orn in addition to that of
daily life; the hula pa-u of the men, a less pretentious
affair, was worn outside the malo, and in addition to it.

The method of girding on the pa-u 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 returning 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-u 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-u respectively _Ku-kapu-ula-ka-lani_ and _Lele-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.
[Page 51]
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-u.

_Oli Pa-u_

Kakua pa-u, ahu na kikepa![92]
I ka pa-u noenoe i hooluu'a,
I hookakua ia a paa iluna o ka imu.[93]
Ku ka nu'a[94] o ka pali o ka wai kapu,
5 He kuina[95] pa-u pali[96] no Kupe-hau,
I holo a paa ia, paa e Hono-kane.[97]

Malama o lilo i ka pa-u.
Holo ilio la ke ala ka Manu[98] i na pali;
Pali ku kahako liaka a-i,
10 I ke keiki pa-u pali a Kau-kini,[99]
I hoonu'anu'a iluna o ka Auwana.[100]