[begin page 466]
CHAPTER 68
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.
Konohikis (Superintendents)Ⓐ of CrownⒶ Lands, Konohikis of PrivateⒶ
Lands of His Majesty, Konohikis of Private Lands of Her late Royal Highness.
Governor of OahuⒺ and Staff.
Hulumanu (Military Company)Ⓐ.
The Prince of Hawaii’s Own (Military
Company).
Household Troops.Ⓐ
[begin page 467] 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 Rt. Rev.
BishopⒶ
Ⓐ of Arathea,
Vicar-Apostolic of the Hawaiian IslandsⒺ.
The Clergy of the Hawaiian Reformed Catholic Church.
His Lordship the Right Reverend Bishop of HonoluluⒺ.
Escort Haw. Cavalry.
Large Kahilis.
Small Kahilis.
PALL BEARERS.
[HEARSE.]Ⓐ
Escort Haw. Cavalry.
Large Kahilis.*Ⓐ
Small Kahilis.
PALL BEARERS.
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 theⒶ 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Ⓔ.
*Ranks of long-handled
mops made of gaudy feathers—sacred to royalty. They are stuck in the ground around
the tomb and left there.Ⓐ
[begin page 468]
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
Gen.Ⓐ Van ValkenburghⒺ). Several of the
kahilis
Ⓐ were then fastened to a frameworkⒶ 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 [begin page 469] some time, 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 framework
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 [begin page 470] 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 bygoneⒶ 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
his son, LiholihoⒺ
Ⓐ.
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
*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.Ⓐ
[begin page 471]
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
to and fro
Ⓐ
Ⓐ 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 kingⒶ 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—theⒶ 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.
*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.
†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.Ⓐ
[begin page 472]
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.Ⓐ
KalaimokuⒶ 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 in 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Ⓐ
sticksⒶ with a strip of kapa flying at the top, the chief Keeaumoku, Kaahumanu’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 [begin page 473] 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 [begin page 474] 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.
Editorial Emendations CHAPTER 68
Ⓐ
hula-hula
(C) ●
“hula-
| hula” (A)
Ⓐ
After (A) ●
indented from right
Honolulu,
July 1, 1866.
centered
Funeral of the Princess.
[¶] At ten o’clock yesterday morning, the court, members of the Legislature and various
diplomatic bodies assembled at the
Iolani Palace, to be present at the funeral of the late Princess. The sermon was preached
by the Rev. Mr. Parker, pastor of the great
stone church—of which the Princess was a member, I believe, and whose choir she used
to lead in the days of her early
womanhood. To the day of her death she was a staunch, unwavering friend and ally of
the missionaries, and it is a matter of no
surprise that Parker, always eloquent, spoke upon this occasion with a feeling and
pathos which visibly moved the hearts of men
accustomed to conceal their emotions. [¶] The Bishop of Honolulu, ever zealous, had
sought permission to officiate in
Parker’s stead, but after duly considering the fact that the Princess had always regarded
the Bishop with an unfriendly eye and
had persistently refused to have anything to do with his church, his request was denied.
However, he demanded and was granted the
place of honor in the procession, although it belonged properly to the officiating
clergyman. The Bishop also claimed that inasmuch as
the Royal Mausoleum was consecrated ground, it would be sacrilegious to allow a Calvinistic
minister to officiate there when the body
was consigned to the tomb, and so he was allowed to conduct that portion of the obsequies
himself. However, he explained that it was
not the custom of his church to read a burial service or offer up a prayer over such
as had never belonged to that church, and
therefore the departed Princess was consigned to her last resting place with no warmer
or kindlier a recommendation than a meager,
non-committal benediction—a sort of chilly funereal politeness—nothing more. But then
we should not blame the Bishop in
this matter, because he has both authority and example to sustain his position, as
I find by reference to a “Review” by
W. D. Alexander of one of his “Pastoral Addresses.” I quote from Alexander: [¶] “Only
last December, Thomas
Powell, near Peterborough, in England, wished to have his son buried in the parish
church-yard, and a Dissenting minister to
officiate. When the friends had gathered around the grave, a messenger arrived from
the clergyman of the Established Church, one
Ellaby, stating that he was ready to perform the Episcopal service. This was courteously
declined, upon which the Rector issued from
the church and forbade the burial. Even the right of silent interment was denied them,
and when the afflicted father would himself
perform the last sad offices at the grave of his child, the spade was wrenched from
his hand by the sexton.” [¶] In
offering this defense of the Bishop of Honolulu, I do so simply with an unselfish
wish to do him justice and save him from hasty and
injurious criticism, and
not through a mean desire to curry favor with him.
centered
The Grand Funereal Pageant. [¶] As the hour of eleven approached,
large bodies of white and native residents, chiefly on horseback, moved toward the
palace through the quiet streets, to see the
procession form. All business houses were closed, of course, and many a flag, half-mast
high, swung lazily in the Summer air. [¶]
The procession began to move at eleven, amid the solemn tolling of bells and the dull
booming of minute guns from the hights
overlooking the city. A glance of the eye down the procession revealed a striking
and picturesque spectacle—large bodies of
women, in melancholy black, and roofed over with a far-reaching double line of black
umbrellas; troops of men and children, in black;
carriages, with horses clad from head to foot in sable velvet; and in strong contrast
with all this were the bright colors flashing
here and there along the pageant—swarthy Zouaves, in crimson raiment; soldiers, in
blue and white and other lively hues;
mounted lancers, with red and white pennants fluttering from their weapons; nobles
and great officers in splendid uniforms;
and—conspicuous amid its gloomy surroundings—the catafalque, flanked on either side
with gorgeously-tinted kahilis. The
slow and measured tread of the marching squadrons; the mournful music of the bands;
the chanting of the virtues of the dead and the
warrior deeds of her ancestors, by a gray and venerable woman here and there; the
wild wail that rang out at times from some bereaved
one to whom the occasion brought back the spirit of the buried past—these completed
the effect.
centered
The Kahilis. [¶] The
kahilis are symbols of
mourning which are sacred to the aristocracy. They are immense plumes, mounted upon
tall poles, and are made of feathers of all bright
and beautiful colors; some are a rich purple; some crimson; others brown, blue, white
and black, etc. These are all dyed, but the
costly kahilis formed of the yellow feather of royalty (
tabu to the common herd) were tinted by the hand of
nature, and come from the tropic bird, which, as I have said in a previous letter,
has but two of them—one under each wing. One
or two kahilis, also, made of red feathers from a bird called by sailors the marlinspike
bird, had no artificial coloring about them.
These feathers are very long and slender (hence the fowl’s name), and each bird’s
tail is furnished with two, and only
two, of them. The birds of the Sandwich Islands seem uncommonly indigent in the matter
of strictly ornamental feathers. A dozen or
more of these gaudy
kahilis were upheld by pall-
| bearers of high blood and fenced in the stately
catafalque with a vari-colored wall as brilliant as a rainbow. Through the arches
of the catafalque could be seen the coffin, draped
with that badge and symbol of royalty, the famous yellow-feather war-cloak, whose
construction occupied the toiling hands of its
manufacturers during nine generations of Hawaiian Kings.
centered
“Style.” [¶] We have here, in this little land of 50,000 inhabitants, the complete machinery,
in
its minutest details, of a vast and imposing empire, done in miniature. We have all
the sounding titles, all the grades and castes,
all the pomp and circumstance, of a great monarchy. To the curious, the following
published programme of the procession will not be
uninteresting. After (SU)
Ⓐ
Undertaker. (SU A) ●
centered PROGRAMME OF THE FUNERAL
centered —
of—
centered
Her Late Royal Highness the Princess
centered VICTORIA KAMAMALU KAAHUMANU.
centered rule
centered Undertaker. (PCA)
Ⓐ
School. (SU) ●
School, (PCA)
Ⓐ
Maemae (PCA SU) ●
Miæmæ (A)
Ⓐ
Mechanics’ (SU A) ●
Mechanic’s (PCA)
Ⓐ
(Superintendents) (SU A) ●
not in
(PCA)
Ⓐ
Crown (PCA) ●
the Crown (SU A)
Ⓐ
Private (PCA) ●
the Private (SU A)
Ⓐ
(Military Company) (SU A) ●
not in
(PCA)
Ⓐ
The Prince of Hawaii’s Own (Military Company). Household Troops. (SU) ●
Household Troops.
| The Prince of Hawaii’s Own (Military Company).
lines reversed
(A)
The Prince of Hawaii’s Own.
| Household Troops. (PCA)
Ⓐ
Bishop (SU A) ●
Bishop Staley (PCA)
Ⓐ
[HEARSE.] (SU A) ●
catafalque dingbat
(PCA)
Ⓐ
Kahilis.* (A) ●
Kahilis. (PCA SU)
Ⓐ
States (A) ●
States, James McBride (PCA SU)
Ⓐ
Commissioner (A) ●
Commissioner, Mons. Desnoyers (PCA SU)
Ⓐ
Commissioner (A) ●
Commissioner, W. L. Green (PCA SU)
Ⓐ
the (PCA) ●
not in
(SU A)
Ⓐ
*Ranks . . . there. (A) ●
not in
(PCA SU)
Ⓐ
Force. (SU A) ●
Force. [¶] The Procession will form at 10 o’clock
a. m., on Saturday, June 30th,
on King street, in front of Iolani Palace. Those who are to precede the Catafalque
will form between Richard street and Fort street,
and those who are to follow, on the Waikiki side of the Palace gate. [¶] The Procession
will start at 11 o’clock
a. m., precisely, and will proceed through King street to Nuuanu street, thence by Nuuanu
street to the Royal
Mausoleum. [¶] The Procession will be under the direction of the Governor of Oahu.
[¶] Iolani Palace, June 27, 1866. (PCA)
Ⓐ
I . . . mausoleum: (A) ●
centered
Details. [¶] The
“Ahahui Kaahumana”—a benevolent society instituted (and presided over) by the late
Princess for the nursing of
the sick and the burial of the dead—was numerously represented. It is composed solely
of native women. They were dressed in
black, and wore sashes of different colors. [¶] His Majesty the King, attended by
a guard of nobles and princes, whose uniforms
were splendid, with bright colors and loops and braids of gold, rode with his venerable
father in the first carriage in the rear of
the catafalque. The Bishop of Honolulu occupied the place of honor in that portion
of the procession which preceded the catafalque.
[¶] The servants of the King and the late Princess would have made quite a respectable
procession by themselves. They numbered
two hundred and fifty, perhaps. [¶] Four or five poodle dogs, which had been the property
of the deceased, were carried in the
arms of individuals among these servants of peculiar and distinguished trustworthiness.
It is likely that all the Christianity the
Hawaiians could absorb would never be sufficient to wean them from their almost idolatrous
affection for dogs. And these dogs, as a
general thing, are the smallest, meanest, and most spiritless, homely and contemptible
of their species. [¶] As the procession
passed along the broad and beautiful Nuuanu street, an innocent native would step
out occasionally from the ranks, procure a slice of
water-
| melon, or a pineapple, or a lighted pipe, from some dusky spectator and return to
his place and enjoy the refreshing
luxury as he kept step with the melancholy music. [¶] When we had thoroughly examined
the pageant we retired to a back street and
galloped ahead to the mausoleum, two miles from the center of the town, and sat down
to wait. This mausoleum is a neat edifice, built
of dressed blocks of coral; has a high, sharp, slated roof, and its form is that of
a Greek cross. The remains of the later Kings
repose in it, but those of ancient times were hidden or burned, in compliance with
a custom of the dark ages; some say, to prevent
evil-disposed persons from getting hold of them and thus being enabled to pray a descendant
to death; others say, to prevent the
natives from making fish-
| hooks out of them, it being held that there were superior fishhook virtues in the
bones of a high
chief. There are other theories for accounting for this custom, but I have forgotten
what they are. It is said that it was usual to
send a friend to hide the bones (after they had been stripped of the flesh and neatly
tied in a bundle), and then waylay him and kill
him as he came back, whereby it will be observed that to do a favor of this kind was
attended with consequences which could not be
otherwise than disagreeable to the party assuming the kindly office of undertaker
to a dead dignitary. Of course, as you will easily
divine, the man was killed to prevent the possibility of his divulging his precious
secret. [¶] The mausoleum is large enough to
accommodate many dead Kings and Princes. It stands in the middle of a large grass-clad
lawn, which is inclosed by a stone wall.
centered
Arrival of the Procession.
(SU)
Ⓐ
Gen. (C) ●
General (SU)
Ⓐ
kahilis
(C) ●
kahilis (SU)
Ⓐ
framework (C) ●
frame-
| work (SU)
Ⓐ
heart-broken (A) ●
dismal, heart-
| broken (SU)
Ⓐ
(the . . . he (A) ●
(who (SU)
Ⓐ
the King soon (A) ●
centered
The King
flush left Soon (SU)
Ⓐ
presence. (A) ●
presence. [¶] The King is thirty-four years of age, it is said, but looks all of fifty.
He has an observant,
inquiring eye, a heavy, massive face, a lighter complexion than is common with his
race, tolerably short, stiff hair, a moderate
mustache and imperial, large stature, inclining somewhat to corpulence (I suppose
he weighs fully one hundred and eighty—may be
a little over), has fleshy hands, but a small foot for his size, is about six feet
high, is thoughtful and slow of movement, has a
large head, firmly set upon broad shoulders, and is a better man and a better looking
one than he is represented to be in the
villainous popular photographs of him, for none of them are good. That last remark
is surplusage, however, for no photograph ever was
good, yet, of anybody—hunger and thirst and utter wretchedness overtake the outlaw
who invented it! It transforms into
desperadoes the meekest of men; depicts sinless innocence upon the pictured faces
of ruffians; gives the wise man the stupid leer of a
fool, and a fool an expression of more than earthly wisdom. If a man tries to look
merely serious when he sits for his picture, the
photograph makes him as solemn as an owl; if he smiles, the photograph smirks repulsively;
if he tries to look pleasant, the
photograph looks silly; if he makes the fatal mistake of attempting to seem pensive,
the camera will surely write him down an ass. The
sun never looks through the photographic instrument that it does not print a lie.
The piece of glass it prints it on is well named a
“negative”—a contradiction—a misrepresentation—a falsehood. I speak feelingly of this
matter,
because by turns the instrument has represented me to be a lunatic, a Solomon, a missionary,
a burglar and an abject idiot, and I am
neither. (SU)
Ⓐ
Harris (the Yankee Prime Minister) (A) ●
Minister Harris (SU)
Ⓐ
It (A) ●
centered
A Contrast—How They Did
in Ancient Times. [¶] It (SU)
Ⓐ
fifty (A) ●
less than fifty (SU)
Ⓐ
dynasty (A) ●
son (HoHI SU)
Ⓐ
(the custom of that age) (SU A) ●
not in
(HoHI)
Ⓐ
and . . . are (SU A) ●
is (HoHI)
Ⓐ
bygone (C) ●
by-gone (SU)
Ⓐ
The . . . entire: (SU A) ●
The native historians relate the circumstances of his death with a feeling and minuteness,
which so well illustrates
many of their customs, that the reader will pardon the insertion. (HoHI)
Ⓐ
When (C) ●
‘When (HoHi)
Ⓐ
god” . . . idol), “that (C) ●
god’ . . . idol) ‘that (SU)
god’ . . . idol), that (A)
god, that (HoHI)
Ⓐ
tabu,* (C) ●
tabu* (A)
tabu, (SU)
kapu, (HoHI)
Ⓐ
“The . . . king;” (C) ●
‘The . . . king;’ (HoHi)
Ⓐ
his son, Liholiho (HoHI) ●
Liholiho, his son (SU A)
Ⓐ
After (C) ●
‘After (HoHi)
Ⓐ
tabu . . . tabu . . . tabu
(C) ●
tabu . . . tabu . . . tabu (A)
Ⓐ
*
Tabu . . . sacrifice. (A) ●
not in
(HoHI SU)
Ⓐ
eating-house,* (C) ●
eating house,† (A)
eating house, (SU)
eating-house, (HoHI)
Ⓐ
midnight (A) ●
mid-
| night (HoHi)
Ⓐ
to and fro (HoHI) ●
not in
(SU A)
Ⓐ
tabu (C) ●
tabu
(SU)
taboo (HoHI)
Ⓐ
(huts) (A) ●
not in
(HoHI SU)
Ⓐ
an eating-house (C) ●
an eating house (SU A)
another (HoHI)
Ⓐ
house to sleep in (SU A) ●
dormitory (HoHI)
Ⓐ
manufacture kapa (native cloth) (SU A) ●
beat kapa (HoHI)
Ⓐ
king (HoHI) ●
not in
(SU A)
Ⓐ
raw.”† (C) ●
raw.’* (A)
raw.’ (SU)
raw.” (HoHI)
Ⓐ
king’s (C) ●
King’s (SU)
Ⓐ
(one of the dead king’s widows) (SU A) ●
not in
(HoHI)
Ⓐ
the (HoHI) ●
his (SU A)
Ⓐ
After (C) ●
‘After (HoHi)
Ⓐ
new (SU A) ●
not in
(HoHI)
Ⓐ
Islands (C) ●
islands (A)
Ⓐ
that.” (C) ●
that”. (A)
Ⓐ
*It . . . M.T. (C) ●
†It . . . [M.T.] (A)
not in
(HoHI SU)
Ⓐ
Then (C) ●
‘Then (HoHi)
Ⓐ
priest, (A) ●
priest
⁁
(HoHi)
Ⓐ
tabu (C) ●
tabu
(SU)
taboo (HoHI)
Ⓐ
Then (C) ●
‘Then (HoHi)
Ⓐ
other is (SU A) ●
other, (HoHI)
Ⓐ
unavailing. (SU A) ●
unavailing. His name was Keamahulihia. (HoHI)
Ⓐ
Kalaimoku (HoHI SU) ●
Kalaimoka (A)
Ⓐ
themselves (SU A) ●
not in
(HoHI)
Ⓐ
fire-places (SU) ●
fire-
| places (HoHi)
Ⓐ
sticks (HoHI SU) ●
stick (A)
Ⓐ
Kaahumanu’s (HoHI) ●
Kaahumaun’s (A)
Kaahumauu’s (SU)
Ⓐ
king’s death (C) ●
King’s death (SU A)
death of Kamehameha (HoHI)
Ⓐ
abuse. (C) ●
abuse.” (SU A)
abuse.’—
Hawaiian Spectator, vol. 2, p. 227. (HoHI)
Ⓐ
afterward (A) ●
afterwards (SU)
Ⓐ
missionaries. (A) ●
missionaries.
indented from right MARK TWAIN.
centered
Postscript—The Ministers. [¶]
Burlingame and Von Valkenburgh, United States Ministers to China and Japan, are ready
to sail, but are delayed by the absence of two
attaches, who went to Hawaii to see the volcano, and who were not aware how slow a
country this is to get around in. The journey hence
to Hilo, which would be made anywhere else almost in eighteen or twenty hours, requires
a week in the little inter-island schooners.
[¶] Colonel Kalakaua, the King’s Chamberlain, has invited the Ministerial party to
a great
luau
(native dinner) at Waikiki. [¶] Gen Von Valkenburgh has achieved a distinguished success
as a curiosity-finder—not hunter.
Standing on the celebrated Pari, a day or two ago, and amusing himself by idly punching
into the compact lava wall through which the
road is cut, he crumbled away a chunk of it, and observing something white sticking
to it, he instituted an examination, and found a
sound, white, unmarred and unblemished human jaw-tooth firmly imbedded in the lava!
Now the question is, how did it get
there—in the side (where a road had been cut in) of a mountain of lava—seven hundred
feet above the valley? a mountain
which has been there for ages, this being one of the oldest islands in the group.
Burlingame was present and saw the General unearth
his prize. I have critically examined it, but, as I half expected myself, the world
knows as much about how to account for the wonder
now as if I had let it alone. In old times, the bones of Chiefs were often thrown
into the volcanoes, to make sure that no enemy could
get a chance to meddle with them; and Brown has given it as his deliberate opinion
that “that old snag used to belong to one of
them fellows.” Possibly—but the opinion comes from a source which entitles it to but
little weight. However, that tooth
is as notable a curiosity as any I have yet seen in the Sandwich Islands.
indented from right M. T. (SU)
Explanatory Notes CHAPTER 68
Ⓔ the King’s
sister, her Royal Highness the Princess Victoria . . . had lain in state at the palace
thirty
days] Princess Victoria Kamamalu Kaahumanu (1838–66) was the sister of Kamehameha IV and
Kamehameha V, and the
granddaughter and last female descendant of Kamehameha I.
Since her brother Kamehameha V was
unmarried, Victoria was heir apparent to the Hawaiian throne. She died on 29 May 1866
and,
[begin page 721] according to
native custom, her body lay in state for one month before the funeral on 30 June 1866.
Clemens was touring the island of Hawaii when
Victoria died, but returned to Oahu in time to witness the elaborate funeral ceremonies.
He devoted three of his
Union letters to a description of these ceremonies and to a discussion of local politics,
which had been thrown into “a
state of unusual stir” as a result of Victoria’s untimely death (
SLC 1866x,
1866z–aa; “Death of the Heir Apparent,” Honolulu
Pacific Commercial Advertiser, 2 June 66, 2).
Ⓔ After
. . . missionaries.] Mark Twain based this portion of the text on his letter in the
Sacramento
Union for 1 August 1866, revising it for inclusion in
Roughing It (
SLC 1866aa).
That letter included the text of the funeral program (466.19–468.3),
probably typeset from a clipping of the Honolulu
Pacific Commercial Advertiser for 30 June 1866
(“Programme of the Funeral,” 2). The
Union letter also included the two lengthy quotations on the
death of Kamehameha from Jarves’s
History: see the notes at 469.30–470.5 and
470.11–472.43.
Ⓔ Governor of Oahu] John
Dominis (see the note at 464.32).
Ⓔ His Lordship Louis
Maigret, the Rt. Rev. Bishop . . . of the Hawaiian Islands] Louis Désiré Maigret (1804–82),
who arrived in the Sandwich Islands in 1840, headed the French Roman Catholic mission
there from his cathedral of Our Lady of Peace in
Honolulu.
A notebook entry that Clemens made in late June 1866 suggests that he visited the
cathedral (
N&J1
, 118). In contrast to his critical portrait
of Bishop Staley, Clemens praised Maigret as “a leader of distinguished ability” in
his
Union
letter published on 30 July (
SLC 1866z;
Kuykendall
1938, 150–52, 341–42;
Korn, 324; “Death of Bishop
Maigret,”
Friend 31 [1 July 82]: 67).
Ⓔ His Lordship the Right Reverend
Bishop of Honolulu] Bishop Staley (see the note at 464.22–28). The
Advertiser reported that
Staley “appropriated” the position next to the hearse, which custom assigned not to
him but to the “officiating
clergyman.”
The paper claimed that Staley’s “bigoted conduct” provoked
“an intense feeling of disgust,” reporting that “he would not walk side by side with
the American Protestant
Missionaries, but thrust himself above them, and above the Roman Catholic Bishop,
all of whom have been longer upon the Islands, and
have a greater influence than he has or ever will have among the people” (Honolulu
Pacific Commercial
Advertiser: “Funeral of the Princess Victoria” and “Side by Side,” 7 July 66, 3).
Ⓔ Her Majesty Queen Emma’s
Carriage] Queen Emma—Emma Naea Rooke (1836–85), the widow of Kamehameha IV, sister-in-law
of Kamehameha V,
granddaughter of John Young (see the note at 471.7), and great granddaughter of the
younger brother of Kamehameha I—was not in
this carriage and did not attend the funeral.
She had sailed
[begin page 722] for
England in May 1865 for an extended visit and would not return until October 1866,
after spending several weeks in the United States.
Gracious, kindhearted, and highly cultivated, the popular Queen Emma had been known
during her reign for her pro-British feelings and
her promotion of the Hawaiian Reformed Catholic Church (
N&J1
, 220;
Kuykendall 1953, 35, 78, 83–98 passim,
202–5).
Ⓔ Her Majesty the Queen
Dowager] Queen Kalama (1817–70), widow of Kamehameha III (“Death of Her Majesty the
Dowager Queen Kalama,”
Honolulu
Pacific Commercial Advertiser, 24 Sept 70, 2).
Ⓔ The King’s
Chancellor] Elisha Hunt Allen (1804–83) was appointed United States consul to the
Sandwich Islands in 1849 and joined
the Hawaiian government in 1853, serving first as minister of finance. In 1857 he
was appointed chief justice and chancellor. Over the
next two decades he distinguished himself in diplomatic missions for the Hawaiian
government, successfully negotiating the 1876 treaty
of reciprocity with the United States. After 1876 he served as Hawaiian minister in
Washington, D.C.
Ⓔ His Excellency the
Minister Resident of the United States. H. I. M.’s Commissioner. H. B. M.’s Acting
Commissioner] These three men
were identified by name in the
Advertiser’s printed program—and in Mark Twain’s
Union letter—as “James McBride,” “Mons. Desnoyers,” and “W. L.
Green” (see the note at 464.35–38).
Ⓔ Ahahui Kaahumanu]
“The ‘Ahahui Kaahumanu’—a benevolent society instituted (and presided over) by the
late Princess for the
nursing of the sick and the burial of the dead—was numerously represented. It is composed
solely of native women. They were
dressed in black, and wore sashes of different colors” (
SLC 1866aa).
Ⓔ Burlingame] Anson
Burlingame (see the note at 371.10–13), the United States minister to China (1861–67),
arrived in Honolulu on 18 June en
route to China. During his three-week stopover he developed a warm friendship with
Clemens and helped him secure and conduct an
interview with the survivors of the
Hornet sea disaster—a journalistic scoop that Mark Twain reported in
a
Union letter published on 19 July (
SLC 1866y;
L1
, 348 n. 1).
Ⓔ Gen. Van Valkenburgh]
Robert Bruce Van Valkenburgh (1821–88), the recently appointed United States minister
to Japan, was stopping over in Honolulu
until 7 July on his way to his diplomatic post. A two-term congressman from New York
State (1861–65), he had also served as a
brigadier-general in the New York militia and commanded a regiment of New York volunteers
at Antietam. He served in Japan until
November 1869, and was later an associate justice of the Florida Supreme Court.
Ⓔ
[begin page 723] On . . . execrations.] Mark Twain’s source for this extract was the third edition
of
Jarves’s
History (
Jarves 1847, 105; see the note at
443.26).
Ⓔ not only great, but good]
The first and second editions of Jarves’s
History include a passage at this point comparing Kamehameha I
to Napoleon, which does not appear in the book’s third edition (the one Mark Twain
consulted and quoted in writing
Roughing It):
“He may be justly styled the Napoleon of the Pacific.
Without the worst traits of his prototype, he possessed, according to the situation
he occupied, equal military skill, as vigorous an
intellect, and as keen a judgment, as his illustrious cotemporary” (
Jarves 1843,
188;
Jarves 1844b, 206). Mark Twain makes a similar comparison in chapter 64 (440.36),
which suggests that he had seen an earlier edition of the
History. In 1884 he owned a copy of the second
edition, but he almost certainly acquired it after the publication of
Roughing It (
Jarves 1847, 105;
Gribben, 1:352;
N&J1
, 104–5).
Ⓔ The bones of
Kamehameha . . . were so carefully concealed . . . they made fish-hooks and arrows
of them] Clemens
recorded in his notebook in April 1866: “Kammy’s bones hidden at his own request,
to keep them from making fish hooks of
them—a superstition that hooks made of the bones of a great Chief would concentrate
the fish” (
N&J1
, 230). In “A Strange Dream,” probably written in April 1866,
Mark Twain recounted an imaginary trip to Kilauea crater to search for the great chief’s
bones, which have never been found
(
SLC 1866t).
Ⓔ The account
. . . written by the native historians . . . is the most comprehensive document I
have yet met
with] Mark Twain refers to
Ka Mooolelo Hawaii, an 1838 history of the Sandwich Islands “written
by scholars at
a Hawaiian High school, and corrected by one of the instructors” (
Malo et al., 58).
Most of this history appeared for the first time in
translation in 1839 in the second volume of the
Hawaiian Spectator, a quarterly review published in Honolulu
from January 1838 to October 1839 (“A Catalogue of Works Relating to the Hawaiian
or Sandwich Islands,”
Friend 11 [1 May 62]: 38). Mark Twain’s introductory remarks are a paraphrase of
Jarves’s own introduction to the extract that follows: see the next note.
Ⓔ When
. . . abuse.] Mark Twain’s source for this extract was the third edition of Jarves’s
History (
Jarves 1847, 105–6; see the note at 443.26).
Jarves’s source, in turn, was the April 1839
Hawaiian Spectator (
Malo et al., 227–31).
Ⓔ Kukailimoku] This was
Kamehameha I’s “favorite war god,” represented “by images of wicker-work, covered
with red feathers, with
[begin page 724] eyes made of mother-of-pearl,” and a wide gaping mouth “armed with sharks’
teeth” (
Jarves 1847, 29–30;
W. D.
Alexander, 41).
Ⓔ his son, Liholiho]
Kamehameha I’s heir, who ruled as Kamehameha II: see the note at 496.23–498.23.
Ⓔ Kaikioewa] A chief (d.
1839) who served as guardian of Prince Kauikeaouli (later Kamehameha III) during his
minority and became governor of Kauai in 1824
(
Dibble 1843, 199, 231–32;
Kuykendall
1938, 118).
Ⓔ your foreigner] John Young
(1742–1835), an English sailor who arrived in the Sandwich Islands in 1790 as boatswain
of the American vessel
Eleanora. Young—along with another English seaman, Isaac Davis (d. 1810) of the
Fair
American—was detained by Kamehameha I as a result of violence between the foreigners and the
natives. The two Englishmen
became trusted advisers to the king.
Young served as governor of the island of Hawaii from 1802 to
1812, and through his marriage to one of the king’s nieces became a member of the
royal family (
Kuykendall 1938, 24–25, 43–44, 54;
Withington,
72–73;
Scott, 887).
Ⓔ Kaahumanu] The favorite
wife (1768?–1832) of Kamehameha I and a descendant of the chiefs of Maui. In 1819,
when Kamehameha’s son Liholiho became
Kamehameha II, Kaahumanu assumed the position of
kuhina nui, or chief adviser, in effect governing jointly with
him. This position had been created for her by Kamehameha I, who did not want his
successor to rule alone.
After Liholiho’s departure for England in 1823 (see the note at 496.23–498.23) Kaahumanu
served as
regent, continuing this role during the minority of Kamehameha III until her death.
The beautiful and imperious Kaahumanu was a major
force behind the overthrow of the tabu system in November 1819 (described in chapter
72, at 496.25–497.4). After 1821 she
reversed her initially unfriendly attitude toward the Protestant missionaries, becoming
a vigorous supporter of their educational,
social, and moral reforms (
Kuykendall 1938, 63–64, 67–68, 77–78,
106, 114;
Bingham, 148–49, 164–65;
Bradley, 141–44, 173, 190–93, 211–13;
Kamakau,
306–23).
Ⓔ Hoapili] The chief
Ulumeheihei (1767?–1840) was given the name “Hoapili,” or “close adhering companion,”
by Kamehameha
I, “from the friendship which existed between the old king and himself” (
Jarves
1847, 108).
It was Hoapili who successfully concealed the king’s bones. He married
Keopuolani and Kalakua, two of Kamehameha’s widows. From 1823 until his death he served
as governor of Maui (
Judd, 41–42 n. 42;
Jarves 1847, 119,
122).
Ⓔ Leleiohoku] One of
Kalaimoku’s sons (1826–48) (see the next note). At an early age he married Nahienaena,
one of Kamehameha I’s
daughters, and later married the high chiefess Ruth Keelikolani.
He was governor of the island of
Hawaii from 1844 until his death at age
[begin page 725] twenty-two. The first part of his name, “Leleio,”
means “to die quickly” or suddenly, and “hoku” means “night of the full moon,” a reference
to Kamehameha’s decease “on the night of Hoku, May (Ka‘elo) 14 according to the Oahu
calendar” (
Kamakau, 212;
Andrews, 336;
Pukui and Elbert, 71;
Zambucka 1977, 21).
Ⓔ Kalaimoku] Kamehameha
I’s trusted prime minister and treasurer (d. 1827), also known as Kalanimoku or Karaimoku.
He adopted the name of one of his
contemporaries, the great English prime minister William Pitt, and was often so addressed.
He
continued as prime minister in the reign of Kamehameha II (1819–24), and in the early
years of the reign of Kamehameha III.
During his long service, he was second in power (under the king’s ultimate authority)
only to Kaahumanu, the
kuhina nui and regent (
Kuykendall 1938, 53, 64, 431–32).
Ⓔ
†This
. . . would certainly have been cannibalism if they had cooked him] This footnote
misrepresents the view of
Sandwich Islands historians. Jarves observed:
Some
doubt formerly existed, whether cannibalism ever prevailed in the group. The natives
themselves manifested a degree of shame, horror
and confusion, when questioned upon the subject, that led Cook and his associates,
without any direct evidence of the fact, to believe
in its existence; but later voyagers disputed this conclusion. The confessions of
their own historians, and the general acknowledgment
of the common people, have now established it beyond a doubt. (Jarves 1847,
49)
Mark Twain often treated the subject of cannibalism humorously during this period—for
example, in two items about Honolulu publisher Henry Whitney, in his Sandwich Islands
lecture, in the sketch “Cannibalism in
the Cars,” and in an 1870 Buffalo Express piece, “Dining with a Cannibal” (SLC 1866mm, 1870n, 884; Fatout 1976, 10;
MTH
, 144–45; SLC 1868i, 1870c).
Ⓔ Kau
. . . Kohala . . . Kona] Kamehameha I died at his home, Kamakahonu, in the village
of Kailua, Kona
district. Kona is on the west side of the island of Hawaii, between the districts
of Kohala to the north and Ka‘u to the south.
Kau is in the Ka‘u district (
Pukui, Elbert, and Mookini, 80, 91, 114).
Ⓔ Keeaumoku,
Kaahumanu’s brother] Keeaumoku (d. 1824), a high chief of the Maui royal line, was
a trusted counselor to Kamehameha I,
like his father of the same name. He served as governor of both Maui and Kauai (
Kuykendall
1938, 53;
Withington, 134–36;
Jarves
1847, 108, 123).
Ⓔ Forty years ago
. . . both sexes gave themselves up to . . . licentiousness] This paragraph summarizes
a passage in
Jarves’s
History, which Mark Twain quoted in full in his Sacramento
Union letter
published on 16 July 1866 (
Jarves 1847, 40;
SLC
1866x).
