CHAPTER VI
[Footnote 37: The puloulou is said to have been introduced by Paao some five hundred years ago, together with the ceremonial taboo of which it is the symbol. Since for a person of low rank to approach a sacred place or person was death to the intruder, it was necessary to guard against accidental offences by the use of a sign. The puloulou consisted of a ball-shaped bundle of white bark cloth attached to the end of a staff. This symbol is to be seen represented upon the Hawaiian coat of arms; and Kalakaua's puloulou, a gilded wooden ball on the end of a long staff, is preserved in the Bishop Museum.]
[Footnote 38: Long life was the Polynesian idea of divine blessing. Of Kualii the chanter boasts that he "lived to be carried to battle in a net." The word is kaikoko, "to carry on the back in a net," as in the case of old and feeble persons. Polynesian dialects contain a full vocabulary of age terms from infancy to old age.]
[Footnote 39: Chickens were a valuable part of a chief's wealth, since from their feathers were formed the beautiful fly brushes, kahili, used to wave over chiefs of rank and carried in ceremonial processions. The entrance to the rock cave is still shown, at the mouth of Kaliuwaa valley, where Kamapuaa's grandmother shut up her chickens at night, and it was for robbing his uncle's henroost that this rascally pig-god was chased away from Oahu. This reference is therefore one of many indications that the Laieikawai tale belongs with those of the ancient demigods.]
[Footnote 40: Mr. Meheula suggested to me this translation of the idiomatic allusions to the canoe and the coral reef.]