The weekly messenger. [volume] (St. Martinsville [i.e. St. Martinville] La.) 1886-1948, 1888-09-29
\ FEATHER CLOAK.
The Gorgeous Royal Mantle of
the Sandwich Islands.
Its Manufacture Took a Century
and Cost a Million.

Tho Washington Star describes the
royal feather cloak from the Sand wich
Islands that is spread out n-shaped in
q case in the National museum. This
cloak is computed to have cost in labor
81. 600, 900. The native name for it is
mama In the days when . Hawaiian
beau or belle wanted little clothing, but
wanted that gorgeously colored, this
cloak or mantle would have been con.
sidered of more value, e'theticalIy and
intrinsically, than shipload Of Worth
costumes, and its happy possessor might
truly be said to be in high feather.
Since the natives have adopted
wide trousers, lawn-tennis shirts
and four-in-hand ties, its value
lies chiefly in the traditions that sur
round it. The mantle, which is semi
circular, is four feet long or deep, and
it is II 1-2 feet wide at the bottom and
90 inches at the top where it goes
around the neck. The entire outer sur
face is made of feathers of fine texture,
giving the whole the appearance OF
plush The prevailing colors are red
and yellow or orange. The body is
decorated with largo figures, crescent
shaped. Of either rcd or yellow feathers.
The upper and lateral borders are
corded and decorated with alternate
tufts Of red. black and yellow feathers.
A legend on a label states that this
feather cloak formerly belonged to
Kehuarkalani, one of the highest chiefs
of the Sandwich Islands. After the
abolition of idolatry in 1919 that chief
rebelled against the reigning King aud
attempted to re-establish the ancient re-
igions. A sanguinary battle was fought
and Kehuarkalani was slain, and this
cloak, which he then had on, fell into
the hands of the conquerors, and thus
became the property of King Kane
hameha, by whom it was presented to
Capt. J. ii. Aullck, L. S. N, in 1871.
The cloak is now the property of Capt.
Aulick's grandson, Richmond Oyston
Aulick, who deposited it in the Ma
tional Museum. The great value of the
cloak is due to the long time required
to secure the feathers that compose it
and to manufacture the cloak.
The found alton is q net work of
olona, or native hemp and to it are at
tached by fine thread Of the same ma
terial the feathers of birds found only
in the Ha waiian Island, and very rare
there. Recent writers have declared
that the bird is now extinct. The
feathers are woven in so as to lap each
other and lie fiat, forming a smooth
plush-like surface. The inner surface is
without lining and shows the olona net
work and the quill-ends of
the feathers The cord of the
upper margin is prolonged so as to serve
as a fastening at the throat. The yellow
feathers are obtained from the 90 or
Uho, and, as stated, are of great value,
as the bird is rare, very shy and diff.
cult to capture. and it has but a very
small tuft of these feathers upon each
shoulder. The black feathers are from
the head and back of the same bird
its general plumagc being a glossy
black. The % is caught alive by
means Of bird-lime; the yellow feathers
are then plucked and the bird released.
The red feathers are from the body and
neck Of the Drepanis Coccinea the most
abundant bird of the Sandwich Islands.
The Hawaiian Spectator, anewspaper
published in 1889, refers to this, or a
similar mantle. as follows: "Kaw.
keauli has the mans or feather war.
cloak OF his father, Te-Meha- Meha 1t
was not completed until his reign, hav-
ing occupied eight preceding ones in
its fabrication. A piece of nankeen,
valued at 81. so. was formerly the price
of five of the yellow feathers. BY this
estimate, the value of the cloak would
equal that o: the purest diamonds in
several of the European regalia, and,
Including the price Of the feathers, not
less than a million dollars worth of
labor was expended upon it at the pres
emf rate of computing wages"
Another authority states that two vel
low feathers only are obtained from each
90, and these are found under the wings