68. CHAPTER LXVIII.
WHILE I was in Honolulu I witnessed the ceremonious funeral
of the King's sister, her Royal Highness the Princess Victoria.
According to the royal custom, the remains had lain in state at the
palace thirty days, watched
day and night by a guard of honor. And during all that
time a great multitude of natives from the several islands had kept
the palace grounds well crowded and had made the place a
pandemonium every night with their howlings and wailings,
beating of tom-toms and dancing of the (at other times) forbidden
"hula-hula" by half-clad maidens to the music of songs of
questionable decency chanted in honor of the deceased. The
printed programme of the funeral procession interested me at the
time; and after what I have just said of Hawaiian grandiloquence
in the matter of "playing empire," I am persuaded that a perusal of
it may interest the reader:
After reading the long list of dignitaries, etc., and
remembering the sparseness of the population, one is almost
inclined to wonder where the material for that portion of the
procession devoted to "Hawaiian Population Generally" is going to
be procured:
Undertaker.
Royal School. Kawaiahao School. Roman Catholic School.
Miæmæ School.
Honolulu Fire Department.
Mechanies' Benefit Union.
Attending Physicians.
Knonohikis (Superintendents) of the Crown Lands, Konohikis
of the Private Lands of His Majesty Konohikis of the Private Lands
of Her late Royal Highness.
Governor of Oahu and Staff.
Hulumanu (Military Company).
Household Troops.
The Prince of Hawaii's Own (Military Company).
The King's household servants.
Servants of Her late Royal Highness.
Protestant Clergy. The Clergy of the Roman Catholic Church.
His Lordship Louis Maigret, The Right Rev. Bishop of
Arathea, Vicar-Apostolic of the Hawaiian Islands.
The Clergy of the Hawaiian Reformed Catholic Church.
His Lordship the Right Rev. Bishop of Honolulu.
*
Her Majesty Queen Emma's Carriage.
His Majesty's Staff.
Carriage of Her late Royal Highness.
Carriage of Her Majesty the Queen Dowager.
The King's Chancellor.
Cabinet Ministers.
His Excellency the Minister Resident of the United States.
H. I. M's Commissioner.
H. B. M's Acting Commissioner.
Judges of Supreme Court.
Privy Councillors.
Members of Legislative Assembly.
Consular Corps.
Circuit Judges.
Clerks of Government Departments.
Members of the Bar.
Collector General, Custom-house Officers and Officers of the
Customs.
Marshal and Sheriffs of the different Islands.
King's Yeomanry.
Foreign Residents.
Ahahui Kaahumanu.
Hawaiian Population Generally.
Hawaiian Cavalry.
Police Force.
I resume my journal at the point where the procession arrived
at the royal mausoleum:
As the procession filed through the gate, the military deployed
handsomely to the right and left and formed an avenue through
which the long column of mourners passed to the tomb. The
coffin was borne through the door of the mausoleum, followed by
the King and his chiefs, the great officers of the kingdom, foreign
Consuls, Embassadors and distinguished guests (Burlingame and
General Van Valkenburgh). Several of the kahilis were then
fastened to a frame-work in front of the tomb, there to remain until
they decay and fall to pieces, or, forestalling this, until another
scion of royalty dies. At this point of the proceedings the
multitude set up such a heart-broken wailing as I hope never to
hear again.
The soldiers fired three volleys of musketry—the wailing being
previously silenced to permit of the guns being heard. His
Highness Prince William, in a showy military uniform (the "true
prince," this—scion of the house over-thrown by the present
dynasty—he was formerly betrothed to the Princess but was not
allowed to marry her), stood guard and paced back and forth
within the door. The privileged few who followed the coffin into
the mausoleum remained sometime, but the King soon came out
and stood in the door and near one side of it. A stranger could
have guessed his rank (although he was so simply and
unpretentiously dressed) by the profound deference paid him by all
persons in his vicinity; by seeing his high officers receive his quiet
orders and suggestions with bowed and uncovered heads; and by
observing how careful those persons who came out of the
mausoleum were to avoid "crowding" him (although there was
room enough in the doorway for a wagon to pass, for that matter);
how respectfully they edged out sideways, scraping their backs
against the wall and always presenting a front view of their
persons to his Majesty, and never putting their hats on until they
were well out of the royal presence.
He was dressed entirely in black—dress-coat and silk hat—and
looked rather democratic in the midst of the showy uniforms about
him. On his breast he wore a large gold star, which was half
hidden by the lappel of his coat. He remained at the door a half
hour, and occasionally gave an order to the men who were erecting
the kahilis before the tomb.
He had the good taste to make one of them
substitute black crape for the ordinary hempen rope he was about
to tie one of them to the frame-work with. Finally he entered his
carriage and drove away, and the populace shortly began to drop
into his wake. While he was in view there was but one man who
attracted more attention than himself, and that was Harris (the
Yankee Prime Minister). This feeble personage had crape enough
around his hat to express the grief of an entire nation, and as usual
he neglected no opportunity of making himself conspicuous and
exciting the admiration of the simple Kanakas. Oh! noble
ambition of this modern Richelieu!
It is interesting to contrast the funeral ceremonies of the
Princess Victoria with those of her noted ancestor Kamehameha
the Conqueror, who died fifty years ago—in 1819, the year before
the first missionaries came.
"On the 8th of May, 1819, at the age of sixty-six, he died, as he
had lived, in the faith of his country. It was his misfortune not to
have come in contact with men who could have rightly influenced
his religious aspirations. Judged by his advantages and compared
with the most eminent of his countrymen he may be justly styled
not only great, but good. To this day his memory warms the heart
and elevates the national feelings of Hawaiians. They are proud of
their old warrior King; they love his name; his deeds form their
historical age; and an enthusiasm everywhere prevails, shared even
by foreigners who knew his worth, that constitutes the firmest
pillar of the throne of his dynasty.
"In lieu of human victims (the custom of that age), a sacrifice
of three hundred dogs attended his obsequies—no mean holocaust
when their national value and the estimation in which they were
held are considered. The bones of Kamehameha, after being kept
for a while, were so carefully concealed that all knowledge of their
final resting place is now lost. There was a proverb current among
the common people that the bones of a cruel King could not be
hid; they made fish-hooks and arrows of them, upon which, in
using them, they vented their abhorrence of his memory in bitter
execrations."
The account of the circumstances of his death, as written by
the native historians, is full of minute detail, but there is scarcely a
line of it which does not mention or illustrate some
by-gone custom of the country. In this respect it is the most
comprehensive document I have yet met with. I will quote it
entire:
"When Kamehameha was dangerously sick, and the priests
were unable to cure him, they said: `Be of good courage and build
a house for the god' (his own private god or idol), that thou mayest
recover.' The chiefs corroborated this advice of the priests, and a
place of worship was prepared for Kukailimoku, and consecrated
in the evening. They proposed also to the King, with a view to
prolong his life, that human victims should be sacrificed to his
deity; upon which the greater part of the people absconded through
fear of death, and concealed themselves in hiding places till the
tabu* in
which destruction impended, was past. It is doubtful whether
Kamehameha approved of the plan of the chiefs and priests to
sacrifice men, as he was known to say, `The men are sacred for the
King;' meaning that they were for the service of his successor.
This information was derived from Liholiho, his son.
"After this, his sickness increased to such a degree that he had
not strength to turn himself in his bed. When another season,
consecrated for worship at the new
temple (heiau) arrived,
he said to his son, Liholiho, `Go thou and make
supplication to thy god; I am not able to go, and will offer my
prayers at home.' When his devotions to his feathered god,
Kukailimoku, were concluded, a certain religiously disposed
individual, who had a bird god, suggested to the King that through
its influence his sickness might be removed. The name of this god
was Pua; its body was made of a bird, now eaten by the Hawaiians,
and called in their language alae.
Kamehameha was willing that a trial should be made, and two
houses were constructed to facilitate the experiment; but while
dwelling in them he became so very weak as not to receive food.
After lying there three days, his wives, children and chiefs,
perceiving that he was very low, returned him to his own house. In
the evening he was carried to the eating
house,* where
he took a little food in his mouth which he did not swallow;
also a cup of water. The chiefs requested him to give them his
counsel; but he made no reply, and was carried back to the
dwelling house; but when near midnight—ten o'clock, perhaps—he
was carried again to the place to eat; but, as before, he merely
tasted of what was presented to him. Then Kaikioewa addressed
him thus: `Here we all are, your younger brethren, your son
Liholiho and your foreigner; impart to us your dying charge, that
Liholiho and Kaahumanu may hear.' Then Kamehameha inquired,
`What do you say?' Kaikioewa repeated, `Your counsels for
us.'
He then said, `Move on in my good way and—.' He could
proceed no further. The foreigner, Mr. Young, embraced and
kissed him. Hoapili also embraced him, whispering something in
his ear, after which he was taken back to the house. About twelve
he was carried once more to the house for eating, into which his
head entered, while his body was in the dwelling house
immediately adjoining. It should be remarked that this frequent
carrying of a sick chief from one house to another resulted from
the tabu system,
then in force. There were at that time six houses (huts)
connected with an establishment—one was for worship, one for the
men to eat in, an eating house for the women, a house to sleep in, a
house in which to manufacture kapa (native cloth) and one where,
at certain intervals, the women might dwell in seclusion.
"The sick was once more taken to his house, when he expired;
this was at two o'clock, a circumstance from which Leleiohoku
derived his name. As he breathed his last, Kalaimoku came to the
eating house to order those in it to go out. There were two aged
persons thus directed to depart; one went, the other remained on
account of love to the King, by whom he had formerly been kindly
sustained. The children also were sent away. Then Kalaimoku
came to the house, and the chiefs had a consultation. One of them
spoke thus: `This is my thought—we will eat him
raw.* Kaahumanu
(one of the dead King's widows) replied, `Perhaps his
body is not at our disposal; that is more properly with his
successor. Our part in him—his breath—has departed; his remains
will be disposed of by Liholiho.'
"After this conversation the body was taken into the
consecrated house for the performance of the proper rites by the
priest and the new King. The name of this ceremony
is uko; and when the
sacred hog was baked the priest offered it to the
dead body, and it became a god, the King at the same time
repeating the customary prayers.
"Then the priest, addressing himself to the King and chiefs,
said: 'I will now make known to you the rules to be observed
respecting persons to be sacrificed on the burial of this body. If
you obtain one man before the corpse is removed, one will be
sufficient; but after it leaves this house four will be required. If
delayed until we carry the corpse to the grave there must be ten;
but after it is deposited in the grave there must be fifteen.
To-morrow morning there will be a
tabu, and, if the
sacrifice be delayed until that time, forty men must
die.'
"Then the high priest, Hewahewa, inquired of the chiefs,
`Where shall be the residence of King Liholiho?' They replied,
`Where, indeed? You, of all men, ought to know.' Then the priest
observed, `There are two suitable places; one is Kau, the other is
Kohala.' The chiefs preferred the latter, as it was more thickly
inhabited. The priest added, `These are proper places for the
King's residence; but he must not remain in Kona, for it is
polluted.' This was agreed to. It was now break of day. As he was
being carried to the place of burial the
people perceived that their King was dead, and they wailed. When
the corpse was removed from the house to the tomb, a distance of
one chain, the procession was met by a certain man who was
ardently attached to the deceased. He leaped upon the chiefs who
were carrying the King's body; he desired to die with him on
account of his love. The chiefs drove him away. He persisted in
making numerous attempts, which were unavailing. Kalaimoka
also had it in his heart to die with him, but was prevented by
Hookio.
"The morning following Kamehameha's death, Liholiho and
his train departed for Kohala, according to the suggestions of the
priest, to avoid the defilement occasioned by the dead. At this
time if a chief died the land was polluted, and the heirs sought a
residence in another part of the country until the corpse was
dissected and the bones tied in a bundle, which being done, the
season of defilement terminated. If the deceased were not a chief,
the house only was defiled which became pure again on the burial
of the body. Such were the laws on this subject.
"On the morning on which Liholiho sailed in his canoe for
Kohala, the chiefs and people mourned after their manner on
occasion of a chief's death, conducting themselves like madmen
and like beasts. Their conduct was such as to forbid description;
The priests, also, put into action the sorcery apparatus, that the
person who had prayed the King to death might die; for it was not
believed that Kamehameha's departure was the effect either of
sickness or old age. When the sorcerers set up by their fire-places
stick with a strip of kapa flying at the top, the chief Keeaumoku,
Kaahumaun's brother, came in a state of intoxication and broke the
flag-staff of the sorcerers, from which it was inferred that
Kaahumanu and her friends had been instrumental in the King's
death. On this account they were subjected to abuse."
You have the contrast, now, and a strange one it is. This great
Queen, Kaahumanu, who was "subjected to abuse" during the
frightful orgies that followed the King's death, in accordance with
ancient custom, afterward became a devout Christian and a
steadfast and powerful friend of the missionaries.
Dogs were, and still are, reared and fattened for food, by the
natives—hence the reference to their value in one of the above
paragraphs.
Forty years ago it was the custom in the Islands to suspend all
law for a certain number of days after the death of a royal
personage; and then a saturnalia ensued which one may picture to
himself after a fashion, but not in the full horror of the reality. The
people shaved their heads, knocked out a tooth or two, plucked out
an eye sometimes, cut, bruised, mutilated or
burned their flesh, got drunk, burned each other's huts, maimed or
murdered one another according to the caprice of the moment, and
both sexes gave themselves up to brutal and unbridled
licentiousness.
And after it all, came a torpor from which the nation slowly
emerged bewildered and dazed, as if from a hideous
half-remembered nightmare. They were not the salt of the earth,
those "gentle children of the sun."
The natives still keep up an old custom of theirs which cannot
be comforting to an invalid. When they think a sick friend is going
to die, a couple of dozen neighbors surround his hut and keep up a
deafening wailing night and day till he either dies or gets well. No
doubt this arrangement has helped many a subject to a shroud
before his appointed time.
They surround a hut and wail in the same heart-broken way
when its occupant returns from a journey. This is their dismal idea
of a welcome. A very little of it would go a great way with most
of us.
[*]
[p. 491] Ranks of long-handled mops made of
gaudy feathers—sacred to royalty. They are stuck in the ground
around the tomb and left there.
[*]
[p. 494] Tabu
(pronounced tah-boo,) means prohibition (we have borrowed it,)
or sacred. The tabu was sometimes permanent, sometimes
temporary; and the person or thing placed under tabu was for the
time being sacred to the purpose for which it was set apart. In the
above case the victims selected under the tabu would be sacred to
the sacrifice.
[†]
[p. 494] It was deemed pollution to eat in the
same hut a person slept in—the fact that the patient was dying could
not modify the rigid etiquette.
[*]
[p. 495] This sounds suspicious, in view of the
fact that all Sandwich Island historians, white and black, protest
that cannibalism never existed in the islands. However, since they
only proposed to "eat him raw" we "won't count that". But it
would certainly have been cannibalism if they had cooked
him.—M. T.]