After the ceremony of the pa-ú came that of the lei, a wreath to crown the head and another for the neck and shoulders. It was not the custom in the old times to overwhelm the body with floral decorations and to blur the outlines of the figure to the point of disfigurement; nor was every flower that blows acceptable as an offering. The gods were jealous and nice in their tastes, pleased only with flowers indigenous to the soil—the ilima (pl. VI), the lehua, the maile, the ie-ie, and the like (see pp. 19, 20). The ceremony was quickly accomplished. As the company knotted the garlands about head or neck, they sang: _Oli Lei_ Ke lei mai la o Ka-ula i ke kai, e! Ke malamalama o Niihau, ua malie. A malie, pa ka Inu-wai. Ke inu mai la na hala o Naue i ke kai. 5 No Naue, ka hala, no Puna ka wahine.[125] No ka lua no i Kilauea. [Translation.] _Wreath Song_ Ka-ula wears the ocean as a wreath; Nii-hau shines forth in the calm. After the calm blows the wind Inu-wai; Naue’s palms then drink in the salt. 5 From Naue the palm, from Puna the woman— Aye, from the pit, Kilauea. Tradition tells a pathetic story (p. 212) in narrating an incident touching the occasion on which this song first was sung. [Footnote 125: _Wahine_. The woman, Pele.] BULLETIN 38 PLATE VI [Illustration: ILIMA (SIDA FALLAX) LEI AND FLOWERS] [Page 57] IX.—THE HULA ALA’A-PAPA Every formal hula was regarded by the people of the olden time as a sacred and religious performance (_tabu_); but all hulas were not held to be of equal dignity and rank (_hanohano_). Among those deemed to be of the noblest rank and honor was the _ala’a-papa_. In its best days this was a stately and dignified performance, comparable to the old-fashioned courtly minuet. We shall observe in this hula the division of the performers into two sets, the _hoopa’a_ and the _olapa_. Attention will naturally bestow itself first on the olapa, a division of the company made up of splendid youthful figures, young men, girls, and women in the prime of life. They stand a little apart and in advance of the others, the right hand extended, the left resting upon the hip, from which hangs in swelling folds the pa-ú. The time of their waiting for the signal to begin the dance gives the eye opportunity to make deliberate survey of the forms that stand before us.