, should be tabu from man and all domestic animals. for one month, profound silence was to rest upon it. consequently, the inhabitants left for the uplands, taking with them every animal and fowl which they owned. it was owing to this tabu that alvirez, when he explored the valley, met with such complete stillness amid all the outward signs of active life.
the very day, therefore, that alvirez had so freely taken possession of the chief’s own quarters, kiana with his people were on their march homeward. this chief, as is the aristocracy in general of hawaii, was of commanding stature, some six feet six inches in height, finely proportioned, with round elastic limbs, not over muscular or too sinewy, like the north american indian, but full, with a soft smooth skin and a bright olive complexion, which was not so dark, but that the blood at times deepened the color thereon. his face was strikingly handsome, being, like his body, of that happy medium between womanly softness and the more rugged development of manly strength, which indicates a well harmonized physical structure. in repose, one feared to see him move, lest the beauty of outline would be destroyed; but when in action, with his muscles quivering[56] with a hidden fire, his dark eyes flashing light, the full nostril of his race and rich sensual lip expanded with excitement, there was about him much that recalled the apollo, particularly in the light step and eager haughty expression. his strength was prodigious. he had been known in battle, having broken his javelin, to seize an enemy by the leg and neck, and break his spine by a blow across his knees. fierce he undoubtedly was to his foes, but there were in all his actions a pervading manliness and generosity, joined to a winning demeanor, which stamped him as one of nature’s gentlemen. no rival of his tribe disputed his authority, because all felt safer and better under his rule. by moral influence, rather than by force, all the other chiefs of this portion of hawaii looked to him as their leader and umpire; so that without any of the dubious treaties and forms of a confederated government, they had all the advantages of one, while each remained free within his own territorial confines.
by nature humane, kiana had infused into their general policy and domestic life a more liberal spirit towards inferiors, and a less servile feeling towards the priesthood. he held the latter, in general, in small esteem, perceiving how much they were disposed to corrupt the simplest power of nature into a hideous mythology, based upon fear and superstition, to the intent to enrich themselves at the expense of the people. as he also inherited the office of high-priest, his influence was the more effective, inasmuch as he set the example of neglecting all the requirements of their pagan ritual which[57] were cruel or oppressive, while the games and festivals, which tended to develop their physical powers and give them amusements, or to lighten their general labors, were sedulously cared for. his people were therefore happy and prosperous, and, at the date of this tale, exhibited an agreeable picture of a race blessed with a salubrious climate, a soil ample for all their simple wants, living almost patriarchally under a beloved chief, whose more intelligent mind, by example rather than argument, had influenced them to a form of idolatry which in its offerings of only fruits of the earth, to its symbolized phenomena or the images of departed men once venerated for their moral worth, in some degree connected their souls through refining influences with the great maker.
in closing the festival, the procession was formed with great state and solemnity, preparatory to its final departure from the sacred plain. first came a thousand men in regular files, armed with swords of sharks’ teeth and slings. each had a laurel wreath on his head, and a tapa mantle of bright red thrown loosely over his shoulders. this corps led the way to the noise of rude drums and other barbarous music. behind them marched a more numerous body in detached companies, armed with javelins and spears, and a species of wooden mace, which, dexterously used, becomes a formidable weapon. in addition, each man carried a dagger of the same material, from sixteen inches to two feet long. all wore helmets of wicker work, shaped like the grecian casque and covered with[58] various colored feathers. these helmets in connection with their bright war cloaks, gave to the whole array a classical look not unworthy of the heroic days of greece. the appearance of the men was martial, and their step firm and regular.
in the centre of their array there was a selected corps of one hundred young chiefs, armed with still better weapons. their costume was also much richer than that of the common men. they wore scarlet feather cloaks and helmets. conspicuous amid them, borne upon a litter hung about with crimson drapery, sat kiana. his helmet was surmounted by a graceful crest from which lightly floated a plume taken from the long and beautiful feathers of the tropic bird. both the helmet and his war cloak were made of brilliant yellow feathers, so small and delicate as to appear like scales of gold. these two articles were the richest treasures in the regalia of hawaii. the birds from which the feathers are obtained,—one only from under each wing,—are found solely in the most inaccessible parts of the mountains and ensnared with great difficulty. nearly one hundred and fifty years, or nine generations of kiana’s ancestors had been occupied in collecting a sufficient number to make this truly regal helmet and cloak. this was the first occasion he had had to display them. he bore himself in consequence even more royally than ever before; for savage though he was, the pride of ancestry and the trappings of power warmed his blood as fully as if he had been a civilized ruler.
immediately behind him was borne a colossal[59] image of lono. it was carved with greater skill than common, and surrounded by a company of white-robed priests, chanting the “mele” or hymn, which had been composed upon his disappearance. at particular parts the whole people joined with a melancholy refrain, that gave a living interest to the story, and showed how forcible was the hold it had upon their imaginations. on either side of kiana, were twelve men of immense size and strength, naked to their waist-cloths, two by two, bearing the “kahilis,” as were called the insignia of his rank. these were formed of scarlet feathers, thickly set, in the shape of a plume, of eighteen inches diameter, about ten feet high, and tipped to the depth of a foot with yellow feathers. with the handles, which were encircled with alternate rings of ivory or tortoise-shell, their entire height was twenty feet. as they towered and waved above the multitude, they conveyed an idea of state and grandeur inferior to nothing of the kind that has ever graced the ceremonies of the white man.
the women of his household followed close to the chief. their aristocratic birth and breeding were manifest in their corpulency and haughty bearing. to exaggerate their size,—which was partly a criterion of noble blood—they had swelled their waists with voluminous folds of gaudy cloths, under the pressure of which, added to their own bulk, they waddled rather than walked. helped by young and active attendants, their pace was, however, equal to the slow progress of the procession.[60] a numerous retinue of their own sex, bearing their tokens of rank, fans, fly-brushes, spittoons, sunscreens, and lighter articles of clothing, waited upon them. some of these young women were gracefully formed, fair and voluptuous, with pleasant features, without any excess of flesh. in contrast with their mistresses, they might have been considered as beauties, as, indeed, they were the belles of hawaii. small, soft hands, delicate and tapering fingers, satin-like in their touch and gentle and pleasant to the shake, were common among all.
the women in general were a laughing, merry[61] set, prone to affection, finery, and sensuous enjoyment. but the lower orders were workers in the fullest sense, the men being their task-masters, treating them as an inferior caste by imposing upon their sex arbitrary distinctions in their food, domestic privileges, duties, and even religious rites, so that their social condition was wantonly degraded. yet females were admitted to power and often held the highest rank.
besides this state there was a vast throng of attendants carrying burdens, or driving before them their domestic animals. the families of the soldiery followed the procession, in irregular masses, as it defiled from the plain into the valleys that led towards the coast. in advancing, its numbers gradually lessened by the departure of warriors, and minor chiefs with their retainers, for their respective destinations. with the exception of those immediately about kiana, all order of march soon ceased, and the crowd spread themselves over hill and valley shouting and jeering, in their good-natured hurry to reach their homes. the fowls cackled, the dogs barked. the swine with ominous grunts charged in all directions, upsetting impartially owners and neighbors, amid the laughter and cheers of the lookers on. children grew doubly mischievous in the turmoil, running hither and thither, with frantic cries, pushing and crowding each other over rocks into the rapid streams, in which they were as much at home as the fishes. they tripped up their heavily laden parents in their gambols about their footsteps, dodging the quick blow in return[62] with the slipperiness of eels, or repaying with equally noisy coin the threats of future floggings, which they well knew would be forgotten over the first meal. the more sedate vented their enthusiasm in deep toned songs, which, as they swelled into full chorus, filled the air with a wild music, in keeping with the scene. in forest and grove the birds listened and replied in musical notes that thrilled sweetly on the ear amid the medley of sounds. nature was awake to the scene. from every tree and rock, out of each dell and off each hill-top, there came voices to mingle in the general jubilee. the mountain breezes poured their anthems in joyous harmony through branch and leaf. buds and blossoms bowing before balmy airs, shook out their fragrance. cascades sparkled and leaped, foamed and roared in the bright sun. rivulets, looking in the distance like silver threads, stole with soothing murmurs along the plains, while the startled wild fowl with defiant note fled deeper into the forest or skulked closer in the thicket as the living current swept by.
while all was thus life and motion in the uplands, the solitude of the sea coast remained as described in the last chapter. alvirez and his party had disposed themselves for the night as best suited their individual convenience. there was no lack of accommodation or retirement. each might have selected a village to himself, but they all remained within the enclosure where we left them. juan and beatriz occupied the principal house. olmedo chose one near, and the good[63] man was soon dreaming of his early castilian cell. tolta watched long and late, and then stretched himself, mastiff-like, upon a mat at the threshold of the house in which beatriz slept. the three seamen, after sundry explorations, which seemed to give them small satisfaction, cursed their luck in being wrecked on a land which had not even copper, much less gold or silver, in short, anything whatever which came up to their ideas of spoil, and closing their eyes, muttered their discontent even in their sleep.
