8. KILA

Moikeha, wishing to send a messenger to fetch his oldest son from Tahiti, summons his five sons and tests them to know by a sign which boy to send. The lot falls upon Kila, the youngest. On his journey Kila encounters dangers and calls upon his supernatural relatives. The monsters Keaumiki and Keauka draw him down to the coral beds, but Kakakauhanui saves him. His rat aunt, Kanepohihi, befriends him, and when he goes to his uncle Makalii,[1] who has all the food fastened up in his net, she nibbles the net and the food falls out. At Tahiti he first kills Mua, who caused his father's exile. Then his warriors are matched with the Tahiti champions and he himself faces Makalii, whose club is Naulukohelewalewa. Kila, with the club Kahikikolo stuns his uncle "long enough to cook two ovens of food." The spirits of Moikeha's slain followers appear and join their praises to those of the crowd assembled, together with ants, birds, pebbles, shells, grass, smoke, and thunder. Kila goes to his father's house, Moaulanuiakea, thatched with birds' feathers, and built of kauila wood. All is desolate. The man whom he seeks, Laamaikahiki, is hidden in the temple of Kapaahu. On a strict taboo night Kila conceals himself and, when the brother comes to beat the drum, delivers his message. Kila succeeds in bringing his brother to Hawaii, who later returns to Kahiki from Kahoolawe, hence the name "The road to Tahiti" for the ocean west of that island. When Laamaikahiki revisits Hawaii to get the bones of his father, he brings the hula drum and kaeke flute. Meanwhile Kila has become king, after his father's death. The jealous brothers entice him to Waipio, Hawaii, where they abandon him to slavery. The priest of the temple adopts him. He gains influence and introduces the tenant system of working a number of days for the landlord, and is beloved for his industry. At the time of famine in the days of Hua,[2] one of his brothers comes to Waipo to get food. Kila has him thrown into prison, but each time he is taken out to be killed, Kila imitates the call of a mud hen and the sacrifice is postponed. Finally the mother and other brothers are summoned, Kila makes himself known, and the mother demands the brothers' death. Kila offers himself as the first to be killed, and reconciliation follows. Later he goes with Laamaikahiki back to Tahiti to carry their father's bones.

[Footnote 1: Kaulu meets the wizard Makalii in rat form and kills him by carrying him up in the air and letting him drop. Makalii means "little eyes" and refers to a certain mesh of fish net. One form of cat's cradle has this name. It also names the six summer months, the Pleiades, and the trees of plenty planted in Paliuli. "Plenty of fish" seems to be the root idea of the symbol.]

[Footnote 3: Daggett tells the story of Hua, priest of Maui.]

9. UMI

The great chief of Hawaii, Liloa, has a son by Piena, named Hakau. On a journey to dedicate the temple of Manini at Kohalalele, Liloa sees Akahiakuleana bathing in the Hoea stream at Kaawikiwiki and falls in love with her. Some authorities claim she was of low birth, others make her a relative of Liloa. He leaves with her the customary tokens by which to recognize his child. When their boy Umi is grown, having quarreled with his supposed father, he takes the tokens and, by his mother's direction, goes to seek Liloa in Waipio valley. Two boys, Omaokamao and Piimaiwaa, whom he meets on the way, accompany him. Umi enters the sacred inclosure of the chief and sits in his father's lap, who, recognizing the trophies, pardons the sacrilege and sending for his gods, performs certain ceremonies. At his death he wills his lands and men to Hakau, but his gods and temples to Umi.

Hakau is of a cruel and jealous disposition. Umi is obliged to leave him and go to farming with his two companions and a third, Koi, whom he meets on the way. He marries two girls, but their parents complain that he is lazy and gets no fish. Racing with Paiea at Laupahoehoe, he gets crowded against the rocks. This is a breach of etiquette and he nurses his revenge. Finally, by a rainbow sign and by the fact that a pig offered in sacrifice walks toward Umi, his chiefly blood is proved to the priest Kaoleioku. The priest considers how Umi may win the kingdom away from the unpopular Hakau. Umi studies animal raising and farming. He builds four large houses, holding 160 men each, and these are filled in no time with men training in the arts of war. A couple of disaffected old men, Nunu and Kakohe, are won over to Umi's cause, and they advise Hakau to prepare for war with Umi. While all the king's men are gone to the forests to get feathers for the war god, Umi and his followers start, on the day of Olekulua, and on the day of Lono they surprise and kill Hakau and his few attendants, who thought they were men from the outdistricts come with their taxes. So Umi becomes king. Kaoleioku is chief priest, and Nunu and Kakohe are high in authority. The land he divides among his followers, giving Kau to Omaokamau, Hilo to Kaoleioku, Hamakua to Piimaiwaa, Kahala to Koi, Kona to Ehu, and Puna to another friend. To prove how long Umi will hold his kingdom, he is placed 8 fathoms away from a warrior who hurls his spear at the king's middle, using the thrust known as Wahie. Umi wards it off, catches it by the handle and holds it. This is a sign that he will hold his kingdom successfully—"your son, your grandson, your issue, your offspring until the very last of your blood."

Umi now makes a tour of the island for two years. He slays Paiea. He sends Omaokamau to Piilani of Maui to arrange a marriage with Piikea. After 20 days, Piikea sets sail for Hawaii with a fleet of 400 canoes, and a rainbow "like a feather helmet" stands out at sea signaling her approach. The rest of the story has to do with the adventures of Umi's three warriors, Omaokamau who is right-handed, Koi who is left-handed, and Piimaiwae, who is ambidextrous, during the campaign on Maui, undertaken at Piikea's plea to gain for her brother, Kihapiilani, the rule over Maui. The son and successor of Umi is Keawenuiaumi, father of Lonoikamakahiki.

10. KIHAPILANI

Lonoapii, king of Maui, has two sisters, Piikea, the wife of Umi, and Kihawahine, named for the lizard god, and a younger brother, Kihapiilani, with whom he quarrels. Kihapiilani nurses his revenge as he plants potatoes in Kula. Later he escapes to Umi in Hawaii, and his sister Piikea persuades her husband to aid his cause with a fleet of war canoes that make a bridge from Kohala to Kauwiki. Hoolae defends the fort at Kauwiki. Umi's greatest warriors, Piimaiwae, Omaokamau, and Koi, attack in vain by day. At night a giant appears and frightens away intruders. One night Piimaiwaa discovers that the giant is only a wooden image called Kawalakii, and knocks it over with his club. Lonoapii is slain and Kihapiilani becomes king. He builds a paved road from Kawaipapa to Kahalaoaka and a shell road on Molokai.