Kalona continued the peaceful and intelligent policy of his father, and his court was noted alike for the brilliancy of its chiefs and the beauty of its women. His principal place of residence was Waikiki, although he had sumptuous temporary resorts at Ewa and Waialua.
Kaululaau first touched at Waialua, but, learning that the king was at Waikiki, he ordered his canoe to proceed around to the south side of the island in charge of his chief navigator, while he and Kamakaua concluded to make the journey overland. Dispensing with all insignia of rank, and habited like simple commoners, the prince and his companion started unattended for Waikiki. Both were armed with javelins, but the one borne by Kaululaau was tipped with the charmed point of Lono.
Proceeding along the foot of the Kaala range of mountains, in the afternoon they sat down to rest in the shade of a hala tree. In a ravine below them five or six men were working, and scattered along its banks were a number of huts. Soon a tumult of screams reached them, and men, women and children were seen running hither and thither in a state of great excitement.
The travelers sprang to their feet, and as they did so a gigantic bird swept immediately over their heads and winged its way toward the hills. It passed so closely that the branches of the hala tree were swayed by the motion of its mighty pinions, and its outspread wings seemed to measure scarcely less than twenty long steps from tip to tip.
While watching the monster with amazement, a woman approached, and to the questions of the prince replied, between wails of anguish, that the great bird—the Pueoalii, as she called it—had just killed her only child in front of her hut, with a stab to the heart resembling the cut of a knife. She hurriedly gave the additional information that for many years past the same bird had at intervals visited different districts of the island, killing children, pigs and fowls, and that the priests had declared it to be a pueo, or owl, sacred to the gods, and which could not, therefore, be molested with safety, even if harm to it were possible from human hands.
Better learned in the inspiration and purposes of such visitations—since he had been instructed by the eminent high-priest Waolani—and having had many conflicts with malignant spirits, he doubted that the monster he had just seen was of the sacred pueo family, and requested that he be shown the dead child. Proceeding to the hut and inspecting the wound, he observed that the fatal cut was upward, and not downward, as it would have been had it been made by the beak of an owl. This confirmed him in the correctness of his first impression, and, requesting Kamakaua to follow him, he started toward the hills in the direction taken by the bird.
They could still see it in the distance, like a dark cloud against the mountain. After following it for some time the bird swooped down to commit some fresh depredation, and then rose and alighted upon a rocky ridge with precipitous face sweeping down from the main summit of Kaala.
“Why go farther?” said Kamakaua. “We cannot reach the bird, and, if we could, our spears would be like straws to such a monster.”
As if by a strong hand, the javelin in the grasp of the prince forcibly turned and pointed toward the bird. Smiling at the augury, Kaululaau replied:
“Look you carefully back and see if we are followed.”