Pele’s spirit passed at once to the body lying in the house thatched

with ti [13] leaves in Puna. Soon she arose and told Hiiaka to call the

sisters from the sea and they would go inland.

Then they gathered around the house in which Pele had slept. Pele told

them they must dance the hula of the lifted tabu, and asked them, one

after the other, to dance, but they all refused until she came to

Hiiaka, who had guarded her during her long sleep. Hiiaka desired to go

down to the beach and bathe with a friend, Hopoe, while the others went

inland.

Pele said, “You cannot go unless you first dance for the lifted tabu.”

Hiiaka arose and danced gloriously before the hula god and chanted

while she danced—

“Puna dances in the wind.

The forest of Keaau is shaken.

Haena moves quietly.

There is motion on the beach of Nanahuki.

The hula-lea danced by the wife,

Dancing with the sea of Nanahuki.

Perhaps this is a dance of love,

For the friend loved in the sleep.”

Pele rejoiced over the skill of her younger sister and was surprised by

the chanted reference to the experiences at Haena. She granted

permission to Hiiaka to remain by the sea with her friend Hopoe,

bathing and surf-riding until a messenger should be sent to call her

home to Kilauea. Then Pele and the other sisters went inland.

XII

HOPOE, THE DANCING STONE

“Moving back, and forth in the wind

Softly moving in the quiet breeze

Rocking by the side of the sea.”

—Ancient Hopoe Chant.

On the southeastern seacoast of the island Hawaii, near a hamlet called

Keaau, is a large stone which was formerly so balanced that it could be

easily moved. One of the severe earthquake shocks of the last century

overthrew the stone and it now lies a great black mass of lava rock

near the seashore.

This stone in the long ago was called by the natives Hopoe, because

Hopoe, the graceful dancer of Puna who taught Hiiaka, the youngest

sister of Pele, how to dance, was changed into this rock. The story of

the jealousy and anger of Pele, which resulted in overwhelming Hopoe in

a flood of lava and placing her in the form of a balanced rock to dance

by the sea to the music of the eternally moving surf, is a story which

must be kept on record for the lovers of Hawaiian folklore.

Pele had come from the islands of the south seas and had found the

Hawaiian Islands as they are at the present day. After visiting all the

other islands she settled in Puna, on the large island Hawaii. There

she had her long sleep in which she went to the island Kauai and found

her lover Lohiau, whom she promised to send for that he might come to

her home in the volcano Kilauea.

Pele called her sisters one by one and told them to go to Kauai, but

they feared the uncertainty of Pele’s jealousy and wrath and refused to

go. At last she called for Hiiaka, but she was down by the seashore

with her friend Hopoe. There in a beautiful garden spot grew the fine

food plants of the old Hawaiians. There were ohias [14] (apples) and

the brilliant red, feathery blossoms of the lehua trees, and there grew

the hala, from which sweet-scented skirts and mats were woven.

Hopoe was very graceful and knew all the dances of the ancient people.

Hour after hour she taught Hiiaka the oldest hulas (dances) known among

the Hawaiians until Hiiaka excelled in all beautiful motions of the

human form. Hopoe taught Hiiaka how to make leis (wreaths) from the

most fragrant and splendid flowers. Together they went out into the

white-capped waves bathing and swimming and seeking the fish of the

coral caves. Thus they learned to have great love for each other. The

girl from the south seas promised to care for the Hawaiian girl whose

home was in the midst of volcanic fires, and the Hawaiian gave pledge

to aid and serve as best she could.

Together they were making life happy when Pele called for Hiiaka. Out

from the fumes of the crater, echoing from hill to hill through Puna,

rustling the leaves of the forest trees, that insistent voice came to

the younger sister.

Hiiaka by her magic power quickly passed from the seashore to the

volcano. Some of the native legends say that Pele had slept near the

seashore where she had commenced to build a volcanic home for herself

and her sisters, and that while longing for the coming of her lover

Lohiau she had dug feverishly, throwing up hills and digging some of

the many pit craters which are famous in the district of Puna.

At last she determined to visit Ailaau, the god residing in Kilauea,

but he had fled from her and she had taken his place and found a home

in the earthquake-shaken pit of molten lava, leaping fire, and

overwhelming sulphur smoke. Here she felt that her burning love could

wait no longer and she must send for Lohiau.

To her came Hiiaka fresh from the clear waters of the sea and covered

with leis made by her friend Hopoe. For a few minutes she stood before

her sisters. Then untwisting the wreaths one by one she danced until

all the household seemed to be overcome by her grace and gladness. She

sent the influence of her good-will deep into the hearts of her

sisters.

Pele alone looked on with scowling dissatisfied face. As soon as she

could she said to Hiiaka: “Go far away; go to Kauai; get a husband for

us, and bring him to Hawaii. Do not marry him. Do not even embrace him.

He is tabu to you. Go forty days only—no longer for going or coming

back.”

Hiiaka looked upon the imperious goddess of fire and said: “That is

right. I go after your husband but I lay my charge upon you: You must

take care of my lehua forest and not permit it to be injured. You may

eat all other places of ours, but you must not touch my own lehua

grove, my delight. You will be waiting here. Anger will arise in you.

You will destroy inland; you will destroy toward the sea; but you must

not touch my friend—my Hopoe. You will eat Puna with your burning

wrath, but you must not go near Hopoe. This is my covenant with you, O

Pele.”

Pele replied: “This is right; I will care for your forest and your

friend. Go you for our husband.” As Pele had charged Hiiaka so had

Hiiaka laid her commandment on Pele. Hiiaka, like the other sisters,

knew how uncertain Pele was in all her moods and how suddenly and

unexpectedly her wrath would bring destruction upon anything appearing

to oppose her. Therefore she laid upon Pele the responsibility of

caring for and protecting Hopoe. This was ceremonial oath-taking

between the two.

Hiiaka rose to prepare for the journey, but Pele’s impatience at every

moment’s delay was so great that she forced Hiiaka away without food or

extra clothing. Hiiaka slowly went forth catching only a magic pa-u, or

skirt, which had the death-dealing power of flashing lightning.

As she climbed the walls of the crater she looked down on her sisters

and chanted:

“The traveller is ready to go for the loved one,

The husband of the dream.

I stand, I journey while you remain,

O women with bowed heads.

Oh my lehua forest—inland at Kaliu,

The longing traveller journeys many days

For the lover of the sweet dreams,

For Lohiau ipo.” —Ancient Hiiaka Chant.

When Pele heard this chant from the forgiving love of her little sister

she relented somewhat and gave Hiiaka a portion of her divine power

with which to wage battle against the demons and dragons and sorcerers

innumerable whom she would meet in her journey, and also sent

Pauopalae, the woman of supernatural power, who cared for the ferns of

all kinds around the volcano, to be her companion.

As Hiiaka went up to the highlands above the volcano she looked down

over Puna. Smoke from the volcano fell toward the sea, making dark the

forest along the path to Keaau, where Hopoe dwelt. Hiiaka, with a heavy

heart, went on her journey, fearing that this smoke might be prophetic

of the wrath of the goddess of fire visited at the suggestion of some

sudden jealousy or suspicion upon Hopoe and her household.

What the Hawaiians call mana, or supernatural power able to manifest

itself in many ways, had come upon Hiiaka. She found this power growing

within her as she overcame obstacle after obstacle in the progress of

her journey. Thus Hiiaka from time to time as she passed over the

mountains of the different islands was able to look back over the

dearly loved land of Puna.

At last she saw the smoke, which had clouded the forests along the way

to the home of her friend, grow darker and blacker and then change into

the orange hues of outbreaking fire. She felt Pele’s unfaithfulness and

chanted:

“Yellow grows the smoke of Ka-lua (the crater)

Turning heavily toward the sea.

Turning against my aikane (bosom friend),

Coming near to my loved one.

Rising up—straight up

And going down from the pit.”

After many days had passed and she had found Lohiau she had another

vision of Puna and saw a great eruption of lava making desolate the

land. There had been many hindrances to the progress of Hiiaka and she

had been slow. The waiting and impatient goddess of fire became angry

with her messenger and hurled lava from the pit crater down into the

forests which she had promised to protect. Hiiaka chanted:

“The smoke bends over Kaliu.

I thought my lehuas were tabu.

The birds of fire are eating them up.

They are picking my lehuas

Until they are gone.”

Then from that far-off island of Kauai she looked over her burning

forest toward the sea and again chanted:

“O my friend of the steep ridges above Keaau,

My friend who made garlands

Of the lehua blossoms of Kaliu,

Hopoe is driven away to the sea—

The sea of Lanahiku.”

Fiercer and more devouring were the lava floods hurled out over the

forest so loved by Hiiaka. Heavier were the earthquake shocks shaking

all the country around the volcano. Then Hiiaka bowed her head and

said:

“Puna is shaking in the wind,

Shaking is the hala grove of Keaau,

Tumbling are Haena and Hopoe,

Moving is the land—moving is the sea.”

Thus by her spirit-power she looked back to Hawaii and saw Puna

devastated and the land covered by the destructive floods of lava sent

out by Pele.

Hopoe was the last object of Pele’s anger at her younger sister, but

there was no escape. The slow torrent of lava surrounded the beach

where Hopoe waited death. She placed the garlands Hiiaka had loved over

her head and shoulders. She wore the finest skirt she had woven from

lauhala leaves. She looked out over the death-dealing seas into which

she could not flee, and then began the dance of death.

There Pele’s fires caught her but did not devour her. The angry goddess

of fire took away her human life and gave her goblin power. Pele

changed Hopoe into a great block of lava and balanced it on the

seashore. Thus Hopoe was able to dance when the winds blew or the earth

shook or some human hand touched her and disturbed her delicate poise.

It is said that for centuries she has been the dancing stone of Puna.

Hiiaka fulfilled her mission patiently and faithfully, bringing Lohiau

even from a grave in which he had been placed back to life and at last

presenting him before Pele although all along the return journey she

was filled with bitterness because of the injustice of Pele in dealing

death to Hopoe.

XIII

HIIAKA’S BATTLE WITH DEMONS

Hiiaka, the youngest sister of Pele, the goddess of fire, is the

central figure of many a beautiful Hawaiian myth. She was sent on a

wearisome journey over all the islands to find Lohiau, the lover of

Pele.

Out of the fire-pit of the volcano, Kilauea, she climbed. Through a

multitude of cracks and holes, out of which poured fumes of foul gases,

she threaded her way until she stood on the highest plateau of lava the

volcano had been able to build.

Pele was impatient and angry at the slow progress of Hiiaka and at

first ordered her to hasten alone on her journey, but as she saw her

patiently climbing along the rough way, she relented and gave to her

supernatural power to aid in overcoming great difficulties and a magic

skirt which had the power of lightning in its folds. But she saw that

this was not enough, so she called on the divine guardians of plants to

come with garments and bear a burden of skirts with which to drape

Hiiaka on her journey. At last the goddess of ferns, Pau-o-palae, came

with a skirt of ferns which pleased Pele. It was thrown over Hiiaka,

the most beautiful drapery which could be provided.

Pau-o-palae was clothed with a network of most delicate ferns. She was

noted because of her magic power over all the ferns of the forest, and

for her skill in using the most graceful fronds for clothing and

garlands.

Pele ordered Pau-o-palae to go with Hiiaka as her kahu, or guardian

servant. She was very beautiful in her fern skirt and garland, but

Hiiaka was of higher birth and nobler form and was more royal in her

beauty than her follower, the goddess of ferns. It was a queen of

highest legendary honor with one of her most worthy attendants setting

forth on a strange quest through lands abounding in dangers and

adventures.

Everywhere in ancient Hawaii were eepas, kupuas, and mo-os. Eepas were

the deformed inhabitants of the Hawaiian gnomeland. They were twisted

and defective in mind and body. They were the deceitful, treacherous

fairies, living in the most beautiful places of the forest or glen,

often appearing as human beings but always having some defect in some

part of the body. Kupuas were gnomes or elves of supernatural power,

able to appear in some nature-form as well as like a human being. Mo-os

were the dragons of Hawaiian legends. They came to the Hawaiian Islands

only as the legendary memories of the crocodiles and great snakes of

the lands from which the first Hawaiian natives emigrated.

Throughout Polynesia the mo-o, or moko, remained for centuries in the

minds of the natives of different island groups as their most dreadful

enemy, living in deep pools and sluggish streams.

Hiiaka’s first test of patient endurance came in a battle with the

kupuas of a forest lying between the volcano and the ocean.

The land of the island Hawaii slopes down from the raging fire-pit,

mile after mile, through dense tropical forests and shining lava beds,

until it enfolds, in black lava shores, the ceaselessly moving waters

of the bay of Hilo. In this forest dwelt Pana-ewa, a reptile-man. He

was very strong and could be animal or man as he desired, and could

make the change in a moment. He watched the paths through the forest,

hoping to catch strangers, robbing them and sometimes devouring them.

Some he permitted to pass, but for others he made much trouble,

bringing fog and rain and wind until the road was lost to them.

He ruled all the evil forces of the forest above Hilo. Every wicked

sprite who twisted vines to make men stumble over precipices or fall

into deep lava caves was his servant. Every demon wind, every foul

fiend dwelling in dangerous branches of falling trees, every wicked

gnome whirling clouds of dust or fog and wrapping them around a

traveller, in fact every living thing which could in any way injure a

traveller was his loyal subject. He was the kupua chief of the vicious

sprites and cruel elves of the forest above Hilo. Those who knew about

Pana-ewa brought offerings of awa [15] to drink, taro and red fish to

eat, tapa for mats, and malos, or girdles. Then the way was free from

trouble.

There were two bird-brothers of Pana-ewa; very little birds, swift as a

flash of lightning, giving notice of any one coming through the forest

of Pana-ewa.

Hiiaka, entering the forest, threw aside her fern robes, revealing her

beautiful form. Two birds flew around her and before her. One called to

the other, “This is one of the women of ka lua (the pit).” The other

answered, “She is not as strong as Pana-ewa; let us tell our brother.”

Hiiaka heard the birds and laughed; then she chanted, and her voice

rang through all the forest:

“Pana-ewa is a great lehua island;

A forest of ohias inland.

Fallen are the red flowers of the lehua, [16]

Spoiled are the red apples of the ohia,[16]

Bald is the head of Pana-ewa;

Smoke is over the land;

The fire is burning.”

—Translated from a Hiiaka Chant.

Hiiaka hoped to make Pana-ewa angry by reminding him of seasons of

destruction by lava eruptions, which left bald lava spots in the midst

of the upland forest.

Pana-ewa, roused by his bird watchmen and stirred by the taunt of

Hiiaka, said: “This is Hiiaka, who shall be killed by me. I will

swallow her. There is no road for her to pass.”

The old Hawaiians said that Pana-ewa had many bodies. He attacked

Hiiaka in his fog body, Kino-ohu, and threw around her his twisting

fog-arms, chilling her and choking her and blinding her. He wrapped her

in the severe cold mantle of heavy mists.

Hiiaka told her friend to hold fast to her girdle while she led the

way, sweeping aside the fog with her magic skirt. Then Pana-ewa took

his body called the bitter rain, ua-awa, the cold freezing rain which

pinches and shrivels the skin. He called also for the strong winds to

bend down trees and smite his enemy, and lie in tangled masses in her

path. So the way was hard.

Hiiaka swiftly swept her lightning skirt up against the beating rain

and drove it back. Again and again she struck against the fierce storm

and against the destructive winds. Sometimes she was beaten back,

sometimes her arms were so weary that she could scarcely move her

skirt, but she hurled it over and over against the storm until she

drove it deeper into the forest and gained a little time for rest and

renewal of strength.

On she went into the tangled woods and the gods of the forest rose up

against her. They tangled her feet with vines. They struck her with

branches of trees. The forest birds in multitudes screamed around her,

dashed against her, tried to pick out her eyes and confuse her every

effort. The god and his followers brought all their power and

enchantments against Hiiaka. Hiiaka made an incantation against these

enemies:

“Night is at Pana-ewa and bitter is the storm;

The branches of the trees are bent down;

Rattling are the flowers and leaves of the lehua;

Angrily growls the god Pana-ewa,

Stirred up inside by his wrath.

Oh, Pana-ewa!

I give you hurt,

Behold, I give the hard blows of battle.”

She told her friend to stay far back in the places already conquered,

while she fought with a bamboo knife in one hand and her lightning

skirt in the other. Harsh noises were on every hand. From each side she

was beaten and sometimes almost crushed under the weight of her

opponents. Many she cut down with her bamboo knife and many she struck

with her lightning skirt. The two little birds flew over the

battlefield and saw Hiiaka nearly dead from wounds and weariness, and

their own gods of the forest lying as if asleep. They called to

Pana-ewa:

“Our gods are tired from fighting,

They sleep and rest.”

Pana-ewa came and looked at them. He saw that they were dead without

showing deep injury, and wondered how they had been killed. The birds

said, “We saw her skirt moving against the gods, up and down, back and

forth.”

Again the hosts of that forest gathered around the young chiefess.

Again she struggled bitterly against the multitude of foes, but she was

very, very tired and her arms sometimes refused to lift her knife and

skirt. The discouraged woman felt that the battle was going against

her, so she called for Pele, the goddess of fire.

Pele heard the noise of the conflict and the voice of her sister. She

called for a body of her own servants to go down and fight the powerful

kupua.

The Hawaiian legends give the name Ho-ai-ku to these reinforcements.

This means “standing for food” or “devourers.” Lightning storms were

hurled against Pana-ewa, flashing and cutting and eating all the gods

of the forest.

Hiiaka in her weariness sank down among the foes she had slain.

The two little birds saw her fall and called to Pana-ewa to go and take

the one he had said he would “swallow.” He rushed to the place where

she lay. She saw him coming and wearily arose to give battle once more.

A great thunderstorm swept down on Pana-ewa. As he had fought Hiiaka

with the cold forest winds, so Pele fought him with the storms from the

pit of fire. Lightning drove him down through the forest. A mighty rain

filled the valleys with red water. The kupuas were swept down the river

beds and out into the ocean, where Pana-ewa and the remnant of his

followers were devoured by sharks.

The Ho-ai-ku, as the legends say, went down and swallowed Pana-ewa,

eating him up. Thus the land above Hilo became a safe place for the

common people. To this day it is known by the name Pana-ewa.

XIV

HOW HIIAKA FOUND WAHINE-OMAO

The story of the journey of the youngest sister of Pele, the goddess of

volcanic fires, when seeking a husband for her oldest sister, has a

simple and yet exceedingly human element in the incidents which cluster

around the finding of a faithful follower and friend. It is a story of

two girls attracted to each other by lovable qualities. Hiiaka was a

goddess with an attendant from the old Hawaiian fairyland—the Guardian

of Ferns. Then there was added the human helper, Wahine-omao, or “the

light-colored woman.”

While Hiiaka was journeying through the lower part of the forest which

she had freed from demons, the Guardian of Ferns said: “I hear the

grunting of a pig, but cannot tell whether it is before us or on one

side. Where is it—from the sea or inland?”

Hiiaka said: “This is a pig from the sea. It is the

Humuhumu-nukunuku-a-puaa. It is the grunting, angular pigfish. There is

also a pig from the land. There are two pigs. They are before us. They

belong to a woman and are for a gift—a sacrifice to the sister goddess

who is over us two. This is Wahine-omao.”

They walked on through the restful shadows of the forest and soon met a

beautiful woman carrying a little black pig and a striped, angular

fish. Humuhumu means “grunting.” Nuku-nuku means “cornered.” Puaa means

“pig.” The Humuhumu-nukunuku-a-puaa was a fish with a sharp-pointed

back, grunting like a pig. It was the fish into which the fabled

demi-god Kamapuaa changed himself when fleeing from the destructive

fires of Pele.

Hiiaka greeted the stranger, “Love to you, O Wahine-omao.”

The woman replied: “It is strange that you two have my name while your

eyes are unknown to me. What are your names and where do you go?”

The sister of Pele concealed their names. “I am Ku and Ka is the name

of my friend. A troublesome journey is before us beyond the waters of

Hilo and the kupuas [demons] dwelling there and along the hard paths

over the cliffs of the seacoast even to the steady blowing winds of

Kohala.”

The newcomer looked longingly into the eyes of the young chiefess and

said: “I have a great desire for that troublesome journey, but this pig

is a sacrifice for the goddess of the crater. Shall I throw away the

pig and go with you?”

Hiiaka told her to hurry on, saying: “If your purpose is strong to go

with us, take your sacrifice pig to the woman of the pit. Then come

quickly after us. You will find us. While you go say continually, ‘O

Ku! O Ka! O Ku! O Ka!’ When you arrive at the pit throw the pig down

into the fire and return quickly, saying, ‘O Ku! O Ka!’ until you find

us.”

The woman said: “I will surely remember your words, but you are so

beautiful and have such power that I think you are Pele. Take my pig

now and end my trouble.” Then she started to throw herself and her

offerings on the ground before Hiiaka.

Hiiaka forbade this and explained that the offering must be taken as

had been vowed.

Then the woman took her sacred gifts and went up through the woods to

the crater, saying over and over, “O Ku! O Ka!” all the time realizing

that new activity and life were coming to her and that she was moving

as swiftly as the wind. In a little while she stood on the high point

above the crater called Kolea—the place where birds rested. Before her

lay a great circular plain, black-walled, full of burning lava leaping

up in wonderful fire-dances and boiling violently around a group of

beautiful women. She called to Pele:

“E Pele e! Here is my sacrifice—a pig.

E Pele e! Here is my gift—a pig.

Here is a pig for you,

O goddess of the burning stones.

Life for me. Life for you.

The flowers of fire wave gently.

Here is your pig.”—Amama.

The woman threw the pig and the fish over the edge into the mystic

fires beneath and leaned over, looking down into the deadliness of the

fire and smoke which received the sacrifice. Flaming hands leaped up,

caught the gifts and drew them down under the red surface. But in a

moment there was a rush upward of a fountain of lava and hurled up with

it she saw the body of the little black pig tossing in the changing

jets of fire.

Down it went again into the whirling, groaning fires of the underworld.

Then she knew that the sacrifice had been accepted and that she was

free from her vow of service to Pele. Every tabu upon her free action

had been removed and she was free—free to do according to her own wish.

Then she saw one of the women of the pit slowly changing into an old

woman lying on a mat of fire apart from the others. It was Pele who was

always growing more and more jealous and angry with Hiiaka.

Pele called from the pit of fire, “O woman! have you seen two

travellers?”

When she learned that they had been seen going on their journey she

charged her new worshipper to go with Hiiaka and always spy upon her

movements.

Wahine-omao became angry and cried out: “When I came here I thought you

were beautiful with the glory of fire resting on you. Your sisters are

beautiful, but you are a harsh old woman. Your eyes are red. Your

eyebrows and hair are burned. You are the woman with scorched eyelids.”

Then she ran from the crater, saying, “O Ku! O Ka!” Her feet seemed to

be placed on a swift-moving cloud and in a few moments she was dropped

by the side of Hiiaka.

The three women, Hiiaka, the powerful, Pau-o-palae, the fairy of the

ferns, and Wahine-omao, the brave and beautiful young woman of the

forest, went on toward Hilo. They came to a grove of ohia, or native

apple, trees, and the new friend begged them to rest for a little while

in this place, for it was her father’s home.

Hiiaka hesitated, saying: “I am afraid that you would entangle me, O

friend! Some one is waiting below whom I must see. Our journey cannot

end.”

“Oh,” said the woman, “I intend not to stay. Stepping sideways was my

thought to see my family dwelling in this house—then journey on.”

They turned aside through the red-fruited tall ohia trees to a

resting-place called Papa-lau-ahi, or the fireleaf of lava spread out

flat like a board. This has always been a resting-place for travellers

coming across the island to Hilo Bay. There they greeted friends and

rested, but Hiiaka thought lovingly of another friend, Hopoe, far

dearer to her than any one else. Tears rolled down her cheeks.

Wahine-omao said, “Why do you weep, O friend?” The reply came: “Because

of my friend who lives over by that sea far below us. The smoke of the

fire-anger of our sister-lord is falling over toward my friend Hopoe.”

Wahine-omao said: “One of our people truly lives over there. We know

and love her well, but her name is Nana-huki. The name is given because

when looking at you her eyes are like a cord pulling you to her.”

“Yes,” said Hiiaka, “that is her name, but for me she had the

sweet-scented hala wreaths and the beautiful wreaths of the red

blossoms of the lehua and baskets of the most delicious treasures of

the sea. So my name for her is Hopoe.”

The name Hopoe may mean “one encircled,” as with leis, or wreaths, or

as with loving arms, or possibly it might convey the idea of one set

apart in a special class or company. Both thoughts might well be

included in the deep love of the young goddess for a human friend.

The time came for the three women to hasten on their way. The final

alohas were said. The friends rubbed noses in the old Hawaiian way and

went down to Hilo.

Hiiaka looked again from the upland over to the distant seacoast and

wailed:

“My journey opens to Kauai.

Loving is my thought for my aikane,

My bosom friend—

Hopoe—my sweet-scented hala.

Far will we go;

Broad is the land;

Perhaps Kauai is the end.”

Thus Hiiaka sent her loving thoughts over forest and rugged lava plains

to her dearest friend even while she opened her heart to another friend

who served her with the utmost faithfulness and love all the rest of

her eventful journey.

XV

HIIAKA CATCHING A GHOST

Hiiaka, the sister of Pele, and the goddess of ferns, and their new

friend Wahine-omao, were hastening through the forests above the bay of

Hilo. They came near a native house. Two girls were lying on a mat near

the doorway. The girls saw the strangers and with hearts full of

hospitality cried: “O women strangers, stop at our house and eat. Here

are dried fish and the kilu-ai [a-little-calabash-full-of-poi, the

native food].” It was all the food the girls had, but they offered it

gladly.

Hiiaka said: “One of us will stop and eat. Two of us will pass on. We

are not hungry.” The truth was that Wahine-omao of the light skin

needed food like any one not possessing semi-divine powers.

So Wahine-omao stopped and ate. She saw that the girls were kupilikia

(stirred-up-with-anxiety) and asked them why they were troubled.

“Our father,” they said, “went to the sea to fish in the night and has

not returned. We fear that he is in trouble.”

Hiiaka heard the words and looked toward the sea. She saw the spirit of

that man coming up from the beach with an ipu-holoholona

(a-calabash-for-carrying fish-lines, etc.) in his hands.

She charged the girls to listen carefully while she told them about

their father, saying: “You must not let tears fall or wailing tones

come into your voices. Your father has been drowned in the sea during

the dark night. The canoe filled with water. The swift-beating waters

drove your father on to the reef of coral and there his body lies. The

spirit was returning home, but now sees strangers and is turning aside.

I will go and chase that spirit from place to place until it goes back

to the place where it left its house—the body supposed to be dead. Let

no one eat until my work is done.”

Hiiaka looked again toward the sea. The spirit was wandering aimlessly

from place to place with its calabash thrown over its shoulder. It was

afraid to come near the strangers and yet did not want to go back to

the body. Hiiaka hastened after the ghost and drove it toward the house

where the girls were living. She checked it as it turned to either side

and tried to dash away into the forest. She pushed it into the door and

called the girls in. They saw the ghost as if it were the natural body.

They wept and began to beseech Hiiaka to bring him back to life.

She told them she would try, but they must remember to keep the bundle

of tears inside the eyes. She told them that the spirit must take her

to the body and they must wait until the rainbow colors of a divine

chief came over their house. Then they would know that their father was

alive. But if a heavy rain should fall they would know he was not alive

and need not restrain their cries.

As Hiiaka rose to pass out of the door the ghost leaped and

disappeared. Hiiaka rushed out and saw the ghost run to the sea. She

leaped after it and followed it to a great stone lying at the foot of a

steep precipice. There the heana (dead body) was lying. It was badly

torn by the rough coral and the face had been bitten by eels. Around it

lay the broken pieces of the shattered canoe. Hiiaka washed the body in

the sea and then turned to look for the ghost, but it was running away

as if carried by a whirlwind.

Hiiaka thrust out her “strong hand of Kilauea.” This meant her power as

one of the divine family living in the fire of the volcano. She thrust

forth this power and turned the spirit back to the place where the body

was lying. She drove the ghost to the side of the body and ordered it

to enter, but the ghost thought that it would be a brighter and happier

life if it could be free among the blossoming trees and fragrant ferns

of the forest, so tried again to slip away from the house in which it

had lived.

Hiiaka slapped the ghost back against the body and told it to go in at

the bottom of a foot. She slapped the feet again and again, but it was

very hard to push the ghost inside. It tried to come out as fast as

Hiiaka pushed it in. Then Hiiaka uttered an incantation, while she

struck the feet and limbs. The incantation was a call for the gift of

life from her friends of the volcano.

“O the top of Kilauea!

O the five ledges of the pit!

The taboo fire of the woman.

When the heavens shake,

When the earth cracks open [earthquakes],

Man is thrown down,

Lying on the ground.

The lightning of Kane [a great god] wakes up.

Kane of the night, going fast.

My sleep is broken up.

E ala e! Wake up!

The heaven wakes up.

The earth inland is awake.

The sea is awake.

Awake you.

Here am I.”—Amama (The prayer is done).

By the time this chant was ended Hiiaka had forced the ghost up to the

hips. There was a hard struggle—the ghost trying to go back and yet

yielding to the slapping and going further and further into the body.

Then Hiiaka put forth her hand and took fresh water, pouring it over

the body, chanting again:

“I make you grow, O Kane!

Hiiaka is the prophet.

This work is hers.

She makes the growth.

Here is the water of life.

E ala e! Awake! Arise!

Let life return.

The taboo [of death] is over.

It is lifted.

It has flown away.”—Amama.

—These were ancient chants for the restoration of life—

All this time she was slapping and pounding the spirit into the body.

It had gone up as far as the chest. Then she took more fresh water and

poured it over the eyes, dashing it into the face. The ghost leaped up

to the mouth and eyes—choking noises were made—the eyes opened faintly

and closed again, but the ghost was entirely in the body. Slowly life

returned. The lips opened and breath came back.

The healing power of Hiiaka restored the places wounded by coral rocks

and bitten by eels. Then she asked him how he had been overcome. He

told her he had been fishing when a great kupua came in the form of a

mighty wave falling upon the boat, filling it full of water.

The fisherman said that he had tried to bail the water out of his

canoe, when it was hurled down into the coral caves, and he knew

nothing more until the warm sun shone in his face and his eyes opened.

Hiiaka told him to stand up, and putting out her strong hand lifted him

to his feet.

He stood shaking and trembling, trying to move his feet. Little by

little the power of life came back and he walked slowly to his house.

Hiiaka called for the glory of a divine chief to shine around them.

Among the ancient Hawaiians it was believed that the eyes of prophets

could tell the very family to which a high chief belonged by the color

or peculiar appearance of the light around the individual even when a

long distance away. Thus the watching anxious girls and the friends of

Hiiaka knew that the ghost had gone back into the body and the

fisherman had been brought back to life.

XVI

HIIAKA AND THE SEACOAST KUPUAS

Kupuas were legendary monsters which could change themselves into human

beings at will. They were said to have come from far-off lands with the

early settlers. They had descendants who lived along the seacoast or in

out-of-the-way places inland. They were always ready to destroy and

often devour any strangers passing near them. Frequently they were

sharks which had a shark mouth although appearing like men. This mouth

was between the shoulders and was concealed by a cape thrown carefully

over the back. As human beings they would mingle with their fellows and

go out in the sea, bathing and surf-riding, but when they went into the

water they would dive under, assume their shark form, and catch some

one of the bathers. They would carry the body to some under-water cave,

where it could be devoured. All other sea monsters were given human

qualities—some were helpful to men and some were destructive.

Fabled monsters lived on land. Some of these were gigantic lizards,

probably the legendary memory of the crocodiles of their ancient home

in India. Some were the great clouds floating in the heavens. Peculiar

rocks, trees, precipices, waterfalls, birds, indeed everything with or

without life, might be given human and supernatural power and called

kupuas. After a time various objects began to have worshippers who

became priests supposed to be endowed with the qualities of the objects

worshipped. These, in the later days, have been considered sorcerers or

witches, receiving the name kupuas.

MAKAUKIU

Hiiaka, the sister of Pele, the goddess of volcanoes, by her magic

power was able to find and destroy many of these mysterious monsters.

She had two companions as she journeyed along the eastern coast of the

island Hawaii. Their way was frequently very wearisome as they climbed

down steep precipices into valleys and gulches and then had to climb up

on the other side.

In one valley beautiful clear sea-water invited the girls to bathe. Two

of them threw aside their tapa clothes and ran down to the beach.

Hiiaka bade them wait, telling them this was the home of Makaukiu, a

very ferocious monster. But the girls thought they could see any evil

one, if living in that pure, clear water, so they laughed at their

friend and went to the edge of the water. Hiiaka took some fragrant

ti-leaves, made a little bundle and threw it into the sea. The girls

made ready to leap and swim, when suddenly Makaukiu appeared just below

the surface, catching and shaking the leaves.

The girls fled inland to higher ground, but Hiiaka stood at the edge of

the sea. The sea monster tried to catch her in his great mouth. He

lashed the water into foam, trying to strike her with his tail. He

tried to wash her into the sea by pushing great, whirling waves against

her, but Hiiaka struck him with the mighty forces of lightning and fire

which she had in her magic skirt. Soon he was dead and his body floated

on the water until the tide swept it out to sink in the deep sea. The

place where this monster was slain was given his name and is still

called “The Swimming-Hole of Makaukiu.”

MAHIKI

The Hawaiians say that the desire for battle was burning in the heart

of Hiiaka and she longed to kill Mahiki, who lived near Waipio

Valley—one of the most beautiful of all the valleys of the Hawaiian

Islands. Mahiki was a whirlwind. When he saw the girls coming he fled

inland, hiding himself in a cloud of dust. Whenever the girls came

toward him he fled swiftly to a new place. They could not catch and

destroy him.

As they were following the whirlwind they heard some one calling. They

stopped and found two persons without bones—the bodies were flesh, soft

and yielding, yet of human form. Hiiaka had pity on them, so she took

the ribs of a long leaf and pushed them into the soft bodies, where

they became bones. Then the two could stand. After a time they could

use their new bones in their legs and walk.

PILI AND NOHO

Hiiaka remembered that there were two dragons in the river Wailuku, a

river of swift cascades and beautiful waterfalls near Hilo, so she

turned back filled with the wish to destroy them and free the people

from that danger.

At the place where the people crossed the river were two things which

looked like large, flat logs tossing in the water. Any person wishing

to cross the river would lay fish, sweet potatoes, and other kinds of

food on the logs. When these things disappeared the logs would act

sometimes as a bridge and sometimes as a boat, taking those who had

given presents across the river. These logs were the great tongues of

the dragons Pili-a-moo and Noho-a-moo, i.e., the dragon Pili and the

dragon Noho.

Hiiaka and her two companions came to the river side. The travellers

called for an open way across.

One dragon said to the other, “Here comes one of our family.”

The other said: “What of that? She can cross if she pays. If she does

not give our price, she shall not go over in this place.”

Hiiaka ordered the dragons to prepare her way, but they refused. Then

she taunted them as slaves, ordering them to bring vegetable food and

fish. The dragons became angry and thrashed the water into whirlpools,

trying to catch the travellers and pull them into the river. The people

from far and near gathered to the place of this strange conflict.

A chief laughed at Hiiaka, saying, “These are dragon-gods, and yet you

dispute with them!”

Hiiaka said, “Yes, they are dragon-gods, but when I attack them they

will die.”

The chief offered to make any bet desired that she could not injure the

dragons.

Hiiaka said, “I have no property, but I wager my body, my life, against

your property that the dragons die.”

Then began a great conflict along the banks and in the swift waters.

Hiiaka struck the dragons with her magic skirt in which was concealed

the divine power of lightning. They tried to escape, but Hiiaka struck

again and again and killed them, changing the bodies into blocks of

stone. Then she called the chief, saying, “I have made the way safe for

your people and you; I give back your property and the land of the

dragons.”

Hiiaka and her friends turned north again and hastened to Waipio Valley

to catch Mahiki—the demon of the whirlwind. He ran down to meet her and

threw dust all over them, then fled inland to the mountains. Hiiaka

chanted:

“I am above Waipio,

My eyes look sharply down.

I have gone along the path

By the sea of Makaukiu,

Full flowing like the surf.

I have seen Mahiki,

I have seen that he is evil,

Evil, very evil indeed.”

MOO-LAU

Then Hiiaka thought of Moo-lau, who was the great dragon-god of the

district Kohala. He had a great multitude of lesser gods as his

servants.

Hiiaka clearly and sweetly called for the dragon-gods to prepare a way

for her and also to bring gifts for herself and her companions.

Moo-lau answered, “You have no path through my lands unless you have

great strength or can pay the price.”

Then began one of the great legendary battles of ancient Hawaiian

folk-lore. Hiiaka, throwing aside her flower-wreaths and common

clothes, took her lightning pa-u (skirt) and attacked Moo-lau. He

fought her in his dragon form. He breathed fierce winds against her. He

struck her with his swift-moving tail. He tried to catch her between

his powerful jaws. He coiled and twisted and swiftly whirled about,

trying to knock her down, but she beat him with her powerful hands in

which dwelt some of the divine power of volcanoes. She struck his great

body with her magic skirt in which dwelt the power of the lightning.

Each pitted supernatural powers against the other. Each struck with

magic force and each threw out magic strength to ward off deadly blows.

They became tired, very tired, and, turning away from each other,

sought rest. Again they fought and again rested.

Hiiaka chanted an incantation, or call for help:

“Moo-lau has a dart

Of the wood of the uhi-uhi; [17]

A god is Moo-lau,

Moo-lau is a god!”

This was a spirit-call going out from Hiiaka. It broke through the

clouds hanging on the sides of the mountains. It pierced the long, long

way to the crater of Kilauea. It roused the followers of the

fire-goddess. A host of destructive forces, swift as lightning, left

the pit of fire to aid Hiiaka.

Meanwhile Moo-lau had sent his people to spy out the condition of

Hiiaka. Then he called for all the reptile gods of his district to help

him. He rallied all the gnomes and evil powers he could order to come

to his aid and make a mighty attack.

When the battle seemed to be going against her, suddenly the Ho-ai-ku

men and the Ho-ai-ka women, the destructive gnomes from the crater,

broke in a storm upon Moo-lau and his demons. Oh, how the little people

from the pit devoured and destroyed the dragon army! The slaughter of

the reptile horde was quickly accomplished and Hiiaka soon saw the body

of her enemy the dragon-god trampled underfoot.

When the god Mahiki saw that Moo-lau was slain and his army defeated he

raised a great cloud of dust and fled far off around the western side

of the island. The whirlwind was one of the earth-monsters which even

the sister of the goddess of volcanoes could not destroy.

Many were the evil demi-gods who tried to hinder Hiiaka in her journey

along the east coast of the island Hawaii. Sharks fought her from the

seas. The gnomes and dragons of valley and forest tried to destroy her.

Even birds of evil omen came into the fight against her, but she

conquered and killed until the land was freed from its enemies and the

people of the districts along the sea could journey in comparative

safety.

Pau-o-palae, the goddess of ferns, met the chief of this land which had

been freed from the power of the dragon. She saw him swimming in the

sea and, forgetting her companions, leaped in to sport with him. They

at once decided to be married. Then she turned aside to his new home,

leaving Hiiaka and Wahine-omao to go on after Lohiau.

XVII

LOHIAU

The story of Hiiaka’s journey over the seas which surround the Hawaiian

Islands, and through dangers and perplexities, cannot be fully told in

the limits of these short stories. There are several versions, so only

the substance of all can be given.

On each island she slew dragons which had come from the ancient

traditional home of the Polynesians, India. She destroyed many

evil-minded gnomes and elves; fought the au-makuas and the demi-gods of

land and sea; found the body of Lohiau put away in a cave and watched

over by the dragon-women who had been defeated by Pele when in her long

sleep she chanted the songs of the Winds of Kauai. She slew the

guardians of the cave, carried the body to a house where she used

powerful chants for restoration. She captured the wandering ghost of

Lohiau and compelled it again to take up its home in the body, and then

with Lohiau and Wahine-omao made the long journey to her home in the

volcano. From the island of Hawaii to the island Kauai, and along the

return journey Hiiaka’s path was marked with experiences beneficial to

the people whom she passed. This must all be left untold except the

story of Lohiau’s restoration to life and the conflict with Pele.

As Hiiaka and her friend came near the island Kauai, Hiiaka told

Wahine-omao that Lohiau was dead and that she saw the spirit standing

by the opening of a cave out on the pali of Haena.

Then she chanted to Lohiau:

“The lehua is being covered by the sand,

A little red flower remains on the plain,

The body is hidden in the stones,

The flower is lying in the path.

Very useful is the water of Kaunu.”

Thus she told the ghost that she would give new life even as dew on a

thirsty flower. They landed and met Lohiau’s sisters and friends.

Hiiaka asked about the death of Lohiau, and one sister said, “His

breath left him and the body became yellow.” Hiiaka said: “There was no

real reason for death, but the two women dragons took his spirit and

held it captive. I will try to bring him back. Great is the magic power

and strength of the two dragons and I am not a man, and may not win the

victory. I will have something to eat, and then will go. You must

establish a tabu for twenty days, and there must be quiet. No one can

go to the mountains, nor into the sea. You must have a house made of ti

[18] leaves for the dead body and make it very tight on all sides.”

The next day they made the house. Hiiaka commanded that a door be made

toward the east. Then Hiiaka said, “Let us open the door of the house.”

When this was done, Hiiaka said: “To-morrow let the tabu be established

on land and sea. To-morrow we commence our work.”

She made arrangements to go to the cave in the precipice at dawn. Rain

came down in floods and a strong wind swept the face of the precipice.

A fog clung fast to the hills. The water rushed in torrents to the sea.

It was an evil journey to Lohiau.

At sunrise they went on through the storm. Hiiaka uttered this

incantation:

“Our halas greet the inland precipice,

In the front of the calling hill.

Let it call,

You are calling to me.

Here is the great hill outside.

It is cold,

Cold for us.”

The dragons shouted for them to stay down, or they would destroy them

on the rocks. But the small spirit voice of Lohiau called for Hiiaka to

come and get him.

Hiiaka chanted to Lohiau, telling him they would save him. As they went

up, stones in showers fell around and upon them. One large stone struck

Hiiaka in the breast, and she fell off the pali. Then they began to get

up and sticks of all kinds fell upon them again, forcing Hiiaka over

the precipice.

The dragons leaped down on Hiiaka, trying to catch her in their mouths

and strike her with their tails. Hiiaka struck them with her magic

skirt, and their bodies were broken.

The spirits of the dragons went into other bodies and leaped upon

Hiiaka roaring, and biting and tearing her body. She swung her skirt up

against the dragons, and burned their bodies to ashes. The dragons

again took new bodies for the last and most bitter battle.

Hiiaka told Wahine-omao to cover her body with leaves and sticks near

the pali and in event of her death to return with the tidings to

Hawaii.

One dragon caught Hiiaka and bent her over. The other leaped upon

Hiiaka, catching her around the neck and arm. One tried to pull off the

pa-u and tear it to pieces.

Pau-o-palae saw the danger. From her home on the island Hawaii, she saw

the dragons shaking Hiiaka. Then she sent her power and took many kinds

of trees and struck the dragons. The roots twisted around the dragons,

entangling their feet and tails, and scratching eyes and faces.

The dragons tried to shake off the branches and roots—the leaf bodies

of the wilderness, and one let go the pa-u of Hiiaka, and the other let

go the neck. Pau-o-palae called all the wind bodies of the forest and

sent them to aid Hiiaka, the forces of the forest, and the wind

spirits.

At last Hiiaka turned to say farewell to Wahine-omao because the next

fight with the dragons in their new bodies might prove fatal.

The dragons were now stronger than before. They leaped upon her, one on

each side. The strong winds blew and the storm poured upon her, while

the dragons struck her to beat her down. But all kinds of ferns were

leaping up rapidly around the place where the dragons renewed the

fight. The ferns twisted and twined around the legs and bodies of the

dragons.

Hiiaka shook her magic skirt and struck them again and again, and the

bodies of these dragons were broken in pieces. Then the wind ceased,

the storm passed away, and the sky became clear. But it was almost

evening and darkness was falling fast.

The natives have for many years claimed that Hiiaka found the time too

short to climb the precipice, catch the ghost of Lohiau and carry it

and the body down to the house prepared for her work, therefore she

uttered this incantation:

“O gods! Come to Kauai, your land.

O pearl-eyed warrior (an idol) of Halawa!

O Kona! guardian of our flesh!

O the great gods of Hiiaka!

Come, ascend, descend,

Let the sun stop over the river of Hea.

Stand thou still, O sun!”

The sun waited and its light rested on the precipice and pierced the

deep shadows of the cave in which the body lay while Hiiaka sought

Lohiau.

Hiiaka heard the spirit voice saying, “Moving, moving, you will find me

in a small coconut calabash fastened in tight.” Hiiaka followed the

spirit voice and soon saw a coconut closed up with feathers. Over the

coconut a little rainbow was resting. She caught the coconut and went

back to the body of Lohiau. It had become very dark in the cave, but

she did not care, this was as nothing to her. She took the bundle of

the body of Lohiau and said: “We have the body and the spirit, we are

ready now to go down to our house.”

Then she called the spirits of the many kinds of ferns of Pau-o-palae

to take the body down. The fern servants of Pau-o-palae carried the

bundle of the body down to the house.

Hiiaka said to her friend: “You ask how the spirit can be restored into

the body. It is hard and mysterious and a work of the gods. We must

gather all kinds of ferns and maile and lehua and flowers from the

mountains. We must take wai-lua (flowing water) and wai-lani (rain) and

put them into new calabashes to use in washing the body. Then pray. If

my prayer is not broken [interrupted or a mistake made], he will be

alive. If the prayer is broken four times, life will not return.”

The servants of Pau-o-palae, the goddess of ferns, brought all manner

of sweet-scented ferns, flowers, and leaves to make a bed for the body

of Lohiau, and to place around the inside of the house as fragrant

paths by which the gods could come to aid the restoration to life.

There were many prayers, sometimes to one class of gods and sometimes

to another. The following prayer was offered to the au-makuas, or

ghost-gods, residing in cloud-land and revealing themselves in

different cloud forms:

“Dark is the prayer rising up to Kanaloa,

Rising up to the ancient home Kealohilani.

Look at the kupuas above sunset!

Who are the kupuas above?

The black dog of the heavens,

The yellow dog of Ku in the small cloud,

Ku is in the long cloud,

Ku is in the short cloud,

Ku is in the cloud of red spots in the sky.

Listen to the people of the mountains,

The friends of the forest,

The voices of the heavens.

The water of life runs, life is coming,

Open with trembling, to let the spirit in,

A noise rumbling,

The sound of Ku.

The lover sent for is coming.

I, Hiiaka, am coming.

The lover of my sister Pele,

The sister of life,

Is coming to life again.

Live, Live.”

After each one of the prayers and incantations the body was washed in

the kind of water needed for each special ceremony. Thus days passed

by; some legends say ten days, some say a full month. At last the body

was ready for the incoming of the spirit.

The coconut shell in which the spirit had been kept was held against

the body, the feet and limbs were slapped, and the body rubbed by

Wahine-omao while Hiiaka continued her necessary incantations until the

restoration to life was complete.

Many, many days had passed since the fiery and impetuous Pele had sent

her youngest sister after the lover Lohiau. In her restlessness Pele

had torn up the land in all directions around the pit of fire with

violent earthquakes. She had poured her wrath in burning floods of lava

over all the southern part of the island. She had broken her most

solemn promise to Hiiaka.

Whenever she became impatient at the delay of the coming of Lohiau, she

would fling her scorching smoke and foul gas over Hiiaka’s beautiful

forests—and sometimes would smite the land with an overflow of burning

lava.

Sometimes she would look down over that part of Puna where Hopoe dwelt

and hurl spurts of lava toward her home. At last she had yielded to her

jealous rage and destroyed Hopoe and her home and then burned the loved

spots of restful beauty belonging to Hiiaka.

Hiiaka had seen Pele’s action as she had looked back from time to time

on her journey to Kauai. Even while she was bringing Lohiau back to

life, her love for her own home revealed to her the fires kindled by

Pele, and she chanted many songs of complaint against her unfaithful

sister.

Hiiaka loyally fulfilled her oath until she stood with Lohiau on one of

the high banks overlooking Ka-lua-Pele, the pit of Pele in the volcano

Kilauea. Down below in the awful majesty of fire were the sisters.

Wahine-omao went down to them as a messenger from Hiiaka. One of the

legends says that Pele killed her; another says that she was repulsed

and driven away; others say that Pele refused to listen to any report

of the journey to Kauai and hurled Wahine-omao senseless into a hole

near the fire-pit, and raved against Hiiaka for the long time required

in bringing Lohiau.

Hiiaka at last broke out in fierce rebellion against Pele. On the hill

where they stood were some of the lehua trees with their brilliant red

blossoms. She plucked the flowers, made wreaths, and going close to

Lohiau hung them around his neck.

All through the long journey to the crater Lohiau had been gaining a

full appreciation of the bravery, the unselfishness, and the wholly

lovable character of Hiiaka. He had proposed frequently that they be

husband and wife. Now, as they stood on the brink of the crater with

all the proof of Pele’s oath-breaking around them Hiiaka gave way

entirely. She chanted while she fastened the flowers tightly around him

and while her arms were playing around his neck:

“Hiiaka is the wife.

Caught in the embrace with the flowers.

The slender thread is fast.

Around him the leis from the land of the lehuas are fastened.

I am the wife—The clouds are blown down

Hiding the sea at Hilo.”

Lohiau had no longer any remnant of affection for Pele. Hiiaka had

fulfilled her vow and Pele had broken all her promises. Lohiau and

Hiiaka were now husband and wife. Pele had lost forever her husband of

the long sleep.

Pele was uncontrollable in her jealous rage. One of the legends says

that even while Lohiau and Hiiaka were embracing each other Pele ran up

the hill and threw her arms around his feet and black lava congealed

over them. Then she caught his knees and then his body. Lava followed

every clasp of the arms of Pele, until at last his whole body was

engulfed in a lava flow. His spirit leaped from the body into some

clumps of trees and ferns not far away.

Another legend says that Pele sent her brother Lono-makua, with his

helpers, to kindle eruptions around Lohiau and Hiiaka. This could not

harm Hiiaka, for she was at home in the worst violence of volcanic

flames, but it meant death to Lohiau.

Lono-makua kindled fires all around Lohiau, but for a long time

refrained from attacking him.

Hiiaka could not see the pit as clearly as Lohiau, so she asked if

Pele’s fires were coming. He chanted:

“Hot is this mountain of the priest.

Rain is weeping on the awa.

I look over the rim of the crater.

Roughly tossing is the lava below.

Coming up to the forest—

Attacking the trees—

Clouds of smoke from the crater.”

The lava came up, surrounding them. Tossing fountains of lava

bespattered them. Wherever any spot of his body was touched Lohiau

became stone. He uttered incantations and used all his powers as a

sorcerer-chief. The lava found it difficult to overwhelm him. Pele sent

increased floods of burning rock upon him. Lohiau’s body was all turned

to stone. His spirit fled from the pit to the cool places of a forest

on a higher part of the surrounding mountains.

Hiiaka was crazed by the death of Lohiau. She had fought against the

eruption; now she caught the lava, tore it to pieces, and broke down

the walls toward the innermost depths of their lava home. She began to

open the pit for the coming of the sea.

Pele and her sisters were frightened. Pele called Wahine-omao from her

prison and listened to the story of Hiiaka’s faithfulness. Chagrined

and full of self-blame, she told Wahine-omao how to restore happiness

to her friend.

Wahine-omao went to Hiiaka and softly chanted by the side of the crazy

one who was breaking up the pit. She told the story of the journey

after Lohiau and the possibility of seeking the wandering ghost.

Hiiaka turned from the pit and sought Lohiau. Many were the adventures

in ghost-land. At last the ghost was found. Lohiau’s body was freed

from the crust of lava and healed and the ghost put back in its former

home. A second time Hiiaka had given life to Lohiau.

Hiiaka and Lohiau went to Kauai, where, as chief and chiefess, they

lived happily until real death came to Lohiau.

Then Hiiaka returned to her place in the Pele family. It was said that

Wahine-omao became the wife of Lono-makua, the one kindling volcanic

fire.

XVIII

THE ANNIHILATION OF KEOUA’S ARMY

Almost exactly thirty-four years before Kapiolani defied the worship of

the fire-goddess Pele, Keoua, a high chief, lost a large part of his

army near the volcano Kilauea. This was in November, 1790.

Ka-lani-opuu had been king over the island Hawaii. When he died in

1782, he left the kingdom to his son Kiwalao, giving the second place

to his nephew Kamehameha.

War soon arose between the cousins. Kamehameha defeated and killed the

young king. Kiwalao’s half-brother Keoua escaped to his district Ka-u,

on the southwestern side of the island. His uncle Keawe-mau-hili

escaped to his district Hilo on the southeastern side.

For some years the three factions practically let each other alone,

although there was desultory fighting. Then the high chief of Hilo

accepted Kamehameha as his king and sent his sons to aid Kamehameha in

conquering the island Maui.

Keoua was angry with his uncle Keawe-mau-hili. He attacked Hilo, killed

his uncle and ravaged Kamehameha’s lands along the northeastern side of

the island.

Kamehameha quickly returned from Maui and made an immediate attack on

his enemy, who had taken possession of a fertile highland plain called

Waimea. From this method of forcing unexpected battle came the Hawaiian

saying, “The spear seeks Waimea like the wind.”

Keoua was defeated and driven through forests along the eastern side of

Mauna Kea (The white mountain) to Hilo. Then Kamehameha sent warriors

around the western side of the island to attack Keoua’s home district.

Meanwhile, after a sea fight in which he defeated the chiefs of the

islands Maui and Oahu, he set his people to building a great temple

chiefly for his war-god Ka-ili. This was the last noted temple built on

all the islands.

Keoua heard of the attack on his home, therefore he gave the fish-ponds

and fertile lands of Hilo to some of his chiefs and hastened to cross

the island with his army by way of a path near the volcano Kilauea. He

divided his warriors into three parties, taking charge of the first in

person. They passed the crater at a time of great volcanic activity. A

native writer, probably Kamakau, in the native newspaper Kuokoa, 1867,

describes the destruction of the central part of this army by an awful

explosion from Kilauea. He said: “Thus was it done. Sand, ashes, and

stones grew up from the pit into a very high column of fire, standing

straight up. The mountains of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa were below it.

The people even from Ka-wai-hae [a seaport on the opposite side of the

mountains] saw this wonderful column with fire glowing and blazing to

its very top. When this column became great it blew all to pieces into

sand and ashes and great stones, which for some days continued to fall

around the sides of Kilauea. Men, women, and children were killed.

Mona, one of the army, who saw all this but who escaped, said that one

of the chiefesses was ill and some hundreds of the army had delayed

their journey to guard her and so escaped this death.”

Dibble, the first among the missionaries to prepare a history of the

islands, gave the following description of the event:

“Keoua’s path led by the great volcano of Kilauea. There they encamped.

In the night a terrific eruption took place, throwing out flame,

cinders, and even heavy stones to a great distance and accompanied from

above with intense lightning and heavy thunder. In the morning Keoua

and his companions were afraid to proceed and spent the day in trying

to appease the goddess of the volcano, whom they supposed they had

offended the day before by rolling stones into the crater. But on the

second night and on the third night also there were similar eruptions.

On the third day they ventured to proceed on their way, but had not

advanced far before a more terrible and destructive eruption than any

before took place; an account of which, taken from the lips of those

who were part of the company and present in the scene, may not be an

unwelcome digression.

‘The army of Keoua set out on their way in three different companies.

The company in advance had not proceeded far before the ground began to

shake and rock beneath their feet and it became quite impossible to

stand. Soon a dense cloud of darkness was seen to rise out of the

crater, and almost at the same instant the electrical effect upon the

air was so great that the thunder began to roar in the heavens and the

lightning to flash. It continued to ascend and spread abroad until the

whole region was enveloped and the light of day was entirely excluded.

The darkness was the more terrific, being made visible by an awful

glare from streams of red and blue light variously combined that issued

from the pit below, and being lit up at intervals by the intense

flashes of lightning from above. Soon followed an immense volume of

sand and cinders which were thrown in high heaven and came down in a

destructive shower for many miles around. Some few persons of the

forward company were burned to death by the sand and cinders and others

were seriously injured. All experienced a suffocating sensation upon

the lungs and hastened on with all possible speed.

‘The rear body, which was nearest the volcano at the time of the

eruption, seemed to suffer the least injury, and after the earthquake

and shower of sand had passed over, hastened forward to escape the

dangers which threatened them, and rejoicing in mutual congratulations

that they had been preserved in the midst of such imminent peril.

‘But what was their surprise and consternation when, on coming up with

their comrades of the centre party, they discovered them all to have

become corpses. Some were lying down, and others sitting upright

clasping with dying grasp their wives and children and joining noses

(their form of expressing affection) as in the act of taking a final

leave. So much like life they looked that they at first supposed them

merely at rest, and it was not until they had come up to them and

handled them that they could detect their mistake. Of the whole party,

including women and children, not one of them survived to relate the

catastrophe that had befallen their comrades. The only living being

they found was a solitary hog, in company with one of the families

which had been so suddenly bereft of life. In those perilous

circumstances, the surviving party did not even stay to bewail their

fate, but, leaving their deceased companions as they found them,

hurried on and overtook the company in advance at the place of their

encampment.’

“Keoua and his followers, of whom the narrator of this scene were a

part, retreated in the direction they had come. On their return, they

found their deceased friends as they had left them, entire and

exhibiting no other marks of decay than a sunken hollowness in their

eyes; the rest of their bodies was in a state of entire preservation.

They were never buried, and their bones lay bleaching in the sun and

rain for many years.”

A blast of sulphurous gas, a shower of heated embers, or a volume of

heated steam would sufficiently account for this sudden death. Some of

the narrators who saw the corpses affirm that, though in no place

deeply burnt, yet they were thoroughly scorched.”

Keoua’s prophets ascribed this blow from the gods to their high chief’s

dislike of Hilo and gift to sub-chiefs of the fish-ponds, which were

considered the favorite food-producers for offerings to Hiiaka, the

youngest member of the Pele family.

Kamehameha’s prophets said that this eruption was the favor of the gods

on his temple building.

The people said it was proof that Pele had taken Kamehameha under her

especial protection and would always watch over his interests and make

him the chief ruler.

XIX

DESTRUCTION OF KAMEHAMEHA’S FISH-PONDS

Mount Hualalai is on the western side of the island Hawaii. It has been

announced as an extinct volcano because few signs of volcanic life

appear at present; but in the year 1801 there was a very violent

eruption from the foot of the mountain, and the expectation of future

action is so strong that scientists classify Hualalai as “active.”

Ellis, writing in 1824, says: “This eruption of 1801 poured over

several villages, destroyed a number of plantations and extensive

fish-ponds, filled up a deep bay twenty miles in length, and formed the

present coast. An Englishman who saw the eruption has frequently told

us that he was astonished at the irresistible impetuosity of the

torrent. Stone walls, trees, and houses all gave way before it. Even

large masses or rocks of ancient lava, when surrounded by the fiery

stream, soon split into small fragments and falling into the burning

mass appeared to melt again while borne by it down the mountain side.

Numerous offerings were presented and many hogs were thrown alive into

the stream to appease the anger of the gods, by whom they supposed it

was directed, and to stay its devastating course. All seemed unavailing

until one day King Kamehameha went to the flowing lava, attended by a

large retinue of chiefs and priests, and as the most valuable offering

he could make, cut off part of his own hair which was always considered

sacred and threw it into the torrent. In a day or two the lava ceased

to flow. The gods, it was thought, were satisfied. The people

attributed this escape to the influence of Kamehameha with the deities

of the volcanoes.”

There are several very interesting “blowholes” in this lava. When the

lava struck the waves, the surface and sides were hardened, but the red

molten mass inside rolled on into the sea. Thus many sea-caves were

formed, into which waves beat violently with every incoming tide. If

the shore end of a cave broke open, a fine outlet was made for the

torrents which were hurled up through the opening in splendid fountains

of spray.

The account in the Kuokoa, a newspaper published in the native

language, in 1867, adds to the story of the foreigner the element of

superstition, and is practically as follows:

Pele began to eat Hue-hue, a noted breadfruit [19] forest owned by

Kamehameha. She was jealous of him and angry because he was stingy in

his offerings of breadfruit from the tabu grove of Hue-hue. This was

the place where the eruption broke out.

After she had destroyed the breadfruit grove, she went in her river of

fire down to the seashore to take Kamehameha’s fish-ponds. She greatly

desired the awa fish with the mullet in the fish-pond at Kiholo, and

she wanted the aku or bonita in the fish-pond at Ka-ele-hulu-hulu. She

became a roaring flood, widely spread out, hungry for the fish.

Kamehameha was very much ashamed for the evil which had come upon the

land and the destruction of his fish-ponds. Villages had been

overwhelmed. Several coconut [20] groves had been destroyed, and lava

land was built out into the sea.

There were no priests who could stop this a-a eruption by their

priestly skill. Their powers were dulled in the presence of Pele. They

offered pigs and fruits of all kinds, throwing them into the fire. They

uttered all their known incantations and prayers. They called to the

au-makuas (ancestor ghost-gods), but without avail.

Kamehameha sent for Ka-maka-o-ke-akua (The-eye-of-the-god), one of the

prophets of Pele, and said: “You are a prophet of Pele. I have sent for

you because I am much distressed by the destruction of the land and the

ponds by the sea. How can I quiet the anger of Pele?”

The prophet bowed his head for a time, then, looking up, said, “The

anger of the god will cease when you offer sacrifice to her.”

The king said, “Perhaps you will take the sacrifice.”

The prophet said: “From the old time even until now there has been no

prophet or priest of the mo-o or dragon clan who has done this thing.

It would not please the goddess. The high chief of the troubled land,

with a prophet or priest, is the only one who can make peace. He must

take his own offering to the fire as to an altar in a temple. Then the

anger of the goddess will be satisfied and the trouble ended.”

Kamehameha said: “I am afraid of Pele. Perhaps I shall be killed.”

The prophet replied, “You shall not die.”

The king prepared offerings and sacrifices for Pele and, as a royal

priest, went to the place where the lava was still pouring in floods

out of its new-born crater.

Kaahumanu, the queen, and many other high chiefs and chiefesses thought

they would go and die with him if Pele should persist in punishing him.

One of the high chiefesses, Ululani, had lost a child some time before.

This child after death was given to Pele with sacrifices and ceremonies

which would make it one of the ghost-gods connected with the Pele

family.

A prophet told Kaahumanu: “The Pele who is in the front of this

outburst of fire is not strange to us. It is the child of Ululani.”

Kaahumanu took Ululani with her to the side of the lava flow.

There they saw the lava like a river of fire flowing toward the west,

going straight down to the sea with leaping flames and uplifting

fountains of smoke. There was a very strong flashing light breaking out

at the front of the descending lava.

Ululani asked, “Who is that very strange fire in front of Pele?” The

fire was active as if it had life in itself.

The prophet replied: “That is the child among the au-makuas. That is

your first-born.”

Then came great winds and a mighty storm. Houses were overturned and

trees blown down.

Kamehameha and the prophet went up to the side of the lava and placed

offerings and sacrifices in the flowing fire. They prayed to Pele, but

the fire burned on. Kamehameha then cut some of the hair from his head

and threw it in the fire as his last offering, thus giving himself to

the god of fire. Then they came away and soon the fire went out.

It should be remembered that in recent years, when a lava flow came

down on the city of Hilo, threatening its destruction, Princess Ruth,

one of the last of the Kamehameha family, went from Honolulu to Hilo

and up to the river of lava with the feeling that a Kamehameha who was

under the especial protection of Pele could intercede for the welfare

of the people. It is certain that she came at a very opportune time,

for the eruption ceased in a day or so.

XX

KAPIOLANI AND PELE

The story of the high chiefess Kapiolani and her conflict with Pele,

the goddess of Kilauea, in December, 1824, is historic. It belongs,

however, to the volcanoes of the Hawaiian Islands, and is more

important than any myth.

Kapiolani was the daughter of Keawe-mau-hili, who was the high chief of

the district of Hilo. He was the uncle of Kiwalao, the young king of

the island Hawaii, who was killed by Kamehameha’s warriors when

Kamehameha became king of that island.

Kapiolani as a little child was in the camp with her father at the time

of the battle. She was in danger of death, but some men carried her

over the mountains through a multitude of difficulties back to Hilo.

She became a tall, portly woman, with keen black eyes and an engaging

countenance, a queen in appearance when with other chiefs or

chiefesses. She was not a queen, nor was she even a princess, although

by blood relationship she belonged to the royal family. She was the

wife of Na-ihe, who was the high chief of the district of Kona on the

western side of the island Hawaii.

Na-ihe (The spears) was said to be the national orator or best speaker

on government affairs among the chiefs. Kapiolani

(The-bending-arch-of-heaven) was very intelligent, quick-witted, and

fearless. They were both so influential that they were chosen by the

great Kamehameha as members of his council of chiefs and were retained

by his son Liholiho, or Kamehameha II.

When the missionaries of the American Board from Boston arrived, April

4, 1820, at Kailua Bay on the western coast of Hawaii, they landed in

territory nominally controlled by Na-ihe and Kapiolani, although at

that particular time the young king, Liholiho, and his court were in

Kona, and were the real rulers.

However, when the missionaries had reduced the language to writing and

had begun to print leaflets for spelling and reading, in 1822, Na-ihe

and Kapiolani were among the first chiefs to welcome instruction and

accept Christianity as far as they could understand it.

In 1823 a delegation of missionaries went around the island Hawaii.

They visited the volcano Kilauea and wrote the first really good

description of the crater and its activity. The natives were astonished

to see the perfect safety of the missionaries, although the worship and

tabus of Pele were absolutely ignored. Ohelo [21] berries and

strawberries growing on the brink of the crater were freely eaten and

the lake of fire explored without even a thought of fear of the

goddess.

In the course of their journey the missionaries met a priestess of

Pele. The priestess, assuming a haughty air, said: “I am Pele, I shall

never die. Those who follow me, if part of their bones are taken to

Kilauea, will live in the bright fire there.” A missionary said, “Are

you Pele?” She said, “Yes, I am Pele,” then proceeded to state her

powers. A chief of low rank who had been a royal messenger under

Kamehameha, and who was making the journey with the missionaries,

interrupted the woman, saying: “Then it is true, you are Pele, and have

destroyed the land, killed the people, and have spoiled the

fishing-grounds. If I were the king I would throw you into the sea.”

The priestess was quick-witted and said that truly she had done some

harm, but the rum of the foreigners was far more destructive.

All this prepared the way for Kapiolani to attempt to break down the

worship of the fire-goddess. It must be remembered that Kapiolani had

been under the influence of thoughtful civilization only about three

years when she decided that she would attack the idolatry which, of all

idol worship, was the most firmly entrenched in the hearts of her

people because it was founded on the mysterious forces of nature. She

accepted implicitly the word of the missionaries, that their God was

the one god of nature. Therefore she had rejected the fire-goddess with

all the other deities formerly worshipped in Hawaii. She was, however,

practically alone in her determination to strike a blow against the

worship of Pele.

Priests of Pele were numerous on the island Hawaii. Women were among

those of highest rank in that priesthood. Many of the personal

followers of Kapiolani were worshippers. Even Na-ihe, her husband, had

not been able to free himself from superstitious fears. When Kapiolani

said that she was going to prove the falsity of the worship of Pele,

there was a storm of heartfelt opposition. The priests and worshippers

of Pele honestly believed that divine punishment would fall on her.

Those who were Christians were afraid that some awful explosion might

overwhelm the company, as a large body of warriors had been destroyed

thirty-four years before.

Na-ihe, still strongly under the influence of superstition, urged her

not to go. All this opposition arose from her warm friends. When her

determination was seen to be immovable, some of the priests of Pele

became bitterly angry and in their rage prophesied most awful results.

When Kapiolani left her home in Kona her people, with great wailing,

again attempted to persuade her to stay with them. The grief,

stimulated by fear of things supernatural, was uncontrollable. The

people followed their chiefess some distance with prayers and tears.

For more than a hundred miles she journeyed, usually walking, sometimes

having a smooth path, but again having to cross miles of the roughest,

most rugged and sharp-edged lava on the island Hawaii. At last the

party came to the vicinity of the volcano. This was not by the present

road, but along the smoother, better way, used for centuries on the

south side of the crater toward the ocean.

Toward the close of the day they crossed steaming cracks and chasms and

drew nearer to the foul-smelling, gaseous clouds of smoke which blew

toward them from the great crater. Here a priestess of Pele of the

highest rank came to meet the party and turn them away from the

dominions of the fire-goddess unless they would offer appropriate

sacrifices. She knew Kapiolani’s purpose, and determined to frustrate

it.

Formerly there had been a temple near the brink of the crater on the

southeast side. This, according to Ellis, bore the name Oala-laua. He

says, “It was a temple of Pele, of which Ka-maka-a-ke-akua

(The-eye-of-God), a distinguished soothsayer who died in the reign of

Kamehameha, was many years priest.” The temple was apparently deserted

at the time of the overthrow of the tabu in 1819, and the priests had

gone to the lower and better cultivated lands of Puna, where they had

their headquarters. However, they still worshipped Pele and sacrificed

to her.

This priestess who faced Kapiolani was very haughty and bold. She

forbade her to approach any nearer to the volcano on pain of death at

the hands of the furious goddess Pele.

“Who are you?” asked Kapiolani.

“I am one in whom the God dwells.”

“If God dwells in you, then you are wise and can teach me. Come and sit

down.”

The priestess had seen printed pages or heard about them, so she drew

out a piece of kapa, or paper made from the bark of trees, [22] and

saying that this was a letter from Pele began to read or rather mumble

an awful curse.

The people with Kapiolani were hushed into a terrified silence, but she

listened quietly until the priestess, carried beyond her depth, read a

confused mass of jumbled words, and unintelligible noises, which she

called “The dialect of the ancient Pele.”

Then Kapiolani took her spelling-book, and a little book of a few

printed hymns, and said: “You have pretended to deliver a message from

your god, but we have not understood it. Now I will read you a message

which you can understand, for I, too, have a letter.” Then she read

clearly the Biblical sentences printed in the spelling-book and some of

the hymns. The priestess was silenced.

Meanwhile, the missionaries at Hilo, a hundred and fifty miles from

Kona, heard that Kapiolani had started on this strenuous undertaking.

They felt that some one of the Christian teachers should be with her.

Mr. Ruggles had been without shoes for several months and could not go.

Mr. Goodrich, the other missionary stationed at Hilo, was almost as

badly off, but was more accustomed to travelling barefoot. So he went

up through the tangled masses of sharp-edged lava, grass, strong-leaved

ferns, and thick woods to meet the chiefess as she came to the crater.

Kapiolani passed the priestess, went on to the crater, met Mr.

Goodrich, and was much affected by the effort he had made to aid her in

her attempt to break down the worship of Pele. It was now evening, and

a hut was built to shelter her until the next day came, when she could

have the opportunity of descending into the crater.

Mr. Richards, a missionary, later wrote as follows: “Along the way to

the volcano she was accosted by multitudes and entreated not to

proceed. She answered, ‘If I am destroyed, then you may all believe in

Pele, but if I am not, you must all turn to the true writings.’”

The great crater at that time had a black ledge or shelf, below which

the active lakes and fountains of fire, in many places, broke through

and kept turbulent a continually changing mass over five miles in

circumference. Here in the large cones built up by leaping lava, the

natives said, were the homes of the family of Pele. Here the deities

amused themselves in games. The roaring of the furnaces and crackling

of flames was the music of drums beaten for the accompaniment of the

household dances. The red flaming surge was the surf wherein they

played.

As the morning light brought a wonderful view of the Lua Pele

(The-pit-of-Pele) with its great masses of steam and smoke rising from

the immense field of volcanic activity below, and as the rush of mighty

waves of lava broke again and again against the black ledge with a roar

exceeding that of a storm-driven surf beating upon rocky shores, and as

fierce explosions of gases bursting from the underworld in a continual

cannonade, deafened the ears of the company, Kapiolani prepared to go

down to defy Pele.

This must have been one of the few grand scenes of history. There was

the strong, brave convert to Christianity standing above the open lake

of fire, the red glowing lava rolling in waves below, with rough blocks

of hardened lava on every side, the locks (Pele’s hair) of the

fire-goddess, torn out and whirling around in the air, the timid

fearful faces of the people and their attitude of terror and anxiety

showing the half-hope that the tabu might be broken and the half-dread

lest the evil spirit might breathe fire upon them and destroy them at

once.

Mr. Richards says: “A man whose duty it was to feed Pele, by throwing

berries and the like into the volcano, entreated her to go no farther.

‘And what,’ said she, ‘will be the harm?’ The man replied, ‘You will

die by Pele.’ Kapiolani answered, ‘I shall not die by your god. That

fire was kindled by my God.’ The man was silent and she went onward,

descending several hundred feet, and there joined in a prayer to

Jehovah. She also ate the berries consecrated to Pele, and threw stones

into the volcano.”

Bingham in his “Sandwich Islands” says: “Then with the terrific

bellowing and whizzing of the volcanic gases they mingled their voices

in a solemn hymn of praise to the true God, and at the instance of the

chiefess, Alapai, one of Kapiolani’s attendants, led them in prayer.”

The party returned to the brink of the crater, and journeyed down to

Hilo.

Alexander in the “History of the Hawaiian People” says, “This has

justly been called one of the greatest acts of moral courage ever

performed.”

Richards states that the leader of Kapiolani’s party said to him: “All

the people of the district saw that she was not injured and have

pronounced Pele to be powerless.”

The influence of Kapiolani against this most influential form of

idolatrous worship was felt throughout the whole nation.

In 1836, twelve years later, Rev. Titus Coan wrote about the coming of

many natives into a Christian life. He says: “In 1836, twelve years

after the visit of Kapiolani, among these converts was the High Priest

of the volcano. He was more than six feet tall, and was of lofty

bearing. He had been an idolater, a drunkard, an adulterer, a robber,

and a murderer. His sister was more haughty and stubborn. She, too, was

tall and majestic in her bearing. At length she yielded and with her

brother became a docile member of the church.”

But it was Lord Tennyson who set down for posterity the heroic deed of

the great queen in the following beautiful poem:

KAPIOLANI.

I.

When from the terrors of Nature a people have

fashion’d and worship a Spirit of Evil

Blest be the Voice of the Teacher who calls to

them,

“Set yourselves free!”

II.

Noble the Saxon who hurled at his Idol a valorous

weapon in olden England!

Great, and greater, and greatest of women, island

heroine Kapiolani

Clomb the mountain, and flung the berries and

dared the Goddess, and freed the people

Of Hawa-i-ee!

III.

A people believing that Peelè the Goddess would

wallow in fiery riot and revel

On Kilauea,

Dance in a fountain of flame with her devils or

shake with her thunders and shatter her

island,

Rolling her anger

Thro’ blasted valley and flowing forest in blood-red

cataracts down to the sea!

IV.

Long as the lava-light

Glares from the lava-lake,

Dazing the starlight;

Long as the silvery vapor in daylight,

Over the mountain

Floats, will the glory of Kapiolani be mingled with

either on Hawa-i-ee.

V.

What said her Priesthood?

“Woe to this island if ever a woman should handle

or gather the berries of Peelè!

Accursed were she!

And woe to this island if ever a woman should

climb to the dwelling of Peelè the Goddess!

Accursed were she!”

VI.

One from the Sunrise

Dawned on His people and slowly before him

Vanished shadow-like

Gods and Goddesses,

None but the terrible Peelè remaining as Kapiolani

Ascended her mountain,

Baffled her priesthood,

Broke the Taboo,

Dipt to the crater,

Called on the Power adored by the Christian and

crying, “I dare her, let Peelè avenge herself!”

Into the flame-billows dashed the berries, and drove

the demon from Hawa-i-ee.