The story of the shark-god Kauhuhu has been told under the legend of
"Aikanaka (Man-eater)," which was the ancient name of the little harbor
Pukoo, which lies at the entrance to one of the beautiful valleys of the
island of Molokai. The better way is to take the legend as revealing the
great man-eater in one of his most kindly aspects. The shark-god appears
as the friend of a priest who is seeking revenge for the destruction of
his children. Kamalo was the name of the priest. His heiau, or temple,
was at Kaluaaha, a village which faced the channel between the islands
of Molokai and Maui. Across the channel the rugged red-brown slopes of
the mountain Eeke were lost in the masses of clouds which continually
hung around its sharp peaks. The two boys of the priest delighted in the
glorious revelations of sunrise and sunset tossed in shattered fragments
of cloud color, and revelled in the reflected tints which danced to them
over the swift channel-currents. It is no wonder that the courage of sky
and sea entered into the hearts of the boys, and that many deeds of
daring were done by them. They were taught many of the secrets of the
temple by their father, but were warned that certain things were sacred
to the gods and must not be touched. The high chief, or alii, of that
part of the island had a temple a short distance from Kaluaaha, in the
valley of the harbor which was called Aikanaka. The name of this chief
was Kupa. The chiefs always had a house built within the temple walls as
their own residence, to which they could retire at certain seasons of
the year. Kupa had two remarkable drums which he kept in his house at
the heiau. His skill in beating his drums was so great that they could
reveal his thoughts to the waiting priests.
One day Kupa sailed far away over the sea to his favorite
fishing-grounds. Meanwhile the boys were tempted to go to Kupa's heiau
and try the wonderful drums. The valley of the little harbor Aikanaka
bore the musical name Mapulehu. Along the beach and over the ridge
hastened the two sons of Kamalo. Quickly they entered the heiau, found
the high chief's house, took out his drums and began to beat upon them.
Some of the people heard the familiar tones of the drums. They dared not
enter the sacred doors of the heiau, but watched until the boys became
weary of their sport and returned home.
[Illustration: KUKUI-TREES, IAO VALLEY, MT. EEKE]
When Kupa returned they told him how the boys had beaten upon his
sacred drums. Kupa was very angry, and ordered his mu, or temple
sacrifice seekers, to kill the boys and bring their bodies to the heiau
to be placed on the altar. When the priest Kamalo heard of the death of
his sons, in bitterness of heart he sought revenge. His own power was
not great enough to cope with his high chief; therefore he sought the
aid of the seers and prophets of highest repute throughout Molokai. But
they feared Kupa the chief, and could not aid him, and therefore sent
him on to another kaula, or prophet, or sent him back to consult some
one the other side of his home. All this time he carried with him
fitting presents and sacrifices, by which he hoped to gain the
assistance of the gods through their priests. At last he came to the
steep precipice which overlooks Kalaupapa and Kalawao, the present home
of the lepers. At the foot of this precipice was a heiau, in which the
great shark-god was worshipped. Down the sides of the precipice he
climbed and at last found the priest of the shark-god. The priest
refused to give assistance, but directed him to go to a great cave in
the bold cliffs south of Kalawao. The name of the cave was Anao-puhi,
the cave of the eel. Here dwelt the great shark-god Kauhuhu and his
guardians or watchers, Waka and Mo-o, the great dragons or reptiles of
Polynesian legends. These dragons were mighty warriors in the defence of
the shark-god, and were his kahus, or caretakers, while he slept, or
when his cave needed watching during his absence.
Kamalo, tired and discouraged, plodded along through the rough lava
fragments piled around the entrance to the cave. He bore across his
shoulders a black pig, which he had carried many miles as an offering to
whatever power he could find to aid him. As he came near to the cave the
watchmen saw him and said:----
"E, here comes a man, food for the great [shark] Mano. Fish for
Kauhuhu." But Kamalo came nearer and for some reason aroused sympathy in
the dragons. "E hele! E hele!" they cried to him. "Away, away! It is
death to you. Here's the tabu place." "Death it may be--life it may be.
Give me revenge for my sons--and I have no care for myself." Then the
watchmen asked about his trouble and he told them how the chief Kupa had
slain his sons as a punishment for beating the drums. Then he narrated
the story of his wanderings all over Molokai, seeking for some power
strong enough to overcome Kupa. At last he had come to the shark-god--as
the final possibility of aid. If Kauhuhu failed him, he was ready to
die; indeed he had no wish to live. The mo-o assured him of their
kindly feelings, and told him that it was a very good thing that Kauhuhu
was away fishing, for if he had been home there would have been no way
for him to go before the god without suffering immediate death. There
would have been not even an instant for explanations. Yet they ran a
very great risk in aiding him, for they must conceal him until the way
was opened by the favors of the great gods. If he should be discovered
and eaten before gaining the aid of the shark-god, they, too, must die
with him. They decided that they would hide him in the rubbish pile of
taro peelings which had been thrown on one side when they had pounded
taro. Here he must lie in perfect silence until the way was made plain
for him to act. They told him to watch for the coming of eight great
surf waves rolling in from the sea, and then wait from his place of
concealment for some opportunity to speak to the god because he would
come in the last great wave. Soon the surf began to roll in and break
against the cliffs.
Higher and higher rose the waves until the eighth reared far above the
waters and met the winds from the shore which whipped the curling crest
into a shower of spray. It raced along the water and beat far up into
the cave, breaking into foam, out of which the shark-god emerged. At
once he took his human form and walked around the cave. As he passed
the rubbish heap he cried out: "A man is here. I smell him." The dragons
earnestly denied that any one was there, but the shark-god said, "There
is surely a man in this cave. If I find him, dead men you are. If I find
him not, you shall live." Then Kauhuhu looked along the walls of the
cave and into all the hiding-places, but could not find him. He called
with a loud voice, but only the echoes answered, like the voices of
ghosts. After a thorough search he was turning away to attend to other
matters when Kamalo's pig squealed. Then the giant shark-god leaped to
the pile of taro leavings and thrust them apart. There lay Kamalo and
the black pig which had been brought for sacrifice.
Oh, the anger of the god!
Oh, the blazing eyes!
Kauhuhu instantly caught Kamalo and lifted him from the rubbish up
toward his great mouth. Now the head and shoulders are in Kauhuhu's
mouth. So quickly has this been done that Kamalo has had no time to
think. Kamalo speaks quickly as the teeth are coming down upon him. "E
Kauhuhu, listen to me. Hear my prayer. Then perhaps eat me." The
shark-god is astonished and does not bite. He takes Kamalo from his
mouth and says: "Well for you that you spoke quickly. Perhaps you have
a good thought. Speak." Then Kamalo told about his sons and their death
at the hands of the executioners of the great chief, and that no one
dared avenge him, but that all the prophets of the different gods had
sent him from one place to another but could give him no aid. Sure now
was he that Kauhuhu alone could give him aid. Pity came to the shark-god
as it had come to his dragon watchers when they saw the sad condition of
Kamalo. All this time Kamalo had held the hog which he had carried with
him for sacrifice. This he now offered to the shark-god. Kauhuhu,
pleased and compassionate, accepted the offering, and said: "E Kamalo.
If you had come for any other purpose I would eat you, but your cause is
sacred. I will stand as your kahu, your guardian, and sorely punish the
high chief Kupa."
Then he told Kamalo to go to the heiau of the priest who told him to see
the shark-god, take this priest on his shoulders, carry him over the
steep precipices to his own heiau at Kaluaaha, and there live with him
as a fellow-priest. They were to build a tabu fence around the heiau and
put up the sacred tabu staffs of white tapa cloth. They must collect
black pigs by the four hundred, red fish by the four hundred, and white
chickens by the four hundred. Then they were to wait patiently for the
coming of Kauhuhu. It was to be a strange coming. On the island Lanai,
far to the west of the Maui channel, they should see a small cloud,
white as snow, increasing until it covers the little island. Then that
cloud shall cross the channel against the wind and climb the mountains
of Molokai until it rests on the highest peaks over the valley where
Kupa has his temple. "At that time," said Kauhuhu, "a great rainbow will
span the valley. I shall be in the care of that rainbow, and you may
clearly understand that I am there and will speedily punish the man who
has injured you. Remember that because you came to me for this sacred
cause, therefore I have spared you, the only man who has ever stood in
the presence of the shark-god and escaped alive." Gladly did Kamalo go
up and down precipices and along the rough hard ways to the heiau of the
priest of the shark-god. Gladly did he carry him up from Kalaupapa to
the mountain-ridge above. Gladly did he carry him to his home and there
provide for him while he gathered together the black pigs, the red fish,
and the white chickens within the sacred enclosure he had built. Here he
brought his family, those who had the nearest and strongest claims upon
him. When his work was done, his eyes burned with watching the clouds of
the little western island Lanai. Ah, the days passed by so slowly! The
weeks and the months came, so the legends say, and still Kamalo waited
in patience. At last one day a white cloud appeared. It was unlike all
the other white clouds he had anxiously watched during the dreary
months. Over the channel it came. It spread over the hillsides and
climbed the mountains and rested at the head of the valley belonging to
Kupa. Then the watchers saw the glorious rainbow and knew that Kauhuhu
had come according to his word.
The storm arose at the head of the valley. The winds struggled into a
furious gale. The clouds gathered in heavy black masses, dark as
midnight, and were pierced through with terrific flashes of lightning.
The rain fell in floods, sweeping the hillside down into the valley, and
rolling all that was below onward in a resistless mass toward the ocean.
Down came the torrent upon the heiau belonging to Kupa, tearing its
walls into fragments and washing Kupa and his people into the harbor at
the mouth of the valley. Here the shark-god had gathered his people.
Sharks filled the bay and feasted upon Kupa and his followers until the
waters ran red and all were destroyed. Hence came the legendary name for
that little harbor--Aikanaka, the place for man-eaters.
It is said in the legends that "when great clouds gather on the
mountains and a rainbow spans the valley, look out for furious storms of
wind and rain which come suddenly, sweeping down the valley." It also
said in the legends that this strange storm which came in such awful
power upon Kupa also spread out over the adjoining lowlands, carrying
great destruction everywhere, but it paused at the tabu staff of Kamalo,
and rushed on either side of the sacred fence, not daring to touch any
one who dwelt therein. Therefore Kamalo and his people were spared. The
legend has been called "Aikanaka" because of the feast of the sharks on
the human flesh swept down into that harbor by the storm, but it seems
more fitting to name the story after the shark-god Kauhuhu, who sent
mighty storms and wrought great destruction.