The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1900-10-04

hsx of Wymea- There are no harbors on
the northeast side of the island, and only
two large villages. AS 1 before observed,
the women are not allowed to enter the
mems eating-houses, or even to appear
on the inside of the fence. on pain OF
death Neither men nor women are al
lowed to eat in the sleeping-houseS; the
women are prohibited from eating pork.
cccoanuts, bananas, plantains, and many
other things, which are used as offering
to the gods, and it Is considered a pro-
fanation If a woman should touch any
thing so offered. They are not even al
lowed to touch anything that goes inside
of the mems eating-house; they have their
own vessels to eat and drink out OF; ana
they must have a separate fire, at Wnlch
to cook their victuals; the mems fire be-
ing called yahee taboo tahi kapu), or pro-
hibited fire, from which they cannot even
light their pipes, though both young and
old are very fond of smoking tobacco.
TIL ere are several morals, or cnurcnes IN
the village, and at new moon the priests,
chiefs and hikanees (aikane) enter them
with offerings of hogs, plantains and CO.
coanuts. which they set before the wood
en- images. The place is fenced in. ana
have pieces of white flags flying on the
fences. They remain in the moral tnree
nights and two days at new moon, pe-
ginning at sunset and ending at sunrise,
fcasting on roast hogs and praying all the
time. On the first quarter, they remain
inside two nights and one day; fun moon
and last quarter, the same time. Wnile
the chiefs and priests are in the moral,
the women are prohibited from going on
the salt water either in canoes or boats,
or even from touching it; neither are
they permitted to come within forty yards
of the moral. The common people know
nothing more about their religion than
a stranger who never saw the Islands.
They pay the greatest respect TO their
chiefs and priests, and are kept in super
stitlous ignorance. Their muckahitee. or
annual festival, commences in November;
1t begins by three of the most expert war
riors throwing each spear at Tamea-
meah, who is obliged to stand without
any thing in his hands to fend them OF,
the first spear he catches, and with 1t
mex the other spears fly several yards
above his head He then breaks a cocoa
nut; the sea is tabooed, and none of the
ma tiyes are allowed to go near 1T. The
King enters the church, where he re-
mains for some days, and the people dec
crate their houses with green branches
and new mats. They dress in their best
gai ments, and the head god is taken from
the principal moral and sent round the
island carried by the priests. Any per-
sons coming between the god and the sea
are Immediately stripped of their gar
ments, and the same is done If they do
not strip as the god is passing, and lie
dancing, boxing, feasting and all kinds of
amusement. When the god arrives from
the place whence he first started, the Ia
boo is taken off. They are generally
about thirty days going round, calling at
all the villages and plantations, to remind
the people that it is time to bring in their
taxes, which they do twice year. This
feast ended while / was here on the oath
of December. / have frequently question
ed the chiefs about their religion. and
their general answer was that they go
to the morals more to feast than pray,
which believe to be really the case. Mr..
Cox, or Teymotoo Reeaumoku), that 1
have before mentioned, sets the wooden
gods and priests at defiance: he says that
they are all liars, and that the white
mems God Is the true and only God. The
Sandwich Islanders have entirely abol-
ished human sacrifices; all the time !
have been about these Islands, 1 have not
krcwn a single instance of sacrificing a
human being.
aThe writer here has reference to the
kukui tree.