And gaunt the forms that jag the sky—
The skeleton woods that loom on high.
The meaning of this wild vision?
The meaning is desolation.
At Kuliouou, which they reached after passing through Wai-alae, Wai-lupe and Niu, they came upon some women who were catching small fish and crabs in the pools and shallow water along the shore and, to satisfy their hunger or, perhaps, to test their disposition, Hiiaka begged the women to grant her a portion of their catch to satisfy their need. The answer was a surly refusal, coupled with the remark that Hiiaka would better do her own fishing. As the sister and representative of the proud god Pele, Hiiaka could not permit the insult to go unpunished. Her reply was the utterance of this fateful incantation:
He makani holo uhá[3]
Ko Ka-ele-kei a Pau-kua.[4]
Pau wale ke aho i ka noi ana,
O ka loa ho’i, e!
TRANSLATION