O Lehua ho’i, e!
TRANSLATION
Ka-ena speeds along
A single canoe in the calm;
The four hundred rays that dart from
The Back of the Sun sink down
In the sea at Lehua,
The western waves of Lehua.
When well out in the channel of Kaieie the sight of the famous Hill of Haupu, that now appeared to lift its head like a water-fowl stemming the tide, was an inspiration to song. Mingled with the pleasure, however, was the chagrin and indignation that came from knowing that at that very moment her own lehua preserves in Kona were suffering ravage from fire by the act of Pele:
O Haupu,[3] mauna ki’e-ki’e,