CHAPTER XVIII

[Footnote 56: The three mountain domes of Hawaii rise from 13,000 to

8,000 feet above the sea, and the two highest are in the wintertime

often capped with snow.]

[Footnote 57: The games of _kilu_ and _ume_, which furnished the popular

evening entertainment of chiefs, were in form much like our "Spin the

plate" and "Forfeits." _Kilu_ was played with "a funnel-shaped toy

fashioned from the upper portion of a drinking gourd, adorned with the

_pawehe_ ornamentation characteristic of Niihau calabashes." The player

must spin the gourd in such a way as to hit the stake set up for his

side. Each hit counted 5, 40 scoring a game. Each player sang a song

before trying his hand, and the forfeit of a _hula_ dance was exacted

for a miss, the successful spinner claiming for his forfeit the favor of

one of the women on the other side. _Ume_ was merely a method of

choosing partners by the master of ceremonies touching with a wand,

called the _maile_, the couple selected for the forfeit, while he sang a

jesting song. The sudden personal turn at the close of many of the

_oli_ may perhaps be accounted for by their composition for this game.

The _kaeke_ dance is that form of _hula_ in which the beat is made on a

_kaekeeke_ instrument, a hollow bamboo cylinder struck upon the ground

with a clear hollow sound, said to have been introduced by Laamaikahiki,

the son of Moikeha, from Tahiti.]

The Hawaiian Romance Of Laieikawai · 第 16 / 27 章