“Now, listen and heed,” she continued. “If you hear the voice of the ao I am not in its notes, and when you hear the caw of the alala I am not in its voice. When the notes of the elepaio are heard I am getting ready to descend. When you hear the song of the apapane I shall have come out of my house. Listen, then, and if you hear the iiwipolena singing I am outside of your house. Come forth and meet me.”
And so it came to pass. In the kihi, or first watch of the evening, resounded the cry of the ao, in the second watch the caw of the alala, at midnight the chirruping of the elepaio, in the pili of the morning the song of the apapane, and at daybreak the voice of the iiwipolena. Then a shadow fell on the door, “and we were enveloped,” said the king, “in a thick fog, and when it cleared away the princess was seen in her glorious beauty, borne on the wings of birds.” The name of the divine being, he said, was Laieikawai.
Among the chiefs who listened to this story of the king was Aiwohikupua, chief of Wailua, who was of foreign birth. He had made a vow that he would not marry a Hawaiian woman, and, expressing the opinion that the princess described by the king was a daughter of other lands, he resolved to make her his wife.
To this end he sought out the late kahu of the king and made him his confidant and chief officer. They talked of little else than Laieikawai. He had a vision of her in a dream, and drank awa successively for many days, in the hope of inspiring a repetition of the vision. He chanted a mele in praise of the unknown princess, renewed his resolution to possess her, and then prepared to go to Hawaii in search of her.
He fitted out two double canoes, with sixteen rowers and two steersmen, and, when the augurs and soothsayers declared the omens favorable, on the rising of Sirius he set sail for Hawaii. On his way thither he stopped at many places, and at length arrived in the harbor of Haneoo, in the district of Hana, Maui.
A number of surf-riders were amusing themselves on the beach, among them Hinaikamalama, the famous chiefess of Hana. Aiwohikupua was smitten with her charms, and accepted her invitation to join the bathing party in their sports. In turn she became enamored of him, and invited him to visit her house and play konane—a game resembling draughts—with her.
When about to begin the game she asked him what he was willing to wager on his success, and he pointed to one of his double canoes. She declined the condition, and proposed, instead, that they should stake their persons. To this he agreed, and, playing, lost the game. To avoid paying the forfeit he declared that he had made a vow to give himself in love to no woman until after he had made the circuit of the island of Hawaii, and admonished her to remain faithful to him while he was absent.
The chief and his party left Haneoo, and the next day arrived at Kauhola, in the district of Kohala, Hawaii, where a boxing-match was in progress. Aiwohikupua was challenged to a contest by Ihuanu, the champion of Kohala. The challenge was accepted, and in the struggle Ihuanu was killed.
They next landed at Paauhau, in Hamakua, to witness another boxing-match. The local champion was Haunaka. He was invited to a contest with Aiwohikupua, but, learning something of the prowess of the chief, he declined the conflict. They then sailed for Laupahoehoe, where the prophet Hulumaniani was still residing.
That evening the prophet was watching the clouds for omens, and discerned in them that a chief’s double canoe was approaching, bearing nineteen men. The next morning he saw a mist on the sea, and prepared his black pig, white fowl and bunch of awa. Then followed peals of thunder, and Aiwohikupua’s canoes came in sight, with the puloulou insignia of a chief; whereupon the prophet offered sacrifices, and prayed for the chief and himself.