The Prophecies of Keaulumoku.CHARACTERS.Kahekili,moiof Maui.Kalaniopuu, king of Hawaii.Namahana, widow of Kamehamehanui.Keeaumoku, a royal chief of Hawaii.Kahanana, a warrior of Waihee.Mahihelelima, governor of Hana, Maui.Kaahumanu, daughter of Keeaumoku.Kameeiamokuand}brothers of Keeaumoku.Kamanawa,Kiwalao, son of Kalaniopuu.Keaulumoku, the poet-prophet of Hawaii.Kamehameha I., the conqueror of the group.Keoua, half-brother of Kiwalao.Keawemauhili, a royal chief of Hawaii.THE PROPHECIES OF KEAULUMOKU.THE CAREER OF KEEAUMOKU, THE PRINCE-SLAYER AND KING-MAKER.I.The days had just begun to lengthen after the summer solstice of 1765 when a great grief fell upon the royal court of the island of Maui. Kamehamehanui, the king, had died very suddenly at Wailuku, which had been his favorite place of residence, and his brother and successor, Kahekili, had removed his court to Lahaina. The bones of the dead king had been carefully secreted, the customary mourning excesses had been indulged in, and many new apportionments of lands had been made in accordance with the bequests of the deceasedmoiand the will of his successor.Kamehamehanui was an amiable sovereign, but his reign was not as successful as that of his father, Kekaulike. His right to the sceptre had been contested by his brother, Kauhia, and he was secured in it only through the efforts of Alapainui, the king of Hawaii. Subsequently Kalaniopuu, the successor of Alapainui, wrested from him the district of Hana and the celebrated fortress of Kauwiki, and retained possession of both at the time of Kamehamehanui’s death. The lands of the district might have been recaptured, perhaps, but the fortress commanding them was well-nigh impregnable, and Hana remained a dependency of Hawaii.Kamehamehanui’s political wife was his half-sister Namahana, with whom he had two children; but as both of them died in their infancy, his brother, Kahekili, succeeded him asmoiof the island by common consent. After the death of his brother, Kahekili at once removed his court to Lahaina, where the customary period of mourning was concluded.It was while the members of the royal family were still in mourning at Lahaina that a distinguished stranger suddenly landed, with a number of personal attendants, and presentedhimself at court. His double canoe bore the ensign of analii, and his garb and bearing showed him to be of the higher nobility. His age was perhaps thirty years, although he looked somewhat older. He was over six feet in height, and well proportioned. His face was handsome, and his hair and beard were closely cropped. He was clad in amaroand short feather mantle, and around his head was bound a single fold of yellowkapa. By a cord of hair was suspended from his neck apalaoa, or carved whale’s tooth, and his left wrist was ornamented with a bracelet of curious shells. He was courageous, courtly, and in his best moods agreeable and captivating, and was a splendid representative of the rude chivalry of his time.As he stepped ashore and proceeded to the royal mansion, way was respectfully made for him, even as a stranger of distinguished bearing, and his name secured him admission at once to the presence of Kahekili, who welcomed him to Lahaina, and set apart ample accommodations for himself and lodgings for his attendants.Who was this stranger? He was no common chief who would have thus presumed to present himself at the court of themoiof Maui and expect the courtesy of royal entertainment. Two generations before Lonoikahaupu, who had peacefully inherited the sovereignty of the western side of the island of Kauai, while the noted Kualii, of Oahu, retained possession of the remainder, paid a royal visit of state to the windward islands of the group. His blood was of the best in the archipelago, and his equipment and retinue were brilliant and imposing. He embarked with a number of large double canoes, the royalkauluabeing over eighty feet in length, and was attended by a company of skilled musicians and dancers. He also took with him his chief navigator, priest and astrologer, and a corps of personal attendants in keeping with his rank.In turn he visited Oahu, Maui and Molokai, where he was entertained with distinguished honors, and then set sail for Hawaii, of which Keawe was then king. Touching at Hilo, he found that the royal court had been temporarily established in Kau, and thither he proceeded, to pay his respects to Keawe and his beautiful but volatile wife and half-sister, Kalani-kauleleiaiwi. He was becomingly received and entertained by the royal couple, and spent some weeks in the enjoyment of the festivitiesarranged for his amusement. The result was that the queen became enamored of the handsome Kauaian king, who was duly recognized at once as one of her husbands.From this union a son was born, who was named Keawepoepoe, when the father returned to Kauai and there remained. This son grew to manhood, and by marriage with Kumaiku, of the royal line of Maui, became the father of the three distinguished chiefs who, with Keawe-a-Heulu, were the leading captains of Kamehameha in the conquest of the group at the close of the eighteenth century. One of these sons of Keawepoepoe was Keeaumoku, the Warwick of his time, the slayer and maker of kings.Keeaumoku’s first effort in king-making occurred in 1754. On the death, in that year, of his uncle Alapainui, and the succession of his cousin Keaweopala to the Hawaiian throne, he became dissatisfied with his allotment of lands and raised the standard of revolt in Kekaha. Defeated, he fled in his canoes to Kau, where Kalaniopuu had for some years maintained himself in independence of Alapainui. Joining their forces, they marched northward, defeated and slew Keaweopala in Kona, and Kalaniopuu, who was the grandson of Keawe and had a valid claim to the sovereignty, was proclaimedmoiof Hawaii.It is probable that Keeaumoku’s services were substantially rewarded by Kalaniopuu; but in his early years he was turbulent and hot-tempered, and in 1765 he found a pretext for hurling defiance at the king and fortifying himself in the northern part of Kohala. Kalaniopuu promptly placed himself at the head of an adequate force, took the fort by assault, and crushed the rebellion with a single blow. But Keeaumoku escaped over thepalialone, reached the beach, secured a canoe and paddled out to sea. Night coming on and the skies being clouded, he lost his way and nearly perished through thirst and hunger; but he finally reached Lanai, where he found friends, and not long after sailed for Maui in a well-equipped double canoe and a respectable retinue of attendants. He landed at Lahaina, and the reader need not be told that the distinguished stranger who so suddenly presented himself at the court of Kahekili, as already mentioned, was Keeaumoku.The occupation of the district of Hana by the king of Hawaii was a source of irritation to Kahekili, and he welcomed Keeaumoku,not more as an enemy of Kalaniopuu than as a chief who might be useful to him in the war which he then meditated for the recovery of the captured territory.But Keeaumoku was not content to subsist upon the favor of Kahekili. In his veins ran the blood of kings, and his pride rebelled against a life of dependence, however attractive it might be made for him. But he was without available lands or revenues, for his rebellion against Kalaniopuu had deprived him of both, notwithstanding his inalienable landed rights in South Kona, and he began to cast about for the means of raising himself again to the dignity of a landed chief.His eyes soon fell upon the comely Namahana, widow of Kamehamehanui. To her belonged the fair and fertile lands of Waihee. But she was the inheritance of Kahekili, whose purpose it was to accept her as a wife at the end of her period of mourning. This must have been known to Keeaumoku, who was thoroughly acquainted with royal customs of his time; yet he paid such court to the sorrowing dowager, and so sweetly mingled his protestations of love with her sighs of grief, that she became his wife without consulting with themoi.Kahekili was naturally enraged at the union, and was about to manifest his displeasure in a manner dangerous to Keeaumoku, when Namahana retired with her new husband to her estates at Waihee. Kahekili’s first impulse was to follow and slay them both; but as Namahana was popular with the nobility, and Kahekili had not been in power long enough to be quite sure of the fealty of the chiefs, he discreetly concluded to leave to the future the punishment of the offending couple.Taking up his residence at Waihee, Keeaumoku enlarged and beautified his grounds and buildings, and established a petty court of princely etiquette and appointments. He was fond of display, and soon attracted to Waihee many of the more accomplished young chiefs of the island. The mother and two of the brothers of Namahana attached themselves to the household, and a number of Molokai chiefs, despoiled of their lands by the king of Oahu, became his retainers. He had carefully trained bands of musicians and dancers, and his entertainments were frequent and bountiful.In the midst of this semi-royal gayety and splendor Kahekili quietly crossed the mountains and temporarily established hiscourt at Wailuku, but a few miles from Waihee. He had heard of Keeaumoku’s royal style of living, and desired to learn from personal observation whether it was inspired by an innocent love of display or designs more ambitious. As Keeaumoku had rebelled against two successive Hawaiian sovereigns, and boldly seized the widow of a king in the very household of her royal claimant and protector, Kahekili had reason to regard him with suspicion, and a week’s stay at Wailuku, during which reserved courtesies had been exchanged between them, convinced him that Keeaumoku was a dangerous subject. But how was he to be dealt with? He had committed no act of treason, and an assault upon him would not be sustained by the chiefs.In this dilemma Kahekili resorted to strategy. He induced Kahanana, a resolute warrior and subordinate land-holder of Waihee, to embroil Keeaumoku in a difficulty with his own people. To this end Kahanana complained—probably without cause—that he had been frequently neglected by the servants of Keeaumoku in the distribution of fish after fortunate catches, and urged his grievance with so good a showing of sincerity that many of his friends stood prepared to espouse his quarrel. This done, he armed himself for battle, and, the following night, killed three of Keeaumoku’s laborers. Being attacked in return, he was at once supported by a party of warriors secretly detailed for that purpose by Kahekili, and a general fight resulted, which lasted in a desultory way for three or four days. In the end, however, Keeaumoku and his party were overpowered and compelled to seek safety in flight.Keeaumoku and Namahana, with her mother and two brothers, and a considerable following of chiefs and retainers, escaped over the Eka mountains and embarked for Molokai. But Kahekili was not content with the escape of Keeaumoku from Maui. He resolved to destroy him, and soon after invaded Molokai with a large force. Keeaumoku and his allies met the invaders in war-canoes as they approached the shore. A desperate sea-fight followed, which was continued long into the night by torchlight; but Keeaumoku was again defeated, and with difficulty escaped to Hana with Namahana and her relatives.This placed Keeaumoku beyond the reach of Kahekili, for that district of Maui was still under Hawaiian control; but in escaping from one enemy he was compelled to throw himself uponthe mercy of another. He was hospitably received, however, by Mahihelelima, the governor of the district, and was so far forgiven by Kalaniopuu as to be permitted to remain under the protection of the fortress of Kauwiki, where for some time, in the shaded valleys at the base of Haleakala, he found a respite new to his turbulent life.II.In a secluded valley within sight of the fortress of Kauwiki, with a few devoted friends and attendants, Keeaumoku and his family lived unmolested and almost unnoticed for several years. It was a season of peace between Hawaii and Maui, and Keeaumoku spent his days in dreaming of wars to come, and political changes that would place him again in a position more consistent with his rank. He made spears and battle-axes, and laid them away; he constructed canoes and housed them near the neighboring beach.He loved his wife, who was content to share his exile, and when, in 1768, a daughter was born to him, Keeaumoku felt that the gods were smiling upon him once more, and took courage. It is said that the child was born with a yellow feather in her hand—a symbol of royalty—and she was named Kaahumanu and tenderly cared for.In 1775 Kalaniopuu, king of Hawaii, suddenly appeared in the district of Hana with a considerable force, and began to ravage the neighboring lands of Kaupo. Kahekili promptly met and repulsed him, however, and he returned to Hana and abandoned the campaign by re-embarking with his shattered army for Hawaii. Keeaumoku took no part in the brief struggle, and was disappointed that nothing decisive had been accomplished. The death of either of the two sovereigns engaged would have been to him a signal of deliverance. But he was not disheartened. He knew the war would soon be resumed on a grander scale, and found partial contentment in the hope that it would result in changes favorable to his fortunes.Exasperated at his defeat, Kalaniopuu spent nearly two years in preparing for a crushing invasion of Maui. In honor of his war-god,Kaili, he repaired and put in order twoheiaus, and instructedhis high-priest, Holoae, to maintain continuous religious services, and exert his highest powers to accomplish the defeat and death of Kahekili. He landed with six heavy divisions of warriors on the southern coast of Maui, but was defeated with great slaughter in the neighborhood of Wailuku, and compelled to sue for peace. With him were the two brothers of Keeaumoku, Kameeiamoku and Kamanawa, who attended the young Prince Kiwalao in his visit of conciliation to Kahekili after the battle.Kalaniopuu returned to Hawaii with what remained of his army, and the next year again invaded Maui, and for several months carried on a desultory warfare with Kahekili in the several districts of the island. He was assisted by the governor of Hana, and was able for some time to maintain a foothold in Hamakualoa and elsewhere.Keeaumoku offered his services to neither side, but remained a quiet and almost unobserved spectator of the hostile movements which at intervals convulsed the island, and sometimes swept past the very door of his exile home in Hana. The proper time for him to act had not yet arrived, and years of solitude had schooled him to patience.It was during this campaign that Captain Cook, the celebrated English explorer, arrived off the coast of Maui with the two vessels under his command, exhibiting faces that were new to the natives, and ships which seemed to be the ocean palaces of their gods. This was in November, 1778. In January of that year Cook had touched the group for the first time. He had landed at Kauai and Niihau, and had now returned from the Arctic seas to winter among the Hawaiian Islands.Abandoning the fruitless war, Kalaniopuu returned to Hawaii with his invading army. During the campaign of the year before he had been assisted to the extent of a battalion of warriors by Kahahana, king of Oahu. Among the followers of the Oahuanmoiat that time was the celebrated poet and prophet Keaulumoku. He was a native of Naohaku, in the Hamakua district of Hawaii, and was distantly related to Kahekili, being a son of a cousin of Kekaulike, the father of Kahekili. From his youth he was dreamy and psychologic, and spent his time in roaming among the hills, watching the stars and listening to the music of the ocean. Some years before he had become attached to the court of Kahahana, and had followed that sovereign to Maui in1777. He remained on the island after the return of Kahahana to Oahu, and the year following, when Kalaniopuu again invaded Maui, the poet was found among his household.Conveying the Body of Kalaniopuu to Honaunau.Conveying the Body of Kalaniopuu to Honaunau.(FROM A PAINTING IN THE ROYAL PALACE.)Although but sixty-two years of age, in appearance Keaulumoku was much older. His eyes were bright, but his form was bent, and his white hair and beard swept his shoulders. When he sang all listened, and his wild utterances were treasured up and repeated as inspirations from the gods. He was known on all the islands of the group, and it was safe for him to travel anywhere. He had been a friend of Keeaumoku, many years before, on Hawaii, and when he learned, during the campaign of 1778, that the unfortunate chief was an exile in Hana and had ceased to be accounted among the leaders of the time, he resolved to visit and console him.Without making his purpose known to any one, Keaulumoku crossed the mountains, and, the third day, stood before his friend in Hana. Their greeting was affectionate, and after eating they sat down and wailed over Keeaumoku’s misfortunes. Then Namahana came with stately grace to welcome the old poet, bringing with her Kaahumanu, who was then a bright-eyed child of ten. He kissed the hand of Namahana, advising her to be of good cheer, and, embracing the child and looking into her eyes, told her that his dreams that night should be of her. And so they were, for the next morning he solemnly sang in the shade of the palms that Kaahumanu would be loved by a chief of renown and become the wife of a king.“And what of her father?” inquired Keeaumoku. “Is he to rot with his spears in Hana?”“No,” replied the poet, promptly. “The great work of Keeaumoku’s life is still before him. He will become the slayer of princes and maker of kings.”“One have I already helped to royal honors,” returned the chief, doubtingly, “and by his favor I am stifling here in Hana.”“Another and a greater is still to follow, in whose service Keeaumoku will die in peace,” answered the poet.“Who is the coming hero?” inquired the chief.“You will not mistake him when you meet,” was the evasive reply.“And when will that be?” ventured Keeaumoku.No reply being made, the chief continued:“Well, no matter when; I have learned to be patient!”The predictions of the poet extended no farther; but his words cheered the heart of Keeaumoku, and when he left for Lahaina the next day, grateful eyes followed his footsteps far into the mountains.Returning to Hawaii after his unsuccessful campaign of 1778, Kalaniopuu remained for a time in Kona, and after the death of Captain Cook, in February, 1779, removed his court to Kohala, taking with him the poet Keaulumoku. The next year, feeling his end approaching—for he was nearly eighty years of age—Kalaniopuu set his kingdom in order by proclaiming his son Kiwalao as his successor, and naming his nephew, Kamehameha, as the custodian of his war-god. He then put down the rebellion of Imakakaloa in Kau, and, after changing residences two or three times for his health, finally died at Kailikii, in January, 1782.A few months before the death of Kalaniopuu, Kahekili, learning of the failing health of his old opponent, prepared for the recovery of the district of Hana, which had been for nearly forty years under Hawaiian rule. Marching into the district and investing the fortress of Kauwiki, he finally reduced it by cutting off its water-supply, and Eastern Maui again became a part of the dominions of themoiof Maui. This occurred about the time of the death of Kalaniopuu.But what became of Keeaumoku and his family, whose home for years had been among the hills of Hana? Learning of the meditated invasion of the district, and unwilling to trust himself to the mercy of Kahekili, Keeaumoku fled with his family to the almost barren island of Kahoolawe, where he lived in seclusion until after the fall of Kauwiki and death of Kalaniopuu, when he boldly returned to Hawaii, quietly settled on his old and inalienable estates at Kapalilua, in South Kona, and awaited the development of events, which he plainly perceived were rapidly and irresistibly tending toward wide-spread revolution and disorder. For more than fifteen years he had heard the clash of arms only at a distance, and he yearned for the shouts of battle and the music of marching columns.The mourning for Kalaniopuu continued for many weeks, and rumors unsatisfactory to the Kona chiefs were afloat concerning the newmoi’sproposed division of the lands subject to royal apportionment. Preparations for the burial of the bones of the deceased king were finally completed. In double canoes,one of them bearing the corpse of his royal father, Kiwalao set sail with a large party of chiefs, warriors and retainers for Honaunau. There it was his purpose to deposit the remains in the neighboring burial-place ofHale-a-Keawe, sacred to the ashes of Hawaiian kings, and then proceed with the redivision of such of the lands of the kingdom as were at his disposal.When off Honokua the second day, Keeaumoku came down from Kapalilua and boarded the fleet. His avowed purpose was to wail over the body of Kalaniopuu. His return to Hawaii had become generally known, and Kiwalao regarded with a curiosity not unmixed with suspicion the warring and impetuous chief, who had been first the friend and then the enemy of his father, and who had suddenly emerged at a critical moment full-armed from the obscurity of years.What was the object of Keeaumoku’s visit to the mourning fleet? Was he anxious, on the eve of stirring events, to behold the face of the young king, remembering the words of Keaulumoku, “You will know him when you meet”? Perhaps. But, whatever may have been his original purpose in visiting the fleet, when he left, in keeping with the turbulent instincts of his life, his thoughts were aglow with projects of rebellion.Hastening to Kehaha, where his brothers, Kameeiamoku and Kamanawa, with Kamehameha, Kekuhaupio and other chiefs, were in council, Keeaumoku informed them that the destination of Kiwalao was Kailua, which place he would proceed to occupy after depositing the royal remains at Honaunau. This information, he declared, was given to him by one of Kiwalao’s attendants.Not doubting the truth of Keeaumoku’s story, and believing it to be the purpose of Kiwalao to occupy the entire district of Kona, which embraced lands not subject to royal disposal, the assembled chiefs moved with their followers and occupied quarters in the neighborhood of Honaunau.Keeaumoku now became a leading spirit in the events which rapidly followed. The funeral cortege landed at Honaunau, the remains of the dead king were ceremoniously entombed atHale-a-Keawe, and Kiwalao ascended a platform, and to the assembled chiefs proclaimed the will of his father. In the divisions of lands that followed the Kona chiefs were not consulted; nor does it appear that they were additionally provided for, and Keeaumokuhad little difficulty in persuading them that they had been treated with intended disrespect and hostility.In an interview with Kiwalao, Kamehameha was coolly received, and the disaffected chiefs began to prepare for battle. They selected Kamehameha as their leader, and for some days there was a vigorous mustering of forces on both sides. An attack was finally made by the rebellious chiefs, and a battle of some magnitude ensued. Keeaumoku was again in his element. His voice was heard above the din of battle, and his famished weapons drank their fill of blood. Entangled with his spear, he fell upon the rocky ground. Several warriors rushed upon him. Two of them attacked him with daggers, while a third struck him in the back with a spear, exclaiming, “The spear has pierced the yellow-backed crab!”Kiwalao, not far distant, witnessed the encounter, and called to the assailants of Keeaumoku to secure hispalaoa, or ivory neck ornament. The attention of Kamanawa was attracted to the struggle, and he sprang with a few followers to the assistance of his brother, driving back his assailants. At that moment Kiwalao was struck in the temple with a stone, and fell stunned to the ground. Observing the circumstance, Keeaumoku crawled to the fallen king, and, with a knife edged with sharks’ teeth, cut his throat.With the death of Kiwalao the rout of his army became general. The victory made Kamehameha master of the districts of Kona, Kohala and Hamakua, while Keoua, the brother of Kiwalao, held possession of Kau and Puna, and Keawemauhili declared himself independent of both in Hilo.Keeaumoku’s brilliant part in this first of the battles of the period for the sovereignty of Hawaii established him at once in the favor of Kamehameha, and raised him high in the esteem of the distinguished chiefs whose valor ennobled the closing years of barbaric supremacy in the group.III.War soon occurred between Kamehameha and the independent chiefs of Hilo and Kau, but, as no marked advantages to either side resulted, Kamehameha established his court at Halaula,in Kohala, and occupied himself in improving the condition of his people. During the campaign he had met with some reverses, but Keeaumoku’s faith in the final triumph of his great leader remained unshaken through every disaster. He thought he saw in him that captain, greater than Kalaniopuu, of whom the poet dreamed in Hana, and was soon after confirmed in the belief by the definite prophecy of Keaulumoku.Restlessly roaming from place to place, the old singer finally selected a temporary abode near Halaula, shortly after the removal of the court of Kamehameha to that village. There he was frequently visited by Keeaumoku, sometimes accompanied by Kaahumanu, who was budding into an attractive womanhood, and sometimes by Namahana, who regarded him with a reverence due to one whose utterances seemed to be inspired by the gods.Since the death of Kalaniopuu the voice of Keaulumoku had been silent. He mourned over the distracted condition of the island, and sympathized with the people in their enforced warfare with each other. Vainly had he sought to penetrate the mists of desolation and disorder, and catch a glimpse of what was beyond. No light had come to him through the clouds; to his prayers no answering voice had whispered in his dreams.But the curtain was raised for him at last, and, as the shades of the future trooped before him in awful pantomime, in a voice wild as the winds sweeping through the gorge of Nuuanu he chanted the propheticmeleofHau-i-Kalani. After describing the horrors of the civil war then desolating the island, he concluded by predicting that Kamehameha would triumph over his enemies, and in the end be hailed as the greatest of Hawaiian conquerors.The chant created great enthusiasm among the followers of Kamehameha. Keeaumoku listened to it with rapt attention, and at its conclusion stooped over the old poet and said:“I asked you a question in Hana, which you did not answer then. Is it answered now?”Keaulumoku looked into the face of the chief for a moment as if to collect his thoughts, and then dreamily replied:“It is answered!”“Such was my thought,” returned the chief. “I have some rare dainties from the sea. Come and eat with me to-night, and I will ask to be taught themeleyou have just chanted.”Keaulumoku made no reply, and Keeaumoku walked slowly toward the palace, trying to remember the words of the poet which had so thrilled his listeners.What occurred between Keeaumoku and the old poet during their repast that evening will never be known; but certain it is that henceforth Keeaumoku never doubted the final success of Kamehameha, and when, in the summer of 1785, the latter retired discomfited from an invasion of Hilo, Keeaumoku smiled as he said to his chief: “Thus far you have only skirmished with your enemies; you will win when you fight battles!”In 1784 Keaulumoku died. For months the old poet had lived alone in a hut near Kauhola. He avoided company and seldom spoke to any one. Feeling his end approaching, he one day announced that the evening following he would chant his lastmele. Hundreds collected around his hut at the time appointed. They did not enter, but sat down, conversing in whispers, and respectfully waited.An hour passed, and another, but the old singer did not make his appearance. Finally the mat which served as a door was drawn aside, and Keaulumoku’s white head and bent form were seen in the opening. Seating himself within view of all, he began to chant amelein tremulous tones. As he proceeded his voice became louder, and every word was breathlessly listened to. He spoke of the coming conquest of the group by Kamehameha, whom he designated as the son of Kahekili, and also as “the lone one.” He also predicted the early extinction of the Kamehameha dynasty, the domination of the white race, the destruction of the temples, and finally the gradual death of the Hawaiian people. Concluding his chant, the old seer raised his hands as if to bless his listeners, and fell back dead. A great wail went up from the people, and they tenderly bore the body of the dead poet to theheiau, where it was accorded the burial rites of a prophet.Much of the last prophecy of Keaulumoku was preserved and repeated, and by conversing with the many who listened to it Keeaumoku managed to secure a satisfactory version of the final song of the dying poet.From the first of Kamehameha’s battles Keeaumoku had not doubted the triumph of that chief over all adversaries in the end, and eagerly grasped at every circumstance calculatedto strengthen the conviction. So believing, his way seemed to be clear.But what of Kaahumanu, whose promised lover was to be a chief of renown, and whose husband was to be a king? She was an attractive maiden of seventeen, and a few months after the death of Keaulumoku, and while Kamehameha was engaged in peaceful pursuits at Halaula, her father suddenly brought her to court. Fresh, sparkling and graceful, and related to the royal lines of Maui and Hawaii, she attracted the immediate attention of Kamehameha, and he disposed of the claims of her many suitors at once by making her his wife.There was little in the appearance of the great chief to please the eye of a girl of seventeen. His features were rugged and irregular, and he held in contempt the courtly graces which imparted a charm to the intercourse with each other of the nobility of the time. He was already the husband of two recognized wives; but Kaahumanu was ambitious, and, with admiration but no affection for him, she consented to become his wife.Keeaumoku was now persistent in inspiring Kamehameha with the thought of becoming the master of the group. He recited to him the prophetic chants of Keaulumoku, and brought to him the favoring auguries of thekaulas.An unsuccessful attempt to recover the district of Hana in 1786 was followed in 1790 by another invasion of Maui, when Kamehameha completely subjugated the island, and then turned his attention to Keoua, the independent chief of Kau, who had slain the chief of Hilo and assumed the sovereignty of the southern districts of Hawaii.The war with Keoua continued for more than a year, and every effort of Kamehameha to crush this last of his rivals on Hawaii was successfully resisted. For nine years Keoua had maintained himself against the power of Kamehameha, and still remained master of Kau and the most of Puna. Treachery was finally resorted to, and Keoua fell.The old temple of Puukohola had been partially rebuilt, and a noted seer had predicted that its completion would give to Kamehameha the undisputed sovereignty of Hawaii. The temple was hastily finished, and Keoua was invited to a conference with his opponent at Kawaihae, with the view, he was led to believe, of peacefully settling their differences. Nearing theshore of the place of meeting, where he saw and exchanged greetings with Kamehameha, he was about to land when Keeaumoku met him in a canoe and treacherously assassinated him, and his body was taken to the newly-completed temple and sacrificed to the war-god of his betrayer.Keoua was a brave, noble, and magnanimous chief, and the apologists of Kamehameha have not succeeded in relieving him from the odium of Keeaumoku’s cowardly act. He was the half-brother of Kiwalao, and his death left Kamehameha the master of Hawaii.Truly, as predicted by the seer, had Keeaumoku become the slayer of princes and the maker of kings. But his work was not yet completed. Kamehameha was the sovereign of Hawaii, but the conquest of the group was still before him. Every circumstance, however, conspired in his favor. Kahekili, the warlike king of Maui and conqueror of Oahu, died in 1794, and a rupture had occurred between his successor and Kaeo, themoiof Kauai.Everything being in readiness, early in 1795 Kamehameha invaded Oahu with a mighty army, defeated and subsequently captured and sacrificed to his war-god King Kalanikupule, and shortly after received the submission of themoiof Kauai—thus becoming the acknowledged master of, and for the first time in their history consolidating under one government, the several islands of the Hawaiian group.The prophecies of Keaulumoku have all been fulfilled. Keeaumoku, the slayer of princes and maker of kings, died peacefully as governor of the windward islands in 1804. Kaahumanu became the wife of a king, and died as chief counsellor of the islands in 1832. The temples of the Hawaiian gods were destroyed immediately after the death of Kamehameha, in 1819, and but a tenth of the number of natives found on the islands at the close of the last century are now left to sing of the achievements of their ancestors, who first made their home in the group when the Roman Empire was falling to pieces under the assaults of Northern barbarism.
The Prophecies of Keaulumoku.CHARACTERS.Kahekili,moiof Maui.Kalaniopuu, king of Hawaii.Namahana, widow of Kamehamehanui.Keeaumoku, a royal chief of Hawaii.Kahanana, a warrior of Waihee.Mahihelelima, governor of Hana, Maui.Kaahumanu, daughter of Keeaumoku.Kameeiamokuand}brothers of Keeaumoku.Kamanawa,Kiwalao, son of Kalaniopuu.Keaulumoku, the poet-prophet of Hawaii.Kamehameha I., the conqueror of the group.Keoua, half-brother of Kiwalao.Keawemauhili, a royal chief of Hawaii.THE PROPHECIES OF KEAULUMOKU.THE CAREER OF KEEAUMOKU, THE PRINCE-SLAYER AND KING-MAKER.I.The days had just begun to lengthen after the summer solstice of 1765 when a great grief fell upon the royal court of the island of Maui. Kamehamehanui, the king, had died very suddenly at Wailuku, which had been his favorite place of residence, and his brother and successor, Kahekili, had removed his court to Lahaina. The bones of the dead king had been carefully secreted, the customary mourning excesses had been indulged in, and many new apportionments of lands had been made in accordance with the bequests of the deceasedmoiand the will of his successor.Kamehamehanui was an amiable sovereign, but his reign was not as successful as that of his father, Kekaulike. His right to the sceptre had been contested by his brother, Kauhia, and he was secured in it only through the efforts of Alapainui, the king of Hawaii. Subsequently Kalaniopuu, the successor of Alapainui, wrested from him the district of Hana and the celebrated fortress of Kauwiki, and retained possession of both at the time of Kamehamehanui’s death. The lands of the district might have been recaptured, perhaps, but the fortress commanding them was well-nigh impregnable, and Hana remained a dependency of Hawaii.Kamehamehanui’s political wife was his half-sister Namahana, with whom he had two children; but as both of them died in their infancy, his brother, Kahekili, succeeded him asmoiof the island by common consent. After the death of his brother, Kahekili at once removed his court to Lahaina, where the customary period of mourning was concluded.It was while the members of the royal family were still in mourning at Lahaina that a distinguished stranger suddenly landed, with a number of personal attendants, and presentedhimself at court. His double canoe bore the ensign of analii, and his garb and bearing showed him to be of the higher nobility. His age was perhaps thirty years, although he looked somewhat older. He was over six feet in height, and well proportioned. His face was handsome, and his hair and beard were closely cropped. He was clad in amaroand short feather mantle, and around his head was bound a single fold of yellowkapa. By a cord of hair was suspended from his neck apalaoa, or carved whale’s tooth, and his left wrist was ornamented with a bracelet of curious shells. He was courageous, courtly, and in his best moods agreeable and captivating, and was a splendid representative of the rude chivalry of his time.As he stepped ashore and proceeded to the royal mansion, way was respectfully made for him, even as a stranger of distinguished bearing, and his name secured him admission at once to the presence of Kahekili, who welcomed him to Lahaina, and set apart ample accommodations for himself and lodgings for his attendants.Who was this stranger? He was no common chief who would have thus presumed to present himself at the court of themoiof Maui and expect the courtesy of royal entertainment. Two generations before Lonoikahaupu, who had peacefully inherited the sovereignty of the western side of the island of Kauai, while the noted Kualii, of Oahu, retained possession of the remainder, paid a royal visit of state to the windward islands of the group. His blood was of the best in the archipelago, and his equipment and retinue were brilliant and imposing. He embarked with a number of large double canoes, the royalkauluabeing over eighty feet in length, and was attended by a company of skilled musicians and dancers. He also took with him his chief navigator, priest and astrologer, and a corps of personal attendants in keeping with his rank.In turn he visited Oahu, Maui and Molokai, where he was entertained with distinguished honors, and then set sail for Hawaii, of which Keawe was then king. Touching at Hilo, he found that the royal court had been temporarily established in Kau, and thither he proceeded, to pay his respects to Keawe and his beautiful but volatile wife and half-sister, Kalani-kauleleiaiwi. He was becomingly received and entertained by the royal couple, and spent some weeks in the enjoyment of the festivitiesarranged for his amusement. The result was that the queen became enamored of the handsome Kauaian king, who was duly recognized at once as one of her husbands.From this union a son was born, who was named Keawepoepoe, when the father returned to Kauai and there remained. This son grew to manhood, and by marriage with Kumaiku, of the royal line of Maui, became the father of the three distinguished chiefs who, with Keawe-a-Heulu, were the leading captains of Kamehameha in the conquest of the group at the close of the eighteenth century. One of these sons of Keawepoepoe was Keeaumoku, the Warwick of his time, the slayer and maker of kings.Keeaumoku’s first effort in king-making occurred in 1754. On the death, in that year, of his uncle Alapainui, and the succession of his cousin Keaweopala to the Hawaiian throne, he became dissatisfied with his allotment of lands and raised the standard of revolt in Kekaha. Defeated, he fled in his canoes to Kau, where Kalaniopuu had for some years maintained himself in independence of Alapainui. Joining their forces, they marched northward, defeated and slew Keaweopala in Kona, and Kalaniopuu, who was the grandson of Keawe and had a valid claim to the sovereignty, was proclaimedmoiof Hawaii.It is probable that Keeaumoku’s services were substantially rewarded by Kalaniopuu; but in his early years he was turbulent and hot-tempered, and in 1765 he found a pretext for hurling defiance at the king and fortifying himself in the northern part of Kohala. Kalaniopuu promptly placed himself at the head of an adequate force, took the fort by assault, and crushed the rebellion with a single blow. But Keeaumoku escaped over thepalialone, reached the beach, secured a canoe and paddled out to sea. Night coming on and the skies being clouded, he lost his way and nearly perished through thirst and hunger; but he finally reached Lanai, where he found friends, and not long after sailed for Maui in a well-equipped double canoe and a respectable retinue of attendants. He landed at Lahaina, and the reader need not be told that the distinguished stranger who so suddenly presented himself at the court of Kahekili, as already mentioned, was Keeaumoku.The occupation of the district of Hana by the king of Hawaii was a source of irritation to Kahekili, and he welcomed Keeaumoku,not more as an enemy of Kalaniopuu than as a chief who might be useful to him in the war which he then meditated for the recovery of the captured territory.But Keeaumoku was not content to subsist upon the favor of Kahekili. In his veins ran the blood of kings, and his pride rebelled against a life of dependence, however attractive it might be made for him. But he was without available lands or revenues, for his rebellion against Kalaniopuu had deprived him of both, notwithstanding his inalienable landed rights in South Kona, and he began to cast about for the means of raising himself again to the dignity of a landed chief.His eyes soon fell upon the comely Namahana, widow of Kamehamehanui. To her belonged the fair and fertile lands of Waihee. But she was the inheritance of Kahekili, whose purpose it was to accept her as a wife at the end of her period of mourning. This must have been known to Keeaumoku, who was thoroughly acquainted with royal customs of his time; yet he paid such court to the sorrowing dowager, and so sweetly mingled his protestations of love with her sighs of grief, that she became his wife without consulting with themoi.Kahekili was naturally enraged at the union, and was about to manifest his displeasure in a manner dangerous to Keeaumoku, when Namahana retired with her new husband to her estates at Waihee. Kahekili’s first impulse was to follow and slay them both; but as Namahana was popular with the nobility, and Kahekili had not been in power long enough to be quite sure of the fealty of the chiefs, he discreetly concluded to leave to the future the punishment of the offending couple.Taking up his residence at Waihee, Keeaumoku enlarged and beautified his grounds and buildings, and established a petty court of princely etiquette and appointments. He was fond of display, and soon attracted to Waihee many of the more accomplished young chiefs of the island. The mother and two of the brothers of Namahana attached themselves to the household, and a number of Molokai chiefs, despoiled of their lands by the king of Oahu, became his retainers. He had carefully trained bands of musicians and dancers, and his entertainments were frequent and bountiful.In the midst of this semi-royal gayety and splendor Kahekili quietly crossed the mountains and temporarily established hiscourt at Wailuku, but a few miles from Waihee. He had heard of Keeaumoku’s royal style of living, and desired to learn from personal observation whether it was inspired by an innocent love of display or designs more ambitious. As Keeaumoku had rebelled against two successive Hawaiian sovereigns, and boldly seized the widow of a king in the very household of her royal claimant and protector, Kahekili had reason to regard him with suspicion, and a week’s stay at Wailuku, during which reserved courtesies had been exchanged between them, convinced him that Keeaumoku was a dangerous subject. But how was he to be dealt with? He had committed no act of treason, and an assault upon him would not be sustained by the chiefs.In this dilemma Kahekili resorted to strategy. He induced Kahanana, a resolute warrior and subordinate land-holder of Waihee, to embroil Keeaumoku in a difficulty with his own people. To this end Kahanana complained—probably without cause—that he had been frequently neglected by the servants of Keeaumoku in the distribution of fish after fortunate catches, and urged his grievance with so good a showing of sincerity that many of his friends stood prepared to espouse his quarrel. This done, he armed himself for battle, and, the following night, killed three of Keeaumoku’s laborers. Being attacked in return, he was at once supported by a party of warriors secretly detailed for that purpose by Kahekili, and a general fight resulted, which lasted in a desultory way for three or four days. In the end, however, Keeaumoku and his party were overpowered and compelled to seek safety in flight.Keeaumoku and Namahana, with her mother and two brothers, and a considerable following of chiefs and retainers, escaped over the Eka mountains and embarked for Molokai. But Kahekili was not content with the escape of Keeaumoku from Maui. He resolved to destroy him, and soon after invaded Molokai with a large force. Keeaumoku and his allies met the invaders in war-canoes as they approached the shore. A desperate sea-fight followed, which was continued long into the night by torchlight; but Keeaumoku was again defeated, and with difficulty escaped to Hana with Namahana and her relatives.This placed Keeaumoku beyond the reach of Kahekili, for that district of Maui was still under Hawaiian control; but in escaping from one enemy he was compelled to throw himself uponthe mercy of another. He was hospitably received, however, by Mahihelelima, the governor of the district, and was so far forgiven by Kalaniopuu as to be permitted to remain under the protection of the fortress of Kauwiki, where for some time, in the shaded valleys at the base of Haleakala, he found a respite new to his turbulent life.II.In a secluded valley within sight of the fortress of Kauwiki, with a few devoted friends and attendants, Keeaumoku and his family lived unmolested and almost unnoticed for several years. It was a season of peace between Hawaii and Maui, and Keeaumoku spent his days in dreaming of wars to come, and political changes that would place him again in a position more consistent with his rank. He made spears and battle-axes, and laid them away; he constructed canoes and housed them near the neighboring beach.He loved his wife, who was content to share his exile, and when, in 1768, a daughter was born to him, Keeaumoku felt that the gods were smiling upon him once more, and took courage. It is said that the child was born with a yellow feather in her hand—a symbol of royalty—and she was named Kaahumanu and tenderly cared for.In 1775 Kalaniopuu, king of Hawaii, suddenly appeared in the district of Hana with a considerable force, and began to ravage the neighboring lands of Kaupo. Kahekili promptly met and repulsed him, however, and he returned to Hana and abandoned the campaign by re-embarking with his shattered army for Hawaii. Keeaumoku took no part in the brief struggle, and was disappointed that nothing decisive had been accomplished. The death of either of the two sovereigns engaged would have been to him a signal of deliverance. But he was not disheartened. He knew the war would soon be resumed on a grander scale, and found partial contentment in the hope that it would result in changes favorable to his fortunes.Exasperated at his defeat, Kalaniopuu spent nearly two years in preparing for a crushing invasion of Maui. In honor of his war-god,Kaili, he repaired and put in order twoheiaus, and instructedhis high-priest, Holoae, to maintain continuous religious services, and exert his highest powers to accomplish the defeat and death of Kahekili. He landed with six heavy divisions of warriors on the southern coast of Maui, but was defeated with great slaughter in the neighborhood of Wailuku, and compelled to sue for peace. With him were the two brothers of Keeaumoku, Kameeiamoku and Kamanawa, who attended the young Prince Kiwalao in his visit of conciliation to Kahekili after the battle.Kalaniopuu returned to Hawaii with what remained of his army, and the next year again invaded Maui, and for several months carried on a desultory warfare with Kahekili in the several districts of the island. He was assisted by the governor of Hana, and was able for some time to maintain a foothold in Hamakualoa and elsewhere.Keeaumoku offered his services to neither side, but remained a quiet and almost unobserved spectator of the hostile movements which at intervals convulsed the island, and sometimes swept past the very door of his exile home in Hana. The proper time for him to act had not yet arrived, and years of solitude had schooled him to patience.It was during this campaign that Captain Cook, the celebrated English explorer, arrived off the coast of Maui with the two vessels under his command, exhibiting faces that were new to the natives, and ships which seemed to be the ocean palaces of their gods. This was in November, 1778. In January of that year Cook had touched the group for the first time. He had landed at Kauai and Niihau, and had now returned from the Arctic seas to winter among the Hawaiian Islands.Abandoning the fruitless war, Kalaniopuu returned to Hawaii with his invading army. During the campaign of the year before he had been assisted to the extent of a battalion of warriors by Kahahana, king of Oahu. Among the followers of the Oahuanmoiat that time was the celebrated poet and prophet Keaulumoku. He was a native of Naohaku, in the Hamakua district of Hawaii, and was distantly related to Kahekili, being a son of a cousin of Kekaulike, the father of Kahekili. From his youth he was dreamy and psychologic, and spent his time in roaming among the hills, watching the stars and listening to the music of the ocean. Some years before he had become attached to the court of Kahahana, and had followed that sovereign to Maui in1777. He remained on the island after the return of Kahahana to Oahu, and the year following, when Kalaniopuu again invaded Maui, the poet was found among his household.Conveying the Body of Kalaniopuu to Honaunau.Conveying the Body of Kalaniopuu to Honaunau.(FROM A PAINTING IN THE ROYAL PALACE.)Although but sixty-two years of age, in appearance Keaulumoku was much older. His eyes were bright, but his form was bent, and his white hair and beard swept his shoulders. When he sang all listened, and his wild utterances were treasured up and repeated as inspirations from the gods. He was known on all the islands of the group, and it was safe for him to travel anywhere. He had been a friend of Keeaumoku, many years before, on Hawaii, and when he learned, during the campaign of 1778, that the unfortunate chief was an exile in Hana and had ceased to be accounted among the leaders of the time, he resolved to visit and console him.Without making his purpose known to any one, Keaulumoku crossed the mountains, and, the third day, stood before his friend in Hana. Their greeting was affectionate, and after eating they sat down and wailed over Keeaumoku’s misfortunes. Then Namahana came with stately grace to welcome the old poet, bringing with her Kaahumanu, who was then a bright-eyed child of ten. He kissed the hand of Namahana, advising her to be of good cheer, and, embracing the child and looking into her eyes, told her that his dreams that night should be of her. And so they were, for the next morning he solemnly sang in the shade of the palms that Kaahumanu would be loved by a chief of renown and become the wife of a king.“And what of her father?” inquired Keeaumoku. “Is he to rot with his spears in Hana?”“No,” replied the poet, promptly. “The great work of Keeaumoku’s life is still before him. He will become the slayer of princes and maker of kings.”“One have I already helped to royal honors,” returned the chief, doubtingly, “and by his favor I am stifling here in Hana.”“Another and a greater is still to follow, in whose service Keeaumoku will die in peace,” answered the poet.“Who is the coming hero?” inquired the chief.“You will not mistake him when you meet,” was the evasive reply.“And when will that be?” ventured Keeaumoku.No reply being made, the chief continued:“Well, no matter when; I have learned to be patient!”The predictions of the poet extended no farther; but his words cheered the heart of Keeaumoku, and when he left for Lahaina the next day, grateful eyes followed his footsteps far into the mountains.Returning to Hawaii after his unsuccessful campaign of 1778, Kalaniopuu remained for a time in Kona, and after the death of Captain Cook, in February, 1779, removed his court to Kohala, taking with him the poet Keaulumoku. The next year, feeling his end approaching—for he was nearly eighty years of age—Kalaniopuu set his kingdom in order by proclaiming his son Kiwalao as his successor, and naming his nephew, Kamehameha, as the custodian of his war-god. He then put down the rebellion of Imakakaloa in Kau, and, after changing residences two or three times for his health, finally died at Kailikii, in January, 1782.A few months before the death of Kalaniopuu, Kahekili, learning of the failing health of his old opponent, prepared for the recovery of the district of Hana, which had been for nearly forty years under Hawaiian rule. Marching into the district and investing the fortress of Kauwiki, he finally reduced it by cutting off its water-supply, and Eastern Maui again became a part of the dominions of themoiof Maui. This occurred about the time of the death of Kalaniopuu.But what became of Keeaumoku and his family, whose home for years had been among the hills of Hana? Learning of the meditated invasion of the district, and unwilling to trust himself to the mercy of Kahekili, Keeaumoku fled with his family to the almost barren island of Kahoolawe, where he lived in seclusion until after the fall of Kauwiki and death of Kalaniopuu, when he boldly returned to Hawaii, quietly settled on his old and inalienable estates at Kapalilua, in South Kona, and awaited the development of events, which he plainly perceived were rapidly and irresistibly tending toward wide-spread revolution and disorder. For more than fifteen years he had heard the clash of arms only at a distance, and he yearned for the shouts of battle and the music of marching columns.The mourning for Kalaniopuu continued for many weeks, and rumors unsatisfactory to the Kona chiefs were afloat concerning the newmoi’sproposed division of the lands subject to royal apportionment. Preparations for the burial of the bones of the deceased king were finally completed. In double canoes,one of them bearing the corpse of his royal father, Kiwalao set sail with a large party of chiefs, warriors and retainers for Honaunau. There it was his purpose to deposit the remains in the neighboring burial-place ofHale-a-Keawe, sacred to the ashes of Hawaiian kings, and then proceed with the redivision of such of the lands of the kingdom as were at his disposal.When off Honokua the second day, Keeaumoku came down from Kapalilua and boarded the fleet. His avowed purpose was to wail over the body of Kalaniopuu. His return to Hawaii had become generally known, and Kiwalao regarded with a curiosity not unmixed with suspicion the warring and impetuous chief, who had been first the friend and then the enemy of his father, and who had suddenly emerged at a critical moment full-armed from the obscurity of years.What was the object of Keeaumoku’s visit to the mourning fleet? Was he anxious, on the eve of stirring events, to behold the face of the young king, remembering the words of Keaulumoku, “You will know him when you meet”? Perhaps. But, whatever may have been his original purpose in visiting the fleet, when he left, in keeping with the turbulent instincts of his life, his thoughts were aglow with projects of rebellion.Hastening to Kehaha, where his brothers, Kameeiamoku and Kamanawa, with Kamehameha, Kekuhaupio and other chiefs, were in council, Keeaumoku informed them that the destination of Kiwalao was Kailua, which place he would proceed to occupy after depositing the royal remains at Honaunau. This information, he declared, was given to him by one of Kiwalao’s attendants.Not doubting the truth of Keeaumoku’s story, and believing it to be the purpose of Kiwalao to occupy the entire district of Kona, which embraced lands not subject to royal disposal, the assembled chiefs moved with their followers and occupied quarters in the neighborhood of Honaunau.Keeaumoku now became a leading spirit in the events which rapidly followed. The funeral cortege landed at Honaunau, the remains of the dead king were ceremoniously entombed atHale-a-Keawe, and Kiwalao ascended a platform, and to the assembled chiefs proclaimed the will of his father. In the divisions of lands that followed the Kona chiefs were not consulted; nor does it appear that they were additionally provided for, and Keeaumokuhad little difficulty in persuading them that they had been treated with intended disrespect and hostility.In an interview with Kiwalao, Kamehameha was coolly received, and the disaffected chiefs began to prepare for battle. They selected Kamehameha as their leader, and for some days there was a vigorous mustering of forces on both sides. An attack was finally made by the rebellious chiefs, and a battle of some magnitude ensued. Keeaumoku was again in his element. His voice was heard above the din of battle, and his famished weapons drank their fill of blood. Entangled with his spear, he fell upon the rocky ground. Several warriors rushed upon him. Two of them attacked him with daggers, while a third struck him in the back with a spear, exclaiming, “The spear has pierced the yellow-backed crab!”Kiwalao, not far distant, witnessed the encounter, and called to the assailants of Keeaumoku to secure hispalaoa, or ivory neck ornament. The attention of Kamanawa was attracted to the struggle, and he sprang with a few followers to the assistance of his brother, driving back his assailants. At that moment Kiwalao was struck in the temple with a stone, and fell stunned to the ground. Observing the circumstance, Keeaumoku crawled to the fallen king, and, with a knife edged with sharks’ teeth, cut his throat.With the death of Kiwalao the rout of his army became general. The victory made Kamehameha master of the districts of Kona, Kohala and Hamakua, while Keoua, the brother of Kiwalao, held possession of Kau and Puna, and Keawemauhili declared himself independent of both in Hilo.Keeaumoku’s brilliant part in this first of the battles of the period for the sovereignty of Hawaii established him at once in the favor of Kamehameha, and raised him high in the esteem of the distinguished chiefs whose valor ennobled the closing years of barbaric supremacy in the group.III.War soon occurred between Kamehameha and the independent chiefs of Hilo and Kau, but, as no marked advantages to either side resulted, Kamehameha established his court at Halaula,in Kohala, and occupied himself in improving the condition of his people. During the campaign he had met with some reverses, but Keeaumoku’s faith in the final triumph of his great leader remained unshaken through every disaster. He thought he saw in him that captain, greater than Kalaniopuu, of whom the poet dreamed in Hana, and was soon after confirmed in the belief by the definite prophecy of Keaulumoku.Restlessly roaming from place to place, the old singer finally selected a temporary abode near Halaula, shortly after the removal of the court of Kamehameha to that village. There he was frequently visited by Keeaumoku, sometimes accompanied by Kaahumanu, who was budding into an attractive womanhood, and sometimes by Namahana, who regarded him with a reverence due to one whose utterances seemed to be inspired by the gods.Since the death of Kalaniopuu the voice of Keaulumoku had been silent. He mourned over the distracted condition of the island, and sympathized with the people in their enforced warfare with each other. Vainly had he sought to penetrate the mists of desolation and disorder, and catch a glimpse of what was beyond. No light had come to him through the clouds; to his prayers no answering voice had whispered in his dreams.But the curtain was raised for him at last, and, as the shades of the future trooped before him in awful pantomime, in a voice wild as the winds sweeping through the gorge of Nuuanu he chanted the propheticmeleofHau-i-Kalani. After describing the horrors of the civil war then desolating the island, he concluded by predicting that Kamehameha would triumph over his enemies, and in the end be hailed as the greatest of Hawaiian conquerors.The chant created great enthusiasm among the followers of Kamehameha. Keeaumoku listened to it with rapt attention, and at its conclusion stooped over the old poet and said:“I asked you a question in Hana, which you did not answer then. Is it answered now?”Keaulumoku looked into the face of the chief for a moment as if to collect his thoughts, and then dreamily replied:“It is answered!”“Such was my thought,” returned the chief. “I have some rare dainties from the sea. Come and eat with me to-night, and I will ask to be taught themeleyou have just chanted.”Keaulumoku made no reply, and Keeaumoku walked slowly toward the palace, trying to remember the words of the poet which had so thrilled his listeners.What occurred between Keeaumoku and the old poet during their repast that evening will never be known; but certain it is that henceforth Keeaumoku never doubted the final success of Kamehameha, and when, in the summer of 1785, the latter retired discomfited from an invasion of Hilo, Keeaumoku smiled as he said to his chief: “Thus far you have only skirmished with your enemies; you will win when you fight battles!”In 1784 Keaulumoku died. For months the old poet had lived alone in a hut near Kauhola. He avoided company and seldom spoke to any one. Feeling his end approaching, he one day announced that the evening following he would chant his lastmele. Hundreds collected around his hut at the time appointed. They did not enter, but sat down, conversing in whispers, and respectfully waited.An hour passed, and another, but the old singer did not make his appearance. Finally the mat which served as a door was drawn aside, and Keaulumoku’s white head and bent form were seen in the opening. Seating himself within view of all, he began to chant amelein tremulous tones. As he proceeded his voice became louder, and every word was breathlessly listened to. He spoke of the coming conquest of the group by Kamehameha, whom he designated as the son of Kahekili, and also as “the lone one.” He also predicted the early extinction of the Kamehameha dynasty, the domination of the white race, the destruction of the temples, and finally the gradual death of the Hawaiian people. Concluding his chant, the old seer raised his hands as if to bless his listeners, and fell back dead. A great wail went up from the people, and they tenderly bore the body of the dead poet to theheiau, where it was accorded the burial rites of a prophet.Much of the last prophecy of Keaulumoku was preserved and repeated, and by conversing with the many who listened to it Keeaumoku managed to secure a satisfactory version of the final song of the dying poet.From the first of Kamehameha’s battles Keeaumoku had not doubted the triumph of that chief over all adversaries in the end, and eagerly grasped at every circumstance calculatedto strengthen the conviction. So believing, his way seemed to be clear.But what of Kaahumanu, whose promised lover was to be a chief of renown, and whose husband was to be a king? She was an attractive maiden of seventeen, and a few months after the death of Keaulumoku, and while Kamehameha was engaged in peaceful pursuits at Halaula, her father suddenly brought her to court. Fresh, sparkling and graceful, and related to the royal lines of Maui and Hawaii, she attracted the immediate attention of Kamehameha, and he disposed of the claims of her many suitors at once by making her his wife.There was little in the appearance of the great chief to please the eye of a girl of seventeen. His features were rugged and irregular, and he held in contempt the courtly graces which imparted a charm to the intercourse with each other of the nobility of the time. He was already the husband of two recognized wives; but Kaahumanu was ambitious, and, with admiration but no affection for him, she consented to become his wife.Keeaumoku was now persistent in inspiring Kamehameha with the thought of becoming the master of the group. He recited to him the prophetic chants of Keaulumoku, and brought to him the favoring auguries of thekaulas.An unsuccessful attempt to recover the district of Hana in 1786 was followed in 1790 by another invasion of Maui, when Kamehameha completely subjugated the island, and then turned his attention to Keoua, the independent chief of Kau, who had slain the chief of Hilo and assumed the sovereignty of the southern districts of Hawaii.The war with Keoua continued for more than a year, and every effort of Kamehameha to crush this last of his rivals on Hawaii was successfully resisted. For nine years Keoua had maintained himself against the power of Kamehameha, and still remained master of Kau and the most of Puna. Treachery was finally resorted to, and Keoua fell.The old temple of Puukohola had been partially rebuilt, and a noted seer had predicted that its completion would give to Kamehameha the undisputed sovereignty of Hawaii. The temple was hastily finished, and Keoua was invited to a conference with his opponent at Kawaihae, with the view, he was led to believe, of peacefully settling their differences. Nearing theshore of the place of meeting, where he saw and exchanged greetings with Kamehameha, he was about to land when Keeaumoku met him in a canoe and treacherously assassinated him, and his body was taken to the newly-completed temple and sacrificed to the war-god of his betrayer.Keoua was a brave, noble, and magnanimous chief, and the apologists of Kamehameha have not succeeded in relieving him from the odium of Keeaumoku’s cowardly act. He was the half-brother of Kiwalao, and his death left Kamehameha the master of Hawaii.Truly, as predicted by the seer, had Keeaumoku become the slayer of princes and the maker of kings. But his work was not yet completed. Kamehameha was the sovereign of Hawaii, but the conquest of the group was still before him. Every circumstance, however, conspired in his favor. Kahekili, the warlike king of Maui and conqueror of Oahu, died in 1794, and a rupture had occurred between his successor and Kaeo, themoiof Kauai.Everything being in readiness, early in 1795 Kamehameha invaded Oahu with a mighty army, defeated and subsequently captured and sacrificed to his war-god King Kalanikupule, and shortly after received the submission of themoiof Kauai—thus becoming the acknowledged master of, and for the first time in their history consolidating under one government, the several islands of the Hawaiian group.The prophecies of Keaulumoku have all been fulfilled. Keeaumoku, the slayer of princes and maker of kings, died peacefully as governor of the windward islands in 1804. Kaahumanu became the wife of a king, and died as chief counsellor of the islands in 1832. The temples of the Hawaiian gods were destroyed immediately after the death of Kamehameha, in 1819, and but a tenth of the number of natives found on the islands at the close of the last century are now left to sing of the achievements of their ancestors, who first made their home in the group when the Roman Empire was falling to pieces under the assaults of Northern barbarism.
The Prophecies of Keaulumoku.CHARACTERS.Kahekili,moiof Maui.Kalaniopuu, king of Hawaii.Namahana, widow of Kamehamehanui.Keeaumoku, a royal chief of Hawaii.Kahanana, a warrior of Waihee.Mahihelelima, governor of Hana, Maui.Kaahumanu, daughter of Keeaumoku.Kameeiamokuand}brothers of Keeaumoku.Kamanawa,Kiwalao, son of Kalaniopuu.Keaulumoku, the poet-prophet of Hawaii.Kamehameha I., the conqueror of the group.Keoua, half-brother of Kiwalao.Keawemauhili, a royal chief of Hawaii.THE PROPHECIES OF KEAULUMOKU.THE CAREER OF KEEAUMOKU, THE PRINCE-SLAYER AND KING-MAKER.I.The days had just begun to lengthen after the summer solstice of 1765 when a great grief fell upon the royal court of the island of Maui. Kamehamehanui, the king, had died very suddenly at Wailuku, which had been his favorite place of residence, and his brother and successor, Kahekili, had removed his court to Lahaina. The bones of the dead king had been carefully secreted, the customary mourning excesses had been indulged in, and many new apportionments of lands had been made in accordance with the bequests of the deceasedmoiand the will of his successor.Kamehamehanui was an amiable sovereign, but his reign was not as successful as that of his father, Kekaulike. His right to the sceptre had been contested by his brother, Kauhia, and he was secured in it only through the efforts of Alapainui, the king of Hawaii. Subsequently Kalaniopuu, the successor of Alapainui, wrested from him the district of Hana and the celebrated fortress of Kauwiki, and retained possession of both at the time of Kamehamehanui’s death. The lands of the district might have been recaptured, perhaps, but the fortress commanding them was well-nigh impregnable, and Hana remained a dependency of Hawaii.Kamehamehanui’s political wife was his half-sister Namahana, with whom he had two children; but as both of them died in their infancy, his brother, Kahekili, succeeded him asmoiof the island by common consent. After the death of his brother, Kahekili at once removed his court to Lahaina, where the customary period of mourning was concluded.It was while the members of the royal family were still in mourning at Lahaina that a distinguished stranger suddenly landed, with a number of personal attendants, and presentedhimself at court. His double canoe bore the ensign of analii, and his garb and bearing showed him to be of the higher nobility. His age was perhaps thirty years, although he looked somewhat older. He was over six feet in height, and well proportioned. His face was handsome, and his hair and beard were closely cropped. He was clad in amaroand short feather mantle, and around his head was bound a single fold of yellowkapa. By a cord of hair was suspended from his neck apalaoa, or carved whale’s tooth, and his left wrist was ornamented with a bracelet of curious shells. He was courageous, courtly, and in his best moods agreeable and captivating, and was a splendid representative of the rude chivalry of his time.As he stepped ashore and proceeded to the royal mansion, way was respectfully made for him, even as a stranger of distinguished bearing, and his name secured him admission at once to the presence of Kahekili, who welcomed him to Lahaina, and set apart ample accommodations for himself and lodgings for his attendants.Who was this stranger? He was no common chief who would have thus presumed to present himself at the court of themoiof Maui and expect the courtesy of royal entertainment. Two generations before Lonoikahaupu, who had peacefully inherited the sovereignty of the western side of the island of Kauai, while the noted Kualii, of Oahu, retained possession of the remainder, paid a royal visit of state to the windward islands of the group. His blood was of the best in the archipelago, and his equipment and retinue were brilliant and imposing. He embarked with a number of large double canoes, the royalkauluabeing over eighty feet in length, and was attended by a company of skilled musicians and dancers. He also took with him his chief navigator, priest and astrologer, and a corps of personal attendants in keeping with his rank.In turn he visited Oahu, Maui and Molokai, where he was entertained with distinguished honors, and then set sail for Hawaii, of which Keawe was then king. Touching at Hilo, he found that the royal court had been temporarily established in Kau, and thither he proceeded, to pay his respects to Keawe and his beautiful but volatile wife and half-sister, Kalani-kauleleiaiwi. He was becomingly received and entertained by the royal couple, and spent some weeks in the enjoyment of the festivitiesarranged for his amusement. The result was that the queen became enamored of the handsome Kauaian king, who was duly recognized at once as one of her husbands.From this union a son was born, who was named Keawepoepoe, when the father returned to Kauai and there remained. This son grew to manhood, and by marriage with Kumaiku, of the royal line of Maui, became the father of the three distinguished chiefs who, with Keawe-a-Heulu, were the leading captains of Kamehameha in the conquest of the group at the close of the eighteenth century. One of these sons of Keawepoepoe was Keeaumoku, the Warwick of his time, the slayer and maker of kings.Keeaumoku’s first effort in king-making occurred in 1754. On the death, in that year, of his uncle Alapainui, and the succession of his cousin Keaweopala to the Hawaiian throne, he became dissatisfied with his allotment of lands and raised the standard of revolt in Kekaha. Defeated, he fled in his canoes to Kau, where Kalaniopuu had for some years maintained himself in independence of Alapainui. Joining their forces, they marched northward, defeated and slew Keaweopala in Kona, and Kalaniopuu, who was the grandson of Keawe and had a valid claim to the sovereignty, was proclaimedmoiof Hawaii.It is probable that Keeaumoku’s services were substantially rewarded by Kalaniopuu; but in his early years he was turbulent and hot-tempered, and in 1765 he found a pretext for hurling defiance at the king and fortifying himself in the northern part of Kohala. Kalaniopuu promptly placed himself at the head of an adequate force, took the fort by assault, and crushed the rebellion with a single blow. But Keeaumoku escaped over thepalialone, reached the beach, secured a canoe and paddled out to sea. Night coming on and the skies being clouded, he lost his way and nearly perished through thirst and hunger; but he finally reached Lanai, where he found friends, and not long after sailed for Maui in a well-equipped double canoe and a respectable retinue of attendants. He landed at Lahaina, and the reader need not be told that the distinguished stranger who so suddenly presented himself at the court of Kahekili, as already mentioned, was Keeaumoku.The occupation of the district of Hana by the king of Hawaii was a source of irritation to Kahekili, and he welcomed Keeaumoku,not more as an enemy of Kalaniopuu than as a chief who might be useful to him in the war which he then meditated for the recovery of the captured territory.But Keeaumoku was not content to subsist upon the favor of Kahekili. In his veins ran the blood of kings, and his pride rebelled against a life of dependence, however attractive it might be made for him. But he was without available lands or revenues, for his rebellion against Kalaniopuu had deprived him of both, notwithstanding his inalienable landed rights in South Kona, and he began to cast about for the means of raising himself again to the dignity of a landed chief.His eyes soon fell upon the comely Namahana, widow of Kamehamehanui. To her belonged the fair and fertile lands of Waihee. But she was the inheritance of Kahekili, whose purpose it was to accept her as a wife at the end of her period of mourning. This must have been known to Keeaumoku, who was thoroughly acquainted with royal customs of his time; yet he paid such court to the sorrowing dowager, and so sweetly mingled his protestations of love with her sighs of grief, that she became his wife without consulting with themoi.Kahekili was naturally enraged at the union, and was about to manifest his displeasure in a manner dangerous to Keeaumoku, when Namahana retired with her new husband to her estates at Waihee. Kahekili’s first impulse was to follow and slay them both; but as Namahana was popular with the nobility, and Kahekili had not been in power long enough to be quite sure of the fealty of the chiefs, he discreetly concluded to leave to the future the punishment of the offending couple.Taking up his residence at Waihee, Keeaumoku enlarged and beautified his grounds and buildings, and established a petty court of princely etiquette and appointments. He was fond of display, and soon attracted to Waihee many of the more accomplished young chiefs of the island. The mother and two of the brothers of Namahana attached themselves to the household, and a number of Molokai chiefs, despoiled of their lands by the king of Oahu, became his retainers. He had carefully trained bands of musicians and dancers, and his entertainments were frequent and bountiful.In the midst of this semi-royal gayety and splendor Kahekili quietly crossed the mountains and temporarily established hiscourt at Wailuku, but a few miles from Waihee. He had heard of Keeaumoku’s royal style of living, and desired to learn from personal observation whether it was inspired by an innocent love of display or designs more ambitious. As Keeaumoku had rebelled against two successive Hawaiian sovereigns, and boldly seized the widow of a king in the very household of her royal claimant and protector, Kahekili had reason to regard him with suspicion, and a week’s stay at Wailuku, during which reserved courtesies had been exchanged between them, convinced him that Keeaumoku was a dangerous subject. But how was he to be dealt with? He had committed no act of treason, and an assault upon him would not be sustained by the chiefs.In this dilemma Kahekili resorted to strategy. He induced Kahanana, a resolute warrior and subordinate land-holder of Waihee, to embroil Keeaumoku in a difficulty with his own people. To this end Kahanana complained—probably without cause—that he had been frequently neglected by the servants of Keeaumoku in the distribution of fish after fortunate catches, and urged his grievance with so good a showing of sincerity that many of his friends stood prepared to espouse his quarrel. This done, he armed himself for battle, and, the following night, killed three of Keeaumoku’s laborers. Being attacked in return, he was at once supported by a party of warriors secretly detailed for that purpose by Kahekili, and a general fight resulted, which lasted in a desultory way for three or four days. In the end, however, Keeaumoku and his party were overpowered and compelled to seek safety in flight.Keeaumoku and Namahana, with her mother and two brothers, and a considerable following of chiefs and retainers, escaped over the Eka mountains and embarked for Molokai. But Kahekili was not content with the escape of Keeaumoku from Maui. He resolved to destroy him, and soon after invaded Molokai with a large force. Keeaumoku and his allies met the invaders in war-canoes as they approached the shore. A desperate sea-fight followed, which was continued long into the night by torchlight; but Keeaumoku was again defeated, and with difficulty escaped to Hana with Namahana and her relatives.This placed Keeaumoku beyond the reach of Kahekili, for that district of Maui was still under Hawaiian control; but in escaping from one enemy he was compelled to throw himself uponthe mercy of another. He was hospitably received, however, by Mahihelelima, the governor of the district, and was so far forgiven by Kalaniopuu as to be permitted to remain under the protection of the fortress of Kauwiki, where for some time, in the shaded valleys at the base of Haleakala, he found a respite new to his turbulent life.II.In a secluded valley within sight of the fortress of Kauwiki, with a few devoted friends and attendants, Keeaumoku and his family lived unmolested and almost unnoticed for several years. It was a season of peace between Hawaii and Maui, and Keeaumoku spent his days in dreaming of wars to come, and political changes that would place him again in a position more consistent with his rank. He made spears and battle-axes, and laid them away; he constructed canoes and housed them near the neighboring beach.He loved his wife, who was content to share his exile, and when, in 1768, a daughter was born to him, Keeaumoku felt that the gods were smiling upon him once more, and took courage. It is said that the child was born with a yellow feather in her hand—a symbol of royalty—and she was named Kaahumanu and tenderly cared for.In 1775 Kalaniopuu, king of Hawaii, suddenly appeared in the district of Hana with a considerable force, and began to ravage the neighboring lands of Kaupo. Kahekili promptly met and repulsed him, however, and he returned to Hana and abandoned the campaign by re-embarking with his shattered army for Hawaii. Keeaumoku took no part in the brief struggle, and was disappointed that nothing decisive had been accomplished. The death of either of the two sovereigns engaged would have been to him a signal of deliverance. But he was not disheartened. He knew the war would soon be resumed on a grander scale, and found partial contentment in the hope that it would result in changes favorable to his fortunes.Exasperated at his defeat, Kalaniopuu spent nearly two years in preparing for a crushing invasion of Maui. In honor of his war-god,Kaili, he repaired and put in order twoheiaus, and instructedhis high-priest, Holoae, to maintain continuous religious services, and exert his highest powers to accomplish the defeat and death of Kahekili. He landed with six heavy divisions of warriors on the southern coast of Maui, but was defeated with great slaughter in the neighborhood of Wailuku, and compelled to sue for peace. With him were the two brothers of Keeaumoku, Kameeiamoku and Kamanawa, who attended the young Prince Kiwalao in his visit of conciliation to Kahekili after the battle.Kalaniopuu returned to Hawaii with what remained of his army, and the next year again invaded Maui, and for several months carried on a desultory warfare with Kahekili in the several districts of the island. He was assisted by the governor of Hana, and was able for some time to maintain a foothold in Hamakualoa and elsewhere.Keeaumoku offered his services to neither side, but remained a quiet and almost unobserved spectator of the hostile movements which at intervals convulsed the island, and sometimes swept past the very door of his exile home in Hana. The proper time for him to act had not yet arrived, and years of solitude had schooled him to patience.It was during this campaign that Captain Cook, the celebrated English explorer, arrived off the coast of Maui with the two vessels under his command, exhibiting faces that were new to the natives, and ships which seemed to be the ocean palaces of their gods. This was in November, 1778. In January of that year Cook had touched the group for the first time. He had landed at Kauai and Niihau, and had now returned from the Arctic seas to winter among the Hawaiian Islands.Abandoning the fruitless war, Kalaniopuu returned to Hawaii with his invading army. During the campaign of the year before he had been assisted to the extent of a battalion of warriors by Kahahana, king of Oahu. Among the followers of the Oahuanmoiat that time was the celebrated poet and prophet Keaulumoku. He was a native of Naohaku, in the Hamakua district of Hawaii, and was distantly related to Kahekili, being a son of a cousin of Kekaulike, the father of Kahekili. From his youth he was dreamy and psychologic, and spent his time in roaming among the hills, watching the stars and listening to the music of the ocean. Some years before he had become attached to the court of Kahahana, and had followed that sovereign to Maui in1777. He remained on the island after the return of Kahahana to Oahu, and the year following, when Kalaniopuu again invaded Maui, the poet was found among his household.Conveying the Body of Kalaniopuu to Honaunau.Conveying the Body of Kalaniopuu to Honaunau.(FROM A PAINTING IN THE ROYAL PALACE.)Although but sixty-two years of age, in appearance Keaulumoku was much older. His eyes were bright, but his form was bent, and his white hair and beard swept his shoulders. When he sang all listened, and his wild utterances were treasured up and repeated as inspirations from the gods. He was known on all the islands of the group, and it was safe for him to travel anywhere. He had been a friend of Keeaumoku, many years before, on Hawaii, and when he learned, during the campaign of 1778, that the unfortunate chief was an exile in Hana and had ceased to be accounted among the leaders of the time, he resolved to visit and console him.Without making his purpose known to any one, Keaulumoku crossed the mountains, and, the third day, stood before his friend in Hana. Their greeting was affectionate, and after eating they sat down and wailed over Keeaumoku’s misfortunes. Then Namahana came with stately grace to welcome the old poet, bringing with her Kaahumanu, who was then a bright-eyed child of ten. He kissed the hand of Namahana, advising her to be of good cheer, and, embracing the child and looking into her eyes, told her that his dreams that night should be of her. And so they were, for the next morning he solemnly sang in the shade of the palms that Kaahumanu would be loved by a chief of renown and become the wife of a king.“And what of her father?” inquired Keeaumoku. “Is he to rot with his spears in Hana?”“No,” replied the poet, promptly. “The great work of Keeaumoku’s life is still before him. He will become the slayer of princes and maker of kings.”“One have I already helped to royal honors,” returned the chief, doubtingly, “and by his favor I am stifling here in Hana.”“Another and a greater is still to follow, in whose service Keeaumoku will die in peace,” answered the poet.“Who is the coming hero?” inquired the chief.“You will not mistake him when you meet,” was the evasive reply.“And when will that be?” ventured Keeaumoku.No reply being made, the chief continued:“Well, no matter when; I have learned to be patient!”The predictions of the poet extended no farther; but his words cheered the heart of Keeaumoku, and when he left for Lahaina the next day, grateful eyes followed his footsteps far into the mountains.Returning to Hawaii after his unsuccessful campaign of 1778, Kalaniopuu remained for a time in Kona, and after the death of Captain Cook, in February, 1779, removed his court to Kohala, taking with him the poet Keaulumoku. The next year, feeling his end approaching—for he was nearly eighty years of age—Kalaniopuu set his kingdom in order by proclaiming his son Kiwalao as his successor, and naming his nephew, Kamehameha, as the custodian of his war-god. He then put down the rebellion of Imakakaloa in Kau, and, after changing residences two or three times for his health, finally died at Kailikii, in January, 1782.A few months before the death of Kalaniopuu, Kahekili, learning of the failing health of his old opponent, prepared for the recovery of the district of Hana, which had been for nearly forty years under Hawaiian rule. Marching into the district and investing the fortress of Kauwiki, he finally reduced it by cutting off its water-supply, and Eastern Maui again became a part of the dominions of themoiof Maui. This occurred about the time of the death of Kalaniopuu.But what became of Keeaumoku and his family, whose home for years had been among the hills of Hana? Learning of the meditated invasion of the district, and unwilling to trust himself to the mercy of Kahekili, Keeaumoku fled with his family to the almost barren island of Kahoolawe, where he lived in seclusion until after the fall of Kauwiki and death of Kalaniopuu, when he boldly returned to Hawaii, quietly settled on his old and inalienable estates at Kapalilua, in South Kona, and awaited the development of events, which he plainly perceived were rapidly and irresistibly tending toward wide-spread revolution and disorder. For more than fifteen years he had heard the clash of arms only at a distance, and he yearned for the shouts of battle and the music of marching columns.The mourning for Kalaniopuu continued for many weeks, and rumors unsatisfactory to the Kona chiefs were afloat concerning the newmoi’sproposed division of the lands subject to royal apportionment. Preparations for the burial of the bones of the deceased king were finally completed. In double canoes,one of them bearing the corpse of his royal father, Kiwalao set sail with a large party of chiefs, warriors and retainers for Honaunau. There it was his purpose to deposit the remains in the neighboring burial-place ofHale-a-Keawe, sacred to the ashes of Hawaiian kings, and then proceed with the redivision of such of the lands of the kingdom as were at his disposal.When off Honokua the second day, Keeaumoku came down from Kapalilua and boarded the fleet. His avowed purpose was to wail over the body of Kalaniopuu. His return to Hawaii had become generally known, and Kiwalao regarded with a curiosity not unmixed with suspicion the warring and impetuous chief, who had been first the friend and then the enemy of his father, and who had suddenly emerged at a critical moment full-armed from the obscurity of years.What was the object of Keeaumoku’s visit to the mourning fleet? Was he anxious, on the eve of stirring events, to behold the face of the young king, remembering the words of Keaulumoku, “You will know him when you meet”? Perhaps. But, whatever may have been his original purpose in visiting the fleet, when he left, in keeping with the turbulent instincts of his life, his thoughts were aglow with projects of rebellion.Hastening to Kehaha, where his brothers, Kameeiamoku and Kamanawa, with Kamehameha, Kekuhaupio and other chiefs, were in council, Keeaumoku informed them that the destination of Kiwalao was Kailua, which place he would proceed to occupy after depositing the royal remains at Honaunau. This information, he declared, was given to him by one of Kiwalao’s attendants.Not doubting the truth of Keeaumoku’s story, and believing it to be the purpose of Kiwalao to occupy the entire district of Kona, which embraced lands not subject to royal disposal, the assembled chiefs moved with their followers and occupied quarters in the neighborhood of Honaunau.Keeaumoku now became a leading spirit in the events which rapidly followed. The funeral cortege landed at Honaunau, the remains of the dead king were ceremoniously entombed atHale-a-Keawe, and Kiwalao ascended a platform, and to the assembled chiefs proclaimed the will of his father. In the divisions of lands that followed the Kona chiefs were not consulted; nor does it appear that they were additionally provided for, and Keeaumokuhad little difficulty in persuading them that they had been treated with intended disrespect and hostility.In an interview with Kiwalao, Kamehameha was coolly received, and the disaffected chiefs began to prepare for battle. They selected Kamehameha as their leader, and for some days there was a vigorous mustering of forces on both sides. An attack was finally made by the rebellious chiefs, and a battle of some magnitude ensued. Keeaumoku was again in his element. His voice was heard above the din of battle, and his famished weapons drank their fill of blood. Entangled with his spear, he fell upon the rocky ground. Several warriors rushed upon him. Two of them attacked him with daggers, while a third struck him in the back with a spear, exclaiming, “The spear has pierced the yellow-backed crab!”Kiwalao, not far distant, witnessed the encounter, and called to the assailants of Keeaumoku to secure hispalaoa, or ivory neck ornament. The attention of Kamanawa was attracted to the struggle, and he sprang with a few followers to the assistance of his brother, driving back his assailants. At that moment Kiwalao was struck in the temple with a stone, and fell stunned to the ground. Observing the circumstance, Keeaumoku crawled to the fallen king, and, with a knife edged with sharks’ teeth, cut his throat.With the death of Kiwalao the rout of his army became general. The victory made Kamehameha master of the districts of Kona, Kohala and Hamakua, while Keoua, the brother of Kiwalao, held possession of Kau and Puna, and Keawemauhili declared himself independent of both in Hilo.Keeaumoku’s brilliant part in this first of the battles of the period for the sovereignty of Hawaii established him at once in the favor of Kamehameha, and raised him high in the esteem of the distinguished chiefs whose valor ennobled the closing years of barbaric supremacy in the group.III.War soon occurred between Kamehameha and the independent chiefs of Hilo and Kau, but, as no marked advantages to either side resulted, Kamehameha established his court at Halaula,in Kohala, and occupied himself in improving the condition of his people. During the campaign he had met with some reverses, but Keeaumoku’s faith in the final triumph of his great leader remained unshaken through every disaster. He thought he saw in him that captain, greater than Kalaniopuu, of whom the poet dreamed in Hana, and was soon after confirmed in the belief by the definite prophecy of Keaulumoku.Restlessly roaming from place to place, the old singer finally selected a temporary abode near Halaula, shortly after the removal of the court of Kamehameha to that village. There he was frequently visited by Keeaumoku, sometimes accompanied by Kaahumanu, who was budding into an attractive womanhood, and sometimes by Namahana, who regarded him with a reverence due to one whose utterances seemed to be inspired by the gods.Since the death of Kalaniopuu the voice of Keaulumoku had been silent. He mourned over the distracted condition of the island, and sympathized with the people in their enforced warfare with each other. Vainly had he sought to penetrate the mists of desolation and disorder, and catch a glimpse of what was beyond. No light had come to him through the clouds; to his prayers no answering voice had whispered in his dreams.But the curtain was raised for him at last, and, as the shades of the future trooped before him in awful pantomime, in a voice wild as the winds sweeping through the gorge of Nuuanu he chanted the propheticmeleofHau-i-Kalani. After describing the horrors of the civil war then desolating the island, he concluded by predicting that Kamehameha would triumph over his enemies, and in the end be hailed as the greatest of Hawaiian conquerors.The chant created great enthusiasm among the followers of Kamehameha. Keeaumoku listened to it with rapt attention, and at its conclusion stooped over the old poet and said:“I asked you a question in Hana, which you did not answer then. Is it answered now?”Keaulumoku looked into the face of the chief for a moment as if to collect his thoughts, and then dreamily replied:“It is answered!”“Such was my thought,” returned the chief. “I have some rare dainties from the sea. Come and eat with me to-night, and I will ask to be taught themeleyou have just chanted.”Keaulumoku made no reply, and Keeaumoku walked slowly toward the palace, trying to remember the words of the poet which had so thrilled his listeners.What occurred between Keeaumoku and the old poet during their repast that evening will never be known; but certain it is that henceforth Keeaumoku never doubted the final success of Kamehameha, and when, in the summer of 1785, the latter retired discomfited from an invasion of Hilo, Keeaumoku smiled as he said to his chief: “Thus far you have only skirmished with your enemies; you will win when you fight battles!”In 1784 Keaulumoku died. For months the old poet had lived alone in a hut near Kauhola. He avoided company and seldom spoke to any one. Feeling his end approaching, he one day announced that the evening following he would chant his lastmele. Hundreds collected around his hut at the time appointed. They did not enter, but sat down, conversing in whispers, and respectfully waited.An hour passed, and another, but the old singer did not make his appearance. Finally the mat which served as a door was drawn aside, and Keaulumoku’s white head and bent form were seen in the opening. Seating himself within view of all, he began to chant amelein tremulous tones. As he proceeded his voice became louder, and every word was breathlessly listened to. He spoke of the coming conquest of the group by Kamehameha, whom he designated as the son of Kahekili, and also as “the lone one.” He also predicted the early extinction of the Kamehameha dynasty, the domination of the white race, the destruction of the temples, and finally the gradual death of the Hawaiian people. Concluding his chant, the old seer raised his hands as if to bless his listeners, and fell back dead. A great wail went up from the people, and they tenderly bore the body of the dead poet to theheiau, where it was accorded the burial rites of a prophet.Much of the last prophecy of Keaulumoku was preserved and repeated, and by conversing with the many who listened to it Keeaumoku managed to secure a satisfactory version of the final song of the dying poet.From the first of Kamehameha’s battles Keeaumoku had not doubted the triumph of that chief over all adversaries in the end, and eagerly grasped at every circumstance calculatedto strengthen the conviction. So believing, his way seemed to be clear.But what of Kaahumanu, whose promised lover was to be a chief of renown, and whose husband was to be a king? She was an attractive maiden of seventeen, and a few months after the death of Keaulumoku, and while Kamehameha was engaged in peaceful pursuits at Halaula, her father suddenly brought her to court. Fresh, sparkling and graceful, and related to the royal lines of Maui and Hawaii, she attracted the immediate attention of Kamehameha, and he disposed of the claims of her many suitors at once by making her his wife.There was little in the appearance of the great chief to please the eye of a girl of seventeen. His features were rugged and irregular, and he held in contempt the courtly graces which imparted a charm to the intercourse with each other of the nobility of the time. He was already the husband of two recognized wives; but Kaahumanu was ambitious, and, with admiration but no affection for him, she consented to become his wife.Keeaumoku was now persistent in inspiring Kamehameha with the thought of becoming the master of the group. He recited to him the prophetic chants of Keaulumoku, and brought to him the favoring auguries of thekaulas.An unsuccessful attempt to recover the district of Hana in 1786 was followed in 1790 by another invasion of Maui, when Kamehameha completely subjugated the island, and then turned his attention to Keoua, the independent chief of Kau, who had slain the chief of Hilo and assumed the sovereignty of the southern districts of Hawaii.The war with Keoua continued for more than a year, and every effort of Kamehameha to crush this last of his rivals on Hawaii was successfully resisted. For nine years Keoua had maintained himself against the power of Kamehameha, and still remained master of Kau and the most of Puna. Treachery was finally resorted to, and Keoua fell.The old temple of Puukohola had been partially rebuilt, and a noted seer had predicted that its completion would give to Kamehameha the undisputed sovereignty of Hawaii. The temple was hastily finished, and Keoua was invited to a conference with his opponent at Kawaihae, with the view, he was led to believe, of peacefully settling their differences. Nearing theshore of the place of meeting, where he saw and exchanged greetings with Kamehameha, he was about to land when Keeaumoku met him in a canoe and treacherously assassinated him, and his body was taken to the newly-completed temple and sacrificed to the war-god of his betrayer.Keoua was a brave, noble, and magnanimous chief, and the apologists of Kamehameha have not succeeded in relieving him from the odium of Keeaumoku’s cowardly act. He was the half-brother of Kiwalao, and his death left Kamehameha the master of Hawaii.Truly, as predicted by the seer, had Keeaumoku become the slayer of princes and the maker of kings. But his work was not yet completed. Kamehameha was the sovereign of Hawaii, but the conquest of the group was still before him. Every circumstance, however, conspired in his favor. Kahekili, the warlike king of Maui and conqueror of Oahu, died in 1794, and a rupture had occurred between his successor and Kaeo, themoiof Kauai.Everything being in readiness, early in 1795 Kamehameha invaded Oahu with a mighty army, defeated and subsequently captured and sacrificed to his war-god King Kalanikupule, and shortly after received the submission of themoiof Kauai—thus becoming the acknowledged master of, and for the first time in their history consolidating under one government, the several islands of the Hawaiian group.The prophecies of Keaulumoku have all been fulfilled. Keeaumoku, the slayer of princes and maker of kings, died peacefully as governor of the windward islands in 1804. Kaahumanu became the wife of a king, and died as chief counsellor of the islands in 1832. The temples of the Hawaiian gods were destroyed immediately after the death of Kamehameha, in 1819, and but a tenth of the number of natives found on the islands at the close of the last century are now left to sing of the achievements of their ancestors, who first made their home in the group when the Roman Empire was falling to pieces under the assaults of Northern barbarism.
CHARACTERS.Kahekili,moiof Maui.Kalaniopuu, king of Hawaii.Namahana, widow of Kamehamehanui.Keeaumoku, a royal chief of Hawaii.Kahanana, a warrior of Waihee.Mahihelelima, governor of Hana, Maui.Kaahumanu, daughter of Keeaumoku.Kameeiamokuand}brothers of Keeaumoku.Kamanawa,Kiwalao, son of Kalaniopuu.Keaulumoku, the poet-prophet of Hawaii.Kamehameha I., the conqueror of the group.Keoua, half-brother of Kiwalao.Keawemauhili, a royal chief of Hawaii.THE PROPHECIES OF KEAULUMOKU.THE CAREER OF KEEAUMOKU, THE PRINCE-SLAYER AND KING-MAKER.
CHARACTERS.Kahekili,moiof Maui.Kalaniopuu, king of Hawaii.Namahana, widow of Kamehamehanui.Keeaumoku, a royal chief of Hawaii.Kahanana, a warrior of Waihee.Mahihelelima, governor of Hana, Maui.Kaahumanu, daughter of Keeaumoku.Kameeiamokuand}brothers of Keeaumoku.Kamanawa,Kiwalao, son of Kalaniopuu.Keaulumoku, the poet-prophet of Hawaii.Kamehameha I., the conqueror of the group.Keoua, half-brother of Kiwalao.Keawemauhili, a royal chief of Hawaii.
THE PROPHECIES OF KEAULUMOKU.THE CAREER OF KEEAUMOKU, THE PRINCE-SLAYER AND KING-MAKER.
THE PROPHECIES OF KEAULUMOKU.
THE CAREER OF KEEAUMOKU, THE PRINCE-SLAYER AND KING-MAKER.
I.The days had just begun to lengthen after the summer solstice of 1765 when a great grief fell upon the royal court of the island of Maui. Kamehamehanui, the king, had died very suddenly at Wailuku, which had been his favorite place of residence, and his brother and successor, Kahekili, had removed his court to Lahaina. The bones of the dead king had been carefully secreted, the customary mourning excesses had been indulged in, and many new apportionments of lands had been made in accordance with the bequests of the deceasedmoiand the will of his successor.Kamehamehanui was an amiable sovereign, but his reign was not as successful as that of his father, Kekaulike. His right to the sceptre had been contested by his brother, Kauhia, and he was secured in it only through the efforts of Alapainui, the king of Hawaii. Subsequently Kalaniopuu, the successor of Alapainui, wrested from him the district of Hana and the celebrated fortress of Kauwiki, and retained possession of both at the time of Kamehamehanui’s death. The lands of the district might have been recaptured, perhaps, but the fortress commanding them was well-nigh impregnable, and Hana remained a dependency of Hawaii.Kamehamehanui’s political wife was his half-sister Namahana, with whom he had two children; but as both of them died in their infancy, his brother, Kahekili, succeeded him asmoiof the island by common consent. After the death of his brother, Kahekili at once removed his court to Lahaina, where the customary period of mourning was concluded.It was while the members of the royal family were still in mourning at Lahaina that a distinguished stranger suddenly landed, with a number of personal attendants, and presentedhimself at court. His double canoe bore the ensign of analii, and his garb and bearing showed him to be of the higher nobility. His age was perhaps thirty years, although he looked somewhat older. He was over six feet in height, and well proportioned. His face was handsome, and his hair and beard were closely cropped. He was clad in amaroand short feather mantle, and around his head was bound a single fold of yellowkapa. By a cord of hair was suspended from his neck apalaoa, or carved whale’s tooth, and his left wrist was ornamented with a bracelet of curious shells. He was courageous, courtly, and in his best moods agreeable and captivating, and was a splendid representative of the rude chivalry of his time.As he stepped ashore and proceeded to the royal mansion, way was respectfully made for him, even as a stranger of distinguished bearing, and his name secured him admission at once to the presence of Kahekili, who welcomed him to Lahaina, and set apart ample accommodations for himself and lodgings for his attendants.Who was this stranger? He was no common chief who would have thus presumed to present himself at the court of themoiof Maui and expect the courtesy of royal entertainment. Two generations before Lonoikahaupu, who had peacefully inherited the sovereignty of the western side of the island of Kauai, while the noted Kualii, of Oahu, retained possession of the remainder, paid a royal visit of state to the windward islands of the group. His blood was of the best in the archipelago, and his equipment and retinue were brilliant and imposing. He embarked with a number of large double canoes, the royalkauluabeing over eighty feet in length, and was attended by a company of skilled musicians and dancers. He also took with him his chief navigator, priest and astrologer, and a corps of personal attendants in keeping with his rank.In turn he visited Oahu, Maui and Molokai, where he was entertained with distinguished honors, and then set sail for Hawaii, of which Keawe was then king. Touching at Hilo, he found that the royal court had been temporarily established in Kau, and thither he proceeded, to pay his respects to Keawe and his beautiful but volatile wife and half-sister, Kalani-kauleleiaiwi. He was becomingly received and entertained by the royal couple, and spent some weeks in the enjoyment of the festivitiesarranged for his amusement. The result was that the queen became enamored of the handsome Kauaian king, who was duly recognized at once as one of her husbands.From this union a son was born, who was named Keawepoepoe, when the father returned to Kauai and there remained. This son grew to manhood, and by marriage with Kumaiku, of the royal line of Maui, became the father of the three distinguished chiefs who, with Keawe-a-Heulu, were the leading captains of Kamehameha in the conquest of the group at the close of the eighteenth century. One of these sons of Keawepoepoe was Keeaumoku, the Warwick of his time, the slayer and maker of kings.Keeaumoku’s first effort in king-making occurred in 1754. On the death, in that year, of his uncle Alapainui, and the succession of his cousin Keaweopala to the Hawaiian throne, he became dissatisfied with his allotment of lands and raised the standard of revolt in Kekaha. Defeated, he fled in his canoes to Kau, where Kalaniopuu had for some years maintained himself in independence of Alapainui. Joining their forces, they marched northward, defeated and slew Keaweopala in Kona, and Kalaniopuu, who was the grandson of Keawe and had a valid claim to the sovereignty, was proclaimedmoiof Hawaii.It is probable that Keeaumoku’s services were substantially rewarded by Kalaniopuu; but in his early years he was turbulent and hot-tempered, and in 1765 he found a pretext for hurling defiance at the king and fortifying himself in the northern part of Kohala. Kalaniopuu promptly placed himself at the head of an adequate force, took the fort by assault, and crushed the rebellion with a single blow. But Keeaumoku escaped over thepalialone, reached the beach, secured a canoe and paddled out to sea. Night coming on and the skies being clouded, he lost his way and nearly perished through thirst and hunger; but he finally reached Lanai, where he found friends, and not long after sailed for Maui in a well-equipped double canoe and a respectable retinue of attendants. He landed at Lahaina, and the reader need not be told that the distinguished stranger who so suddenly presented himself at the court of Kahekili, as already mentioned, was Keeaumoku.The occupation of the district of Hana by the king of Hawaii was a source of irritation to Kahekili, and he welcomed Keeaumoku,not more as an enemy of Kalaniopuu than as a chief who might be useful to him in the war which he then meditated for the recovery of the captured territory.But Keeaumoku was not content to subsist upon the favor of Kahekili. In his veins ran the blood of kings, and his pride rebelled against a life of dependence, however attractive it might be made for him. But he was without available lands or revenues, for his rebellion against Kalaniopuu had deprived him of both, notwithstanding his inalienable landed rights in South Kona, and he began to cast about for the means of raising himself again to the dignity of a landed chief.His eyes soon fell upon the comely Namahana, widow of Kamehamehanui. To her belonged the fair and fertile lands of Waihee. But she was the inheritance of Kahekili, whose purpose it was to accept her as a wife at the end of her period of mourning. This must have been known to Keeaumoku, who was thoroughly acquainted with royal customs of his time; yet he paid such court to the sorrowing dowager, and so sweetly mingled his protestations of love with her sighs of grief, that she became his wife without consulting with themoi.Kahekili was naturally enraged at the union, and was about to manifest his displeasure in a manner dangerous to Keeaumoku, when Namahana retired with her new husband to her estates at Waihee. Kahekili’s first impulse was to follow and slay them both; but as Namahana was popular with the nobility, and Kahekili had not been in power long enough to be quite sure of the fealty of the chiefs, he discreetly concluded to leave to the future the punishment of the offending couple.Taking up his residence at Waihee, Keeaumoku enlarged and beautified his grounds and buildings, and established a petty court of princely etiquette and appointments. He was fond of display, and soon attracted to Waihee many of the more accomplished young chiefs of the island. The mother and two of the brothers of Namahana attached themselves to the household, and a number of Molokai chiefs, despoiled of their lands by the king of Oahu, became his retainers. He had carefully trained bands of musicians and dancers, and his entertainments were frequent and bountiful.In the midst of this semi-royal gayety and splendor Kahekili quietly crossed the mountains and temporarily established hiscourt at Wailuku, but a few miles from Waihee. He had heard of Keeaumoku’s royal style of living, and desired to learn from personal observation whether it was inspired by an innocent love of display or designs more ambitious. As Keeaumoku had rebelled against two successive Hawaiian sovereigns, and boldly seized the widow of a king in the very household of her royal claimant and protector, Kahekili had reason to regard him with suspicion, and a week’s stay at Wailuku, during which reserved courtesies had been exchanged between them, convinced him that Keeaumoku was a dangerous subject. But how was he to be dealt with? He had committed no act of treason, and an assault upon him would not be sustained by the chiefs.In this dilemma Kahekili resorted to strategy. He induced Kahanana, a resolute warrior and subordinate land-holder of Waihee, to embroil Keeaumoku in a difficulty with his own people. To this end Kahanana complained—probably without cause—that he had been frequently neglected by the servants of Keeaumoku in the distribution of fish after fortunate catches, and urged his grievance with so good a showing of sincerity that many of his friends stood prepared to espouse his quarrel. This done, he armed himself for battle, and, the following night, killed three of Keeaumoku’s laborers. Being attacked in return, he was at once supported by a party of warriors secretly detailed for that purpose by Kahekili, and a general fight resulted, which lasted in a desultory way for three or four days. In the end, however, Keeaumoku and his party were overpowered and compelled to seek safety in flight.Keeaumoku and Namahana, with her mother and two brothers, and a considerable following of chiefs and retainers, escaped over the Eka mountains and embarked for Molokai. But Kahekili was not content with the escape of Keeaumoku from Maui. He resolved to destroy him, and soon after invaded Molokai with a large force. Keeaumoku and his allies met the invaders in war-canoes as they approached the shore. A desperate sea-fight followed, which was continued long into the night by torchlight; but Keeaumoku was again defeated, and with difficulty escaped to Hana with Namahana and her relatives.This placed Keeaumoku beyond the reach of Kahekili, for that district of Maui was still under Hawaiian control; but in escaping from one enemy he was compelled to throw himself uponthe mercy of another. He was hospitably received, however, by Mahihelelima, the governor of the district, and was so far forgiven by Kalaniopuu as to be permitted to remain under the protection of the fortress of Kauwiki, where for some time, in the shaded valleys at the base of Haleakala, he found a respite new to his turbulent life.
I.
The days had just begun to lengthen after the summer solstice of 1765 when a great grief fell upon the royal court of the island of Maui. Kamehamehanui, the king, had died very suddenly at Wailuku, which had been his favorite place of residence, and his brother and successor, Kahekili, had removed his court to Lahaina. The bones of the dead king had been carefully secreted, the customary mourning excesses had been indulged in, and many new apportionments of lands had been made in accordance with the bequests of the deceasedmoiand the will of his successor.Kamehamehanui was an amiable sovereign, but his reign was not as successful as that of his father, Kekaulike. His right to the sceptre had been contested by his brother, Kauhia, and he was secured in it only through the efforts of Alapainui, the king of Hawaii. Subsequently Kalaniopuu, the successor of Alapainui, wrested from him the district of Hana and the celebrated fortress of Kauwiki, and retained possession of both at the time of Kamehamehanui’s death. The lands of the district might have been recaptured, perhaps, but the fortress commanding them was well-nigh impregnable, and Hana remained a dependency of Hawaii.Kamehamehanui’s political wife was his half-sister Namahana, with whom he had two children; but as both of them died in their infancy, his brother, Kahekili, succeeded him asmoiof the island by common consent. After the death of his brother, Kahekili at once removed his court to Lahaina, where the customary period of mourning was concluded.It was while the members of the royal family were still in mourning at Lahaina that a distinguished stranger suddenly landed, with a number of personal attendants, and presentedhimself at court. His double canoe bore the ensign of analii, and his garb and bearing showed him to be of the higher nobility. His age was perhaps thirty years, although he looked somewhat older. He was over six feet in height, and well proportioned. His face was handsome, and his hair and beard were closely cropped. He was clad in amaroand short feather mantle, and around his head was bound a single fold of yellowkapa. By a cord of hair was suspended from his neck apalaoa, or carved whale’s tooth, and his left wrist was ornamented with a bracelet of curious shells. He was courageous, courtly, and in his best moods agreeable and captivating, and was a splendid representative of the rude chivalry of his time.As he stepped ashore and proceeded to the royal mansion, way was respectfully made for him, even as a stranger of distinguished bearing, and his name secured him admission at once to the presence of Kahekili, who welcomed him to Lahaina, and set apart ample accommodations for himself and lodgings for his attendants.Who was this stranger? He was no common chief who would have thus presumed to present himself at the court of themoiof Maui and expect the courtesy of royal entertainment. Two generations before Lonoikahaupu, who had peacefully inherited the sovereignty of the western side of the island of Kauai, while the noted Kualii, of Oahu, retained possession of the remainder, paid a royal visit of state to the windward islands of the group. His blood was of the best in the archipelago, and his equipment and retinue were brilliant and imposing. He embarked with a number of large double canoes, the royalkauluabeing over eighty feet in length, and was attended by a company of skilled musicians and dancers. He also took with him his chief navigator, priest and astrologer, and a corps of personal attendants in keeping with his rank.In turn he visited Oahu, Maui and Molokai, where he was entertained with distinguished honors, and then set sail for Hawaii, of which Keawe was then king. Touching at Hilo, he found that the royal court had been temporarily established in Kau, and thither he proceeded, to pay his respects to Keawe and his beautiful but volatile wife and half-sister, Kalani-kauleleiaiwi. He was becomingly received and entertained by the royal couple, and spent some weeks in the enjoyment of the festivitiesarranged for his amusement. The result was that the queen became enamored of the handsome Kauaian king, who was duly recognized at once as one of her husbands.From this union a son was born, who was named Keawepoepoe, when the father returned to Kauai and there remained. This son grew to manhood, and by marriage with Kumaiku, of the royal line of Maui, became the father of the three distinguished chiefs who, with Keawe-a-Heulu, were the leading captains of Kamehameha in the conquest of the group at the close of the eighteenth century. One of these sons of Keawepoepoe was Keeaumoku, the Warwick of his time, the slayer and maker of kings.Keeaumoku’s first effort in king-making occurred in 1754. On the death, in that year, of his uncle Alapainui, and the succession of his cousin Keaweopala to the Hawaiian throne, he became dissatisfied with his allotment of lands and raised the standard of revolt in Kekaha. Defeated, he fled in his canoes to Kau, where Kalaniopuu had for some years maintained himself in independence of Alapainui. Joining their forces, they marched northward, defeated and slew Keaweopala in Kona, and Kalaniopuu, who was the grandson of Keawe and had a valid claim to the sovereignty, was proclaimedmoiof Hawaii.It is probable that Keeaumoku’s services were substantially rewarded by Kalaniopuu; but in his early years he was turbulent and hot-tempered, and in 1765 he found a pretext for hurling defiance at the king and fortifying himself in the northern part of Kohala. Kalaniopuu promptly placed himself at the head of an adequate force, took the fort by assault, and crushed the rebellion with a single blow. But Keeaumoku escaped over thepalialone, reached the beach, secured a canoe and paddled out to sea. Night coming on and the skies being clouded, he lost his way and nearly perished through thirst and hunger; but he finally reached Lanai, where he found friends, and not long after sailed for Maui in a well-equipped double canoe and a respectable retinue of attendants. He landed at Lahaina, and the reader need not be told that the distinguished stranger who so suddenly presented himself at the court of Kahekili, as already mentioned, was Keeaumoku.The occupation of the district of Hana by the king of Hawaii was a source of irritation to Kahekili, and he welcomed Keeaumoku,not more as an enemy of Kalaniopuu than as a chief who might be useful to him in the war which he then meditated for the recovery of the captured territory.But Keeaumoku was not content to subsist upon the favor of Kahekili. In his veins ran the blood of kings, and his pride rebelled against a life of dependence, however attractive it might be made for him. But he was without available lands or revenues, for his rebellion against Kalaniopuu had deprived him of both, notwithstanding his inalienable landed rights in South Kona, and he began to cast about for the means of raising himself again to the dignity of a landed chief.His eyes soon fell upon the comely Namahana, widow of Kamehamehanui. To her belonged the fair and fertile lands of Waihee. But she was the inheritance of Kahekili, whose purpose it was to accept her as a wife at the end of her period of mourning. This must have been known to Keeaumoku, who was thoroughly acquainted with royal customs of his time; yet he paid such court to the sorrowing dowager, and so sweetly mingled his protestations of love with her sighs of grief, that she became his wife without consulting with themoi.Kahekili was naturally enraged at the union, and was about to manifest his displeasure in a manner dangerous to Keeaumoku, when Namahana retired with her new husband to her estates at Waihee. Kahekili’s first impulse was to follow and slay them both; but as Namahana was popular with the nobility, and Kahekili had not been in power long enough to be quite sure of the fealty of the chiefs, he discreetly concluded to leave to the future the punishment of the offending couple.Taking up his residence at Waihee, Keeaumoku enlarged and beautified his grounds and buildings, and established a petty court of princely etiquette and appointments. He was fond of display, and soon attracted to Waihee many of the more accomplished young chiefs of the island. The mother and two of the brothers of Namahana attached themselves to the household, and a number of Molokai chiefs, despoiled of their lands by the king of Oahu, became his retainers. He had carefully trained bands of musicians and dancers, and his entertainments were frequent and bountiful.In the midst of this semi-royal gayety and splendor Kahekili quietly crossed the mountains and temporarily established hiscourt at Wailuku, but a few miles from Waihee. He had heard of Keeaumoku’s royal style of living, and desired to learn from personal observation whether it was inspired by an innocent love of display or designs more ambitious. As Keeaumoku had rebelled against two successive Hawaiian sovereigns, and boldly seized the widow of a king in the very household of her royal claimant and protector, Kahekili had reason to regard him with suspicion, and a week’s stay at Wailuku, during which reserved courtesies had been exchanged between them, convinced him that Keeaumoku was a dangerous subject. But how was he to be dealt with? He had committed no act of treason, and an assault upon him would not be sustained by the chiefs.In this dilemma Kahekili resorted to strategy. He induced Kahanana, a resolute warrior and subordinate land-holder of Waihee, to embroil Keeaumoku in a difficulty with his own people. To this end Kahanana complained—probably without cause—that he had been frequently neglected by the servants of Keeaumoku in the distribution of fish after fortunate catches, and urged his grievance with so good a showing of sincerity that many of his friends stood prepared to espouse his quarrel. This done, he armed himself for battle, and, the following night, killed three of Keeaumoku’s laborers. Being attacked in return, he was at once supported by a party of warriors secretly detailed for that purpose by Kahekili, and a general fight resulted, which lasted in a desultory way for three or four days. In the end, however, Keeaumoku and his party were overpowered and compelled to seek safety in flight.Keeaumoku and Namahana, with her mother and two brothers, and a considerable following of chiefs and retainers, escaped over the Eka mountains and embarked for Molokai. But Kahekili was not content with the escape of Keeaumoku from Maui. He resolved to destroy him, and soon after invaded Molokai with a large force. Keeaumoku and his allies met the invaders in war-canoes as they approached the shore. A desperate sea-fight followed, which was continued long into the night by torchlight; but Keeaumoku was again defeated, and with difficulty escaped to Hana with Namahana and her relatives.This placed Keeaumoku beyond the reach of Kahekili, for that district of Maui was still under Hawaiian control; but in escaping from one enemy he was compelled to throw himself uponthe mercy of another. He was hospitably received, however, by Mahihelelima, the governor of the district, and was so far forgiven by Kalaniopuu as to be permitted to remain under the protection of the fortress of Kauwiki, where for some time, in the shaded valleys at the base of Haleakala, he found a respite new to his turbulent life.
The days had just begun to lengthen after the summer solstice of 1765 when a great grief fell upon the royal court of the island of Maui. Kamehamehanui, the king, had died very suddenly at Wailuku, which had been his favorite place of residence, and his brother and successor, Kahekili, had removed his court to Lahaina. The bones of the dead king had been carefully secreted, the customary mourning excesses had been indulged in, and many new apportionments of lands had been made in accordance with the bequests of the deceasedmoiand the will of his successor.
Kamehamehanui was an amiable sovereign, but his reign was not as successful as that of his father, Kekaulike. His right to the sceptre had been contested by his brother, Kauhia, and he was secured in it only through the efforts of Alapainui, the king of Hawaii. Subsequently Kalaniopuu, the successor of Alapainui, wrested from him the district of Hana and the celebrated fortress of Kauwiki, and retained possession of both at the time of Kamehamehanui’s death. The lands of the district might have been recaptured, perhaps, but the fortress commanding them was well-nigh impregnable, and Hana remained a dependency of Hawaii.
Kamehamehanui’s political wife was his half-sister Namahana, with whom he had two children; but as both of them died in their infancy, his brother, Kahekili, succeeded him asmoiof the island by common consent. After the death of his brother, Kahekili at once removed his court to Lahaina, where the customary period of mourning was concluded.
It was while the members of the royal family were still in mourning at Lahaina that a distinguished stranger suddenly landed, with a number of personal attendants, and presentedhimself at court. His double canoe bore the ensign of analii, and his garb and bearing showed him to be of the higher nobility. His age was perhaps thirty years, although he looked somewhat older. He was over six feet in height, and well proportioned. His face was handsome, and his hair and beard were closely cropped. He was clad in amaroand short feather mantle, and around his head was bound a single fold of yellowkapa. By a cord of hair was suspended from his neck apalaoa, or carved whale’s tooth, and his left wrist was ornamented with a bracelet of curious shells. He was courageous, courtly, and in his best moods agreeable and captivating, and was a splendid representative of the rude chivalry of his time.
As he stepped ashore and proceeded to the royal mansion, way was respectfully made for him, even as a stranger of distinguished bearing, and his name secured him admission at once to the presence of Kahekili, who welcomed him to Lahaina, and set apart ample accommodations for himself and lodgings for his attendants.
Who was this stranger? He was no common chief who would have thus presumed to present himself at the court of themoiof Maui and expect the courtesy of royal entertainment. Two generations before Lonoikahaupu, who had peacefully inherited the sovereignty of the western side of the island of Kauai, while the noted Kualii, of Oahu, retained possession of the remainder, paid a royal visit of state to the windward islands of the group. His blood was of the best in the archipelago, and his equipment and retinue were brilliant and imposing. He embarked with a number of large double canoes, the royalkauluabeing over eighty feet in length, and was attended by a company of skilled musicians and dancers. He also took with him his chief navigator, priest and astrologer, and a corps of personal attendants in keeping with his rank.
In turn he visited Oahu, Maui and Molokai, where he was entertained with distinguished honors, and then set sail for Hawaii, of which Keawe was then king. Touching at Hilo, he found that the royal court had been temporarily established in Kau, and thither he proceeded, to pay his respects to Keawe and his beautiful but volatile wife and half-sister, Kalani-kauleleiaiwi. He was becomingly received and entertained by the royal couple, and spent some weeks in the enjoyment of the festivitiesarranged for his amusement. The result was that the queen became enamored of the handsome Kauaian king, who was duly recognized at once as one of her husbands.
From this union a son was born, who was named Keawepoepoe, when the father returned to Kauai and there remained. This son grew to manhood, and by marriage with Kumaiku, of the royal line of Maui, became the father of the three distinguished chiefs who, with Keawe-a-Heulu, were the leading captains of Kamehameha in the conquest of the group at the close of the eighteenth century. One of these sons of Keawepoepoe was Keeaumoku, the Warwick of his time, the slayer and maker of kings.
Keeaumoku’s first effort in king-making occurred in 1754. On the death, in that year, of his uncle Alapainui, and the succession of his cousin Keaweopala to the Hawaiian throne, he became dissatisfied with his allotment of lands and raised the standard of revolt in Kekaha. Defeated, he fled in his canoes to Kau, where Kalaniopuu had for some years maintained himself in independence of Alapainui. Joining their forces, they marched northward, defeated and slew Keaweopala in Kona, and Kalaniopuu, who was the grandson of Keawe and had a valid claim to the sovereignty, was proclaimedmoiof Hawaii.
It is probable that Keeaumoku’s services were substantially rewarded by Kalaniopuu; but in his early years he was turbulent and hot-tempered, and in 1765 he found a pretext for hurling defiance at the king and fortifying himself in the northern part of Kohala. Kalaniopuu promptly placed himself at the head of an adequate force, took the fort by assault, and crushed the rebellion with a single blow. But Keeaumoku escaped over thepalialone, reached the beach, secured a canoe and paddled out to sea. Night coming on and the skies being clouded, he lost his way and nearly perished through thirst and hunger; but he finally reached Lanai, where he found friends, and not long after sailed for Maui in a well-equipped double canoe and a respectable retinue of attendants. He landed at Lahaina, and the reader need not be told that the distinguished stranger who so suddenly presented himself at the court of Kahekili, as already mentioned, was Keeaumoku.
The occupation of the district of Hana by the king of Hawaii was a source of irritation to Kahekili, and he welcomed Keeaumoku,not more as an enemy of Kalaniopuu than as a chief who might be useful to him in the war which he then meditated for the recovery of the captured territory.
But Keeaumoku was not content to subsist upon the favor of Kahekili. In his veins ran the blood of kings, and his pride rebelled against a life of dependence, however attractive it might be made for him. But he was without available lands or revenues, for his rebellion against Kalaniopuu had deprived him of both, notwithstanding his inalienable landed rights in South Kona, and he began to cast about for the means of raising himself again to the dignity of a landed chief.
His eyes soon fell upon the comely Namahana, widow of Kamehamehanui. To her belonged the fair and fertile lands of Waihee. But she was the inheritance of Kahekili, whose purpose it was to accept her as a wife at the end of her period of mourning. This must have been known to Keeaumoku, who was thoroughly acquainted with royal customs of his time; yet he paid such court to the sorrowing dowager, and so sweetly mingled his protestations of love with her sighs of grief, that she became his wife without consulting with themoi.
Kahekili was naturally enraged at the union, and was about to manifest his displeasure in a manner dangerous to Keeaumoku, when Namahana retired with her new husband to her estates at Waihee. Kahekili’s first impulse was to follow and slay them both; but as Namahana was popular with the nobility, and Kahekili had not been in power long enough to be quite sure of the fealty of the chiefs, he discreetly concluded to leave to the future the punishment of the offending couple.
Taking up his residence at Waihee, Keeaumoku enlarged and beautified his grounds and buildings, and established a petty court of princely etiquette and appointments. He was fond of display, and soon attracted to Waihee many of the more accomplished young chiefs of the island. The mother and two of the brothers of Namahana attached themselves to the household, and a number of Molokai chiefs, despoiled of their lands by the king of Oahu, became his retainers. He had carefully trained bands of musicians and dancers, and his entertainments were frequent and bountiful.
In the midst of this semi-royal gayety and splendor Kahekili quietly crossed the mountains and temporarily established hiscourt at Wailuku, but a few miles from Waihee. He had heard of Keeaumoku’s royal style of living, and desired to learn from personal observation whether it was inspired by an innocent love of display or designs more ambitious. As Keeaumoku had rebelled against two successive Hawaiian sovereigns, and boldly seized the widow of a king in the very household of her royal claimant and protector, Kahekili had reason to regard him with suspicion, and a week’s stay at Wailuku, during which reserved courtesies had been exchanged between them, convinced him that Keeaumoku was a dangerous subject. But how was he to be dealt with? He had committed no act of treason, and an assault upon him would not be sustained by the chiefs.
In this dilemma Kahekili resorted to strategy. He induced Kahanana, a resolute warrior and subordinate land-holder of Waihee, to embroil Keeaumoku in a difficulty with his own people. To this end Kahanana complained—probably without cause—that he had been frequently neglected by the servants of Keeaumoku in the distribution of fish after fortunate catches, and urged his grievance with so good a showing of sincerity that many of his friends stood prepared to espouse his quarrel. This done, he armed himself for battle, and, the following night, killed three of Keeaumoku’s laborers. Being attacked in return, he was at once supported by a party of warriors secretly detailed for that purpose by Kahekili, and a general fight resulted, which lasted in a desultory way for three or four days. In the end, however, Keeaumoku and his party were overpowered and compelled to seek safety in flight.
Keeaumoku and Namahana, with her mother and two brothers, and a considerable following of chiefs and retainers, escaped over the Eka mountains and embarked for Molokai. But Kahekili was not content with the escape of Keeaumoku from Maui. He resolved to destroy him, and soon after invaded Molokai with a large force. Keeaumoku and his allies met the invaders in war-canoes as they approached the shore. A desperate sea-fight followed, which was continued long into the night by torchlight; but Keeaumoku was again defeated, and with difficulty escaped to Hana with Namahana and her relatives.
This placed Keeaumoku beyond the reach of Kahekili, for that district of Maui was still under Hawaiian control; but in escaping from one enemy he was compelled to throw himself uponthe mercy of another. He was hospitably received, however, by Mahihelelima, the governor of the district, and was so far forgiven by Kalaniopuu as to be permitted to remain under the protection of the fortress of Kauwiki, where for some time, in the shaded valleys at the base of Haleakala, he found a respite new to his turbulent life.
II.In a secluded valley within sight of the fortress of Kauwiki, with a few devoted friends and attendants, Keeaumoku and his family lived unmolested and almost unnoticed for several years. It was a season of peace between Hawaii and Maui, and Keeaumoku spent his days in dreaming of wars to come, and political changes that would place him again in a position more consistent with his rank. He made spears and battle-axes, and laid them away; he constructed canoes and housed them near the neighboring beach.He loved his wife, who was content to share his exile, and when, in 1768, a daughter was born to him, Keeaumoku felt that the gods were smiling upon him once more, and took courage. It is said that the child was born with a yellow feather in her hand—a symbol of royalty—and she was named Kaahumanu and tenderly cared for.In 1775 Kalaniopuu, king of Hawaii, suddenly appeared in the district of Hana with a considerable force, and began to ravage the neighboring lands of Kaupo. Kahekili promptly met and repulsed him, however, and he returned to Hana and abandoned the campaign by re-embarking with his shattered army for Hawaii. Keeaumoku took no part in the brief struggle, and was disappointed that nothing decisive had been accomplished. The death of either of the two sovereigns engaged would have been to him a signal of deliverance. But he was not disheartened. He knew the war would soon be resumed on a grander scale, and found partial contentment in the hope that it would result in changes favorable to his fortunes.Exasperated at his defeat, Kalaniopuu spent nearly two years in preparing for a crushing invasion of Maui. In honor of his war-god,Kaili, he repaired and put in order twoheiaus, and instructedhis high-priest, Holoae, to maintain continuous religious services, and exert his highest powers to accomplish the defeat and death of Kahekili. He landed with six heavy divisions of warriors on the southern coast of Maui, but was defeated with great slaughter in the neighborhood of Wailuku, and compelled to sue for peace. With him were the two brothers of Keeaumoku, Kameeiamoku and Kamanawa, who attended the young Prince Kiwalao in his visit of conciliation to Kahekili after the battle.Kalaniopuu returned to Hawaii with what remained of his army, and the next year again invaded Maui, and for several months carried on a desultory warfare with Kahekili in the several districts of the island. He was assisted by the governor of Hana, and was able for some time to maintain a foothold in Hamakualoa and elsewhere.Keeaumoku offered his services to neither side, but remained a quiet and almost unobserved spectator of the hostile movements which at intervals convulsed the island, and sometimes swept past the very door of his exile home in Hana. The proper time for him to act had not yet arrived, and years of solitude had schooled him to patience.It was during this campaign that Captain Cook, the celebrated English explorer, arrived off the coast of Maui with the two vessels under his command, exhibiting faces that were new to the natives, and ships which seemed to be the ocean palaces of their gods. This was in November, 1778. In January of that year Cook had touched the group for the first time. He had landed at Kauai and Niihau, and had now returned from the Arctic seas to winter among the Hawaiian Islands.Abandoning the fruitless war, Kalaniopuu returned to Hawaii with his invading army. During the campaign of the year before he had been assisted to the extent of a battalion of warriors by Kahahana, king of Oahu. Among the followers of the Oahuanmoiat that time was the celebrated poet and prophet Keaulumoku. He was a native of Naohaku, in the Hamakua district of Hawaii, and was distantly related to Kahekili, being a son of a cousin of Kekaulike, the father of Kahekili. From his youth he was dreamy and psychologic, and spent his time in roaming among the hills, watching the stars and listening to the music of the ocean. Some years before he had become attached to the court of Kahahana, and had followed that sovereign to Maui in1777. He remained on the island after the return of Kahahana to Oahu, and the year following, when Kalaniopuu again invaded Maui, the poet was found among his household.Conveying the Body of Kalaniopuu to Honaunau.Conveying the Body of Kalaniopuu to Honaunau.(FROM A PAINTING IN THE ROYAL PALACE.)Although but sixty-two years of age, in appearance Keaulumoku was much older. His eyes were bright, but his form was bent, and his white hair and beard swept his shoulders. When he sang all listened, and his wild utterances were treasured up and repeated as inspirations from the gods. He was known on all the islands of the group, and it was safe for him to travel anywhere. He had been a friend of Keeaumoku, many years before, on Hawaii, and when he learned, during the campaign of 1778, that the unfortunate chief was an exile in Hana and had ceased to be accounted among the leaders of the time, he resolved to visit and console him.Without making his purpose known to any one, Keaulumoku crossed the mountains, and, the third day, stood before his friend in Hana. Their greeting was affectionate, and after eating they sat down and wailed over Keeaumoku’s misfortunes. Then Namahana came with stately grace to welcome the old poet, bringing with her Kaahumanu, who was then a bright-eyed child of ten. He kissed the hand of Namahana, advising her to be of good cheer, and, embracing the child and looking into her eyes, told her that his dreams that night should be of her. And so they were, for the next morning he solemnly sang in the shade of the palms that Kaahumanu would be loved by a chief of renown and become the wife of a king.“And what of her father?” inquired Keeaumoku. “Is he to rot with his spears in Hana?”“No,” replied the poet, promptly. “The great work of Keeaumoku’s life is still before him. He will become the slayer of princes and maker of kings.”“One have I already helped to royal honors,” returned the chief, doubtingly, “and by his favor I am stifling here in Hana.”“Another and a greater is still to follow, in whose service Keeaumoku will die in peace,” answered the poet.“Who is the coming hero?” inquired the chief.“You will not mistake him when you meet,” was the evasive reply.“And when will that be?” ventured Keeaumoku.No reply being made, the chief continued:“Well, no matter when; I have learned to be patient!”The predictions of the poet extended no farther; but his words cheered the heart of Keeaumoku, and when he left for Lahaina the next day, grateful eyes followed his footsteps far into the mountains.Returning to Hawaii after his unsuccessful campaign of 1778, Kalaniopuu remained for a time in Kona, and after the death of Captain Cook, in February, 1779, removed his court to Kohala, taking with him the poet Keaulumoku. The next year, feeling his end approaching—for he was nearly eighty years of age—Kalaniopuu set his kingdom in order by proclaiming his son Kiwalao as his successor, and naming his nephew, Kamehameha, as the custodian of his war-god. He then put down the rebellion of Imakakaloa in Kau, and, after changing residences two or three times for his health, finally died at Kailikii, in January, 1782.A few months before the death of Kalaniopuu, Kahekili, learning of the failing health of his old opponent, prepared for the recovery of the district of Hana, which had been for nearly forty years under Hawaiian rule. Marching into the district and investing the fortress of Kauwiki, he finally reduced it by cutting off its water-supply, and Eastern Maui again became a part of the dominions of themoiof Maui. This occurred about the time of the death of Kalaniopuu.But what became of Keeaumoku and his family, whose home for years had been among the hills of Hana? Learning of the meditated invasion of the district, and unwilling to trust himself to the mercy of Kahekili, Keeaumoku fled with his family to the almost barren island of Kahoolawe, where he lived in seclusion until after the fall of Kauwiki and death of Kalaniopuu, when he boldly returned to Hawaii, quietly settled on his old and inalienable estates at Kapalilua, in South Kona, and awaited the development of events, which he plainly perceived were rapidly and irresistibly tending toward wide-spread revolution and disorder. For more than fifteen years he had heard the clash of arms only at a distance, and he yearned for the shouts of battle and the music of marching columns.The mourning for Kalaniopuu continued for many weeks, and rumors unsatisfactory to the Kona chiefs were afloat concerning the newmoi’sproposed division of the lands subject to royal apportionment. Preparations for the burial of the bones of the deceased king were finally completed. In double canoes,one of them bearing the corpse of his royal father, Kiwalao set sail with a large party of chiefs, warriors and retainers for Honaunau. There it was his purpose to deposit the remains in the neighboring burial-place ofHale-a-Keawe, sacred to the ashes of Hawaiian kings, and then proceed with the redivision of such of the lands of the kingdom as were at his disposal.When off Honokua the second day, Keeaumoku came down from Kapalilua and boarded the fleet. His avowed purpose was to wail over the body of Kalaniopuu. His return to Hawaii had become generally known, and Kiwalao regarded with a curiosity not unmixed with suspicion the warring and impetuous chief, who had been first the friend and then the enemy of his father, and who had suddenly emerged at a critical moment full-armed from the obscurity of years.What was the object of Keeaumoku’s visit to the mourning fleet? Was he anxious, on the eve of stirring events, to behold the face of the young king, remembering the words of Keaulumoku, “You will know him when you meet”? Perhaps. But, whatever may have been his original purpose in visiting the fleet, when he left, in keeping with the turbulent instincts of his life, his thoughts were aglow with projects of rebellion.Hastening to Kehaha, where his brothers, Kameeiamoku and Kamanawa, with Kamehameha, Kekuhaupio and other chiefs, were in council, Keeaumoku informed them that the destination of Kiwalao was Kailua, which place he would proceed to occupy after depositing the royal remains at Honaunau. This information, he declared, was given to him by one of Kiwalao’s attendants.Not doubting the truth of Keeaumoku’s story, and believing it to be the purpose of Kiwalao to occupy the entire district of Kona, which embraced lands not subject to royal disposal, the assembled chiefs moved with their followers and occupied quarters in the neighborhood of Honaunau.Keeaumoku now became a leading spirit in the events which rapidly followed. The funeral cortege landed at Honaunau, the remains of the dead king were ceremoniously entombed atHale-a-Keawe, and Kiwalao ascended a platform, and to the assembled chiefs proclaimed the will of his father. In the divisions of lands that followed the Kona chiefs were not consulted; nor does it appear that they were additionally provided for, and Keeaumokuhad little difficulty in persuading them that they had been treated with intended disrespect and hostility.In an interview with Kiwalao, Kamehameha was coolly received, and the disaffected chiefs began to prepare for battle. They selected Kamehameha as their leader, and for some days there was a vigorous mustering of forces on both sides. An attack was finally made by the rebellious chiefs, and a battle of some magnitude ensued. Keeaumoku was again in his element. His voice was heard above the din of battle, and his famished weapons drank their fill of blood. Entangled with his spear, he fell upon the rocky ground. Several warriors rushed upon him. Two of them attacked him with daggers, while a third struck him in the back with a spear, exclaiming, “The spear has pierced the yellow-backed crab!”Kiwalao, not far distant, witnessed the encounter, and called to the assailants of Keeaumoku to secure hispalaoa, or ivory neck ornament. The attention of Kamanawa was attracted to the struggle, and he sprang with a few followers to the assistance of his brother, driving back his assailants. At that moment Kiwalao was struck in the temple with a stone, and fell stunned to the ground. Observing the circumstance, Keeaumoku crawled to the fallen king, and, with a knife edged with sharks’ teeth, cut his throat.With the death of Kiwalao the rout of his army became general. The victory made Kamehameha master of the districts of Kona, Kohala and Hamakua, while Keoua, the brother of Kiwalao, held possession of Kau and Puna, and Keawemauhili declared himself independent of both in Hilo.Keeaumoku’s brilliant part in this first of the battles of the period for the sovereignty of Hawaii established him at once in the favor of Kamehameha, and raised him high in the esteem of the distinguished chiefs whose valor ennobled the closing years of barbaric supremacy in the group.
II.
In a secluded valley within sight of the fortress of Kauwiki, with a few devoted friends and attendants, Keeaumoku and his family lived unmolested and almost unnoticed for several years. It was a season of peace between Hawaii and Maui, and Keeaumoku spent his days in dreaming of wars to come, and political changes that would place him again in a position more consistent with his rank. He made spears and battle-axes, and laid them away; he constructed canoes and housed them near the neighboring beach.He loved his wife, who was content to share his exile, and when, in 1768, a daughter was born to him, Keeaumoku felt that the gods were smiling upon him once more, and took courage. It is said that the child was born with a yellow feather in her hand—a symbol of royalty—and she was named Kaahumanu and tenderly cared for.In 1775 Kalaniopuu, king of Hawaii, suddenly appeared in the district of Hana with a considerable force, and began to ravage the neighboring lands of Kaupo. Kahekili promptly met and repulsed him, however, and he returned to Hana and abandoned the campaign by re-embarking with his shattered army for Hawaii. Keeaumoku took no part in the brief struggle, and was disappointed that nothing decisive had been accomplished. The death of either of the two sovereigns engaged would have been to him a signal of deliverance. But he was not disheartened. He knew the war would soon be resumed on a grander scale, and found partial contentment in the hope that it would result in changes favorable to his fortunes.Exasperated at his defeat, Kalaniopuu spent nearly two years in preparing for a crushing invasion of Maui. In honor of his war-god,Kaili, he repaired and put in order twoheiaus, and instructedhis high-priest, Holoae, to maintain continuous religious services, and exert his highest powers to accomplish the defeat and death of Kahekili. He landed with six heavy divisions of warriors on the southern coast of Maui, but was defeated with great slaughter in the neighborhood of Wailuku, and compelled to sue for peace. With him were the two brothers of Keeaumoku, Kameeiamoku and Kamanawa, who attended the young Prince Kiwalao in his visit of conciliation to Kahekili after the battle.Kalaniopuu returned to Hawaii with what remained of his army, and the next year again invaded Maui, and for several months carried on a desultory warfare with Kahekili in the several districts of the island. He was assisted by the governor of Hana, and was able for some time to maintain a foothold in Hamakualoa and elsewhere.Keeaumoku offered his services to neither side, but remained a quiet and almost unobserved spectator of the hostile movements which at intervals convulsed the island, and sometimes swept past the very door of his exile home in Hana. The proper time for him to act had not yet arrived, and years of solitude had schooled him to patience.It was during this campaign that Captain Cook, the celebrated English explorer, arrived off the coast of Maui with the two vessels under his command, exhibiting faces that were new to the natives, and ships which seemed to be the ocean palaces of their gods. This was in November, 1778. In January of that year Cook had touched the group for the first time. He had landed at Kauai and Niihau, and had now returned from the Arctic seas to winter among the Hawaiian Islands.Abandoning the fruitless war, Kalaniopuu returned to Hawaii with his invading army. During the campaign of the year before he had been assisted to the extent of a battalion of warriors by Kahahana, king of Oahu. Among the followers of the Oahuanmoiat that time was the celebrated poet and prophet Keaulumoku. He was a native of Naohaku, in the Hamakua district of Hawaii, and was distantly related to Kahekili, being a son of a cousin of Kekaulike, the father of Kahekili. From his youth he was dreamy and psychologic, and spent his time in roaming among the hills, watching the stars and listening to the music of the ocean. Some years before he had become attached to the court of Kahahana, and had followed that sovereign to Maui in1777. He remained on the island after the return of Kahahana to Oahu, and the year following, when Kalaniopuu again invaded Maui, the poet was found among his household.Conveying the Body of Kalaniopuu to Honaunau.Conveying the Body of Kalaniopuu to Honaunau.(FROM A PAINTING IN THE ROYAL PALACE.)Although but sixty-two years of age, in appearance Keaulumoku was much older. His eyes were bright, but his form was bent, and his white hair and beard swept his shoulders. When he sang all listened, and his wild utterances were treasured up and repeated as inspirations from the gods. He was known on all the islands of the group, and it was safe for him to travel anywhere. He had been a friend of Keeaumoku, many years before, on Hawaii, and when he learned, during the campaign of 1778, that the unfortunate chief was an exile in Hana and had ceased to be accounted among the leaders of the time, he resolved to visit and console him.Without making his purpose known to any one, Keaulumoku crossed the mountains, and, the third day, stood before his friend in Hana. Their greeting was affectionate, and after eating they sat down and wailed over Keeaumoku’s misfortunes. Then Namahana came with stately grace to welcome the old poet, bringing with her Kaahumanu, who was then a bright-eyed child of ten. He kissed the hand of Namahana, advising her to be of good cheer, and, embracing the child and looking into her eyes, told her that his dreams that night should be of her. And so they were, for the next morning he solemnly sang in the shade of the palms that Kaahumanu would be loved by a chief of renown and become the wife of a king.“And what of her father?” inquired Keeaumoku. “Is he to rot with his spears in Hana?”“No,” replied the poet, promptly. “The great work of Keeaumoku’s life is still before him. He will become the slayer of princes and maker of kings.”“One have I already helped to royal honors,” returned the chief, doubtingly, “and by his favor I am stifling here in Hana.”“Another and a greater is still to follow, in whose service Keeaumoku will die in peace,” answered the poet.“Who is the coming hero?” inquired the chief.“You will not mistake him when you meet,” was the evasive reply.“And when will that be?” ventured Keeaumoku.No reply being made, the chief continued:“Well, no matter when; I have learned to be patient!”The predictions of the poet extended no farther; but his words cheered the heart of Keeaumoku, and when he left for Lahaina the next day, grateful eyes followed his footsteps far into the mountains.Returning to Hawaii after his unsuccessful campaign of 1778, Kalaniopuu remained for a time in Kona, and after the death of Captain Cook, in February, 1779, removed his court to Kohala, taking with him the poet Keaulumoku. The next year, feeling his end approaching—for he was nearly eighty years of age—Kalaniopuu set his kingdom in order by proclaiming his son Kiwalao as his successor, and naming his nephew, Kamehameha, as the custodian of his war-god. He then put down the rebellion of Imakakaloa in Kau, and, after changing residences two or three times for his health, finally died at Kailikii, in January, 1782.A few months before the death of Kalaniopuu, Kahekili, learning of the failing health of his old opponent, prepared for the recovery of the district of Hana, which had been for nearly forty years under Hawaiian rule. Marching into the district and investing the fortress of Kauwiki, he finally reduced it by cutting off its water-supply, and Eastern Maui again became a part of the dominions of themoiof Maui. This occurred about the time of the death of Kalaniopuu.But what became of Keeaumoku and his family, whose home for years had been among the hills of Hana? Learning of the meditated invasion of the district, and unwilling to trust himself to the mercy of Kahekili, Keeaumoku fled with his family to the almost barren island of Kahoolawe, where he lived in seclusion until after the fall of Kauwiki and death of Kalaniopuu, when he boldly returned to Hawaii, quietly settled on his old and inalienable estates at Kapalilua, in South Kona, and awaited the development of events, which he plainly perceived were rapidly and irresistibly tending toward wide-spread revolution and disorder. For more than fifteen years he had heard the clash of arms only at a distance, and he yearned for the shouts of battle and the music of marching columns.The mourning for Kalaniopuu continued for many weeks, and rumors unsatisfactory to the Kona chiefs were afloat concerning the newmoi’sproposed division of the lands subject to royal apportionment. Preparations for the burial of the bones of the deceased king were finally completed. In double canoes,one of them bearing the corpse of his royal father, Kiwalao set sail with a large party of chiefs, warriors and retainers for Honaunau. There it was his purpose to deposit the remains in the neighboring burial-place ofHale-a-Keawe, sacred to the ashes of Hawaiian kings, and then proceed with the redivision of such of the lands of the kingdom as were at his disposal.When off Honokua the second day, Keeaumoku came down from Kapalilua and boarded the fleet. His avowed purpose was to wail over the body of Kalaniopuu. His return to Hawaii had become generally known, and Kiwalao regarded with a curiosity not unmixed with suspicion the warring and impetuous chief, who had been first the friend and then the enemy of his father, and who had suddenly emerged at a critical moment full-armed from the obscurity of years.What was the object of Keeaumoku’s visit to the mourning fleet? Was he anxious, on the eve of stirring events, to behold the face of the young king, remembering the words of Keaulumoku, “You will know him when you meet”? Perhaps. But, whatever may have been his original purpose in visiting the fleet, when he left, in keeping with the turbulent instincts of his life, his thoughts were aglow with projects of rebellion.Hastening to Kehaha, where his brothers, Kameeiamoku and Kamanawa, with Kamehameha, Kekuhaupio and other chiefs, were in council, Keeaumoku informed them that the destination of Kiwalao was Kailua, which place he would proceed to occupy after depositing the royal remains at Honaunau. This information, he declared, was given to him by one of Kiwalao’s attendants.Not doubting the truth of Keeaumoku’s story, and believing it to be the purpose of Kiwalao to occupy the entire district of Kona, which embraced lands not subject to royal disposal, the assembled chiefs moved with their followers and occupied quarters in the neighborhood of Honaunau.Keeaumoku now became a leading spirit in the events which rapidly followed. The funeral cortege landed at Honaunau, the remains of the dead king were ceremoniously entombed atHale-a-Keawe, and Kiwalao ascended a platform, and to the assembled chiefs proclaimed the will of his father. In the divisions of lands that followed the Kona chiefs were not consulted; nor does it appear that they were additionally provided for, and Keeaumokuhad little difficulty in persuading them that they had been treated with intended disrespect and hostility.In an interview with Kiwalao, Kamehameha was coolly received, and the disaffected chiefs began to prepare for battle. They selected Kamehameha as their leader, and for some days there was a vigorous mustering of forces on both sides. An attack was finally made by the rebellious chiefs, and a battle of some magnitude ensued. Keeaumoku was again in his element. His voice was heard above the din of battle, and his famished weapons drank their fill of blood. Entangled with his spear, he fell upon the rocky ground. Several warriors rushed upon him. Two of them attacked him with daggers, while a third struck him in the back with a spear, exclaiming, “The spear has pierced the yellow-backed crab!”Kiwalao, not far distant, witnessed the encounter, and called to the assailants of Keeaumoku to secure hispalaoa, or ivory neck ornament. The attention of Kamanawa was attracted to the struggle, and he sprang with a few followers to the assistance of his brother, driving back his assailants. At that moment Kiwalao was struck in the temple with a stone, and fell stunned to the ground. Observing the circumstance, Keeaumoku crawled to the fallen king, and, with a knife edged with sharks’ teeth, cut his throat.With the death of Kiwalao the rout of his army became general. The victory made Kamehameha master of the districts of Kona, Kohala and Hamakua, while Keoua, the brother of Kiwalao, held possession of Kau and Puna, and Keawemauhili declared himself independent of both in Hilo.Keeaumoku’s brilliant part in this first of the battles of the period for the sovereignty of Hawaii established him at once in the favor of Kamehameha, and raised him high in the esteem of the distinguished chiefs whose valor ennobled the closing years of barbaric supremacy in the group.
In a secluded valley within sight of the fortress of Kauwiki, with a few devoted friends and attendants, Keeaumoku and his family lived unmolested and almost unnoticed for several years. It was a season of peace between Hawaii and Maui, and Keeaumoku spent his days in dreaming of wars to come, and political changes that would place him again in a position more consistent with his rank. He made spears and battle-axes, and laid them away; he constructed canoes and housed them near the neighboring beach.
He loved his wife, who was content to share his exile, and when, in 1768, a daughter was born to him, Keeaumoku felt that the gods were smiling upon him once more, and took courage. It is said that the child was born with a yellow feather in her hand—a symbol of royalty—and she was named Kaahumanu and tenderly cared for.
In 1775 Kalaniopuu, king of Hawaii, suddenly appeared in the district of Hana with a considerable force, and began to ravage the neighboring lands of Kaupo. Kahekili promptly met and repulsed him, however, and he returned to Hana and abandoned the campaign by re-embarking with his shattered army for Hawaii. Keeaumoku took no part in the brief struggle, and was disappointed that nothing decisive had been accomplished. The death of either of the two sovereigns engaged would have been to him a signal of deliverance. But he was not disheartened. He knew the war would soon be resumed on a grander scale, and found partial contentment in the hope that it would result in changes favorable to his fortunes.
Exasperated at his defeat, Kalaniopuu spent nearly two years in preparing for a crushing invasion of Maui. In honor of his war-god,Kaili, he repaired and put in order twoheiaus, and instructedhis high-priest, Holoae, to maintain continuous religious services, and exert his highest powers to accomplish the defeat and death of Kahekili. He landed with six heavy divisions of warriors on the southern coast of Maui, but was defeated with great slaughter in the neighborhood of Wailuku, and compelled to sue for peace. With him were the two brothers of Keeaumoku, Kameeiamoku and Kamanawa, who attended the young Prince Kiwalao in his visit of conciliation to Kahekili after the battle.
Kalaniopuu returned to Hawaii with what remained of his army, and the next year again invaded Maui, and for several months carried on a desultory warfare with Kahekili in the several districts of the island. He was assisted by the governor of Hana, and was able for some time to maintain a foothold in Hamakualoa and elsewhere.
Keeaumoku offered his services to neither side, but remained a quiet and almost unobserved spectator of the hostile movements which at intervals convulsed the island, and sometimes swept past the very door of his exile home in Hana. The proper time for him to act had not yet arrived, and years of solitude had schooled him to patience.
It was during this campaign that Captain Cook, the celebrated English explorer, arrived off the coast of Maui with the two vessels under his command, exhibiting faces that were new to the natives, and ships which seemed to be the ocean palaces of their gods. This was in November, 1778. In January of that year Cook had touched the group for the first time. He had landed at Kauai and Niihau, and had now returned from the Arctic seas to winter among the Hawaiian Islands.
Abandoning the fruitless war, Kalaniopuu returned to Hawaii with his invading army. During the campaign of the year before he had been assisted to the extent of a battalion of warriors by Kahahana, king of Oahu. Among the followers of the Oahuanmoiat that time was the celebrated poet and prophet Keaulumoku. He was a native of Naohaku, in the Hamakua district of Hawaii, and was distantly related to Kahekili, being a son of a cousin of Kekaulike, the father of Kahekili. From his youth he was dreamy and psychologic, and spent his time in roaming among the hills, watching the stars and listening to the music of the ocean. Some years before he had become attached to the court of Kahahana, and had followed that sovereign to Maui in1777. He remained on the island after the return of Kahahana to Oahu, and the year following, when Kalaniopuu again invaded Maui, the poet was found among his household.
Conveying the Body of Kalaniopuu to Honaunau.Conveying the Body of Kalaniopuu to Honaunau.(FROM A PAINTING IN THE ROYAL PALACE.)
Conveying the Body of Kalaniopuu to Honaunau.
(FROM A PAINTING IN THE ROYAL PALACE.)
Although but sixty-two years of age, in appearance Keaulumoku was much older. His eyes were bright, but his form was bent, and his white hair and beard swept his shoulders. When he sang all listened, and his wild utterances were treasured up and repeated as inspirations from the gods. He was known on all the islands of the group, and it was safe for him to travel anywhere. He had been a friend of Keeaumoku, many years before, on Hawaii, and when he learned, during the campaign of 1778, that the unfortunate chief was an exile in Hana and had ceased to be accounted among the leaders of the time, he resolved to visit and console him.
Without making his purpose known to any one, Keaulumoku crossed the mountains, and, the third day, stood before his friend in Hana. Their greeting was affectionate, and after eating they sat down and wailed over Keeaumoku’s misfortunes. Then Namahana came with stately grace to welcome the old poet, bringing with her Kaahumanu, who was then a bright-eyed child of ten. He kissed the hand of Namahana, advising her to be of good cheer, and, embracing the child and looking into her eyes, told her that his dreams that night should be of her. And so they were, for the next morning he solemnly sang in the shade of the palms that Kaahumanu would be loved by a chief of renown and become the wife of a king.
“And what of her father?” inquired Keeaumoku. “Is he to rot with his spears in Hana?”
“No,” replied the poet, promptly. “The great work of Keeaumoku’s life is still before him. He will become the slayer of princes and maker of kings.”
“One have I already helped to royal honors,” returned the chief, doubtingly, “and by his favor I am stifling here in Hana.”
“Another and a greater is still to follow, in whose service Keeaumoku will die in peace,” answered the poet.
“Who is the coming hero?” inquired the chief.
“You will not mistake him when you meet,” was the evasive reply.
“And when will that be?” ventured Keeaumoku.
No reply being made, the chief continued:
“Well, no matter when; I have learned to be patient!”
The predictions of the poet extended no farther; but his words cheered the heart of Keeaumoku, and when he left for Lahaina the next day, grateful eyes followed his footsteps far into the mountains.
Returning to Hawaii after his unsuccessful campaign of 1778, Kalaniopuu remained for a time in Kona, and after the death of Captain Cook, in February, 1779, removed his court to Kohala, taking with him the poet Keaulumoku. The next year, feeling his end approaching—for he was nearly eighty years of age—Kalaniopuu set his kingdom in order by proclaiming his son Kiwalao as his successor, and naming his nephew, Kamehameha, as the custodian of his war-god. He then put down the rebellion of Imakakaloa in Kau, and, after changing residences two or three times for his health, finally died at Kailikii, in January, 1782.
A few months before the death of Kalaniopuu, Kahekili, learning of the failing health of his old opponent, prepared for the recovery of the district of Hana, which had been for nearly forty years under Hawaiian rule. Marching into the district and investing the fortress of Kauwiki, he finally reduced it by cutting off its water-supply, and Eastern Maui again became a part of the dominions of themoiof Maui. This occurred about the time of the death of Kalaniopuu.
But what became of Keeaumoku and his family, whose home for years had been among the hills of Hana? Learning of the meditated invasion of the district, and unwilling to trust himself to the mercy of Kahekili, Keeaumoku fled with his family to the almost barren island of Kahoolawe, where he lived in seclusion until after the fall of Kauwiki and death of Kalaniopuu, when he boldly returned to Hawaii, quietly settled on his old and inalienable estates at Kapalilua, in South Kona, and awaited the development of events, which he plainly perceived were rapidly and irresistibly tending toward wide-spread revolution and disorder. For more than fifteen years he had heard the clash of arms only at a distance, and he yearned for the shouts of battle and the music of marching columns.
The mourning for Kalaniopuu continued for many weeks, and rumors unsatisfactory to the Kona chiefs were afloat concerning the newmoi’sproposed division of the lands subject to royal apportionment. Preparations for the burial of the bones of the deceased king were finally completed. In double canoes,one of them bearing the corpse of his royal father, Kiwalao set sail with a large party of chiefs, warriors and retainers for Honaunau. There it was his purpose to deposit the remains in the neighboring burial-place ofHale-a-Keawe, sacred to the ashes of Hawaiian kings, and then proceed with the redivision of such of the lands of the kingdom as were at his disposal.
When off Honokua the second day, Keeaumoku came down from Kapalilua and boarded the fleet. His avowed purpose was to wail over the body of Kalaniopuu. His return to Hawaii had become generally known, and Kiwalao regarded with a curiosity not unmixed with suspicion the warring and impetuous chief, who had been first the friend and then the enemy of his father, and who had suddenly emerged at a critical moment full-armed from the obscurity of years.
What was the object of Keeaumoku’s visit to the mourning fleet? Was he anxious, on the eve of stirring events, to behold the face of the young king, remembering the words of Keaulumoku, “You will know him when you meet”? Perhaps. But, whatever may have been his original purpose in visiting the fleet, when he left, in keeping with the turbulent instincts of his life, his thoughts were aglow with projects of rebellion.
Hastening to Kehaha, where his brothers, Kameeiamoku and Kamanawa, with Kamehameha, Kekuhaupio and other chiefs, were in council, Keeaumoku informed them that the destination of Kiwalao was Kailua, which place he would proceed to occupy after depositing the royal remains at Honaunau. This information, he declared, was given to him by one of Kiwalao’s attendants.
Not doubting the truth of Keeaumoku’s story, and believing it to be the purpose of Kiwalao to occupy the entire district of Kona, which embraced lands not subject to royal disposal, the assembled chiefs moved with their followers and occupied quarters in the neighborhood of Honaunau.
Keeaumoku now became a leading spirit in the events which rapidly followed. The funeral cortege landed at Honaunau, the remains of the dead king were ceremoniously entombed atHale-a-Keawe, and Kiwalao ascended a platform, and to the assembled chiefs proclaimed the will of his father. In the divisions of lands that followed the Kona chiefs were not consulted; nor does it appear that they were additionally provided for, and Keeaumokuhad little difficulty in persuading them that they had been treated with intended disrespect and hostility.
In an interview with Kiwalao, Kamehameha was coolly received, and the disaffected chiefs began to prepare for battle. They selected Kamehameha as their leader, and for some days there was a vigorous mustering of forces on both sides. An attack was finally made by the rebellious chiefs, and a battle of some magnitude ensued. Keeaumoku was again in his element. His voice was heard above the din of battle, and his famished weapons drank their fill of blood. Entangled with his spear, he fell upon the rocky ground. Several warriors rushed upon him. Two of them attacked him with daggers, while a third struck him in the back with a spear, exclaiming, “The spear has pierced the yellow-backed crab!”
Kiwalao, not far distant, witnessed the encounter, and called to the assailants of Keeaumoku to secure hispalaoa, or ivory neck ornament. The attention of Kamanawa was attracted to the struggle, and he sprang with a few followers to the assistance of his brother, driving back his assailants. At that moment Kiwalao was struck in the temple with a stone, and fell stunned to the ground. Observing the circumstance, Keeaumoku crawled to the fallen king, and, with a knife edged with sharks’ teeth, cut his throat.
With the death of Kiwalao the rout of his army became general. The victory made Kamehameha master of the districts of Kona, Kohala and Hamakua, while Keoua, the brother of Kiwalao, held possession of Kau and Puna, and Keawemauhili declared himself independent of both in Hilo.
Keeaumoku’s brilliant part in this first of the battles of the period for the sovereignty of Hawaii established him at once in the favor of Kamehameha, and raised him high in the esteem of the distinguished chiefs whose valor ennobled the closing years of barbaric supremacy in the group.
III.War soon occurred between Kamehameha and the independent chiefs of Hilo and Kau, but, as no marked advantages to either side resulted, Kamehameha established his court at Halaula,in Kohala, and occupied himself in improving the condition of his people. During the campaign he had met with some reverses, but Keeaumoku’s faith in the final triumph of his great leader remained unshaken through every disaster. He thought he saw in him that captain, greater than Kalaniopuu, of whom the poet dreamed in Hana, and was soon after confirmed in the belief by the definite prophecy of Keaulumoku.Restlessly roaming from place to place, the old singer finally selected a temporary abode near Halaula, shortly after the removal of the court of Kamehameha to that village. There he was frequently visited by Keeaumoku, sometimes accompanied by Kaahumanu, who was budding into an attractive womanhood, and sometimes by Namahana, who regarded him with a reverence due to one whose utterances seemed to be inspired by the gods.Since the death of Kalaniopuu the voice of Keaulumoku had been silent. He mourned over the distracted condition of the island, and sympathized with the people in their enforced warfare with each other. Vainly had he sought to penetrate the mists of desolation and disorder, and catch a glimpse of what was beyond. No light had come to him through the clouds; to his prayers no answering voice had whispered in his dreams.But the curtain was raised for him at last, and, as the shades of the future trooped before him in awful pantomime, in a voice wild as the winds sweeping through the gorge of Nuuanu he chanted the propheticmeleofHau-i-Kalani. After describing the horrors of the civil war then desolating the island, he concluded by predicting that Kamehameha would triumph over his enemies, and in the end be hailed as the greatest of Hawaiian conquerors.The chant created great enthusiasm among the followers of Kamehameha. Keeaumoku listened to it with rapt attention, and at its conclusion stooped over the old poet and said:“I asked you a question in Hana, which you did not answer then. Is it answered now?”Keaulumoku looked into the face of the chief for a moment as if to collect his thoughts, and then dreamily replied:“It is answered!”“Such was my thought,” returned the chief. “I have some rare dainties from the sea. Come and eat with me to-night, and I will ask to be taught themeleyou have just chanted.”Keaulumoku made no reply, and Keeaumoku walked slowly toward the palace, trying to remember the words of the poet which had so thrilled his listeners.What occurred between Keeaumoku and the old poet during their repast that evening will never be known; but certain it is that henceforth Keeaumoku never doubted the final success of Kamehameha, and when, in the summer of 1785, the latter retired discomfited from an invasion of Hilo, Keeaumoku smiled as he said to his chief: “Thus far you have only skirmished with your enemies; you will win when you fight battles!”In 1784 Keaulumoku died. For months the old poet had lived alone in a hut near Kauhola. He avoided company and seldom spoke to any one. Feeling his end approaching, he one day announced that the evening following he would chant his lastmele. Hundreds collected around his hut at the time appointed. They did not enter, but sat down, conversing in whispers, and respectfully waited.An hour passed, and another, but the old singer did not make his appearance. Finally the mat which served as a door was drawn aside, and Keaulumoku’s white head and bent form were seen in the opening. Seating himself within view of all, he began to chant amelein tremulous tones. As he proceeded his voice became louder, and every word was breathlessly listened to. He spoke of the coming conquest of the group by Kamehameha, whom he designated as the son of Kahekili, and also as “the lone one.” He also predicted the early extinction of the Kamehameha dynasty, the domination of the white race, the destruction of the temples, and finally the gradual death of the Hawaiian people. Concluding his chant, the old seer raised his hands as if to bless his listeners, and fell back dead. A great wail went up from the people, and they tenderly bore the body of the dead poet to theheiau, where it was accorded the burial rites of a prophet.Much of the last prophecy of Keaulumoku was preserved and repeated, and by conversing with the many who listened to it Keeaumoku managed to secure a satisfactory version of the final song of the dying poet.From the first of Kamehameha’s battles Keeaumoku had not doubted the triumph of that chief over all adversaries in the end, and eagerly grasped at every circumstance calculatedto strengthen the conviction. So believing, his way seemed to be clear.But what of Kaahumanu, whose promised lover was to be a chief of renown, and whose husband was to be a king? She was an attractive maiden of seventeen, and a few months after the death of Keaulumoku, and while Kamehameha was engaged in peaceful pursuits at Halaula, her father suddenly brought her to court. Fresh, sparkling and graceful, and related to the royal lines of Maui and Hawaii, she attracted the immediate attention of Kamehameha, and he disposed of the claims of her many suitors at once by making her his wife.There was little in the appearance of the great chief to please the eye of a girl of seventeen. His features were rugged and irregular, and he held in contempt the courtly graces which imparted a charm to the intercourse with each other of the nobility of the time. He was already the husband of two recognized wives; but Kaahumanu was ambitious, and, with admiration but no affection for him, she consented to become his wife.Keeaumoku was now persistent in inspiring Kamehameha with the thought of becoming the master of the group. He recited to him the prophetic chants of Keaulumoku, and brought to him the favoring auguries of thekaulas.An unsuccessful attempt to recover the district of Hana in 1786 was followed in 1790 by another invasion of Maui, when Kamehameha completely subjugated the island, and then turned his attention to Keoua, the independent chief of Kau, who had slain the chief of Hilo and assumed the sovereignty of the southern districts of Hawaii.The war with Keoua continued for more than a year, and every effort of Kamehameha to crush this last of his rivals on Hawaii was successfully resisted. For nine years Keoua had maintained himself against the power of Kamehameha, and still remained master of Kau and the most of Puna. Treachery was finally resorted to, and Keoua fell.The old temple of Puukohola had been partially rebuilt, and a noted seer had predicted that its completion would give to Kamehameha the undisputed sovereignty of Hawaii. The temple was hastily finished, and Keoua was invited to a conference with his opponent at Kawaihae, with the view, he was led to believe, of peacefully settling their differences. Nearing theshore of the place of meeting, where he saw and exchanged greetings with Kamehameha, he was about to land when Keeaumoku met him in a canoe and treacherously assassinated him, and his body was taken to the newly-completed temple and sacrificed to the war-god of his betrayer.Keoua was a brave, noble, and magnanimous chief, and the apologists of Kamehameha have not succeeded in relieving him from the odium of Keeaumoku’s cowardly act. He was the half-brother of Kiwalao, and his death left Kamehameha the master of Hawaii.Truly, as predicted by the seer, had Keeaumoku become the slayer of princes and the maker of kings. But his work was not yet completed. Kamehameha was the sovereign of Hawaii, but the conquest of the group was still before him. Every circumstance, however, conspired in his favor. Kahekili, the warlike king of Maui and conqueror of Oahu, died in 1794, and a rupture had occurred between his successor and Kaeo, themoiof Kauai.Everything being in readiness, early in 1795 Kamehameha invaded Oahu with a mighty army, defeated and subsequently captured and sacrificed to his war-god King Kalanikupule, and shortly after received the submission of themoiof Kauai—thus becoming the acknowledged master of, and for the first time in their history consolidating under one government, the several islands of the Hawaiian group.The prophecies of Keaulumoku have all been fulfilled. Keeaumoku, the slayer of princes and maker of kings, died peacefully as governor of the windward islands in 1804. Kaahumanu became the wife of a king, and died as chief counsellor of the islands in 1832. The temples of the Hawaiian gods were destroyed immediately after the death of Kamehameha, in 1819, and but a tenth of the number of natives found on the islands at the close of the last century are now left to sing of the achievements of their ancestors, who first made their home in the group when the Roman Empire was falling to pieces under the assaults of Northern barbarism.
III.
War soon occurred between Kamehameha and the independent chiefs of Hilo and Kau, but, as no marked advantages to either side resulted, Kamehameha established his court at Halaula,in Kohala, and occupied himself in improving the condition of his people. During the campaign he had met with some reverses, but Keeaumoku’s faith in the final triumph of his great leader remained unshaken through every disaster. He thought he saw in him that captain, greater than Kalaniopuu, of whom the poet dreamed in Hana, and was soon after confirmed in the belief by the definite prophecy of Keaulumoku.Restlessly roaming from place to place, the old singer finally selected a temporary abode near Halaula, shortly after the removal of the court of Kamehameha to that village. There he was frequently visited by Keeaumoku, sometimes accompanied by Kaahumanu, who was budding into an attractive womanhood, and sometimes by Namahana, who regarded him with a reverence due to one whose utterances seemed to be inspired by the gods.Since the death of Kalaniopuu the voice of Keaulumoku had been silent. He mourned over the distracted condition of the island, and sympathized with the people in their enforced warfare with each other. Vainly had he sought to penetrate the mists of desolation and disorder, and catch a glimpse of what was beyond. No light had come to him through the clouds; to his prayers no answering voice had whispered in his dreams.But the curtain was raised for him at last, and, as the shades of the future trooped before him in awful pantomime, in a voice wild as the winds sweeping through the gorge of Nuuanu he chanted the propheticmeleofHau-i-Kalani. After describing the horrors of the civil war then desolating the island, he concluded by predicting that Kamehameha would triumph over his enemies, and in the end be hailed as the greatest of Hawaiian conquerors.The chant created great enthusiasm among the followers of Kamehameha. Keeaumoku listened to it with rapt attention, and at its conclusion stooped over the old poet and said:“I asked you a question in Hana, which you did not answer then. Is it answered now?”Keaulumoku looked into the face of the chief for a moment as if to collect his thoughts, and then dreamily replied:“It is answered!”“Such was my thought,” returned the chief. “I have some rare dainties from the sea. Come and eat with me to-night, and I will ask to be taught themeleyou have just chanted.”Keaulumoku made no reply, and Keeaumoku walked slowly toward the palace, trying to remember the words of the poet which had so thrilled his listeners.What occurred between Keeaumoku and the old poet during their repast that evening will never be known; but certain it is that henceforth Keeaumoku never doubted the final success of Kamehameha, and when, in the summer of 1785, the latter retired discomfited from an invasion of Hilo, Keeaumoku smiled as he said to his chief: “Thus far you have only skirmished with your enemies; you will win when you fight battles!”In 1784 Keaulumoku died. For months the old poet had lived alone in a hut near Kauhola. He avoided company and seldom spoke to any one. Feeling his end approaching, he one day announced that the evening following he would chant his lastmele. Hundreds collected around his hut at the time appointed. They did not enter, but sat down, conversing in whispers, and respectfully waited.An hour passed, and another, but the old singer did not make his appearance. Finally the mat which served as a door was drawn aside, and Keaulumoku’s white head and bent form were seen in the opening. Seating himself within view of all, he began to chant amelein tremulous tones. As he proceeded his voice became louder, and every word was breathlessly listened to. He spoke of the coming conquest of the group by Kamehameha, whom he designated as the son of Kahekili, and also as “the lone one.” He also predicted the early extinction of the Kamehameha dynasty, the domination of the white race, the destruction of the temples, and finally the gradual death of the Hawaiian people. Concluding his chant, the old seer raised his hands as if to bless his listeners, and fell back dead. A great wail went up from the people, and they tenderly bore the body of the dead poet to theheiau, where it was accorded the burial rites of a prophet.Much of the last prophecy of Keaulumoku was preserved and repeated, and by conversing with the many who listened to it Keeaumoku managed to secure a satisfactory version of the final song of the dying poet.From the first of Kamehameha’s battles Keeaumoku had not doubted the triumph of that chief over all adversaries in the end, and eagerly grasped at every circumstance calculatedto strengthen the conviction. So believing, his way seemed to be clear.But what of Kaahumanu, whose promised lover was to be a chief of renown, and whose husband was to be a king? She was an attractive maiden of seventeen, and a few months after the death of Keaulumoku, and while Kamehameha was engaged in peaceful pursuits at Halaula, her father suddenly brought her to court. Fresh, sparkling and graceful, and related to the royal lines of Maui and Hawaii, she attracted the immediate attention of Kamehameha, and he disposed of the claims of her many suitors at once by making her his wife.There was little in the appearance of the great chief to please the eye of a girl of seventeen. His features were rugged and irregular, and he held in contempt the courtly graces which imparted a charm to the intercourse with each other of the nobility of the time. He was already the husband of two recognized wives; but Kaahumanu was ambitious, and, with admiration but no affection for him, she consented to become his wife.Keeaumoku was now persistent in inspiring Kamehameha with the thought of becoming the master of the group. He recited to him the prophetic chants of Keaulumoku, and brought to him the favoring auguries of thekaulas.An unsuccessful attempt to recover the district of Hana in 1786 was followed in 1790 by another invasion of Maui, when Kamehameha completely subjugated the island, and then turned his attention to Keoua, the independent chief of Kau, who had slain the chief of Hilo and assumed the sovereignty of the southern districts of Hawaii.The war with Keoua continued for more than a year, and every effort of Kamehameha to crush this last of his rivals on Hawaii was successfully resisted. For nine years Keoua had maintained himself against the power of Kamehameha, and still remained master of Kau and the most of Puna. Treachery was finally resorted to, and Keoua fell.The old temple of Puukohola had been partially rebuilt, and a noted seer had predicted that its completion would give to Kamehameha the undisputed sovereignty of Hawaii. The temple was hastily finished, and Keoua was invited to a conference with his opponent at Kawaihae, with the view, he was led to believe, of peacefully settling their differences. Nearing theshore of the place of meeting, where he saw and exchanged greetings with Kamehameha, he was about to land when Keeaumoku met him in a canoe and treacherously assassinated him, and his body was taken to the newly-completed temple and sacrificed to the war-god of his betrayer.Keoua was a brave, noble, and magnanimous chief, and the apologists of Kamehameha have not succeeded in relieving him from the odium of Keeaumoku’s cowardly act. He was the half-brother of Kiwalao, and his death left Kamehameha the master of Hawaii.Truly, as predicted by the seer, had Keeaumoku become the slayer of princes and the maker of kings. But his work was not yet completed. Kamehameha was the sovereign of Hawaii, but the conquest of the group was still before him. Every circumstance, however, conspired in his favor. Kahekili, the warlike king of Maui and conqueror of Oahu, died in 1794, and a rupture had occurred between his successor and Kaeo, themoiof Kauai.Everything being in readiness, early in 1795 Kamehameha invaded Oahu with a mighty army, defeated and subsequently captured and sacrificed to his war-god King Kalanikupule, and shortly after received the submission of themoiof Kauai—thus becoming the acknowledged master of, and for the first time in their history consolidating under one government, the several islands of the Hawaiian group.The prophecies of Keaulumoku have all been fulfilled. Keeaumoku, the slayer of princes and maker of kings, died peacefully as governor of the windward islands in 1804. Kaahumanu became the wife of a king, and died as chief counsellor of the islands in 1832. The temples of the Hawaiian gods were destroyed immediately after the death of Kamehameha, in 1819, and but a tenth of the number of natives found on the islands at the close of the last century are now left to sing of the achievements of their ancestors, who first made their home in the group when the Roman Empire was falling to pieces under the assaults of Northern barbarism.
War soon occurred between Kamehameha and the independent chiefs of Hilo and Kau, but, as no marked advantages to either side resulted, Kamehameha established his court at Halaula,in Kohala, and occupied himself in improving the condition of his people. During the campaign he had met with some reverses, but Keeaumoku’s faith in the final triumph of his great leader remained unshaken through every disaster. He thought he saw in him that captain, greater than Kalaniopuu, of whom the poet dreamed in Hana, and was soon after confirmed in the belief by the definite prophecy of Keaulumoku.
Restlessly roaming from place to place, the old singer finally selected a temporary abode near Halaula, shortly after the removal of the court of Kamehameha to that village. There he was frequently visited by Keeaumoku, sometimes accompanied by Kaahumanu, who was budding into an attractive womanhood, and sometimes by Namahana, who regarded him with a reverence due to one whose utterances seemed to be inspired by the gods.
Since the death of Kalaniopuu the voice of Keaulumoku had been silent. He mourned over the distracted condition of the island, and sympathized with the people in their enforced warfare with each other. Vainly had he sought to penetrate the mists of desolation and disorder, and catch a glimpse of what was beyond. No light had come to him through the clouds; to his prayers no answering voice had whispered in his dreams.
But the curtain was raised for him at last, and, as the shades of the future trooped before him in awful pantomime, in a voice wild as the winds sweeping through the gorge of Nuuanu he chanted the propheticmeleofHau-i-Kalani. After describing the horrors of the civil war then desolating the island, he concluded by predicting that Kamehameha would triumph over his enemies, and in the end be hailed as the greatest of Hawaiian conquerors.
The chant created great enthusiasm among the followers of Kamehameha. Keeaumoku listened to it with rapt attention, and at its conclusion stooped over the old poet and said:
“I asked you a question in Hana, which you did not answer then. Is it answered now?”
Keaulumoku looked into the face of the chief for a moment as if to collect his thoughts, and then dreamily replied:
“It is answered!”
“Such was my thought,” returned the chief. “I have some rare dainties from the sea. Come and eat with me to-night, and I will ask to be taught themeleyou have just chanted.”
Keaulumoku made no reply, and Keeaumoku walked slowly toward the palace, trying to remember the words of the poet which had so thrilled his listeners.
What occurred between Keeaumoku and the old poet during their repast that evening will never be known; but certain it is that henceforth Keeaumoku never doubted the final success of Kamehameha, and when, in the summer of 1785, the latter retired discomfited from an invasion of Hilo, Keeaumoku smiled as he said to his chief: “Thus far you have only skirmished with your enemies; you will win when you fight battles!”
In 1784 Keaulumoku died. For months the old poet had lived alone in a hut near Kauhola. He avoided company and seldom spoke to any one. Feeling his end approaching, he one day announced that the evening following he would chant his lastmele. Hundreds collected around his hut at the time appointed. They did not enter, but sat down, conversing in whispers, and respectfully waited.
An hour passed, and another, but the old singer did not make his appearance. Finally the mat which served as a door was drawn aside, and Keaulumoku’s white head and bent form were seen in the opening. Seating himself within view of all, he began to chant amelein tremulous tones. As he proceeded his voice became louder, and every word was breathlessly listened to. He spoke of the coming conquest of the group by Kamehameha, whom he designated as the son of Kahekili, and also as “the lone one.” He also predicted the early extinction of the Kamehameha dynasty, the domination of the white race, the destruction of the temples, and finally the gradual death of the Hawaiian people. Concluding his chant, the old seer raised his hands as if to bless his listeners, and fell back dead. A great wail went up from the people, and they tenderly bore the body of the dead poet to theheiau, where it was accorded the burial rites of a prophet.
Much of the last prophecy of Keaulumoku was preserved and repeated, and by conversing with the many who listened to it Keeaumoku managed to secure a satisfactory version of the final song of the dying poet.
From the first of Kamehameha’s battles Keeaumoku had not doubted the triumph of that chief over all adversaries in the end, and eagerly grasped at every circumstance calculatedto strengthen the conviction. So believing, his way seemed to be clear.
But what of Kaahumanu, whose promised lover was to be a chief of renown, and whose husband was to be a king? She was an attractive maiden of seventeen, and a few months after the death of Keaulumoku, and while Kamehameha was engaged in peaceful pursuits at Halaula, her father suddenly brought her to court. Fresh, sparkling and graceful, and related to the royal lines of Maui and Hawaii, she attracted the immediate attention of Kamehameha, and he disposed of the claims of her many suitors at once by making her his wife.
There was little in the appearance of the great chief to please the eye of a girl of seventeen. His features were rugged and irregular, and he held in contempt the courtly graces which imparted a charm to the intercourse with each other of the nobility of the time. He was already the husband of two recognized wives; but Kaahumanu was ambitious, and, with admiration but no affection for him, she consented to become his wife.
Keeaumoku was now persistent in inspiring Kamehameha with the thought of becoming the master of the group. He recited to him the prophetic chants of Keaulumoku, and brought to him the favoring auguries of thekaulas.
An unsuccessful attempt to recover the district of Hana in 1786 was followed in 1790 by another invasion of Maui, when Kamehameha completely subjugated the island, and then turned his attention to Keoua, the independent chief of Kau, who had slain the chief of Hilo and assumed the sovereignty of the southern districts of Hawaii.
The war with Keoua continued for more than a year, and every effort of Kamehameha to crush this last of his rivals on Hawaii was successfully resisted. For nine years Keoua had maintained himself against the power of Kamehameha, and still remained master of Kau and the most of Puna. Treachery was finally resorted to, and Keoua fell.
The old temple of Puukohola had been partially rebuilt, and a noted seer had predicted that its completion would give to Kamehameha the undisputed sovereignty of Hawaii. The temple was hastily finished, and Keoua was invited to a conference with his opponent at Kawaihae, with the view, he was led to believe, of peacefully settling their differences. Nearing theshore of the place of meeting, where he saw and exchanged greetings with Kamehameha, he was about to land when Keeaumoku met him in a canoe and treacherously assassinated him, and his body was taken to the newly-completed temple and sacrificed to the war-god of his betrayer.
Keoua was a brave, noble, and magnanimous chief, and the apologists of Kamehameha have not succeeded in relieving him from the odium of Keeaumoku’s cowardly act. He was the half-brother of Kiwalao, and his death left Kamehameha the master of Hawaii.
Truly, as predicted by the seer, had Keeaumoku become the slayer of princes and the maker of kings. But his work was not yet completed. Kamehameha was the sovereign of Hawaii, but the conquest of the group was still before him. Every circumstance, however, conspired in his favor. Kahekili, the warlike king of Maui and conqueror of Oahu, died in 1794, and a rupture had occurred between his successor and Kaeo, themoiof Kauai.
Everything being in readiness, early in 1795 Kamehameha invaded Oahu with a mighty army, defeated and subsequently captured and sacrificed to his war-god King Kalanikupule, and shortly after received the submission of themoiof Kauai—thus becoming the acknowledged master of, and for the first time in their history consolidating under one government, the several islands of the Hawaiian group.
The prophecies of Keaulumoku have all been fulfilled. Keeaumoku, the slayer of princes and maker of kings, died peacefully as governor of the windward islands in 1804. Kaahumanu became the wife of a king, and died as chief counsellor of the islands in 1832. The temples of the Hawaiian gods were destroyed immediately after the death of Kamehameha, in 1819, and but a tenth of the number of natives found on the islands at the close of the last century are now left to sing of the achievements of their ancestors, who first made their home in the group when the Roman Empire was falling to pieces under the assaults of Northern barbarism.