a dressing room, being known as the unu-lau-koa, and to this place they repaired as soon as the kumu gave the signal for dressing.
The hula pa-ú of the women was worn in addition to that of daily life; the hula pa-ú of the men, a less pretentious affair, was worn outside the malo, and in addition to it.
The method of girding on the pa-ú was peculiar. Beginning at the right hip--some say the left--a free end was allowed to hang quite to the knee; then, passing across the back, rounding the left hip, and ing by way of the abdomen to the starting point, another circuit of the waist was accomplished; and, a reverse being made, the garment was secured by passing the bight of the tapa beneath the hanging folds of the pa-ú from below upward until it slightly protruded above the border of the garment at the waist. This second end was thus brought to hang down the hip alongside of the first free end; an arrangement that produced a most decorative effect.
The Hawaiians, in their fondness for giving personal names to inanimate objects, named the two free ends (apua) of the pa-ú respectively Ku-kápu-úla-ka-láni and Léle-a-mahu'i.
According to another method, which was simpler and more commonly employed, the piece was folded sidewise and, being gathered into pleats, a cord was inserted the length of the fold. The cord was passed about the waist, knotted at the hip, and thus held the garment secure.
While the girls are making their simple toilet and donning their unique, but scanty, costume, the kumu, aided by others, soothes the impatience of the audience and stimulates their imagination by cantillating a mele that sets forth in grandiloquent imagery the praise of the pa-ú.
Oli Pa-ú
Kakua pa-ú, ahu na kikepa!92
I ka pa-ú noenoe i hooluu'a,
I hookakua ia a paa iluna o ka imu.93
Ku ka nu'a94 o ka pali o ka wai kapu,
He kuina95 pa-ú pali96 no Kupe-hau,
I holo a paa ia, paa e Hono-kane.97
Malama o lilo i ka pa-ú.
Holo ilio la ke ala ka Manú98 i na pali;
Pali ku kahakó liaka a-i,
I ke keiki pa-ú pali a Kau-kini,99
I hoonu'anu'a iluna o ka Auwana.100
Akahi ke ana, ka luhi i ka pa-ú:
Ka ho-oio i ke kapa-wai,
I na kikepa wai o Apua,101
I hopu 'a i ka ua noe holo poo-poo,
Me he pa-ú elehiwa wale i na pali.
Ohiohi ka pali, ki ka liko o ka lama,
Mama ula102 ia ka malua ula,
I hopu a omau ia e ka maino.
I103 ka malo o Umi ku huná mai.
Ike'a ai na maawe wai oloná,104
E makili ia nei i Wahilau.105
Holo ke oloná, paa ke kapa.
Hu'a lepo ole ka pa-ú;
Nani ka o-iwi ma ka maka kilo-hana.106
Makalii ka ohe,107 paa ke kapa.
Opua ke ahi i na pali,
I hookau kalena ia e ka makani,
I kaomi pohaku ia i Wai-manu,
I na alá108 ki-óla-óla;
I na alá, i alá lele
Ia Kane-poha-ka'a.109
Paa ia Wai-manu,110 o-oki Wai-pi'o;
Lalau o Ha'i i ka ohe,
Ia Koa'e-kea,111
I kauhihi ia ia ohe laulii, ia ohe.
Oki'a a moku, mo' ke kini,112
Mo ke kihl, ka maiáma ka Hoaka,113
I apahu ia a poe,
O awili114 o Malu-ô.
He pola ia no ka pa-ú;
E hii ana e Ka-holo-kua-iwa,
Ke amo la e Pa-wili-wlli
I ka pa-ú poo kau-poku--115
Kau poku a hana ke ao,
Kau iluna o Hala'a-wili,
I owili hana haawe.
Ku-ka'a, olo-ka'a wahie;
Ka'a ka opeope, ula ka pali;116
Uwá, kamalii, hookani ka pihe,
Hookani ka a'o,117 a hana pilo ka leo,
I ka mahalo i ka pa-ú,
I ka pa-ú wai-lehua a Hi'i-lawe118 iluna,
Pi'o anuenue a ka ua e ua nei.
This is a typical Hawaiian poem of the better sort, keyed in a highly imaginative strain. The multitude of specific allusions to topographical names make it difficult to translate it intelligently to a foreign mind. The poetical units are often so devised that each new division takes its clue from the last word of the previous verse, on the principle of "follow your leader," a capital feature in Hawaiian poetry.
[Translation]
Pa-ú Song
Gird on the pa-ú, garment tucked in one side,
Skirt