[Footnote 74: The story of the slaying of Halulu in the legend of
_Aukelenuiaiku_ is a close parallel to the Indian account of the
adventure with the thunder bird. (See Matthews's "Navajo legends.") The
thunder bird is often mentioned in Hawaiian chants. In the "Song of
Creation" the last stanza of the third or bird era points out
"--the leaping point of the bird Halulu,
Of Kiwaa, the bird of many notes,
And of those birds that fly close together and shade the sun."]
[Footnote 75: The divine approach marked by thunder and lightning,
shaken by earthquake and storm, indicates the _kupua_ bodies in which
the Sun god travels in his descent to earth. There are many parallels to
be found in the folk stories. When the sister of Halemano sets out to
woo the beauty of Puna she says: "When the lightning flashes, I am at
Maui; when it thunders I am at Kohala; when the earth quakes, at
Hamakua; when freshets stain the streams red, I am at Puna." When
Hoamakeikekula, the beauty of Kohala, weds, "thunder was heard,
lightning flashed, rain came down in torrents, hills were covered with
fog; for ten days mist covered the earth." When Uweuwelekehau, son of Ku
and Hula, is born "thunder, lightning, earthquake, water, floods and
rain" attend his birth. In Aukelenuiaiku, when the wife of Makalii comes
out of her house her beauty overshadows the rays of the sun, "darkness
covered the land, the red rain, fog, and fine rain followed each other,
then freshets flowed and lightning played in the heavens; after this the
form of the woman, was seen coming along over the tips of the fingers of
her servants, in all her beauty, the sun shone at her back and the
rainbow was as though it were her footstool." In the prayer to the god
Lono, quoted by Fornander, II, 352, we read:
"These are the sacred signs of the assembly;
Bursting forth is the voice of the thunder;
Striking are the rays of the lightning;
Shaking the earth is the earthquake;
Coming is the dark cloud and the rainbow;
Wildly comes the rain and the wind;
Whirlwinds sweep over the earth;
Rolling down are the rocks of the ravines;
The red mountain streams are rushing to the sea;
Here the waterspouts;
Tumbled about are the clustering clouds of heaven;
Gushing forth are the springs of the mountains."]