The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1906-05-10
A KINGS 100000 CLOAK,
THE MOST COSTLY GARMENT IN
THE UNITED STATES.

| 1t is Hawaiian Ceremonial Cloak and
is Made of the Feathers of Bird
Now Extinct-The Art of Making
These Cloaks Lost-Once Practised
|, by the Wives and Daughters of the
MOBILES.
What is probably the most costly
| garment in the United States is stored
away. in a corner of the United States
National Museum at washington. 1t
is not a feminine gown, nor is its
fashion of any civilized country. 1t is
a product of savage art, being Haw-
allan ceremonial cloak made of the
feathers of birds peculiar to the island.
| The label beneath it states that it
was a present from King Kamehameha
| III. to Commodore j. H. Aulick, U. s.
| N. and that it was the mantle of the
formers father, Tamehameha. 1t is
further stated that the yellow feathers
of which the cloak is largely composed
were valued at $1.5O for five.
Not only are these feathers very small
but the bird to which they belonged
was very difficult to catch. It is esti-
mated that, including the price of the
feathers, not less than a million dol
lars worth of labor was expended on
this cloak
The feather work Of the Hawaiians is
now lost art. This is to be lamented,
for the feather cloalQs of the Hawaiians
/ fY1fpppGtin0.
The cloaks-"m amos" in the native
language-which were worn only by the
kings and highest chiefs, are of great
| beauty. All the earlier travellers to
| the Hawaiian group mention them.
Capt Cook who, in 1878 was first to
visit the islands, was received by the
natives with all the ceremony and
alteration which they thought due to
him as a god, and their chiefs present.
ed him with several feather covered
cloaks and helmets, which they re-
garded as their finest treasures.
IN Bartoozzi's well known engraving,
"The Death of Captain Cook pub
| ushed in 1882, four of the natives are
represented wearing cloaks, and very
little else, and two wear helmets-ali
drawn, doubtless, from the samples
brought home by Cooks expedition and
similar to the specimen in the National
Museum. So highly were the cloaks
valued in Hawaii that very seldom was
one allowed to leave the islands as a
result of purchase.
Though once fairly abundant In
Hawaii, specimens of this feather work
are now very scarce and more highly
prized than ever the art Of making II
is lost with the extinction Of but the
bird whose feathers were most highly
priced IN the manufacture,
The making of cloaks and other
feather. covered articles Of dress OF
ornament dates from a very early
period in the history of the island
is said to have formed in by
| gone days the principal occupation o.
the wives and daughters of the Hawaii
an mobiles
The ancient kings had regular statl
Of skilled feather hunters, who were
very EXPERT in their vocation. IL
capturing the birds net Of snare was
. sometimes used, but more often kline
Of bird lime, made from sticky juice
Of the bread fruit tree, or from the gum
of the fragant olapa; which was
smeared on the higher branches of the
trees freouented by the birds or or
long poles set up for the purpose.
OFTEN a living specimen of brilliant
scarlet bird known as the iiwi was
fastened in the Vicinity to act as a lure
1t is said that the hunters sometimes
even transplanted strange trees to the
heart of the forest in order to excite
| the birds curiosity These old birc
oatchers must have been important mer
among the Hawaiians, for feathers
were considered to exceed in value any
other kind Of personal property, and the
Kings taxes were often paid in them
The groundwork of all the feather
work Is a coarse netting made Of string
manufactured from the fibre of the
olona, native grass. The outer side
rs alone covered with feathers, the
shafts of which are dextrously anc
closely interviewer into or sewn on, the
fabric OF the net, so that the feathers
which overlap one another present
surface as smooth and glossy as the
back of living bird.
OF the birds which provided the
feathers from which this work was
made the rnamobird was first in i'm.
portance. About the size of a starting
J its plumage was in the main black, and
only the few brilliant orange feathers
surrounding the tail were used.
|, It's determination has doubtless beer
brought about by the numbers taker
| for the sake Of these few feathers. No
more than five os six skins of this birt
are not known to exist.
The other royal bird producing yellow
feathers is the oo-bird, which is still
common In thickly wooded districts
though it builds among the tree tops al
: such q height from the ground that it,
, nest and eggs are still unknown t
science. It is also in the main black
the yellow being restricted to certain
small tufts beneath the wings
King Kamehameha I, Is said to have
ordered that after these yellow tuft'
had been plucked the birds were to b.
set free. The light yellow feathers arr
infinitely more abundant in the feathei
work than the more beautiful colder
feathers of the mamo.
mi I. t,t.la So mi