The sisters of Aiwohikupua, chagrined at what had befallen their
mistress, resolved to send Kahalaomapuana to Kealohilani, in a
far-distant land, to bring their brother, Kaonohiokala, to marry
Laieikawai, in order that she might triumph over Waka.
Accordingly, she started on her voyage, being carried by the gigantic
moo god, Kihanuilulumoku. Meantime, Laieikawai and her train made
a pleasure trip around Hawaii, first to Kau, then to Kona, and next
to Kohala.
Becoming discouraged, the old prophet of Kauai had left Kaiwilahilahi,
Hawaii, and started for his native island. Touching at Waimea, he saw
the well-known rainbow over Kaiopae, a half-hour's journey north of
Kawaihae, and followed it to Moolau, and then to Puakea, in Kohala,
where he finally met and conversed with Laieikawai.
He procured a double canoe for the party, and they sailed together
to Laie, Oahu, where he learned the history of Laieikawai. That night
his guardian deity informed him in a dream that she was the person he
had been seeking for so long, and directed him to take the party to
Haena, Kauai. In the morning he offered a pig and fowl before her,
and obtained her consent for him to become her guardian. They then
sailed for Kauai, and settled at Honopuwaiakua.
In one of his subsequent tours the prophet found, on arriving at
Wailua, that all the virgin daughters of the petty chiefs and courtiers
on Kauai had been collected there, in order that Aiwohikupua might
select two new wives to take the places of Poliahu and Hinaikamalama.
The prophet spoke so contemptuously of the girls brought there
for inspection, and boasted so loudly of the beauty and graces of
his adopted daughter, that a quarrel arose and he was thrown into
prison. He escaped during the night, however, and it was reported
to the chief that he was dead. He had left a banana trunk wrapped in
cloth, and it was offered on the altar of the heiau in the place of
his body.
At the moment when the deception was discovered the prophet made his
appearance on the platform of a double canoe at the mouth of the river,
with Laieikawai and the five sisters on board. Then Laieikawai stepped
upon the platform, surrounded with the insignia of a tabu chief,
and the winds ceased, the sea rose, thunders reverberated, lightnings
flashed, and the heiau and altar were shaken almost to ruins.
The assembled multitude shouted in admiration of the beauty of
Laieikawai, and Aiwohikupua, after recovering from the shock of what
he had witnessed, sent a herald to demand her in marriage. But the
prophet proudly answered that she was not for such as he, and would
marry no one of lower rank than the sovereign of an island. They then
returned to Honopuwaiakua.
We will now return to Kahalaomapuana, who was sent to a far-distant
land in search of her brother, in the hope of making him the husband
of Laieikawai. For four months the great moo swam with her in his
mouth, and they arrived at last at Kealohilani. But the guardian of
the place was absent on a visit to the Moon, and they awaited his
return for twenty days.
On his arrival he was greatly alarmed at the sight of the gigantic
reptile, lying with his head in the house and his tail in the sea,
and without a word flew to Nuumealani to consult Kaeloikamalama,
the powerful kupua, who shut the door of the pea kapu of the Kukulu
o Kahiki, where Kaonohiokala was concealed.
They returned together, the kupua armed with a laau palau a hundred
paces long with which to slay the moo. Just as he was preparing to
strike, the moo stirred his tail in the ocean and sent a tremendous
breaker rolling inland, and they both started to retreat. At that
moment the moo cast out Kahalaomapuana on the neck of her uncle,
Kaeloikamalama. He asked her who she was and the object of her visit,
which she explained, and also their relationship. Then both embraced
her affectionately, for they were brothers of her mother.
In furtherance of the purposes of her visit, Kaeloikamalama took
his niece with him on a ten days' journey to the place of ascent,
where he called upon Lanalananuiaimakua to let down the ladder. Before
long a sort of spider's web, branching through the air, descended. He
then gave his niece full directions, as follows: "Here is your way
to ascend until you see a single house standing in the Moon, in the
land of Kahakaekaea, where dwells Moanalihaikawaokele, your father, an
old man with long hair and bent head. If he is awake do not approach
him, lest he see you first, and you die before you have a chance to
speak. Wait until he is asleep on his back; then cautiously approach
from the leeward, spring on his breast, grasp him tightly by the beard,
and chant the mele in which I will instruct you." Instructing her in
the mele, he continued: "Explain to him the object of your visit,
and all will be well." She was about to begin the ascent when he
imparted this final information: "In ascending, if fine rain falls
and you are chilly, fear not; it is caused by your father. Climb on,
and, should you smell fragrance, know that it is caused by your mother
and that you are approaching the end of your journey. If the sunbeams
pierce you and the heat beats upon your head, do not fear. Persevere,
and you will enter the shelter of the Moon and be safe in Kahakaekaea."
With these instructions she boldly began the ascent. Climbing upward
without ceasing, toward evening she encountered fine rain and mist;
early next morning she smelt the fragrance of the shrub kiele; at
midday she suffered from the heat of the sun, and in the evening
entered the cool shade of the Moon, in the land of Kahakaekaea.
Observing a large house standing alone, she proceeded to the lee side,
and waited until the old man fell asleep on his back. She then grasped
his beard and chanted the mele, as instructed by her uncle. He awoke,
but she held him where lay his strength, and his struggles were
vain. He asked her who she was, and about her relatives, and her
answers were satisfactory. She then let go his beard and he took her
on his knee and wailed over her.
He then inquired the object of her visit, and she related the whole
story. He informed her that it was not within his power to grant her
request, and that she must apply to her mother, who lived with her
son, Kaonohiokala, in a sacred, inaccessible place, and only visited
Kahakaekaea once every month.
By stratagem she obtained an interview with her mother, Laukieleula,
and after great persuasion secured her assistance in advancing the
purposes of her visit. The old woman then summoned the bird-god,
Haluluikekihiokamalama, to take them up into the pea kapu of the
Kukulu o Kahiki. The bird reached down a wing, upon which they both
mounted and were carried to Awakea (noon), the god who opens the gate
of the Sun, where dwelt Kaonohiokala (the eye-ball of the sun).
They found the place shut in by thunder-clouds. They called upon
Awakea, who rose with intense heat and dispersed the clouds, disclosing
to their view the prince asleep in the very centre of the Sun, where
the air was white with heat. He awoke. His eyes were like lightning,
and his body gleamed like molten lava.
Laukieleula called to him and said: "Your favorite sister is here." He
looked up, and then summoned the guardians of the shade to appear and
stand before him. This they promptly did, and the heat of the sun was
mitigated. His resting-place being thus shaded, he called his sister
to him and wailed over her, for they had been separated for a long
time. He inquired the object of her visit, and about their sisters, and
brother Aiwohikupua, and was interested in all that related to them.
Through the advice of his mother he consented to descend and marry
Laieikawai, and the signs of his coming, he explained, would be as
follows: First, there would be a heavy rain and high surf before he
started. Next, there would be strong wind for ten days, followed
by thunder without rain; then he would be in Kahakaekaea. When it
thundered again twice he would be at Nuumealani, and when it thundered
thrice he would be in Kealohilani. There he would lay aside his tabu
supernatural form and assume the human shape as a high chief. After
this there would be many portents, such as thunder, lightning, rain,
fog, rainbows, high seas and mist on the ocean, and in one month
thereafter he would appear on the mountain ridge at dawn. When the
sun rose a halo would surround him, and in the evening, when the
full moon rose in the night of Mahealani, he would appear and marry
Laieikawai. After this he would punish the enemies of his sisters
and his bride. As a token he gave to his sister for Laieikawai a
rainbow-robe.
Kahalaomapuana was a month in returning to Kealohilani, where she
found the moo in waiting for her. He swam with her across the great
waters to Hawaii, but, not finding their friends at Olaa, he hunted
all through the islands, like a dog scenting for his master, until
he found them at Honopuwaiakua, Kauai. The whole trip occupied eleven
months and fourteen days.
Kahalaomapuana gave her friends a full history of her extraordinary
journey, to the dismay of Laieikawai, who was awed at the thought of
her intended husband. The prophet, who knew nothing of the mission of
the sister until her return, had predicted the coming of Kaonohiokala a
month before; and now he traveled around the island warning the people,
and advising Aiwohikupua, in particular, to set up tabu flags all
around his place and collect his family within the precinct; but he
was repelled with insult. He gave the same advice to Kekalukaluokewa,
who obeyed it in spite of the opposition of Waka.
Ten days after the return of Kahalaomapuana the portents began
to appear in the order already named, and in due time Kaonohiokala
appeared, surrounded by a halo. Shouts of acclamation and homage were
heard throughout the island, and Laieikawai put on her rainbow robe.
In the evening, as the full moon rose, the prince descended from
the mountain and came within the circle of the prophet, and they
all prostrated themselves before him. He spoke graciously to them,
and told Laieikawai that he had come to make good the promise made
to her through his sister. Then all shouted, "Amana! ua noa, lele
wale aku la!"
A rainbow appeared, and on it the prince and his bride were suddenly
drawn upward to the moon. A few nights after, as the moon was
directly overhead, a rainbow was let down like a ladder, on which they
descended. Summoning the prophet, the prince directed him to travel
around the island and make proclamation for all to assemble at the
end of ten days at Pihanakalani. The five sisters, and afterwards
the prophet, were taken up to dwell in the coolness of the moon.
One morning the assemblage at Pihanakalani saw the rainbow again let
down from the moon, and standing upon it were the prince and his bride,
the five sisters and the prophet.
Vengeance was executed upon Waka, who was killed by a thunderbolt, and
upon Aiwohikupua, who was reduced to poverty and contempt. Laielohelohe
and Kekalukaluokewa were retained in favor under Kahalaomapuana, who
was designated as the regent of her brother, and the four other sisters
were made the governesses of the rest of the islands of the group.
The affairs of state being thus summarily settled, Kaonohiokala again
departed with his bride up the rainbow beyond the clouds, to dwell
in the pea kapu o Kukulu o Kahiki, above the land called Kahakaekaea.