Hawaii — page 58: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

MANNERS AND CUSTOMS—INHABITANTS. 49 their legs bare, and their ankles encircled by grass fringe. Their heads and shoulders are always ornamented with strings of “leis.” The dance requires years of training, and cannot be learned by an adult, any more than an old person could be made an acrobat. 3 In the early history of the Hawaiians the natives were, and continued to be, very eloquent speakers. Their male singers often chanted love songs, and at times these were very excellent, but they had no literature. When the son of the English missionary, Mr. William Ellis, died, the following poem was composed in honor of him: ‘“ Alas! alas! dead is my chief, Dead is my lord and my friend; My friend in the season of famine, My friend in the time of drought, My friend in my poverty, My friend in the rain and the wind, My friend in the heat and the sun, My friend in. the cold from the mountain, My friend in the storm, My friend in the calm, My friend in the right seas. Alas! alas! gone is my friend, And no more will return.” With the connections of the early schools of the ‘isl- _ands, there is much interest attached; for there were no school books—just a few printed leaves on certain sub- jects which comprised the whole set of text books. The pupils would gather from far.and near, with these few leaves in their hands. _The school houses were of the very simplest construc- tion, with only a few openings for windows and doors to cEomicbooks.co