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Legends of Old Honolulu

<div id="ch24" class="div1 chapter"><div class="divHead"> <h2 class="label">XXIV</h2> <h2 class="main">LEPE-A-MOA</h2></div> <div class="divBody"> <div class="div2 section"><div class="divHead"> <h3 class="main">The Chicken-Girl of Palama</h3></div> <div class="divBody"> Strange things are sometimes imagined in the Hawaiian legends of ancient time. The story of Lepe-a-moa is an illustration of the blending of the Hawaiian idea of supernatural things with the deeds of every-day life. It is one of those old legends handed down by native bards through generations, whose first scenes lie on the island of Kauai, but change to Oahu. <div class="figure p204width" id="p204"><ANTIMG src="images/p204.jpg" alt="HAT AND MAT MAKER" width-obs="720" height-obs="476">HAT AND MAT MAKER </div> Keahua was one of the royal chiefs of Kauai. Apparently he was the highest chief on the island, but it was in the days when men were few and high chiefs and gods were many. He had spent his boyhood on the rich lands of Wailua, Kauai, and from there had crossed the deep channel to Oahu and had come to the home of the chiefess Kapalama after her beautiful daughter Kauhao, to take her to Kauai as his wife. But soon after his return one of the kupua gods became angry with him. A kupua was a god having a double body, sometimes appearing as a man and sometimes as an animal. The animal body always possessed supernatural powers. This kupua was called Akua-pehu-ale (god-of-the-swollen-billows). He devoured his enemies, and was greatly feared and hated even by his own tribe. He attacked Keahua, destroyed his people and drove him into the forests far up the mountain-sides, where, at a place called Kawaikini (The-many-waters), where fresh spring water abounded, the chief gathered his followers together and built a new home. One day Kapalama, who was living in her group of houses in the part of Honolulu which now bears her name, said to her husband: “O Honouliuli, our daughter on Kauai will have a child of magic power and of kupua character. Perhaps we should go thither, adopt it, and bring it up; there is life in the bones.” They crossed the channel, carrying offerings with them to their gods. Concealing their canoes, they went up into the forest. Their daughter’s child was already born, and behold, it was only an egg! The chief had given an order to carry it out into the deep sea and throw it away as an offering to the sea-monsters; but the mother and her soothsayers thought it should be kept and brought to life. Kapalama, coming at this time, took the egg, wrapped it carefully in soft kapas, bade farewell to her daughter, and returned to Oahu. Here she had her husband build a fine thatched house of the best grass he could gather. The kapas put inside for beds and clothing were perfumed by fragrant ginger flowers, hala blossoms, and the delicate bloom of the niu (coconut) while festoons of the sweet-scented maile graced its walls. For a long time that egg lay wrapped in its coverings of soft kapas. One day Kapalama told her husband to prepare an imu (oven) for their grandchild. He gathered stones, dug a hole, and took his fire-sticks and rubbed until fire came; then he built a fire in the hole and placed the wood and put on the stones, heating them until they were very hot. Taking some fine sweet-potatoes, he wrapped them in leaves and laid the bundles on the stones, covered all with mats, and poured on sufficient water to make steam in which to cook the potatoes. When all was fully cooked, Kapalama went to the house of the egg and looked in. There she saw a wonderfully beautiful chicken born from that egg. The feathers were of all the colors of all kinds of birds. They named the bird-child Lepe-a-moa. They fed it fragments of the cooked sweet-potato, and it went to sleep, putting its head under its wing. This bird-child had an ancestress who was a bird-woman and who lived up in the air in the highest clouds. Her name was Ke-ao-lewa (The-moving-cloud). She was a sorceress of the sky, but sometimes came to earth in the form of a great bird, or of a woman, to aid her relatives in various ways. When the egg was brought from Kauai, Ke-ao-lewa told her servants to prepare a swimming-pool for the use of the child. After this bird-child had come into her new life and eaten and rested, she went to the edge of the pool, ruffled and picked her feathers and drank of sweet water, then leaped in, swimming and diving and splashing all around the pool. When tired of this play, she got out and flew up in the branches of a tree, shaking off the water and drying herself. After a little while she flew down to her sleeping-house, wrapped herself in some fine, soft kapas, and went to sleep. Thus day by day she ate and bathed, and, when by herself she changed her bird form into that of a very beautiful girl, her body shone with beauty like the red path of the sunlight on the sea, or the rainbow bending in the sky. One day after she had made this change she stretched herself out with her face downward and called to her grandparents: “Oh, where are you two? Perhaps you will come inside.” They heard a weak, muffled voice, and one said: “Where is that voice calling us two? This is a strange thing. As a tabu place, no one has been allowed to come here; it is for us and our children alone.” The woman said, “We will listen again; perhaps we can understand this voice.” Soon they heard the child call as before. Kapalama said: “That is a voice from the house of our child. We must go there.” <div class="figure floatLeft p208width"><ANTIMG src="images/p208.png" alt="Ornamental flower." width-obs="221" height-obs="340"></div> She ran to the house, lifted the mat door, and looked in. When she saw a beautiful and strong girl lying on the floor she was overcome with surprise, and staggered back and fell to the ground as if dead. Honouliuli ran to her, rubbed her body, poured water on her head and brought her back to life. Then she said: “When I looked in, I saw our grandchild in a beautiful human body wearing a green and yellow feather lei. It was her voice calling us.” Thus Lepe-a-moa came into her two bodies and received her gift of magic powers. She was exceedingly beautiful as a girl, so beautiful that her glory shone out from her body like radiating fire, filling the house and passing through into the mist around, shining in that mist in resplendent rainbow colors. The radiance was around her wherever she went. One day she said to her grandparents, “I want another kind of food, and am going down to the sea for fish and moss.” In her chicken body she ate the potato food provided, but she desired the food of her friends when in her human form. Joyously she went down to the shore and saw the surf waves of Palama rolling in. She chanted as she saw this white surf: “My love, the first surf. I ride on these white waves.” As she rested on the crest of a great comber sweeping toward the beach she saw a squid rising up and tossing out its long arms to catch her. She laughed and caught it in her hand, saying, “One squid, the first, for the gods.” This she took to the beach and put in a fish-basket she had left on the sand with her skirt and lei. Again she went out, and saw two squid rising to meet her. This time she sang, “Here are two squid for the grandparents.” Then she saw and caught another floating on the wave with her. This she took, exclaiming, “For me; this squid is mine.” The grandparents rejoiced when they saw the excellent food provided them. Again and again she went to the sea, catching fish and gathering sweet moss from the reef. Thus the days of her childhood passed. Her grandfather gave his name, Honouliuli, to a land district west of Honolulu, while Kapalama gave hers to the place where they lived. The bird-child’s parents still dwelt in their forest home on Kauai, hidden from their enemy Akua-pehu-ale. <hr class="tb"> Note: In Hawaiian legends and even in history, down to the last ruler of the islands, a divinely given rainbow was supposed to be arched from time to time over those of high-chief birth. A child of divine and human or miraculous power in the family of a high chief would almost invariably have its birth attended by thunder, lightning, storm, and brilliant rainbows. These rainbows would usually follow the child wherever it went, resting over any place where it stopped. Sometimes the glory of the royal blood in a child would be so great that it would shine through the thatch of a house like a blazing fire, flashing out in the darkness like devouring flames, or, if the child was in the sea, the glory shone into the spray like rainbows. Some legends state that the sorcerers could tell the difference between the colors radiating from members of different royal families. If a kahuna saw a canoe far away with a mass of color above it, he could give the name of the person in it and his lineage. It is even stated that it was possible to discern these rainbows of royalty from island to island and know where the person was at that time staying. Lono-o-pua-kau was the god who had charge of these signs of a chief’s presence. <div class="figure p211width"><ANTIMG src="images/p211.png" alt="Octopus holding two fishes." width-obs="713" height-obs="290"></div> </div> </div> <div class="div2 section"><div class="divHead"> <h3 class="main">Kauilani and Akua-pehu-ale.</h3></div> <div class="divBody"> After a time Lepe-a-moa’s mother gave birth to a fine boy, who was named Kauilani. He was born in the forest by the water-springs Kawaikini. On the day of his birth a great storm swept over the land. Rain fell in torrents and swept in red streams down the valleys, thunder rolled, lightning flashed, earthquakes shook the land, and rainbows arched his birthplace. This time, since a boy was born, he belonged to the family of the father. His grandparents were Lau-ka-ie-ie and Kani-a-ula. They took the child and bathed him in a wonderful fountain called Wai-ui (Water-of-strength), which had the power of conferring rapid growth, great strength, and remarkable beauty upon those who bathed therein. The child was taken frequently to this fountain, so that he grew rapidly and was soon a man with only the years of a boy. The two old people were kupuas having very great powers. They could appear as human beings or could assume wind bodies and fly like the wind from place to place. They could not give the boy a double body, but they could give him supernatural powers with his name Kauilani (The-divine-athlete). They bound around him their marvellous malo (loin cloth) called Paihiku. When Keahua, the father, saw the boy, he said: “How is it that you have grown so fast and become a man so soon? Life is with you. Perhaps now you can help me. A quarrelsome friend sought war with me a long time ago and came near killing me; that is why we dwell in this mountain forest beyond his reach. Maybe you and my servants can destroy this enemy,” telling him also the character and dwelling-place of Akua-pehu-ale. Kauilani said to his father, “If you adopt my plan, perhaps we may kill this Akua-pehu-ale.” The father agreed and asked what steps should be taken. He was then told to send his servants up into the mountain to cut down ahakea1-trees and shape them into planks, then carry some of the sticks to the foot of the precipice near their home, and set them in the ground and to take the others to the sea and there set them up like stakes close together. That night was made very dark by the sorcery of the young chief. All the people slept soundly. At midnight Kauilani went out into the darkness and called thus to his gods: “O mountain! O sea! O South! O North! O all ye gods! Come to our aid! Inland at the foot of the pali is the ahakea; by the sea stands the ahakea, there by the beach of Hina. Multiply them with the wauke at the foot of the pali of Halelea and by the shore of Wailua. Bananas are ready for us this night. The bread-fruit and the sugar-cane are ours, O ye gods!” Repeating this incantation, he went into his house and slept. In the morning the high chief, Keahua, went out and looked, and behold! the sticks planted below the precipice had taken root and sent out branches and intertwined until it spread an almost impenetrable thicket. There were also many groups of wauke-trees which had sprung up in the night. He called his wife, saying, “While we slept, this wonderful thing has transpired.” Kauilani came out and asked his father to call all the people and have them go out and cut the bark from the wauke-trees, beat it into kapa, and spread it out to dry. This was quickly done, and two large houses also built and finished the same day. A tabu of silence was claimed for the night while he again petitioned the gods. Soon deep darkness rested on the land, and all the people fell asleep, for they were very tired. Kauilani only remained awake at his incantations, listening to the rapid work of the gods in cutting trees, carving images, and filling the houses with them. Awaking the next day, the chief and his people went to the houses and saw they were filled to overflowing with images, and covering the platforms and fences around the houses. Kauilani said to his father, “Let the men go up to a high hill inland and burn the dry wood and brush to attract the attention of your enemy while we prepare our battle.” Akua-pehu-ale was sporting in the sea when he saw the smoke rising from the hills and mingling with the clouds. He said: “That is something different from a cloud, and must be smoke from a fire made by some man. What man has escaped my eyes? I will go and see, and when I find him he shall be food for me.” Then he came to the beach, and his magic body flew to the lands below Kawaikini. All the people had been concealed by Kauilani, who alone remained to face the sea-monster. He stood in the doorway of one of the two large houses, with an image on each side, for which he had made eyes looking like those of a man. The god came up, and, fixing his eyes on the young chief, said: “Why are you hiding here? You have escaped in the past, but now you shall become my food.” He opened his mouth wide, one jaw rising up like a precipice, the other resting on the ground, his double-pointed tongue playing swiftly and leaping to swallow the chief and the images by his side. Kauilani said sternly, “Return to your place to-day, and you shall see my steps toward your place to-morrow for battle.” The god hesitated, and then said: “Sweet is the fatness of this place. Your bones are soft, your skin is shining. The glory of your body this day shall cease.” The chief, without making any motion, replied: “Wait a little; perhaps this means work for us two. This is my place. If I strike you, you may be my food, and the pieces of your body and your lands and property may fall to me like raindrops. It may be best that you should die, for you are very old, your eyelids hang down, and your skin is dry like that of an unihipili god [a god of skin and bones]. But I am young. This is not the day for our fight. To-morrow we can have our contest. Return to your sea beach; to-morrow I will go down.” The god thought a moment, and, knowing that the word of a chief was pledged for a battle, decided that he would return to a better place for a victory, so turned and went back to the shore. The young chief at once called his father and the people, and said: “To-morrow I am going down to fight with our enemy. Perhaps he will kill me; if so, glorious will be my death for you; but I would ask you to command the people to eat until satisfied, lest they be exhausted in the battle to-morrow; then let them sleep.” He laid out his plan of battle and defence. His mother and the grandparents who had cared for him, with a number of the people, were to fight protected by the growth of trees at the foot of the pali, and were to turn the god and his people toward the houses filled with the wooden gods made by the aumakuas (the ghost-gods). While all slept, Kauilani went out into the darkness and prayed to the thousands of the multitude of gods to work and establish his power from dawn until night. In the morning he girded around him his malo of magic power and made ready to go down. His father came to him with a polished spear, its end shaped to a sharp point, and set it up between them, saying: “This spear is an ancestor of yours. It has miraculous power and can tell you what to do. Its name is Koa-wi Koa-wa. It now belongs to you to care for you and fight for you.” The young chief gratefully took the spear and then said to his father: “Your part is to be watchman in the battle to-day. If the smoke of the conflict rises to the sky and then sweeps seaward and at last comes before you, you may know that I am dead; but if the smoke rises to the foot of the precipice and passes along to the great houses, you may know that the enemy is slain.” Then Kauilani took his spear and went down to the open field near the shore, talking all the way to it and to the gods. When he came to the seashore, he saw the god rising up like a mighty dragon, roaring and making a noise like reverberating thunder. As he rushed upon the chief, there was the sound as of great surf-waves beating on the beach. The sand and soil of the battlefield was tossed up in great clouds. The god fought in his animal body, which was that of a great, swollen sea-monster. Kauilani whirled his sharp-edged spear with swift bird’s-wing movement, chanting meanwhile: “O Koa-wi Koa-wa, strike! Strike for the lives of us two! Strike!” The power of his magic girdle strengthened his arms, and the spear was ready to act in harmony with every thought of its chief. It struck the open mouth of that god, and turned it toward the precipice and thick trees. Backward it was forced by the swift strokes of the spear. When a rush was made, the chief leaped toward the pali, and thus the god was driven and lured away from his familiar surroundings. He became tangled in the thickets, and was harassed by the attacks of Kauilani’s friends. At last his face was turned toward the houses filled with gods. The power which all the ghost gods had placed in the images of wood was now descending upon Akua-pehu-ale, and he began to grow weak rapidly. He felt the loss of strength, and turned to make a desperate rush upon the young chief. Kauilani struck him a heavy blow, and the spear leaped again and again upon him, till he rolled into a mountain stream at a place called Kapaa, out of which he crawled almost drowned. Then he was driven along even to the image houses, where a fierce battle took place, in which the wooden images took part, many of them being torn to pieces by the teeth of Akua-pehu-ale. Some legends say that Kauilani’s ancestress, Ke-ao-lewa, who had watched over his sister, the bird-child, Lepe-a-moa, had come from her home in the clouds to aid in the defeat of Akua-pehu-ale. All forces uniting drove their enemy into a great, mysterious cloud of mana, or miraculous power, and he fell dead under a final blow of the cutting spear Koa-wi Koa-wa. Then Kauilani and his warriors rolled the dead body into one of the large houses. There he offered a chant of worship and of sacrifice, consecrating it as an offering to all the gods who had aided him in his battle. When this ceremony was over he set fire to the houses and burned the body of Akua-pehu-ale and all the wooden images which remained after the conflict, the smoke of which rose up and swept along the foot of the precipice. The father saw this, and told his people that the young chief had killed their enemy, so with great rejoicing they prepared a feast for the victorious chief and his helpers. Kauilani went with his parents and grandparents down to the shore and took possession of all that part of the island around Wailua, comprising large fish-ponds, and taro and sweet-potato lands, held by the servants of the vanquished god. These he placed under the charge of his father’s own faithful chiefs, and made his father once more king over the lands from which he had been driven. <div class="figure p220width" id="p220"><ANTIMG src="images/p220.jpg" alt="HALIEWA LOOKING TOWARD WAIANAE MOUNTAINS" width-obs="720" height-obs="439">HALIEWA LOOKING TOWARD WAIANAE MOUNTAINS </div> </div> </div> <div class="div2 section"><div class="divHead"> <h3 class="main">Kauilani finds his Sister Lepe-a-moa</h3></div> <div class="divBody"> For some time after the famous battle with the evil god, Kauilani aided his parents in establishing a firm and peaceful government, after which he became restless and wanted new experiences. One day he asked his mother if he was the only child she had. She told him the story of his sister, who had been born from an egg, and had become a very beautiful young woman. They had never seen her, because she had been taken to Oahu by her grandparents and there brought up. Kauilani said, “I am going to Oahu to find her.” His mother said: “Yes, that is right. I will tell you about my people and their lands.” So she told him about his ancestors, his grandparents and their rich lands around the Nuuanu stream and its bordering plains; also of the stopping-places as he should cross the island to Kapalama, his grandmother, where he would find his sister under a rainbow having certain strong shades of color. The parents prepared a red feather cloak for him to wear with his fine magic malo. These he put on, and, taking his ancestral spear, went down to the sea. Laying his spear on the water, he poised upon it, when it dashed like a great fish through the water; leaping from wave to wave, it swept over the sea like a malolo (flying-fish), and landed him on the Oahu beach among the sand-dunes of Waianae. Taking up his spear he started toward the sunrise side of the island, calling upon it as he went along to direct his path to Kapalama. Then he threw the spear as if it were a dart in the game of pahee, but instead of sliding and skipping along the ground it leaped into the air, and, like a bird floating on its wings, went along before the young chief. Once it flew fast and far ahead of him to a place where two women were working, and fell at their feet. They saw the beautiful spear, wonderfully polished, and picked it up, and quickly found a hiding-place wherein they concealed it. Covering up the deep furrow it had made in the ground where it fell and looking around without seeing any one, they resumed their work. Soon Kauilani came to the place where they were, and, greeting them, asked pleasantly, “When did you see my travelling companion who passed this way?” They were a little confused, yet said they had not seen any one. Then he asked them plainly if a spear had passed them, and again they denied all knowledge of anything coming near. Kauilani said, “Have you not concealed my friend, my spear?” They replied: “No. We have not had anything to do with any spear.” The chief softly called, “E Koa-wi! E Koa-wa! E!” The spear replied in a small, sharp voice, “E-o-e-o!” and leaped out from its hiding-place, knocking the women over into the stream near which they had been working. Taking the spear, he went down to the seashore, scolding it on the way for making sport of him, and threatened to break it if anything else went wrong. The spear said: “You must not injure me, your ancestor, or all your visit will result in failure. But if you lay me down on the beach I will take you to the place where you can find your sister.” The chief said, “How shall I know you are not deceiving me?” The spear replied, “Sit down on me and in a little while we shall be at a place where you can see her.” Then it carried the complaining chief to the beach of Kou. There it lay on the ground and said: “You see a tree, a wiliwili-2tree, standing alone near the sea and looking out over the waters? Go you to that tree and climb it and look along the beach until you see a rainbow rising over the waves. Under that rainbow you will see a girl catching squid and shellfish and gathering sea-moss. She is doing this for her old people. She is your sister.” The chief said, “I will go and see, but if no one is there I will punish you for deceiving me, and break you into little pieces.” He went to the tree, climbed to the top branches and looked along the beach as the spear had directed. He saw a very strange thing out over the water: red mist and bloody rainclouds moving back and forth over the dark-blue waves, extending far out toward the horizon and also covering the place where he was to see the girl. He called down to the spear that he could not see any rainbow or any girl. The spear replied: “Everything is changing rapidly on the face of the sea. Look again.” He watched the whirling mist and rain, and as it moved slowly he saw an immense bird with many red feathers on its body and wings. When it flew up from the sea it hid the light from the sun and cast a dark shadow over all that beach. He called to the spear, “What is this great bird flying over the ocean?” The spear replied: “That is one of your ancestors, a kupua. She has a double body, sometimes appearing as a bird and sometimes in human form. Her name is Ka-iwa-ka-la-meha. She has dwelling-places in all the islands, and even in Kahiki. She has come to your sister, Lepe-a-moa, over the seas of the gods Ka-ne and Kanaloa.” Kauilani watched the great bird as it rose from the sea and flew in mighty circles around the heavens, rising higher and higher until it was lost in the sky. Soon the atmosphere began to clear, and he saw the rainbow and the girl in the far distance. He came down and told the spear that all its words were true. The spear again asked the young chief to sit on it. He did so, and was carried rapidly to the group of houses where Kapalama was living with her husband and grandchild. That same day, after Lepe-a-moa had taken her basket and gone to the shore, Kapalama looked along the road toward the sunset and saw a small cloud hastening along the way. Watching it carefully, she saw a rainbow in the cloud and called to her husband: “O Honouliuli, this is a very strange thing, but from the rainbow in the cloud I know that our grandchild from Kauai is coming to this place. You must quickly fire the oven and prepare food for this our young grandchild.” He made the oven ready, and soon had chicken, fish, and sweet-potatoes cooking for their visitor. When Kauilani came to his grandparents they all wailed over each other, according to the ancient custom of the Hawaiians. When the greeting was finished he went into the house set apart for men as their eating-place, into which women were not allowed to enter, and there ate his food. After this he went outside and lay down on a mat and talked with his grandmother. She praised him for the great victory won with his spear against his father’s enemy, and then asked why he had come to Oahu. He said, “I have come to see my sister in her double nature.” She replied: “That is right. I will take you to her house. There you must make a hollow place and hide under the mats and not let her see or hear you, lest you die. But when she falls asleep you must catch her and hold her fast until she accepts you as her brother. I will utter my chants and prayers for your success.” So he hid himself in the girl’s house and kept very quiet. Meanwhile Lepe-a-moa, who was through fishing, picked up her basket and started toward her home. She saw a rainbow resting over their houses and thought some strange chief had come. She rejoiced and determined that the chief should play her favorite game konane, a game resembling checkers. When she came to the houses she asked her grandmother for the strange chief, saying she saw the footsteps of some man, perhaps now concealed by the grandmother. Kapalama denied that any one had come. So the girl went into her house, laid aside her human body, and assumed that of many kinds of birds. Kapalama broke cooked sweet-potatoes and fed the pieces to this bird-body. Having eaten all she wished, Lepe-a-moa went into her house and lay down on her mats and fell asleep. When deep sleep was on her the young chief leaped upon her, caught her in his arms, and held her fast. Jumping up, she dashed out of the house, carrying him with her. She flew up into the sky, but he still clung to her. The magic power of that spear helped him to hold fast and made the bird fly slowly. As she heard her grandmother chanting about herself and her brother, the young chief of Kauai, her anger modified, and she asked the stranger, “Who are you, and from whence have you come?” He said, “I am from Kauai, and I am Kauilani, your younger brother.” Then she began to love him, and flew back to her grandparents, who welcomed them with great rejoicing. <div class="figure floatRight p227width"><ANTIMG src="images/p227.png" alt="Elepaio Bird" width-obs="251" height-obs="257">Elepaio Bird </div> For many days the young people and their grandparents dwelt happily together. In later years the young chief and his sister saved King Kakuhihewa in a remarkable manner. As a result, the king gave his favorite daughter to Kauilani as his wife, and Lepe-a-moa cared for their children. </div> </div> <div class="div2 section"><div class="divHead"> <h3 class="main">The Battle of the Kupuas</h3></div> <div class="divBody"> This part of the legend of Lepe-a-moa belongs to Waikiki and to Palama.3 It is also one of the ancient long stories handed down from generation to generation among the Hawaiians. It came from the days of Kakuhihewa, who was the King Arthur of Oahu traditions and whose chiefs were “the Knights of the Round Table” after whom most of the noted localities of Oahu were named. However, this goes back into the misty past only about four hundred years. A boy and a girl were born on the island of Kauai, both possessing miraculous powers. The girl, Lepe-a-moa, was taken as soon as born to Palama, and there brought up by her grandparents. The boy, Kauilani, was reared by his parents on Kauai, and there did many wonderful deeds, after which he came to Oahu to visit his sister. At birth, Lepe-a-moa was only an egg, which, under the care of the grandparents, developed into a very beautiful maiden who could assume at will a multitude of bird forms. Thus she was what the ancient legends called kupua, or a person having both human and animal powers. <div class="figure p228width" id="p228"><ANTIMG src="images/p228.jpg" alt="KAKUHIHEWA’S LANDS TOWARD DIAMOND HEAD" width-obs="720" height-obs="437">KAKUHIHEWA’S LANDS TOWARD DIAMOND HEAD </div> The young chief desired to visit the court of Kakuhihewa, who resided at Waikiki.4 The grandmother, Kapalama, sent messengers to Ke-ao-lewa, the ruler of the birds of the heavens, for new clothing fit for the young chief, and they returned with a magnificent feather sash, and a glorious red feather cloak, shining like the blossoms of the lehua-tree, and fringed with yellow feathers which were like golden clouds in the light of the setting sun. He bound the sash over his shoulders and around his body as a girdle, or malo, threw the cloak from the heavens around him, took his magic spear, Koa-wi Koa-wa, which had the power of human speech, and journeyed to Waikiki. At this time Kakuhihewa was entertaining his sister and her husband, Maui-nui, who was king of the island of Maui. According to custom, the days were devoted to sports and gambling. Maui-nui had a kupua, a rooster, which was one of the ancestors of Kauilani’s family, but was very cruel and destructive. He could assume a different bird form for each magic power he possessed. This, with his miraculous human powers, made him superior to all the roosters which had ever been his antagonists in cock-fighting. It was the custom of this king to take this kupua in his rooster body, with some other chickens, and visit other chiefs, having many battles and winning large amounts of property, such as the best canoes, the finest mats and kapas, and the most royal feather cloaks, as well as the lands of the chiefs who had not been subject to him. Sometimes, when all available property had been won, he would persuade a chief to “bet his bones.” This meant that the poverty-stricken chief, as a last resort, would wager his body against some of the property lost. If defeated, his life might be taken and his body sent to the most noted heiau (temple) of his opponent and placed on an altar as a human sacrifice, or the body would be burned or cooked in a fire oven and thrown into the sea. Kakuhihewa and Maui-nui had been passing many days in this sport. When the Maui king was afraid the game might be given up, he would let some of the ordinary chickens fight, or would select the weakest from his flock. Then a large amount of property might be returned to the original owners, but he took care to lead his opponents on until their pride or their shame compelled them to wager their very last resources. Thus the betting had gone on from time to time until the Maui king had provoked Kakuhihewa into betting his kingdom of Oahu in an almost hopeless attempt to win back all that had been lost before. The Oahu king realized that his brother-in-law was using a bird of magic power, but his bets had been made and word given, and he did not know of any way in which he could get sufficient magic to overcome his antagonist. He had heard about Kauilani, a wonderfully powerful young chief on Kauai, who had conquered a god of the seas and restored a kingdom to his father. He had sent messengers to Kauai to ask this young chief to come to his aid, promising as a reward the hand of his favorite and most beautiful daughter in marriage; but the days passed and no word came from Kauai. Meanwhile Kauilani came before Kakuhihewa and was announced as a young chief from Kapalama. No one thought of any connection with the noted warrior of Kauai. The king was very much pleased with the young chief, and finally asked him if he had seen his chickens, and if he would like to go to the place where they were kept. Kauilani saw the chickens and sent for water, which the keepers brought to him. Taking it, he sprinkled the eyes of the roosters. None of them had sufficient power to keep from shutting their eyes when the water struck their heads. Then he said to the keeper, “These birds will not be of any use for our chief.” Then he went to see the king’s tabu rooster, the one reserved by the king for any last and desperate conflict. This he also tried and found wanting. The keepers then sent word to the king that a strange young man with great wisdom was looking at the chickens, and the king came out and asked Kauilani about the tests. The young chief sprinkled water as before, and then said to the king, “Perhaps your rooster has strength and perhaps he has no power.” The king said: “Ah! We see that this tabu rooster has no strength for this conflict. He closes his eyes. His enemy is very strong and very quick. We shall be defeated and belong to the king of Maui.” Then Kauilani said, “Perhaps I can find a bird of very great powers who can save us.” The king said: “If you defeat Ke-au-hele-moa, the magic rooster of the king of Maui, you shall become my son. My daughter shall be your wife.” Kauilani requested the king to have the place closed where the chickens were kept, so that no spy could watch them. He told the king he had a kupua chicken still in an egg, which would kill the great bird of the king of Maui, but that before the time came for the festival in which the cock-fighting occurred his chicken would be hatched and have power to save the king and his kingdom. The king was filled with delight, and took the handsome young chief at once to his house and sent for his daughter. He said to her: “I have set you free from the tabu which I placed upon you as the promised wife of the chief of Kauai. It is better that you should take this young chief as your husband.” So they were married and lived together a few days. Then the young chief told the king he must go at once to obtain the chicken egg. He told his wife not to be jealous about anything she might hear among the people, and not to be angry in any way whatever at the time of his return, or he would not continue to have her as his wife. He went back to his sister, Lepe-a-moa. She saw him, and leaped to meet him, calling: “Come! Come! Come! I have waited and waited for you.” He told her all about his visit and the great need of the king, saying, “I have come back for this day only and for your help.” Then they went to the bathing-pool, and were swimming, diving and bathing when they heard the sweet voice of the mischievous elepaio bird over them, around them, and at last from the bank of the pool, calling out: “Ono ka ia! Ono ka ia!” (“The fish is sweet! The fish is sweet!”) This bird was also Lea, the goddess of canoe-cutters. Kauilani called to her: “Why do you not get young fish in the ocean? Is this the only place for sweet fish?” Then the elepaio told the brother and sister about the great rooster belonging to the king of Maui, its miraculous power, and its name, “Ke-au-hele-moa,” and then said: “You two go to the place of the fight. Take great care of your sister. Put her in a lei garland around your neck. You will note the appearance of that rooster of the king of Maui: very tall; black, white and red feathers; only one tail-feather. If he sees his grandchild before the fight she will not escape, but if you keep her hidden until she goes out for battle he will be destroyed.” When the brother and sister returned they told the grandparents about Kakuhihewa’s trouble and the power of the rooster of the king of Maui to assume several bodies. Kauilani told them that the Maui king was so sure of winning that he had collected a great pile of wood wherewith to heat an oven in which to cook Kakuhihewa’s body. The grandmother said: “That great bird is one of our own family, and has very great power, but Lepe-a-moa has much greater power if you two work together. He must not see her until she goes out to fight with him.” Lepe-a-moa said to her brother: “This is bad for you. You come as if you loved me, but you have taken the king’s daughter for your wife. If I go with you and your wife is angry with me, she shall be set aside and I will be your wife.” Kauilani said, “That is right.” Lepe-a-moa made herself very beautiful with a glistening spotted feather cloak. Her pa-u, or skirt, was like fire, flaming and flashing. Kauilani told her she must go first, as the eldest one of the family. Thus they passed in their splendid feather dresses down to Kou (Honolulu) and out to Pawaa, the people shouting and praising the beautiful girl. As they came to Waikiki the noise of the people could be heard far, far away: “O the beautiful girl coming with the husband of our chiefess! O the beautiful girl!” The king’s daughter heard the shout and became very angry. She ordered the people to drive Kauilani and Lepe-a-moa away. But the servants knew the reason why the young chief had become the husband of the king’s daughter, and said among themselves: “We want to live. We must not drive them away.” Lepe-a-moa said to her brother, “I told you that she would be angry with me.” “Yes,” said the brother, “that is true, and you shall be my wife.” They turned aside from the royal houses. The girl laid aside her girl body and put on her bird body in one of its smallest forms and was concealed in an egg. The brother wrapped this egg in a corner of his cloak, put it around his neck and went to the place where the chickens were kept and took one of the small houses of the keepers as his own. That evening, when a large calabash of food was brought for the chickens and set aside, he took it secretly, gave all the food to his sister and turned the calabash up as if it had been upset and the food eaten by dogs. The caretakers were greatly worried because they had no food that night for the chickens. They knew that the chickens would not have any strength for fighting. When Kakuhihewa heard that his daughter had driven her husband away he was very much troubled, and was afraid that he and his people would be destroyed, so he sent messengers to look everywhere and if possible find the young chief, but they all failed. At last one of the guardians of the chickens said, “Your son is sleeping in one of our houses.” Kakuhihewa sent Kou, one of the highest officers in his government, to go after Kauilani. This Kou was the chief after whom Kou, the ancient Honolulu, was named. Kou found the young chief sleeping, and aroused him, telling him the king was very sorry for the anger of his daughter, and asking him to come back to the king’s house and on the morrow see the day of death. Kauilani told Kou to return and tell the king to prepare everything for the day of battle, and hang a large kapa sheet between two posts. He pointed out two roosters which were to be taken first. The king was to send them one by one to fight. When they were killed the king was to ask for a time of rest. “After this will be the time for my battle.” Thus he taught Kou, who returned and told the king. The next morning the king of Maui sent his messenger to the king of Oahu, asking if all things were ready for the battle of that day. The king of Oahu replied: “Yes; we will go to the place of death. If they win, we die; but if we win, there shall be no death. I do not know how to kill a man in this way.” So they all went to the battlefield. As soon as all the chiefs and the people were assembled, Maui-nui, king of Maui, leaped up and began his boast, proposing the battle and stating the conditions, “Death for the defeated.” Kakuhihewa quietly answered: “If I win, I shall not kill you. You have already prepared for our death.” The wife of the king of Maui favored the terms of the Oahuan ruler to be applied to both sides, but her husband again called out his condition, “Death to the defeated.” Then Kakuhihewa stated his condition: “We will try one rooster, and then another. If both of my roosters are killed, we will rest until time has been given to get another bird for me.” This was agreed to without any opposition. The chickens were quickly freed. The roosters leaped against each other and one fell dead. Then the second battle was fought and the second rooster killed. While they were resting, Kauilani went in behind that large kapa sheet which he had requested. The egg was wrapped in his cloak, which was thrown around his neck. He took out the egg and uttered an incantation: <div class="lgouter"> “The chicken comes out better in the heat. Both of us were born at midnight. Dust rises and is blown like mist on a wave. Pick the flowers of the ohia—pick the flowers. Fly! Fly! Fly! Leaping in the dust of Kaumaea.” </div> The egg began to change until it became a full-grown chicken. Kauilani told his bird-sister to go out before the people thus: “Go all around the fighting-place. Go to the feet of Maui-nui, and look upon him; then go to the middle and stand there looking into the face of your ancestor. He will then know you perhaps, and will put on many kinds of bird bodies. If he puts on red, you must become white. You have more bird bodies than he. You will win. Then if he changes his body again I will tell you what to do until he becomes weary; then you put on your spotted body and kill him.” The bird then left him and went out before the people. They made a great noise, laughing and crying out: “A hen! A hen! To fight the great rooster!” But she was very beautiful in her shining coat of feathers as she waited for the battle. Then the rooster came in, and Kauilani saw that he did not recognize his grandchild. Lepe-a-moa clucked and moved her head and wings like a hen calling to her young chickens. Ke-au-hele-moa was angry. His feathers rose as he came up and he changed their color into red. His antagonist became white. Then he struck at her, leaped at her, and tried to overthrow her with his wings, but was not able to touch her, while she lightly flew over his head, striking his face and beating him with claws and wings. Then he became moa-nene (a goose form), but Kauilani uttered a prayer and his sister became a swift aloe-bird, a small mud-hen. The battle again was fought, whirling, striking, leaping and flying, but the bird-girl was not injured in the least, while the rooster’s face was bleeding and his eyes suffering from the terrific and swift blows dealt by Lepe-a-moa. She tore him to pieces, until the battle was in a thick cloud of flying feathers. The people thought he was dead, but his magic power was still in the fragments of his body, torn and thrown up, floating far up among the clouds. He rested in some mist-clouds above, and put on a body having the color of the yellow blossoms of the hau-tree. Before this the day had been quiet, but now, with the return of that rooster, the chill of snow and ice came down in a cold mist like the snow mists on the tops of the mountains. The rooster sent this icy, fine rain in a stream like a flowing river over Kakuhihewa and his people. Then Kauilani called to his sister: “Behold Ke-au-hele-moa comes to his last strength. He follows the ice-cloud. Can you make a way of escape?” This call was in a spirit voice and none of the people heard. Lepe-a-moa called upon Ke-ao-lewa (The morning cloud) for help, and a cloud was let down as a shield, turning off the cold mist and letting it pass on over the sea. So Kakuhihewa and his people were left in peace. Lepe-a-moa flew up into a tall coconut-tree and saw her enemy in the form of a manu-alala (great black bird) coming behind the mist to the battlefield. She flew down and put on the color of the pua-niu (the cream color of a coconut blossom) and again flew like a whirlwind around her enemy. Then the ancestor-bird took his last body, that of a moa-a-uha. Kauilani called to his sister to go around before all the people, putting on her spotted body, and then return, looking sharply at the right wing of her enemy to find a place to break it, then fly against the right eye and pick it out, and after that fly down on the head of the king of Maui, then leap to the last battle, break the left wing, pluck out the left eye and tear the body to pieces. “Then he will die. He cannot make a new body for himself.” Lepe-a-moa flew down upon the black bird, which tried to strike her with its strong wings, but when the right wing was spread out, showing its weak places, she flew in swiftly and broke that wing so that it could not be used. Then she leaped against the head and caught the right eye, destroying it. The black bird tried to whirl around and around to strike the spotted chicken, but Lepe-a-moa shook her wings over her enemy and flew off around the place of battle until she was in front of the Maui king. Before he could think or make a move for self-protection she dashed into his hair and tore it with her claws and flew back against her enemy. This polluted and disgraced Maui-nui. This time she whirled around the left side. He struck at her. As his wing was spread out she flew in and broke it, so that it fell useless by his side. Then she struck his eye, and he was entirely blind. She dashed against him, and he fell over. She clawed and picked and tore his body until it was in small pieces and his life was destroyed. The people shouted with a loud voice: “Auwe! Auwe! [Alas! Alas!] The rooster of the king of Maui is dead! Ke-au-hele-moa is dead! The king of Maui is to die!” The name of this rooster, it is said, was given to a place far up Palolo Valley, near Honolulu. When the people shouted, Kauilani stood up in his splendid cloak and sash and cried out: “Aye! Aye! Dead to me—dead to Kauilani, the child of Keahua and Kauhao!” His sister flew to him and he took her and disappeared in the confused, moving crowd of excited people. Thus they returned to Kapalama. At that time Kakuhihewa learned who the young man was, and was glad that he had not treated him uncivilly in any way and so lost his wonderful aid. He was very, very thankful for his victory over the king of Maui. He ordered his servants to find Kauilani, but they could not. He was fully lost. Wailuku, the wife of Maui-nui, asked Kakuhihewa what he intended to do with them. He replied: “I will not kill. I am for life. I do not know how to make a man. I do not want death. If you had won, you should have your desire. Now I will have life as my wish.” Maui-nui returned to his island, but his wife remained with her brother. The king ordered his people to make search everywhere for Kauilani. They went to Kauai, but he had not returned to his parents. They visited Maui and Hawaii, but found no trace. For several months the search was prosecuted. Even the mountains, hills, valleys, forests, jungles and caves were looked over as carefully as possible. By and by two chiefs, Kou and Waikiki, saw the signs of a high chief over Kapalama’s group of houses, and went up to make inquiries. They saw Kauilani and told him that the king wanted him to come back. Lepe-a-moa said: “You must reveal yourself, and you must go back to that wife. Her time has come.” Kauilani sent the chiefs, Kou and Waikiki, back to the king with the message that he would follow the next day. In the morning he met the king, who said: “This year I have been near to death and from you came life, and you have been lost, to my sorrow. Now my daughter’s child is near birth, perhaps you can give life to your child.” Kauilani went to his wife’s home. The caretakers refused to let him give any aid until they had tried all their arts and failed. Then Kauilani sent all the people away and stood alone by his wife, uttering his chant or incantation of life for the sick one: <div class="lgouter"> “O Aumakuas! Ghost gods! Come from the north, the south, the east, the west. Male and female and children, Come for this cry of distress. O all those who have power in the skies! Come in this time of death. O all the household of Kapalama! Come and give life. I am Kauilani, The strong child of Keahua and Kauhao. Life for the mother and this child.” </div> While he was chanting this prayer the child was born. Lepe-a-moa saw that her brother was very busy before the gods, so she secretly took the child and hurried to Kapalama. That day there were fierce storms, resounding thunder and flashing lightning, while the land shook in the throes of an earthquake. These were the signs usually accompanying the birth of any high chief or chiefess. Kakuhihewa was troubled when he knew that the child had disappeared, but was satisfied when he learned that it was with Kapalama and Lepe-a-moa. <div class="figure p244width" id="p244"><ANTIMG src="images/p244.jpg" alt="WEARING THE LEI" width-obs="498" height-obs="720">WEARING THE LEI </div> The baby was a girl and very beautiful, so Lepe-a-moa adopted it as her own and gave it the name of Kamamo. Kauilani lived with his wife, making his home all the rest of his life in the court of his father-in-law, Kakuhihewa. <div class="figure p245width"><ANTIMG src="images/p245.png" alt="Rooster." width-obs="300" height-obs="414"></div> </div> </div></div> <div class="footnotes"> <hr class="fnsep"> <div class="footnote-body"> <div id="xd31e2828"> 1 Bobea Elatior also Hookeri. ↑ </div> <div id="xd31e2918" lang="la"> 2 Erythrina Monosperma. ↑ </div> <div id="xd31e2963"> 3 A district in Chinatown, Honolulu. ↑ </div> <div id="xd31e2977"> 4 Near Moana Hotel and Outrigger Club House. ↑ </div> </div></div> </div> <div id="ch25" class="div1 chapter"><div class="divHead"> <h2 class="label">XXV</h2> <h2 class="main">KAMAPUAA LEGENDS</h2></div> <div class="divBody"> <div class="div2 section"><div class="divHead"> <h3 class="main">Legends of the Hog-god</h3></div> <div class="divBody"> Some of the most unique legends of the nations have centered around imagined monsters. Centaurs, half man and half horse, thronged the dreams of Rome. The Hawaiians knew nothing about any animals save the fish of the seas, the birds of the forests, and the chickens, the dogs and the pigs around their homes. From the devouring shark the Hawaiian imagination conceived the idea of the shark-man who indulged in cannibalistic tendencies. From the devastations of the hogs they built up the experiences of an rude vicious chief whom they called Kamapuaa, who was the principal figure of many rough exploits throughout the islands. Sometimes he had a hog’s body with a human head and limbs, sometimes a hog’s head rested on a human form, and sometimes he assumed the shape of a hog—quickly reassuming the form of a man. Kalakaua’s legends say that he was a hairy man and cultivated the stiff hair by cutting it short so that it stood out like bristles, and that he had his body tattooed so that it would have the appearance of a hog. In place of the ordinary feather cloak worn by chiefs he wore a pigskin with its bristles on the outside and a pigskin girdle around his waist. The legends say that he was born at Kaluanui, a part of the district of Hauula or Koolau coast of the island Oahu. His reputed father was Olopana, the high chief of that part of the island, and his mother was Hina, the daughter of a chief who had come from a foreign land. Other legends say that his father was Kahikiula (The Red Tahiti), a brother of Olopana. These brothers had come to Oahu from foreign lands some time before. Fornander always speaks of Olopana as Kamapuaa’s uncle, although he had taken Hina as his wife. The Koolauloa coast of Oahu lies as a luxuriant belt of ever-living foliage a mile or so in width between an ocean of many colors and dark beetling precipices of mountain walls rising some thousands of feet among the clouds. From these precipices which mark the landward side of a mighty extinct crater come many mountain streams leaping in cascades of spray down into the quiet green valleys which quickly broaden into the coral-reef-bordered seacoast. From any place by the sea the outline of several beautiful little valleys can be easily traced. One morning while the sunlight of May looked into the hidden recesses and crevices of these valleys, bringing into sharp relief of shadow and light the outcropping ledges, a little band of Hawaiians and their white friends lay in the shade of a great kamani1 tree and talked about the legends which were told of the rugged rock masses of each valley, and the quiet pools of each rivulet. Where the little party lay was one of the sporting-places of Kamapuaa the “hog-child treated in the legends as a demi-god.” Not far away one of the mountain streams had broadened into a quiet bush-shaded lakelet with deep fringes of grass around its borders. Here the legendary hog-man with marvellous powers had bathed from time to time. A narrow gorge deep shadowed by the morning sun was the place which Kamapuaa had miraculously bridged for his followers when an enemy was closely pursuing them. Several large stones on the edges of the valleys were pointed out as the monuments of various adventures. An exquisitely formed little valley ran deep into the mountain almost in front of the legend-tellers. Far away in the upper end where the dark-green foliage blended with still darker shadows the sides of the valley narrowed until they were only from sixty to seventy feet apart, and unscalable precipices bent toward each other, leaving only a narrow strip of sky above. On the right of this valley is a branch-gorge down which fierce storms have hurled torrents of waters and mist. The upper end has been hollowed and polished in the shape of a finely rounded canoe of immense proportions. It was from this that the valley took its name Ka-liu-waa, possibly having the meaning, “the leaky canoe.” Some of the legends say that this was Kamapuaa’s canoe leaning against the precipice and always leaking out the waters which fell in it. Lying toward the west was a very fertile and open tract of land, Kaluanui, where Kamapuaa was said to have been born of Hina. After his birth he was thrown away by Kahiki-houna-kele, an older brother, and left to die. After a time Hina, the mother, went to a stream of clear, sweet water near her home to bathe. After bathing she went to the place where she had left her pa-u, or tapa skirt, and found a fine little hog lying on it. She picked it up and found that it was a baby. She was greatly alarmed, and gave the hog-child to another son, Kekelaiaika, that he might care for it, but the older brother stole the hog-child and carried it away to a cave in which Hina’s mother lived. Her name was Kamaunuaniho. The grandmother knew the hog-child at once as her grandson endowed with marvellous powers, and since the gods had given him the form of a hog he should be called kama (child), puaa (hog). Then she gave to the older brother kapa quilts in which to place Kamapuaa. These were made in layers; six sheets of kapa cloth formed the under quilt for a bed and six sheets the upper quilt for a cover. In these Kamapuaa slept while his brother prepared taro2 and breadfruit for his food. Thus the wonderful hog ate and slept usually in the form of a hog until size and strength came to him. Then he became mischievous and began to commit depredations at night. He would root up the taro in the fields of his neighbors, and especially in the field of the high chief Olopana. Then he would carry the taro home, root up ferns and grass until he had good land and then plant the stolen taro. Thus his grandmother and her retainers were provided with growing taro, the source of which they did not understand. His elder brother prepared an oven in which to cook chickens. Kamapuaa rooted up the oven and stole the chickens. This brother Kahiki-houna-kele caught the hog-child and administered a sound whipping, advising him to go away from home if he wanted to steal, and especially to take what he wanted from Olopana. Adopting this advice, Kamapuaa extended his raids to the home of the high chief. Here he found many chickens. Kamapuaa quickly killed some, took them in his mouth and threw many more on his back and ran home. The morning came before he had gone far and the people along the way saw the strange sight and pursued him. By the use of charms taught him by his sorceress-grandmother he made himself run faster and faster until he had outstripped his pursuer. Then he carried his load to his grandmother’s cave and gave the chickens to the family for a great luau (feast). Another time he stole the sacred rooster belonging to Olopana, as well as many other fowls. The chief sent a large number of warriors after him. They chased the man who had been seen carrying the chickens. He fled by his grandmother’s cave and threw the chickens inside, then fled back up the hillside, revealing himself to his pursuers. They watched him, but he disappeared. He dropped down by the side of a large stone. On this he seated himself and watched the people as they ran through the valley calling to each other. The high grass was around the stone so that for a long time he was concealed. For this reason this stone still bears the name Pohaku-pee-o-Kamapuaa (Kamapuaa’s-hiding-stone). After a time a man who had climbed to the opposite ridge cried out, “E, E, there he is sitting on the great stone!” This man was turned into a stone by the magic of Kamapuaa. The pursuers hastened up the hillside and surrounded the stone, but no man was there. There was a fine black hog, which they recognized as the wonderful one belonging to Kamaunuaniho. So they decided that this was the thief, and seized it and carried it down the hill to give to the high chief Olopana. After getting him down into the valley they tried to drive him, but he would not go. Then they sent into the forest for ohia poles and made a large litter. It required many men to carry this enormous hog, who made himself very heavy. Suddenly Kamapuaa heard his grandmother calling: “Break the cords! Break the poles! Break the strong men! Escape!” Making a sudden turn on the litter, he broke it in pieces and fell with it to the ground. Then he burst the cords which bound him and attacked the band of men whom he had permitted to capture him. Some legends say that he killed and ate many of them. Others say that he killed and tore the people. The wild life lived by Kamapuaa induced a large band of rough lawless men to leave the service of the various high chiefs and follow Kamapuaa in his marauding expeditions. They made themselves the terror of the whole Koolau region. <div class="figure p252width" id="p252"><ANTIMG src="images/p252.jpg" alt="IN KAPIOLANI PARK" width-obs="436" height-obs="720">IN KAPIOLANI PARK </div> Olopana determined to destroy them, and sent an army of four hundred warriors to uproot Kamapuaa and his robbers. It was necessary for them to hasten to their hiding-places, but they were chased up into the hills until a deep gorge faced them. No way of escape seemed possible, but Kamapuaa, falling on the ground, became a long hog—stretching out he increased his length until he could reach from side to side of the deep ravine—thus he formed a bridge over which his followers escaped. Kamapuaa, however, was not able to make himself small quickly enough to escape from his enemies. He tried to hide himself in a hole and pull dead branches and leaves over himself; but they soon found him, bound him securely, and tied him to a great stone which with “the stone of hiding” and “the watcher” are monuments of the legends to this day. The people succeeded in leading the hog-man to Olopana’s home, where they fastened him, keeping him for a great feast, which they hoped to have in a few days, but Kamapuaa, Samson-like, broke all his bonds, destroyed many of his captors—wantonly destroyed coconut-trees and taro patches, and then went back to his home. He knew that Olopana would use every endeavor to compass his destruction. So he called his followers together and led them up Kaliuwaa Valley, stopping to get his grandmother on the way. When he came to the end of the valley, and the steep cliffs up which his people could not possibly climb, he took his grandmother on his neck and leaned back against the great precipice. Stretching himself more and more, and rubbing against the black rocks, at last he lifted his grandmother to the top of the cliffs so that she could step off on the uplands which sloped down to the Pearl Harbor side of the island. Then the servants and followers climbed up the sides of the great hog by clinging to his bristles and escaped. The hollow worn in the rocks looked like a hewn-out canoe, and was given the name Ka-waa-o-Kamapuaa (The canoe of Kamapuaa). Kamapuaa then dammed up the water of the beautiful stream by throwing his body across it, and awaited the coming of Olopana and his warriors. An immense force had been sent out to destroy him. In addition to the warriors who came by land, a great fleet of canoes was sent along the seashore to capture any boats in which Kamapuaa and his people might try to escape. The canoes gathered in and around the mouth of the stream which flowed from Kaliuwaa Valley. The warriors began to march along the stream up toward the deep gorge. Suddenly Kamapuaa broke the dam by leaping away from the waters, and a great flood drowned the warriors, and dashed the canoes together, destroying many and driving the rest far out to sea. Uhakohi is said to be the place where this flood occurred. Then Kamapuaa permitted the people to capture him. They went up the valley after the waters had subsided and found nothing left of Kamapuaa or his people except a small black hog. They searched the valley thoroughly. They found the canoe, turned to stone, leaning against the precipice at the end of the gorge. They said among themselves, “Escaped is Kamapuaa with all his people, and ended are our troubles.” They caught the hog and bound it to carry to Olopana. As they journeyed along the seashore their burden became marvellously heavy until at last an immense litter was required resting on the shoulders of many men. It was said that he sometimes tossed himself over to one side, breaking it down and killing some of the men who carried him. Then again he rolled to the other side, bringing a like destruction. Thus he brought trouble and death and a long, weary journey to his captors, who soon learned that their captive was the hog-man Kamapuaa. They brought him to their king Olopana and placed him in the temple enclosure where sacrifices to the gods were confined. This heiau was in Kaneohe and was known as the heiau of Kawaewae. It was in the care of a priest known as Lonoaohi. Long, long before this capture Olopana had discovered Kamapuaa and would not acknowledge him as his son. The destruction of his coconut-trees and taro patches had been the cause of the first violent rupture between the two. Kamapuaa had wantonly broken the walls of Olopana’s great fish-pond and set the fish free, and then after three times raiding the fowls around the grass houses had seized, killed and eaten the sacred rooster which Olopana considered his household fetish. When Olopana knew that Kamapuaa had been captured and was lying bound in the temple enclosure he sent orders that great care should be taken lest he escape, and later he should be placed on the altar of sacrifice before the great gods. Hina, it was said, could not bear the thought that this child of hers, brutal and injurious as he was, should suffer as a sacrifice. She was a very high chiefess, and, like the Hinas throughout Polynesia, was credited with divine powers. She had great influence with the high priest Lonoaohi and persuaded him to give Kamapuaa an opportunity to escape. This was done by killing a black hog and smearing Kamapuaa’s body with the blood. Thus bearing the appearance of death, he was laid unbound on the altar. It was certain that unless detected he could easily climb the temple wall and escape. Olopana, the king, came to offer the chants and prayers which belonged to such a sacrifice. He as well as the high priest had temple duties, and the privilege of serving at sacrifices of great importance. As was his custom he came from the altar repeating chants and prayers while Kamapuaa lay before the images of the gods. While he was performing the sacrificial rites, Kamapuaa became angry, leaped from the altar, changed himself into his own form, seized the bone daggers used in dismembering the sacrifices, and attacked Olopana, striking him again and again, until he dropped on the floor of the temple dead. The horrified priests had been powerless to prevent the deed, nor did they think of striking Kamapuaa down at once. In the confusion he rushed from the temple, fled along the coast to his well-known valleys, climbed the steep precipices and rejoined his grandmother and his followers. Leading his band of rough robbers down through the sandalwood3 forests of the Wahiawa region, he crossed over the plains to the Waianae Mountains. Here they settled for a time, living in caves. Other lawless spirits joined them, and they passed along the Ewa side of the island, ravaging the land like a herd of swine. A part of the island they conquered, making the inhabitants their serfs. <div class="figure p258width" id="p258"><ANTIMG src="images/p258.jpg" alt="RICE FIELDS AND COCONUT-TREES—AIEA" width-obs="421" height-obs="720">RICE FIELDS AND COCONUT-TREES—AIEA </div> Here on a spur of the Waianae Mountains they built a residence for Kama-unu-aniho, and established her as their priestess, or kahuna. They levied on the neighboring farmers for whatever taro, sweet-potatoes4 and bananas they needed. They compelled the fishermen to bring tribute from the sea. They surrounded their homes with pigs and chickens, and in mere wantonness terrorized that part of Oahu. <div class="figure p258-2width"><ANTIMG src="images/p258-2.png" alt="Wild boar." width-obs="119" height-obs="118"></div> </div> </div> <div class="div2 section"><div class="divHead"> <h3 class="main">Kamapuaa on Oahu and Kauai</h3></div> <div class="divBody"> Fornander says that Kamapuaa was sometimes called “the eight-eyed” and was also gifted with eight feet. He says, “This specialty of four faces or heads and of corresponding limbs is peculiar to some of the principal Hindoo deities.” The honorary designation of gods and even high chiefs in Hawaiian mythology was frequently maka-walu (eight-eyed), to express their great endowment of divine powers. Fornander notes “coincidence as bearing upon the derivation of Polynesian myths and legends. The Kamapuaa stories, however, seem to have no counterpart in any mythology beyond the borders of the Hawaiian Islands.” While he lived on the Koolau coast he was simply a devastating, brutal monster, with certain powers belonging to a demi-god, which he used as maliciously as possible. After being driven out to the Honolulu side of the mountains, for a time he led his band of robbers in their various expeditions, but after a time his miraculous powers increased and he went forth terrorizing the island from one end to the other. He had the power of changing himself into any kind of a fish. As a shark and as a hog he was represented as sometimes eating those whom he conquered in battle. He ravaged the fields and chicken preserves of the different chiefs, but it is said never stole or ate pigs or fish. He wandered along the low lands from the taro patches of Ewa to the coconut groves of Waikiki, rooting up and destroying the food of the people. At Kamoiliili he saw two beautiful women coming from the stream which flows from Manoa Valley. He called to them, but when they saw his tattooed body and rough clothing made from pigskins they recognized him and fled. He pursued them, but they were counted as goddesses, having come from divine foreign families as well as Kamapuaa. They possessed miraculous powers and vanished when he was ready to place his hands upon them. They sank down into the earth. Kamapuaa changed himself into the form of a great hog and began to root up the stones and soil and break his way through the thick layer of petrified coral through which they had disappeared. He first followed the descent of the woman who had been nearest to him. Down he went through soil and stone after her, but suddenly a great flood of water burst upward through the coral almost drowning him. The goddess had stopped his pursuit by turning an underground stream into the entrance which he had made.5 After this narrow escape Kamapuaa rushed toward Manoa Valley to the place where he had seen the other beautiful woman disappear. Here also he rooted deep through earth and coral, and here again a new spring of living water was uncovered. He could do nothing against the flood, which threatened his life. The goddesses escaped and the two wells have supplied the people of Kamoiliili for many generations, bearing the name, “The wells, or fountains, of Kamapuaa.” The chief of Waikiki had a fine tract6 well supplied with bananas and coconuts and taro. Night after night a great black hog rushed through Waikiki destroying all the ripening fruit and even going to the very doors of the grass houses searching out the calabashes filled with poi waiting for fermentation. These calabashes he dashed to the ground, defiling their contents and breaking and unfitting them for further use. A crowd of warriors rushed out to kill this devastating monster. They struck him with clubs and hurled their spears against his bristling sides. The stiff bristles deadened the force of the blows of the clubs and turned the spear-points aside so that he received but little injury. Meanwhile his fierce tusks were destroying the warriors and his cruel jaws were tearing their flesh and breaking their bones. In a short time the few who were able to escape fled from him. The chiefs gathered their warriors again and again, and after many battles drove Kamapuaa from cave to cave and from district to district. Finally he leaped into the sea, changed himself into the form of a fish and passed over the channel to Kauai. He swam westward along the coast, selecting a convenient place for landing, and when night came, sending the people to their sleep, he went ashore. He had marked the location of taro and sugar-cane patches and could easily find them in the night. Changing himself into a black hog he devoured and trampled the sugar-cane, rooted up taro and upset calabashes, eating the poi and breaking the wooden bowls. Then he fled to a rough piece of land which he had decided upon as his hiding-place. The people were astonished at the devastation when they came from their houses next morning. Only gods who were angry could have wrought such havoc so unexpectedly, therefore they sent sacrifices to the heiaus, that the gods of their homes might protect them. But the next night other fields were made desolate as if a herd of swine had been wantonly at work all through the night. After a time watchmen were set around the fields and the mighty hog was seen. The people were called. They surrounded Kamapuaa, caught him and tied him with strongest cords of olona7 fibre and pulled him to one side, that on the new day so soon to dawn they might build their oven and roast him for a great feast. When they thought all was finished the hog suddenly burst his bonds, became invisible and leaped upon them, tore them and killed them as he had done on Oahu, then rushed away in the darkness. Again some watchers found him lying at the foot of a steep precipice, sleeping in the daytime. On the edge of the precipice were great boulders, which they rolled down upon him, but he was said to have allowed the stones to strike him and fall shattered in pieces while he sustained very little injury. Then he assumed the form of a man and made his home by a ledge of rock called Kipukai. Here there was a spring of very sweet water, which lay in the form of a placid pool of clear depths, reflecting wonderfully whatever shadows fell upon its surface. To this two beautiful sisters were in the habit of coming with their water-calabashes. While they stooped over the water Kamapuaa came near and cast the shadow as a man before them on the clear waters. They both wanted the man as their husband who could cast such a shadow. He revealed himself to them and took them both to be his wives. They lived with him at Kipukai and made fine sleeping mats for him, cultivated food and prepared it for him to eat. They pounded kapa that he might be well clothed. At that time there were factions on the island of Kauai warring against each other. Fierce hand-to-hand battles were waged and rich spoils carried away. With the coming of Kamapuaa to Kauai a new and strange appearance wrought terror in the hearts of the warriors whenever a battle occurred. While the conflict was going on and blows were freely given by both club and spear, suddenly a massive war-club would be seen whistling through the air, striking down the chiefs of both parties. Mighty blows were struck by this mysterious club. No hand could be seen holding it, no strong arm swinging it, and no chief near it save those stricken by it. Dead and dying warriors covered the ground in its path. Sometimes when Kamapuaa had been caught in his marauding expedition, he would escape from the ropes tying him, change into a man, seize a club, become invisible and destroy his captors. He took from the fallen their rich feather war cloaks, carried them to his dwelling-place and concealed them under his mats. The people of Kauai were terrified by the marvellous and powerful being who dwelt in their midst. They believed in the ability of kahunas, or priests, to work all manner of evil in strange ways and therefore were sure that some priest was working with evil spirits to compass their destruction. They sought the strongest and most sacred of their own kahunas, but were unable to conquer the evil. Meanwhile Kamapuaa, tired of the two wives, began to make life miserable for them, trying to make them angry, that he might have good excuse for killing them. They knew something of his marvellous powers as a demi-god, and watched him when he brought bundles to his house and put them away. The chief’s house then as in later years was separated from the houses of the women and was tabu to them, but they waited until they had seen him go far away. Then they searched his house and found the war cloaks of their friends under his mats. They hastened and told their friends, who plotted to take vengeance on their enemy. The women decided to try to drive the demi-god away, so destroyed the spring of water from which they had daily brought water for his need. They also carefully concealed all evidences of other springs. Kamapuaa returned from his adventures and was angry when he found no water waiting for him. He called for the women, but they had hidden themselves. He was very thirsty. He rushed to the place of the spring, but could not find it. He looked for water here and there, but the sisters had woven mighty spells over all the water-holes and he could not see them. In his rage he rushed about like a blind and crazy man. Then the sisters appeared and ridiculed him. They taunted him with his failure to overcome their wiles. They laughed at his suffering. Then in his great anger he leaped upon them, caught them and threw them over a precipice. As they fell upon the ground he uttered his powerful incantations and changed them into two stones, which for many generations have been guardians of that precipice. Then he assumed the form of a hog and rooted deep in the rocky soil. Soon he uncovered a fountain of water from which he drank deeply, but which he later made bitter and left as a mineral-spring to the present day. The people of Kauai now knew the secret of the wonderful swinging war club. They knew that a hand held it and an invisible man walked beside it, so they fought against a power which they could not see. They felt their clubs strike some solid body even when they struck at the air. Courage came back to them, and at Hanalei the people forced him into a corner, and, carrying stones, tried to fence him in, but he broke the walls down, tore his way through the people and fled. The high chief of Hanalei threw his magic spear at him as he rushed past, but missed him. The spear struck the mountain-side near the summit and passed through, leaving a great hole through which the sky on the other side of the mountain can still be seen. Kamapuaa decided that he was tired of Kauai, therefore he ran to the seashore, leaped into the water and, becoming a fish, swam away to Hawaii. <div class="figure p267width"><ANTIMG src="images/p267.png" alt="Wild boar." width-obs="118" height-obs="117"></div> </div> </div> <div class="div2 section"><div class="divHead"> <h3 class="main">Pele and Kamapuaa</h3></div> <div class="divBody"> The three great mountains of Hawaii had been built many centuries before Pele found an abiding home in the pit of Kilauea. Kilauea itself appears rather as a shelter to which she fled than as a house of her own building. The sea waters quenched the fires built by her at lower levels, forcing her up higher and higher toward the mountains until she took refuge in the maelstrom of eternal fire known for centuries among the Hawaiians as Ka lua o Pele (The pit of Pele),—the boiling centre of the active pit of fire. Some legends say that Kamapuaa drove Pele from place to place by pouring in water. The Kalakaua legends probably give the correct idea of the growths of Pele-worship as the goddess of volcanic fires when they say that the Pele family of brave and venturesome high chiefs with their followers settled under the shadows of the smoke-clouds from Kilauea and were finally destroyed by some overwhelming eruption. And yet the destruction was so spectacular, or at least so mysterious, that the idea took firm root that Pele and her brothers and sisters, instead of passing out of existence, entered into the volcano to dwell there as living spirits having the fires of the under-world as their continual heritage. From this home of fire Pele and her sisters could come forth assuming the forms in which they had been seen as human beings. This power has been the cause of many legends about Pele and her adventures with various chiefs whom she at last overwhelmed with boiling floods of lava tossed out of her angry heart. In this way she appeared in different parts of the island of Hawaii apparently no longer having any fear of danger to her home from incoming seas. The last great battle between sea and fire was connected with Pele as a fire-goddess and Kamapuaa, the demi-god, part hog and part man. It is a curious legend in which human and divine elements mingle like the changing scenes of a dream. This naturally follows the statement in some of the legends that Ku, one of the highest gods among the Polynesians as well as among the Hawaiians, was an ancestor of Kamapuaa, protecting him and giving him the traits of a demi-god. Kamapuaa had passed through many adventures on the islands of Oahu and Kauai, and had lived for a time on Maui. He had, according to some of the legends, developed his mysterious powers so that he could become a fish whenever he wished, so sometimes he was represented as leaping into the sea, diving down to great depth, and swimming until he felt the approach of rising land, then he would come to the surface, call out the name of the island and go ashore for a visit with the inhabitants or dive again and pass on to another island. Thus he is represented as passing to Hawaii after his adventures on the islands of Kauai and Oahu. On Hawaii he entered into the sports of the chiefs, gambling, boxing, surf-riding, rolling the round ulu maika stone and riding the holua (sled). Here he learned about the wonderful princess from the islands of the southern seas who had made her home in the fountains of fire. Some of the legends say that he returned to Oahu, gathered a company of adherents and then visited the Pele family as a chief of high rank, winning her as his bride and living with her some time, then separating and dividing the island of Hawaii between them, Pele taking the southern part of the island as the scene for her terrific eruptions, and Kamapuaa ruling over the north, watering the land with gentle showers or with melting snow, or sometimes with fierce storms, until for many centuries fertile fields have rewarded the toil of man. The better legends send Kamapuaa alone to the contest with the fire-goddess, winning her for a time and then entering into a struggle in which both lives were at stake. It is said that one morning when the tops of the mountains were painted by the sunlight from the sea, and the shadows in the valley were creeping under the leaves of the trees of the forests, that Pele and her sisters went down toward the hills of Puna. These sisters were known as the Hiiakas, defined by Ellis, who gives the first account of them, as “The cloud-holders.” Each one had a descriptive title, thus Hiiaka-noho-lani was “The heaven-dwelling cloud-holder,” Hiiaka-i-ka-poli-o-Pele was “The cloud-holder in the bosom of Pele.” There were at least six Hiiakas, and some legends give many more. That morning they heard the sound of a drum in the distance. It was the tum-tum-tum of a hula. Filled with curiosity they turned aside to see what strangers had invaded their territory. One of the sisters, looking over the plain to a hill not far away, called out, “What a handsome man!” and asked her sisters to mark the finely formed athletic stranger who was dancing gloriously outlined in the splendor of the morning light. Pele scornfully looked and said she saw nothing but a great hog-man, whom she would quickly drive from her dominions. Then began the usual war of words with which rival chiefs attacked each other. Pele taunted Kamapuaa, calling him a hog and ascribing to him the characteristics belonging to swine. Kamapuaa became angry and called Pele “the woman with red burning eyes, and an angry heart unfit to be called a chiefess.” Then Pele in her wrath stamped on the ground until earthquakes shook the land around Kamapuaa and a boiling stream of lava rolled down from the mountains above. The stranger, throwing around him the finest tapa, stood unmoved until the flood of fire began to roll up the hill on which he stood. Then raising his hands and uttering the strongest incantations he called for heavy rains to fall. Soon the lava became powerless in the presence of the stranger. Then Pele tried her magical powers to see if she could subdue this stranger, but his invocations seemed to be stronger than those falling from her lips, and she gave up the attempt to destroy him. Pele was always a cruel, revengeful goddess, sweeping away those against whom her wrath might be kindled, even if they were close friends of her household. The sisters finally prevailed upon her to send across to the hill inviting the stranger, who was evidently a high chief, to come and visit them. As the messenger started to bring the young man to the sisters he stepped into the shadows, and the messenger found nothing but a small hog rooting among the ferns. This happened day after day until Pele determined to know this stranger chief who always succeeded in thoroughly hiding himself, no matter how carefully the messengers might search. At last the chant of the hula and the dance of the sisters on the smooth pahoehoe8 of a great extinct lava bed led the young man to approach. Pele revealed herself in her rare and tempting beauty, calling with a sweet voice for the stranger to come and rest by her side while her sisters danced. Soon Pele was overcome by the winning strength of this great chief, and she decided to marry him. So they dwelt together in great happiness for a time, sometimes making their home in one part of Puna and sometimes in another. The places where they dwelt are pointed out even at this day by the natives who know the traditions of Puna. But Kamapuaa had too many of the habits and instincts of a hog to please Pele, besides she was too quickly angry to suit the overbearing Kamapuaa. Pele was never patient even with her sisters, so with Kamapuaa she would burst into fiery rage, while taunts and bitter words were freely hurled back and forth. Then Pele stamped on the ground, the earth shook, cracks opened in the surface and sometimes clouds of smoke and steam arose around Kamapuaa. He was unterrified and matched his divine powers against hers. It was demi-god against demi-goddess. It was the goddess of fire of Hawaii against the hog-god of Oahu. Pele’s home life was given up. The bitterness of strife swept over the black sands of the seashore. When the earth seemed ready to open its doors and pour out mighty streams of flowing lava in the defence of Pele, Kamapuaa called for the waters of the ocean to rise. Then flood met fire and quenched it. Pele was driven inland. Her former lover, hastening after her and striving to overcome her, followed her upward until at last amid clouds of poisonous gases she went back into her spirit home in the pit of Kilauea. Then Kamapuaa as a god of the sea gathered the waters together in great masses and hurled them into the firepit. Violent explosions followed the inrush of waters. The sides of the great crater were torn to pieces by fierce earthquakes. Masses of fire expanded the water into steam, and Pele gathered the forces of the under-world to aid in driving back Kamapuaa. The lavas rose in many lakes and fountains. Rapidly the surface was cooled and the fountains checked, but just as rapidly were new openings made and new streams of fire hurled at the demi-god of Oahu. It was a mighty battle of the elements. The legends say that the hog-man, Kamapuaa, poured water into the crater until its fires were driven back to their lowest depths and Pele was almost drowned by the floods. The clouds of the skies had dropped their burden of rain. All the waters of the sea that Kamapuaa could collect had been poured into the crater. Fornander gives a part of the prayer of Kamapuaa against Pele. His appeal was directly to the gods of water for assistance. He cried for <div class="lgouter"> … “The great storm clouds of skie,” </div> while Pele prayed for <div class="lgouter"> “The bright gods of the under-world, The gods thick-clustered for Pele.” </div> It was the duty of the Pele family to stir up volcanic action, create explosions, hurl lava into the air, make earthquakes, blow out clouds of flames and smoke and sulphurous-burdened fumes against all enemies of Pele. Into the conflict against Kamapuaa rushed the gods of Po, the under-world, armed with spears of flashing fire, and hurling sling-stones of lava. The storms of bursting gases and falling lavas were more than Kamapuaa could endure. Gasping for breath and overwhelmed with heat, he found himself driven back. The legends say that Pele and her sisters drank the waters, so that after a time there was no check against the uprising lava. The pit was filled and the streams of fire flowed down upon Kamapuaa. He changed his body into a kind of grass now known as Ku-kae-puaa, and tried to stop the flow of the lava. Apparently the grass represented the bristles covering his body when he changed himself into a hog. Kamapuaa has sometimes been called the Samson of Hawaiian traditions, and it is possible that a Biblical idea has crept into the modern versions of the story. Delilah cut Samson’s hair and he became weak. The Hawaiian traditions say that, if Kamapuaa’s bristles could be burned off, he would lose his power to cope with Pele’s forces of fire. When the grass lay in the pathway of the fire, the lava was turned aside for a time, but Pele, inspired by the beginning of victory, called anew upon the gods of the under-world for strong reinforcements. Out from the pits of Kilauea came vast masses of lava piling up against the field of grass in its pathway and soon the grass began to burn; then Kamapuaa assumed again the shape of a man, the hair or bristles on his body were singed and the smart of many burns began to cause agony. Down he rushed to the sea, but the lava spread out on either side, cutting off retreat along the beach. Pele followed close behind, striving to overtake him before he could reach the water. The side streams had reached the sea, and the water was rapidly heated into tossing, boiling waves. Pele threw great masses of lava at Kamapuaa, striking and churning the sea into which he leaped midst the swirling heated mass. Kamapuaa gave up the battle, and, thoroughly defeated, changed himself into a fish. To that fish he gave the tough pigskin which he assumed when roaming over the islands as the hog-man. It was thick enough to stand the boiling waves through which he swam out into the deep sea. The Hawaiians say that this fish has always been able to make a noise like the grunting of a small pig. To this fish was given the name “humu-humu-nuku-nuku-a-puaa.” It was said that Kamapuaa fled to foreign lands, where he married a high chiefess and lived with his family many years. At last the longing for his home-land came over him irresistibly and he returned appearing as a humu-humu in his divine place among the Hawaiian fishes, but never again taking to himself the form of a man. Since this conflict with Kamapuaa, Pele has never feared the powers of the sea. Again and again has she sent her lava streams over the territory surrounding her firepit in the volcano Kilauea, and has swept the seashore, even pouring her lavas into the deep sea, but the ocean has never retaliated by entering into another conflict to destroy Pele and her servants. Kamapuaa was the last who poured the sea into the deep pit. The friends of Lohiau, a prince from the island of Kauai, waged warfare with Pele, tearing to pieces a part of the crater in which she dwelt; but it was a conflict of land forces, and in its entirety is one of the very interesting tales handed down by Hawaiian tradition. Kamapuaa figured to the last days of Pele-worship in the sacrifices offered to the fire-goddess. The most acceptable sacrifice to Pele was supposed to be puaa (a hog). If a hog could not be secured when an offering was necessary, the priest would take the fish humu-humu-nuku-nuku-a-puaa and throw it into the pit of fire. If the hog and the fish both failed, the priest would offer any of the things into which, it was said in their traditions, Kamapuaa could turn himself. Note: For more Pele stories see the “Legends of Volcanoes” by the author. <div class="figure p277width"><ANTIMG src="images/p277.png" alt="Fish." width-obs="490" height-obs="226"></div> <div class="figure p278width" id="p278"><ANTIMG src="images/p278.jpg" alt="OAHU" width-obs="720" height-obs="608">OAHU HONOLULU NORMAL SCHOOL Dark line indicates railroad. Dotted line indicates drive from Haleiwa to Wahiawa. White line indicates road around and across Island. </div> </div> </div></div> <div class="footnotes"> <hr class="fnsep"> <div class="footnote-body"> <div id="xd31e3159" lang="la"> 1 Calophyllum Inophyllum. ↑ </div> <div id="xd31e3166" lang="la"> 2 Calocasia antiquorum. ↑ </div> <div id="xd31e3212"> 3 Iliahi or Santalum. ↑ </div> <div id="xd31e3223" lang="la"> 4 Ipomea Batatas. ↑ </div> <div id="xd31e3244"> 5 Near the Kamoiliili church. ↑ </div> <div id="xd31e3252"> 6 Near the Cleghorn residence. ↑ </div> <div id="xd31e3261" lang="la"> 7 Touchardia latifolia. ↑ </div> <div id="xd31e3317"> 8 Pahoehoe, smooth lava. A-a, rough lava. ↑ </div> </div></div> </div> <div id="appendix" class="div1 appendix"><div class="divHead"> <h2 class="main">APPENDIX</h2></div> <div class="divBody"> <div id="terms" class="div2 appendix"><div class="divHead"> <h3 class="main">PARTIAL LIST HAWAIIAN TERMS USED</h3></div> <div class="divBody"> aa, 43. ahakea, 213. ahuula, 61. Aihualama, 129. Aikanaka, 176–193, 201. aka, 73. Akuapehuale, 205, 210–219. aloe, 239. Alala, 159. aloha, 114. Anahola, 186. Apuakehau, 177. aumakua, 64, 99, 117, 119, 130, 216, 244. Avaiki, 4, 5. awa, 108, 109, 115. aweoweo, 160, 163. eepa, 19, 35, 174. Ehu, 66. Elepaio, 100, 174, 233. Ewa, 34, 177, 259. Hainoa, 108. Hakalaoa, 105. hala, 29, 60, 67, 128, 129. Halelea, 213. Halemanu, 178, 196, 202. Halenoa, 168. Hana, 188. Hanalei, 266. Hanamaulu, 188. Hanapepe, 186, 187. Hao, 16. hau, 122. Haumea, 10, 23, 24, 29, 35. Hauula, 140–145, 247. Hawaii, 1, etc. Hawaiki, 11, 13. heiau, 21, 27, 91–117, 135, 142, 187, 229, 256. Hiiaka, 270. Hilo, 120. hilu, 144. Hina, 69, 213, 247, 256. Hinai, 124, 125. Hoahanau, 200, 201. Hoakola, 30. Honokaupu, 15, 17, 52–54. Honolulu, 14, 15, 30, 34, 62, 63, 76, 87, 112, 115. Honouliuli, 205, 209, 224. Hoolohaloa, 76–78. Huhue, 163. hula, 34, 115, 179, 270. humu, 276–277. ieie, 60, 101. Ikaikaloa, 75–76. Ikeloa, 76, 79. Ikuwa, 73. Ilamuku, 2. iliahi, 67, 68. imu, 201, 206. ipukai, 199, 201, 202. Iwa, 148–156. Kaakau, 105, 106. Kaauhau, 121. Kaawaloa, 111. Kaehu, 55–58. Kaeleha, 177, 188. Kaeleowaipio, 121. Kaena, 142, 159. Kahakaloa, 184. Kahala, 130. Kahala-o-Puna, 128. Kahaloa, 158. Kahamaluihi, 125, 160. Kahani, 19, 90–92, 101. Kahano, 19. Kahaukomo, 122. Kahehuna, 133. Kaheiki, 92, 95, 96. Kahiki, 19–37, 106. Kahikihounakele, 250. Kahikiku, 136. Kahikiula, 247. Kahiko, 7. kahili, 9. Kahilona, 92–96. Kahoiwai, 158. Kahuku, 142. kahuna, 96, 117, 130, 258, 210, 258. Kaihi-Kapu, 53. Kaili, 190. Kailua, 26, 122. Kaipapau, 145. Kaiwakalameha, 224. kakahee, 159. Kakei, 112–115. kakolele, 121. Kakuhihewa, 15–19, 134–137, 158–167, 227–237. Kalaau, 107. kalaiaina, 121. Kalakaua, 246, 267. Kalaniopuu, 121–125. Kalapueo, 136. Kalaumeke, 177. Kalehuawike, 56, 107. Kalihi, 19, 31–35, 40. Kaliuwaa, 249, 254. Kalo, 195. Kalokuna, 149. Kaluanui, 247, 249. Kamakau, 14, 18, 70, 72. Kamalama, 174–184. Kamamo, 245. kamani, 248. Kamapuaa, 35, 246–277. Kamaunuaniho, 249, 258. Kamehaikana, 29, 34. Kamehameha, 14–17, 21, 33, 41, 110, 118, 122, 126, 148, 190. Kamohoalii, 35, 55. Kamoiliili, 87, 259, 260. Kanakamakeanu, 76, 80. Kanakamakewelu, 76, 81, 86. Kanaloa, 4–12, 37–42, 71–73, 94, 95, 145, 224. Kane, 9, 10, 37–42, 46–57, 61, 71–73, 94, 95, 136, 145, 183, 224. Kaneohe, 256. Kanepuaa, 39. Kaohuwalu, 105. kapa, 59–69, 207, 229, 236, 250, 263. Kapaa, 218. Kapahi, 150. Kapalaha, 135. Kapalama, 204, 210, 220. Kapana, 172. Kapapaulua, 141. Kapili, 123. Kapo, 34. Kapoi, 132–137. Kapookame, 104. Kapuakamailoa, 171. Kapuni, 105–107. Kapupuu, 148. Kauahoa, 173–186. Kauai, 18, 21, 27, 109–136. Kauanonoula, 17. Kauhao, 204, 242, 244. Kauhola, 105. Kauhuhu, 193. Kauilani, 211–240. Kaumakapili, 21, 104. Kaupe, 93, 95. Kauwa, 16. Kauwaewae, 256. Kawaiahao, 16. Kawaihae, 108. Kawaikini, 205, 211, 215. Kawalo, 193. Kawelo, 21, 60, 173–188. Keaau, 149–152. Keahua, 204–213, 242, 244. Keaka, 18. Keakahulilani, 73. Kealaikahiki, 139. Kealii, 193, 194, 198, 199. Keaolewa, 207, 219, 228, 240. Keauhelemoa, 232, 233, 242. kekaiheehee, 16. Kekelaiaika, 249. Kekuanaoa, 17. Kewalo, 16, 20, 133. Kiha, 108–110. Kihapu, 20, 109, 118. kihei, 60. Kikoo, 157. Kilauea, 35, 120, 267, 273, 275. kilo, 121. Kilohana, 28. Kipukai, 263. koa, 97–102, 196. Koawa, Koawi, 218–228. Kohala, 42. Koko, 15, 52, 53, 75, 147. Kokoa, 195–199. Koloa, 187. Kona, 110, 149. konane, 15, 16, 52, 54. Koolau, 54, 156, 203, 247, 259. Kou, 15–28, 52–54, 101, 132, 160, 180, 222, 234–243. Ku, 9, 11, 37, 71–73, 82–95. kuakuku, 68. Kualii, 132. Kuhooneenuu, 27. Kuikaa, 187. Kuilioloa, 85–89. Kukaepuaa, 275. Kukaeunahio, 135, 137. Kukalaniehu, 182. Kukaoo, 137. kukui, 66, 82, 196. Kulaokahua, 160. Kuleonui, 19. Kuna, 90. Kuokoa, viii, 39, 61, 75. kupua, 29, 34, 52, 90–93, 159, 180, 204, 205, 229. Kupulupulu, 98. Kuula, 118. Laahana, 63. Laka, 34. Lanai, 136. Lani, 119. Lanihuli, 122. Lauhuiki, 65. Laukaieie, 211. Laukona, 163. Lea, 99, 100, 233. Leahi, 112. leho, 149, 150. lehua, 35, 55, 166, 167, 228. lei, 35, 153. lele, 121. Lepeamoa, 204–208, 224–245. Lihue, 92–94. Liliha, 88. Liliuokalani, 111. Lohiau, 277. Lono, 4, 5, 9, 10, 37–39, 71–73, 94. Lonoaohi, 256. lonomakaihe, 121. Lonopuakau, 211. Lua, 9. lua, 121. luau, 251. Maaloa, 64. mahiole, 60. maika, 17. maile, 206. Mainele, 161–172. Makaha, 183. Makalei, 26. Makapuu, 140. makawalu, 258. Makiki, 16, 160, 166. Makuakaumana, 61. Malailua, 122. malo, 60, 212, 221. malolo, 221. mamaki, 64. Mamala, 52–54. Mamaloa, 75–80. mana, 27. Manoa, 19, 87, 127, 130–136, 158–172. Manualolo, 240. Maui, 13–27, 56, 69, 93, 107, 118, 125, 136, 138, 232–259. Mauilli, 189. Mauinui, 229, 237, 238, 243. mauka, 70. Mauna Kaala, 178. menehune, 62, 90–93, 131, 132. Milu, 119. Moaauha, 240. Moanalua, 94, 95, 104, 136. moanene, 239. moi, 112. Mokapu, 71. Mokuhalii, 100. Molokai, 107, 114, 136, 149. Mololani, 71. moo, 34, 52, 104. Muleiulu, 23. Namaka, 121–124. Napihenui, 83. Naulu, 184. Newa, 19. Niihau, 151, 181. Niolapa, 105. niu, 67, 206. Nuuanu, 15–21, 30–40, 62–76, 88–108, 126, 132, 220. Oahu, 9, 15–29, 61, 75, 86–96, 112–134. ohia, 196, 238. Olopana, 247. Ouha, 15, 16, 52, 54. Oupe, 7. pahee, 221. pahoehoe, 272. Pakaalana, 105, 106, 153. Pakaka, 21–27, 30. Pakuanui, 121, 123. Palama, 204, 209, 227, 228. pali, 156. Panapololei, 76, 79. Papa, 2–13, 28–35, 75–78. pau, 31, 66. Pauoa, 90. Pawaa, 158, 165, 170, 172, 235. Pehu, 56, 57. Pele, 58, 66, 267–277. Pikoi, 157, 172. Po, 8, 119. Pohakuloa, 123. poi, 115, 175. Poki, 87, 88. Polihale, 83. poulu, 64. Puapualenalena, 108. Pueo, 129, 130. Puhuehu, 28. Puiwa, 20, 63. Puna, 55, 128, 170. Puukapu, 153. Puukume, 25. Puuhonua, 131. Puuowaina, 18, 133. Puupueo, 131. tabu, 91–111, 135, 154, 192, 208. tapa or kapa, 108, 156, 169. taro, 132, 196. ti, 60. Uhakohi, 255. uhu, 180, 181. Ulakoheo, 17. Ulakua, 16. ulua, 141. uluhe, 196. Ulukou, 166, 177. Umi, 148–156. unihipili, 216. Waaleala, 178. Wahiawa, 257. Waialua, 195, 197, 200. Waianae, 93, 180, 182, 203, 221, 257, 258. Waihee, 125. Waikiki, 15, 21, 53–56, 127–135, 142, 164, 166, 227. Wailua, 173, 204, 213. Wailuku, 242. Waimanu, 109. Waimea, 115, 117, 124, 153, 154. Waipio, 20, 23, 105, 110, 153. Waiui, 211. wakea, 1–11, 28–35, 75–79. Waolani, 19, 107, 130. wauke, 63–65, 213, 214. Welaahilani, 73. wiliwili, 223. Wohi, 33. </div> </div></div> </div> <div id="polynesian" class="div1 appendix"><div class="divHead"> <h2 class="main">POLYNESIAN LANGUAGE</h2></div> <div class="divBody"> “A few words should be added on the peculiar genius and structure of the Polynesian language in general and of the Hawaiian dialect in particular. It is the law of all Polynesian languages that every word and syllable must end in a vowel, so that no two consonants are ever heard without a vowel sound between them. Most of the radical words are dissyllables, and the accent is generally on the penult. The Polynesian ear is as nice in marking the slightest variations in vowel sound as it is dull in distinguishing consonants. The vocabulary of the Hawaiian is probably richer than that of most other Polynesian tongues. Its child-like and primitive character is shown by the absence of abstract words and general terms. As has been well observed by M. Gaussin, there are three classes of words, corresponding to as many different stages of language: first, those that express sensations; second, images; third, abstract ideas. Not only are names wanting for the more general abstractions, such as space, nature, fate, etc., but there are very few generic terms. For example there is no generic term for animal, expressing the whole class of living creatures or for insects or for colors. At the same time it abounds in specific names and in nice distinctions. So in the Hawaiian everything that relates to their every-day life or to the natural objects with which they are conversant is expressed with a vivacity, a minuteness and nicety of coloring which cannot be reproduced in a foreign tongue. Thus the Hawaiian was very rich in terms for every variety of cloud. It has names for every species of plant on the mountains or fish in the sea, and is peculiarly copious in terms relating to the ocean, the surf and waves. For whatever belonged to their religions, their handicrafts or their amusements, their vocabulary was most copious and minute. Almost every stick in a native house had its appropriate name. Hence it abounds in synonyms which are such only in appearance, i.e., “to be broken” as a stick is ‘haki,’ as a string is ‘moku,’ as a dish ‘naha,’ as a wall ‘hina.’ Besides the language of every-day life, there was a style appropriate to oratory and another to religion and poetry. The above-mentioned characteristics make it a pictorial and expressive language. It still has the freshness of childhood. Its words are pictures rather than colorless and abstract symbols of ideas, and are redolent of the mountain, the forest and the surf. However it has been and is successfully used to express the abstractions of mathematics, of English law, and of theology.” <blockquote> “The Hawaiian is but a dialect of the great Polynesian language, which is spoken with extraordinary uniformity over all the numerous islands of the Pacific Ocean between New Zealand and Hawaii. Again, the Polynesian language is but one member of that wide-spread family of languages, known as the Malayo-Polynesian or Oceanic family, which extends from Madagascar to the Hawaiian Islands and from New Zealand to Formosa. The Hawaiian dialect is peculiarly interesting to the philologist from its isolated position, being the most remote of the family from its primeval seat in Southeastern Asia, and leading the van with the Malagasy in the rear. We believe the Hawaiian to be the most copious and expressive, as well as the richest in native traditional history and poetry. Dr. Reinhold Forster, the celebrated naturalist of Captain Cook’s second voyage, drew up a table containing 47 words taken from 11 Oceanic dialects and the corresponding terms in Malay, Mexican, Peruvian and Chilian. From this table he inferred that the Polynesian languages afford many analogies with the Malay while they present no point of contact with the American. Baron William von Humboldt, the distinguished statesman and scholar, showed that the Tagala, the leading language of the Philippine Islands, is by far the richest and most perfect of these languages. ‘It possesses,’ he says, ‘all the forms collectively of which particular ones are found singly in other dialects; and it has preserved them all with very trifling exceptions unbroken and in entire harmony and symmetry.’ The languages of the Oceanic region have been divided into six great groups; i.e., the Polynesian; the Micronesian; the Melanesian or Papuan; the Australian; the Malaysian; the Malagasy. Many examples might be given if they were needed to illustrate the connection of these languages. The Polynesian is an ancient and primitive member of the Malay family. The New Zealand dialect is the most primitive and entire in its forms. The Hawaiians, Marquesans and Tahitians form a closely related group by themselves. For example, the Marquesan converts are using Hawaiian books and the people of the Austral Islands read the Tahitian Bible.” </blockquote> The above was written by W. D. Alexander in Honolulu in 1865, author of the “History of the Hawaiian Islands” as preface to Andrew’s Dictionary. </div> </div> <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

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