True to the answer returned to Kaoleioku by his messenger, Nunu and
Kakohe reached Waipunalei the following night; and when they saw
the warlike preparations, and learned that Umi was present and that
the acclaim of revolt was to be raised in his name, they wept for
joy. It was past midnight, and their limbs were weary, but they could
not sleep. At their request the door of Umi's room was pointed out to
them, and they went and sat down beside it. For an hour or more they
did not speak. Then, when all was still within the walls, in a low
tone they began the legendary chant of the kings of Hawaii. As they
proceeded with a record which few on the island beside themselves
could correctly repeat, their voices rose with their enthusiasm, and
in a few minutes hundreds of half-naked men crept from their barrack
lodgings and stood listening to the metric sentences of the learned
historians. As they reached the name of Kiha, Umi stepped without
the door. The priests recognized him and rose to their feet. Then,
continuing the mele, they chanted the name of Kiha, of Liloa, of Hakau,
and finally of Umi, represented as having wrested the sceptre from
his unworthy brother, who was hated by his subjects and abandoned by
the gods. With this they dropped on their knees before him and boldly
saluted him as moi of Hawaii.
This acquainted many of the warriors present for the first time of
Umi's rank, and the wildest enthusiasm seized them. They asked to be
led at once to Waipio, and were only quieted when Kaoleioku appeared
and assured them that their patriotic wishes would soon be gratified.
At first Kaoleioku deemed this early development of the purposes of
the movement untimely, if not, indeed, unfortunate. Many preparations
remained to be made. It had been a suggestion of Umi that a part of
the rebel forces should be sent to Waipio by water; but the canoes
necessary for the expedition had not been secured, and not more than a
thousand warriors had reported. Secrecy could no longer be maintained,
and immediate and open action appeared to be now unavoidable. Yet
it was through Nunu and Kakohe that his plans had been thwarted,
and while he felt annoyed at what they had done, he retired, hoping
they had acted advisedly in the matter.
The conduct of the priests was explained and approved the next
morning. They urged immediate action. Hakau was not prepared for a
sudden attack. For many years there had been no wars of consequence,
and such of his supporters as the king could hastily summon to his
assistance would be improperly armed and without discipline.
Their advice was for Umi to raise the standard of revolt at once. This
news they would take to Waipio, with the further information that,
although preparing for rebellion, Umi would not be strong enough to act
for some time. Alarmed, Hakau would consult the high-priest Laeanui,
who, notwithstanding their relations, was secretly his enemy, and a
plan could be devised to induce the king to send his household guards
and immediate followers to the mountains on some religious errand,
when Umi, apprised of the situation by fires kindled at intervals on
the hill-tops between Waipio and Waipunalei, could swoop down with
a few hundred resolute warriors and seize the king and the capital,
and thus with a bold stroke achieve a bloodless triumph.
When the priests had developed this plan of action Kaoleioku rose to
his feet and exclaimed with excitement:
"The gods have instructed you!"
"You have spoken truly; the gods have indeed instructed our
friends!" said Umi, impressively; "for was it not said in your dreams
that the victory would be bloodless if the spears of Hakau were sent
beyond the call of the Kiha-pu?"
"The meaning is now plain," returned the priest, reverentially. "The
gods are with us, and we will be directed by them."
All the details were then carefully arranged, and the two priests
returned to Waipio. It was soon rumored that they brought news of
Umi, and Hakau sent for them, as had been expected. Fear had somewhat
humbled him, and he greeted them with what seemed to be the greatest
friendship and cordiality. He even chided them for absenting themselves
so long from the royal mansion, where their visits, he assured them,
would always be welcome. They assumed to be greatly gratified at
his protestations of good-will, but secretly despised him for his
shallow hypocrisy.
When questioned by the king the priests frankly informed him that they
had left Umi and Kaoleioku together no longer than the day before,
and advised him to lose no time in despatching to the mountains all
the men he could summon, to gather fresh feathers of rare birds with
which to redecorate his god of war.
Hakau was startled by this advice, for the ceremony of kauilaakua
was never performed except in times of war or other imminent peril.
"What!" he exclaimed, with assumed astonishment, "shall this be
done because Umi lives, and you have seen him with the high-priest
of Manini?"
"No; not because Umi lives," replied Nunu quietly, "but because he
is preparing for rebellion."
"Rebellion!" repeated Hakau, angrily. "Does he expect to be able to
maintain himself in Hilo?"
"His aims reach beyond Hilo," ventured the priest.
"To Puna?"
"Beyond Puna."
"To Kau?"
"Beyond Kau."
"Then he must aim at the whole island," exclaimed Hakau, savagely.
"At the whole island," repeated the priest, maliciously.
"He shall have land enough to bury him, and no more!" hissed the
king. "But you are croakers, both of you. Before considering your
advice I shall consult Laeanui and the seers of Paakalani, and hear
what the gods say of this wide-spread conspiracy, as your fears and
cowardice tell the story."
Hakau abruptly dismissed the priests, and despatched a messenger for
the high-priest Laeanui, but it was late in the afternoon before he
could be found. He was old and venerable in appearance, and his hair,
white as the snows of Mauna Kea, fell to his knees, covering his
shoulders like a veil.
They had met but rarely since the death of Liloa, for the old priest
seldom left the temple grounds, and Hakau as seldom visited them; and
as the bearded and white-haired prophet entered the royal mansion,
all bent respectfully before him, and a feeling of awe crept over
the king as the priest stood silently and with folded arms before him.
"My greeting to you, venerable servant of the gods!" said the king.
The priest bowed, but remained silent, and Hakau resumed abruptly:
"I have learned that Umi and a priest named Kaoleioku are plotting
treason together in Hilo, near the borders of Hamakua. What know you
of Kaoleioku?"
"A man to be feared if he is in earnest," replied the priest curtly.
"Have auguries of the movement been invoked?" inquired the king.
With a gesture the priest replied in the negative.
"And why not?" continued Hakau, impetuously. "What are priests and
temples for, if not to guard the kingdom against coming dangers?"
"If it so please them, the gods answer when they are asked through
sacrifice," replied the priest; and then, with rising anger, he
continued: "Your father respected the gods, and came to the temple
when he would consult them, and his son must do the same."
"Well, then," said Hakau, discovering that the priest neither loved
nor feared him, "I will be at the temple to-night, some time after
sunset, and have you there the best of your diviners."
"I shall await your coming," replied Laeanui, briefly, as he bowed
low and retired.
"Although he gave me his daughter," muttered Hakau, as Laeanui left
the room, "he has no love for me, and I as little for him. But no
matter; I must not quarrel with him now. Wait until I have dealt
with Umi and his confederates, and then--" But he did not finish the
sentence, for he suddenly recollected that the high-priesthood was
an inherited position, like his own, and its bestowal was not a royal
prerogative. There were bloody means of creating vacancies, however,
and these flashed through the wicked brain of Hakau.
The night that followed was dark, with a steady wind from the northwest
and occasional showers. It was some time after sunset before the king
entered the outer gate of the heiau of Paakalani. He was accompanied
by four attendants, two of whom bore a muzzled pig and two fowls;
the others were trusty friends. A kukui torch was kept burning in
front of the house of the high-priest, another between the altar and
inner court, and a third near the entrance of the royal retreat, with
which that heiau, like many others, was provided. Toward the latter
Hakau and his party proceeded, and were soon joined by Laeanui and
a number of officiating priests and kilos.
Entering the royal hale, a few words passed between the king and
Laeanui, when the attendants of Hakau were relieved of their burdens
and sent without the enclosure. The kaika, or large sacrificial drum,
was then sounded with three measured strokes, and in a few minutes
six officiating priests, three of them with knives in their hands
and the others bearing torches, made their appearance. To them the
pig and fowls were entrusted, and, preceded by the torch-bearers,
the king and high-priest, followed by the attendants of the temple,
with measured pace moved toward the altar.
Reaching the place of sacrifice, the high-priest uttered a prayer
to the godhead, and separate supplications to Kane, Ku and Lono,
intoned by the assisting priests, when the fowls were decapitated
and their headless bodies placed upon the altar. The priest watched
them until they were motionless, and then opened them and carefully
examined the heart, liver and entrails of each.
The king glanced anxiously at the priest, but the latter made
no response. The pig was then ordered to be slain. The throat of
the animal was cut and its bleeding body was also placed upon the
altar. The flow of the blood was scrupulously noted, and, after
the respirations had been counted and the animal ceased to breathe,
the body was hastily opened. The spleen was removed and held above
the head of the priest while another prayer was spoken, and then the
other organs were separately examined.
Completing the inspection, Laeanui stepped back from the altar.
"Well," said the king, impatiently, "what say the gods?"
"The gods are angry, and the portents are evil," replied the priest.
"Then promise them a hundred human sacrifices," exclaimed Hakau. "If
their favor is to be purchased with blood, I will drown the heiau
with an ocean of it. But," he continued, "I am not satisfied with
these auguries. Let me hear from the anu."
Immediately behind the altar was the entrance to the inner court
of the temple. Within, and about three paces back from the door,
which was covered with a wide breadth of kapa, was placed the anu,
a wicker enclosure four or five feet in diameter, in which stood the
oracle. On each side of the entrance were carved images of Kane, Ku,
Lono and other Hawaiian deities, while at intervals of three or four
feet along the walls a score or more of gods of lesser potency stood
guard above the sacred spot.
To the last request of Hakau the priest replied: "The king shall hear
from the anu."
The lights were then extinguished, and all except the king and
high-priest retired some distance from the altar, that no whisper of
the oracle might reach them. Hakau was nervous as he stepped with
the priest in front of the entrance to the inner temple. A prayer
was uttered by the priest; the kapa screen was drawn aside by hands
unseen, and the king stood looking into the intense darkness of the
sanctum sanctorum of the temple.
"Speak!" said the priest, withdrawing behind the altar, and leaving
the king alone before the anu.
"Speak!" repeated a hollow voice from within the sacred enclosure.
For some minutes Hakau remained awed and silent; then, in a voice
which scarcely seemed to be his own, he said:
"Great power, I hear that dangers threaten."
"Dangers threaten!" came like an echo from within.
"How may they be averted?" inquired the king.
For a time there was no answer. Finally a voice from the anu replied:
"Do homage to Kane; make glad the war-god of Liloa!"
"So do I promise," answered the king; "but will that give me victory?"
"Victory!" was repeated from the anu.
Elated at what he had heard, Hakau continued:
"Now tell me, mighty spirit, whether Umi--"
"Nothing more!" interrupted the voice from within, as the kapa suddenly
dropped before the entrance.
"Well, thanks for so much," said Hakau, turning and joining the priest
at the altar, and repeating to him, with some favorable additions,
the words that he had heard. Darkness hid the smile upon the lips
of Laeanui.
"The day after to-morrow we will hold here a festival to Kane, and
the altar shall be heaped with offerings," said the king. "To-morrow
I will send my people to the mountains to gather feathers of sacred
and royal colors, and Kaili, the neglected war-god of Liloa, shall
be made glorious in new plumage and glad with abundant sacrifice."
"It is well," replied the priest.
"Now let the conspirators marshal their spears!" continued Hakau,
confidently, "and we will make short work of them. They cannot be
punished in the hills of Hilo. With a showing of weakness we will
lure them to Waipio, and not one of them shall escape. We will cut
off their retreat, and close in their faces the gates of the puhonui!"
As already mentioned, of the two puhonuis, or places of refuge, on
Hawaii at that time, one was an adjunct of the heiau of Paakalani,
at Waipio. In times of war their gates, with white flags to mark them,
were always open, and those who succeeded in passing into the enclosure
were safe from assault, even though pursued by the king himself.
This savage proposal to close the gates of the puhonui was promptly
resented by Laeanui. He would as soon have thought of tumbling the
gods from their pedestals and consigning them to the flames.
"You suggest what is impossible," said the priest. "Since the days of
Wakea the puhonui has been sacred. Its gates cannot be closed to the
defenceless, and the gods have said that he who shuts them against
the weak shall seek in vain their shelter from the arm of the strong."
"Well, then, keep them open!" retorted the king, sharply. "They will
run swiftly who enter them!"
Torches were relighted, and the king and his attendants left the
heiau. They had not passed beyond the outer wall before Nunu emerged
from the inner court. His was the voice that had answered the king from
the anu. Thus in the temple of Paakalani was shaped the destruction
of Hakau, and the priests whom he had insulted and defied opened
broadly and surely the way to his death.
The next morning an unusual commotion was observed in and around
the royal mansion, and as party after party left the inclosure--some
proceeding toward the sea-coast, and others up the valley and into
the mountains beyond--the villagers wondered at the proceeding, and
predicted that a strict tabu would soon follow, whatever might be the
occasion. But when they learned that the war-god was to be redecorated,
and an imposing religious festival was to follow the day after,
they knew that trouble of some kind was anticipated by the king,
and soon found a correct explanation of the movement in the rumors
which they, too, had heard concerning Umi and his friends in Hilo and
eastern Hamakua. The possibility of an uprising against Hakau gave
them no uneasiness, however, for his cruelties had secured for him
their hatred, while the name of Umi was to all classes a synonym of
strength and gentleness.
The king was not indifferent to the danger with which he was about
to be confronted, and promptly despatched lunapais to the district
chiefs of Kohala, Kona, and Hamakua, ordering them to report without
delay at Waipio with two thousand warriors each, while the governor
of Hilo was commanded by a special lunapai to march at once with a
body of warriors to Waipunalei, with the view of precipitating the
movement of Umi upon Waipio, where, it was not doubted, he would be
overwhelmed and crushed.
All these were proper precautions, but they were taken too late; for
at the time the feather-hunters and lunapais were leaving on their
respective missions, Umi, at the head of over two thousand well-armed
and resolute warriors, had reached a point within a two hours' march
of Waipio, and was awaiting a signal to swoop down upon the valley.
And now let us return to Waipunalei, and note what had been occurring
there during the preceding forty-eight hours. As soon as the priests
left for Waipio, two days before, trusty and intelligent sentinels
followed and took their respective stations, designated by Maukaleoleo,
on the summits of seven different hill-tops discernible from each
other from Waipunalei to Waipio. The first, coming eastward from
Waipio, was three miles, perhaps, from the temple of Paakalani; the
last was a rocky pinnacle about four miles from Waipunalei. This was
the station of Maukaleoleo.
The sentinels were instructed to gather large heaps of dry grass and
bark; to keep small fires smouldering and ready for use; to vigilantly
watch the peaks in the direction of Waipio; to apply the torch the
instant a signal-fire was seen, and keep the pile burning until it
was plainly answered by the next station toward Waipunalei.
All that day and through the following night armed men were arriving at
the rendezvous at Kaoleioku's, until something more than two thousand
warriors had reported, and every spare moment of the next day was
devoted to forming them into companies and battalions, giving them
leaders and preparing them for a rapid march.
Many of the warriors were accompanied by their wives, daughters or
sisters; for in those days, and later, women not unfrequently followed
their fathers, brothers and husbands to battle, generally keeping
in the rear to furnish them with food and water, but sometimes, in a
close and desperate conflict, mingling bravely in the fight. In such
cases they gave and received blows, and expected and were accorded
no consideration because of their sex.
Instances are given in Hawaiian tradition of the tide of battle being
turned, on more than one occasion, by desperate women transformed
from camp-followers into warriors; and as late as 1819 we behold
Manona, wife of Kekuokalani, the last sturdy champion of the gods
of his fathers, falling lifeless in battle upon the body of her dead
husband at Kuamoo, while Kaahumanu and Kalakau, widows of the great
Kamehameha, commanded the fleet of canoes operating with the land
forces under Kalaimoku.
After the visit of the priests from Waipio the purpose of the revolt
was no longer disguised, and whenever Umi made his appearance among
the assembled and assembling warriors he was greeted with the wildest
enthusiasm. His romantic history was known to them, and had been made
the theme of song. His many triumphs at the festival given by Liloa in
honor of his formal recognition were recited by those who had witnessed
them, and his grand proportions and noble bearing stamped him as of
chiefly blood; and when his friends Piimaiwaa and Omaukamau spoke of
the great learning displayed by him when questioned by the priests,
and intimated that he had been instructed by the gods and was under
their care, every doubt of success vanished, and the order for an
advance upon Waipio was awaited with impatience.
Maukaleoleo mysteriously came and went, but always at night, and seldom
remaining longer than a few minutes. He was known to all within the
enclosure, and allowed to pass unchallenged, as he could be mistaken
for no one else. As he strode through the gateway, bearing a spear
scarcely less than thirty feet in length, the sentinels regarded him
with awe; and when they saw him converse with Umi and then silently
depart, they shook their heads and said, "Perhaps he is Lono!"
The temple of Manini, dedicated by Liloa just before his meeting
with the mother of Umi, and of which Kaoleioku was the high-priest,
was a reconstruction and enlargement of an old heiau which was in
existence certainly as early as the time of the warlike Kalaunuiohua,
who reigned between the years 1260 and 1300. With a large army and
proportionate fleet of canoes he invaded Maui, Molokai and Oahu,
and, taking their captured sovereigns with him, made a descent upon
Kauai. But his triumphs ended there. After an obstinate battle he
was defeated and taken prisoner, but was subsequently released and
permitted to return to his own kingdom.
It was during the reign of this sovereign that the prophetess Waahia
lived. She accompanied him in his expeditions as far as Oahu, but
refused to proceed with him to Kauai. She declared that the gods
would bring calamity upon him if he invaded that island, and sought to
persuade him to consolidate his conquests and return to Hawaii. But
the warrior-king cared but little for priests or temples, and was
in the habit of destroying both when they failed to subserve his
purposes. Enraged at the unfavorable auguries of Waahia, and fearful
that they might come to the ears of and demoralize his warriors,
the king induced her to return to Hawaii. One tradition says she
voluntarily abandoned Kalaunuiohua, while another relates that she
consented to return only on condition that the war-god of the king
be sent back with her. This god had been in the reigning family
of Hawaii since the days of Paao, and had been sanctified by that
father of the priesthood. To distinguish it from other war-gods it
was known as Akuapaao, and was held in great veneration. When asked
for an explanation of the strange request, the prophetess boldly
declared that, if the god was taken to Kauai, it would never return
except at the head of a conquering army that would make of Hawaii a
tributary kingdom.
"Then take it with you!" exclaimed the king, savagely, "and if I
return to Hawaii alive I will burn you both together!"
"You will burn neither," said Waahia. "When you return to Hawaii you
will think better of the gods and their servants; and in generations
to come, when angry spears shall be crossed in the hale of the kings
of Hawaii, the hand will be stronger that places the fresh lei upon
the shoulders of Akuapaao."
The prophetess prepared to embark. The god, wrapped in a fold of
kapa, so that it might not be recognized, was brought to the beach
and delivered to the departing seeress. The canoe, which was large
enough to accommodate thirty persons, was shoved into the surf. It was
provided with food and a calabash of water. Declining all assistance
or companionship in her journey, Waahia stepped into the canoe with
the image in her arms, and, after carefully depositing it in the bow
of the boat, returned and seated herself near the stern. Half a dozen
men were waiting for the word to launch the canoe from the sands upon
which the stern was lightly resting. But the seeress raised no sail,
touched no oar. For some minutes she sat, silent and motionless,
with bent head and clasped hands, as if in prayer, while hundreds of
curious eyes watched her in amazement, wondering what would become
of her, even should the unmanned craft be successful in passing the
breakers. Then she slowly rose to her feet, and the canoe began to
glide toward the reef. Faster and faster it moved, until, mounting a
retreating wave, it was borne swiftly out into the calmer waters; then,
slightly turning in its course, it dashed southward with the speed of
the wind, and was soon lost to the view of the awe-stricken beholders.
Waahia looked beneath the waves and smiled, for Ukanipo, the shark-god,
with scores of assistants, was bearing her onward; and then from his
ipu Laamaomao, the Hawaiian Æolus, let loose the imprisoned winds, and
refreshing zephyrs cooled the face of the prophetess and accelerated
the speed of the canoe, until it seemed to leap from wave to wave;
and great sea-birds screamed with fright as it dashed past and awoke
them from their billowy slumbers, leaving behind it a long trail of
troubled waters.
Passing to the southward of the intervening islands, the canoe was
borne with undiminished speed through the channel of Alenuihaha to
the northeastern coast of Hawaii, and before sunset was beached at
Koholalele. The prophetess knew the meaning of this. Near by was the
old heiau of Manini, and thither, as she felt instructed, was taken
and deposited the war-god Akuapaao, with the solemn injunction to
the high-priest in charge that it was never to be removed from the
inner court unless the life of the moi was in peril or the kingdom
was invaded by a foreign foe.
The old heiau had given place to a more imposing structure during
the reign of Liloa. Its outer walls had been enlarged, raised and
repaired, and its inner belongings improved and redecorated; but
its sacred relics had not been disturbed, and its many gods remained
where they had been for generations.
Among the most sacred idols of the temple, even after the death of
Liloa, was the Akuapaao. Its name indicated alike its age and sanctity;
and while the legends connected with it had become vague and distorted
in their transmission through a long line of priests, the prophecy
of Waahia still clung to it, and it was especially reverenced by the
few to whom was entrusted the secret of its functions.
Hakau had learned of this god from his royal father, and the same
morning that his retainers were sent to the hills for feathers two
priests were despatched to Koholalele, with orders to bring to Waipio,
in the king's name and without delay, the war-god Akuapaao. Should
the priests of the temple refuse to surrender the idol, then the
messengers were instructed to call upon the district chiefs for
assistance, and take it by force, no matter at what cost of life.
But the king was too late, for at early daylight of the morning of
the day before his messengers left Waipio, Maukaleoleo strode into
the rebel headquarters with the Akuapaao in his arms. Kaoleioku had,
of course, instructed the giant where and how to secure the image,
for in years past he had been its custodian, and his orders continued
to be obeyed by the priests of Manini. The idol, completely wrapped
in kapa, was deposited in the private heiau of the high-priest,
and Maukaleoleo left the enclosure as quietly as he had entered it
a few minutes before. The sentinels wondered, as usual, but bowed in
silence as he came and went.
The priest rose with the sun, and learned that Maukaleoleo had already
been a visitor that morning. He hastened to the heiau, and there found
the Akuapaao. He was overjoyed. He removed the kapa covering from the
idol, placed it upon a pedestal between the images of Ku and Lono, and
then found Umi and brought him to the heiau. Entering, Kaoleioku closed
the door and pointed to the Akuapaao. Umi bowed reverently before it.
"Listen, O Umi!" said the priest; "listen, O son of Liloa! Behold
the war-god of your fathers! It was sanctified by the touch of Paao,
and for generations, in the inner chamber of Manini, has awaited
your coming. From Waahia, the prophetess, have come down, through
the chief priests of the heiau, these words: 'When angry spears shall
be crossed in the hale of the kings of Hawaii, the hand will be the
stronger that places the fresh lei upon the shoulders of Akuapaao.' The
spears are about to be crossed; the god is here; let yours be the hand,
and not Hakau's, to place the lei-ai upon the shoulders of Akuapaao!"
The words of the prophecy came to Umi as a dream. Overwhelmed with
their significance, he fell upon his knees and exclaimed:
"God of my fathers! be you my guide until I prove unworthy of your
protection!"
"Your realm is yet small," said the priest, "and is enclosed within
these walls. Let us pay respect to the gods, that its boundaries may
be enlarged."
Thereupon a strict tabu was ordered to all within the walls, to begin
at midday and continue until the setting of the sun. The time was
brief, but events were pressing, and it could not safely be extended.
The tabu, or kapu, as it is sometimes written, was strictly a
prerogative of the high chiefs and priests of olden Hawaii. There
were fixed tabus of custom, and declared tabus of limited duration by
the temporal and spiritual rulers. The penalty for the violation of
all tabus was death. It was tabu of custom for men and women to eat
together, or for women to eat of the flesh of swine, fowls, turtle
and many kinds of fish. Everything belonging to the kings, priests
and temples was tabu, or sacred, and springs, paths, fishing-grounds,
water-courses, etc., were frequently thus kept from the use of the
people. Declared general tabus, for the propitiation of the gods
or the amelioration of a public evil, were either strict or common,
according to the emergency. During the time of a common tabu the people
were required to abstain from their usual avocations and attend at the
heiau, where morning and evening prayers were offered. A strict tabu
was more sacred. While it continued--generally one or two days--all,
with the exception of the alii-nui and priests, were compelled to
remain within doors. Every fire and every light was extinguished; no
canoe was launched; all noises ceased; the pigs and dogs were muzzled,
and fowls were placed under calabashes. These tabus were proclaimed
by heralds, and their wanton violation was an unpardonable offence.
In preparation for the tabu to be declared by Umi, flowers and
feathers were brought, and leis of both were woven. Everything being
in readiness, heralds proclaimed the tabu and its duration, with the
further announcement that the occasion was the arrival of the mighty
war-god Akuapaao and its coming decoration by Umi.
As the sun touched the mark of meridian, the gates of the enclosure
were barred and guarded by the religious attendants of the priest;
the fires were everywhere extinguished; the few animals within the
walls were either muzzled or hidden; men, women and children suddenly
disappeared within their dwellings or quarters, and mats were hung
at the openings; Umi and the priest retired alone to the heiau and
closed the door, and silence, disturbed only by low whispers and the
muffled footfalls of the watching priests, reigned over the twenty-five
hundred persons gathered within the enclosure.
In the heiau, or apartment of the gods, to which Umi and the
high-priest retired, were a number of images and sacred relics. Near
the centre of the room was a small altar, upon which had been deposited
the leis provided for the decoration of Akuapaao. They sat down beside
it, and for an hour or more nothing was heard but the whispered prayers
of the priest, addressed in turn to the several gods before him. Then,
rising and leading Umi by the hand to the Akuapaao, in a low voice he
formally presented him to the god as the son of Liloa and rightful
ruler of the Hawaiian people. Another prayer was uttered, and then
Umi, with the words, "Accept this, O Akuapaao, with the homage of
Umi!" proceeded reverently to place around the head and neck of the
image a number of fragrant leis of flowers and wreaths of brilliant
feathers.
The priest watched the act intently. As the last wreath of feathers,
resembling a crown in appearance--the lei-hula-alii--was placed upon
the head of the image, a sunbeam flashed through what seemed to be a
small rent in the thatched roof, and for a moment haloed the heads
of Umi and the god. The priest read the answer and smiled. He felt
as assured of the favor of the gods as if it had been pledged in a
voice of thunder, and Umi bent low in acknowledgment of the joyful
revelation.
The sun dropped behind the hills; twilight turned to bronze the gold
of the valleys, and the tabu was at an end. It was proclaimed that
the auguries were highly favorable, and the silence of the tabu was
broken by wild strains of music and shouts of rejoicing.