Strangers to Hawaiian history should know that to the Hawaiians Tahiti
meant any far-away or foreign land. Tahiti belongs to the Society
Islands. Centuries ago it was one of the points visited by the Vikings
of the Pacific, the Polynesian sea-rovers, among whom certain chiefs of
the Hawaiian Islands were not the least noted. They sailed to Tahiti
and Samoa and other islands of the great ocean and returned after many
months, celebrating their voyages in personal chants.
Thus the names of places many hundreds of miles distant from the
Hawaiian group were recorded in the chants and legends of the most
famous families of Hawaiian chiefs and kings. Some of the names brought
back by the wanderers appear to have been given to places in their own
homeland. A large district on the island of Maui, where, it is said,
the friends of a Viking would gather for feasting and farewell dancing,
was named Kahiki-nui (The great [33]Tahiti). A point of land not far
from this district was called Keala-i-kahiki (The-way-to-Tahiti). These
names are not of recent origin, but are found in the scenes described
by roving ancestors noted in genealogies of long ago. Probably about
the same time that the Vikings of Scandinavia were roaming along the
Atlantic coasts the Pacific seamen were passing from group to group
among the Pacific islands.
After many voyages and several years probably the people who never
wandered became careless concerning the specific name of the place to
which some of their friends had sailed, and included the whole outside
world in the comprehensive declaration, “Gone to Tahiti” (Kahiki). At
any rate, this has been the usage for some centuries among the
Hawaiians.
The story I am about to tell you came to me as a marvellous,
mysterious, miraculous myth of the long ago, when strange powers dwelt
in both animals and men, and when cannibalism might have been carried
on to be reported later under the guise of eating the flesh of beast or
fish. In the long ago there were two “fish” crossing the trackless
waters of the Pacific Ocean. Their home was in one of the far-away
lands, known as Tahiti. These “fish” were great canoes filled with men.
They decided that they would like to visit some of the lands about
which they had heard in the legends related by their fathers. They knew
that certain stars were always in certain places in the sky during a
part of every year. By sailing according to these stars at night and
the sun by day they felt confident that they could find the wonderful
fire-land of Hawaii about which they had been taught in the stories of
returned travellers. So the two “fish”—the two boats—after weary days
and nights of storm and calm, of soft breeze and strong, continuous
winds, found the northeast side of the island of Oahu with its rugged
front of steep, precipitous rocks. The travellers landed first on a
point of land extending far out into the sea, terminating in a small
volcano. Here they made examination of the unfriendly coast and decided
to journey entirely around the island, one fish, or boat, going toward
the north and the other toward the south. They were apparently
intending to pass around the island and find an appropriate location
for a settlement. Possibly they planned to make a permanent home or
hoped to meet some good community into which they might be absorbed.
The point of land which marked the separation of the two companies is
called Makapuu. The boat which sailed toward the north found no good
resting-place until it came to the fishing-village of Hauula. The
stories told by the old natives of the present time do not give any
details of the meeting between the strangers and the people residing in
the village. Evidently there was dissension and at last a battle. The
whole story is summed up by the Hawaiian legend in the saying: “The
fish from Tahiti was caught by the fishermen of Hauula. They killed it
and cut it up into pieces for food.” Thus the visitors found death
instead of friendship, and cannibalism was thereby veiled by calling
the victims “fish” and the victory a “catch.”
The custom of hiding hints of cannibalistic feasts and more definite
human sacrifices under the name of “fish” continued through the
centuries even after the discovery of the islands by Captain Cook and
the advent of white men. David Malo, a native writer, who, about the
year 1840, wrote a concise sketch of Hawaiian history and customs,
described the capture of human sacrifices by the priests when needed
for temple worship. He says: “The priest conducted a ceremony called
Ka-papa-ulua. It was in this way: The priest accompanied by a number of
others went out to sea to fish for ulua with hook and line, using squid
for bait. If they were unsuccessful and got no ulua they returned to
land and went from one house to another, shouting out to the people
within and telling them some lie or other and asking them to come
outside. If any one did come out, him they killed, and, thrusting a
hook in his mouth, carried him away to the heiau [temple].” This
sacrifice was called ulua, and was placed before the god of the temple
as if it were a fish. Sometimes a part of the body, usually an eye, was
eaten during the ceremonies of consecrating the offering to the idol.
This custom has passed the test of centuries and probably was the last
remnant of cannibalism in the Hawaiian Islands. It endured even to the
time of the abolition of the temples and their idols.
The second fish from Tahiti had gone on southward in its journey around
the island of Oahu. It passed the rough and desolate craters of Koko
Head on the eastern end of the island. It swam by Diamond Head and the
beautiful Waikiki Beach. Either the number of the inhabitants was so
large that they were afraid to make any stay or else they preferred to
make the complete circuit of the island before locating, for they
evidently made only a very short stay wherever they landed, and then
hurried on their journey. By the time they reached Kaena, the
northwestern cape of Oahu, they were evidently anxious concerning their
missing companions. Not a boat on the miles of water between Kaena and
Kahuku, the most northerly point on the island. The legend says that
the fish changed itself into a man and went inland to search the coast
for its friend, but the search was unsuccessful. It was now a weary
journey from point to point, watching the sea and exploring all the
spots on the beach where it seemed as if there was any prospect of
finding a trace of their expected friends. Where a break in the coral
reef permitted their boat to approach the land they forced their way to
shore. Then when the thorough search failed again, the boat was pushed
out over the line of white inrolling breakers to the great sea until at
last the Tahitians came to Kahuku.
Now they appeared no longer as “fish,” but went to the village at
Kahuku as men. They made themselves at home among the people and were
invited to a great feast. They heard the story of a battle with a great
fish at Hauula and the capture of the monster. They heard how it had
been cut up and its fragments widely distributed among the villages on
the northwest coast. Evidently provision had been made for several
great feasts. The people of Kahuku, although several miles distant from
Hauula, had received their portion. The friendly strangers must share
this great gift with them. But the men from Tahiti with heavy hearts
recognized the fragments as a part of their companion. They could not
partake of the feast, but by kindliness and strategy they managed not
only to decline the invitation, but also to secure some portions of the
flesh to carry down to the sea. These were thrown into the water, and
immediately came to life. They had the color of blood as a reminder of
the death from which they had been reclaimed. Ever after they bore the
name “Hilu-ula,” or “the red Hilu.”
Then the “fish” from Tahiti went on around to Hauula. They went up to
the tabu land back of Hauula. They pulled up the tabu flags. Then they
dammed up the waters of the valley above the village until there was
sufficient for a mighty flood. The storms from the heavy clouds drove
the people into their homes. Then the Tahitians opened the flood-gates
of their mountain reservoir and let the irresistible waters down upon
the village. The houses and their inhabitants were swept into the sea
and destroyed. Thus vengeance came upon the cannibals.
The Tahitians were “fish,” therefore they went back into the ocean to
swim around the islands. Sometimes they came near enough to the haunts
of fishermen to be taken for food. They bear the name “hilu.” But there
are two varieties. The red hilu is cooked and eaten, but never eaten
without having felt the power of fire. The trace of the cannibal feast
is always over its flesh. Therefore it has to be removed by
purification of the flames over which it is prepared for food. The blue
hilu, the natives say, is salted and eaten uncooked. Thus the legend
says the two fish came from Tahiti, and thus they became the origin of
some of the beautiful fish whose colors flash like the rainbow through
the clear waters of Hawaii.
Another legend somewhat similar to this is told by the natives of
Hauula. There is a valley near this village called Kaipapau
(The-valley-of-the-shallow-sea). Here lived an old kahuna, or priest,
who always worshipped the two great gods Ka-ne and Kanaloa. These gods
had their home in the place where the old man continually worshipped
them, but they loved to go away from time to time for a trip around the
island. Once the gods came to their sister’s home and received from her
dried fish for food. This they carried to the sea and threw into the
waters, where it became alive again and swam along the coast while the
gods journeyed inland. By and by they came to the little river on which
the old man had his home. The gods went inland along the bank of the
river, and the fish turned also, forcing their way over the sand-bank
which marked the mouth of the little stream. Then they went up the
river to a pool before the place where the gods had stopped. Ever
since, when high water has made the river accessible, these fish, named
ulua, have come to the place where the gods were worshipped by the
kahuna and where they rested and drank awa with him. When the gods had
taken enough of the awa of the priest they turned away with the warning
that when he heard a great noise on the shore he must not go down to
see what the people were doing, but ask what the excitement was about,
and if it was a shark or a great fish he was to remain at home. He must
not go to that place.
A few days later a big wave came up from the sea and swept over the
beach. When the water flowed back there was left a great whale, the
tail on the shore and the head out in the sea. The people came to see
the whale. They thought that it was dead. They played on its back and
leaped into the deep waters from its head. Their shouts of joy and loud
laughter reached the ears of the priest, who was living inland. Then
the people came to the riverside to gather vines and flowers with which
to make wreaths. Probably it was the intention of the villagers to cut
the great fish into pieces and have a feast. The old priest was very
anxious to see the marvellous fish. He forgot the warning of the gods
and went to the seaside. The people shouted for the old man to come
quickly. The old priest stood by the tail of the great fish. As if to
welcome him the tail moved. He climbed on the back and ran to the head
and leaped into the sea. The people cheered the priest as he returned
to the beach and a second time approached the whale. Again there was
the motion of the tail, and again the priest ran along the back, but as
he leaped the whale caught him and carried him away to Tahiti.
Therefore a name was given to a point of land not far from this
place—the name “Ka-loe-o-ka-palaoa” (The cape of the whale).