ent figure of the foreign community "Judge
Dole's beard." Some native girls, braiding fern wreaths, called my
attention to the dark, graceful fronds which grow in the shade and are
prized for such work. "These are the natives," they said; then pointing
slyly to the coarse, light ferns burned in the sun they added, "these
are the foreigners." After the closing exercises of a mission school in
Hawaii one of the parents was called upon to make an address. He said:
"As I listen to the songs and recitations I am like one who walks
through the forest where the birds are singing. I do not understand the
words, but the sound is sweet to the ear." The boys in a certain
district school on Hawaii call the weekly head inspection "playing the
ukulele" in allusion to the literal interpretation of the name for the
native banjo. These homely illustrations, taken from the everyday life
of the people, illustrate a habit of mind which, when applied for
conscious emotional effect, results in much charm of formal expression.
The habit of isolating the essential feature leads to such suggestive
names as "Leaping water," "White mountain," "The gathering place of the
clouds," for waterfall or peak; or to such personal appellations as that
applied to a visiting foreigner who had temporarily lost his voice, "The
one who never speaks"; or to such a description of a large settlement as
"many footprints."[1] The graphic sense of analogy applies to a mountain
such a name as "House of the sun"; to the prevailing rain of a certain
district the appellation "The rain with a pack on its back," "Leaping
whale" or "Ghostlike"; to a valley, "The leaky canoe"; to a canoe, "Eel
sleeping in the water." A man who has no brother in a family is called
"A single coconut," in allusion to a tree from which hangs a single
fruit.[2]

This tendency is readily illustrated in the use of synonyms. _Oili_
means "to twist, roll up;" it also means "to be weary, agitated, tossed
about in mind." _Hoolala_ means "to branch out," as the branches of a
tree; it is also applied in sailing to the deflection from a course.
_Kilohana_ is the name given to the outside decorated piece of tapa in a
skirt of five layers; it means generally, therefore, "the very best" in
contrast to that which is inferior. _Kuapaa_ means literally "to harden
the back" with oppressive work; it is applied to a breadfruit parched on
the tree or to a rock that shows itself above water. Lilolilo means "to
sprea