Moo-lau
Then Hiiaka thought of Moo-lau, who was the great dragon-god of the district Kohala. He had a great multitude of lesser gods as his servants. [[123]]
Hiiaka clearly and sweetly called for the dragon-gods to prepare a way for her and also to bring gifts for herself and her companions.
Moo-lau answered, “You have no path through my lands unless you have great strength or can pay the price.”
Then began one of the great legendary battles of ancient Hawaiian folk-lore. Hiiaka, throwing aside her flower-wreaths and common clothes, took her lightning pa-u (skirt) and attacked Moo-lau. He fought her in his dragon form. He breathed fierce winds against her. He struck her with his swift-moving tail. He tried to catch her between his powerful jaws. He coiled and twisted and swiftly whirled about, trying to knock her down, but she beat him with her powerful hands in which dwelt some of the divine power of volcanoes. She struck his great body with her magic skirt in which dwelt the power of the lightning. Each pitted supernatural powers against the other. Each struck with magic force and each threw out magic strength to ward off deadly blows. They became tired, very tired, and, turning away from each other, sought rest. Again they fought and again rested.
Hiiaka chanted an incantation, or call for help: [[124]]
“Moo-lau has a dart
Of the wood of the uhi-uhi;[1]
A god is Moo-lau,
Moo-lau is a god!”
This was a spirit-call going out from Hiiaka. It broke through the clouds hanging on the sides of the mountains. It pierced the long, long way to the crater of Kilauea. It roused the followers of the fire-goddess. A host of destructive forces, swift as lightning, left the pit of fire to aid Hiiaka.
Meanwhile Moo-lau had sent his people to spy out the condition of Hiiaka. Then he called for all the reptile gods of his district to help him. He rallied all the gnomes and evil powers he could order to come to his aid and make a mighty attack.
When the battle seemed to be going against her, suddenly the Ho-ai-ku men and the Ho-ai-ka women, the destructive gnomes from the crater, broke in a storm upon Moo-lau and his demons. Oh, how the little people from the pit devoured and destroyed the dragon army! The slaughter of the reptile horde was quickly accomplished and Hiiaka soon saw the body of her enemy the dragon-god trampled underfoot.
When the god Mahiki saw that Moo-lau was slain and his army defeated he raised a great [[125]]cloud of dust and fled far off around the western side of the island. The whirlwind was one of the earth-monsters which even the sister of the goddess of volcanoes could not destroy.
Many were the evil demi-gods who tried to hinder Hiiaka in her journey along the east coast of the island Hawaii. Sharks fought her from the seas. The gnomes and dragons of valley and forest tried to destroy her. Even birds of evil omen came into the fight against her, but she conquered and killed until the land was freed from its enemies and the people of the districts along the sea could journey in comparative safety.
Pau-o-palae, the goddess of ferns, met the chief of this land which had been freed from the power of the dragon. She saw him swimming in the sea and, forgetting her companions, leaped in to sport with him. They at once decided to be married. Then she turned aside to his new home, leaving Hiiaka and Wahine-omao to go on after Lohiau.
[[126]]
XVII
LOHIAU
The story of Hiiaka’s journey over the seas which surround the Hawaiian Islands, and through dangers and perplexities, cannot be fully told in the limits of these short stories. There are several versions, so only the substance of all can be given.
On each island she slew dragons which had come from the ancient traditional home of the Polynesians, India. She destroyed many evil-minded gnomes and elves; fought the au-makuas and the demi-gods of land and sea; found the body of Lohiau put away in a cave and watched over by the dragon-women who had been defeated by Pele when in her long sleep she chanted [[127]]the songs of the Winds of Kauai. She slew the guardians of the cave, carried the body to a house where she used powerful chants for restoration. She captured the wandering ghost of Lohiau and compelled it again to take up its home in the body, and then with Lohiau and Wahine-omao made the long journey to her home in the volcano. From the island of Hawaii to the island Kauai, and along the return journey Hiiaka’s path was marked with experiences beneficial to the people whom she passed. This must all be left untold except the story of Lohiau’s restoration to life and the conflict with Pele.
As Hiiaka and her friend came near the island Kauai, Hiiaka told Wahine-omao that Lohiau was dead and that she saw the spirit standing by the opening of a cave out on the pali of Haena.
Then she chanted to Lohiau:
“The lehua is being covered by the sand,
A little red flower remains on the plain,
The body is hidden in the stones,
The flower is lying in the path.
Very useful is the water of Kaunu.”
Thus she told the ghost that she would give new life even as dew on a thirsty flower. They landed and met Lohiau’s sisters and friends.
Hiiaka asked about the death of Lohiau, and one sister said, “His breath left him and the body [[128]]became yellow.” Hiiaka said: “There was no real reason for death, but the two women dragons took his spirit and held it captive. I will try to bring him back. Great is the magic power and strength of the two dragons and I am not a man, and may not win the victory. I will have something to eat, and then will go. You must establish a tabu for twenty days, and there must be quiet. No one can go to the mountains, nor into the sea. You must have a house made of ti[1] leaves for the dead body and make it very tight on all sides.”
LOHIAU
The next day they made the house. Hiiaka commanded that a door be made toward the east. Then Hiiaka said, “Let us open the door of the house.” When this was done, Hiiaka said: “To-morrow let the tabu be established on land and sea. To-morrow we commence our work.”
She made arrangements to go to the cave in the precipice at dawn. Rain came down in floods and a strong wind swept the face of the precipice. A fog clung fast to the hills. The water rushed in torrents to the sea. It was an evil journey to Lohiau.
At sunrise they went on through the storm. Hiiaka uttered this incantation: [[129]]
“Our halas greet the inland precipice,
In the front of the calling hill.
Let it call,
You are calling to me.
Here is the great hill outside.
It is cold,
Cold for us.”
The dragons shouted for them to stay down, or they would destroy them on the rocks. But the small spirit voice of Lohiau called for Hiiaka to come and get him.
Hiiaka chanted to Lohiau, telling him they would save him. As they went up, stones in showers fell around and upon them. One large stone struck Hiiaka in the breast, and she fell off the pali. Then they began to get up and sticks of all kinds fell upon them again, forcing Hiiaka over the precipice.
The dragons leaped down on Hiiaka, trying to catch her in their mouths and strike her with their tails. Hiiaka struck them with her magic skirt, and their bodies were broken.
The spirits of the dragons went into other bodies and leaped upon Hiiaka roaring, and biting and tearing her body. She swung her skirt up against the dragons, and burned their bodies to ashes. The dragons again took new bodies for the last and most bitter battle. [[130]]
Hiiaka told Wahine-omao to cover her body with leaves and sticks near the pali and in event of her death to return with the tidings to Hawaii.
One dragon caught Hiiaka and bent her over. The other leaped upon Hiiaka, catching her around the neck and arm. One tried to pull off the pa-u and tear it to pieces.
Pau-o-palae saw the danger. From her home on the island Hawaii, she saw the dragons shaking Hiiaka. Then she sent her power and took many kinds of trees and struck the dragons. The roots twisted around the dragons, entangling their feet and tails, and scratching eyes and faces.
The dragons tried to shake off the branches and roots—the leaf bodies of the wilderness, and one let go the pa-u of Hiiaka, and the other let go the neck. Pau-o-palae called all the wind bodies of the forest and sent them to aid Hiiaka, the forces of the forest, and the wind spirits.
At last Hiiaka turned to say farewell to Wahine-omao because the next fight with the dragons in their new bodies might prove fatal.
The dragons were now stronger than before. They leaped upon her, one on each side. The strong winds blew and the storm poured upon her, while the dragons struck her to beat her down. But all kinds of ferns were leaping up [[131]]rapidly around the place where the dragons renewed the fight. The ferns twisted and twined around the legs and bodies of the dragons.
Hiiaka shook her magic skirt and struck them again and again, and the bodies of these dragons were broken in pieces. Then the wind ceased, the storm passed away, and the sky became clear. But it was almost evening and darkness was falling fast.
The natives have for many years claimed that Hiiaka found the time too short to climb the precipice, catch the ghost of Lohiau and carry it and the body down to the house prepared for her work, therefore she uttered this incantation:
“O gods! Come to Kauai, your land.
O pearl-eyed warrior (an idol) of Halawa!
O Kona! guardian of our flesh!
O the great gods of Hiiaka!
Come, ascend, descend,
Let the sun stop over the river of Hea.
Stand thou still, O sun!”
The sun waited and its light rested on the precipice and pierced the deep shadows of the cave in which the body lay while Hiiaka sought Lohiau.
Hiiaka heard the spirit voice saying, “Moving, moving, you will find me in a small coconut calabash fastened in tight.” Hiiaka followed [[132]]the spirit voice and soon saw a coconut closed up with feathers. Over the coconut a little rainbow was resting. She caught the coconut and went back to the body of Lohiau. It had become very dark in the cave, but she did not care, this was as nothing to her. She took the bundle of the body of Lohiau and said: “We have the body and the spirit, we are ready now to go down to our house.”
Then she called the spirits of the many kinds of ferns of Pau-o-palae to take the body down. The fern servants of Pau-o-palae carried the bundle of the body down to the house.
Hiiaka said to her friend: “You ask how the spirit can be restored into the body. It is hard and mysterious and a work of the gods. We must gather all kinds of ferns and maile and lehua and flowers from the mountains. We must take wai-lua (flowing water) and wai-lani (rain) and put them into new calabashes to use in washing the body. Then pray. If my prayer is not broken [interrupted or a mistake made], he will be alive. If the prayer is broken four times, life will not return.”
The servants of Pau-o-palae, the goddess of ferns, brought all manner of sweet-scented ferns, flowers, and leaves to make a bed for the body of Lohiau, and to place around the inside of the house as fragrant paths by which [[133]]the gods could come to aid the restoration to life.
There were many prayers, sometimes to one class of gods and sometimes to another. The following prayer was offered to the au-makuas, or ghost-gods, residing in cloud-land and revealing themselves in different cloud forms:
“Dark is the prayer rising up to Kanaloa,
Rising up to the ancient home Kealohilani.
Look at the kupuas above sunset!
Who are the kupuas above?
The black dog of the heavens,
The yellow dog of Ku in the small cloud,
Ku is in the long cloud,
Ku is in the short cloud,
Ku is in the cloud of red spots in the sky.
Listen to the people of the mountains,
The friends of the forest,
The voices of the heavens.
The water of life runs, life is coming,
Open with trembling, to let the spirit in,
A noise rumbling,
The sound of Ku.
The lover sent for is coming.
I, Hiiaka, am coming.
The lover of my sister Pele,
The sister of life,
Is coming to life again.
Live, Live.”
After each one of the prayers and incantations the body was washed in the kind of water needed [[134]]for each special ceremony. Thus days passed by; some legends say ten days, some say a full month. At last the body was ready for the incoming of the spirit.
The coconut shell in which the spirit had been kept was held against the body, the feet and limbs were slapped, and the body rubbed by Wahine-omao while Hiiaka continued her necessary incantations until the restoration to life was complete.
Many, many days had passed since the fiery and impetuous Pele had sent her youngest sister after the lover Lohiau. In her restlessness Pele had torn up the land in all directions around the pit of fire with violent earthquakes. She had poured her wrath in burning floods of lava over all the southern part of the island. She had broken her most solemn promise to Hiiaka.
Whenever she became impatient at the delay of the coming of Lohiau, she would fling her scorching smoke and foul gas over Hiiaka’s beautiful forests—and sometimes would smite the land with an overflow of burning lava.
Sometimes she would look down over that part of Puna where Hopoe dwelt and hurl spurts of lava toward her home. At last she had yielded to her jealous rage and destroyed Hopoe and her home and then burned the loved spots of restful beauty belonging to Hiiaka. [[135]]
Hiiaka had seen Pele’s action as she had looked back from time to time on her journey to Kauai. Even while she was bringing Lohiau back to life, her love for her own home revealed to her the fires kindled by Pele, and she chanted many songs of complaint against her unfaithful sister.
Hiiaka loyally fulfilled her oath until she stood with Lohiau on one of the high banks overlooking Ka-lua-Pele, the pit of Pele in the volcano Kilauea. Down below in the awful majesty of fire were the sisters.
Wahine-omao went down to them as a messenger from Hiiaka. One of the legends says that Pele killed her; another says that she was repulsed and driven away; others say that Pele refused to listen to any report of the journey to Kauai and hurled Wahine-omao senseless into a hole near the fire-pit, and raved against Hiiaka for the long time required in bringing Lohiau.
Hiiaka at last broke out in fierce rebellion against Pele. On the hill where they stood were some of the lehua trees with their brilliant red blossoms. She plucked the flowers, made wreaths, and going close to Lohiau hung them around his neck.
All through the long journey to the crater Lohiau had been gaining a full appreciation of the bravery, the unselfishness, and the wholly lovable character of Hiiaka. He had proposed [[136]]frequently that they be husband and wife. Now, as they stood on the brink of the crater with all the proof of Pele’s oath-breaking around them Hiiaka gave way entirely. She chanted while she fastened the flowers tightly around him and while her arms were playing around his neck:
“Hiiaka is the wife.
Caught in the embrace with the flowers.
The slender thread is fast.
Around him the leis from the land of the lehuas are fastened.
I am the wife—The clouds are blown down
Hiding the sea at Hilo.”
Lohiau had no longer any remnant of affection for Pele. Hiiaka had fulfilled her vow and Pele had broken all her promises. Lohiau and Hiiaka were now husband and wife. Pele had lost forever her husband of the long sleep.
Pele was uncontrollable in her jealous rage. One of the legends says that even while Lohiau and Hiiaka were embracing each other Pele ran up the hill and threw her arms around his feet and black lava congealed over them. Then she caught his knees and then his body. Lava followed every clasp of the arms of Pele, until at last his whole body was engulfed in a lava flow. His spirit leaped from the body into some clumps of trees and ferns not far away.
Another legend says that Pele sent her brother [[137]]Lono-makua, with his helpers, to kindle eruptions around Lohiau and Hiiaka. This could not harm Hiiaka, for she was at home in the worst violence of volcanic flames, but it meant death to Lohiau.
Lono-makua kindled fires all around Lohiau, but for a long time refrained from attacking him.
Hiiaka could not see the pit as clearly as Lohiau, so she asked if Pele’s fires were coming. He chanted:
“Hot is this mountain of the priest.
Rain is weeping on the awa.
I look over the rim of the crater.
Roughly tossing is the lava below.
Coming up to the forest—
Attacking the trees—
Clouds of smoke from the crater.”
The lava came up, surrounding them. Tossing fountains of lava bespattered them. Wherever any spot of his body was touched Lohiau became stone. He uttered incantations and used all his powers as a sorcerer-chief. The lava found it difficult to overwhelm him. Pele sent increased floods of burning rock upon him. Lohiau’s body was all turned to stone. His spirit fled from the pit to the cool places of a forest on a higher part of the surrounding mountains.
Hiiaka was crazed by the death of Lohiau. She had fought against the eruption; now she [[138]]caught the lava, tore it to pieces, and broke down the walls toward the innermost depths of their lava home. She began to open the pit for the coming of the sea.
Pele and her sisters were frightened. Pele called Wahine-omao from her prison and listened to the story of Hiiaka’s faithfulness. Chagrined and full of self-blame, she told Wahine-omao how to restore happiness to her friend.
Wahine-omao went to Hiiaka and softly chanted by the side of the crazy one who was breaking up the pit. She told the story of the journey after Lohiau and the possibility of seeking the wandering ghost.
Hiiaka turned from the pit and sought Lohiau. Many were the adventures in ghost-land. At last the ghost was found. Lohiau’s body was freed from the crust of lava and healed and the ghost put back in its former home. A second time Hiiaka had given life to Lohiau.
Hiiaka and Lohiau went to Kauai, where, as chief and chiefess, they lived happily until real death came to Lohiau.
Then Hiiaka returned to her place in the Pele family. It was said that Wahine-omao became the wife of Lono-makua, the one kindling volcanic fire. [[139]]
[1] Ti or ki or lauki, Cordyline terminalis. [↑]
XVIII
THE ANNIHILATION OF KEOUA’S ARMY
Almost exactly thirty-four years before Kapiolani defied the worship of the fire-goddess Pele, Keoua, a high chief, lost a large part of his army near the volcano Kilauea. This was in November, 1790.
Ka-lani-opuu had been king over the island Hawaii. When he died in 1782, he left the kingdom to his son Kiwalao, giving the second place to his nephew Kamehameha.
War soon arose between the cousins. Kamehameha defeated and killed the young king. Kiwalao’s half-brother Keoua escaped to his district Ka-u, on the southwestern side of the island. His uncle Keawe-mau-hili escaped to his district Hilo on the southeastern side.
For some years the three factions practically let each other alone, although there was desultory fighting. Then the high chief of Hilo accepted Kamehameha as his king and sent his sons to aid Kamehameha in conquering the island Maui.
Keoua was angry with his uncle Keawe-mau-hili. He attacked Hilo, killed his uncle and [[140]]ravaged Kamehameha’s lands along the northeastern side of the island.
TWO MAORI GIRLS IN ANCIENT GREETING
Kamehameha quickly returned from Maui and made an immediate attack on his enemy, who had taken possession of a fertile highland plain called Waimea. From this method of forcing unexpected battle came the Hawaiian saying, “The spear seeks Waimea like the wind.”
Keoua was defeated and driven through forests along the eastern side of Mauna Kea (The white mountain) to Hilo. Then Kamehameha sent warriors around the western side of the island to attack Keoua’s home district. Meanwhile, after a sea fight in which he defeated the chiefs of the islands Maui and Oahu, he set his people to building a great temple chiefly for his war-god Ka-ili. This was the last noted temple built on all the islands.
Keoua heard of the attack on his home, therefore he gave the fish-ponds and fertile lands of Hilo to some of his chiefs and hastened to cross the island with his army by way of a path near the volcano Kilauea. He divided his warriors into three parties, taking charge of the first in person. They passed the crater at a time of great volcanic activity. A native writer, probably Kamakau, in the native newspaper Kuokoa, 1867, describes the destruction of the central part of this army by an awful explosion from Kilauea. [[141]]He said: “Thus was it done. Sand, ashes, and stones grew up from the pit into a very high column of fire, standing straight up. The mountains of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa were below it. The people even from Ka-wai-hae Dibble, the first among the missionaries to prepare a history of the islands, gave the following description of the event: “Keoua’s path led by the great volcano of Kilauea. There they encamped. In the night a terrific eruption took place, throwing out flame, cinders, and even heavy stones to a great distance and accompanied from above with intense lightning and heavy thunder. In the morning Keoua and his companions were afraid to proceed and spent the day in trying to appease the goddess of the volcano, whom they supposed they had offended the day before by rolling stones [[142]]into the crater. But on the second night and on the third night also there were similar eruptions. On the third day they ventured to proceed on their way, but had not advanced far before a more terrible and destructive eruption than any before took place; an account of which, taken from the lips of those who were part of the company and present in the scene, may not be an unwelcome digression. ‘The army of Keoua set out on their way in three different companies. The company in advance had not proceeded far before the ground began to shake and rock beneath their feet and it became quite impossible to stand. Soon a dense cloud of darkness was seen to rise out of the crater, and almost at the same instant the electrical effect upon the air was so great that the thunder began to roar in the heavens and the lightning to flash. It continued to ascend and spread abroad until the whole region was enveloped and the light of day was entirely excluded. The darkness was the more terrific, being made visible by an awful glare from streams of red and blue light variously combined that issued from the pit below, and being lit up at intervals by the intense flashes of lightning from above. Soon followed an immense volume of sand and cinders which were thrown in high heaven and came down in a destructive shower for many [[143]]miles around. Some few persons of the forward company were burned to death by the sand and cinders and others were seriously injured. All experienced a suffocating sensation upon the lungs and hastened on with all possible speed. ‘The rear body, which was nearest the volcano at the time of the eruption, seemed to suffer the least injury, and after the earthquake and shower of sand had passed over, hastened forward to escape the dangers which threatened them, and rejoicing in mutual congratulations that they had been preserved in the midst of such imminent peril. ‘But what was their surprise and consternation when, on coming up with their comrades of the centre party, they discovered them all to have become corpses. Some were lying down, and others sitting upright clasping with dying grasp their wives and children and joining noses (their form of expressing affection) as in the act of taking a final leave. So much like life they looked that they at first supposed them merely at rest, and it was not until they had come up to them and handled them that they could detect their mistake. Of the whole party, including women and children, not one of them survived to relate the catastrophe that had befallen their comrades. The only living being they found was a solitary hog, in company with [[144]]one of the families which had been so suddenly bereft of life. In those perilous circumstances, the surviving party did not even stay to bewail their fate, but, leaving their deceased companions as they found them, hurried on and overtook the company in advance at the place of their encampment.’ “Keoua and his followers, of whom the narrator of this scene were a part, retreated in the direction they had come. On their return, they found their deceased friends as they had left them, entire and exhibiting no other marks of decay than a sunken hollowness in their eyes; the rest of their bodies was in a state of entire preservation. They were never buried, and their bones lay bleaching in the sun and rain for many years.” A blast of sulphurous gas, a shower of heated embers, or a volume of heated steam would sufficiently account for this sudden death. Some of the narrators who saw the corpses affirm that, though in no place deeply burnt, yet they were thoroughly scorched.” Keoua’s prophets ascribed this blow from the gods to their high chief’s dislike of Hilo and gift to sub-chiefs of the fish-ponds, which were considered the favorite food-producers for offerings to Hiiaka, the youngest member of the Pele family. [[145]] Kamehameha’s prophets said that this eruption was the favor of the gods on his temple building. The people said it was proof that Pele had taken Kamehameha under her especial protection and would always watch over his interests and make him the chief ruler. Kamehameha. [[146]] Mount Hualalai is on the western side of the island Hawaii. It has been announced as an extinct volcano because few signs of volcanic life appear at present; but in the year 1801 there was a very violent eruption from the foot of the mountain, and the expectation of future action is so strong that scientists classify Hualalai as “active.” Ellis, writing in 1824, says: “This eruption of 1801 poured over several villages, destroyed a number of plantations and extensive fish-ponds, filled up a deep bay twenty miles in length, and formed the present coast. An Englishman who saw the eruption has frequently told us that he was astonished at the irresistible impetuosity of the torrent. Stone walls, trees, and houses all gave way before it. Even large masses or rocks of ancient lava, when surrounded by the fiery stream, soon split into small fragments and falling into the burning mass appeared to melt again while borne by it down the mountain side. [[147]]Numerous offerings were presented and many hogs were thrown alive into the stream to appease the anger of the gods, by whom they supposed it was directed, and to stay its devastating course. All seemed unavailing until one day King Kamehameha went to the flowing lava, attended by a large retinue of chiefs and priests, and as the most valuable offering he could make, cut off part of his own hair which was always considered sacred and threw it into the torrent. In a day or two the lava ceased to flow. The gods, it was thought, were satisfied. The people attributed this escape to the influence of Kamehameha with the deities of the volcanoes.” There are several very interesting “blowholes” in this lava. When the lava struck the waves, the surface and sides were hardened, but the red molten mass inside rolled on into the sea. Thus many sea-caves were formed, into which waves beat violently with every incoming tide. If the shore end of a cave broke open, a fine outlet was made for the torrents which were hurled up through the opening in splendid fountains of spray. The account in the Kuokoa, a newspaper published in the native language, in 1867, adds to the story of the foreigner the element of superstition, and is practically as follows: Pele began to eat Hue-hue, a noted breadfruit[1] [[148]]forest owned by Kamehameha. She was jealous of him and angry because he was stingy in his offerings of breadfruit from the tabu grove of Hue-hue. This was the place where the eruption broke out. After she had destroyed the breadfruit grove, she went in her river of fire down to the seashore to take Kamehameha’s fish-ponds. She greatly desired the awa fish with the mullet in the fish-pond at Kiholo, and she wanted the aku or bonita in the fish-pond at Ka-ele-hulu-hulu. She became a roaring flood, widely spread out, hungry for the fish. Kamehameha was very much ashamed for the evil which had come upon the land and the destruction of his fish-ponds. Villages had been overwhelmed. Several coconut[2] groves had been destroyed, and lava land was built out into the sea. There were no priests who could stop this a-a eruption by their priestly skill. Their powers were dulled in the presence of Pele. They offered pigs and fruits of all kinds, throwing them into the fire. They uttered all their known incantations and prayers. They called to the au-makuas (ancestor ghost-gods), but without avail. Kamehameha sent for Ka-maka-o-ke-akua [[149]](The-eye-of-the-god), one of the prophets of Pele, and said: “You are a prophet of Pele. I have sent for you because I am much distressed by the destruction of the land and the ponds by the sea. How can I quiet the anger of Pele?” The prophet bowed his head for a time, then, looking up, said, “The anger of the god will cease when you offer sacrifice to her.” The king said, “Perhaps you will take the sacrifice.” The prophet said: “From the old time even until now there has been no prophet or priest of the mo-o or dragon clan who has done this thing. It would not please the goddess. The high chief of the troubled land, with a prophet or priest, is the only one who can make peace. He must take his own offering to the fire as to an altar in a temple. Then the anger of the goddess will be satisfied and the trouble ended.” Kamehameha said: “I am afraid of Pele. Perhaps I shall be killed.” The prophet replied, “You shall not die.” The king prepared offerings and sacrifices for Pele and, as a royal priest, went to the place where the lava was still pouring in floods out of its new-born crater. Kaahumanu, the queen, and many other high chiefs and chiefesses thought they would go and die with him if Pele should persist in punishing [[150]]him. One of the high chiefesses, Ululani, had lost a child some time before. This child after death was given to Pele with sacrifices and ceremonies which would make it one of the ghost-gods connected with the Pele family. TWISTED LAVA AT THE FOOT OF MT. VESUVIUS, ITALY A prophet told Kaahumanu: “The Pele who is in the front of this outburst of fire is not strange to us. It is the child of Ululani.” Kaahumanu took Ululani with her to the side of the lava flow. There they saw the lava like a river of fire flowing toward the west, going straight down to the sea with leaping flames and uplifting fountains of smoke. There was a very strong flashing light breaking out at the front of the descending lava. Ululani asked, “Who is that very strange fire in front of Pele?” The fire was active as if it had life in itself. The prophet replied: “That is the child among the au-makuas. That is your first-born.” Then came great winds and a mighty storm. Houses were overturned and trees blown down. Kamehameha and the prophet went up to the side of the lava and placed offerings and sacrifices in the flowing fire. They prayed to Pele, but the fire burned on. Kamehameha then cut some of the hair from his head and threw it in the fire as his last offering, thus giving himself [[151]]to the god of fire. Then they came away and soon the fire went out. It should be remembered that in recent years, when a lava flow came down on the city of Hilo, threatening its destruction, Princess Ruth, one of the last of the Kamehameha family, went from Honolulu to Hilo and up to the river of lava with the feeling that a Kamehameha who was under the especial protection of Pele could intercede for the welfare of the people. It is certain that she came at a very opportune time, for the eruption ceased in a day or so. Breadfruit. [[152]] [1] Native ulu = Artocarpus incisa. [↑] The story of the high chiefess Kapiolani and her conflict with Pele, the goddess of Kilauea, in December, 1824, is historic. It belongs, however, to the volcanoes of the Hawaiian Islands, and is more important than any myth. Kapiolani was the daughter of Keawe-mau-hili, who was the high chief of the district of Hilo. He was the uncle of Kiwalao, the young king of the island Hawaii, who was killed by Kamehameha’s warriors when Kamehameha became king of that island. Kapiolani as a little child was in the camp with her father at the time of the battle. She was in danger of death, but some men carried her over [[153]]the mountains through a multitude of difficulties back to Hilo. She became a tall, portly woman, with keen black eyes and an engaging countenance, a queen in appearance when with other chiefs or chiefesses. She was not a queen, nor was she even a princess, although by blood relationship she belonged to the royal family. She was the wife of Na-ihe, who was the high chief of the district of Kona on the western side of the island Hawaii. Na-ihe (The spears) was said to be the national orator or best speaker on government affairs among the chiefs. Kapiolani (The-bending-arch-of-heaven) was very intelligent, quick-witted, and fearless. They were both so influential that they were chosen by the great Kamehameha as members of his council of chiefs and were retained by his son Liholiho, or Kamehameha II. When the missionaries of the American Board from Boston arrived, April 4, 1820, at Kailua Bay on the western coast of Hawaii, they landed in territory nominally controlled by Na-ihe and Kapiolani, although at that particular time the young king, Liholiho, and his court were in Kona, and were the real rulers. However, when the missionaries had reduced the language to writing and had begun to print leaflets for spelling and reading, in 1822, Na-ihe and Kapiolani were among the first chiefs to [[154]]welcome instruction and accept Christianity as far as they could understand it. In 1823 a delegation of missionaries went around the island Hawaii. They visited the volcano Kilauea and wrote the first really good description of the crater and its activity. The natives were astonished to see the perfect safety of the missionaries, although the worship and tabus of Pele were absolutely ignored. Ohelo[1] berries and strawberries growing on the brink of the crater were freely eaten and the lake of fire explored without even a thought of fear of the goddess. In the course of their journey the missionaries met a priestess of Pele. The priestess, assuming a haughty air, said: “I am Pele, I shall never die. Those who follow me, if part of their bones are taken to Kilauea, will live in the bright fire there.” A missionary said, “Are you Pele?” She said, “Yes, I am Pele,” then proceeded to state her powers. A chief of low rank who had been a royal messenger under Kamehameha, and who was making the journey with the missionaries, interrupted the woman, saying: “Then it is true, you are Pele, and have destroyed the land, killed the people, and have spoiled the fishing-grounds. If I were the king I would throw you into the sea.” The priestess was quick-witted [[155]]and said that truly she had done some harm, but the rum of the foreigners was far more destructive. All this prepared the way for Kapiolani to attempt to break down the worship of the fire-goddess. It must be remembered that Kapiolani had been under the influence of thoughtful civilization only about three years when she decided that she would attack the idolatry which, of all idol worship, was the most firmly entrenched in the hearts of her people because it was founded on the mysterious forces of nature. She accepted implicitly the word of the missionaries, that their God was the one god of nature. Therefore she had rejected the fire-goddess with all the other deities formerly worshipped in Hawaii. She was, however, practically alone in her determination to strike a blow against the worship of Pele. Priests of Pele were numerous on the island Hawaii. Women were among those of highest rank in that priesthood. Many of the personal followers of Kapiolani were worshippers. Even Na-ihe, her husband, had not been able to free himself from superstitious fears. When Kapiolani said that she was going to prove the falsity of the worship of Pele, there was a storm of heartfelt opposition. The priests and worshippers of Pele honestly believed that divine [[156]]punishment would fall on her. Those who were Christians were afraid that some awful explosion might overwhelm the company, as a large body of warriors had been destroyed thirty-four years before. Na-ihe, still strongly under the influence of superstition, urged her not to go. All this opposition arose from her warm friends. When her determination was seen to be immovable, some of the priests of Pele became bitterly angry and in their rage prophesied most awful results. When Kapiolani left her home in Kona her people, with great wailing, again attempted to persuade her to stay with them. The grief, stimulated by fear of things supernatural, was uncontrollable. The people followed their chiefess some distance with prayers and tears. For more than a hundred miles she journeyed, usually walking, sometimes having a smooth path, but again having to cross miles of the roughest, most rugged and sharp-edged lava on the island Hawaii. At last the party came to the vicinity of the volcano. This was not by the present road, but along the smoother, better way, used for centuries on the south side of the crater toward the ocean. Toward the close of the day they crossed steaming cracks and chasms and drew nearer [[157]]to the foul-smelling, gaseous clouds of smoke which blew toward them from the great crater. Here a priestess of Pele of the highest rank came to meet the party and turn them away from the dominions of the fire-goddess unless they would offer appropriate sacrifices. She knew Kapiolani’s purpose, and determined to frustrate it. Formerly there had been a temple near the brink of the crater on the southeast side. This, according to Ellis, bore the name Oala-laua. He says, “It was a temple of Pele, of which Ka-maka-a-ke-akua (The-eye-of-God), a distinguished soothsayer who died in the reign of Kamehameha, was many years priest.” The temple was apparently deserted at the time of the overthrow of the tabu in 1819, and the priests had gone to the lower and better cultivated lands of Puna, where they had their headquarters. However, they still worshipped Pele and sacrificed to her. This priestess who faced Kapiolani was very haughty and bold. She forbade her to approach any nearer to the volcano on pain of death at the hands of the furious goddess Pele. “Who are you?” asked Kapiolani. “I am one in whom the God dwells.” “If God dwells in you, then you are wise and can teach me. Come and sit down.” The priestess had seen printed pages or heard [[158]]about them, so she drew out a piece of kapa, or paper made from the bark of trees,[2] and saying that this was a letter from Pele began to read or rather mumble an awful curse. The people with Kapiolani were hushed into a terrified silence, but she listened quietly until the priestess, carried beyond her depth, read a confused mass of jumbled words, and unintelligible noises, which she called “The dialect of the ancient Pele.” Then Kapiolani took her spelling-book, and a little book of a few printed hymns, and said: “You have pretended to deliver a message from your god, but we have not understood it. Now I will read you a message which you can understand, for I, too, have a letter.” Then she read clearly the Biblical sentences printed in the spelling-book and some of the hymns. The priestess was silenced. Meanwhile, the missionaries at Hilo, a hundred and fifty miles from Kona, heard that Kapiolani had started on this strenuous undertaking. They felt that some one of the Christian teachers should be with her. Mr. Ruggles had been without shoes for several months and could not go. Mr. Goodrich, the other missionary stationed at Hilo, was almost as badly off, but was more accustomed [[159]]to travelling barefoot. So he went up through the tangled masses of sharp-edged lava, grass, strong-leaved ferns, and thick woods to meet the chiefess as she came to the crater. Kapiolani passed the priestess, went on to the crater, met Mr. Goodrich, and was much affected by the effort he had made to aid her in her attempt to break down the worship of Pele. It was now evening, and a hut was built to shelter her until the next day came, when she could have the opportunity of descending into the crater. Mr. Richards, a missionary, later wrote as follows: “Along the way to the volcano she was accosted by multitudes and entreated not to proceed. She answered, ‘If I am destroyed, then you may all believe in Pele, but if I am not, you must all turn to the true writings.’ ” The great crater at that time had a black ledge or shelf, below which the active lakes and fountains of fire, in many places, broke through and kept turbulent a continually changing mass over five miles in circumference. Here in the large cones built up by leaping lava, the natives said, were the homes of the family of Pele. Here the deities amused themselves in games. The roaring of the furnaces and crackling of flames was the music of drums beaten for the accompaniment of the household dances. The red flaming surge was the surf wherein they played. [[160]] As the morning light brought a wonderful view of the Lua Pele (The-pit-of-Pele) with its great masses of steam and smoke rising from the immense field of volcanic activity below, and as the rush of mighty waves of lava broke again and again against the black ledge with a roar exceeding that of a storm-driven surf beating upon rocky shores, and as fierce explosions of gases bursting from the underworld in a continual cannonade, deafened the ears of the company, Kapiolani prepared to go down to defy Pele. SMOKE COLUMN OVER MT. PELÉE, MARTINIQUE, 1902 (3 miles high) This must have been one of the few grand scenes of history. There was the strong, brave convert to Christianity standing above the open lake of fire, the red glowing lava rolling in waves below, with rough blocks of hardened lava on every side, the locks (Pele’s hair) of the fire-goddess, torn out and whirling around in the air, the timid fearful faces of the people and their attitude of terror and anxiety showing the half-hope that the tabu might be broken and the half-dread lest the evil spirit might breathe fire upon them and destroy them at once. Mr. Richards says: “A man whose duty it was to feed Pele, by throwing berries and the like into the volcano, entreated her to go no farther. ‘And what,’ said she, ‘will be the harm?’ The man replied, ‘You will die by [[161]]Pele.’ Kapiolani answered, ‘I shall not die by your god. That fire was kindled by my God.’ The man was silent and she went onward, descending several hundred feet, and there joined in a prayer to Jehovah. She also ate the berries consecrated to Pele, and threw stones into the volcano.” Bingham in his “Sandwich Islands” says: “Then with the terrific bellowing and whizzing of the volcanic gases they mingled their voices in a solemn hymn of praise to the true God, and at the instance of the chiefess, Alapai, one of Kapiolani’s attendants, led them in prayer.” The party returned to the brink of the crater, and journeyed down to Hilo. Alexander in the “History of the Hawaiian People” says, “This has justly been called one of the greatest acts of moral courage ever performed.” Richards states that the leader of Kapiolani’s party said to him: “All the people of the district saw that she was not injured and have pronounced Pele to be powerless.” The influence of Kapiolani against this most influential form of idolatrous worship was felt throughout the whole nation. In 1836, twelve years later, Rev. Titus Coan wrote about the coming of many natives into a Christian life. He says: “In 1836, twelve [[162]]years after the visit of Kapiolani, among these converts was the High Priest of the volcano. He was more than six feet tall, and was of lofty bearing. He had been an idolater, a drunkard, an adulterer, a robber, and a murderer. His sister was more haughty and stubborn. She, too, was tall and majestic in her bearing. At length she yielded and with her brother became a docile member of the church.” But it was Lord Tennyson who set down for posterity the heroic deed of the great queen in the following beautiful poem: [[163]] [1] Vaccinium penduliformis—var. reticulatum. [↑] [2] Plants used for kapa were wauke, olona, mamaki, poulu, akala, hau, maaloa, and the mulberry. [↑]
XIX
DESTRUCTION OF KAMEHAMEHA’S FISH-PONDS
XX
KAPIOLANI AND PELE
