Legends of Gods and Ghosts (Hawaiian Mythology)
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Title: Legends of Gods and Ghosts (Hawaiian Mythology)
Author: W. D. Westervelt
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Language: English
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[Illustration: KE-ALOHI-LANI]
LEGENDS OF GODS AND GHOSTS (HAWAIIAN MYTHOLOGY)
Collected and Translated from the Hawaiian
by
W. D. WESTERVELT
Author of "Legends of Old Honolulu" and
"Maui, a Demi-God of Polynesia"
[Illustration]
Boston, U.S.A.
Press of Geo. H. Ellis Co.
London
Constable & Co., Ltd.
10 Orange St., Leicester Sq., W.C.
1915
Copyright, 1915, by
William Drake Westervelt
Honolulu, H.T.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
INTRODUCTION v
I. THE GHOST OF WAHAULA TEMPLE 1
II. MALUAE AND THE UNDER-WORLD 14
III. A GIANT'S ROCK-THROWING 21
IV. KALO-EKE-EKE, THE TIMID TARO 26
V. LEGENDARY CANOE-MAKING 29
VI. LAU-KA-IEIE 36
VII. KAUHUHU, THE SHARK GOD OF MOLOKAI 49
VIII. THE SHARK-MAN OF WAIPIO VALLEY 59
IX. THE STRANGE BANANA SKIN 66
X. THE OLD MAN OF THE MOUNTAIN 74
XI. HAWAIIAN GHOST TESTING 84
XII. HOW MILU BECAME THE KING OF GHOSTS 94
XIII. A VISIT TO THE KING OF GHOSTS 100
XIV. KALAI-PAHOA, THE POISON-GOD 108
XV. KE-AO-MELE-MELE, THE MAID OF THE
GOLDEN CLOUD 116
XVI. PUNA AND THE DRAGON 152
XVII. KE-AU-NINI 163
XVIII. THE BRIDE FROM THE UNDER-WORLD 224
APPENDIX:
The Deceiving of Kewa 241
Homeless and Desolate Ghosts 245
Aumakuas, or Ancestor-ghosts 248
The Dragon Ghost-gods 255
Chas. R. Bishop 259
Partial List of Hawaiian Terms 260
Press Notices 264
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
KE-ALOHI-LANI Frontispiece
OPPOSITE PAGE
IMAGES OF GODS AT THE HEIAU 12
FROM A TARO PATCH 28
KUKUI-TREES, IAO VALLEY, MT. EEKE 50
A TRUSTY FISHERMAN 64
THE MISTY PALI, NUUANU 120
DANCING THE HULA 140
BREADFRUIT-TREES 160
A YOUNG CHIEF OF HAWAII 188
THE HOME OF THE DRAGONS NEAR HILO 198
COCOANUTS 222
THE HOME OF KEWALU 230
FISH PLATES IN COLOR
* * * * *
PRONUNCIATION
* * * * *
Readers will have little difficulty in pronouncing names if they
remember _two_ rules:--
1. No syllable ends in a consonant, _e.g._, Ho-no-lu-lu, not Hon-o-lulu.
2. Give vowels the German sound rather than the English, _e.g._, "e"
equals "a," and "i" equals "e," and "a" is sounded like "a" in
"father."
INTRODUCTION
The legends of the Hawaiian Islands are as diverse as those of any
country in the world. They are also entirely distinct in form and
thought from the fairy-tales which excite the interest and wonder of the
English and German children. The mythology of Hawaii follows the laws
upon which all myths are constructed. The Islanders have developed some
beautiful nature-myths. Certain phenomena have been observed and the
imagination has fitted the story to the interesting object which has
attracted attention.
Now the Rainbow Maiden of Manoa, a valley lying back of Honolulu, is the
story of a princess whose continual death and resurrection were invented
to harmonize with the formation of a series of exquisite rainbows which
are born on the mountain-sides in the upper end of the valley and die
when the mist clouds reach the plain into which the valley opens. Then
there were the fish of the Hawaiian Islands which vie with the
butterflies of South America in their multitudinous combinations of
colors. These imaginative people wondered how the fish were painted, so
for a story a battle between two chiefs was either invented or taken as
a basis. The chiefs fought on the mountain-sides until finally one was
driven into the sea and compelled to make the deep waters his continual
abiding-place. Here he found a unique and pleasant occupation in calling
the various kinds of fish to his submarine home and then painting them
in varied hues according to the dictates of his fancy. Thus we have a
pure nature-myth developed from the love of the beautiful, one of the
highest emotions dwelling in the hearts of the Hawaiians of the long
ago.
So, again, Maui, a wonder-working hero like the Hercules of Grecian
mythology, heard the birds sing, and noted their beautiful forms as they
flitted from tree to tree and mingled their bright plumage with the
leaves of the fragrant blossoms.
No other one of those who lived in the long ago could see what Maui saw.
They heard the mysterious music, but the songsters were invisible. Many
were the fancies concerning these strange creatures whom they could hear
but could not see. Maui finally pitied his friends and made the birds
visible. Ever since, man has been able to both hear the music and see
the beauty of his forest neighbors.
Such nature-myths as these are well worthy of preservation by the side
of any European fairy-tale. In purity of thought, vividness of
imagination, and delicacy of coloring the Hawaiian myths are to be given
a high place in literature among the stories of nature vivified by the
imagination.
Another side of Hawaiian folk-lore is just as worthy of comparison.
Lovers of "Jack-the-Giant-Killer," and of the other wonder-workers
dwelling in the mist-lands of other nations, would enjoy reading the
marvelous record of Maui, the skilful demi-god of Hawaii, who went
fishing with a magic hook, and pulled up from the depths of the ocean
groups of islands. This story is told in a matter-of-fact way, as if it
were a fishing-excursion only a little out of the ordinary course. Maui
lived in a land where volcanic fires were always burning in the
mountains. Nevertheless it was a little inconvenient to walk thirty or
forty miles for a live coal after the cold winds of the night had put
out the fire which had been carefully protected the day before. Thus,
when he saw that some intelligent birds knew the art of making a fire,
he captured the leader and forced him to tell the secret of rubbing
certain sticks together until fire came.
Maui also made snares, captured the sun and compelled it to journey
regularly and slowly across the heavens. Thus the day was regulated to
meet the wants of mankind. He lifted the heavens after they had rested
so long upon all the plants that their leaves were flat.
There was a ledge of rock in one of the rivers, so Maui uprooted a tree
and pushed it through, making an easy passage for both water and man. He
invented many helpful articles for the use of mankind, but meanwhile
frequently filled the days of his friends with trouble on account of the
mischievous pranks which he played on them.
Fairies and gnomes dwelt in the woodland, coming forth at night to build
temples, massive walls, to fashion canoes, or whisper warnings. The
birds and the fishes were capable and intelligent guardians over the
households which had adopted them as protecting deities. Birds of
brilliant plumage and sweet song were always faithful attendants on the
chiefs, and able to converse with those over whom they kept watch.
Sharks and other mighty fish of the deep waters were reliable messengers
for those who rendered them sacrifices, often carrying their devotees
from island to island and protecting them from many dangers.
Sometimes the gruesome and horrible creeps into Hawaiian folk-lore. A
poison tree figures in the legends and finally becomes one of the most
feared of all the gods of Hawaii. A cannibal dog, cannibal ghosts, and
even a cannibal chief are prominent among the noted characters of the
past.
Then the power of praying a person to death with the aid of departed
spirits was believed in, and is at the present time.
Almost every valley of the island has its peculiar and interesting myth.
Often there is a historical foundation which has been dealt with
fancifully and enlarged into miraculous proportions. There are hidden
caves, which can be entered only by diving under the great breakers or
into the deep waters of inland pools, around which cluster tales of love
and adventure.
There are many mythological characters whose journeys extend to all the
islands of the group. The Maui stories are not limited to the large
island Hawaii and a part of the adjoining island which bears the name of
Maui, but these stories are told in a garbled form on all the islands.
So Pele, the fire-goddess, who dwelt in the hottest regions of the most
active volcanoes, belongs to all, and also Kamapuaa, who is sometimes
her husband, but more frequently her enemy. The conflicts between the
two are often suggested by destructive lava flows checked by storms or
ocean waves. It cannot be suspected that the ancient Hawaiian had the
least idea of deifying fire and water--and yet the continual conflict
between man and woman is like the eternal enmity between the two
antagonistic elements of nature.
When the borders of mist-land are crossed, a rich store of folk-lore
with a historical foundation is discovered. Chiefs and gods mingle
together as in the days of the Nibelungen Lied. Voyages are made to many
distant islands of the Pacific Ocean, whose names are frequently
mentioned in the songs and tales of the wandering heroes. A chief from
Samoa establishes a royal family on the largest of the Hawaiian Islands,
and a chief from the Hawaiian group becomes a ruler in Tahiti.
Indeed the rovers of the Pacific have tales of seafaring which equal the
accounts of the voyages of the Vikings.
The legends of the Hawaiian Islands are valuable in themselves, in that
they reveal an understanding of the phenomena of nature and unveil their
early history with its mythological setting. They are also valuable for
comparison with the legends of the other Pacific islands, and they are
exceedingly interesting when contrasted with the folk-lore of other
nations.
I
THE GHOST OF WAHAULA TEMPLE
Hawaiian temples were never works of art. Broken lava was always near
the site upon which a temple was to be built. Rough unhewn stones were
easily piled into massive walls and laid in terraces for altar and
floors. Water-worn pebbles were carried from the nearest beach and
strewn over the uneven floor, making a comparatively smooth place over
which the naked feet of the temple dwellers passed without the injuries
which would otherwise frequently come from the sharp-edged lava. Rude
grass huts built on terraces were the abodes of the priests and of the
high chiefs who sometimes visited the places of sacrifice. Elevated,
flat-topped piles of stones were usually built at one end of the temple
for the chief idols and the sacrifices placed before them. Simplicity of
detail marked every step of temple erection.
No hewn pillars or arched gateways of even the most primitive designs
can be found in any of the temples whether of recent date or belonging
to remote antiquity. There was no attempt at ornamentation even in the
images of the great gods which they worshipped. Crude, uncouth, and
hideous were the images before which they offered sacrifice and prayer.
In themselves the heiaus, or temples, of the Hawaiian Islands have but
little attraction. To-day they seem more like massive walled cattle-pens
than places which had ever been used for sacred worship.
On the southeast coast of the island of Hawaii near Kalapana is one of
the largest, oldest, and best preserved heiaus, or temples, in the
Hawaiian Islands. It is no exception to the architectural rule for
Hawaiian temples, and is worthy the name of temple only as it is
intimately associated with the religious customs of the Hawaiians. Its
walls are several feet thick and in places ten to twelve feet high. It
is divided into rooms or pens, in one of which still lies the huge
sacrificial stone upon which victims--sometimes human--were slain before
the bodies were placed as offerings in front of the hideous idols
leaning against the stone walls.
This heiau now bears the name Wahaula, or "red-mouth." In ancient times
it was known as Ahaula, or "the red assembly," possibly denoting that at
times the priests and their attendants wore red mantles in their
processions or during some part of their sacred ceremonies.
This temple is said to be the oldest of all the Hawaiian heiaus--except
possibly the heiau at Kohala on the northern coast of the same island.
These two heiaus date back in tradition to the time of Paao, the priest
from Upolu, Samoa, who was said to have built them. He was the
traditional father of the priestly line which ran parallel to the royal
genealogy of the Kamehamehas during several centuries until the last
high priest, Hewahewa, became a follower of Jesus Christ--the Saviour of
the world. This was the last heiau destroyed when the ancient tabus and
ceremonial rites were overthrown by the chiefs just before the coming of
Christian missionaries. At that time the grass houses of the priests
were burned and in these raging flames were thrown the wooden idols back
of the altars and the bamboo huts of the soothsayers and the rude images
on the walls, with everything combustible which belonged to the ancient
order of worship. Only the walls and rough stone floors were left in the
temple.
In the outer temple court was the most noted sacred grave in all the
islands. Earth had been carried from the mountain-sides inland. Leaves
and decaying trees added to the permanency of the soil. Here in a most
unlikely place it was said that all the varieties of trees then found in
the islands had been gathered by the priests--the descendants of Paao. To
this day the grave stands by the temple walls, an object of
superstitious awe among the natives. Many of the varieties of trees
there planted have died, leaving only those which were more hardy and
needed less priestly care than they received a hundred years or more
ago.
The temple is built near the coast on the rough, sharp, broken rocks of
an ancient lava flow. In many places in and around the temple the lava
was dug out, making holes three or four feet across and from one to two
feet deep. These in the days of the priesthood had been filled with
earth brought in baskets from the mountains. Here they raised sweet
potatoes and taro and bananas. Now the rains have washed the soil away
and to the unknowing there is no sign of previous agriculture. Near
these depressions and along the paths leading to Wahaula other holes
were sometimes cut out of the hard fine-grained lava. When heavy rains
fell, little grooves carried the drops of water to these holes and they
became small cisterns. Here the thirsty messengers running from one
priestly clan to another, or the traveller or worshippers coming to the
sacred place, could almost always find a few drops of water to quench
their thirst.
Usually these water-holes were covered with a large flat stone under
which the water ran into the cistern. To this day these small water
places border the path across the pahoehoe lava field which lies
adjacent to the broken a-a lava upon which the Wahaula heiau is built.
Many of them are still covered as in the days of the long ago.
It is not strange that legends have developed through the mists of the
centuries around this rude old temple.
Wahaula was a tabu temple of the very highest rank. The native chants
said,
"No keia heiau oia ke kapu enaena."
("Concerning this heiau is the burning tabu.")
"Enaena" means "burning with a red hot rage." The heiau was so
thoroughly "tabu," or "kapu," that the smoke of its fires falling upon
any of the people or even upon any one of the chiefs was sufficient
cause for punishment by death, with the body as a sacrifice to the gods
of the temple.
These gods were of the very highest rank among the Hawaiian deities.
Certain days were tabu to Lono--or Rongo, as he was known in other
island groups of the Pacific Ocean. Other days belonged to Ku--who was
also worshipped from New Zealand to Tahiti. At other times Kane, known
as Tane by many Polynesians, was held supreme. Then again Kanaloa--or
Tanaroa, sometimes worshipped in Samoa and other island groups as the
greatest of all their gods--had his days especially set apart for
sacrifice and chant.
The Mu, or "body-catcher," of this heiau with his assistants seems to
have been continually on the watch for human victims, and woe to the
unfortunate man who carelessly or ignorantly walked where the winds blew
the smoke from the temple fires. No one dared rescue him from the hands
of the hunter of men--for then the wrath of all the gods was sure to
follow him all the days of his life.
The people of the districts around Wahaula always watched the course of
the winds with great anxiety, carefully noting the direction taken by
the smoke. This smoke was the shadow cast by the deity worshipped, and
was far more sacred than the shadow of the highest chief or king in all
the islands.
It was always sufficient cause for death if a common man allowed his
shadow to fall upon any tabu chief, _i.e._, a chief of especially high
rank; but in this "burning tabu," if any man permitted the smoke or
shadow of the god who was being worshipped in this temple to come near
to him or overshadow him, it was a mark of such great disrespect that
the god was supposed to be enaena, or red hot with rage.
Many ages ago a young chief whom we shall know by the name Kahele
determined to take an especial journey around the island visiting all
the noted and sacred places and becoming acquainted with the alii, or
chiefs, of the other districts.
He passed from place to place, taking part with the chiefs
who entertained him sometimes in the use of the papa-hee, or
surf-board, riding the white-capped surf as it majestically swept
shoreward--sometimes spending night after night in the innumerable
gambling contests which passed under the name pili waiwai--and sometimes
riding the narrow sled, or holua, with which Hawaiian chiefs raced down
the steep grassed lanes. Then again, with a deep sense of the solemnity
of sacred things, he visited the most noted of the heiaus and made
contributions to the offerings before the gods. Thus the days passed,
and the slow journey was very pleasant to Kahele.
In time he came to Puna, the district in which was located the temple
Wahaula.
But alas! in the midst of the many stories of the past which he had
heard, and the many pleasures he had enjoyed while on his journey,
Kahele forgot the peculiar power of the tabu of the smoke of Wahaula.
The fierce winds of the south were blowing and changing from point to
point. The young man saw the sacred grove in the edge of which the
temple walls could be discerned. Thin wreaths of smoke were tossed here
and there from the temple fires.
Kahele hastened toward the temple. The Mu was watching his coming and
joyfully marking him as a victim. The altars of the gods were desolate,
and if but a particle of smoke fell upon the young man no one could keep
him from the hands of the executioner.
The perilous moment came. The warm breath of one of the fires touched
the young chief's cheek. Soon a blow from the club of the Mu laid him
senseless on the rough stones of the outer court of the temple. The
smoke of the wrath of the gods had fallen upon him, and it was well that
he should lie as a sacrifice upon their altars.
Soon the body with the life still in it was thrown across the
sacrificial stone. Sharp knives made from the strong wood of the bamboo
let his life-blood flow down the depressions across the face of the
stone. Quickly the body was dismembered and offered as a sacrifice.
For some reason the priests, after the flesh had decayed, set apart the
bones for some special purpose. The legends imply that the bones were to
be treated dishonorably. It may have been that the bones were folded
together in the shape known as unihipili, or "grasshopper" bones,
_i.e._, folded and laid away for purposes of incantation. Such bundles
of bones were put through a process of prayers and charms until at last
it was thought a new spirit was created which dwelt in that bundle and
gave the possessor a peculiar power in deeds of witchcraft.
The spirit of Kahele rebelled against this disposition of all that
remained of his body. He wanted to be back in his native district, that
he might enjoy the pleasures of the Under-world with his own chosen
companions. Restlessly the spirit haunted the dark corners of the
temple, watching the priests as they handled his bones.
Helplessly the ghost fumed and fretted against its condition. It did all
that a disembodied spirit could do to attract the attention of the
priests.
At last the spirit fled by night from this place of torment to the home
which he had so joyfully left a short time before.
Kahele's father was the high chief of Kau. Surrounded by retainers, he
passed his days in quietness and peace waiting for the return of his
son.
One night a strange dream came to him. He heard a voice calling from the
mysterious confines of the spirit-land. As he listened, a spirit form
stood by his side. The ghost was that of his son Kahele.
By means of the dream the ghost revealed to the father that he had been
put to death and that his bones were in great danger of dishonorable
treatment.
The father awoke benumbed with fear, realizing that his son was calling
upon him for immediate help. At once he left his people and journeyed
from place to place secretly, not knowing where or when Kahele had died,
but fully sure that the spirit of his vision was that of his son. It was
not difficult to trace the young man. He had left his footprints openly
all along the way. There was nothing of shame or dishonor--and the
father's heart filled with pride as he hastened on.
From time to time, however, he heard the spirit voice calling him to
save the bones of the body of his dead son. At last he felt that his
journey was nearly done. He had followed the footsteps of Kahele almost
entirely around the island, and had come to Puna--the last district
before his own land of Kau would welcome his return.
The spirit voice could be heard now in the dream which nightly came to
him. Warnings and directions were frequently given.
Then the chief came to the lava fields of Wahaula and lay down to rest.
The ghost came to him again in a dream, telling him that great personal
danger was near at hand. The chief was a very strong man, excelling in
athletic and brave deeds, but in obedience to the spirit voice he rose
early in the morning, secured oily nuts from a kukui-tree, beat out the
oil, and anointed himself thoroughly.
Walking along carelessly as if to avoid suspicion, he drew near to the
lands of the temple Wahaula. Soon a man came out to meet him. This man
was an Olohe, a beardless man belonging to a lawless robber clan which
infested the district, possibly assisting the man-hunters of the temple
in securing victims for the temple altars. This Olohe was very strong
and self-confident, and thought he would have but little difficulty in
destroying this stranger who journeyed alone through Puna.
Almost all day the battle raged between the two men. Back and forth they
forced each other over the lava beds. The chief's well-oiled body was
very difficult for the Olohe to grasp. Bruised and bleeding from
repeated falls on the rough lava, both of the combatants were becoming
very weary. Then the chief made a new attack, forcing the Olohe into a
narrow place from which there was no escape, and at last seizing him,
breaking his bones, and then killing him.
As the shadows of night rested over the temple and its sacred grave the
chief crept closer to the dreaded tabu walls. Concealing himself he
waited for the ghost to reveal to him the best plan for action. The
ghost came, but was compelled to bid the father wait patiently for a fit
time when the secret place in which the bones were hidden could be
safely visited.
For several days and nights the chief hid himself near the temple. He
secretly uttered the prayers and incantations needed to secure the
protection of his family gods.
One night the darkness was very great, and the priests and watchmen of
the temple felt sure that no one would attempt to enter the sacred
precincts. Deep sleep rested upon all the temple-dwellers.
Then the ghost of Kahele hastened to the place where the father was
sleeping and aroused him for the dangerous task before him.
As the father arose he saw this ghost outlined in the darkness,
beckoning him to follow. Step by step he felt his way cautiously over
the rough path and along the temple walls until he saw the ghost
standing near a great rock pointing at a part of the wall.
The father seized a stone which seemed to be the one most directly in
the line of the ghost's pointing. To his surprise it very easily was
removed from the wall. Back of it was a hollow place in which lay a
bundle of folded bones. The ghost urged the chief to take these bones
and depart quickly.
[Illustration: IMAGES OF GODS AT THE HEIAU]
The father obeyed, and followed the spirit guide until safely away from
the temple of the burning wrath of the gods. He carried the bones to Kau
and placed them in his own secret family burial cave.
The ghost of Wahaula went down to the spirit world in great joy. Death
had come. The life of the young chief had been taken for temple service
and yet there had at last been nothing dishonorable connected with the
destruction of the body and the passing away of the spirit.
II
MALUAE AND THE UNDER-WORLD
This is a story from Manoa Valley, back of Honolulu. In the upper end of
the valley, at the foot of the highest mountains on the island Oahu,
lived Maluae. He was a farmer, and had chosen this land because rain
fell abundantly on the mountains, and the streams brought down fine soil
from the decaying forests and disintegrating rocks, fertilizing his
plants.
Here he cultivated bananas and taro and sweet potatoes. His bananas grew
rapidly by the sides of the brooks, and yielded large bunches of fruit
from their tree-like stems; his taro filled small walled-in pools,
growing in the water like water-lilies, until the roots were matured,
when the plants were pulled up and the roots boiled and prepared for
food; his sweet potatoes--a vegetable known among the ancient New
Zealanders as ku-maru, and supposed to have come from Hawaii--were
planted on the drier uplands.
Thus he had plenty of food continually growing, and ripening from time
to time. Whenever he gathered any of his food products he brought a part
to his family temple and placed it on an altar before the gods Kane and
Kanaloa, then he took the rest to his home for his family to eat.
He had a boy whom he dearly loved, whose name was Kaa-lii (rolling
chief). This boy was a careless, rollicking child.
One day the boy was tired and hungry. He passed by the temple of the
gods and saw bananas, ripe and sweet, on the little platform before the
gods. He took these bananas and ate them all.
The gods looked down on the altar expecting to find food, but it was all
gone and there was nothing for them. They were very angry, and ran out
after the boy. They caught him eating the bananas, and killed him. The
body they left lying under the trees, and taking out his ghost threw it
into the Under-world.
The father toiled hour after hour cultivating his food plants, and when
wearied returned to his home. On the way he met the two gods. They told
him how his boy had robbed them of their sacrifices and how they had
punished him. They said, "We have sent his ghost body to the lowest
regions of the Under-world."
The father was very sorrowful and heavy hearted as he went on his way to
his desolate home. He searched for the body of his boy, and at last
found it. He saw too that the story of the gods was true, for partly
eaten bananas filled the mouth, which was set in death.
He wrapped the body very carefully in kapa cloth made from the bark of
trees. He carried it into his rest-house and laid it on the
sleeping-mat. After a time he lay down beside the body, refusing all
food, and planning to die with his boy. He thought if he could escape
from his own body he would be able to go down where the ghost of his boy
had been sent. If he could find that ghost he hoped to take it to the
other part of the Under-world, where they could be happy together.
He placed no offerings on the altar of the gods. No prayers were
chanted. The afternoon and evening passed slowly. The gods waited for
their worshipper, but he came not. They looked down on the altar of
sacrifice, but there was nothing for them.
The night passed and the following day. The father lay by the side of
his son, neither eating nor drinking, and longing only for death. The
house was tightly closed.
Then the gods talked together, and Kane said: "Maluae eats no food, he
prepares no awa to drink, and there is no water by him. He is near the
door of the Under-world. If he should die, we would be to blame."
Kanaloa said: "He has been a good man, but now we do not hear any
prayers. We are losing our worshipper. We in quick anger killed his
son. Was this the right reward? He has called us morning and evening in
his worship. He has provided fish and fruits and vegetables for our
altars. He has always prepared awa from the juice of the yellow awa root
for us to drink. We have not paid him well for his care."
Then they decided to go and give life to the father, and permit him to
take his ghost body and go down into Po, the dark land, to bring back
the ghost of the boy. So they went to Maluae and told him they were
sorry for what they had done.
The father was very weak from hunger, and longing for death, and could
scarcely listen to them.
When Kane said, "Have you love for your child?" the father whispered:
"Yes. My love is without end." "Can you go down into the dark land and
get that spirit and put it back in the body which lies here?"
"No," the father said, "no, I can only die and go to live with him and
make him happier by taking him to a better place."
Then the gods said, "We will give you the power to go after your boy and
we will help you to escape the dangers of the land of ghosts."
Then the father, stirred by hope, rose up and took food and drink. Soon
he was strong enough to go on his journey.
The gods gave him a ghost body and also prepared a hollow stick like
bamboo, in which they put food, battle-weapons, and a piece of burning
lava for fire.
Not far from Honolulu is a beautiful modern estate with fine roads,
lakes, running brooks, and interesting valleys extending back into the
mountain range. This is called by the very ancient name Moanalua (two
lakes). Near the seacoast of this estate was one of the most noted ghost
localities of the islands. The ghosts after wandering over the island
Oahu would come to this place to find a way into their real home, the
Under-world, or, as the Hawaiians usually called it, Po.
Here was a ghostly breadfruit-tree named Lei-walo, possibly meaning "the
eight wreaths" or "the eighth wreath"--the last wreath of leaves from
the land of the living which would meet the eyes of the dying.
The ghosts would leap or fly or climb into the branches of this tree,
trying to find a rotten branch upon which they could sit until it broke
and threw them into the dark sea below.
Maluae climbed up the breadfruit-tree. He found a branch upon which some
ghosts were sitting waiting for it to fall. His weight was so much
greater than theirs that the branch broke at once, and down they all
fell into the land of Po.
He needed merely to taste the food in his hollow cane to have new life
and strength. This he had done when he climbed the tree; thus he had
been able to push past the fabled guardians of the pathway of the ghosts
in the Upper-world. As he entered the Under-world he again tasted the
food of the gods and he felt himself growing stronger and stronger.
He took a magic war-club and a spear out of the cane given by the gods.
Ghostly warriors tried to hinder his entrance into the different
districts of the dark land. The spirits of dead chiefs challenged him
when he passed their homes. Battle after battle was fought. His magic
club struck the warriors down, and his spear tossed them aside.
Sometimes he was warmly greeted and aided by ghosts of kindly spirit.
Thus he went from place to place, searching for his boy, finding him at
last, as the Hawaiians quaintly expressed it, "down in the papa-ku" (the
established foundation of Po), choking and suffocating from the bananas
of ghost-land which he was compelled to continually force into his
mouth.
The father caught the spirit of the boy and started back toward the
Upper-world, but the ghosts surrounded him. They tried to catch him and
take the spirit away from him. Again the father partook of the food of
the gods. Once more he wielded his war-club, but the hosts of enemies
were too great. Multitudes arose on all sides, crushing him by their
overwhelming numbers.
At last he raised his magic hollow cane and took the last portion of
food. Then he poured out the portion of burning lava which the gods had
placed inside. It fell upon the dry floor of the Under-world. The flames
dashed into the trees and the shrubs of ghost-land. Fire-holes opened in
the floor and streams of lava burst out.
Backward fled the multitudes of spirits. The father thrust the spirit of
the boy quickly into the empty magic cane and rushed swiftly up to his
home-land. He brought the spirit to the body lying in the rest-house and
forced it to find again its living home.
Afterward the father and the boy took food to the altars of the gods,
and chanted the accustomed prayers heartily and loyally all the rest of
their lives.
III
A GIANT'S ROCK-THROWING
A point of land on the northwestern coast of the island Oahu is called
Ka-lae-o-Kaena which means "The Cape of Kaena."
Out in the ocean a short distance from this cape lies a large rock which
bears the name Pohaku-o-Kauai, or rock of Kauai, a large island
northwest of Oahu. This rock is as large as a small house.
There is an interesting legend told on the island of Oahu which explains
why these names have for generations been fastened to the cape and to
the rock. A long, long time ago there lived on the island Kauai a man of
wonderful power, by the name of Hau-pu. When he was born, the signs of a
demi-god were over and around the house of his birth. Lightning flashed
through the skies, and thunder reverberated, rolling along the
mountain-sides.
Thunder and lightning were very rare in the Hawaiian Islands, and were
supposed to be connected with the birth or death or some very unusual
occurrence in the life of a chief.
Mighty floods of rain fell and poured in torrents down the
mountain-sides, carrying the red iron soil into the valleys in such
quantities that the rapids and the waterfalls became the color of blood,
and the natives called this a blood-rain.
During the storm, and even after sunshine filled the valley, a beautiful
rainbow rested over the house in which the young chief was born. This
rainbow was thought to come from the miraculous powers of the new-born
child shining out from him instead of from the sunlight around him. Many
chiefs throughout the centuries of Hawaiian legends were said to have
had this rainbow around them all their lives.
Hau-pu while a child was very powerful, and after he grew up was widely
known as a great warrior. He would attack and defeat armies of his
enemies without aid from any person. His spear was like a mighty weapon,
sometimes piercing a host of enemies, and sometimes putting aside all
opposition when he thrust it into the ranks of his opponents.
If he had thrown his spear and if fighting with his bare hands did not
vanquish his foes, he would leap to the hillside, tear up a great tree,
and with it sweep away all before him as if he were wielding a huge
broom. He was known and feared throughout all the Hawaiian Islands. He
became angry quickly and used his great powers very rashly.
One night he lay sleeping in his royal rest-house on the side of a
mountain which faced the neighboring island of Oahu. Between the two
islands lay a broad channel about thirty miles wide. When clouds were on
the face of the sea, these islands were hidden from each other; but when
they lifted, the rugged valleys of the mountains on one island could be
clearly seen from the other. Even by moonlight the shadowy lines would
appear.
This night the strong man stirred in his sleep. Indistinct noises seemed
to surround his house. He turned over and dropped off into slumber
again.
Soon he was aroused a second time, and he was awake enough to hear
shouts of men far, far away. Louder rose the noise mixed with the roar
of the great surf waves, so he realized that it came from the sea, and
he then forced himself to rise and stumble to the door.
He looked out toward Oahu. A multitude of lights were flashing on the
sea before his sleepy eyes. A low murmur of many voices came from the
place where the dancing lights seemed to be. His confused thoughts made
it appear to him that a great fleet of warriors was coming from Oahu to
attack his people.
He blindly rushed out to the edge of a high precipice which overlooked
the channel. Evidently many boats and many people were out in the sea
below.
He laughed, and stooped down and tore a huge rock from its place. This
he swung back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, until he gave
it great impetus which added to his own miraculous power sent it far out
over the sea. Like a great cloud it rose in the heavens and, as if blown
by swift winds, sped on its way.
Over on the shores of Oahu a chief whose name was Kaena had called his
people out for a night's fishing. Canoes large and small came from all
along the coast. Torches without number had been made and placed in the
canoes. The largest fish-nets had been brought.
There was no need of silence. Nets had been set in the best places. Fish
of all kinds were to be aroused and frightened into the nets. Flashing
lights, splashing paddles, and clamor from hundreds of voices resounded
all around the nets.
Gradually the canoes came nearer and nearer the centre. The shouting
increased. Great joy ruled the noise which drowned the roar of the
waves.
Across the channel and up the mountain-sides of Kauai swept the shouts
of the fishing-party. Into the ears of drowsy Hau-pu the noise forced
itself. Little dreamed the excited fishermen of the effect of this on
far-away Kauai.
Suddenly something like a bird as large as a mountain seemed to be
above, and then with a mighty sound like the roar of winds it descended
upon them.
Smashed and submerged were the canoes when the huge boulder thrown by
Hau-pu hurled itself upon them.
The chief Kaena and his canoe were in the centre of this terrible mass
of wreckage, and he and many of his people lost their lives.
The waves swept sand upon the shore until in time a long point of land
was formed. The remaining followers of the dead chief named this cape
"Kaena."
The rock thrown by Hau-pu embedded itself deeply in the bed of the
ocean, but its head rose far above the water, even when raging storms
dashed turbulent waves against it. To this death-dealing rock the
natives gave the name "Rock of Kauai."
Thus for generations has the deed of the man of giant force been
remembered on Oahu, and so have a cape and a rock received their names.
IV
KALO-EKE-EKE, THE TIMID TARO
A myth is a purely imaginative story. A legend is a story with some
foundation in fact. A fable tacks on a moral. A tradition is a myth or
legend or fact handed down from generation to generation.
The old Hawaiians were frequently myth makers. They imagined many a
fairy-story for the different localities of the islands, and these are
very interesting. The myth of the two taro plants belongs to South Kona,
Hawaii, and affords an excellent illustration of Hawaiian imagination.
The story is told in different ways, and came to the writer in the
present form:
A chief lived on the mountain-side above Hookena. There his people
cultivated taro, made kapa cloth, and prepared the trunks of koa-trees
for canoes. He had a very fine taro patch. The plants prided themselves
upon their rapid and perfect growth.
In one part of the taro pond, side by side, grew two taro plants--finer,
stronger, and more beautiful than the others. The leaf stalks bent over
in more perfect curves: the leaves developed in graceful proportions.
Mutual admiration filled the hearts of the two taro plants and resulted
in pledges of undying affection.
One day the chief was talking to his servants about the food to be made
ready for a feast. He ordered the two especially fine taro plants to be
pulled up. One of the servants came to the home of the two lovers and
told them that they were to be taken by the chief.
Because of their great affection for each other they determined to cling
to life as long as possible, and therefore moved to another part of the
taro patch, leaving their neighbors to be pulled up instead of
themselves.
But the chief soon saw them in their new home and again ordered their
destruction. Again they fled. This happened from time to time until the
angry chief determined that they should be taken, no matter what part of
the pond they might be in.
The two taro plants thought best to flee, therefore took to themselves
wings and made a short flight to a neighboring taro patch. Here again
their enemy found them. A second flight was made to another part of
South Kona, and then to still another, until all Kona was interested in
the perpetual pursuit and the perpetual escape. At last there was no
part of Kona in which they could be concealed. A friend of the angry
chief would reveal their hiding-place, while one of their own friends
would give warning of the coming of their pursuer. At last they leaped
into the air and flew on and on until they were utterly weary and fell
into a taro patch near Waiohinu. But their chief had ordered the imu
(cooking-place) to be made ready for them, and had hastened along the
way on foot, trying to capture them if at any time they should try to
light. However, their wings moved more swiftly than his feet, so they
had a little rest before he came near to their new home. Then again they
lifted themselves into the sky. Favoring winds carried them along and
they flew a great distance away from South Kona into the neighboring
district of Kau. Here they found a new home under a kindly chief. Here
they settled down and lived many years under the name of Kalo-eke-eke,
or "The Timid Taro." A large family grew up about them and a happy old
age blessed their declining days.
It is possible that this beautiful little story may have grown out of
the ancient Hawaiian unwritten law which sometimes permitted the
subjects of a chief to move away from their home and transfer their
allegiance to some neighboring ruler.
[Illustration: FROM A TARO PATCH]
V
LEGENDARY CANOE-MAKING
Some of the Hawaiian trees have beautifully grained wood, and at the
present time are very valuable for furniture and interior decoration.
The koa is probably the best of the trees of this class. It is known as
the Hawaiian mahogany. The grain is very fine and curly and wavy, and is
capable of a very high polish. The koa still grows luxuriantly on the
steep sides and along the ridges of the high mountains of all the
islands of the Hawaiian group. It has great powers of endurance. It is
not easily worn by the pebbles and sand of the beach, nor is it readily
split or broken by the tempestuous waves of the ocean, therefore from
time immemorial the koa has been the tree for the canoe and surf-board
of the Hawaiians. Long and large have been the canoes hewn from the
massive tree trunks by the aid of the kohi-pohaku, the cutting stone, or
adze, of ancient Hawaii. Some times these canoes were given miraculous
powers of motion so that they swept through the seas more rapidly than
the swiftest shark. Often the god of the winds, who had especial care
over some one of the high chiefs, would carry him from island to island
in a canoe which never rested when calms prevailed or stopped when
fierce waves wrenched, but bore the chief swiftly and unfailingly to the
desired haven.
There is a delightful little story about a chief who visited the most
northerly island, Kauai. He found the natives of that island feasting
and revelling in all the abandon of savage life. Sports and games
innumerable were enjoyed. Thus day and night passed until, as the
morning of a new day dawned, an unwonted stir along the beach made
manifest some event of very great importance. The new chief apparently
cared but little for all the excitement. The king of the island had sent
one of his royal ornaments to a small island some miles distant from the
Kauai shores. He was blessed with a daughter so beautiful that all the
available chiefs desired her for wife. The father, hoping to avoid the
complications which threatened to involve his household with the
households of the jealous suitors, announced that he would give his
daughter to the man who secured the ornament from the far-away island.
It was to be a canoe race with a wife for the prize.
The young chiefs waited for the hour appointed. Their well-polished koa
canoes lined the beach. The stranger chief made no preparation. Quietly
he enjoyed the gibes and taunts hurled from one to another by the young
chiefs. Laughingly he requested permission to join in the contest,
receiving as the reward for his request a look of approbation from the
handsome chiefess.
The word was given. The well-manned canoes were pushed from the shore
and forced out through the inrolling surf. In the rush some of the boats
were interlocked with others, some filled with water, while others
safely broke away from the rest and passed out of sight toward the
coveted island. Still the stranger seemed to be in no haste to win the
prize. The face of the chiefess grew dark with disappointment.
At last the stranger launched his finely polished canoe and called one
of his followers to sail with him. It seemed to be utterly impossible
for him to even dream of securing the prize, but the canoe began to move
as if it had the wings of a swift bird or the fins of fleetest fish. He
had taken for his companion in his magic canoe one of the gods
controlling the ocean winds. He was first to reach the island. Then he
came swiftly back for his bride. He made his home among his new friends.
The Hawaiians had many interesting ceremonies in connection with the
process of securing the tree and fashioning it into a canoe.
David Malo, a Hawaiian writer of about the year 1840, says, "The
building of a canoe was a religious matter." When a man found a fine koa
tree he went to the priest whose province was canoe-making and said, "I
have found a koa-tree, a fine large tree." On receiving this information
the priest went at night to sleep before his shrine. If in his sleep he
had a vision of some one standing naked before him, he knew that the
koa-tree was rotten, and would not go up into the woods to cut that
tree. If another tree was found and he dreamed of a handsome
well-dressed man or woman standing before him, when he awoke he felt
sure that the tree would make a good canoe. Preparations were made
accordingly to go into the mountains and hew the koa into a canoe. They
took with them as offerings a pig, cocoanuts, red fish, and awa. Having
come to the place they rested for the night, sacrificing these things to
the gods.
Sometimes, when a royal canoe was to be prepared, it seems as if human
beings were also brought and slain at the root of the tree. There is no
record of cannibalism connected with these sacrifices, and yet when the
pig and fish had been offered before the tree, usually a hole was dug
close to the tree and an oven prepared in which the meat and vegetables
were cooked for the morning feast of the canoe-makers. The tree was
carefully examined and the signs and portents noted. The song of a
little bird would frequently cause an entire change in the enterprise.
When the time came to cut down the tree the priest would take his stone
axe and offer prayer to the male and female deities who were supposed to
be the special patrons of canoe building, showing them the axe, and
saying: "Listen now to the axe. This is the axe which is to cut down the
tree for the canoe."
David Malo says: "When the tree began to crack, ready to fall, they
lowered their voices and allowed no one to make a disturbance. When the
tree had fallen, the head priest mounted the trunk and called out,
'Smite with the axe, and hollow the canoe.' This was repeated again and
again as he walked along the fallen tree, marking the full length of the
desired canoe."
Dr. Emerson gives the following as one of the prayers sometimes used by
the priest when passing a long the trunk of the tree:
"Grant a canoe which shall be swift as a fish
To sail in stormy seas
When the storm tosses on all sides."
After the canoe had been roughly shaped, the ends pointed, the bottom
rounded, and perhaps a portion of the inside of the log removed, the
people fastened lines to the canoe to haul it down to the beach. When
they were ready for the work the priest again prayed: "Oh, canoe gods,
look you after this canoe. Guard it from stem to stern, until it is
placed in the canoe-house."
Then the canoe was hauled by the people in front, or held back by those
who were in the rear, until it had passed all the hard and steep places
along the mountain-side and been put in place for the finishing touches.
When completed, pig and fish and fruits were again offered to the gods.
Sometimes human beings were again a part of the sacrifice.
Prayers and incantations were part of the ceremony. There was to be no
disturbance or noise, or else it would be dangerous for its owner to go
out in his new canoe. If all the people except the priest had been
quiet, the canoe was pronounced safe.
It is said that the ceremony of lashing the outrigger to the canoe was
of very great solemnity, probably because the ability to pass through
the high surf waves depended so much upon the out rigger as a balance
which kept the canoe from being overturned.
The story of Laka and the fairies is told to illustrate the difficulties
surrounding canoe making. Laka desired to make a fine canoe, and sought
through the forests for the best tree available. Taking his stone axe he
toiled all day until the tree was felled. Then he went home to rest. On
the morrow he could not find the log. The trees of the forest had been
apparently undisturbed. Again he cut a tree, and once more could not
find the log. At last he cut a tree and watched in the night. Then he
saw in the night shadows a host of the little people who toil with
miraculous powers to support them. They raised the tree and set it in
its place and restored it to its wonted appearance among its fellows.
But Laka caught the king of the gnomes and from him learned how to gain
the aid rather than the opposition of the little people. By their help
his canoe was taken to the shore and fashioned into beautiful shape for
wonderful and successful voyages.
VI
LAU-KA-IEIE
"Waipio valley, the beautiful:
Precipices around it,
The sea on one side;
The precipices are hard to climb;
Not to be climbed
Are the sea precipices."
--_Hawaiian Chant._
Kakea (the white one) and Kaholo (the runner) were the children of the
Valley. Their parents were the precipices which were sheer to the sea,
and could only be passed by boats. They married, and Kaholo conceived.
The husband said, "If a boy is born, I will name it; if a girl, you give
the name."
He went up to see his sister Pokahi, and asked her to go swiftly to see
his wife. Pokahi's husband was Kaukini, a bird-catcher. He went out into
the forest for some birds. Soon he came back and prepared them for
cooking. Hot stones were put inside the birds and the birds were packed
in calabashes, carefully covered over with wet leaves, which made steam
inside so the birds were well cooked. Then they were brought to Kaholo
for a feast.
On their way they went down to Waipio Valley, coming to the foot of the
precipice. Pokahi wanted some sea-moss and some shell-fish, so she told
the two men to go on while she secured these things to take to Kaholo.
She gathered the soft lipoa moss and went up to the waterfall, to Ulu
(Kaholo's home). The baby was born, wrapped in the moss and thrown into
the sea, making a shapeless bundle, but a kupua (sorcerer) saw that a
child was there. The child was taken and washed clean in the soft lipoa,
and cared for. All around were the signs of the birth of a chief.
They named him Hiilawe, and from him the Waipio waterfall has its name,
according to the saying, "Falling into mist is the water of Hiilawe."
Pokahi took up her package in which she had brought the moss and
shell-fish, but the moss was gone. Hina-ulu-ohia (Hina-the-growing
ohia-tree) was the sorcerer who took the child in the lipoa moss. She
was the aumakua, or ancestor goddess, of the boat-builders.
Pokahi dreamed that a beautiful woman appeared, her body covered with
the leaves of koa-trees. "I know that you have not had any child. I will
now give you one. Awake, and go to the Waipio River; watch thirty days,
then you will find a girl wrapped in soft moss. This shall be your
adopted child. I will show you how to care for it. Your brother and his
wife must not know. Your husband alone may know about this adopted
girl."
Pokahi and her husband went down at once to the mouth of the river,
heard an infant cry in the midst of red-colored mist, and found a child
wrapped in the fragrant moss. She wished to take it up, but was held
back by magic powers. She saw an ohia-tree rising up from the
water,--branches, leaves, and flowers,--and iiwi (birds) coming to pick
the flowers. The red birds and red flowers were very beautiful. This
tree was Hina. The birds began to sing, and quietly the tree sank down
into the water and disappeared, the birds flying away to the west.
Pokahi returned to her brother's house, going down to the sea every day,
where she saw the human form of the child growing in the shelter of that
red mist on the surface of the sea. At the end of the thirty days Pokahi
told her friends and her husband that they must go back home. On their
way they went to the river. She told her husband to look at the red
mist, but he wanted to hurry on. As they approached their house,
cooking-odors welcomed them, and they found plenty of food prepared
outside. They saw something moving inside. The trees seemed to be
walking as if with the feet of men. Steps were heard, and voices were
calling for the people of the house.
Kaukini prepared a lamp, and Pokahi in a vision saw the same fine tree
which she had seen before. There was also a hala-tree with its beautiful
yellow blossoms. As they looked they saw leaves of different kinds
falling one after another, making in one place a soft fragrant bed.
Then a woman and a man came with an infant. They were the god Ku and
Hina his wife. They said to Pokahi and her husband, "We have accepted
your sacrifices and have seen that you are childless, so now we have
brought you this child to adopt." Then they disappeared among the trees
of the forest, leaving the child, Lau-ka-ieie (leaf of the ieie vine).
She was well cared for and grew up into a beautiful woman without fault
or blemish. Her companions and servants were the birds and the flowers.
Lau-ka-pali (leaf of the precipice) was one of her friends. One day she
made whistles of ti leaves, and blew them. The Leaf-of-the Morning-Glory
saw that the young chiefess liked this, so she went out and found
Pupu-kani-oi (the singing land-shell), whose home was on the leaves of
the forest trees. Then she found another Pupu-hina-hina-ula (shell
beautiful, with rainbow colors). In the night the shells sang, and
their voices stole their way into the love of Lau-ka-ieie, so she
gently sang with them.
Nohu-ua-palai (a fern), one of the old residents of that place, went out
into the forest, and, hearing the voices of the girl and the shells,
came to the house. She chanted her name, but there was no reply. All was
silent. At last, Pua-ohelo (the blossom of the ohelo), one of the
flowers in the house, heard, and opening the door, invited her to come
in and eat.
Nohu-ua-palai went in and feasted with the girls. Lau-ka-ieie dreamed
about Kawelona (the setting of the sun), at Lihue, a fine young man, the
first-born of one of the high chiefs of Kauai. She told her kahu
(guardian) all about her dream and the distant island. The kahu asked
who should go to find the man of the dreams. All the girl friends wanted
to go. She told them to raise their hands and the one who had the
longest fingers could go. This was Pupu-kani-oi (the singing shell). The
leaf family all sobbed as they bade farewell to the shell.
The shell said: "Oh, my leaf-sisters Laukoa [leaf of the koa-tree] and
Lauanau [leaf of the tapa, or paper-mulberry, tree], arise, go with me
on my journey! Oh, my shell-sisters of the blue sea, come to the beach,
to the sand! Come and show me the path I am to go! Oh, Pupu-moka-lau
[the land-shell clinging to the mokahana leaf], come and look at me,
for I am one of your family! Call all the shells to aid me in my
journey! Come to me!"
Then she summoned her brother, Makani-kau, chief of the winds, to waft
them away in their wind bodies. They journeyed all around the island of
Hawaii to find some man who would be like the man of the dream. They
found no one there nor on any of the other islands up to Oahu, where the
Singing Shell fell in love with a chief and turned from her journey, but
Makani-kau went on to Kauai.
Ma-eli-eli, the dragon woman of Heeia, tried to persuade him to stop,
but on he went. She ran after him. Limaloa, the dragon of Laiewai, also
tried to catch Makani-kau, but he was too swift. On the way to Kauai,
Makani-kau saw some people in a boat chased by a big shark. He leaped on
the boat and told them he would play with the shark and they could stay
near but need not fear. Then he jumped into the sea. The shark turned
over and opened its mouth to seize him; he climbed on it, caught its
fins, and forced it to flee through the water. He drove it to the shore
and made it fast among the rocks. It became a great shark stone,
Koa-mano (warrior shark), at Haena. He leaped from the shark to land,
the boat following.
He saw the hill of "Fire-Throwing," a place where burning sticks were
thrown over the precipices, a very beautiful sight at night. He leaped
to the top of the hill in his shadow body. Far up on the hill was a vast
number of iiwi (birds). Makani-kau went to them as they were flying
toward Lehua. They only felt the force of the winds, for they could not
see him or his real body. He saw that the birds were carrying a fine man
as he drew near.
This was the one Lau-ka-ieie desired for her husband. They carried this
boy on their wings easily and gently over the hills and sea toward the
sunset island, Lehua. There they slowly flew to earth. They were the
bird guardians of Kawelona, and when they travelled from place to place
they were under the direction of the bird-sorcerer, Kukala-a-ka-manu.
Kawelona had dreamed of a beautiful girl who had visited him again and
again, so he was prepared to meet Makani-kau. He told his parents and
adopted guardians and bird-priests about his dreams and the beautiful
girl he wanted to marry.
Makani-kau met the winds of Niihau and Lehua, and at last was welcomed
by the birds. He told Kawelona his mission, who prepared to go to
Hawaii, asking how they should go. Makani-kau went to the seaside and
called for his many bodies to come and give him the boat for the
husband of their great sister Lau-ka-ieie. Thus he made known his mana,
or spirit power, to Kawelona. He called on the great cloud-gods to send
the long white cloud-boat, and it soon appeared. Kawelona entered the
boat with fear, and in a few minutes lost sight of the island of Lehua
and his bird guardians as he sailed out into the sea. Makani-kau dropped
down by the side of a beautiful shell-boat, entered it, and stopped at
Mana. There he took several girls and put them in a double canoe, or
au-waa-olalua (spirit-boat).
Meanwhile the sorcerer ruler of the birds agreed to find out where
Kawelona was to satisfy the longing of his parents, whom he had left
without showing them where he was going or what dangers he might meet.
The sorcerer poured water into a calabash and threw in two lehua
flowers, which floated on the water. Then he turned his eyes toward the
sun and prayed: "Oh, great sun, to whom belongs the heavens, turn your
eyes downward to look on the water in this calabash, and show us what
you see therein! Look upon the beautiful young woman. She is not one
from Kauai. There is no one more beautiful than she. Her home is under
the glowing East, and a royal rainbow is around her. There are beautiful
girls attending her." The sorcerer saw the sun-pictures in the water,
and interpreted to the friends the journey of Kawelona, telling them it
was a long, long way, and they must wait patiently many days for any
word. In the signs he saw the boy in the cloud-boat, Makani-kau in his
shell-boat, and the three girls in the spirit-boat.
The girls were carried to Oahu, and there found the shell-girl,
Pupu-kani-oi, left by Makani-kau on his way to Lehua. They took her with
her husband and his sisters in the spirit-boat. There were nine in the
company of travellers to Hawaii: Kawelona in his cloud-boat; two girls
from Kauai; Kaiahe, a girl from Oahu; three from Molokai, one from Maui;
and a girl called Lihau. Makani-kau himself was the leader; he had taken
the girls away. On this journey he turned their boats to Kahoolawe to
visit Ka-moho-alii, the ruler of the sharks. There Makani-kau appeared
in his finest human body, and they all landed. Makani-kau took Kawelona
from his cloud-boat, went inland, and placed him in the midst of the
company, telling them he was the husband for Lau-ka-ieie. They were all
made welcome by the ruler of the sharks.
Ka-moho-alii called his sharks to bring food from all the islands over
which they were placed as guardians; so they quickly brought prepared
food, fish, flowers, leis, and gifts of all kinds. The company feasted
and rested. Then Ka-moho-alii called his sharks to guard the travellers
on their journey. Makani-kau went in his shell boat, Kawelona in his
cloud-boat, and they were all carried over the sea until they landed
under the mountains of Hawaii.
Makani-kau, in his wind body, carried the boats swiftly on their journey
to Waipio. Lau-ka-ieie heard her brother's voice calling her from the
sea. Hina answered. Makani-kau and Kawelona went up to Waimea to cross
over to Lau-ka-ieie's house, but were taken by Hina to the top of Mauna
Kea. Poliahu and Lilinoe saw the two fine young men and called to them,
but Makani-kau passed by, without a word, to his own wonderful home in
the caves of the mountains resting in the heart of mists and fogs, and
placed all his travellers there. Makani-kau went down to the sea and
called the sharks of Ka-moho-alii. They appeared in their human bodies
in the valley of Waipio, leaving their shark bodies resting quietly in
the sea. They feasted and danced near the ancient temple of
Kahuku-welo-welo, which was the place where the wonderful shell,
Kiha-pu, was kept.
Makani-kau put seven shells on the top of the precipice and they blew
until sweet sounds floated over all the land. Thus was the marriage of
Lau-ka-ieie and Kawelona celebrated.
All the shark people rested, soothed by the music. After the wedding
they bade farewell and returned to Kahoolawe, going around the southern
side of the island, for it was counted bad luck to turn back. They must
go straight ahead all the way home. Makani-kau went to his sister's
house, and met the girls and Lau-ka-ieie. He told her that his house was
full of strangers, as the people of the different kupua bodies had
assembled to celebrate the wedding. These were the kupua people of the
Hawaiian Islands. The eepa people were more like fairies and gnomes, and
were usually somewhat deformed. The kupuas may be classified as follows:
Ka-poe-kino-lau (the people who had leaf bodies).
" " " -pua (the people who had flower bodies).
" " " -manu (the people who had bird bodies).
" " " -laau (trees of all kinds, ferns, vines, etc.).
" " " -pupu (all shells).
" " " -ao (all clouds).
" " " -makani (all winds).
Ka-poe-kina-ia (all fish).
" " " -mano (all sharks).
" " " -limu (all sea-mosses).
" " " -pohaku (all peculiar stones).
" " " -hiwa-hiwa (all dangerous places of the pali).
After the marriage, Pupu-kani-oi (the singing shell) and her husband
entered the shell-boat, and started back to Molokai. On their way they
heard sweet bird voices. Makani-kau had a feather house covered with
rainbow colors. Later he went to Kauai, and brought back the adopted
parents of Kawelona to dwell on Hawaii, where Lau-ka-ieie lived happily
with her husband.
Hiilawe became very ill, and called his brother Makani-kau and his
sister Lau-ka-ieie to come near and listen. He told them that he was
going to die, and they must bury him where he could always see the eyes
of the people, and then he would change his body into a wonderful new
body.
The beautiful girl took his malo and leis and placed them along the
sides of the valley, where they became beautiful trees and vines, and
Hina made him live again; so Hiilawe became an aumakua of the
waterfalls. Makani-kau took the body in his hands and carried it in the
thunder and lightning, burying it on the brow of the highest precipice
of the valley. Then his body was changed into a stone, which has been
lying there for centuries; but his ghost was made by Hina into a kupua,
so that he could always appear as the wonderful misty falls of Waipio,
looking into the eyes of his people.
After many years had passed Hina assumed permanently the shape of the
beautiful ohia-tree, making her home in the forest around the volcanoes
of Hawaii. She still had magic power, and was worshipped under the name
Hina-ula-ohia. Makani-kau watched over Lau-ka-ieie, and when the time
came for her to lay aside her human body she came to him as a slender,
graceful woman, covered with leaves, her eyes blazing like fire.
Makani-kau said: "You are a vine; you cannot stand alone. I will carry
you into the forest and place you by the side of Hina. You are the ieie
vine. Climb trees! Twine your long leaves around them! Let your blazing
red flowers shine between the leaves like eyes of fire! Give your beauty
to all the ohia-trees of the forest!"
Carried hither and thither by Makani-kau (great wind), and dropped by
the side of splendid tall trees, the ieie vine has for centuries been
one of the most graceful tree ornaments in all the forest life of the
Hawaiian Islands.
Makani-kau in his spirit form blew the golden clouds of the islands into
the light of the sun, so that the Rainbow Maiden, Anuenue, might lend
her garments to all her friends of the ancient days.
VII
KAUHUHU, THE SHARK-GOD OF MOLOKAI
The story of the shark-god Kauhuhu has been told under the legend of
"Aikanaka (Man-eater)," which was the ancient name of the little harbor
Pukoo, which lies at the entrance to one of the beautiful valleys of the
island of Molokai. The better way is to take the legend as revealing the
great man-eater in one of his most kindly aspects. The shark-god appears
as the friend of a priest who is seeking revenge for the destruction of
his children. Kamalo was the name of the priest. His heiau, or temple,
was at Kaluaaha, a village which faced the channel between the islands
of Molokai and Maui. Across the channel the rugged red-brown slopes of
the mountain Eeke were lost in the masses of clouds which continually
hung around its sharp peaks. The two boys of the priest delighted in the
glorious revelations of sunrise and sunset tossed in shattered fragments
of cloud color, and revelled in the reflected tints which danced to them
over the swift channel-currents. It is no wonder that the courage of sky
and sea entered into the hearts of the boys, and that many deeds of
daring were done by them. They were taught many of the secrets of the
temple by their father, but were warned that certain things were sacred
to the gods and must not be touched. The high chief, or alii, of that
part of the island had a temple a short distance from Kaluaaha, in the
valley of the harbor which was called Aikanaka. The name of this chief
was Kupa. The chiefs always had a house built within the temple walls as
their own residence, to which they could retire at certain seasons of
the year. Kupa had two remarkable drums which he kept in his house at
the heiau. His skill in beating his drums was so great that they could
reveal his thoughts to the waiting priests.
One day Kupa sailed far away over the sea to his favorite
fishing-grounds. Meanwhile the boys were tempted to go to Kupa's heiau
and try the wonderful drums. The valley of the little harbor Aikanaka
bore the musical name Mapulehu. Along the beach and over the ridge
hastened the two sons of Kamalo. Quickly they entered the heiau, found
the high chief's house, took out his drums and began to beat upon them.
Some of the people heard the familiar tones of the drums. They dared not
enter the sacred doors of the heiau, but watched until the boys became
weary of their sport and returned home.
[Illustration: KUKUI-TREES, IAO VALLEY, MT. EEKE]
When Kupa returned they told him how the boys had beaten upon his
sacred drums. Kupa was very angry, and ordered his mu, or temple
sacrifice seekers, to kill the boys and bring their bodies to the heiau
to be placed on the altar. When the priest Kamalo heard of the death of
his sons, in bitterness of heart he sought revenge. His own power was
not great enough to cope with his high chief; therefore he sought the
aid of the seers and prophets of highest repute throughout Molokai. But
they feared Kupa the chief, and could not aid him, and therefore sent
him on to another kaula, or prophet, or sent him back to consult some
one the other side of his home. All this time he carried with him
fitting presents and sacrifices, by which he hoped to gain the
assistance of the gods through their priests. At last he came to the
steep precipice which overlooks Kalaupapa and Kalawao, the present home
of the lepers. At the foot of this precipice was a heiau, in which the
great shark-god was worshipped. Down the sides of the precipice he
climbed and at last found the priest of the shark-god. The priest
refused to give assistance, but directed him to go to a great cave in
the bold cliffs south of Kalawao. The name of the cave was Anao-puhi,
the cave of the eel. Here dwelt the great shark-god Kauhuhu and his
guardians or watchers, Waka and Mo-o, the great dragons or reptiles of
Polynesian legends. These dragons were mighty warriors in the defence of
the shark-god, and were his kahus, or caretakers, while he slept, or
when his cave needed watching during his absence.
Kamalo, tired and discouraged, plodded along through the rough lava
fragments piled around the entrance to the cave. He bore across his
shoulders a black pig, which he had carried many miles as an offering to
whatever power he could find to aid him. As he came near to the cave the
watchmen saw him and said:----
"E, here comes a man, food for the great [shark] Mano. Fish for
Kauhuhu." But Kamalo came nearer and for some reason aroused sympathy in
the dragons. "E hele! E hele!" they cried to him. "Away, away! It is
death to you. Here's the tabu place." "Death it may be--life it may be.
Give me revenge for my sons--and I have no care for myself." Then the
watchmen asked about his trouble and he told them how the chief Kupa had
slain his sons as a punishment for beating the drums. Then he narrated
the story of his wanderings all over Molokai, seeking for some power
strong enough to overcome Kupa. At last he had come to the shark-god--as
the final possibility of aid. If Kauhuhu failed him, he was ready to
die; indeed he had no wish to live. The mo-o assured him of their
kindly feelings, and told him that it was a very good thing that Kauhuhu
was away fishing, for if he had been home there would have been no way
for him to go before the god without suffering immediate death. There
would have been not even an instant for explanations. Yet they ran a
very great risk in aiding him, for they must conceal him until the way
was opened by the favors of the great gods. If he should be discovered
and eaten before gaining the aid of the shark-god, they, too, must die
with him. They decided that they would hide him in the rubbish pile of
taro peelings which had been thrown on one side when they had pounded
taro. Here he must lie in perfect silence until the way was made plain
for him to act. They told him to watch for the coming of eight great
surf waves rolling in from the sea, and then wait from his place of
concealment for some opportunity to speak to the god because he would
come in the last great wave. Soon the surf began to roll in and break
against the cliffs.
Higher and higher rose the waves until the eighth reared far above the
waters and met the winds from the shore which whipped the curling crest
into a shower of spray. It raced along the water and beat far up into
the cave, breaking into foam, out of which the shark-god emerged. At
once he took his human form and walked around the cave. As he passed
the rubbish heap he cried out: "A man is here. I smell him." The dragons
earnestly denied that any one was there, but the shark-god said, "There
is surely a man in this cave. If I find him, dead men you are. If I find
him not, you shall live." Then Kauhuhu looked along the walls of the
cave and into all the hiding-places, but could not find him. He called
with a loud voice, but only the echoes answered, like the voices of
ghosts. After a thorough search he was turning away to attend to other
matters when Kamalo's pig squealed. Then the giant shark-god leaped to
the pile of taro leavings and thrust them apart. There lay Kamalo and
the black pig which had been brought for sacrifice.
Oh, the anger of the god!
Oh, the blazing eyes!
Kauhuhu instantly caught Kamalo and lifted him from the rubbish up
toward his great mouth. Now the head and shoulders are in Kauhuhu's
mouth. So quickly has this been done that Kamalo has had no time to
think. Kamalo speaks quickly as the teeth are coming down upon him. "E
Kauhuhu, listen to me. Hear my prayer. Then perhaps eat me." The
shark-god is astonished and does not bite. He takes Kamalo from his
mouth and says: "Well for you that you spoke quickly. Perhaps you have
a good thought. Speak." Then Kamalo told about his sons and their death
at the hands of the executioners of the great chief, and that no one
dared avenge him, but that all the prophets of the different gods had
sent him from one place to another but could give him no aid. Sure now
was he that Kauhuhu alone could give him aid. Pity came to the shark-god
as it had come to his dragon watchers when they saw the sad condition of
Kamalo. All this time Kamalo had held the hog which he had carried with
him for sacrifice. This he now offered to the shark-god. Kauhuhu,
pleased and compassionate, accepted the offering, and said: "E Kamalo.
If you had come for any other purpose I would eat you, but your cause is
sacred. I will stand as your kahu, your guardian, and sorely punish the
high chief Kupa."
Then he told Kamalo to go to the heiau of the priest who told him to see
the shark-god, take this priest on his shoulders, carry him over the
steep precipices to his own heiau at Kaluaaha, and there live with him
as a fellow-priest. They were to build a tabu fence around the heiau and
put up the sacred tabu staffs of white tapa cloth. They must collect
black pigs by the four hundred, red fish by the four hundred, and white
chickens by the four hundred. Then they were to wait patiently for the
coming of Kauhuhu. It was to be a strange coming. On the island Lanai,
far to the west of the Maui channel, they should see a small cloud,
white as snow, increasing until it covers the little island. Then that
cloud shall cross the channel against the wind and climb the mountains
of Molokai until it rests on the highest peaks over the valley where
Kupa has his temple. "At that time," said Kauhuhu, "a great rainbow will
span the valley. I shall be in the care of that rainbow, and you may
clearly understand that I am there and will speedily punish the man who
has injured you. Remember that because you came to me for this sacred
cause, therefore I have spared you, the only man who has ever stood in
the presence of the shark-god and escaped alive." Gladly did Kamalo go
up and down precipices and along the rough hard ways to the heiau of the
priest of the shark-god. Gladly did he carry him up from Kalaupapa to
the mountain-ridge above. Gladly did he carry him to his home and there
provide for him while he gathered together the black pigs, the red fish,
and the white chickens within the sacred enclosure he had built. Here he
brought his family, those who had the nearest and strongest claims upon
him. When his work was done, his eyes burned with watching the clouds of
the little western island Lanai. Ah, the days passed by so slowly! The
weeks and the months came, so the legends say, and still Kamalo waited
in patience. At last one day a white cloud appeared. It was unlike all
the other white clouds he had anxiously watched during the dreary
months. Over the channel it came. It spread over the hillsides and
climbed the mountains and rested at the head of the valley belonging to
Kupa. Then the watchers saw the glorious rainbow and knew that Kauhuhu
had come according to his word.
The storm arose at the head of the valley. The winds struggled into a
furious gale. The clouds gathered in heavy black masses, dark as
midnight, and were pierced through with terrific flashes of lightning.
The rain fell in floods, sweeping the hillside down into the valley, and
rolling all that was below onward in a resistless mass toward the ocean.
Down came the torrent upon the heiau belonging to Kupa, tearing its
walls into fragments and washing Kupa and his people into the harbor at
the mouth of the valley. Here the shark-god had gathered his people.
Sharks filled the bay and feasted upon Kupa and his followers until the
waters ran red and all were destroyed. Hence came the legendary name for
that little harbor--Aikanaka, the place for man-eaters.
It is said in the legends that "when great clouds gather on the
mountains and a rainbow spans the valley, look out for furious storms of
wind and rain which come suddenly, sweeping down the valley." It also
said in the legends that this strange storm which came in such awful
power upon Kupa also spread out over the adjoining lowlands, carrying
great destruction everywhere, but it paused at the tabu staff of Kamalo,
and rushed on either side of the sacred fence, not daring to touch any
one who dwelt therein. Therefore Kamalo and his people were spared. The
legend has been called "Aikanaka" because of the feast of the sharks on
the human flesh swept down into that harbor by the storm, but it seems
more fitting to name the story after the shark-god Kauhuhu, who sent
mighty storms and wrought great destruction.
VIII
THE SHARK-MAN OF WAIPIO VALLEY
This is a story of Waipio Valley, the most beautiful of all the valleys
of the Hawaiian Islands, and one of the most secluded. It is now, as it
has always been, very difficult of access. The walls are a sheer descent
of over a thousand feet. In ancient times a narrow path slanted along
the face of the bluffs wherever foothold could be found. In these later
days the path has been enlarged, and horse and rider can descend into
the valley's depths. In the upper end of the valley is a long silver
ribbon of water falling fifteen hundred feet from the brow of a
precipice over which a mountain torrent swiftly hurls itself to the
fertile valley below. Other falls show the convergence of other mountain
streams to the ocean outlet offered by the broad plains of Waipio.
Here in the long ago high chiefs dwelt and sacred temples were built.
From Waipio Valley Moikeha and Laa-Mai-Kahiki sailed away on their
famous voyages to distant foreign lands. In this valley dwelt the priest
who in the times of Maui was said to have the winds of heaven concealed
in his calabash. Raising the cover a little, he sent gentle breezes in
the direction of the opening. Severe storms and hurricanes were granted
by swiftly opening the cover widely and letting a chaotic mass of fierce
winds escape. The stories of magical powers of bird and fish as well as
of the strange deeds of powerful men are almost innumerable. Not the
least of the history-myths of Waipio Valley is the story of Nanaue, the
shark-man, who was one of the cannibals of the ancient time.
Ka-moho-alii was the king of all the sharks which frequent Hawaiian
waters. When he chose to appear as a man he was always a chief of
dignified, majestic appearance. One day, while swimming back and forth
just beneath the surface of the waters at the mouth of the valley, he
saw an exceedingly beautiful woman coming to bathe in the white surf.
That night Ka-moho-alii came to the beach black with lava sand, crawled
out of the water, and put on the form of a man. As a mighty chief he
walked through the valley and mingled with the people. For days he
entered into their sports and pastimes and partook of their bounty,
always looking for the beautiful woman whom he had seen bathing in the
surf. When he found her he came to her and won her to be his wife.
Kalei was the name of the woman who married the strange chief. When the
time came for a child to be born to them, Ka-moho-alii charged Kalei to
keep careful watch of it and guard its body continually from being seen
of men, and never allow the child to eat the flesh of any animal. Then
he disappeared, never permitting Kalei to have the least suspicion that
he was the king of the sharks.
When the child was born, Kalei gave to him the name "Nanaue." She was
exceedingly surprised to find an opening in his back. As the child grew
to manhood the opening developed into a large shark-mouth in rows of
fierce sharp teeth.
From infancy to manhood Kalei protected Nanaue by keeping his back
covered with a fine kapa cloak. She was full of fear as she saw Nanaue
plunge into the water and become a shark. The mouth on his back opened
for any kind of prey. But she kept the terrible birthmark of her son a
secret hidden in the depths of her own heart.
For years she prepared for him the common articles of food, always
shielding him from the temptation to eat meat. But when he became a man
his grandfather took him to the men's eating-house, where his mother
could no longer protect him. Meats of all varieties were given to him in
great abundance, yet he always wanted more. His appetite was
insatiable.
While under his mother's care he had been taken to the pool of water
into which the great Waipio Falls poured its cascade of water. There he
bathed, and, changing himself into a shark, caught the small fish which
were playing around him. His mother was always watching him to give an
alarm if any of the people came near to the bathing-place.
As he became a man he avoided his companions in all bathing and fishing.
He went away by himself. When the people were out in the deep sea
bathing or fishing, suddenly a fierce shark would appear in their midst,
biting and tearing their limbs and dragging them down in the deep water.
Many of the people disappeared secretly, and great terror filled the
homes of Waipio.
Nanaue's mother alone was certain that he was the cause of the trouble.
He was becoming very bold in his depredations. Sometimes he would ask
when his friends were going out in the sea; then he would go to a place
at some distance, leap into the sea, and swiftly dash to intercept the
return of his friends to the shore. Perhaps he would allay suspicion by
appearing as a man and challenge to a swimming-race. Diving suddenly, he
would in an instant become a shark and destroy his fellow-swimmer.
The people felt that he had some peculiar power, and feared him. One
day, when their high chief had called all the men of the valley to
prepare the taro patches for their future supply of food, a
fellow-workman standing by the side of Nanaue tore his kapa cape from
his shoulders. The men behind cried out, "See the great shark-mouth!"
All the people came running together, shouting, "A shark-man!" "A
shark-man!"
Nanaue became very angry and snapped his shark-teeth together. Then with
bitter rage he attacked those standing near him. He seized one by the
arm and bit it in two. He tore the flesh of another in ragged gashes.
Biting and snapping from side to side he ran toward the sea.
The crowd of natives surrounded him and blocked his way. He was thrown
down and tied. The mystery had now passed from the valley. The people
knew the cause of the troubles through which they had been passing, and
all crowded around to see this wonderful thing, part man and part shark.
The high chief ordered their largest oven to be prepared, that Nanaue
might be placed therein and burned alive. The deep pit was quickly
cleaned out by many willing hands, and, with much noise and rejoicing,
fire was placed within and the stones for heating were put in above the
fire. "We are ready for the shark-man," was the cry.
During the confusion Nanaue quietly made his plans to escape. Suddenly
changing himself to a shark, the cords which bound him fell off and he
rolled into one of the rivers which flowed from the falls in the upper
part of the valley.
None of the people dared to spring into the water for a hand-to-hand
fight with the monster. They ran along the bank, throwing stones at
Nanaue and bruising him. They called for spears that they might kill
him, but he made a swift rush to the sea and swam away, never again to
return to Waipio Valley.
Apparently Nanaue could not live long in the ocean. The story says that
he swam over to the island of Maui and landed near the village Hana.
There he dwelt for some time, and married a chiefess. Meanwhile he
secretly killed and ate some of the people. At last his appetite for
human flesh made him so bold that he caught a beautiful young girl and
carried her out into the deep waters. There he changed himself into a
shark and ate her body in the sight of the people.
The Hawaiians became very angry. They launched their canoes, and,
throwing in all kinds of weapons, pushed out to kill their enemy. But he
swam swiftly away, passing around the island until at last he landed on
Molokai.
[Illustration: A TRUSTY FISHERMAN]
Again he joined himself to the people, and again one by one those who
went bathing and fishing disappeared. The priests (kahunas) of the
people at last heard from their fellow-priests of the island of Maui
that there was a dangerous shark-man roaming through the islands. They
sent warning to the people, urging all trusty fishermen to keep strict
watch. At last they saw Nanaue change himself into a great fish. The
fishermen waged a fierce battle against him. They entangled him in their
nets, they pierced him with spears and struck him with clubs until the
waters were red with his blood. They called on the gods of the sea to
aid them. They uttered prayers and incantations. Soon Nanaue lost
strength and could not throw off the ropes which were tied around him,
nor could he break the nets in which he was entangled.
The fishermen drew him to the shore, and the people dragged the great
shark body up the hill Puu-mano. Then they cut the body into small
pieces and burned them in a great oven.
Thus died Nanaue, whose cannibal life was best explained by giving to
him in mythology the awful appetite of an insatiable man-eating shark.
IX
THE STRANGE BANANA SKIN
Kukali, according to the folk-lore of Hawaii, was born at Kalapana, the
most southerly point of the largest island of the Hawaiian group. Kukali
lived hundreds of years ago in the days of the migrations of Polynesians
from one group of islands to another throughout the length and breadth
of the great Pacific Ocean. He visited strange lands, now known under
the general name, Kahiki, or Tahiti. Here he killed the great bird
Halulu, found the deep bottomless pit in which was a pool of the fabled
water of life, married the sister of Halulu, and returned to his old
home. All this he accomplished through the wonderful power of a banana
skin.
Kukali's father was a priest, or kahuna, of great wisdom and ability,
who taught his children how to exercise strange and magical powers. To
Kukali he gave a banana with the impressive charge to preserve the skin
whenever he ate the fruit, and be careful that it was always under his
control. He taught Kukali the wisdom of the makers of canoes and also
how to select the fine-grained lava for stone knives and hatchets, and
fashion the blade to the best shape. He instructed the young man in the
prayers and incantations of greatest efficacy and showed him charms
which would be more powerful than any charms his enemies might use in
attempting to destroy him, and taught him those omens which were too
powerful to be overcome. Thus Kukali became a wizard, having great
confidence in his ability to meet the craft of the wise men of distant
islands.
Kukali went inland through the forests and up the mountains, carrying no
food save the banana which his father had given him. Hunger came, and he
carefully stripped back the skin and ate the banana, folding the skin
once more together. In a little while the skin was filled with fruit.
Again and again he ate, and as his hunger was satisfied the fruit always
again filled the skin, which he was careful never to throw away or lose.
The fever of sea-roving was in the blood of the Hawaiian people in those
days, and Kukali's heart burned within him with the desire to visit the
far-away lands about which other men told marvelous tales and from which
came strangers like to the Hawaiians in many ways.
After a while he went to the forests and selected trees approved by the
omens, and with many prayers fashioned a great canoe in which to embark
upon his journey. The story is not told of the days passed on the great
stretches of water as he sailed on and on, guided by the sun in the day
and the stars in the night, until he came to the strange lands about
which he had dreamed for years.
His canoe was drawn up on the shore and he lay down for rest. Before
falling asleep he secreted his magic banana in his malo, or loin-cloth,
and then gave himself to deep slumber. His rest was troubled with
strange dreams, but his weariness was great and his eyes heavy, and he
could not arouse himself to meet the dangers which were swiftly
surrounding him.
A great bird which lived on human flesh was the god of the land to which
he had come. The name of the bird was Halulu. Each feather of its wings
was provided with talons and seemed to be endowed with human powers.
Nothing like this bird was ever known or seen in the beautiful Hawaiian
Islands. But here in the mysterious foreign land it had its deep valley,
walled in like the valley of the Arabian Nights, over which the great
bird hovered looking into the depths for food. A strong wind always
attended the coming of Halulu when he sought the valley for his victims.
Kukali was lifted on the wings of the bird-god and carried to this hole
and quietly laid on the ground to finish his hour of deep sleep.
When Kukali awoke he found himself in the shut-in valley with many
companions who had been captured by the great bird and placed in this
prison hole. They had been without food and were very weak. Now and then
one of the number would lie down to die. Halulu, the bird-god, would
perch on a tree which grew on the edge of the precipice and let down its
wing to sweep across the floor of the valley and pick up the victims
lying on the ground. Those who were strong could escape the feathers as
they brushed over the bottom and hide in the crevices in the walls, but
day by day the weakest of the prisoners were lifted out and prepared for
Halulu's feast.
Kukali pitied the helpless state of his fellow-prisoners and prepared
his best incantations and prayers to help him overcome the great bird.
He took his wonderful banana and fed all the people until they were very
strong. He taught them how to seek stones best fitted for the
manufacture of knives and hatchets. Then for days they worked until they
were all well armed with sharp stone weapons.
While Kukali and his fellow-prisoners were making preparation for the
final struggle, the bird-god had often come to his perch and put his
wing down into the valley, brushing the feathers back and forth to catch
his prey.
Frequently the search was fruitless. At last he became very impatient,
and sent his strongest feathers along the precipitous walls, seeking for
victims.
Kukali and his companions then ran out from their hiding-places and
fought the strong feathers, cutting them off and chopping them into
small pieces.
Halulu cried out with pain and anger, and sent feather after feather
into the prison. Soon one wing was entirely destroyed. Then the other
wing was broken to pieces and the bird-god in his insane wrath put down
a strong leg armed with great talons. Kukali uttered mighty invocations
and prepared sacred charms for the protection of his friends.
After a fierce battle they cut off the leg and destroyed the talons.
Then came the struggle with the remaining leg and claws, but Kukali's
friends had become very bold. They fearlessly gathered around this
enemy, hacking and pulling until the bird-god, screaming with pain, fell
into the pit among the prisoners, who quickly cut the body into
fragments.
The prisoners made steps in the walls, and by the aid of vines climbed
out of their prison. When they had fully escaped, they gathered great
piles of branches and trunks of trees and threw them into the prison
until the body of the bird-god was covered. Fire was thrown down and
Halulu was burned to ashes. Thus Kukali taught by his charms that Halulu
could be completely destroyed.
But two of the breast feathers of the burning Halulu flew away to his
sister, who lived in a great hole which had no bottom. The name of this
sister was Namakaeha. She belonged to the family of Pele, the goddess of
volcanic fires, who had journeyed to Hawaii and taken up her home in the
crater of the volcano Kilauea.
Namakaeha smelled smoke on the feathers which came to her, and knew that
her brother was dead. She also knew that he could have been conquered
only by one possessing great magical powers. So she called to his
people: "Who is the great kupua [wizard] who has killed my brother? Oh,
my people, keep careful watch."
Kukali was exploring all parts of the strange land in which he had
already found marvelous adventures. By and by he came to the great pit
in which Namakaeha lived. He could not see the bottom, so he told his
companions he was going down to see what mysteries were concealed in
this hole without a bottom. They made a rope of the hau tree bark.
Fastening one end around his body he ordered his friends to let him
down. Uttering prayers and incantations he went down and down until,
owing to counter incantations of Namakaeha's priests, who had been
watching, the rope broke and he fell.
Down he went swiftly, but, remembering the prayer which a falling man
must use to keep him from injury, he cried, "O Ku! guard my life!"
In the ancient Hawaiian mythology there was frequent mention of "the
water of life." Sometimes the sick bathed in it and were healed.
Sometimes it was sprinkled upon the unconscious, bringing them back to
life. Kukali's incantation was of great power, for it threw him into a
pool of the water of life and he was saved.
One of the kahunas (priests) caring for Namakaeha was a very great
wizard. He saw the wonderful preservation of Kukali and became his
friend. He warned Kukali against eating anything that was ripe, because
it would be poison, and even the most powerful charms could not save
him.
Kukali thanked him and went out among the people. He had carefully
preserved his wonderful banana skin, and was able to eat apparently ripe
fruit and yet be perfectly safe.
The kahunas of Namakaeha tried to overcome him and destroy him, but he
conquered them, killed those who were bad, and entered into friendship
with those who were good.
At last he came to the place where the great chiefess dwelt. Here he was
tested in many ways. He accepted the fruits offered him, but always ate
the food in his magic banana. Thus he preserved his strength and
conquered even the chiefess and married her. After living with her for a
time he began to long for his old home in Hawaii. Then he persuaded her
to do as her relative Pele had already done, and the family, taking
their large canoe, sailed away to Hawaii, their future home.
X
THE OLD MAN OF THE MOUNTAIN
This is not a Hawaiian legend. It was written to show the
superstitions of the Hawaiians, and in that respect it is accurate
and worthy of preservation.
Far away in New England one of the rugged mountain-sides has for many
years been marked with the profile of a grand face. A noble brow,
deep-set eyes, close-shut lips, Roman nose, and chin standing in full
relief against a clear sky, made a landmark renowned throughout the
country. The story is told of a boy who lived in the valley from which
the face of the Old Man of the Mountain could be most clearly seen. As
the years passed, the boy grew into a man of sterling character. When at
last death came and the casket opened to receive the body of an old man,
universally revered, the friends saw the likeness to the stone features
of the Old Man of the Mountain, and recognized the source of the
inspiration which had made one life useful and honored.
Near Honolulu, just beyond one of the great sugar plantations, is a
ledge of lava deposited centuries ago. The lava was piled up into
mountains, now dissolved into slopes of the richest sugar-land in the
world. And yet sometimes the hard lava, refusing to disintegrate,
thrusts itself out from the hillsides in ledges of grotesque form.
[Illustration]
On one of these ancient lava ridges was the outline of an old man's
face, to which the Hawaiians have given the name, "The Old Man of the
Mountain." The laborers on the sugar-plantations, the passengers on the
railroad trains, and the natives who still cling to their scattered
homes sometimes have looked with superstitious awe upon the face made
without hands. In the days gone by they have called it the "Akuapohaku"
(the stone god). Shall we hear the story of Kamakau, who at some time in
the indefinite past dwelt in the shadow of the stone face?
Kamakau means "the afraid." His name came to him as a child. He was a
shrinking, sensitive, imaginative little fellow. He was surrounded by
influences which turned his imagination into the paths of most
unwholesome superstition. But beyond the beliefs of most of his fellows,
in his own nature he was keenly appreciative of mysterious things. There
was a spirit voice in every wind rustling the tops of the trees. Spirit
faces appeared in unnumbered caricatures of human outline whenever he lay
on the grass and watched the sunlight sift between the leaves. Everything
he looked upon or heard assumed some curious form of life. The clouds
were most mysterious of all, for they so frequently piled up mass upon
mass of grandeur, in such luxurious magnificence and such prodigal
display of color, that his power of thought lost itself in his almost
daily dream of some time-wandering in the shadow valleys of the
precipitous mountains of heaven. Here he saw also strangely symmetrical
forms of man and bird and fish. Sometimes cloud forests outlined
themselves against the blue sky, and then again at times separated by
months and even years, the lights of the volcano-goddess, Pele,
glorified her path as she wandered in the spirit land, flashing from
cloud-peak to cloud-peak, while the thunder voices of the great gods
rolled in mighty volumes of terrific impressiveness. Even in the night
Kamakau felt that the innumerable stars were the eyes of the aumakuas
(the spirits of the ancestors). It was not strange that such a child
should continually think that he saw spirit forms which were invisible
to his companions. It is no wonder that he fancied he heard voices of
the menehunes (fairies), which his companions could never understand. As
he shrunk from places where it seemed to him the spirits dwelt, his
companions called him "Kamakau," "the afraid." When he grew older he
necessarily became keenly alive to all objects of Hawaiian superstition.
He never could escape the overwhelming presence of the thousand and more
gods which were supposed to inhabit the Hawaiian land and sea. The omens
drawn from sacrifices, the voices from the bamboo dwelling-places of the
oracles, the chants of the prophets, and powers of praying to death he
accepted with unquestioning faith.
Two men were hunting in the forests of the mountains of Oahu. Tired with
the long chase after the oo, the bird with the rare yellow feathers from
which the feather cloaks of the highest chiefs were made, they laid
aside spears and snares and lay down for a rest. "I want the valley of
the stone god," said one: "its fertile fields would make just the
increase needed for my retainers, and the 'moi,' the king, would give me
the land if Kamakau were out of the way."
"Are there any other members of his family, O Inaina, who could resist
your claim?"
"No, my friend Kokua. He is the only important chief in the valley."
"Pray him to death," was Kokua's sententious advice.
"Good; I'll do it," said Inaina: "he is one who can easily be prayed to
death. 'The Afraid' will soon die."
"If you will give me the small fish-pond nearest my own coral fish-walls
I will be your messenger," said Kokua.
"Ah, that also is good," replied Inaina, after a moment's thought. "I
will give you the small pond, and you must give the small thoughts, the
hints, to his friends that powerful priests are praying Kamakau to
death. All this must be very mysterious. No name can be mentioned, and
you and I must be Kamakau's good friends."
It must be remembered that land tenure in ancient Hawaii was almost the
same as that of the European feudal system. Occupancy depended upon the
will of the high chief. He gave or took away at his own pleasure. The
under-chiefs held the land as if it belonged to them, and were seldom
troubled as long as the wishes of the high chief, or king, were carried
out. Inaina felt secure in the use of his present property, and believed
that he could easily find favor and obtain the land held by the Kamakau
family if Kamakau himself could be removed. Without much further
conference the two hunters returned to their homes. Inaina at once
sought his family priest and stated his wish to have Kamakau prayed to
death. They decided that the first step should be taken that night. It
was absolutely necessary that something which had been a part of the
body of Kamakau should be obtained. The priest appointed his
confidential hunter of sacrifices to undertake this task. This servant
of the temple was usually sent out to find human sacrifices to be slain
and offered before the great gods on special occasions. As the darkness
came on he crept near the grass house of Kamakau and watched for an
opportunity of seizing what he wanted. The two most desired things in
the art of praying to death were either a lock of hair from the head of
the victim or a part of the spittle, usually well guarded by the trusted
retainers who had charge of the spittoon.
It chanced to be "Awa night" for Kamakau, and the chief, having drunk
heavily of the drug, had thrown himself on a mat and rolled near the
grass walls. With great ingenuity the hunter of sacrifices located the
chief and worked a hole through the thatch. Then with his sharp bone
knife he sawed off a large lock of Kamakau's hair. When this was done he
was about to creep away, but a native came near. Instantly grunting like
a hog, he worked his way into the darkness. He saw outlined against the
sky in the hands of the native the chief's spittoon. In a moment the
hunter of sacrifices saw his opportunity. His past training in lying in
wait and capturing men for sacrifice stood him in good stead at this
time. The unsuspecting spittoon-carrier was seized by the throat and
quickly strangled. The spittoon in falling from the retainer's hand had
not been overturned. Exultant at his success, the hunter of sacrifices
sped away in the darkness and placed his trophies in the hands of the
priest. The next morning there was a great outcry in Kamakau's village.
The dead body was found as soon as dawn crept over the valley, and the
hand-polished family calabash was completely lost. When the people went
to Kamakau's house with the report of the death of his retainer, they
soon saw that the head of their chief had been dishonored. A great
feeling of fear took possession of the village. Kamakau's priest hurried
to the village temple to utter prayers and incantations against the
enemy who had committed such an outrage.
Kokua soon heard the news and came to comfort his neighbor. After the
greeting, "Auwe! auwe!" (Alas! alas!) Kokua said: "This is surely
praying to death, and the gods have already given you over into the
hands of your enemy. You will die. Very soon you will die." Soon Inaina
and other chiefs came with their retainers. Among high and low the
terrible statement was whispered: "Kamakau is being prayed to death, and
no man knows his enemy." Many a strong man has gone to a bed of
continued illness, and some have crossed the dark valley into the land
of death, even in these days of enlightened civilization, simply
frightened into the illness or death by the strong statements of friends
and acquaintances. Such is the make-up of the minds of men that they are
easily affected by the mysterious suggestions of others. It is purely a
matter of mind-murder.
It is no wonder that in the days of the long ago Kamakau, moved by the
terror of his friends and horrible suggestions of his two enemies, soon
felt a great weakness conquering him. His natural disposition, his habit
of seeing and hearing gods and spirits in everything around him, made it
easy for him to yield to the belief that he was being prayed to death.
His strength left him. He could take no food. A strange paralysis seemed
to take possession of him. Mind and body were almost benumbed. He was
really in the hands of unconscious mesmerists, who were putting him into
a magnetic sleep, from which he was never expected to awake. It is a
question to be answered only when all earthly problems have been solved.
How many of the people prayed to death have really been dissected and
prepared for burial while at first under mesmeric influences! The people
gathered around Kamakau's thatched house. They thought that he would
surely die before the next morning dawned. Inaina and Kokua were lying
on the grass under the shade of a great candlenut-tree, quietly talking
about the speedy success of their undertaking. A little girl was playing
near them. It was Kamakau's little Aloha. This was all the name so far
given to her. She was "My Aloha," "my dear one," to both father and
mother. She heard a word uttered incautiously. Inaina had spoken with
the accent of success and his voice was louder than he thought. He said,
"We have great strength if we kill Kamakau." The child fled to her
father. She found him in the half-unconscious state already described.
She shook him. She called to him. She pulled his hands, and covered his
face with kisses. Her tears poured over his hot, dry skin. Kamakau was
aroused by the shock. He sat up, forgetting all the expectation of
death.
Out through the doorway he glanced toward the west. The sinking sun was
sending its most glorious beams into the grand clouds, while just
beneath, reflecting the glory, lay the Old Man of the Mountain. The
stone face was magnificent in its setting. The unruffled brow, the
never-closing eyes, the firm lips, stood out in bold relief against the
glory which was over and beyond them. Kamakau caught the inspiration. It
seemed to his vivid imagination as if ten thousand good spirits were
gathered in the heavens to fight for him. He leaped to his feet,
strength came back into the wearied muscles, a new will-power took
possession of him, and he cried: "I will not die! I will not die! The
stone god is more powerful than the priests who pray to death!" His will
had broken away from its chains, and, unfettered from all fear, Kamakau
went forth to greet the wondering people and take up again the position
of influence held among the chiefs of Oahu. The lesson is still needed
in these beautiful ocean-bound islands that praying to death means
either the use of poison or the attempt to terrify the victim by strong
mental forces enslaving the will. In either case the aroused will is
powerful in both resistance and watchfulness.
XI
HAWAIIAN GHOST TESTING
Manoa Valley for centuries has been to the Hawaiians the royal palace of
rainbows. The mountains at the head of the valley were gods whose
children were the divine wind and rain from whom was born the beautiful
rainbow-maiden who plays in and around the valley day and night whenever
misty showers are touched by sunlight or moonlight.
The natives of the valley usually give her the name of Kahalaopuna, or
The Hala of Puna. Sometimes, however, they call her Kaikawahine Anuenue,
or The Rainbow Maiden. The rainbow, the anuenue, marks the continuation
of the legendary life of Kahala.
The legend of Kahala is worthy of record in itself, but connected with
the story is a very interesting account of an attempt to discover and
capture ghosts according to the methods supposed to be effective by the
Hawaiian witch doctors or priests of the long, long ago.
The legends say that the rainbow-maiden had two lovers, one from
Waikiki, and one from Kamoiliili, half-way between Manoa and Waikiki.
Both wanted the beautiful arch to rest over their homes, and the maiden,
the descendant of the gods, to dwell therein.
Kauhi, the Waikiki chief, was of the family of Mohoalii, the shark-god,
and partook of the shark's cruel nature. He became angry with the
rainbow-maiden and killed her and buried the body, but her guardian god,
Pueo, the owl, scratched away the earth and brought her to life. Several
times this occurred, and the owl each time restored the buried body to
the wandering spirit. At last the chief buried the body deep down under
the roots of a large koa-tree. The owl-god scratched and pulled, but the
roots of the tree were many and strong. His claws were entangled again
and again. At last he concluded that life must be extinct and so
deserted the place.
The spirit of the murdered girl was wandering around hoping that it
could be restored to the body, and not be compelled to descend to Milu,
the Under-world of the Hawaiians. Po was sometimes the Under-world, and
Milu was the god ruling over Po. The Hawaiian ghosts did not go to the
home of the dead as soon as they were separated from the body. Many
times, as when rendered unconscious, it was believed that the spirit had
left the body, but for some reason had been able to come back into it
and enjoy life among friends once more.
Kahala, the rainbow-maiden, was thus restored several times by the
owl-god, but with this last failure it seemed to be certain that the
body would grow cold and stiff before the spirit could return. The
spirit hastened to and fro in great distress, trying to attract
attention.
If a wandering spirit could interest some one to render speedy aid, the
ancient Hawaiians thought that a human being could place the spirit back
in the body. Certain prayers and incantations were very effective in
calling the spirit back to its earthly home. The Samoans had the same
thought concerning the restoration of life to one who had become
unconscious, and had a special prayer, which was known as the prayer of
life, by which the spirit was persuaded to return into its old home. The
Hervey Islanders also had this same conception of any unconscious
condition. They thought the spirit left the body but when persuaded to
do so returned and brought the body back to life. They have a story of a
woman who, like the rainbow-maiden, was restored to life several times.
The spirit of Kahala was almost discouraged. The shadows of real death
were encompassing her, and the feeling of separation from the body was
becoming more and more permanent. At last she saw a noble young chief
approaching. He was Mahana, the chief of Kamoiliili. The spirit hovered
over him and around him and tried to impress her anguish upon him.
Mahana felt the call of distress, and attributed it to the presence of a
ghost, or aumakua, a ghost-god. He was conscious of an influence leading
him toward a large koa-tree. There he found the earth disturbed by the
owl-god. He tore aside the roots and discovered the body bruised and
disfigured and yet recognized it as the body of the rainbow-maiden whom
he had loved.
In the King Kalakaua version of the story Mahana is represented as
taking the body, which was still warm, to his home in Kamoiliili.
Mahana's elder brother was a kahuna, or witch-doctor, of great
celebrity. He was called at once to pronounce the prayers and
invocations necessary for influencing the spirit and the body to
reunite. Long and earnestly the kahuna practised all the arts with which
he was acquainted and yet completely failed. In his anxiety he called
upon the spirits of two sisters who, as aumakuas, watched over the
welfare of Mahana's clan. These spirit-sisters brought the spirit of the
rainbow-maiden to the bruised body and induced it to enter the feet.
Then, by using the forces of spirit-land, while the kahuna chanted and
used his charms, they pushed the spirit of Kahala slowly up the body
until "the soul was once more restored to its beautiful tenement."
The spirit-sisters then aided Mahana in restoring the wounded body to
its old vigor and beauty. Thus many days passed in close comradeship
between Kahala and the young chief, and they learned to care greatly for
one another.
But while Kauhi lived it was unsafe for it to be known that Kahala was
alive. Mahana determined to provoke Kauhi to personal combat; therefore
he sought the places which Kauhi frequented for sport and gambling.
Bitter words were spoken and fierce anger aroused until at last, by the
skilful use of Kahala's story, Mahana led Kauhi to admit that he had
killed the rainbow-maiden and buried her body.
Mahana said that Kahala was now alive and visiting his sisters.
Kauhi declared that if there was any one visiting Mahana's home it must
be an impostor. In his anger against Mahana he determined a more awful
death than could possibly come from any personal conflict. He was so
sure that Kahala was dead that he offered to be baked alive in one of
the native imus, or ovens, if she should be produced before the king and
the principal chiefs of the district. Akaaka, the grandfather of Kahala,
one of the mountain-gods of Manoa Valley, was to be one of the judges.
This proposition suited Mahana better than a conflict, in which there
was a possibility of losing his own life.
Kauhi now feared that some deception might be practised. His proposition
had been so eagerly accepted that he became suspicious; therefore he
consulted the sorcerers of his own family. They agreed that it was
possible for some powerful kahuna to present the ghost of the murdered
maiden and so deceive the judges. They decided that it was necessary to
be prepared to test the ghosts.
If it could be shown that ghosts were present, then the aid of "spirit
catchers" from the land of Milu could be invoked. Spirits would seize
these venturesome ghosts and carry them away to the spirit-land, where
special punishments should be meted out to them. It was supposed that
"spirit catchers" were continually sent out by Milu, king of the
Under-world.
How could these ghosts be detected? They would certainly appear in human
form and be carefully safeguarded. The chief sorcerer of Kauhi's family
told Kauhi to make secretly a thorough test. This could be done by
taking the large and delicate leaves of the ape-plant and spreading them
over the place where Kahala must walk and sit before the judges. A human
being could not touch these leaves so carefully placed without tearing
and bruising them. A ghost walking upon them could not make any
impression. Untorn leaves would condemn Mahana to the ovens to be baked
alive, and the spirit catchers would be called by the sorcerers to seize
the escaped ghost and carry it back to spirit-land. Of course, if some
other maid of the islands had pretended to be Kahala, that could be
easily determined by her divine ancestor Akaaka. The trial was really a
test of ghosts, for the presence of Kahala as a spirit in her former
human likeness was all that Kauhi and his chief sorcerer feared. The
leaves were selected with great care and secretly placed so that no one
should touch them but Kahala. There was great interest in this strange
contest for a home in a burning oven. The imus had been prepared: the
holes had been dug, and the stones and wood necessary for the sacrifice
laid close at hand.
The king and judges were in their places. The multitude of retainers
stood around at a respectful distance. Kauhi and his chief sorcerer were
placed where they could watch closely every movement of the maiden who
should appear before the judgment-seat.
Kahala, the rainbow-maiden, with all the beauty of her past girlhood
restored to her, drew near, attended by the two spirit-sisters who had
saved and protected her. The spirits knew at once the ghost test by
which Kahala was to be tried. They knew also that she had nothing to
fear, but they must not be discovered. The test applied to Kahala would
only make more evident the proof that she was a living human being, but
that same test would prove that they were ghosts, and the
spirit-catchers would be called at once and they would be caught and
carried away for punishment. The spirit-sisters could not try to escape.
Any such attempt would arouse suspicion and they would be surely seized.
The ghost-testing was a serious ordeal for Kahala and her friends.
The spirit-sisters whispered to Kahala, telling her the purpose
attending the use of the ape leaves and asking her to break as many of
them on either side of her as she could without attracting undue
attention. Thus she could aid her own cause and also protect the
sister-spirits. Slowly and with great dignity the beautiful
rainbow-maiden and her friends passed through the crowds of eager
attendants to their places before the king. Kahala bruised and broke as
many of the leaves as she could quietly. She was recognized at once as
the child of the divine rain and wind of Manoa Valley. There was no
question concerning her bodily presence. The torn leaves afforded ample
and indisputable testimony.
Kauhi, in despair, recognized the girl whom he had several times tried
to slay. In bitter disappointment at the failure of his ghost-test the
chief sorcerer, as the Kalakaua version of this legend says, "declared
that he saw and felt the presence of spirits in some manner connected
with her." These spirits, he claimed, must be detected and punished.
A second form of ghost-testing was proposed by Akaaka, the mountain-god.
This was a method frequently employed throughout all the islands of the
Hawaiian group. It was believed that any face reflected in a pool or
calabash of water was a spirit face. Many times had ghosts been
discovered in this way. The face in the water had been grasped by the
watcher, crushed between his hands, and the spirit destroyed.
The chief sorcerer eagerly ordered a calabash of water to be quickly
brought and placed before him. In his anxiety to detect and seize the
spirits who might be attending Kahala he forgot about himself and leaned
over the calabash. His own spirit face was the only one reflected on the
surface of the water. This spirit face was believed to be his own true
spirit escaping for the moment from the body and bathing in the liquid
before him. Before he could leap back and restore his spirit to his body
Akaaka leaped forward, thrust his hands down into the water and seized
and crushed this spirit face between his mighty hands. Thus it was
destroyed before it could return to its home of flesh and blood.
The chief sorcerer fell dead by the side of the calabash by means of
which he had hoped to destroy the friends of the rainbow-maiden.
In this trial of the ghosts the two most powerful methods of making a
test as far as known among the ancient Hawaiians were put in practice.
Kauhi was punished for his crimes against Kahala. He was baked alive in
the imu prepared on his own land at Waikiki. His lands and retainers
were given to Kahala and Mahana.
The story of Kahala and her connection with the rainbows and waterfalls
of Manoa Valley has been told from time to time in the homes of the
nature-loving native residents of the valley.
XII
HOW MILU BECAME THE KING OF GHOSTS
Lono was a chief living on the western side of the island Hawaii. He had
a very red skin and strange-looking eyes. His choice of occupation was
farming. This man had never been sick. One time he was digging with the
oo, a long sharp-pointed stick or spade. A man passed and admired him.
The people said, "Lono has never been sick." The man said, "He will be
sick."
Lono was talking about that man and at the same time struck his oo down
with force and cut his foot. He shed much blood, and fainted, falling to
the ground. A man took a pig, went after the stranger, and let the pig
go, which ran to this man. The stranger was Kamaka, a god of healing. He
turned and went back at the call of the messenger, taking some popolo
fruit and leaves in his cloak. When he came to the injured man he asked
for salt, which he pounded into the fruit and leaves and placed in coco
cloth and bound it on the wound, leaving it a long time. Then he went
away.
As he journeyed on he heard heavy breathing, and turning saw Lono, who
said, "You have helped me, and so I have left my lands in the care of my
friends, directing them what to do, and have hastened after you to learn
how to heal other people."
The god said, "Lono, open your mouth!" This Lono did, and the god spat
in his mouth, so that the saliva could be taken into every part of
Lono's body. Thus a part of the god became a part of Lono, and he became
very skilful in the use of all healing remedies. He learned about the
various diseases and the medicines needed for each. The god and Lono
walked together, Lono receiving new lessons along the way, passing
through the districts of Kau, Puna, Hilo, and then to Hamakua.
The god said, "It is not right for us to stay together. You can never
accomplish anything by staying with me. You must go to a separate place
and give yourself up to healing people."
Lono turned aside to dwell in Waimanu and Waipio Valleys and there began
to practise healing, becoming very noted, while the god Kamaka made his
home at Ku-kui-haele.
This god did not tell the other gods of the medicines that he had taught
Lono. One of the other gods, Kalae, was trying to find some way to kill
Milu, and was always making him sick. Milu, chief of Waipio, heard of
the skill of Lono. Some had been sick even to death, and Lono had healed
them. Therefore Milu sent a messenger to Lono who responded at once,
came and slapped Milu all over the body, and said: "You are not ill.
Obey me and you shall be well."
Then he healed him from all the sickness inside the body caused by
Kalae. But there was danger from outside, so he said: "You must build a
ti-leaf house and dwell there quietly for some time, letting your
disease rest. If a company should come by the house making sport, with a
great noise, do not go out, because when you go they will come up and
get you for your death. Do not open the ti leaves and look out. The day
you do this you shall die."
Some time passed and the chief remained in the house, but one day there
was the confused noise of many people talking and shouting around his
house. He did not forget the command of Lono. Two birds were sporting in
a wonderful way in the sky above the forest. This continued all day
until it was dark.
Then another long time passed and again Waipio was full of resounding
noises. A great bird appeared in the sky resplendent in all kinds of
feathers, swaying from side to side over the valley, from the top of one
precipice across to the top of another, in grand flights passing over
the heads of the people, who shouted until the valley re-echoed with the
sound.
Milu became tired of that great noise and could not patiently obey his
physician, so he pushed aside some of the ti leaves of his house and
looked out upon the bird. That was the time when the bird swept down
upon the house, thrusting a claw under Milu's arm, tearing out his
liver. Lono saw this and ran after the bird, but it flew swiftly to a
deep pit in the lava on one side of the valley and dashed inside,
leaving blood spread on the stones. Lono came, saw the blood, took it
and wrapped it in a piece of tapa cloth and returned to the place where
the chief lay almost dead. He poured some medicine into the wound and
pushed the tapa and blood inside. Milu was soon healed.
The place where the bird hid with the liver of Milu is called to this
day Ke-ake-o-Milu ("The liver of Milu"). When this death had passed away
he felt very well, even as before his trouble.
Then Lono told him that another death threatened him and would soon
appear. He must dwell in quietness.
For some time Milu was living in peace and quiet after this trouble.
Then one day the surf of Waipio became very high, rushing from far out
even to the sand, and the people entered into the sport of surf-riding
with great joy and loud shouts. This noise continued day by day, and
Milu was impatient of the restraint and forgot the words of Lono. He
went out to bathe in the surf.
When he came to the place of the wonderful surf he let the first and
second waves go by, and as the third came near he launched himself upon
it while the people along the beach shouted uproariously. He went out
again into deeper water, and again came in, letting the first and second
waves go first. As he came to the shore the first and second waves were
hurled back from the shore in a great mass against the wave upon which
he was riding. The two great masses of water struck and pounded Milu,
whirling and crowding him down, while the surf-board was caught in the
raging, struggling waters and thrown out toward the shore. Milu was
completely lost in the deep water.
The people cried: "Milu is dead! The chief is dead!" The god Kalae
thought he had killed Milu, so he with the other poison-gods went on a
journey to Mauna Loa. Kapo and Pua, the poison-gods, or gods of death,
of the island Maui, found them as they passed, and joined the company.
They discovered a forest on Molokai, and there as kupua spirits, or
ghost bodies, entered into the trees of that forest, so the trees
became the kupua bodies. They were the medicinal or poison qualities in
the trees.
Lono remained in Waipio Valley, becoming the ancestor and teacher of all
the good healing priests of Hawaii, but Milu became the ruler of the
Under-world, the place where the spirits of the dead had their home
after they were driven away from the land of the living. Many people
came to him from time to time.
He established ghostly sports like those which his subjects had enjoyed
before death. They played the game kilu with polished cocoanut shells,
spinning them over a smooth surface to strike a post set up in the
centre. He taught konane, a game commonly called "Hawaiian checkers,"
but more like the Japanese game of "Go." He permitted them to gamble,
betting all the kinds of property found in ghost-land. They boxed and
wrestled; they leaped from precipices into ghostly swimming-pools; they
feasted and fought, sometimes attempting to slay each other. Thus they
lived the ghost life as they had lived on earth. Sometimes the ruler was
forgotten and the ancient Hawaiians called the Under-world by his
name--Milu. The New Zealanders frequently gave their Under-world the
name "Miru." They also supposed that the ghosts feasted and sported as
they had done while living.
XIII
A VISIT TO THE KING OF GHOSTS
When any person lay in an unconscious state, it was supposed by the
ancient Hawaiians that death had taken possession of the body and opened
the door for the spirit to depart. Sometimes if the body lay like one
asleep the spirit was supposed to return to its old home. One of the
Hawaiian legends weaves their deep-rooted faith in the spirit-world into
the expressions of one who seemed to be permitted to visit that
ghost-land and its king. This legend belonged to the island of Maui and
the region near the village Lahaina. Thus was the story told:
Ka-ilio-hae (the wild dog) had been sick for days and at last sank into
a state of unconsciousness. The spirit of life crept out of the body and
finally departed from the left eye into a corner of the house, buzzing
like an insect. Then he stopped and looked back over the body he had
left. It appeared to him like a massive mountain. The eyes were deep
caves, into which the ghost looked. Then the spirit became afraid and
went outside and rested on the roof of the house. The people began to
wail loudly and the ghost fled from the noise to a cocoanut-tree and
perched like a bird in the branches. Soon he felt the impulse of the
spirit-land moving him away from his old home. So he leaped from tree to
tree and flew from place to place wandering toward Kekaa, the place from
which the ghosts leave the island of Maui for their home in the
permanent spirit-land--the Under-world.
As he came near this doorway to the spirit-world he met the ghost of a
sister who had died long before, and to whom was given the power of
sometimes turning a ghost back to its body again. She was an
aumakua-ho-ola (a spirit making alive). She called to Ka-ilio-hae and
told him to come to her house and dwell for a time. But she warned him
that when her husband was at home he must not yield to any invitation
from him to enter their house, nor could he partake of any of the food
which her husband might urge him to eat. The home and the food would be
only the shadows of real things, and would destroy his power of becoming
alive again.
The sister said, "When my husband comes to eat the food of the spirits
and to sleep the sleep of ghosts, then I will go with you and you shall
see all the spirit-land of our island and see the king of ghosts."
The ghost-sister led Ka-ilio-hae into the place of whirlwinds, a hill
where he heard the voices of many spirits planning to enjoy all the
sports of their former life. He listened with delight and drew near to
the multitude of happy spirits. Some were making ready to go down to the
sea for the hee-nalu (surf-riding). Others were already rolling the
ulu-maika (the round stone discs for rolling along the ground). Some
were engaged in the mokomoko, or umauma (boxing), and the kulakulai
(wrestling), and the honuhonu (pulling with hands), and the loulou
(pulling with hooked fingers), and other athletic sports.
Some of the spirits were already grouped in the shade of trees, playing
the gambling games in which they had delighted when alive. There was the
stone konane-board (somewhat like checkers), and the puepue-one (a small
sand mound in which was concealed some object), and the puhenehene (the
hidden stone under piles of kapa), and the many other trials of skill
which permitted betting.
Then in another place crowds were gathered around the hulas (the many
forms of dancing). These sports were all in the open air and seemed to
be full of interest.
There was a strange quality which fettered every new-born ghost: he
could only go in the direction into which he was pushed by the hand of
some stronger power. If the guardian of a ghost struck it on one side,
it would move off in the direction indicated by the blow or the push
until spirit strength and experience came and he could go alone. The
newcomer desired to join in these games and started to go, but the
sister slapped him on the breast and drove him away. These were shadow
games into which those who entered could never go back to the
substantial things of life.
Then there was a large grass house inside which many ghosts were making
merry. The visitor wanted to join this great company, but the sister
knew that, if he once was engulfed by this crowd of spirits in this
shadow-land, her brother could never escape. The crowds of players would
seize him like a whirlwind and he would be unable to know the way he
came in or the way out. Ka-ilio-hae tried to slip away from his sister,
but he could not turn readily. He was still a very awkward ghost, and
his sister slapped him back in the way in which she wanted him to go.
An island which was supposed to float on the ocean as one of the homes
of the aumakuas (the ghosts of the ancestors) had the same
characteristics. The ghosts (aumakuas) lived on the shadows of all that
belonged to the earth-life. It was said that a canoe with a party of
young people landed on this island of dreams and for some time enjoyed
the food and fruits and sports, but after returning to their homes could
not receive the nourishment of the food of their former lives, and soon
died. The legends taught that no ghost passing out of the body could
return unless it made the life of the aumakuas tabu to itself.
Soon the sister led her brother to a great field, stone walled, in which
were such fine grass houses as were built only for chiefs of the highest
rank. There she pointed to a narrow passage-way into which she told her
brother he must enter by himself.
"This," she said, "is the home of Walia, the high chief of the ghosts
living in this place. You must go to him. Listen to all he says to you.
Say little. Return quickly. There will be three watchmen guarding this
passage. The first will ask you, 'What is the fruit [desire] of your
heart?' You will answer, 'Walia.' Then he will let you enter the
passage.
"Inside the walls of the narrow way will be the second watchman. He will
ask why you come; again answer, 'Walia,' and pass by him.
"At the end of the entrance the third guardian stands holding a raised
spear ready to strike. Call to him, 'Ka-make-loa' [The Great Death].
This is the name of his spear. Then he will ask what you want, and you
must reply, 'To see the chief,' and he will let you pass.
"Then again when you stand at the door of the great house you will see
two heads bending together in the way so that you cannot enter or see
the king and his queen. If these heads can catch a spirit coming to see
the king without knowing the proper incantations, they will throw that
ghost into the Po-Milu [The Dark Spirit-world]. Watch therefore and
remember all that is told you.
"When you see these heads, point your hands straight before you between
them and open your arms, pushing these guards off on each side, then the
ala-nui [the great way] will be open for you--and you can enter.
"You will see kahilis [soft long feather fans] moving over the chiefs.
The king will awake and call, 'Why does this traveller come?' You will
reply quickly, 'He comes to see the Divine One.' When this is said no
injury will come to you. Listen and remember and you will be alive
again."
Ka-ilio-hae did as he was told with the three watchmen, and each one
stepped back, saying, "Noa" (the tabu is lifted), and he pushed by. At
the door he shoved the two heads to the side and entered the chief's
house to the Ka-ikuwai (the middle), falling on his hands and knees. The
servants were waving the kahilis this way and that. There was motion,
but no noise.
The chief awoke, looked at Ka-ilio-hae, and said: "Aloha, stranger, come
near. Who is the high chief of your land?"
Then Ka-ilio-hae gave the name of his king, and the genealogy from
ancient times of the chiefs dead and in the spirit-world.
The queen of ghosts arose, and the kneeling spirit saw one more
beautiful than any woman in all the island, and he fell on his face
before her.
The king told him to go back and enter his body and tell his people
about troubles near at hand.
While he was before the king twice he heard messengers call to the
people that the sports were all over; any one not heeding would be
thrown into the darkest place of the home of the ghosts when the third
call had been sounded.
The sister was troubled, for she knew that at the third call the stone
walls around the king's houses would close and her brother would be held
fast forever in the spirit-land, so she uttered her incantations and
passed the guard. Softly she called. Her brother reluctantly came. She
seized him and pushed him outside. Then they heard the third call, and
met the multitude of ghosts coming inland from their sports in the sea,
and other multitudes hastening homeward from their work and sports on
the land.
They met a beautiful young woman who called to them to come to her home,
and pointed to a point of rock where many birds were resting. The sister
struck her brother and forced him down to the seaside where she had her
home and her responsibility, for she was one of the guardians of the
entrance to the spirit-world.
She knew well what must be done to restore the spirit to the body, so
she told her brother they must at once obey the command of the king; but
the brother had seen the delights of the life of the aumakuas and wanted
to stay. He tried to slip away and hide, but his sister held him fast
and compelled him to go along the beach to his old home and his waiting
body.
When they came to the place where the body lay she found a hole in the
corner of the house and pushed the spirit through. When he saw the body
he was very much afraid and tried to escape, but the sister caught him
and pushed him inside the foot up to the knee. He did not like the smell
of the body and tried to rush back, but she pushed him inside again and
held the foot fast and shook him and made him go to the head.
The family heard a little sound in the mouth and saw breath moving the
breast, then they knew that he was alive again. They warmed the body and
gave a little food. When strength returned he told his family all about
his wonderful journey into the land of ghosts.
NOTE.--A student should read next the articles "Homeless and
Desolate Ghosts" and "Ancestor Ghost-Gods" in the Appendix.
XIV
KALAI-PAHOA, THE POISON-GOD
The Bishop Museum of Honolulu has one of the best as well as one of the
most scientifically arranged collections of Hawaiian curios in the
world. In it are images of many of the gods of long ago. One of these is
a helmeted head made of wicker-work, over which has been woven a thick
covering of beautiful red feathers bordered with yellow feathers. This
was the mighty war-god of the great Kamehameha. Another is a squat rough
image, crudely carved out of wood. This was Kamehameha's poison-god.
The ancient Hawaiians were acquainted with poisons of various kinds.
They understood the medicinal qualities of plants and found some of
these strong enough to cause sickness and even death. One of the
Hawaiian writers said: "The opihi-awa is a poison shell-fish. These are
bitter and deadly and can be used in putting enemies to death.
Kalai-pahoa is also a tree in which there is the power to kill."
Kamehameha's poison-god was called Kalai-pahoa, because it was cut from
that tree which grew in the upland forest on the island of Molokai.
A native writer says there was an antidote for the poison from
Kalai-pahoa, and he thus describes it: "The war-god and the poison-god
were not left standing in the temples like the images of other gods, but
after being worshipped were wrapped in kapa and laid away.
"When the priest wanted Kalai-pahoa he was taken down and anointed with
cocoanut-oil and wrapped in a fresh kapa cloth. Then he was set up above
the altar and a feast prepared before him, awa to drink, and pig, fish,
and poi to eat.
"Then the priest who had special care of this god would scrape off a
little from the wood, and put it in an awa cup, and hold the cup before
the god, chanting a prayer for the life of the king, the government, and
the people. One of the priests would then take the awa cup, drink the
contents, and quickly take food.
"Those who were watching would presently see a red flush creep over his
cheeks, growing stronger and stronger, while the eyes would become
glassy and the breath short like that of a dying man. Then the priest
would touch his lips to the stick, Mai-ola, and have his life restored.
Mai-ola was a god who had another tree. When Kalai-pahoa entered his
tree on Molokai, Mai-ola entered another tree and became the enemy of
the poison-god."
The priests of the poison-god were very powerful in the curious rite
called pule-ana-ana, or praying to death. The Hawaiians said: "Perhaps
the priests of Kalai-pahoa put poison in bananas or in taro. It was
believed that they scraped the body of the image and put the pieces in
the food of the one they wished to pray to death. There was one chief
who was very skilful in waving kahilis, or feather fans, over any one
and shaking the powder of death into the food from the moving feathers.
Another would have scrapings in his cloak and would drop them into
whatever food his enemy was eating." The spirit of death was supposed to
reside in the wood of the poison-god.
A very interesting legend was told by the old people to their children
to explain the coming of medicinal and poisonous properties into the
various kinds of trees and plants. These stories all go back to the time
when Milu died and became the king of ghosts. They say that after the
death of Milu the gods left Waipio Valley on the island of Hawaii and
crossed the channel to the island Maui.
These gods had all kinds of power for evil, such as stopping the breath,
chilling or burning the body, making headaches or pains in the stomach,
or causing palsy or lameness or other injuries, even inflicting death.
Pua and Kapo, who from ancient times have been worshipped as goddesses
having medicinal power, joined the party when they came to Maui. Then
all the gods went up Mauna Loa, a place where there was a large and
magnificent forest with fine trees, graceful vines and ferns, and
beautiful flowers. They all loved this place, therefore they became gods
of the forest.
Near this forest lived Kane-ia-kama, a high chief, who was a very great
gambler. He had gambled away all his possessions. While he was sleeping,
the night of his final losses, he heard some one call, "O Kane-ia-kama,
begin your play again." He shouted out into the darkness: "I have bet
everything. I have nothing left."
Then the voice again said, "Bet your bones, bet your bones, and see what
will happen."
When he went to the gambling-place the next day the people all laughed
at him, for they knew his goods were all gone. He sat down among them,
however, and said: "I truly have nothing left. My treasures are all
gone; but I have my bones. If you wish, I will bet my body, then I will
play with you."
The other chiefs scornfully placed some property on one side and said,
"That will be of the same value as your bones."
They gambled and he won. The chiefs were angry at their loss and bet
again and again. He always won until he had more wealth than any one on
the island.
After the gambling days were over he heard again the same voice saying:
"O Kane-ia-kama, you have done all that I told you and have become very
rich in property and servants. Will you obey once more?"
The chief gratefully thanked the god for the aid that he had received,
and said he would obey. The voice then said: "Perhaps we can help you to
one thing. You are now wealthy, but there is a last gift for you. You
must listen carefully and note all I show you."
Then this god of the night pointed out the trees into which the gods had
entered when they decided to remain for a time in the forest, and
explained to him all their different characteristics. He showed him
where gods and goddesses dwelt and gave their names. Then he ordered
Kane-ia-kama to take offerings of pigs, fish, cocoanuts, bananas,
chickens, kapas, and all other things used for sacrifice, and place them
at the roots of these trees into which the gods had entered, the proper
offerings for each.
The next morning he went into the forest and saw that he had received a
very careful description of each tree. He observed carefully the tree
shown as the home of the spirit who had become his strange helper.
Before night fell he placed offerings as commanded. As a worshipper he
took each one of these trees for his god, so he had many gods of plants
and trees.
For some reason not mentioned in the legends he sent woodcutters to cut
down these trees, or at least to cut gods out of them with their stone
axes.
They began to cut. The koko (blood) of the trees, as the natives termed
the flowing sap, and the chips flying out struck some of the woodcutters
and they fell dead.
Kane-ia-kama made cloaks of the long leaves of the ieie vine and tied
them around his men, so that their bodies could not be touched, then the
work was easily accomplished.
The chief kept these images of gods cut from the medicinal trees and
could use them as he desired. The most powerful of all these gods was
that one whose voice he had heard in the night. To this god he gave the
name Kalai-pahoa (The-one-cut-by-the-pahoa-or-stone-axe).
One account relates that the pahoa (stone) from which the axe was made
came from Kalakoi, a celebrated place for finding a very hard lava of
fine grain, the very best for making stone implements.
The god who had spoken to the chief in his dream was sometimes called
Kane-kulana-ula (noted red Kane).
The gods were caught by the sacrifices of the chief while they were in
their tree bodies before they could change back into their spirit
bodies, therefore their power was supposed to remain in the trees.
It was said that when Kane-kulana-ula changed into his tree form he
leaped into it with a tremendous flash of lightning, thus the great
mana, or miraculous power, went into that tree.
The strange death which came from the god Kalai-pahoa made that god and
his priest greatly feared. One of the pieces of this tree fell into a
spring at Kaakee near the maika, or disc-rolling field, on Molokai. All
the people who drank at that spring died. They filled it up and the
chiefs ruled that the people should not keep branches or pieces of the
tree for the injury of others. If such pieces were found in the
possession of any one he should die. Only the carved gods were to be
preserved.
Kahekili, king of Maui at the time of the accession of Kamehameha to the
sovereignty of the island Hawaii, had these images in his possession as
a part of his household gods.
Kamehameha sent a prophet to ask him for one of these gods. Kahekili
refused to send one, but told him to wait and he should have the
poison-god and the government over all the islands.
One account records that a small part from the poison one was then
given.
So, after the death of Kahekili, Kamehameha did conquer all the islands
with their hosts of gods, and Kalai-pahoa, the poison-god, came into his
possession.
The overthrow of idolatry and the destruction of the system of tabus
came in 1819, when most of the wooden gods were burned or thrown into
ponds and rivers, but a few were concealed by their caretakers. Among
these were the two gods now to be seen in the Bishop Museum in Honolulu.
NOTE.--See Appendix, page 259, Chas. R. Bishop.
XV
KE-AO-MELE-MELE, THE MAID OF THE GOLDEN CLOUD
The Hawaiians never found gold in their islands. The mountains being of
recent volcanic origin do not show traces of the precious metals; but
hovering over the mountain-tops clustered the glorious golden clouds
built up by damp winds from the seas. The Maiden of the Golden Cloud
belonged to the cloud mountains and was named after their golden glow.
Her name in the Hawaiian tongue was Ke-ao-mele-mele (The Golden Cloud).
She was said to be one of the first persons brought by the gods to find
a home in the Paradise of the Pacific.
In the ancient times, the ancestors of the Hawaiians came from far-off
ocean lands, for which they had different names, such as The Shining
Heaven, The Floating Land of Kane, The Far-off White Land of Kahiki, and
Kuai-he-lani (purchased is heaven). It was from Kuai-he-lani that the
Maiden of the Golden Cloud was called to live in Hawaii.
In this legendary land lived Mo-o-inanea (self-reliant dragon). She
cared for the first children of the gods, one of whom was named Hina,
later known in Polynesian mythology as Moon Goddess.
Mo-o-inanea took her to Ku, one of the gods. They lived together many
years and a family of children came to them.
Two of the great gods of Polynesia, Kane and Kanaloa, had found a
beautiful place above Honolulu on Oahu, one of the Hawaiian Islands.
Here they determined to build a home for the first-born child of Hina.
Thousands of eepa (gnome) people lived around this place, which was
called Waolani. The gods had them build a temple which was also called
Waolani (divine forest).
When the time came for the birth of the child, clouds and fogs crept
over the land, thunder rolled and lightning flashed, red torrents poured
down the hillsides, strong winds hurled the rain through bending trees,
earthquakes shook the land, huge waves rolled inland from the sea. Then
a beautiful boy was born. All these signs taken together signified the
birth of a chief of the highest degree--even of the family of the gods.
Kane and Kanaloa sent their sister Anuenue (rainbow) to get the child of
Ku and Hina that they might care for it. All three should be the
caretakers.
Anuenue went first to the place where Mo-o-inanea dwelt, to ask her if
it would be right. Mo-o-inanea said she might go, but if they brought up
that child he must not have a wife from any of the women of
Hawaii-nui-akea (great wide Hawaii).
Anuenue asked, "Suppose I get that child; who is to give it the proper
name?"
Mo-o-inanea said: "You bring the child to our brothers and they will
name this child. They have sent you, and the responsibility of the name
rests on them."
Anuenue said good-by, and in the twinkling of an eye stood at the door
of the house where Ku dwelt.
Ku looked outside and saw the bright glow of the rainbow, but no cloud
or rain, so he called Hina. "Here is a strange thing. You must come and
look at it. There is no rain and there are no clouds or mist, but there
is a rainbow at our door."
They went out, but Anuenue had changed her rainbow body and stood before
them as a very beautiful woman, wrapped only in the colors of the
rainbow.
Ku and Hina began to shiver with a nameless terror as they looked at
this strange maiden. They faltered out a welcome, asking her to enter
their house.
As she came near to them Ku said, "From what place do you come?"
Anuenue said: "I am from the sky, a messenger sent by my brothers to get
your child that they may bring it up. When grown, if the child wants its
parents, we will bring it back. If it loves us it shall stay with us."
Hina bowed her head and Ku wailed, both thinking seriously for a little
while. Then Ku said: "If Mo-o-inanea has sent you she shall have the
child. You may take this word to her."
Anuenue replied: "I have just come from her and the word I brought you
is her word. If I go away I shall not come again."
Hina said to Ku: "We must give this child according to her word. It is
not right to disobey Mo-o-inanea."
Anuenue took the child and studied the omens for its future, then she
said, "This child is of the very highest, the flower on the top of the
tree."
She prepared to take the child away, and bade the parents farewell. She
changed her body into the old rainbow colors shining out of a mist, then
she wrapped the child in the rainbow, bearing it away.
Ku and Hina went out looking up and watching the cloud of rainbow colors
floating in the sky. Strong, easy winds blew and carried this cloud out
over the ocean. The navel-string had not been cut off, so Anuenue broke
off part and threw it into the ocean, where it became the Hee-makoko, a
blood-red squid. This is the legendary origin of that kind of squid.
Anuenue passed over many islands, coming at last to Waolani to the
temple built by the gnomes under Kane and Kanaloa. They consecrated the
child, and cut off another part of the navel-cord. Kanaloa took it to
the Nuuanu pali back of Honolulu, to the place called Ka-ipu-o-Lono.
Kane and Kanaloa consulted about servants to live with the boy, and
decided that they must have only ugly ones, who would not be desired as
wives by their boy. Therefore they gathered together the lame, crooked,
deformed, and blind among the gnome people. There were hundreds of these
living in different homes, and performing different tasks. Anuenue was
the ruler over all of them. This child was named Kahanai-a-ke-Akua (the
one adopted by the gods). He was given a very high tabu by Kane and
Kanaloa. No one was allowed to stand before him and no person's shadow
could fall upon him.
Hina again conceived. The signs of this child appeared in the heavens
and were seen on Oahu. Kane wanted to send Lanihuli and Waipuhia, their
daughters, living near the pali of Waolani and Nuuanu. The girls asked
where they should go.
[Illustration: THE MISTY PALI, NUUANU]
Kane said: "We send you to the land Kuai-he-lani, a land far distant
from Hawaii, to get the child of Hina. If the parents ask you about your
journey, tell them you have come for the child. Tell our names and refer
to Mo-o-inanea. You must now look at the way by which to go to
Kuai-he-lani."
They looked and saw a great bird--Iwa. They got on this bird and were
carried far up in the heavens. By and by the bird called two or three
times. The girls were frightened and looking down saw the bright shining
land Kuai-he-lani below them. The bird took them to the door of Ku's
dwelling-place.
Ku and Hina were caring for a beautiful girl-baby. They looked up and
saw two fine women at their door. They invited them in and asked whence
they came and why they travelled.
The girls told them they were sent by the gods Kane and Kanaloa.
Suddenly a new voice was heard. Mo-o-inanea was by the house. She called
to Ku and to Hina, telling them to give the child into the hands of the
strangers, that they might take her to Waka, a great priestess, to be
brought up by her in the ohia forests of the island of Hawaii. She named
that girl Paliula, and explained to the parents that when Paliula
should grow up, to be married, the boy of Waolani should be her husband.
The girls then took the babe. They were all carried by the bird, Iwa,
far away in the sky to Waolani, where they told Kane and Kanaloa the
message or prophecy of Mo-o-inanea.
The gods sent Iwa with the child to Waka, on Hawaii, to her
dwelling-place in the districts of Hilo and Puna where she was caring
for all kinds of birds in the branches of the trees and among the
flowers.
Waka commanded the birds to build a house for Paliula. This was quickly
done. She commanded the bird Iwa to go to Nuumea-lani, a far-off land
above Kuai-he-lani, the place where Mo-o-inanea was now living.
It was said that Waka, by her magic power, saw in that land two trees,
well cared for by multitudes of servants; the name of one was "Makalei."
This was a tree for fish. All kinds of fish would go to it. The second
was "Kalala-ika-wai." This was the tree used for getting all kinds of
food. Call this tree and food would appear.
Waka wanted Mo-o-inanea to send these trees to Hawaii.
Mo-o-inanea gave these trees to Iwa, who brought them to Hawaii and gave
them to Waka. Waka rejoiced and took care of them. The bird went back
to Waolani, telling Kane and Kanaloa all the journey from first to last.
The gods gave the girls resting-places in the fruitful lands under the
shadow of the beautiful Nuuanu precipices.
Waka watched over Paliula until she grew up, beautiful like the moon of
Mahea-lani (full moon).
The fish tree, Makalei, which made the fish of all that region tame, was
planted by the side of running water, in very restful places spreading
all along the river-sides to the seashore. Fish came to every stream
where the trees grew, and filled the waters.
The other tree was planted and brought prepared food for Paliula. The
hidden land where this place was has always been called Paliula, a
beautiful green spot--a home for fruits and flowers and birds in a
forest wilderness.
When Paliula had grown up, Waka went to Waolani to meet Kane, Kanaloa,
and Anuenue. There she saw Kahanai-a-ke-Akua (the boy brought up by the
gods) and desired him for Paliula's husband. There was no man so
splendid and no woman so beautiful as these two. The caretakers decided
that they must be husband and wife.
Waka returned to the island Hawaii to prepare for the coming of the
people from Waolani.
Waka built new houses finer and better than the first, and covered them
with the yellow feathers of the Mamo bird with the colors of the rainbow
resting over. Anuenue had sent some of her own garments of rainbows.
Then Waka went again to Waolani to talk with Kane and Kanaloa and their
sister Anuenue.
They said to her: "You return, and Anuenue will take Kahanai and follow.
When the night of their arrival comes, lightning will play over all the
mountains above Waolani and through the atmosphere all around the
temple, even to Hawaii. After a while, around your home the leaves of
the trees will dance and sing and the ohia-trees themselves bend back
and forth shaking their beautiful blossoms. Then you may know that the
Rainbow Maiden and the boy are by your home on the island of Hawaii."
Waka returned to her home in the tangled forest above Hilo. There she
met her adopted daughter and told her about the coming of her husband.
Soon the night of rolling thunder and flashing lightning came. The
people of all the region around Hilo were filled with fear. Kane-hekili
(flashing lightning) was a miraculous body which Kane had assumed. He
had gone before the boy and the rainbow, flashing his way through the
heavens.
The gods had commanded Kane-hekili to dwell in the heavens in all places
wherever the gods desired him to be, so that he could go wherever
commanded. He always obeyed without questioning.
The thunder and lightning played over ocean and land while the sun was
setting beyond the islands in the west.
After a time the trees bent over, the leaves danced and chanted their
songs. The flowers made a glorious halo as they swayed back and forth in
their dances.
Kane told the Rainbow Maiden to take their adopted child to
Hawaii-nui-akea.
When she was ready, she heard her brothers calling the names of trees
which were to go with her on her journey. Some of the legends say that
Laka, the hula-god, was dancing before the two. The tree people stood
before the Rainbow Maiden and the boy, ready to dance all the way to
Hawaii. The tree people are always restless and in ceaseless motion. The
gods told them to sing together and dance. Two of the tree people were
women, Ohia and Lamakea. Lamakea is a native whitewood tree. There are
large trees at Waialae in the mountains of the island Oahu. Ohia is a
tree always full of fringed red blossoms. They were very beautiful in
their wind bodies. They were kupuas, or wizards, and could be moving
trees or dancing women as they chose.
The Rainbow Maiden took the boy in her arms up into the sky, and with
the tree people went on her journey. She crossed over the islands to the
mountains of the island Hawaii, then went down to find Paliula.
She placed the tree people around the house to dance and sing with soft
rustling noises.
Waka heard the chants of the tree people and opened the door of the
glorious house, calling for Kahanai to come in. When Paliula saw him,
her heart fluttered with trembling delight, for she knew this splendid
youth was the husband selected by Waka, the prophetess. Waka called the
two trees belonging to Paliula to bring plenty of fish and food.
Then Waka and Anuenue left their adopted children in the wonderful
yellow feather house.
The two young people, when left together, talked about their birthplaces
and their parents. Paliula first asked Kahanai about his land and his
father and mother. He told her that he was they child of Ku and Hina
from Kuai-he-lani, brought up by Kane and the other gods at Waolani.
The girl went out and asked Waka about her parents, and learned that
this was her first-born brother, who was to be her husband because they
had very high divine blood. Their descendants would be the chiefs of the
people. This marriage was a command from parents and ancestors and
Mo-o-inanea.
She went into the house, telling the brother who she was, and the wish
of the gods.
After ten days they were married and lived together a long time.
At last, Kahanai desired to travel all around Hawaii. In this journey he
met Poliahu, the white-mantle girl of Mauna Kea, the snow-covered
mountain of the island Hawaii.
Meanwhile, in Kuai-he-lani, Ku and Hina were living together. One day
Mo-o-inanea called to Hina, telling her that she would be the mother of
a more beautiful and wonderful child than her other two children. This
child should live in the highest places of the heavens and should have a
multitude of bodies which could be seen at night as well as in the day.
Mo-o-inanea went away to Nuumea-lani and built a very wonderful house in
Ke-alohi-lani (shining land), a house always turning around by day and
by night like the ever moving clouds; indeed, it was built of all kinds
of clouds and covered with fogs. There she made a spring of flowing
water and put it outside for the coming child to have as a bath. There
she planted the seeds of magic flowers, Kanikawi and Kanikawa,
legendary plants of old Hawaii. Then she went to Kuai-he-lani and found
Ku and Hina asleep. She took a child out of the top of the head of Hina
and carried it away to the new home, naming it Ke-ao-mele-mele (the
yellow cloud), the Maiden of the Golden Cloud, a wonderfully beautiful
girl.
No one with a human body was permitted to come to this land of
Nuumea-lani. No kupuas were allowed to make trouble for the child.
The ao-opua (narrow-pointed clouds) were appointed watchmen serving
Ke-ao-mele-mele, the Maiden of the Golden Cloud.
All the other clouds were servants: the ao-opua-ka-kohiaka (morning
clouds), ao-opua-ahiahi (evening clouds), ao-opua-aumoe (night clouds),
ao-opua-kiei (peeking clouds), ao-opua-aha-lo (down-looking clouds),
ao-opua-ku (image-shaped clouds rising at top of sea), opua-hele
(morning-flower clouds), opua-noho-mai (resting clouds), opua-mele-mele
(gold-colored clouds), opua-lani (clouds high up), ka-pae-opua (at
surface of sea or clouds along the horizon), ka-lani-opua (clouds up
above horizon), ka-ma-kao-ka-lani (clouds in the eye of the sun),
ka-wele-lau-opua (clouds highest in the sky).
All these clouds were caretakers watching for the welfare of that girl.
Mo-o-inanea gave them their laws for service.
She took Ku-ke-ao-loa (the long cloud of Ku) and put him at the door of
the house of clouds, with great magic power. He was to be the messenger
to all the cloud-lands of the parents and ancestors of this girl.
"The Eye of the Sun" was the cloud with magic power to see all things
passing underneath near or far.
Then there was the opua-alii, cloud-chief with the name Ka-ao-opua-ola
(the sharp-pointed living cloud). This was the sorcerer and astronomer,
never weary, never tired, knowing and watching over all things.
Mo-o-inanea gave her mana-nui, or great magic power, to
Ke-ao-mele-mele--with divine tabus. She made this child the heir of all
the divine islands, therefore she was able to know what was being done
everywhere. She understood how the Kahanai had forsaken his sister to
live with Poliahu. So she went to Hawaii to aid her sister Paliula.
When Mo-o-inanea had taken the child from the head of Hina, Ku and Hina
were aroused. Ku went out and saw wonderful cloud images standing near
the house, like men. Ku and Hina watched these clouds shining and
changing colors in the light of the dawn, as the sun appeared. The light
of the sun streamed over the skies. For three days these changing
clouds were around them. Then in the midst of these clouds appeared a
strange land of the skies surrounded by the ao-opua (the narrow-pointed
clouds). In the night of the full moon, the aka (ghost) shadow of that
land leaped up into the moon and became fixed there. This was the
Alii-wahine-o-ka-malu (the queen of shadows), dwelling in the moon.
Ku and Hina did not understand the meaning of these signs or shadows, so
they went back into the house, falling into deep sleep.
Mo-o-inanea spoke to Hina in her dreams, saying that these clouds were
signs of her daughter born from the head--a girl having great knowledge
and miraculous power in sorcery, who would take care of them in their
last days. They must learn all the customs of kilo-kilo, or sorcery.
Mo-o-inanea again sent Ku-ke-ao-loa to the house of Ku, that cloud
appearing as a man at their door.
They asked who he was. He replied: "I am a messenger sent to teach you
the sorcery or witcheries of cloud-land. You must have this knowledge
that you may know your cloud-daughter. Let us begin our work at this
time."
They all went outside the house and sat down on a stone at the side of
the door.
Ku-ke-ao-loa looked up and called Mo-o-inanea by name. His voice went to
Ke-alohilani, and Mo-o-inanea called for all the clouds to come with
their ruler Ke-ao-mele-mele.
"Arise, O yellow cloud,
Arise, O cloud--the eye of the sun,
Arise, O beautiful daughters of the skies,
Shine in the eyes of the sun, arise!"
Ke-ao-mele-mele arose and put on her glorious white kapas like the snow
on Mauna Kea. At this time the cloud watchmen over Kuai-he-lani were
revealing their cloud forms to Hina and Ku. The Long Cloud told Hina and
Ku to look sharply into the sky to see the meaning of all the cloud
forms which were servants of the divine chiefess, their habits of
meeting, moving, separating, their forms, their number, the stars
appearing through them, the fixed stars and moving clouds, the moving
stars and moving clouds, the course of the winds among the different
clouds.
When he had taught Ku and Hina the sorcery of cloud-land, he disappeared
and returned to Ke-alohi-lani.
Some time afterward, Ku went out to the side of their land. He saw a
cloud of very beautiful form, appearing like a woman. This was resting
in the sky above his head. Hina woke up, missed Ku, looked out and saw
Ku sitting on the beach watching the clouds above him. She went to him
and by her power told him that he had the desire to travel and that he
might go on his journey and find the woman of his vision.
A beautiful chiefess, Hiilei, was at that time living in one of the
large islands of the heavens. Ku and Hina went to this place. Ku married
Hiilei, and Hina found a chief named Olopana and married him. Ku and
Hiilei had a redskin child, a boy, whom they named Kau-mai-liula
(twilight resting in the sky). This child was taken by Mo-o-inanea to
Ke-alohi-lani to live with Ke-ao-mele-mele. Olopana and Hina had a
daughter whom they called Kau-lana-iki-pokii (beautiful daughter of
sunset), who was taken by Ku and Hiilei.
Hina then called to the messenger cloud to come and carry a request to
Mo-o-inanea that Kau-mai-liula be given to her and Olopana. This was
done. So they were all separated from each other, but in the end the
children were taken to Hawaii.
Meanwhile Paliula was living above Hilo with her husband
Kahanai-a-ke-Akua (adopted son of the gods). Kahanai became restless and
determined to see other parts of the land, so he started on a journey
around the islands. He soon met a fine young man Waiola (water of life).
Waiola had never seen any one so glorious in appearance as the child of
the gods, so he fell down before him, saying: "I have never seen any
one so divine as you. You must have come from the skies. I will belong
to you through the coming years."
The chief said, "I take you as my aikane [bosom friend] to the last
days."
They went down to Waiakea, a village by Hilo, and met a number of girls
covered with wreaths of flowers and leaves. Kahanai sent Waiola to sport
with them. He himself was of too high rank. One girl told her brother
Kanuku to urge the chief to come down, and sent him leis. He said he
could not receive their gift, but must wear his own lei. He called for
his divine caretaker to send his garlands, and immediately the most
beautiful rainbows wrapped themselves around his neck and shoulders,
falling down around his body.
Then he came down to Waiakea. The chief took Kanuku also as a follower
and went on up the coast to Hamakua.
The chief looked up Mauna Kea and there saw the mountain women, who
lived in the white land above the trees. Poliahu stood above the
precipices in her kupua-ano (wizard character), revealing herself as a
very beautiful woman wearing a white mantle.
When the chief and his friends came near the cold place where she was
sitting, she invited them to her home, inland and mountainward. The
chief asked his friends to go with him to the mountain house of the
beauty of Mauna Kea.
They were well entertained. Poliahu called her sisters, Lilinoe and
Ka-lau-a-kolea, beautiful girls, and gave them sweet-sounding shells to
blow. All through the night they made music and chanted the stirring
songs of the grand mountains. The chief delighted in Poliahu and lived
many months on the mountain.
One morning Paliula in her home above Hilo awoke from a dream in which
she saw Poliahu and the chief living together, so she told Waka, asking
if the dream were true. Waka, by her magic power, looked over the island
and saw the three young men living with the three maidens of the snow
mantle. She called with a penetrating voice for the chief to return to
his own home. She went in the form of a great bird and brought him back.
But Poliahu followed, met the chief secretly and took him up to Mauna
Kea again, covering the mountain with snow so that Waka could not go to
find them.
Waka and the bird friends of Paliula could not reach the mountain-top
because of the cold. Waka went to Waolani and told Anuenue about
Paliula's trouble.
Anuenue was afraid that Kane and Kanaloa might hear that the chief had
forsaken his sister, and was much troubled, so she asked Waka to go
with her to see Mo-o-inanea at Ke-alohi-lani, but the gods Kane and
Kanaloa could not be deceived. They understood that there was trouble,
and came to meet them.
Kane told Waka to return and tell the girl to be patient; the chief
should be punished for deserting her.
Waka returned and found that Paliula had gone away wandering in the
forest, picking lehua flowers on the way up toward the Lua Pele, the
volcano pit of Pele, the goddess of fire. There she had found a
beautiful girl and took her as an aikane (friend) to journey around
Hawaii. They travelled by way of the districts of Puna, Kau, and Kona to
Waipio, where she saw a fine-looking man standing above a precipice over
which leaped the wonderful mist-falls of Hiilawe. This young chief
married the beautiful girl friend of Paliula.
Poliahu by her kupua power recognized Paliula, and told the chief that
she saw her with a new husband.
Paliula went on to her old home and rested many days. Waka then took her
from island to island until they were near Oahu. When they came to the
beach, Paliula leaped ashore and went up to Manoa Valley. There she
rushed into the forest and climbed the ridges and precipices. She
wandered through the rough places, her clothes torn and ragged.
Kane and Kanaloa saw her sitting on the mountain-side. Kane sent
servants to find her and bring her to live with them at Waolani. When
she came to the home of the gods in Nuuanu Valley she thought longingly
of her husband and sang this mele:
"Lo, at Waolani is my lei of the blood-red rain,
The lei of the misty rain gathered and put together,
Put together in my thought with tears.
Spoiled is the body by love,
Dear in the eyes of the lover.
My brother, the first-born,
Return, oh, return, my brother."
Paliula, chanting this, turned away from Waolani to Waianae and dwelt
for a time with the chiefess Kalena.
While Paliula was living with the people of the cold winds of Waianae
she wore leis of mokihana berries and fragrant grass, and was greatly
loved by the family. She went up the mountain to a great gulch. She lay
down to sleep, but heard a sweet voice saying, "You cannot sleep on the
edge of that gulch." She was frequently awakened by that voice. She went
on up the mountain-ridges above Waianae. At night when she rested she
heard the voices again and again. This was the voice of Hii-lani-wai,
who was teaching the hula dance to the girls of Waianae. Paliula wanted
to see the one who had such a sweet voice, so went along the pali and
came to a hula house, but the house was closed tight and she could not
look in.
She sat down outside. Soon Hii-lani-wai opened the door and saw Paliula
and asked her to come in. It was the first time Paliula had seen this
kind of dancing. Her delight in the dance took control of her mind, and
she forgot her husband and took Hii-lani-wai as her aikane, dwelling
with her for a time.
One day they went out into the forest. Kane had sent the dancing trees
from Waolani to meet them. While in the forest they heard the trees
singing and dancing like human beings. Hii-lani-wai called this a very
wonderful thing. Paliula told her that she had seen the trees do this
before. The trees made her glad.
They went down to the seaside and visited some days. Paliula desired a
boat to go to the island of Kauai. The people told them of the dangerous
waters, but the girls were stubborn, so they were given a very small
boat. Hii-lani-wai was steering, and Paliula was paddling and bailing
out the water. The anger of the seas did not arise. On the way Paliula
fell asleep, but the boat swiftly crossed the channel. Their boat was
covered with all the colors of the rainbow. Some women on land at last
saw them and beckoned with their hands for them to come ashore.
Malu-aka (shadow of peace) was the most beautiful of all the women on
Kauai. She was kind and hospitable and took them to her house. The
people came to see these wonderful strangers. Paliula told Malu-aka her
story. She rested, with the Kauai girls, then went with Malu-aka over
the island and learned the dances of Kauai, becoming noted throughout
the island for her wonderful grace and skill, dancing like the wind,
feet not touching the ground. Her songs and the sound of the whirling
dance were lifted by the winds and carried into the dreams of
Ke-ao-mele-mele.
Meanwhile, Ke-ao-mele-mele was living with her cloud-watchmen and
Mo-o-inanea at Ke-alohi-lani. She began to have dreams, hearing a sweet
voice singing and seeing a glorious woman dancing, while winds were
whispering in the forests. For five nights she heard the song and the
sound of the dance. Then she told Mo-o-inanea, who explained her dream,
saying: "That is the voice of Paliula, your sister, who is dancing and
singing near the steep places of Kauai. Her brother-husband has forsaken
her and she has had much trouble. He is living with Poliahu on Hawaii."
When Ke-ao-mele-mele heard this, she thought she would go and live with
her sister. Mo-o-inanea approved of the thought and gave her all kinds
of kupua power. She told her to go and see the god Kane, who would tell
her what to do.
At last she started on her journey with her watching clouds. She went to
see Hina and Olopana, and Ku and Hiilei. She saw Kau-mai-liula (twilight
resting in the sky), who was very beautiful, like the fair red flowers
of the ohia in the shadows of the leaves of the tree. She determined to
come back and marry him after her journey to Oahu.
When she left Kuai-he-lani with her followers she flew like a bird over
the waves of the sea. Soon she passed Niihau and came to Kauai to the
place where Paliula was dancing, and as a cloud with her cloud friends
spied out the land. The soft mists of her native land were scattered
over the people by these clouds above them. Paliula was reminded of her
birth-land and the loved people of her home.
Ke-ao-mele-mele saw the beauty of the dance and understood the love
expressed in the chant. She flew away from Kauai, crossed the channel,
came to Waolani, met Kane and Kanaloa and told them she had come to
learn from them what was the right thing to do for the sister and the
husband who had deserted her. Kane suggested a visit to Hawaii to see
Paliula and the chief, so she flew over the islands to Hawaii. Then she
went up the mountain with the ao-pii-kai (a cloud rising from the sea
and climbing the mountain) until she saw Poliahu and her beautiful
sisters.
Poliahu looked down the mountain-side and saw a woman coming, but she
looked again and the woman had disappeared. In a little while a golden
cloud rested on the summit of the mountain. It was the maid in her cloud
body watching her brother and the girl of the white mountains. For more
than twenty days she remained in that place. Then she returned to
Waolani on Oahu.
Ke-ao-mele-mele determined to learn the hulas and the accompanying
songs. Kane told her she ought to learn these things. There was a fine
field for dancing at the foot of the mountain near Waolani, and Kane had
planted a large kukui-tree by its side to give it shade.
Kane and his sister Anuenue went to this field and sat down in their
place. The daughters of Nuuanu Pali were there. Kane sent
Ke-ao-mele-mele after the dancing-goddess, Kapo, who lived at Mauna Loa.
She was the sister of the poison-gods and knew the art of sorcery.
Ke-ao-mele-mele took gifts, went to Kapo, made offerings, and thus for
the first time secured a goddess for the hula.
[Illustration: DANCING THE HULA]
Kapo taught Ke-ao-mele-mele the chants and the movements of the
different hulas until she was very skilful. She flew over the seas to
Oahu and showed the gods her skill. Then, she went to Kauai, danced on
the surf and in the clouds and above the forests and in the whirlwinds.
Each night she went to one of the other islands, danced in the skies and
over the waters, and returned home. At last she went to Hawaii to Mauna
Kea, where she saw Kahanai, her brother. She persuaded him to leave the
maiden of the snow mantle and return to Waolani. Paliula and her friends
had returned to the home with Waka, where she taught the leaves of
clinging vines and the flowers and leaves on the tender swinging
branches of the forest trees new motions in their dances with the many
kinds of winds.
One day Kahanai saw signs among the stars and in the clouds which made
him anxious to travel, so he asked Kane for a canoe. Kane called the
eepa and the menehune people and told them to make canoes to carry
Kahanai to his parents.
These boats were made in the forests of Waolani. When the menehunes
finished their boat they carried it down Nuuanu Valley to Puunui. There
they rested and many of the little folk came to help, taking the canoe
down, step by step, to the mouth of the Nuuanu stream, where they had
the aid of the river to the ocean.
The menehunes left the boat floating in the water and went back to
Waolani. Of the fairy people it was said: "No task is difficult. It is
the work of one hand."
On the way down Nuuanu Valley the menehunes came to Ka-opua-ua (storm
cloud). They heard the shouting of other people and hurried along until
they met the Namunawa people, the eepas, carrying a boat, pushing it
down. When they told the eepas that the chief had already started on his
journey with double canoes, the eepas left their boat there to slowly
decay, but it is said that it lasted many centuries.
The people who made this boat were the second class of the little people
living at Waolani, having the characters of human beings, yet having
also the power of the fairy people. These were the men of the time of
Kane and the gods.
Kahanai and his friends were in their boat when a strong wind swept down
Nuuanu, carrying the dry leaves of the mountains and sweeping them into
the sea. The waves were white as the boat was blown out into the ocean.
Kahanai steered by magic power, and the boat like lightning swept away
from the islands to the homes of Ku and Hina. The strong wind and the
swift current were with the boat, and the voyage was through the waves
like swift lightning flashing through clouds.
Ku and Hiilei saw the boat coming. Its signs were in the heavens. Ku
came and asked the travellers, "What boat is this, and from what place
has it come?"
Kahanai said, "This boat has come from Waolani, the home of the gods
Kane and Kanaloa and of Ke-ao-mele-mele."
Then Ku asked again, "Whose child are you?"
He replied, "The son of Ku and Hina."
"How many other children in your family?"
He said: "There are three of us. I am the boy and there are two sisters,
Paliula and Ke-ao-mele-mele. I have been sent by Ke-ao-mele-mele to get
Kau-mai-liula and Kau-lana-iki-pokii to go to Oahu."
Ku and his wife agreed to the call of the messenger for their boy
Kau-mai-liula.
When Kahanai saw him he knew that there was no other one so fine as this
young man who quickly consented to go to Oahu with his servants.
Ku called for some beautiful red boats with red sails, red
paddles,--everything red. Four good boatmen were provided for each boat,
men who came from the land of Ulu-nui--the land of the yellow sea and
the black sea of Kane--and obeyed the call of Mo-o-inanea. They had
kupua power. They were relatives of Kane and Kanaloa.
The daughter of Hina and Olopana, Kau-lana-iki-pokii, cried to go with
her brother, but Mo-o-inanea called for her dragon family to make a boat
for her and ordered one of the sorcerer dragons to go with her and guard
her. They called the most beautiful shells of the sea to become the
boats for the girl and her attendants. They followed the boats of
Kahanai. With one stroke of the paddles the boats passed through the
seas around the home of the gods. With the second stroke they broke
through all the boundaries of the great ocean and with the third dashed
into the harbor of old Honolulu, then known as Kou.
When the boats of Kahanai and Kau-mai-liula came to the surf of Mamala,
there was great shouting inland of Kou, the voices of the eepas of
Waolani. Mists and rainbows rested over Waolani. The menehunes gathered
in great multitudes at the call of Kane, who had seen the boats
approaching.
The menehune people ran down to lift up the boats belonging to the young
chief. They made a line from Waolani to the sea. They lifted up the
boats and passed them from hand to hand without any effort, shouting
with joy.
While these chiefs were going up to Waolani, Ke-ao-mele-mele came from
Hawaii in her cloud boats.
Kane had told the menehunes to prepare houses quickly for her. It was
done like the motion of the eye.
Ke-ao-mele-mele entered her house, rested, and after a time practised
the hula.
The chiefs also had houses prepared, which they entered.
The shell boats found difficulty in entering the bay because the other
boats were in the way. So they turned off to the eastern side of the
harbor. Thus the ancient name of that side was given Ke-awa-lua (the
second harbor, or the second landing-place in the harbor). Here they
landed very quietly. The shell boats became very small and Kau-lana and
her companions took them and hid them in their clothes. They went along
the beach, saw some fish. The attendants took them for the girl. This
gave the name Kau-lana-iki-pokii to that place to this day. As they went
along, the dragon friend made the signs of a high chief appear over the
girl. The red rain and arching bow were over her, so the name was given
to that place, Ka-ua-koko-ula (blood rain), which is the name to this
day.
The dragon changed her body and carried the girl up Nuuanu Valley very
swiftly to the house of Ke-ao-mele-mele (the maiden of the golden
cloud) without the knowledge of Kane and the others. They heard the hula
of Ke-ao-mele-mele. Soon she felt that some one was outside, and looking
saw the girl and her friend, with the signs of a chief over her.
So she called:
"Is that you, O eye of the day?
O lightning-like eye from Kahiki,
The remembered one coming to me.
The strong winds have been blowing,
Trembling comes into my breast,
A stranger perhaps is outside,
A woman whose sign is the fog,
A stranger and yet my young sister,
The flower of the divine home-land,
The wonderful land of the setting sun
Going down into the deep blue sea.
You belong to the white ocean of Kane,
You are Kau-lana-iki-pokii,
The daughter of the sunset,
The woman coming in the mist,
In the thunder and the flash of lightning
Quivering in the sky above.
Light falls on the earth below.
The sign of the chiefess,
The woman high up in the heavens,
Kau-lana-iki-pokii,
Enter, enter, here am I."
Those outside heard the call and understood that Ke-ao-mele-mele knew
who they were. They entered and saw her in all the beauty of her high
divine blood.
They kissed. Kau-lana told how she had come. Ke-ao-mele-mele told the
dragon to go and stay on the mountain by the broken pali at the head of
Nuuanu Valley. So she went to the precipice and became the watchman of
that place. She was the first dragon on the islands. She watched with
magic power. Later, Mo-o-inanea came with many dragons to watch over the
islands. Ke-ao-mele-mele taught her young sister the different hulas and
meles, so that they were both alike in their power.
When the young men heard hula voices in the other houses they thought
they would go and see the dancers. At the hour of twilight Waolani shook
as if in an earthquake, and there was thunder and lightning.
The young men and Anuenue went to the house and saw the girls dancing,
and wondered how Kau-lana had come from the far-off land.
Ke-ao-mele-mele foretold the future for the young people. She told
Kau-lana that she would never marry, but should have magic medicine
power for all coming days, and Kahanai should have the power over all
customs of priests and sorcerers and knowledge of sacrifices, and should
be the bosom friend of the medicine-goddess. She said that they would
all go to Waipio, Hawaii. Kane, Kanaloa, and Anuenue approved of her
commands.
Ke-ao-mele-mele sent Kau-lana to Hawaii to tell Paliula to come and live
with them at Waipio and find Kahanai once more. Kau-lana hastened to
Hawaii in her shell boat. She called, "O my red shell boat of the deep
blue sea and the black sea, come up to me."
The shell boat appeared on the surface of the sea, floating. The girl
was carried swiftly to Hawaii. There she found Waka and Paliula and took
them to Waipio. They lived for a time there, then all went to Waolani to
complete the marriage of Ke-ao-mele-mele to Kau-mai-liula.
Kane sent Waka and Anuenue for Ku and Hiilei, Hina and Olopana with
Mo-o-inanea to come to Oahu.
Mo-o-inanea prepared large ocean-going canoes for the two families, but
she and her people went in their magic boats.
Mo-o-inanea told them they would never return to these lands, but should
find their future home in Hawaii.
Waka went on Ku's boat, Anuenue was with Hina. Ku and his friends looked
back, the land was almost lost; they soon saw nothing until the
mountains of Oahu appeared before them.
They landed at Heeia on the northern side of the Nuuanu precipice, went
over to Waolani, and met all the family who had come before.
Before Mo-o-inanea left her land she changed it, shutting up all the
places where her family had lived. She told all her kupua dragon family
to come with her to the place where the gods had gone. Thus she made the
old lands entirely different from any other lands, so that no other
persons but gods or ghosts could live in them.
Then she rose up to come away. The land was covered with rainclouds,
heavy and black. The land disappeared and is now known as "The Hidden
Land of Kane."
She landed on Western Oahu, at Waialua, so that place became the home of
the dragons, and it was filled with the dragons from Waialua to Ewa.
This was the coming of dragons to the Hawaiian Islands.
At the time of the marriage of Ke-ao-mele-mele and Kau-mai-liula, the
Beautiful Daughter of Sunset came from the island Hawaii bringing the
two trees Makalei and Makuukao, which prepared cooked food and fish.
When she heard the call to the marriage she came with the trees. Makalei
brought great multitudes of fish from all the ocean to the Koo-lau-poko
side of the island Oahu. The ocean was red with the fish.
Makuukao came to Nuuanu Valley with Kau-lana, entered Waolani, and
provided plenty of food.
Then Makalei started to come up from the sea.
Kau-lana-iki-pokii told the gods and people that there must not be any
noise when that great tree came up from the sea. They must hear and
remain silent.
When the tree began to come to the foot of the pali, the menehunes and
eepas were astonished and began to shout with a great voice, for they
thought this was a mighty kupua from Kahiki coming to destroy them.
When they had shouted, Makalei fell down at the foot of the pali near
Ka-wai-nui, and lies there to this day. So this tree never came to
Waolani and the fish were scattered around the island.
Kau-lana's wrath was very great, and he told Kane and the others to
punish these noisy ones, to take them away from this wonderful valley of
the gods. He said, "No family of these must dwell on Waolani." Thus the
fairies and the gnomes were driven away and scattered over the islands.
For a long time the Maiden of the Golden Cloud and her husband, Twilight
Resting in the Sky, ruled over all the islands even to the mysterious
lands of the ocean. When death came they laid aside their human bodies
and never made use of them again--but as aumakuas, or ghost-gods, they
assumed their divine forms, and in the skies, over the mountains and
valleys, they have appeared for hundreds of years watching over and
cheering their descendants.
NOTE.--See now article on "Dragon Ghost-gods" in the Appendix.
XVI
PUNA AND THE DRAGON
Two images of goddesses were clothed in yellow kapa cloth and worshipped
in the temples. One was Kiha-wahine, a noted dragon-goddess, and the
other was Haumea, who was also known as Papa, the wife of Wakea, a great
ancestor-god among the Polynesians.
Haumea is said to have taken as her husband, Puna, a chief of Oahu. He
and his people were going around the island. The surf was not very good,
and they wanted to find a better place. At last they found a fine
surf-place where a beautiful woman was floating on the sea.
She called to Puna, "This is not a good place for surf." He asked,
"Where is there a place?" She answered, "I know where there is one, far
outside." She desired to get Puna. So they swam way out in the sea until
they were out of sight nor could they see the sharp peaks of the
mountains. They forgot everything else but each other. This woman was
Kiha-wahine.
The people on the beach wailed, but did not take canoes to help them.
They swam over to Molokai. Here they left their surf-boards on the
beach and went inland. They came to the cave house of the woman. He saw
no man inside nor did he hear any voice, all was quiet.
Puna stayed there as a kind of prisoner and obeyed the commands of the
woman. She took care of him and prepared his food. They lived as husband
and wife for a long time, and at last his real body began to change.
Once he went out of the cave. While standing there he heard voices, loud
and confused. He wanted to see what was going on, but he could not go,
because the woman had laid her law on him, that if he went away he would
be killed.
He returned to the cave and asked the woman, "What is that noise I heard
from the sea?" She said: "Surf-riding, perhaps, or rolling the maika
stone. Some one is winning and you heard the shouts." He said, "It would
be fine for me to see the things you have mentioned." She said,
"To-morrow will be a good time for you to go and see."
In the morning he went down to the sea to the place where the people
were gathered together and saw many sports.
While he was watching, one of the men, Hinole, the brother of his wife,
saw him and was pleased. When the sports were through he invited Puna to
go to their house and eat and talk.
Hinole asked him, "Whence do you come, and what house do you live in?"
He said, "I am from the mountains, and my house is a cave." Hinole
meditated, for he had heard of the loss of Puna at Oahu. He loved his
brother-in-law, and asked, "How did you come to this place?" Puna told
him all the story. Then Hinole told him his wife was a goddess. "When
you return and come near to the place, go very easily and softly, and
you will see her in her real nature, as a mo-o, or dragon; but she knows
all that you are doing and what we are saying. Now listen to a parable.
Your first wife, Haumea, is the first born of all the other women. Think
of the time when she was angry with you. She had been sporting with you
and then she said in a tired way, 'I want the water.' You asked, 'What
water do you want?' She said, 'The water from Poliahu of Mauna Kea.' You
took a water-jar and made a hole so that the water always leaked out,
and then you went to the pit of Pele. That woman Pele was very old and
blear-eyed, so that she could not see you well, and you returned to
Haumea. She was that wife of yours. If you escape this mo-o wife she
will seek my life. It is my thought to save your life, so that you can
look into the eyes of your first wife."
The beautiful dragon-woman had told him to cry with a loud voice when he
went back to the cave. But when Puna was going back he went slowly and
softly, and saw his wife as a dragon, and understood the words of
Hinole. He tried to hide, but was trembling and breathing hard.
[Illustration]
His wife heard and quickly changed to a human body, and cursed him,
saying: "You are an evil man coming quietly and hiding, but I heard your
breath when you thought I would not know you. Perhaps I will eat your
eyes. When you were talking with Hinole you learned how to come and see
me."
The dragon-goddess was very angry, but Puna did not say anything. She
was so angry that the hair on her neck rose up, but it was like a
whirlwind, soon quiet and the anger over. They dwelt together, and the
woman trusted Puna, and they had peace.
One day Puna was breathing hard, for he was thirsty and wanted the water
of the gods.
The woman heard his breathing, and asked, "Why do you breathe like
this?" He said: "I want water. We have dwelt together a long time and
now I need the water." "What water is this you want?" He said, "I must
have the water of Poliahu of Mauna Kea, the snow covered mountain of
Hawaii."
She said, "Why do you want that water?" He said: "The water of that
place is cold and heavy with ice. In my youth my good grandparents
always brought water from that place for me. Wherever I went I carried
that water with me, and when it was gone more would be brought to me,
and so it has been up to the time that I came to dwell with you. You
have water and I have been drinking it, but it is not the same as the
water mixed with ice, and heavy. But I would not send you after it,
because I know it is far away and attended with toil unfit for you, a
woman."
The woman bent her head down, then lifted her eyes, and said: "Your
desire for water is not a hard thing to satisfy. I will go and get the
water."
Before he had spoken of his desire he had made a little hole in the
water-jar, as Hinole
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