The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1900-02-21

of these cloaks shows the exact skill
of the natives of the earlier days. They |
are made of the yellow feathers of the |
90 bird, which is now extinct; it was |
small bird, and but two yellow feath- |
ers could be obtained from each one.
showing what numbers of the birds
must have been used in the making of
a single cloak; the red feathers which
are interspersed in regular designs,
mostly triangles, are from the Iiwi
| bird; a network of fibres was first pre-
pared, and upon this the feathers were
sewn until the mantle was completed
large enough to drape the royal per-
son from neck to sandalled foot. Some
of these cloaks were used by Kameha-
meha the Great, and are greatly treas
ured by the museum people, for the
reason that no cloaks of a similar kind
can ever be duplicated, the birds being
an extinct species now, The cards at
ttached to each cloak giving its history
bear the legend as the gift of the Ha-
waiian Government, and turned over
to the museum in 1893, the date Of the
overthrow of the monarchy, showing
that they were just previously in the
possession of the royal family. One
cloak was worn by Nahieana, daughter
visit of Lord Byron to the Hawaiian
Islands Cor Sandwich Islands, as they
were then called), in 1924, and since
her death has been used as royal pail.
In some manner or another some
cloaks found their way to London, but
most of them have been bought back
by the Hawaiians, in some cases pay
ing an immense sum of money to gam
possession of them. This exhibit form;
1 one of the most interesting IN the en-
tire building.
War helmets made of the same kline
of feathers are frequently seen in the
: Hawaiian exhibits, but in most case:
f they were the personal headgears o
=, Kamehameha; they are of the Miner
y va type, and upon the head of a gan
Hawaiian such as King Kamehameha
must have been very impressive.
Another interesting feature OF tn
industry of the older natives is tn
great collection of kappa, or clothing
mostly made from the fibres OF Tn
wauke bush, a species of ramie Tn
bark is stripped until the fibre is left
this is then placed in water until
Ibecomes pasty pulp; it is then rinse
: and placed upon specially prepared log
of kou wood, smooth and rounded o
the upper size, snort cluUs, qu1t
heavy, are then used to beat the pull
to the thinness of paper, the mas
spreading out during the process, unit
it is large enough to make a dress
cloak. which will extend from head
foot; then short, thick, square-side
koa clubs, with carved designs upC
them, are dipped into coloring fiui
and placed upon the kappa; by pressur
the design is transferred to the clot
and so on until the entire piece
marked off in different colors and V
rious designs. Most of the kappa di
played in the museum belonged to Nj
Bishop or her cousin, Queen Emm
and was given to the institution by n
Bishop.
Then there are the ancient W
gA spears, some of them twenty or TIVE
ty-five feet in length, made of hal
as ened wood, carved and colored In
r. rious designs; most of those in the n
18th scum are supposed to have been us
re- lin the battles of Kamehameha; tn
ms. are called pololus by the Havana
her and they are, of course, more than
eha century old.
and (To be Continued.)