{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_66516/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_66516","id":"gutenberg_66516","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/66516","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Legends -- Hawaii","Volcanoes -- Hawaii"],"text":"HAWAIIAN LEGENDS\n                                  of\n                               VOLCANOES\n\n                              (MYTHOLOGY)\n\n\n               Collected and Translated from the Hawaiian\n                                   BY\n                            W. D. WESTERVELT\n\n      AUTHOR OF \u201cLEGENDS OF OLD HONOLULU,\u201d \u201cLEGENDS OF GHOSTS AND\n                GHOST-GODS,\u201d \u201cLIFE OF KAMEHAMEHA,\u201d ETC.\n\n\n                   ELLIS PRESS, BOSTON, MASS., U.S.A\n                     CONSTABLE & CO., LONDON, G.B.\n                                  1916\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nFOREWORD\n\n\nHowever doctors may differ concerning the way that our earth came into\nbeing, most of them agree that in its early days meteoric bodies from\nspace flew together and produced a hotter globe than at present.\nPerhaps its surface was all covered with vast circular lakes of lava\nsuch as our telescopes reveal in great perfection, ring upon ring, over\nthe surface of the moon. On the moon these rings and pits are now cold,\nremnant from a time when the gases from the inside of our satellite\nwere bubbling forth from a great internal heat supply and bringing with\nthem oceans of slag which seethed and swirled in circular pools which\nformed symmetrically within ramparts of their own spatter.\n\nThe earth is not without traces of similar circular ramparts in the\nshape of long curved chains of volcanoes, mostly in the sea, which\nwould appear as ridges if the ocean were to dry up. The line of the\nHawaiian Islands from Kauai to Mauna Loa on the large island of Hawaii\nis such a curved ridge, now of enormous height above the bottom of the\nPacific, but perhaps at one time much lower and more extended into\nsomething like a circle. These islands appear to have been built by\noverflows of lava from a curved crack which followed along the old\nrampart, just as we now find smoke-cracks along the small ramparts\nwhich restrain the hot lavas in Halemaumau in the pit of Kilauea. The\nlast activity along this crack appears to have moved slowly through\nthousands of years from west to east, and each volcanic mountain that\nwas built made a stopper to force the liquid out along the crack\nfarther eastward until finally two live volcanoes, Mauna Loa and\nKilauea, were left at the extreme east end, still spouting out the\nliquid and building up domes.\n\nSome men of science say that the molten liquid, which is mostly an\niron-stained glass, foamy with the intensely hot gases which escape\nfrom the inside of the earth, comes from an under layer beneath the\nouter crust of the earth, which would be found anywhere if we went down\ndeep enough. Others say that it comes from scattered pockets of liquid\nunder a stiff shell and over a stiffer inner globe. However this may\nbe, there is some agreement that the depth from which the liquids come\nis about seventy miles and we know that vast quantities of gas escape\nwith them. Possibly the gases unite chemically with each other and so\nthemselves produce some of the heat.\n\nIt is clear that heat and gas action are the motive agents which make\nvolcanoes so lively, so much so that simultaneously Mauna Loa and\nKilauea may maintain liquid columns of lava at two different elevations\nten thousand feet apart. This is accounted for by the fact that the\nmelted glass is so charged with gases under high pressure that it\nseethes up and down in the cracks and tubes which it occupies according\nto their form and size, and according to the coming together or opening\napart of their walls, just as any sparkling wine makes a foam which\nrises or falls according to the suddenness of the uncorking or to the\nsize of the glass into which it is poured.\n\nSudden uncorking is an apt simile for volcanoes in general, as most of\nthem, unlike Kilauea, erupt very suddenly and explosively. This is due\nto the way in which the gas-charged liquid has become confined under\nthe solidified mountain, and so only at long intervals becomes so hot\nand so insinuating that it finds a way out and, once released, spouts\nlike the open safety-valve of a steam engine until the gas pressure is\nrelieved. But even Kilauea is not guiltless of terrific and destructive\nexplosive eruption. About 1790, thousands of tons of gravel and\nboulders and dust were strewn over Hawaii from Kilauea, covering\nhundreds of square miles, destroying the vegetation, and killing some\nof the people. This would appear to be a crisis reached every few\ncenturies, and perhaps dependent on a building up of the mountain by\nlava to a certain height where the foam column is so confined that it\ncan no longer overflow and so is compelled to explode.\n\nMauna Loa is a much more productive volcano than Kilauea, for its flows\nhave covered a vast territory with new lava within the century past,\nwhereas Kilauea has done much less overflowing. Everything indicates\nthat Kilauea is older than Mauna Loa. Mauna Loa with its flows is\ntending through the ages to bury up Kilauea, and it is quite possible\nthat within a few centuries there will be flows from Mauna Loa which\nwill cascade over the wall into Kilauea crater and so make Kilauea\nMountain appear to be a mere spur of Mauna Loa. Mauna Kea to the north\nappears to have been a great circular volcano about one hundred miles\nin diameter, and when it had extinguished itself by too much building,\nits lava took refuge in making two new cones out on the edge of the old\nmountain, namely Kilauea and Hualalai. These built up until they had\nnearly exhausted the lava available, owing to their height, and then a\nnew vent, Mauna Loa, burst out in the center, filling a long\nspoon-shaped valley between them and to the southwest of Mauna Kea. The\nnew mountain has now built itself up to a height almost equal to that\nof Mauna Kea and probably in a few centuries will begin exploding and\nheaping up cinder cones just as Mauna Kea did before it finally became\nextinct.\n\nSome such story as this outlines the tremendous events, explosions,\nwhirlwinds, avalanches, lava flows, earthquakes, and fiery blasts which\ncomposed the narrative of the domain of Pele before man appeared upon\nthe scene. We do not know how much more frequent these things were in\nthe old days, but there were probably eras of quiet and eras of\nexcitement just as at present. It behooves us to give the closest\npossible attention to all the events of the present and to record them\nfaithfully, so as to render to the scientific historian of the future a\nconsecutive account of all the details which will lead up to some great\ncrisis in the days to come.\n\n\n    T. A. Jaggar, Jr.,\n    Director Mass. Inst. Technology,\n    Hawaiian Volcano Observatory,\n    Kilauea Crater, October, 1916.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nPRONUNCIATION\n\n\n\u201cA syllable in Hawaiian may consist of a single vowel, or a consonant\nunited with a vowel or at most of a consonant and two vowels, never of\nmore than one consonant. The accent of five-sixths of the words is on\nthe penult, and a few proper names accent the first syllable.\n\nIn Hawaiian every syllable ends in a vowel and no syllable can have\nmore than three letters, generally not more than two and a large number\nof syllables consist of single letters\u2014vowels. Hence the vowel sounds\ngreatly predominate over the consonant. The language may therefore\nappear monotonous to one unacquainted with its force.\n\nIn Hawaiian there is a great lack of generic terms, as is the case with\nall uncultivated languages. No people have use for generic terms until\nthey begin to reason and the language shows that they were better\nwarriors and poets than philosophers and statesmen. Their language,\nhowever, richly abounds in specific names and epithets.\n\nThe general rule, then, is that the accent falls on the penult; but\nthere are many exceptions and some words which look the same to the eye\ntake on entirely different meanings by different tones, accents, or\ninflections.\n\nThe study of these kaaos or legends would demonstrate that the\nHawaiians possessed a language not only adapted to their former\nnecessities but capable of being used in introducing the arts of\ncivilized society and especially of pure morals, of law, and the\nreligion of the Bible.\u201d\n\n\nThe above quotations are from Lorrin Andrew\u2019s Dictionary of the\nHawaiian Language, containing some 15,500 Hawaiian words, printed in\nHonolulu in 1865.\n\n\n                 {  a    is sounded as in father\n                 {  e    ,, \u00a0\u00a0,,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 ,, ,, they\n                 {  i    ,, \u00a0\u00a0,,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 ,, ,, marine\n                 {  o    ,, \u00a0\u00a0,,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 ,, ,, note\nHawaiian vowels  {  u    ,, \u00a0\u00a0,,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 ,, ,, rule or as oo in moon\n                 {  ai   when sounded as a diphthong resembles English\n                 {       ay\n                 {  au   when sounded as a diphthong resembles ou as\n                 {       in loud\n\n\nThe consonants are h, k, l, m, n, p, and w. No distinction is made\nbetween k and t or l and r, and w sounds like v between the penult and\nfinal syllable of a word.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTABLE OF CONTENTS\n\n\n    CHAPTER                                            PAGE\n\n            Foreword                                    iii\n            Introduction                                 xi\n\n\n    PART I\u2014LEGENDS\n\n        I. Ai-laau, The Forest Eater                      1\n       II. How Pele came to Hawaii                        4\n      III. Pele and the Owl Ghost-god                    14\n       IV. The Hills of Pele                             19\n        V. Pele and the Chiefs of Puna                   27\n       VI. Pele\u2019s Tree                                   35\n      VII. Pele and Kaha-wali                            37\n     VIII. Pele and Kama-puaa                            45\n       IX. Pele and the Snow-goddess                     55\n        X. Genealogy of the Pele Family                  63\n       XI. Pele\u2019s Long Sleep                             72\n      XII. Hopoe, the Dancing Stone                      87\n     XIII. Hiiaka\u2019s Battle with Demons                   96\n      XIV. How Hiiaka found Wahine-omao                 104\n       XV. Hiiaka Catching a Ghost                      111\n      XVI. Hiiaka and the Seacoast Kupuas               117\n     XVII. Lohiau                                       126\n    XVIII. The Annihilation of Keoua\u2019s Army             139\n      XIX. The Destruction of Kamehameha\u2019s Fish Ponds   146\n       XX. Kapiolani and Pele                           152\n\n\n    PART II\u2014GEOLOGICAL FACTS\n\n        I. The Crack in the Floor of the Pacific        165\n       II. Hawaiian Volcanoes                           170\n      III. Volcanic Activity                            177\n       IV. Changes in Kilauea Crater                    189\n        V. Foundation of the Observatory                194\n\n\n\n\nLIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS\n\n\n    Giant Tree Ferns on the Road to Kilauea    Frontispiece\n\n                                                       PAGE\n    Fire Fountains in Halemaumau, Kilauea                 2\n    Lava Cave                                            16\n    Decked with Leis of Plumeria                         24\n    Hibiscus                                             39\n    Mokuaweoweo, Mauna Loa (in eruption 1899)            44\n    Asa-Yama, Japan                                      52\n    Ice-crested Chimborazo (Ecuador, S.A.)               60\n    Mt. Shasta, California                               70\n    Mt. Rainier, Washington                              78\n    Mt. Shishaldin, Alaska                               88\n    Mt. Katmai, Alaska                                   98\n    Sunset over Leahi                                   108\n    A Storm on Mount Haleakala                          118\n    Lohiau                                              128\n    Two Maori Girls in Ancient Greeting                 140\n    Twisted Lava at the Foot of Vesuvius                150\n    Smoke Column over Mt. Pel\u00e9e                         160\n    Kaimimiki                                           178\n    Hawaiian Volcano Observatory                        194\n    Map of Hawaii                                       204\n\n\nNote:\u2014The great volcanoes of the Hawaiian Islands on account of their\nmagnitude, gradual slope, character and location do not lend themselves\nto interesting photography, as whatever is attempted must be done at\nsea on swaying ships in rough channels some distance out and detail is\nlost, hence the illustrations in this volume include many of the vast\ncraters forming the volcanic rim which surrounds that \u201cCrack in the\nFloor of the Pacific\u201d over which the Hawaiian Islands are situated.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nINTRODUCTION\n\nTHE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS\n\n\nOf all the noteworthy groups of islands of fire rock in the Pacific\nOcean, the Hawaiian Islands are the most stupendous.\n\nThe crack in the floor of the ocean upon which they are built extends\nfrom the large island Hawaii northwesterly about two thousand miles\ntoward Japan. The islands for the first four hundred miles are large\nand mountainous, but as the chain is followed toward the end, the\nislands quickly become mere bluffs rising out of the sea, or low coral\nislands which have been built on the rims of submerged volcanoes.\n\nIt is interesting to note that the oldest, the smallest, and the lowest\nof these islands lie nearest to Japan. One of these\u2014Midway Island\u2014is\nused as the United States mid-Pacific cable station. Properly speaking,\nthe Hawaiian Island group should cover all the islands in this chain\ntwo thousand miles long. The mountains of the large islands rise from\n3,000 to 14,000 feet above the sea-level. Between this majestic range\nof island mountains and the \u201cGiants of the Rockies,\u201d along the western\ncoast of the United States, lies a rough ocean valley abounding in\nhills and deep ravines with an average depth under the sea-surface of\nabout 2,600 fathoms, or 15,600 feet.\n\nWe know very little about this valley save that its floor is covered\nwith evidences of volcanic action. Pumice and scori\u00e6 appear to be\nuniversally distributed on the bottom of the ocean. Red and gray, and\nblue and green clays abound. The disintegration of pumice is given as\nthe chief source for the formation of this clayey matter. Sometimes the\ndeposits are permeated with meteoric or star dust.\n\nAs the ocean depths draw near the island coasts, they grow more and\nmore shallow and become a wonderful fairy-land into which the dreamer\nlooks from his floating canoe. Strange branching thickets of coral lie\nbelow, sometimes fringed with moving seaweeds and exquisitely colored\nsea-mosses, while through the coral and moss swim the marvellously\npainted fish of a hundred varieties. Turning and twisting in and out of\ncoral caves are the spotted eels or the great pink or brown\nanemone-headed sea-worms. Sea-urchins and star-fish crawl lazily along\nthe valleys and the uplands of the coral reef. The surface of the sea\nis itself covered with ceaselessly moving waves reflecting a tropical\nluxuriance of color. From well-known localities hundreds of fishermen\ngather spoil for the sustenance of life for themselves and their\nfriends.\n\nWonderfully restful is the dream life of the winterless seas of the\ncoral caves, and yet even to-day fierce floods of boiling lava\nsometimes find their way over the seashore and down over the reefs,\ndestroying the life of sea-moss and coral polyps, and surrounding\nshells and fish and crawling slugs or swift-moving eels with floods of\nturbid, boiling, death-dealing water in place of the clear waves\nthrough which they had been accustomed to journey.\n\nEach island has its individual extinct craters, but no island has any\nform of hot geyser action such as characterizes the Yellowstone Park of\nthe United States, or the region around Rotorua, New Zealand. The\nnearest approach to a geyser deposit such as abounds in central Mexico\nis found on Molokai and around the small crater Leahi (Diamond Head),\nnear Honolulu. Leahi was evidently forced up through coral reefs and\nthe mighty heat produced small layers of geyser-like deposits.\n\nThe islands have been built up by lava alone. This lava rapidly falls\nto pieces under the influence of sunlight and rain, thus permitting\nplants, such as giant ferns, small shrubs and grasses, to take root.\nThese plants break up the fire-rock very rapidly and send seeds\nbroadcast to multiply soil-making activities. Thus a lava flow in a few\nyears becomes the foundation for a growing forest.\n\nThe fire-rock, breaking through the floor of the ocean to form the\nHawaiian chain of islands, lost its power first in the far northwest\nand cooled and hardened from island to island until it is now making\nits last appearance on the largest and most southeasterly of all the\ngroup, the island known by the name Hawaii. Here is still to be found\nwhat is called the largest active crater in the world, Kilauea, and the\nsister crater, Mokuaweoweo, from which come the most voluminous lava\nflows, the latest one being in May, 1916. Kilauea is about 4,000 feet\naltitude, while Mokuaweoweo is nearly 10,000 feet higher and is on the\nsummit of Mauna Loa. Professor Jaggar, the experienced volcanologist in\ncharge of an observing station on the brink of Kilauea, accepts the\ntheory of a gas connection between these two craters so that their\nactivity is mutual as to foam vents, but not so close that the lower\nvolcano affords a hydrostatic outlet to the lava in the higher crater.\n\nIn this place it is well to note a fact which makes the scientific\nstudy of the active fire-lake of living volcanoes a very valuable index\nof coming events. Professor Jaggar says: \u201cIt has long been known that\nthe crust of our rocky globe rises and falls with a tide similar to\nthat of the ocean. From direct experiment professors of Chicago\nUniversity have recently proved a tidal movement in the solid earth up\nand down of about a foot twice each day, and varying in amount through\nthe lunar month and the solar year. There is definitely a daily\nmovement marked in the lava level of the fire-pit of Kilauea, and there\nis a marked semi-annual high level.\u201d This scientific study of active\ncraters is still in its infancy and promises, as Professor Jaggar says,\n\u201cto create a new science in which we may hope at some not distant day\nto predict the periods of volcanic eruptions and earthquakes.\u201d\n\nThe early Hawaiians incorporated in their legends various theories to\nexplain these great phenomena of nature, many of which are included in\nthis volume, especially those legends which cluster around Pele, the\ngreat goddess of fire, and Hiiaka, her sister, goddess of lightning.\nOther interesting legends relating to the once active but long extinct\ncrater Haleakala, on Maui, may be found in \u201cLegends of Maui.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nPART I\n\nLEGENDS\n\n\nI\n\nAI-LAAU, THE FOREST EATER\n\n\nWhen Pele came to the island Hawaii, seeking a permanent home, she\nfound another god of fire already in possession of the territory.\nAi-laau was known and feared by all the people. Ai means the \u201cone who\neats or devours.\u201d Laau means \u201ctree\u201d or a \u201cforest.\u201d Ai-laau was,\ntherefore, the fire-god devouring forests. Time and again he laid the\ndistricts of South Hawaii desolate by the lava he poured out from his\nfire-pits.\n\nHe was the god of the insatiable appetite, the continual eater of\ntrees, whose path through forests was covered with black smoke fragrant\nwith burning wood, and sometimes burdened with the smell of human flesh\ncharred into cinders in the lava flow.\n\nAi-laau seemed to be destructive and was so named by the people, but\nhis fires were a part of the forces of creation. He built up the\nislands for future life. The process of creation demanded volcanic\nactivity. The flowing lava made land. The lava disintegrating made\nearth deposits and soil. Upon this land storms fell and through it\nmultitudes of streams found their way to the sea. Flowing rivers came\nfrom the cloud-capped mountains. Fruitful fields and savage homes made\nthis miniature world-building complete.\n\nAi-laau still poured out his fire. It spread over the fertile fields,\nand the natives feared him as the destroyer giving no thought to the\nfinal good.\n\nHe lived, the legends say, for a long time in a very ancient part of\nKilauea, on the large island of Hawaii, now separated by a narrow ledge\nfrom the great crater and called Kilauea-iki (Little Kilauea). This\nseems to be the first and greatest of a number of craters extending in\na line from the great lake of fire in Kilauea to the seacoast many\nmiles away. They are called \u201cThe Pit Craters\u201d because they are not\nhills of lava, but a series of sunken pits going deep down into the\nearth, some of them still having blowholes of sputtering steam and\nsmoke.\n\nAfter a time, Ai-laau left these pit craters and went into the great\ncrater and was said to be living there when Pele came to the seashore\nfar below.\n\nIn one of the Pele stories is the following literal translation of the\naccount of her taking Kilauea:\n\n\u201cWhen Pele came to the island Hawaii, she first stopped at a place\ncalled Ke-ahi-a-laka in the district of Puna. From this place she began\nher inland journey toward the mountains. As she passed on her way there\ngrew within her an intense desire to go at once and see Ai-laau, the\ngod to whom Kilauea belonged, and find a resting-place with him as the\nend of her journey. She came up, but Ai-laau was not in his house. Of a\ntruth he had made himself thoroughly lost. He had vanished because he\nknew that this one coming toward him was Pele. He had seen her toiling\ndown by the sea at Ke-ahi-a-laka. Trembling dread and heavy fear\noverpowered him. He ran away and was entirely lost. When Pele came to\nthat pit she laid out the plan for her abiding home, beginning at once\nto dig up the foundations. She dug day and night and found that this\nplace fulfilled all her desires. Therefore, she fastened herself tight\nto Hawaii for all time.\u201d\n\nThese are the words in which the legend disposes of this ancient god of\nvolcanic fires. He disappears from Hawaiian thought and Pele from a\nforeign land finds a satisfactory crater in which her spirit power can\nalways dig up everlastingly overflowing fountains of raging lava.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nII\n\nHOW PELE CAME TO HAWAII\n\n\nThe simplest, most beautiful legend does not mention the land from\nwhich Pele started. In this legend her father was Moe-moea-au-lii, the\nchief who dreamed of trouble. Her mother was Haumea, or Papa, who\npersonified mother earth. Moemoea apparently is not mentioned in any\nother of the legends. Haumea is frequently named as the mother of Pele,\nas well as the heroine of many legendary experiences.\n\nPele\u2019s story is that of wander-lust. She was living in a happy home in\nthe presence of her parents, and yet for a long time she was \u201cstirred\nby thoughts of far-away lands.\u201d At last she asked her father to send\nher away. This meant that he must provide a sea-going canoe with mat\nsails, sufficiently large to carry a number of persons and food for\nmany days.\n\n\u201cWhat will you do with your little egg sister?\u201d asked her father.\n\nPele caught the egg, wrapped it in her skirt to keep it warm near her\nbody, and said that it should always be with her. Evidently in a very\nshort time the egg was changed into a beautiful little girl who bore\nthe name Hii-aka-i-ka-poli-o-Pele (Hiiaka-in-the-bosom-of-Pele), the\nyoungest one of the Pele family.\n\nAfter the care of the helpless one had been provided for, Pele was sent\nto her oldest brother, Ka-moho-alii, the king of dragons, or, as he was\nlater known in Hawaiian mythology, \u201cthe god of sharks.\u201d He was a\nsea-god and would provide the great canoe for the journey. While he was\ngetting all things ready, he asked Pele where she was going. She\nreplied, \u201cI am going to Bola-bola; to Kuai-he-lani; to Kane-huna-moku;\nthen to Moku-mana-mana; then to see a queen, Kaoahi her name and Niihau\nher island.\u201d Apparently her journey would be first to Bola-bola in the\nSociety Islands, then among the mysterious ancestral islands, and then\nto the northwest until she found Niihau, the most northerly of the\nHawaiian group.\n\nThe god of sharks prepared his large canoe and put it in the care of\nsome of their relatives, Kane-pu-a-hio-hio (Kane-the-whirlwind),\nKe-au-miki (The-strong-current), and Ke-au-ka (Moving-seas).\n\nPele was carried from land to land by these wise boatmen until at last\nshe landed on the island Niihau. Then she sent back the boat to her\nbrother, the shark-god. It is said that after a time he brought all the\nbrothers and sisters to Hawaii.\n\nPele was welcomed and entertained. Soon she went over to Kauai, the\nlarge, beautiful garden island of the Hawaiian group. There is a story\nof her appearance as a dream maiden before the king of Kauai, whose\nname was Lohiau, whom she married, but with whom she could not stay\nuntil she had found a place where she could build a permanent home for\nherself and all who belonged to her.\n\nShe had a magic digging tool, Pa-oa. When she struck this down into the\nearth it made a fire-pit. It was with this Pa-oa that she was to build\na home for herself and Lohiau. She dug along the lowlands of Kauai, but\nwater drowned the fires she kindled, so she went from island to island\nbut could only dig along the beach near the sea. All her fire-pits were\nso near the water that they burst out in great explosions of steam and\nsand, and quickly died, until at last she found Kilauea on the large\nisland of Hawaii. There she built a mighty enduring palace of fire, but\nher dream marriage was at an end. The little sister Hiiaka, after many\nadventures, married Lohiau and lived on Kauai.\n\nAnother story says that Pele was the daughter of Kane-hoa-lani and\nHina. The oldest and most authoritative legends say that Kane-hoa-lani\nwas her brother and that Hina was the creator of a flood or great tidal\nwave which drove Pele from place to place over the ocean. This story\nsays that Pele had a husband, Wahioloa, who ran away from her with a\nsister named Pele-kumu-ka-lani, and that Pele searched the islands of\nthe great ocean as she followed them, but never found them. At last\nPele came to Hawaii and escaped the flood by finding a home in Kilauea.\nIn this story she was said to have a son Menehune and a daughter Laka.\nThere is very little foundation for this legend. Wahioloa was a chief,\nwell known in the legends, of a famous family of New Zealand and other\nSouth Sea islands. Laka was his son, who cut down trees by day which\nwere set up again at night by the fairies. The Menehunes were the fairy\nfolk of Hawaii. The story of Pele\u2019s search for a husband has been\nwidely accepted by foreigners but not by the early Hawaiian writers.\n\nThe most authoritative story of the coming of Pele to Hawaii was\npublished in the Hoku-o-ka-Pakipika (Star of the Pacific), in the story\nof Aukele-nui-aiku, in 1861, and in another Hawaiian paper, Ke Kuokoa,\nin 1864, and again in 1865. Again and again the legends give\nKu-waha-ilo as the father and Haumea as the mother of the Pele family.\nHina is sometimes said to be Ku-waha-ilo\u2019s sister in these legends. She\nquarrelled with him because he devoured all the people. The Hawaiians\nas a nation, even in their traditions, have never been cannibals,\nalthough their legends give many individual instances of cannibalism.\nThe Pele stories say that \u201cKu-waha-ilo was a cannibal,\u201d and \u201cHaumea was\na pali [precipice or a prominent part of the earth].\u201d\n\nThe Hawaiians, it is safe to say, had no idea of reading\nnature-thoughts into these expressions, thus making them\n\u201cnature-myths.\u201d They probably did not understand that Ku-waha-ilo might\nmean destructive earth forces, and Haumea might mean the earth itself\nfrom whom Pele, the goddess of fire, and Na-maka-o-ka-hai, the goddess\nof the sea, were born. It is, however, interesting to note that this is\nthe fact in the legends, and that it was in a conflict between the two\nsisters that Na-maka-o-ka-hai drove Pele to the Hawaiian Islands.\n\nA greater sorcerer married Na-maka-o-ka-hai. After a time he saw Pele\nand her beautiful young sister Hiiaka. He took them secretly to be his\nwives. This sorcerer was Au-kele-nui-a-iku. Au might mean \u201cto swim,\u201d\nand kele \u201cto glide,\u201d or \u201cslip smoothly along.\u201d The name then might mean\n\u201cthe great smoothly swimming son of Iku.\u201d He could fly through the\nheavens, swim through the seas, or run swiftly over the earth. By magic\npower he conquered enemies, visited strange lands, found the fountain\nof the water of life, sprinkled that water over his dead brothers,\nbrought them back to life, and did many marvellous deeds. But he could\nnot deliver Pele and Hiiaka from the wrath of their sister. High tides\nand floods from the seas destroyed Pele\u2019s home and lands. Then the\nelder brother of Pele\u2014Ka-moho-alii, the shark-god\u2014called for all the\nfamily to aid Pele. Na-maka-o-ka-hai fought the whole family and\ndefeated them. She broke down their houses and drove them into the\nocean. There Ka-moho-alii provided them with the great boat\nHonua-i-a-kea (The great spread-out world) and carried them away to\ndistant islands.\n\nNa-maka-o-ka-hai went to the highest of all the mythical lands of the\nancestors, Nuu-mea-lani (The raised dais of heaven). There she could\nlook over all the seas from Ka-la-kee-nui-a-Kane to Kauai, i.e., from a\nlegendary land in the south to the most northerly part of the Hawaiian\nIslands. Pele carried her Paoa, a magic spade. Wherever they landed she\nstruck the earth, thus opening a crater in which volcanic fires burned.\nAs the smoke rose to the clouds, the angry watching one rushed from\nNuu-mea-lani and tried to slay the family. Again and again they\nescaped. Farther and farther from the home land were they driven until\nthey struck far out into the ocean.\n\nNa-maka-o-ka-hai went back to her lookout mountain. After a long time\nshe saw the smoke of earth-fires far away on the island Kauai. Pele had\nstruck her Paoa into the earth, dug a deep pit, and thrown up a large\nhill known to this day as the Puu-o-Pele (The hill of Pele). It seemed\nas if an abiding-place had been found.\n\nBut the sister came and fought Pele. There is no long account of the\nbattle. Pele was broken and smashed and left for dead. She was not\ndead, but she left Kauai and went to Oahu to a place near Honolulu, to\nMoanalua, a beautiful suburb. There she dug a fire-pit. The earth, or\nrather the eruption of lava, was forced up into a hill which later bore\nthe name Ke-alia-manu (The-bird-white-like-a-salt-bed or\nThe-white-bird). The crater which she dug filled up with salt water and\nwas named Ke-alia-paa-kai (The-white-bed-of-salt, or Salt Lake).\n\nPele was not able to strike her Paoa down into a mountain side and dig\ndeep for the foundations of her home. She could find fire only in the\nlowlands near the seashore. The best place on Oahu was just back of\nLeahi, the ancient Hawaiian name for Diamond Head. Here she threw up a\ngreat quantity of fire-rock, but at last her fires were drowned by the\nwater she struck below.\n\nThus she passed along the coast of each island, the family watching and\naiding until they came to the great volcano Haleakala. [1] There Pele\ndug with her Paoa, and a great quantity of lava was thrown out of her\nfire-pit.\n\nNa-maka-o-ka-hai saw enduring clouds day after day rising with the\ncolors of the dark dense smoke of the underworld, and knew that her\nsister was still living.\n\nPele had gained strength and confidence, therefore she entered alone\ninto a conflict unto death.\n\nThe battle was fought by the two sisters hand to hand. The conflict\nlasted for a long time along the western slope of the mountain\nHale-a-ka-la. Na-maka-o-ka-hai tore the body of Pele and broke her lava\nbones into great pieces which lie to this day along the seacoast of the\ndistrict called Kahiki-nui. The masses of broken lava are called\nNa-iwi-o-Pele (The bones of Pele).\n\nPele was thought to be dead and was sorely mourned by the remaining\nbrothers and sisters. Na-maka-o-ka-hai went off toward Nuu-mea-lani\nrejoicing in the destruction of her hated enemy. By and by she looked\nback over the wide seas. The high mountains of the island Hawaii, snow\ncovered, lay in the distance. But over the side of the mountain known\nas Mauna Loa she saw the uhane, the spirit form of Pele in clouds of\nvolcanic smoke tinged red from the flames of raging fire-pits below.\n\nShe passed on to Nuu-mea-lani, knowing that she could never again\novercome the spirit of Pele, the goddess of fire.\n\nThe Pele family crossed the channel between the islands and went to the\nmountain side, for they also had seen the spirit form of Pele. They\nserved their goddess sister, caring for her fires and pouring out the\ndestructive rivers of lava at her commands.\n\nAs time passed they became a part of the innumerable multitude of\nau-makuas, or ghost-gods, of the Pit of Pele, worshipped especially by\nthose whose lives were filled with burning anger against their\nfellow-men.\n\nThe acceptable offerings to Pele were fruits, flowers, garlands (or\nleis), pigs (especially the small black pig of tender flesh and\ndelicate flavor), chickens, fish, and men. When a family sent a part of\nthe dead body of one of the household, it was with the prayer that the\nspirit might become an au-makua, and especially an unihipili au-makua.\nThis meant a ghost-god, powerful enough to aid the worshipper to pray\nother people to death.\n\nPele is said to have become impatient at times with her brothers and\nsisters. Then she would destroy their pleasure resorts in the valleys.\nShe would send a flood of lava in her anger and burn everything up.\n\nEarthquakes came when Pele stamped the floor of the fire-pit in anger.\n\nFlames thrusting themselves through cracks in a breaking lava crust\nwere the fire-spears of Pele\u2019s household of au-makuas or ghost-gods.\n\nPele\u2019s voice was explosive when angry. Therefore it was called \u201cpu.\u201d\nWhen the natives first heard guns fired they said that the voice of the\ngun was \u201cpu.\u201d It was like the explosions of gas in volcanic eruptions,\nand it seemed as if the foreigners had persuaded Pele to assist them in\nany trouble with the natives.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nIII\n\nPELE AND THE OWL GHOST-GOD\n\n\nMany, many years after Pele\u2019s angry sister Na-maka-o-ka-hai had driven\nher from the island Kauai and after the land had many dwellers therein,\na quarrel arose between two of the highest chiefs of the island. They\nwere named Koa and Kau. It did not become an open conflict immediately,\nbut Koa was filled with such deep hatred that he was ready to employ\nany means to destroy his enemy.\n\nThere was a mighty Kupua, or dragon of the Pii family, at that time on\nKauai. These dragons had come, according to the legends, to the\nHawaiian Islands from the far-away lands of Kuai-he-lani, as attendants\non the first young chief Kahanai-a-ke-Akua\n(The-boy-brought-up-by-the-gods). These dragons had the mana, or magic\npower of appearing as men or as dragons according to their desire.\n\nThis dragon was named Pii-ka-lalau, or Pii, the one dwelling at\nKa-lalau. He was supposed to be semi-divine. His home was on the crest\nof an almost inaccessible precipice up which he would rush with\nincredible speed. Koa, the angry chief, came to this precipice and\ncalled Pii to come to him. There they plotted the death of Kau, the\nenemy. Assuming the appearance of a splendidly formed young man, Pii\nwent down among the natives with Koa to watch for an opportunity to\nseize Kau.\n\nAfter a time Kau was lured to go at night to a house far from his own\nhome. As he entered the door he received a heavy blow which smashed the\nbones of one shoulder and laid him prostrate. A great giant leaped out,\nthrusting an enormous spear at him. Kau was one of the most skilful of\nall chiefs in what was known as \u201cspear practice.\u201d He avoided the\nthrusts and leaped to his feet. He had a wooden dagger as his only\nweapon, but could not get near enough to the giant to use it.\n\nJust as he was becoming too weary to move, his wife, who had followed\nhim, hurled rocks, striking the giant\u2019s face, then seizing her husband\nfled with him homeward.\n\nThere followed a great battle in which Pii attacked all the warriors\nbelonging to the wounded chief. The legends say that \u201cthis giant was\ntwelve feet high, he had eyes as large as a man\u2019s fist, and an immense\nmouth full of tusks like those of a wild hog. His legs were as large as\ntrees, and his weight was such that wherever he stepped there were\ngreat holes in the ground.\u201d\n\nThe warriors fled as this mighty giant charged upon them. Suddenly they\nstopped and rushed back. Their chief\u2019s wife had caught an ikoi, a heavy\npiece of wood fastened to a long, stout cord. This she hurled so that\nit twisted around him and bound his arms to his sides. Stones and\nspears beat upon him, but he broke the coco-fibre cords of the ikoi and\nagain drove the warriors before him, trying to gain the house where the\nwounded chief Kau was lying.\n\nThere was an old prophetess who had rushed to the side of her master\nwhen he was brought to his home. She was one of the worshippers of\nPele, the fire-goddess of the island Hawaii. Powerful were her prayers\nand incantations.\n\nSoon out of the clear sky above the conflict appeared Pele hurling a\nfierce bolt of lightning at the giant. It struck the ground at his\nfeet, almost overthrowing him. A second flash of lightning blinded and\nstunned him.\n\nIt was a curious element of old Hawaiian belief, but they did believe\nthat demi-gods and supernatural beings had au-makuas, or ghost-gods,\nthe spirits of their ancestors, to whom they prayed and offered\nsacrifice as if they were common people and needed ghost-gods to take\ncare of them.\n\nPii, smitten by this new danger, called for Pueo, his most mighty\nghost-god. Pele\u2019s fire-darts were falling upon him and he was near\ndeath. Then came Pueo flying down from the steep places of the\nmountain. Pueo was a great owl in which dwelt one of the most powerful\nof Pii\u2019s ancestors.\n\nPueo hovered over the head of Pii facing Pele. Whenever Pele hurled her\nfiery darts, the owl swiftly thrust his head from side to side,\ncatching them in his beak, and with a shake of the head tossing them\noff to the ground.\n\nThen came the warriors in a great body around the giant and his\nghost-god. Thickly flew their spears and darts. Great clouds of stones\nwere hurled, and both Pii and his owl-god were grievously wounded.\nPele\u2019s flashes of lightning were coming with great rapidity.\n\nThe giant called to his au-makua to fly to the mountains, and then,\nsuddenly changing himself into his dragon form, he dashed up the\nprecipice toward his home.\n\nThe warriors were so surprised at the wonderful change that they forgot\nto fight, and only realized that this dragon was their enemy when they\nsaw him far out of the reach of their best weapons. They could see that\ndragon leaping from stone to stone, and swiftly gliding up the steep\nprecipice. He escaped to his home in the mountain recesses and\nnevermore troubled the chief by the sea. His employer was killed in a\nlater battle. Pele returned to her home in the volcano Kilauea.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nIV\n\nTHE HILLS OF PELE\n\nNA PUU O PELE\n\n\nThrough the fleeting hours of Tuesday, January eighth, in the year\nnineteen hundred and seven, earthquakes were felt all over the island\nof Hawaii. Soon after midnight as the stars of the new day Wednesday,\nJanuary ninth, looked down on the melting snows of Mauna Loa, a\nglorious fire-light broke out on the southern slope. This light filled\nthe sky above the mountain and was visible from all parts of the\nisland.\n\nThe Hawaiians said \u201cPele has come again.\u201d For some hours great floods\nof lava poured forth with extraordinary activity, quickly covering a\nvast area of land on the side of the mountain about four thousand feet\nbelow the summit crater. Then as the brilliant light of the sun took\nthe place of the glow of volcanic fires, clouds of eruptive gases and\nsmoke marked the course of the lava in its flow down the mountain side.\nMoreover, for nearly two days the lava found an underground channel\nfrom which it burst forth at times with explosions attended by\nearthquakes which shook the western coast of the island. Puffs of smoke\nby day and pillars of fire by night marked the course of this\nunderground channel. Thus for nearly three days the country throbbed\nwith excitement because of the uncertainty attending the continued\naction of the lava flow. Then came Friday evening and a sky flooded\nwith an ocean of fire. The lava burst from the side of the mountain\nabout half-way between the summit and the sea in magnificent tossing\nwaves, a river hundreds of feet across, dashing over old lava flows,\nburning the ferns and trees of the forest which had grown on lava a\nhundred years and more of age. Down it forced its way, sometimes\ncooling in great stone masses, crunching and crushing against each\nother, sometimes a rough mass of cinders resting upon a moving bed of\nfire and sometimes a swiftly moving liquid stream pushing from under a\ncooling surface and continually pressing downward toward the sea.\n\nMeanwhile, as this lava flow was making its descent, another branch\nbroke away westward. A little hill of lava frozen ages before into a\nmassive breastwork of black stone standing in the front of this flow of\n1907 divided it so that this western branch took its own way to the\nocean beach. Thus this mighty force of melted rock from the underworld\nhurled its vast mass down the mountain, piling itself over all life in\nits path and leaving only towering heaps of desolation to cover the\nearth. Between these two branches of the lava river lay stretched a\ntract of ancient lava several miles wide, desolate and dreary save for\nsmall clumps of trees and patches of ferns and grass.\n\nAt the end of this uncovered old lava two symmetrical mounds rise from\nthe rugged splintered rocks. These are marked on the maps of the large\nisland as \u201cNa Puu o Pele\u201d (The hills of Pele).\n\nIn the summer of 1905 two friends journeyed across the desolate country\nwhich has been made more desolate by the eruption of 1907. Wearied by\nthe hours passed in travelling over lava sharp as broken glass these\nfriends found a grass-covered resting-place and there waited for their\nfatigue to pass away. In a little while some Hawaiians drew near.\n\n\u201cAloha oukou [Friendship to you]!\u201d was the greeting to them.\n\n\u201cAloha olua [Friendship to you also]!\u201d was the reply.\n\n\u201cThis place is deserted by almost all life. Surely one cannot expect it\nto add any story to Hawaiian mythology.\u201d\n\n\u201cAy, there is a story which belongs to the two hills of Pele down by\nthe sea.\u201d\n\nThat summer day, on the lava of long ago, so long ago that its date is\nnot recorded, we heard the story of the chiefs of Kahuku and the fiery\nand voluptuous goddess of the volcanic forces of the Hawaiian Islands.\n\nKahuku, the land now under past and present lava flows, was at one time\nluxuriant and beautiful. The sugar-cane and taro beds were bordered by\nflowers and shaded by long-branching trees. Villages here and there\nmarked the population which supported the chiefs of Kahuku.\n\nTwo of the young chiefs were splendid specimens of savage manhood. They\nboth excelled in the sports and athletic feats which were the chief\noccupation of those days. Wherever a hillside was covered with grass\nand the ground properly sloping, holua races were carried on. Very\nnarrow sleds (holua) with long runners were used in these races.\n\nMaidens and young men vied with each other in mad rushes over the holua\ncourses. Usually the body was thrown headlong on the sled as it was\npushed over the brink of the little hill at the beginning of the slide.\nSometimes the more courageous riders would rest on hands and knees\nwhile only the very skilful dared stand upright during the swift\ndescent.\n\nPele, the goddess of fire, loved this sport and often appeared as a\nbeautiful and athletic princess. She carried her sled with her to\nKahuku to the holua hillside, and easily surpassed all the women in\ngrace and daring.\n\nSoon the two handsome young chiefs saw her and challenged her to race\nwith them. For hours they sported together, the chiefs led captive by\nthe charms of the goddess.\n\nJealous of each other, they strove to win Pele each to his own home.\nThus the days passed by, filled with sports and pleasures.\n\nAt last the young men became suspicious of their companion, her love\nwas so fitful and capricious, sometimes burning with a raging fire\ntoward her friends and sometimes filled with hot anger on very slight\nprovocation.\n\nAt last a warning came that this beautiful stranger might be the\ngoddess Pele from the other side of the island; that her home was in\nHalemaumau (The continuing house) of the volcano Kilauea; her\nattendants the always leaping flames; the caves filled with rolling\nwaves of fire her dwelling-rooms; that she carried the control of the\nfires of the underworld with her wherever she went.\n\nThe young chiefs talked together concerning their experiences and then\nbegan to draw away from their dangerous visitor.\n\nBut Pele made it difficult for them to escape from her presence. She\ncontinually called them to race with her.\n\nAt last the grass began to die. The soil became warm, and the heat\nintense. Slight earthquakes made themselves felt. The tides were more\nsnappy as they cast their surf waves along the beach.\n\nThe chiefs became afraid. Pele saw it and was overcome with anger. Her\nappearance changed. Her hair floated out in tangled masses, touched by\nthe breath of hot winds. Her arms and limbs shone as if enwrapped with\nfire. Her eyes blazed like lightning, and her breath poured forth in\nvolumes of smoke. In great terror the chiefs rushed toward the sea.\n\nPele struck the ground heavily with her feet. Again and again she\nstamped in wrath. Earthquakes swept the lands of Kahuku. Then the awful\nfiery flood broke from the underworld, and swept down over Kahuku. On\nthe crest of the falling torrent of fire rode Pele, flashing the fires\nof her anger in great explosions above the flood.\n\nThe chiefs tried to flee toward the north, but Pele hurled the fiercest\ntorrents beyond them to turn them back. Then they fled toward the\nsouth, but Pele again forced them back upon their own lands.\n\nThen they hurried down to the beach, hoping to catch one of their\ncanoes and escape on the ocean. Quickly these young men leaped on.\nSwiftly came the fiery flood behind them. Pele was urging the\nunderworld forces to their utmost speed. Shrieking like fierce,\nwhistling winds, tearing her hair and throwing it away in bunches, Pele\nsped after the chiefs. The floods of lava, obeying the commands of the\ngoddess, spread out over all the land of the chiefs so that from the\nmountain to the sea the luxuriant lands became desolate.\n\nNearer and nearer to the sea came the swift runners. It seemed as if\nthey had found the way of escape, for the surf waves waited eagerly to\nwelcome them, and a canoe lay near the beach.\n\nBut Pele leaped from the flowing lava and threw her burning arms around\nthe nearest one of her former lovers. In a moment the lifeless body was\nthrown to one side. The lava piled itself up around it, while at the\ncommand of Pele a new gush of lava rose up like a fresh crater and\nswallowed up all that was left.\n\nThe other chief was petrified by fear and horror. In a moment Pele\nseized him and called for another outburst of lava, which rose up\nrapidly around them. In a few minutes the Hills of Pele were built.\n\nThus the lovers of Pele died and thus their tombs were made. For many\nyears, even from ancient times, they have marked the destruction of the\nbeautiful lands of Kahuku.\n\nLater lava flows have turned aside to spare the monuments of the chiefs\nwith whom Pele played for a time, and the two hills of Pele are still\nseen near the shore of the ocean.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nV\n\nPELE AND THE CHIEFS OF PUNA\n\nKUMU-KAHI\n\n\nAccording to the legends, Pele was very quickly angered. Her passions\nwere as turbulent as the lake of fire in her crater home. Her love\nburned, but her anger devoured. She was not safe.\n\nKumu-kahi was a chief who pleased Pele. According to the legends he was\ntall, well built, and handsome, and a great lover of the ancient games.\nApparently he had known Pele only as a beautiful young chiefess; for\none day, when he was playing with the people, an old woman with fiery\neyes came to him demanding a share in the sports. He ridiculed her. She\nwas very persistent. He treated her with contempt. In a moment her\nanger flashed out in a great fountain of volcanic fire. She chased the\nchief to the sea, caught him on the beach, heaped up a great mound of\nbroken lava over him, and poured her lava flood around him and beyond\nhim far out into the ocean.\n\nThus the traditions say Cape Kumu-kahi, the southeast point of the\nisland Hawaii, was formed. Here kings, chiefs, and priests have come\nfor ages to build great piles of lava rock with many ceremonies. The\nnatives call these \u201cfuneral mounds\u201d and name them after the builders,\nalthough the persons themselves were seldom placed underneath in\nburial.\n\nWhen Hawaiians, who had been ill, recovered, they frequently vowed to\nmake a \u201cjourney of health.\u201d This meant that they came to the place now\nknown as Hilo Bay. There they bathed by the beautiful little Coconut\nIsland, fished up by the demi-god Maui. There they swam around a stone\nknown as Moku-ola (The-island-of-life). Then they walked along the\nseashore day after day until they were below the volcano of Kilauea.\nThey went up to the pit of Pele, offered sacrifices, and then followed\nan overland path back to Hilo. It was an ill omen if for any reason\nthey went back by the same path. They must make the \u201cjourney of health\u201d\nwith the face forward. Hopoe (The dancing stone), Kapoho (The green\nlake), and Kumu-kahi were among the places which must be visited. They\nall have their Pele legends.\n\nOn the shortest path from Kumu-kahi to Kilauea is a great field of many\nacres of lava stumps. These, according to the best theories, were made\nby immense floods of lava pouring down upon large forests of living\ntrees. Lava always cools rapidly on the surface, therefore, as the lava\nspread out through the forest, very soon there was a great floor of hot\nblack stone pierced by a multitude of trees. Some of these burned very\nslowly. The flowing lava would easily push itself up through the small\nopening around a burning tree and would keep on pushing and building up\na higher and higher cone of lava as the tree burned away, until the\ntree was destroyed. These cones rise sometimes ten to fifteen feet\nabove the lava floor. They frequently have well-preserved masses of\ncharcoal as their core. This is nature\u2019s method of making lava stumps.\nThis field of hundreds of lava stumps has a different origin according\nto the legends.\n\n\n\n\nPAPA-LAU-AHI\n\nPapa-lau-ahi (The-fire-leaf-smothered-out) was a chief who at one time\nruled the district of Puna. He excelled in the sports of the people. It\nwas his great delight to gather all the families together and have\nfeasts and games. He challenged the neighboring chiefs to personal\ncontests of many kinds and almost always was the victor.\n\nOne day the chiefs were sporting on the hillsides around a plain where\na multitude of people could see and applaud. Pele heard a great noise\nof shouting and clapping hands and desired to see the sport. In the\nform of a beautiful woman she suddenly appeared on the crest of one of\nthe hills down which Papa-lau-ahi had been coasting. Borrowing a sled\nfrom one of the chiefs she prepared to race with him. He was the more\nskilful and soon proved to her that she was beaten. Then followed\ntaunts and angry words and the sudden absolute loss of all self-control\non the part of Pele. She stamped on the ground and floods of lava broke\nout, destroying many of the chiefs as they fled in every direction.\n\nThe watching people, overcome with wonder and fear, were turned into a\nmultitude of pillars [2] of lava, never changing, never moving through\nall the ages.\n\nPapa-lau-ahi fled from his antagonist, but she rode on her fiery surf\nwaves, urging them on faster and faster until she swept him up in the\nflames of fire, destroying him and all his possessions.\n\n\n\n\nKE-LII-KUKU\n\nAnother chief was the one who was called in Hawaiian legends,\nKe-lii-kuku (The-Puna-chief-who-boasted). He was proud of Puna,\ncelebrated as it was in song and legend.\n\n\n       \u201cBeautiful Puna!\n        Clear and beautiful,\n        Like a mat spread out.\n        Shining like sunshine\n        Edged by the forest of Malio.\u201d\u2014Ancient Chant.\n\n\nKe-lii-kuku visited the island Oahu. He always boasted that nothing\ncould be compared with Puna and its sweet-scented trees and vines.\n\nHe met a prophet of Pele, Kane-a-ka-lau, whose home was on the island\nKauai. The prophet asked Ke-lii-kuku about his home land. The chief was\nglad of an opportunity to boast. According to the \u201cTales of a Venerable\nSavage\u201d the chief said: \u201cI am Ke-lii-kuku of Puna. My country is\ncharming. Abundance is found there. Rich sandy plains are there, where\neverything grows wonderfully.\u201d\n\nThe prophet ridiculed him, saying: \u201cReturn to your beautiful country.\nYou will find it desolate. Pele has made it a heap of ruins. The trees\nhave descended from the mountains to the sea. The ohia [3] and puhala\n[4] are on the shore. The houses of your people are burned. Your land\nis unproductive. You have no people. You cannot live in your country\nany more.\u201d\n\nThe chief was angry and yet was frightened, so he told the prophet that\nhe would go back to his own land and see if that word were true or\nfalse. If false, he would return and kill the prophet for speaking in\ncontempt of his beautiful land. Swiftly the oarsmen and the mat sails\ntook the chief back to his island. As he came around the eastern side\nof Hawaii he landed and climbed to the highest point from which he\ncould have a glimpse of his loved Puna. There in the distance it lay\nunder heavy clouds of smoke covering all the land. When the winds\nlifted the clouds, rolling them away, he saw that all his fertile plain\nwas black with lava, still burning and pouring out constantly volumes\nof dense smoke. The remnants of forests were also covered with clouds\nof smoke through which darted the flashing flames which climbed to the\ntops of the tallest trees.\n\nPele had heard the boasting chief and had shown that no land around her\npit of fire was secure against her will.\n\nKe-lii-kuku caught a long vine, hurled it over a tree, and hung\nhimself.\n\n\n\n\nKA-PA-PALA\n\nAnother chief by the name of Ka-pa-pala heard of Pele. He went to the\nedge of the crater and there found a group of beautiful women. He was\nwelcomed by Pele. They delighted in each other. Many were the games and\ncontests. The chief was so frequently the victor that at last he\nboasted that he could ride his surf-board on the waves of her lake of\nfire. She was angry at the thought that he dared to desecrate her\nsacred home. He defied her, caught his surf-board, threw it on a wave\nas it struck the encircling wall, then leaped on his board and launched\nout on the fire-waves. It is said that, to show his contempt for the\npower of Pele, he even stood on his head and was carried safely for a\ntime on the crest of the red rolling surf.\n\nPele became very angry as she saw him fleeing from her over the lake of\nfire, so she called to her fire-servants, the au-makuas, or ghost-gods,\nof the crater, and they hurled other fire-waves across the lake against\nthe one the chief was riding. These twisted and turned that wave. They\nbroke its crest. The chief and his surf-board were tossed up in a\nwhirlpool of fire. Then he dropped into the heart of the flame and was\nlost.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nVI\n\nPELE\u2019S TREE\n\n\nOhia-lehua [5] is the native name for a tree which abounds in Puna, the\nregion of the volcanic home of the goddess Pele. It has a continual\ngrowth of delicately shaded leaves. The young leaf, pink tinted, comes\nas the old leaf shading into gray falls from the tree. Flowers which\nare like beautiful red fringed balls are always found glorifying the\nvaricolored foliage. Here honey-loving birds and bees find their best\nfeeding-places.\n\nThe ohia forests grow abundantly and rapidly on lava even recently\nthrown out by the eruptions from Pele\u2019s lake of fire. The ohia roots\nseem to find food and drink, where the numerous cracks of a lava field\nopen in every direction, and vie with the tree ferns in making life\ntake the place of the desolation caused by the volcanic floods.\n\nAbout half way between the city of Hilo and the volcano Kilauea, there\nstood for many, many years an old ohia tree. It was so old that it had\nbecome legendary and was known as \u201cKa laau o Pele\u201d (The tree of Pele).\nWhenever a native came near this tree, he began to search for certain\nleaves or fruits which he could lay beneath the tree as an offering\nbefore he dared to try to pass beyond. These sacrifices were supposed\nto appease the wrath of the goddess and assure the traveller safe\npassage through Pele\u2019s dominions.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nVII\n\nPELE AND KAHA-WALI\n\n\nFor a long, long time the Hawaiians have had the proverb \u201cNever abuse\nan old woman; she might be Pele.\u201d\n\nThis saying was applied to several legends, but it belonged especially\nto the story of her punishment of Kaha-wali. Kaha-wali was a chief born\nand brought up on the island Kauai. This island was one of the first on\nwhich volcanic fires were extinct. It became \u201cThe Garden Island.\u201d It\nwas the most luxuriant in vegetation. Its hillsides were covered with\ngrass which afforded the very best facilities for sliding down hill.\n\nHee-nalu meant \u201csurf-riding,\u201d Heeholua meant \u201csled-riding,\u201d or sliding\ndown grassy hillsides. The sleds were usually made of hard, dark kauila\n[6] wood. Runners made from this wood became very smooth and highly\npolished. They were seven, twelve, or even eighteen feet long. They\nwere turned up a little at the front end, where they were two to four\ninches apart. They were fastened together with a number of crosspieces\nalmost the full length of the runners. At the rear end the runners were\nabout six inches apart. There were long side-pieces almost the full\nlength of the sled. Sometimes a narrow piece of matting was fastened\nover the whole length of the sled, although usually only a small piece\nwas provided for the chest to rest upon. The person using the sled\ngrasped the right-hand side stick with his right hand, then, running\nswiftly to the brow of the hill, caught the stick of the left side and,\nthrowing himself on the sled, hurled it over the edge and down the\nhill, sometimes sliding one hundred to two hundred yards or more. The\nsled was so narrow and the difficulty of staying on it so great, that\nit became one of the most interesting contests in which chiefs and\npeople delighted. Much practice was necessary before the rider could\nmaintain his or her balance, guide the sled, and gain a velocity which\nwould carry them far beyond any competitor. Sometimes when the holua\ntrack was worn close down to the earth, grass, rushes, and even leaves,\nwere carefully strewn over the ground to make easy gliding for the\npolished runners.\n\nKaha-wali excelled all the Kauai chiefs in this sport, so he determined\nto test his skill on the other islands. He had heard of a beautiful\nyoung chiefess on the distant island Hawaii who was a wonderful holua\nrider. His first great contest should be with Pele. He prepared for a\nlong journey, and a stay of many months or even years. Some authorities\nhave placed the time of this visit to Hawaii as about the year 1350.\n\nKaha-wali filled his canoes with choice sleds, mats, cloaks,\ncalabashes, spears, in fact, all the property needed for use during the\nvisit he had in mind. He took his wife, Kanaka-wahine, his two\nchildren, his sister Koai, his younger brother, and Ahua, one of the\nyoung chiefs who was his aikane (intimate friend), and also his\nnecessary retainers and their baggage, and among the most cherished of\nall, his favorite pig, Aloi-puaa. This pig was so important that its\nname has been made prominent in all the Kaha-wali legends.\n\nThey journeyed from island to island. Evidently his father,\nO-lono-hai-laau, and others of the family came as far as the island\nOahu and there remained.\n\nKaha-wali passed on to Hawaii and landed at Kapoho in the district of\nPuna. Apparently the chiefs of this part of the island made Kaha-wali\nwelcome, for he built houses for himself and his retainers and settled\ndown as if he belonged to the country.\n\nThe visitors from Kauai entered heartily into the sports of the people\nand after a time climbed some lava hills and began holua races. These\nhills were composed of lava, which easily turned into rich soil when\nsubdued by alternate rain and sunshine. Grass and ferns soon clothed\nthem with abundant verdure. Holua courses were laid out, and the chiefs\nhad splendid sport. Crowds came to watch and applaud. Musicians,\ndancers, wrestlers, and boxers added to the interest.\n\nKaha-wali and Ahua were frequently racing with each other. After each\nrace there were dancing and games among the people. One day while\nracing Kaha-wali stuck his spear, which was peculiarly broad and long,\ninto the ground at the end of the race course, then climbed the hill\nwhich bore the name Ka-hale-o-ka-mahina (The-house-of-the-moon). Ellis,\nwho wrote the story of the missionary tour of 1823, said that the race\ncourse was pointed out to him as Ka-holua-ana-o-Kaha-vari\n(The-sliding-place-of-Kaha-vari). He thus describes the hill: \u201cIt was a\nblack frowning crater about one hundred feet high, with a deep gap in\nthe rim on the eastern side from which the course of a current of lava\ncould be distinctly traced.\u201d\n\nA woman of ordinary appearance came to the hilltop as Kaha-wali and\nAhua prepared for a race. She said: \u201cI wish to ride. Let me take your\nholua.\u201d The chief replied: \u201cWhat does an old woman like you want with a\nholua? You do not belong to my family, that I should let you take\nmine.\u201d Then she turned to Ahua and asked for his holua. He kindly gave\nit to her. Together the chief and the woman dashed to the brow of the\nhill, threw themselves on their holuas and went headlong down the steep\ncourse. The woman soon lost her balance. The holua rolled over and\nhurled her some distance down the hill. She challenged the chief to\nanother start, and when they were on the hilltop asked him for his\npapa-holua. She knew that a high chief\u2019s property was very sacred and\ncould not be used by those without rank.\n\nKaha-wali thought this was a common native and roughly refused her\nrequest, saying: \u201cAre you my wife [i.e., my equal in rank], that you\nshould have my holua?\u201d Then he ran swiftly, started his holua, and sped\ntoward the bottom of the hill.\n\nAnger flashed in the face of the woman, for she had been spurned and\ndeserted. Her eyes were red like hot coals of fire. She stamped on the\nground. The hill opened beneath her and a flood of lava burst forth and\nbegan to pour down into the valley, following and devastating the holua\ncourse, and spreading out over the whole plain.\n\nAssuming her supernatural form as the goddess of fire, Pele rode down\nthe hill on her own papa-holua on the foremost wave of the river of\nfire. She was no longer the common native, but was the beautiful young\nchiefess in her fire-body, eyes flaming and hair floating back in\nclouds of smoke. There she stood leaning forward to catch her\nantagonist, and urging her fire-waves to the swiftest possible action.\nExplosions of bursting lava resounded like thunder all around her.\nKaha-wali leaped from his holua as it came to the foot of the hill,\nthrew off his kihei (cloak), caught his spear, and, calling Ahua to\nfollow, ran toward the sea.\n\nThe valley quickly filled with lava, the people were speedily swallowed\nup. Kaha-wali rushed past his home. Ellis says: \u201cHe saw his mother who\nlived at Ku-kii, saluted her by touching noses, and said, \u2018Aloha ino oe\neia ihonei paha oe e make ai, ke ai manei Pele\u2019 [Compassion rest on\nyou. Close here perhaps is your death. Pele comes devouring].\n\n\u201cThen he met his wife. The fire-torrent was near at hand. She said:\n\u2018Stay with me here, and let us die together.\u2019 He said: \u2018No, I go! I\ngo!\u2019\u201d\n\nSo he left his wife and his children. Then he met his pet hog,\nAloi-puaa, and stopped for a moment to salute it by rubbing noses. The\nhog was caught by Pele in a few moments and changed into a great black\nstone in the heart of the channel and left, as the centre of the river\nof fire flowed on to destroy the two fleeing chiefs.\u2014Rocks scattered\nalong the banks of this old channel are pointed out as the individuals\nand the remnants of houses destroyed by Pele.\n\nThe chiefs came to a deep chasm in the earth. They could not leap over\nit. Kaha-wali crossed on his spear and pulled his friend over after\nhim. On the beach he found a canoe left by his younger brother who had\njust landed and hastened inland to try to save his family. Kaha-wali\nand Ahua leaped into the boat and pushed out into the ocean.\n\nPele soon stood on the beach hurling red-hot rocks at him which the\nnatives say can still be seen lying on the bottom of the sea. Thus did\nKaha-wali learn that he must not abuse an old woman, for she might be\nPele.\n\n\n\n\u2014The story often ends with the statement that Kaha-wali joined his\nfather on the island Oahu and there remained. Other legends say he went\nto Kauai and there gathered a company of the most powerful priests to\nreturn to Hawaii for the destruction of Pele and her volcanic fires.\n\nSix of these priests, according to Mrs. Rufus Lyman, who owned the land\nof this adventure and whose descendants still hold the same, came to\nHawaii with the defeated Kaha-wali. These were Hale-mau-mau, Ka-au-ea,\nUwe-kahuna, Ka-ua-nohu-nohu, Ka-lani-ua-ula, and Ka-pu-e-uli.\n\nThey took their positions near Kilauea and challenged Pele, crying out:\n\u201cWhere is that strange and wonderful woman?\u201d Ka-au-ea (The fiery\ncurrent) and Uwe-kahuna (priest weeping) and Hale-mau-mau (House of\nferns) were kahunas, or priests of wonderful power. They were the only\nones who left their names to localities in the neighborhood of Kilauea.\n\nHale-mau-mau had his house of ferns for a long time upon a precipice,\nback of the present Volcano House. From there the name has been changed\nboth in meaning and location to the lava pit, the pit of Pele, in the\nliving lake of fire, where it is called Hale-mau-mau\n(the-enduring-house). Ka-au-ea was the name given to a precipice in the\nwalls of the crater. Uwe-kahuna was a high hill on the northwestern\nside of the crater, overlooking the fire-pit and the region around\nKilauea. These priests who were also of the rank of chiefs were all\nkilled by Pele except Kaha-wali, who escaped to Oahu.\u2014\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nVIII\n\nPELE AND KAMA-PUAA\n\nNote: The adventure of the demi-god Kama-puaa has been given in \u201cThe\nLegends of Old Honolulu.\u201d But because it is one of the most widely told\nof the Pele stories, it is repeated here.\n\n\nKama-puaa was born on the island of Oahu, where he was known as a very\npowerful and destructive monster, also as a peculiarly handsome and\neven lovable chief. He was a kupua\u2014a being who could appear at will as\nan animal or man. He usually appeared as a man, but when his brutal\ndesires to destroy overcame him or when he wished to hide from any one\nhe adopted the form of a hog. He had the two natures, human and brutal.\nHe had been endowed with super-human powers, according to the legends,\nand was many times called Puaa-akua (Hog-god) of Oahu.\n\nThere is a curiously marked fish with an angular body and very thick\nskin, which is said by the Hawaiians to sometimes utter a grunting\nsound. It is named the Humuhumu-nukunuku-a-puaa\n(The-grunting-angular-pig). It was claimed that the hog-man could\nchange himself into this fish as easily as into a hog.\n\nAn ancient chant thus described him:\n\n\n       \u201cO Kama-puaa!\n        You are the one with rising bristles.\n        O Rooter! O Wallower in ponds!\n        O remarkable fish of the sea!\n        O youth divine!\u201d\n\n\nKama-puaa had a beautiful magic shell\u2014the leho. This was a fairy boat\nin which he usually journeyed from island to island. When he landed he\ntook this shell in his hands and it grew smaller and smaller until he\ncould tuck it away in his loin cloth. When he sailed away alone it was\njust large enough to satisfy his need. If some of his household\ntravelled with him, the canoe became the large ocean boat for the\nfamily.\n\nSome of the legends say that as a fish Kama-puaa swam through the seas\nto Hawaii, but others say that he used his leho boat, visited the\ndifferent islands and passed slowly to the southeastern point of Hawaii\nto Cape Kumu-kahi.\n\nHe crossed the rough beds of lava, left by recent eruptions. He\nthreaded his way through forests of trees and ferns and at last stood\non the hills looking down upon the lake of fire. Akani-kolea was the\nhill upon which he stood clearly outlined against the sky.\n\nHere was Ka-lua-Pele (The-pit-of-Pele), the home of the goddess of\nfire. Here she rested among glorious fountains of fire; or, rising in\nsport, dashed the flaming clouds in twisted masses around the\nprecipices guarding her palace. Here Kama-puaa looked down upon a\nfire-dance, wherein Pele and her sisters, wrapped in filmy gowns of\nbluish haze, swept back and forth over the lake of fire, the pressure\nof their footfalls marked by hundreds of boiling bubbles rising and\nbursting under their tread, until the entire surface was a restless sea\ncovered with choppy waves of fire.\n\nSuddenly a great cloud concealed the household, then rolled away, and\nall the surrounding cliffs were clearly revealed. One of the sisters\nlooking up saw Kama-puaa and cried out: \u201cOh, see that fine-looking man\nstanding on Akani-kolea. He stands as straight as a precipice. His face\nis bright like the moon. Perhaps if our sister frees him from her tabu\nhe can be the husband of one of us.\u201d\n\nThe sisters looked. They heard the tum-tum-tum of a small hand-gourd\ndrum, they saw a finely formed athletic stranger, who was dancing on\nthe hilltop, gloriously outlined in the splendor of the morning light.\n\nPele scorned him and said: \u201cThat is not a man, but a hog. If I ridicule\nhim he will be angry.\u201d Then she started the war of taunting words with\nwhich chiefs usually began a conflict. She called to him giving him all\nthe characteristics of a hog. He was angry and boasted of his power to\novercome and destroy the whole Pele family. Pele thought she could\neasily frighten him and drive him off, so she sent clouds of\nsulphur-smoke and a stream of boiling lava against him. To her surprise\nhe brushed the clouds away, with a few words checked the eruption, and\nstood before them unharmed.\n\nThe sisters begged Pele to send for the handsome stranger and make him\na member of their family. At last she sent her brother Kane-hoa-lani to\nspeak to him. There were many hindrances before a thorough\nreconciliation took place.\n\nFor a time Pele and Kama-puaa lived together as husband and wife, in\nvarious parts of the district of Puna.\u2014The places where they dwelt are\npointed out even at this day by the natives who know the traditions.\u2014It\nis said that a son was born and named Opelu-haa-lii and that the fiery\nlife of his mother was so strenuous that he lived only a little while.\nSome say he became the fish \u201cOpelu.\u201d\n\nThis marriage did not endure. Kama-puaa had too many of the habits and\ninstincts of a hog to please Pele, and she was too quickly angry to\nsuit the overbearing Kama-puaa. Pele was never patient even with her\nsisters, so with Kama-puaa she would burst into fiery rage, while\ntaunts and bitter words were freely hurled back and forth.\n\nA sarcastic chant has been handed down among the Hawaiians as one of\nthe taunts hurled at Pele by Kama-puaa.\n\n\n       \u201cMakole, Makole, akahi\n        Hele i kai o Pikeha\n        Heaha ke ai e aiai\n        He lihilihi pau a ke akua.\u201d\n\n       \u201cOh, look at that one with the sore eyes!\n        Tell her to go to the sea of Pikeha.\n            (To wash her eyes and cure them.)\n        What food makes her fair as the moonlight?\n        Even her eyebrows were shaved off by some god.\u201d\n\n\nPele was bitterly angry and tried her best to destroy her tormentor.\nShe stamped on the ground, the earth shook, cracks opened in the\nsurface and sometimes clouds of smoke and steam arose around Kama-puaa.\nHe was unterrified and matched his divine powers against hers. It was\ndemi-god against demi-goddess. It was the goddess-of-fire of Hawaii\nagainst the hog-god of Oahu. Pele\u2019s home life was given up, the\nbitterness of strife swept over the black sands of the seashore.\n\nWhen the earth seemed ready to open its doors and pour out mighty\nstreams of flowing lava in the defence of Pele, Kama-puaa called for\nthe waters of the ocean to rise up. Then flood met fire and quenched\nit. Pele was driven inland. Her former lover, hastening after her and\nstriving to overcome her, followed her upward until at last amid clouds\nof poisonous gases she went back into her spirit home in the pit of\nKilauea.\n\nThen Kama-puaa as a god of the sea gathered the waters together in\ngreat masses and hurled them into the fire-pit. Violent explosions\nfollowed the inrush of waters. The sides of the great crater were torn\nto pieces by fierce earthquakes. Masses of fire expanded the water into\nsteam, and Pele gathered the forces of the underworld to aid in driving\nback Kama-puaa. The lavas rose in many lakes and fountains. Rapidly the\nsurface was cooled and the fountains checked by the water thrown in by\nKama-puaa, but just as rapidly were new openings made and new streams\nof fire hurled at the demi-god of Oahu. It was a mighty battle of the\nelements.\n\nThe legends say that the hog-man, Kama-puaa, poured water into the\ncrater until its fires were driven back to their lowest depths and Pele\nwas almost drowned by the floods. The clouds of the skies dropped their\nburden of rain. All the waters of the sea that Kama-puaa could collect\nwere poured into the crater.\n\nPele sent Lono-makua, who had charge over the earth-fires. He kindled\neruptions manifold, but they were overwhelmed by the vast volumes of\nwater hurled against them by Kama-puaa.\n\nKama-puaa raised his voice in the great ancient chant:\n\n\n       \u201cO gods in the skies!\n        Let the rain come, let it fall.\n        Let Paoa [Pele\u2019s spade] be broken.\n        Let the rain be separated from the sun.\n        O clouds in the skies!\n        O great clouds of Iku! black as smoke!\n        Let the heavens fall on the earth,\n        Let the heavens roll open for the rain,\n        Let the storm come.\u201d\n\n\nThe storm fell in torrents from black clouds gathered right over the\npit. The water filled the crater, according to the Hawaiian,\nku-ma-waho, i.e., rising until it overflowed the walls of the crater.\nThe fires were imprisoned and drowned\u2014the home of Pele seemed to be\ndestroyed. There remained, however, a small spark of fire hidden in the\nbreast of Lono-makua.\n\nPele prayed for:\n\n\n       \u201cThe bright gods of the underworld.\n        Shining in Wawao (Vavau) are the gods of the night.\n        The gods thick clustered for Pele.\u201d\n\n\nKama-puaa thought he had destroyed Pele\u2019s resources, but just as his\nwonderful storms had put forth their greatest efforts, Lono-makua\nkindled the flames of fierce eruptions once more. The gods of the\nunderworld lent their aid to the Pele family. The new attack was more\nthan Kama-puaa could endure. The lua-pele (pit of Pele) was full of\nearth-fire. Streams of lava poured out against Kama-puaa.\n\nHe changed his body into a kind of grass now known as Ku-kae-puaa,\nfilling a large field with it. When the grass lay in the pathway of the\nfire, the lava was turned aside for a time; but Pele, inspired by the\nbeginning of victory, called anew upon the gods of the underworld for\nstrong reinforcements.\n\nOut from the pits of Kilauea came vast masses of lava piling up against\nthe field of grass in its pathway, and soon the grass began to burn;\nthen Kama-puaa assumed the shape of a man, the hair or bristles on his\nbody were singed and the smart of many burns began to cause\nagony.\u2014Apparently the grass represented the bristles on the front of\nhis hog-body which were scorched and burned. The legends say that since\nthis time hogs have had very little hair on the stomach.\n\nDown he rushed to the sea, but the lava spread out on either side\ncutting off retreat along the beach. Pele followed close behind,\nstriving to overtake him before he could reach the water. The side\nstreams had poured into the sea and the water was rapidly heated into\ntossing, boiling waves. Pele threw great masses of lava at Kama-puaa,\nstriking and churning the sea into which he leaped midst the swirling\nheated mass. Kama-puaa gave up the battle, and, thoroughly defeated,\nchanged himself into a fish. To that fish he gave the tough skin which\nhe assumed when roaming over the islands as a hog. It was thick enough\nto withstand the boiling waves through which he swam out into the deep\nsea. The Hawaiians say that this fish has always been able to make a\nnoise like the grunting of a small hog, so it was given the name\nHumu-humu-nuku-nuku-a-puaa.\n\nIt was said that Kama-puaa fled to foreign lands, where he married a\nhigh chiefess and lived with his family many years.\n\nSometime during this adventure of Kama-puaa in the domains of Pele, the\nislands were divided between the two demi-gods, and an oath of divine\nsolemnity was taken by them. They set apart a large portion of the\nisland of Hawaii for Pele, and the eastern shore from Hilo to Kohala\nand all the islands northwest of Hawaii as the kingdom over which\nKama-puaa might establish rulers. It is said that the oath has never\nbeen broken.\n\nOne of the long legends describes a new island home brought up from\nocean depths by Kama-puaa, in which he established his family and from\nwhich he visited Hawaii. It says that Pele saw him and called to him:\n\n\n       \u201cO Kama-puaa divine,\n        My love is for you.\n        Return, we shall have the land together,\n        You the upland\u2014I the lowland.\n        Return, O my husband,\n        Our difficulties are at an end.\u201d\n\n\nHe refused, saying that it was best for them to abide by their oath,\nand not take any part of what belonged to the other. Perhaps this\ndesire for reconciliation underlies the legendary love of Pele for\nsacrifices of those things which would most intimately connect her with\nKama-puaa.\n\nKama-puaa has figured to the last days of Pele worship in the\nsacrifices offered to the fire-goddess. The most acceptable sacrifice\nto Pele was supposed to be puaa (a hog). If a hog could not be secured\nwhen an offering was necessary, the priest would take the fish\nhumu-humu-nuku-nuku-a-puaa and throw it into the pit of fire. If the\nhog and the fish both failed, the priest would offer any of the things\ninto which it was said in their traditions that Kama-puaa could change\nhimself.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nIX\n\nPELE AND THE SNOW-GODDESS\n\n\nThere were four maidens with white mantles in the mythology of the\nHawaiians. They were all queens of beauty, full of wit and wisdom,\nlovers of adventure, and enemies of Pele. They were the goddesses of\nthe snow-covered mountains. They embodied the mythical ideas of spirits\ncarrying on eternal warfare between heat and cold, fire and frost,\nburning lava and stony ice. They ruled the mountains north of Kilauea\nand dwelt in the cloud-capped summits. They clothed themselves against\nthe bitter cold with snow-mantles. They all had the power of laying\naside the white garment and taking in its place clothes made from the\ngolden sunshine. Their stories are nature-myths derived from the power\nof snow and cold to check volcanic action and sometimes clothe the\nmountain tops and upper slopes with white, which melted as the maidens\ncame down closer to the sea through lands made fertile by flowing\nstreams and blessed sunshine.\n\nIt is easy to see how the story arose of Pele and Poliahu, the\nsnow-goddess of Mauna Kea, but it is not easy to understand the\ndifferent forms which the legend takes while the legends concerning the\nother three maidens of the white mantle are very obscure indeed.\n\nLilinoe was sometimes known as the goddess of the mountain Haleakala.\nIn her hands lay the power to hold in check the eruptions which might\nbreak forth through the old cinder cones in the floor of the great\ncrater. She was the goddess of dead fires and desolation. She sometimes\nclothed the long summit of the mountain with a glorious garment of snow\nseveral miles in length. Some legends give her a place as the wife of\nthe great-flood survivor, Nana-Nuu, recorded by Fornander as having a\ncave-dwelling on the slope of Mauna Kea. Therefore she is also known as\none of the goddesses of Mauna Kea.\n\nWaiau was another snow-maiden of Mauna Kea, whose record in the legends\nhas been almost entirely forgotten. There is a beautiful lake\nglistening in one of the crater-cones on the summit of the mountain.\nThis was sometimes called \u201cThe Bottomless Lake,\u201d and was supposed to go\ndown deep into the heart of the mountain. It is really forty feet in\nits greatest depth\u2014deep enough for the bath of the goddess. The name\nWai-au means water of sufficient depth to bathe. Somewhere, buried in\nthe memory of some old Hawaiian, is a legend worth exhuming, probably\nconnecting Waiau, the maiden, with Waiau, the lake.\n\nKahoupokane was possibly the goddess of the mountain Hualalai,\ncontrolling the snows which after long intervals fall on its desolate\nsummits. At present but little more than the name is known about this\nmaiden of the snow-garment.\n\nPoliahu, the best-known among the maidens of the mountains, loved the\neastern cliffs of the great island Hawaii,\u2014the precipices which rise\nfrom the raging surf which beats against the coast known now as the\nHamakua district. Here she sported among mortals, meeting the chiefs in\ntheir many and curious games of chance and skill. Sometimes she wore a\nmantle of pure white kapa and rested on the ledge of rock overhanging\nthe torrents of water which in various places fell into the sea.\n\nThere is a legend of Kauai woven into the fairy-tale of the maiden of\nthe mist\u2014Laieikawai\u2014and in this story Poliahu for a short time visits\nKauai as the bride of one of the high chiefs who bore the name\nAiwohikupua. The story of the betrothal and marriage suggests the cold\nof the snow-mantle and shows the inconstancy of human hearts.\n\nAiwohikupua, passing near the cliffs of Hamakua, saw a beautiful woman\nresting on the rocks above the sea. She beckoned with most graceful\ngestures for him to approach the beach. Her white mantle lay on the\nrocks beside her. He landed and proposed marriage, but she made a\nbetrothal with him by the exchange of the cloaks which they were\nwearing. Aiwohikupua went away to Kauai, but he soon returned clad in\nthe white cloak and wearing a beautiful helmet of red feathers. A large\nretinue of canoes attended him, filled with musicians and singers and\nhis intimate companions. The three mountains belonging to the\nsnow-goddesses were clothed with snow almost down to the seashore.\n\nPoliahu and the three other maidens of the white robe came down to meet\nthe guests from Kauai. Cold winds swayed their garments as they drew\nnear to the sea. The blood of the people of Kauai chilled in their\nveins. Then the maidens threw off their white mantles and called for\nthe sunshine. The snow went back to the mountain tops, and the maidens,\nin the beauty of their golden sun-garments, gave hearty greeting to\ntheir friends. After the days of the marriage festival Poliahu and her\nchief went to Kauai.\n\nA queen of the island Maui had also a promise given by Aiwohikupua. In\nher anger she hastened to Kauai and in the midst of the Kauai\nfestivities revealed herself and charged the chief with his perfidy.\nPoliahu turned against her husband and forsook him.\n\nThe chief\u2019s friends made reconciliation between the Maui chiefess and\nAiwohikupua, but when the day of marriage came the chiefess found\nherself surrounded by an invisible atmosphere of awful cold. This grew\nmore and more intense as she sought aid from the chief.\n\nAt last he called to her: \u201cThis cold is the snow mantle of Poliahu.\nFlee to the place of fire!\u201d But down by the fire the sun-mantle\nbelonging to Poliahu was thrown around her and she cried out, \u201cHe wela\ne, he wela!\u201d (\u201cThe heat! Oh, the heat!\u201d) Then the chief answered, \u201cThis\nheat is the anger of Poliahu.\u201d So the Maui chiefess hastened away from\nKauai to her own home.\n\nThen Poliahu and her friends of the white mantle threw their cold-wave\nover the chief and his friends and, while they shivered and were\nchilled almost to the verge of death, appeared before all the people\nstanding in their shining robes of snow, glittering in the glory of the\nsun; then, casting once more their cold breath upon the multitude,\ndisappeared forever from Kauai, returning to their own home on the\ngreat mountains of the southern islands.\n\nIt may have been before or after this strange legendary courtship that\nthe snow-maiden met Pele, the maiden of volcanic fires. Pele loved the\nholua-coasting\u2014the race of sleds, long and narrow, down sloping, grassy\nhillsides. She usually appeared as a woman of wonderfully beautiful\ncountenance and form\u2014a stranger unknown to any of the different\ncompanies entering into the sport. The chiefs of the different\ndistricts of the various islands had their favorite meeting-places for\nany sport in which they desired to engage.\n\nThere were sheltered places where gambling reigned, or open glades\nwhere boxing and spear-throwing could best be practised, or coasts\nwhere the splendid surf made riding the waves on surf-boards a scene of\nintoxicating delight. There were hillsides where sled-riders had\nopportunity for the exercise of every atom of skill and strength.\n\nPoliahu and her friends had come down Mauna Kea to a sloping hillside\nsouth of Hamakua. Suddenly in their midst appeared a stranger of\nsurpassing beauty. Poliahu welcomed her and the races were continued.\nSome of the legend-tellers think that Pele was angered by the\nsuperiority, real or fancied, of Poliahu. The ground began to grow warm\nand Poliahu knew her enemy.\n\nPele threw off all disguise and called for the forces of fire to burst\nopen the doors of the subterranean caverns of Mauna Kea. Up toward the\nmountain she marshalled her fire-fountains. Poliahu fled toward the\nsummit. The snow-mantle was seized by the outbursting lava and began to\nburn up. Poliahu grasped the robe, dragging it away and carrying it\nwith her. Soon she regained strength and threw the mantle over the\nmountain.\n\nThere were earthquakes upon earthquakes, shaking the great island from\nsea to sea. The mountains trembled while the tossing waves of the\nconflict between fire and snow passed through and over them. Great rock\nprecipices staggered and fell down the sides of the mountains. Clouds\ngathered over the mountain summit at the call of the snow-goddess. Each\ncloud was gray with frozen moisture and the snows fell deep and fast on\nthe mountain. Farther and farther down the sides the snow-mantle\nunfolded until it dropped on the very fountains of fire. The lava\nchilled and hardened and choked the flowing, burning rivers.\n\nPele\u2019s servants became her enemies. The lava, becoming stone, filled up\nthe holes out of which the red melted mass was trying to force itself.\nChecked and chilled, the lava streams were beaten back into the depths\nof Mauna Loa and Kilauea. The fire-rivers, already rushing to the sea,\nwere narrowed and driven downward so rapidly that they leaped out from\nthe land, becoming immediately the prey of the remorseless ocean.\n\nThus the ragged mass of Laupahoe-hoe was formed, and the great ledge of\nthe arch of Onomea, and the different sharp and torn lavas in the edge\nof the sea which mark the various eruptions of centuries past.\n\nPoliahu in legendary battles has met Pele many times. She has kept the\nupper part of the mountain desolate under her mantle of snow and ice,\nbut down toward the sea most fertile and luxuriant valleys and hillside\nslopes attest the gifts of the goddess to the beauty of the island and\nthe welfare of men.\n\nOut of Mauna Loa, Pele has stepped forth again and again, and has\nhurled eruptions of mighty force and great extent against the maiden of\nthe snow-mantle, but the natives say that in this battle Pele has been\nand always will be defeated. Pele\u2019s kingdom has been limited to the\nsouthern half of the island Hawaii, while the snow-maidens rule the\nterritory to the north.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nX\n\nGENEALOGY OF THE PELE FAMILY\n\n\nThere were gods, goddesses, and ghost-gods in the Pele family. Almost\nall had their home in volcanic fires and were connected with all the\nvarious natural fire phenomena such as earthquakes, eruptions, smoke\nclouds, thunder, and lightning.\n\nPele was the supreme ruler of the household. She had a number of\nbrothers and sisters. There were also many au-makuas, or ancestor\nghost-gods, who were supposed to have been sent into the family by\nincantations and sacrifices. Sometimes when death came among the\nHawaiians, a part of the body of the dead person would be thrown into\nthe living volcano, Kilauea, with all ceremony. It was supposed that\nthe spirit also went into the flame, finding there its permanent\ndwelling-place. This spirit became a Pele-au-makua.\n\nPele\u2019s brother, Ka-moho-alii, and her older sister, Na-maka-o-ka-hai,\nhowever, belonged to the powers of the sea. Ka-moho-alii, whose name\nwas sometimes given as Ka-moo-alii, was king of the sharks. He was a\nfavorite of the fire-goddess Pele. Na-maka-o-ka-hai, a sea-goddess, as\na result of family trouble, became Pele\u2019s most bitter enemy, fighting\nher with floods of water, according to the legends.\n\nThus the original household represented the two eternal enemies, fire\nand water. One set of legends says that Kane-hoa-lani was the father\nand Hina-alii was the mother. Kane was one of the four great gods of\nPolynesia,\u2014Ku, Kane, Lono, and Kanaloa.\n\nKane-hoa-lani might be interpreted as \u201cKane, the divine companion or\nfriend.\u201d A better rendering is \u201cKane, the divine fire-maker.\u201d In most\nof the legends and genealogies he is given a place among Pele\u2019s\nbrothers.\n\nThere were many Hinas. The great Hina was a goddess whose stories\nfrequently placed her in close relation to the moon.\n\n\u2014It seems far-fetched to give Hina a place in the Pele family. The name\nwas evidently brought to the Hawaiian Islands from the South Seas and\nin process of time was grafted into the Pele myth.\u2014\n\nAnother set of legends published in the earliest newspapers, printed in\nthe Hawaiian language, say that Ku-waha-ilo and Haumea were the\nparents. Ku was the fiercest and most powerful of the four chief gods.\nHaumea had another name, Papa. She was the earth. This parentage was\ncarried out in the most diverse as well as the most ancient of the\nlegends and seems to be worthy of acceptance. Ku-waha-ilo is in some\nlegends called Ku-aha-ilo. In both cases the name means \u201cKu with the\nwormy mouth,\u201d or \u201cKu, the man-eater\u201d (The cannibal), whose act made him\nferocious and inhuman in the eyes of the Hawaiians.\n\nPele has long been the fire-goddess of the Hawaiians. Her home was in\nthe great fire-pit of the volcano of Kilauea on the island of Hawaii,\nand all the eruptions of lava have borne her name wherever they may\nhave appeared. Thus the word \u201cPele\u201d has been used with three distinct\ndefinitions by the old Hawaiians. Pele, the fire-goddess; Pele, a\nvolcano or a fire-pit in any land; and Pele, an eruption of lava.\n\nKing Kalakaua was very much interested in explaining the origin of some\nof the great Hawaiian myths and legends. He did not make any statement\nabout the parents of the legendary family, but said that the Pele\nfamily was driven from Samoa in the eleventh century, finding a home in\nthe southwestern part of the island Hawaii near the volcano Kilauea.\nThere they lived until an eruption surrounded and overwhelmed them in\nliving fire. After a time the native imagination, which always credited\nghost-gods, placed this family among the most powerful au-makuas and\ngave them a home in the heart of the crater. From this beginning, he\nthought, grew the stories of the Pele family.\n\nThe trouble with Kalakaua\u2019s version is that it does not take into\naccount the relation of Pele to various parts of Polynesia.\n\nThe early inhabitants of the region around Hilo in the southwestern\npart of the island Hawaii, near Kilauea, brought many names and legends\nfrom far-away Polynesian lands to Hawaii. Hilo (formerly called Hiro),\nmeaning to \u201ctwist\u201d or \u201cturn,\u201d was derived from Whiro, a great\nPolynesian traveller and sea-robber. The stories of Maui and Puna came\nfrom other lands, so also came some of the myths of Pele.\n\nFornander, in \u201cThe Polynesian Race,\u201d says: \u201cIn Hawaiian, Pele is the\nfire-goddess who dwells in volcanoes. In Samoan, Fee is a personage\nwith nearly similar functions. In Tahitian, Pere is a volcano.\u201d\n\nThese varieties of the name Pele, Fornander carries back also to the\npre-Malay dialects of the Indian Archipelago, where pelah means \u201chot,\u201d\nbelem to \u201cburn.\u201d Then he goes back still farther to the Celtic Bel or\nBelen (the sun god), the Spartan Bela (the sun), and the Babylonian god\nBel. It might be worth while for some student of the Atlantic Coast or\nEurope to find the derivation of the name Pele as applied to the\nexplosive volcano of Martinique, and note its apparent connection with\nthe Pacific languages.\n\nIn Raratonga is found a legend which approaches the Hawaiian stories\nmore nearly than any other from foreign sources. There the great\ngoddess of fire was named Mahuike, who was known throughout Polynesia\nas the divine guardian of fire. It was from her that Maui the demi-god\nwas represented by many legends as procuring fire for mankind. Her\ndaughter, also a fire-goddess, was Pere, a name identical with the\nHawaiian Pele, the letters l and r being interchangeable. This Pere\nbecame angry and blew off the top of the island Fakarava. Earthquakes\nand explosions terrified the people. Mahuike tried to make Pere quiet\ndown, and finally drove her away. Pere leaped into the sea and fled to\nVa-ihi (Hawaii).\n\nA somewhat similar story comes in from Samoa. Mahuike, the god of fire\nin Samoa, drove his daughter away. This daughter passed under the ocean\nfrom Samoa to Nuuhiwa. After establishing a volcano there, the spirit\nof unrest came upon her and she again passed under the sea to the\nHawaiian Islands, where she determined to stay forever.\n\nIn Samoa one of the fire-gods, according to some authorities, was Fe-e,\na name almost the same as Pele, yet nearly all the Samoan legends\ndescribe Fe-e as a cuttlefish possessing divine power, and at enmity\nwith fire.\n\nHon. S. Percy Smith, who was for a long time Minister of Native Affairs\nin New Zealand and now is President of the Polynesian Society for\nLegendary and Historical Research, writes that the full name for Pele\namong the New Zealand Maoris is \u201cPara-whenua-mea, which through\nwell-known letter changes is identical with the full Hawaiian name\nPele-honua-mea.\u201d\n\nFrom several continued Pele stories in newspapers in the native\nlanguage, about 1865, the following sketch of the Pele family is\ncompiled:\n\nThe god Ku, under the name Ku-waha-ilo, was the father. Haumea was the\nmother. Her father was a man-eater. Her mother was a precipice (i.e.,\nbelonged to the earth). Others say Ku-waha-ilo had neither father nor\nmother, but dwelt in the far-off heavens. (This probably meant that he\nlived beyond the most distant boundary of the horizon.)\n\nTwo daughters were born. The first, Na-maka-o-ka-hai, was born from the\nbreasts of Haumea. Pele was born from the thighs.\n\nAfter this the brothers and sisters were given life by Haumea.\nKa-moho-alii, the shark-god, was born from the top of the head. He was\nthe elder brother, the caretaker of the family, always self-denying and\nready to answer any call from his relatives. Kane-hekili, Kane who had\nthe thunder, was born from the mouth. Kauwila-nui, who ruled the\nlightning, came from the flashing eyes of Haumea. Thus the family came\nfrom the arms, from the wrists, the palms of the hands, the fingers,\nthe various joints, and even from the toes. A modern reader would think\nthat Haumea as Mother Earth threw out her children in the natural\noutburst of earth forces, but it is extremely doubtful if the old\nHawaiians had any such idea. Yet the expression that Haumea was a\nprecipice might imply a misty feeling in that direction.\n\nThe youngest of the family, Hiiaka-in-the-bosom-of-Pele, was born an\negg. After she had been carefully warmed and nourished by Pele, she\nbecame a beautiful child. When she grew into womanhood she was the\nbravest, the most powerful, except Pele, and the most gentle and\nlovable of all the sisters.\n\nThe names of the members of the household of fire are worth noting as\nrevealing the Hawaiian recognition of the different forces of nature.\nSome said there were forty sisters. One list gives only four. They were\nalmost all called \u201cThe Hiiakas.\u201d Ellis in 1823 said the name meant\n\u201ccloud holder.\u201d Fornander says it means \u201ctwilight bearer.\u201d Hii conveys\nthe idea of lifting on the hip and arm so as to make carrying easy. Aka\nmeans usually \u201cshadow,\u201d and pictures the long shadows of the clouds\nacross the sky as evening comes. There is really no twilight worth\nmentioning in the Hawaiian Islands and Hiiaka would be better\ninterpreted as \u201clifting sunset shadows,\u201d or holding up the smoke clouds\nwhile their shadows fall over the fires of the crater, conveying the\nidea of fire-light shining up under smoke clouds as they rise from the\nlake of fire.\n\nThe Hiiakas were \u201cshadow bearers.\u201d There were eight well-known sisters:\n\n\n    Hiiaka-kapu-ena-ena (Hiiaka-of-the-burning-tabu), known also as\n    Hiiaka-pua-ena-ena (Hiiaka-of-the-burning-flower) and also as\n    Hiiaka-pu-ena-ena (Hiiaka-of-the-burning-hills).\n    Hiiaka-wawahi-lani\n        (Hiiaka-breaking-the-heavens-for-the-heavy-rain-to-fall).\n    Hiiaka-noho-lani (Hiiaka-dwelling-in-the-skies).\n    Hiiaka-makole-wawahi-waa (Hiiaka-the-fire-eyed-canoe-breaker).\n    Hiiaka-kaa-lawa-maka (Hiiaka - with - quick - glancing - eyes).\n    Hiiaka-ka-lei-ia (Hiiaka-encircled-by-garlands-of-smoke-clouds).\n    Hiiaka-i-ka-poli-o-Pele (Hiiaka-in-the-bosom-of-Pele), who was\n        known also as the young Hiiaka.\n\n\nSome of the legends say that Kapo was one of Pele\u2019s sisters. Kapo was a\nvile, murderous poison-goddess connected with the idea of \u201cpraying to\ndeath,\u201d [7] and in the better legends is dropped out of the Pele\nfamily. There were eleven well-known brothers:\n\n\n    Ka-moho-alii (The-dragon-or-shark-king).\n    Kane-hekili (Kane-the-thunderer).\n    Kane-pohaku-kaa (Kane-rolling-stones, or The-earthquake-maker).\n    Kane-hoa-lani (Kane-the-divine-fire-maker).\n    Kane-huli-honua\n    (Kane-turning-the-earth-upside-down-in-eruptions-and-earthquakes).\n    Kane-kauwila-nui (Kane-who-ruled-the-great-lightning).\n    Kane-huli-koa (Kane-who-broke-coral-reefs).\n    Ka-poha-i-kahi ola (Explosion-in-the-place-of-life, i.e., fountains\n        of bursting gas in the living fire).\n    Ke-ua-a-ke-po (The-rain-in-the-night, or\n    The-rain-of-fire-more-visible-at-night).\n    Ke-o-ahi-kama-kaua (The-fire-thrusting-child-of-war).\n    Lono-makua\n        (Lono-the-father-who-had-charge-of-the-crater-and-its-fire).\n\n\nThe Thunderer and the Child-of-War were said to be hunchbacks.\nAccording to the different legends Pele had four husbands, each of whom\nlived with her for a time. Two of these were with her in the ancient\nhomes of the Hawaiians, Kuai-he-lani [8] and Hapakuela. These husbands\nwere Aukele-nui-a-iku and Wahieloa. Two husbands came to her while she\ndwelt in Kilauea, her palace of fire in the Hawaiian Islands. One was\nthe rough Kama-puaa, the other was Lohiau, the handsome king of Kauai.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nXI\n\nPELE\u2019S LONG SLEEP\n\n\nPele and her family dwelt in the beauty of Puna. On a certain day there\nwas a fine, clear atmosphere and Pele saw the splendid surf with its\nwhite crests and proposed to her sisters to go down for bathing and\nsurf-riding.\n\nPele, as the high chiefess of the family, first entered the water and\nswam far out, then returned, standing on the brink of the curling wave,\nfor the very crest was her surf-board which she rode with great skill.\nSometimes her brother, Kamohoalii, the great shark-god, in the form of\na shark would be her surf-board. Again and again she went out to the\ndeep pit of the waves, her sisters causing the country inland to\nresound with their acclamation, for she rode as one born of the sea.\n\nAt last she came to the beach and, telling the sisters that the tabu on\nswimming was lifted, and they could enter upon their sport, went inland\nwith her youngest sister, Hiiaka, to watch while she slept. They went\nto a house thatched with ti [9] leaves, a house built for the goddess.\nThere Pele lay down, saying to her sister Hiiaka:\n\n\u201cI will sleep, giving up to the shadows of the falling evening\u2014dropping\ninto the very depths of slumber. Very hard will be this sleep. I am\njealous of it. Therefore it is tabu. This is my command to you, O my\nlittle one. Wait you without arousing me nine days and eight nights.\nThen call me and chant the \u2018Hulihia\u2019\u201d (a chant supposed to bring life\nback and revive the body).\n\nThen Pele added: \u201cPerhaps this sleep will be my journey to meet a\nman\u2014our husband. If I shall meet my lover in my dreams the sleep will\nbe of great value. I will sleep.\u201d\n\nHiiaka moved softly about the head of her sister Pele, swaying a kahili\nfringed and beautiful. The perfume of the hala, [10] the fragrance of\nKeaau, clung to the walls of the house. From that time Puna has been\nfamous as the land fragrant with perfume of the leaves and flowers of\nthe hala tree.\n\nWhenever Pele slept she lost the appearance which she usually assumed,\nof a beautiful and glorious young woman, surpassing all the other women\nin the islands. Sleep brought out the aged hag that she really was.\nAlways when any worshipper saw the group of sisters and Pele asleep in\ntheir midst they saw a weary old woman lying in the fire-bed in the\ngreat crater.\n\nWhile Pele was sleeping her spirit heard the sound of a hula-drum\nskilfully played, accompanied by a chant sung by a wonderful voice. The\nspirit of Pele arose from her body and listened to that voice. She\nthought it was the hula [11] of Laka, who was the goddess of the dance.\nThen she clearly heard male voices, strong and tender, and a great joy\nawoke within her, and she listened toward the east, but the hula was\nnot there. Then westward, and there were the rich tones of the beaten\ndrum and the chant. Pele\u2019s spirit cried: \u201cThe voice of love comes on\nthe wind. I will go and meet it.\u201d\n\nPele then forsook Keaau and went to Hilo, but the drum was not there.\nShe passed from place to place, led by the call of the drum and dance,\nfollowing it along the palis (precipices) and over the deep ravines,\nthrough forest shadows and along rocky beaches until she came to the\nupper end of Hawaii. There she heard the call coming across the sea\nfrom the island Maui. Her spirit crossed the channel and listened\nagain. The voices of the dance were louder and clearer and more\nbeautiful.\n\nShe passed on from island to island until she came to Kauai, and there\nthe drum-beat and the song of the dance did not die away or change, so\nshe knew she had found the lover desired in her dream.\n\nPele\u2019s spirit now put on the body of strong, healthful youth. Nor was\nthere any blemish in her beauty and symmetry from head to foot. She was\nanointed with all the fragrant oils of Puna. Her dress was the splendid\ngarland of the red lehua flower and maile [12] leaf and the fern from\nthe dwelling-places of the gods. The tender vines of the deep woods\nveiled this queen of the crater. In glorious young womanhood she went\nto the halau. The dark body of a great mist enveloped her.\n\nThe drum and the voice had led her to Haena, Kauai, to the house of\nLohiau, the high-born chief of that island. The house for dancing was\nlong and was beautifully draped with mats of all kinds. It was full of\nchiefs engaged in the sports of that time. The common people were\ngathered outside the house of the chief.\n\nThe multitude saw a glorious young woman step out of the mist. Then\nthey raised a great shout, praising her with strong voices. It seemed\nas if the queen of sunrise had summoned the beauty of the morning to\nrest upon her. The countenance of Pele was like the clearest and\ngentlest moonlight. The people made a vacant space for the passage of\nthis wonderful stranger, casting themselves on the ground before her.\n\nAn ancient chant says:\n\n\n       \u201cO the passing of that beautiful woman.\n        Silent are the voices on the plain.\n        No medley of the birds is in the forest;\n        There is quiet, resting in peace.\u201d\n\n\nPele entered the long house, passed by the place of the drums, and\nseated herself on a resting-place of soft royal mats.\n\nThe chiefs were astonished, and after a long time asked her if she came\nfrom the far-off sunrise of foreign lands.\n\nPele replied, smiling, \u201cKa! I belong to Kauai.\u201d\n\nLohiau, the high chief, said: \u201cO stranger, child of a journey, you\nspeak in riddles. I know Kauai from harbor to clustered hills, and my\neyes have never seen any woman like you.\u201d\n\n\u201cKa!\u201d said Pele, \u201cthe place where you did not stop, there I was.\u201d\n\nBut Lohiau refused her thought, and asked her to tell truly whence she\nhad come. At last Pele acknowledged that she had come from Puna,\nHawaii,\u2014\u201cthe place beloved by the sunrise at Haehae.\u201d\n\nThe chiefs urged her to join them in a feast, but she refused, saying\nshe had recently eaten and was satisfied, but she \u201cwas hungry for the\nhula\u2014the voices and the drum.\u201d\n\nThen Lohiau told her that her welcome was all that he could give. \u201cFor\nme is the island, inland, seaward, and all around Kauai. This is your\nplace. The home you have in Puna you will think you see again in Kauai.\nThe name of my house for you is Ha-laau-ola [Tree of Life].\u201d\n\nPele replied: \u201cThe name of your house is beautiful. My home in Puna is\nMauli-ola [Long Life]. I will accept this house of yours.\u201d\n\nLohiau watched her while he partook of the feast with his chiefs, and\nshe was resting on the couch of mats. He was thinking of her\nmarvellous, restful beauty, as given in the ancient chant known as \u201cLei\nMauna Loa.\u201d\n\n\n       \u201cLei of Mauna Loa, beautiful to look upon.\n        The mountain honored by the winds.\n        Known by the peaceful motion.\n        Calm becomes the whirlwind.\n        Beautiful is the sun upon the plain.\n        Dark-leaved the trees in the midst of the hot sun.\n        Heat rising from the face of the moist lava.\n        The sunrise mist lying on the grass,\n        Free from the care of the strong wind.\n        The bird returns to rest at Palaau.\n        He who owns the right to sleep is at Palaau.\n            I am alive for your love\u2014\n                For you indeed.\u201d\n\n\nThen Lohiau proposed to his chiefs that he should take this beautiful\nchiefess from Kauai as his queen, and his thought seemed good to all.\nTurning to Pele, he offered himself as her husband and was accepted.\n\nThen Lohiau arose and ordered the sports to cease while they all slept.\nPele and Lohiau were married and dwelt together several days, according\nto the custom of the ancient time.\n\nAfter this time had passed Lohiau planned another great feast and a day\nfor the hula-dance and the many sports of the people. When they came\ntogether, beautiful were the dances and sweet the voices of Lohiau and\nhis aikane (closest friend).\n\nThree of the women of Kauai who were known as \u201cthe guardians of Haena\u201d\nhad come into the halau and taken their places near Lohiau. The people\ngreeted their coming with great applause, for they were very beautiful\nand were also possessed of supernatural power. Their beauty was like\nthat of Pele save for the paleness of their skins, which had come from\ntheir power to appear in different forms, according to their pleasure.\nThey were female mo-o, or dragons. Their human beauty was enhanced by\ntheir garments of ferns and leaves and flowers.\n\nPele had told Lohiau of their coming and had charged him in these\nwords: \u201cRemember, you have been set apart for me. Remember, and know\nour companionship. Therefore I place upon you my law, \u2018Ke kai okia\u2019\n[Cut off by the sea] are you\u2014separated from all for me.\u201d\n\nLohiau looked on these beautiful women. The chief of the women,\nKilinoe, was the most interesting. She refused to eat while others\npartook of a feast before the dancing should begin, and sat watching\ncarefully with large, bright, shining eyes the face of Lohiau, using\nmagic power to make him pay attention to her charms. Pele did not wish\nthese women to know her, so placed a shadow between them and her so\nthat they looked upon her as through a mist.\n\n\u2014Some legends say that Pele danced the Hula of the Winds of Kauai,\ncalling their names until strong winds blew and storms of rain beat\nupon the house in which the chiefs were assembled, driving the common\npeople to their homes.\u2014\n\nThere the chiefs took their hula-drums and sat down preparing to play\nfor the dancers. Then up rose Kilinoe, and, taking ferns and flowers\nfrom her skirts, made fragrant wreaths wherewith to crown Lohiau and\nhis fellow hula-drummers, expecting the chief to see her beauty and\ntake her for his companion. But the law of Pele was upon him and he\ncalled to her for a chant before the dance should commence.\n\nPele threw aside her shadow garments and came out clothed in her\nbeautiful pa-u (skirt) and fragrant with the perfumes of Puna. She\nsaid, \u201cIt is not for me to give an olioli mele [a chant] for your\nnative dance, but I will call the guardian winds of your islands Niihau\nand Kauai, O Lohiau! and they will answer my call.\u201d\n\nThen she called for the gods who came to Hawaii; the gods of her old\nhome now known through all Polynesia; the great gods Lono and his\nbrothers, coming in the winds of heaven. Then she called on all the\nnoted winds of the island Niihau, stating the directions from which\nthey came, the points of land struck when they touched the island and\ntheir gentleness or wrath, their weakness or power, and their\nhelpfulness or destructiveness.\n\nFor a long time she chanted, calling wind after wind, and while she\nsang, soft breezes blew around and through the house; then came\nstronger winds whistling through the trees outside. As the voice of the\nsinger rose or fell so also danced the winds in strict harmony. While\nshe sang, the people outside the house cried out, \u201cThe sea grows rough\nand white, the waves are tossed by strong winds and clouds are flying,\nthe winds are gathering the clouds and twisting the heavens.\u201d\n\nBut one of the dragon-women sitting near Lohiau said: \u201cThe noise you\nthink is from the sea or rustling through the leaves of the trees is\nonly the sound of the people talking outside the great building. Their\nmurmur is like the voice of the wind.\u201d\n\nThen Pele chanted for the return of the winds to Niihau and its small\nislands and the day was at peace as the voice of the singer softened\ntoward the end of the chant. Hushed were the people and wondering were\nthe eyes turned upon Pele by the chiefs who were seated in the great\nhalau. Pele leaned on her couch of soft mats and rested.\n\nVery angry was Kilinoe, the dragon-woman. Full of fire were her eyes\nand dark was her face with hot blood, but she only said: \u201cYou have seen\nNiihau. Perhaps also you know the winds of Kauai.\u201d By giving this\nchallenge she thought she would overthrow the power of Pele over\nLohiau. She did not know who Pele was, but supposed she was one of the\nwomen of high rank native to Kauai.\n\nPele again chanted, calling for the guardian winds of the island Kauai:\n\n\n       \u201cO Kauai, great island of the Lehua,\n        Island moving in the ocean,\n        Island moving from Tahiti,\n        Let the winds rattle the branches to Hawaii.\n        Let them point to the eye of the sun.\n        There is the wind of Kane at sunset\u2014\n        The hard night-wind for Kauai.\u201d\n\n\nThen she called for kite-flying winds when the birds sport in the\nheavens and the surf lies quiet on incoming waves, and then she sang of\nthe winds kolonahe, softly blowing; and the winds hunahuna, breaking\ninto fragments; and the winds which carry the mist, the sprinkling\nshower, the falling rain and the severe storm; the winds which touch\nthe mountain-tops, and those which creep along the edge of the\nprecipices, holding on by their fingers, and those which dash over the\nplains and along the sea-beach, blowing the waves into mist.\n\nThen she chanted how the caves in the seacoast were opened and the\nguardians of the winds lifted their calabashes and let loose evil\nwinds, angry and destructive, to sweep over the homes of the people and\ntear in pieces their fruit-trees and houses. Then Pele\u2019s voice rang out\nwhile she made known the character of the beautiful dragon-women, the\nguardians of the caves of Haena, calling them the mocking winds of\nHaena.\n\nThe people did not understand, but the dragon-women knew that Pele only\nneeded to point them out as they sat near Lohiau, to have all the\nchiefs cry out against them in scorn. Out of the house they rushed,\nfleeing back to their home in the caves.\n\nWhen Pele ceased chanting, winds without number began to come near,\nscraping over the land. The surf on the reef was roaring. The white\nsand of the beach rose up. Thunder followed the rolling, rumbling\ntongue of branching lightning. Mist crept over the precipices. Running\nwater poured down the face of the cliffs. Red water and white water\nfled seaward, and the stormy-heart of the ocean rose in tumbled heaps.\nThe people rushed to their homes. The chiefs hastened from the house of\npleasure. The feast and the day of dancing were broken up. Lohiau said\nto Pele: \u201cHow great indeed have been your true words telling the evil\nof this day. Here have come the winds and destructive storms of Haena.\nTruly this land has had evil to-day.\u201d\n\nWhen Pele had laid herself down on the soft mats of Puna for her long\nsleep she had charged her little sister, who had been carried in her\nbosom, to wake her if she had not returned to life before nine days\nwere past.\n\nThe days were almost through to the last moment when Lohiau lamented\nthe evil which his land had felt. Then as the winds died away and the\nlast strong gust journeyed out toward the sea Pele heard Hiiaka\u2019s voice\ncalling from the island Hawaii in the magic chant Pele had told her to\nuse to call her back to life.\n\nHearing this arousing call, she bowed her head and wept. After a time\nshe said to Lohiau: \u201cIt is not for me to remain here in pleasure with\nyou. I must return because of the call of my sister. Your care is to\nobey my law, which is upon you. Calm will take the place of the storm,\nthe winds will be quiet, the sea will ebb peacefully, cascades will\nmurmur on the mountain sides, and sweet flowers will be among the\nleaves. I will send my little sister, then come quickly to my home in\nPuna.\u201d\n\nHiiaka knew that the time had come when she must arouse her goddess\nsister from that deep sleep. So she commenced the incantation which\nPele told her to use. It would call the wandering spirit back to its\nhome, no matter where it might have gone. This incantation was known as\n\u201cHulihia ke au\u201d (\u201cThe current is turning\u201d). This was a call carried by\nthe spirit-power of the one who uttered it into far-away places to the\nvery person for whom it was intended. The closing lines of the\nincantation were a personal appeal to Pele to awake.\n\n\n       \u201cE Pele e! The milky way (the i\u2019a) turns.\n        E Pele e! The night changes.\n        E Pele e! The red glow is on the island.\n        E Pele e! The red dawn breaks.\n        E Pele e! Shadows are cast by the sunlight.\n        E Pele e! The sound of roaring is in your crater.\n        E Pele e! The uhi-uha is in your crater [this means the sound\n            of wash of lava is in the crater].\n        E Pele e! Awake, arise, return.\u201d\n\n\nThe spirit of Pele heard the wind, Naue, passing down to the sea and\nsoon came the call of Hiiaka over the waters. Then she bowed down her\nhead and wept.\n\nWhen Lohiau saw the tears pouring down the face of his wife he asked\nwhy in this time of gladness she wept.\n\nFor a long time she did not reply. Then she spoke of the winds with\nwhich she had danced that night\u2014the guardians of Niihau and Kauai, a\npeople listening to her call, under the ruler of all the winds, the\ngreat Lono, dwelling on the waters.\n\nThen she said: \u201cYou are my husband and I am your wife, but the call has\ncome and I cannot remain with you. I will return to my land\u2014to the\nfragrant blossoms of the hala, but I will send one of my younger\nsisters to come after you. Before I forsook my land for Kauai I put a\ncharge upon my young sister to call me before nine days and nights had\npassed. Now I hear this call and I must not abide by the great longing\nof your thought.\u201d\n\nThen the queen of fire ceased speaking and began to be lost to Lohiau,\nwho was marvelling greatly at the fading away of his loved one. As Pele\ndisappeared peace came to him and all the land of Kauai was filled with\ncalm and rest.\n\nPele\u2019s spirit passed at once to the body lying in the house thatched\nwith ti [13] leaves in Puna. Soon she arose and told Hiiaka to call the\nsisters from the sea and they would go inland.\n\nThen they gathered around the house in which Pele had slept. Pele told\nthem they must dance the hula of the lifted tabu, and asked them, one\nafter the other, to dance, but they all refused until she came to\nHiiaka, who had guarded her during her long sleep. Hiiaka desired to go\ndown to the beach and bathe with a friend, Hopoe, while the others went\ninland.\n\nPele said, \u201cYou cannot go unless you first dance for the lifted tabu.\u201d\n\nHiiaka arose and danced gloriously before the hula god and chanted\nwhile she danced\u2014\n\n\n       \u201cPuna dances in the wind.\n        The forest of Keaau is shaken.\n        Haena moves quietly.\n        There is motion on the beach of Nanahuki.\n        The hula-lea danced by the wife,\n        Dancing with the sea of Nanahuki.\n        Perhaps this is a dance of love,\n        For the friend loved in the sleep.\u201d\n\n\nPele rejoiced over the skill of her younger sister and was surprised by\nthe chanted reference to the experiences at Haena. She granted\npermission to Hiiaka to remain by the sea with her friend Hopoe,\nbathing and surf-riding until a messenger should be sent to call her\nhome to Kilauea. Then Pele and the other sisters went inland.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nXII\n\nHOPOE, THE DANCING STONE\n\n\n                                \u201cMoving back, and forth in the wind\n                                Softly moving in the quiet breeze\n                                Rocking by the side of the sea.\u201d\n\n                                                  \u2014Ancient Hopoe Chant.\n\n\nOn the southeastern seacoast of the island Hawaii, near a hamlet called\nKeaau, is a large stone which was formerly so balanced that it could be\neasily moved. One of the severe earthquake shocks of the last century\noverthrew the stone and it now lies a great black mass of lava rock\nnear the seashore.\n\nThis stone in the long ago was called by the natives Hopoe, because\nHopoe, the graceful dancer of Puna who taught Hiiaka, the youngest\nsister of Pele, how to dance, was changed into this rock. The story of\nthe jealousy and anger of Pele, which resulted in overwhelming Hopoe in\na flood of lava and placing her in the form of a balanced rock to dance\nby the sea to the music of the eternally moving surf, is a story which\nmust be kept on record for the lovers of Hawaiian folklore.\n\nPele had come from the islands of the south seas and had found the\nHawaiian Islands as they are at the present day. After visiting all the\nother islands she settled in Puna, on the large island Hawaii. There\nshe had her long sleep in which she went to the island Kauai and found\nher lover Lohiau, whom she promised to send for that he might come to\nher home in the volcano Kilauea.\n\nPele called her sisters one by one and told them to go to Kauai, but\nthey feared the uncertainty of Pele\u2019s jealousy and wrath and refused to\ngo. At last she called for Hiiaka, but she was down by the seashore\nwith her friend Hopoe. There in a beautiful garden spot grew the fine\nfood plants of the old Hawaiians. There were ohias [14] (apples) and\nthe brilliant red, feathery blossoms of the lehua trees, and there grew\nthe hala, from which sweet-scented skirts and mats were woven.\n\nHopoe was very graceful and knew all the dances of the ancient people.\nHour after hour she taught Hiiaka the oldest hulas (dances) known among\nthe Hawaiians until Hiiaka excelled in all beautiful motions of the\nhuman form. Hopoe taught Hiiaka how to make leis (wreaths) from the\nmost fragrant and splendid flowers. Together they went out into the\nwhite-capped waves bathing and swimming and seeking the fish of the\ncoral caves. Thus they learned to have great love for each other. The\ngirl from the south seas promised to care for the Hawaiian girl whose\nhome was in the midst of volcanic fires, and the Hawaiian gave pledge\nto aid and serve as best she could.\n\nTogether they were making life happy when Pele called for Hiiaka. Out\nfrom the fumes of the crater, echoing from hill to hill through Puna,\nrustling the leaves of the forest trees, that insistent voice came to\nthe younger sister.\n\nHiiaka by her magic power quickly passed from the seashore to the\nvolcano. Some of the native legends say that Pele had slept near the\nseashore where she had commenced to build a volcanic home for herself\nand her sisters, and that while longing for the coming of her lover\nLohiau she had dug feverishly, throwing up hills and digging some of\nthe many pit craters which are famous in the district of Puna.\n\nAt last she determined to visit Ailaau, the god residing in Kilauea,\nbut he had fled from her and she had taken his place and found a home\nin the earthquake-shaken pit of molten lava, leaping fire, and\noverwhelming sulphur smoke. Here she felt that her burning love could\nwait no longer and she must send for Lohiau.\n\nTo her came Hiiaka fresh from the clear waters of the sea and covered\nwith leis made by her friend Hopoe. For a few minutes she stood before\nher sisters. Then untwisting the wreaths one by one she danced until\nall the household seemed to be overcome by her grace and gladness. She\nsent the influence of her good-will deep into the hearts of her\nsisters.\n\nPele alone looked on with scowling dissatisfied face. As soon as she\ncould she said to Hiiaka: \u201cGo far away; go to Kauai; get a husband for\nus, and bring him to Hawaii. Do not marry him. Do not even embrace him.\nHe is tabu to you. Go forty days only\u2014no longer for going or coming\nback.\u201d\n\nHiiaka looked upon the imperious goddess of fire and said: \u201cThat is\nright. I go after your husband but I lay my charge upon you: You must\ntake care of my lehua forest and not permit it to be injured. You may\neat all other places of ours, but you must not touch my own lehua\ngrove, my delight. You will be waiting here. Anger will arise in you.\nYou will destroy inland; you will destroy toward the sea; but you must\nnot touch my friend\u2014my Hopoe. You will eat Puna with your burning\nwrath, but you must not go near Hopoe. This is my covenant with you, O\nPele.\u201d\n\nPele replied: \u201cThis is right; I will care for your forest and your\nfriend. Go you for our husband.\u201d As Pele had charged Hiiaka so had\nHiiaka laid her commandment on Pele. Hiiaka, like the other sisters,\nknew how uncertain Pele was in all her moods and how suddenly and\nunexpectedly her wrath would bring destruction upon anything appearing\nto oppose her. Therefore she laid upon Pele the responsibility of\ncaring for and protecting Hopoe. This was ceremonial oath-taking\nbetween the two.\n\nHiiaka rose to prepare for the journey, but Pele\u2019s impatience at every\nmoment\u2019s delay was so great that she forced Hiiaka away without food or\nextra clothing. Hiiaka slowly went forth catching only a magic pa-u, or\nskirt, which had the death-dealing power of flashing lightning.\n\nAs she climbed the walls of the crater she looked down on her sisters\nand chanted:\n\n\n       \u201cThe traveller is ready to go for the loved one,\n        The husband of the dream.\n        I stand, I journey while you remain,\n        O women with bowed heads.\n        Oh my lehua forest\u2014inland at Kaliu,\n        The longing traveller journeys many days\n        For the lover of the sweet dreams,\n          For Lohiau ipo.\u201d \u2014Ancient Hiiaka Chant.\n\n\nWhen Pele heard this chant from the forgiving love of her little sister\nshe relented somewhat and gave Hiiaka a portion of her divine power\nwith which to wage battle against the demons and dragons and sorcerers\ninnumerable whom she would meet in her journey, and also sent\nPauopalae, the woman of supernatural power, who cared for the ferns of\nall kinds around the volcano, to be her companion.\n\nAs Hiiaka went up to the highlands above the volcano she looked down\nover Puna. Smoke from the volcano fell toward the sea, making dark the\nforest along the path to Keaau, where Hopoe dwelt. Hiiaka, with a heavy\nheart, went on her journey, fearing that this smoke might be prophetic\nof the wrath of the goddess of fire visited at the suggestion of some\nsudden jealousy or suspicion upon Hopoe and her household.\n\nWhat the Hawaiians call mana, or supernatural power able to manifest\nitself in many ways, had come upon Hiiaka. She found this power growing\nwithin her as she overcame obstacle after obstacle in the progress of\nher journey. Thus Hiiaka from time to time as she passed over the\nmountains of the different islands was able to look back over the\ndearly loved land of Puna.\n\nAt last she saw the smoke, which had clouded the forests along the way\nto the home of her friend, grow darker and blacker and then change into\nthe orange hues of outbreaking fire. She felt Pele\u2019s unfaithfulness and\nchanted:\n\n\n       \u201cYellow grows the smoke of Ka-lua (the crater)\n        Turning heavily toward the sea.\n        Turning against my aikane (bosom friend),\n        Coming near to my loved one.\n        Rising up\u2014straight up\n        And going down from the pit.\u201d\n\n\nAfter many days had passed and she had found Lohiau she had another\nvision of Puna and saw a great eruption of lava making desolate the\nland. There had been many hindrances to the progress of Hiiaka and she\nhad been slow. The waiting and impatient goddess of fire became angry\nwith her messenger and hurled lava from the pit crater down into the\nforests which she had promised to protect. Hiiaka chanted:\n\n\n       \u201cThe smoke bends over Kaliu.\n        I thought my lehuas were tabu.\n        The birds of fire are eating them up.\n        They are picking my lehuas\n        Until they are gone.\u201d\n\n\nThen from that far-off island of Kauai she looked over her burning\nforest toward the sea and again chanted:\n\n\n       \u201cO my friend of the steep ridges above Keaau,\n        My friend who made garlands\n        Of the lehua blossoms of Kaliu,\n        Hopoe is driven away to the sea\u2014\n        The sea of Lanahiku.\u201d\n\n\nFiercer and more devouring were the lava floods hurled out over the\nforest so loved by Hiiaka. Heavier were the earthquake shocks shaking\nall the country around the volcano. Then Hiiaka bowed her head and\nsaid:\n\n\n       \u201cPuna is shaking in the wind,\n        Shaking is the hala grove of Keaau,\n        Tumbling are Haena and Hopoe,\n        Moving is the land\u2014moving is the sea.\u201d\n\n\nThus by her spirit-power she looked back to Hawaii and saw Puna\ndevastated and the land covered by the destructive floods of lava sent\nout by Pele.\n\nHopoe was the last object of Pele\u2019s anger at her younger sister, but\nthere was no escape. The slow torrent of lava surrounded the beach\nwhere Hopoe waited death. She placed the garlands Hiiaka had loved over\nher head and shoulders. She wore the finest skirt she had woven from\nlauhala leaves. She looked out over the death-dealing seas into which\nshe could not flee, and then began the dance of death.\n\nThere Pele\u2019s fires caught her but did not devour her. The angry goddess\nof fire took away her human life and gave her goblin power. Pele\nchanged Hopoe into a great block of lava and balanced it on the\nseashore. Thus Hopoe was able to dance when the winds blew or the earth\nshook or some human hand touched her and disturbed her delicate poise.\nIt is said that for centuries she has been the dancing stone of Puna.\n\nHiiaka fulfilled her mission patiently and faithfully, bringing Lohiau\neven from a grave in which he had been placed back to life and at last\npresenting him before Pele although all along the return journey she\nwas filled with bitterness because of the injustice of Pele in dealing\ndeath to Hopoe.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nXIII\n\nHIIAKA\u2019S BATTLE WITH DEMONS\n\n\nHiiaka, the youngest sister of Pele, the goddess of fire, is the\ncentral figure of many a beautiful Hawaiian myth. She was sent on a\nwearisome journey over all the islands to find Lohiau, the lover of\nPele.\n\nOut of the fire-pit of the volcano, Kilauea, she climbed. Through a\nmultitude of cracks and holes, out of which poured fumes of foul gases,\nshe threaded her way until she stood on the highest plateau of lava the\nvolcano had been able to build.\n\nPele was impatient and angry at the slow progress of Hiiaka and at\nfirst ordered her to hasten alone on her journey, but as she saw her\npatiently climbing along the rough way, she relented and gave to her\nsupernatural power to aid in overcoming great difficulties and a magic\nskirt which had the power of lightning in its folds. But she saw that\nthis was not enough, so she called on the divine guardians of plants to\ncome with garments and bear a burden of skirts with which to drape\nHiiaka on her journey. At last the goddess of ferns, Pau-o-palae, came\nwith a skirt of ferns which pleased Pele. It was thrown over Hiiaka,\nthe most beautiful drapery which could be provided.\n\nPau-o-palae was clothed with a network of most delicate ferns. She was\nnoted because of her magic power over all the ferns of the forest, and\nfor her skill in using the most graceful fronds for clothing and\ngarlands.\n\nPele ordered Pau-o-palae to go with Hiiaka as her kahu, or guardian\nservant. She was very beautiful in her fern skirt and garland, but\nHiiaka was of higher birth and nobler form and was more royal in her\nbeauty than her follower, the goddess of ferns. It was a queen of\nhighest legendary honor with one of her most worthy attendants setting\nforth on a strange quest through lands abounding in dangers and\nadventures.\n\nEverywhere in ancient Hawaii were eepas, kupuas, and mo-os. Eepas were\nthe deformed inhabitants of the Hawaiian gnomeland. They were twisted\nand defective in mind and body. They were the deceitful, treacherous\nfairies, living in the most beautiful places of the forest or glen,\noften appearing as human beings but always having some defect in some\npart of the body. Kupuas were gnomes or elves of supernatural power,\nable to appear in some nature-form as well as like a human being. Mo-os\nwere the dragons of Hawaiian legends. They came to the Hawaiian Islands\nonly as the legendary memories of the crocodiles and great snakes of\nthe lands from which the first Hawaiian natives emigrated.\n\nThroughout Polynesia the mo-o, or moko, remained for centuries in the\nminds of the natives of different island groups as their most dreadful\nenemy, living in deep pools and sluggish streams.\n\nHiiaka\u2019s first test of patient endurance came in a battle with the\nkupuas of a forest lying between the volcano and the ocean.\n\nThe land of the island Hawaii slopes down from the raging fire-pit,\nmile after mile, through dense tropical forests and shining lava beds,\nuntil it enfolds, in black lava shores, the ceaselessly moving waters\nof the bay of Hilo. In this forest dwelt Pana-ewa, a reptile-man. He\nwas very strong and could be animal or man as he desired, and could\nmake the change in a moment. He watched the paths through the forest,\nhoping to catch strangers, robbing them and sometimes devouring them.\nSome he permitted to pass, but for others he made much trouble,\nbringing fog and rain and wind until the road was lost to them.\n\nHe ruled all the evil forces of the forest above Hilo. Every wicked\nsprite who twisted vines to make men stumble over precipices or fall\ninto deep lava caves was his servant. Every demon wind, every foul\nfiend dwelling in dangerous branches of falling trees, every wicked\ngnome whirling clouds of dust or fog and wrapping them around a\ntraveller, in fact every living thing which could in any way injure a\ntraveller was his loyal subject. He was the kupua chief of the vicious\nsprites and cruel elves of the forest above Hilo. Those who knew about\nPana-ewa brought offerings of awa [15] to drink, taro and red fish to\neat, tapa for mats, and malos, or girdles. Then the way was free from\ntrouble.\n\nThere were two bird-brothers of Pana-ewa; very little birds, swift as a\nflash of lightning, giving notice of any one coming through the forest\nof Pana-ewa.\n\nHiiaka, entering the forest, threw aside her fern robes, revealing her\nbeautiful form. Two birds flew around her and before her. One called to\nthe other, \u201cThis is one of the women of ka lua (the pit).\u201d The other\nanswered, \u201cShe is not as strong as Pana-ewa; let us tell our brother.\u201d\n\nHiiaka heard the birds and laughed; then she chanted, and her voice\nrang through all the forest:\n\n\n       \u201cPana-ewa is a great lehua island;\n        A forest of ohias inland.\n        Fallen are the red flowers of the lehua, [16]\n        Spoiled are the red apples of the ohia,[16]\n        Bald is the head of Pana-ewa;\n        Smoke is over the land;\n        The fire is burning.\u201d\n\n                            \u2014Translated from a Hiiaka Chant.\n\n\nHiiaka hoped to make Pana-ewa angry by reminding him of seasons of\ndestruction by lava eruptions, which left bald lava spots in the midst\nof the upland forest.\n\nPana-ewa, roused by his bird watchmen and stirred by the taunt of\nHiiaka, said: \u201cThis is Hiiaka, who shall be killed by me. I will\nswallow her. There is no road for her to pass.\u201d\n\nThe old Hawaiians said that Pana-ewa had many bodies. He attacked\nHiiaka in his fog body, Kino-ohu, and threw around her his twisting\nfog-arms, chilling her and choking her and blinding her. He wrapped her\nin the severe cold mantle of heavy mists.\n\nHiiaka told her friend to hold fast to her girdle while she led the\nway, sweeping aside the fog with her magic skirt. Then Pana-ewa took\nhis body called the bitter rain, ua-awa, the cold freezing rain which\npinches and shrivels the skin. He called also for the strong winds to\nbend down trees and smite his enemy, and lie in tangled masses in her\npath. So the way was hard.\n\nHiiaka swiftly swept her lightning skirt up against the beating rain\nand drove it back. Again and again she struck against the fierce storm\nand against the destructive winds. Sometimes she was beaten back,\nsometimes her arms were so weary that she could scarcely move her\nskirt, but she hurled it over and over against the storm until she\ndrove it deeper into the forest and gained a little time for rest and\nrenewal of strength.\n\nOn she went into the tangled woods and the gods of the forest rose up\nagainst her. They tangled her feet with vines. They struck her with\nbranches of trees. The forest birds in multitudes screamed around her,\ndashed against her, tried to pick out her eyes and confuse her every\neffort. The god and his followers brought all their power and\nenchantments against Hiiaka. Hiiaka made an incantation against these\nenemies:\n\n\n       \u201cNight is at Pana-ewa and bitter is the storm;\n        The branches of the trees are bent down;\n        Rattling are the flowers and leaves of the lehua;\n        Angrily growls the god Pana-ewa,\n        Stirred up inside by his wrath.\n                Oh, Pana-ewa!\n                I give you hurt,\n        Behold, I give the hard blows of battle.\u201d\n\n\nShe told her friend to stay far back in the places already conquered,\nwhile she fought with a bamboo knife in one hand and her lightning\nskirt in the other. Harsh noises were on every hand. From each side she\nwas beaten and sometimes almost crushed under the weight of her\nopponents. Many she cut down with her bamboo knife and many she struck\nwith her lightning skirt. The two little birds flew over the\nbattlefield and saw Hiiaka nearly dead from wounds and weariness, and\ntheir own gods of the forest lying as if asleep. They called to\nPana-ewa:\n\n\n       \u201cOur gods are tired from fighting,\n        They sleep and rest.\u201d\n\n\nPana-ewa came and looked at them. He saw that they were dead without\nshowing deep injury, and wondered how they had been killed. The birds\nsaid, \u201cWe saw her skirt moving against the gods, up and down, back and\nforth.\u201d\n\nAgain the hosts of that forest gathered around the young chiefess.\nAgain she struggled bitterly against the multitude of foes, but she was\nvery, very tired and her arms sometimes refused to lift her knife and\nskirt. The discouraged woman felt that the battle was going against\nher, so she called for Pele, the goddess of fire.\n\nPele heard the noise of the conflict and the voice of her sister. She\ncalled for a body of her own servants to go down and fight the powerful\nkupua.\n\nThe Hawaiian legends give the name Ho-ai-ku to these reinforcements.\nThis means \u201cstanding for food\u201d or \u201cdevourers.\u201d Lightning storms were\nhurled against Pana-ewa, flashing and cutting and eating all the gods\nof the forest.\n\nHiiaka in her weariness sank down among the foes she had slain.\n\nThe two little birds saw her fall and called to Pana-ewa to go and take\nthe one he had said he would \u201cswallow.\u201d He rushed to the place where\nshe lay. She saw him coming and wearily arose to give battle once more.\n\nA great thunderstorm swept down on Pana-ewa. As he had fought Hiiaka\nwith the cold forest winds, so Pele fought him with the storms from the\npit of fire. Lightning drove him down through the forest. A mighty rain\nfilled the valleys with red water. The kupuas were swept down the river\nbeds and out into the ocean, where Pana-ewa and the remnant of his\nfollowers were devoured by sharks.\n\nThe Ho-ai-ku, as the legends say, went down and swallowed Pana-ewa,\neating him up. Thus the land above Hilo became a safe place for the\ncommon people. To this day it is known by the name Pana-ewa.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nXIV\n\nHOW HIIAKA FOUND WAHINE-OMAO\n\n\nThe story of the journey of the youngest sister of Pele, the goddess of\nvolcanic fires, when seeking a husband for her oldest sister, has a\nsimple and yet exceedingly human element in the incidents which cluster\naround the finding of a faithful follower and friend. It is a story of\ntwo girls attracted to each other by lovable qualities. Hiiaka was a\ngoddess with an attendant from the old Hawaiian fairyland\u2014the Guardian\nof Ferns. Then there was added the human helper, Wahine-omao, or \u201cthe\nlight-colored woman.\u201d\n\nWhile Hiiaka was journeying through the lower part of the forest which\nshe had freed from demons, the Guardian of Ferns said: \u201cI hear the\ngrunting of a pig, but cannot tell whether it is before us or on one\nside. Where is it\u2014from the sea or inland?\u201d\n\nHiiaka said: \u201cThis is a pig from the sea. It is the\nHumuhumu-nukunuku-a-puaa. It is the grunting, angular pigfish. There is\nalso a pig from the land. There are two pigs. They are before us. They\nbelong to a woman and are for a gift\u2014a sacrifice to the sister goddess\nwho is over us two. This is Wahine-omao.\u201d\n\nThey walked on through the restful shadows of the forest and soon met a\nbeautiful woman carrying a little black pig and a striped, angular\nfish. Humuhumu means \u201cgrunting.\u201d Nuku-nuku means \u201ccornered.\u201d Puaa means\n\u201cpig.\u201d The Humuhumu-nukunuku-a-puaa was a fish with a sharp-pointed\nback, grunting like a pig. It was the fish into which the fabled\ndemi-god Kamapuaa changed himself when fleeing from the destructive\nfires of Pele.\n\nHiiaka greeted the stranger, \u201cLove to you, O Wahine-omao.\u201d\n\nThe woman replied: \u201cIt is strange that you two have my name while your\neyes are unknown to me. What are your names and where do you go?\u201d\n\nThe sister of Pele concealed their names. \u201cI am Ku and Ka is the name\nof my friend. A troublesome journey is before us beyond the waters of\nHilo and the kupuas [demons] dwelling there and along the hard paths\nover the cliffs of the seacoast even to the steady blowing winds of\nKohala.\u201d\n\nThe newcomer looked longingly into the eyes of the young chiefess and\nsaid: \u201cI have a great desire for that troublesome journey, but this pig\nis a sacrifice for the goddess of the crater. Shall I throw away the\npig and go with you?\u201d\n\nHiiaka told her to hurry on, saying: \u201cIf your purpose is strong to go\nwith us, take your sacrifice pig to the woman of the pit. Then come\nquickly after us. You will find us. While you go say continually, \u2018O\nKu! O Ka! O Ku! O Ka!\u2019 When you arrive at the pit throw the pig down\ninto the fire and return quickly, saying, \u2018O Ku! O Ka!\u2019 until you find\nus.\u201d\n\nThe woman said: \u201cI will surely remember your words, but you are so\nbeautiful and have such power that I think you are Pele. Take my pig\nnow and end my trouble.\u201d Then she started to throw herself and her\nofferings on the ground before Hiiaka.\n\nHiiaka forbade this and explained that the offering must be taken as\nhad been vowed.\n\nThen the woman took her sacred gifts and went up through the woods to\nthe crater, saying over and over, \u201cO Ku! O Ka!\u201d all the time realizing\nthat new activity and life were coming to her and that she was moving\nas swiftly as the wind. In a little while she stood on the high point\nabove the crater called Kolea\u2014the place where birds rested. Before her\nlay a great circular plain, black-walled, full of burning lava leaping\nup in wonderful fire-dances and boiling violently around a group of\nbeautiful women. She called to Pele:\n\n\n       \u201cE Pele e! Here is my sacrifice\u2014a pig.\n        E Pele e! Here is my gift\u2014a pig.\n        Here is a pig for you,\n        O goddess of the burning stones.\n        Life for me. Life for you.\n        The flowers of fire wave gently.\n        Here is your pig.\u201d\u2014Amama.\n\n\nThe woman threw the pig and the fish over the edge into the mystic\nfires beneath and leaned over, looking down into the deadliness of the\nfire and smoke which received the sacrifice. Flaming hands leaped up,\ncaught the gifts and drew them down under the red surface. But in a\nmoment there was a rush upward of a fountain of lava and hurled up with\nit she saw the body of the little black pig tossing in the changing\njets of fire.\n\nDown it went again into the whirling, groaning fires of the underworld.\nThen she knew that the sacrifice had been accepted and that she was\nfree from her vow of service to Pele. Every tabu upon her free action\nhad been removed and she was free\u2014free to do according to her own wish.\nThen she saw one of the women of the pit slowly changing into an old\nwoman lying on a mat of fire apart from the others. It was Pele who was\nalways growing more and more jealous and angry with Hiiaka.\n\nPele called from the pit of fire, \u201cO woman! have you seen two\ntravellers?\u201d\n\nWhen she learned that they had been seen going on their journey she\ncharged her new worshipper to go with Hiiaka and always spy upon her\nmovements.\n\nWahine-omao became angry and cried out: \u201cWhen I came here I thought you\nwere beautiful with the glory of fire resting on you. Your sisters are\nbeautiful, but you are a harsh old woman. Your eyes are red. Your\neyebrows and hair are burned. You are the woman with scorched eyelids.\u201d\nThen she ran from the crater, saying, \u201cO Ku! O Ka!\u201d Her feet seemed to\nbe placed on a swift-moving cloud and in a few moments she was dropped\nby the side of Hiiaka.\n\nThe three women, Hiiaka, the powerful, Pau-o-palae, the fairy of the\nferns, and Wahine-omao, the brave and beautiful young woman of the\nforest, went on toward Hilo. They came to a grove of ohia, or native\napple, trees, and the new friend begged them to rest for a little while\nin this place, for it was her father\u2019s home.\n\nHiiaka hesitated, saying: \u201cI am afraid that you would entangle me, O\nfriend! Some one is waiting below whom I must see. Our journey cannot\nend.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh,\u201d said the woman, \u201cI intend not to stay. Stepping sideways was my\nthought to see my family dwelling in this house\u2014then journey on.\u201d\n\nThey turned aside through the red-fruited tall ohia trees to a\nresting-place called Papa-lau-ahi, or the fireleaf of lava spread out\nflat like a board. This has always been a resting-place for travellers\ncoming across the island to Hilo Bay. There they greeted friends and\nrested, but Hiiaka thought lovingly of another friend, Hopoe, far\ndearer to her than any one else. Tears rolled down her cheeks.\n\nWahine-omao said, \u201cWhy do you weep, O friend?\u201d The reply came: \u201cBecause\nof my friend who lives over by that sea far below us. The smoke of the\nfire-anger of our sister-lord is falling over toward my friend Hopoe.\u201d\n\nWahine-omao said: \u201cOne of our people truly lives over there. We know\nand love her well, but her name is Nana-huki. The name is given because\nwhen looking at you her eyes are like a cord pulling you to her.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said Hiiaka, \u201cthat is her name, but for me she had the\nsweet-scented hala wreaths and the beautiful wreaths of the red\nblossoms of the lehua and baskets of the most delicious treasures of\nthe sea. So my name for her is Hopoe.\u201d\n\nThe name Hopoe may mean \u201cone encircled,\u201d as with leis, or wreaths, or\nas with loving arms, or possibly it might convey the idea of one set\napart in a special class or company. Both thoughts might well be\nincluded in the deep love of the young goddess for a human friend.\n\nThe time came for the three women to hasten on their way. The final\nalohas were said. The friends rubbed noses in the old Hawaiian way and\nwent down to Hilo.\n\nHiiaka looked again from the upland over to the distant seacoast and\nwailed:\n\n\n       \u201cMy journey opens to Kauai.\n        Loving is my thought for my aikane,\n        My bosom friend\u2014\n        Hopoe\u2014my sweet-scented hala.\n        Far will we go;\n        Broad is the land;\n        Perhaps Kauai is the end.\u201d\n\n\nThus Hiiaka sent her loving thoughts over forest and rugged lava plains\nto her dearest friend even while she opened her heart to another friend\nwho served her with the utmost faithfulness and love all the rest of\nher eventful journey.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nXV\n\nHIIAKA CATCHING A GHOST\n\n\nHiiaka, the sister of Pele, and the goddess of ferns, and their new\nfriend Wahine-omao, were hastening through the forests above the bay of\nHilo. They came near a native house. Two girls were lying on a mat near\nthe doorway. The girls saw the strangers and with hearts full of\nhospitality cried: \u201cO women strangers, stop at our house and eat. Here\nare dried fish and the kilu-ai [a-little-calabash-full-of-poi, the\nnative food].\u201d It was all the food the girls had, but they offered it\ngladly.\n\nHiiaka said: \u201cOne of us will stop and eat. Two of us will pass on. We\nare not hungry.\u201d The truth was that Wahine-omao of the light skin\nneeded food like any one not possessing semi-divine powers.\n\nSo Wahine-omao stopped and ate. She saw that the girls were kupilikia\n(stirred-up-with-anxiety) and asked them why they were troubled.\n\n\u201cOur father,\u201d they said, \u201cwent to the sea to fish in the night and has\nnot returned. We fear that he is in trouble.\u201d\n\nHiiaka heard the words and looked toward the sea. She saw the spirit of\nthat man coming up from the beach with an ipu-holoholona\n(a-calabash-for-carrying fish-lines, etc.) in his hands.\n\nShe charged the girls to listen carefully while she told them about\ntheir father, saying: \u201cYou must not let tears fall or wailing tones\ncome into your voices. Your father has been drowned in the sea during\nthe dark night. The canoe filled with water. The swift-beating waters\ndrove your father on to the reef of coral and there his body lies. The\nspirit was returning home, but now sees strangers and is turning aside.\nI will go and chase that spirit from place to place until it goes back\nto the place where it left its house\u2014the body supposed to be dead. Let\nno one eat until my work is done.\u201d\n\nHiiaka looked again toward the sea. The spirit was wandering aimlessly\nfrom place to place with its calabash thrown over its shoulder. It was\nafraid to come near the strangers and yet did not want to go back to\nthe body. Hiiaka hastened after the ghost and drove it toward the house\nwhere the girls were living. She checked it as it turned to either side\nand tried to dash away into the forest. She pushed it into the door and\ncalled the girls in. They saw the ghost as if it were the natural body.\nThey wept and began to beseech Hiiaka to bring him back to life.\n\nShe told them she would try, but they must remember to keep the bundle\nof tears inside the eyes. She told them that the spirit must take her\nto the body and they must wait until the rainbow colors of a divine\nchief came over their house. Then they would know that their father was\nalive. But if a heavy rain should fall they would know he was not alive\nand need not restrain their cries.\n\nAs Hiiaka rose to pass out of the door the ghost leaped and\ndisappeared. Hiiaka rushed out and saw the ghost run to the sea. She\nleaped after it and followed it to a great stone lying at the foot of a\nsteep precipice. There the heana (dead body) was lying. It was badly\ntorn by the rough coral and the face had been bitten by eels. Around it\nlay the broken pieces of the shattered canoe. Hiiaka washed the body in\nthe sea and then turned to look for the ghost, but it was running away\nas if carried by a whirlwind.\n\nHiiaka thrust out her \u201cstrong hand of Kilauea.\u201d This meant her power as\none of the divine family living in the fire of the volcano. She thrust\nforth this power and turned the spirit back to the place where the body\nwas lying. She drove the ghost to the side of the body and ordered it\nto enter, but the ghost thought that it would be a brighter and happier\nlife if it could be free among the blossoming trees and fragrant ferns\nof the forest, so tried again to slip away from the house in which it\nhad lived.\n\nHiiaka slapped the ghost back against the body and told it to go in at\nthe bottom of a foot. She slapped the feet again and again, but it was\nvery hard to push the ghost inside. It tried to come out as fast as\nHiiaka pushed it in. Then Hiiaka uttered an incantation, while she\nstruck the feet and limbs. The incantation was a call for the gift of\nlife from her friends of the volcano.\n\n\n       \u201cO the top of Kilauea!\n        O the five ledges of the pit!\n        The taboo fire of the woman.\n        When the heavens shake,\n        When the earth cracks open [earthquakes],\n        Man is thrown down,\n        Lying on the ground.\n        The lightning of Kane [a great god] wakes up.\n        Kane of the night, going fast.\n        My sleep is broken up.\n        E ala e! Wake up!\n        The heaven wakes up.\n        The earth inland is awake.\n        The sea is awake.\n            Awake you.\n            Here am I.\u201d\u2014Amama (The prayer is done).\n\n\nBy the time this chant was ended Hiiaka had forced the ghost up to the\nhips. There was a hard struggle\u2014the ghost trying to go back and yet\nyielding to the slapping and going further and further into the body.\n\nThen Hiiaka put forth her hand and took fresh water, pouring it over\nthe body, chanting again:\n\n\n       \u201cI make you grow, O Kane!\n        Hiiaka is the prophet.\n        This work is hers.\n        She makes the growth.\n        Here is the water of life.\n        E ala e! Awake! Arise!\n        Let life return.\n        The taboo [of death] is over.\n        It is lifted.\n        It has flown away.\u201d\u2014Amama.\n\n\n\u2014These were ancient chants for the restoration of life\u2014\n\nAll this time she was slapping and pounding the spirit into the body.\nIt had gone up as far as the chest. Then she took more fresh water and\npoured it over the eyes, dashing it into the face. The ghost leaped up\nto the mouth and eyes\u2014choking noises were made\u2014the eyes opened faintly\nand closed again, but the ghost was entirely in the body. Slowly life\nreturned. The lips opened and breath came back.\n\nThe healing power of Hiiaka restored the places wounded by coral rocks\nand bitten by eels. Then she asked him how he had been overcome. He\ntold her he had been fishing when a great kupua came in the form of a\nmighty wave falling upon the boat, filling it full of water.\n\nThe fisherman said that he had tried to bail the water out of his\ncanoe, when it was hurled down into the coral caves, and he knew\nnothing more until the warm sun shone in his face and his eyes opened.\nHiiaka told him to stand up, and putting out her strong hand lifted him\nto his feet.\n\nHe stood shaking and trembling, trying to move his feet. Little by\nlittle the power of life came back and he walked slowly to his house.\n\nHiiaka called for the glory of a divine chief to shine around them.\nAmong the ancient Hawaiians it was believed that the eyes of prophets\ncould tell the very family to which a high chief belonged by the color\nor peculiar appearance of the light around the individual even when a\nlong distance away. Thus the watching anxious girls and the friends of\nHiiaka knew that the ghost had gone back into the body and the\nfisherman had been brought back to life.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nXVI\n\nHIIAKA AND THE SEACOAST KUPUAS\n\n\nKupuas were legendary monsters which could change themselves into human\nbeings at will. They were said to have come from far-off lands with the\nearly settlers. They had descendants who lived along the seacoast or in\nout-of-the-way places inland. They were always ready to destroy and\noften devour any strangers passing near them. Frequently they were\nsharks which had a shark mouth although appearing like men. This mouth\nwas between the shoulders and was concealed by a cape thrown carefully\nover the back. As human beings they would mingle with their fellows and\ngo out in the sea, bathing and surf-riding, but when they went into the\nwater they would dive under, assume their shark form, and catch some\none of the bathers. They would carry the body to some under-water cave,\nwhere it could be devoured. All other sea monsters were given human\nqualities\u2014some were helpful to men and some were destructive.\n\nFabled monsters lived on land. Some of these were gigantic lizards,\nprobably the legendary memory of the crocodiles of their ancient home\nin India. Some were the great clouds floating in the heavens. Peculiar\nrocks, trees, precipices, waterfalls, birds, indeed everything with or\nwithout life, might be given human and supernatural power and called\nkupuas. After a time various objects began to have worshippers who\nbecame priests supposed to be endowed with the qualities of the objects\nworshipped. These, in the later days, have been considered sorcerers or\nwitches, receiving the name kupuas.\n\n\n\n\nMAKAUKIU\n\nHiiaka, the sister of Pele, the goddess of volcanoes, by her magic\npower was able to find and destroy many of these mysterious monsters.\nShe had two companions as she journeyed along the eastern coast of the\nisland Hawaii. Their way was frequently very wearisome as they climbed\ndown steep precipices into valleys and gulches and then had to climb up\non the other side.\n\nIn one valley beautiful clear sea-water invited the girls to bathe. Two\nof them threw aside their tapa clothes and ran down to the beach.\nHiiaka bade them wait, telling them this was the home of Makaukiu, a\nvery ferocious monster. But the girls thought they could see any evil\none, if living in that pure, clear water, so they laughed at their\nfriend and went to the edge of the water. Hiiaka took some fragrant\nti-leaves, made a little bundle and threw it into the sea. The girls\nmade ready to leap and swim, when suddenly Makaukiu appeared just below\nthe surface, catching and shaking the leaves.\n\nThe girls fled inland to higher ground, but Hiiaka stood at the edge of\nthe sea. The sea monster tried to catch her in his great mouth. He\nlashed the water into foam, trying to strike her with his tail. He\ntried to wash her into the sea by pushing great, whirling waves against\nher, but Hiiaka struck him with the mighty forces of lightning and fire\nwhich she had in her magic skirt. Soon he was dead and his body floated\non the water until the tide swept it out to sink in the deep sea. The\nplace where this monster was slain was given his name and is still\ncalled \u201cThe Swimming-Hole of Makaukiu.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nMAHIKI\n\nThe Hawaiians say that the desire for battle was burning in the heart\nof Hiiaka and she longed to kill Mahiki, who lived near Waipio\nValley\u2014one of the most beautiful of all the valleys of the Hawaiian\nIslands. Mahiki was a whirlwind. When he saw the girls coming he fled\ninland, hiding himself in a cloud of dust. Whenever the girls came\ntoward him he fled swiftly to a new place. They could not catch and\ndestroy him.\n\nAs they were following the whirlwind they heard some one calling. They\nstopped and found two persons without bones\u2014the bodies were flesh, soft\nand yielding, yet of human form. Hiiaka had pity on them, so she took\nthe ribs of a long leaf and pushed them into the soft bodies, where\nthey became bones. Then the two could stand. After a time they could\nuse their new bones in their legs and walk.\n\n\n\n\nPILI AND NOHO\n\nHiiaka remembered that there were two dragons in the river Wailuku, a\nriver of swift cascades and beautiful waterfalls near Hilo, so she\nturned back filled with the wish to destroy them and free the people\nfrom that danger.\n\nAt the place where the people crossed the river were two things which\nlooked like large, flat logs tossing in the water. Any person wishing\nto cross the river would lay fish, sweet potatoes, and other kinds of\nfood on the logs. When these things disappeared the logs would act\nsometimes as a bridge and sometimes as a boat, taking those who had\ngiven presents across the river. These logs were the great tongues of\nthe dragons Pili-a-moo and Noho-a-moo, i.e., the dragon Pili and the\ndragon Noho.\n\nHiiaka and her two companions came to the river side. The travellers\ncalled for an open way across.\n\nOne dragon said to the other, \u201cHere comes one of our family.\u201d\n\nThe other said: \u201cWhat of that? She can cross if she pays. If she does\nnot give our price, she shall not go over in this place.\u201d\n\nHiiaka ordered the dragons to prepare her way, but they refused. Then\nshe taunted them as slaves, ordering them to bring vegetable food and\nfish. The dragons became angry and thrashed the water into whirlpools,\ntrying to catch the travellers and pull them into the river. The people\nfrom far and near gathered to the place of this strange conflict.\n\nA chief laughed at Hiiaka, saying, \u201cThese are dragon-gods, and yet you\ndispute with them!\u201d\n\nHiiaka said, \u201cYes, they are dragon-gods, but when I attack them they\nwill die.\u201d\n\nThe chief offered to make any bet desired that she could not injure the\ndragons.\n\nHiiaka said, \u201cI have no property, but I wager my body, my life, against\nyour property that the dragons die.\u201d\n\nThen began a great conflict along the banks and in the swift waters.\nHiiaka struck the dragons with her magic skirt in which was concealed\nthe divine power of lightning. They tried to escape, but Hiiaka struck\nagain and again and killed them, changing the bodies into blocks of\nstone. Then she called the chief, saying, \u201cI have made the way safe for\nyour people and you; I give back your property and the land of the\ndragons.\u201d\n\nHiiaka and her friends turned north again and hastened to Waipio Valley\nto catch Mahiki\u2014the demon of the whirlwind. He ran down to meet her and\nthrew dust all over them, then fled inland to the mountains. Hiiaka\nchanted:\n\n\n       \u201cI am above Waipio,\n        My eyes look sharply down.\n        I have gone along the path\n        By the sea of Makaukiu,\n        Full flowing like the surf.\n        I have seen Mahiki,\n        I have seen that he is evil,\n        Evil, very evil indeed.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nMOO-LAU\n\nThen Hiiaka thought of Moo-lau, who was the great dragon-god of the\ndistrict Kohala. He had a great multitude of lesser gods as his\nservants.\n\nHiiaka clearly and sweetly called for the dragon-gods to prepare a way\nfor her and also to bring gifts for herself and her companions.\n\nMoo-lau answered, \u201cYou have no path through my lands unless you have\ngreat strength or can pay the price.\u201d\n\nThen began one of the great legendary battles of ancient Hawaiian\nfolk-lore. Hiiaka, throwing aside her flower-wreaths and common\nclothes, took her lightning pa-u (skirt) and attacked Moo-lau. He\nfought her in his dragon form. He breathed fierce winds against her. He\nstruck her with his swift-moving tail. He tried to catch her between\nhis powerful jaws. He coiled and twisted and swiftly whirled about,\ntrying to knock her down, but she beat him with her powerful hands in\nwhich dwelt some of the divine power of volcanoes. She struck his great\nbody with her magic skirt in which dwelt the power of the lightning.\nEach pitted supernatural powers against the other. Each struck with\nmagic force and each threw out magic strength to ward off deadly blows.\nThey became tired, very tired, and, turning away from each other,\nsought rest. Again they fought and again rested.\n\nHiiaka chanted an incantation, or call for help:\n\n\n       \u201cMoo-lau has a dart\n        Of the wood of the uhi-uhi; [17]\n        A god is Moo-lau,\n        Moo-lau is a god!\u201d\n\n\nThis was a spirit-call going out from Hiiaka. It broke through the\nclouds hanging on the sides of the mountains. It pierced the long, long\nway to the crater of Kilauea. It roused the followers of the\nfire-goddess. A host of destructive forces, swift as lightning, left\nthe pit of fire to aid Hiiaka.\n\nMeanwhile Moo-lau had sent his people to spy out the condition of\nHiiaka. Then he called for all the reptile gods of his district to help\nhim. He rallied all the gnomes and evil powers he could order to come\nto his aid and make a mighty attack.\n\nWhen the battle seemed to be going against her, suddenly the Ho-ai-ku\nmen and the Ho-ai-ka women, the destructive gnomes from the crater,\nbroke in a storm upon Moo-lau and his demons. Oh, how the little people\nfrom the pit devoured and destroyed the dragon army! The slaughter of\nthe reptile horde was quickly accomplished and Hiiaka soon saw the body\nof her enemy the dragon-god trampled underfoot.\n\nWhen the god Mahiki saw that Moo-lau was slain and his army defeated he\nraised a great cloud of dust and fled far off around the western side\nof the island. The whirlwind was one of the earth-monsters which even\nthe sister of the goddess of volcanoes could not destroy.\n\nMany were the evil demi-gods who tried to hinder Hiiaka in her journey\nalong the east coast of the island Hawaii. Sharks fought her from the\nseas. The gnomes and dragons of valley and forest tried to destroy her.\nEven birds of evil omen came into the fight against her, but she\nconquered and killed until the land was freed from its enemies and the\npeople of the districts along the sea could journey in comparative\nsafety.\n\nPau-o-palae, the goddess of ferns, met the chief of this land which had\nbeen freed from the power of the dragon. She saw him swimming in the\nsea and, forgetting her companions, leaped in to sport with him. They\nat once decided to be married. Then she turned aside to his new home,\nleaving Hiiaka and Wahine-omao to go on after Lohiau.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nXVII\n\nLOHIAU\n\n\nThe story of Hiiaka\u2019s journey over the seas which surround the Hawaiian\nIslands, and through dangers and perplexities, cannot be fully told in\nthe limits of these short stories. There are several versions, so only\nthe substance of all can be given.\n\nOn each island she slew dragons which had come from the ancient\ntraditional home of the Polynesians, India. She destroyed many\nevil-minded gnomes and elves; fought the au-makuas and the demi-gods of\nland and sea; found the body of Lohiau put away in a cave and watched\nover by the dragon-women who had been defeated by Pele when in her long\nsleep she chanted the songs of the Winds of Kauai. She slew the\nguardians of the cave, carried the body to a house where she used\npowerful chants for restoration. She captured the wandering ghost of\nLohiau and compelled it again to take up its home in the body, and then\nwith Lohiau and Wahine-omao made the long journey to her home in the\nvolcano. From the island of Hawaii to the island Kauai, and along the\nreturn journey Hiiaka\u2019s path was marked with experiences beneficial to\nthe people whom she passed. This must all be left untold except the\nstory of Lohiau\u2019s restoration to life and the conflict with Pele.\n\nAs Hiiaka and her friend came near the island Kauai, Hiiaka told\nWahine-omao that Lohiau was dead and that she saw the spirit standing\nby the opening of a cave out on the pali of Haena.\n\nThen she chanted to Lohiau:\n\n\n       \u201cThe lehua is being covered by the sand,\n        A little red flower remains on the plain,\n        The body is hidden in the stones,\n        The flower is lying in the path.\n        Very useful is the water of Kaunu.\u201d\n\n\nThus she told the ghost that she would give new life even as dew on a\nthirsty flower. They landed and met Lohiau\u2019s sisters and friends.\n\nHiiaka asked about the death of Lohiau, and one sister said, \u201cHis\nbreath left him and the body became yellow.\u201d Hiiaka said: \u201cThere was no\nreal reason for death, but the two women dragons took his spirit and\nheld it captive. I will try to bring him back. Great is the magic power\nand strength of the two dragons and I am not a man, and may not win the\nvictory. I will have something to eat, and then will go. You must\nestablish a tabu for twenty days, and there must be quiet. No one can\ngo to the mountains, nor into the sea. You must have a house made of ti\n[18] leaves for the dead body and make it very tight on all sides.\u201d\n\nThe next day they made the house. Hiiaka commanded that a door be made\ntoward the east. Then Hiiaka said, \u201cLet us open the door of the house.\u201d\nWhen this was done, Hiiaka said: \u201cTo-morrow let the tabu be established\non land and sea. To-morrow we commence our work.\u201d\n\nShe made arrangements to go to the cave in the precipice at dawn. Rain\ncame down in floods and a strong wind swept the face of the precipice.\nA fog clung fast to the hills. The water rushed in torrents to the sea.\nIt was an evil journey to Lohiau.\n\nAt sunrise they went on through the storm. Hiiaka uttered this\nincantation:\n\n\n       \u201cOur halas greet the inland precipice,\n        In the front of the calling hill.\n        Let it call,\n        You are calling to me.\n        Here is the great hill outside.\n        It is cold,\n        Cold for us.\u201d\n\n\nThe dragons shouted for them to stay down, or they would destroy them\non the rocks. But the small spirit voice of Lohiau called for Hiiaka to\ncome and get him.\n\nHiiaka chanted to Lohiau, telling him they would save him. As they went\nup, stones in showers fell around and upon them. One large stone struck\nHiiaka in the breast, and she fell off the pali. Then they began to get\nup and sticks of all kinds fell upon them again, forcing Hiiaka over\nthe precipice.\n\nThe dragons leaped down on Hiiaka, trying to catch her in their mouths\nand strike her with their tails. Hiiaka struck them with her magic\nskirt, and their bodies were broken.\n\nThe spirits of the dragons went into other bodies and leaped upon\nHiiaka roaring, and biting and tearing her body. She swung her skirt up\nagainst the dragons, and burned their bodies to ashes. The dragons\nagain took new bodies for the last and most bitter battle.\n\nHiiaka told Wahine-omao to cover her body with leaves and sticks near\nthe pali and in event of her death to return with the tidings to\nHawaii.\n\nOne dragon caught Hiiaka and bent her over. The other leaped upon\nHiiaka, catching her around the neck and arm. One tried to pull off the\npa-u and tear it to pieces.\n\nPau-o-palae saw the danger. From her home on the island Hawaii, she saw\nthe dragons shaking Hiiaka. Then she sent her power and took many kinds\nof trees and struck the dragons. The roots twisted around the dragons,\nentangling their feet and tails, and scratching eyes and faces.\n\nThe dragons tried to shake off the branches and roots\u2014the leaf bodies\nof the wilderness, and one let go the pa-u of Hiiaka, and the other let\ngo the neck. Pau-o-palae called all the wind bodies of the forest and\nsent them to aid Hiiaka, the forces of the forest, and the wind\nspirits.\n\nAt last Hiiaka turned to say farewell to Wahine-omao because the next\nfight with the dragons in their new bodies might prove fatal.\n\nThe dragons were now stronger than before. They leaped upon her, one on\neach side. The strong winds blew and the storm poured upon her, while\nthe dragons struck her to beat her down. But all kinds of ferns were\nleaping up rapidly around the place where the dragons renewed the\nfight. The ferns twisted and twined around the legs and bodies of the\ndragons.\n\nHiiaka shook her magic skirt and struck them again and again, and the\nbodies of these dragons were broken in pieces. Then the wind ceased,\nthe storm passed away, and the sky became clear. But it was almost\nevening and darkness was falling fast.\n\nThe natives have for many years claimed that Hiiaka found the time too\nshort to climb the precipice, catch the ghost of Lohiau and carry it\nand the body down to the house prepared for her work, therefore she\nuttered this incantation:\n\n\n       \u201cO gods! Come to Kauai, your land.\n        O pearl-eyed warrior (an idol) of Halawa!\n        O Kona! guardian of our flesh!\n        O the great gods of Hiiaka!\n        Come, ascend, descend,\n        Let the sun stop over the river of Hea.\n        Stand thou still, O sun!\u201d\n\n\nThe sun waited and its light rested on the precipice and pierced the\ndeep shadows of the cave in which the body lay while Hiiaka sought\nLohiau.\n\nHiiaka heard the spirit voice saying, \u201cMoving, moving, you will find me\nin a small coconut calabash fastened in tight.\u201d Hiiaka followed the\nspirit voice and soon saw a coconut closed up with feathers. Over the\ncoconut a little rainbow was resting. She caught the coconut and went\nback to the body of Lohiau. It had become very dark in the cave, but\nshe did not care, this was as nothing to her. She took the bundle of\nthe body of Lohiau and said: \u201cWe have the body and the spirit, we are\nready now to go down to our house.\u201d\n\nThen she called the spirits of the many kinds of ferns of Pau-o-palae\nto take the body down. The fern servants of Pau-o-palae carried the\nbundle of the body down to the house.\n\nHiiaka said to her friend: \u201cYou ask how the spirit can be restored into\nthe body. It is hard and mysterious and a work of the gods. We must\ngather all kinds of ferns and maile and lehua and flowers from the\nmountains. We must take wai-lua (flowing water) and wai-lani (rain) and\nput them into new calabashes to use in washing the body. Then pray. If\nmy prayer is not broken [interrupted or a mistake made], he will be\nalive. If the prayer is broken four times, life will not return.\u201d\n\nThe servants of Pau-o-palae, the goddess of ferns, brought all manner\nof sweet-scented ferns, flowers, and leaves to make a bed for the body\nof Lohiau, and to place around the inside of the house as fragrant\npaths by which the gods could come to aid the restoration to life.\n\nThere were many prayers, sometimes to one class of gods and sometimes\nto another. The following prayer was offered to the au-makuas, or\nghost-gods, residing in cloud-land and revealing themselves in\ndifferent cloud forms:\n\n\n       \u201cDark is the prayer rising up to Kanaloa,\n        Rising up to the ancient home Kealohilani.\n        Look at the kupuas above sunset!\n        Who are the kupuas above?\n        The black dog of the heavens,\n        The yellow dog of Ku in the small cloud,\n        Ku is in the long cloud,\n        Ku is in the short cloud,\n        Ku is in the cloud of red spots in the sky.\n        Listen to the people of the mountains,\n        The friends of the forest,\n        The voices of the heavens.\n        The water of life runs, life is coming,\n        Open with trembling, to let the spirit in,\n        A noise rumbling,\n        The sound of Ku.\n        The lover sent for is coming.\n        I, Hiiaka, am coming.\n        The lover of my sister Pele,\n        The sister of life,\n        Is coming to life again.\n        Live, Live.\u201d\n\n\nAfter each one of the prayers and incantations the body was washed in\nthe kind of water needed for each special ceremony. Thus days passed\nby; some legends say ten days, some say a full month. At last the body\nwas ready for the incoming of the spirit.\n\nThe coconut shell in which the spirit had been kept was held against\nthe body, the feet and limbs were slapped, and the body rubbed by\nWahine-omao while Hiiaka continued her necessary incantations until the\nrestoration to life was complete.\n\nMany, many days had passed since the fiery and impetuous Pele had sent\nher youngest sister after the lover Lohiau. In her restlessness Pele\nhad torn up the land in all directions around the pit of fire with\nviolent earthquakes. She had poured her wrath in burning floods of lava\nover all the southern part of the island. She had broken her most\nsolemn promise to Hiiaka.\n\nWhenever she became impatient at the delay of the coming of Lohiau, she\nwould fling her scorching smoke and foul gas over Hiiaka\u2019s beautiful\nforests\u2014and sometimes would smite the land with an overflow of burning\nlava.\n\nSometimes she would look down over that part of Puna where Hopoe dwelt\nand hurl spurts of lava toward her home. At last she had yielded to her\njealous rage and destroyed Hopoe and her home and then burned the loved\nspots of restful beauty belonging to Hiiaka.\n\nHiiaka had seen Pele\u2019s action as she had looked back from time to time\non her journey to Kauai. Even while she was bringing Lohiau back to\nlife, her love for her own home revealed to her the fires kindled by\nPele, and she chanted many songs of complaint against her unfaithful\nsister.\n\nHiiaka loyally fulfilled her oath until she stood with Lohiau on one of\nthe high banks overlooking Ka-lua-Pele, the pit of Pele in the volcano\nKilauea. Down below in the awful majesty of fire were the sisters.\n\nWahine-omao went down to them as a messenger from Hiiaka. One of the\nlegends says that Pele killed her; another says that she was repulsed\nand driven away; others say that Pele refused to listen to any report\nof the journey to Kauai and hurled Wahine-omao senseless into a hole\nnear the fire-pit, and raved against Hiiaka for the long time required\nin bringing Lohiau.\n\nHiiaka at last broke out in fierce rebellion against Pele. On the hill\nwhere they stood were some of the lehua trees with their brilliant red\nblossoms. She plucked the flowers, made wreaths, and going close to\nLohiau hung them around his neck.\n\nAll through the long journey to the crater Lohiau had been gaining a\nfull appreciation of the bravery, the unselfishness, and the wholly\nlovable character of Hiiaka. He had proposed frequently that they be\nhusband and wife. Now, as they stood on the brink of the crater with\nall the proof of Pele\u2019s oath-breaking around them Hiiaka gave way\nentirely. She chanted while she fastened the flowers tightly around him\nand while her arms were playing around his neck:\n\n\n       \u201cHiiaka is the wife.\n        Caught in the embrace with the flowers.\n        The slender thread is fast.\n        Around him the leis from the land of the lehuas are fastened.\n        I am the wife\u2014The clouds are blown down\n        Hiding the sea at Hilo.\u201d\n\n\nLohiau had no longer any remnant of affection for Pele. Hiiaka had\nfulfilled her vow and Pele had broken all her promises. Lohiau and\nHiiaka were now husband and wife. Pele had lost forever her husband of\nthe long sleep.\n\nPele was uncontrollable in her jealous rage. One of the legends says\nthat even while Lohiau and Hiiaka were embracing each other Pele ran up\nthe hill and threw her arms around his feet and black lava congealed\nover them. Then she caught his knees and then his body. Lava followed\nevery clasp of the arms of Pele, until at last his whole body was\nengulfed in a lava flow. His spirit leaped from the body into some\nclumps of trees and ferns not far away.\n\nAnother legend says that Pele sent her brother Lono-makua, with his\nhelpers, to kindle eruptions around Lohiau and Hiiaka. This could not\nharm Hiiaka, for she was at home in the worst violence of volcanic\nflames, but it meant death to Lohiau.\n\nLono-makua kindled fires all around Lohiau, but for a long time\nrefrained from attacking him.\n\nHiiaka could not see the pit as clearly as Lohiau, so she asked if\nPele\u2019s fires were coming. He chanted:\n\n\n       \u201cHot is this mountain of the priest.\n        Rain is weeping on the awa.\n        I look over the rim of the crater.\n        Roughly tossing is the lava below.\n        Coming up to the forest\u2014\n        Attacking the trees\u2014\n        Clouds of smoke from the crater.\u201d\n\n\nThe lava came up, surrounding them. Tossing fountains of lava\nbespattered them. Wherever any spot of his body was touched Lohiau\nbecame stone. He uttered incantations and used all his powers as a\nsorcerer-chief. The lava found it difficult to overwhelm him. Pele sent\nincreased floods of burning rock upon him. Lohiau\u2019s body was all turned\nto stone. His spirit fled from the pit to the cool places of a forest\non a higher part of the surrounding mountains.\n\nHiiaka was crazed by the death of Lohiau. She had fought against the\neruption; now she caught the lava, tore it to pieces, and broke down\nthe walls toward the innermost depths of their lava home. She began to\nopen the pit for the coming of the sea.\n\nPele and her sisters were frightened. Pele called Wahine-omao from her\nprison and listened to the story of Hiiaka\u2019s faithfulness. Chagrined\nand full of self-blame, she told Wahine-omao how to restore happiness\nto her friend.\n\nWahine-omao went to Hiiaka and softly chanted by the side of the crazy\none who was breaking up the pit. She told the story of the journey\nafter Lohiau and the possibility of seeking the wandering ghost.\n\nHiiaka turned from the pit and sought Lohiau. Many were the adventures\nin ghost-land. At last the ghost was found. Lohiau\u2019s body was freed\nfrom the crust of lava and healed and the ghost put back in its former\nhome. A second time Hiiaka had given life to Lohiau.\n\nHiiaka and Lohiau went to Kauai, where, as chief and chiefess, they\nlived happily until real death came to Lohiau.\n\n\n\nThen Hiiaka returned to her place in the Pele family. It was said that\nWahine-omao became the wife of Lono-makua, the one kindling volcanic\nfire.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nXVIII\n\nTHE ANNIHILATION OF KEOUA\u2019S ARMY\n\n\nAlmost exactly thirty-four years before Kapiolani defied the worship of\nthe fire-goddess Pele, Keoua, a high chief, lost a large part of his\narmy near the volcano Kilauea. This was in November, 1790.\n\nKa-lani-opuu had been king over the island Hawaii. When he died in\n1782, he left the kingdom to his son Kiwalao, giving the second place\nto his nephew Kamehameha.\n\nWar soon arose between the cousins. Kamehameha defeated and killed the\nyoung king. Kiwalao\u2019s half-brother Keoua escaped to his district Ka-u,\non the southwestern side of the island. His uncle Keawe-mau-hili\nescaped to his district Hilo on the southeastern side.\n\nFor some years the three factions practically let each other alone,\nalthough there was desultory fighting. Then the high chief of Hilo\naccepted Kamehameha as his king and sent his sons to aid Kamehameha in\nconquering the island Maui.\n\nKeoua was angry with his uncle Keawe-mau-hili. He attacked Hilo, killed\nhis uncle and ravaged Kamehameha\u2019s lands along the northeastern side of\nthe island.\n\nKamehameha quickly returned from Maui and made an immediate attack on\nhis enemy, who had taken possession of a fertile highland plain called\nWaimea. From this method of forcing unexpected battle came the Hawaiian\nsaying, \u201cThe spear seeks Waimea like the wind.\u201d\n\nKeoua was defeated and driven through forests along the eastern side of\nMauna Kea (The white mountain) to Hilo. Then Kamehameha sent warriors\naround the western side of the island to attack Keoua\u2019s home district.\nMeanwhile, after a sea fight in which he defeated the chiefs of the\nislands Maui and Oahu, he set his people to building a great temple\nchiefly for his war-god Ka-ili. This was the last noted temple built on\nall the islands.\n\nKeoua heard of the attack on his home, therefore he gave the fish-ponds\nand fertile lands of Hilo to some of his chiefs and hastened to cross\nthe island with his army by way of a path near the volcano Kilauea. He\ndivided his warriors into three parties, taking charge of the first in\nperson. They passed the crater at a time of great volcanic activity. A\nnative writer, probably Kamakau, in the native newspaper Kuokoa, 1867,\ndescribes the destruction of the central part of this army by an awful\nexplosion from Kilauea. He said: \u201cThus was it done. Sand, ashes, and\nstones grew up from the pit into a very high column of fire, standing\nstraight up. The mountains of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa were below it.\nThe people even from Ka-wai-hae [a seaport on the opposite side of the\nmountains] saw this wonderful column with fire glowing and blazing to\nits very top. When this column became great it blew all to pieces into\nsand and ashes and great stones, which for some days continued to fall\naround the sides of Kilauea. Men, women, and children were killed.\nMona, one of the army, who saw all this but who escaped, said that one\nof the chiefesses was ill and some hundreds of the army had delayed\ntheir journey to guard her and so escaped this death.\u201d\n\nDibble, the first among the missionaries to prepare a history of the\nislands, gave the following description of the event:\n\n\u201cKeoua\u2019s path led by the great volcano of Kilauea. There they encamped.\nIn the night a terrific eruption took place, throwing out flame,\ncinders, and even heavy stones to a great distance and accompanied from\nabove with intense lightning and heavy thunder. In the morning Keoua\nand his companions were afraid to proceed and spent the day in trying\nto appease the goddess of the volcano, whom they supposed they had\noffended the day before by rolling stones into the crater. But on the\nsecond night and on the third night also there were similar eruptions.\nOn the third day they ventured to proceed on their way, but had not\nadvanced far before a more terrible and destructive eruption than any\nbefore took place; an account of which, taken from the lips of those\nwho were part of the company and present in the scene, may not be an\nunwelcome digression.\n\n\u2018The army of Keoua set out on their way in three different companies.\nThe company in advance had not proceeded far before the ground began to\nshake and rock beneath their feet and it became quite impossible to\nstand. Soon a dense cloud of darkness was seen to rise out of the\ncrater, and almost at the same instant the electrical effect upon the\nair was so great that the thunder began to roar in the heavens and the\nlightning to flash. It continued to ascend and spread abroad until the\nwhole region was enveloped and the light of day was entirely excluded.\nThe darkness was the more terrific, being made visible by an awful\nglare from streams of red and blue light variously combined that issued\nfrom the pit below, and being lit up at intervals by the intense\nflashes of lightning from above. Soon followed an immense volume of\nsand and cinders which were thrown in high heaven and came down in a\ndestructive shower for many miles around. Some few persons of the\nforward company were burned to death by the sand and cinders and others\nwere seriously injured. All experienced a suffocating sensation upon\nthe lungs and hastened on with all possible speed.\n\n\u2018The rear body, which was nearest the volcano at the time of the\neruption, seemed to suffer the least injury, and after the earthquake\nand shower of sand had passed over, hastened forward to escape the\ndangers which threatened them, and rejoicing in mutual congratulations\nthat they had been preserved in the midst of such imminent peril.\n\n\u2018But what was their surprise and consternation when, on coming up with\ntheir comrades of the centre party, they discovered them all to have\nbecome corpses. Some were lying down, and others sitting upright\nclasping with dying grasp their wives and children and joining noses\n(their form of expressing affection) as in the act of taking a final\nleave. So much like life they looked that they at first supposed them\nmerely at rest, and it was not until they had come up to them and\nhandled them that they could detect their mistake. Of the whole party,\nincluding women and children, not one of them survived to relate the\ncatastrophe that had befallen their comrades. The only living being\nthey found was a solitary hog, in company with one of the families\nwhich had been so suddenly bereft of life. In those perilous\ncircumstances, the surviving party did not even stay to bewail their\nfate, but, leaving their deceased companions as they found them,\nhurried on and overtook the company in advance at the place of their\nencampment.\u2019\n\n\u201cKeoua and his followers, of whom the narrator of this scene were a\npart, retreated in the direction they had come. On their return, they\nfound their deceased friends as they had left them, entire and\nexhibiting no other marks of decay than a sunken hollowness in their\neyes; the rest of their bodies was in a state of entire preservation.\nThey were never buried, and their bones lay bleaching in the sun and\nrain for many years.\u201d\n\nA blast of sulphurous gas, a shower of heated embers, or a volume of\nheated steam would sufficiently account for this sudden death. Some of\nthe narrators who saw the corpses affirm that, though in no place\ndeeply burnt, yet they were thoroughly scorched.\u201d\n\nKeoua\u2019s prophets ascribed this blow from the gods to their high chief\u2019s\ndislike of Hilo and gift to sub-chiefs of the fish-ponds, which were\nconsidered the favorite food-producers for offerings to Hiiaka, the\nyoungest member of the Pele family.\n\nKamehameha\u2019s prophets said that this eruption was the favor of the gods\non his temple building.\n\nThe people said it was proof that Pele had taken Kamehameha under her\nespecial protection and would always watch over his interests and make\nhim the chief ruler.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nXIX\n\nDESTRUCTION OF KAMEHAMEHA\u2019S FISH-PONDS\n\n\nMount Hualalai is on the western side of the island Hawaii. It has been\nannounced as an extinct volcano because few signs of volcanic life\nappear at present; but in the year 1801 there was a very violent\neruption from the foot of the mountain, and the expectation of future\naction is so strong that scientists classify Hualalai as \u201cactive.\u201d\n\nEllis, writing in 1824, says: \u201cThis eruption of 1801 poured over\nseveral villages, destroyed a number of plantations and extensive\nfish-ponds, filled up a deep bay twenty miles in length, and formed the\npresent coast. An Englishman who saw the eruption has frequently told\nus that he was astonished at the irresistible impetuosity of the\ntorrent. Stone walls, trees, and houses all gave way before it. Even\nlarge masses or rocks of ancient lava, when surrounded by the fiery\nstream, soon split into small fragments and falling into the burning\nmass appeared to melt again while borne by it down the mountain side.\nNumerous offerings were presented and many hogs were thrown alive into\nthe stream to appease the anger of the gods, by whom they supposed it\nwas directed, and to stay its devastating course. All seemed unavailing\nuntil one day King Kamehameha went to the flowing lava, attended by a\nlarge retinue of chiefs and priests, and as the most valuable offering\nhe could make, cut off part of his own hair which was always considered\nsacred and threw it into the torrent. In a day or two the lava ceased\nto flow. The gods, it was thought, were satisfied. The people\nattributed this escape to the influence of Kamehameha with the deities\nof the volcanoes.\u201d\n\nThere are several very interesting \u201cblowholes\u201d in this lava. When the\nlava struck the waves, the surface and sides were hardened, but the red\nmolten mass inside rolled on into the sea. Thus many sea-caves were\nformed, into which waves beat violently with every incoming tide. If\nthe shore end of a cave broke open, a fine outlet was made for the\ntorrents which were hurled up through the opening in splendid fountains\nof spray.\n\nThe account in the Kuokoa, a newspaper published in the native\nlanguage, in 1867, adds to the story of the foreigner the element of\nsuperstition, and is practically as follows:\n\nPele began to eat Hue-hue, a noted breadfruit [19] forest owned by\nKamehameha. She was jealous of him and angry because he was stingy in\nhis offerings of breadfruit from the tabu grove of Hue-hue. This was\nthe place where the eruption broke out.\n\nAfter she had destroyed the breadfruit grove, she went in her river of\nfire down to the seashore to take Kamehameha\u2019s fish-ponds. She greatly\ndesired the awa fish with the mullet in the fish-pond at Kiholo, and\nshe wanted the aku or bonita in the fish-pond at Ka-ele-hulu-hulu. She\nbecame a roaring flood, widely spread out, hungry for the fish.\n\nKamehameha was very much ashamed for the evil which had come upon the\nland and the destruction of his fish-ponds. Villages had been\noverwhelmed. Several coconut [20] groves had been destroyed, and lava\nland was built out into the sea.\n\nThere were no priests who could stop this a-a eruption by their\npriestly skill. Their powers were dulled in the presence of Pele. They\noffered pigs and fruits of all kinds, throwing them into the fire. They\nuttered all their known incantations and prayers. They called to the\nau-makuas (ancestor ghost-gods), but without avail.\n\nKamehameha sent for Ka-maka-o-ke-akua (The-eye-of-the-god), one of the\nprophets of Pele, and said: \u201cYou are a prophet of Pele. I have sent for\nyou because I am much distressed by the destruction of the land and the\nponds by the sea. How can I quiet the anger of Pele?\u201d\n\nThe prophet bowed his head for a time, then, looking up, said, \u201cThe\nanger of the god will cease when you offer sacrifice to her.\u201d\n\nThe king said, \u201cPerhaps you will take the sacrifice.\u201d\n\nThe prophet said: \u201cFrom the old time even until now there has been no\nprophet or priest of the mo-o or dragon clan who has done this thing.\nIt would not please the goddess. The high chief of the troubled land,\nwith a prophet or priest, is the only one who can make peace. He must\ntake his own offering to the fire as to an altar in a temple. Then the\nanger of the goddess will be satisfied and the trouble ended.\u201d\n\nKamehameha said: \u201cI am afraid of Pele. Perhaps I shall be killed.\u201d\n\nThe prophet replied, \u201cYou shall not die.\u201d\n\nThe king prepared offerings and sacrifices for Pele and, as a royal\npriest, went to the place where the lava was still pouring in floods\nout of its new-born crater.\n\nKaahumanu, the queen, and many other high chiefs and chiefesses thought\nthey would go and die with him if Pele should persist in punishing him.\nOne of the high chiefesses, Ululani, had lost a child some time before.\nThis child after death was given to Pele with sacrifices and ceremonies\nwhich would make it one of the ghost-gods connected with the Pele\nfamily.\n\nA prophet told Kaahumanu: \u201cThe Pele who is in the front of this\noutburst of fire is not strange to us. It is the child of Ululani.\u201d\n\nKaahumanu took Ululani with her to the side of the lava flow.\n\nThere they saw the lava like a river of fire flowing toward the west,\ngoing straight down to the sea with leaping flames and uplifting\nfountains of smoke. There was a very strong flashing light breaking out\nat the front of the descending lava.\n\nUlulani asked, \u201cWho is that very strange fire in front of Pele?\u201d The\nfire was active as if it had life in itself.\n\nThe prophet replied: \u201cThat is the child among the au-makuas. That is\nyour first-born.\u201d\n\nThen came great winds and a mighty storm. Houses were overturned and\ntrees blown down.\n\nKamehameha and the prophet went up to the side of the lava and placed\nofferings and sacrifices in the flowing fire. They prayed to Pele, but\nthe fire burned on. Kamehameha then cut some of the hair from his head\nand threw it in the fire as his last offering, thus giving himself to\nthe god of fire. Then they came away and soon the fire went out.\n\nIt should be remembered that in recent years, when a lava flow came\ndown on the city of Hilo, threatening its destruction, Princess Ruth,\none of the last of the Kamehameha family, went from Honolulu to Hilo\nand up to the river of lava with the feeling that a Kamehameha who was\nunder the especial protection of Pele could intercede for the welfare\nof the people. It is certain that she came at a very opportune time,\nfor the eruption ceased in a day or so.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nXX\n\nKAPIOLANI AND PELE\n\n\nThe story of the high chiefess Kapiolani and her conflict with Pele,\nthe goddess of Kilauea, in December, 1824, is historic. It belongs,\nhowever, to the volcanoes of the Hawaiian Islands, and is more\nimportant than any myth.\n\nKapiolani was the daughter of Keawe-mau-hili, who was the high chief of\nthe district of Hilo. He was the uncle of Kiwalao, the young king of\nthe island Hawaii, who was killed by Kamehameha\u2019s warriors when\nKamehameha became king of that island.\n\nKapiolani as a little child was in the camp with her father at the time\nof the battle. She was in danger of death, but some men carried her\nover the mountains through a multitude of difficulties back to Hilo.\nShe became a tall, portly woman, with keen black eyes and an engaging\ncountenance, a queen in appearance when with other chiefs or\nchiefesses. She was not a queen, nor was she even a princess, although\nby blood relationship she belonged to the royal family. She was the\nwife of Na-ihe, who was the high chief of the district of Kona on the\nwestern side of the island Hawaii.\n\nNa-ihe (The spears) was said to be the national orator or best speaker\non government affairs among the chiefs. Kapiolani\n(The-bending-arch-of-heaven) was very intelligent, quick-witted, and\nfearless. They were both so influential that they were chosen by the\ngreat Kamehameha as members of his council of chiefs and were retained\nby his son Liholiho, or Kamehameha II.\n\nWhen the missionaries of the American Board from Boston arrived, April\n4, 1820, at Kailua Bay on the western coast of Hawaii, they landed in\nterritory nominally controlled by Na-ihe and Kapiolani, although at\nthat particular time the young king, Liholiho, and his court were in\nKona, and were the real rulers.\n\nHowever, when the missionaries had reduced the language to writing and\nhad begun to print leaflets for spelling and reading, in 1822, Na-ihe\nand Kapiolani were among the first chiefs to welcome instruction and\naccept Christianity as far as they could understand it.\n\nIn 1823 a delegation of missionaries went around the island Hawaii.\nThey visited the volcano Kilauea and wrote the first really good\ndescription of the crater and its activity. The natives were astonished\nto see the perfect safety of the missionaries, although the worship and\ntabus of Pele were absolutely ignored. Ohelo [21] berries and\nstrawberries growing on the brink of the crater were freely eaten and\nthe lake of fire explored without even a thought of fear of the\ngoddess.\n\nIn the course of their journey the missionaries met a priestess of\nPele. The priestess, assuming a haughty air, said: \u201cI am Pele, I shall\nnever die. Those who follow me, if part of their bones are taken to\nKilauea, will live in the bright fire there.\u201d A missionary said, \u201cAre\nyou Pele?\u201d She said, \u201cYes, I am Pele,\u201d then proceeded to state her\npowers. A chief of low rank who had been a royal messenger under\nKamehameha, and who was making the journey with the missionaries,\ninterrupted the woman, saying: \u201cThen it is true, you are Pele, and have\ndestroyed the land, killed the people, and have spoiled the\nfishing-grounds. If I were the king I would throw you into the sea.\u201d\nThe priestess was quick-witted and said that truly she had done some\nharm, but the rum of the foreigners was far more destructive.\n\nAll this prepared the way for Kapiolani to attempt to break down the\nworship of the fire-goddess. It must be remembered that Kapiolani had\nbeen under the influence of thoughtful civilization only about three\nyears when she decided that she would attack the idolatry which, of all\nidol worship, was the most firmly entrenched in the hearts of her\npeople because it was founded on the mysterious forces of nature. She\naccepted implicitly the word of the missionaries, that their God was\nthe one god of nature. Therefore she had rejected the fire-goddess with\nall the other deities formerly worshipped in Hawaii. She was, however,\npractically alone in her determination to strike a blow against the\nworship of Pele.\n\nPriests of Pele were numerous on the island Hawaii. Women were among\nthose of highest rank in that priesthood. Many of the personal\nfollowers of Kapiolani were worshippers. Even Na-ihe, her husband, had\nnot been able to free himself from superstitious fears. When Kapiolani\nsaid that she was going to prove the falsity of the worship of Pele,\nthere was a storm of heartfelt opposition. The priests and worshippers\nof Pele honestly believed that divine punishment would fall on her.\nThose who were Christians were afraid that some awful explosion might\noverwhelm the company, as a large body of warriors had been destroyed\nthirty-four years before.\n\nNa-ihe, still strongly under the influence of superstition, urged her\nnot to go. All this opposition arose from her warm friends. When her\ndetermination was seen to be immovable, some of the priests of Pele\nbecame bitterly angry and in their rage prophesied most awful results.\n\nWhen Kapiolani left her home in Kona her people, with great wailing,\nagain attempted to persuade her to stay with them. The grief,\nstimulated by fear of things supernatural, was uncontrollable. The\npeople followed their chiefess some distance with prayers and tears.\n\nFor more than a hundred miles she journeyed, usually walking, sometimes\nhaving a smooth path, but again having to cross miles of the roughest,\nmost rugged and sharp-edged lava on the island Hawaii. At last the\nparty came to the vicinity of the volcano. This was not by the present\nroad, but along the smoother, better way, used for centuries on the\nsouth side of the crater toward the ocean.\n\nToward the close of the day they crossed steaming cracks and chasms and\ndrew nearer to the foul-smelling, gaseous clouds of smoke which blew\ntoward them from the great crater. Here a priestess of Pele of the\nhighest rank came to meet the party and turn them away from the\ndominions of the fire-goddess unless they would offer appropriate\nsacrifices. She knew Kapiolani\u2019s purpose, and determined to frustrate\nit.\n\nFormerly there had been a temple near the brink of the crater on the\nsoutheast side. This, according to Ellis, bore the name Oala-laua. He\nsays, \u201cIt was a temple of Pele, of which Ka-maka-a-ke-akua\n(The-eye-of-God), a distinguished soothsayer who died in the reign of\nKamehameha, was many years priest.\u201d The temple was apparently deserted\nat the time of the overthrow of the tabu in 1819, and the priests had\ngone to the lower and better cultivated lands of Puna, where they had\ntheir headquarters. However, they still worshipped Pele and sacrificed\nto her.\n\nThis priestess who faced Kapiolani was very haughty and bold. She\nforbade her to approach any nearer to the volcano on pain of death at\nthe hands of the furious goddess Pele.\n\n\u201cWho are you?\u201d asked Kapiolani.\n\n\u201cI am one in whom the God dwells.\u201d\n\n\u201cIf God dwells in you, then you are wise and can teach me. Come and sit\ndown.\u201d\n\nThe priestess had seen printed pages or heard about them, so she drew\nout a piece of kapa, or paper made from the bark of trees, [22] and\nsaying that this was a letter from Pele began to read or rather mumble\nan awful curse.\n\nThe people with Kapiolani were hushed into a terrified silence, but she\nlistened quietly until the priestess, carried beyond her depth, read a\nconfused mass of jumbled words, and unintelligible noises, which she\ncalled \u201cThe dialect of the ancient Pele.\u201d\n\nThen Kapiolani took her spelling-book, and a little book of a few\nprinted hymns, and said: \u201cYou have pretended to deliver a message from\nyour god, but we have not understood it. Now I will read you a message\nwhich you can understand, for I, too, have a letter.\u201d Then she read\nclearly the Biblical sentences printed in the spelling-book and some of\nthe hymns. The priestess was silenced.\n\nMeanwhile, the missionaries at Hilo, a hundred and fifty miles from\nKona, heard that Kapiolani had started on this strenuous undertaking.\nThey felt that some one of the Christian teachers should be with her.\nMr. Ruggles had been without shoes for several months and could not go.\nMr. Goodrich, the other missionary stationed at Hilo, was almost as\nbadly off, but was more accustomed to travelling barefoot. So he went\nup through the tangled masses of sharp-edged lava, grass, strong-leaved\nferns, and thick woods to meet the chiefess as she came to the crater.\n\nKapiolani passed the priestess, went on to the crater, met Mr.\nGoodrich, and was much affected by the effort he had made to aid her in\nher attempt to break down the worship of Pele. It was now evening, and\na hut was built to shelter her until the next day came, when she could\nhave the opportunity of descending into the crater.\n\nMr. Richards, a missionary, later wrote as follows: \u201cAlong the way to\nthe volcano she was accosted by multitudes and entreated not to\nproceed. She answered, \u2018If I am destroyed, then you may all believe in\nPele, but if I am not, you must all turn to the true writings.\u2019\u201d\n\nThe great crater at that time had a black ledge or shelf, below which\nthe active lakes and fountains of fire, in many places, broke through\nand kept turbulent a continually changing mass over five miles in\ncircumference. Here in the large cones built up by leaping lava, the\nnatives said, were the homes of the family of Pele. Here the deities\namused themselves in games. The roaring of the furnaces and crackling\nof flames was the music of drums beaten for the accompaniment of the\nhousehold dances. The red flaming surge was the surf wherein they\nplayed.\n\nAs the morning light brought a wonderful view of the Lua Pele\n(The-pit-of-Pele) with its great masses of steam and smoke rising from\nthe immense field of volcanic activity below, and as the rush of mighty\nwaves of lava broke again and again against the black ledge with a roar\nexceeding that of a storm-driven surf beating upon rocky shores, and as\nfierce explosions of gases bursting from the underworld in a continual\ncannonade, deafened the ears of the company, Kapiolani prepared to go\ndown to defy Pele.\n\nThis must have been one of the few grand scenes of history. There was\nthe strong, brave convert to Christianity standing above the open lake\nof fire, the red glowing lava rolling in waves below, with rough blocks\nof hardened lava on every side, the locks (Pele\u2019s hair) of the\nfire-goddess, torn out and whirling around in the air, the timid\nfearful faces of the people and their attitude of terror and anxiety\nshowing the half-hope that the tabu might be broken and the half-dread\nlest the evil spirit might breathe fire upon them and destroy them at\nonce.\n\nMr. Richards says: \u201cA man whose duty it was to feed Pele, by throwing\nberries and the like into the volcano, entreated her to go no farther.\n\u2018And what,\u2019 said she, \u2018will be the harm?\u2019 The man replied, \u2018You will\ndie by Pele.\u2019 Kapiolani answered, \u2018I shall not die by your god. That\nfire was kindled by my God.\u2019 The man was silent and she went onward,\ndescending several hundred feet, and there joined in a prayer to\nJehovah. She also ate the berries consecrated to Pele, and threw stones\ninto the volcano.\u201d\n\nBingham in his \u201cSandwich Islands\u201d says: \u201cThen with the terrific\nbellowing and whizzing of the volcanic gases they mingled their voices\nin a solemn hymn of praise to the true God, and at the instance of the\nchiefess, Alapai, one of Kapiolani\u2019s attendants, led them in prayer.\u201d\n\nThe party returned to the brink of the crater, and journeyed down to\nHilo.\n\nAlexander in the \u201cHistory of the Hawaiian People\u201d says, \u201cThis has\njustly been called one of the greatest acts of moral courage ever\nperformed.\u201d\n\nRichards states that the leader of Kapiolani\u2019s party said to him: \u201cAll\nthe people of the district saw that she was not injured and have\npronounced Pele to be powerless.\u201d\n\nThe influence of Kapiolani against this most influential form of\nidolatrous worship was felt throughout the whole nation.\n\nIn 1836, twelve years later, Rev. Titus Coan wrote about the coming of\nmany natives into a Christian life. He says: \u201cIn 1836, twelve years\nafter the visit of Kapiolani, among these converts was the High Priest\nof the volcano. He was more than six feet tall, and was of lofty\nbearing. He had been an idolater, a drunkard, an adulterer, a robber,\nand a murderer. His sister was more haughty and stubborn. She, too, was\ntall and majestic in her bearing. At length she yielded and with her\nbrother became a docile member of the church.\u201d\n\nBut it was Lord Tennyson who set down for posterity the heroic deed of\nthe great queen in the following beautiful poem:\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nKAPIOLANI.\n\n\n    I.\n\n    When from the terrors of Nature a people have\n            fashion\u2019d and worship a Spirit of Evil\n    Blest be the Voice of the Teacher who calls to\n            them,\n      \u201cSet yourselves free!\u201d\n\n\n    II.\n\n    Noble the Saxon who hurled at his Idol a valorous\n            weapon in olden England!\n    Great, and greater, and greatest of women, island\n            heroine Kapiolani\n    Clomb the mountain, and flung the berries and\n            dared the Goddess, and freed the people\n      Of Hawa-i-ee!\n\n\n    III.\n\n    A people believing that Peel\u00e8 the Goddess would\n            wallow in fiery riot and revel\n      On Kilauea,\n    Dance in a fountain of flame with her devils or\n            shake with her thunders and shatter her\n                island,\n    Rolling her anger\n    Thro\u2019 blasted valley and flowing forest in blood-red\n            cataracts down to the sea!\n\n\n    IV.\n\n    Long as the lava-light\n      Glares from the lava-lake,\n      Dazing the starlight;\n    Long as the silvery vapor in daylight,\n      Over the mountain\n    Floats, will the glory of Kapiolani be mingled with\n            either on Hawa-i-ee.\n\n\n    V.\n\n    What said her Priesthood?\n      \u201cWoe to this island if ever a woman should handle\n            or gather the berries of Peel\u00e8!\n    Accursed were she!\n    And woe to this island if ever a woman should\n            climb to the dwelling of Peel\u00e8 the Goddess!\n    Accursed were she!\u201d\n\n\n    VI.\n\n    One from the Sunrise\n    Dawned on His people and slowly before him\n      Vanished shadow-like\n      Gods and Goddesses,\n    None but the terrible Peel\u00e8 remaining as Kapiolani\n      Ascended her mountain,\n    Baffled her priesthood,\n      Broke the Taboo,\n      Dipt to the crater,\n    Called on the Power adored by the Christian and\n            crying, \u201cI dare her, let Peel\u00e8 avenge herself!\u201d\n    Into the flame-billows dashed the berries, and drove\n            the demon from Hawa-i-ee.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nPART II\n\nGEOLOGICAL FACTS\n\nNote: The following articles pertaining to the geological formation of\nthe Hawaiian Islands were written by the author at different times for\nthe various local periodicals in Honolulu and will be found interesting\nby those who wish to increase their knowledge of volcanology.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nI\n\nTHE CRACK IN THE FLOOR OF THE PACIFIC\n\n\nA geological or earthquake map of the Pacific shows that the ocean is\nbordered by ranges of volcanic mountains on the American side, and by a\nlong chain of volcanic islands, such as the Aleutian, Japanese, and\nFormosa islands along the coast of Asia. It is also clear that between\nAmerica and Asia connected islands built up by volcanic action follow\nwhat appear to be cracks in the floor of the Pacific.\n\nIt is interesting to note the fact that all along the western coast of\nNorth and South America there is only a comparatively narrow strip of\nland between the mountain ranges and the sea, and that from the edge of\nthis narrow seacoast there is a rapid descent in the ocean bed until it\nbecomes one of the most profound oceanic depressions on the globe. The\ndepth of the floor of the ocean is greater than the enormous elevation\nof the mountain ranges along its edge. \u201cThe Challenger\u201d surveyors give\nthe average depth of the Pacific Ocean as about 2,400 fathoms, while\nbetween the Caroline and Ladrone groups of islands lies a valley whose\nooze-carpeted floor can be reached only by a sounding line about 25,000\nfeet long, and near Japan about 30,000 feet of line is needed to reach\nthe bottom of one of the deepest pits on the globe.\n\nThe German survey ship \u201cPlanet\u201d has made the deepest sounding thus far\ntaken. About forty sea miles off the north coast of Mindanao, the\nlargest and most southerly of the important islands of the Philippines,\nthe \u201cPlanet\u201d found a depth of 32,078 feet. In other words, the Pacific\nOcean where the sounding was taken has a depth of 6.07 miles, exceeding\nby 482 feet the greatest depth hitherto known.\n\nIn 1901 the United States survey ship \u201cNero,\u201d while studying out a\nroute for a cable line to the Philippines, made a sounding some\ndistance to the southeast of the island of Guam of 31,596 feet, which\nbeat the world\u2019s record for sea depth up to that time. This is a depth\nof 5.98 miles, and is known as the \u201cNero\u201d deep. The surpassing sea\ndepth now discovered may appropriately be named the \u201cPlanet\u201d deep.\n\nOut of these awful ocean depths have come the chains and groups of\nislands which form Polynesia. It seems absolutely necessary to\nrecognize the cracks in the floor of the ocean through which the vast\nfloods of lava were forced for the upbuilding of these islands. Even\nthe coral polyps had to have the edge of a crater to work on while\nbuilding the innumerable coral reefs of the Pacific.\n\nNo one knows what mighty conflicts were fought between the two eternal\nenemies, fire and water; nor does anyone know how long they fought\nwhile these islands were being built into mountains, but there must\nhave been ages when the skies were filled with rolling masses of clouds\nof steam sent up through boiling, turbulent waters with awful\nexplosions of escaping gases before the dry land appeared on the face\nof the deep. It has been the modern story of creation. There were\nboiling seas and skies always covered with vast masses of steam clouds,\nthen ages of mountain building at the hands of chaotic fire-rock, and\nthe subsequent ages of the disintegration of lava, forming soil for the\ncoming of plant and animal life.\n\nThe building of these islands has been a most stupendous task, and the\nchains of islands resulting from the tremendous volcanic energy still\nexhibit immense activity. The volcanic outbreaks and earthquakes of the\nJapanese islands from Nippon to Formosa are so frequent as to afford an\nexcellent field for study. The New Zealand islands have a volcanic\nregion around Roturua which is visited by numbers of tourists every\nyear.\n\nIslands appear and disappear in the Western Pacific. None of the\nislands have so good a tradition of these turbulent times as the\nHawaiian group, and they have only a statement made by William Ellis in\nhis book, \u201cA Tour through Hawaii,\u201d published in 1826. He says that\nwhile on this tour around the island Hawaii, he stopped with John\nYoung, who is now stated to have been an American sailor and a close\nfriend of the great king Kamehameha I. \u201cMr. Young said that among many\ntraditionary accounts of the origin of the island, one was that in\nformer times, when there was nothing but sea, an immense bird settled\non the water and laid an egg which soon bursting produced the island\nHawaii.\u201d\n\nIt must be remembered that the Hawaiians also have the pulling up of\nthe islands with a fish-hook by the demi-god Maui, who fished up many\nislands in Polynesia.\n\nIt has been nearly a hundred years since Ellis made the brief reference\nto the production of an island by the explosion of the egg, and now it\nis impossible to secure any enlargement of the legend. The story stands\nas an ancient memory of volcanic activity so mighty and so extensive as\nto produce islands in the time of human experience.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nII\n\nHAWAIIAN VOLCANOES\n\n\nEach island has its extinct craters from which extend the limited\nranges of mountains and plains which make the island surface. These\nlarge craters are from a few hundred to over thirteen thousand feet in\naltitude. They seem to have had mighty explosions after they had been\nbuilt into mountains, and one side of the crater has usually been blown\nout or has slid down into the ocean, leaving very high, steep side\nwalls around irregularly shaped valleys opening toward the sea.\n\nIn these craters and between them and the sea are many small craters\nwhich mark the most recent eruptions on the various islands. There are\nno legends of the origin of any of these large craters, whether extinct\nor active. There are very interesting stories connected with many of\nthem, and there are legends of the origin of some of the small extinct\ncraters which lie at the bases of the mountain ranges. These usually\nare ascribed to the fire-goddess Pele, who came to the Hawaiian group\nages after the islands were built, and who only succeeded in starting\neruptions of no great importance until she found her present home in\nthe volcano Kilauea. These small extinct craters marked the progress of\nPele\u2019s journey through the islands.\n\nThe large mountains of all the islands, except Hawaii, have no hot\nsprings and no outlets for steam or hot air which would indicate any\nremnant of living fire still abiding in them. Nor are there any very\nnoticeable earthquake shocks in these other islands, even at the time\nwhen the island Hawaii is pouring floods of lava down its mountain\nsides and is shaking its inhabitants with great force.\n\nOpen volcanic activity is confined to the mountains of Hawaii. The\nmountains of Maui, especially Hale-a-ka-la, are called active because\nof historic eruptions and signs of hidden fire.\n\nThe extinct craters are very interesting. They have their broken-down\nside wall, through which the last great effort of volcanic life was\npoured out. They also have crater cones and sometimes lava flows of\nsmall extent on the floor left by the great eruption. These were the\npicturesque last throbs of life as a volcano died. Occasional spasmodic\nefforts were made in both earthquake and lava flow until the fire\ncooled in the submarine chambers.\n\nFrom the summits of all these mountains, peculiarly fine cloud views\ncan be enjoyed. There is not only the gathering of cloud masses rolling\nbeneath the lover of the sublime,\u2014this can be seen on all the large\nmountains of the world,\u2014but here in the Hawaiian Islands the march of\ncloud armies sweeping over an ocean and spreading in ceaseless motion\nfor miles over the lowlands receives an added element of majesty and\nawe when tossing, whirling cloud mountains roll into the extinct\ncraters and slowly fill the bowl of the gods from rim to rim as the\nmorning sun delicately touches the crater edges above the clouds with\nall the colors of the dawn.\n\nHere and there in the decaying volcanic ash and disintegrating lava can\nsometimes be found beautiful, small, star-rayed zeolite, or the pale\ngreen olivine, or coarse black augite crystals. These are of no value,\nsave as they show some of the forms taken by cooling lava, and are of\ninterest chiefly to the scientist.\n\nOn the island Hawaii are three great mountains from 8,200 to 13,600\nfeet above the ocean, which smashes its mighty tides and surf waves\nagainst the coast below. One of these, Mauna Kea (White Mountain), is\nan extinct volcano with a lake of water in its crater. Hualalai is\ndormant, although from it there was a great eruption a little over a\nhundred years ago, and even now possibilities of activity are talked\nabout by those who cultivate sugar-cane and coffee on its lower slopes.\nMauna Loa (Great or long mountain) has a most interesting active crater\non its summit, Mokuaweoweo (Blood-red island), from which enormous\nrivers of lava are hurled down to the waiting ocean many miles below.\n\nWhat is said to be the most active crater in the world, Kilauea, lies\non an eastern spur of Mauna Loa at an elevation of 4,000 feet above the\nsea. This crater is a great caldron or pit crater, and has been known\namong the Hawaiians for centuries as Ka-Lua Pele (The Pit of Pele).\nBelow Kilauea are a number of craters of similar character, great\nsunken holes or pits in a country of almost even surface.\n\nKilauea is a surprise to the tourist. Ki-lau-ea means \u201cthe rising up or\nliving leaf of the ti-plant.\u201d Ea means \u201cto rise up\u201d and also \u201cto live.\u201d\nKi-lau means \u201cti-leaf.\u201d A gradual ascent by rail and motor-car for\nabout thirty miles brings the visitor to a flat region miles in extent\nand sparsely covered with giant ferns [23] and shrubs and gray-leaved\ntrees with fringed red balls of flowers. Here and there small clouds of\nsteam come from crevices around a hotel where the traveller finds his\nresting-place.\n\nIn front of this hotel, and not seen until the motor-car stops, is the\ncrater whose edges are almost level with the surrounding plain. It is a\nprecipice-walled bowl, three miles across, with a multitude of steam\njets breaking through its vast floor and a great cloud of smoke rising\nfrom a pit in a black border-land of frozen lava. Kilauea looks like a\ncongealed lake whose glossy black hard waves had hardened while rolling\nand struggling with each other under some fierce tempest. It is,\nhowever, a cone ascending gradually to the fire-pit from these\nprecipitous edges of the bowl.\n\nUnder the smoke cloud of the pit lies the always active lake of fire,\nKa-Lua Pele (The Pit of Pele), the traditional home of the goddess\nPele, now called Halemaumau (House fixed or continuing).\n\nFrom this volcano Kilauea, and the crater Mokuaweoweo, which lies like\nan island in the top of Mauna Loa, nearly 10,000 feet higher, come\nenormous and sometimes destructive lava flows. They are called rivers\nof lava, but a lava river, unlike a stream of water, flows underneath a\ncontinually cooling and hardening crumpled surface, pushing its way\nfrom under and at last leaving long tunnels. Sometimes new lava melts\nthrough the walls of these caves and pours along the path left ages\nbefore, frequently finding an outlet even under the waves of the sea.\nThe natives say, \u201cPele has gone to the sea by the ala huna [the hidden\npath].\u201d\n\nThere are two kinds of lava which these rivers carry down. One in\ncooling becomes very smooth and hard. Its surface shines like black\nsatin. Professor C. H. Hitchcock, the eminent geologist, says: \u201cThe\nname pa-hoe-hoe signifies having the aspect of satin or having a\nshining smooth surface. It is quite hummocky and shows a wrinkled ropy\nstructure.\u201d The glossy part is real volcanic glass shining on the\nsurface because the silica which is used in making glass rises to the\ntop of the cooling lava. It is lighter than the other ingredients. This\npa-hoe-hoe lava is abundant in the lava fields around Mexico City.\n\nThe name a-a, which signifies \u201ctorn up by roots,\u201d is the name given to\nanother kind of lava. An a-a flow is lava changed into bristling,\nragged rocks, with innumerable fine sharp edges cutting like fragments\nof broken glass. It appears very much like slag from iron furnaces,\nonly infinitely worse to handle.\n\nThese two Hawaiian names are now the accepted scientific names for\nthese classes of lava the world over.\n\nIn 1911 the first successful attempt to secure the temperature of the\nboiling lava in the lake of fire was made scientifically. Professor F.\nG. Perret came from his observatory by Vesuvius and Professor E. G.\nShepherd from the Geophysical Laboratory of the Carnegie Institution at\nWashington, to study Kilauea, following the beginning of such\nobservations already established by Professor Jaggar of the\nMassachusetts Institute of Technology.\n\nThey stretched a wire cable 1,500 feet long from wall to wall over the\nlake of fire. They ran wires through pulleys along this cable and\ndropped the best instruments they had with them straight down. Some of\nthese were broken before registration could be secured. The last\nthermometer registered 1850\u00b0 Fahrenheit, remaining steadily at that\npoint until the thermometer was withdrawn. Later it was again lowered,\nbut, according to Professor Shepherd, \u201cPele arose in her wrath, grasped\nthe thermometer, flung hot lava on the supporting wires, thereby\nweakening them, and then with a final jerk broke the thermometer from\nits supports and swallowed it. Pele seems to like ironware for diet.\u201d\n\nThe record of from 1800\u00b0 to 2000\u00b0 Fahrenheit seems to be the normal\nheat of the lake of fire, sometimes, of course, rising much higher\nunder special conditions. The scientific observers when speaking of\nlava heat usually say it is 1850\u00b0 Fahrenheit.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nIII\n\nVOLCANIC ACTIVITY\n\n\nIn a little note-book in Hilo is a record which from time to time has\nbeen studied and copied frequently by visiting scientists. The\nmissionary mother who put down the facts therein recorded never dreamed\nof being scientific. She simply kept a record. In 1832 Mrs. Sarah J.\nLyman came to Hilo, where her husband founded the Hilo Boys\u2019 Boarding\nSchool, a school, by the way, after which the great Hampton Institute\nof Virginia was patterned. On October 3, 1833, she was tossed around in\nher home in a way somewhat alarming. She opened her little note-book\nand wrote, \u201cTwo earthquakes, one of them heavy.\u201d\n\nShe had a little curiosity to see how frequently these earthquakes\ndisturbed her home. Thus the record went on from month to month and\nyear to year: \u201cEarthquake, motion up and down,\u201d \u201cHeavy shake, stone\nwalls down, cream shaken off the milk,\u201d \u201c4 A.M., all the family\naroused,\u201d \u201cJar and a noise like distant cannon,\u201d \u201cTremendous shock,\nbrace ourselves to stand up,\u201d \u201cKai-mimiki\u201d (sea shaken by an\nearthquake), \u201cAll motions combined, earth like the sea.\u201d At one time\nthe record ran: \u201cFrequent jars, severe, so many I have ceased to\ncount.\u201d\n\nInterspersed through this concise and interesting story of earthquakes\ntold in a few word pictures are many references to other volcanic\nphenomena. \u201cActivity great in Mokuaweoweo. Mountain clear for several\ndays, the smoke is marked, light brilliant at night, snow extensive on\nboth mountains.\u201d\n\nThe year 1868 has been marked as the volcano year of Hawaiian history.\nMr. F. S. Lyman, now living in Hilo, wrote a journal letter, which was\nquoted in full. He writes as follows about the earthquake:\n\n\u201cMarch 27\u201331, 1868. A sudden eruption from Mauna Loa, no forewarning, a\nspray of red lava thrown high in the air, followed by a great stream of\nsmoke rising up thousands of feet. In Kau we had quite a sprinkling of\nPele\u2019s hair, peculiar earthquakes\u2014first hard shakes, then a swaying\nmotion, as if the whole island were swaying back and forth and we with\nit. March 31\u2014From about 10 P.M. to 2 A.M. the shaking was incessant.\nThursday, April 2nd. We experienced the most fearful of earthquakes.\nThe earth swayed north, south, east, west, round and round, up and\ndown, and in every imaginable direction, everything crashing around us,\ntrees thrashing as if torn by a mighty wind, impossible to stand. We\nhad to sit on the ground, bracing with hands and feet, to keep from\nrolling over.\u201d\n\nMr. H. M. Whitney, editor of the Advertiser, says that \u201cthe number of\nshocks which occurred at Waiohinu from March 29 to April 10 was\nestimated at upwards of two thousand. The heaviest shock, that of April\n2d, destroyed every church and nearly every dwelling in the whole\ndistrict. This earthquake was felt very sensibly in Honolulu. Following\nthe earthquake came a great tidal wave at Punaluu. It rolled in over\nthe tops of coconut trees, probably sixty feet high at least, driving\nall floating rubbish inland about a quarter of a mile\u2014taking with it,\nwhen it returned to the sea, houses, men, and women and everything\nmovable.\u201d\n\nMr. Lyman wrote: \u201cWe could see the shore. All along the seashore from\ndirectly below us to Punaluu about three or four miles the sea was\nboiling and foaming furiously, all red.\u201d\n\nTwo remarkable eruptions accompanied this earthquake. The lava,\nstarting from the slope of Mauna Loa, sank into some great channel but\n\u201cburst forth with a heavy roar several miles farther down. The lava\nstream became a river of fire, flowing rapidly toward and around some\nfarmhouses. The inmates had barely time to escape. The path by which\nthey fled was covered with lava within ten minutes after they passed\nover it. Animals and even human beings perished. The number of deaths\nwere between eighty and one hundred. This eruption flowed ten miles in\ntwo hours, and continued five days, destroying many thousands of acres\nof good lands.\u201d The second remarkable eruption was nearer the crater\nKilauea and has been known as \u201cThe Great Mud Flow of 1868.\u201d It is in\nthe region covered by the Pahala plantation.\n\nMr. Lyman writes: \u201cIn the midst of the great earthquake we saw burst\nout from the top of the pali about a mile and a half north of us, what\nwe supposed to be an immense river of molten lava (which afterward\nproved to be red earth), which rushed down in headlong course and\nacross the plain below, apparently bursting from the ground and\nswallowing up everything in its way\u2014trees, houses, cattle, horses, men,\nin an instant as it were. It went three miles in not more than three\nminutes\u2019 time and then stopped. After the hard shaking had ceased we\nwent right over to a hill with the children and our natives expecting\nevery moment to be swallowed up by the lava from beneath, for it\nsounded as if it were surging and washing under our feet all the time.\nOutside of Punaluu we saw a long black point of lava slowly pushing out\nto sea. An island about four hundred feet high rose out of the sea at\nthe south point. The lava river has extended the shore to this island\none mile at least.\u201d\n\nMrs. Lyman wrote: \u201cJan. 30, 1875. Light exceedingly brilliant.\nPerpendicular column of smoke over 1,000 feet high on the summit crater\nspreading out at top like an expanding flower.\u201d This august glow was\ndescribed by members of the \u201cChallenger\u201d expedition as \u201ca globular\ncloud perpetually reformed by condensation, having a brilliant orange\nglow at night as if a fire were raging in the distance.\u201d\n\nThis display from the summit of Mauna Loa continued about eighteen\nmonths.\n\nIsabella Bird Bishop, author of \u201cSix Months in the Sandwich Islands,\u201d\nvisited this active crater in 1874, and wrote about the crater itself.\n\u201cNearly opposite us a fountain of pure yellow fire, unlike the gory\ngleam of Kilauea, was throwing up its glorious incandescence. The\nsunset gold was not purer than the living fire. The roar of this\nsurging lava sea was a glorious sound, the roar of an ocean at dispeace\nmingled with the hollow murmur of surf echoing in sea caves, booming\non, rising and falling like the thunder music of windward Hawaii. The\narea below us was over two miles long and a mile and a half wide with\nprecipitous sides and a broad second shelf about 300 feet below the one\nwe occupied with a fire fountain three-quarters of a mile away. On the\nway up the mountain there was a fearful internal throbbing and\nrumbling, rocks and masses of soil were dislodged, the earth reeled,\nthen rocked again with such violence that I felt as if the horse and\nmyself had gone over.\u201d\n\nDuring these months of 1874\u20131875 there were magnificent exhibitions of\nclouds reflecting volcanic fires caused by the upburst of lava\nfountains.\n\nThe summit crater of Mauna Loa is about 13,000 feet altitude. Snow has\nfrequently covered the top of the mountain, lying in deep banks around\nthe edge of the crater. The cold has acted quickly upon the lake of\nfire, congealing a large part of the surface into a hard floor of lava.\nGases, steam, and smoke lift this floor and break through it with great\nviolence, escaping from the melted lava in pillars of cloud against\nwhich the fires beneath mirror themselves in glorious displays of\ncolor. These outbursts were frequently called eruptions. The modern\nname is more correct. They are \u201cglows,\u201d reflecting wonderful fires\nbeneath.\n\nMrs. Lyman mentions another eruption from the summit of Mauna Loa.\n\u201c1877. Feb. 14. Eruption seen on the mountain. Ten days extinct then\nbroke out lower down the mountain and reached the sea in a few days,\nnear Kaawaloa, Kealakekua Bay.\u201d\n\nDana says, \u201cThe columns of illuminated steam rose with fearful speed to\na height of 14,000 to 17,000 feet and then spread out into a vast fiery\ncloud looking at night as if the heavens were on fire.\u201d\n\nAfter this, there was an underground eruption to the sea marked by a\nfissure down the mountain side through which clouds of steam and smoke\nwere forced. The lava at last found its place for escape under the sea.\n\nH. M. Whitney, the editor of the Hawaiian Gazette, was a witness of\nthis submarine eruption. In the issue of Feb. 28, 1877, he wrote: \u201cAs\nthe steamer Kilauea came toward the bay, the passengers saw some canoes\nrowing about over boiling water. The natives reported that about three\no\u2019clock in the morning of Feb. 24, they had seen innumerable red, blue,\nand green lights dancing in the waters. Morning disclosed a new volcano\nin the sea. The southern shore of the bay has been known as Keei point.\nThe eruption appeared to be in a straight line out from this point.\nThree boats from the steamer went out, cruising over the most active\npart of the boiling waters, appearing as if passing over rapids. Blocks\nof lava two feet across were thrown up from beneath, striking the boats\nand jarring them. The lava was quite soft and no harm was done. Six\nstones hit the boat in one minute. Several hundred pieces of these\nstones were floating on the sea at one time. Nearly all the pieces on\nreaching the surface were red hot, emitting steam and gas strongly\nsulphurous. Several were taken into the boats, perfectly incandescent\nand so molten in the interior that the lava could be stirred with a\nstick, the water having penetrated only about an inch. When these\nstones cooled and became water soaked they sank rapidly. The specimens\ntaken from the water were of the a-a variety and very light. Probably\nonly the lightest came to the surface. Some of the lava consisted of\nPele\u2019s hair, red hot, yet preserving its peculiar characteristics.\u201d\n\nMrs. Lyman has the record of a terrible tidal wave which struck Hilo\nharbor in May of that same year: \u201c1877, May 10. A heavy tidal wave at 5\nA.M., destroying 34 houses on the Waiakea side of the harbor, also the\nbridge and twelve houses between Waialama and Aiko\u2019s old store. One\nhundred and sixty people homeless, some bruised, bones broken, five\ndead. Wave was thirteen and a half feet above high water mark at\nWaiakea, swept inland forty rods, accurate measurement.\u201d Following this\non May 31, came the record \u201csevere shake, things thrown down.\u201d\n\nDana says: \u201cA destructive earthquake wave was felt at the Hawaiian\nIslands on May 10, 1877, which rose at Hilo to a height of 36 feet. But\nit was of South American origin, where there were heavy earth-shocks,\nand not of Hawaiian.\u201d\n\nOne of the eruptions from Mokuaweoweo tried to take possession of a\nriver-bed, but the waters chilled one side of the lava and built it\ninto a wall. On one side was flowing fire and on the other the swift\nrapids of a river. The antagonistic elements sought the sea side by\nside.\n\nA native account of Kilauea in \u201cKa Hae Hawaii [The Hawaiian Flag]\u201d was\npublished in Honolulu in March, 1859. In it is a very interesting\nnative account of eruptions on the island Hawaii. The sketch is in the\nquaint Hawaiian tongue and is valuable throughout, but only a few\nextracts from the translation can be used at present. The story as told\nby the Hawaiian runs as follows:\n\n\u201cIn the very ancient time Mauna Kea threw out vast Pele fires, but long\nago these eruptions have been imprisoned. The earth has covered them in\non all sides and the abundant soil, large trees, and green things of\nmany kinds are multiplying. But not so Mauna Loa and Hualalai, other\nmountains of this island Hawaii. Pele fires have burst forth from them\neven up to recent times.\n\n\u201cMauna Loa is the greatest of all the mountains, opening doors for the\nPele fires from all its sides. Kilauea and Mokuaweoweo are the very\nwonderful Pele pits (craters) discharging fire from the very depths of\nthe mountains.\n\n\u201cIn the year 1822, or 1823 perhaps, there was an eruption from Kilauea\npouring down into the Kau district very close to the Puna line. From\nthe depths of Kilauea was this bursting forth. The a-a (broken lava) of\nthis eruption in its journey to the sea spread about eight miles. In\nthe year 1832 the pit of Kilauea was full of burning a-a. It broke into\nsome ancient tunnel connected with Kilauea and flowed away. The place\nwhere the a-a reached the sea is not known. It is supposed to have gone\ninto the sea underground.\n\n\u201cIn the year 1840, the people of Puna and Hilo districts saw a great\nfire inland. They thought that the forest wilderness was burning. That\nday was the Sabbath. The people assembled together and looked toward\nthe place where the fire was very great and the air was heavy with\nsmoke. Then they saw that this was not an ordinary forest fire but a\nPele (an eruption). They could not see any a-a breaking out on the\nmountain, and therefore were greatly afraid that it was very near and\nwould destroy their lands. Volumes of smoke rolled, curling upward,\nwhile the strong steam burst forth with reports like the firing of\ncannon. On the 4th day of June that eruption poured down into the sea.\nNarrow was the flow in steep places and spread out widely in others.\nWhen it came to the sea mighty was the stormy rage and the boiling of\nthe sea, the steam rising in clouds to the sky. There were built up on\nthe beach two hills of black sand, about 400 feet in height. Only on\nthe side from which the wind blew could any one come near. On the other\nside the smoke was very strong, offensive and sickening like a volcano.\nThen there were burning ashes destroying every green thing for many\nmiles. The lands of the people of Nanawale were quickly made a desolate\nwilderness by the heat and the overflowing lava. Some animals were\ncaught by the lava and burned to death. None of the people were\ndestroyed. They escaped with poverty.\u201d\n\nA curious and interesting statement is made by the Hawaiian fishermen\nof Waikiki concerning a peculiar disturbance of the sea simultaneous\nwith all seasons of volcanic agitation. One of the older and more\nintelligent fishermen says that from his boyhood he has known a pushing\nup and down, backward and forward, of the waters every time that Mauna\nLoa has shown activity in either of its great craters. Fishnets are so\ntossed about that it is almost impossible to retain any fish in them.\nHooks are so rapidly moved by the commotion in the waters that fishing\nwith hook and line is not very successful.\n\nThe Hawaiians call the ocean at such times kai-mimiki (the rushing\nsea). Mimiki is defined as a meeting of a returning wave with another\nadvancing, and is sometimes used to express the confusion of advancing\nand returning tidal waves. Sometimes mimiki is used to denote the\nchoppy waters which follow a storm. The inherent idea of the word seems\nto be quick, independent action of waves, bringing them into conflict\nwith each other and destroying the quiet, regular motion.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nIV\n\nCHANGES IN KILAUEA CRATER\n\n\nThere have been two entirely distinct modifications in Kilauea. One\nbelongs to the centuries and the mountain which the crater has been\ntrying to build. The other relates to the fire-pit and the fire-lake\ntherein.\n\nKilauea is a mountain a little over 4,000 feet in altitude, closely\nconnected with Mauna Loa, which is about 13,000 feet in altitude. It\nhas been stated that there is some connection which affects the action\nof two lakes of lava in the two craters.\n\nKilauea is a great bowl sunken in a plain which seems level but which\nslopes decidedly toward the large mountain on the one side and the\nocean on the other. Above the present fire-pit rise great plateaus and\na summit 500 feet above the edges of the present crater, and about one\nmile east of it. This elevation shows that at one time the lake of fire\nhad its real crater rim extending far back of the site of the Volcano\nHotel and very much higher than at present, and that great floods of\nlava were poured out over the surrounding country at a height\nimpossible for the new crater to attain. After these eruptions the\nfire-pit sank away, leaving great precipitous walls and wide cracks out\nof which even now pour clouds of steam of such intense heat and such\npowerful sulphur fumes that animals falling in are killed instantly.\n\nThere are several terraces showing how the precipices, cracks, and\nplateaus followed each other step by step down to the bed of Kilauea\nitself. There are hints of these changes in the traditions of the\nHawaiians, but it is impossible to know exactly what is meant. Rev.\nWilliam Ellis, author of \u201cPolynesian Researches,\u201d and a deputation of\nthe American missionaries studying the opportunities for missionary\nlabor, while making a tour around Hawaii in 1823, visited Kilauea and\nwrote the following description of the volcano. In this report,\nafterward incorporated in \u201cPolynesian Researches\u201d as Volume IV, the\nfollowing account is given of ancient Kilauea. \u201cWe asked the natives\nwith us to tell us what they knew of the history of this volcano. From\nthem we learned that it had been burning from time immemorial, or to\nuse their own words \u2018mai ka po mai\u2019 (from chaos until now) and had\ninundated some part of the country during the reign of every king that\nhad governed Hawaii. In earlier ages it used to boil up, overflow its\nbanks, and inundate the adjacent country; but for many kings\u2019 reigns\npast it had kept below the level of the surrounding plain, continually\nextending its surface and increasing its depth, and occasionally\nthrowing up with violent explosions huge rocks and red hot stones.\nThese eruptions, they said, were always accompanied by dreadful\nearthquakes, loud claps of thunder and vivid and quick succeeding\nlightning. No great explosion, they added, had taken place since the\ndays of Keoua (a part of whose army was destroyed by a shower of ashes\nand foul gases in 1790), but many places near the sea had since been\noverflowed, on which occasions Pele went by a road underground from her\nhouse in the crater to the shore.\u201d\n\nConcerning Pele the natives said, \u201cKirauea had been burning ever since\nthe islands had emerged from night, but it was not inhabited till after\nthe \u2018Tai a ka Hina rii,\u2019 the sea or deluge of Hina the chief.\u201d Shortly\nafter this flood they say the present volcanic family came from Tahiti,\nmeaning some foreign country, to Hawaii.\n\nWhen the crater was \u201cboiling up, overflowing its banks, and inundating\nthe adjacent territory,\u201d as the natives said, it poured out lava which\nbecame solid rock. As it went westward, the character of its overflow\nchanged, becoming explosive, hurling out cinders and ashes instead of\nboiling lava, so that all the land, especially toward the south and\nwest, is covered with volcanic ash. For more than a hundred years there\nhas been no uplift of lava or ashes over the outside crater rim.\n\nDuring this century there has been no marked change in the great edge\nof the bowl, but the interior has been kaleidoscopic. The bowl is\nflat-bottomed with a surface creased and cracked and rough, with\ntwisted piles of dead lava. In innumerable spots any cool morning\nwelcomes rising clouds of steam and in the western part is the\nLua-Pele, a pit filled with living fire. This outer crater is about\nthree and a half miles across.\n\nA hundred years ago the floor of this crater was the scene of continual\nactivity. Around the entire rim was a black ledge or balcony against\nwhich fountains of lava hurled their repeated drops, falling on the\nblack ledge. Now, the fire-pit is but a little over a quarter of a mile\nin diameter, and yet it has the same form of black ledge which had been\nbuilt up in the great crater so many years before.\n\nWhen first visited by the missionaries, there were many hilly islands,\nfountain cones, and hissing blowholes. Later, the great floor began to\ncool and lakes appeared in different sections.\n\nIn 1890, when the writer first saw the home of the fire-goddess, there\nwere three lakes through which eruptive gases burst with explosions\nlike the continual rattle of artillery, and there were two great rivers\nof lava flowing across the wide, black floor of the vast crater. Now\nthere is only one lake of fire. Ka Lua Pele, the \u201cPit of Pele,\u201d is at\npresent on a small scale what the crater of Kilauea was in its\nmagnitude in 1823 and for many years thereafter.\n\nThe brief mention of shifting fires, flowing rivers, raging lakes, deep\npits, falling walls, and frozen uneven lava surfaces must suffice to\nmake evident the stupendous forces of nature which have terrified the\nHawaiians for centuries and have made them build up legends in and\naround these terrors and have created the demand for a special\nfire-goddess to take rank with the other gods worshipped.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nV.\n\nFOUNDATION OF THE OBSERVATORY\n\nExcerpts from the Report of the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory Jan.\u2013Mch.,\n1912.\u2014Published by the Society of Arts of the Massachusetts Institute\nof Technology, Boston.\n\n\nThe Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, now in operation for five years from\nJuly 1, 1912, under the direction of the Department of Geology of the\nMassachusetts Institute of Technology, is the result and culmination of\na succession of investigations, constructions, appointments, and\nexpeditions, mostly under that institution, which began in 1898 with\nthe building of a small geodetic observatory in Boston. The work has\nbeen concerned with geodesy, astronomy, magnetism, and geology, and has\nbeen partly under the direction of officers of the Department of Civil\nEngineering and partly under professors of geology. The result of this\nactivity that had the most direct bearing on the establishment of the\nvolcano observatory was its influence on the trustees of the Whitney\nestates, who, on July 1, 1909, gave to the Institute the sum of\ntwenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) as a memorial of Edward and\nCaroline Rogers Whitney of Boston, for the conduct of research or\nteaching in geophysics to include investigations in seismology,\nconducted with a view to the protection of human life and property,\npresent preference being that some investigations in geophysics be\nundertaken in Hawaii.\n\nThe purpose of the science of geophysics is to investigate all the\nphysical and chemical processes going on in the earth. Recent disasters\nsuch as Messina and San Francisco have shown how defective, for humane\nand practical purposes, our knowledge of these processes is. Before the\nintervention of the Whitney trustees, it had been the desire of the\nInstitute to secure a volcanic site in order to observe the local\nactivities of a particular volcano, as well as the waves which pass\nthrough the earth from distant earthquakes. Professor Jaggar had, for\nsome time past, been investigating and considering this subject.\n\nAfter mature deliberation Professor Jaggar concluded that Kilauea\naffords the best point for the location of the proposed observatory\namong those places in the world which have come to his knowledge, for\nthe following reasons:\n\n\u201c1. At other volcanoes the eruptions are more explosive and an\nobservatory located close enough to the centre of activity is in some\ndanger. Kilauea, while displaying great and varied activity, is\nrelatively safe.\n\n\u201c2. Other volcanoes are more or less connected in chains, making many\nstations necessary in order to determine the relations of the different\ncraters to each other. Kilauea and Mauna Loa form an isolated centre of\nactivity, over 2,000 miles from the nearest active vent, so that the\nphenomena of these two vents can be recorded without complications\noccasioned by other near-by centres.\n\n\u201c3. Kilauea is very accessible. The near-by harbor at Hilo is only\nthirty-one miles distant; it may be reached by railroad and a good\ndrive-way, and Honolulu, a centre of traffic and science, is easily\nreached in a day.\n\n\u201c4. The Central Pacific position is unique, and is of advantage for\nrecording distant earthquakes through the uninterrupted sea floor which\nlies between Hawaii and many earthquake places such as South America,\nMexico, and Japan. For expeditions in case of disaster or otherwise, a\nrelatively short route is assured, with abundant means of\ntransportation to Pacific and East Indian ports. For the study of the\ndeep sea floor, Hawaii is obviously favorable.\n\n\u201c5. The climate is uniform and the air clear for astronomical work.\n\n\u201c6. There are frequent small earthquakes, which are of great interest\nfor technical reasons.\n\n\u201c7. The remarkable distribution of both hot and cold underground waters\nin Hawaii needs careful study, and this has an important bearing on\nagriculture as well as upon science.\n\n\u201c8. The territory is American, and these volcanoes are famous in the\nhistory of science for their remarkably liquid lavas and nearly\ncontinuous activity.\u201d\n\nProfessor Jaggar consequently advised those interested:\n\n\u201c1. To erect buildings on the brink of the Volcano of Kilauea, in which\nto house the instruments, library, and offices for working up and\ntabulating the statistics, records, and information obtained.\n\n\u201c2. To set apart a room for a local museum, to exhibit to visitors\ninstruments, plans, diagrams, maps, and photographs. This will be of\nvalue in exciting interest with a view to securing an endowment.\n\n\u201c3. To welcome advanced students from either the Institute or other\ninstitutions for special work in the laboratory.\n\n\u201c4. To erect subordinate instrument stations, with self-recording\ninstruments, and to employ voluntary observers, at various points\nhereafter to be determined. It is hoped that eventually some work will\nbe done by the staff of the observatory in the study of tides,\nsoundings, earthquake waves, and the movements of the coast line of the\nisland.\n\n\u201c5. To send expeditions to other volcanic and earthquake belts for\ncomparative studies.\n\n\u201c6. To carry on research, as may seem expedient, in terrestrial\ngravitation, magnetism, and variation of latitude.\n\n\u201c7. To make a geological survey of the Island of Hawaii. It is hoped\nthat this will lead to a thorough survey of the whole territory by the\nUnited States Geological Survey.\u201d\n\nHe added that the main object of all the work should be\nhumanitarian\u2014earthquake prediction and methods of protecting life and\nproperty on the basis of sound scientific achievement.\n\n\u201cResults obtained in connection with all subjects of investigation\nshould be promptly published in the form of bulletins and memoirs.\u201d\n\nIn pursuit of these ideas, Professor Jaggar proceeded to enlist support\nfrom the Chamber of Commerce and the leading citizens of Honolulu. A\ngenerous response came from a number of organizations, including the\nBishop Museum and individuals.\n\nThe total amount promised was $3,450 per year for a period of five\nyears. This sum was not sufficient to do the work satisfactorily and\nthe development of the plan was halted in consequence.\n\n\u2014The subscription of the Bishop Museum was made upon the condition that\nthe Institute shall furnish the trustees without expense except for\ntransportation, samples of all museum specimens collected, properly\ndescribed, also copies of all published maps, surveys, and literature\nmade by the Institute in connection with Hawaiian interests.\u2014\n\nIn the course of a journey to Japan Mr. Jaggar visited the volcano\nKilauea in Hawaii twice, in March and in July, 1909. Professor Daly\nspent the summer in the Hawaiian Islands, making careful study of\nKilauea and the result of his work has since been published in vol. 47,\nno. 3, of the Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences\nunder the title, \u201cThe Nature of Volcanic Action.\u201d Both of these\nexpeditions were at private expense.\n\nIn 1910 the first available income of the Whitney fund was used in the\nconstruction of special resistance thermometers made by Leeds and\nNorthrup at Baltimore under the direction of Drs. A. L. Day and E. S.\nShepherd of the Geophysical Laboratory of the Carnegie Institution of\nWashington. Dr. Day, director of this laboratory, in correspondence\nwith Professors Daly and Jaggar during the winter of 1909\u201310 agreed to\nsend Dr. Shepherd to Kilauea and provide travelling expenses if the\nInstitute of Technology would provide instruments and living expenses\nduring a stay at the Volcano House devoted to measurement of the\ntemperature of liquid lava. Dr. Shepherd is a chemist and a specialist\nin pyrometric work. With the aid of Institute engineers a cableway was\ndesigned for spanning the inner pit of Halemaumau wherewith by a wire\ntrolley system pyrometric apparatus might be lowered into the lava.\n\nDuring 1909 and 1910 three seismographs, in addition to the Bosch-Omori\ninstruments already obtained with Whitney funds, were constructed for\nthe Institute in Tokyo under Dr. Omori\u2019s direction, and shipped to\nHonolulu.\n\nFor two years in succession, 1910 and 1911, it was impossible for any\nof the professors of geology at the Institute to go to Hawaii, so\narrangements were made with Mr. F. A. Perret of Springfield, Mass., and\nNaples, Italy, to take Professor Jaggar\u2019s place in an expedition to\nKilauea for the measurement of temperatures as agreed with the Carnegie\nGeophysical Laboratory. The sum of $2,100 from the Whitney and other\ngeological research funds of the Institute was expended on this\nexpedition. The Institute is indebted to the Carnegie Geophysical\nLaboratory for co-operation and for the thermo-element which was used\nin the final test, and to the Volcanic Research Society of Springfield,\nMass., for the loan of the services of Mr. Perret, his salary being\ncontinued by that society during his Hawaiian journey. Mr. Perret built\na wooden camp on the edge of the pit Halemaumau which he called the\nTechnology Station and where he lived.\n\nIt will appear from the foregoing that the work bearing on a proposed\nvolcano observatory in Hawaii up to 1912 was instituted and carried\nforward by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. That institution\nwas materially aided in the conduct of this work by voluntary\nsubscription among citizens of Honolulu.\n\nSome $6,100, in addition to salaries, was spent by the Institute of\nTechnology for its officers for work in Hawaii prior to 1912, and after\nMr. Perret\u2019s departure in November, 1911, an appropriation of $1,700\nfor Professor Jaggar\u2019s work in Hawaii in the winter of 1912 was made\nfrom Technology funds.\n\nThe subscription fund provided for in Honolulu in 1909 was revived on\nOctober 5, 1911, at a luncheon at the University Club, given for the\norganization of a Hawaiian Volcano Research Association.\n\nThe net result of this meeting was to establish an association in\nHonolulu for the subscription of money to volcano research. The\ncommittee representative of this association determined to name the\norganization \u201cHawaiian Volcano Research Association.\u201d Funds for the\nrunning expense of an observatory on Hawaii to the amount of $5,000\nannually for five years from January 1, 1912, exclusive of the funds\nfurnished by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology were subscribed,\nthe full amount in the event of failure on the part of individual\nsubscribers being guaranteed by Mr. Clarence H. Cooke, treasurer,\nthrough the generosity of Mr. Cooke and his associates of the estate of\nC. M. Cooke, Ltd.\n\nThe Institute was prepared to co-operate with the Hawaiian Volcano\nResearch Association by becoming its largest subscriber for the five\nyears, through the income of the Whitney fund and the current payment\nto its Seismological fund.\n\nOn January 19 a subscription was started in the town of Hilo to provide\nfunds wherewith to build a laboratory near the Volcano House for the\nuse of the representative of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology\nengaged in volcanic research. This proposal met a most hearty response\nand within a few days $1,785 was subscribed.\n\nThe land for the Observatory, a tract of about three acres, was\nobtained on a sub-lease for fifteen years to October 1, 1927, from the\nVolcano House Company with the consent of the trustees of the Bishop\nEstate, the owners of the land. This tract is on the edge of the cliff\ndirectly opposite the grounds of the Volcano House on the south side of\nthe Puna-Kau road. The observatory is built of Oregon pine and is\nequipped with two laboratories, the director\u2019s room, photographic dark\nroom, and storeroom on the main floor. A veranda extending along two\nsides commands extensive views of the three volcanoes, Kilauea, Mauna\nLoa, and Mauna Kea. In front there is a concrete post for geodetic and\nphotographic experiments. The furniture includes large cases of\ndrawers, for storage of specimens, maps, or photographs, and there are\nwork and drafting tables.\n\nThe Whitney Laboratory of Seismology, eighteen feet square, is a\nbasement room of concrete floored on the solid ledge of basalt. This is\nthe rock of the uppermost layer of the cliff which here borders the\ngreater crater of Kilauea. The cellar was dug through 5\u00bd feet of ash\nand pumice which make the surface soil. The piers for seismographs were\ndesigned for a set of instruments built in Tokyo in 1910 under the\ndirection of Professor Omori and purchased with the income of the\nWhitney fund.\n\nOn January 24, 1912, Mr. F. B. Dodge of Honolulu arrived at the volcano\nto become assistant to the director and during the ensuing weeks\narrangements were completed and trigonometric stations installed\nwhereby a daily survey of the active lava pool could be made.\n\nThe Territorial Government loaned the services of a part of the prison\ngang which does the road work for the Territory of Hawaii, to clear the\nland, dig the cellar, and build the roadway of the Observatory.\n\nAn additional hut constructed wholly without iron for possible magnetic\nwork was built on the verge of Halemaumau for direct instrumental\nobservations of the lava, under shelter.\n\nThe fundamental idea expressed at the time of the formation of the\nHawaiian Volcano Research Association was to the effect that the crater\nobservations should be continuous and permanent. From the point of view\nof the educator, however, there is another equally vital work to be\naccomplished by such an experiment station as the Hawaiian Volcano\nObservatory, namely, provision for scientific hospitality. The study of\ngeophysics and geochemistry in the field is so extensive and inclusive\na department of science that no resident staff could hope to cover the\nwhole field without large expense and a very large working force.\nMoreover the spirit of generous exchange of opportunity and of ideas in\nscience, with a liberal welcome to serious students of all schools, is\nmodern and novel, and should promote the most rapid progress.\nAccordingly it is proposed in the Hawaiian Observatory to combine two\nobjects, record of facts of volcanology and seismology by the permanent\nstaff, and surveys in the field of special topics by expert specialists\ninvited to come from other institutions.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAPPENDIX\n\nPARTIAL LIST HAWAIIAN TERMS USED\n\nAa, 175, 184, 186.\nAhua, 40\u201343.\naikane, 93, 110.\nAilaau, 1\u20133, 89.\nAiwohikupua, 57, 58.\nAkanikolea, 46, 47.\nalahuna, 175.\nAlapai, 161.\naloha, 21, 110.\nAloipauaa, 39, 43.\namama, 114.\nAukelenuiaku, 8, 71.\naumakua, 12, 13, 16, 33, 63.\nawa, 99.\n\neepa, 97.\n\nHaehae, 76.\nHaena, 75, 78, 82, 83, 86, 94, 127.\nhala, 32, 73, 110.\nHalaauola, 77.\nHalawa, 131.\nHaleakala, 11, 56, 171.\nHalemaumau, 23, 44, 200, 204.\nHamakua, 57, 60.\nHapakuela, 71.\nHaumea, 4, 8, 64, 68, 69.\nHawaii, 1\u2013203.\nHea, 131.\nheeholua, 37.\nheenalu, 37.\nHiiaka, 5\u20139, 69, 72, 83\u2013138.\nHilo, 28, 36, 53, 66, 74, 108, 109, 110, 136, 139, 140, 144, 151, 158.\nHina, 6, 64, 191.\nHoaika, 124.\nHoaiku, 103, 124.\nholua, 22, 23, 38\u201342, 60.\nHonolulu, 10.\nHonuaiakea, 9.\nHopoe, 28, 87\u201395, 109, 110, 234.\nHualalai, 57, 146, 172, 185.\nHuehue, 147, 148.\nhula, 74, 79, 86, 88.\nHulihia, 73, 84.\nhumuhumu, 45, 105.\nhunahuna, 82.\n\nikoi, 16.\nIku, 9, 51.\nipuholoholona, 112.\n\nKa, 105.\nKaahumanu, 149, 150.\nKaakaauea, 44.\nKaeaniuaula, 44.\nKaelehuluhulu, 148.\nKahanai, 14.\nKahawali, 37\u201344.\nKahikinui, 11.\nkahili, 73.\nKahoupokane, 57.\nkahu, 97.\nKahuku, 22\u201325.\nkahuna, 44.\nKailua, 153.\nKaimimiki, 177, 188.\nKalakaua, 65, 66.\nKalakeenui-o-Kane, 9.\nKalalau, 15.\nKalaniopuu, 139.\nKaliu, 91.\nKalua, 174, 193.\nKamaka-a-ke-akua, 148, 157.\nKamakau, 140.\nKamapuaa, 45\u201354, 71, 105.\nKamehameha, 139\u2013157, 168.\nKamohoalii, 5, 9, 63, 68, 72.\nKanakawahine, 39.\nKanaloa, 64, 137.\nKane, 64, 81, 114.\nKaneakalau, 31.\nKanehekili, 69.\nKanehoalani, 7, 48, 64.\nKanehunamoku, 5.\nKanepuahiohio, 5.\nKapiolani, 139, 152\u2013163.\nKapo, 70.\nKapoho, 28, 39.\nKapueuli, 44.\nKau, 14\u201316, 186.\nKauai, 10\u201316, 58, 71, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 81, 85, 135.\nKauanohunohu, 44.\nKauila, 37.\nKaunu, 127.\nKauwilanui, 69.\nKawaihae, 141.\nKeaau, 73, 74, 93, 94.\nKeahialaka, 3.\nKealakekua, 182.\nKealiamanu, 10.\nKealiapaakai, 10.\nKealohilani, 133.\nKeauka, 5.\nKeaumiki, 5.\nKeawemauhili, 139, 152.\nKeei, 183.\nKeliikuku, 31.\nKeoua, 139\u2013145, 191.\nkihei, 42.\nKilauea, 2\u20137, 18\u201336, 50\u201366, 86\u201389, 113, 114, 124, 135, 139, 140\u2013153,\n    173\u2013203.\nKilinoe, 79, 81.\nkiluai, 111.\nKinoohu, 100.\nKiwalao, 139, 152.\nKoa, 14, 15.\nKoahi, 5.\nKoai, 39.\nKohala, 53, 105, 122.\nKolea, 106.\nkolonahe, 82.\nKona, 153, 156.\nKu, 64, 68, 105, 137.\nKuaihelani, 14, 71.\nKukaepuaa, 52.\nKukii, 42.\nkumawaho, 51.\nKumukahi, 27\u201329, 46.\nKuokoa, 7, 140, 147.\nkupilikia, 111.\nkupua, 14, 45, 97, 117.\nKuwahailo, 8, 64, 65, 68.\n\nLaieikawai, 57.\nLaka, 7, 74.\nLanahiku, 93.\nLaupahoehoe, 62.\nLeahi, 10.\nleho, 46.\nlehua, 75, 81, 91, 109.\nlei, 12, 110.\nLiholiho, 153.\nLilinoe, 56.\nLohiau, 6, 71\u201396, 125\u2013138.\nLono, 80, 85.\nLonomakua, 51, 52, 137, 138.\n\nMahiki, 119, 120, 122.\nMahuike, 67.\nmaile, 75.\nMakaukiu, 118\u2013122.\nmana, 14, 92.\nMaui, 58, 59, 66, 67, 139, 140, 171.\nMauliola, 77.\nMauna Kea, 55\u201360, 140, 141, 171, 178, 185, 203.\nMauna Loa, 12, 61, 62, 77, 141, 173, 178\u2013203.\nMenehune, 7.\nMoanalua, 10.\nMoemoeaoulii, 4.\nMokuaweoweo, 173, 174, 178, 185.\nMokuola, 28.\nMona, 141.\nmoo, 97.\nMoolau, 122, 124.\n\nNaihe, 152, 153, 155, 156.\nNamakaokahai, 8\u201311, 14, 63, 64, 68.\nNanahuki, 109.\nNaue, 85.\nNiihau, 5, 6, 80, 81, 85.\nNoho, 120, 121.\nNuuhiwa, 67.\nNuumealani, 9\u201312.\n\nOahu, 10, 31, 43\u201350.\nOalalaua, 157.\nohelo, 154.\nohia, 32, 36, 88, 100.\nOnomea, 62.\nopelu, 48.\n\npahoehoe, 175.\nPalaau, 77.\nPanaewa, 98\u2013103.\nPaoa, 6\u201311, 51.\nPapa, 4, 64.\nPapalauahi, 29, 30, 109.\npau, 91, 123.\nPauopalae, 97, 125, 130, 132.\nPele, 3\u2013205.\nPii, 14\u201317.\nPikeha, 49.\nPili, 120, 121.\nPoliahu, 55\u201362.\nPueo, 17.\nPuna, 27, 29, 35, 66, 72, 73, 80, 86, 94, 157.\nPunaluu, 179, 180.\nPuu-o-Pele, 10.\n\ntabu, 47, 72, 115.\nti, 72, 85, 128, 173.\n\nuhiuha, 84.\nUlulani, 150.\nUwekahuna, 44.\n\nWahieloa, 71.\nWahineomao, 104\u2013138.\nWaiakea, 184.\nWaialama, 184.\nWaiau, 56, 57.\nWaikiki, 187.\nWailuku, 120.\nWaimea, 140.\nWaipio, 122.\n\n\n\n\n\n\nPOLYNESIAN LANGUAGE\n\n\n\u201cA few words should be added on the peculiar genius and structure of\nthe Polynesian language in general and of the Hawaiian dialect in\nparticular.\n\nIt is the law of all Polynesian languages that every word and syllable\nmust end in a vowel, so that no two consonants are ever heard without a\nvowel sound between them.\n\nMost of the radical words are dissyllables, and the accent is generally\non the penult. The Polynesian ear is as nice in marking the slightest\nvariations in vowel sound as it is dull in distinguishing consonants.\n\nThe vocabulary of the Hawaiian is probably richer than that of most\nother Polynesian tongues. Its child-like and primitive character is\nshown by the absence of abstract words and general terms.\n\nAs has been well observed by M. Gaussin, there are three classes of\nwords, corresponding to as many different stages of language: first,\nthose that express sensations; second, images; third, abstract ideas.\n\nNot only are names wanting for the more general abstractions, such as\nspace, nature, fate, etc., but there are very few generic terms. For\nexample there is no generic term for animal, expressing the whole class\nof living creatures or for insects or for colors. At the same time it\nabounds in specific names and in nice distinctions.\n\nSo in the Hawaiian everything that relates to their every-day life or\nto the natural objects with which they are conversant is expressed with\na vivacity, a minuteness and nicety of coloring which cannot be\nreproduced in a foreign tongue. Thus the Hawaiian was very rich in\nterms for every variety of cloud. It has names for every species of\nplant on the mountains or fish in the sea, and is peculiarly copious in\nterms relating to the ocean, the surf and waves.\n\nFor whatever belonged to their religions, their handicrafts or their\namusements, their vocabulary was most copious and minute. Almost every\nstick in a native house had its appropriate name. Hence it abounds in\nsynonyms which are such only in appearance, i.e., \u201cto be broken\u201d as a\nstick is \u2018haki,\u2019 as a string is \u2018moku,\u2019 as a dish \u2018naha,\u2019 as a wall\n\u2018hina.\u2019\n\nBesides the language of every-day life, there was a style appropriate\nto oratory and another to religion and poetry.\n\nThe above-mentioned characteristics make it a pictorial and expressive\nlanguage. It still has the freshness of childhood. Its words are\npictures rather than colorless and abstract symbols of ideas, and are\nredolent of the mountain, the forest and the surf.\n\nHowever it has been and is successfully used to express the\nabstractions of mathematics, of English law, and of theology.\u201d\n\n\n   \u201cThe Hawaiian is but a dialect of the great Polynesian language,\n    which is spoken with extraordinary uniformity over all the numerous\n    islands of the Pacific Ocean between New Zealand and Hawaii. Again,\n    the Polynesian language is but one member of that wide-spread\n    family of languages, known as the Malayo-Polynesian or Oceanic\n    family, which extends from Madagascar to the Hawaiian Islands and\n    from New Zealand to Formosa. The Hawaiian dialect is peculiarly\n    interesting to the philologist from its isolated position, being\n    the most remote of the family from its primeval seat in\n    Southeastern Asia, and leading the van with the Malagasy in the\n    rear. We believe the Hawaiian to be the most copious and\n    expressive, as well as the richest in native traditional history\n    and poetry. Dr. Reinhold Forster, the celebrated naturalist of\n    Captain Cook\u2019s second voyage, drew up a table containing 47 words\n    taken from 11 Oceanic dialects and the corresponding terms in\n    Malay, Mexican, Peruvian and Chilian. From this table he inferred\n    that the Polynesian languages afford many analogies with the Malay\n    while they present no point of contact with the American.\u201d\n\n    Baron William von Humboldt, the distinguished statesman and\n    scholar, showed that the Tagala, the leading language of the\n    Philippine Islands, is by far the richest and most perfect of these\n    languages. \u201cIt possesses,\u201d he says, \u201call the forms collectively of\n    which particular ones are found singly in other dialects; and it\n    has preserved them all with very trifling exceptions unbroken and\n    in entire harmony and symmetry.\u201d\n\n    The languages of the Oceanic region have been divided into six\n    great groups; i.e., the Polynesian; the Micronesian; the Melanesian\n    or Papuan; the Australian; the Malaysian; the Malagasy. Many\n    examples might be given if they were needed to illustrate the\n    connection of these languages. The Polynesian is an ancient and\n    primitive member of the Malay family. The New Zealand dialect is\n    the most primitive and entire in its forms. The Hawaiians,\n    Marquesans and Tahitians form a closely related group by\n    themselves. For example, the Marquesan converts are using Hawaiian\n    books and the people of the Austral Islands read the Tahitian\n    Bible.\u201d\n\n\nThe above was written by W. D. Alexander in Honolulu in 1865, author of\nthe \u201cHistory of the Hawaiian Islands\u201d as preface to Andrew\u2019s\nDictionary.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nNOTES\n\n\n[1] Hale-a-ka-la must be classed as an active volcano from evidences of\nprehistoric fires although long extinct, but the author gives these\nstories in another book, \u201cLegends of Maui.\u201d\n\n[2] These are the lava stumps easily visited by any lover of the\ncurious who journeys to Kilauea.\n\n[3] Ohia ha or Paihi = Syzygium. Ohia-lehua = Metrosideros polymorpha\nsandwicense.\n\n[4] Hala or Lahala = Pandanus adoratissimus.\n\n[5] Metrosideros polymorpha.\n\n[6] Columbrina oppositifolia.\n\n[7] Pule anana.\n\n[8] See \u201cHome of the Ancestors,\u201d Part II., Legends of Ghosts and\nGhost-Gods.\n\n[9] Cordyline terminalis.\n\n[10] Same as Lahala or Puhala, Pandanus adoratissimus.\n\n[11] See Appendix, \u201cHula.\u201d\n\n[12] Alyxia oliv\u0153formis.\n\n[13] Cordyline terminalis.\n\n[14] Ohia ai = Jambosa Malacrensis. Ohia Ha = Syzygium Sandwicense.\n\n[15] Piper methysticum.\n\n[16] One ohia tree is supposed to bear apples, another flowers only,\nthe flowers being called lehua. There is much confusion in regard to\nthese two trees even among botanists.\n\n[17] Smilax Sandwicensis.\n\n[18] Ti or ki or lauki, Cordyline terminalis.\n\n[19] Native ulu = Artocarpus incisa.\n\n[20] Cocos nucifera.\n\n[21] Vaccinium penduliformis\u2014var. reticulatum.\n\n[22] Plants used for kapa were wauke, olona, mamaki, poulu, akala, hau,\nmaaloa, and the mulberry.\n\n[23] Tree fern\u2014Cibotium Menziesii.","title":"Hawaiian Legends of Volcanoes (mythology): Collected and translated from the Hawaiian","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":45604}