The Hawaiian gazette., 1895-10-11

6AlchSANcly III Tue iSlauucs lucy aioo |
make rude wooden dishes and various
kinds of ornaments for the head, belts
made of shells and beads, hoes and
AIDES out of the bone of the turtles
back. The only musical instrument
is nose flute, which is simply long,
hollow reed, and the performer, blow
ing into one end with his nose, and
using his finger oil the other end, is
able to obtain considerable variety OF
tone.
HOUSES.
The houses are rude and without
floors. In Ruk they usually raise the
caves Of the roof few feet from the
ground, and thus make their homes
light and airy; but in the MOrtlocks
the caves of the roof are set on the
ground, the gables are boarded or
matched up, only very small hole IL
left for iDgress or egress, and the
houses are very dark and dismal
within, besides being close and un-
healthy. The people seem to abhor
privacy. Several families will often
be found in one room, with no parti-
| tions or screens between them, the
place Of each family being marked by
their mats, which are spread on the
ground. Great evils, of course, arise
from this custom, and the social prob
lem is made very difficult Of solution
where people live together so promis-
cuously. The cooking is usually done
in an outbuilding-in Ruk by the
men, but in the Mortlocks by the
women.
DRESS AND CUSTOMS.
The native dress is loin cloth for
the men and a short skirt for the
women. Since the coming of the
missionaries the men and women
have begun to wear long shoulder
garment, which greatly improves
their appearance; and the teachers
and some of the Christians put on our
full dress. The climate being warm,
the people take to clothing reluctant
ly; but there is growing sentiment
among the Christians in favor of
wearing our clothing. Sometimes
they get up very curious combina
tions. For instance, the deacon of the
church at Losap had on an old faded
pair of blue denim pants, long, dirty
shirt which he wore outside his pants,
and over this little white duck coat
a woman, who had been approved to
come into the church at Etal, had no
shoulder garment on, and L told the
teacher that be must tell her that it
would not do for her to stand up with
out a shoulder garment. She was
equal to the emergency, and when 1
called her name she came forward
with heavy coverlet wrapped about
her shoulders. The poor thing nearly
melted before we got through with the
service, but she endured it bravely.
Marriage is recognized, but the tie is
very loose. 1t is very common for one
party to desert the other for trivial
cause and re-marry, and among the
heather there is very little social
restraint. The people are usually
kind, l-disposed, and little given
to committing depredatioDs. In APP
pearance they are not disagreeable;the
face is round, broad across the cheeks,
and tapering toward the top; they are
narrow across the Uranium, although
there are exceptions to this; the brain
is not largely developed. In this
respect they differ strikingly from the
Chinese.
RELIGIOUS BELIEFS.
They believe that there is one great
divine being, whom they call Anulap,
the great spirit who dweifs in the
highest heavens apart from all other
beings, surrounded by his own
majesty and glory. He has little to
do with the affairs of men, and is
mainly concerned in himself and lost
in self-contemplation. With him,
however, there dwell two lesser,
though very great, divinities-one
good and the other bad The good
one is called Semen an Kanor. He is
a great chief and is intimately,
though suboTdinately, associated with |
Anulap. He created the world at the |
command of Anulap, sustains the |
world now, and gives careful atten-
ton to the affairs of the great Anu. |
Then there is Olofat, who is a !
wicked spirit but does not NEEDLE with |
the affairs of men. He troubles Anu |
lap; steals his good, destroys his |
property and torments him generally. |
They do not fear this evil spirit, be- |
cause they cay he does not care any.
thing about the affairs of men. There |
are two heaveDs-the heaven of the |
clouds and the highest heaven where |
the great spirits dwell. In the lower |
heaven, the heaven Of the clouds, the |
spirits, or anu, dwell. These anu, |
either created spirits or the souls OF |
men, which have become anu after /
death, dwell ia tie low heaven, be-
cause they want TO he near the earth, |
and they are continually occupied
with the affairs o men. individuals, |
families and tribes select their own
anu, pay them divine honOrs and /
supplicate them for f4vors. Every
island and every division of land, as
also every occupation, has its special
anu, which is b tn worshiped and
feared. The people sacrifice to these
divinities by throwing offerings Into
the air; and, while they dc Not seem
to think that these spirits are good,
they believe that evil viii, be varied
off by prOpitiating them. These are
the popular objects of worship. All
the people believe in them and many
fear them.
A peculiar superstition is that of
rainbow worship by sailors and all
who go about in boats The sea is the
home of the rainbow and it is under
its especial control; therefore when
they go to sea, even though they may
worship God on the land, they must
pay hoDors to his divinity-the rain.