The uncivilized races of men in all countries of the world; vol. 2 of 2 / Being a comprehensive account of their manners and customs, and of their physical, social, mental, moral and religious characteristics

by J. G. Wood

A sport which was formerly in great vogue in the Sandwich Islands is sledging, the sloping sides of the mountain ranges being pressed into the service of the players. The game is called holua, and is played in the following manner:—

Each player is furnished with a sledge, made of two narrow runners, varying from seven to eighteen feet in length, three inches deep, and rounded off at one end, just like the steel runner of a skate. These are placed side by side, not parallel, but slightly diverging, the space between the runners being about two inches at the tips, and five inches at the other end. They are connected together with cross-pieces of wood, and mostly covered with strong matting. The native name for the sledge is papa. In order to prepare a path on which the sledge can travel, the natives cut a narrow and shallow trench from the top of the mountain to the base, and even carry it for a mile or more on level ground. Before the sport is begun, the trench is laid with grass so as to make the path easier.

When the players have assembled at the top of the mountain, one of them takes the sledge in his hands, holding it in front of him, retreats a few paces, and then runs forward with all his speed, flings himself head foremost into the trench, and glides down it at a terrific pace, resting on his sledge. The rapidity with which a well-managed sledge will dash down the trench, is absolutely fearful, the incline being often at an angle of forty-five degrees. The art of balancing the narrow sledge is a very difficult one, and if a player should chance to lean too much to one side, or should guide his sledge out of the trench, it is scarcely possible for him to escape with his life. The sledge flies to pieces in a moment, the rider is hurled high in the air, and goes rolling down the steep hill, without any means of guiding or stopping himself.

The winner in this game is the player who travels the farthest along the trench, and so fascinating is the sport, that the natives have been known to stake the whole of their property on their skill. They staked their houses, their lands, their fruit trees, and their crops. Husbands staked their wives and children, and wives staked themselves. And after they had lost all that they had, or were likely to have, they staked their very bones, to be used after death in making fish hooks and arrow heads.

The religion of the Sandwich Islanders resembles so closely that of the Polynesians that little need be said about it. What worship they have is extorted by fear, and, in accordance with this principle, they make their idols as ugly as possible. There is a certain character about the idols of the Sandwich Islands which, like the carving of New Zealand, cannot be mistaken.

In order to show how completely this character is impressed upon the workmanship, I introduce upon the following page two specimens, one from the British Museum, and the other from my own collection. The former of these, [No. 1], is made, like the feather helmets, of wicker-work, and is very much larger than any human head and neck. It is covered with the red and yellow feathers which have already been mentioned, and, from the mere price of the material, must have been, in the days in which it was made, a most costly and precious object.

The eyes are made of mother-of-pearl, and in the centre of each is set a black bead by way of pupil. The enormous teeth which beset the open mouth are simply the fangs, or canine teeth, of dogs. The top of the head is furnished with a crest, just like that of the feather helmet. In spite of the rudeness of form, the image possesses a certain force and vigor, which shows that the native who made it had some modicum of artistic power, which in this case expresses itself in outline, just as in the case of the feather cloak it is exemplified in color.

By way of contrast with this idol, we will now look at another specimen ([No. 2], on same page), in which the artist has been obliged to renounce color, and trust entirely to outline; and it cannot be said that he has been unsuccessful. The head and body of this image are cut out of a white and very light wood, and have been covered with bark cloth. This cloth has been stained black, and the native artist has contrived to apply it with such perfection of manipulation that it fits closely to all the inequalities of the carving, and cannot even be seen until specially pointed out.

The head and neck are separate from the trunk, and carved out of a single piece of wood; and even the bold crest and its supporting rays are cut out of the same piece of wood. The teeth of the upper jaw are those of a human being; but those of the lower jaw are simply a row of the palatine teeth of some large fish, and are sixteen in number. They are flanked at each angle of the mouth by a human tooth. After the teeth have been inserted into the wood, the bark cloth has been applied, and is turned in at the roots of the teeth, so as to represent the gums. The eyes are simply oval pieces of mother-of-pearl.