The hero clasped his young love with one stout twining arm, and gazing

into her eyes, he with a caressing hand put back from her brow her

shining hair, and thus to his heart's life he spoke: "O my sweet

flower, how shall I live without thee, even for this day's march of

the sun? For thou art my very breath, and I shall pant and die like

a stranded fish without thee. But no, let me not say so. Kaaialii is

a chief who has fought men and sharks; and he must not speak like

a girl. He too loves his mother, who looks for him in the valley

of Kohala; and shall he deny thy mother, to look her last upon the

sweet face and the tender limbs that she fed and reared for him? Go,

my Kaala. But thy chief will sit and watch with a hungering heart,

till thou come back to his arms again."

And the pretty jessamine twined her arms around his neck, and laying

her cheek upon his breast said, with upturned tender glances, "O my

chief, who gavest me life and sweet joy; thy breath is my breath;

thy eyes are my sweetest sight; thy breast is my only resting-place;

and when I go away, I shall all the way look back to thee, and go

slowly with a backward turned heart; but when I return to thee,

I shall have wings to bear me to my lord."

"Yes, my own bird," said Kaaialii, "thou must fly, but fly swiftly

in thy going as well as in thy coming; for both ways thou fliest to

me. When thou art gone I shall spear the tender ohua fish, I shall bake

the yam and banana, and I will fill the calabash with sweet water,

to feed thee, my heart, when thou shalt come; and thou shalt feed me

with thy loving eyes.

"Here, Opunui! take thy child. Thou gavest life to her, but now she

gives life to me. Bring her back all well, ere the sun has twice

risen. If she come not soon, I shall die; but I should slay thee

before I die; therefore, O Opunui, hasten thy going and thy coming,

and bring back my life and love to me."

And now the stern hero unclasped the weeping girl. His eye was calm,

but his shut lips showed the work within of a strong and tender heart

of love. He felt the ache of a larger woe than this short parting. He

pressed the little head between his palms; he kissed the sobbing lips

again and again; he gave one strong clasp, heart to heart, and then

quickly strode away.

As Kaala tripped along the stony up-hill path, she glanced backward

on her way, to get glimpses of him she loved, and she beheld her

chief standing on the topmost rock of the great bluff overhanging the

sea. And still as she went and looked, still there he stood; and when

on the top of the ridge and about to descend into the great valley,

she turned to look her last, still she saw her loving lord looking

up to her.

The silent sire and the weeping child soon trod the round, green vale

of Palawai. She heeded not now to pluck, as was her wont, the flowers

in her path; but thought how she should stop a while, as she came

back, to twine a wreath for her dear lord's neck. And thus this sad

young love tripped along with innocent hope by the moody Opunui's side.

They passed through the groves of Kalulu and Kumoku, and then the

man swerved from the path leading to Mahana and turned his face again

seaward. At this the sad and silent child looked up into the face of

her grim and sullen sire and said: "O father, we shall not find mother

on this path, but we shall lose our way and come to the sea once more."

"And thy mother is by the sea, by the bay of Kaumalapau. There

she gathers limpets on the rocks. She has dried a large squid for

thee. She has pounded some taro and filled her calabash with poi,

and would feed thee once more. She is not sick; but had I said she

was well, thy lord would not have let thee go; but now thou art on

the way to sleep with thy mother by the sea."

The poor weary girl now trudged on with a doubting heart. She glanced

sadly at her dread sire's moody eye. Silent and sore she trod the stony

path leading down to the shore, and when she came to the beach with

naught in view but the rocks and sea, she said with a bursting heart,

"O my father, is the shark to be my mother, and I to never see my

dear chief any more?"

"Hear the truth," cried Opunui. "Thy home for a time is indeed in the

sea, and the shark shall be thy mate, but he shall not harm thee. Thou

goest down where the sea god lives, and he shall tell thee that the

accursed chief of the bloody leap shall not carry away any daughter

of Lanai. When Kaaialii has sailed for Kohala then shall the chief

of Olowalu come and bring thee to earth again."

As the fierce sire spoke, he seized the hand of Kaala, and unheeding

her sobs and cries, led her along the rugged shore to a point eastward

of the bay, where the beating sea makes the rocky shore tremble beneath

the feet. Here was a boiling gulf, a fret and foam of the sea, a roar

of waters, and a mighty jet of brine and spray from a spouting cave

whose mouth lay deep beneath the battling tide.

See yon advancing billow! The south wind sends it surging along. It

rears its combing, whitening crest, and with mighty, swift-rushing

volume of angry green sea, it strikes the mouth of the cave; it drives

and packs the pent-up air within, and now the tightened wind rebounds,

and driving back the ramming sea, bursts forth with a roar as the

huge spout of sea leaps upward to the sky, and then comes curving

down in gentle silver spray.

The fearful child now clasped the knees of her savage sire. "Not there,

O father," she sobbed and wailed. "The sea snake (the _puhi_) has his

home in the cave, and he will bite and tear me, and ere I die, the

crawling crabs will creep over me and pick out my weeping eyes. Alas,

O father, better give me to the shark, and then my cry and moan will

not hurt thine ear."

Opunui clasped the slender girl with one sinewy arm, and with a

bound he leaped into the frothed and fretted pool below. Downward

with a dolphin's ease he moved, and with his free arm beating back

the brine, moved along the ocean bed into the sea cave's jagged jaws;

and then stemming with stiffened sinew the wind-driven tide, he swam

onward till he struck a sunless beach and then stood inside the cave,

whose mouth is beneath the sea.

Here was a broad, dry space with a lofty, salt-icicled roof. The

green, translucent sea, as it rolled back and forth at their feet,

gave to their brown faces a ghastly white glare. The scavenger crabs

scrambled away over the dank and dripping stones, and the loathsome

biting eel, slowly reached out its well-toothed, wide-gaping jaw to

tear the tender feet that roused it from its horrid lair, where the

dread sea god dwelt.

The poor hapless girl sank down upon this gloomy shore and cried,

clinging to the kanaka's knee: "O father, beat out my brains with

this jagged stone, and do not let the eel twine around my neck, and

trail with a loathsome, slimy, creeping crawl over my body before I

die. Oh! the crabs will pick and tear me before my breath is gone."

"Listen," said Opunui. "Thou shalt go back with me to the warm sunny

air. Thou shalt tread again the sweet-smelling flowery vale of Palawai,

and twine thy neck with wreaths of scented jessamine, if thou wilt

go with me to the house of the chief of Olowalu and there let thy

bloody lord behold thee wanton with thy love in another chief's arms."

"Never," shouted the lover of Kaaialii, "never will I meet any clasp

of love but that of my own chief. If I cannot lay my head again upon

his breast, I will lay it in death upon these cold stones. If his

arm shall never again draw me to his heart, then let the eel twine my

neck and let him tear away my cheeks rather than that another beside

my dear lord shall press my face."

"Then let the eel be thy mate," cried Opunui, as he roughly unclasped

the tender arms twined around his knees; "until the chief of Olowalu

comes to seize thee, and carry thee to his house in the hills of

Maui. Seek not to leave the cave. Thou knowest that with thy weak

arms, thou wilt tear thyself against the jagged rocks in trying to

swim through the swift flowing channel. Stay till I send for thee,

and live." Then dashing out into the foaming gulf with mighty buffeting

arms he soon reached the upper air.

And Kaaialii stood upon the bluff, looking up to the hillside path

by which his love had gone, long after her form was lost to view in

the interior vales. And after slight sleep upon his mat, and walking

by the shore that night, he came at dawn and climbed the bluff again

to watch his love come down the hill. And as he gazed he saw a leafy

skirt flutter in the wind, and his heart fluttered to clasp his little

girl; but as a curly brow drew near, his soul sank to see it was not

his love, but her friend Ua (rain) with some sad news upon her face.

With hot haste and eager asking eyes does the love-lorn chief meet the

maiden messenger, and cries, "Why does Kaala delay in the valley? Has

she twined wreaths for another's neck for me to break? Has a wild

hog torn her? Or has the anaana prayer of death struck her heart,

and does she lie cold on the sod of Mahana? Speak quickly, for thy

face kills me, O Ua!"

"Not thus, my lord," said the weeping girl, as the soft shower fell

from Ua's sweet eyes. "Thy love is not in the valley; and she has

not reached the hut of her mother Kalani. But kanakas saw from the

hills of Kalulu her father lead her through the forest of Kumoku;

since then our Kaala has not been seen, and I fear has met some fate

that is to thwart thy love."

"Kaala lost? The blood of my heart is gone!" He hears no more! The

fierce chief, hot with baffled passion, strikes madly at the air,

and dashes away, onward up the stony hill; and upward with his stout

young savage thews, he bounds along without halt or slack of speed

till he reaches the valley's rim, then rushes down its slopes.

He courses over its bright green plains. He sees in the dusty path some

prints that must be those of the dear feet he follows now. His heart

feels a fresh bound; he feels neither strain of limb nor scantness

of breath, and, searching as he runs, he descries before him in the

plain the deceitful sire alone.

"Opunui," he cries, "give me Kaala, or thy life!" The stout, gray

kanaka looks to see the face of flame and the outstretched arms,

and stops not to try the strength of his own limbs, or to stay for

any parley, but flies across the valley, along the very path by which

the fierce lover came; and with fear to spur him on, he keeps well

before his well blown foe.

But Kaaialii is now a god; he runs with new strung limbs, and presses

hard this fresh-footed runner of many a race. They are within two

spears' length of each other's grip upon the rim of the vale; and

hot with haste the one, and with fear the other, they dash along the

rugged path of Kealia, and rush downward to the sea. They bound o'er

the fearful path of clinkers. Their torn feet heed not the pointed

stones. The elder seeks the shelter of the taboo; and now, both

roused by the outcries of a crowd that swarm on the bluffs around,

they put forth their remaining strength and strive who shall gain

first the entrance to the sacred wall of refuge.

For this the hunted sire strains his fast failing nerve; and the

youth with a shout quickens his still tense limbs. He is within a

spear's length; he stretches out his arms. Ha, old man! he has thy

throat within his grip. But no, the greased neck slips the grasp;

the wretch leaps for his dear life, he gains the sacred wall, he

bounds inside, and the furious foe is stopped by the staves of priests.

The baffled chief lies prone in the dust, and curses the gods and

the sacred taboo. After a time he is led away to his hut by friends;

and then the soothing hands of Ua rub and knead the soreness out

of his limbs. And when she has set the calabash of poi before him

along with the relishing dry squid, and he has filled himself and

is strong again, he will not heed any entreaty of chief or friends;

not even the caressing lures of Ua, who loves him; but he says,

"I will go and seek Kaala; and if I find her not, I die."

Again the love-lorn chief seeks the inland. He shouts the name of

his lost love in the groves of Kumoku, and throughout the forest of

Mahana. Then he roams through the cloud-canopied valley of Palawai;

he searches among the wooded canyons of Kalulu, and he wakes the

echoes with the name of Kaala in the gorge of the great ravine

of Maunalei. He follows this high walled barranca over its richly

flowered and shaded floor; and also along by the winding stream,

until he reaches its source, an abrupt wall of stone, one hundred feet

high, and forming the head of the ravine. From the face of this steep,

towering rock, there exudes a sweet, clear rain, a thousand trickling

rills of rock-filtered water leaping from points of fern and moss,

and filling up an ice cold pool below, at which our weary chief gladly

slaked his thirst. The hero now clambers the steep walls of the gorge,

impassable to the steps of men in these days; but he climbs with toes

thrust in crannies, or resting on short juts and points of rock; and

he pulls himself upward by grasping at out-cropping bushes and strong

tufts of fern. And thus with stout sinew and bold nerve the fearless

spearman reaches the upper land from whence he had, in his day of

devouring rage, hurled and driven headlong the panic-stricken foe.

And now he runs on over the lands of Paomai, through the wooded dells

of the gorge of Kaiholena, and onward across Kaunolu and Kalulu,

until he reaches the head spring of sacred Kealia called Waiakekua;

and here he gathered bananas and ohelo berries; and as he stayed his

hunger with the pleasant wild fruit, he beheld a white-haired priest

of Kaunolu, bearing a calabash of water.

The aged priest feared the stalwart chief, because he was not upon his

own sacred ground, under the safe wing of the taboo; and therefore

he bowed low and clasped the stout knees, and offered the water to

slake the thirst of the sorrowing chief. But Kaaialii cried out:

"I thirst not for water, but for the sight of my love. Tell me where

she is hid, and I will bring thee hogs and men for the gods." And to

this the glad priest replied:

"Son of the stout spear! I know thou seekest the sweet Flower of

Palawai; and no man but her sire has seen her resting-place; but I

know that thou seekest in vain in the groves, and in the ravines,

and in this mountain. Opunui is a great diver and has his dens in the

sea. He leaves the shore when no one follows, and he sleeps with the

fish gods, and thou wilt find thy love in some cave of the rock-bound

southern shore."

The chief quickly turns his face again seaward. He descends the deep

shaded pathway of the ravine of Kaunolu. He winds his way through

shaded thickets of ohia, sandalwood, the yellow mamani, the shrub

violet, and the fragrant na-u. He halted not as he reached the plain

of Palawai, though the ever overhanging canopy of cloud that shades

this valley of the mountain cooled his weary feet. These upper

lands were still, and no voice was heard by the pili grass huts,

and the maika balls and the wickets of the bowling alley of Palawai

stood untouched, because all the people were with the great chief by

the shore of Kaunolu; and Kaaialii thought that he trod the flowery

pathway of the still valley alone.

But there was one who, in soothing his strained limbs after he fell by

the gateway of the temple, had planted strong love in her own heart;

and she, Ua, with her lithe young limbs, had followed this sorrowing

lord through all his weary tramp, even through the gorges, and over

the ramparts of the hills, and she was near the sad, wayworn chief

when he reached the southern shore.

The weary hero only stayed his steps when he reached the brow of the

great bluff of Palikaholo. The sea broke many hundred feet below where

he stood. The gulls and screaming boatswain birds sailed in mid-air

between his perch and the green waves. He looked up the coast to his

right, and saw the lofty, wondrous sea columns of Honopu. He looked

to the left, and beheld the crags of Kalulu, but nowhere could he

see any sign which should tell him where his love was hid away.

His strong, wild nature was touched by the distant sob and moan

of the surf. It sang a song for his sad, savage soul. It roused up

before his eyes other eyes, and lips, and cheeks, and clasps of tender

arms. His own sinewy ones he now stretched out wildly in the mocking

air. He groaned, and sobbed, and beat his breast as he cried out,

"Kaala! O Kaala! Where art thou? Dost thou sleep with the fish gods,

or must I go to join thee in the great shark's maw?"

As the sad hero thought of this dread devourer of many a tender

child of the isles, he hid his face with his hands,--looking with

self-torture upon the image of his soft young love, crunched, bloody

and shrieking, in the jaws of the horrid god of the Hawaiian seas;

and as he thought and waked up in his heart the memories of his love,

he felt that he must seek her even in her gory grave in the sea.

Then he looks forth again, and as he gazes down by the shore his

eyes rest upon the spray of the blowing cave near Kaumalapau. It

leaps high with the swell which the south wind sends. The white mist

gleams in the sun. Shifting forms and shades are seen in the varied

play of the up-leaping cloud. And as with fevered soul he glances,

he sees a form spring up in the ever bounding spray.

He sees with his burning eyes the lines of the sweet form that twines

with tender touch around his soul. He sees the waving hair, that

mingles on his neck with his own swart curls. He sees,--he thinks he

sees,--in the leap and play of sun-tinted spray, his love, his lost

Kaala; and with hot foot he rushes downward to the shore.

He stands upon the point of rock whence Opunui sprang. He feels the

throb beneath his feet of the beating, bounding tide. He sees the fret

and foam of the surging gulf below the leaping spray, and is wetted

by the shore-driven mist. He sees all of this wild, working water,

but he does not see Kaala.

And yet he peers into this mad surf for her he seeks. The form that

he has seen still leads him on. He will brave the sea god's wrath;

and he fain would cool his brow of flame in the briny bath. He thinks

he hears a voice sounding down within his soul; and cries, "Where art

thou, O Kaala? I come, I come!" And as he cries, he springs into the

white, foaming surge of this ever fretted sea.

And one was near as the hero sprang; even Ua, with the clustering

curls. She loved the chief; she did hope that when his steps were

stayed by the sea, and he had mingled his moan with the wild waters'

wail, that he would turn once more to the inland groves, where she

would twine him wreaths, and soothe his limbs, and rest his head upon

her knees; but he has leaped for death, he comes up no more. And

Ua wailed for Kaaialii; and as the chief rose no more from out the

lashed and lathered sea, she cried out, "_Auwe ka make_!" (Alas,

he is dead!) And thus wailing and crying out, and tearing her hair,

she ran back over the bluffs, and down the shore to the tabooed ground

of Kealia, and wailing ever, flung herself at the feet of Kamehameha.

The King was grieved to hear from Ua of the loss of his young

chief. But the priest Papalua standing near, said: "O Chief of Heaven,

and of all the isles; there where Kaaialii has leaped is the sea den

of Opunui, and as thy brave spearman can follow the turtle to his

deep sea nest, he will see the mouth of the cave, and in it, I think,

he will find his lost love, Kaala, the flower of Palawai."

At this Ua roused up. She called to her brother Keawe, and laying

hold on him, pulled him toward the shore, crying out, "To thy canoe,

quick! I will help thee to paddle to Kaumalapau." For thus she could

reach the cave sooner than by the way of the bluffs. And the great

chief also following, sprang into his swiftest canoe, and helping

as was his wont, plunged his blade deep into the swelling tide,

and bounded along by the frowning shore of Kumoku.

When Kaaialii plunged beneath the surging waters, he became at once

the searching diver of the Hawaiian seas; and as his keen eye peered

throughout the depths, he saw the portals of the ocean cave into

which poured the charging main. He then, stemming with easy play of

his well-knit limbs the suck and rush of the sea, shot through the

current of the gorge; and soon stood up upon the sunless strand.

At first he saw not, but his ears took in at once a sad and piteous

moan,--a sweet, sad moan for his hungry ear, of the voice of her he

sought. And there upon the cold, dank, dismal floor he could dimly

see his bleeding, dying love. Quickly clasping and soothing her, he

lifted her up to bear her to the upper air; but the moans of his poor

weak Kaala told him she would be strangled in passing through the sea.

And as he sat down, and held her in his arms, she feebly spoke: "O my

chief, I can die now! I feared that the fish gods would take me, and

I should never see thee more. The eel bit me, and the crabs crawled

over me, and when I dared the sea to go and seek thee, my weak arms

could not fight the tide; I was torn against the jaws of the cave,

and this and the fear of the gods have so hurt me, that I must die."

"Not so, my love," said the sad and tearful chief. "I am with thee

now. I give thee the warmth of my heart. Feel my life in thine. Live,

O my Kaala, for me. Come, rest and be calm, and when thou canst hold

thy breath I will take thee to the sweet air again, and to thy valley,

where thou shalt twine wreaths for me." And thus with fond words and

caresses he sought to soothe his love.

But the poor girl still bled as she moaned; and with fainter voice

she said, "No, my chief, I shall never twine a wreath, but only my

arms once more around thy neck." And feebly clasping him, she said

in sad, sobbing, fainting tones, "Aloha, my sweet lord! Lay me among

the flowers by Waiakeakua, and do not slay my father."

Then, breathing moans and murmurs of love, she lay for a time weak

and fainting upon her lover's breast, with her arms drooping by her

side. But all at once she clasps his neck, and with cheek to cheek,

she clings, she moans, she gasps her last throbs of love and passes

away; and her poor torn corse lies limp within the arms of the

love-lorn chief.

As he cries out in his woe there are other voices in the cave. First

he hears the voice of Ua speaking to him in soothing tones as she

stoops to the body of her friend; and then in a little while he hears

the voice of his great leader calling to him and bidding him stay

his grief. "O King of all the Seas," said Kaaialii, standing up and

leaving Kaala to the arms of Ua, "I have lost the flower thou gavest

me; it is broken and dead, and I have no more joy in life."

"What!" said Kamehameha, "art thou a chief, and wouldst cast away life

for a girl? Here is Ua, who loves thee; she is young and tender like

Kaala. Thou shalt have her, and more, if thou dost want. Thou shalt

have, besides the land I gave thee in Kohala, all that thou shalt

ask of Lanai. Its great valley of Palawai shall be thine; and thou

shalt watch my fishing grounds of Kaunolu, and be the Lord of Lanai."

"Hear, O King," said Kaaialii. "I gave to Kaala more of my life in

loving her, and of my strength in seeking for her than ever I gave

for thee in battle. I gave to her more of love than I ever gave to my

mother, and more of my thought than I ever gave to my own life. She

was my very breath, and my life, and how shall I live without her? Her

face, since first I saw her, has been ever before me; and her warm

breasts were my joy and repose; and now that they are cold to me, I

must go where her voice and love have gone. If I shut my eyes now I see

her best; therefore let me shut my eyes forevermore." And as he spoke,

he stooped to clasp his love, said a tender word of adieu to Ua, and

then with a swift, strong blow, crushed in brow and brain with a stone.

The dead chief lay by the side of his love, and Ua wailed over

both. Then the King ordered that the two lovers should lie side by

side on a ledge of the cave; and that they should be wrapped in tapas

which should be brought down through the sea in tight bamboos. Then

there was great wailing for the chief and the maid who lay in the cave;

and thus wailed Ua:

"Where art thou, O brave chief?

Where art thou, O fond girl?

Will ye sleep by the sound of the sea?

And will ye dream of the gods of the deep?

O sire, where now is thy child?

O mother, where now is thy son?

The lands of Kohala shall mourn,

And valleys of Lanai shall lament.

The spear of the chief shall rot in the cave,

And the tapa of the maid is left undone.

The wreaths for his neck, they shall fade,

They shall fade away on the hills.

O Kaaialii, who shall spear the uku?

O Kaala, who shall gather the na-u?

Have ye gone to the shores of Kahiki,

To the land of our father, Wakea?

Will ye feed on the moss of the cave,

And the limpets of the surf-beaten shore?

O chief, O friend, I would feed ye,

O chief, O friend, I would rest ye.

Ye loved, like the sun and the flower,

Ye lived like the fish and the wave,

And now like the seeds in a shell,

Ye sleep in your cave by the sea.

Alas! O chief, alas! O my friend,

Will ye sleep in the cave evermore?"

And thus Ua wailed, and then was borne away by her brother to the

sorrowful shore of Kaunolu, where there was loud wailing for the

chief and the maid; and many were the chants of lamentation for the

two lovers, who sleep side by side in the Spouting Cave of Kaala.

XVI

THE TOMB OF PUUPEHE

A LEGEND OF LANAI

_From "The Hawaiian Gazette"_

One of the interesting localities of tradition, famed in Hawaiian song

and story of ancient days, is situate at the southwestern point of

the island of Lanai, and known as the _Kupapau o Puupehe_, or Tomb of

Puupehe. At the point indicated, on the leeward coast of the island,

may be seen a huge block of red lava about eighty feet high and some

sixty feet in diameter, standing out in the sea, and detached from the

mainland some fifty fathoms, around which centres the following legend.

Observed from the overhanging bluff that overlooks Puupehe, upon the

summit of this block or elevated islet, would be noticed a small

inclosure formed by a low stone wall. This is said to be the last

resting-place of a Hawaiian girl whose body was buried there by her

lover Makakehau, a warrior of Lanai.

Puupehe was the daughter of Uaua, a petty chief, one of the dependents

of the king of Maui, and she was won by young Makakehau as the joint

prize of love and war. These two are described in the _Kanikau_, or

Lamentation, of Puupehe, as mutually captive, the one to the other. The

maiden was a sweet flower of Hawaiian beauty. Her glossy brown,

spotless body "shone like the clear sun rising out of Haleakala." Her

flowing, curly hair, bound by a wreath of lehua blossoms, streamed

forth as she ran "like the surf crests scudding before the wind." And

the starry eyes of the beautiful daughter of Uaua blinded the young

warrior, so that he was called Makakehau, or Misty Eyes.

The Hawaiian brave feared that the comeliness of his dear captive

would cause her to be coveted by the chiefs of the land. His soul

yearned to keep her all to himself. He said: "Let us go to the clear

waters of Kalulu. There we will fish together for the kala and the

aku, and there I will spear the turtle. I will hide you, my beloved,

forever in the cave of Malauea. Or, we will dwell together in the

great ravine of Palawai, where we will eat the young of the uwau bird,

and we will bake them in ki leaf with the sweet pala fern root. The

ohelo berries of the mountains will refresh my love. We will drink

of the cool waters of Maunalei. I will thatch a hut in the thicket of

Kaohai for our resting-place, and we shall love on till the stars die.

The meles tell of their love in the Pulou ravine, where they caught

the bright iiwi birds, and the scarlet apapani. Ah, what sweet joys

in the banana groves of Waiakeakua, where the lovers saw naught so

beautiful as themselves! But the "misty eyes" were soon to be made

dim by weeping, and dimmer, till the drowning brine should close

them forevermore.

Makakehau left his love one day in the cave of Malauea while he went

to the mountain spring to fill the water-gourds with sweet water. This

cavern yawns at the base of the overhanging bluff that overtops the

rock of Puupehe. The sea surges far within, but there is an inner

space which the expert swimmer can reach, and where Puupehe had often

rested and baked the _honu>_ or sea turtle, for her absent lover.

This was the season for the _kona_, the terrific storm that comes up

from the equator and hurls the ocean in increased volume upon the

southern shores of the Hawaiian Islands. Makakehau beheld from the

rock springs of Pulou the vanguard of a great kona,--scuds of rain

and thick mist, rushing with a howling wind, across the valley of

Palawai. He knew the storm would fill the cave with the sea and kill

his love. He flung aside his calabashes of water and ran down the

steep, then across the great valley and beyond its rim he rushed,

through the bufferings of the storm, with an agonized heart, down

the hill slope to the shore.

The sea was up indeed. The yeasty foam of mad surging waves whitened

the shore. The thundering buffet of the charging billows chorused with

the howl of the tempest. Ah! where should Misty Eyes find his love

in this blinding storm? A rushing mountain of sea filled the mouth

of Malauea, and the pent-up air hurled back the invading torrent

with bubbling roar, blowing forth great streams of spray. This was

a war of matter, a battle of the elements to thrill with pleasure

the hearts of strong men. But with one's love in the seething gulf

of the whirlpool, what would be to him the sublime cataract? What,

to see amid the boiling foam the upturned face, and the dear, tender

body of one's own and only poor dear love, all mangled? _You_ might

agonize on the brink; but Makakehau sprang into the dreadful pool

and snatched his murdered bride from the jaws of an ocean grave.

The next day, fishermen heard the lamentation of Makakehau, and the

women of the valley came down and wailed over Puupehe. They wrapped

her in bright new kapa. They placed upon her garlands of the fragrant

_na-u_ (gardenia). They prepared her for burial, and were about to

place her in the burial ground of Manele, but Makakehau prayed that

he might be left alone one night more with his lost love. And he was

left as he desired.

The next day no corpse nor weeping lover were to be found, till after

some search Makakehau was seen at work piling up stones on the top of

the lone sea tower. The wondering people of Lanai looked on from the

neighboring bluff, and some sailed around the base of the columnar

rock in their canoes, still wondering, because they could see no

way for him to ascend, for every face of the rock is perpendicular

or overhanging. The old belief was, that some _akua_, _kanekoa_, or

_keawe-manhili_ (deities), came at the cry of Makakehau and helped

him with the dead girl to the top.

When Makakehau had finished his labors of placing his lost love in

her grave and placed the last stone upon it, he stretched out his

arms and wailed for Puupehe, thus:

"Where are you O Puupehe?

Are you in the cave of Malauea?

Shall I bring you sweet water,

The water of the mountain?

Shall I bring the uwau,

The pala, and the ohelo?

Are you baking the honu

And the red sweet hala?

Shall I pound the kalo of Maui?

Shall we dip in the gourd together?

The bird and the fish are bitter,

And the mountain water is sour.

I shall drink it no more;

I shall drink with Aipuhi,

The great shark of Manele."

Ceasing his sad wail, Makakehau leaped from the rock into the boiling

surge at its base, where his body was crushed in the breakers. The

people who beheld the sad scene secured the mangled corpse and buried

it with respect in the kupapau of Manele.

XVII

AI KANAKA

A LEGEND OF MOLOKAI

_Rev. A. O. Forbes_

On the leeward side of the island of Molokai, a little to the east of

Kaluaaha lies the beautiful valley of Mapulehu, at the mouth of which

is located the _heiau_, or temple, of Iliiliopae, which was erected

by direction of Ku-pa, the Moi, to look directly out upon the harbor

of Ai-Kanaka, now known as Pukoo. At the time of its construction,

centuries ago, Kupa was the _Moi_, or sovereign, of the district

embracing the _Ahupuaas_, or land divisions, of Mapulehu and Kaluaaha,

and he had his residence in this heiau which was built by him and

famed as the largest throughout the whole Hawaiian group.,

Kupa had a priest named Kamalo, who resided at Kaluaaha. This priest

had two boys, embodiments of mischief, who one day while the King

was absent on a fishing expedition, took the opportunity to visit his

house at the heiau. Finding there the _pahu kaeke_ [8] belonging to

the temple, they commenced drumming on it.

Some evil-minded persons heard Kamalo's boys drumming on the Kaeke

and immediately went and told Kupa that the priest's children were

reviling him in the grossest manner on his own drum. This so enraged

the King that he ordered his servants to put them to death. Forthwith

they were seized and murdered; whereupon Kamalo, their father, set

about to secure revenge on the King.

Taking with him a black pig as a present, he started forth to enlist

the sympathy and services of the celebrated seer, or wizard, Lanikaula,

living some twelve miles distant at the eastern end of Molokai. On the

way thither, at the village of Honouli, Kamalo met a man the lower

half of whose body had been bitten off by a shark, and who promised

to avenge him provided he would slay some man and bring him the lower

half of his body to replace his own. But Kamalo, putting no credence

in such an offer, pressed on to the sacred grove of Lanikaula. Upon

arrival there Lanikaula listened to his grievances but could do

nothing for him. He directed him, however, to another prophet, named

Kaneakama, at the west end of the island, forty miles distant. Poor

Kamalo picked up his pig and travelled back again, past his own

home, down the coast to Palaau. Meeting with Kaneakama the prophet

directed him to the heiau of Puukahi, at the foot of the _pali_, or

precipice, of Kalaupapa, on the windward side of the island, where

he would find the priest Kahiwakaapuu, who was a _kahu_, or steward,

of Kauhuhu, the shark god. Once more the poor man shouldered his pig,

wended his way up the long ascent of the hills of Kalae to the pali of

Kalaupapa, descending which he presented himself before Kahiwakaapuu,

and pleaded his cause. He was again directed to go still farther along

the windward side of the island till he should come to the _Ana puhi_

(eel's cave), a singular cavern at sea level in the bold cliffs between

the valleys of Waikolu and Pelekunu, where Kauhuhu, the shark god,

dwelt, and to him he must apply. Upon this away went Kamalo and his

pig. Arriving at the cave, he found there Waka and Moo, two kahus

of the shark god. "Keep off! Keep off!" they shouted. "This place is

kapu. No man can enter here, on penalty of death."

"Death or life," answered he, "it is all the same to me if I can

only gain my revenge for my poor boys who have been killed." He then

related his story, and his wanderings, adding that he had come to

make his appeal to Kauhuhu and cared not for his own life.

"Well," said they to him, "Kauhuhu is away now fishing, but if he

finds you here when he returns, our lives as well as yours will pay

the forfeit. However, we will see what we can do to help you. We

must hide you hereabouts, somewhere, and when he returns trust to

circumstances to accomplish your purpose."

But they could find no place to hide him where he would be secure from

the search of the god, except the rubbish pile where the offal and

scrapings of taro were thrown. They therefore thrust him and his pig

into the rubbish heap and covered them over with the taro peelings,

enjoining him to keep perfectly still, and watch till he should see

eight heavy breakers roll in successively from the sea. He then would

know that Kauhuhu was returning from his fishing expedition.

Accordingly, after waiting a while, the eight heavy rollers appeared,

breaking successively against the rocks; and sure enough, as the eighth

dissolved into foam, the great shark god came ashore. Immediately

assuming human form, he began snuffing about the place, and addressing

Waka and Moo, his kahus, said to them, "There is a man here." They

strenuously denied the charge and protested against the possibility

of their allowing such a desecration of the premises. But he was

not satisfied. He insisted that there was a man somewhere about,

saying, "I smell him, and if I find him you are dead men; if not,

you escape." He examined the premises over and over again, never

suspecting the rubbish heap, and was about giving up the search when,

unfortunately, Kamalo's pig sent forth a squeal which revealed the

poor fellow's hiding-place.

Now came the dread moment. The enraged Kauhuhu seized Kamalo with

both hands and, lifting him up with the intention of swallowing him,

according to his shark instinct, had already inserted the victim's

head and shoulders into his mouth before he could speak.

"O Kauhuhu, before you eat me, hear my petition; then do as you like."

"Well for you that you spoke as you did," answered Kauhuhu, setting

him down again on the ground. "Now, what have you to say? Be quick

about it."

Kamalo then rehearsed his grievances and his travels in search for

revenge, and presented his pig to the god.

Compassion arose in the breast of Kauhuhu, and he said, "Had you come

for any other purpose I would have eaten you, but as your cause is

a sacred one I espouse it, and will revenge it on Kupa the King. You

must, however, do all that I tell you. Return to the heiau of Puukahi,

at the foot of the pali, and take the priest Kahiwakaapuu on your

back, and carry him up the pali over to the other side of the island,

all the way to your home at Kaluaaha. Erect a sacred fence all around

your dwelling-place, and surround it with the sacred flags of white

kapa. Collect black hogs by the _lau_ (four hundred), red fish by the

lau, white fowls by the lau, and bide my coming. Wait and watch till

you see a small cloud the size of a man's hand arise, white as snow,

over the island of Lanai. That cloud will enlarge as it makes its way

across the channel against the wind until it rests on the mountain

peaks of Molokai back of Mapulehu Valley. Then a rainbow will span

the valley from side to side, whereby you will know that I am there,

and that your time of revenge has come. Go now, and remember that

you are the only man who ever ventured into the sacred precincts of

the great Kauhuhu and returned alive."

Kamalo returned with a joyful heart and performed all that had

been commanded him. He built the sacred fence around his dwelling;

surrounded the inclosure with sacred flags of white kapa; gathered

together black hogs, red fish, and white fowls, each by the lau, as

directed, with other articles sacred to the gods, such as cocoanuts

and white kapas, and then sat himself down to watch for the promised

signs of his revenge. Day after day passed until they multiplied into

weeks, and the weeks began to run into months.

Finally, one day, the promised sign appeared. The snow white speck of

cloud, no bigger than a man's hand, arose over the mountains of Lanai

and made its way across the stormy channel in the face of the opposing

gale, increasing as it came, until it settled in a majestic mass on

the mountains at the head of Mapulehu Valley. Then appeared a splendid

rainbow, proudly overarching the valley, its ends resting on the high

lands on either side. The wind began to blow; the rain began to pour,

and shortly a furious storm came down the doomed valley, filling its

bed from side to side with a mad rushing torrent, which, sweeping

everything before it, spread out upon the belt of lowlands at the

mouth of the valley, overwhelming Kupa and all his people in one common

ruin, and washing them all into the sea, where they were devoured by

the sharks. All were destroyed except Kamalo and his family, who were

safe within their sacred inclosure, which the flood dared not touch,

though it spread terror and ruin on every side of them. Wherefore the

harbor of Pukoo, where this terrible event occurred, was long known

as _Ai Kanaka_ (man eater), and it has passed into a proverb among

the inhabitants of that region that "when the rainbow spans Mapulehu

Valley, then look out for the _Waiakoloa_,"--a furious storm of rain

and wind which sometimes comes suddenly down that valley.

XVIII

KALIUWAA

SCENE OF THE DEMIGOD KAMAPUAA'S ESCAPE FROM OLOPANA

_From "The Hawaiian Spectator"_

A few miles east of Laie, on the windward side of the island of Oahu,

are situated the valley and falls of Kaliuwaa, noted as one of the

most beautiful and romantic spots of the island, and famed in tradition

as possessing more than local interest.

The valley runs back some two miles, terminating abruptly at the

foot of the precipitous chain of mountains which runs nearly the

whole length of the windward side of Oahu, except for a narrow

gorge which affords a channel for a fine brook that descends with

considerable regularity to a level with the sea. Leaving his horse

at the termination of the valley and entering this narrow pass of not

over fifty or sixty feet in width, the traveller winds his way along,

crossing and recrossing the stream several times, till he seems to be

entering into the very mountain. The walls on each side are of solid

rock, from two hundred to three hundred, and in some places four

hundred feet high, directly overhead, leaving but a narrow strip of

sky visible.

Following up the stream for about a quarter of a mile, one's attention

is directed by the guide to a curiosity called by the natives a _waa_

(canoe). Turning to the right, one follows up a dry channel of what

once must have been a considerable stream, to the distance of fifty

yards from the present stream. Here one is stopped by a wall of solid

rock rising perpendicularly before one to the height of some two

hundred feet, and down which the whole stream must have descended in a

beautiful fall. This perpendicular wall is worn in by the former action

of the water in the shape of a gouge, and in the most perfect manner;

and as one looks upon it in all its grandeur, but without the presence

of the cause by which it was formed, he can scarcely divest his mind

of the impression that he is gazing upon some stupendous work of art.

Returning to the present brook, we again pursued our way toward the

fall, but had not advanced far before we arrived at another, on the

left hand side of the brook, similar in many respects, but much larger

and higher than the one above mentioned. The forming agent cannot be

mistaken, when a careful survey is made of either of these stupendous

perpendicular troughs. The span is considerably wider at the bottom

than at the top, this result being produced by the spreading of the

sheet of water as it was precipitated from the dizzy height above. The

breadth of this one is about twenty feet at the bottom, and its depth

about fourteen feet. But its depth and span gradually diminish from

the bottom to the top, and the rock is worn as smooth as if chiselled

by the hand of an artist. Moss and small plants have sprung out from

the little soil that has accumulated in the crevices, but not enough

to conceal the rock from observation. It would be an object worth the

toil to discover what has turned the stream from its original channel.

Leaving this singular curiosity, we pursued our way a few yards

farther, when we arrived at the fall. This is from eighty to one

hundred feet high, and the water is compressed into a very narrow

space just where it breaks forth from the rock above. It is quite

a pretty sheet of water when the stream is high. We learned from

the natives that there are two falls above this, both of which are

shut out from the view from below, by a sudden turn in the course

of the stream. The perpendicular height of each is said to be much

greater than of the one we saw. The upper one is visible from the

road on the seashore, which is more than two miles distant, and,

judging from information obtained, must be between two and three

hundred feet high. The impossibility of climbing the perpendicular

banks from below deprived us of the pleasure of farther ascending the

stream toward its source. This can be done only by commencing at the

plain and following up one of the lateral ridges. This would itself

be a laborious and fatiguing task, as the way would be obstructed by

a thick growth of trees and tangled underbrush.

The path leading to this fall is full of interest to any one who loves

to study nature. From where we leave our horses at the head of the

valley and commence entering the mountain, every step presents new

and peculiar beauties. The most luxuriant verdure clothes the ground,

and in some places the beautifully burnished leaves of the ohia, or

native apple-tree (_Eugenia malaccensis_), almost exclude the few

rays of light that find their way down into this secluded nook. A

little farther on, and the graceful bamboo sends up its slender

stalk to a great height, mingling its dark, glossy foliage with the

silvery leaves of the kukui, or candle-nut (_Aleurites moluccana_);

these together form a striking contrast to the black walls which rise

in such sullen grandeur on each side.

Nor is the beauty of the spot confined to the luxuriant verdure,

or the stupendous walls and beetling crags. The stream itself is

beautiful. From the basin at the falls to the lowest point at which we

observed it, every succeeding step presents a delightful change. Here,

its partially confined waters burst forth with considerable force,

and struggle on among the opposing rocks for some distance; there,

collected in a little basin, its limpid waves, pure as the drops of

dew from the womb of the morning, circle round in ceaseless eddies,

until they get within the influence of the downward current, when

away they whirl, with a gurgling, happy sound, as if joyous at being

released from their temporary confinement. Again, an aged kukui,

whose trunk is white with the moss of accumulated years, throws his

broad boughs far over the stream that nourishes his vigorous roots,

casting a meridian shadow upon the surface of the water, which is

reflected back with singular distinctness from its mirrored bosom.

To every other gratification must be added the incomparable fragrance

of the fresh wood, in perpetual life and vigor, which presents a

freshness truly grateful to the senses. But it is in vain to think of

conveying an adequate idea of a scene where the sublime is mingled

with the beautiful, and the bold and striking with the delicate and

sensitive; where every sense is gratified, the mind calmed, and the

whole soul delighted.

Famed as this spot is for its natural scenic attractions, intimated

in the foregoing description, its claim of distinction with Hawaiians

is indelibly fixed by the traditions of ancient times, the narration

of which, at this point, will assist the reader to understand the

character of the native mind and throw some light also on the history

of the Hawaiians.

Tradition in this locality deals largely with Kamapuaa, the famous

demigod whose exploits figure prominently in the legends of the entire

group. Summarized, the story is about as follows:

Kamapuaa, the fabulous being referred to, seems, according to the

tradition, to have possessed the power of transforming himself into

a hog, in which capacity he committed all manner of depredations upon

the possessions of his neighbors. He having stolen some fowls belonging

to Olopana, who was the King of Oahu, the latter, who was then living

at Kaneohe, sent some of his men to secure the thief. They succeeded

in capturing him, and having tied him fast with cords, were bearing

him in triumph to the King, when, thinking they had carried the joke

far enough, he burst the bands with which he was bound, and killed

all the men except one, whom he permitted to convey the tidings to

the King. This defeat so enraged the monarch that he determined to go

in person with all his force, and either destroy his enemy, or drive

him from his dominions. He accordingly, despising ease inglorious,

Waked up, with sound of conch and trumpet shell,

The well-tried warriors of his native dell,

at whose head he sought his waiting enemy. Success attending the King's

attack, his foe was driven from the field with great loss, and betook

himself to the gorge of Kaliuwaa, which leads to the falls. Here the

King thought he had him safe; and one would think so too, to look

at the immense precipices that rise on each side, and the falls in

front. But the sequel will show that he had a slippery fellow to deal

with, at least when he chose to assume the character of a swine; for,

being pushed to the upper end of the gorge near the falls, and seeing

no other way of escape, he suddenly transformed himself into a hog,

and, rearing upon his hind legs and leaning his back against the

perpendicular precipice, thus afforded a very comfortable ladder

upon which the remnant of the army ascended and made their escape

from the vengeance of the King. Possessing such powers, it is easy to

see how he could follow the example of his soldiers and make his own

escape. The smooth channels before described are said to have been

made by him on these occasions; for he was more than once caught in

the same predicament. Old natives still believe that they are the

prints of his back; and they account for a very natural phenomenon,

by bringing to their aid this most natural and foolish superstition.

Many objects in the neighborhood are identified with this remarkable

personage, such as a large rock to which he was tied, a wide place

in the brook where he used to drink, and a number of trees he is

said to have planted. Many other things respecting him are current,

but as they do not relate to the matter in hand, it will perhaps

suffice to say, in conclusion, that tradition further asserts that

Kamapuaa conquered the volcano, when Pele its goddess became his wife,

and that they afterward lived together in harmony. That is the reason

why there are no more islands formed, or very extensive eruptions in

these later days, as boiling lava was the most potent weapon she used

in fighting her enemies, throwing out such quantities as greatly to

increase the size of the islands, and even to form new ones.

Visitors to the falls, even to this day, meet with evidences of the

superstitious awe in which the locality is held by the natives. A

party who recently visited the spot state that when they reached

the falls they were instructed to make an offering to the presiding

goddess. This was done in true Hawaiian style; they built a tiny pile

of stones on one or two large leaves, and so made themselves safe

from falling stones, which otherwise would assuredly have struck them.

XIX

BATTLE OF THE OWLS

_Jos. M. Poepoe_

The following is a fair specimen of the animal myths current in

ancient Hawaii, and illustrates the place held by the owl in Hawaiian

mythology.

There lived a man named Kapoi, at Kahehuna, in Honolulu, who went one

day to Kewalo to get some thatching for his house. On his way back he

found some owl's eggs, which he gathered together and brought home

with him. In the evening he wrapped them in ti leaves and was about

to roast them in hot ashes, when an owl perched on the fence which

surrounded his house and called out to him, "O Kapoi, give me my eggs!"

Kapoi asked the owl, "How many eggs had you?"

"Seven eggs," replied the owl.

Kapoi then said, "Well, I wish to roast these eggs for my supper."

The owl asked the second time for its eggs, and was answered by Kapoi

in the same manner. Then said the owl, "O heartless Kapoi! why don't

you take pity on me? Give me my eggs."

Kapoi then told the owl to come and take them.

The owl, having got the eggs, told Kapoi to build up a _heiau_, or

temple, and instructed him to make an altar and call the temple by

the name of Manua. Kapoi built the temple as directed; set kapu days

for its dedication, and placed the customary sacrifice on the altar.

News spread to the hearing of Kakuihewa, who was then King of Oahu,

living at the time at Waikiki, that a certain man had kapued certain

days for his heiau, and had already dedicated it. This King had made

a law that whoever among his people should erect a heiau and kapu the

same before the King had his temple kapued, that man should pay the

penalty of death. Kapoi was thereupon seized, by the King's orders,

and led to the heiau of Kupalaha, at Waikiki.

That same day, the owl that had told Kapoi to erect a temple gathered

all the owls from Lanai, Maui, Molokai, and Hawaii to one place at

Kalapueo. [9] All those from the Koolau districts were assembled at

Kanoniakapueo, [10] and those from Kauai and Niihau at Pueohulunui,

near Moanalua.

It was decided by the King that Kapoi should be put to death on

the day of Kane. [11] When that day came, at daybreak the owls left

their places of rendezvous and covered the whole sky over Honolulu;

and as the King's servants seized Kapoi to put him to death, the

owls flew at them, pecking them with their beaks and scratching

them with their claws. Then and there was fought the battle between

Kakuihewa's people and the owls. At last the owls conquered, and

Kapoi was released, the King acknowledging that his _Akua_ (god)

was a powerful one. From that time the owl has been recognized as

one of the many deities venerated by the Hawaiian people.

XX

THIS LAND IS THE SEA'S

TRADITIONAL ACCOUNT OF AN ANCIENT HAWAIIAN PROPHECY

_Translated from Moke Manu by Thos. G. Thrum_

It is stated in the history of Kaopulupulu that he was famed among

the kahunas of the island of Oahu for his power and wisdom in the

exercise of his profession, and was known throughout the land as

a leader among the priests. His place of residence was at Waimea,

between Koolauloa and Waialua, Oahu. There he married, and there was

born to him a son whom he named Kahulupue, and whom he instructed

during his youth in all priestly vocations.

In after years when Kumahana, brother of Kahahana of Maui, became

the governing chief (_alii aimoku_) of Oahu, Kahulupue was chosen by

him as his priest. This chief did evil unto his subjects, seizing

their property and beheading and maiming many with the _leiomano_

(shark's tooth weapon) and _pahoa_ (dagger), without provocation, so

that he became a reproach to his people. From such treatment Kahulupue

endeavored to dissuade him, assuring him that such a course would

fail to win their support and obedience, whereas the supplying of

food and fish, with covering for the body, and malos, would insure

their affectionate regard. The day of the people was near, for the

time of conflict was approaching when he would meet the enemy. But

these counsels of Kahulupue were disregarded, so he returned to his

father at Waimea.

Not long thereafter this chief Kumahana was cast out and rejected

by the lesser chiefs and people, and under cover of night he escaped

by canoe to Molokai, where he was ignored and became lost to further

history in consequence of his wrong-doings.

When Kahekili, King of Maui, heard of the stealthy flight of the

governing chief of Oahu, he placed the young prince Kahahana, his

foster-son, as ruler over Oahu in the place of his deposed relative,

Kumahana. This occurred about the year 1773, and Kahahana took with

him as his intimate friend and companion one Alapai. Kahahana chose

as his place of residence the shade of the kou and cocoanut trees

of Ulukou, Waikiki, where also gathered together the chiefs of the

island to discuss and consider questions of state.

The new ruler being of fine and stalwart form and handsome appearance,

the chiefs and common people maintained that his fame in this

respect induced a celebrated chieftainess of Kauai, named Kekuapoi,

to voyage hither. Her history, it is said, showed that she alone

excelled in maiden charm and beauty; she was handsome beyond all other

chieftainesses from Hawaii to Kauai, as "the third brightness of the

sun" (_he ekolu ula o ka la_). In consequence, Kahahana took her as

his wife, she being own sister to Kekuamanoha.

At this time the thought occurred to the King to inquire through

the chiefs of Oahu of the whereabouts of Kaopulupulu, the celebrated

priest, of whom he had heard through Kahekili, King of Maui. In reply

to this inquiry of Kahahana, the chiefs told him that his place of

residence was at Waimea, whereupon a messenger was sent to bid him

come up by order of the King. When the messenger reached Kaopulupulu

he delivered the royal order. Upon the priest hearing this word of

the King he assented thereto, with this reply to the messenger: "You

return first and tell him that on the morning after the fourteenth

night of the moon (_po o akua_), I will reach the place of the King."

At the end of the conference the messenger returned and stood before

Kahahana and revealed the words of Kaopulupulu; and the King waited

for the time of his arrival.

It is true, Kaopulupulu made careful preparation for his future. Toward

the time of his departure he was engaged in considering the good or

evil of his approaching journey by the casting of lots, according to

the rites of his profession. He foresaw thereby the purpose of the

King in summoning him to dwell at court. He therefore admonished his

son to attend to all the rites and duties of the priesthood as he

had been taught, and to care for his mother and relatives.

At early dawn Kaopulupulu arose and partook of food till satisfied,

after which he prepared himself for the journey before him. After he

had given his farewell greetings to his household he seized his bundle

and, taking a cocoanut fan in his hand, set out toward Punanue, where

was a temple (_heiau_) for priests only, called Kahokuwelowelo. This

was crown land at Waialua in ancient times. Entering the temple he

prayed for success in his journey, after which he proceeded along the

plains of Lauhulu till reaching the Anahulu stream, thence by Kemoo

to Kukaniloko, the shelter of whose prominent rock the chieftainesses

of Oahu were wont to choose for their place of confinement.

Leaving this place he came to Kalakoa, where Kekiopilo the prophet

priest lived and died, and the scene of his vision at high noon when

he prophesied of the coming of foreigners with a strange language. Here

he stopped and rested with some of the people, and ate food with them,

after which he journeyed on by way of Waipio by the ancient path of

that time till he passed Ewa and reached Kapukaki.

The sun was well up when he reached the water of Lapakea, so

he hastened his steps in ascending Kauwalua, at Moanalua, and

paused not till he came to the mouth of the Apuakehau stream at

Waikiki. Proceeding along the sand at this place he was discerned

by the retainers of the King and greeted with the shout, "Here comes

the priest Kaopulupulu."

When the King heard this he was exceedingly pleased (_pihoihoi loa_)

at the time, and on the priest's meeting with King Kahahana he welcomed

Kaopulupulu with loud rejoicing.

Without delay the King set apart a house wherein to meet and discuss

with the priest those things he had in mind, and in the consideration

of questions from first to last, Kaopulupulu replied with great

wisdom in accordance with his knowledge of his profession. At this

time of their conference he sat within the doorway of the house, and

the sun was near its setting. As he turned to observe this he gazed

out into the sky and noticing the gathering short clouds (_ao poko_)

in the heavens, he exclaimed:

"O heaven, the road is broad for the King, it is full of chiefs and

people; narrow is my path, that of the kahuna; you will not be able

to find it, O King. Even now the short clouds reveal to me the manner

of your reign; it will not be many days. Should you heed my words,

O King, you will live to gray hair. But you will be the king to slay

me and my child."

At these words of the priest the King meditated seriously for some

time, then spoke as follows: "Why should my days be short, and why

should your death be by me, the King?"

Kaopulupulu replied: "O King, let us look into the future. Should you

die, O King, the lands will be desolate; but for me, the kahuna, the

name will live on from one generation to another; but my death will be

before thine, and when I am up on the heaven-feared altar then my words

will gnaw thee, O King, and the rains and the sun will bear witness."

These courageous words of Kaopulupulu, spoken in the presence of

Kahahana without fear, and regardless of the dignity and majesty of

the King, were uttered because of the certainty that the time would

come when his words would be carried into effect. The King remained

quiet without saying a word, keeping his thoughts to himself.

After this conference the King took Kaopulupulu to be his priest, and

in course of time he became also an intimate companion, in constant

attendance upon the King, and counselled him in the care of his

subjects, old and young, in all that pertained to their welfare. The

King regarded his words, and in their circuit of the island together

they found the people contented and holding their ruler in high

esteem. But at the end of three years the King attempted some wrong to

certain of his subjects like unto that of his deposed predecessor. The

priest remonstrated with him continually, but he would not regard

his counsel; therefore, Kaopulupulu left King Kahahana and returned

to his land at Waimea and at once tattooed his knees. This was done

as a sign that the King had turned a deaf ear to his admonitions.

When several days had passed, rumors among certain people of Waialua

reached the priest that he was to be summoned to appear before the

King in consequence of this act, which had greatly angered his august

lord. Kahahana had gone to reside at Waianae, and from there shortly

afterward he sent messengers to fetch Kaopulupulu and his son Kahulupue

from Waimea.

In the early morning of the day of the messenger's arrival, a rainbow

stood directly in the doorway of Kaopulupulu's house, and he asked

of his god its meaning; but his prayer was broken (_ua haki ka

pule_). This boded him ill; therefore he called to his son to stand

in prayer; but the result was the same. Then he said, "This augurs of

the day of death; see! the rising up of a man in the pass of Hapuu,

putting on his kapa with its knot fastening on the left side of the

neck, which means that he is bringing a death message."

Shortly after the priest had ended these words a man was indeed seen

approaching along the mountain pass, with his kapa as indicated;

and he came and stood before the door of their house and delivered

the order of the King for them to go to Waianae, both him and his son.

The priest replied: "Return you first; we will follow later," and the

messenger obeyed. When he had departed Kaopulupulu recalled to his son

the words he had spoken before the advent of the messenger, and said:

"Oh, where are you, my child? Go clothe the body; put on the malo;

eat of the food till satisfied, and we will go as commanded by the

King; but this journey will result in placing us on the altar (_kau

i ka lele_). Fear not death. The name of an idler, if he be beaten

to death, is not passed on to distinction."

At the end of these words of his father, Kahulupue wept for love of

his relatives, though his father bid him to weep not for his family,

because he, Kaopulupulu, saw the end that would befall the King,

Kahahana, and his court of chiefs and retainers. Even at this time

the voices of distress were heard among his family and their tears

flowed, but Kaopulupulu looked on unmoved by their cries.

He then arose and, with his son, gave farewell greetings to their

household, and set forth. In journeying they passed through Waialua,

resting in the house of a kamaaina at Kawaihapai. In passing the night

at this place Kahulupue slept not, but went out to examine the fishing

canoes of that neighborhood. Finding a large one suitable for a voyage,

he returned and awoke his father, that they might flee together that

night to Kauai and dwell on the knoll of Kalalea. But Kaopulupulu

declined the idea of flight. In the morning, ascending a hill, they

turned and looked back over the sea-spray of Waialua to the swimming

halas of Kahuku beyond. Love for the place of his birth so overcame

Kaopulupulu for a time that his tears flowed for that he should see

it no more.

Then they proceeded on their way till, passing Kaena Point, they

reached the temple of Puaakanoe. At this sacred boundary Kaopulupulu

said to his son, "Let us swim in the sea and touch along the coast

of Makua." At one of their resting-places, journeying thus, he said,

with direct truthfulness, as his words proved: "Where are you, my

son? For this drenching of the high priests by the sea, seized will

be the sacred lands (_moo-kapu_) from Waianae to Kualoa by the chief

from the east."

As they were talking they beheld the King's men approaching along

the sand of Makua, and shortly afterward these men came before them

and seized them and tied their hands behind their backs and took

them to the place of King Kahahana at Puukea, Waianae, and put them,

father and son, in a new grass hut unfinished of its ridge thatch,

and tied them, the one to the end post (_pouhana_) and the other to

the corner post (_poumanu_) of the house.

At the time of the imprisonment of the priest and his son in this new

house Kaopulupulu spake aloud, without fear of dire consequences,

so that the King and all his men heard him, as follows: "Here I am

with my son in this new unfinished house; so will be unfinished the

reign of the King that slays us." At this saying Kahahana, the King,

was very angry.

Throughout that day and the night following, till the sun was high

with warmth, the King was directing his soldiers to seize Kahulupue

first and put him to death. Obeying the orders of the King, they

took Kahulupue just outside of the house and stabbed at his eyes

with laumake spears and stoned him with stones before the eyes of

his father, with merciless cruelty. These things, though done by

the soldiers, were dodged by Kahulupue, and the priest, seeing the

King had no thought of regard for his child, spoke up with priestly

authority, as follows: "Be strong of breath, my son, till the body

touch the water, for the land indeed is the sea's."

When Kahulupue heard the voice of his father telling him to flee to

the sea, he turned toward the shore in obedience to these last words

to him, because of the attack by the soldiers of the King. As he ran,

he was struck in the back by a spear, but he persevered and leaped into

the sea at Malae and was drowned, his blood discoloring the water. His

dead body was taken and placed up in the temple at Puehuehu. After

the kapu days therefore the King, with his chiefs and soldiers,

moved to Puuloa, Ewa, bringing with them the priest Kaopulupulu, and

after some days he was brought before the King by the soldiers, and

without groans for his injuries was slain in the King's presence. But

he spoke fearlessly of the vengeance that would fall upon the King

in consequence of his death, and during their murderous attack upon

him proclaimed with his dying breath: "You, O King, that kill me here

at Puuloa, the time is near when a direct death will be yours. Above

here in this land, and the spot where my lifeless body will be borne

and placed high on the altar for my flesh to decay and slip to the

earth, shall be the burial place of chiefs and people hereafter, and

it shall be called 'the royal sand of the mistaken'; there will you

be placed in the temple." At the end of these words of Kaopulupulu

his spirit took flight, and his body was left for mockery and abuse,

as had been that of his son in the sea of Malae, at Waianae.

After a while the body of the priest was placed on a double canoe

and brought to Waikiki and placed high in the cocoanut trees at

Kukaeunahi, the place of the temple, for several ten-day periods (_he

mau anahulu_) without decomposition and falling off of the flesh to

the sands of Waikiki.

When King Kahekili of Maui heard of the death of the priest

Kaopulupulu by Kahahana, he sent some of his men thither by canoe,

who landed at Waimanalo, Koolau, where, as spies, they learned from

the people respecting Kaopulupulu and his death, with that of his son;

therefore they returned and told the King the truth of these reports,

at which the affection of Kahekili welled up for the dead priest, and

he condemned the King he had established. Coming with an army from

Maui, he landed at Waikiki without meeting Kahahana, and took back

the government of Oahu under his own kingship. The chiefs and people

of Oahu all joined under Kahekili, for Kahahana had been a chief of

wrong-doing. This was the first sea of Kaopulupulu in accordance with

his prophetic utterance to his son, "This land is the sea's."

Upon the arrival here at Oahu of Kahekili, Kahahana fled, with

his wife Kekuapoi, and friend Alapai, and hid in the shrubbery

of the hills. They went to Aliomanu, Moanalua, to a place called

Kinimakalehua; then moved along to Keanapuaa and Kepookala, at the

lochs of Puuloa, and from there to upper Waipoi; thence to Wahiawa,

Helemano, and on to Lihue; thence they came to Poohilo, at Honouliuli,

where they first showed themselves to the people and submitted

themselves to their care.

While they were living there, report thereof was made to Kahekili,

the King, who thereupon sent Kekuamanoha, elder brother of Kekuapoi,

the wife of Kahahana, with men in double canoes from Waikiki, landing

first at Kupahu, Hanapouli, Waipio, with instructions to capture

and put to death Kahahana, as also his friend Alapai, but to save

alive Kekuapoi. When the canoes touched at Hanapouli, they proceeded

thence to Waikele and Hoaeae, and from there to Poohilo, Honouliuli,

where they met in conference with Kahahana and his party. At the

close of the day Kekuamanoha sought by enticing words to induce

his brother-in-law to go up with him and see the father King and be

assured of no death condemnation, and by skilled flattery he induced

Kahahana to consent to his proposition; whereupon preparation was made

for the return. On the following morning, coming along and reaching

the plains of Hoaeae, they fell upon and slew Kahahana and Alapai

there, and bore their lifeless bodies to Halaulani, Waipio, where

they were placed in the canoes and brought up to Waikiki and placed

up in the cocoanut trees by King Kahekili and his priests from Maui,

as Kaopulupulu had been. Thus was fulfilled the famous saying of the

Oahu priest in all its truthfulness.

According to the writings of S. M. Kamakau and David Malo, recognized

authorities, the thought of Kaopulupulu as expressed to his son

Kahulupue, "This land is the sea's," was in keeping with the famous

prophetic vision of Kekiopilo that "the foreigners possess the land,"

as the people of Hawaii now realize. The weighty thought of this

narration and the application of the saying of Kaopulupulu to this

time of enlightenment are frequent with certain leaders of thought

among the people, as shown in their papers.

XXI

KU-ULA, THE FISH GOD OF HAWAII

_Translated from Moke Manu by M. K. Nakuina_

The story of Ku-ula, considered by ancient Hawaiians as the deity

presiding over and controlling the fish of the sea,--a story still

believed by many of them to-day,--is translated and somewhat condensed

from an account prepared by a recognized legendary bard of these

islands. The name of Ku-ula is known from the ancient times on each

of the islands of the Hawaiian group, and the writer gives the Maui

version as transmitted through the old people of that island.

Ku-ula had a human body, and was possessed with wonderful or miraculous

power (_mana kupua_) in directing, controlling, and influencing all

fish of the sea, at will.

Leho-ula, in the land of Aleamai, Hana, Maui, is where Ku-ula and

Hina-pu-ku-ia lived. Nothing is known of their parents, but tradition

deals with Ku-ula, his wife, their son Ai-ai, and Ku-ula-uka,

a younger brother of Ku-ula. These lived together for a time at

Leho-ula, and then the brothers divided their work between them,

Ku-ula-uka choosing farm work, or work pertaining to the land,

from the seashore to the mountain-top, while Ku-ula--known also as

Ku-ula-kai--chose to be a fisherman, with such other work as pertained

to the sea, from the pebbly shore to ocean depths. After this division

Ku-ula-uka went up in the mountains to live, and met a woman known

as La-ea--called also Hina-ulu-ohia--a sister of Hina-pu-ku-ia,

Ku-ula's wife. These sisters had three brothers, named Moku-ha-lii,

Kupa-ai-kee, and Ku-pulu-pulu-i-ka-na-hele. This trio were called

by the old people the gods of the canoe-making priests--"_Na akua

aumakua o ka poe kahuna kalai waa._"

While Ku-ula and his wife were living at Leho-ula he devoted all his

time to his chosen vocation, fishing. His first work was to construct

a fish-pond handy to his house but near to the shore where the surf

breaks, and this pond he stocked with all kinds of fish. Upon a

rocky platform he also built a house to be sacred for the fishing

kapu which he called by his own name, Ku-ula.

It is asserted that when Ku-ula made all these preparations he believed

in the existence of a God who had supreme power over all things. That

is why he prepared this place wherein to make his offerings of the

first fish caught by him to the fish god. From this observance of

Ku-ula all the fish were tractable (_laka loa_) unto him; all he

had to do was to say the word, and the fish would appear. This was

reported all over Hana and when Kamohaolii, the King (who was then

living at Wananalua, the land on which Kauiki Hill stands) heard of

it, he appointed Ku-ula to be his head fisherman. Through this pond,

which was well stocked with all kinds of fish, the King's table was

regularly supplied with all rare varieties, whether in or out of

season. Ku-ula was his mainstay for fish-food and was consequently

held in high esteem by Kamohoalii, and they lived without disagreement

of any kind between them for many years.

During this period the wife of Ku-ula gave birth to a son, whom they

called Aiai-a-Ku-ula (Aiai of Ku-ula), The child was properly brought

up according to the usage of those days, and when he was old enough

to care for himself an unusual event occurred.

A large _puhi_ (eel), called Koona, lived at Wailau, on the windward

side of the island of Molokai. This eel was deified and prayed to by

the people of that place, and they never tired telling of the mighty

things their god did, one of which was that a big shark came to Wailau

and gave it battle, and during the fight the puhi caused a part of the

rocky cliff to fall upon the shark, which killed it. A cave was thus

formed, with a depth of about five fathoms; and that large opening

is there to this day, situate a little above the sea and close to

the rocky fort where lived the well known Kapeepeekauila. This puhi

then left its own place and came and lived in a cave in the sea near

Aleamai, called Kapukaulua, some distance out from the Alau rocks. It

came to break and rob the pond that Ku-ula had built and stocked with

fish of various kinds and colors, as known to-day.

Ku-ula was much surprised on discovering his pond stock disappearing,

so he watched day and night, and at last, about daybreak, he saw a

large eel come in through the _makai_ (seaward) wall of the pond. When

he saw this he knew that it was the cause of the loss of his fish,

and was devising a way to catch and kill it; but on consulting with

his wife they decided to leave the matter to their son Aiai, for him

to use his own judgment as to the means by which the thief might be

captured and killed. When Aiai was told of it he sent word to all

the people of Aleamai and Haneoo to make ili hau ropes several lau

fathoms in length; and when all was ready a number of the people

went out with it in two canoes, one each from the two places, with

Aiai-a-Ku-ula in one of them. He put two large stones in his canoe

and held in his hands a fisherman's gourd (_hokeo_), in which was a

large fishhook called manaiaakalani.

When the canoes had proceeded far out he located his position by

landmarks; and looking down into the sea, and finding the right place,

he told the paddlers to cease paddling. Standing up in the canoe

and taking one of the stones in his hands he dived into the sea. Its

weight took him down rapidly to the bottom, where he saw a big cave

opening right before him, with a number of fishes scurrying about

the entrance, such as uluas and other deep sea varieties. Feeling

assured thereby that the puhi was within, he arose to the surface

and got into his canoe. Resting for a moment, he then opened the

gourd and took out the hook manaiaakalani and tied the hau rope to

it. He also picked up a long stick and placed at the end of it the

hook, baited with a preparation of cocoanut and other substances

attractive to fishes. Before taking his second dive he arranged with

those on the canoe as to the signs to them of his success. Saying

this, he picked up the other stone and dived down again into the sea;

then, proceeding to the cave, he placed the hook in it, at the same

time murmuring a few incantations in the name of his parents. When

he knew that the puhi was hooked he signalled, as planned, to tell

those on the canoe of his success. In a short while he came to the

surface, and entering the canoe they all returned to shore, trailing

the rope behind. He told those in the canoe from Haneoo to paddle

thither and to Hamoa, and to tell all the people to pull the puhi;

like instructions were given those on the Aleamai canoe for their

people. The two canoes set forth on their courses to the landings,

keeping in mind Aiai's instructions, which were duly carried out by

the people of the two places; and there were many for the work.

Then Aiai ascended Kaiwiopele Hill and motioned to the people of

both places to pull the ropes attached to the hook on the mouth of

the puhi. It was said that the Aleamai people won the victory over

the much greater number from the other places, by landing the puhi

on the pahoehoe stones at Lehoula. The people endeavored to kill the

prize, but without success till Aiai came and threw three ala stones

at it and killed it. The head was cut off and cooked in the _imu_

(oven). The bones of its jaw, with the mouth wide open, are seen to

this day at a place near the shore, washed by the waves,--the rock

formation at a short distance having such a resemblance.

Residents of the place state that all ala stones near where the

imu was made in which the puhi was baked do not crack when heated,

as they do elsewhere, because of the imu heating of that time. It

is so even to this day. The backbone (_iwi kuamoo_) of this puhi is

still lying on the pahoehoe where Aiai killed it with the three ala

stones,--the rocky formation, about thirty feet in length, exactly

resembling the backbone of an eel. The killing of this puhi by Aiai

gave him fame among the people of Hana. Its capture was the young lad's

first attempt to follow his father's vocation, and his knowledge was

a surprise to the people.

After this event a man came over from Waiiau, Molokai, who was a _kahu_

(keeper) of the puhi. He dreamed one night that he saw its spirit,

which told him that his _aumakua_ (god) had been killed at Hana, so

he came to see with his own eyes where this had occurred. Arriving at

Wananalua he was befriended by one of the retainers of Kamohoalii,

the King of Hana, and lived there a long time serving under him,

during which time he learned the story of how the puhi had been caught

and killed by Aiai, the son of Ku-ula and Hinapukuia, whereupon he

sought to accomplish their death.

Considering a plan of action, he went one day to Ku-ula, without

orders, and told him that the King had sent him for fish for the

King. Ku-ula gave him but one fish, an ulua, with a warning direction,

saying, "Go back to the King and tell him to cut off the head of

the fish and cook it in the imu, and the flesh of its body cut up

and salt and dry in the sun, for 'this is Hana the _aupehu_ land;

Hana of the scarce fish; the fish Kama; the fish of Lanakila.' (_Eia

o Hana la he aina aupehu; o Hana keia i ka ia iki; ka ia o Kama;

ka ia o Lanakila_)."

When the man returned to the King and gave him the fish, the King

asked: "Who gave it to you?" and the man answered:

"Ku-ula."

Then it came into his head that this was his chance for revenge, so

he told the King what Ku-ula had said but not in the same way, saying:

"Your head fisherman told me to come back and tell you that your head

should be cut from your body and cooked in the imu, and the flesh of

your body should be cut up and salted and dried in the sun."

The King on hearing this message was so angered with Ku-ula, his head

fisherman, that he told the man to go and tell all his _konohikis_

(head men of lands with others under them) and people, to go up in the

mountains and gather immediately plenty of firewood and place it around

Ku-ula's house, for he and his wife and child should be burned up.

This order of the King was carried out by the konohikis and people

of all his lands except those of Aleamai. These latter did not obey

this order of the King, for Ku-ula had always lived peaceably among

them. There were days when they had no fish, and he had supplied

them freely.

When Ku-ula and his wife saw the people of Hana bringing firewood

and placing it around the house they knew it foreboded trouble; so

Ku-ula went to a place where taro, potatoes, bananas, cane, and some

gourds were growing. Seeing three dry gourds on the vine, he asked the

owner for them and was told to take them. These he took to his house

and discussed with his wife the evil day to come, and told Aiai that

their house would be burned and their bodies too, but not to fear death

nor trouble himself about it when the people came to shut them in.

After some thinking Ku-ula remembered his giving the ulua to the King's

retainer and felt that he was the party to blame for this action of

the King's people. He had suspected it before, but now felt sure;

therefore he turned to his son and said: "Our child, Aiai-a-Ku-ula,

if our house is burned, and our bodies too, you must look sharp for

the smoke when it goes straight up to the hill of Kaiwiopele. That

will be your way out of this trouble, and you must follow it till

you find a cave where you will live. You must take this hook called

manaiaakalani with you; also this fish-pearl (_pa hi aku_), called

_Kahuoi_; this shell called _lehoula_, and this small sandstone from

which I got the name they call me, _Ku-ula-au-a-Ku-ulakai_. It is

the progenitor of all the fish in the sea. You will be the one to

make all the ku-ulas from this time forth, and have charge also of

making all the fishing stations (_ko'a lawaia_) in the sea throughout

the islands. Your name shall be perpetuated and those of your parents

also, through all generations to come, and I hereby confer upon you

all my power and knowledge. Whenever you desire anything call, or ask,

in our names, and we will grant it. We will stand up and go forth

from here into the sea and abide there forever; and you, our child,

shall live on the land here without worrying about anything that may

happen to you. You will have power to punish with death all those who

have helped to burn us and our house. Whether it be king or people,

they must die; therefore let us calmly await the calamity that is to

befall us."

All these instructions Aiai consented to carry out from first to last,

as a dutiful son.

After Ku-ula's instructions to his son, consequent upon the

manifestations of coming trouble, the King's people came one day and

caught them and tied their hands behind their backs, the evil-doer

from Molokai being there to aid in executing the cruel orders of

Kamohoalii resulting from his deceitful story. Upon being taken

into their house Ku-ula was tied to the end post of the ridge pole

(_pouhana)_, the wife was tied to the middle post (_kai waena_) of the

house, and the boy, Aiai, was tied to one of the corner posts (_pou

o manu_). Upon fastening them in this manner the people went out of

the house and barricaded the doorway with wood, which they then set on

fire. Before the fire was lit, the ropes with which the victims were

tied dropped off from their hands. Men, women, and children looked

on at the burning house with deep pity for those within, and tears

were streaming down their cheeks as they remembered the kindness of

Ku-ula during all the time they had lived together. They knew not

why this family and their house should be burned in this manner.

When the fire was raging all about the house and the flames were

consuming everything, Ku-ula and his wife gave their last message to

their son and left him. They went right out of the house as quietly

as the last breath leaves the body, and none of the people standing

there gazing saw where, or how, Ku-ula and his wife came forth out of

the house. Aiai was the only one that retained material form. Their

bodies were changed by some miraculous power and entered the sea,

taking with them all the fish swimming in and around Hana. They

also took all sea-mosses, crabs, crawfish, and the various kinds of

shellfish along the seashore, even to the opihi-koele at the rocky

beach; every edible thing in the sea was taken away. This was the

first stroke of Ku-ula's revenge on the King and the people of Hana who

obeyed his mandate; they suffered greatly from the scarcity of fish.

When Ku-ula and his wife were out of the house the three gourds

exploded from the heat, one by one, and all those who were gazing at

the burning house believed the detonations indicated the bursting

of the bodies of Ku-ula, his wife, and child. The flames shot up

through the top of the house, and the black smoke hovered above it,

then turned toward the front of Kaiwiopele Hill. The people saw Aiai

ascend through the flames and walk upon the smoke toward the hill

till he came to a small cave that opened to receive and rescue him.

As Aiai left the house it burned fiercely, and, carrying out the

instructions of his father he called upon him to destroy by fire

all those who had caught and tied them in their burning house. As he

finished his appeal he saw the rippling of the wind on the sea and

a misty rain coming with it, increasing as it came till it reached

Lehoula, which so increased the blazing of the fire that the flames

reached out into the crowd of people for those who had obeyed the

King. The man from Molokai, who was the cause of the trouble, was

reached also and consumed by the fire, and the charred bodies were left

to show to the people the second stroke of Ku-ula's vengeance. Strange

to say, all those who had nothing to do with this cruel act, though

closer to the burning house, were uninjured; the tongues of fire

reached out only for the guilty ones. In a little while but a few

smouldering logs and ashes were all that remained of the house of

Ku-ula. Owing to this strange action of the fire some of the people

doubted the death of Ku-ula and his wife, and much disputation arose

among them on the subject.

When Aiai walked out through the flames and smoke and reached the

cave, he stayed there through that night till the next morning, then,

leaving his hook, pearl shell, and stone there, he went forth till

he came to the road at Puilio, where he met several children amusing

themselves by shooting arrows, one of whom made friends with him and

asked him to his house. Aiai accepted the invitation, and the boy

and his parents treating him well, he remained with them for some days.

While Aiai was living in their house the parents of the boy heard

of the King's order for all the people of Hana to go fishing for

hinalea. The people obeyed the royal order, but when they went down to

the shore with their fishing baskets they looked around for the usual

bait (_ueue_), which was to be pounded up and put into the baskets,

but they could not find any, nor any other material to be so used,

neither could they see any fish swimming around in the sea. "Why?" was

the question. Because Ku-ula and his wife had taken with them all

the fish and everything pertaining to fishing. Finding no bait they

pounded up limestone and placed it in the baskets and swam out and

set them in the sea. They watched and waited all day, but in vain,

for not a single hinalea was seen, nor did any enter the baskets. When

night came they went back empty-handed and came down again the next day

only to meet the same luck. The parents of the boy who had befriended

Aiai were in this fishing party, in obedience to the King's orders,

but they got nothing for their trouble. Aiai, seeing them go down

daily to Haneoo, asked concerning it, and was told everything; so he

bade his friend come with him to the cave where he had stayed after

his father's house was burned. Arriving there he showed the stone

fish god, Pohaku-muone, and said: "We can get fish up here from this

stone without much work or trouble."

Then Aiai picked up the stone and they went down to Lehoula, and

setting it down at a point facing the pond which his father had made

he repeated these words: "O Ku-ula, my father; O Hina, my mother,

I place this stone here in your name, Ku-ula, which action will make

your name famous and mine too, your son; the keeping of this ku-ula

stone I give to my friend, and he and his offspring hereafter will

do and act in all things pertaining to it in our names."

After saying these words he told his friend his duties and all things

to be observed relative to the stone and the benefits to be derived

therefrom as an influencing power over such variety of fish as he

desired. This was the first establishment of the _ko'a ku-ula_ on

land,--a place where the fisherman was obliged to make his offering

of the first of his catch by taking two fishes and placing them on

the ku-ula stone as an offering to Ku-ula. Thus Aiai first put in

practice the fishing oblations established by his father at the place

of his birth, in his youth, but it was accomplished only through the

mana kupua of his parents.

When Aiai had finished calling on his parents and instructing his

friend, there were seen several persons walking along the Haneoo beach

with their fishing baskets and setting them in the sea, but catching

nothing. At Aiai's suggestion he and his friend went over to witness

this fishing effort. When they reached the fishers Aiai asked them,

"What are those things placed there for?"

They answered, "Those are baskets for catching hinaleas, a fish that

our King, Kamohoalii, longs for, but we cannot get bait to catch the

fish with."

"Why is it so?" asked Aiai.

And they answered, "Because Ku-ula and his family are dead, and all

the fish along the beach of Hana are taken away."

Then Aiai asked them for two baskets. Having received them, he bade

his friend take them and follow him. They went to a little pool near

the beach, and setting the baskets therein, he called on his parents

for hinaleas. As soon as he had finished, the fish were seen coming in

such numbers as to fill the pool, and still they came. Aiai now told

his friend to go and fetch his parents and relatives to get fish,

and to bring baskets with which to take home a supply; they should

have the first pick, and the owners of the baskets should have the

next chance. The messenger went with haste and brought his relatives

as directed. Aiai then took two fishes and gave them to his friend to

place on the ko'a they had established at Lehoula for the ku-ula. He

also told him that before the setting of the sun of that day they would

hear that King Kamohoalii of Hana was dead, choked and strangled to

death by the fish. These prophetic words of Aiai came true.

After Aiai had made his offering, his friend's parents came to where

the fish were gathering and were told to take all they desired,

which they did, returning home happy for the liberal supply obtained

without trouble. The owners of the baskets were then called and told

to take all the fish they wished for themselves and for the King. When

these people saw the great supply they were glad and much surprised

at the success of these two boys. The news of the reappearing of the

fish spread through the district, and the people flocked in great

numbers and gathered hinaleas to their satisfaction, and returned to

their homes with rejoicing. Some of those who gave Aiai the baskets

returned with their bundles of fish to the King. When he saw so many

of those he had longed for he became so excited that he reached out

and picked one up and put it in his mouth, intending to eat it; but

instead the fish slipped right into his throat and stuck there. Many

tried to reach and take it out, but were unable, and before the sun

set that day Kamohoalii, the King of Hana, died, being choked and

strangled to death by the fish. Thus the words of Aiai, the son of

Ku-ula, proved true.

By the death of the King of Hana the revenge was complete. The

evil-doer from Molokai, and those who obeyed the King's orders on

the day Ku-ula's house was fired, met retribution, and Aiai thus won

a victory over all his father's enemies.

After living for a time at Hana Aiai left that place and went among

the different islands of the group establishing fishing ko'as (_ko'a

aina aumakua_). He was the first to measure the depth of the sea to

locate these fishing ko'as for the deep sea fishermen who go out in

their canoes, and the names of many of these ko'as located around

the different islands are well known.

XXII

AIAI, SON OF KU-ULA

PART II OF THE LEGEND OF KU-ULA, THE FISH GOD OF HAWAII

_Translated from Moke Manu by M. K. Nakuina_

After the death of the King of Hana, Aiai left the people of Haneoo

catching hinalea and went to Kumaka, a place where fresh water springs

out from the sand and rocks near the surf of Puhele, at Hamoa, where

lay a large, long stone in the sea. This stone he raised upright and

also placed others about the water spring, and said to his friend:

"To-day I name this stone Ku-a-lanakila, for I have triumphed over my

enemies; and I hereby declare that all fishes, crabs, and sea-moss

shall return again in plenty throughout the seas of Hana, as in the

days when my parents were living in the flesh at Lehoula."

From the time Aiai raised this stone, up to the present generation,

the story of Ku-ula and Aiai is well preserved, and people have

flocked to the place where the stone stands to see it and verify the

tradition. Some kahunas advise their suffering patients to pay a visit

to the stone, Ku-lanakila, with some offerings for relief from their

sickness and also to bathe in the spring of Kumaka and the surf of

Puhele. This was a favorite spot of the kings and chiefs of the olden

times for bathing and surf-riding, and is often referred to in the

stories and legends of Hawaii-nei. This was the first stone raised by

Aiai and established as a ku-ula at Hamoa; and the old people of Hana

attributed to its influence the return of the fish to their waters.

After Aiai's practice of his father's instructions and the return of

the fishes, his fame spread throughout the district, and the people

made much of him during his stay with them.

A great service wrought by Aiai during his boyhood was the teaching

of his friend and his friend's parents how to make the various nets

for all kinds of fishing. He also taught them to make the different

kinds of fishing lines. When they were skilled in all these branches

of knowledge pertaining to fishing, he called the people together,

and in their presence declared his friend to be the head fisherman

of Hana, with full control of all the stations (_ko'a ia_) he had

established. This wonder-working power second to none, possessed by

Aiai, he now conferred on his friend, whereby his own name would be

perpetuated and his fame established all over the land.

The first _ko'a ia_ (fishing ground, or station) where Aiai measured

the depth of the sea is near Aleamai, his birthplace, and is called

Kapukaulua, where he hooked and killed the eel Koona. It is a few miles

from the shore to the southeast of the rocky islet called Alau. The

second station he established was at a spot about a mile from Haneoo

and Hamoa which was for the kala, palani, nanue, puhi, and ula. These

varieties of fish are not caught by nets, or with the hook, but in

baskets which are filled with bait and let down in the deep sea.

The third station, which he named Koauli, was located out in the deep

sea for the deep sea fishes, the depth ranging about two hundred

fathoms. This is the ko'a that fishermen have to locate by certain

shore bearings, lest a mistake be made as to the exact spot and the

bottom be found rocky and the hooks entangle in the coral. In all the

stations Aiai located there are no coral ledges where the fisherman's

hook would catch, or the line be entangled; and old Hawaiians commended

the skill of such locations, believing that the success of Aiai's

work was due to his father's influence as an ocean deity.

At one time Aiai went over to the bay of Wananalua, the present

port of Hana, with its noted hill of Kauiki and the sandy beach

of Pueokahi. Here he made and placed a ku-ula, and also placed

a fish stone in the cliff of Kauiki whereon is the ko'a known as

Makakiloia. And the people of Hana give credit to this stone for

the frequent appearance of the akule, oio, moi, and other fishes in

their waters.

Aiai's good work did not stop at this point; proceeding to Honomaele

he picked up three pebbles at the shore and, going into the sea,

out beyond the breaking surf, he placed them there. In due time these

three pebbles gathered others together and made a regular ridge; and

when this was accomplished, the aweoweo gathered from the far ocean

to this ridge of pebbles for rest; whereupon the people came with net,

hook, and line, and caught them as they desired. The writer witnessed

this in 1845 with his own eyes. This ko'a for aweoweo is still there,

but difficult to locate, from the fact that all the old residents

are gone--either dead or moved away.

He next went over to Waiohue, Koolau, where he placed a stone on

a sharp rocky islet, called Paka, whereon a few puhala grow. It is

claimed that during the season of the kala, they come in from the

ocean, attracted to this locality by the power of this stone. They

continue on to Mokumana, a cape between Keanae and Wailuanui. They

come in gradually for two days, and on the third day of their reaching

the coast, at the pali of Ohea, is the time and place to surround

them with nets. In olden times while the fishermen were hauling

in their nets full of kala into the canoes, the akule and oio also

came in numbers at the same time, making it impossible to catch all

in one day; and as there were so many gathered in the net it took

them a day and a night before they could care for their draught,

which yielded so many more than could be made use of that they were

fed to the pigs and dogs. The kala of Ohea is noted for its fatness

and fine flavor. Few people are now living there, and the people who

knew all about this are dead; but the stone that Aiai placed on that

little island at Waiohue is still there.

Aiai stayed there a few days and then returned to Hana and lived at

his birthplace quite a length of time till he was a man grown. During

this period he was teaching his art of fishing in all its forms;

and when he was satisfied the people were proficient, he prepared to

visit other places for like service. But before leaving, Aiai told

his friend to go and kill the big _hee kupua_ (wonderful octopus)

in the deep sea, right out of Wailuanui, Koolau, and he consented.

When the canoes were made ready and drawn to the beach and the people

came prepared to start, Aiai brought the _hokeo_ (fishing gourd),

where the _leho_ (kauri shell) that Ku-ula his father gave him was

kept, and gave it to his friend. This shell is called _lehoula,_

and the locality at Hana of that name was called after it.

Then the canoes and people sailed away till they got out along the

palis near Kopiliula, where they rested. Aiai was not with the party,

but overlooked their operations from the pali of Puhiai. While they

rested, preparation for the lowering of the leho was being made,

and when ready, Aiai's friend called on Ku-ula and Hina for the

assistance of their wonderful powers. When he was through, he took

off the covering of the gourd and took out the leho, which had rich

beautiful colors like the rainbow, and attaching it to the line, he

lowered it into the sea, where it sent out rays of a fiery light. The

hee was so attracted by its radiance that it came out of its hole and

with its great arms, which were as long and large as a full-grown

cocoanut tree, came up to the surface of the water and stood there

like a cocoanut grove. The men were frightened, for it approached and

went right into the canoes with the intention of destroying them and

the men and capturing the leho; but it failed, because Aiai's friend,

with his skill and power, had provided himself with a stone, which,

at the proper time, he shoved into the head of the squid; and the

weight of the stone drew it down to the bottom of the sea and kept

it there, and being powerless to remove the stone, it died. The men

seized and cut off one of the arms, which was so big that it loaded

the canoes down so that they returned to Hana. When the squid died, it

turned to stone. It is pointed out to-day just outside of Wailuanui,

where a stone formation resembles the body of a squid and the arms,

with one missing.

When Aiai saw from the pali that his friend was successful in killing

the hee, he returned to Hana unseen, and in a short while the canoes

arrived with its arm, which was divided among the people according

to the directions of Aiai.