(A mystery hangs about this woman Paü-o-pala’e which I have not been able to clear up. She withdrew from the expedition, for reasons of her own, before Hiiaka took canoe for Maui; yet here we find her, without explanation, resuming her old place as attendant on the young woman who had been committed to her charge. The effort, which has been made, to associate her in some mystical fashion with the paü, short skirt, worn by Hiiaka, only deepens the mystery, so far as my understanding of the affair is concerned.)
Obedient to the instructions of their mistress, the faithful women, Wahine-oma’o and Pau-o-pala’e, presented themselves before Pele at the crater of Kilauea. “Where is my sister? where is Hiiaka?” demanded the jealous goddess. No explanation would suffice. Pele persisted in regarding them as deserters and, at her command, they were put to death.
[1] According to one version of this story, Hiiaka made free use of her powers of enchantment in withdrawing from the presence of Pele-ula. At the proper psychological moment, with the wreath of victory crowning her brow, while Pele-ula was vainly intent on an effort to turn the tide of her own defeat and gain the shadow of a recognition as mistress of the game of Kilu, Hiiaka, with a significant gesture to her companions, spat upon the ground and, her example having been imitated by Wahine-oma’o and Lohiau, their physical bodies were at once transported to a distance while their places continued to be occupied by unsubstantial forms that had all the semblance of reality. [↑]
[2] Maka-pa, an expression used of stones that burst when placed in the fire. [↑]
[3] Makani holo ulá. The allusion is to a cold wind that chills the naked legs of the fisher-folk. [↑]
[4] Pau-kua, a place-name, meaning consumed in the back—a clear reference to the fact that the kahuna’s black art very frequently made its fatal ravages by attacking first the back. [↑]
[5] Lele-iwi, the name of a cape that marked the coast of Puna. The word also has a meaning of its own, to express which seems to be the purpose of its use here. It connotes a grave-yard, a scaffold, one, perhaps, on which the body (literally the bones) of a human sacrifice are left exposed. [↑]
[6] Maka-hana-loa, the name of another cape, also on the Hilo-Puna coast. [↑]
[7] Lae Ohi’a, literally, ohi’a cape, meaning a forest growth that stretched out like a tongue. [↑]