apa_. For insignia of rank, they made splendid
feather cloaks, and feather helmets, which were worn only by chiefs.

For lights they used the oily nuts of the _kukui_ or candle-nut tree.

For food they chiefly depended upon the tuberous roots of the _taro_
plant (_Colocasia antiquorum_), but sweet potatoes were cultivated in
the dry districts, and yams in Kauai and Niihau. They also cultivated
bananas and sugar cane and the _awa_ or _kava_ plant for its narcotic
properties.

Fishing was carried on with great ingenuity and skill. Extensive fish
ponds were built along the coasts, which must have cost immense labor.

Their food was cooked then, as now, by steaming it in an _imu_ or
underground oven with heated stones. Fire was produced by friction,
viz., by rubbing a hard, pointed stick in a groove made in a piece of
softer wood, until the little heap of fine powder collected at the end
of the groove took fire.

There was no circulating medium which served the purpose of money, and
all trade was conducted by barter.

CIVIL POLITY.

The civil polity of the ancient Hawaiians was far more despotic than
that of any other Polynesian tribe. The community was divided into three
classes, namely:

1. The nobility or _Alii_ (N. Z. _Ariki_), comprising the kings and
chiefs of various grades of rank.

2. The priests, _Kahuna_ (N. Z. _Tahunga_), including priests, sorcerers
and doctors.

3. The common people, _Makaainana_, or laboring class.

There was a wide and impassable gulch between the chiefs and common
people. In fact, the distinction between them was primarily of a sacred
and religious character. The chief was believed to be descended from the
gods, and to be allied to the invisible powers.

The contrast in stature and appearance as well as in bearing between the
chiefs and common people was very striking. Only a chief had the right
to wear the feather cloak and helmet, or the ivory clasp, _Niho Palaoa_;
his canoe and his sails were painted red, and on state occasions he was
attended by men carrying _kahilis_ or plumed staffs of various colors.
When the highest chiefs appeared abroad, all the common people
prostrated themselves with their faces upon the ground. It was death for
a common man to remain standing at the mention of the king's name in
song, or when the king's food, water or clothing was carried past; to
put on any article of dress belonging to him, to enter his enclosure
without permission, or to cro