sinnet, later after the arrival of the white man, of
horsehair. At the present time it is the fashion to use the
ordinary gut designed for the violin or the taro-patch
guitar. Every ukeke seen followed closely a conventional
pattern, which, argues for the instrument a historic age
sufficient to have gathered about itself some degree of
traditional reverence. One end of the stick is notched or
provided with holes to hold the strings, while the other end
is wrought into a conventional figure resembling the tail of
a fish and serves as an attachment about which to wind the
free ends of the strings.

No ukeke seen by the author was furnished with pins, pegs, or
any similar device to facilitate tuning. Nevertheless, the
[Page 148] musician does tune his ukeke, as the writer can testify from
his own observation. This Hawaiian musician was the one whose
performances on the nose-flute are elsewhere spoken of. When
asked to give a sample of his playing on the ukeke, he first
gave heed to his instrument as if testing whether it was in
tune. He was evidently dissatisfied and pulled at one string
as if to loosen it; then, pressing one end of the bow against
his lips, he talked to it in a singing tone, at the same time
plucking the strings with a delicate rib of grass. The effect
was most pleasing. The open cavity of the mouth, acting as a
resonator, reenforced the sounds and gave them a volume and
dignity that was a revelation. The lifeless strings allied
themselves to a human voice and became animated by a living
soul.

With the assistance of a musical friend it was found that the
old Hawaiian tuned his strings with approximate correctness
to the tonic, the third and the fifth. We may surmise that
this self-trained musician had instinctively followed the
principle or rule proposed by Aristoxenus, who directed a
singer to sing his most convenient note, and then, taking
this as a starting point, to tune the remainder of his
strings--the Greek kithara, no doubt--in the usual manner
from this one.

While the ukeke was used to accompany the mele and t