The dress of the men generally consists only of a piece of thick cloth called the maro, about ten or twelve inches broad, which they pass between the legs, and tie round the waist. This is the common dress of all ranks of people. Their mats, some of which are beautifully manufactured, are of various sizes, but mostly about five feet long and four broad. These they throw over their shoulders, and bring forward before; but they are seldom used, except in time of war, for which purpose they seem better adapted than for ordinary use, being of a thick and cumbersome texture, and capable of breaking the blow of a stone, or any blunt weapon. Their feet are generally bare, except when they have occasion to travel over the burnt stones, when they secure them with a sort of sandal, made of cords, twisted from the fibres of the cocoa-nut. Such is the ordinary dress of these islanders; but they have another, appropriated to their chiefs, and used on ceremonious occasions, consisting of a feathered cloak and helmet, which, in point of beauty and magnificence, is perhaps nearly equal to that of any nation in the world. As this dress has been already described with great accuracy and minuteness, I have only to add, that these cloaks are made of different lengths, in proportion to the rank of the wearer, some of them reaching no lower than the middle, others trailing on the ground. The inferior chiefs have also a short cloak, resembling the former, made of the long tail-feathers of the cock, the tropic and man-of-war birds, with a broad border of the small red and yellow feathers, and a collar of the same. Others again are made of feathers entirely white, with variegated borders. The helmet has a strong lining of wicker-work, capable of breaking the blow of any warlike instrument, and seems evidently designed for that purpose.
These feathered dresses seemed to be exceedingly scarce, appropriated to persons of the highest rank, and worn by the men only. During the whole time we lay in Karakakooa Bay, we never saw them used but on three occasions; in the curious ceremony of Terreeoboo's first visit to the ships; by some chiefs, who were seen among the crowd on shore when Captain Cook was killed, and afterward when Eappo brought his bones to us.
The exact resemblance between this habit, and the cloak and helmet formerly worn by the Spaniards, was too striking not to excite our curiosity to enquire, whether there were any probable grounds for supposing it to have been borrowed from them. After exerting every means in our power of obtaining information on this subject, we found that they had no immediate knowledge of any other nation whatever, nor any tradition remaining among them of these islands having been ever visited before by such ships as ours. But, notwithstanding the result of these enquiries, the uncommon form of this habit appears to me a sufficient proof of its European origin, especially when added to another circumstance, that it is a singular deviation from the general resemblance in dress, which prevails amongst all the branches of this tribe, dispersed through the South Sea. We were driven indeed, by this conclusion, to a supposition of the shipwreck of some Buccaneer, or Spanish ship, in the neighbourhood of these islands. But when it is recollected, that the course of the Spanish trade from Acapulco to the Manillas is but a few degrees to the southward of the Sandwich Islands in their passage out, and to the northward on their return, this supposition will not appear in the least improbable.[9]
[9] Mr Playfair in his Geography, vol. vi. p. 839, asserts, that the Sandwich islands were first discovered by Gaetano, a Spanish navigator, in 1542; but he does not assign his authority, or give any clue for which the position may be verified. The fact is certainly probable, as Captain King seems to admit; and supposing it so, we can easily conceive that the distance of time from the period of the discovery above stated, would be quite sufficient to account for the natives having no tradition of such a visit. Even a much shorter period would be adequate for the total loss of almost any event in the current history of a people, who had no other method of preserving it than the impression it made on the senses, and to whom there was no excitement to impress it on the memories of succeeding generations, arising from the importance of the circumstances connected with it. The possession of iron, indeed, supposing it traced to this source, may be alleged too valuable, to have admitted such total forgetfulness of the event which occasioned it. But this difficulty readily resolves into a general remark, that even in more fortunate situations, the authors and occasions of many discoveries and inventions are soon lost sight of, in the more interesting experience of the utility that commends them. Men, in fact, are always much more anxious to avail themselves of the advantages which genius or accident has presented to their notice, than careful to testify gratitude by ascertaining and perpetuating the original sources to which they have been indebted. A case, not indeed quite parallel, instantly occurs to recollection. How few persons are there in this island, who have the smallest conception, to whom it is they are indebted for the introduction of that valuable vegetable the potatoe? The incident, no doubt, is recorded in the history of our country. But is there one in a thousand to whom the article is so familiar, that knows whence it came; or is it conceivable, that, without such a record, any individual of the present generation would have doubted for a moment that it was indigenous to Britain? We might multiply such examples almost without end. But the reader may like better to amuse himself with an enquiry into the extent of common ignorance and indifference.--E.
The common dress of the women bears a close resemblance to that of the men. They wrap round the waist a piece of cloth, that reaches half way down the thighs; and sometimes in the cool of the evening they appeared with loose pieces of fine cloth, thrown over their shoulders, like the women of Otaheite. The pau is another dress very frequently worn by the younger part of the sex. It is made of the thinnest and finest sort of cloth, wrapt several times round the waist, and descending to the leg, so as to have exactly the appearance of a full short petticoat. The hair is cut short behind, and turned up before, as is the fashion among the Otaheiteans and New Zealanders; all of whom differ, in this respect, from the women of the Friendly Islands, who wear their hair long. We saw, indeed, one woman in Karakakooa Bay, Whose hair was arranged in a very singular manner; it was turned up behind, and brought over the forehead, and then doubled back, so as to form a sort of a shade to the face, like a small bonnet.
Their necklaces are made of shells, or of a hard shining red berry. Besides which, they wear wreaths of dried flowers of the Indian mallow; and another beautiful ornament called eraie, which is generally put about the neck, but is sometimes tied like a garland round the hair, and sometimes worn in both these ways at once. It is a ruff, of the thickness of a finger, made in a curious manner, of exceedingly small feathers, woven so close together as to form a surface as smooth as that of the richest velvet. The ground was generally of a red colour, with alternate circles of green, yellow, and black. Their bracelets, which were also of great variety, and very peculiar kinds, have been already described.
At Atooi, some of the women wore little figures of the turtle, neatly formed of wood or ivory, tied on their fingers in the manner we wear rings. Why this animal is thus particularly distinguished, I leave to the conjectures of the curious. There is also an ornament, made of shells, fastened in rows on a ground of strong netting, so as to strike each other when in motion; which both men and women, when they dance, tie either round the arm or the ankle, or below the knee. Instead of shells, they sometimes make use of dog's teeth, and a hard red berry, resembling that of the holly.
There remains to be mentioned another ornament (if such it may be called), which is a kind of mask, made of a large gourd, with holes cut in it for the eyes and nose. The top was stuck full of small green twigs, which, at a distance, had the appearance of an elegant waving plume; and from the lower part hung narrow stripes of cloth, resembling a beard. We never saw these masks worn but twice, and both times by a number of people together in a canoe, who came to the side of the ship, laughing and drolling, with an air of masquerading. Whether they may not likewise be used as a defence for the head against stones, for which, they seem best designed; or in some of their public games; or be merely intended for the purposes of mummery, we could never inform ourselves.
It has already been remarked, in a few instances, that the natives of the Sandwich Islands approach nearer to the New Zealanders in their manners and customs, than to either of their less distant neighbours of the Society or Friendly Islands. This is in nothing more observable than in their method of living together in small towns or villages, containing from about one hundred to two hundred houses, built pretty close together, without any order, and having a winding path leading through them. They are generally flanked, toward the sea, with loose detached walls, which, probably, are meant both for the purposes of shelter and defence. The figure of their houses has been already described. They are of different sizes, from eighteen feet by twelve, to forty-five by twenty-four. There are some of a larger kind, being fifty feet long and thirty broad, and quite open at one end. These, they told us, were designed for travellers or strangers, who were only making a short stay.
In addition to the furniture of their houses, which has been accurately described by Captain Cook, I have only to add, that at one end are mats on which they sleep, with wooden pillows, or sleeping stools, exactly like those of the Chinese. Some of the better sort of houses have a courtyard before them, neatly railed in, with smaller houses built round it, for their servants. In this area they generally eat, and sit during the day- time. In the sides of the hills, and among the steep rocks, we also observed several holes or caves, which appeared to be inhabited; but as the entrance was defended with wicker-work, and we also found, in the only one that was visited, a stone-fence running across it within, we imagine they are principally designed for places of retreat, in case of an attack from an enemy.