Among the distinguished Hawaiian chiefs connected with the final
conquest and consolidation of the group by Kamehameha the Great,
and standing in the gray dawn of the close of the eighteenth century,
when the islands were rediscovered by Captain Cook and tradition began
to give place to recorded history, was Kaiana-a-Ahaula. He was one
of Kamehameha's greatest captains, and the events of his life, which
closed with his death in the last battle of the conquest, embrace one
of the most interesting periods in Hawaiian history. After giving to
the conqueror his best energies for years, and faithfully assisting in
cementing the foundations of his greatness, he turned against him on
the very eve of final triumph, and perished in attempting to destroy
by a single blow the power he had helped to create.
What was it that caused Kaiana to turn his spear in hopeless
desperation against his victorious chief, to whom the gods and their
prophets had promised everything? Had not Pele destroyed his enemies
with fire and smoke? and had not Keaulumoku, the inspired bard of
Naohaku, chanted the fadeless glory of his triumphs? The war-god of
Liloa--the fateful Kaili--led the van of his conquering columns, and
Kalaipahoa, the poison god of Molokai, was among the deities of his
household. The high-priest Hewahewa, who traced his sacerdotal line
back to Paao, was his mediator in the temples, and every voice from
the anu was a note of encouragement and promise of victory. The great
chiefs of Hawaii were his friends, and his war-canoes cruised almost
unopposed throughout the eight Hawaiian seas. Musket and cannon had
been added to his weapons of war, and white men had enlisted to some
extent in his service. But, with all these advantages and assurances
of success, Kaiana suddenly threw defiance in his face and became
his open enemy.
By some the defection of Kaiana has been attributed to cold-blooded
and unprovoked treachery; by others to an assumption by Kaiana that
by blood Kamehameha was not entitled to the sovereignty of the group,
and that his defeat in Oahu would dispose of his pretensions in that
direction, and possibly open to himself a way to supreme power; and
by still others to the jealousies of Kamehameha, which rendered the
life of Kaiana no longer safe in his service. By these it is claimed
that Kamehameha was jealous, not only of the growing military fame
of Kaiana, but of a suspected regard of his favorite wife, Kaahumanu,
for the handsome and distinguished chief. And this, indeed, as shown by
native and other testimony, seems to have been the leading if not sole
cause of the estrangement between Kamehameha and his great captain.
In the council of chiefs on the island of Molokai, to which Kaiana
was not invited, and which he had reason to believe had decreed his
death, ambition was the crime which Kamehameha imputed to him, when
in truth the real and unmentioned offence was his suspected intimacy
with Kaahumanu. And so it will appear that women's eyes in Hawaii,
as elsewhere, have in all ages swayed the hearts and nerved the arms
of the greatest, and not unfrequently changed the current of vital
political events.
But, before bringing Kaiana full into the light, it is proper that some
reference should be made to the great chief under whose banners he so
stubbornly fought, and against whose authority he finally rebelled;
and in doing so it will be interesting, perhaps, to glance briefly
at certain prominent events connected with the rediscovery of the
islands by Captain Cook, the assumption of the sovereign authority
of Hawaii by Kamehameha, and the final consolidation of the several
islands of the group under one central government.
Kamehameha was a man of tremendous physical and intellectual
strength. In any land and in any age he would have been a leader. The
impress of his mind remains with his crude and vigorous laws, and
wherever he stepped is seen an imperishable track. He was so strong of
limb that ordinary men were but children in his grasp, and in council
the wisest yielded to his judgment. He seems to have been born a
man and to have had no boyhood. He was always sedate and thoughtful,
and from his earliest years cared for no sport or pastime that was
not manly. He had a harsh and rugged face, less given to smiles than
frowns, but strongly marked with lines indicative of self-reliance
and changeless purpose. He was barbarous, unforgiving and merciless to
his enemies, but just, sagacious and considerate in dealing with his
subjects. He was more feared and admired than loved and respected;
but his strength of arm and force of character well fitted him for
the supreme chieftaincy of the group, and he accomplished what no
one else could have done in his day.
Kamehameha was born at Kohala, Hawaii, in November, 1740. His father
was Keoua, half-brother of Kalaniopuu, and nephew of Alapainui,
who was at that time king of Hawaii. His mother was Kekuiapoiwa,
a granddaughter of Kalanikauleleiaiwi, who was a sister of Keawe,
the previous moi of the island. This sister was the mother of
Alapainui by a chief of the Mahi family of Kohala. With another
husband--Lonoikahaupu, a tabu chief of Kauai--she became the mother of
Keawepoepoe, who was the father of Keeaumoku, Kameeiamoku and Kamanawa,
who, with Keawe-a-Heulu, were the principal chiefs and supporters of
Kamehameha in his conquest of the group. By a Kauai wife Lonoikahaupu
became the grandfather of Kaumualii, the last independent sovereign of
Kauai, and grandfather of Kapiolani, the present queen of the islands.
Keawe, the previous king of Hawaii, had four recognized wives, and
two others whose names have not been preserved by tradition. One of
them was the mother of Ahaula, who was the father of Kaiana. On the
death of Keawe his two elder sons lost their lives in a struggle for
the mastery, and Alapainui, the son of the sister of Keawe, and who
through his father was chief of Kohala, assumed the moiship, and, after
a few battles, peacefully maintained his claim to it. Having secured
the sovereignty of the island, he invited to court the elder sons of
his two deceased half-brothers, and there maintained them until one of
them died and the other rose in rebellion against him. These two sons
were Kalaniopuu, who was king of the island at the time of the arrival
of Captain Cook in 1778, and Keoua, the father of Kamehameha. The
mother of these wards of Alapainui was Kamakaimoku, a chiefess of
Oahu. Their fathers having been brothers, and Kamakaimoku being the
mother of both, they bore to each other the mixed relationship of
half-brother and cousin. She also became the wife of Alapainui, and
by him the mother of Manoua, who was the grandmother of Kekuaokalani,
the last distinguished champion of idolatry in 1819.
To this record of the tangled relationships of the chiefly families of
the group at that period may be added the intimations of tradition that
Peleioholani, a chief of Kauai, was the actual father of Kalaniopuu,
and that Kahekili, the moi of Maui, was the real father of Kamehameha;
and in proof of the latter the acts and admissions of Kahekili are
cited. But these scandals may very properly be dismissed as the
offspring of the hatred and jealousies of later years.
Kamehameha was born at Kohala while Alapainui was there with his court,
superintending the collection of a mighty fleet for the invasion of
Maui. It was a stormy night, and the first sounds that greeted the
ears of the infant chief were the howling of the winds and the din of
warlike preparations. On the night of its birth the child was stolen
from its mother's side and carried away by Naeole, the chief of Halawa,
and for some days nothing was heard of it. The father searched and
the mother wailed, but the infant could not be found. It was finally
discovered, however, and Naeole, instead of being punished for the
theft, was allowed to keep possession of the child until it was five
years old, when it was taken to the court of Alapainui and there reared
as became a prince. Tradition assigns no reason for the theft of the
child, or for the retention of it for five years by the kidnapper;
but, whatever may have been the reason, it is manifest that Naeole's
offence was considered neither flagrant nor unusual.
When Kamehameha reached the age of twelve or fourteen years, his
father, Keoua, suddenly died, and a suspicion became current that he
had been either poisoned or prayed to death through the instrumentality
of Alapainui. This suspicion seems to have been shared by Kalaniopuu,
and believing, or assuming to believe, that his own life was in danger,
he withdrew from the court and attempted to take with him Kamehameha;
but in this he was frustrated. A fight occurred at Piopio while the
body of Keoua was lying there in state, and Kalaniopuu was driven
to his war-canoe, in which he escaped. This act placed him in open
revolt against his royal uncle, and he prepared to sustain it. Forces
were hastily gathered on both sides, and after a few battles, in which
Kalaniopuu was generally unsuccessful, he retired to the district of
Kau, and declared himself the independent sovereign of the southern
portion of the island. For some reason Alapainui did not disturb his
rebellious nephew farther, but spent the two remaining years of his
life in Hilo and Waipio, the residence of many of the ancient mois.
When Alapainui died he was succeeded by his son
Keaweopala. Dissatisfied with his allotment of lands, Keeaumoku, a
nephew of the dead king, rebelled against the new moi, but was defeated
and compelled to seek safety with Kalaniopuu, whom he found already in
the field, intent upon contesting the sovereignty of the island with
Keaweopala. The two joined forces, and met and defeated the royal army
in Kona. Keaweopala was slain in battle, and Kalaniopuu was declared
moi of Hawaii. Young Kamehameha was taken to the court of his royal
uncle, and educated in all the princely accomplishments of the period.
Although it is probable that Kamehameha took part in some of the
earlier wars of Kalaniopuu, he makes his first prominent appearance
in tradition as a military leader in about 1775, in a battle on Maui,
between Kalaniopuu and Kahekili, the moi of that island, or of the
greater portion of it. Kalaniopuu was defeated, but the conduct
of Kamehameha was notably cool and sagacious. It is reasonable to
believe that he also took part in the disastrous campaign of the
following year, when the army of Kalaniopuu was almost annihilated
on the lowlands near Wailuku.
This battle was one of the most sanguinary spoken of in Hawaiian
tradition. Kalaniopuu invaded the island with six heavy divisions of
warriors of all arms. The members of the royal family were formed
into a life-guard called Keawe, while the nobles entitled to the
privilege of eating at the same table with the king composed two
distinct brigades, known as Alapa and Piipii. A landing was effected
on the southern side of the island. The headquarters of Kahekili were
at Wailuku, between which and the coast stretched a slightly elevated
sandy plain.
The Alapa took the advance, and, without waiting for support, pushed
boldly on toward Wailuku. This brigade was the flower of the Hawaiian
army. It was composed of eight hundred men, each one of whom was of
noble blood. They were all large men of nearly equal stature, and
their spears were of equal length. Marching shoulder to shoulder, with
feather capes and plumed helmets, tradition describes their advance
as a spectacle such as had never before been witnessed. But Kahekili
was not appalled at the sight. He permitted them to approach within
a mile or more of Wailuku, when he suddenly precipitated upon them a
force of four or five thousand spears. The battle was a slaughter. The
Alapa refused to yield or retreat, and of the eight hundred helmeted
chiefs but two escaped to tell the tale of the slaughter of their
comrades. But a single prisoner was taken, and he died of his wounds
before he could be despatched in form and offered in sacrifice. It
was historic ground. On the sandy plain many battles had before been
fought, and near and above it was the sacred burial-place of Iao,
where had been deposited the bones of many of the ancestors of the
battling chiefs.
The next day a general battle was fought on the same ground, and
Kalaniopuu was defeated. But he was not crushed. The loss of life
had been great on both sides, and a temporary peace was established
on the condition that the Hawaiian army should at once be withdrawn
from Maui. The suspension of hostilities was secured partly through
the instrumentality of the wife of Kalaniopuu, Kalola, who was the
full sister of Kahekili.
But this peace was of short duration. Scarcely a year elapsed before
Kalaniopuu again invaded Maui, where he continued to hold a fortified
possession in Hana, and began to ravage its coasts. Without decisive
results, the campaign extended into months, Kalaniopuu maintaining
a foothold in Hamakualoa, but being unable to extend his conquests
greatly beyond it.