The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1874-07-04
THE PACIFIC
Commercial AObertiser,
SATURDAY. JULY +.
Honolulu Sixty-Five Years Ago.
IC0nunuedI

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Ava, with which the natives were formerly
wont 70 intoxicate themselves, is now giving way
TO the use of ardent spirits | never saw II used,
except as a medicine 70 prevent corpulency, and is
said to be an ~efectual remedy. 1t causes a white
scurf to strike out upon the skin, somewhat like
the dry scuFTey.
The spirit distilled from the tee-root now usurps
its place, and / fear the consequences will be still
more pernici0us.
That plant grows wild in the upper part Of the
country, and varies from the size Of a carrot to
that Of a mans thigh. IL is put into a pit
amongst heated stones, and covered with plantain
and taro leaves; through these a small hole is
made, and water poured in; after which the whole
is closed up again, and allowed to remain twenty
four hours. When the root has undergone this
process, the juice tastes as sweet as molasses. 1t
lie then taken out, bruised, and put into a canoe
70 ferment; and in five or six days is ready for
distillation.
Their stills are formed out Of iron pots, which
they procure from American ships, and which
they enlarge to any size, by fixing several tier Of
calabashes above them, with their bottoms sawed
of, and the joints well luted. From the upper
most, a wooden tube connects with a copper cone,
round the inside of which is a ring with a pipe TO
carry of the spirit. The cone is fixed into a hole
in the bottom of a tub filed with water, which
serves as a condenser.
By this simble apparatus a spirit is produced i,
called lumi, or rum, and which is by no means
harsh OF unpalatable. Both whites and natives
are unfortunately too much addicted to it. Al
most every one of the chiefs has his own still.
Smoking tobacco is another luxury Of (which the
natives are very fond. The plant grows ia abund-
ance upon the islands, and they use it in a green
state. In their tobacco pipes they display their
usual taste and ingenuity. The tube is made Of
a hollow stem of q kind of vine, fixed to an iron
bowl, which is inserted into hard wood. The
stem is covered with rings of ivory and turtle
shell, placed alternately; the whole kept firmly
tO0pther Mt the ton by an ivory mOuth-Oiece.
The women are subject to many restrictions
from which the men are exempted. They are not
allowed to attend the moral upon taboo days, nor
at these times are they permitted to 60 out in a
canoe. They are never permitted to eat with the
men,, except when at sea, and then not out OF the
same dish. Articles of delicacy, such as pork,
turtle, shark, cocoa-nuts, bananas or plantains,
are also forbidden. Dogs flesh and fish were the
only kinds Of animal food lawful for them to eat
but since the introduction of sheep and goats,
which are not taboOed, the ladies have less reason
to complain.
Notwithstanding the rigour with which these
ceremonies are generally observed, the women
very seldom scruple to break them, when it can
be done in secret; they often swim off to ships at
night during the taboo; and l have known them
eat of the forbidden delicacies of pork and sharks
flesh. What would be the consequence of a dis
coTery l know not; but l once saw the queen
transgressing in this respect, and was strictly en-
Joined to secrecy, as she said it was as much as
her life was worth.
Their ideas of marriage arc very loose either
party may quit the other when they tire or dis
agree. The lower classes i'm general, content
themselves with one wife; but they are by no
means confined to that number, and the chiefs
have frequently several. Tamaahmaah had two,
besides a very handsome girl, the daughter of IA
chief, educating for him. One elderly chief,
Coweeooranee, had no fewer that fifteen. They
are very jealous OF any improper connexion be-
tween natives and their wives; but the case is
widely different with respect. to their visitors,
where connexion of that kind is reckoned the
surest proof of friendship, and they are ALWAYS
anxious to strengthen it by that tie.
The virtue of the kings wives is, however,
most scrupulously guarded; each of them having
a male and a female attendant, whose duty il is
to watch them on all occasions. Should it be
discovered that any of the queens have been un-
faithful, these attendants are punished with death,
unless they have given the first intimation.
Immediately after childbirth, women are
obliged to retire to the woods, where they remain
ten days, and must not be seen by the men. The
queen, who had a daughter whilst l was there,
had a house for the purpose of retirement; but,
in general, they have no other shelter but what
the woods afford. They also retire in the same
manner three days in every month.
a simple garment, called pow, forms the prin-
cipal part of the dress of the women; it consists
of a piece of cloth about one yard broad and three
in length, wrapped several times round the waist,
Will NHC Civ IN - GAA NoObAbS
to the calf of the leg. In cold weather, they
throw another piece Of cloth, like q plaid, over
their shoulders. Round the neck they often wear
wreaths of the leaves of a fragrant plant called
mir, resembling those of the vine.
An ivory ornament, called palava, is very gen.
orally worn, suspended by a hair necklace, neatly
plated into small cords. The hole through which
it is passed is large enough to admit the thumb,
and the plaits are 80 numerous as to fill it en-
tirely.
The hair is combed back in front, and ~plastered
over with a kind of lime made from burnt shells.
This practice bleaches that on the forehead nearly
white.
Their heads are adorned with wreaths of flowers
taken from the stalk, and strung On the stem Oft
small creeping plant. They prefer purple, yellow
and white, and arrange them alternately three or
four inches of each colour. This is twined sew
eral times round the head, and has a very elegant
appearance.
They are at great pains in ornamenting them
selves, for which purpose every female is provided
with a small mirror. All ranks pay the utmost
attention to personal cleanliness.
The dress of the men consists merely of q small
girdle, made of taper, is entirely manufactured by
women, and is made from a bark of a tree, which
is first stepped in water, aadFthsnF beat out with
a piece of wood gronged oE furrawaa lire a crinarS
ing machines The bark is laid npon another
Siece Of wood, grooyed liketbe former. Asthese
tive instfunenfs afeat right angles during the
operation, the marks in the cloth are crossed like
warp and wool.
1t is colored with the juice of berries, laid on
with a piece of turtle-shell, shaped like q knife,
or with a brush, formed by chewing the end of
slip of bamboo. In this manner it is tinged
brown, green, blue, and black; to produce a
yellow, the cloth is dipt in a dye prepared by
boiling the cone of a tree in water. They often
paint a variety of patterns, in which they display
great taste and fancy.
This cloth, from its texture, is when wetted
extremely apt to get damaged, in which state it
tears like moist paper; great care, therefore, is
always taken to keep it dry, or to have 1t care
fully dried when il is wetted. When they swim
off to ships, they hold their clothes out of the
water in one hand, occasionally changing it as it
becomes fatIgued.
The mats with which the floors of the houses
are covered, are also manufactured by the women.
They are made of rushes, or a kind of broad-leaved
rraCc cr1,f ~ fha cfor, onI y r-nrIaA -, a