tzebue, _Neue Reise
um die Welt_, ii. 97 (as to the kava bowls); J. J. Jarves, _op.
cit._ p. 66. As to the absence of mines in the Hawaiian Islands,
see J. Remy, _op. cit._ p. xvi.

Their weapons of war included spears, javelins, daggers, and clubs, all
of them made of wood. They also slung stones with deadly effect. But
they had no defensive armour; for the war-cloaks and wicker-work
helmets, surmounted with lofty crests and decked with the tail feathers
of the tropic bird, while they heightened the imposing and martial
appearance of the wearers, must have proved rather encumbrances than
protections. Captain Cook found the natives in possession of bows and
arrows, but from their scarcity and the slenderness of their make he
inferred that the Hawaiians, like other Polynesians, never used them in
battle.[14]

[14] J. Cook, _Voyages_, vi. 227 _sq._, vii. 136 _sq._; W.
Ellis, _op. cit._ iv. 156 _sq._; J. J. Jarves, _op. cit._ pp. 56
_sq._

Sec. 4. _Government, Social Ranks, Taboo_

The government of the Hawaiian Islands was an absolute monarchy or
despotism; all rights of power and property vested in the king, whose
will and power alone were law, though in important matters he was to a
certain extent guided by the opinion of the chiefs in council. The rank
of the king and the chiefs was hereditary, descending from father to
son; but the appointment to all offices of authority and dignity was
made by the king alone. Nevertheless posts of honour, influence, and
emolument often continued in the same family for many generations. Nor
were hereditary rank and authority confined to men; they were inherited
also by women. According to tradition, several of the islands had been
once or twice under the government of a queen. The king was supported by
an annual tribute paid by all the islands at different periods according
to his directions. It comprised both the natural produce of the country
and manufactured articles. But besides the regular tribute the king was
at liberty to levy any additional tax he might please, and even to seize
and appropriate any personal possessions of a chief or other subject.
Not infrequently the whole crop of a plantation was thus carried off by
his retainers without the least apology or compensation.[15] However,
the government of the whole Hawaiian archipelago by a single monarch
was a comparatively modern innovation. Down to nearly the end of the
eighteenth century the d