Kukaeunahio
The third legendary locality for the owl-gods was the scene of the “battle of the owls.” This was at Waikiki. Kapoi was held prisoner in the Waikiki heiau. Usually there was a small, four-square, stone-walled enclosure in which sacrifices were kept until the time came when they should be killed and placed on the altar. In some such place Kapoi was placed and guarded.
His owl-god was grateful for the return of the [[136]]eggs and determined to reward him for his kindness and protect him as a worshipper. In some way there must be a rescue. This owl-god was a “family god,” belonging only to this man and his immediate household. According to the Hawaiian custom, any individual could select anything he wished as the god for himself and family. Kapoi’s owl-god secured the aid of the king of owls, who lived in Manoa Valley on Owl’s Hill. The king of owls sent out a call for the owls of all the islands to come and make war against the king of Oahu and his warriors.
Kauai legends say that the sound of the drum of the owl-king was so penetrating that it could be heard across all the channels by the owls on the different islands. In one day the owls of Hawaii, Lanai, Maui and Molokai had gathered at Kalapueo.[4] The owls of Koolau and Kahikiku, Oahu, gathered together in Kanoniakapueo.[5] The owls of Kauani and Niihau gathered in the place toward the sunset—Pueo-hulu-nui (near Moanalua).
NUUANU PALI
Kakuhihewa had set apart the day of Ka-ne—the day dedicated to the god Ka-ne and given his name—as the day when Kapoi should be sacrificed. This day was the twenty-seventh of [[137]]the lunar month. In the morning of that day the priests were to slay Kapoi and place him on the altar of the temple in the presence of the king and his warriors.
At daybreak the owls rallied around that temple. As the sun rose, its light was obscured. The owls were clouds covering the heavens. Warriors and chiefs and priests tried to drive the birds away. The owls flew down and tore the eyes and faces of the men of Kakuhihewa. They scratched dirt over them and befouled them. Such an attack was irresistible—Kakuhihewa’s men fled, and Kapoi was set free.
Kakuhihewa said to Kapoi: “Your god has mana (miraculous power) greater than my god. Your god is a true god.”
Kapoi was saved. The owl was worshipped as a god. The place of that battle was Kukaeunahio-ka-pueo (The-confused-noise-of-owls-rising-in-masses).
[[138]]
[1] This place is now the site of the Castle Home. [↑]
[2] Another legend says that the battle was between the little people and Kualii, a noted chief of Oahu, of comparatively recent date. [↑]
[4] A place east of Diamond Head. [↑]
[5] A place in Nuuanu Valley. [↑]
XIX
THE TWO FISH FROM TAHITI
Strangers to Hawaiian history should know that to the Hawaiians Tahiti meant any far-away or foreign land. Tahiti belongs to the Society Islands. Centuries ago it was one of the points visited by the Vikings of the Pacific, the Polynesian sea-rovers, among whom certain chiefs of the Hawaiian Islands were not the least noted. They sailed to Tahiti and Samoa and other islands of the great ocean and returned after many months, celebrating their voyages in personal chants.
Thus the names of places many hundreds of miles distant from the Hawaiian group were recorded in the chants and legends of the most famous families of Hawaiian chiefs and kings. Some of the names brought back by the wanderers appear to have been given to places in their own homeland. A large district on the island of Maui, where, it is said, the friends of a Viking would gather for feasting and farewell dancing, was named Kahiki-nui (The great [1]Tahiti). A point of land not far from this district was [[139]]called Keala-i-kahiki (The-way-to-Tahiti). These names are not of recent origin, but are found in the scenes described by roving ancestors noted in genealogies of long ago. Probably about the same time that the Vikings of Scandinavia were roaming along the Atlantic coasts the Pacific seamen were passing from group to group among the Pacific islands.
After many voyages and several years probably the people who never wandered became careless concerning the specific name of the place to which some of their friends had sailed, and included the whole outside world in the comprehensive declaration, “Gone to Tahiti” (Kahiki). At any rate, this has been the usage for some centuries among the Hawaiians.
The story I am about to tell you came to me as a marvellous, mysterious, miraculous myth of the long ago, when strange powers dwelt in both animals and men, and when cannibalism might have been carried on to be reported later under the guise of eating the flesh of beast or fish. In the long ago there were two “fish” crossing the trackless waters of the Pacific Ocean. Their home was in one of the far-away lands, known as Tahiti. These “fish” were great canoes filled with men. They decided that they would like to visit some of the lands about which they had heard in the legends related by their fathers. [[140]]They knew that certain stars were always in certain places in the sky during a part of every year. By sailing according to these stars at night and the sun by day they felt confident that they could find the wonderful fire-land of Hawaii about which they had been taught in the stories of returned travellers. So the two “fish”—the two boats—after weary days and nights of storm and calm, of soft breeze and strong, continuous winds, found the northeast side of the island of Oahu with its rugged front of steep, precipitous rocks. The travellers landed first on a point of land extending far out into the sea, terminating in a small volcano. Here they made examination of the unfriendly coast and decided to journey entirely around the island, one fish, or boat, going toward the north and the other toward the south. They were apparently intending to pass around the island and find an appropriate location for a settlement. Possibly they planned to make a permanent home or hoped to meet some good community into which they might be absorbed. The point of land which marked the separation of the two companies is called Makapuu. The boat which sailed toward the north found no good resting-place until it came to the fishing-village of Hauula. The stories told by the old natives of the present time do not give any details of the meeting between the strangers and the [[141]]people residing in the village. Evidently there was dissension and at last a battle. The whole story is summed up by the Hawaiian legend in the saying: “The fish from Tahiti was caught by the fishermen of Hauula. They killed it and cut it up into pieces for food.” Thus the visitors found death instead of friendship, and cannibalism was thereby veiled by calling the victims “fish” and the victory a “catch.”
The custom of hiding hints of cannibalistic feasts and more definite human sacrifices under the name of “fish” continued through the centuries even after the discovery of the islands by Captain Cook and the advent of white men. David Malo, a native writer, who, about the year 1840, wrote a concise sketch of Hawaiian history and customs, described the capture of human sacrifices by the priests when needed for temple worship. He says: “The priest conducted a ceremony called Ka-papa-ulua. It was in this way: The priest accompanied by a number of others went out to sea to fish for ulua with hook and line, using squid for bait. If they were unsuccessful and got no ulua they returned to land and went from one house to another, shouting out to the people within and telling them some lie or other and asking them to come outside. If any one did come out, him they killed, and, thrusting a hook in his mouth, carried [[142]]him away to the heiau [temple].” This sacrifice was called ulua, and was placed before the god of the temple as if it were a fish. Sometimes a part of the body, usually an eye, was eaten during the ceremonies of consecrating the offering to the idol. This custom has passed the test of centuries and probably was the last remnant of cannibalism in the Hawaiian Islands. It endured even to the time of the abolition of the temples and their idols.
The second fish from Tahiti had gone on southward in its journey around the island of Oahu. It passed the rough and desolate craters of Koko Head on the eastern end of the island. It swam by Diamond Head and the beautiful Waikiki Beach. Either the number of the inhabitants was so large that they were afraid to make any stay or else they preferred to make the complete circuit of the island before locating, for they evidently made only a very short stay wherever they landed, and then hurried on their journey. By the time they reached Kaena, the northwestern cape of Oahu, they were evidently anxious concerning their missing companions. Not a boat on the miles of water between Kaena and Kahuku, the most northerly point on the island. The legend says that the fish changed itself into a man and went inland to search the coast for its friend, but the search [[143]]was unsuccessful. It was now a weary journey from point to point, watching the sea and exploring all the spots on the beach where it seemed as if there was any prospect of finding a trace of their expected friends. Where a break in the coral reef permitted their boat to approach the land they forced their way to shore. Then when the thorough search failed again, the boat was pushed out over the line of white inrolling breakers to the great sea until at last the Tahitians came to Kahuku.
Now they appeared no longer as “fish,” but went to the village at Kahuku as men. They made themselves at home among the people and were invited to a great feast. They heard the story of a battle with a great fish at Hauula and the capture of the monster. They heard how it had been cut up and its fragments widely distributed among the villages on the northwest coast. Evidently provision had been made for several great feasts. The people of Kahuku, although several miles distant from Hauula, had received their portion. The friendly strangers must share this great gift with them. But the men from Tahiti with heavy hearts recognized the fragments as a part of their companion. They could not partake of the feast, but by kindliness and strategy they managed not only to decline the invitation, but also to secure some [[144]]portions of the flesh to carry down to the sea. These were thrown into the water, and immediately came to life. They had the color of blood as a reminder of the death from which they had been reclaimed. Ever after they bore the name “Hilu-ula,” or “the red Hilu.”
Then the “fish” from Tahiti went on around to Hauula. They went up to the tabu land back of Hauula. They pulled up the tabu flags. Then they dammed up the waters of the valley above the village until there was sufficient for a mighty flood. The storms from the heavy clouds drove the people into their homes. Then the Tahitians opened the flood-gates of their mountain reservoir and let the irresistible waters down upon the village. The houses and their inhabitants were swept into the sea and destroyed. Thus vengeance came upon the cannibals.
POI POUNDER
The Tahitians were “fish,” therefore they went back into the ocean to swim around the islands. Sometimes they came near enough to the haunts of fishermen to be taken for food. They bear the name “hilu.” But there are two varieties. The red hilu is cooked and eaten, but never eaten without having felt the power of fire. The trace of the cannibal feast is always over its flesh. Therefore it has to be removed by purification of the flames over which it is prepared for food. The blue hilu, the natives [[145]]say, is salted and eaten uncooked. Thus the legend says the two fish came from Tahiti, and thus they became the origin of some of the beautiful fish whose colors flash like the rainbow through the clear waters of Hawaii.
Another legend somewhat similar to this is told by the natives of Hauula. There is a valley near this village called Kaipapau (The-valley-of-the-shallow-sea). Here lived an old kahuna, or priest, who always worshipped the two great gods Ka-ne and Kanaloa. These gods had their home in the place where the old man continually worshipped them, but they loved to go away from time to time for a trip around the island. Once the gods came to their sister’s home and received from her dried fish for food. This they carried to the sea and threw into the waters, where it became alive again and swam along the coast while the gods journeyed inland. By and by they came to the little river on which the old man had his home. The gods went inland along the bank of the river, and the fish turned also, forcing their way over the sand-bank which marked the mouth of the little stream. Then they went up the river to a pool before the place where the gods had stopped. Ever since, when high water has made the river accessible, these fish, named ulua, have come to the place where the gods were worshipped by the kahuna and [[146]]where they rested and drank awa with him. When the gods had taken enough of the awa of the priest they turned away with the warning that when he heard a great noise on the shore he must not go down to see what the people were doing, but ask what the excitement was about, and if it was a shark or a great fish he was to remain at home. He must not go to that place.
A few days later a big wave came up from the sea and swept over the beach. When the water flowed back there was left a great whale, the tail on the shore and the head out in the sea. The people came to see the whale. They thought that it was dead. They played on its back and leaped into the deep waters from its head. Their shouts of joy and loud laughter reached the ears of the priest, who was living inland. Then the people came to the riverside to gather vines and flowers with which to make wreaths. Probably it was the intention of the villagers to cut the great fish into pieces and have a feast. The old priest was very anxious to see the marvellous fish. He forgot the warning of the gods and went to the seaside. The people shouted for the old man to come quickly. The old priest stood by the tail of the great fish. As if to welcome him the tail moved. He climbed on the back and ran to the head and leaped into [[147]]the sea. The people cheered the priest as he returned to the beach and a second time approached the whale. Again there was the motion of the tail, and again the priest ran along the back, but as he leaped the whale caught him and carried him away to Tahiti. Therefore a name was given to a point of land not far from this place—the name “Ka-loe-o-ka-palaoa” (The cape of the whale).
[[148]]
[1] “T” and “K” are interchangeable. [↑]
XX
IWA, THE NOTABLE THIEF OF OAHU
In ancient Hawaii thieving was an honorable profession. It required cultivation as well as natural ability. Even as late as the days of Captain Cook and his discovery of the Hawaiian Islands there is the record of a chief whose business was to steal successfully. When Captain Cook discovered the island Kauai, a chief by the name of Kapu-puu (The-tabu-hill) was one of the first to go out to the ships. He went saying, “There is plenty of iron [hao]. I will ‘hao’ [steal] the ‘hao,’ for to ‘hao’ [to plunder] is my livelihood”—as one historian expressed the saying: “To plunder is with me house and land.” The chief, however, was detected in the act and was shot and killed. The natives never seemed to blame Captain Cook for the death of that chief. The thief was unsuccessful. Really, the sin of stealing consisted in being detected.
The story of Iwa, the successful thief, is back in the days when Umi was king of Hawaii, fourteen generations of kings before Kamehameha the First. The king Umi was well known in Hawaiian historical legends, and many important [[149]]events are dated with his reign as the reference-point.
In Puna, Hawaii, while Umi was king, there lived a fisherman by the name of Keaau. He was widely known for his skill in fishing with a wonderful shell. It was one of the leho shells, and was used in catching squid. Its name was Kalo-kuna. Keaau always returned from fishing with his canoe full. After a time he was talked about all around the island, and Umi heard about the magic leho of the fisherman.
At that time Umi dwelt in Kona, where he was fishing after the custom of those days. He sent a messenger commanding the fisherman to bring his shell to Kona, where he could show its power and his skill. Then the king, who had the right to take all the property of any of his subjects, took the shell from the fisherman.
Keaau’s heart became very sore for the loss of his shell, so he went to a man on Hawaii who was skilled in theft and asked him to secretly steal the leho and return it to him. He brought his canoe filled with his property—a pig, some fruit and awa and the black-and-white and spotted tapa sheets—to give to the thief who could get back his shell. But neither this thief nor any others on the islands of Hawaii, Maui or Molokai was sufficiently skilful to give him any aid. [[150]]
Then he passed on to Oahu, where he met a man fishing, who, according to the custom of the people, invited him to land and accept hospitality. When the feast was over, they asked him the object of his journey. He told the story of the loss of his leho, and said that he was travelling to find “a thief able to steal back the shell taken by the strong hand of the chief of Hawaii.”
Then the Oahu people told him about Iwa and his marvellous skill in plundering. They directed him to row his canoe around by Makapo and then land, and he would find a boy without a malo (loin cloth). He must give him the offering—the good things brought in the canoe. He found the boy and placed before him the gifts. They killed the pig and cooked it over hot stones. Then they had a feast, and the boy-thief asked the traveller why he had come to him. The fisherman told all his trouble and asked Iwa to go with him to recover the shell. To this Iwa consented, and after a night’s rest prepared to go to Hawaii.
When the time came for the journey he placed Keaau in front and took his place to steer and paddle. The name of his paddle was Kapahi, which means “Scatter the water.” Iwa told the fisherman to look sharp at the land before them; then he talked to his paddle, saying, “Let the [[151]]ocean meet the sea of Iwa.” He struck his paddle once into the sea and the canoe rushed by the little islands along the coast and passed to Niihau. From Niihau in four paddle-strokes the canoe lay before the coast of Hawaii, where Umi and his chiefs were fishing. One of the canoes had a palm-branch house built over it to shade the fisherman. Iwa asked if that was the royal canoe, and, learning that it was, quickly backed his canoe around a headland and prepared to dive, saying to his friend, “I will go and steal that leho.”
He leaped into the water and sank to the bottom of the ocean. He walked along under the sea aided by his magic power until he came to the place where the king’s canoes were floating. Over the side of the king’s boat hung the cord to which the shell was fastened. Iwa rose quietly under the canoe and caught the leho, slowly drew it down to the bottom, broke the cord and fastened it to sharp rocks, and then went back to the place where Keaau was waiting for him. All along the way giant squid and devilfish fought him and tried to take the shell from his hands, but by incantations and the power of his gods he escaped to the canoe, and, leaping in, gave the leho to the fisherman, and paddled away to Puna. There he dwelt with Keaau for a little while. [[152]]
When the boy-thief took the cord of Umi he thought that a very great squid had seized the shell, and let the line run, afraid lest it might break and the shell be lost, but when he tried to pull he found it fast below. He sent to the land for all the people who could dive, but none of them could go to the bottom. Ten days and ten nights he waited in his canoe. Then he sent over all the island Hawaii for those who knew how to dive in deep water, but all the noted divers failed. The messenger came to the place where Iwa was staying. Keaau was away fishing. Iwa took the messenger to the place where the fisherman dried squid and showed him a great many already caught. Then Iwa said, “Go back and tell your king that the leho is not on the line, but a rock is holding it fast.”
The messenger returned to the king and reported the saying of Iwa. Then the king sent swift men to run and bring Iwa to him. The boy agreed to go to Umi, and sped more swiftly than the runners sent for him. When he stood before Umi he told the king all his story and leaped into the sea, diving down, breaking the rock and bringing up the piece to which the line had been tied. Umi then wanted Iwa to return to Puna and steal that leho for him. Iwa went back to the fisherman’s house, and that night stole the shell for the king. [[153]]
When Umi received the shell he rejoiced greatly at the skill of this thief. Then he thought about his tabu stone axe in Waipio Valley, and wished to test this boy-thief again.
This sacred stone axe really belonged to Umi, the son of Liloa, but it had been kept in the tabu heiau (sacred temple) of Pakaalana, in Waipio Valley. Two old women were guardians of this tabu axe. It was tied fast in the middle of a line. One end of that cord was fastened around the neck of one old woman, and one end around the neck of the other. Thus they wore the cord as a lei (wreath) of that sacred stone axe of Umi. When Umi asked the thief if he would steal this axe, Iwa said he would try, but he waited until the sun was almost down, then he ran swiftly to Waipio Valley as if he were a messenger of the king, calling to the people and establishing a tabu over the land:
“Sleep—sleep for the sacred stone axe of Umi.
Tabu—let no man go forth from his house.
Tabu—let no dog bark.
Tabu—let no rooster crow.
Tabu—let no pig make a noise.
Sleep—sleep till the tabu is raised.”
Five times he called the tabu, beginning at Puukapu near Waimea, as he went to the guarded path to Waipio. When he had established this tabu he travelled down to the place [[154]]where the old women guarded the axe. He called again, “Has sleep come to you two?” And they answered, “Here we are; we are not asleep.” He called again: “Where are you? I would touch that sacred axe of Umi and return and report that this hand has held the sacred stone axe of the king.”
He came near and took the axe and pulled the ends of the string tight around the necks of the old women, choking them and throwing them over. Then he broke the string and ran swiftly up the path over the precipice. The old women disentangled themselves and began to cry out, “Stolen is the tabu axe of Umi, and the thief has gone up toward Waimea.” The people followed Iwa from place to place, but could not overtake him, and soon lost him.
Iwa went on to the king’s place and lay down to sleep. As morning drew near the king’s people found him asleep and told the king he had not been away, but when Iwa was awake he was called to the king, who said, “Here, you have not got the tabu stone axe.”
“Perhaps not,” said the boy, “but here is an axe which I found last night. Will you look at it?” The king saw that it was his tabu axe, and wondered at the magic power of the thief, for he thought it impossible to go to Waipio and return in the one night, and he knew how difficult [[155]]it would be to get the axe and escape from the people.
He determined to give Iwa another trial—a contest with the best thieves of his kingdom. He asked if Iwa would consent to a death contest. The one surpassing in theft should receive reward. The defeated should be put to death. This plan seemed right to the thief from Oahu. It would be a great battle—one against six.
The king called his clan of six thieves and Iwa, and told them that he would set apart two houses in which they could put their plunder. That night they were to go out and steal, and the one whose house contained the most property should be the victor. The report of the contest spread all through the village, and the people prepared to hide their property.
Iwa lay down to sleep while the six men quietly and swiftly passed among the people, stealing whatever they could. When they saw Iwa asleep they pitied him for his certain death. Toward morning their house was almost full, and still Iwa slept. The six thieves were very tired and hungry, so they prepared a feast and awa. They ate and drank until overcome with drunkenness. A little before dawn they also fell asleep.
Iwa arose, hastened to the house filled by the six thieves, and hastily removed all their plunder to his own house. Then he went quietly to [[156]]Umi’s sleeping-house, and, showing his great skill, removed the tapa sheets from the bed in which the king was sleeping, and piled them on the other things in his house. Then he lay down again as if asleep.
The morning cold fell on the king, and he was chilled, and awoke, feeling for the sheets, but could not find them. He remembered the contest, and as the daylight rested upon them he called the people together.
They went to the house of the six thieves and opened it to look for their plunder, and not one thing was there. It was entirely empty. After this they went to Iwa’s house. When the door was open they saw the king’s tapa sheets on all the other plunder. The six thieves were put to death, and Iwa was honored for some years as the very dear friend of the king and the most adroit thief in the kingdom.
After a time he longed for the place of his birth, and he asked Umi to send him back to his parents. Umi filled a double canoe with good things and let him go back to the green-sided pali (or precipice) of the district of Koolau, on the island Oahu.
[[157]]
XXI
PIKOI THE RAT-KILLER
Long, long ago in the Hawaiian Islands, part of the children of a chief’s family might be born real boys and girls, while others would be “gods” in the form of some one of the various kinds of animals known to the Hawaiians. These “gods” in the family could appear as human beings or as animals. They were guardians of the family, or, perhaps it should be said, they watched carefully over some especial brother or sister, doing all sorts of marvellous things such as witches and fairies like to do for those whom they love.
In a family on Kauai six girl-gods were born and only one real girl and one real boy. These “gods” were all rats and were named “Kikoo,” which was the name of the bow used with an arrow for rat-shooting. They were “Bow-of-the-heaven,” “Bow-of-the-earth,” “Bow-of-the-mountain,” “Bow-of-the-ocean,” “Bow-of-the-night” and “Bow-of-the-day.”
These rat-sister-gods seemed to have charge of their brother and his sports. His incantations and chants were made in their names. The real [[158]]sister was named “Ka-ui-o-Manoa” (“The Beauty of Manoa”). She was a very beautiful woman, who came to Oahu to meet Pawaa, the chief of Manoa Valley, and marry him. He was an aikane (bosom friend) to Kakuhihewa, the king of Oahu. They made their home at Kahaloa in Manoa Valley. They also had Kahoiwai in the upper end of the valley.
The boy’s name was Pikoi-a-ka-Alala (Pikoi, the son of Alala). In his time the chief sport seemed to be hunting rats with bows and arrows. Pikoi as a child became very skilful. He was very clear and far sighted, and surpassed all the men of Kauai in his ability to kill hidden and far-off rats. The legends say this was greatly due to the aid given by his rat-sisters. At that same time there was on Kauai a very wonderful dog, Puapualenalena (Pupua, the yellow). That dog was very intelligent and very swift.
One day it ran into the deep forest and saw a small boy who was successfully shooting rats. The dog joined him. The dog caught ten rats while Pikoi shot ten.
Some days later the two friends went into a wilderness. In that day’s contest the dog caught forty and the boy shot forty. Again and again they tried, but the boy could not win from the dog, nor could the dog beat the boy. [[159]]
After a while they became noted throughout Kauai. The story of the skill of Pikoi was related on Oahu and repeated even on Hawaii. His name was widely known, although few had seen him.
One day his father Alala told Pikoi that he wanted to see his daughter in Manoa Valley. They launched their canoe and sailed across the channel, leaving the marvellous dog behind.
Midway in the channel Pikoi cried out: “Look! There is a great squid!” It was the squid Kakahee, who was a god. Pikoi took his bow and fitted an arrow to it, for he saw the huge creature hiding in a pit deep in the coral. The squid rose up from its cave and followed the boat, stretching out its long arms and trying to seize them. The boy shot the monster, using the bow and arrow belonging to the ocean. The enemy died in a very little while. This was near the cape of Kaena. The name of the land at that place is Kakahee. These monsters of the ocean were called Kupuas. It was believed that they were evil gods, always hoping to inflict some injury on man.
Pikoi and his father landed and went up to Manoa Valley. There they met Ka-ui-o-Manoa and wept from great joy as they embraced each other. A feast was prepared, and all rested for a time. [[160]]
Pikoi wandered away down the valley and out toward the lands overlooking the harbor of Kou (Honolulu). On the plain called Kula-o-ka-hua he saw a chiefess with some of her people. This plain was the comparatively level ground below Makiki Valley. Apparently it was covered at that time with a small shrub, or dwarf-like tree, called aweoweo. Rats were hiding under the shelter of the thick leaves and branches.
Pikoi went to the place where the people were gathered. The chiefess was Kahamaluihi, the wife of the king Kakuhihewa. With her was her famous arrow-shooting chiefess, Ke-pana-kahu, who was shooting against Mainele, the noted rat-shooting chief of her husband. The queen had been betting with Mainele and had lost because he was a better shot that day than her friend. She was standing inside tabu lines under a shaded place, but Pikoi went in and stood by her. She was angry for a moment, and asked why he was there. He made a pleasant answer about wishing to see the sport.
She asked if he could shoot. He replied that he had been taught a little of the art, so she offered him the use of a bow and arrow and at that he said, “This arrow and this bow are not good for this kind of shooting.” [[161]]
She laughed at him. “You are only a boy; what can you know about rat-hunting?”
He was a little nettled, and broke the bow and arrow, saying, “These things are of no use whatever.”
The chiefess was really angry, and cried out, “What do you mean by breaking my things, you deceitful child?”
Meanwhile Pikoi’s father had missed him and had learned from his daughter that the high chiefess was having a rat-shooting contest. He took Pikoi’s bows and arrows wrapped in tapa and went down with the bundle on his back.
Pikoi took a bow and arrow from the bundle and persuaded the high chiefess to make a new wager with Mainele. The queen, in kindly mood, placed treasure against treasure.
Mainele prepared to shoot first, agreeing with Pikoi to make fifteen the number of shots for the first trial.
Pikoi pointed out rat after rat among the shrubs until Mainele had killed fourteen. Then the boy cried: “There is only one shot more. Shoot that rat whose whiskers are by a leaf of that aweoweo tree. The body is concealed, but I can see the whiskers. Shoot that rat, O Mainele!”
Mainele looked the shrubs all over carefully, but could not see the least sign of a rat. The [[162]]people went near and thrust arrows among the leaves, but could see nothing.
Then Mainele said: “There is no rat in that place. I have looked where you said. You are a lying child when you say that you see the whiskers of a rat.”
Pikoi insisted that the rat was there. Mainele was vexed, and said: “Behold all the treasure I have won from the chiefess and the treasure which we are now betting. You shall have it all if you shoot and strike the whiskers of any rat in that small tree. If you do not strike a rat I will simply claim the present bet.”
Then Pikoi took out of the bundle held by his father a bow and an arrow. He carefully strung his bow and fixed the arrow, pointing the eye of that arrow toward the place pointed out before.
The queen said, “That is a splendid bow.” Her caretaker, however, was watching the beautiful eyes of the boy, and his general appearance.
Pikoi was softly chanting to himself. This was his incantation or prayer to his sister-gods:
“There he is, there he is, O Pikoi!
Alala is the father,
Koukou is the mother.
The divine sisters were born.
O Bent-bow-of-heaven!
O Bent-bow-of-earth!
O Bent-bow-of-the-mountain!
O Bent-bow-of-the-ocean! [[163]]
O Bent-bow-of-the-night!
O Bent-bow-of-the-day!
O Wonderful Ones!
O Silent Ones!
Silent.
There is that rat—
That rat in the leaves of the aweoweo,
By the fruit of the aweoweo,
By the trunk of the aweoweo.
Large eyes have you, O Mainele;
But you did not see that rat.
If you had shot, O Mainele,
You would have hit the whiskers of that rat—
You would have had two rats—two.
Another comes—three rats—three!”
Then Mainele said: “You are a lying child. I, Mainele, am a skilful shooter. I have struck my rat in the mouth or the foot or any part of the body, but no one has ever pierced the whiskers. You are trying to deceive.”
Pikoi raised his bow, felt his arrow, and said to his father, “What arrow is this?”
His father replied, “That is the arrow Mahu, which eats the flower of the lehua-tree.”
Pikoi said: “This will not do. Hand me another.” Then his father gave him Laukona (The-arrow-which-strikes-the-strong-leaf), but the boy said: “This arrow has killed only sixty rats and its eye is smooth. Give me one more.”
His father handed him the Huhui (The-bunched-together), [[164]]an arrow having three or four sharp notches in the point.
Pikoi took it, saying, “This arrow wins the treasure,” and went toward the tree, secretly repeating his chant.
Then he let the arrow go twisting and whirling around, striking and entangling the whiskers of three rats.
Mainele saw this wonderful shooting, and delivered all the treasures he had wagered. But Pikoi said he had not really won until he had killed fourteen more rats, so he shot again a very long arrow among the thick leaves of the shrubs, and the arrow was full of rats strung on it from end to end hanging on it by forties.
The people stood with open mouths in silent astonishment, and then broke out in wildest enthusiasm.
While they were excited the boy and his father secretly went away to their home in Manoa Valley and remained there with Ka-ui-o-Manoa a long time, not visiting Waikiki or the noted places of the island Oahu.
Kakuhihewa, the king, heard about this strange contest and tried to find the wonderful boy. But he had entirely disappeared. The caretaker of the high chiefess was the only one who had carefully observed his eyes and his general appearance, [[165]]but she had no knowledge of his home or how he had disappeared.
She suggested that all the men of Oahu be called, district by district, to bring offerings to the king, two months being allowed each district, lest there should be a surplus of gifts and the people impoverished and reduced to a state of famine.
Five years passed. In the sixth year the Valley of Manoa was called upon to bring its gifts.
Pikoi had grown into manhood and had changed very much in his general appearance. His hair was very long, falling far down his body. He asked his sister to cut his hair, and persuaded her to take her husband’s shark-tooth knives. She refused at first, saying, “These knives are tabu because they belong to the chief.” At last she took the teeth—one above, or outside of the hair, and one inside—and tried to cut the hair, but it was so thick and stout that the handles broke, and she gave up, saying, “Your hair is the hair of a god.” However, that night while he slept his rat-sister-gods came and gnawed off his hair, some eating one place and some another. It was not even. From this the ancient saying arose: “Look at his hair. It was cut by rats.”
Pawaa, the chief, came home and found his [[166]]wife greatly troubled. She told him all that she had done, and he said: “Broken were the handles, not the teeth of the shark. If the teeth had broken, that would have been bad.”
Pikoi’s face had been discolored by the sister-gods, so that when he appeared with ragged hair no one knew him—not even his father and sister. He put on some beautiful garlands of lehua flowers and went with the Manoa people to Waikiki to appear before the king.
The people were feasting, surf-riding and enjoying all kinds of sports before they should be called to make obeisance to their king.
Pikoi wandered down to the beach at Ulu-kou[1] where the queen and her retinue were surf-riding. While he stood near the water the queen came in on a great wave which brought her before him. He asked for her papa (surf-board) but she said it was tabu to any one but herself. Any other taking that surf-board would be killed by the servants.
BANYAN TREE. (IN “SONGS OF HAWAII” “THE GRANDFATHER TREE”)
Then the chiefess, who was with the queen when Pikoi shot the rats of Makiki, came to the shore. The queen said, “Here is a surf-board you can use.” The chiefess gave him her board and did not know him. He went out into the sea at Waikiki where the people were sporting. The surf was good only in one place, and that [[167]]was tabu to the queen. So Pikoi allowed a wave to carry him across to the high combers upon which she was riding. She waited for him, because she was pleased with his great beauty, although he had tried to disguise himself.
She asked him for one of his beautiful leis of lehua flowers, but he said he must refuse because she was tabu. “No! No!” she replied. “Nothing is tabu for me to receive. It will be tabu after I have worn it.” So he gave her the garland of flowers. That part of the surf is named Kalehua-wike (The-loosened-lehua).
Then he asked her to launch her board on the first wave and let him come in on the second. She did not go, but caught the second wave as he swept by. He saw her, and tried to cut across from his wave to the next. She followed him, and very skilfully caught that wave and swept to the beach with him.
A great cry came from the people. “That boy has broken the tabu!” “There is death for the boy!”
The king, Kakuhihewa, heard the shout and looked toward the sea. He saw the tabu queen and that boy on the same surf-wave.
He called to his officers: “Go quickly and seize that young chief who has broken the tabu of the queen. He shall not live.”
The officers ran to him, seized him, tossed him [[168]]around, tore off his malo, struck him with clubs, and began to kill him.
Pikoi cried: “Stop! Wait until I have had word with the king.”
They led him to the place where the king waited. Some of the people insulted him, and threw dirt and stones upon him as he passed.
The king was in kindly mood and listened to his explanation instead of ordering him to be killed at once.
While he was speaking before the king, the queen and the other women came. One of them looked carefully at him and recognized some peculiar marks on his side. She exclaimed, “There is the wonderful child who won the victory from Mainele. He is the skilful rat-shooter.”
The king said to the woman, “You see that this is a fine-looking young man, and you are trying to save him.”
The woman was vexed, and insisted that this was truly the rat-shooter.
Then the king said: “Perhaps we should try him against Mainele. They may shoot here in this house.” This was the house called the Hale-noa (Free-for-all-the-family). The king gave the law of the contest. “You may each shoot like the arrows on your hands [the ten fingers] and five more—fifteen in all.” [[169]]
Pikoi was afraid of this contest. Mainele had his own weapons, while Pikoi had nothing, but he looked around and saw his father, Alala, who now knew him. The father had the tapa bundle of bows and arrows. The woman recognized him, and called, “Behold the man who has the bow and arrow for this boy.”
Pikoi told Mainele to shoot at some rats under the doorway. He pointed them out one after the other until twelve had been killed.
Pikoi said: “There is one more. His body cannot be seen, but his whiskers are by the edge of the stone step.”
Mainele denied that any rat was there, and refused to shoot.
The king commanded Pikoi not to shoot at any rat under the door, but to kill real rats, as Mainele had done.
Pikoi took his bow, bent it, and drew it out until it stretched from one side of the house to the other. The arrow was very long. He called to his opponent to point out rats.
Mainele could not point out any. Nor could the king see one around the house.
Pikoi shot an arrow at the doorstep and killed a rat which had been hiding underneath.
Then Pikoi shot a bent-over, old-man rat in one corner; then pointed to the ridge-pole and chanted his usual chant, ending this time: [[170]]
“Straight the arrow strikes
Hitting the mouth of the rat,
From the eye of the arrow to the end
Four hundred—four hundred!”
The king said: “Shoot your ‘four hundred—four hundred.’ Mainele shall pick them up, but if the eye of your arrow fails to find rats, you die.”
Pikoi shot his arrow, which glanced along the ridge-pole under the thatch, striking rat after rat until the arrow was full from end to end,—hundreds and hundreds.
The high chief Pawaa knew his brother-in-law, embraced him, and wailed over his trouble. Then, grasping his war-club, he stepped out of the house to find the men who had struck Pikoi and torn off his malo. He struck them one after the other on the back of the neck, killing twenty men. The king asked his friend why he had done this. Pawaa replied, “Because they evilly handled my brother-in-law,—the only brother of my wife, ‘The Beauty of Manoa.’ ”
The king said, “That is right.”
The people who had insulted Pikoi and thrown dirt upon him began to run away and try to hide. They fled in different directions.
Pikoi caught his bow and fixed an arrow and again chanted to his rat-sister-gods, ending with an incantation against those who were in flight: [[171]]
“Strike! Behold there are the rats—the men!
The small man,
The large man,
The tall man,
The short man,
The panting coward.
Fly, arrow! and strike!
Return at last!”
The arrow pierced one of the fleeing men, leaped aside to strike another, passed from side to side around those who had pitied him, striking only those who had been at fault, searching out men as if it had eyes, at last returning to its place in the tapa bundle. The arrow was given the name Ka-pua-akamai-loa (The-very-wise-arrow). Very many were punished by this wise arrow.
Wondering and confused was the great assemblage of chiefs, and they said to each other, “We have no warrior who can stand before this very skilful young man.”
The king gave Pikoi an honorable place among his chiefs, making him his personal great rat-hunter. The queen adopted him as her own child.
No one had heard Pikoi’s name during all these wonderful experiences. When he chanted his prayer in which he gave his name, he had sung so softly that no one could hear what he was [[172]]saying. Therefore the people called him Kapana-kahu-ahi (The-fire-building-shooter), because his arrow was like fire in its destruction.
Pikoi returned to Manoa Valley with Pawaa and his father and sister. There he dwelt for some time in a great grass house, the gift of the king.
Kakuhihewa planned to give him his daughter in marriage, but opportunity for new experiences in Hawaii came to Pikoi, and he went to that island, where he became a noted bird-shooter as well as a rat-hunter, and had his final contest with Mainele.
Mainele was very much ashamed when the king commanded him to gather up not only the dead bodies of all the people who were slain by that very wise arrow, but the bodies of the rats also. He was compelled to make the ground clean from the blood of the dead. He ran away and hid himself in a village with people of the low class until an opportunity came to go to the island Hawaii to attempt a new record for himself with his bow and arrow.
[[173]]
[1] Near the present Moana Hotel. [↑]
XXII
KAWELO
Many Kawelos are named in the legends of the islands of Oahu and Kauai, but one only was the strong, the mighty warrior who destroyed a gigantic enemy who used trees for spears. He was known as Kawelo-lei-makua when mentioned in the genealogies.
Kawelo’s great-uncle, Kawelo-mahamahaia, was the king of Kauai. The land prospered and was quiet under him. When he died, the people worshipped him as a god. They said he had become a divine shark, watching over the seacoasts of his island. At last they thought it had become a stone god—one point the head and one the tail, one side red and the other black. His grandson, Kawelo-aikanaka, who became king of Kauai, was born the same day that brought Kawelo-lei-makua into the world. They were always known as Aikanaka and Kawelo. There was also born that same day Kauahoa, who became the giant of Kauai, and the personal enemy of Kawelo. In their infancy the three boys were taken by their grandparents to Wailua, and brought up near each other under different caretakers. [[174]]
Some of the legends say that Kawelo’s oldest brother, Kawelo-mai-huna, was born an eepa—a child poorly formed, but having miraculous powers. When born, the servants wrapped this child in a tapa sheet and thought to bury it, but a fierce storm arose. There were sharp lightnings and loud thunder. Strong winds swept around the house. So they put the bundle in a small calabash, covered it with a feather cloak, and hung it in the top of the house. The grandparents came and prophesied a marvellous future for this child. The father started to take down the calabash, but saw only a cloud of red feathers whirling and concealing all the upper corner. The old people, with heads bowed down, were uttering incantations. There came a sound of raindrops falling on the leaves of the forest trees, and a rainbow stood over the door. The voices of beautiful green birds (the Elepaio) were heard all around, and rats ran over the thatch of the roof. Then the old people said: “This child has become an eepa. He will appear as man or bird or fish or rat.”
Other children were born, then Kawelo, and last of all his faithful younger brother, Kamalama. The old people who took care of Kawelo were his grandparents. They taught the signs and incantations and magic of Hawaiian thought. They frequently went inland to the place where [[175]]their best food was growing. They always prepared large calabashes full of poi and other food, thinking to have plenty when they returned; but each time all the food was eaten. They decided that it was better to provide sports for Kawelo than to leave him idle while they were away, so they went to the forest with their servants and made a canoe. After many days their work was done, and they returned to prepare food. Poi was made, and all kinds of food were placed in the ovens for cooking. Then they heard a sound like that of a strong wind tearing through the forest. They heard the squeaking voices of many rats. Soon they went to see the canoe in the forest, but it was gone. They returned home to eat the poi and cooked food, but they were all gone—only the leaves in which the food had been wrapped lay in the oven. Kawelo told his grandparents that little people with rat-whiskers had carried the boat down to the river and then had eaten all the food. One, larger than the others, had called to him, “E Kawelo, here is your plaything, the canoe.”
Kawelo went down to the river. All day long he paddled up and down the river, and all day long his strength grew with each paddle-stroke. Thus day by day he paddled from morning until night, and no one in all the island had such renown for handling a canoe. [[176]]
The other boys were carefully trained in all games of skill, in boxing, wrestling, spear-throwing, back-breaking, and other athletic exercises. Kauahoa was very jealous of Kawelo’s plaything, and asked his caretakers to make something for him, so they made a kite (a pe-a) and gave it to their foster-child. That kite rose far up in the heavens. Loud were the shouts of the people as they saw this beautiful thing in the sky. Kawelo asked for a kite, and in a few days took one out to fly by the side of Kauahoa’s kite. He let out the string and it rose higher and higher, and the people cheered loudly. Kawelo came nearer and nearer to Kauahoa and pulled his kite down slowly and then let it go quickly. His kite leaped from side to side, and twisted its strings around that held by Kauahoa and broke it, and the kite was blown far over the forest, at a place called Kahoo leina a pe-a (The-kite-falling). Kawelo said the wind was to blame, so Kauahoa, although very angry, could find no cause for fighting. Then the grandparents taught Kawelo to box and wrestle and handle the war spear. Thus the boys grew in stature and in enmity.
After a time the king of Kauai died and Aikanaka became king. The legends say the rats warned Kawelo, and he and his grandparents fled to the island of Oahu. The boat flew over [[177]]the sea like a malolo (flying-fish), leaping over the waves at the strong stroke of Kawelo. The rats under their king were concealed in the canoe, and were carried over to the new home. Kawelo’s elder brothers and parents had been living for some time on the beach of Waikiki near Ulukou[1] by the mouth of the stream Apuakehau. The grandparents took Kawelo and Kamalama inland and found a beautiful place among taro patches and cultivated fields for their home. It was said that when they came to the beach one young man went down into the water and carried the canoe inland. Kawelo called him and adopted him as one of the family. The boy’s name was Kalaumeke (A-kind-of-ti-leaf). The boy said he was not as strong as he appeared to be, for he had the aid of many little long-whiskered people; his real power lay in spear-throwing and club-fighting. There was only one other young man who was his equal—a youth from Ewa, whose name was Kaeleha. Kawelo sent for this man and took him into his family. They dwelt for some time, cultivating the place where the royal lands now lie, back of the Waikiki beach.
One day they heard great shouting and clapping of hands on the beach, and Kawelo went down to see the sport. His brothers had been well taught all the arts of boxing and wrestling, and they [[178]]were very strong; but they were not able to overthrow a very strong man from Halemanu. Kawelo challenged the strong man. His elder brothers ridiculed him, but Kawelo persevered. The strong man was much larger and taller than Kawelo. He uttered his boast as Kawelo came before him. “Strong is the koa[2] of Halemanu. The kona [wind] cannot bend it.” Kawelo boasted in reply, “Mauna Waialeale will try against Mauna Kaala.” Then the strong man said: “When I call ‘swing your hands’ we will fall against each other.” With this word he advanced and struck at Kawelo, bending him over, but not knocking him down. Kawelo returned the blow with such force that the mighty boxer fell dead. Kawelo gave the body to the king of Oahu to be carried as a sacrifice to the gods in the heiau, or temple, Lualualei at Waianae. “This is said to have been a very ancient temple belonging to the chief Kakuhihewa.”
A WAHINE
Kawelo’s brothers were greatly mortified to see their younger brother accomplish what they had failed to do, so in their shame they returned to Kauai with their parents.
The king of Oahu gave Kawelo lands. His grandparents built him a house. It was well thatched except the top. He was a high tabu chief, and the kahunas (priests) said he must [[179]]finish it with the work of his own hands. This he thought he would do with the beautiful feathers of the red and yellow birds. He lay down and slept. When he awoke he saw his rat-brother, who had miraculous power, finishing all the roof with most beautiful feathers of red and gold. The king of Oahu came to see this wonderful place, and blessed it, and lifted his tabu from it so that it would belong fully to Kawelo, although it was more beautiful than that of the king himself.
Kawelo learned the hula (dance), and went around the island attending all hula gatherings until the people called him “the great hula chief.” At the village of Kaneohe he met the most beautiful woman of that part of the island, Kane-wahine-ike-aoha. He married her, gave up the hula, and returned home to learn the art of battle with spears and clubs. No one was more strong or more skilful than his wife’s father. Kawelo sent his wife to the other side of the island to ask her father to teach him to fight with the war-club. She went to her father and persuaded him to aid Kawelo. For many days they practised together, until Kawelo was mighty in handling both spear and club.
After this Kawelo learned the prayers and incantations and offerings upon which good fishing depended. Then he took the fisherman and went out in the ocean to do battle with a [[180]]great fish which had terrified the people of Oahu many years. This was a kupua, or magic fish, possessing exceeding great powers. As they went out from Waikiki, with one stroke of the paddle Kawelo sent the canoe to Kou, with another stroke he passed to Waianae, and then began to fish from the shore far out to the sea, using a round, deep net. This method of fishing continues to the present day. A fish is caught and a weight tied to it so that it must swim slowly. Other fish come to see the stranger, and the net is drawn around them. Many good fish were caught, but the great fish did not come. Again Kawelo came to hunt this Uhumakaikai, but the Uhu sent fierce storm-waves against the canoe to drive it to land. Kawelo held the boat strongly with his paddle. Soon the Uhu appeared, trying to strike the boat and upset it. Kawelo and his fisherman carefully watched every move and balanced the boat as needed. Kawelo’s net was in the water, its mouth open, and its full length dragging far behind the boat. The Uhu was swimming around the net as if despising its every motion, but Kawelo swept the net sideways and the fish found himself swimming into the net. Kawelo swiftly rushed the net forward until the Uhu was fully enclosed. Then came a marvellous fish-battle. The waves swept high around the boat. Kawelo and the [[181]]fisherman covered it so that the water poured off rather than into it. Then the Uhu swam swiftly out into the blue waters. The fisherman begged Kawelo to cut the cord which held the net. Far out they went—out to the most distant island, Niihau. Kawelo saw a great battle in the net which held the Uhu. There were many fish inside attacking the Uhu. They were a kind of whiskered fish, biting like rats, digging their teeth into the flesh of the great fish. Kawelo uttered incantations, and the fish became weaker and weaker until it ceased to struggle. Kawelo paddled with strong strokes back to Oahu.
Meanwhile the brothers and parents, who had gone to Kauai, were in great trouble under the persecutions of Aikanaka and his strong man Kauahoa. At last the mother sent the brothers to Oahu after Kawelo. They came to Waikiki while Kawelo was away trying to kill the Uhu. The youngest brother, Kamalama, received them and sent two messengers to find Kawelo. He recited a family chant, in which the names of the visiting brothers as well as the name of Kawelo’s gods were honored. He charged them to remember the brothers’ names or they would have trouble. They paddled out on the ocean calling for Kawelo and repeating the names from time to time. Suddenly a high surf wave [[182]]caught their canoe and overturned it, leaving them to struggle in the fierce waters. Soon they saw Kawelo coming with his great fish near his canoe. “O Kawelo!” they cried. “We had the names of your friends from Kauai—but our trouble in the water made us forget.” Then Kawelo recited his chant, giving his brothers’ names and also those of the tabu gods. Only the chiefs to whom the gods belonged could speak their names. When Kawelo uttered their names, the two men cried out, “Those are the men, and Kuka-lani-ehu is their god.” Kawelo was very angry at the desecration of the name of his family god in the mouths of the common men. He stuck his paddle deep into the sea, tearing the coral reef to pieces, but the great fish caught on the coral and Kawelo could not row to the men. They rushed their boat to the beach and escaped. Kawelo then took a part of the captured fish and offered it for sacrifice in the temple at Waianae. The rest he brought to his people at Waikiki.
As he came near the shore he called for his spear-throwers to meet him on the beach. Seven skilled men stood before him as he landed. They hurled their spears at one time straight at him, but he moved himself skilfully from side to side and threw the ends of his malo (loincloth) around them and caught them all together. [[183]]Then he called his two adopted boys to throw. This they did with great skill, but he caught both spears in one hand. Kamalama took two spears, and Kawelo’s wife stood on one side with a fishhook and line in her hand. As the spears flew by her she threw out the hook and caught each one.
The story of the Kauai trouble was soon told. The king of Oahu furnished a large double canoe. From his father-in-law Kawelo secured the historic battle-weapons—war-club and spear—with which he had learned to fight. Food in abundance was placed on the boats, and the household went back to Kauai to wage war with Aikanaka and Kauahoa, stopping at the heiau Kamaile—afterward called Ka-ne i ka pua lena (Ka-ne of the yellow flower)—to offer sacrifices. Some legends say this temple was at Makaha, and that Kane-aki was the name. This Ka-ne was one of the gods of Kawelo. Kawelo, according to one legend, had his people tie him in a mat as if dead as they approached Wailua, the home of Aikanaka. The beach was covered with people—the warriors of Aikanaka. As the double canoe came to the beach, the people made ready to attack. They waited, however, for the newcomers to land and prepare for fight. This was a formal courtesy always demanded by the ethics of olden times. When all was ready, Kamalama [[184]]stood by the apparently dead body of Kawelo, and pulled a cord which unloosed the mats. Kawelo rose up with his war-club and spear in hand and rushed upon the multitude. He struck from side to side, and the people fell like the leaves of trees in a whirlwind.
Again new bodies of warriors hastened from Aikanaka. Kamalama, the seven spearmen and the two adopted boys fought this army and drove it back under a cliff where Aikanaka had his headquarters. The seven spearmen, known in the legends as Naulu (the-seven-bread-fruit-trees), were afraid and retreated to the boat.
Two noble chiefs asked Aikanaka for two large bodies of men (two four-hundreds), but Kawelo and his handful of helpers defeated them with great slaughter. Thus several larger bodies of soldiers were destroyed, and Aikanaka became cold and afraid in his heart.
Then Kahakaloa, the best skilled in the use of war-clubs in all the islands, rose up and went down with the two hundred warriors to fight with Kawelo and his family. The father-in-law of Kawelo knew this chief well and thought that by him Kawelo might be killed if he went to Kauai, but Kawelo had learned strokes of the club not understood on Kauai. Soon all the warriors were slain, and Kahakaloa stood alone against Kawelo. As they faced each other Kahakaloa [[185]]swiftly struck Kawelo, but Kawelo while falling gave his club an upward stroke, breaking his enemy’s arm. In the next struggle Kawelo’s swift upward stroke killed his foe.
Then Kauahoa, the strongest, tallest and most skilful man of Kauai, arose and went down to meet Kawelo. Kauahoa took a magic koa-tree, root, stem and branches, for his club with which to fight Kawelo. His heart was full of anger as he remembered the troubles between Kawelo and himself in their boyhood. As he passed the multitude of his dead people he became beside himself with rage and rushed upon Kawelo. Kawelo stationed his wife on one side with her powerful fishhooks and lines to catch the branches of the mighty tree and hold them fast. Some of the legends say that she was very skilful in the use of the ikoi. This was a straight, somewhat heavy, stick with a strong cord fastened around the middle. It was said that she was to throw this stick over the branches, whirling and twisting the cord around them, greatly entangling them, so that she could pull the tree to one side. Kawelo ordered his warriors to watch the spots of sunlight sifting through the branches. As the tree was hurled down upon them they must leap into the open places and seize the branches, holding on as best they could. When the giant struck down with [[186]]his strange war-club, Kawelo’s friends followed his directions, while he leaped swiftly to one side and ran around back of Kauahoa while he was bending over trying to free his tree from its troubles. Kawelo struck down with awful force, his war-club cutting Kauahoa in pieces, which fell by the side of the koa-tree.
Somewhere in the battles waged by Kawelo along the coasts of Kauai he was fighting with his giant enemy and struck his spear against the mountain ridge at Anahola, piercing it through and through, leaving a great hole through which the sky is always to be seen.
Aikanaka fled to the region near Hanapepe, where he dwelt in poverty. Kawelo divided the districts of Kauai among his warriors. Kaeleha received the district in which Aikanaka was sheltered. Soon this adopted son of Kawelo met the daughter of Aikanaka and married her. After a while he wanted Aikanaka to again rule the island. He proposed rebellion and told Aikanaka that they could destroy Kawelo because he had never learned the art of fighting with stones. He only understood the use of the war-club and spear. They ordered the women and children to gather great piles of stones to hurl against Kawelo.
When Kawelo heard about this insurrection, he was very angry. He seized his war-club, [[187]]Kuikaa, and hastened to Hanapepe. As he came near he saw that the people had barricaded his way with canoes, and that back of these canoes were many large piles of stones in the care of warriors. He raised his war-club and leaped toward his enemies. A sling-stone reached him. Then the stones came like heavy rain. He dodged, but there were so many that when he avoided one he would be struck by others. He was bruised and wounded and stunned until he sank to the ground unconscious under the fierce shower.
The people rejoiced, and, to make death sure, threw off the stones and beat the body with clubs until it was cold and they could detect no sign of breathing.
Aikanaka had built a new unu, or heiau, at Mauilli, in the district of Koloa, but no man had been offered as a sacrifice upon its altars. He thought he would take Kawelo as the first human sacrifice. The people carried the body of Kawelo to the pa, or outside enclosure, of the temple, but it was dark when they arrived, and they laid the body down, covering it with banana leaves, saying they would come the next morning and place the body on the altar, where it should lie until decomposition had taken place.
Two watchmen had been appointed, one of whom was a near relative to Kawelo. He soon [[188]]discovered that Kawelo was not dead. He told Kawelo about the plan to place him on the altar in the morning. He covered Kawelo again, placing his war-club by his side. In the morning the chiefs and people came to the heiau with Aikanaka and Kaeleha. When all were gathered together the watchman whispered to Kawelo. The leaves were thrown off, and Kawelo attacked the multitude and destroyed all who had rebelled against him.
AN ALTAR BENEATH THE LAHALA
Some of the legends say that Aikanaka had placed Kawelo on the sacrificial platform and in the morning had begun to offer the prayer consecrating the dead body to the gods, when Kawelo struck him dead before his own altar.
When this rebellion had been overcome, Kawelo gave a large district with good lands to the watchman who had befriended him. He retained his younger brother Kamalama in the district of Hanamaulu and committed their parents to his care.
Kawelo, as was his right, ruled over all the island, passing from place to place, establishing peace and prosperity. He made his home at Hana, planting and fishing for himself, not burdening chiefs or people, but beloved by all. Thus he gained the honored name Kawelo-lei-makua (Kawelo, garland-of-his-parents). [[189]]
XXIII
“CHIEF MAN-EATER”
“Chief man-eater,” the cannibal, lived in the Hawaiian Islands. He was also one of the inhabitants of mistland. Legends gathered around him like clouds. Facts also stood out like tall trees through the clouds. He was a real cannibal, of whom the Hawaiians are not proud.
The Hawaiians have frequently been called cannibals. Secretaries of the Missionary Board under which the first missionaries came to Hawaii, and papers of the denomination supporting that mission, have uttered the untruth, “The cannibals of the Sandwich Islands would erewhile cook and carve a merchant or marine and discourse on the deliciousness of cold missionary.” It was a very forcible background against which to paint moral improvement, but it was not accurate. The Hawaiians claim that they never practised cannibalism. If anything like a feast of human flesh was partaken of, it was only in exceedingly rare and obscure cases. And of these only “Chief Man-eater” is accepted as a historical fact. Legends that possibly have had a hint of cannibalism are very few. [[190]]
It is recorded that after certain fierce battles of the long ago, as a method of showing indignity to dead chiefs, their bodies were baked and thrown into the sea.
It is barely possible that the baking was followed by cannibalism, but there is nothing in the record beyond the suggestion.
The daring act of “heart-eating” is mentioned in Hawaiian annals. This came during or after a battle, when two warriors had been engaged in a hand-to-hand struggle. The victor, whose strength was almost gone, would sometimes tear out the heart of the dying opponent and eat it on the spot. It was believed that the strength and courage of the dead entered immediately into the living.
That the Hawaiian chiefs and priests set small value upon life is well attested by the large number of human sacrifices required for almost all civil and religious ceremonies. For instance, when the famous war-god Kaili was taken to a temple dedicated to it by Kamehameha, eleven human victims were placed at once upon the altar before it. When a chief desired a new canoe a man was usually slain at the foot of the tree from which the canoe was to be made. Another was slain when the canoe was complete, and others might be sacrificed at different stages of the work. When a chief’s house was to be [[191]]erected, sometimes a victim was sacrificed and buried at each corner, and when the house was completed another slaughter occurred. When an idol was to be made, substantially the same sacrifices accompanied the ceremony of choosing the tree and carving the image. At certain times the priests of all the temples demanded human victims, and regularly appointed officers, or man-catchers, were appointed to provide for the sacrifice. Not even their own relatives were spared in the search. Women were almost always exempt from this horrible termination of life. When a battle had been fought, many captives were sacrificed by both victor and vanquished.
Infanticide was freely practised up to the time of the advent of the missionaries. Even for old people there was often but little love, and the aged and the infirm were left to care for themselves, or placed on the beach for the outstretched hands of the incoming tide.
A native historian says: “The ancient restrictions of chiefs and priests were like the poisoned tooth of a reptile. If the shadow of a common man fell on a chief, it was death. If he put on any part of the garments of a chief, it was death. If he went into the chief’s yard or upon the chief’s house, it was death. If he stood when the king’s bathing water or his garments were [[192]]carried along, or in the king’s presence, it was death. If he stood at the mention of the king’s name in song, it was death. There were many other offences of the people which were made capital by the chiefs. The king and the priests were much alike. The priesthood was oppressive to the people. Human victims were required on many occasions. If tabus were violated it meant death. It was death to be found in a canoe on a tabu or sacred day. If a woman ate pork, coconuts, bananas, or certain kind of fish or lobster, it was death.”
This much, and more, of human cruelty is acknowledged concerning the savage life of ancient Hawaii. Nevertheless, from the beginning of the earliest acquaintance of white people with the Hawaiian not an instance or hint of cannibalism has been known.
The idea of eating human flesh was thoroughly repugnant. Alexander, in his brief history of the Hawaiian people, says, “Cannibalism was regarded with horror and detestation.” Isaac Davis, one of the first white men to make his home in the islands, declared that the Hawaiians had never been cannibals since the islands were inhabited.
To the Hawaiian, “Chief Man-eater” was the unique and horrid embodiment of an insane appetite. He was the “Fe-fi-fo-fum” giant of the [[193]]Hawaiian nursery. The very thought of his worse than brutal feast made the Hawaiian blood run cold.
One of the legends of Ke-alii-ai Kanaka (The-chief-who-eats-men) tells of the sudden appearance on the island of Kauai, in the indefinite past, of a stranger chief from a foreign land, with a small band of followers. The king of Kauai made them welcome. Feasts and games were enjoyed, then came the discovery that secret feasts of a horrible nature were eaten by the strangers. They were driven from the island. They crossed the channel to Oahu. They knew their reputation would soon follow them, so they went inland to the lofty range of the Waianae Mountains. Here they established their home, cultivated food and captured human victims, until finally driven out. Then they launched their boats and sailed away toward Kahiki, a foreign land.
Ai-Kanaka (Man-eater) was the name given to a bay on the island of Molokai, now known as the leper island. Here dwelt the priest Kawelo, who, by the aid of the great shark-god Kauhuhu, brought upon his enemies a storm which swept them into the sea, where they were eaten by the subjects and companions of the shark-god.
A legend, or, rather, a genealogy, placed a “Chief Man-eater” on the island of Hawaii, but no hints are given of man-eating feasts, or of [[194]]journeys to other islands, and the name may simply refer to a fierce disposition. The Oahu chief, Ke-alii-ai Kanaka, lived some time about the middle of the eighteenth century, as nearly as can be estimated. Up to the middle of the nineteenth century the accounts of Chief Man-eater’s deeds and the accurate knowledge of his place of residence were quite fresh in the minds of old Hawaiians.
It is still a problem to be decided whether Chief Man-eater was a foreigner or a Hawaiian. The difficulty that makes his foreign birth a problem is the accepted date of the close of all intercourse with far-away island groups, such as Samoa and Fiji—at least three hundred years earlier than the century assigned to Ke-alii-ai Kanaka.
It would seem best to accept the legend that the degenerate chief was a desperado and an outcast from the high chief family of Waialua, on the northwest coast of Oahu.
Ke-alii-ai Kanaka was a powerful man. He is described as a champion boxer and wrestler. In some way he learned to love the taste of human flesh. When his awful appetite became known he was driven from his home. As he passed through the village the women who had been his playmates and companions fled from him. His former friends, the young warriors, called [[195]]out “Man-eater! Man-eater!” and openly despised him. In bitter anger he called the few servants who would follow him, and fled to the royal Waianae Mountains. Driven from his kindred and friends, he buried himself and his brutal appetite in the mountain forests.
It is possible that soon after this he visited the island Kauai, and there passed himself off as a chief from a foreign land. But “his hand was against every man” and therefore “every man’s hand was against him.” Finally he made his permanent home among the Waianae Mountains, in the range that borders Waialua.
His followers numbered only a handful, for a single canoe brought them away from Kauai—if his was indeed the band driven from the hospitable shores of that fertile island.
Kokoa and Kalo were the names by which he was known in his nobler young manhood, and Kokoa was his name to his followers, but he was ever after Chief Man-eater to the Hawaiian world.
It was a wild and wonderfully beautiful spot that Kokoa chose for his final home. It was a small plateau, or mesa, of from two to three hundred acres on the top of a small mountain surrounded by other higher and more precipitous cliffs. It was luxuriantly covered with tropical growth and blessed with abundant rains. The [[196]]Hawaiians have given the name Halemanu (house-of-the-hand) to this plateau. Its sides, sloping down into the valleys, were so precipitous as to be absolutely inaccessible. It could be entered only along a narrow ridge. The pandanus drooped its long leaves and aërial rootlets along the edges. The uluhe,[1] or tangle-fern, massed and matted itself into a thick disguise for the cannibals’ secret paths through the valleys below. Native flowers bordered the paths and crowned the plateau, as if man’s worst nature could never wither the appeal of things beautiful. A magnificent koa, or native mahogany, tree spread its protecting branches by the spot chosen by Kokoa for his grass house. Kukui-trees furnished their oily nuts for his torches. The ohia, or native apple, and the bread-fruit and wild sugar-cane gave generously of their wealth to the support of the cannibal band. They easily cultivated taro, the universal native food, and captured birds and sometimes unwary hunters who penetrated the forest recesses in search of the birds with rare yellow feathers. It was a beautiful den into which, spider-like, he dragged his victims.
Kokoa led his followers into the mountains through winding valleys and thick forests and sometimes in the very beds of the Waianae [[197]]brooks to this secluded retreat lying within the walls of one of the enormous extinct craters of the volcanic mountains. As they entered the valley below the plateau, one of his followers said to another: “Our chief has found a true hiding-place for us. Let us hope that it may not prove a trap. If our presence here should be known to the people of Waialua, they could easily close the entrance to this valley with a strong guard and drive us against the steep walls up which we cannot climb.” Kokoa only called out, “Wait, I will protect you,” then led them to the plateau he had selected.
The ascent to the summit was along a knife-blade ridge flanked by picturesque sides. For a long distance there was only room for one man to walk. One of the men carelessly hastened across this causeway, bearing a heavy burden of goods and weapons. His foot slipped. His burden overbalanced him. The sloping side of the ridge was covered with grass, which afforded no foothold. In a moment the fallen man and his burden were hurled down the slope. The terrified friends watched the flying body in its rapid descent, and saw it shoot out in space over the edge of a lava cliff, and heard it strike the broken debris at the foot.
Two of the men were at once sent back to skirt the cliff and secure the remains of their companion. [[198]]The others followed Kokoa with more careful steps.
This hill, crowned by table-land, which was to be their home, was apparently the very centre of volcanic activity in former days. It had been the deposit of the last traces of the crater. Lava and ashes had been piled up, and then when the fires died away had been coated with the island plant life. Here they found a fortress that could not be assailed or approached except by one man at a time. From this place raids could be easily made upon the surrounding country. Here they brought their captives for their inhuman feasts.
After the grass houses were built for permanent shelter, Kokoa (Ke-alii-ai Kanaka) caused a great hole to be made. This was the imu, or oven, in which the bodies of animals and men were to be baked. A fire was built in the bottom of the hole. Stones were placed upon the burning wood. When these stones were thoroughly heated and the fire had died away, the bodies were wrapped in fragrant and spicy leaves, laid upon the stones, and covered so that the heat might not escape. Then water was carefully poured down so that clouds of steam might make tender the flesh roasting over the heated stones. This was the ordinary Hawaiian method of preparing fish or chickens or animals [[199]]for their numerous feasts.[2] It was the regular festival preparation required by the cannibals.
After a time Kokoa and his companions took a huge outcropping block of lava and smoothed away the top, making a hollow ipukai, or table dish, or, more literally, a gravy dish, upon which their ghastly repasts were served. This stone table was finally rounded and its sides ornamented by rudely carved figures. The stone was five or six feet in circumference. Not far from it the chief’s grass house was built and the ground prepared for the taro which should be their daily food.
Sometimes members of the little band carried birds which had been cunningly snared, and exchanged them for fish and chickens with families living on the seashore. Frequently the entire band would make an attack upon a lonely household and carry every member of it to the mountain lair, that day after day they might be provided with such food as would satisfy the shameless craving of their gross appetites.
The cannibal band often met strong resistance, and with their captives carried back the dead bodies of their friends. Sickness and death occasionally crossed the narrow ridge and struck down some of Chief Man-eater’s followers, until at last Ke-alii-ai Kanaka stood alone by the ipukai. [[200]]
Alone he watched for hunters and for those who came searching for rare plants or woods or birds. He guarded well his solitary retreat on the tableland. He did many daring deeds and terrified the people by his fabulous strength and courage.
One day he captured and killed a victim whom he carried through the forest to Halemanu.
A brother of this victim discovered and followed him to the path along the ridge. He recognized the chief who had been driven long before from Waialua. He knew the reputation for boxing and wrestling which belonged to his former leader. He went back to his village. For a year Hoahanau gave himself up to athletic training. He sought the strong men—the boxers and wrestlers of Waialua. He visited other parts of the island until he found no one who could stand before him. Then alone he sought the hiding-place of Chief Man-eater. He covered his lithe and sinewy body with oil, that his enemy might not easily grasp an arm or limb. He reached the narrow pass leading to Halemanu.
His challenge rang out, and Chief Man-eater came forth to meet him. The chief started along the narrow path swinging a heavy war club and flourishing a long spear.
Hoahanau made himself known and was recognized [[201]]by the chief. Then Hoahanau made known the terms upon which he wished to wrestle with the chief.
“Take back your club and spear, and stand unarmed beside your ipukai, and I will also stand unarmed by your imu. No weapon shall be near our hands. Then will we wrestle for the mastery.”
Aikanaka despised Hoahanau, whose strength he had well known in the past. He believed that he could easily overcome the daring man who stood naked before him; therefore, boastfully taunting Hoahanau and threatening to eat his body upon that very ipukai, he threw away his weapons and waited the onset.
As the combatants threw themselves against each other, Aikanaka was surprised to find his antagonist ready for every cunning feint and well-timed blow. It was a long and fearful struggle. The chief had been once thrown to the ground, but had twisted aside and regained his feet before Hoahanau could take advantage of the fall.
Foaming at the mouth and roaring and screaming like an enraged animal, Aikanaka turned for a second toward his house, with the thought of rushing to secure a weapon. Then Hoahanau leaped upon him, caught him, and whirled him over the edge of the plateau. Down the chief [[202]]swept, broken and mangled by the rough, sharp spurs of lava rock, until the lifeless body lodged in the branches of a tall ohia-tree far below.
Note: This was the beginning and ending of cannibalism in the Hawaiian Islands so far as history and definite legend are concerned. Halemanu was visited by Mathison, and a description of the carved stone table published in 1825.
In 1848, a little party of white men were guided to the crater by an old Hawaiian, who repeated to them the story of “Chief Man-eater” substantially as it is given in this record. They found Halemanu. The foundations of the house, or at least of a wall around it, were easily traced. The ipukai and the imu were both there. The party did not notice any carved images on the side of the stone table. Indeed, the stone had been so covered by decaying debris that it scarcely extended a foot above the soil.
In 1879 and in 1890, Mr. D. D. Baldwin, a member of the party visiting Halemanu in 1848, again sought the ipukai without a guide, but the luxuriant growth of tangle-fern and grass made exploration difficult, and the carved stone table was not found. Somewhere under the debris of Halemanu it may wait the patient search of a Hawaiian archæologist.
Mr. Joseph Emerson, who has had charge of [[203]]governmental surveys of a large part of the islands and also is a prominent authority on Hawaiian matters, says that the sacrificial stone can still be found, and was seen by his brother within the past few years. He differs from the other writers in the name given to the place and also in regard to the locality. The right name should be “Helemano,” carrying the idea of a train of followers of some high chief. The locality is some miles northwest of the Waianae Range in one of the valleys of the Koolau Mountains. To this place the chiefesses of highest blood were wont to come for the birth of their expected children. The valley was “tabu” or “sacred.” Near this sacred birthplace of chiefs was the home for a time of the noted man-eating chief.
War Club
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[1] Gleichenia longissima. [↑]