Northern California, Oregon, and the Sandwich Islands Part 23

Koi executed the wishes of the chief, his _aikane_. He repaired to Molokai, whence he hastened to set sail for Hawaii as soon as he heard of Umi's death. He landed at Honokohau. On setting foot on sh.o.r.e, he met a Kanaka, in all respects like his dearly-loved chief. He seized him, killed him, and carried his body by night to Kailua. Koi entered secretly the palace where the corpse of Umi was lying. The guards were asleep, and Koi carried away the royal remains, leaving in their place the body of the old man of Honokohau, and then disappeared with his canoe. Some say that he deposited the body of Umi in the great pali of Kahulaana, but no one knows the exact spot; others say that it was in a cave at Waipio, at Puaahuku, at the top of the great pali over which the cascade of Hiilawe falls.

From time immemorial it was the custom at Hawaii to eat the flesh of great chiefs after death, then the bones were collected in a bundle, and concealed far out of the way. Generally it was to a faithful attendant, a devoted _kahu_, that the honor of eating the flesh of his chief belonged by a sentiment of friendship, _no ke aloha_. If they did not always eat the flesh of high chiefs and distinguished personages, they always took away their dead bodies, to bury them in the most secret caves, or in most inaccessible places. But the same care was not taken with chiefs who had been regarded as wicked during their lives. The proverb says of this: _Aole e nalo ana na iwi o ke 'lii kolohe; e nalo loa na iwi o ke 'lii maikai_--The bones of a bad chief do not disappear; those of a good chief are veiled from the eyes of all the world.

The high chiefs, before death, made their most trusty attendants swear to conceal their bones so that no one could discover them. "I do not wish,"

said the dying chief, "that my bones should be made into arrows to shoot mice, or into fish-hooks." So it is very difficult to find the burial-place of such or such a chief. Mausoleums have been built in some places, and it is said that here are interred the n.o.bles and kings; but it would seem that there are only empty coffins, or the bodies of common natives subst.i.tuted for those of the personages in whose honor these monuments have been raised.

THE HISTORY OF KEAWE.

Whatever the historian, David Malo, may say, it is very doubtful whether there were several chiefs of the name of Keawe. It is probable that there was only one high chief of this name, that he was the son of Umi, and was called Keawe the Great--_Keawe nui_ _a Umi_. David Malo was interested, as the natives know, in swelling the genealogy of the alii, and he wished to flatter both n.o.bility and people by distinguishing Keawe nui, of the race of Umi, from another Keawe. There are two Keawe, as seven Maui, and nine Hina. It is not, indeed, so long a period from Umi to the present era, that we can not unveil the truth from the clouds which surround, it.

The people, in general, only speak of one Keawe, who inherited the power of his father Umi. He was supreme ruler in the island of Hawaii, and is even said to have united, as Kamehameha has since done, all the group under his sceptre. Kamehameha conquered the islands by force of arms; Keawe had conquered them by his travels and alliances. While he pa.s.sed through the islands of Maui, Molokai, and Oahu, he contracted marriages everywhere, as well with the women of the people as with the highest chiefesses. These unions gave him children who made him beloved of all the high chiefs of that time. He was regarded at Maui and Oahu as supreme king. The king of Kauai even went so far as to send messengers to declare to him that he recognized his sovereignty. Such is the origin of Keawe's power.

By his numerous marriages with chiefesses and common women without distinction, this king has made the Hawaiian n.o.bility, the present alii say, b.a.s.t.a.r.d and dishonored. The chiefs descended from Keawe conceal their origin, and are by no means flattered when reminded of it. From Keawe down, the genealogies become a focus of disputes, and it would be really dangerous for the rash historian who did not spare the susceptibilities of chiefs on this subject.

The principle on which those who condemn the conduct of Keawe rests is the purity of the blood of the royal stock, required by ancient usages, whose aim was to preserve the true n.o.bility without alloy. Disdaining this rule, Keawe contracted numerous marriages, which gave him as mothers of his children women of low birth. The posterity of this chief, n.o.ble without doubt, but of impure origin, likes not to have its lame genealogy recalled. It is with the sensitiveness of the Hawaiians on this subject, as with many other things in this world: they attack bitterly the amours of Keawe, and seem to forget that Umi, their great chief, whose memory they preserve with so much care, was of plebeian blood by his mother.

It seems certain that King Keawe usually resided at the bay of Hoonaunau, in Kona. The heiau of Hoonaunau, where may still be seen the stakes of ohia (_Metrosideros_) planted by Keawe, is called _Hale a Keawe_--The house built by Keawe. It served also as a City of Refuge.[19]

VARIOUS DOc.u.mENTS ON THE PROVINCE OF KA'U.

The people of Ka'u are designated in the group under the name of _Na Mamo a ke kipi_--The descendants of the rebellion. The province of Ka'u has always been regarded as a land fatal to chiefs. At the present day an inhabitant of Ka'u can be distinguished among other natives. He is energetic, haughty in speech, and always ready to strike a blow when occasion presents. He is proud, and worships his liberty. Several Hawaiian chiefs have been killed by the people of Ka'u, among others Kohaokalani, Koihala, etc.

THE HISTORY OF KOHAOKALANI.

He was, according to tradition, the most important chief on the island, and reigned in royal state at Hilea. He it was who built the heiau situated on the great plain of Makanau. The sea worn pebbles may still be seen, which Kohaokalani had his people carry up on to the height, about two leagues from the sh.o.r.e. These pebbles were intended for the interior pavement of the temple. The people, worn out by the great difficulty of transportation, tired of the yoke of royalty, and incited by disloyal priests, began to let their discontent and discouragement show itself. A conspiracy was soon formed by these two cla.s.ses leagued against the chief, and a religious ceremony offered an occasion to rid themselves of the despot.

The temple was completed, and it only remained to carry a G.o.d up there.

This divinity was nothing but an ohia-tree of enormous size, which had been cut down in the forest above Ninole. At the appointed day the chief priests and people set to work to draw the G.o.d to his residence. In order to reach the height of Makanau there was a very steep pali to be ascended.

They had to carry up the G.o.d on the side toward Ninole, which was all the better for the execution of their premeditated plan. Arrived at the base of the precipice, all pulled at the rope; but the G.o.d, either by the contrivance of the priests, or owing to the obstacles which the roughness of the rock presented, ascended only with great difficulty. "The G.o.d will never come to the top of the pali," said the Kahuna, "if the chief continues to walk before him; the G.o.d should go first by right of power, and the chief below, following, to push the lower end; otherwise we shall never overcome his resistance." The high chief, Kohaokalani, complied with the advice of the priests, placed himself beneath the G.o.d, and pushed the end from below. Instantly priests and people let go the cord, and the enormous G.o.d, rolling upon the chief, crushed him at once. The death of Kohaokalani is attributed chiefly to the Kahuna.

THE HISTORY OF KOIHALA.

Koihala reigned at Ka'u. He was a very great chief--perhaps the entire island recognized his authority. An abuse of power hastened his death.

He had commanded the people of Ka'u to bring him food upon the plain of Punaluu, at the place known under the name of Puuonuhe. A party of men set out with pounded kalo (_paiai_, differing from poi in not being diluted), bound up in leaves of ki, called _la'i_ (a contraction for _lau-ki_). When they arrived at the top of the plateau, which is very elevated, they found that the chief had set out for Kaalikii, two leagues from Puuonuhe, and that he had left orders for them to bring him the provisions in this distant place. The bearers hastened toward Kaalikii. As soon as they came there, orders were given for them to proceed to Waioahukini, half a league's walk in the same direction, and beneath the great pali of Malilele, on the sh.o.r.e. They went on. Arrived at Waioahukini, they were ordered to go and join the chief at Kalae. There they had to climb again the great pali, and two leagues more to go. When they reached the cape of Kalae, the most southern point of the Hawaiian group, they were sent to seek the chief at the village of Mahana; but he had left for Paihaa, a village near Kaalualu, a little bay where the native vessels now anchor.

There, at last, they must find the tyrant. Exasperated, dying of hunger, indignant at the cruel way in which the chief made sport of their pains, the bearers sat down on the gra.s.s and took counsel. First they decided to eat up the food, without leaving any thing for the chief who entertained himself so strangely in fatiguing his people _(hooluhi howa_). They moreover determined to carry to him, instead of kalo, bundles of stones.

The trial of Koihala is ended, his insupportable yoke is about to fall.

The determined conspirators, after satisfying their hunger, set off, and soon arrived, with humble mien, in the presence of the chief, between Paihau and Kaalualu. "Prince," said they, "here are your servants with provisions." They humbly laid at his feet their bundles wrapped in la'i.

The wrappers were opened, and the scene changes. These people, apparently half dead, became in an instant like furious lions, ready to devour their prey. They armed themselves with stones, and showered them upon Koihala and his company, who perished together.

Two other high chiefs of the island were exterminated by the same people.

One was killed at Kalae, beaten to death by the paddles of fishermen; the other was stoned at Aukukano.

These revolts against the chiefs have given birth, to several proverbial expressions, applied to the district of Ka'u. Thus it is called _Aina makaha_--Land of torrents: a nation which removes and shatters every thing like a torrent; _Ka'u makaha_--Ka'u the torrent; _Ka lua kupapau o na'lii_--The sepulchre of the high chiefs; _Aina kipi_--The rebellious land.

LEGEND OF KALEIKINI.

He was a chief of the olden time.

On the sea-sh.o.r.e, between Kaalikii and Pohue, the waves were ingulfed beneath the land, and shot into the air by a natural aperture some fifty feet from the sh.o.r.e. The water leaped to a prodigious height, disappeared in the form of fine rain, and fell in vapor over a circuit of two leagues, spreading sterility over the land to such an extent that neither kalo nor sweet-potatoes could be grown there. The chief Kaleikini closed the mouth of the gulf by means of enormous stones, which he made the natives roll thither. It is plainly seen that this blow-hole has been closed by human hands. There still remains a little opening through which the water hisses to the height of thirty or forty feet.

Kaleikini closed at Kohala, on the sh.o.r.e of Nailima, a volcanic mouth like that of Ka'u.

On the heights of Honokane, he silenced the thunders of a water-fall by changing its course. At Maui Hikina, he secured the foundations of the hill of Puuiki, which the great tides had rendered unstable. To do this, he put into the caverns of Puuiki a huge rock, which stopped the tumults of the sea, and put an end to the trembling of the hill.

For these feats of strength, and many others like them, Kaleikini was called _Kupua_--Wizard.[D]

DOc.u.mENTS ON THE PROVINCE OF PUNA.

According to common tradition, the district of Puna was, until two centuries ago, a magnificent country, possessing a sandy soil, it is true, but one very favorable to vegetation, and with smooth and even roads. The Hawaiians of our day hold a tradition from their ancestors, that their great-grandparents beheld the advent of the volcanic floods in Puna. Here, in brief, is the tradition as it is preserved by the natives:

LEGEND OF KELIIKUKU.

This high chief reigned in Puna. He journeyed to the island of Oahu. There he a prophet of Kauai, named Kaneakalau, who asked him who he was. "I am,"

replied the chief, "Keliikuku of Puna." The prophet then asked him what sort of a country he possessed. The chief said: "My country is charming; every thing is found there in abundance; everywhere are sandy plains which produce marvelously."--"Alas!" replied the prophet, "go, return to your beautiful country; you will find it overthrown, abominable. Pele has made of it a heap of ruins; the trees of the mountains have descended toward the sea; the ohia and panda.n.u.s are on the sh.o.r.e. Your country is no longer habitable." The chief made answer; "Prophet of evil, if what you now tell me is true, you shall live; but if, when I return to my country, I prove the falsity of your predictions, I will come back on purpose, and you shall die by my hand."

Unable, in spite of his incredulity, to forget this terrible prophecy, Keliikuku set sail for Hawaii. He reached Hamakua, and, landing, traveled, home by short stages. From the heights of Hilo, at the village of Makaha.n.a.loa, he beheld in the distance all his province overwhelmed in chaotic ruin, a prey to fire and smoke. In despair, the unfortunate chief hung himself on the very spot where he first discovered this sad spectacle.

This tradition of the meeting of Keliikuku and Kaneakalau is still sometimes chanted by the Kanakas. It was reduced to metre, and sung by the ancients. It is pa.s.sing away in our day, and in a few years no trace of it will remain.

Whether the prediction was made or not, the fact is that Puna has been ravaged by volcanic action.

LEGEND OF THE CHIEF HUA.

The high chief Hua, being in Maui, said to Uluhoomoe, his kahuna, that he wished for some _uau_ from the mountains (a large bird peculiar to the island of Hawaii). Uluhoomoe replied that there were no uau in the mountains--that all the birds had gone to the sea. Hua, getting angry, said to his priest: "If I send my men to the mountains, and they find any uau there, I will put you to death."

After this menace, the chief ordered his servants to go to bird-hunting.

They obeyed; but instead of going to the mountains (_mauka_), they set snares on the sh.o.r.es (_makai_), and captured many birds of different kinds, among others the uau and ulili. Returning to the palace, they a.s.sured the chief that they had hunted in the mountains.

Hua summoned his kahuna, and said to him: "There are the birds from the mountains; you are to die." Uluhoomoe smelled of the birds, and replied: "These birds do not come from the mountains; they have an odor of the sea." Hua, supported by his attendants, persisted in saying, as he believed truly, that they came from the mountains, and repeated his sentence: "You are to die." Uluhoomoe responded: "I shall have a witness in my favor if you let me open these birds in your presence." The chief consented, and small fish were found in the crops of the birds. "Behold my witness," said the kahuna, with a triumphant air; "these birds came from the sea!"

Hua, in confusion, fell into a terrible rage, and ma.s.sacred Uluhoomoe on the spot. The G.o.ds avenged the death of the priest by sending a distressing famine, first on the island of Maui, then on Hawaii. Hua, thinking to baffle the divine vengeance, went to Hawaii to escape the scourge; but a famine more terrible yet pursued him there. The chief vainly traversed every quarter of the islands; he starved to death in the temple of Makeanehu (Kohala). His bones, after death, dried and shrunk in the rays of the burning sun, to which his dead body remained exposed.

This is the origin of the Hawaiian epigram always quoted in recalling the famine which occurred in the reign of Hua, an epigram which no one has understood, and which has never been written correctly:

_Koele na iwi o Hua i ka la_--The bones of Hua are dry in the sun.[E]

On the island of Hawaii are many places called by the name of this celebrated chief. At Kailua, in the hamlet of Puaaaekolu, a beautiful field, known by the name of Mooniohua, recalls one episode of Hua's misery. Here it was that, one day, running after food which he could never attain, he fell asleep, weary with fatigue and want. The word Mooniohua is probably a corruption of _Moe ana o Hua_--The couch of Hua.

THE STORY AND SONG OF KAWELO.