Chapter XXXVIII: Hiiaka and Lohiau ... a Reunion (1)

Hiiaka's sense of outrage touched every fiber of her being and stirred such indignation against her sister that she could not again take her former place as a member of Pele's court. Hawaii was the largest island of the group, but it was not large enough to hold herself and Pele. Of all the islands Kaua'i was the one most remote from the scene of her troubles; it was also the land which Lohiau had claimed as his own--and his was a name that called up only the most tender emotions. To Kaua'i would she go.

The company of those who shared her feelings and whose personal attachment to her was sufficient to lead them with herself in a venture of new fortunes was not large. It included, of course, her two staunch attendants, Pau-o-pala'e and Wahine-oma'o and, strangely enough, a considerable quota of the sisters who shared with her the name Hiiaka (qualified though it was in each case by some additional distinguishing epithet). Towards Kaua'i, then, did they set their faces or, more literally, turn the prow of their canoe.

Many unforeseen things, however, were to happen before the God of Destiny would permit her to gain her destination. Other strands stood ready to be interwoven with the purposeful threads Hiiaka was braiding into her life.

In the ancient regime of Hawaii, the halau, as the home and school of the hula, stood for very much and for many things. It served, after a fashion, as a social exchange or clearing house for the whole nation; the resort of every wandering minstrel, bohemian soul or beau esprit whose oestrus kept him in travel; the rallying point of souls dislocated from an old and not yet accommodated to a new environment; a place where the anxious and discouraged, despairing of a new outlook, or seeking balm for bruised hearts, might quaff healing nepenthe.

It is not to be wondered at, then, that Hiaaka, not yet healed of her bruises, on reaching Oahu and finding herself in the peaceful haven of Kou, should turn her steps to the home of that hospitable siren and patroness of the hula Pele-ula, as to a sanitarium or hospital whose resources would avail for the assuagement of her troubles. It was almost an article of Pele-ula's creed that in the pleasures and distractions of the hula was to be found a panacea for all the wounds of the spirit; and Pele-ula, as if taking her cue from the lady of the Venusberg, offered her consolations generously to every comfort-needing soul that fared her way.

Hiiaka stepped into the life at Pele-ula's court as if she had been absent from it for only a day. Madame Pele-ula, good sport that she was, bore no grudge against the woman who had outplayed her at every turn, and would do it again. She received Hiiaka with open arms. As to entertainment, the play was the thing and that, fortunately, was already appointed for the same evening. It was the same old performance, the hula kilu, with but slight change in the actors and with full opportunity for Hiiaka to display her marvelous skill in hurling the kilu.

It was Hiiaka's play and she, following the custom of the game, was caroling--in sober strain--a song of her own; when, to her astonishment, a voice from the crowd struck in and carried the song to completion in the very words that would have been her's. Hiiaka stood and listened. The voice had a familiar ring; the song was not yet in the possession of the public, being known only to a few of her own household, among whom was to be reckoned Lohiau. There was no avoiding the conclusion: it was Lohiau.

It remains to tell the miracle of Lohiau's reappearance among men in living form and at this time. While the body of Lohiau lay entombed in its stony shroud, his restless spirit fluttered away and sought consolation in the companionship of the song-birds that ranged the forests of Hawaii.

When the magician La'a, who lived in Kahiki, contemplated the degraded condition of Lohiau, alienated from all the springs of human affection, living as a wild thing in the desert, he determined on his rescue and despatched Kolea (plover), one of his ancestral kupuas, to fetch him. The mission of Kolea was not a success. The voice, the manner, the arguments of the bird made no appeal to Lohiau; they were, in fact, distasteful to him and rather increased his devotion to his other bird-friends.

"Well, Kolea, what sort of a place is Kahiki?" asked Lohiau.

"A most charming place," he answered, nodding his head and uttering his call, "Ko-lé-a, Ko-lé-a."

Lohiau was disgusted with his performances and would have nothing more to do with Kolea.

When Kolea returned and reported his failure to La'a, that magician sent another bird on the same errand, one of more seductive ways, Ulili. There was something in the voice and manner of Ulili that touched the fancy and won the heart of Lohiau at once and he began to follow him. Ulili skilfully lured him on and at last brought him to Kahiki and delivered him over to his master. La'a ministered to the soul of Lohiau with such tenderness and skill that he became reconciled once more to human ways. But the soul of Lohiau still remained an unhoused ghost, and at times ranged afar in its restless excursions.

Now it happened that at the very time when these events were taking place Kane-milo-hai, an elder brother of Pele, was voyaging from Kahiki to Hawaii. His canoe was of that mystical pattern, the leho (cowry) in which Mawi had sailed. While in the middle of the Iëië-waho channel he caught sight of the distracted spirit of Lohiau fluttering like a Mother Carey's chicken over the expanse of waters. The poor ghost, as if desirous of companionship, drew nigh and presently came so near that Kane-milo-hai captured it and, having ensconced it in his ipu-holoho-lona, [508] he sailed on his way.

Reaching Hawaii and coming to the desolate scene of Lohiau's tragedy, he recognized a charred heap as the former bodily residence of the shivering ghost in his keeping. He broke the stony form into many pieces and then, by the magical power that was his, out of these fragments he reconstructed the body of Lohiau, imparting to it its original form and lineaments. Into this body Kane-milo-hai now introduced the soul and Lohiau lived again.

The tide of new life surging in the veins of Lohiau stirred in him emotions that found utterance in song:

I ola no au i ku'u kino wailua,
I a'e'a mai e ke 'lii o Kahiki,
Ke 'lii nana i a'e ke kai uli,
Kai eleele, kai melemele,
Kai popolo-hua mea a Kane;
I ka wa i po'i ai ke Kai-a-ka-hina-lii--
Kai mu, kai lewa. Ho'opua ke ao ia Lohiau;
O Lohiau--i lono oukou.
Ola e; ola la; ua ola Lohiau, e!
O Lohiau, ho'i, e!

TRANSLATION

I lived, but 'twas only my soul;
Then came Kahiki's King and took me--
The King who sails this purple and blue,
An ocean, now black, now amber,
The dark mottled sea of Kane,
The sea that whelmed those monarchs of old,
A sea that is ghostly, foreign, strange.
Lohiau flowers anew in the sunlight;
It is I, Lohiau! Do you hear it?
New life has come to Lohiau!
To Lohiau, aye, to Lohiau!

Having come to himself, Lohiau sought his own. His chancing at Kou and his appearance at the halau in which Pele-ula was holding her kilu performance, and on the very evening of Hiiaka's arrival, was an arrangement of converging lines that reflected great credit on the god of Destiny.

Lohiau arrived at the kilu hall just in time to witness the opening of the game. Having seated himself quietly in the outskirts of the assembly, he begged a neighbor to permit him, as a favor, to conceal himself under the ample width of his kihei, exacting of him also the promise not to betray his retreat. Thus hidden, he could see without being seen. The sight of Hiiaka, the words of her song--he had heard them a score of times before--stirred within him a thousand memories. Without conscious effort of will, the words of his response sprang from his heart almost with the spontaneity of an antiphonal echo. Let us bring together the two cotyledons of this song:

O ka wai mukiki a'ala lehua o ka manu,
O ka awa ili lena i ka uka o Ka-li'u,
O ka manu aha'i kau-laau o Puna:--
Aia i ka laau ka awa o Puna.
Mapu wale mai ana no ia'u kona aloha,
Hoolana mai ana ia'u, e moe, e;
A e moe no, e-e-e.

And now comes the unexpected antiphone by Lohiau:

O Puna, lehua ula i ka papa;
I ula i ka papa ka lehua o Puna:
Ke kui ia mai la e na wahine o ka Lua:
Mai ka Lua a'u i hele mai nei, mai Kilauea.
Aloha Kilauea, ka aina a ke aloha.

TRANSLATION

Nectar for gods, honeyed lehua;
Food for the birds, bloom of lehua;
Pang of love, the yellow-barked awa,
Quaffed by the dryads in Puna's wilds;
Bitter the sweet of Puna's tree-awa.
His love wafts hither to me from dreamland--
The cry of the soul for love's fond touch;
And who would forbid the soul's demand!

Antiphone

Puna's plain takes the color of scarlet--
Red as heart's blood the bloom of lehua.
The nymphs of the Pit string hearts in a wreath:
Oh the pangs of the Pit, Kilauea!
Still turns my heart to Kilauea.

We must leave to the imagination of the reader the scene that occurred when Lohiau, the man twice called back from the dead, leaves his hiding place and comes into Hiiaka's encircling arms lovingly extended to him.

This was accomplished the reunion of Hiiaka and Lohiau, and thus it came to pass that these two human streams of characters so different, in defiance of powerful influences that had long held them apart, were, at length, turned into one channel--that of the man, not wholly earthly, but leavened with the possibility of vast spiritual attainment under the tonic discipline of affliction; that of the woman, self-reliant, resourceful, yet acutely in need of affection; human and practical, yet feeling after the divine, conscious of daily commerce with the skies; and, yet, in spite of all, in bondage to that universal law which gives to the smaller and weaker body the power to introduce a perturbation into the orbit of the greater and to pull it away from its proper trajectory.

The old order has passed away, the order in which the will of Pele has ruled almost supreme, regardless of the younger, the human, race which is fast peopling the land that was hers in the making. Hitherto, surrounded by a cohort of willing servants ready at all times to sacrifice themselves to her caprice,--behold, a new spirit has leavened the whole mass, a spirit of dissent from the supreme selfishness of the Vulcan goddess, and the foremost dissident of them all is the obedient little sister who was first in her devotion to Pele, the warm-hearted girl whom we still love to call Hiiaka-i-ka-poli-o-Pele.

THE END

NOTES

[1] Hui, an elided form of huli, the l being dropped.

[2] Paoa. One Hawaiian says this should be pahoa. (Paulo Hokii.)

The Paoa mentioned in verse eight was a divining rod used to determine the suitability of any spot for Pele's excavations. The land must be proof against the entrance of sea water. It also served as a spade in excavating for a volcanic crater.

When a suitable place was finally discovered on Hawaii, the Paoa staff was planted in Panaewa and became a living tree, multiplying itself until it was a forest. The writer's informant says that it is a tree known to the present generation of men. "I have seen sticks cut from it," said he, "but not the living tree itself."

[3] O Ahu. The particle o is not yet joined to its substantive, as in Oahu, the form we now have.

[4] Pola, the raised platform in the waist of the canoe, a place of honor.

[5] This Laupahoehoe is to be distinguished from that in Hilo.

[6] Ua, rain. It is suggested this may refer--sarcastically--to the watery secretion in Pele's eyes, as found in old people.

[7] Ina, here means consider.

[8] Loiloi. If a chief was not pleased or satisfied with a gift, loiloi would express his state of mind.

[9] Elua oiwi, literally, two shapes. Pele had many metamorphoses.

[10] The wavering of indecision.

[11] This Pohakau was the friend, previously mentioned, who had brought to Pele the faithful dog that lay fasting and mourning at Lohiau's grave. Pohakau remained at Pele's court; the dog Pele hid away in her own secret place.

[12] One critic says it should be po'e.

[13] Kaupaku o ka hale o kaua. A hidden reference to sexual intercourse.

[14] Malu-ko'i, dark and gloomy.

[15] Kamaaina, a resident, one acquainted with the land.

[16] Ele-i. One Hawaiian says this rare word means blue-black, shiny black (J. W. P.); another says it means rich, choice, select (T. J. P.)

[17] Ka, to remove, clean up entirely, as in bailing a canoe.

[18] Hea, destroyed, flattened out.

[19] Ne, an elided poetical form of nele, meaning gone, blotted out.

[20] Piko, the navel. The belly, or piko, of a fish was the choicest part. "I ka piko no oe, lihaliha." Eat of the belly and you shall be satiated. (Old saying.)

[21] Hu-la. (Notice the accent to distinguish it from hula.) To dig up, as a stone out of the ground.

[22] Kukui, the tree whose nuts furnished torches.

[23] Uli, an elder sister of Pele, a character much appealed to by sorcerers.

[24] Kahuna, in this case probably Hiiaka.

[25] Alohi-lani, literally, the brightness of heaven; a term applied to the residence or heavenly court of both Uli and Kapo. In verses 36 and 37 it is distinctly mentioned as the abode of Kapo-ula-kina'u: "E ho'i, e komo i kou hale, O Ke-alohi-lani."

[26] Ilio-uli, literally, a dog of dark blue-black color. The primitive Aryans, according to Max Müller, poetically applied the term "sheep" to the fleecy white clouds that float in the sky. The Hawaiian poet, in the lack of a nobler animal, spoke of the clouds as ilio, dogs. With this homely term, however, he coupled--by way of distinction--some ennobling adjective.

[27] Ilio-ehu, literally, a white dog.

[28] Ilio-mea, literally, a dog--cloud--of a warm pinkish hue.

[29] Ku-ke-ao-iki, Ao-iki, small clouds that stand ranged about the horizon.

[30] Ao-poko, a short cloud, in contrast with ao-loa.--J. H.

[31] Ao-loa, long clouds--stratus?--such as are seen along the horizon.

[32] Ao-awihiwihi-ula, a cloud-pile having a pinkish, or ruddy, tint.

[33] Hoalii, the relatives of Hiiaka.

[34] Ko-wawa, a notched pali that formed part of the wall enclosing the caldera of Kilauea--on its Kau side.

[35] Kupina'e, echo, hero personified and endowed with the attributes of a superhuman being.

[36] Ku-haili-moe, one of the forms, or characters, of god Ku, representing him as a smoother and beautifier of the landscape.

[37] Ha'iha'i-lau-ahea, a goddess who had to do with the flame of fire. Her share in the care of a fire, or, perhaps, of Pele's peculiar fire, seems to have been confined to the base of the flame.

[38] Mau-a-ke-alii-hea, a being who had special charge of the flame-tip.

[39] Kanaka loloa o ka mauna, this included Ku-pulupulu and his fellows.

[40] Ku-pulupulu, described as a hairy being, the chief god of canoe-makers, who had his residence in the wildwoods.

[41] Kuli-pe'e-nui. This much-used term is the embodiment in a word of the wild, lumbering, progress of a lava-flow, or lava-tongue. Translating the figure into words, my imagination pictures a huge, shapeless monster, hideous as Caliban drunk, wallowing, sprawling, stumbling along on swollen disjointed knees--a picture of uncouth desolation.

[42] Kike-alana, the formulation in a word of the rending and crashing sounds--rock smiting rock--made by a lava-flow.

[43] Kahuna i ka, puoko o ke ahi. The word Kahuna is used here where the word akua or kupua would seem to have served the purpose of the meaning, which, as I take it, is the spirit, or genius, of flame.

[44] I'imi, derived seemingly from imi, to seek.

[45] Lalama, derived seemingly from lala, a branch; or possibly, from lama, a flambeau.

[46] Kane-hekili. Thunder is always spoken of as under the control of god Kane.

[47] Ka-ulua, the name of one of the months in the cool season of the year; one can not say positively which month is intended, for the reason that the nomenclature varied greatly in the different islands, and varied even on the same island.

[48] Kumu-kahi, the name of a hill in Puna on the easternmost cape of Hawaii; also the name of a monolith once set up there; in this connection the name of the female kupua who acted as keeper of the Sun's eastern gate. This name is almost always coupled with that of ...

[49] Ha'eha'e, of whom the same account can be given as above.

[50] Kapo-ula-Kina'u, one of the family. The epithet ula-kina'u is used in allusion to the fact that her attire, red in color, is picked out with black spots. The name Kapo alone is the one by which she is usually known.

[51] The awa papa had a small root, but it was of superior quality.

[52] Moe-ha-una-iki, literally, the sleep with a gentle snore--such sleep as follows the use of awa. The poet personifies this sleep. To such lengths does the Hawaiian poetic imagination go.

[53] Pahu kapu a ka leo. One--who ought to know--tells me this means the ear; as if the ear were the drum on which the voice played.

[54] Ho'okiki kanawai, to enforce, to carry out the law.

[55] He kua a kanawai. It was said of Pele that her back was hot like fire, and that a bundle of taro leaves laid thereon was cooked and turned into luau. It was an offense punishable by death for any one to stand at her back or to approach her by that way.

[56] He kai oki'a kanawai, literally, an ocean that separates. Exclusiveness, to live apart, was the rule of Pele's life. This principle is enforced with further illustration in the next line:--

[57] He ala muku no Kane me Kanaloa. Even to the great gods Kane and Kanaloa the path of approach to Pele was cut off by the edict, thus far shalt thou come and no further.

[58] He ki ho'iho'i kanawai. The ki is said, to my surprise, to be the thong with which a door was made fast, ho'iho'i, in the olden times of Hawaii. I cannot but look upon this statement with some suspicion.

[59] Leo, the voice; articulate speech. Leo o ka kanaka hookahi. This one supreme man was Kane. The poet evidently had in mind the myth which is embodied in a certain Kumu-lipo, or song of creation: Kane, the supreme one, looking from heaven, saw Chaos, or the god of Chaos, Kumu-lipo, spread out below and he called to him to send his voice--leo--to the east, to the west, to the north and to the south. Kumu-lipo, thus roused from inaction, despatched the bird Halulu, who flew and carried the message to the east, to the west, to the north and to the south.

[60] Ka manu, the bird Halulu, above mentioned.

[61] Kai-nu'u a Kane. This expression is an allusion to god Kane's surf-riding, which is often mentioned in Hawaiian mythology. Huli refers to the curling or bending over of the breaker's crest; Nu'u to the blanket of white and yeasty water that follows as the wake of the tumbling wave. The Hawaiians who are best informed in these matters have only vague ideas on the whole subject.

[62] Amama, a word frequently used at the end of a prayer in connection with the word noa (free), as in the expression amama, ua noa. The evident meaning is it (the tabu) is lifted, it is free. I conjecture that the word amama is derived from, or related to, the word mama, light, in the sense of levitation.

[63] Kui-hanalei, a region in Puna, not far from the caldera of Kilauea, said to be covered now with pahoehoe and aa.

[64] Pu'u-lena, a wind that blows in the region of the volcano.

[65] Ke-ka-ko'i (literally, the ax-maker), the name of the guide and path-finder to the company.

[66] Ka-maiau, their trumpeter who carried a conch.

[67] Hinihini, a poetical name for a land-shell, probably one of the genus Achatinella, which was popularly believed to give a shrill piping note.

[68] Mapu, one of the trumpeters.

[69] Ale ula, a cloud of steam and smoke, such as accompanied an eruption.

[70] Ale lani, the patches of blue sky between masses of clouds.

[71] Pu-ko'a, a column of steam and smoke bursting up from a volcanic eruption.

[72] A'aka, a column of lapillae, accompanied by hot vapor and smoke, such as jet up from a volcanic crater or fissure.

[73] Lono, a message; to hear a message, i.e., to receive it. The expression ahu a lono is at first a little puzzling. It means the visible bulk, or sign, of the message.

[74] Au-hula-ana. This is the term applied to such a break in a seaside trail as is above described. The word hula indicates the billowy toss of the ocean or of the swimmer's body while making the passage. The term, following Hawaiian usage, is employed either as a noun or as a verb.

[75] Maka'u-kiu, afeared-o-a-spy.

[76] Ma-hi-ki (mahiti, mawhiti), to leap, to skip, to spring up suddenly. The Maori Comp. Dict. E. Tregear.

[77] Wai-luku, water of destruction.

[78] Mo'o-puna, a grandchild, nephew or niece.

[79] Kahuli-huli. Kahuli, or its intensive, kahuli-huli, primarily means to upset, to overturn. A secondary meaning, much employed in the argot of hula folk, is to hand over, to pass this way; as when one guest at table might say to a neighbor, "hand me the salt (if you please)."

[80] Nuku-o-ka-manu, literally, the beak of the bird; said to be a cape in the neighborhood of Hilo.

[81] Hala. The fruit of the hala was so often worn in the form of a wreath by Kapo that it came to be looked upon almost as her emblem. To ordinary mortals this practice savored of bad luck. If a fisherman traveling on his way to the ocean were to meet a person wearing a lei of this description he would feel compelled to turn back and give over his excursion for that day. In this instance Kapo was on her way to visit a sick man--a bad omen for him.

[82] Kapo-ula-kina'u. This was the full name of Kapo, who was one of the goddesses of the kahunas who practiced anaana (po'e kahuna anaana). Ula-kina'u is a term applied to a feather cloak or cape made of yellow feathers which had in them black spots.

[83] Makani. The reference is to the halitus, spirit, or influence that was supposed to rest upon and take possession of one obsessed, even as the tongues of fire rested upon the multitude in Pentecostal times. Kapo herself had this power.

[84] Ua, literally, rain, is by a much employed figure of speech used to mean the guests or people of a house. Thus, if one sees a great number of guests arriving to share the hospitality of a house, he might say, "kuaua ua nui ho'i keia e hele mai nei."

[85] Pua-lehei, a pali mauka of Wai-he'e.

[86] Olohe, an expert in the hula.

[87] Aoaoa, an imitative word, meaning dog.

[88] The most acceptable bonne bouche that could be offered to Pele, or to Hiiaka, by way of refreshment, was the tender leaf of the taro plant. We of this day and generation eat it when cooked under the name of lu-au. In the old old times, when the gods walked on the earth, it was acceptable in the raw state under the name of paha; but, when cooked, it was called pe'u. The word luau seems to be modern.

[89] Po'ipo'i. Po'i uhane, soul catching, was one of the tricks of Hawaiian black art and sorcery.

[90] There seems to be a disagreement in the different versions as to who is the king with whom Hiiaka is now contending, whether Ole-pau or Ka-ula-hea. For historical reasons I deem it to be Ole-pau, unless, indeed, the two names represent the same person.

[91] Kau, offered, literally put upon the altar.

[92] Lohelohe. By some inadvertence, this word was wrongly written as kohekohe, and I was cudgelling my wits and searching heaven and earth, and all the dictionaries, to learn the meaning of this artifact, this false thing. After having vainly inquired of more than a score of Hawaiians, one man, wiser than the rest, suggested that it should be lohelohe, not kohekohe, meaning underdone, or half-baked dog. The word-fit was perfect; the puzzle was solved.

[93] Kanaloa, a name given to Kaho'olawe, the island that faces East Maui, lying opposite to Lahaina, and acts as a sort of buffer against the blasts of the south wind, allusion to which is made, as I believe, in the word A-a, in the same line.

[94] Ele. Some critics claim that ka and ele properly form one word (kaele), meaning overturned. The grammatical construction of the sentence forbids this claim, and favors the interpretation I have given it. The figure is that of a canoe whose black body has turned turtle.

[95] Pa'iauma. This is a word that has presented some difficulties in the discovery of its meaning. The reference, I believe, is to breast-beating practiced by persons distracted with grief. Uma, the final part of the word, I take to be the shortened form of umauma, the bosom.

[96] Pili, to meet, the point or line of meeting, the boundaries of a land, therefore, the whole land.

[97] Ka-ma'o-ma'o, the name given to the sandy plain between Kahului and Wailuku, Maui.

[98] Female deities of necromancy.

[99] Akua, literally, a god, or godlike, i.e., in an awe-inspiring manner.

[100] Ke-olo-ewa, an akua ki'i, i.e., a god of whom an image was fashioned. Some form of cloud was recognized as his body (Ke-ao-lewa(?)). One of his functions was rain-producing. Farmers prayed to him: "Send rain to my field; never mind the others." S. Percy Smith of New Zealand (in a letter to Professor W. D. Alexander) says that in Maori legend Te Orokewa, also called Poporokewa, was one of the male apa, guardians and messengers of Io, the supreme god who presided over the 8th heaven.

According to Hawaiian tradition Ke-olo-ewa was, as Fornander has it, the second son of Kamauaua, a superior chief, or king of Moloka'i, and succeeded his father in the kingship of that island. His brother, Kau-pe'e-pe'e-nui-kauila, it was who stole away Hina, the beautiful wife of Haka-lani-leo of Hilo, and secreted her on the famous promontory of Haupu on Moloka'i. For the story of this interesting tradition see Fornander's "The Polynesian Race," Vol. II, p. 31. After death he became deified and was prayed to as a rain god.

[101] Kama-ua, literally, the son of rain.

[102] Ulu-nui, meaning the crop-giver. This was the name of a king, or chief of Makawao, Maui, under whom agriculture greatly flourished.

[103] Me-ha'i-kana, the goddess of the bread-fruit tree; said to be one with Papa.

[104] Kele honua, an instance of a noun placed after its adjective. The meaning of kele honua, literally, the miry soil, a deep taro patch.

[105] Oloku'i, a high bluff that overlooks Pele-kunu and Wailau, valleys on Moloka'i.

[106] Maka-pu'u, a headland at the eastern extremity of Oahu, on which a lighthouse of the first class has been established within three years.

[107] Lae o Ka-laau, the south-western cape of Moloka'i, on which is a lighthouse of the first class.

[108] Makua-ole, literally, fatherless or parentless; seemingly a reference to the lonely inhospitable character of the place.

[109] Ulu-ma-wao, a hill in the same region as Maka-pu'u point. The name is said to mean a place having a very thin soil.

[110] Ua poai-hale, a rain that whisked about on all sides of a house.

[111] Moko-li'i (little snake), compound of moko, archaic form of mo'o, and li'i.

[112] I-maka, a watch-tower. (This is a new word, not in the dictionary.)

[113] Ha-lawa-lawa, zigzag.

[114] Ololo-e, out of line; out of order; irregular. See ololo, in Andrews' Hawaiian Dictionary. Keke'e, halawalawa and ololo-e have the same generic meaning.

[115] Manu'u-ke-eu, the name of a mythical hala tree that once grew in Puna. The seed was brought from Kahiki by Ka-moho-alii, when he came from that land with Pele and others. They ate the drupe of it with salt and sugar-cane, and then Ka-moho-alii planted the seed. The tree that grew up was, of course, a kupua.

[116] Halu'a-pua, flower-bedecked; compound of halu'a (covered), and pua (a flower).

[117] Pe'ape'a, a bat; a creature regarded as a kupua.

[118] Ka-upu, some sort of a sea-gull.

[119] Lu-ahi, the object of a person's wrath or indignation.

[120] Hika'a-lani, facing heaven; looking up to heaven. This was the name given later to a beautiful princess on Oahu.

[121] Ma-u, literally, damp; the name of the wife of Maka-li'i, as here indicated. Maka-li'i, here used as the name of a deity, is also, 1. the name of the Pleiades; 2. the name of the month in which that constellation rises at the time of sunset; 3. the name sometimes applied to the six summer months collectively. The visible sign of Maka-li'i, as a deity or kupua, was a rain-cloud.

[122] Awa i-ku, awa i-lani. A clear understanding of these words calls for a reference to the customs, that had almost the dignity of a rite, that were observed in the handling of awa for purposes of worship, or as an offering to the gods. This began with the very digging of the awa root. He who did this had first to purify himself by a bath in the ocean, followed by an ablution in fresh water and completing the lustration with an aspersion of water containing turmeric, administered by a priest. Then, having arrayed himself in a clean malo, he knelt with both knees upon the ground and tore the root from its bed. Now, rising to his feet, he lifted the awa root to heaven, and by this act the awa was dignified and was called awa i-ku. The utterance (by the priest?) of the kanaenae, or prayer of consecration and eulogy, still further enhanced this dignity and set it apart as a special sacrifice to some god, or to the gods of some class. Awa thus consecrated was known as awa i-lani.

[123] Mauli-ola, the God of Health; also the name of a place. The same name was applied also to the breath of life, and to the kahuna's power of healing. In the Maori tongue the word mauri means life, the seat of life. In Samoan mauli means heart; in Hawaiian it means to faint. "Sneeze, living heart" ("Tihe, mauri ora"), says the New Zealand mother to her infant when it utters a sneeze. The Hawaiian mother makes the same ejaculation.

[124] Ka-ulu-ola. I can throw no light on this phrase further than is to be obtained in the above note.

[125] Kapu-kapu-kai. Awa was forbidden to women. Under certain circumstances, however, it was set before them. In such a case the tabu was first removed by sprinkling the root with sea water (kapu-kai).

[126] Haumea, the mother of Pele.

[127] Ai. In another version, instead of ai, I find eli or elieli used.

[128] Ma-u, the sister of Haumea, therefore aunt to Pele, also the wife of Maka-li'i.

[129] Lua-wahine, (lua-hine?), said to be an incarnation, or more properly, perhaps, a spiritual form (kino-lau) of Haumea.

[130] Kukuena, the goddess, au-makua, who presided over the ceremony of preparing awa for drinking; said to be an elder sister of Pele.

[131] Akua malihini, an epithet applied to himself by Kauhi, because, as previously stated, he had since his arrival from Kahiki been obliged to remain fixed in his station in the cliff and had thus been denied acquaintance with the other islands, especially the big island of Hawaii.

[132] Ka-ma'a-ma'a, a land in Puna.

[133] Pua-le'i. Bird-hunters often stripped off the lower branches from a selected lehua tree that was in full flower and then limed it to ensnare the birds that were attracted to its rich clusters. Such a tree was termed pua-le'i.

[134] Apua, a place in Puna.

[135] Ku-ka-la-ula, a place on the road that ascends from Puna to Kilauea. The same term was applied to the ruddy glow that appears on a mountain horizon just before sunrise.

[136] Pu'u-lena, said to be the name of a hill near Kilauea-iki. It is now commonly employed as the name of a wind, as in the old saying: "Ua hala ka Pu'u-lena, aia i Hilo."

[137] Akua. That was Pele herself. "Aina a ke Akua i noho ai" has passed into a saying.

[138] I have purposely weeded out from the narrative, as popularly told, several incidents that have but little interest and no seeming pertinence to the real purpose of the story.

[139] Moa'e, the trade wind.

[140] There seems to lurk a play in this word hala. It stood not only for the pandanus tree; it also meant a fault, a sin.

[141] Poluea, ordinary meaning, to be nauseated; here it means to slope down.

[142] Moe-wa'a, literally, a canoe-dream. To dream of a canoe-voyage was considered an omen of very bad luck.

[143] Uwa'u, a sea-bird, a gull.

[144] Nene-le'a, a place near Ka-ena point, close to Pohaku o Kaua'i.

[145] Koa'e, the tropic-bird, or bosen-bird.

[146] Ka-ieie, the channel between Oahu and Kauai.

[147] Ka-peku. The word kapeku, at the beginning of verse 13, means, I am told, querulous.

[148] Ho'o-ilo, or Ho-ilo, the cool or rainy season of the year, covering six months according to the Hawaiians. There was no such month (mahina) as Ho'o-ilo, or Ho-ilo.

[149] Ka-hulu-manu. The kai o Ka-hulu-manu is, as reported to me by a well-informed Hawaiian, a flood that submerged the land in mythological times, distinct from Kai-a-ka-hina-alii.

[150] Hoohaehae, to chase, to irritate, to tease.

[151] Lae-o-ka-laau, (literally, Cape of the Trees), the south-western cape of Moloka'i, on which the United States have established a first-class lighthouse.

[152] Kihe, to sneeze; to spatter; to wet with spray.

[153] Wawalu, a cove.

[154] Owaewae, gullied. This is an instance of the adjective being placed before its noun.

[155] Huna i ka wai. The people of the region concealed the holes where water dripped, as it was very scarce.

[156] Muli-wai, literally a river, a poetical exaggeration.

[157] Wa'a-wa'a, simple-minded; unsophisticated; "green;" the name of two youths mentioned in tradition, one of whom committed blunder after blunder from his soft-hearted stupidity.

[158] Pohaku o Kaua'i. The most audacious terrestrial undertaking of the demigod Mawi was his attempt to rearrange the islands of the group and assemble them into one solid mass. Having chosen his station at Kaena Point, the western extremity of Oahu, from which the island of Kaua'i is clearly visible on a bright day, he cast his wonderful hook, Mana-ia-ka-lani, far out into the ocean that it might engage itself in the foundations of Kaua'i. When he felt that it had taken a good hold, he gave a mighty tug at the line. A huge bowlder, the Pohaku o Kaua'i, fell at his feet. The mystic hook, having freed itself from its entanglement, dropped into Palolo Valley and hollowed out the crater, that is its grave. This failure to move the whole mass of the island argues no engineering miscalculation on Mawi's part. It was due to the underhand working of spiritual forces. Had Mawi been more politic, more observant of spiritual etiquette, more diplomatic in his dealings with the heavenly powers, his ambitious plans would, no doubt, have met with better success.

[159] Kua-o-ka-La (the back of the sun), a personification and deification of that orb.

[160] Kowelowelo, to sink into; to be submerged.

[161] Haupu, a famous hill on Kauai, visible from Oahu. When it was capped with a cloud, Hawaiians said, "Ua kau mai ka pua'a i Haupu; e ua ana." If that occurred in the rainy season, they said it was about to clear.

[162] Waha, the same as haawe, i.e., a load for the back. In this case it was a bank of mist or clouds.

[163] Ke-olewa, a hill, smaller than Haupu, on the side towards Kipu-kai. The word also applied to the floating clouds about the mountain.

[164] Lawa-kua, a precious object bound to the back; applied, therefore, to a child, a dear friend and the like; the local name applied to a wind at Ka-lalau.

[165] Ka-unu-kupukupu, a land in Puna. The intrinsic meaning of the phrase is an increasing, overmastering, passion ka-unu, a passion; kupukupu, to grow up, to increase.

[166] Li'u-la, twilight.

[167] Poha-kau, a resting place where the burden-carrier leaned back and relieved his shoulders of their burden for a time.

[168] Kaulia, old form of kauia (kau ia). It connotes the removing from the back the haawe, preliminary to a long rest.

[169] Kilohana, here means a comfort, a relief.

[170] Ka-hua-nui, the elder sister of Lohiau.

[171] Kau-nu, desire, passion. Wai o kau-nu, lit., the water of love--"the warm effects."

[172] Ulu o Wahine-Kapu. Wahine-kapu was the name given to the plateau over which Kaneohoalii presided, a very tabu place. As to the bread-fruit tree Ulu, I have been able to learn nothing; this is the first mention of it I have met with.

[173] Na-maka-o-ka-ha'i, an elder sister of Pele, with whom she had trouble over the question of tabus, rights and privileges, involving the right to dominion over the volcanic fires. Pele was not only a stickler for her own rights and privileges but ambitious for their extension. The result was she had to flee for her life. (For the story of this trouble see p. V of the introduction.)

[174] Elieli, kau mai! A solemn expression often found at the end of a prayer. Hawaiians are unable to give an exact account of its meaning. The phrase kau mai by itself means overshadow me, sit upon me, possess me.

[175] Hana-kahi, an appelation applied to Hilo derived from the name of an ancient king.

[176] Wai-o-lama, the name applied to the eastern section of Hilo town, including the sand-beach and the river there located.

[177] Ako ia ka hale. The hands elevated and the fingers brought together in the form of an inverted V were, I am informed, an accepted symbol that might be used in place of a heiau at a time when distress or emergency made impossible the erection of such a structure. David Malo narrates a similar incident as occurring in the mythical story of Wakea at a time when he was in peril and beset by his enemies.

[178] Ko'i ke Akua. There is a division of opinion as to the meaning of this passage. Some, including J. W. P., think it may be the shortened, poetical form of ko'iko'i, heavy, referring to the timber used in building a temple for the deity. Others take the view that the word ko'i should be given its face-value. I see in it a possible reference to pahoehoe, the plates of which, in their hot and nascent state, are capable of felling a forest as effectively as a ko'i. One expounder (Pelei-oho-lani) finds in this word ko'i a reference to a symbolical lifting of the thumb of the left hand as a sign of prayer. The arguments on the one side and on the other are not quite convincing.

[179] Kou pua'a kanu. Pua'a-kanu is the name of a place in Puna, said to be the spot where Pele had her sexual encounter with Kama-pua'a, the swine-god. I look upon it as meaning the encounter itself.

[180] Kukuena wahine, an elder sister of Pele. (Some one says the first born of the Pele family. This assertion is not verified by other authorities.) She had charge of the making and distribution of the leis and of the ceremonies connected with formal awa-drinking. She was, in short, a sort of lady of the bedchamber to Pele.

[181] Lauwili, literally, an entanglement. It refers to the lustful attack made by Kama-pua'a on Pele, an attack to which she gave seeming acquiescence.

[182] Apa'apa'a, the name of a violent wind, here used adjectively.

[183] Luahine moe nana, Pele, who is depicted as an old woman huddled up on a lava plate. The snoring must refer to the sounds made by the lava while in action.

[184] Wa'a kauhi, an unrigged canoe, without iako or ama.

[185] Pepe mua, Pepe waena. This a detail in the development of the figure in which flowing lava is compared to a canoe. The pepe is a chock such as is put under the canoe when it is at rest on land. Mua, waena and muimui mean respectively at the bow, amidships and astern.

[186] Muimui, an elided form of mulimuli, the hindmost.

[187] Kihele ia ulu. Kihele, to bail out; ulu--the belly of the canoe, its swell amidships, the place where the bilge would settle. The implication is that, if the water is not bailed out, the incrusted salt will form a spot like the staring eye of Niheu.

[188] Niheu, a mythological hero who is always spoken of as kalohe, mischievous, because of his restlessness and stirring energy. His mother, Hina, had been abducted by a pirate chief who lived on the high bluff of Haupu, on Moloka'i. Niheu and his brother Kana, whose body was a rope of immense length, went to their mother's rescue, in which they succeeded, after many adventures. The eyes of Niheu were a marked feature in his appearance, being described as large and searching.

[189] Hina, the goddess with whom Wakea consorted after he had divorced his wife Papa by spitting in her face. Hina became the mother of the island of Moloka'i. From such a distinguished parentage arose the proverbial saying "Moloka'i nui a Hina."

[190] Kaunu-ohua, a hill on Moloka'i between Halawa valley and Puko'o, where is said to repose the body of Pele.

[191] Haupu, a hill on Moloka'i.

[192] Okaoka, said to be the flame-body of Pele, or the small stones, iliili, that entered into the composition of her body.

[193] Nana'i, an archaic form of Lana'i.

[194] Ka-ula-hea, a goddess with whom Wakea consorted after his divorce of Papa. The name also of a historic king of Lana'i, as well as of a kaula--prophet--attached to the disreputable set of gods that infested Lana'i at one time.

[195] Poli-hua, a sandy cape on Lana'i famous for its sea-turtles.

[196] Wai-li'u, full form, wai-li'u-la, mirage.

[197] Hoopa'apa'a Pele ilaila. Pele had planted a spring at this place, near Wai-lua, Kaua'i. Kama-pua'a, in company with two dragon-goddesses, Ka-la-mai-nu'u and Kilioe, who will find mention later in the story, took possession and moved the spring to another spot. When Pele came that way again, after a wordy contention with the two dragons, she slew them.

[198] Ulu, to guard, to farm, to protect. The kahu was the one who offered the sacrifices and prayers that were necessary to the maintenance of power and life in an artificial divinity, such as many of the Hawaiian deities were.

[199] Mo'o-kini, literally, the multitude (40,000) of dragons; the name of a heiau in Puna. There is also a heiau in Kohala called by the same name.

[200] Ko'i, said to be a kupua who had to do with carving and finishing the canoe. Pua seems to be epithet applied to the group of workmen who assisted him.

[201] Lele-iwi, a cape on the Puna side of Hilo bay.

[202] Mokau-lele, the name of a little land in Hilo situated near the point where the eruption of 1881-1882 came to a stand-still.

[203] Lili. This word, accented on the final syllable, means to rush, to move with one fixed purpose in view. It is to be distinguished from lili, having the accent on the penult, and meaning to be angry, jealous, alienated. (My authority is J. M. Poepoe). The word is not given by Andrews in his Dictionary.

[204] Haili-opua, the name of a deity. It means the piling-up of cloud-portents.

[205] Wai-a-kahala-loa, the Green lake, in Puna. This was, no doubt, much larger and of more importance in ancient times than it is now.

[206] Wa'a, the name of a kaula, soothsayer, who observed the omens in the heavens and instructed the fishermen. He had his station on or near the hill Maka-noni, in Puna.

[207] In one text this is Pu-ala'a, said to be a place in Puna. I have amended it to make better sense.

[208] Ko'e-ula, a family of Kupua, superhuman creatures, who had power over men's lives. They were, in truth, some kind of mud-worms, or glow-worms. They came out from their subterranean retreats to see Pele.

[209] A'ama, an edible black crab whose shell has a highly decorative pattern. It is said to have been used as a special, or sacred food by certain priests.

[210] Pe'ai, a contracted form from pe'e, to hide. In this case, the meaning seems to be to hang low in the heavens.

[211] Ihi, another form for uhi, to cover, or covered. The ahea, or aheahea is a common plant that was cooked and eaten like luau. It was also used as a poultice, after heating.

[212] Ka-ula-hea. See note 22.

[213] Ka-o-mea-lani, a god of rain. He indicated his presence by piling up volumes of white clouds.

[214] Hokahoka, disappointed, fooled, deceived; said of Pele in view of her painful experience with Kama-pua'a.

[215] Ne'ene'e, to shift about, as Pele had to do because her back was pierced to the bone by the sharp points of a-a on which she lay during her affair with Kama-pua'a. The point of the irony is to be found in the fact that she was as a rule indifferent to the roughness of the bed on which she lay. Yet she was accustomed--so the story goes--to choose pahoehoe as a bed.

[216] Ai pau, literally, to eat the whole; and for the first time.

[217] Pahoehoe. The mention of pahoehoe in this and in the following line has reference to a saying, or belief, which asserted that Pele was covered with an armor of pahoehoe. It is as if the poet sought to banter her on this popular notion.

[218] Pau hale, literally, the destruction of the house, meaning, of course, the deflowering of Pele.

[219] Kane-ula-a-Pele, literally, the red man of Pele, meaning Ka-moho-alii, a brother of Pele. He is described as having a ruddy complexion and reddish hair. He presided over the council of the Pele gods.

[220] Ku-ihi-malanai-akea, one of the forms or attributes of god Ku, the Trade-wind. The word Malanai by itself is often used in modern Hawaiian poetry to signify the same thing.

N.B.--The occurrence of the preposition e in verse 147 illustrates the somewhat vague and, at times illogical, use of prepositions in Hawaiian poetry. If I read this passage correctly, Kane-ula-a-Pele and Ku-ihi-malanai-akea are in apposition with hoalii, the subject of the verb noho; and, that being the case, instead of the preposition e we should have the particle o standing before Kane-... as we find it before Ku-.... The explanation of this anomaly, it seems to me, is to be found in the demand of the Hawaiian ear for tone-color, at any cost, even at the expense of grammar.

[221] He noho ana ai laau, a session of the gods in which they partook in common of some laau, medicine, or spiritual corrective, as a sign of mutual amity, even as the North American Indians smoked the peace-pipe in token of friendly relation between the participants. This laau is said to have been none other than the tender buds of the a'ali'i, which was chewed by the members of the assembly and was deemed to be not merely a symbol but an active agent in the production of amity and a good understanding.

[222] Papa-walu, literally, eightfold. The wahine are the Hiiaka sisters, seven in number. The inclusion of Kukuena fills the number to eight.

N.B.--It should be noted that during the time of Pele's disqualification, or retirement, or disgrace, Hiiaka-i-ka-poli-o-Pele would be the one to control the affairs of the Pele family.

[223] Kiope, to scatter, said of a fire, in order to extinguish it.

[224] Ku mau-mau wa. The literal meaning is, stand in order, or, as I have put it, stand shoulder to shoulder. It corresponded to and served the purpose of a sailor's chantey, and was employed in the ancient times to Hawaiian history to give spirit and precision to the work of the men straining at the hauling line of a canoe-log. The koa tree has been felled and rudely fashioned; a strong line is made fast to one end of it, and the men, having ranged themselves along, rope in hand, their chief, sometimes standing on the log itself, gives the signal for them to be ready for a start by uttering the inspiring cry "I ku mau-mau wa!" "I ku mau wa," answer the men, and with a mighty pull the huge log starts on its way to its ocean-home.

[225] Mauli, contracted form of Mauli-ola; the name of a kupua, a deity, who had to do with health, after some ideal fashion, a sort of Hygeia; also the name of that kupua's mystical abode. The name Mauli, or Mauli-ola, was also given, as I learn, to the site of the present Kilauea Volcano House.

[226] Hua-wai maka, literally, an unripe water-gourd. In this place it means a small collection of dew or rain-water, a water-hole, a thing much sought after by men, even as the owl--as remarks the poet in the next verse--searches after it. Whether the poet is correct in his assertion about the owl, is more than I can say.

[227] Pu oe i kau laau me kou makaainana. Kou makaainana is, undoubtedly, Pele. The reference is to the practice spoken of in note 48.

[228] Hahau i ke Akua, offer to the god.

[229] Ku'u ia a'e Pele. (In the text the ia is shortened to a). The meaning seems to be that Pele is exonerated from blame. That would not, however, alter the facts and render back to Pele the sacredness that belonged to her uncontaminated body.

[230] Lapu'u 'na Pele. This seems to have a double meaning, referring at once to the dismissal of hard feelings against Pele and to her rising up from her customary attitude in repose, that with her head crouched forward and her legs drawn up towards the body.

[231] Kauwiki, a hill in Hana, Maui, famous in history.

[232] Ho'oili, to come together in a bunch, said of fish. This is an unusual use of the word, though an old Hawaiian (J. T. P.) tells me his mother used it in this way. It refers not to the swarming of fish, but their bunching together when driven.

[233] Paiea, a species of crab that resembles the a'ama. The background color of the paiea is black; this is strewn with spots and markings of dark red, producing a highly artistic effect. The specimen I examined was found in the Honolulu fish market and came from Kona, Hawaii. In spite of mutilation, it still retained a formidable claw.

[234] Maunu paiea. The Hawaiian fisherman often prepared his bait by chewing it fine, after which he blew it into the water to attract the fish. The poet finds a parallel between this action of the fisherman and the discharge of venomous words by an angered person.

[235] Nie, an elided form of niele, to question.

[236] Ea, the sea-turtle.

[237] Honu, the land-turtle.

[238] Kukuau, a hairy, spotted crab, said to be poisonous.

[239] Hinalea, a name applied to fish of several different species, among which one that is rare is the Hinalea akilolo (Macropharyngodon geoffroy, Quoy and Gaimard). Another less rare, though beautiful, species is the Hinalea i'iwi (Gomphosus tricolor, Quoy and Gaimard).

[240] Apuhihi.

[241] Hihi-wai, a bivalve shell that is found clinging to rocks or reeds in fresh or brackish water streams. Its dorsum is jetty black, its front white, shading into yellow.

[242] Loli-pua, loli-koko and loli-ka'e, different species of holothuriae, or sea-slugs, some of which are esteemed as food by the Hawaiians. They were, nevertheless, looked upon as kupua.

[243] Lelea, a marine creature that is said to be slimy and adheres to the rocks.

[244] Kahi-kona, said to be a god of the fishermen.

[245] Leo hokiki, an imperfect tone caused by a torn drumhead.

[246] Kua a. The penalty of approaching Pele from behind was death: she is said to have had a consuming back.

[247] Kai oki'a, an engulfing abyss.

[248] Ala muku, the rainbow. (For further comments on these difficult passages, see notes 11, 12, and 13, on page 114.)

[249] Ho'o-nou o ka lani. This must be Pele. The word ho-onou is used of a person striving to accomplish some physical task, as of a woman straining in labor.

[250] Ku-walu, literally, eighth in order of succession.

[251] Ulu-po, said to be the name of a heiau at Kailua, Oahu.