Chapter XXII: Part II (4)

Several legends refer to this period between Lua Nuu and Hawaii Loa. Those of Kana Loa and his brother Kane Apua, of Makalii, of Maui, of Kana, etc. Makalii was a celebrated king in Kahiki Kapakapaua a Kane. During a season of great fertility he sent his messengers all over the country and collected all the food they could get at and stored it up in Makalii’s storehouses and forts. A famine followed, but Makalii was stingy and had all the food gathered up in nets and hung up out of reach, and great distress came over men and animals. The rats scoured over the earth and found no food; they flared in the air, and there was the food. They then climbed up on the black shining cloud of Kane—ala nui polohiwa a Kane—and on the rainbow and from there they nibbled at Makalii’s nets until they broke and tore them, so that the food fell out on the earth again; and thus was the earth restocked with potatoes, taro, yam, etc. In remembrance of this king some stars have been called Makalii, and the Pleiades have been called “na Huihui,” in memory of Makalii’s nets of food—“na koko a Makalii.”

Kana Loa was the elder and Kane Apua was the younger brother. Their exploits are celebrated, viz: How they overthrew the King Wahanui and how he and his died at sea, how they conducted the Menehune people over the sea and through the wilderness until they came to the land that Kane had given their forefathers, the “Aina i ka Houpo a Kane;” and how they caused water to flow from the rocks, etc. Kana Loa was also called Li Hau Ula and he was a priest (kahuna) of greater renown than any other.

The legend of Maui and how he caught the sun and made him go slower, so that his mother might have more daylight to manufacture her kapa in (akuku i ke kapa), belongs to this period.

In former times there were two modes of worship, or two different creeds here on Hawaii—1. Those who worshiped the God who could not be seen;—2. Those who worshiped the God who could be seen, natural objects, or objects made by hand.—“He Pae a Kane,” “He Pae Kii.”

The one god (Kane) comprised three beings (ouli-wai-akua)—Kane, Ku, Lono. Kane was the root or origin of gods and all created things; Ku or Ku-ka-Pao was the workman who executed everything; Lono was the essence of wisdom, power and incomparable attributes. One god, but viewed under three different aspects. He was called Kane in order that man (“kane”) by being named after him should not forget him.

Before heaven and earth were created these three deities were called Kane-i-ka-Po-Loa, Ku-i-ka-Po-Loa and Lono-i-ka-Po-Loa, and their joint name was Ke Alii Hi-ka-Po-Loa, equivalent to “Almighty God.”

Of all the objects, animate or inanimate, natural or artificial, that were worshiped by the pae kii (idol-worshipers) the fish called Paoolekei was the only one that received no worship.

It was supposed that these kii (images or idols) received power from being entered into and possessed by the spirits of the dead.

After Light had been created or brought forth from the Po (the darkness or chaos) the gods looked upon the empty space (ka lewa) and there was no place to dwell in. They then created the heavens for themselves. Three heavens did they create or call into existence by their word of command. The uppermost heaven was called “Lani-Makua,” the one next below was called “he Lani o Ku,” and the lowest was called “he Lani o Lono.”

When the heavens were made the gods found that their feet ached because there was nothing to support them. So they created the earth for a foot-stool. Hence Kane was called Kane Lu Honua and the earth was called “Ka honua nui a Kane” and also “Keehina honua a Kane.”

After heaven and earth were made Kane created the big and small lights—sun, moon and stars,—and placed them in the empty space between heaven and earth.

Kane also created “i kini akua” (spirits) angels or their equivalents—to act as his servants and messengers. They were created from his spittle. They were supposed to have been created at the time that the stars were made.

The earth, sun, moon and stars were set floating in space (hoolewa ia i ka lewa) by Kane and kept in their places by the power (mana) of Kane.

The ocean (ka moana nui a Kane) surrounded the earth. It was made salt by Kane so that its waters should not stink, and to keep it thus in a healthy and uninfected state is the special occupation of Kane. In imitation of Kane the priests prepare waters of purification, prayer and sanctification (holy water) “wai huikala, wai lupalupa, and Ke Kai olena,” wherewith to drive away demons and diseases; it was called “Ka wai kapu a Kane.”

When the earth had been made and all things on it, man was created, as previously stated, and he was placed on the land called Kalana i Hauola; a beautiful, fertile land stocked with fruits and tame animals. It was also called Aina Hemolele a Kane, also Kapakapaua a Kane. (Its situation on earth seems to have been to the east of those who made the legend—“Kahiki-ku.”)

The first man, generally called Kumu Honua, had a number of names—already mentioned; he was a tall, handsome, majestic looking person, and so was his wife. He was alone upon the land for about one century (kipaelui or kihipea) before his wife Lalo Honua was created.

Among the animals enumerated in the legend as dwelling in peace and comfort with Kumu Honua in Kalani i Hauola were:

Ka puaa nui Hihimanu a Kane (the large Hihimanu hog of Kane); ka ilio nui niho oi a Kane (the large sharp-toothed dog of Kane); ka ilio holo i ka uaua a Lono (the dog running at the voice of Lono); ka puaa maoli (the common hog); ka ilio alii a Kane (the royal dog of Kane); na moo (lizards); moo niho nui, niho oi, wawaka a Kane (the sharp, large-toothed, iridescent lizard of Kane); ka moo olelo a Kane (the talking lizard of Kane); ka moo kolo (the crawling lizard); ka moo pelo a Kane (the deceitful lizard of Kane); ka moo kaala (the warring lizard); ka moo kaula a Kane (the prophetic lizard of Kane); ka moo make a Kane (the deadly lizard of Kane), etc. The moo-pelo a Kane was said to be very skillful in lying and in the old mele he is called “he ilioha kupu ino ku o ka moku.”

Kumu Honua and his wife Lalo Honua lived in Kalana i Hauola until they were driven out by “Ka Aaia-Nukea-nui-a-Kane”—the large white bird of Kane. In Kalana i Hauola grew the “ulu kapu a Kane” and the “ohia hemolele a Kane”—(the sacred breadfruit and sacred apples.)

It was thought by the priests of old that these tabued fruits were the cause of the trouble and death of Kumu Honua and Lalo Honua. Hence in the ancient meles the former was called Kane Laa-Uli, Kumu-Uli, Kulu-Ipo—(the fallen chief—he who fell from, by, or on account of the tree, the mourner, etc.) or names of similar import.

The legends further relate that if strangers ate of the ripe apples of this land, Kalana i Hauola, they died forthwith, and that the native inhabitants, knowing this, never ate them. Here also, and here alone, [grew the] “wauke kapu a Kane,” the cloth which was forbidden to be worn by any but the Alii-kapu who had been properly anointed by the “aila niu a Kane.”

Among many other names for this land was Ulu-Paupau—the fruit which caused defilement and degradation. Another name was Pali-uli. The legend says:

“He aina kapu o Pali-uli. He aina hemolele. He hoopololei ka loaa o ua aina la. He hoiu kapu loa ka hoomakaukau ana, i mea e loaa ’i ua aina la. Ina hewa, aole no e loaa ana. Ina e nana i hope, aole no e loaa. Ina e aloha i ka ohana, aole no e komo i Pali-uli” (A sacred land is Pali-uli, a holy land. One must be righteous to attain it; he must prepare himself exceedingly holy who wishes to reach that land. If sinful he will not get there; if he looks behind he will not get there; if he prefers his family he will not enter in Pali-uli). Says the chant:

O Pali-uli, aina huna a Kane
O ka aina i Kalana i Hauola.
I Kahiki-ku, i Kapakapaua a Kane.
O ka aina i kumu, i lali.
O ka aina ai nui a ke Akua.

O Pali-uli, hidden land of Kane,
Land in Kalana i Hauola,
In Kahiki-ku, in Kapakapaua of Kane,
The Land whose foundation shines with fatness,
Land greatly enjoyed by the god.

Ulu Kaa was another name for Kalana i Hauola. Aina Huna a Kane, another name. Also Aina a Kane Huna Moku; Aina Kapu a Kane; Aina Elieli a Kane, and Aina i ka Houpo o Kane. This land or Paradise was the central part of the world—“ke kiko waena”—and situated in Kahiki-ku which was a large and extensive continent. It was also called Aina Eepa a Kane; Aina wai-Akua a Kane; also Kahiki-ku.

Kahiki-ku was also called Aina apaapaa a Kane on account of its size and vast dimensions. It was situated to the eastward, and it was there where the gods commenced their creations, hence in olden times the sun (ka la) was called “he Alanui hele a Kane,” and the west was called “he Alanui o ka make.”

In olden times the front of the dwelling houses was turned to the east, as a sign of the Kane worship; and one door or opening was turned to the west in remembrance of Hawaii-Loa or, as he is called Ke Kowa i Hawaii, who came from the westward and discovered or settled on Hawaii, and afterwards returned to the westward, going to Kahiki-ku.

Kalana i Hauola was also called Aina Luana or Aina Lauana a Kane; also the Aina wai ola a Kane. This “wai ola” or living water was a running stream, or overflowing spring (wai kahe), attached to or enclosed in a pond (loko). It was a beautiful transparent clear water. The banks of the pond were splendid. It had three outlets, one for Ku, one for Kane and one for Lono, and through these outlets the fish entered in the pond. If the fish of the pond were thrown on the ground or on the fire, they did not die. If a man had been killed and was sprinkled over with this water he would soon come to life again. According to the ancient worship of Hawaii water and salt were objects of special solicitude. The priests mixed water and salt and prayed over it and it then became a sort of Holy water, a water of purification etc. in remembrance of the pond of living water in the Aina wai ola a Kane.

That land was also called the Aina wauke kapu a Kane, because that wauke was planted by Kane for clothing for the first people, Lepo Ahulu (k) and Lalo Ahulu (w)—Kumu Honua and Lalo Honua.

This land was also called “Aina wai lepolepo o kumu honua a Kane,” because man was formed out of moistened earth. When man was formed, Ku and Kane spat in his nostrils, and Lono spat in his mouth, and the earth model became a living being. This name was also applied to the entire earth as well as to the particular “Kalana i Hauola.” When people died they were said to have gone to the muddy waters of Kane (“ua hoi i ka wai lepolepo a Kane.”) In its wider sense, as the residence of Kumu Honua, after he was turned out of Kalani i Hauola, it applied to the land adjoining the latter. In this sense it was also called “Aina kahiko a Kane.” It was situated to the eastward of Kalana i Hauola, because the chants, prayers, and legends attest that the emigrants from there found land in going to the eastward and that new land they called “na Aina i kulana kai maokioki a Kane” and that great ocean “Ka Moana kai maokioki a Kane,” and also “Ka Moana kai Popolo.” And it is equally certain that when they returned to the Aina Kahiko or to Kahikiku they shaped their course to the westward.

When Kumu Honua was turned out of Kalana i Hauola, he went to live on an island or in a district, which was called after him Kumu Honua Mokupuni. He afterwards returned to the mainland of Kapakapaua a Kane and there he died and was buried on top of a high hill called Kumu Honua Puu, where multitudes of his descendants were also buried. And when in after ages room became scarce in that cemetery only the bones of the head and of the back-bone (“na auhau”) were buried there, and hence it was called Ka Puu Poo Kanaka. It was also called after the various names of Kumu Honua.

[Original notes break at this point, one or more pages probably lost.]

2. Laka. The eldest son of Kumu Honua and Lalo-Honua (w), was also called Kuewa (the vagabond). He killed his younger brother Ahu, and from that time he was called Kolo-i-ke-Ao. He was a bad man and progenitor of the irreligious and godless.

2. Ahu, second son of Kumu Honua, a pious man, built altars and worshiped God. His brother Laka envied him and killed him. He died without leaving any offspring. His other names were Kulu-ipo, and Kolo-i-ka-Po.

2. Kapili, also called Kaiki-ku-a-Kane, was the third son of Kumu Honua. He was a pious man, a kahuna and progenitor of the true worshipers.

4. Ka Wa Kupua. He first organized the order of prophets, soothsayers and magicians.

6. Ake Nui. He was born to the eastward of Kapakapaua-a-Kane and his parents moved to a far off place on account of a famine in their own land.

7. Ka Mauli Newenewe Loa. He attained the greatest age of all mankind: four “Kipaelui” (four hundred years.)

7. Ke Ola i Mauolina a Kane. The most upright and pious man of his time. Hence he was taken away alive from earth and did not die.

8. Ka Lei Lani. He also was remarkable for his piety, and he also was taken away from earth alive by God.

9. Haule i Honua. He was a warrior of renown, and his generation was signalized for skill in war and politics. He moved to or invaded a country south of Kapakapaua-a-Kane called Ku Lalo, or Ka Honua i Lalo, where a warlike people dwelt, who are described in the legend as “he poe poa a me ka pakaha wale” (terms of opprobrium).

11. Lalo o Kona. He was born in that southern land, Ka Honua i Lalo, and hence his name.

12. Hoo Nanea. He was also born in Honua i Lalo, but afterwards he returned to the land of his ancestors (Kapakapaua-a-Kane) and died there.

13. Nuu. He was born to the eastward of Kapakapaua-a-Kane. He was a pious and God-fearing man. In his time came the flood, Kai a Kahinalii. By command of God he built a vessel called, “He waa Halau Alii o ka Moku,” in which he and his escaped.

14. Nalu Akea. He is called the progenitor of the people living on the main land of Kane, “aina kumu paa a Kane.”

14. Nalu Hoohua. He is called the progenitor of “ka poe kekea” (clear skinned). That race of people were called a warlike, proud and quarrelsome people. They did not travel or propagate themselves among the lands of the ocean (aina moana), but dwelt to the westward of Kapakapaua-a-Kane. Therefore the firstborn of Nalu-Hoohua was called Hakui Lani and also Kui ka Ewa Honua.

14. Nalu Manamana. The third and favorite son of Nuu. He is the progenitor of the pure white people (Ka poe keokeo maoli).

A variation in the legend of Nalu-Akea gives him the following descendants:

Naeheehe Lani (k) Hikimoe Kawowoilani (w)
Ka Hakui Lani (k) Lui ke Kai (w)
Ninihua (k)
Ka Io Lani (k) Ka Honua ka Moku (w)
Kahiki Moe (k).

15. Ka Io Lani. In his time the worship of Kane was yet pure and unmixed with idolatry.

17. Ka Neenee Lani. Celebrated for his knowledge of astronomy and soothsaying. He was a pious man.

18. Honua o ka Moku. Renowned for agriculture and industry.

20. Hele i kua Hikina. In his time this race began to move to the eastward of Kapakapaua-a-Kane.

21. Hele Moo Loa. In his time the race moved to the eastern border of the main land and dwelt there as strangers.

22. Ke Ao Apaapaa. The race was now settled on the eastern border of Kapakapaua-a-Kane and were pursuing agriculture, fishing and other industrial pursuits.

23. Lua Nuu. He was first called Kane Hoa Lani, but, becoming renowned, he was called Lua Nuu, i.e., the second Nuu. He was also called Kini, and Kinikini. He by command of God first introduced circumcision to be practiced among all his descendants. He left his native home and moved a long way off until he reached a land called Honua i Lalo (the southern country); hence he got the name Lalo-Kona, and his wife was called Honua-Po-i-Lalo. He was the father of Ku Nawao by his slave-woman Ahu, and of Ka lani Menehune by his wife Mee Hiwa.

24. Ku Nawao. He was the progenitor of the people called “Ka Poe Mu-ai Maia” and also “Laau-Haeleele.” He was the oldest son of Lua Nuu and became a wanderer in the Desert.

24. Ka Lani Menehune. He was the father of Aholoholo and Ka Imi Puka Ku, who were twins. Through his cunning and adroitness (maalea) the younger brother, Ka Imi Puka Ku, obtained the affection of his father and was aggrandized by him. His wife came from the east of Kapakapaua-a-Kane and was related to him.

25. Aholoholo, was renowned for his swiftness.

25. Ka Imi Puka Ku, or Kini-Lau-a-Mano. He had twelve children, from the youngest of whom sprang the Hawaiian people.

26. Ka Hekili Paapaaina, Newenewe i Maolina. The oldest and the youngest of Kinilau’s children. The former is said to be the progenitor of the “alii kapu,” and the latter of the “alii wohi.” But the two dignities were united through their children in this wise:

Husband Wife Child

Kahekili Paapaaina Ka Honua i ke Kapu Heha-ka-Moku (w)
Newenewe i Maolina Nowelo Hikina Kaokao ka Lani (k)
Kaokao ka Lani Heha-ka-Moku Aniani-Ku (k) etc.

29. Aniani ka Lani. In his time this race had got far from the original homesteads. He is quoted by both Tahitian and Hawaiian legends as a progenitor (ku-puna) of their nations.

30. Hawaii Loa, or Ke Kowa i Hawaii. He was one of the four children of Aniani ka Lani. The other three were Ki, who settled in Tahiti, Kana Loa and Laa-Kapu. In his time this ocean was called Kai Holo-o-ka-Ia. It was so called by Hawaii Loa, and at that time there existed only the two islands of Hawaii and of Maui, discovered by him, the first of which was called after himself, and the second was named after his oldest son. The other islands of this group are said to have been hove up from the sea by volcanoes during and subsequent to the time of Hawaii Loa. These two large islands were then uninhabited. Hawaii Loa and his followers were the first inhabitants.

Hawaii Loa and his brothers were born on the east coast of a country called Ka Aina kai Melemele a Kane (the land of the yellow or handsome sea). Hawaii Loa was a distinguished man and noted for his fishing excursions which would occupy sometimes months, sometimes the whole year, during which time he would roam about the ocean in his big vessel (waa), called also a ship (he moku), with his people, his crew and his officers and navigators (“Poe hookele” and “Kilo-hoku.”)

One time when they had thus been long out on the ocean, Makalii, the principal navigator, said to Hawaii Loa: “Let us steer the vessel in the direction of Iao, the Eastern Star, the discoverer of land (Hoku hikina kiu o na aina.) There is land to the eastward, and here is a red star ‘hoku ula’ (Aldebaran) to guide us, and the land is there in the direction of those big stars which resemble a bird (e kapa mai nei me he manu la.)” And the red star, situated in the lap of the goats (i ka poli o na kao) was called Makalii after the navigator’s name. And some other red stars in the circle of the Pleiades (ma ka ponaha o na huhui) were called the Huhui-a-Makalii.

So they steered straight onward and arrived at the easternmost island (ka moku hikina loa.) They went ashore and found the country fertile and pleasant, filled with awa, coconut trees, etc., and Hawaii Loa, the chief, called that land after his own name. Here they dwelt a long time and when their vessel was filled with food and with fish, they returned to their native country with the firm intention to come back to Hawaii-nei which they preferred to their own country. They had left their wives and children at home; therefore they returned to fetch them.

And when they arrived at their own country and among their relations, they were detained a long time before they set out again for Hawaii.

At last Hawaii Loa started again, accompanied by his wife and his children and dwelt in Hawaii and gave up all thought of ever returning to his native land. He was accompanied also in this voyage by a great multitude of people (ka lehulehu), steersmen, navigators, shipbuilders and this and that sort of people. Hawaii Loa was chief of all this people, and he alone brought his wife and children. All the others came singly without women. Hence Hawaii Loa is called the special progenitor of this nation.

On their voyage hither the Morning Star (ka Hoku Loa) was the special star that they steered by. And Hawaii Loa called the islands after the names of his children and the stars after his navigators and steersmen.

After Hawaii Loa had been some time in this country (Hawaii nei), he made another voyage to find his brothers, and to see if they had any children who might become husbands or wives for his own. On this voyage he fell in with his younger brother Ki, on the island of Tahiti, where Ki had settled and called it after one of his own names. Then Hawaii Loa and Ki sailed together to the southward (i ka mole o ka honua), there they found an uninhabited island which Hawaii Loa called after his own name, and another smaller island which he called after his daughter, “Oahu.”

When they had finished their business here they returned to Hawaii and the Hoku-Iwa stars and the Hoku Poho ka Aina, were those that they steered by. On his outward voyage from Hawaii the star called Ke Alii o Kona-i-ka-Lewa and the stars of the Hoku-kea o ka Mole Honua (Southern Cross) were those by which he shaped his course for Tahiti and those other islands. They left from Lae o Kalae in Kau (south cape of Hawaii), and thither they returned.

When Hawaii Loa thus returned he brought with him Tu-nui-ai-a-te-Atua the first-born son of his brother Ki, and he became the husband of his favorite daughter Oahu. These two had afterwards a child called Ku Nui Akea who was born at Keauhou, in Puna, Hawaii. Puna was then a fertile and fine country and it was called Puna by Ku nui ai a ke Akua after his own birthplace, Puna-Auia, in Tahiti.

32. Kunuiakea, on both father’s and mother’s side became a chief of the very highest rank (kapu loa). From him sprang the race of chiefs here in Hawaii (welo alii), and from Makalii sprang the race of the common people (welo kanaka). The first has been kept separate from the most ancient times, and the second has been kept separate from the time of chaos (mai ka Po mai). But the priestly race (welo kahuna) was one and the same with the race of chiefs from the beginning.

When Hawaii Loa arrived here, as before observed, there were only the two islands of Hawaii-Loa and of Maui-ai-Alii; but during his time and close afterwards the volcanoes on Hawaii and on Maui began their eruptions; and earthquakes and convulsions produced or brought to light the other islands.

Kunuiakea’s son Ke Lii Alia, and his grandson Kemilia, were born at Tahiti along with the Aoa, the royal tree; but his great grandson, Ke Lii Ku (Eleeleualani), was born on Hawaii.

35. Eleeleualani was the grandfather of Papa-Nui-Hanau-Moku (w). His wife was called Ka Oupe Alii and was a daughter of Kupukupunuu from Ololoimehani (supposed to be either a name for the island of Nuuhiwa, or of a place on that island). They had a son called Kukalani-ehu, whose wife was Ka Haka-ua-Koko, the sixth descendant from Makalii, and they two were the parents of Papa-Nui (w).

37. Papa-Nui-Hanau-Moku (w). She first married Wakea, who was the son of Kahiko (k) and Tupu-rana-i-te-hau (w) who was a Tahitian woman. Papa’s first child with Wakea was a daughter called Hoohokukalani.

Papa, having quarreled with Wakea on account of their daughter, went to Tahiti and there she took to Te Rii Fanau for husband and had a son called Te Rii i te Haupoipoi. She afterwards returned to Hawaii under the name of Huhune and had a son with Waia and called his name Hinanalo. Domestic troubles now made her crazy and she returned to Tahiti where she had another son with Te Arii Aumai, who was said to be the fourth generation of the Tahiti chiefs, and she called his name Te Arii Taria, and he became chief over that part of Tahiti called Taharuu.

It is thus on account of her being the mother of chiefs, both here and in Tahiti that she is called Papa Nui Hanau Moku. She is said to have been a comely, handsome woman, very fair and almost white.

Papa is said to have traveled eight times between Tahiti and Hawaii, and died in a place called Waieri, in Tahiti, during the time of Nanakehili, the fifth descendant from her and Wakea.

37. Wakea was a wicked and bad man. He instituted the bad and oppressive kapus, such as that men and women could not eat together; that women could not eat red fish, hogs, fowl or other birds, and some kinds of bananas. These kapus were put on to spite and worry Papa, on account of her growling at and reproaching him for his wickedness. Wakea also departed from the ancient worship and introduced idol worship, and many people followed him, because they were afraid of him.

Hawaii Loa was born on the eastern shore of the land of Kapakapaua-a-Kane. One of Hawaii Loa’s grandchildren was called Keaka-i-Lalo (w) whom he married to Te Arii Aria, one of his brother Ki’s grandchildren, and he placed them at Sawaii, where they became the ancestors of that people, Sawaii being then called Hawaii-ku-lalo.

Afterwards Hawaii Loa revisited Tahiti and found that his brother Ki had forsaken the religion in which they were brought up, that of Kane, Ku and Lono, and adopted Ku-waha-ilo, the man-eating God, (ke Akua ai kanaka) as his God. After quarreling with his brother on this account, Hawaii Loa left Tahiti and brought with him Te Arii Apa as a husband for Eleeleualani, his moopuna (grandchild). From these two was born Kohala (w), a girl, from whom the Kohala people sprang.

Afterwards Hawaii Loa went again to Tahiti and Hawaii-ku-lalo (Sawaii) and held a meeting with those peoples at Tarawao, but finding that they persisted in following after the God Ku-waha-ilo and that they had become addicted to man-eating, he reproved and repudiated them, and passed a law called he Papa Enaena, forbidding anyone from Hawaii-Luna (this present Hawaii) from ever going to the southern islands, lest they should go astray in their religion and become man-eaters.

When Hawaii Loa returned from this trip he brought with him Te Arii Tino Rua (w) to be a wife to Ku-Nui-Akea, and they begat Ke Alii Maewa Lani, a son, who was born at Holio in North Kona, Hawaii, and became the Kona progenitor.

After this Hawaii Loa made a voyage to the westward, and Mulehu (Hoku Loa) was his guiding star. He landed on the eastern shore of the land of the Lahui-maka-lilio (the people with the turned up eyes oblique). He traveled over it to the northward and to the westward to the land of Kuahewahewa-a-Kane, one of the continents that God created, and thence he returned, by the way he had come, to Hawaii nei, bringing with him some white men (poe keokeo kane) and married them to native women (a hoo-moe i koonei poe wahine). On this return voyage the star Iao was his guiding star to Hawaii.

After this Hawaii Loa made another voyage to the southern and eastern shore of Kapakapaua-a-Kane, and took with him his grandchild Ku-Nui-Akea in order to teach him navigation, etc. When they had stayed there long enough they returned and Ku-Nui-Akea brought with him “he mau haa elua” (two stewards) one called Lehua and the other Nihoa, and they were settled on the two islands which bear their names, as konohiki (land stewards) and put under the charge of Kauai, the youngest son of Hawaii Loa.

When Hawaii Loa returned from the conference with his brother Ki and his descendants, his wife Hualalai bore him a son who was called Hamakua, and who probably was a bad boy (keiki inoino), for so his name would indicate. Ten years after this (ke Au puni) Hualalai died and was buried on the mountain of Hawaii that has been called after her name ever since.

After Hawaii Loa was dead and gone, in the time of Ku Nui Akea, came Tahiti-nui from Tahiti and landed at Ka-lae-i-Kahiki (the southwest point of Kahoolawe, a cape often made by people coming from or going to Tahiti.) Tahiti-nui was a moopuna of Ki, Hawaii Loa’s brother, and he settled on East Maui and died there.

The descendants of Hawaii Loa and also of Ki (which are one, for they were brothers) peopled nearly all the Polynesian islands. From Ki came the Tahiti, Bora-bora, Huahine, Tahaa, Raiatea and Moorea [people].

From Kanaloa were peopled Nukuhiwa, Uapou, Tahuata, Hiwaoa and those other islands. Kanaloa married a woman from the man-eating people, Taeohae, from whom spring those cannibals who live on Nuuhiwa, Fiji, Tarapara, Paumotu, and the islands in western Polynesia—so is it reported in the Hawaiian legends and prayers—but the Hawaiian islands and the Tahiti islands (properly speaking) did never addict themselves to cannibalism.

The island of Maui was called after Hawaii Loa’s first born son.

The island of Oahu was called after Hawaii Loa’s daughter, and her foster parent was Lua, and hence the name Oahu-a-Lua.

Kauai was called after Hawaii Loa’s younger son; his wife’s name was Waialeale, and they lived on Kauai, and the mountain was called after her, because there she was buried.

And thus other islands and districts were called after the first settlers.

In this first age, from Hawaii Loa to Wakea, the royal authority and prerogatives were not very well defined. The chiefs were regarded more in the light of parents and patrons (haku), than as moi and alii-kapu, although they enjoyed all the honor and precedence due to their rank.

This state of things was considerably altered by Wakea, his priest and successors, yet even so late as the time of Kanipahu, who refused the government, it is evident that the royal authority was not well settled in the olden times (aole he ano nui o na ’lii i ka wa kahiko loa ’ku).

THE STORY OF KAHAHANA.

Within the wonderful and often charming domain of History, from classic to modern times, among so called cultured and so called barbarous peoples, few episodes are marked with greater pathos, or, if better known, would elicit greater interest, than the fall and death of Kahahana, King of Oahu, one of the Hawaiian Islands, about the years 1783–85.

Kahahana was high-born and royally connected. His father was Elani, one of the highest nobles in the Ewa district on Oahu, a descendant, on the Maweke-Lakona line, of the ancient lords of Lihue. His mother was Kaionuilalahai, a daughter of Kalanikahimakeialii, and a sister of Peleioholani, King of Oahu, and a cousin of Kahekili, King of Maui. Through his mother’s connections with the royal house of Maui Kahahana was brought up from his earliest youth on Maui and became a special favorite with his uncle Kahekili. Educated in all the athletic and warlike exercises, which it became a chief of that period to know, Kahahana was remarkable for his personal beauty and manly bearing. Handsome, brave and gallant, he was the idol of the Maui court and the pride of the Oahu aristocracy, his father’s peers, who chafed under the heavy yoke of their own King Peleioholani, and had but small confidence in his son and prospective successor Kumahana.

Though Kahekili was too reserved, some say too morose, to often share in the festivities and entertainments which, through the presence of his sisters, his nieces and other relatives, had made his court at Wailuku, where he mostly resided, a gathering place and a focus for the gallant and gay of all the other isles in the group, yet Kahahana was his alter ego, his rex convivii, whose prudence and popularity harmonized, or at least neutralized, the rival pretensions of Kahekili’s half sister Namahana to be the leading star and the oracle of fashion among the Hawaiian noblesse at her lately acquired domain in Waiehu.

At these princely reunions, these royal feasts, whether at Waiehu or at Wailuku, the palm of beauty and of woman grace was by universal accord awarded to Kekua-poi-ula-o-ka-lani, the youngest sister of Namahana and of Kekuamanoha, of whom we shall hear more hereafter. The legends and narratives handed down from that time have but one expression of her surpassing beauty and winning charms, and the present writer has had the fortune to meet more than one octogenerian Hawaiian who remembers seeing her while still, as Queen of Oahu, she was as remarkable for her incomparable beauty, as in the days, ten or twelve years before, when Kahahana first wooed and won her young affections.

Between Kahahana and Kekuapoi it was an affair of the heart. They loved each other like the commonest mortals and, as at that time no political or social considerations of convenience stood in the way, the union was allowed by Kahekili, whose wards they may be said to have been. They loved each other and, according to the custom and institutions of the land, they became man and wife. Nothing more natural, simple or straightforward. But the anomalous part of their married life was that in those days of social as well as political profligacy, when a chief or a chiefess took as many wives or husbands as he or she fancied or could maintain, Kahahana and Kekuapoi remained true to each other with undivided affection to the end of their lives.

In A.D. 1770 Peleioholani,—son of Kualii, hereditary Sovereign of the island of Oahu, hereditary lord of several districts on Southern Kauai, and, by the grace of his god and the strength of his spear, master and conqueror of the island of Molokai—died, at the advanced age of ninety and upward, and was succeeded by his son Kumahana.

The character of Peleioholani has been variously described in the traditions that have come down from his time. The Hawaii and Maui traditions, or reminiscences, of Peleioholani describe him as proud, arrogant, overbearing—proud, even beyond the most exacting Hawaiian etiquette. Molokai traditions acknowledge his prowess as a warrior, but are merciless in the condemnation of him as a tyrant, whose cruelty went even a step beyond what those cruel times considered admissible. Against those two sources of information we have the Oahu traditions which,—though they acknowledge that he was proud, and justly so, because no bluer blood flowed in anybody’s veins than in his and in his sister Kukuiaimakalani’s—yet assert that his cruelty towards the Molokai chiefs was but a just punishment for their wanton and unprovoked murder of his daughter Keelanihonuaiakama. But whatever his reputation on the other islands, on Oahu he was feared as a stern monarch, but also respected as a just man, under whom the husbandman prospered, priests and artisians were protected, and the naturally turbulent character of the feudal nobles kept under salutary, though at times summary, restraint. As sovereign of his island he made the customary circuits, for political and religious purposes, at stated times; but his favorite residence, when not otherwise occupied, was at Waikiki in the known district, where a perfect forest of coconut trees enclosed his dwelling or palace on three sides, and the pleasant grove of kou trees which his father had planted, threw its delicious shade on the heated sea-beach.

Stern but just, Peleioholani’s reign was a blessing to his kingdom of Oahu, which probably had never since the days of Mailekukahi stood higher in population, wealth, and resources, than at the time of his death.

The contrast between Peleioholani and his son Kumahana had no doubt been apparent to thoughtful men long before the black kapa covered the mortal remains of the father. Chiefs and commoners alike knew the man to whom their fealty now would be pledged. Indolent of body, weak, fickle and avaricious of mind, Kumahana was a failure as a sovereign, and it did not take long to ripen the public mind to that conviction. Feal and loyal as the Oahu chiefs had always been to the Kakuhihewa family, whom for six generations they had looked upon as their representative on the Oahu throne, yet the weaknesses and extravagancies of Kumahana were enough in three short years to alienate chiefs, priests, and commoners to such an extent that when Pupuka, Elani, Makaioulu and other chiefs, in conjunction with the High-priest Kaopulupulu, called a public meeting of chiefs and commoners, to consider the situation of the country and for the avowed purpose of deposing Kumahana, not a voice was heard nor a spear raised in defence of the unfortunate man who then and there was publicly decreed incompetent and unworthy to rule the Oahu kingdom. That meeting and the manner of the execution of its decree find few parallels in the most civilized of modern countries, where the people had to resort to revolution to protect the best interests of their country and their own well-being. It was a public declaration of the national non possumus any longer to suffer the rule of Kumahana. Its execution, through the wonderful unanimity of the national voice, required neither “National Guards,” nor spears, nor clubs, nor barricades to enforce it. It was a veritable vox populi, vox Dei, and the only trait of wisdom recorded of Kumahana was that he quietly submitted to the inevitable and left for Kauai, where the relations of his mother and sister provided a refuge for him and his family at Waimea. And to the lasting credit of those, whose kindred only six years later were stigmatized by civilized Europe as “barbarians,” “savages,” “cannibals,” not a drop of blood was shed in this mighty upheaval of an entire people.

Had I the powers of a Walter Scott to give the reader a description of that remarkable assembly of Oahu notables that then and there convened for high national objects, I gladly would do so. I would describe the preliminary meeting of the District Chiefs, the (Ai-moku), with the High Priest (Kahuna-nui), presiding. I would tell of the dispatch of the High Priest’s messenger or herald, elele, around the island, convoking the chiefs and commoners to the projected assembly, a kind of Hawaiian “Fiery Cross,” speeding from feudal hall to lowliest hamlet; his functions, his privileges, his insignia of office, his formula of convocation. I would describe the meeting of those thus convened; the appearance of the chiefs dressed in their ahu-ula (feather cloaks), their mahiole (feather helmets), their niho palaoa (necklace of whale’s tooth and human hair), their kupee or pupu houka (bracelets of glittering precious shells); carrying their pololu (long spears), in their right hand, their pahoa (dagger of hardened wood), in their malo, or belt, and their newa or war-club looped up under their cloak. I would describe the sturdy makaainana, the commoners or freemen of the land, mustering behind their chiefs, armed with their ihe, javelins, and maa, slings. But abler hands, at some not far distant day, will doubtless weave a pleasant tale from those materials; and I proceed with the main story, from my work, “An Account of the Polynesian Race,” Vol. II, on pages as shown:

Kahahana, son of Elani, of the Ewa line of chiefs, was elected Moi of Oahu in place of Kumahana, son of Peleioholani and grandson of Kualii, who had been deposed by the Oahu chiefs as an incompetent, indolent, penurious and unlovable chief. This occurred about the year 1773 (pp. 65, 290, 154).

It is not improbable that the influence of Kahekili, King of Maui, was in Kahahana’s favor, for in the war between Hawaii and Maui wherein the invading forces of Kalaniopuu were all but annihilated in the battle of Waikapu commons, Kahahana and his Oahu troops were joined with Kahekili in the defence of Maui (p. 154).

In a subsequent attempt of Kalaniopuu to wrest honors from Kahekili, Kahahana is found an ally in the defence of Lahaina, accompanied by Keaulumoku, bard and prophet who, a few years later, composed his famous “Haui Ka Lani” chant foretelling the success and glory of Kamehameha I (p. 156).

Kaeo, King of Kauai, sent two messengers to acquaint Kahahana of Cook’s visit, whereupon Kaopulupulu the high priest of Oahu said: “These people are foreigners; they are surely the people that will come and dwell in this land” (p. 169).

In 1779 Kahahana, the Oahu King, had but lately returned from Maui where he assisted Kahekili in his wars against Kalaniopuu of Hawaii. The rupture between Kahekili and Kahahana did not occur till afterward, in 1780–81 (pp. 197–8).

Kauhi, of Maui, landing at Waikiki on an expedition against Oahu, was met by the chiefs of Oahu, defeated and slain, his body exposed at the Apuakehau (Waikiki) heiau [307], and great indignities were committed with his bones. The memory of this great outrage instigated his descendant, Kahekili, to the fearful massacre of the Oahu chiefs, when, after the battle of Niuhelewai, he had defeated Kahahana and conquered the island (p. 208).

The death of Kahahana closed the autonomy of Oahu (p. 269).

In order to understand the political relations between Kahekili and Kahahana, the king of Oahu, and the causes of the war between them, it is necessary to go back to the year 1773, when Kumahana, the son of Peleioholani, was deposed by the chiefs and makaainana of Oahu. Though Kumahana had grown-up children at the time, yet the Oahu nobles passed them by in selecting a successor to the throne, and fixed their eyes on young Kahahana, the son of Elani, one of the powerful Ewa chiefs of the Maweke-Lakona line, and on his mother’s side closely related to Kahekili and the Maui royal family. Kahahana had from boyhood been brought up at the court of Kahekili, who looked upon his cousin’s child almost as a son of his own. What share, if any, indirectly, that Kahekili may have had in the election of Kahahana, is not known; but when the tidings arrived from Oahu announcing the result to Kahekili, he appears at first not to have been overmuch pleased with it. The Oahu chiefs had deputed Kekelaokalani, a high chiefess, a cousin to Kahahana’s mother and also to Kahekili, to proceed to Wailuku, Maui, and announce the election and solicit his approval. After some feigned or real demurrer, Kahekili consented to Kahahana going to Oahu, but refused to let his wife Kekuapoi-ula go with him, lest the Oahu chiefs should ill-treat her. Eventually, however, he consented, but demanded as a price of his consent that the land of Kualoa in Koolaupoko district should be ceded to him, and also the palaoa-pae (the whalebone and ivory) cast on the Oahu shores by the sea.

Hampered with these demands of the crafty Kahekili, Kahahana started with his wife and company for Oahu, and landed at Kahaloa in Waikiki. He was enthusiastically received, installed as Moi of Oahu, and great were the rejoicings on the occasion.

Shortly after his installation, Kahahana called a great council of the Oahu chiefs and the High Priest Kaopulupulu, and laid before them the demands of Kahekili regarding the land of Kualoa and the palaoa-pae. At first the council was divided, and some thought it was but a fair return for the kindness and protection shown Kahahana from his youth by Kahekili; but the high priest was strongly opposed to such a measure, and argued that it was a virtual surrender of the sovereignty and independence of Oahu, Kualoa being one of the most sacred places on the island, where stood the sacred drums of Kapahuula and Kaahu-ulapunawai, and also the sacred hill of Kauakahi-a-Kahoowaha; and that the surrender of the palaoa-pae would be a disrespect to the gods; in fact, if Kahekili’s demands were complied with, the power of war and of sacrifice would rest with the Maui king and not with Kahahana. He represented strongly, moreover, that if Kahahana had obtained the kingdom by conquest, he might do as he liked, but having been chosen by the Oahu chiefs, it would be wrong in him to cede to another the national emblems of sovereignty and independence. Kahahana and all the chiefs admitted the force of Kaopulupulu’s arguments, and submitted to his advice not to comply with the demands of Kahekili.

Kahekili was far too good a politician to display his resentment at this refusal of his demands, knowing well that he could not have the slightest prospects of enforcing them by war so long as the Oahu chiefs were united in their policy, and that policy was guided by the sage and experienced high priest Kaopulupulu. He dissembled, therefore, and kept up friendly relations with Kahahana, but secretly turned his attention to destroy the influence of Kaopulupulu in the affairs of Oahu, and create distrust and enmity between him and Kahahana. In this object he is said to have been heartily advised and assisted by his own high priest, Kaleopuupuu, the younger brother of Kaopulupulu. Kaleopuupuu envied his brother the riches and consideration which his wisdom and skill had obtained for him. Moreover, the warlike preparations of his brother-in-law, the Hawaii king Kalaniopuu, cautioned him against precipitating a rupture with so powerful an ally as the Oahu king; and Kahekili was but too glad to obtain the assistance of Kahahana and his chiefs in the war with Kalaniopuu, 1777–78, Kahahana’s forces arriving from Molokai just in time to share the sanguinary battle on the Waikapu common, [308] related on page 153, [Fornander, Polynesian Race, II] and the subsequent events of that war.

After the return of Kalaniopuu to Hawaii in January, 1779, Kahahana went over to Molokai to consecrate the heiau called Kupukapuakea at Wailau, and to build or repair the large taro patch at Kainalu known as Paikahawai. Here he was joined by Kahekili, who was cordially welcomed and royally entertained. On seeing the fruitfulness and prosperity of the Molokai lands, Kahekili longed to possess some of them, and bluntly asked Kahahana to give him the land of Halawa. Kahahana promptly acceded to the request, not being moved by the same considerations regarding the Molokai lands as those of Oahu, Molokai having been conquered and subjected as an appanage or tributary to the Oahu crown by Peleioholani. At this meeting, while discussing Kahahana’s previous refusal to give Kahekili the Kualoa land and the palaoa-pae on Oahu, Kahekili expressed his surprise at the opposition of Kaopulupulu, assuring Kahahana that the high priest had offered the government and throne of Oahu to him (Kahekili), but that out of affection for his nephew he had refused; and he intimated strongly that Kaopulupulu was a traitor to Kahahana.

The poisoned arrow hit its mark, and Kahahana returned to Oahu filled with mistrust and suspicion of his faithful high-priest. A coolness arose between them. Kahahana withdrew his confidence from, and slighted the advice of the high-priest, who retired from the court to his own estate in Waialua and Waimea, and caused himself and all his people and retainers to be tatooed on the knee, as a sign that the chief had turned a deaf ear to his advice. It is said that during this period of estrangement Kahahana became burdensome to the people, capricious and heedless, and in a great measure alienated their good-will. It is said, moreover, that he caused to be dug up dead men’s bones to make arrow-points wherewith to shoot rats—a favorite pastime of the chiefs; and that he even rifled the tombs of the chiefs in order to make kahili handles of their bones, thus outraging the public sentiment of the nation. That Kahahana was imprudent and rash, and perhaps exacting, there is no doubt; and that conquered chieftains’ bones were the legitimate trophies of the victors is equally true; but that Kahahana would have violated the tombs of the dead—an act of the greatest moral baseness even in those days—is hardly credible, and is probably an after exaggeration, either by the disaffected priestly faction or by the victorious Kahekili plotters.

While such was the condition on Oahu, Kahekili reconquered the district of Hana, as already related, and, hearing of the death of Kalaniopuu and the subsequent contentions on Hawaii, he felt secure in that direction, and seriously turned his attention to the acquisition of Oahu. He first sent some war canoes and a detachment of soldiers under command of a warrior chief named Kahahawai [309] to the assistance of Keawemauhili [310], the then independent chief of Hilo, in his contest with Kamehameha. He next sent his most trusted servant Kauhi to Kahahana on Oahu, with instructions to inform Kahahana in the strictest confidence that Kaopulupulu had again offered him the kingdom of Oahu, but that his regard for Kahahana would not allow him to accept it, and exhorting Kahahana to be on his guard against the machinations of the high-priest. Credulous as weak, Kahahana believed the falsehoods sent him by Kahekili, and, without confiding his purpose to any one, he resolved on the death of Kaopulupulu. Preparations were ordered to be made for a tour of the island of Oahu, for the purpose of consecrating heiaus and offering sacrifices. When the king arrived at Waianae he sent for the high-priest, who was then residing on his lands at Waimea and Pupukea, in the Koolau district, to come to see him. It is said that Kaopulupulu was fully aware of the ulterior objects of the king, and was well convinced that the message boded him no good; yet, faithful to his duties as a priest and loyal to the last, he started with his son Kahulupue to obey the summons of the king. Arrived at Waianae, Kahulupue was set upon by the king’s servants, and, while escaping from them, was drowned at Malae. [311] Kaopulupulu was killed at Puuloa, in Ewa.

Thus foolishly and cruelly Kahahana had played into the hand of Kahekili, who, with his high-priest Kaleopuupuu, had for a long time been plotting the death of Kahahana’s ablest and wisest counsellor.

Though executions de par le roi of obnoxious persons for political reasons were not uncommon in those days throughout the group, and by the proud and turbulent nobility generally looked upon more as a matter of personal ill-luck to the victim than as a public injustice, yet this double execution, in the necessity of which few people except the credulous Kahahana believed, greatly alienated the feelings of both chiefs and commoners from him, and weakened his influence and resources to withstand the coming storm.

The death of Kaopulupulu took place in the latter part of 1782 or beginning of 1783.

As soon as Kahekili heard that Kaopulupulu was dead, he considered the main obstacle to his acquisition of the island of Oahu to be removed, and prepared for an invasion. He recalled the auxiliary troops under Kahahawai which he had sent to the assistance of Keawemauhili in Hilo, and assembled his forces at Lahaina. Touching at Molokai, on his way, he landed at Waikiki, Oahu. Among his chiefs and warriors of note on this expedition are mentioned Kekuamanoha, Kaiana, Namakeha, Kalaikoa, Kamohomoho, Nahiolea, Hueu, Kauhikoakoa, Kahue, Kalaninuiulumoku, Peapea, Manono-Kauakapekulani, Kalanikupule, Koalaukane. [312] Besides his own armament, he had several double canoes furnished him by Keawemauhili of Hilo, and by Keouakuahuula of Kau.

Kahahana was at Kawananakoa, in the upper part of Nuuanu valley, when the news came of Kahekili’s landing at Waikiki, and hastily summoning his warriors, he prepared as best he could to meet so sudden an emergency.