 CHAPTER 8 THE APPLE THEOSIS OF HELLA THE ADVENTURES OF THE GODES WITH KAMAPUAL PART 1 In the pantheon of ancient Hawaiian worship, or rather of the worship of the group from the 12th century to the 19th, the deity most feared and respected, especially on the island of Hawaii, was the goddess Pele. She was the queen of fire and goddess of volcanoes, and her favorite residence was the worst and ever-seething crater of Kilauea. Beneath whose molten flood, in halls of burning adamant and grottoes of fire, she consumed the offerings of her worshippers and devised destruction to those who long neglected her or failed to respect her prerogatives. Her assistants and companions, as related by tradition, were her five brothers and eight sisters, all of them clothed with special functions, and all but little less merciless and exacting than Pele herself. The first in authority under Pele was Moho, king of steam. The others were charged, respectively with the duties of creating explosions, thunders and rains of fire, moving and keeping the clouds in place, breaking canoes, fighting with the spears of flame, hurling red horde masses of lava, and doing whatever else the goddess commanded. As the family claimed tribute of the entire island of Hawaii, to receive it they frequently visited the active and extinct craters of other districts, and earthquakes heralded their departure from Kilauea. The temples of Pele were numerous, particularly in the neighborhood of old lava flows, and their priests were always very well sustained. The crater of Kilauea was especially sacred to the goddess, and the earth around it could not be safely disturbed. An offering was first made of a part of everything eaten there, and fruits, pigs, cows, fish, and sometimes human beings were thrown into the crater to appease the wrath of the goddess and avert a threatened overflow. The Pele family was neither connected with nor controlled by the supreme gods of Hawaiian worship, nor was it a part either of the ancient or latter theocracy of the group, as brought down by the priesthood of Hikapaloa, the godhead and trinity of original creation. It was an indigenous and independent development of the 12th century, until which period the family was unknown on Hawaii, and a stronghold that secured and for centuries maintained in the native heart was due partly to a popular faith in and worship of the spirits of departed chiefs and ancestors, and partly to the continued and ever visible evidences of the power and malignity of the volcanic deities. And so, indeed was it with the many other deities of Hawaiian adoration. While Kani was deemed creator and undoubted superior of them all, there were seldom restraining the exercise of their several functions, and individual appeals to them through their priests were necessary to secure their favor or placate their wrath. With this brief reference to the worship and attributes of the terrible goddess and her family, the story of their mortal lives will now be told, and a plain relation given of the strange events which led to their apotheosis. Every tradition refers to them as deities at the time of their arrival at Hawaii in occupation of Kilauea, and all abounded marvelous tales of their exploits, the most wonderful being connected with the Oahuan warrior Kamakua, one of the lovers of Pele, who was transformed by the bard soon to a supernatural monster, a being half-man and half-haw, with powers almost equal to those of Pele herself. A careful analysis, however, of the various Mulelos of Pele, and her family renders it plain that they came to the group as simple human beings, and as human beings lived and died, as did also Kamakua, and that superstitions subsequently elevated their mortal deeds to the realms of supernatural achievement. The Pele family came to Hawaii during the reign of Kamiole, the usurper from one of the southern islands, probably Samoa, in about the year AD 1175. It was of chiefly blood and also of priestly lineage, and to escape the penalties of defeat, had at the close of a long and disastrous war, fled northward and found a home on Hawaii. The head of the family had fallen in battle, and Moho, the eldest of the sons, assumed the direction of what remained of the once powerful household. The fugitives first landed at Honuapo in the district of Kaohu, but finding no lands there available coasted along to the southern shores of Puna, and finally located in the valley's back of Kiyahu, among the foothills of Mauna Loa, including the crater of Kilauea. A few miles to the westward and overflow had reached the sea the year before, and as the volcano was still active, and earthquakes were of frequent occurrence in the neighborhood, the valleys had been deserted, and the newcomers, who boldly settled there, were soon spoken of as being under this special protection of the gods, since they seemed to fear neither earthquakes, nor threatened indentations of fire. Under the circumstances, almost everything they did was credited to supernatural agencies, and it was not long before Pele, Moho and Kamakawa, the three most influential members of the little community, were regarded as kahunas of unusual sanctity and power. The Pele family proper consisted, at that time of Pele, her two brothers, Moho and Kamakawa, and a younger sister named Ulolu, who was after her apotheosis known as Hiyaka Ikapalio Pele. With them, however, were a number of relatives, principally females whose protectors had perished in the struggle preceding their departure from Samoa, and about 30 attendants. The brothers were large, stalwart men who had distinguished themselves in arms in their native land, and their attendants were warriors of tried courage and capacity. From these companions and assistants were created the three additional brothers, and seven sisters of Pele mentioned in the mellies of the Bards. One of the former, Kenehekili, is said to have been a hunchback, as was also Kamakawa, but the fighting qualities of neither seem to have been impaired by the deformity. Pele was as courageous as she was personally attractive. She had taken an active part in the wars of her father, and with her own hand had slain chief who had attempted to abduct her. Her brothers were devoted to her, and her bright eyes and queenly presence commanded the respect and homage of all who approached her. And now, cultivating their lands in the valley's back of Kiyahuho, and living contentedly and without fear of molestation, we will lead the little colony for a time and refer to another important character in the story we are telling. Kamakawa, the traditional monster of Oahu, whose deeds so aggrandize the folklore of that island. In some mellies, he is depicted as a hog with a human head, and in others as a being with a human form and a head of a hog, but in all he is described as a monster of prediguous bulk and malicious and predatory propensities. Part 2 Glancing back a half century or more before the landing of the Pele family in Puna, we note the arrival in the group of a number of independent parties of immigrants or adventurers from the southern islands. Among them were the chiefs Kalana and Huma. They came with considerable of a following, including the beautiful Kamau Nui and a few of her relatives. The party landed on the island of Maui and after some wandering and change of locations finally settled in Waihi, as thought noted for its beauty and natural advantages. Huma loved the fair Kamau Nui. He had whispered soft words to her on their long journey from Kahiki and fed her with the choicest route to be found among the stores of his great double canoe, but she loved Kalana better and when she became his wife, Huma abruptly left Waihi. Returning, it is supposed to his native land. The only child of this marriage was Hina, who on reaching womanhood became the wife of Olopana, a chief of the island of Oahu. Although of the same name, he was no wise related to the Olopana, who was the brother of Moikeha and the grandson of Maveke. This chief had arrived from the south a few years before his marriage with Hina and with his younger brother Kahikiula settled in Kulao or on the Kulao side of the island of Oahu, where he had acquired very considerable possessions. By what chance he met Hina or through what influence he won her, tradition does not mention, but as his wife she went with him to Oahu and there remained. Hina was fair and Kahikiulao, unlike his brother, was young and handsome. They were happy in the society of each other and were therefore much together. She went with him to the hills for wild fruits and berries and he followed her to the seashore to gather shells and limpets. The jealousy of Olopana was at last aroused and when Hina represented him with a son, he charged Kahikiula with its paternity and refused to accept the child as his own. This estranged the brothers and made the lot of Hina miserable. From its birth, Olopana disliked the child and his resentment named it Kamapua, signifying a hawk child or child of a hawk. As the infant shown no marked physical characteristics of that animal, it is probable that Olopana fastened upon it the graceless appellation in a spirit of retaliation. But whatever may have prompted its best toll, the child certainly bore the name through life, thus giving to the bards who chanted the story of his acts the cue and pretext for shaping him into the monster depicted by tradition. Having no love for Kamapua, Olopana took little interest in his growth from year to year to the mighty manhood which he finally attained and which excited the admiration of all others. The more Kamapua was praised, the greater dislike did Olopana feel for him and at length the presence of the young giant became so obnoxious to him that he ordered him under penalty of death to leave the district. Failing to understand the cause of this unnatural hatred, the anger of Kamapua was at last aroused and he strode away from the home of his youth with his heart filled with bitterness and guavas of vengeance. As he left, Kahikula presented him with a long and finally finished spear tipped with bone and his mother threw over his broad shoulders the feather cape of a chief and hung around his neck a palawa or tells him and carved from the tooth of some great animal of the sea. Kamapua knew of a large cavern in the hill some miles distant from Kulao, the name by which will be designated the place of his birth and dither he repraired and took up his residence. He led a wild predatory life and was soon joined by others as recklessness himself until the party numbered 50 or 60 in all. Made bolder by this following, Kamapua began to harass the estates of Olopana. He stole his pigs, fowls and fruits and whatever else his little band required and delighted in breaking his nets, cutting adrift his canoes and robbing his fishponds. In the spirit of youthful bravado he had his body from his loins upward. Tattooed in black shaped his head and beard to the resemblance of bristles and hung from his shoulders a short mantle of tanned hawk skin, the hair being left to be worn on the outer edge. In disguise his name did not seem to be altogether inappropriate and he was pleased that the terror his appearance inspired. Becoming still bolder Kamapua resolved to inaugurate a more vigorous warfare upon Olopana began to cut down his coconut trees and destroy his growing crops. This brought the matter to a crisis as such acts were always regarded as a declaration of war. The depredations of Kamapua were invariably committed at night and it was sometime before the real aggressors were discovered. Kulao was filled with stories of the marauding exploits of a lawless man led by a monster half-man and half-hog and the kahunas were called upon to assert in the character of the spoilers and if found to be supernatural plastered them with sacrifices. While the kilos were plying their odds the mystery was suddenly solved in a more practical manner. Detected one night in destroying the walls of one of Olopana's fishponds Kamapua and a number of his party was secretly followed to their hiding place in the hills. This information was brought to Olopana and he promptly equipped a small force of warriors to follow in capture or destroy the plundering band which he was enraged beyond all measure in learning was under the leadership of his outcast son or nephew Kamapua. But the task of capturing or destroying Kamapua in his band was by no means an easy one. Of the party first sent to attack them in their mountain stronghold all were killed with the exception of a single warrior and he was allowed to return to tell the tale of the slaughter and take to Olopana the defiance of Kamapua. The satisfy the chief that Kamapua's purpose was rebellion as well as pillage and a force of 600 warriors were as organized and sent against the outlaws. This force Kamapua to change his tactics and leaving their retreat in which they might have been surrounded and brought to submission by famine the rebels retired farther back into the mountains where they for months defied the whole force of Olopana. Frequent skirmishes occurred in many lives were lost but every attempt to surround and capture the desperate band was frustrated by the dash and sagacity of their leader. Once when closely pursued and pressed against the verge of a narrow gorge the rebels crossed the chasm and escaped to the other side by some means unknown to their pursuers and the story was told and believed that Kamapua taking the form of a gigantic hog had spanned the gorge and given his followers speedy passage over his back to the other side when he leaped across it a single bound and escaped with them. The spot marking this marvelous achievement is still pointed out at Hau'ula and the tracks of the monster in the solid rock of shown. It is difficult to say just how long this is a lewtree. Fighting continued but in the end the rebels were surrounded and nearly destroyed and Kamapua was captured unhurt and delivered over to Olopana to the great joy and relief of the people of Kulao. Olopana had erected a heiao at Kanyohe where Lonoao he officiated as high priest and dither he resolved to take his rebellious son or nephew and offer him as a sacrifice to the gods. He now pleaded for the life of Kamapua but Olopana could not be moved. Satisfied that he would listen to no appeals of mercy she did to mine to save her son even at the sacrifice of her husband and to that end secured the assistance of the high priest through whose treachery to Olopana the life of Kamapua was saved. On the day fixed for the sacrifice Kamapua carefully bound and strongly guarded was taken to the heiao followed by Olopana who was anxious to witness the gassy ceremonies and with his own eyes see that his troublesome enemy was duly slain and his body laid upon the altar. In offering human sacrifices the victim was taken without the walls of heiao and slain with clubs by the assistance of the high priest. The body was then brought in and placed upon the altar in front of the entrance to the inner court of sanctuary when the left eye was removed by the officiating priest and handed if he was present to the chief who had ordered the sacrifice. This being done the offering was then ceremoniously made and the body was left upon the altar for the elements to deal with. Standing with three or four attendants at the door of this tabooid retreat within 40 or 50 paces of the altar Olopana saw his victim preliminarily led to the place of sacrifice in a few minutes after motion for the ceremonies to begin. Kamapua was taken without the walls of the temple to be slain. He was in charge of three assistant priests one of them leading him by a stout cord around his neck another keeping closely behind him and the third walking silently at his side with the club of execution in his hand. Passing beyond the outer wall the party entered a small walled enclosure adjoining and the executioner raised his club and brought it down upon the head of his victim. Kamapua smiled but did not move twice twice with mighty sweep the club descended upon the head of Kamapua but scarcely bent the bristly hairs upon his crown with assemblance of wonder the executioner whose tender blows with a scarcely maimed the mouse dropped his club and said three times have I tried and failed to slay him the gods refused to sacrifice it is so it is so it is so chimed his companions the gods indeed refused to sacrifice we have seen it therefore instead of slaying Kamapua the assistants as they had been secretly instructed to do by the high priest removed the cords from his limbs smeared his hair face and body with fresh blood of a foul and on their shoulders bore him back and placed him upon the altar as if dead the high priest approached the apparently lifeless body and bent for a moment over the face as if to remove the left eye then placing on a wooden tray the eye of a large hog which it had been procured for that purpose he sent an assistant with it to Olapana at the same time retiring within the inner court and leaving by the side of Kamapua and near his right hand as if by accident the sharp ivory Pahoa or dagger with which he had to all appearance being operating given but a single glance at the eye presented to him by the assistant of the high priest Olapana passed it to an attendant without the customary semblance of eating it and approached the altar alone Kamapua did not breathe his face was tricked with blood his eyelids were closed and not a single muscle moved to indicate life Olapana looked at the hated face for a moment and then turned to leave the Heao not caring to witness the ceremonies of the formal offering as he did so Kamapua clutched the dagger beside his hand and springing from the altar drove the blade into the back of Olapana again and again he applied the weapon until the chief with a groan of anguish fell dead at the feet of his slayer horrified at what they beheld the attendants of Olapana springed toward their fallen chief but their movements whatever their import did not disturb Kamapua he had been accustomed to meeting and accepting odds in battle and when he had secured possession of the Ihe and huge acts of stone conveniently placed for his use behind the altar he boldly approached and invited an encounter but the challenge was not accepted the attendants of the chief did not ordinarily lack courage but they were unnerved at the sight of a victim slain mutilated and laid upon the altar by the priest coming to life and springing to his feet full armed before his enemies appearing upon the scene the high priest expressed a great surprise and horror at what had occurred and his assistants wildly clamored at the sacrilege but no hand was laid upon Kamapua and the friends of Olapana finally left the Heao taking his body with them this tragedy in the Heao of Kawaiiwaii created a profound excitement in the district had Kamapua been at all popular with the masses the death of Olapana at his hands would have occasion but little indignation but as many beside the dead chief had suffered through these plundering visitations and hundreds of lives had been sacrificed in its pursuit and final capture the people rose almost in a body to hunt him down and destroy him Hina attempted to save her son from the wrath of his enemies but her influence was insufficient to protect him and he again sought refuge in the mountains but his following was small and he finally crossed the island and with the party of 40 or 50 reckless and adventurous spirits set sail for the windward islands in a fleet of eight or ten canoes which he in some manner obtained from the people of Eva more than one tradition a verse that Kamapua traveled to foreign lands after leaving Oahu even to the lands where the sky and sea were supposed to meet but he made no such journey at that time he spent some months in sightseeing among the island southeast of Oahu and pretty nearly circumnavigated them all sometimes for the lack of better occupation he and his companions engaged in the petty wars of the districts visited by them but they generally led a roving careless life maintaining peaceful relations with all and plundering only when every other means of securing supplies failed and thus they journeyed from island to island until they reached Hawaii Kamiole the usurper had but just been defeated and slain by Kalapana the son of Kanipahu the hunchback and Kohala where Kamapua first landed was still suffering from the effects of the war he therefore proceeded southward along the coast touching at several points in Kona then rounding the southern cape of the island he sailed along the shores of Kau to Honua Po where he landed and spent several weeks it was while he was there that Kamapua first learned of the Pele family in the adjoining district of Puna and became acquainted with the many stories of enchantment and sorcery connected with the little colony Pele was described to him as a woman of unusual personal beauty and the lands occupied by the family and its retainers were said to be secure against lava inundations from Kilauea through the special favor and protection of the gods these strange stories interested Kamapua and he resolved to satisfy himself of their truth by visiting the mysterious colony he accordingly set sail with his companions for Puna and landing at Kiaohau took up his abode near the seashore not far from the lands occupied by Pele and her relatives as the colonists seemed to pay but little attention to the newcomers and the exploration of three or four days Kamapua concluded to open a way to an acquaintance with them by visiting near settlement in person and with a few of his companions appeared one morning before the comfortable hale of Pele and her family Moho received strangers courteously inquired the purpose of their visit to Kiaohau and from what part of the country they came and hospitably invited them to a breakfast of meat potatoes poi and fruits the invitation was not declined and during the repast Moho learned from Kamapua that he was the chief of the party and that the visit of himself and companions to Puna had no special object beyond that of observation and pleasure the tattooed body and brusley hair and beard of Kamapua imparted to his otherwise handsome person is strangely ferocious and forbidding appearance and a dimension of his name and a place of nativity Moho at once recognized him from report the monster of Oahu who had ravaged the estates of Olapana and finally assassinated that chief that chief in the Hiaoh of Kavayevaye his presence therefore in that part of Puna was considerably less welcome than the words of Moho implied but no act of the latter indicated a suspicion that the ulterior purposes of his visitors were possibly otherwise than peaceful and when they took their departure for the beach it was with mutual assurance as a friendship but Kamapua did not take his leave that morning until he saw Pelle he found a pretext for prolonging his visit until she finally appeared and when Moho made them known to each other Kamapua had comported himself with a grace and gallantry never before observed in him by his companions he admitted to himself that the reports of Pelle's beauty had not been exaggerated and wondered how it happened that she had remained for years and married the thought then came to Kamapua perhaps not for the first time that he would marry Pelle himself and settle permanently in Puna the idea of marriage had seldom occurred to him but after he saw Pelle he could think of little else he greatly admired her appearance and could see no reason why she should not be equally well pleased with his no mirror saved the uncertain reflection of the waters had ever shown him his hideously tattooed face and bristly hair and beard and the hawk skin still worn over his stained shoulders was regarded by him as a manly and warlike covering while calculated to impress with favor a woman of Pelle's courage and accomplishments but Kamapua did not urge his suit at once he visited Moho almost every day for half a month or more and in David to render himself agreeable to Pelle by sending her baskets of choice wild fruits fresh from the sea which women were allowed to eat and strings of beautiful and curious shells gathered from the shores and caverns of the coast he saw her occasionally and observed that she avoided him but he attributed her seeming repugnance to the him to a coishness common to her sex and drew from it no augury unfavorable to his suit the companions of Kamapua soon discovered the attraction that was keeping him so long in the neighborhood of Kyaohau where food was becoming the reverse of abundant and urged him to return to Honwapo but he silenced their clamors with promises of goodlands and lives of ease in the valleys back of them and they hopefully struggled on with their unsatisfactory fare Kamapua finally made a proposal of marriage to Pelle but she refused to entertain it and was promptly and heartily sustained by her brothers but a simple refusal did not satisfy Kamapua he urged that his blood was noble and that the proposed union was in every way fitting and proper and would prove mutually beneficial enraged at his presumption and persistency Pelle boldly expressed a contempt for him and inversion to his presence in return Kamapua threatened to seize her by force and desolate the colony tradition asserts that she thereupon defied his power and denounced him to his face as a hog and the son of a hog but whatever may have been the precise language to use on the occasion by Pelle it was sufficiently definite in insulting not only to destroy the last hope of Kamapua but to rouse in his heart the bitterest feelings of revenge and he retired enraged to the beach to plan and speedily execute a terrible scheme of retaliation without referring to his final interview with Pelle and her brothers Kamapua informed his companions that he was at last ready to move not to Honuapu however but to the cultivated valleys immediately back of them occupied by a family of foreign interlopers and their adherents who recognized the authority neither of Kalapana nor the governing chief of Puna and might therefore be dispossessed without incurring their approach or hostility of any power competent to punish the project pleased them but they doubted their ability to drive from their lands so large a number the most of whom were doubtless skilled in the use of arms but Kamapua promised to make the way clear to an easy victory he said he had carefully noted the number of the settlers and observed the places where the most of them lodged his plan was to suddenly fall upon them in the night in Misakhar all the male adherents of the family this done they would be masters of the situation enabled to treat on their own terms with the few who remained he was proposed to include the governing family in the slaughter but Kamapua posed a suggestion declaring that one of the brothers of Pelle was the priest of great sanctity whose death by violence would kindle the wrath of the gods and his council prevailed several days elapsed without any movement being made Kamapua was waiting not only for a relaxation of the vigilance which is incautious threats may have inspired but for the dark of the waning moon finally the blow was struck under the favoring cover of darkness Kamapua and his companions left the beach and secreted themselves near the scattered huts of the settlers and it is signal sometime past midnight rose and Misakhar every man within reach of their weapons but few escaped the screams of the women who had been spared rang through the valleys as they fled toward the mansion of Pelle and her brothers for protection and the band of murderers returned satisfied to the beach it was the purpose of Kamapua to surround the home of the surviving family the next day and capture Pelle by force as he had threatened or otherwise bring her and her haughtier relatives to terms but after what had occurred Mohoradili understood the plans of the assassins and early next morning abandoned the family cluster of houses which could not be successfully defended and sought refuge in a cavern in the hills about three miles up the valley accompanied by the entire family and the few others who had escaped the Misakhar of the night before there was water in the cavern and as fugitives took with them a considerable quantity of provisions and the opening to the retreat was small and easily defended they hoped to be able even if discovered in besieged to protect themselves until the arrival of relief or the abandonment of the siege as hopeless by their enemies the cavern was a volcanic formation and had never been fully explored it embraced a number of lodge connecting chambers with ragged avenues leading back into and up the hill the only light came through the front entrance into which from the inside were hastily rolled heavy boulders of lava found here and there detached leaving openings through which spheres and javelins could be thrust a tiny rivulet of water trickled in somewhere from the darkness and after filling a shallow basin in the floor of one of the chambers ran out through the opening as air came in from the back of the cavern it must have been connected with the surface through some one or more of the darker venues referred to but not a glimmer of light so far as the occupants had been able to penetrate the depths indicated the possibility of an escape in that direction should the cavern be rendered untenable by assault the party numbered in all seven men and 18 women and children and they are taken to their retreat a goodly supply of arms and provisions enough to sustain them for some weeks thus prepared they gloomily have faded their fate but they have fled to the hills not a moment too soon for early in the day Kamapua and his companions appeared and surrounded the deserted habitations of the family discovering that his victims had escaped Kamapua promptly divided his followers into small parties and dispatched them to the hills in search of the fugitives or of traces of their flight he also joined in the search but went unattended in the course of the day all returned to the deserted huts where they had taken up their quarters and reported that no traces of missing colonists had been discovered and the general opinion was that they had escaped across the mountains Kamapua waited until all the rest had told the stories of their fruitless wanderings when he announced that he had found what they had lacked the suggestivity to discover he informed them that the fugitives were secreted in a cavern some distance up one of the valleys where they could be surrounded and captured without difficulty but he did not mention that he had made the discovery by shrewdly following a dog into the hills and watching the animal until it stopped in front of the entrance to the cavern he was willing that his companions should believe that his success was due to some inspiration or prescience of his own a god was immediately detailed to wash the cavern and see that no one escaped and the next day the place was surrounded and formally beseeched following these preparations visible to moho and his handful of survivors Kamapua approached the entrance sufficiently near to be heard within and demanded the surrender of the party promising that the lives of all would be spared the demand was refused with words of insult and defiance and Kamapua ordered an assault upon the entrance several attempts were made to force the protecting rocks from the opening but their indistices bristled with spear points and after a number of the assailants had been wounded the plan of attack was abandoned as impracticable a large quantity of dry wood leaves and grass was then heaped in front of the entrance and fired in the hope of suffocating the inmates with the heat and smoke of the conflagration but the drought of air through the cavern kept the smoke from entering and although the heat for a time became oppressive immediately around the opening the connecting chambers were put slightly affected by it the fire was allowed to die out and Kamapua on too closely approaching the entrance to note its effects was made keenly aware of the failure of the project by receiving a sharp spear thrust in the arm as fire and assault had proved unavailing and a long siege did not accord with its purposes Kamapua next and they were to affect to breach through the top of the cavern in the rare of the entrance as this necessitated the removal of an overlying mass of 10 or 15 feet of soil and rocks the undertaking involved a very considerable amount of hard labor but the plan met with general favor and with ooze and other implements obtained from the valleys below the procedures entered upon the task of excavating through into the cavern for several days the work progressed almost uninterruptedly and a large pit had been lowered to a depth of 8 to 10 feet when the earth began to tremble violently and a few minutes after the air was filled with sulfurous smoking ashes but this was not the most appalling sight beheld by Kamapua and his companions looking up the valley which at that point was little more than a narrow gorge they saw a flood of lava full a hundred feet in width bursting from the hillside and pouring down the vine its high advancing crest aflame with burning timber and sweeping before it a tundering avalanche of half molten boulders with exclamations of dismay they started in full flight down the valley closely followed by the devouring flood on on this bed past the deserted huts of their victims past the sandy foothills past the cocoa trees that fringe the beach turning at the water's edge they beheld the awful stream spreading its mantle of death over the broadening valley and speeding to the sea in broken volumes leaping into their canoes they plunged through the surf and paddled out to the sea setting sail for Honuapo Kamapua saw as they left the coast that the upper part of the valley from which they had fled was filled with lava and knew that the cavern in which Pelé and her companions had sought refuge from his wrath had been deeply buried by the flood when the news of the eruption reached Honuapo the people who had heard so many strange stories of Pelé and her family did not believe that they had perished on the contrary they declared that the eruption had been invoked by Pelé to drive Kamapua from the district and that if she had permitted her lands to be destroyed it was with the view of taking up her residence in the crater of Kilauea and this opinion soon crystallized into a belief which spread throughout the island of Hawaii and another generation saw temples erected to Pelé the goddess of fire and the priest sanctified to her service all but three of her brothers and sisters with the creations of her early priests and their attributes gradually grew and took form as they floated down the stream of tradition many adventures are related to Kamapua after his flight from Kiaohao but the most or all of them are the dreams the poets of after generations and further reference here to this most striking of the early heroes of the group may be properly concluded with the remark that shortly after his experiences with the Pelé family he immigrated with a considerable following to one of the southern islands where he married distinguished himself in arms and finally died without revisiting the Hawaiian archipelago end of chapter eight chapter nine of the legends and myths of hawaii this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Kay Hand the legends and myths of hawaii by King David Kalakaua chapter seven Hua King of Hana characters Hua King of Hana Maui Lu'uana a priest of the king's household Luahumo the supreme high priest Kahakai and Ka'anahua sons of Luahumo Oluo Lu wife of Ka'a Ka'i Ka'a Kaua and Mamulu his wife friends of Uluu Ulu Nalu'a Maheya a high priest of Oahu Hua King of Hana the legend of the great famine of the 12th century one with the reign of Hua an ancient king of Hana or eastern Maui is connected a legendary recital of one of the most terrible visitations of the wrath of the gods anywhere brought down by Hawaiian tradition it is more than probable that the extent of the calamities following Hua's defiant and barbarous treatment of his high priest and prophet was greatly colored and exaggerated in turn by the pious historian who received and passed the mu'uelo down the centuries but the details of the story have been preserved with harrowing conciseness and for more than 600 years were recited as a solemn warning against wanton trespass upon the prerogatives of the priesthood or disregard of the power and sanctity of the gods in some of the genealogies Hua is represented as having been the great grandfather of Paomakua of Maui this record if accepted would remove him altogether from the Hawaiian group since Paomakua himself was undoubtedly an immigrant from Tahiri or some other of the southern islands as he was contemporaneous with the distinguished priest and prophet Nau'ula who is said to have accompanied Lamai Kahiki from Riyati he must have appeared two or three generations later than Paomakua and probably belonged to a collateral brand of the great Hua family from which Paomakua drew his strain it may therefore be assumed that as early as A.D. 1170 Hua was the Ali'i Nui or virtual sovereign of eastern Maui he is referred to as the king of Maui but it is hardly probable that his sway extended over the western division of the island as it was not until the reign of Pi'ilani nearly three centuries later that the people of Maui became finally united under one government previous to that time except at intervals of temporary conquest or occupation eastern and western Maui were ruled by distinct and frequently hostile lines of kings hence the sovereignty of Hua could scarcely have reached beyond the districts of Kulao, Hana, Kipahulu and Kwaapu while the remainder of the island must have recognized the authority either of Palina the grandson of Paomakua or of Hana La'a the distinguished son and successor of Palina since the later Moise of Maui traced their genealogies uninterruptedly through this branch of the Puamakua family but from whatever source who may have derived his rank and authority he was a reckless independent and warlike chief having access to the largest and finest timber in the group his war canoes were abundant and formidable and when not engaged in harassing his neighboring frontiers he was employed in plundering expeditions to the coast of Hawaii and Molokai tradition makes him in the aggressor in the earliest remembered war between Maui and Hawaii although the name of the war Kanui Huyo has been preserved it probably did not reach beyond the limit of a powerful marauding excursion to the coast of Hilo Hawaii resulting in the defeat of the chiefs of that district by Hua but in nothing more than a temporary seizure and occupation of their lands for at that time Kani Pahao was the Moai of Hawaii and would scarcely have permitted a permanent hostile lodgement in Hilo whose chiefs acknowledged his suzerainty and were therefore entitled to his protection the High Priest of Hua was Luahumon he claimed to be an ikupau that is a direct descendant from Kane and as such was strict in claiming respect for his person and sacred prerogatives he did not approve of many of Hua's marauding acts advising him instead to lead his people in happier and more peaceful pursuits and not provoke either the retaliation of his enemies or the anger of the gods this opposition to his aggressive methods exasperated Hua and a feeling of suspicion and ill will gradually grew up between him and the priesthood he began to attribute his occasional failures in arms to deliberately neglected prayers and sacrifices by Luahumon and on one occasion after having returned from an unsuccessful expedition to Molokai he placed his tabu on a spring of water set apart for the use of the Heu and on another wantonly speared a Puahua or Black Tabuid hog sacred to sacrifice when expostulated with for thus inviting the wrath of the gods he threatened the High Priest with similar treatment Hua resided where he constructed one of the largest royal mansions in the group and all the leisure spared from his warlike pastimes was given to revelry he had a hundred hula dancers exclusive of musicians and drummers and his monthly feasts were prolonged into days and nights of debauchery and unbridled license drunk with Awa an intoxicating drink made from a plant of that name he kept the whole of Hana in an uproar during his frequent seasons of pleasure and the attractive wives and daughters of his subjects were not unfrequently seized and given to his favorite companions the annual feast of lono was approaching an event marking the winter solstice and which was already celebrated impressively on every island of the group it was an occasion not only for manifesting respect for the nearest and most popular deity of the godhead but for celebrating as well the ending of the old year and the beginning of the new the ancient Hawaiians divided the year into 12 months of 30 days each each month and day of the month was named they had two modes of measuring time the lunar and sidereal the lunar month began on the first day that the new moon appeared in the west and regulated their monthly feasts and taboo days their sidereal month of 30 days marked one of the 12 divisions of the year but as their two seasons of the year the huileo rainy and cow dry were measured by the Pleiades and their 12 months of 30 days each did not complete the sidereal year they intercalated five days at the end of the year measured by months in order to square that method of reckoning with the movements of the stars this annual intercalation was made about the 20th of their month of huilehu december at the expiration of which the first day of the first month makali of the new year commenced this was their makahiki or new year day the five intercalated days were a season of taboo and dedicated to a grand yearly festival to lono in preparation for this festival hua had called for unusually large contributions from the people and in anticipation of another hostile expedition to hawaii had ordered quotas of warriors canoes and provisions from his subject chiefs to be reported at Hana immediately after the beginning of the new year these exactions caused very general dissatisfaction and the priesthood assisted in promoting rather than allaying the popular discontent all this was reported to hua and he resolved to liberate himself at once and for the future from what he conceived to be an officious and unwarranted intermedling of the priesthood with the affairs of state by deposing or taking the life of luhumo in this desperate resolution he was sustained by luhuna a priest who had charge of the heo or chapel of the royal mansion and who expected to succeed luhumo as high priest hua sought in every way for a pretext for deposing or slaying luhumo but the priest was old in years exemplary in his conduct and moved among the people without reproach finally at the instigation of luhuna who assumed that the advice was a divine inspiration hua created a bungling and absurd pretense for an assault upon luhumo the dishonesty of the scheme was exposed but it resulted nevertheless in the death of the unoffending priest as tradition tells the story hua found occasion in a public manner to order some hua'u or hua'u to be brought to him from the mountains the hua'u is a water bird and seldom found in the uplands as neither its flesh for eating nor its feathers for decorating could have reasonably been required the object of dispatching snareers in quest of it must have been a subject of comment but kings then as later did not always deign to give reasons for their acts and preparations were at once made by the household servants and retainers of the king to proceed upon the hunt be careful that the birds come from the mountains said hua addressing the trusted hua lai in charge of the hunting party only from the mountains he repeated i will have none from the sea but can they be found in the mountains ventured the hua lii looking inquiringly towards luhumo who was standing near and watching a flight of birds which seemed to be strangely confused and ominous of evil do you inquire of me said the priest after a pause and finding that the king did not answer i inquire of anyone who thinks he knows returned the hua lii then the birds you seek will not be found in the mountains at this season of the year returned the priest and you must set your snares by the seashore is it so that you would attempt to counterman my orders exclaimed hua in apparent anger i order my servants to go to the mountains for the u l and you tell them to set their snares by the seashore i humbly ask the king to remember that i have given no orders calmly replied the priest but you have dared to interfere with mine retorted the king now listen my men shall go to the mountains in search of the birds i require if they find them there i will have you slain as a false prophet and misleader of the people with this savage threat the king walked away with his hua lii while the priest stood in silence with his face bowed to the earth he knew the import of hua's words they meant death to him and destruction of his family the bloody purpose of the king had been told to him at the sacrificial altar had been seen by him in the clouds had been whispered to him from the anu of the sanctuary since the gods so will it i must submit to the sacrifice was the pious resolution of the priest but woe to the hand that strikes to the eyes that witness the blow to the land that drinks the blood of the son of la macua lua humo had two sons kakakai and kahanahua both were connected with the priesthood and kakakai had been instructed in all the mysteries of the order in anticipation of his succession on the death of his father to the position of high priest they were young men of intelligence and their lives had been blameless knowing that they would not be spared lua humo advised them to leave hana at once and secrete themselves in the mountains and suggested hana ula an elevated spur of the mighty crater of halia kala as the place where they would be most likely to escape observation but a few weeks before kakakai had become the husband of the beautiful olu olu the daughter of a distinguished chief who had lost his life in who was first expedition against hilo twice had she sought the hayu for protection against the emissaries of hua who had been ordered to seize and bring her to the royal mansion and in both instances lua humo had given her the shelter of the sacred enclosure it was there that kakakai first met her and charmed no less by her beauty than by her abhorrence of the lascivious intents of the king he soon persuaded her to become his wife but even if it's his wife kakakai did not deem her secure from the evil designs of the king and had found an asylum for her in the humble home of a distant relative in a secluded valley four or five miles back of hana where he frequently visited her and cheered her with assurances of his love as the danger was eminent lua humo urged his sons to leave hana without delay promising kakakai that he would visit olu olu the next day and apprise her of her husband's flight and the place to which he had fled for concealment but the old priest did not live to fulfill his promise and olu olu was left in ignorance of the fate of her husband early next morning the bird hunters returned bringing with them a large number of birds including the yuo and lili all of which they a bird had been caught in the mountains when in reality they had been snared on the seashore who was summoned the high priest and pointing to the bird said all these birds were snared in the mountains you are therefore condemned to die as a false prophet who has been abandoned by his gods and a deceiver of the people who are entitled to the protection of their king taking one of the birds in his hand the priest calmly replied these birds did not come from the mountains they are rank with the odor of the sea but the hoa liyi of the king steadfastly maintained that the birds had been snared in the mountains and hua declared the assurance of the hunters to be sufficient to outweigh the flimsy testimony of the priest lua humo saw that he was doomed and that the hunters had been schooled to sustain the lying assertion of the hoa liyi yet he resolved to disconcert them all and make good his position no matter what might be the result he therefore asked permission to open a few of the birds and the king sullenly granted it select them yourself said the priest to the hoa liyi and the latter took from the heap and handed him three birds the priest opened them and the crops of all was found to be filled with small fish and bits of seaweed behold my witness exclaimed the priest pointing to the eviscerated birds and turning toward the hoa liyi with a look of triumph confounded and enraged at the development who was seized a javelin and without a word savagely drove it into the breast of lua humo killing him on the spot a shudder ran through the witnesses as the venerable victim fell to the earth for violence to a high priest was a crime almost beyond comprehension but the king coolly handed the bloody weapon to an attendant and with a remorseless glance at the dying priest leisurely walked away sending for luna he immediately elevated him to the dignity of high priest and ordered the body of lua humo to be laid upon the altar of the hyau the house of the dead priest was then burned in accordance with ancient custom and the king's executioners were dispatched with the tendons in search of the sons of lua humo proud of his newly acquired honors luna made preparations for extensive sacrifices and then proceeded to the hyau with the body of lua humo as he approached the gate of the outer enclosure the tall pea or wooden cross indicative of the sanctity of the place fell to the ground and on reaching the inner court the earth began to quake groans issued from the carved images of the gods and the altar sank into the earth leaving an opening from which issued fire and smoke the attendants dropped the body of the priest and fled from the hyau in dismay followed by the no less frightened lua luna the priests of the temple who know nothing of the death of lua humo until they beheld his body about to be offered in sacrifice stood for a moment awe-stricken at what was transpiring around them they had been taught that the hyau was the only place of safety for them in a time of danger and after the flight of lua humo and his attendants they tenderly conveyed the body of the high priest to a hut within the enclosure to prepare it for burial lua humo repaired in haste to the ha lia lii to report to the king what had occurred at the hyau but his story excited but little surprise and who are for events quite as overwhelming were occurring all around them the earth was affected with a slight but continuous tremor a hot and almost suffocating wind had set in from the southward strange murmurs were heard in the air the skies were crimson and drops of blood fell from the clouds and finally reports came from all parts of hanah that the streams wells and springs were no longer yielding water and a general flight of the people to the mountains had commenced such chiefs as could be found were hastily called together in council who was completely subdued and admitted that he had angered the gods by killing lua humo but what was to be done perhaps the sons of the martyred priests might be appealed to but where were they no one knew it was suggested that a hundred human sacrifices be offered but lu anah declined to appear again at the hyau and resigned his office of high priest another was appointed and the sacrifices were ceremoniously offered the moon had no difficulty in obtaining victims for the people were desperate and offered themselves by scores but the drought continued and the general suffering increased from day to day all other signs of the displeasure of the gods had passed away other sacrifices were offered in great profusion and an emu lua was constructed where human bodies were baked and in that form presented to the gods but the springs and streams remained dry and the clouds dropped no rain the gods were redecorated and the erection of a new hyau was commenced but the people remaining in the district were too few and too weak to complete it and a strict taboo was declared for a season of ten days but the people were too desperate to observe it and no attempt was made to punish those who disregarded it many drowned themselves insane from thirst and such as could procure the poisonous mixture died from the effects of kohau hyau administered by their own hands the drought extended to the mountains and the people fled beyond but wherever they went the streams became dry and the rains ceased the pestilence became known in western Maui and the famishing refugees were driven back in attempting to enter that district after vainly attempting to stay the dreadful scourge and seeing his kingdom nearly depopulated who was secretly embarked with a few of his attendants for Hawaii he landed in the district of Kona but the drought followed him wherever he went the fresh waters sank into the earth and the clouds yielded no rain and so he journeyed on from place to place carrying famine and misery with him until in the course of his wonderings occupying more than three years he rendered almost one half of the island of Hawaii a desolation finally he died as the gods had decreed of thirst and starvation one legend says in a temple of koala and his bones were left to dry in the sun and the saying of rattling are the bones of who are in the sun or dry are the bones of who are in the sun has come down to the present as a significant reference to the fate of one high in power who defied the gods and persecuted the priesthood but rainless skies and droughts did not mark alone the footsteps of Hua and his attendants wherever the despairing people of the district went the same affliction followed some of them sailed to Hawaii others to Molokai and Oahu and a few to Kauai but nowhere could they find relief everywhere the drought kept pace with them and famine and suffering where the result throughout the entire group the Diviners had discovered the cause of the scourge but neither prayers nor sacrifices could avert or ameliorate it and so it continued for nearly three and a half years two during all the long years of famine and death what had befallen Olu Olu the young wife of Kaakakai left in the secluded valley back of Hana she saw the blight that suddenly fell upon the land saw the springs and streams go dry around her humble home saw the leaves of the banana wither and the grass turn yellow in the valley saw famishing men women and children madly searching for water and tearing down coconuts for the little milk they afforded and then by degree she learned of all that had transpired and was still transpiring in Hana including the sad story of the death of Lua Humo and the flight of Kaakakai but with her had he fled no one could tell her but wherever he might be she knew that if alive he would someday return to her and therefore struggled on as best she could to live her home was with Kaakau whose wife was Mamula they had been blessed with three sons all of whom had perished in who was useless wars and now in their old age they were occupying a little Kuliana so far up the narrow valley winding into the hills that no land for cultivation was found above them they had small patches of tarot and potatoes a score or two of coconut trees of old growth and plantains and bananas enough for their use in the hills back of them were ohias and other wild fruits and with pigs and fowls and abundance there was never any lack of food in the healths of Kaakau but when the drought came accompanied by the scorching south wind Kaakau shared the fate of his neighbors his pigs and fowls scattered in search of water and did not return the ripening plantains and bananas together with a few bulbs of tarot were hastily gathered and the food supplied stored in the house was adequate to the want of the occupants for some weeks to come but fresh water was nowhere to be found and the coconuts were stripped from the trees and laid away to meet as far as possible the terrible emergency thus passed nearly half a month during which time harrowing reports from the valleys below reached the Kuliana through parties vainly searching everywhere among the hills for water then Kaakau saw that his supply of coconut milk was nearly exhausted and resolved to visit the seashore where he knew of a spring in times past dripping from the rocks almost on a level with the waves surely he thought that spring cannot be dry with all the water around it and swinging to water calabashes over his shoulders he started for the seashore but he never returned in passing to the coast he was seized among others and offered as a sacrifice in the Hayao for two days his return was awaited at the Kuliana then Mamulu solemnly said Kaakau is dead we have no more water and but little food why suffer longer let us drink coheho and die not today my good friend Mamulu replied Oulu Oulu soothingly we will talk of it tomorrow last night in my dreams a whisper told me not to despair let us wait the next morning Oulu rose at daylight the last of the coconut milk was gone and the mouths of both were dry and feverish there was a strangely cheerful light in Oulu Oulu's eyes as she bent over the suffering but patient Mamulu and holding up a calabash said I shall soon return with this filled with water think of it Mamulu filled with pure fresh water poor child replied Mamulu not doubting that her mind was wandering but where will you go for it only a short walk right up the valley returned Oulu Oulu you know the little cavern among the rocks the mouth is almost closed but I can find it the water is in the back part of the Ana it is running water but it disappears in the darkness perhaps it comes from Poe but no matter it is sweet and good Luahumou came to me last night with his long white hair smeared with blood and told me he had sent the water there it is for us alone if others know of it or taste it it will disappear so we must be careful Mamulu very careful leaving the woman almost in a daze at the words thus spoken in rapid and excited sentences Oulu Oulu left the hut and started up the narrow valley a walk of three or four minutes brought her to the entrance of an abrupt and chasm like ravine gashing the hills on the right to its almost precipitous sides clung overhanging masses of ragged volcanic rock from the crevices of which a sturdy vegetation had taken root and in time passed gloomily shaded the narrow channel but the interlacing branches of the trees were almost leafless and all around were seen the footprints of death and desolation not a breath of wind cooled the sultry air and no sound of living creature broke the silence of the heated hills the mouth of the ravine was partially choked with huge boulders washed down by the fresh hits of centuries and the ground was strewn with dead leaves and broken branches casting her eyes around in every direction to be sure that she was not observed Oulu Oulu quickly found a way over the boulders and ascended the ravine proceeding upward 30 or 40 yards and climbing a rocky bench over which in seasons of rain had poured a little cascade she stopped in front of an overhanging mass of vitreous rock and the next moment disappeared in a stooping posture through a low opening almost concealed by decrepitations from above the opening led to a cavern 40 or 50 feet in depth with an irregular width almost as great the floor descended from the entrance and was smooth and apparently water worn two or three steps forward enabled her to stand upright but all beyond was darkness and for a moment she remained undecided which way to proceed she heard a sound like that of a bear and cautious footsteps on the smooth floor she was startled but suffering had made her desperate and she listened again the same sound continued but it was mellowed into the soft murmur of waters somewhere back in the darkness and with a swelling heart she groped her way toward the silvery voice sweeter to her than the strains of the ohi or the songs of the birds closer and closer she approached every step making more distinct the joyful music until at last she felt the spatter of cool water upon her bare feet stretching out her hand it came in contact with a little stream gushing from the back wall of the cavern and instantly disappearing where it fell upon a layer of loose gravel washed down from the entrance she hastily drank from her palm and found that the water was cool and sweet then she held the mouth of the calabash under the stream and after wetting her head and drinking until prudence counseled her to stop refilled the vessel cautiously emerged from the opening and hastened back to the hut hesitating without the door to satisfy herself that no one had arrived during her absence aloo aloo noiselessly entered and stealing to the cappamon upon which mamoulou was half deliriously dreaming poured a quantity of water upon her head and as she opened her eyes with a bewildered stare dropped a swallow into her parked and open mouth half rising mamoulou dreamily felt of her dripping hair and then stared vacantly at aloo aloo who stood smilingly beside her with the calabash in her hand in a moment she recalled all that had occurred before she dropped into the troubled sleep from which she had been so strangely aroused then it is not a dream she murmured clasping her wasted hands upon her breast the gods have sent us water and she reached for the calabash no said aloo aloo kindly withdrawing the vessel we have plenty but you are weak and would drink too much now lie down with this roll of kappa under your head and while I am giving you a swallow at a time I will tell you about the water and how I found it and so slowly feeding mamoulou with the precious fluid and at the same time bathing her head and throat aloo aloo related to her everything that had occurred but will the stream continue anxiously inquired mamoulou would it not be well to fill all the calabashes in the house and all we can procure and so keep them that we may not be left without water should the stream disappear I think it would not be well to anger the gods by doubting them replied aloo aloo the water was sent not to prolong our sufferings but to save our lives and I am sure it will continue so long as we guard the secret and allow no others to use it aloo aloo's faith was rewarded without any diminution in volume the little stream continued to flow and sink in the darkness of the cavern until the wrath of the gods was appeased and the rains finally came again but aloo aloo and her companion could not subsist on water alone the parched earth produced no food but they did not despair every day they cautiously watered a little patch of mountain tarot and the ravine above the cavern and at intervals of four or five days went to the seashore and returned with fish crabs limpets and edible seaweed and so they managed to live without suffering while the valleys became almost depopulated and all others in hanah were stricken with famine they seldom saw a human face in their journeys to and from the sea and never in the valley where they lived and the few they met avoided them fearful no doubt that the miserable means of subsistence to which they resorted might become known to others three it was near the end of the terrible scourge that the district of iwa on the island of oahu became its victim it followed the appearance there of a hanah chief and a few of his retainers who had been driven from molokai at that time there lived at wemalu in the district of iwa the celebrated priest and prophet nalua ah mahia no one in the Hawaiian priesthood of the past was ever more feared or respected it was thought by some that he had visited the shadowy realms of milu and from palui had brought back the waters of life he must have been well on in years for as already mentioned he is credited with having been the priest of lama kahiki on the romantic journey of that prince from the southern islands in evidence of the great sanctity of naula tradition relates that his canoe was upset during a journey from waini oahu to kawai he was swallowed by a whale in whose stomach he remained without inconvenience until the monster crossed the channel and vomited him up alive on the beach at walua kawai the precise place of his destination at another time when crossing to hawaii and beset with adverse winds two huge black sharks sent by mua lii the shark god of molokai towed him to kohala so swiftly that the seabirds could scarcely keep him company he built a hayu at the foundations of which may still be traced and in the inner temple of the enclosure it is asserted that lono conversed with him freely and at his bidding the spirits of the living kahaoka as well as the shades of the dead unihipi lii made their appearance for it was believed by the ancient hawaiians that the spirits or souls of the living sometimes separated themselves from the body during slumber or while in a condition of trance and became visible in distant places to priests of a special sanctity consulting with the gods naula discovered the cause of the drought and becoming alarmed at the threatened destruction of the entire population of the group undertook to stay the ravages of the spreading scourge with a vision enlarged and intensified by sacrifice and prayer he ascended the highest peak of the wanay mountains far as the eye could reach the skies were cloudless he first looked towards koala but discerns no sign of rain around its wooded summits he turned toward kawai but not a cloud could be seen above the mountains of that island cloudless also were the mountains of molokai finally casting his eyes in the direction of Maui he saw a small dark spot like a rain cloud hanging above the peak of hanalua it may disappear he thought i will wait midday came he looked again and the spot was still there the sun grew red in the west again he looked and found that the cloud had neither disappeared nor moved surely the sons of luahumo are there he said to himself i will go to them they will listen to me and the waters will come again naula descended from the mountain and the same night embarked alone in a canoe for Maui he spread no sail used no paddle but all night his wa'a skimmed the waves with the speed of the wind and it sunrise the next morning he landed at makena above which a few miles inland towered the peak of hanalua with the dark spot still hanging over it there indeed were the sons of luahumo nurtured by the rains that had fallen alone on the peak of hanalua there they had remained unseen for three and a half years waiting for the wrath of the gods to be appeased and for a summons to descend a strange light accompanied the canoe of naula in the darkness from their elevated retreat they noted it far out upon the ocean and watched it growing brighter as it approached until it went out on the beach at makena they knew it to be a signal of their deliverance and hastened down the mountain to meet the messenger of the gods one account says they met naula at kula but the meeting occurred not far from the makena landing where the priest inspired with a knowledge of their coming awaited their arrival as they approached the venerable kahuna his white hair and beard falling to his waist and a taboo staff in his hand advanced to meet them they bowed respectfully and returning the salutation naula said i know you to be the sons of luahumo whose death by the hands of hua king of hana has been avenged by the gods upon the people of all the islands of hawaii the earth is still parched and thousands are seeking in vain for food and water hua is dead his bones lie unburied in the sun scattered or dead are the people of hana their lands are yellow and their springs and streams yield nothing but dust and ashes great was the crime of hua and great has been the punishment i am naula a mahia the high priest of oahu and have come to ask with you that the gods may be merciful and no longer scourge the people at the mention of his name the sons of luahumo bowed low before the aged prophet of whose sanctity report had years before apprised them and then kakakai replied great priest willingly will we add our voices to your supplication to the gods whose vengeance has indeed been terrible but since our retreat was revealed to you and nothing seems to be hidden from your understanding let me ask if you know ought of the fate of olu olu she was my wife and i left her in a little valley in the mountains back of hana i loved her greatly and him grieved with fear that she is dead without replying the priest seated himself upon the ground and unbinding the kakai from his shoulders threw it over his head shutting the light from his face while one hand pressed the mantle closely to his breast the other held to his forehead what seemed to be a talisman of stone suspended by a short cord from his neck he remained motionless in that position for some minutes then throwing off the kai and rising to his feet he turned to kakakai and said i was not wrong in my thought the presence here of the sons of luahumo has sanctified the spot to communion with the spirits of the air olu olu alone with a woman much her elder still lives where you left her and hopefully awaits the coming of kakakai for such i now know to be your name the spirit of luahumo has nourished and protected her great na'ula most favored of the gods exclaimed kakakai grasping the hand of the priest you have made my heart glad now ask of me what you will on the very spot from which the priest had risen they proceeded to erect a rude altar of stones when it was completed na'ula brought from his canoe a combined image of the godhead the oi of the early priesthood and a small enclosed calabash of holy water kawai kapu akane removing the kapa covering the image was placed beside the altar and while the priest recited the solemn kaiokopeyo or prayer of consecration kakakai intoned the invocation and continued at intervals to sprinkle the altar with holy water the dedication ceremonies were at length concluded but what was there to offer as a sacrifice the hills were barren parched far as the eye could reach the lands were deserted and no living thing besides themselves was visible suddenly there appeared among the leafless shrubbery near them a large black hog sacred to sacrifice the brothers exchanged looks of wonder but the priest did not seem to be greatly surprised the animal was immediately seized killed and placed upon the altar and sacrificial prayers were devoutly offered in the midst of these services a wind set in from the south black clouds began to gather from which the answering voice of thunder came and then a gentle rain began to fall upon the seer and hungry earth raising his face into the baptism na'ula with emotion exclaimed the sacrifice is accepted the gods are merciful and the people are saved and the rains continued not there alone but all over the islands until the grass grew green again and the banana put forth its shoots everywhere the rejoicing was great the people returned to their deserted lands and the valleys of Hana even blossomed as before but who and his family had perished from the earth and a new dynasty came into being to claim the sovereignty of eastern Maui the sons of the martyr Lua Humo returned at once to Hana and in the arms of Ka'a Kaka'i the brave and faithful Olu Olu recited the story of her sufferings and deliverance with largely augmented possessions Ka'a Kaka'i became the high priest under the new regime and for generations his descendants continued to be among the most influential of the families of eastern Maui Ka'a Hua became the god of the husbandmen the political events immediately following the death of Hua are but vaguely referred to by tradition and the few particulars known doubtless other preservation to the care taken by the priesthood to which class the historians of the past usually belonged to bring down with all its terrible details the fate of Hua as a warning to succeeding sovereigns who might be disposed to trespass upon the sacred domain of the spiritual rulers who in a measure divided the allegiance of their subjects end of chapter nine