to a climax the enmity of the king toward his priest. This servant came
with an appearance of great concern and told Kahahana very
confidentially that the priest had once more sent word to the Maui king
that he was ready to turn over Oahu to him and aid in the overthrow of
Kahahana, but the Maui king felt such great affection for his friend on
Oahu that he could not accept such treachery. His feeling, however, was
that he ought to warn Kahahana against such a deceitful subject.
The poison again entered into the soul of the king and his anger grew
hot within him. He determined that the priest should die. He knew well
that he was king by virtue of the choice of his chiefs and not by blood
descent. He had already found that his word was not the only law in the
kingdom. He could not openly declare war against the priest, but he
could command him to render assistance in worship and sacrifice.
Therefore he announced that he was intending to journey around the
island for the avowed purpose of consecrating certain temples and
offering sacrifices in others. As king he had the right to perform
those duties in person, assisted by his priest.
When he had made full preparation he started on his journey, attended
by the usual large train of servants and companions. He proceeded as
far as the village Wai-anae on the southwestern coast of the island.
From Wai-anae the king sent servants with a command to the priest to
come to him.
Throughout all the Hawaiian Islands no priest had a reputation for
ability to read the signs of the sacrifices, utter oracles and prepare
incantations against enemies greater than that of Ka-o-pulu-pulu. He
was thoroughly skilled in all the deep mysteries of priestly lore. He
understood the dread power of “praying to death,” a power which causes
even the intelligent natives of the twentieth century to tremble.
Ka-o-pulu-pulu was fully aware of the enmity of his king and the danger
which attended his yielding obedience. He knew also that the plea of
the need of omens and sacrifices was well founded. To him the future of
Oahu looked very dark. He felt that he could not refuse attendance upon
the king in this round of public sacrifices. If any opportunity arose
for consulting the omens in regard to the future welfare of Oahu it was
his duty to give the benefit of his wisdom to his people. It was one
more instance of going into the jaws of death for the sake of loyal
obedience.
He took his son, Ka-hulu-pue, with him and went to Wai-anae. There he
was given no opportunity to offer sacrifice, but was attacked by the
servants of the king. The priest’s son was forced backward toward the
sea. The spirit of prophecy came upon the father as he saw the danger
of his son and he gave utterance to one of the oracles for which the
Hawaiian priesthood has been noted. He called out to his son: “I nui ke
aho a moe i ke kai (it is far better to sleep in the sea), no ke kai ka
hoi ua aina” (for from the sea shall come the life of the land).
Fornander says that the servants drove the young man into the sea,
where he was drowned. The seer no longer felt the compulsion of duty
impelling him to seek the king. The king’s purpose was evident to all
the chiefs and Ka-o-pulu-pulu would not be misjudged if he attempted to
escape; therefore he fled eastward toward Honolulu, but was overtaken
at Pearl Harbour and killed.
When Kahekili learned of the death of this great priest he hastened to
gather his warriors together and fit out an immense fleet of canoes in
order to undertake the conquest of Oahu.
The decisive battle was soon fought and Kahekili secured control over
Oahu. Kahahana escaped and for many months wandered over the mountains
back of Honolulu, but was at last betrayed and killed.
The oracle of Ka-o-pulu-pulu uttered at the time of the death of his
son was kept in the hearts of the natives and its method of fulfilment
has been noted. The oracle was easily remembered, although the words
concerning the death of his son are repeated in various forms. The
oracle reads: “No ke kai ka hoi ua aina” (from the sea comes the life
of the land).
When Kahekili landed from his fleet of canoes, and conquered Kahahana,
the people said, “The life of the land has come from the sea.” Then
again when Ka-meha-meha came from Hawaii, conquered Oahu and made
Honolulu the centre of his kingdom, the old natives of the island
repeated the prophecy and considered it fulfilled.
And yet once more the prophecy was remembered when the foreigners came
over the ocean filling the land with new ideas, and with the bustle of
new and enlarged business, beautifying and enriching all the island
life with new homes and new arts.
XV
THE EIGHT OF OAHU
This is a story of one of the most daring deeds in Hawaiian history.
After the death of Captain Cook in 1779 Ka-meha-meha was slowly gaining
dominion over the large island of Hawaii. Meanwhile the king of Maui,
Kahekili, seemed to be far more successful in extending the boundaries
over which he exercised rule. Kahekili had control of Maui and the
adjacent islands and had sent expeditions to harass the followers of
Ka-meha-meha on Hawaii. Oahu was also tempting Kahekili, and he had
already taken steps to weaken the forces of that island.
Kahekili had fomented distrust and bloodshed among the Oahu chiefs and
at last with an immense fleet of canoes filled with warriors had landed
on the beach, south of the crater Leahi, now known as Diamond Head. His
canoes were spread along the beach below Diamond Head, covering the
sands of Waikiki. This was in the early part of the year 1783.
The King of Oahu had been taken by surprise. He was staying for a time
in the beautiful valley back of Honolulu. The Nuuanu stream with its
many falls and sweet waters was a place where kings had always loved to
rest. While revelling there in seductive pleasures the king,
Ka-ha-hana, suddenly was awakened by the report of the coming of the
Maui chief. The uninvited guest was unwelcome because no preparation
had been made for the reception.
Messengers were hurried to all parts of Oahu, and the warriors were
hastily gathered together. Over the mountains and along the arid plains
they came. But the force was woefully inadequate to meet the Maui
invaders.
In this company there were eight famous warriors, who seemed to think
themselves invulnerable. They had often faced danger and returned
chanting victory.
The night shadows were falling around the camp when these eight men,
one by one, crept away from the other chiefs. Word had been passed from
one to the other and a secret expedition partially outlined. Therefore
each man was laden with his spear, club, and javelins. When free from
all chance of interference they encouraged each other to undertake an
expedition, as Fornander says, “on their own account and inflict what
damage they could.”
Those who have known the Waikiki beach of to-day with its splendidly
wooded shores, the luxuriant park inland, the plains covered with
trees, and the lower mountain ridges choked with lantana bushes, cannot
realise the desolate wastes of the past. The tropical luxuriance of the
region around Honolulu belongs to to-day and not to a hundred years
ago.
It was over this arid plain dotted here and there by cocoanut trees and
across a few streams bordered by taro patches that the eight famous
chiefs picked their way. It was not smooth walking. Lava had been
poured out from the craters in the mountains and foothills. The softer
parts of the petrified streams had dissolved and the surface of the
land was covered with the hard fragments which remained. The trail
which they followed led in and out among great boulders until they came
to the sandy slopes of Diamond Head.
With the coming of morning light they found themselves not far from the
old temple, which had been used for ages for most solemn royal
ceremonies, a part of which was often the sacrifice of human beings,
and here, aided by their gods, they thought to inflict such injuries
upon the Maui men as would make their names remembered in the Maui
households.
Fornander says: “It was a chivalrous undertaking, a forlorn hope,
wholly unauthorised but fully within the spirit of that time for
personal valour, audacity, and total disregard of consequences. The
names of these heroes were: Pupuka, Makaioulu, Puakea, Pinau,
Kalaeone, Pahua, Kauhi and Kapukoa.”
Several hundred warriors from Maui were stationed near this temple at
the foot of Diamond Head. Probably some of them had carelessly watched
the approach of eight chiefs of Oahu. “Into the valley of death rode
the six hundred,” but this was not an impetuous torrent of six hundred
mounted cavalry men sweeping through Russian ranks. It was a handful of
eight against what was said to be a force of at least six hundred.
Into these hundreds the eight boldly charged. The conflict was hand to
hand, and in that respect was favourable to the eight men well skilled
in the use of spear and javelin. Side by side, striking and smiting all
before them, the little band forced its way into the heart of the body
of its foes. The Maui warriors had expected to take these men, as a
fire without trouble swallows up splinters cast into it. They had
thought that this little company would afford them an excellent
sacrifice for their war gods, and had hoped to take them alive, even at
the expense of the lives of a few men. But quickly the formidable
character of the eight fighters was appreciated.
Wave upon wave of men from Maui beat against the eight, but each time
the wave was shattered and scattered and destroyed. Large numbers were
killed while the eight still fought side by side apparently uninjured.
It has been said that this was a fight “to which Hawaiian legends
record no parallel.” Eight men attacked an army and for some time were
victorious in their onslaught.
But the force around them was continually receiving additions, and an
overwhelming body of men was slowly crowding over the dead and dying
and preparing to crush them by weight of numbers. Then came the
whispered call to retreat, and the eight made a terrific onslaught
against the circle of warriors surrounding them. It was a marvellous
escape. After an awful struggle the opposition was broken down and the
eight leaped over the piles of the slain and fled toward the mountains.
One of the eight was short and bow-legged. He could fight well, but
could not run away as swiftly as his comrades. The Maui men pressed
closely after the fleeing chiefs.
The bow-legged man was tripped and thrown. In a moment his spear and
javelin were taken from him and a renowned Maui chief caught him and
placed him on his back with the face upward, so that he could not do
any injury. He started swiftly toward the temple to have his captive
sacrificed “as the first victim of the war.”
The friends of the captive were still near at hand and heard him cry
out that he was captured. They had no hope of being able to rescue him
but turned to see if anything could be done. He saw them and called to
one of them to kill him rather than let him be sacrificed alive. He
urged that a spear be thrown to pierce him through the stomach. “In
hope of shortening the present and prospective tortures of his friend,
knowing well what his fate would be if brought alive into the enemy’s
camp, the chief did as he was bidden.”
The spear came unerringly toward the prisoner, but as he saw the
polished shaft almost piercing him he twisted to one side and it sank
deep into the body of the chief who carried him.
In the confusion attendant upon the death of this great chief the
bow-legged warrior escaped to his friends and soon all the little
company were beyond pursuit.
What became of the eight? Only one lived to perpetuate his name among
the families of Oahu. Pupuka became the ancestor of noted chiefs of
high rank. The others were probably all killed in the destructive
battles which soon followed. Kahekili conquered the Oahu army with
great slaughter and finally received the body of Kahahana, which was
taken to the temple at Waikiki and offered in sacrifice. After this
annihilation of the Oahu army no hint is given of the other members of
the band of the famous eight. They live on the pages of history.
XVI
THE RED MOUTH GUN
(KA-PU-WAHA-ULAULA)
The Red Mouth Gun is the name given by the Hawaiians to the great canoe
battle fought off Waipio, Hawaii, in the year 1791, according to
Fornander. This was the first naval battle in which guns were the
prominent weapons used by the Hawaiian chiefs.
Ka-meha-meha I, in 1789, had gained the adherence of the noted chief
Kaiana, who had already visited China and purchased guns and
ammunition. This was probably the best stroke of diplomacy exercised by
him during all his great work of welding the scattered islands into a
united kingdom. Kaiana’s real relations were with Kauai rather than
Hawaii. In transferring Kaiana’s arsenal from Kauai to Hawaii
Ka-meha-meha secured an advantage over all the other chiefs of the
islands. The man who has material at hand is equipped for any
emergency. The possession of this armament led Ka-meha-meha to seize
the two white men, Isaac Davis and John Young in the year 1790. These
two men were the second great factor in the consolidation of the
islands. With arms and ammunition and men skilful in gunnery and wise
in counsel Ka-meha-meha was practically invincible.
From this time he dated victories instead of defeats. During the year
1790 he overran Maui and Molokai and subdued a serious rebellion on his
own island, Hawaii.
During this conflict at home the high chiefs of the other islands held
consultation concerning their common enemy and the best way to
overthrow him. They had guns and here and there a white man who had
been kidnapped or persuaded to desert from the few ships already
visiting the islands. By combining forces it seemed easy to overthrow
the high chief of Hawaii. The king of Kauai and the king of Oahu were
brothers. Kahekili, the ruler of Oahu, was also the high chief of Maui,
which he had placed under the control of his son, Ka-lani-kupule.
Therefore the entire northern, group of islands was able to combine
against Hawaii. It was Ka-meha-meha and one island against the rest of
the group.
The natives had used large shells for trumpets. They had a famous war
shell known as the “kihapu.” Anything, therefore, which gave out an
explosive noise when blown into was called “pu.” When they saw a white
man holding a gun to the shoulders, with the resulting smoke and
explosion, they gave to the death-dealing magic trumpet the name
“pu-waha-ulaula”—the trumpet with the red mouth. Pu became the name for
a gun.
The chiefs had massed their forces on Maui. Here Ka-eo-ku-lani, the
chief of Kauai, took the leadership of the expedition and, looking upon
Maui as redeemed from the victorious inroad of Ka-meha-meha, assumed
the island as one of his perquisites of the campaign. Fornander
suggests that his older brother, Kahekili, king of Oahu, might have
agreed to give him land or even the island as a reward. But here the
chiefs of Maui interfered. They were not willing to have the island
disposed of in that way. A quarrel arose and the Kauai men attempted to
take by force the lands which their high chief claimed and had promised
them. Spears were seized, war clubs swung and oval, double-pointed
stones dropped into the slings. For a little while there was an
exchange of blows. One of the sons of Kahekili, king of Oahu, withstood
a large number of Kauai men, holding them at bay unaided. Evidently the
quarrel was smoothed over. The Kauai chiefs were never able to again
lay any claim to Maui.
The two brothers separated their forces. One fleet of canoes under the
Kauai king rendezvoused his boats at Hana, an old and well-known
harbour on Maui just across the channel from Hawaii. Hana was the home
of some of the most ancient Polynesian legends when applied to the
Hawaiian Islands. The demi-god Maui is said to have noticed how close
the sky or clouds came to the earth, and then pushed the sky up until
his mother could have room to dry the cloth she was making and the
plants have space in which to grow.
When Ka-eo-ku-lani, chief of Kauai, climbed the hills above the seaport
he carried his war spear. Standing among the ruins of an ancient fort
he threw his spear far up toward the clouds above. Referring to the
legends, he cried: “It is said of old that the sky comes close to Hana,
but I find it very high. I have thrown my spear and it did not pierce
the clouds. I doubt if it will strike Ka-meha-meha. But listen, O you
chiefs, warriors and kindred! Be strong and valiant and we shall drink
the water of Waipio and eat the taro of Kunaka.”
After a little rest the Kauai fleet swept across the channel and passed
down the eastern side of Hawaii. The winds of the ocean climb the
mountains of Hawaii from the northeast. As they touch the cold surface
of the lofty mountain slopes they let fall in heavy showers their
burden of waters borne from the sea. Great gulches, bordered by
enormous growths of tropical luxuriance, are rapidly formed. Waterfalls
hundreds of feet in height shake the falling streams into clouds of
spray. Of all these gulches and noted falls on Hawaii, Waipio stands
supreme. It was the pride of kings, the sacred home of priests, and the
place for the bountiful food supply of royal retinues.
Here the Kauai chief became vandal. He evidently cared but little for
the preservation of this, one of the most ancient places on Hawaii. His
followers ravaged the taro patches and fish ponds. They seized whatever
they wanted for present use and then destroyed the growing plants and
broke down protecting banks and walls. To show their contempt for
Hawaii they were permitted, and probably commanded by their chief, to
tear up and destroy very old and sacred portions of the heiaus, or
temples. The ancient palace of Hawaiian kings was supported by sacred
posts of pepper tree. These were burned. The palace, of course, was
only a large thatched house and could be easily replaced, but the
posts, consecrated by the blood of human sacrifices and cared for
through many generations, were irretrievably lost.
The natives of Hawaii have a special class of deities known as
au-makuas. These are the ghosts of the ancestors watching over the
place known in this earthly life, and the family of which they were the
progenitors. They were supposed to punish severely any injuries
received by those under their care. The people of Hawaii claimed that
the Kauai king suffered sorely for his impiety.
Soon Kahekili, chief of Oahu, with the Oahu and Maui war canoes, was
driven by Ka-meha-meha from the northwestern coast which they had been
devastating. They fled to Waipio and united with the Kauai fleet.
Ka-meha-meha had been able to secure some small cannon, which he placed
on some of his larger canoes. Isaac Davis and John Young took charge of
this portion of battle array. The other canoes were well supplied with
firearms. The fleet of the invading army formed in battle array out in
the deep waters off the Waipio coast. Here the canoes of Ka-meha-meha
found their foes.
In former years a naval battle meant the clash of canoe against canoe,
the heavy stroke of war clubs against war clubs and clouds of hurled
javelins and spears. The conflict was largely a matter of taunts and
shouts, broken canoes and drowning warriors. But in this fight the
opposing parties combined the rattle of firearms and the roar of small
cannon with the usual war of words. Boats were shattered and the sea
filled with swimming men.
The people on the bluffs saw the red flashes of the guns and noted the
increasing noise of the artillery until they could no longer hear the
voices of men. As the clouds of smoke crept over the sea the battle
became, in the view of the watchers, a fight between red mouth guns,
and they shouted one to another the news of the progress of the
conflict according to the predominance of flashing muskets and cannon.
It was soon seen that the invaders were being defeated. The man who had
the best arms and the best gunners won the victory.
The Kauai and Oahu kings fled with their scattered fleets to Maui.
Ka-meha-meha soon followed them, and during the next three years, step
by step, passed over the islands until the kingdom was his.
The death rate during these years of devastating warfare was beyond all
calculation and thus came a tremendous decrease in the Hawaiian
population.
In the eyes of the old Hawaiians the ghost-gods had avenged themselves
in the battle of “the red mouth guns.”
XVII
THE LAW OF THE SPLINTERED PADDLE
Would you know the story of the Splintered Paddle? It came to pass on
the island of Hawaii in the year 1783. It is a true incident in the
life of Ka-meha-meha, the great consolidator of the Hawaiian Kingdom.
There are slightly different versions of the tale as frequently occurs
when handed down verbally through different channels. The main points
are substantially the same. The stalwart king descended to the plane of
a highway robber and received his punishment. As a native writer says:
“The foundation of the law of the splintered paddle was the greed and
shame of a chief dealing with a common man.” But, like a true man,
Ka-meha-meha made this incident the occasion of a decision to neither
commit nor permit any more highway robbery in his kingdom. This then is
the outline of the incidents which changed a king into a
self-respecting and somewhat law-abiding citizen.
Two Hawaiian chiefs of splendid physique were hurriedly climbing a
zigzag path up the face of an exceedingly steep bluff bordering the
little bay of Lau-pa-hoe-hoe. The moment they reached the summit they
hastened to the edge that broke in a sheer precipice to the ocean’s
brink. Eagerly they gazed over the far-reaching waters southward along
the banks of the island. “There is no pursuit,” said the younger man.
“No,” replied the elder chief, resting on his spear, “the men of Hilo
have crawled back to their homes to heal their wounds. Their war canoes
are not among the shadows on the water. Nor do their warriors move
along the side of the white mountain (Mauna Kea). Our watchmen do not
send the banner of smoke to the sky.”
The two chiefs were of high rank. They could both trace their high
chief blood through more than a thousand years of royal ancestors.
However, the elder chief was of lower rank than the other, because his
ancestry had not been guarded with the same jealous care that
surrounded the birth of his friend. Among the Hawaiians the “Ahaalii”
or “council of nobles” guarded the rank of each chief and assigned to
him a place according to the purity of his blood-royal. The younger
chief covered his face with his hands and uttered the Auwe—the Hawaiian
wail for the dead. After a time he raised his head and spoke to his
companion, whom we will call Kahai.
“O my Kahai,” he said, “yesterday and the defeat at Hilo make my
thoughts burn! How do the prophets chant the death of my chiefs and
warriors?”
“The singers in the war canoes sang softly, O King, while the boats
were hurried along through the night. They sang of our friends whose
bodies lie in the ferns. They pronounced curses upon the Hilo chiefs.
They called the struggle ‘the bitter battle’ and that shall be its name
in the coming days.”
A shudder passed over the young man as he said: “My chiefs no longer
lie in the ferns. In my thought I see the temple servants carrying the
bodies of my friends to the altars of the gods. It is almost the hour
for the evening sacrifice. The hands of the priests are red with blood.
The bones of my choice companions will be used for fish hooks.
Auwe-Auwe-e-e! Woe to me. My name is indeed The Lonely-one—The
Desolate!”
“O King! thou art Ka-meha-meha, ‘The Lonely One,’ the one supreme in
royal genealogy, but not ‘The Desolate.’ Your friends are with you.
To-night your war chiefs would die for you. Your prophet has said: ‘The
cloud of Ka-meha-meha shall rest on the mountains of all the islands.’
So shall it be. The gods have said it. Your friends believe it.”