# Hawaii's Story by Hawaii's Queen/Chapter 35

CHAPTER XXXV
THE LAST SLEEP—LYING IN STATE
In the meantime proper preparations were made for the funeral of His Majesty Kalakaua, than whom no king was ever more beloved by his people. The usual ceremonies were carried out as customary for the lying in state of a sovereign, or chief of the royal family. The casket was laid on a cloth of the royal feathers, which was spread over a table in the centre of the Red Chamber in the Iolani Palace, and guards were detailed for duty by day and by night. For this service twenty men are always selected, whose office it is to bear aloft the royal kahilis, which are never lowered during the course of the whole twenty-four hours. The attendants are divided into four watches of three hours each. Those relieving form a line, and take their positions as the stations are vacated by their predecessors, who, on resigning the plumes of state, return to their homes. The watchers are generally selected from men who can claim ancestry from the chiefs; of these there are quite a number still living, of well-known families, although now generally poor in worldly possessions. While in attendance at the side of the royal casket, some sang the death-wail or old-time mèlès or chants belonging solely to the family of the deceased chieftain; and in the mean​time attendants of a younger race composed dirges which were more in accord with the lyrics of the present day. There was also detailed for my brother a guard of honor from the Masonic fraternity; two Masons always remained with the other watchers, and were relieved in a similar manner.
Three weeks constitute the period devoted to the obsequies before the burial, or the “lying in state,” of the remains of a high chief of the Hawaiians. During this delay the cabinet and the privy council carried out the plans made for the details of the royal funeral. The death and burial of a sovereign is not a trivial matter in Hawaii. The people come from all parts of the islands to the funeral of the one whom they have known and loved as the head of the nation.
At last the morning for the final ceremonies arrived, and early in the day the sad exercises began with one of the most interesting and impressive ceremonies I ever witnessed. This was the honor rendered by the secret society of the Hale Naua to their head and founder. Prayers were offered, and they went through the different ceremonies, as is the custom with the Masonic or other similar fraternal organizations. The high priest, Mr. William Auld, officiated, two lay priests assisting during these parts of the ritual. Then entered twelve women with lighted candles in their hands; each one of these, bearing aloft her taper, offered a short prayer, the first words at the head, next at the shoulders, then at the elbows, then the hands, and so on to the thighs, the knees, the ankles, and the feet. There were six of the torch-bearers on each side; and ​after these forms they surrounded the remains, and all repeated in unison prayers appropriate to the burial of the dead. They then withdrew in the most solemn manner. This service, so far from being, as has been alleged, idolatrous, had no more suggestion of paganism than can be found in the Masonic or other worship. An excellent opportunity was given me to contrast the two on this occasion, and each seemed to me to be a most beautiful and impressive method of rendering honor to the memory of a deceased member.
At the hour appointed for the state services, each dignitary, according to his rank, took the place which had been indicated to him in the great Red Room. His Lordship the Bishop of Honolulu, wearing the robes of his office, then appeared, and began the service laid down in the Anglican ritual for the burial of the dead. At the proper time each person moved to the position which had been assigned for him in the procession which was to proceed from Iolani Palace to the royal mausoleum. And just at this point there was a slight hitch; for the diplomatic corps declared that their members should be first after the carriages of the royal family, while the members of the cabinet claimed this position of precedence for themselves. After a brief discussion over the question, it was finally settled that the cabinet might take the first position, the diplomatic corps following, and in this order the procession moved onward. On each side of the bier were the kahili bearers; and these plumes, some large, some small, of various colors, were borne aloft above the heads of the moving throng, who marched with slow step up the Nu​uanu Valley towards the royal mausoleum. On arrival at Kawananakoa, the casket was placed in the centre of the tomb, and the final prayers were offered by the bishop and the clergy assisting his lordship, after which they retired. Then the Masonic brethren, embracing nearly all the members of the lodges in the city, who had marched in a body, filed in with slow and solemn step, and surrounded his bier. Clothed in the insignia of their order, they stood in saddest silence about the casket, on which was placed the regalia lately worn by my brother and their brother, and also a roll on which were the records of his rank as a Mason. Then the brethren marched around the casket, and each laid thereon a little sprig or branch of green pine as a final and personal token of his grief at parting with a brother Mason. When all had done this, they retired, leaving the members of the royal family alone with their grief in the silent recesses of the tomb. Lastly, the guns of the military escort gave the final salute to the departed, three volleys of musketry being successively fired above the grave; and the line of return was formed in proper order, the kahili bearers still waving aloft the plumes, those traditional accompaniments of royalty, and which now became the insignia of office appertaining to the former heir-apparent, who had now become the sovereign of the Hawaiian Islands.
Body of King Kalakaua lying in state