in the king's court, was wont to heighten the oratorical
effect of his recitation by certain crude devices, the most
marked of which was that of choking the voice down, as it
were, into the throat, and there letting it strain and growl
like a hungry lion. This was the ai-ha'a, whose organic
function was the expression of the underground passions of
the soul.

[Illustration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
BULLETIN 33 PLATE VIII
MAILE PAKAHA
NIHI-AU-MOE
MARIONETTES]

[Page 91]

XI.--THE HULA KI'I

I was not a little surprised when I learned that the ancient
hula repertory of the Hawaiians included a performance with
marionettes, _ki'i_, dressed up to represent human beings.
But before accepting the hula _ki'i_ as a product indigenous
to Hawaii, I asked myself: Might not this be a performance in
imitation of the Punch-and-Judy show familiar to Europe and
America?

After careful study of the question no evidence was found,
other than what might be inferred from general resemblance,
for the theory of adoption from a European or American
origin. On the contrary, the words used as an accompaniment
to the play agree with report and tradition, and bear
convincing evidence in form, and matter to a Hawaiian
antiquity. That is not to say, however, that in the use of
marionettes the Hawaiians did not hark back to their
ancestral homes in the southern sea or to a remoter past in
Asia.

The six marionettes, _ki'i_ (pls. VIII and IX), in the
writer's possession were obtained from a distinguished
kumu-hula, who received them by inheritance, as it were, from
his brother. "He gave them to me," said he, "with these
words,' Take care of these things, and when the time comes,
after my death, that the king wants you to perform before
him, be ready to fulfill his desire.'"

It was in the reign of Kamehameha III that they came into the
hands of the elder brother, who was then and continued to be
the royal hula-master until his death. These ki'i have
therefore figured in performances that have been graced by
the pre