The prophet spoke so contemptuously of the girls brought there for inspection, and boasted so loudly of the beauty and graces of his adopted daughter, that a quarrel arose and he was thrown into prison. He escaped during the night, however, and it was reported to the chief that he was dead. He had left a banana trunk wrapped in cloth, and it was offered on the altar of the heiau in the place of his body.
At the moment when the deception was discovered the prophet made his appearance on the platform of a double canoe at the mouth of the river, with Laieikawai and the five sisters on board. Then Laieikawai stepped upon the platform, surrounded with the insignia of a tabu chief, and the winds ceased, the sea rose, thunders reverberated, lightnings flashed, and the heiau and altar were shaken almost to ruins.
The assembled multitude shouted in admiration of the beauty of Laieikawai, and Aiwohikupua, after recovering from the shock of what he had witnessed, sent a herald to demand her in marriage. But the prophet proudly answered that she was not for such as he, and would marry no one of lower rank than the sovereign of an island. They then returned to Honopuwaiakua.
We will now return to Kahalaomapuana, who was sent to a far-distant land in search of her brother, in the hope of making him the husband of Laieikawai. For four months the great moo swam with her in his mouth, and they arrived at last at Kealohilani. But the guardian of the place was absent on a visit to the Moon, and they awaited his return for twenty days.
On his arrival he was greatly alarmed at the sight of the gigantic reptile, lying with his head in the house and his tail in the sea, and without a word flew to Nuumealani to consult Kaeloikamalama, the powerful kupua, who shut the door of the pea kapu of the Kukulu o Kahiki, where Kaonohiokala was concealed.
They returned together, the kupua armed with a laau palau a hundred paces long with which to slay the moo. Just as he was preparing to strike, the moo stirred his tail in the ocean and sent a tremendous breaker rolling inland, and they both started to retreat. At that moment the moo cast out Kahalaomapuana on the neck of her uncle, Kaeloikamalama. He asked her who she was and the object of her visit, which she explained, and also their relationship. Then both embraced her affectionately, for they were brothers of her mother.
In furtherance of the purposes of her visit, Kaeloikamalama took his niece with him on a ten days’ journey to the place of ascent, where he called upon Lanalananuiaimakua to let down the ladder. Before long a sort of spider’s web, branching through the air, descended. He then gave his niece full directions, as follows: “Here is your way to ascend until you see a single house standing in the Moon, in the land of Kahakaekaea, where dwells Moanalihaikawaokele, your father, an old man with long hair and bent head. If he is awake do not approach him, lest he see you first, and you die before you have a chance to speak. Wait until he is asleep on his back; then cautiously approach from the leeward, spring on his breast, grasp him tightly by the beard, and chant the mele in which I will instruct you.” Instructing her in the mele, he continued: “Explain to him the object of your visit, and all will be well.” She was about to begin the ascent when he imparted this final information: “In ascending, if fine rain falls and you are chilly, fear not; it is caused by your father. Climb on, and, should you smell fragrance, know that it is caused by your mother and that you are approaching the end of your journey. If the sunbeams pierce you and the heat beats upon your head, do not fear. Persevere, and you will enter the shelter of the Moon and be safe in Kahakaekaea.”
With these instructions she boldly began the ascent. Climbing upward without ceasing, toward evening she encountered fine rain and mist; early next morning she smelt the fragrance of the shrub kiele; at midday she suffered from the heat of the sun, and in the evening entered the cool shade of the Moon, in the land of Kahakaekaea.
Observing a large house standing alone, she proceeded to the lee side, and waited until the old man fell asleep on his back. She then grasped his beard and chanted the mele, as instructed by her uncle. He awoke, but she held him where lay his strength, and his struggles were vain. He asked her who she was, and about her relatives, and her answers were satisfactory. She then let go his beard and he took her on his knee and wailed over her.
He then inquired the object of her visit, and she related the whole story. He informed her that it was not within his power to grant her request, and that she must apply to her mother, who lived with her son, Kaonohiokala, in a sacred, inaccessible place, and only visited Kahakaekaea once every month.