Page:American Anthropologist NS vol. 1.djvu/264

 uus]

��HA W A II AN GAMES

��225

��Concerning kites in Tahiti, Ellis * says : " The boys were very ond of the uo f or kite, which they raised to a great height. The rahitian kite was different in shape from the kites of the English >oys. It was made of light native cloth instead of paper, and ormed in shape according to the fancy of its owner."

Taylor* describes the New Zealand kite under the name of te iaku, or he manu waka-tuku-tuku, lie pakau. " The name kahu s that of a bird like the hawk. Their figure is generally a rough mitation of that bird, with its great outspread wings. These rites are frequently made of very large dimensions of raupo eaves, a kind of sedge, neatly sewed together, and kept in shape >y a slight frame-work."

Dieffenbach " says of the New Zealand kite : " Their kite (manu >r pakau pakaukati) is of a triangular form, and is neatly made of he light leaves of a sedge ; it is held by a string made of strips >f flax tied together, and its ascent is accompanied with some aying or song. It is a sign of peace when it is seen flying near . village."

Rev. William Wyatt Gill 4 says of kite-flying:

" In times of peace this was the great delight of aged men. Kites rere usually five feet in length, covered with native cloth, on which rere the devices appropriate to their tribe — a sort of heraldry. The ail was twenty fathoms in length, ornamented with a bunch of feathers nd abundance of sere ti leaves. Parties were got up of not less than en kite-flyers, the point of honor being that the kite should fly high nd be lost to view in the clouds. Songs made for the occasion were hanted meantime. It was no uncommon event for them to sleep on he mountain, after well securing the kites to the trees. Of course the ipshot of all this would be a grand feast, in which the victor got the ►iggest share. So serious was this employment that each kite bore its iwn name, and tears of joy were shed by these grey-bearded children s they witnessed the successful flight. When desirous at length of tutting an end to their sport, if the wind were too strong to allow the

1 Op. cit., vol. 1., p. 228.

'Op. cit., p. 172.

a Vol. ii. t p. 31.

4 From Darkness to Light in Polynesia, London, 1894, p. 39.

AM. AMTH., N. S. ( 1— IS

��II

�� �