Fearing for his safety, Paoa took the two kinds of fish and threw them
overside. Almost at once the mighty waves were calmed and the canoe
went safely on its way surrounded by an area of calm, peaceful water
while the storm raged on all sides a little distance away.
Even today if you see a smooth area of water in the midst of a rough
sea you will know that there is a school of aku or opelu very near the
surface.
So Paoa sailed safely through the storm. As soon as it subsided he
called back the fish and placed them in his canoe once more. They had
been very helpful and might be of use should the storm arise again.
At last Paoa came to an island which appeared very large and was
covered with vegetation. Paddling his canoe into a great
crescent-shaped bay, he observed a river emptying into it and turned
the nose of his tiny craft that way. Not far up the river he came to a
long, low rock which he called Waa Kauhi, and landed on the
southeastern side of its point.
So great was the joy of Paoa upon reaching this beautiful island that
he decided to make it his home. To commemorate his safe landing he at
once planted on the rock the pili grass he had brought with him. Also
he liberated his aku and opelu fish in the new waters, where today
their progeny teem in countless millions.
Very soon he built himself a grass hut for a home, and was careful to
protect the pili grass, which grew rapidly and before long spread to
other parts of the big island, where it throve even better than on the
scant soil of the pahoehoe rock.
Hawaiians soon learned to use the pili grass in house building, as it
made a tighter thatch and lasted longer than the lauhala or the
grasses to which they had been accustomed. The stems of the flowers
were later used in weaving hats, as they, too, were firm and strong.
Farther up the river, which Paoa learned was called the Wailuku, there
lived the goddess Hina. Soon after the arrival of this stranger from
Tahiti, Hina heard of him and his chosen home. Evidently he had not
come to wage war or do harm to the people, for he had already made
friends with many of the fishermen living near him.
So Hina decided to see him for herself and went down to his home. She
was surprised to find that he really had established himself on that
low rock.
"Why," she exclaimed, "you must not stay on this rock! Can't you see
the waters above here are high? When the rains come you will be washed
away and drowned. It is not safe!"
Paoa stood upon the little plot of pili grass as he answered her. "No,
I will not go away, for no matter how high the waters come they shall
never cover this spot."
From that day Paoa's word has held true. No matter how high the
Wailuku rises, it never has covered the little plot of pili grass
which still grows on the long, low rock at the river's mouth.