War soon occurred between Kamehameha and the independent chiefs
of Hilo and Kau, but, as no marked advantages to either side
resulted, Kamehameha established his court at Halaula, in Kohala,
and occupied himself in improving the condition of his people. During
the campaign he had met with some reverses, but Keeaumoku's faith
in the final triumph of his great leader remained unshaken through
every disaster. He thought he saw in him that captain, greater than
Kalaniopuu, of whom the poet dreamed in Hana, and was soon after
confirmed in the belief by the definite prophecy of Keaulumoku.
Restlessly roaming from place to place, the old singer finally
selected a temporary abode near Halaula, shortly after the removal
of the court of Kamehameha to that village. There he was frequently
visited by Keeaumoku, sometimes accompanied by Kaahumanu, who was
budding into an attractive womanhood, and sometimes by Namahana, who
regarded him with a reverence due to one whose utterances seemed to
be inspired by the gods.
Since the death of Kalaniopuu the voice of Keaulumoku had been
silent. He mourned over the distracted condition of the island,
and sympathized with the people in their enforced warfare with each
other. Vainly had he sought to penetrate the mists of desolation and
disorder, and catch a glimpse of what was beyond. No light had come
to him through the clouds; to his prayers no answering voice had
whispered in his dreams.
But the curtain was raised for him at last, and, as the shades of
the future trooped before him in awful pantomime, in a voice wild
as the winds sweeping through the gorge of Nuuanu he chanted the
prophetic mele of Hau-i-Kalani. After describing the horrors of the
civil war then desolating the island, he concluded by predicting that
Kamehameha would triumph over his enemies, and in the end be hailed
as the greatest of Hawaiian conquerors.
The chant created great enthusiasm among the followers of
Kamehameha. Keeaumoku listened to it with rapt attention, and at its
conclusion stooped over the old poet and said:
"I asked you a question in Hana, which you did not answer then. Is
it answered now?"
Keaulumoku looked into the face of the chief for a moment as if to
collect his thoughts, and then dreamily replied:
"It is answered!"
"Such was my thought," returned the chief. "I have some rare dainties
from the sea. Come and eat with me to-night, and I will ask to be
taught the mele you have just chanted."
Keaulumoku made no reply, and Keeaumoku walked slowly toward the
palace, trying to remember the words of the poet which had so thrilled
his listeners.
What occurred between Keeaumoku and the old poet during their repast
that evening will never be known; but certain it is that henceforth
Keeaumoku never doubted the final success of Kamehameha, and when, in
the summer of 1785, the latter retired discomfited from an invasion of
Hilo, Keeaumoku smiled as he said to his chief: "Thus far you have only
skirmished with your enemies; you will win when you fight battles!"
In 1784 Keaulumoku died. For months the old poet had lived alone
in a hut near Kauhola. He avoided company and seldom spoke to any
one. Feeling his end approaching, he one day announced that the evening
following he would chant his last mele. Hundreds collected around
his hut at the time appointed. They did not enter, but sat down,
conversing in whispers, and respectfully waited.
An hour passed, and another, but the old singer did not make
his appearance. Finally the mat which served as a door was drawn
aside, and Keaulumoku's white head and bent form were seen in the
opening. Seating himself within view of all, he began to chant a
mele in tremulous tones. As he proceeded his voice became louder,
and every word was breathlessly listened to. He spoke of the coming
conquest of the group by Kamehameha, whom he designated as the son
of Kahekili, and also as "the lone one." He also predicted the early
extinction of the Kamehameha dynasty, the domination of the white race,
the destruction of the temples, and finally the gradual death of the
Hawaiian people. Concluding his chant, the old seer raised his hands
as if to bless his listeners, and fell back dead. A great wail went
up from the people, and they tenderly bore the body of the dead poet
to the heiau, where it was accorded the burial rites of a prophet.
Much of the last prophecy of Keaulumoku was preserved and repeated,
and by conversing with the many who listened to it Keeaumoku managed
to secure a satisfactory version of the final song of the dying poet.
From the first of Kamehameha's battles Keeaumoku had not doubted
the triumph of that chief over all adversaries in the end, and
eagerly grasped at every circumstance calculated to strengthen the
conviction. So believing, his way seemed to be clear.
But what of Kaahumanu, whose promised lover was to be a chief of
renown, and whose husband was to be a king? She was an attractive
maiden of seventeen, and a few months after the death of Keaulumoku,
and while Kamehameha was engaged in peaceful pursuits at Halaula, her
father suddenly brought her to court. Fresh, sparkling and graceful,
and related to the royal lines of Maui and Hawaii, she attracted the
immediate attention of Kamehameha, and he disposed of the claims of
her many suitors at once by making her his wife.
There was little in the appearance of the great chief to please the
eye of a girl of seventeen. His features were rugged and irregular,
and he held in contempt the courtly graces which imparted a charm
to the intercourse with each other of the nobility of the time. He
was already the husband of two recognized wives; but Kaahumanu was
ambitious, and, with admiration but no affection for him, she consented
to become his wife.
Keeaumoku was now persistent in inspiring Kamehameha with the thought
of becoming the master of the group. He recited to him the prophetic
chants of Keaulumoku, and brought to him the favoring auguries of
the kaulas.
An unsuccessful attempt to recover the district of Hana in 1786
was followed in 1790 by another invasion of Maui, when Kamehameha
completely subjugated the island, and then turned his attention to
Keoua, the independent chief of Kau, who had slain the chief of Hilo
and assumed the sovereignty of the southern districts of Hawaii.
The war with Keoua continued for more than a year, and every effort of
Kamehameha to crush this last of his rivals on Hawaii was successfully
resisted. For nine years Keoua had maintained himself against the
power of Kamehameha, and still remained master of Kau and the most
of Puna. Treachery was finally resorted to, and Keoua fell.
The old temple of Puukohola had been partially rebuilt, and a noted
seer had predicted that its completion would give to Kamehameha the
undisputed sovereignty of Hawaii. The temple was hastily finished,
and Keoua was invited to a conference with his opponent at Kawaihae,
with the view, he was led to believe, of peacefully settling their
differences. Nearing the shore of the place of meeting, where he saw
and exchanged greetings with Kamehameha, he was about to land when
Keeaumoku met him in a canoe and treacherously assassinated him,
and his body was taken to the newly-completed temple and sacrificed
to the war-god of his betrayer.
Keoua was a brave, noble, and magnanimous chief, and the apologists
of Kamehameha have not succeeded in relieving him from the odium
of Keeaumoku's cowardly act. He was the half-brother of Kiwalao,
and his death left Kamehameha the master of Hawaii.
Truly, as predicted by the seer, had Keeaumoku become the slayer
of princes and the maker of kings. But his work was not yet
completed. Kamehameha was the sovereign of Hawaii, but the conquest of
the group was still before him. Every circumstance, however, conspired
in his favor. Kahekili, the warlike king of Maui and conqueror of
Oahu, died in 1794, and a rupture had occurred between his successor
and Kaeo, the moi of Kauai.
Everything being in readiness, early in 1795 Kamehameha invaded Oahu
with a mighty army, defeated and subsequently captured and sacrificed
to his war-god King Kalanikupule, and shortly after received the
submission of the moi of Kauai--thus becoming the acknowledged master
of, and for the first time in their history consolidating under one
government, the several islands of the Hawaiian group.
The prophecies of Keaulumoku have all been fulfilled. Keeaumoku, the
slayer of princes and maker of kings, died peacefully as governor of
the windward islands in 1804. Kaahumanu became the wife of a king,
and died as chief counsellor of the islands in 1832. The temples
of the Hawaiian gods were destroyed immediately after the death of
Kamehameha, in 1819, and but a tenth of the number of natives found
on the islands at the close of the last century are now left to sing
of the achievements of their ancestors, who first made their home
in the group when the Roman Empire was falling to pieces under the
assaults of Northern barbarism.