the cares of his kingdom and the restful delights of a prosperous home.
Children whose names became noted in Hawaiian legends grew to manhood
and womanhood around him. Kahai, the sea-rover, a grandson of Moi-keha,
is said to have sailed to Upolu in the Samoan Islands and there found a
new species of breadfruit which he thought might well be placed by the
older Hawaiian breadfruit. This he brought back with him and planted at
Pearl Harbor.
Kila, the third son of Moi-keha, was made a messenger to Tahiti by his
father. A great longing had taken possession of Moi-keha to see the
foster son whom he had carried away many years before. Kila was said to
be very careful and courageous with a strong desire to emulate the
deeds of his ancestors. The call to the sea was hereditary and with
eagerness he grasped the opportunity. The largest double canoes were
selected, their mat sails were made from new and strong hala leaves and
they were equipped for the long voyage. Fornander says that some of
Kila’s brothers went with him. The old astrologer and sailor,
Kama-hua-lele, who had come from Tahiti with Moi-keha, was selected to
be the guardian of the young chiefs and pilot of the expedition.
Kila sailed from island to island until at last he left the high
mountains of the island Hawaii and sailed away to the South. The
Kalakaua legends say that Kila bore with him a brilliant royal mantle
made from the rare feathers of the mamo, and that Moi-keha had been
many months in the manufacture of the mantle, assisted by hundreds of
bird hunters and skilled workmen. This was an especial offering to Laa,
a reminder of the high esteem in which his foster father still held
him, and a proof of the intense desire for him to visit his native
land.
The long canoe voyage appears to have been blessed with favouring winds
and clear skies. The stars were easily observed and followed until
Tahiti was found. It seems to those who now cross the ocean in great
ships that such a voyage is almost incredible, but the Hawaiians were
vikings and were as intrepid sailors as the Norsemen who were sailing
across the Atlantic Ocean about the same time.
At Tahiti they found Laa and his uncle Olopana. Fornander says that one
set of legends gives the story of Laa’s speedy return to Hawaii with
Kila. Another set of legends rehearses the age of Olopana and his
desire for Laa to remain with him until his life should end. All the
legends agree in stating that Laa returned to the Hawaiian Islands,
that he had with him a large retinue when he visited the home of his
childhood and that he brought the drum known through all the later
years as Ke-eke-eke. It was made by cutting out the pithy heart of a
section of a large cocoanut tree, and thinning the shell as far as
safety would allow. Then the ends were covered with the skin of a
shark. Fornander says that “every independent chief, and every temple
where human sacrifices were offered, had their own drum and drummer
from Laa-mai-Kahiki’s time to the introduction of Christianity.”
The great event by which Laa was indelibly impressed upon the legends
of Hawaii was his triple marriage with three selected chiefesses of the
island Oahu.
The highest chiefs among the Hawaiians were glad to ally themselves
with Laa-mai-Kahiki. Not only did the romance of far-away lands and
mighty deeds attract attention, but his personal appearance and royal
bearing seemed to have conquered all who came near. There was the
general feeling that this powerful chief, who would soon return to
Raiatea, must leave descendants among the Hawaiians.
Offerings were sent to the temples and the priests were consulted. The
most sacred tests were made of the most important auguries known by the
priesthood. The decision was announced that Laa must have wives given
to him from among the young women of highest rank on Oahu, the home of
Laa in his boyhood and still the place where the larger portion of his
nearest relatives resided.
The daughters of the chiefs of the districts Kualoa, Kaalaea and
Kaneohe, all on the island Oahu, were selected and married to him in
the midst of a great round of feasts and games.
It was always known that Laa would return to Tahiti, and yet many
inducements were placed before him to lead him to stay. But he only
waited until each of the three chiefesses gave birth to a son, and then
sailed away to establish a lasting line of rulers in Tahiti, where,
according to Tahitian custom, he was called Raa.
The ancient Hawaiian chants recorded the names of the three sons of Laa
thus:
“O Laa from Tahiti, the chief.
O Ahukini, son of Laa.
O Kukona, son of Laa.
O Lauli, son of Laa, the father.
The triple canoe of Laa-mai-Kahiki.
The sacred first-born of Laa,
Who were born on the same one day.”
This gift of three sons—a “triple canoe”—to the Hawaiians is one of the
most fully accepted facts of the traditions of long ago. They
established families of great prominence and their descendants were
proud of this distinction as “children of Laa.”
Apparently there was little intercourse later with the southern groups
of the islands of the Pacific Ocean. The vikings passed away and their
descendants failed to conquer the dangers of the seas. It may be that a
prolonged season of volcanic activity discouraged sea roving. It is
probable that many sailed away and were never heard of again. History
seldom records the long list of failures among men. It has been better
to tell of victories.
X
FIRST FOREIGNERS
It is said that the Chinese gave to the clove the name “Thengki”—“the
sweet-scented nail.” When the clove came to Rome, the haughty lovers of
spices exclaimed “clavus”—“a nail.” The English made a slight change
and said “clove.” Solomon, the wise, and King Hiram, the Phœnician,
sent fleets on voyages of long duration. Their ships returned from
these voyages laden with the fragrant products of the spice lands.
Marco Polo rehearsed the abundant aromas of the Orient as well as the
gold and jewels and silks. Columbus, in 1492, went west that he might
find more ready access to these eastern riches. The spice islands lay
somewhere in a great ocean toward the sunset from Spain, provided the
world was round, as Columbus argued.
Balboa must have wished for a Nicaraguan or Panama Canal when he
carried timbers across the isthmus and built a ship on the Pacific
coast to explore the new ocean which he had discovered. In 1513 he
launched his little ship, intending to find the oriental riches, if
possible.
In October of the year 1527, three Spanish ships were “fitted out” by
Cortez. They set sail from Zacatula, Mexico, for the Molucca Islands.
One only, under the command of Saavedra, reached its destination. A
fierce storm drove the little squadron far north of the ordinary route,
and swept two of the ships out of the record of history. Alexander
says: “It seems certain that a foreign vessel which was wrecked about
this time on the Kona coast of Hawaii must have been one of Saavedra’s
missing ships.” From this ship a white man and woman escaped. After
reaching the beach they knelt for a long time in prayer. The Hawaiians,
watching them, waited until they rose, and received welcome. The place
was at once named “Kulou”—“kneeling.” Through all the succeeding years
the name kept the story of the wrecked white chiefs before the Hawaiian
people. The Hawaiians received their white visitors as honoured guests,
and permitted them to marry into noted chief-families. In the Hawaiian
legends the man and woman are called brother and sister. The man was
named Ku-kana-loa. Their descendants were well known, one of them being
a governor of the island of Kauai. These white citizens came to the
islands in the reign of Ke-alii-o-ka-loa, who was born about A.D. 1500,
and became a king of Hawaii about A.D. 1525.
There seems to be scarcely a trace of the Spanish language or of the
Christian religion as practiced by the Spaniards. The nearest approach
to any permanent influence possibly coming from this shipwrecked man is
the statement made to a chief by a native prophet long before the
islands were discovered by Captain Cook, that from his predecessors he
had learned the prophecy: “A communication would be made to them from
Heaven, the place of the real God, entirely different from anything
they had known and that the tabu of the country would be subverted.”
The Hawaiian traditions have several references to foreigners coming to
the islands. Pau-makua, of Oahu, was one of the Vikings of the Pacific
during the twelfth century. He is recorded as visiting many foreign
lands. He brought priests to Oahu. Judge Fornander suggests that quite
possibly these were Indians from the American coast. Professor
Alexander, in his “History of Hawaii,” thinks there is scarcely
sufficient foundation for the suggestion. However, Pau-makua and his
journeys are accepted as part of Hawaiian history.
In the thirteenth century “the white chief with the iron knife” was
wrecked on the coast of the island of Maui, near the village Wailuku.
Three men and two women were saved. Wakalana, a chief, took his
outrigger canoe through the surf and rescued them. These persons are
supposed to have been Japanese. The captain of the ship carried a long
sword which became renowned throughout the islands as “the wonderful
iron knife.” It was a tremendously effective weapon, when matched with
wooden daggers and war clubs. King Kalakaua relates the amplified
legend and chant in his “Myths and Legends of Hawaii,” and in
imagination pictures some of the battles fought and trades made for the
possession of the iron knife. The Hawaiians came from all parts to see
these remarkable strangers. They were astonished to see the women eat
the same kinds of food, and from the same dishes as the men. “Nothing
was tabu to the strangers.” This was entirely new to Hawaiian ideas.
Another legend mentions a foreign ship, called Ulupano, and the captain
was remembered as Malolano. It is supposed that the ship soon sailed
away. Other hints are found of ships having been seen out on the ocean
by fishing parties who had gone far from land. These ships were called
moku [islands], the name used to the present day.
There are undoubted proofs of the discovery of the Hawaiian Islands in
1555 by the Spaniard, Juan Gaetano. This is the first known record of
the islands among the civilised nations. There are evident references
to this group in the legends of the Polynesians in other Pacific
islands.
Gaetano passed through the northern part of the Pacific and discovered
large islands which he marked upon a chart as “Los Majos.” The great
mountains upon these islands did not rise in sharp peaks, but spread
out like a high tableland in the clouds, hence he also called the
islands “Isles de Mesa,” the Mesa Islands or the Table Lands. One of
the islands was named “The Unfortunate.” Three other smaller islands
were called “The Monks.”
Le Perouse, the celebrated Frenchman who visited Hawaii in A.D. 1796,
says that Gaetano saw these islands “with their naked savages,
cocoanuts and other fruits, but no gold or silver.” There was nothing
attractive, and the wealth-loving Spaniard marked the islands on his
chart and never visited them again. So the record lay for many years.
This record, kept in Spain’s archives, is now accepted as marking the
real discovery of the Hawaiian Islands.
Meanwhile, the Hawaiians were as completely ignorant of the rest of the
world as if no civilised eyes had ever seen their mountains. They
offered each other as human sacrifices; they fought for supremacy. They
died at the will of their chiefs. They lived almost as lustfully as the
brutes. They had nothing that could be called a home, with an
affectionate household gathered inside its walls. They ate, and slept,
and died. They entered with zeal into the national sports as well as
into the national quarrels. They chanted their genealogies and personal
prowess. The art of sailing long distances by the aid of the stars had
fallen into disuse. The age of the Western Vikings had passed by. For
three or four hundred years no voyagers had found their way to foreign
lands. Then some time in the early part of the eighteenth century a
king of Oahu involuntarily made a journey which was celebrated as a
part of his genealogical chant. The entire “mele,” or song, stretches
out to about six hundred lines. It is an interesting poem filled with
graphic references to people and places, to winds and seas, and to
birds and fishes.
In this chant the king of Oahu relates his strange experience on the
ocean. Fornander quotes the poem in his “Polynesian Race”:
CHANT OF KU-ALII (KU—THE CHIEF)
“O Kahiki, land of the far reaching ocean.
Within is the land—outside is the sun,
Indistinct are the sun and the land when approaching.
Perhaps you have seen it.
I have seen it.
I have surely seen Kahiki.
“A land with a strange language is Kahiki.
The men of Kahiki have ascended
The backbone of heaven (mountains)
Up there they trample down,
They look down on those below.
Men of our race are not in Kahiki.
One kind of men is in Kahiki—the white man.
He is like a god.
I am like a man,
A man, indeed.
“Wandering about, the only Hawaiian there.
Days and nights passing by.
By morsels was the food.
Picking the food like a bird.
Listen, O bird of Victory!
Hush, with whom was the victory?
With Ku, indeed.”
The chant states that the king was “wandering about,” probably driven
by the winds far south from the islands. He and his oarsmen were almost
starving. The food became “morsels,” or only enough for a bird to “pick
up.” But Ku—the chief—won the victory over the ocean. He went to the
“foreign land.” He found the white man’s home, where the “land was
‘within,’” i.e., lying to the east, with the sun “outside,” i.e.,
westward over the waters, most of the day. Perhaps the misty mountains
concealed the sun until the forenoon was far spent. He saw “the land of
the far-reaching ocean,” and returned in safety to Oahu. “With Ku—the
chief—indeed was the victory.”
Judge Fornander says: “It is probable that some Spanish galleons picked
up Ku and his companions, carried them to Acapulco, Mexico, and brought
them back on the return voyage.”
In 1743, Lord Anson, of the British ship Centurion, captured a Spanish
ship near the Philippine Islands, and found a chart locating a group of
islands in the North Pacific—the same group that Gaetano discovered in
1555. This chart, and the story of Lord Anson’s voyage, were almost
certainly known by Captain Cook, who made three voyages through the
Pacific.
XI
CAPTAIN COOK
In response to an appeal from the British Admiralty, Captain Cook left
England to enter upon his third voyage in July, 1776, with the purpose
of restoring some natives of the Society Islands to their home;
examining islands of the Pacific for good harbours for future English
use; and then to pass along the northwest coast of America to find, if
possible, a sea passage from the Pacific Ocean to Hudson’s or Baffin’s
Bay. During the year 1777 he felt his way from island group to island
group. He recognised the close relationship in language and features,
between inhabitants of many of these island worlds.
On January 18, 1778, he discovered Oahu and later Kauai, of the
Hawaiian Islands. He named the group “The Sandwich Islands,” in honour
of Lord Sandwich, the patron of the expedition.
This name has never been accepted among the Hawaiians. The home name,
the name used for centuries, could not be supplanted by an English
discoverer. The Hawaiians have always called themselves “Ka poe
Hawaii”—“the Hawaiian people.”
There are four different sources of information concerning the coming
to and death of Captain Cook in the Hawaiian Islands. Captain King
wrote the account given in “Cook’s Voyages.”
Ledyard, an American petty officer on one of Captain Cook’s ships,
wrote a story published in America.
The surgeon on Captain Cook’s boat kept a diary which has recently been
published.
The historian must remember that there were thousands of native
eye-witnesses whose records cannot be overlooked in securing a true
history. The following account is almost entirely from the Hawaiians
only:
Captain Cook came to Waimea, Kauai. He was called by the Hawaiians “O
Lono,” because they thought he was the god Lono, one of the chief gods
of the ancient Hawaiians.
The ship was seen coming up from the west and going north. Kauai lay
spread out in beauty before Lono, and the first anchor was dropped in
the bay of Waimea, in the month of January, 1778. It was night when the
ship anchored.
A man by the name of Mapua, and others, were out fishing, with their
boats anchored. They saw a great thing coming up, rising high above the
surf, fire burning on top of it. They thought it was something evil and
hurried to the shore, trembling and frightened by this wonderful
apparition. They had fled, leaving all they had used while fishing.
When they went up from the beach they told the high chief Kaeo and the
other chiefs about this strange sight.
In the morning they saw the ship standing outside Waimea. When they saw
this marvellous monster, great wonder came to the people, and they were
astonished and afraid. Soon a crowd of people came together, shouting
with fear and confused thought until the harbour resounded with noise.
Each one shouted as he saw the ship with masts and the many things,
such as ropes and sails, on them. One said to another, “What is this
thing which has branches?” Another said, “It is a forest of trees.” A
certain priest, who was also a chief, said, “This is not an ordinary
thing; it is a heiau [temple] of the god Lono, having steps going up
into the clear sky, to the altars on the outside” (i.e., to the yards
of the upper masts).
The chiefs sent some men to go out in canoes and see this wonderful
thing. They went close to the ship and saw iron on the outside of the
ship. They were very glad when they saw the amount of iron. They had
known iron before because of iron in sticks washed up on the land. Then
there was little, but at this time they saw very much. They rejoiced
and said, “There are many pieces of pahoa” (meaning iron). They called
all iron pahoa—a tool for cutting, because there was once a sword among
the old people of the Islands.
They went up on the ship and saw “a number of men with white foreheads,
shining eyes, skin wrinkled, square-cornered heads, indistinct words,
and fire in their mouths.”
A chief and a priest tied the ends of their long malo-like sashes and
held them up in their left hands. “They went before Kapena Kuke
(Captain Cook), bent over, squatted down, and offered prayers,
repeating words over and over; then took the hand of Kapena Kuke and
knelt down; then rose up free from any tabu.”
Captain Cook gave the priest a knife. For this reason he named his
daughter Kua-pahoa, after this knife. This was the first present of
Captain Cook to a Hawaiian.
When they saw the burning of tobacco in the mouth of a man they thought
he belonged to the volcano family. When they saw peculiar and large
“cocoanuts” (probably melons) lying on the deck, they said, “This is
the fruit of a sorceress, or mischief-maker of the ocean, who has been
killed.” They saw the skin of a bullock hanging in the front part of
the ship and said, “Another mischief-making sorceress has been killed.
Perhaps these gods have come that all the evil kupuas [monsters] might
be destroyed.”
These messengers returned and told the king and chiefs about the kind
of men they had seen, what they were doing, their manner of speech, and
the death of some of the monsters of the ocean. “We saw the fruit and
the skin hanging on the altar. There is plenty of iron on that temple
and a large amount is lying on the deck.”
When the chiefs heard this report they said, “Truly this is the god
Lono with his temple.”
The people thought that by the prayer of the priest all troubles of
tabu had been lifted, so they asked the priest if there would be any
trouble if they went on this place of the god. The priest assured them
that his prayer had been without fault and there would be no death in
all that belonged to the gods. There was no interruption of any kind
during the prayer.
Hao was another name for “iron” and also hao meant “theft.”
A certain war-chief said, “I will go and hao that hao treasure, for my
profession is to hao” (steal). The chiefs assented. Then he paddled out
to the ship and went on board and took iron and went down. Some one
shot him and killed him. His name was Kapu-puu (The Tabu Hill). The
canoes returned and reported that the chief had been killed by a wai-ki
(a rush of smoke like water in a blow-hole).
Some of the chiefs cried out, “Kill this people because they killed
Kapu-puu!” The priest heard the cry and replied, “That thought is not
right. They have not sinned. We have done wrong because we were greedy
after the iron and let Kapu-puu go to steal. I forbade you at first,
and established my law that if any one should steal, he shall suffer
the loss of his bones. It is only right that we should be pleasant to
them. Where are you, O Chiefs and People! This is my word to you!”
That night guns were fired and sky-rockets sent up into the sky, for
the sailors were glad to have found such a fine country. The natives
called the flash from the guns “Ka huila” (lightning) and “Kane-hikili”
(thunder of the god Kane). The natives thought this was war.
Then a high chiefess, Ka-maka-helei, the mother of Kaumu-alii, the last
king of Kauai, said: “Not for war is our god, but we will seek the
pleasure of the god.” So she gave her own daughter as a wife for
Lono—Captain Cook. After this there was promiscuous living among the
men of the ship and the people of the land, with the result that the
vile diseases of the white people were quickly scattered over all the
islands.
A boat came to Oahu from Kauai with a chief. The Oahu people asked him,
“What kind of a thing was the ship?” The chief said “it was like a
heiau (temple) with steps going up to the altars, masts standing with
branches spread out each side, and a long stick in front like the sharp
nose of a swordfish, openings (portholes) in the side and openings
behind. The men had white heads with corners, clothes like wrinkled
skin, holes in the sides (pockets), sharp-pointed things on their feet,
fire in their mouths, and smoke with the fire like a volcano coming
from their mouths.”
Kalaniopuu, king of Hawaii, was at Koolau, Maui, fighting with the
people of Kahekili, king of Maui. Moho, a messenger, told Kalaniopuu
and the chiefs the news about this strange ship. They said, “This is
Lono from Kahiki.”
They asked about the language. Moho, putting his hand in his malo, drew
out a piece of a broken calabash and held it out like the foreigners,
saying: “A hikapalale, hikapalale, hioluio, oalaki, walawalaki, waiki,
poha, aloha kahiki, aloha haehae, aloha ka wahine, aloha ke keiki,
aloha ka hale.” Of course, this was a jumbled mass of words or sounds
with but very little meaning.
The natives relate how, with veneration, they received the white man.
They robed Captain Cook with red native cloth and rich feather cloaks.
They prostrated themselves before him. They placed him in the most
sacred places in their temples. When he despoiled a temple of its
woodwork and carried off idols for firewood to use upon his ships, the
natives made no protest. They supposed that Lono had a right to his
own. But afterward, when death proved that Captain Cook was “a man and
no god,” the feeling of resentment was exceedingly deep and bitter.
This was the standpoint from which the Hawaiians welcomed their
discoverers.