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. Maemae
School. Honolulu Fire Department. Mechanics’ 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. B. 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
lapel of his coat. He remained at the door a half hour, and occasionally
gave an order to the men who were erecting the kahilis [Ranks of
long-handled mops made of gaudy feathers—sacred to royalty. They
are stuck in the ground around the tomb and left there.] 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 [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] 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. [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.] 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.
