At the first dawn they approached Paliuli. Then they heard the humming of the wind in the thicket from the tongue of that great lizard, Kihanuilulumoku, coming for them, but they did not see the creature, so they went on; soon they saw the upper jaw of the lizard hanging right over them; they were just between the lizard's jaws; then the assistant counsellor leaped quickly back, could not make the distance; it snapped them up; not a messenger was left.
Two days passed; there was no one to tell of the disaster to Aiwohikupua's party, and because he wondered why they did not return the chief was angry.
So the chief again chose a party of warriors, twenty of them, from the strongest of his men, to go up and destroy the sisters; and the counsellor appointed an assistant counsellor to go for him with the men.
Again they went up until they came clear to the place where the first band had disappeared; these also disappeared in the lizard; not a messenger was left.
Again the chief waited; they came not back. The chief again sent a band of forty; all were killed. So it went on until eight times forty warriors had disappeared.
Then Aiwohikupua consulted with his counsellor as to the reason for none of the men who had been sent returning.
Said Aiwohikupua to his counsellor, "How is it that these warriors who are sent do not return?"
Said his counsellor, "It may be when they get to the uplands and see the beauty of the place they remain, and if not, they have all been killed by your sisters."
"How can they be killed by those helpless girls, whom I intended to kill?" So said Aiwohikupua.
And because of the chief's anxiety to know why his warriors did not come back he agreed with his counsellor to send messengers to see what the men were doing.