Footnote 162:[ (return) ] Mahele ana. Literally the dividing; an allusion to the fact, it is said, that in Hilo a rain-cloud, or rain-squall, as it came up would often divide and a part of it turn off toward Puna at the cape named Lele-iwi, one-half watering, in the direction of the present town, the land known as Hana-kahi.
Footnote 163:[ (return) ] Hana-kahi. Look at note f, p. 60.
Footnote 164:[ (return) ] Mauna-ole. According to one authority this should be Mauna-Hilo. Verses 13, 14, 16, and 17 are difficult of translation. The play on the words ku a, standing at, or standing by, and kua, the back; also on the word kowa, a gulf or strait; and the repetition of the word mauna, mountain—all this is carried to such an extent as to be quite unintelligible to the Anglo-Saxon mind, though full of significance to a Hawaiian.
Footnote 165:[ (return) ] A’e. A strong wind that prevails in Ka-u. The same word also means to step on, to climb. This double-meaning gives the poet opportunity for a euphuistic word-play that was much enjoyed by the Hawaiians. The Hawaiians of the present day are not quite up to this sort of logomachy.
Footnote 166:[ (return) ] Kaili-ki’i. The promontory that shelters the cove Ka-hewa-hewa.
Footnote 167:[ (return) ] Ka-hea-hea. The name of the cove Ka-hewa-hewa, above mentioned, is here given in a softened form obtained by the elision of the letter w.
Footnote 168:[ (return) ] Hilo, or Whiro, as in the Maori, was a great navigator.
[Translation.]
CANTO II
Heaven-magic, fetch a Hilo-pour from heaven!