The Sacred Spear-Point.

The Sacred Spear-Point.CHARACTERS.Kakaeand}jointmoisof Maui.Kakaalaneo,Kahekili, son of Kakae.Kaululaau, son of Kakaalaneo.Waolani, a high-priest of Maui.Kalona-iki, king of Oahu.Laiea-a-Ewa, sister of the queen of Oahu.Kamakaua, a companion of Kaululaau.Kauholanui-mahu, king of Hawaii.Neula, queen of Hawaii.Noakua, a chief of Kohala, Hawaii.Pele, goddess of Kilauea.Keuakepo, brother of Pele.Mooaleo, a gnome-god of Molokai.Pueoalii, a winged demon of Oahu.THE SACRED SPEAR-POINT.THE ADVENTURES OF KAULULAAU, PRINCE OF MAUI.I.Kaululaau was one of the sons of Kakaalaneo, brother of, and joint ruler with, Kakae in the government of Maui. The latter was the legitimate heir to themoiship, but, as he was weak-minded, Kakaalaneo ruled jointly with him and was the real sovereign of the little kingdom. The court of the brothers was at Lele (now Lahaina), and was one of the most distinguished in the group.The mother of Kaululaau was Kanikaniaula, of the family of Kamauaua, king of Molokai, through his son Haili, who was the brother or half-brother of Keoloewa and Kaupeepee. The latter, it will be remembered, was the abductor of the celebrated Hina, of Hawaii, and the family was of the old strain of Maweke.Kaululaau was probably born somewhere between the years 1390 and 1400. He had a half-sister, whose name was Wao, and a half-brother, Kaihiwalua, who was the father of Luaia, who became the husband of a daughter of Piliwale,moiof Oahu, and brother of Lo-Lale. He doubtless had other brothers and sisters, since his father was blessed with two or more wives, but the legends fail to refer to them.Kahekili, son of Kakae, and who became his successor in themoiship, was of near the age of his cousin, Kaululaau, and the two princes grew to manhood together. They were instructed by the same teachers, schooled in the same arts and chiefly accomplishments, and chanted the same genealogicalmeles. Yet in disposition and personal appearance they were widely different.From his youth Kahekili was staid, sober and thoughtful. Bred to the knowledge that he would succeed his father asmoiof the island, he began early in life to prepare himself for the proper exercise of supreme authority, and at the age of twenty was noted for his intelligence, dignity and royal bearing. He had been told by a prophet that one of his name would be the last independentking of Maui, and the information rendered him solicitous for his future and drove many a smile from his lips. Yet, with all his austerity and circumspection, he was kind-hearted and affectionate, and his pastimes were such as comported with his dignity. In height he was somewhat below the chiefly medium, and his features were rugged and of a Papuan cast; but all knew that he was royal in heart and thought, and the respect due to him was not withheld.Kaululaau was unlike his royal cousin in almost every respect. He was noted alike for his intelligence, his manly beauty and his rollicking spirit of mischief and merriment. He did not covet the sceptre. He thought more of a wild debauch, with music, dancing and a calabash ofawa, than the right to command “downward” or “upward the face”; and since Kahekili was the designated successor of his father, he claimed the right, as a favored andtabusubject of the realm, to enjoy himself in such manner as best accorded with his tastes. As he could not make laws, he found a pleasure in breaking them. He was neither wantonly cruel nor malignant, but recklessly wild and mischievous, and neither the reproofs of his father nor the mild persuasions of his cousin were sufficient to restrain him. His bantering reply to the latter was: “When you become king I will act with more propriety. Twomoiscan afford one wild prince.”He had a congenial following of companions and retainers, who assisted him in his schemes of mischief. With feasting andhuladancing he would keep the village in an uproar for a dozen consecutive nights. He would send canoes adrift, open the gates of fish-ponds, remove the supports of houses, and paint swine black to deceive the sacrificial priests. He devised an instrument to imitate the death-warning notes of thealae, and frightened people by sounding it near their doors; and to others he caused information to be conveyed that they were being prayed to death.Notwithstanding these misdemeanors, Kaululaau was popular with the people, since the chiefs or members of the royal household were usually the victims of his mischievous freaks. He was encouraged in his disposition to qualify himself for the priesthood, under the instruction of the eminent high-priest and prophet, Waolani, and had made substantial advances in the calling, when he was banished to the island of Lanai by his royal father for an offence which could neither be overlooked nor forgiven.At that time Lanai was infested with a number of gnomes, monsters and evil spirits, among them the giganticmoo, Mooaleo. They ravaged fields, uprooted cocoanut-trees, destroyed the walls of fish-ponds, and otherwise frightened and discomfited the inhabitants of the island. That his residence there might be made endurable, Kaululaau was instructed by thekaulasand sorcerers of the court in many charms, spells, prayers and incantations with which to resist the powers of the supernatural monsters. When informed of these exorcising agencies by Kaululaau, his friend, the venerable high-priest, Waolani, told him that they would avail him nothing against the more powerful and malignant of the demons of Lanai.Disheartened at the declaration, Kaululaau was about to leave theheiauto embark for Lanai, when Waolani, after some hesitation, stayed his departure, and, entering the inner temple, soon returned with a small roll ofkapain his hand. Slowly uncording and removing many folds of cloth, an ivory spear-point a span in length was finally brought to view. Holding it before the prince, he said:“Take this. It will serve you in any way you may require. Its powers are greater than those of any god inhabiting the earth. It has been dipped in the waters ofPo, and many generations ago was left by Lono upon one of his altars for the protection of a temple menaced by a mighty fish-god who found a retreat beneath it in a great cavern connected with the sea. Draw a line with it and nothing can pass the mark. Affix it to a spear and throw it, and it will reach the object, no matter how far distant. Much more will it do, but let what I have said suffice.”The prince eagerly reached to possess the treasure, but the priest withdrew it and continued:“I give it to you on condition that it pass from you to no other hands than mine, and that if I am no longer living when you return to Maui—as you some day will—you will secretly deposit it with my bones. Swear to this in the name of Lono.”Kaululaau solemnly pronounced the required oath. The priest then handed him the talisman, wrapped in thekapafrom which it had been taken, and he left the temple, and immediately embarked with a number of his attendants for Lanai.Reaching Lanai, he established his household on the south side of the island. Learning his name and rank, the peopletreated him with great respect—for Lanai was then a dependency of Maui—assisted in the construction of the houses necessary for his accommodation, and provided him with fish,poi, fruits and potatoes in great abundance. In return for this devotion he set about ridding the island of the supernatural pests with which it had been for years afflicted.In the legend of “Kelea, the Surf-rider of Maui,” will be found some reference to the battles of Kaululaau with the evil spirits and monsters of Lanai. His most stubborn conflict was with the gnome god Mooaleo. He imprisoned the demon within the earth by drawing a line around him with the sacred spear-point, and subsequently released and drove him into the sea.More than a year was spent by Kaululaau in quieting and expelling from the island the malicious monsters that troubled it, but he succeeded in the end in completely relieving the people from their vexatious visitations. This added immeasurably to his popularity, and the choicest of the products of land and sea were laid at his feet.His triumph over the demons of Lanai was soon known on the other islands of the group, and when it reached the ears of Kakaalaneo he despatched a messenger to his son, offering his forgiveness and recalling him from exile. The service he had rendered was important, and his royal father was anxious to recognize it by restoring him to favor.But Kaululaau showed no haste in availing himself of his father’s magnanimity. Far from the restraints of the court, he had become attached to the independent life he had found in exile, and could think of no comforts or enjoyments unattainable on Lanai. The women there were as handsome as elsewhere, the bananas were as sweet, the cocoanuts were as large, theawawas as stimulating, and the fisheries were as varied and abundant in product. He had congenial companionship, and bands of musicians and dancers at his call. The best of the earth and the love of the people were his, and theapapanisang in the grove that shaded his door. What more could he ask, what more expect should he return to Maui? His exile had ceased to be a punishment, and his father’s message of recall was scarcely deemed a favor.However, Kaululaau returned a respectful answer by his father’s messenger, thanking Kakaalaneo for his clemency, andannouncing that he would return to Maui some time in the near future, after having visited some of the other islands of the group; and three months later he began to prepare for a trip to Hawaii. He procured a large double canoe, which he painted a royal yellow, and had fabricated a number of cloaks and capes of the feathers of theooandmamo. At the prow of his canoe he mounted a carved image of Lono, and at the top of one of the masts a place was reserved for the proudtabustandard of anaha alii. This done, with a proper retinue he set sail for Hawaii.II.On his visit to Hawaii, Kaululaau was accompanied by a number of companions of his own disposition and temperament. Among them was Kamakaua, a young Maui chief, who had followed him into exile and was thoroughly devoted to his interests. He was brave, courtly and intelligent, and in personal appearance somewhat resembled the prince. The crew and most of the attendants of the prince had been selected by Kamakaua, including the chief navigator and astrologer; and however competent they may have been in their respective stations, it was discovered during the voyage that they were no less efficient as musicians and dancers. Hence there was no lack of amusement as the huge double canoe breasted the waves of Alenuihaha Channel, and on the morning of the third day stood off the village of Waipio, in the district of Hamakua, Hawaii.At that time Kauholanui-mahu, father of the noted Kiha, was king of Hawaii. His wife was Neula, a chiefess of Maui, who had inherited very considerable possessions in the neighborhood of Honuaula, on that island. As the climate of the locality was salubrious, and the neighboring waters abounded abundantly in fish, the royal couple made frequent and sometimes lengthy visits thither. These visits were usually made without the knowledge of Kakaalaneo, and the unexplained attachment of the Hawaiian king to the comparatively small inheritance of his wife on a neighboring island began to be regarded with suspicion, and had become a theme for speculation and inquiry at the court of Lahaina.At the time of the visit of Kaululaau to Waipio, Kauholanuihad been absent for some months on Maui, leaving Neula in charge of the government of Hawaii. Attributing the absence of the king to deliberate neglect, Neula had become greatly dissatisfied, and whispers of coming trouble were rife throughout the island. All this was doubtless known to Kaululaau, and, as the royal residence was at Waipio, it was upon the beach below it that he landed with his party and drew up his double canoe.The presence and state of the strangers were soon heralded to the queen, and she promptly despatched messengers, courteously inviting the prince and his personal retainers to become her guests at the royalhale, at the same time giving orders for the accommodation of the humbler of his attendants and followers, as was the hospitable custom of the time.Accepting the invitation, Kaululaau and four of his chiefly companions were provided with quarters within the palace enclosure, and their food was served from the royal table. In the afternoon Kaululaau was accorded an audience with the queen, during which he presented his friends, including Kamakaua.The prince whiled away nearly a month at Waipio, and many formal entertainments were given in his honor. Neula was unusually agreeable, and was soon on terms of friendly intimacy both with the prince and Kamakaua. This was exactly what Kaululaau desired, since it enabled him to devise and assist in the execution of a scheme for bringing the king back from Maui and keeping him thereafter within his own kingdom.Under the instructions of Kaululaau, Kamakaua assumed to be greatly smitten with the charms of the queen. As she was a comely woman, and somewhat vain of her personal appearance, the conquest of the handsome chief gratified her; but his attentions developed the fact that he had a rival in Noakua, a chief of Kohala. This discovery simplified the plans of the prince, and relieved Kamakaua of a dangerous duty in the end. In pressing his suit he found a pretext for informing the queen that the continued absence of the king was due to the fact that he had taken another wife, with whom he was living at Honuaula, and that he had ceased to care either for his kingdom or his family.While Kamakaua was pouring this poison into the ears of Neula, Kaululaau, who had made the acquaintance of Noakua, was planting in the mind of that chief the seeds of sedition. He flattered him with the opinion that he was made to rule, and bydegrees developed to him a plan through which, with the favor of the queen, he could seize the government, unite the principal chiefs in his support, and prevent Kauholanui from returning to Hawaii.The ambition of Noakua, and anger of the queen at the presumed neglect and infidelity of her husband, soon harmonized them in a plot against the absent king. Preparations for the revolt began to be observed, when Kaululaau, not wishing to be openly identified with the dangerous movement, quietly embarked with his party for Hilo, where he remained to watch the progress of the struggle which he had been instrumental in originating.The prince had been in Hilo but a few days when alunapaiarrived from Waipio, summoning the chief of the district to repair thither with eight hundred warriors, and announcing the assumption of the sovereignty of the island by Neula. Similar notifications were sent to the chiefs of the other districts of the kingdom, and soon all was excitement from Kau to Kohala.Hearing of the revolt, Kauholanui, who had been engaged in constructing a fish-pond at Keoneoio, in the neighborhood of Honuaula, left Maui at once with less than a hundred spears, and, landing in Kona, whose chief could be relied upon, he started overland for Waipio. The revolution was unpopular, and with great unanimity the chiefs and people rallied to the standard of the king. The struggle was brief. A battle was fought near Waimea, resulting in the defeat of the rebel army and the death of Noakua.This ended the revolt. As a punishment to Neula the king took another wife. But the object of Kaululaau was accomplished, for Kauholanui never again visited Maui, although the queen spent much of her time thereafter at Honuaula, where her favorite guest and friend was Kamakaua.Leaving Hilo, Kaululaau and his party leisurely drifted along the coasts of Puna until they reached the borders of Kau, when they landed at Keauhou to spend a few days in fishing and surf-riding.Weary of the sport, Kaululaau left the bathers in the surf, one afternoon, and threw himself under the shade of ahalatree near the shore. Watching the clouds and the sea-birds circling in the heavens above him, he fell asleep, and when he awoke his eyes fell upon a beautiful woman sitting upon a rock not more than ahundred paces distant, and silently watching the swimmers as they came riding in on the crests of the rollers. Her skirts were apauspangled with crystals, and over her shoulders hung a short mantle of the colors of a rainbow. Her long hair was held back by aleiof flowers, and her wrists and ankles were adorned with circlets of tiny shells of pink and white.The appearance of the woman dazzled him, and after gazing for some time, and rubbing his eyes to be sure that he was not dreaming, he rose to his feet and approached the radiant being. Advancing within four or five paces of the woman, apparently unobserved, he stopped, and with a cough attracted her attention. Turning her face toward him, he greeted her courteously, and requested permission to approach nearer and converse with her. Her appearance indicated that she was a person of rank, and he did not feel like trespassing uninvited upon her privacy. She did not deign to make any reply to his request, but, after scanning him from head to foot, turned her face toward the sea again with a contemptuous toss of the head.He hesitated for a moment, and then turned and strode rapidly down to the beach, where his double canoe had been safely drawn up on the sands. “In the guise of a bather,” thought the prince, “she evidently mistakes me for a servant. I will approach her in the garb to which my rank entitles me, and see what effect that will have.”Entering the canoe, he girded his loins with a gaudymaro, hung round his neck apalaoa, and threw over his shoulders a royal mantle of yellow feathers. Then, crowning his head with a brilliant feather helmet, he selected a spear of the length of six paces and stepped from the canoe. As he did so he stumbled. “This means that I have forgotten or omitted something of importance,” said the prince to himself, stopping and in detail scanning his equipments. At that moment a lizard ran across his path and entered a hole in the earth. This brought to mind his battle with the gigantic gnome on Lanai, and with a smile he re-entered the canoe. Taking from a calabash, where it had been for months secreted, the charmed spear-point of Lono, he affixed it firmly to the point of a javelin, and, thus equipped, again sought the presence of the fascinating being by whom he had been repulsed.Advancing as before, he once more craved permission toapproach near enough to drink in the beauty of her eyes. But she seemed to be in no mood to consent. Scanning him in his changed apparel, with an air of indifference she said:“You need not have taken the trouble to bedeck yourself with royal feathers. I knew you before, as I know you now, to be Kaululaau, son of Kakaalaneo,moiof Maui. I do not desire your company.”“Since you know who I am, I must claim the right to insist upon my request, unless you can show, indeed, that you are of equal or better rank.” Saying this, the prince took a step forward.“Then come,” replied the woman, “since you are rude enough to attempt it. Sit at my feet and tell me of your love, and I will search the caves for squid and beat thekapafor you.”The prince advanced joyfully, and was about to seat himself at the feet of the lovely being, when with a cry of pain he sprang back. The rock he had touched was as hot as if it had just been thrown from the crater of a volcano.“Come,” said the woman tauntingly; “do you not see that I am waiting for you?”Again the prince advanced, but the earth for two or three paces around her was glimmering with heat, and he hastily withdrew to where the ground and rocks were cool. He was now satisfied that he was dealing with some one wielding supernatural powers, and resolved to test the efficacy of the charmed point of his javelin.“Why do you not come?” continued the woman in a tone of mingled defiance and reproach.“Because the earth where you are sitting is too warm for my feet,” replied the prince, innocently. “Come where I am standing, and I will sit beside you.” And with the point of his javelin he marked upon the ground the boundaries of a space around him.“Retire some paces, and I will do so,” replied the woman, confidently. The prince withdrew, as requested, and she quietly removed to the spot where he had been standing.“Now come,” said the woman, reseating herself; “perhaps you will find it cooler here.”“I hope so,” returned the prince, as he began cautiously to advance. He crossed the line marked by the point of his javelin,and felt no heat. He took three more steps forward, and the earth was still cool. Another step, which brought him within two paces of the enchantress, convinced him that her powers were impotent within the boundaries of the line he had drawn, and with a sudden leap forward he caught her in his arms.Astounded at the failure of her powers, and humiliated at her defeat, the woman struggled to free herself from the embrace of the prince; but within the charmed circle she possessed but the strength of a simple woman, and was compelled to yield to the supreme indignities of superior force.Exasperated beyond measure, she at length succeeded in eluding his grasp and springing beyond the fatal line. The prince followed, but she was now herself, and he could neither overtake nor restrain her. Retreating some distance up the hill, she suddenly stopped and awaited his approach. She permitted him to advance within forty or fifty paces of her, when in the space of a breath she abandoned her captivating disguise and stood forth in the form of Pele, the dreadful goddess of Kilauea. Her eyes were bright as the midday sun, and her hair was like a flame of fire.The prince stopped in dismay. The goddess raised her hand, and at her feet burst forth a stream of molten lava, rolling fiercely down upon the prince, as if to engulf him. He started to escape by flight, but the stream widened and increased in speed as it followed. Fearful that it would overtake him before he could reach the sea, he thought of his javelin, and with the point hastily drew a line in front of the advancing flood. Continuing his flight and looking back, he discovered, to his great relief, that the stream had stopped abruptly at the line he had drawn, and could not pass it. Passing into a ravine, the angry flow sought to reach the sea through its channel, and thus cut off the retreat of the prince; but he crossed the depression, marking a line as he went, and the fiery avalanche was stayed at the limit.Observing that she was thwarted by some power whose element seemed to be of the earth, Pele summoned her brother Keuakepo from Kilauea, and a shower of fire and ashes descended upon Kaululaau and his companions. Leaping into the sea to avoid the fire, they dragged the double canoe from its moorings, and, swimming and pushing it through the breakers, escaped from the coast with but little injury.III.Having embroiled himself with the divine and political powers of Hawaii, Kaululaau rounded the southern point of La Lae and set sail for Molokai. He spent a month on that island with the royal relatives of his mother, by whom he was appropriately received and entertained. He visited the home of Laamaomao, the wind-god, the poisoned grove of Kalaipahoa, and the demolished fortress on the promontory of Haupu, where the gallant Kaupeepee, of whose blood he was, met his dramatic death. He then set sail for Oahu.The island of Oahu was at that period one of the most prosperous in the group. It was under the government of Kalona-iki, one of the two sons of Mailikukahi, who during his reign had instituted a code of laws giving better protection to the poor, making theft punishable with death, and claiming as the wards of the government the first-born male children of all families, without regard to rank or condition.Kalona continued the peaceful and intelligent policy of his father, and his court was noted alike for the brilliancy of its chiefs and the beauty of its women. His principal place of residence was Waikiki, although he had sumptuous temporary resorts at Ewa and Waialua.Kaululaau first touched at Waialua, but, learning that the king was at Waikiki, he ordered his canoe to proceed around to the south side of the island in charge of his chief navigator, while he and Kamakaua concluded to make the journey overland. Dispensing with all insignia of rank, and habited like simple commoners, the prince and his companion started unattended for Waikiki. Both were armed with javelins, but the one borne by Kaululaau was tipped with the charmed point of Lono.Proceeding along the foot of the Kaala range of mountains, in the afternoon they sat down to rest in the shade of ahalatree. In a ravine below them five or six men were working, and scattered along its banks were a number of huts. Soon a tumult of screams reached them, and men, women and children were seen running hither and thither in a state of great excitement.The travelers sprang to their feet, and as they did so a gigantic bird swept immediately over their heads and winged its waytoward the hills. It passed so closely that the branches of thehalatree were swayed by the motion of its mighty pinions, and its outspread wings seemed to measure scarcely less than twenty long steps from tip to tip.While watching the monster with amazement, a woman approached, and to the questions of the prince replied, between wails of anguish, that the great bird—thePueoalii, as she called it—had just killed her only child in front of her hut, with a stab to the heart resembling the cut of a knife. She hurriedly gave the additional information that for many years past the same bird had at intervals visited different districts of the island, killing children, pigs and fowls, and that the priests had declared it to be apueo, or owl, sacred to the gods, and which could not, therefore, be molested with safety, even if harm to it were possible from human hands.Better learned in the inspiration and purposes of such visitations—since he had been instructed by the eminent high-priest Waolani—and having had many conflicts with malignant spirits, he doubted that the monster he had just seen was of the sacredpueofamily, and requested that he be shown the dead child. Proceeding to the hut and inspecting the wound, he observed that the fatal cut was upward, and not downward, as it would have been had it been made by the beak of an owl. This confirmed him in the correctness of his first impression, and, requesting Kamakaua to follow him, he started toward the hills in the direction taken by the bird.They could still see it in the distance, like a dark cloud against the mountain. After following it for some time the bird swooped down to commit some fresh depredation, and then rose and alighted upon a rocky ridge with precipitous face sweeping down from the main summit of Kaala.“Why go farther?” said Kamakaua. “We cannot reach the bird, and, if we could, our spears would be like straws to such a monster.”As if by a strong hand, the javelin in the grasp of the prince forcibly turned and pointed toward the bird. Smiling at the augury, Kaululaau replied:“Look you carefully back and see if we are followed.”Kamakaua turned his face in compliance, and as he did so the prince poised his javelin and hurled it in the direction of the bird.In twenty paces the point did not droop; in forty it did not fall to the ground; in a hundred a new energy seized it, and like a flash of light it sped out of sight. A moment later the prince saw the bird sink and disappear.“I can see no one,” said Kamakaua, after carefully scanning the ground over which they had passed. “Nor can I now see the bird,” he continued, looking toward the ridge. “Where can it be?”“At the foot of the cliff,” replied the prince, “with the point of my javelin in his heart.”Having been with the prince on Molokai, Kamakaua received the strange information without question or great wonder, and, hastening to the base of the precipice, they found the monster dead, with the javelin buried in its breast. Removing the weapon, they cut off the head and one of the feet of the bird, pulled from its wings four of the longest feathers, and with them returned to thehalatree under which they had found shelter from the sun. The burden taxed their strength to the utmost. The weight of the head, which was borne by the prince, was scarcely less than that of his own body, while the feathers were seven paces in length, and the claws two paces between their extreme points.Great excitement followed the spreading of the news thatPueoaliihad been killed by strangers. The sufferers through its visitations were disposed to commend the act, and others condemned it as an insult to the gods, which would probably bring broadcast calamity upon the whole island. To placate the anger of the gods it was proposed to sacrifice the strangers at the nearestheiau, and, respectfully wrapping the head of the bird inkapa, Kaululaau and his companion were conducted with their trophies to the sacred temple of Kukaniloko, which was not far distant. They were accompanied by a crowd which constantly swelled in numbers as they proceeded, and on arriving at theheiauthey were surrounded by four or five hundred men and women, many of them armed and clamoring for their blood.Kaululaau was in nowise alarmed, but rather enjoyed the situation. The high-priest of the temple appeared and the matter was laid before him. Looking at the foot and mighty feathers of the bird, he turned to the strangers and said:“You have slain a creature sacred to the gods, and my thought is that you should be sacrificed to avert their wrath.”“Be careful in your judgment, priest,” replied the prince. “How know you that the bird was sacred?”“For years it has been so regarded,” returned the priest. “How know you that it was not?”“Does it become the high-priest of Kukaniloko to ask such a question?” said the prince. “But I will reply to it when you answer this: With the javelin now in my hand I killed the bird at a distance farther than from where we stand to yonder hills. Could it have been done by human hand without the especial favor of the gods. If not, then how have the gods been angered?”The priest was confounded, and when the prince proposed to submit the question of his guilt to the king, the suggestion was accepted. It now being near nightfall, Kaululaau and his companion were removed within the enclosure of the temple for safe-keeping, and, knowing that they would be deprived of their weapons, the prince removed the charmed point from his javelin and secreted it in the folds of hismaro.Early next morning the high-priest and his two prisoners, who were kept under no marked restraint, accompanied by a large concourse of people carrying the head, foot and feathers ofPueoalii, started for Waikiki. Every one seemed to know that the great bird had been killed, and many stood by the wayside to see the feathers that had been torn from its wings, and catch a glimpse of its destroyer.Near the middle of the day the great gathering arrived at Waikiki. As many carried spears, it resembled an army in its march, and messengers were despatched by the king to ascertain its meaning. Halting near the shores of the harbor, and not far from the royal mansion, to report the arrival of the prisoners and learn the pleasure of the king, the prince observed his double canoe drawn up on the beach, and requested permission to approach it, that he might secure the counsel of his master, Kaululaau, son of themoiof Maui.The favor could not well be denied, and, under guard of two inferior priests of Kukaniloko, the prince was conducted to the canoe. As but three or four of the crew were present, and their attention was wholly absorbed in the gathering around the royalhale, the prince stepped, unobserved by them, into the canoe, and passed quickly into his private quarters—a closewicker-work apartment eight or ten feet in length by the breadth of both canoes, and with a height of six feet or more from their bottoms to the top screen.Hurriedly investing himself with his regalia of rank, including helmet, feather mantle and spear, he stepped into view and sounded a blast upon a shell. Soon a number of his attendants made their appearance, and, with such following as befitted a prince, he started for the royal mansion. The guards who escorted him to the canoe did not recognize him as he left it, and after passing the crowd surrounding the palace his name and rank were announced to the king. He was promptly met and courteously welcomed at the door by Kalona, and informed that messengers of greeting and invitation would have been despatched to him had his presence at Waikiki been known.Kaululaau then apprised the king that he had but just arrived overland from Waialua, while his double canoe had been sent around to meet him at Waikiki, and that it was his purpose to spend some days on Oahu. The hospitalities of the royalhalewere then tendered and accepted, after which the king explained to his distinguished guest the cause of the large gathering around the palace, and invited him to an inspection of the head, feathers and claws of the mightyPueoalii, and to listen to the story of the slayer of the sacred bird, should he deem it of sufficient interest.Kaululaau accompanied the king to a large dancing pavilion within the royal enclosure, to which had been conveyed the severed parts of the gigantic bird. After the claws and feathers had been examined with awe and amazement, the king ordered the slayer of the bird to be brought before him. The high-priest of Kukaniloko bowed and turned to execute the order, when the guards placed over the prince came from the beach with the information that their prisoner had escaped.The priest was savage in his disappointment. “Either find him or take his place upon the altar!” he hissed to the unfortunate guards, and then led Kamakaua before the king, with the explanation that the other prisoner had managed to elude the vigilance of his guards, but would doubtless soon be found.Kamakaua discovered the prince at the side of the king, and could hardly restrain a smile. When questioned he denied thathe killed the great bird, but admitted that he assisted in removing the head, feathers and one of the feet.“This is trifling,” said the king, turning to the priest with a scowl. “Where is the other prisoner?”“He is here, great king!” exclaimed Kaululaau, bowing before Kalona, to the astonishment but great relief of the priest. “Favored by the gods, I slew the malignant monster your priests call by the sacred name ofPueoalii. Their skill should have instructed them differently. Will the king favor me by ordering thekapacovering to be removed from the head?”The order was given, and the uncovered head was raised beak upward before the king.In a moment it was observed that the head was not of apueo, or owl; nor did it bear resemblance in form to that of any bird known. It was narrow between the eyes, which in color were those of a shark, and its long and pointed beak, both of the upper and under jaws, turned sharply upward.“It is not apueo!” was the general exclamation.“Are you satisfied, priest?” inquired the prince.“I think it is not apueo,” responded the priest, reluctantly.“Youthinkit is not apueo!” exclaimed the king, indignantly. “Do you notknowit? Whatpueoever had such eyes and such a beak?”The priest hung his head in confusion, and the prince, having completely discomfited him, now came kindly to his relief by remarking:“The mistake might well have been made, for on the wing and at a distance the bird much resembled apueo.”“You are kind to say so, prince,” said the king; “but the priests andkaulashave been greatly at fault. For years the bird has preyed upon the people, and no one has dared to molest it. Since you killed it, knowing that it was not sacred, perhaps you may be able to tell me something of its unnatural birth and appetites.”Thus appealed to, Kaululaau modestly replied:“If I may rely upon what seemed to be a dream last night, the bird was possessed by the spirit of Hilo-a-Lakapu, one of the chiefs of Hawaii who invaded Oahu during the reign of your royal father. He was slain at Waimano, and his head was placed upon a pole near Honouliuli for the birds to feed upon. He wasofakuablood, and through a bird-god relative his spirit was given possession of the monster which the gods enabled me to slay.”The spirit of Hilo had been brought in with the head of the dead bird, and with the utterance of these words by the prince the eyes rolled, the ponderous jaws opened and closed, and with a noise like the scream of analaethe malignant spirit took its departure.The truth of the dream of Kaululaau thus being verified, the king publicly thanked him for ridding the island of the monstrous scourge, and ordered especial honors to be paid him by all classes so long as it might be his pleasure to remain in the kingdom. In return the prince presented to the king the head, claws and feathers of the bird, the latter to be made into a mammothkahili, and then made Kamakaua known to him, together with such other chiefs in his train as were entitled to royal recognition.Kaululaau became at once the hero of the court as well as the idol of the people. He remained more than a month on Oahu, enjoying the unstinted hospitality of the king and his district chiefs. He was a favorite with the fairest women of the court; but he gave his heart to the beautiful Laiea-a-Ewa, sister of the wife of Kalona, and with her returned to Maui.Landing at Lahaina after his long absence, he was joyfully welcomed home by his royal father, who had heard of his adventures and fully forgiven the faults of his youth. With grief he learned that his friend the high-priest, Waolani, had died some months before. Remembering his oath, he found the burial place of the priest, and with his remains secretly deposited the sacred spear-point of Lono, which had served him so effectively. He devoutly kissed the relic before he hid it for ever from view, and afterwards knelt and thanked Lono and the priest for its use.Lands were given him in Kauaula, where he resided until the end of his days. Laiea was his only wife, and they were blessed with six children, whose names alone are mentioned by tradition.

The Sacred Spear-Point.CHARACTERS.Kakaeand}jointmoisof Maui.Kakaalaneo,Kahekili, son of Kakae.Kaululaau, son of Kakaalaneo.Waolani, a high-priest of Maui.Kalona-iki, king of Oahu.Laiea-a-Ewa, sister of the queen of Oahu.Kamakaua, a companion of Kaululaau.Kauholanui-mahu, king of Hawaii.Neula, queen of Hawaii.Noakua, a chief of Kohala, Hawaii.Pele, goddess of Kilauea.Keuakepo, brother of Pele.Mooaleo, a gnome-god of Molokai.Pueoalii, a winged demon of Oahu.THE SACRED SPEAR-POINT.THE ADVENTURES OF KAULULAAU, PRINCE OF MAUI.I.Kaululaau was one of the sons of Kakaalaneo, brother of, and joint ruler with, Kakae in the government of Maui. The latter was the legitimate heir to themoiship, but, as he was weak-minded, Kakaalaneo ruled jointly with him and was the real sovereign of the little kingdom. The court of the brothers was at Lele (now Lahaina), and was one of the most distinguished in the group.The mother of Kaululaau was Kanikaniaula, of the family of Kamauaua, king of Molokai, through his son Haili, who was the brother or half-brother of Keoloewa and Kaupeepee. The latter, it will be remembered, was the abductor of the celebrated Hina, of Hawaii, and the family was of the old strain of Maweke.Kaululaau was probably born somewhere between the years 1390 and 1400. He had a half-sister, whose name was Wao, and a half-brother, Kaihiwalua, who was the father of Luaia, who became the husband of a daughter of Piliwale,moiof Oahu, and brother of Lo-Lale. He doubtless had other brothers and sisters, since his father was blessed with two or more wives, but the legends fail to refer to them.Kahekili, son of Kakae, and who became his successor in themoiship, was of near the age of his cousin, Kaululaau, and the two princes grew to manhood together. They were instructed by the same teachers, schooled in the same arts and chiefly accomplishments, and chanted the same genealogicalmeles. Yet in disposition and personal appearance they were widely different.From his youth Kahekili was staid, sober and thoughtful. Bred to the knowledge that he would succeed his father asmoiof the island, he began early in life to prepare himself for the proper exercise of supreme authority, and at the age of twenty was noted for his intelligence, dignity and royal bearing. He had been told by a prophet that one of his name would be the last independentking of Maui, and the information rendered him solicitous for his future and drove many a smile from his lips. Yet, with all his austerity and circumspection, he was kind-hearted and affectionate, and his pastimes were such as comported with his dignity. In height he was somewhat below the chiefly medium, and his features were rugged and of a Papuan cast; but all knew that he was royal in heart and thought, and the respect due to him was not withheld.Kaululaau was unlike his royal cousin in almost every respect. He was noted alike for his intelligence, his manly beauty and his rollicking spirit of mischief and merriment. He did not covet the sceptre. He thought more of a wild debauch, with music, dancing and a calabash ofawa, than the right to command “downward” or “upward the face”; and since Kahekili was the designated successor of his father, he claimed the right, as a favored andtabusubject of the realm, to enjoy himself in such manner as best accorded with his tastes. As he could not make laws, he found a pleasure in breaking them. He was neither wantonly cruel nor malignant, but recklessly wild and mischievous, and neither the reproofs of his father nor the mild persuasions of his cousin were sufficient to restrain him. His bantering reply to the latter was: “When you become king I will act with more propriety. Twomoiscan afford one wild prince.”He had a congenial following of companions and retainers, who assisted him in his schemes of mischief. With feasting andhuladancing he would keep the village in an uproar for a dozen consecutive nights. He would send canoes adrift, open the gates of fish-ponds, remove the supports of houses, and paint swine black to deceive the sacrificial priests. He devised an instrument to imitate the death-warning notes of thealae, and frightened people by sounding it near their doors; and to others he caused information to be conveyed that they were being prayed to death.Notwithstanding these misdemeanors, Kaululaau was popular with the people, since the chiefs or members of the royal household were usually the victims of his mischievous freaks. He was encouraged in his disposition to qualify himself for the priesthood, under the instruction of the eminent high-priest and prophet, Waolani, and had made substantial advances in the calling, when he was banished to the island of Lanai by his royal father for an offence which could neither be overlooked nor forgiven.At that time Lanai was infested with a number of gnomes, monsters and evil spirits, among them the giganticmoo, Mooaleo. They ravaged fields, uprooted cocoanut-trees, destroyed the walls of fish-ponds, and otherwise frightened and discomfited the inhabitants of the island. That his residence there might be made endurable, Kaululaau was instructed by thekaulasand sorcerers of the court in many charms, spells, prayers and incantations with which to resist the powers of the supernatural monsters. When informed of these exorcising agencies by Kaululaau, his friend, the venerable high-priest, Waolani, told him that they would avail him nothing against the more powerful and malignant of the demons of Lanai.Disheartened at the declaration, Kaululaau was about to leave theheiauto embark for Lanai, when Waolani, after some hesitation, stayed his departure, and, entering the inner temple, soon returned with a small roll ofkapain his hand. Slowly uncording and removing many folds of cloth, an ivory spear-point a span in length was finally brought to view. Holding it before the prince, he said:“Take this. It will serve you in any way you may require. Its powers are greater than those of any god inhabiting the earth. It has been dipped in the waters ofPo, and many generations ago was left by Lono upon one of his altars for the protection of a temple menaced by a mighty fish-god who found a retreat beneath it in a great cavern connected with the sea. Draw a line with it and nothing can pass the mark. Affix it to a spear and throw it, and it will reach the object, no matter how far distant. Much more will it do, but let what I have said suffice.”The prince eagerly reached to possess the treasure, but the priest withdrew it and continued:“I give it to you on condition that it pass from you to no other hands than mine, and that if I am no longer living when you return to Maui—as you some day will—you will secretly deposit it with my bones. Swear to this in the name of Lono.”Kaululaau solemnly pronounced the required oath. The priest then handed him the talisman, wrapped in thekapafrom which it had been taken, and he left the temple, and immediately embarked with a number of his attendants for Lanai.Reaching Lanai, he established his household on the south side of the island. Learning his name and rank, the peopletreated him with great respect—for Lanai was then a dependency of Maui—assisted in the construction of the houses necessary for his accommodation, and provided him with fish,poi, fruits and potatoes in great abundance. In return for this devotion he set about ridding the island of the supernatural pests with which it had been for years afflicted.In the legend of “Kelea, the Surf-rider of Maui,” will be found some reference to the battles of Kaululaau with the evil spirits and monsters of Lanai. His most stubborn conflict was with the gnome god Mooaleo. He imprisoned the demon within the earth by drawing a line around him with the sacred spear-point, and subsequently released and drove him into the sea.More than a year was spent by Kaululaau in quieting and expelling from the island the malicious monsters that troubled it, but he succeeded in the end in completely relieving the people from their vexatious visitations. This added immeasurably to his popularity, and the choicest of the products of land and sea were laid at his feet.His triumph over the demons of Lanai was soon known on the other islands of the group, and when it reached the ears of Kakaalaneo he despatched a messenger to his son, offering his forgiveness and recalling him from exile. The service he had rendered was important, and his royal father was anxious to recognize it by restoring him to favor.But Kaululaau showed no haste in availing himself of his father’s magnanimity. Far from the restraints of the court, he had become attached to the independent life he had found in exile, and could think of no comforts or enjoyments unattainable on Lanai. The women there were as handsome as elsewhere, the bananas were as sweet, the cocoanuts were as large, theawawas as stimulating, and the fisheries were as varied and abundant in product. He had congenial companionship, and bands of musicians and dancers at his call. The best of the earth and the love of the people were his, and theapapanisang in the grove that shaded his door. What more could he ask, what more expect should he return to Maui? His exile had ceased to be a punishment, and his father’s message of recall was scarcely deemed a favor.However, Kaululaau returned a respectful answer by his father’s messenger, thanking Kakaalaneo for his clemency, andannouncing that he would return to Maui some time in the near future, after having visited some of the other islands of the group; and three months later he began to prepare for a trip to Hawaii. He procured a large double canoe, which he painted a royal yellow, and had fabricated a number of cloaks and capes of the feathers of theooandmamo. At the prow of his canoe he mounted a carved image of Lono, and at the top of one of the masts a place was reserved for the proudtabustandard of anaha alii. This done, with a proper retinue he set sail for Hawaii.II.On his visit to Hawaii, Kaululaau was accompanied by a number of companions of his own disposition and temperament. Among them was Kamakaua, a young Maui chief, who had followed him into exile and was thoroughly devoted to his interests. He was brave, courtly and intelligent, and in personal appearance somewhat resembled the prince. The crew and most of the attendants of the prince had been selected by Kamakaua, including the chief navigator and astrologer; and however competent they may have been in their respective stations, it was discovered during the voyage that they were no less efficient as musicians and dancers. Hence there was no lack of amusement as the huge double canoe breasted the waves of Alenuihaha Channel, and on the morning of the third day stood off the village of Waipio, in the district of Hamakua, Hawaii.At that time Kauholanui-mahu, father of the noted Kiha, was king of Hawaii. His wife was Neula, a chiefess of Maui, who had inherited very considerable possessions in the neighborhood of Honuaula, on that island. As the climate of the locality was salubrious, and the neighboring waters abounded abundantly in fish, the royal couple made frequent and sometimes lengthy visits thither. These visits were usually made without the knowledge of Kakaalaneo, and the unexplained attachment of the Hawaiian king to the comparatively small inheritance of his wife on a neighboring island began to be regarded with suspicion, and had become a theme for speculation and inquiry at the court of Lahaina.At the time of the visit of Kaululaau to Waipio, Kauholanuihad been absent for some months on Maui, leaving Neula in charge of the government of Hawaii. Attributing the absence of the king to deliberate neglect, Neula had become greatly dissatisfied, and whispers of coming trouble were rife throughout the island. All this was doubtless known to Kaululaau, and, as the royal residence was at Waipio, it was upon the beach below it that he landed with his party and drew up his double canoe.The presence and state of the strangers were soon heralded to the queen, and she promptly despatched messengers, courteously inviting the prince and his personal retainers to become her guests at the royalhale, at the same time giving orders for the accommodation of the humbler of his attendants and followers, as was the hospitable custom of the time.Accepting the invitation, Kaululaau and four of his chiefly companions were provided with quarters within the palace enclosure, and their food was served from the royal table. In the afternoon Kaululaau was accorded an audience with the queen, during which he presented his friends, including Kamakaua.The prince whiled away nearly a month at Waipio, and many formal entertainments were given in his honor. Neula was unusually agreeable, and was soon on terms of friendly intimacy both with the prince and Kamakaua. This was exactly what Kaululaau desired, since it enabled him to devise and assist in the execution of a scheme for bringing the king back from Maui and keeping him thereafter within his own kingdom.Under the instructions of Kaululaau, Kamakaua assumed to be greatly smitten with the charms of the queen. As she was a comely woman, and somewhat vain of her personal appearance, the conquest of the handsome chief gratified her; but his attentions developed the fact that he had a rival in Noakua, a chief of Kohala. This discovery simplified the plans of the prince, and relieved Kamakaua of a dangerous duty in the end. In pressing his suit he found a pretext for informing the queen that the continued absence of the king was due to the fact that he had taken another wife, with whom he was living at Honuaula, and that he had ceased to care either for his kingdom or his family.While Kamakaua was pouring this poison into the ears of Neula, Kaululaau, who had made the acquaintance of Noakua, was planting in the mind of that chief the seeds of sedition. He flattered him with the opinion that he was made to rule, and bydegrees developed to him a plan through which, with the favor of the queen, he could seize the government, unite the principal chiefs in his support, and prevent Kauholanui from returning to Hawaii.The ambition of Noakua, and anger of the queen at the presumed neglect and infidelity of her husband, soon harmonized them in a plot against the absent king. Preparations for the revolt began to be observed, when Kaululaau, not wishing to be openly identified with the dangerous movement, quietly embarked with his party for Hilo, where he remained to watch the progress of the struggle which he had been instrumental in originating.The prince had been in Hilo but a few days when alunapaiarrived from Waipio, summoning the chief of the district to repair thither with eight hundred warriors, and announcing the assumption of the sovereignty of the island by Neula. Similar notifications were sent to the chiefs of the other districts of the kingdom, and soon all was excitement from Kau to Kohala.Hearing of the revolt, Kauholanui, who had been engaged in constructing a fish-pond at Keoneoio, in the neighborhood of Honuaula, left Maui at once with less than a hundred spears, and, landing in Kona, whose chief could be relied upon, he started overland for Waipio. The revolution was unpopular, and with great unanimity the chiefs and people rallied to the standard of the king. The struggle was brief. A battle was fought near Waimea, resulting in the defeat of the rebel army and the death of Noakua.This ended the revolt. As a punishment to Neula the king took another wife. But the object of Kaululaau was accomplished, for Kauholanui never again visited Maui, although the queen spent much of her time thereafter at Honuaula, where her favorite guest and friend was Kamakaua.Leaving Hilo, Kaululaau and his party leisurely drifted along the coasts of Puna until they reached the borders of Kau, when they landed at Keauhou to spend a few days in fishing and surf-riding.Weary of the sport, Kaululaau left the bathers in the surf, one afternoon, and threw himself under the shade of ahalatree near the shore. Watching the clouds and the sea-birds circling in the heavens above him, he fell asleep, and when he awoke his eyes fell upon a beautiful woman sitting upon a rock not more than ahundred paces distant, and silently watching the swimmers as they came riding in on the crests of the rollers. Her skirts were apauspangled with crystals, and over her shoulders hung a short mantle of the colors of a rainbow. Her long hair was held back by aleiof flowers, and her wrists and ankles were adorned with circlets of tiny shells of pink and white.The appearance of the woman dazzled him, and after gazing for some time, and rubbing his eyes to be sure that he was not dreaming, he rose to his feet and approached the radiant being. Advancing within four or five paces of the woman, apparently unobserved, he stopped, and with a cough attracted her attention. Turning her face toward him, he greeted her courteously, and requested permission to approach nearer and converse with her. Her appearance indicated that she was a person of rank, and he did not feel like trespassing uninvited upon her privacy. She did not deign to make any reply to his request, but, after scanning him from head to foot, turned her face toward the sea again with a contemptuous toss of the head.He hesitated for a moment, and then turned and strode rapidly down to the beach, where his double canoe had been safely drawn up on the sands. “In the guise of a bather,” thought the prince, “she evidently mistakes me for a servant. I will approach her in the garb to which my rank entitles me, and see what effect that will have.”Entering the canoe, he girded his loins with a gaudymaro, hung round his neck apalaoa, and threw over his shoulders a royal mantle of yellow feathers. Then, crowning his head with a brilliant feather helmet, he selected a spear of the length of six paces and stepped from the canoe. As he did so he stumbled. “This means that I have forgotten or omitted something of importance,” said the prince to himself, stopping and in detail scanning his equipments. At that moment a lizard ran across his path and entered a hole in the earth. This brought to mind his battle with the gigantic gnome on Lanai, and with a smile he re-entered the canoe. Taking from a calabash, where it had been for months secreted, the charmed spear-point of Lono, he affixed it firmly to the point of a javelin, and, thus equipped, again sought the presence of the fascinating being by whom he had been repulsed.Advancing as before, he once more craved permission toapproach near enough to drink in the beauty of her eyes. But she seemed to be in no mood to consent. Scanning him in his changed apparel, with an air of indifference she said:“You need not have taken the trouble to bedeck yourself with royal feathers. I knew you before, as I know you now, to be Kaululaau, son of Kakaalaneo,moiof Maui. I do not desire your company.”“Since you know who I am, I must claim the right to insist upon my request, unless you can show, indeed, that you are of equal or better rank.” Saying this, the prince took a step forward.“Then come,” replied the woman, “since you are rude enough to attempt it. Sit at my feet and tell me of your love, and I will search the caves for squid and beat thekapafor you.”The prince advanced joyfully, and was about to seat himself at the feet of the lovely being, when with a cry of pain he sprang back. The rock he had touched was as hot as if it had just been thrown from the crater of a volcano.“Come,” said the woman tauntingly; “do you not see that I am waiting for you?”Again the prince advanced, but the earth for two or three paces around her was glimmering with heat, and he hastily withdrew to where the ground and rocks were cool. He was now satisfied that he was dealing with some one wielding supernatural powers, and resolved to test the efficacy of the charmed point of his javelin.“Why do you not come?” continued the woman in a tone of mingled defiance and reproach.“Because the earth where you are sitting is too warm for my feet,” replied the prince, innocently. “Come where I am standing, and I will sit beside you.” And with the point of his javelin he marked upon the ground the boundaries of a space around him.“Retire some paces, and I will do so,” replied the woman, confidently. The prince withdrew, as requested, and she quietly removed to the spot where he had been standing.“Now come,” said the woman, reseating herself; “perhaps you will find it cooler here.”“I hope so,” returned the prince, as he began cautiously to advance. He crossed the line marked by the point of his javelin,and felt no heat. He took three more steps forward, and the earth was still cool. Another step, which brought him within two paces of the enchantress, convinced him that her powers were impotent within the boundaries of the line he had drawn, and with a sudden leap forward he caught her in his arms.Astounded at the failure of her powers, and humiliated at her defeat, the woman struggled to free herself from the embrace of the prince; but within the charmed circle she possessed but the strength of a simple woman, and was compelled to yield to the supreme indignities of superior force.Exasperated beyond measure, she at length succeeded in eluding his grasp and springing beyond the fatal line. The prince followed, but she was now herself, and he could neither overtake nor restrain her. Retreating some distance up the hill, she suddenly stopped and awaited his approach. She permitted him to advance within forty or fifty paces of her, when in the space of a breath she abandoned her captivating disguise and stood forth in the form of Pele, the dreadful goddess of Kilauea. Her eyes were bright as the midday sun, and her hair was like a flame of fire.The prince stopped in dismay. The goddess raised her hand, and at her feet burst forth a stream of molten lava, rolling fiercely down upon the prince, as if to engulf him. He started to escape by flight, but the stream widened and increased in speed as it followed. Fearful that it would overtake him before he could reach the sea, he thought of his javelin, and with the point hastily drew a line in front of the advancing flood. Continuing his flight and looking back, he discovered, to his great relief, that the stream had stopped abruptly at the line he had drawn, and could not pass it. Passing into a ravine, the angry flow sought to reach the sea through its channel, and thus cut off the retreat of the prince; but he crossed the depression, marking a line as he went, and the fiery avalanche was stayed at the limit.Observing that she was thwarted by some power whose element seemed to be of the earth, Pele summoned her brother Keuakepo from Kilauea, and a shower of fire and ashes descended upon Kaululaau and his companions. Leaping into the sea to avoid the fire, they dragged the double canoe from its moorings, and, swimming and pushing it through the breakers, escaped from the coast with but little injury.III.Having embroiled himself with the divine and political powers of Hawaii, Kaululaau rounded the southern point of La Lae and set sail for Molokai. He spent a month on that island with the royal relatives of his mother, by whom he was appropriately received and entertained. He visited the home of Laamaomao, the wind-god, the poisoned grove of Kalaipahoa, and the demolished fortress on the promontory of Haupu, where the gallant Kaupeepee, of whose blood he was, met his dramatic death. He then set sail for Oahu.The island of Oahu was at that period one of the most prosperous in the group. It was under the government of Kalona-iki, one of the two sons of Mailikukahi, who during his reign had instituted a code of laws giving better protection to the poor, making theft punishable with death, and claiming as the wards of the government the first-born male children of all families, without regard to rank or condition.Kalona continued the peaceful and intelligent policy of his father, and his court was noted alike for the brilliancy of its chiefs and the beauty of its women. His principal place of residence was Waikiki, although he had sumptuous temporary resorts at Ewa and Waialua.Kaululaau first touched at Waialua, but, learning that the king was at Waikiki, he ordered his canoe to proceed around to the south side of the island in charge of his chief navigator, while he and Kamakaua concluded to make the journey overland. Dispensing with all insignia of rank, and habited like simple commoners, the prince and his companion started unattended for Waikiki. Both were armed with javelins, but the one borne by Kaululaau was tipped with the charmed point of Lono.Proceeding along the foot of the Kaala range of mountains, in the afternoon they sat down to rest in the shade of ahalatree. In a ravine below them five or six men were working, and scattered along its banks were a number of huts. Soon a tumult of screams reached them, and men, women and children were seen running hither and thither in a state of great excitement.The travelers sprang to their feet, and as they did so a gigantic bird swept immediately over their heads and winged its waytoward the hills. It passed so closely that the branches of thehalatree were swayed by the motion of its mighty pinions, and its outspread wings seemed to measure scarcely less than twenty long steps from tip to tip.While watching the monster with amazement, a woman approached, and to the questions of the prince replied, between wails of anguish, that the great bird—thePueoalii, as she called it—had just killed her only child in front of her hut, with a stab to the heart resembling the cut of a knife. She hurriedly gave the additional information that for many years past the same bird had at intervals visited different districts of the island, killing children, pigs and fowls, and that the priests had declared it to be apueo, or owl, sacred to the gods, and which could not, therefore, be molested with safety, even if harm to it were possible from human hands.Better learned in the inspiration and purposes of such visitations—since he had been instructed by the eminent high-priest Waolani—and having had many conflicts with malignant spirits, he doubted that the monster he had just seen was of the sacredpueofamily, and requested that he be shown the dead child. Proceeding to the hut and inspecting the wound, he observed that the fatal cut was upward, and not downward, as it would have been had it been made by the beak of an owl. This confirmed him in the correctness of his first impression, and, requesting Kamakaua to follow him, he started toward the hills in the direction taken by the bird.They could still see it in the distance, like a dark cloud against the mountain. After following it for some time the bird swooped down to commit some fresh depredation, and then rose and alighted upon a rocky ridge with precipitous face sweeping down from the main summit of Kaala.“Why go farther?” said Kamakaua. “We cannot reach the bird, and, if we could, our spears would be like straws to such a monster.”As if by a strong hand, the javelin in the grasp of the prince forcibly turned and pointed toward the bird. Smiling at the augury, Kaululaau replied:“Look you carefully back and see if we are followed.”Kamakaua turned his face in compliance, and as he did so the prince poised his javelin and hurled it in the direction of the bird.In twenty paces the point did not droop; in forty it did not fall to the ground; in a hundred a new energy seized it, and like a flash of light it sped out of sight. A moment later the prince saw the bird sink and disappear.“I can see no one,” said Kamakaua, after carefully scanning the ground over which they had passed. “Nor can I now see the bird,” he continued, looking toward the ridge. “Where can it be?”“At the foot of the cliff,” replied the prince, “with the point of my javelin in his heart.”Having been with the prince on Molokai, Kamakaua received the strange information without question or great wonder, and, hastening to the base of the precipice, they found the monster dead, with the javelin buried in its breast. Removing the weapon, they cut off the head and one of the feet of the bird, pulled from its wings four of the longest feathers, and with them returned to thehalatree under which they had found shelter from the sun. The burden taxed their strength to the utmost. The weight of the head, which was borne by the prince, was scarcely less than that of his own body, while the feathers were seven paces in length, and the claws two paces between their extreme points.Great excitement followed the spreading of the news thatPueoaliihad been killed by strangers. The sufferers through its visitations were disposed to commend the act, and others condemned it as an insult to the gods, which would probably bring broadcast calamity upon the whole island. To placate the anger of the gods it was proposed to sacrifice the strangers at the nearestheiau, and, respectfully wrapping the head of the bird inkapa, Kaululaau and his companion were conducted with their trophies to the sacred temple of Kukaniloko, which was not far distant. They were accompanied by a crowd which constantly swelled in numbers as they proceeded, and on arriving at theheiauthey were surrounded by four or five hundred men and women, many of them armed and clamoring for their blood.Kaululaau was in nowise alarmed, but rather enjoyed the situation. The high-priest of the temple appeared and the matter was laid before him. Looking at the foot and mighty feathers of the bird, he turned to the strangers and said:“You have slain a creature sacred to the gods, and my thought is that you should be sacrificed to avert their wrath.”“Be careful in your judgment, priest,” replied the prince. “How know you that the bird was sacred?”“For years it has been so regarded,” returned the priest. “How know you that it was not?”“Does it become the high-priest of Kukaniloko to ask such a question?” said the prince. “But I will reply to it when you answer this: With the javelin now in my hand I killed the bird at a distance farther than from where we stand to yonder hills. Could it have been done by human hand without the especial favor of the gods. If not, then how have the gods been angered?”The priest was confounded, and when the prince proposed to submit the question of his guilt to the king, the suggestion was accepted. It now being near nightfall, Kaululaau and his companion were removed within the enclosure of the temple for safe-keeping, and, knowing that they would be deprived of their weapons, the prince removed the charmed point from his javelin and secreted it in the folds of hismaro.Early next morning the high-priest and his two prisoners, who were kept under no marked restraint, accompanied by a large concourse of people carrying the head, foot and feathers ofPueoalii, started for Waikiki. Every one seemed to know that the great bird had been killed, and many stood by the wayside to see the feathers that had been torn from its wings, and catch a glimpse of its destroyer.Near the middle of the day the great gathering arrived at Waikiki. As many carried spears, it resembled an army in its march, and messengers were despatched by the king to ascertain its meaning. Halting near the shores of the harbor, and not far from the royal mansion, to report the arrival of the prisoners and learn the pleasure of the king, the prince observed his double canoe drawn up on the beach, and requested permission to approach it, that he might secure the counsel of his master, Kaululaau, son of themoiof Maui.The favor could not well be denied, and, under guard of two inferior priests of Kukaniloko, the prince was conducted to the canoe. As but three or four of the crew were present, and their attention was wholly absorbed in the gathering around the royalhale, the prince stepped, unobserved by them, into the canoe, and passed quickly into his private quarters—a closewicker-work apartment eight or ten feet in length by the breadth of both canoes, and with a height of six feet or more from their bottoms to the top screen.Hurriedly investing himself with his regalia of rank, including helmet, feather mantle and spear, he stepped into view and sounded a blast upon a shell. Soon a number of his attendants made their appearance, and, with such following as befitted a prince, he started for the royal mansion. The guards who escorted him to the canoe did not recognize him as he left it, and after passing the crowd surrounding the palace his name and rank were announced to the king. He was promptly met and courteously welcomed at the door by Kalona, and informed that messengers of greeting and invitation would have been despatched to him had his presence at Waikiki been known.Kaululaau then apprised the king that he had but just arrived overland from Waialua, while his double canoe had been sent around to meet him at Waikiki, and that it was his purpose to spend some days on Oahu. The hospitalities of the royalhalewere then tendered and accepted, after which the king explained to his distinguished guest the cause of the large gathering around the palace, and invited him to an inspection of the head, feathers and claws of the mightyPueoalii, and to listen to the story of the slayer of the sacred bird, should he deem it of sufficient interest.Kaululaau accompanied the king to a large dancing pavilion within the royal enclosure, to which had been conveyed the severed parts of the gigantic bird. After the claws and feathers had been examined with awe and amazement, the king ordered the slayer of the bird to be brought before him. The high-priest of Kukaniloko bowed and turned to execute the order, when the guards placed over the prince came from the beach with the information that their prisoner had escaped.The priest was savage in his disappointment. “Either find him or take his place upon the altar!” he hissed to the unfortunate guards, and then led Kamakaua before the king, with the explanation that the other prisoner had managed to elude the vigilance of his guards, but would doubtless soon be found.Kamakaua discovered the prince at the side of the king, and could hardly restrain a smile. When questioned he denied thathe killed the great bird, but admitted that he assisted in removing the head, feathers and one of the feet.“This is trifling,” said the king, turning to the priest with a scowl. “Where is the other prisoner?”“He is here, great king!” exclaimed Kaululaau, bowing before Kalona, to the astonishment but great relief of the priest. “Favored by the gods, I slew the malignant monster your priests call by the sacred name ofPueoalii. Their skill should have instructed them differently. Will the king favor me by ordering thekapacovering to be removed from the head?”The order was given, and the uncovered head was raised beak upward before the king.In a moment it was observed that the head was not of apueo, or owl; nor did it bear resemblance in form to that of any bird known. It was narrow between the eyes, which in color were those of a shark, and its long and pointed beak, both of the upper and under jaws, turned sharply upward.“It is not apueo!” was the general exclamation.“Are you satisfied, priest?” inquired the prince.“I think it is not apueo,” responded the priest, reluctantly.“Youthinkit is not apueo!” exclaimed the king, indignantly. “Do you notknowit? Whatpueoever had such eyes and such a beak?”The priest hung his head in confusion, and the prince, having completely discomfited him, now came kindly to his relief by remarking:“The mistake might well have been made, for on the wing and at a distance the bird much resembled apueo.”“You are kind to say so, prince,” said the king; “but the priests andkaulashave been greatly at fault. For years the bird has preyed upon the people, and no one has dared to molest it. Since you killed it, knowing that it was not sacred, perhaps you may be able to tell me something of its unnatural birth and appetites.”Thus appealed to, Kaululaau modestly replied:“If I may rely upon what seemed to be a dream last night, the bird was possessed by the spirit of Hilo-a-Lakapu, one of the chiefs of Hawaii who invaded Oahu during the reign of your royal father. He was slain at Waimano, and his head was placed upon a pole near Honouliuli for the birds to feed upon. He wasofakuablood, and through a bird-god relative his spirit was given possession of the monster which the gods enabled me to slay.”The spirit of Hilo had been brought in with the head of the dead bird, and with the utterance of these words by the prince the eyes rolled, the ponderous jaws opened and closed, and with a noise like the scream of analaethe malignant spirit took its departure.The truth of the dream of Kaululaau thus being verified, the king publicly thanked him for ridding the island of the monstrous scourge, and ordered especial honors to be paid him by all classes so long as it might be his pleasure to remain in the kingdom. In return the prince presented to the king the head, claws and feathers of the bird, the latter to be made into a mammothkahili, and then made Kamakaua known to him, together with such other chiefs in his train as were entitled to royal recognition.Kaululaau became at once the hero of the court as well as the idol of the people. He remained more than a month on Oahu, enjoying the unstinted hospitality of the king and his district chiefs. He was a favorite with the fairest women of the court; but he gave his heart to the beautiful Laiea-a-Ewa, sister of the wife of Kalona, and with her returned to Maui.Landing at Lahaina after his long absence, he was joyfully welcomed home by his royal father, who had heard of his adventures and fully forgiven the faults of his youth. With grief he learned that his friend the high-priest, Waolani, had died some months before. Remembering his oath, he found the burial place of the priest, and with his remains secretly deposited the sacred spear-point of Lono, which had served him so effectively. He devoutly kissed the relic before he hid it for ever from view, and afterwards knelt and thanked Lono and the priest for its use.Lands were given him in Kauaula, where he resided until the end of his days. Laiea was his only wife, and they were blessed with six children, whose names alone are mentioned by tradition.

The Sacred Spear-Point.CHARACTERS.Kakaeand}jointmoisof Maui.Kakaalaneo,Kahekili, son of Kakae.Kaululaau, son of Kakaalaneo.Waolani, a high-priest of Maui.Kalona-iki, king of Oahu.Laiea-a-Ewa, sister of the queen of Oahu.Kamakaua, a companion of Kaululaau.Kauholanui-mahu, king of Hawaii.Neula, queen of Hawaii.Noakua, a chief of Kohala, Hawaii.Pele, goddess of Kilauea.Keuakepo, brother of Pele.Mooaleo, a gnome-god of Molokai.Pueoalii, a winged demon of Oahu.THE SACRED SPEAR-POINT.THE ADVENTURES OF KAULULAAU, PRINCE OF MAUI.I.Kaululaau was one of the sons of Kakaalaneo, brother of, and joint ruler with, Kakae in the government of Maui. The latter was the legitimate heir to themoiship, but, as he was weak-minded, Kakaalaneo ruled jointly with him and was the real sovereign of the little kingdom. The court of the brothers was at Lele (now Lahaina), and was one of the most distinguished in the group.The mother of Kaululaau was Kanikaniaula, of the family of Kamauaua, king of Molokai, through his son Haili, who was the brother or half-brother of Keoloewa and Kaupeepee. The latter, it will be remembered, was the abductor of the celebrated Hina, of Hawaii, and the family was of the old strain of Maweke.Kaululaau was probably born somewhere between the years 1390 and 1400. He had a half-sister, whose name was Wao, and a half-brother, Kaihiwalua, who was the father of Luaia, who became the husband of a daughter of Piliwale,moiof Oahu, and brother of Lo-Lale. He doubtless had other brothers and sisters, since his father was blessed with two or more wives, but the legends fail to refer to them.Kahekili, son of Kakae, and who became his successor in themoiship, was of near the age of his cousin, Kaululaau, and the two princes grew to manhood together. They were instructed by the same teachers, schooled in the same arts and chiefly accomplishments, and chanted the same genealogicalmeles. Yet in disposition and personal appearance they were widely different.From his youth Kahekili was staid, sober and thoughtful. Bred to the knowledge that he would succeed his father asmoiof the island, he began early in life to prepare himself for the proper exercise of supreme authority, and at the age of twenty was noted for his intelligence, dignity and royal bearing. He had been told by a prophet that one of his name would be the last independentking of Maui, and the information rendered him solicitous for his future and drove many a smile from his lips. Yet, with all his austerity and circumspection, he was kind-hearted and affectionate, and his pastimes were such as comported with his dignity. In height he was somewhat below the chiefly medium, and his features were rugged and of a Papuan cast; but all knew that he was royal in heart and thought, and the respect due to him was not withheld.Kaululaau was unlike his royal cousin in almost every respect. He was noted alike for his intelligence, his manly beauty and his rollicking spirit of mischief and merriment. He did not covet the sceptre. He thought more of a wild debauch, with music, dancing and a calabash ofawa, than the right to command “downward” or “upward the face”; and since Kahekili was the designated successor of his father, he claimed the right, as a favored andtabusubject of the realm, to enjoy himself in such manner as best accorded with his tastes. As he could not make laws, he found a pleasure in breaking them. He was neither wantonly cruel nor malignant, but recklessly wild and mischievous, and neither the reproofs of his father nor the mild persuasions of his cousin were sufficient to restrain him. His bantering reply to the latter was: “When you become king I will act with more propriety. Twomoiscan afford one wild prince.”He had a congenial following of companions and retainers, who assisted him in his schemes of mischief. With feasting andhuladancing he would keep the village in an uproar for a dozen consecutive nights. He would send canoes adrift, open the gates of fish-ponds, remove the supports of houses, and paint swine black to deceive the sacrificial priests. He devised an instrument to imitate the death-warning notes of thealae, and frightened people by sounding it near their doors; and to others he caused information to be conveyed that they were being prayed to death.Notwithstanding these misdemeanors, Kaululaau was popular with the people, since the chiefs or members of the royal household were usually the victims of his mischievous freaks. He was encouraged in his disposition to qualify himself for the priesthood, under the instruction of the eminent high-priest and prophet, Waolani, and had made substantial advances in the calling, when he was banished to the island of Lanai by his royal father for an offence which could neither be overlooked nor forgiven.At that time Lanai was infested with a number of gnomes, monsters and evil spirits, among them the giganticmoo, Mooaleo. They ravaged fields, uprooted cocoanut-trees, destroyed the walls of fish-ponds, and otherwise frightened and discomfited the inhabitants of the island. That his residence there might be made endurable, Kaululaau was instructed by thekaulasand sorcerers of the court in many charms, spells, prayers and incantations with which to resist the powers of the supernatural monsters. When informed of these exorcising agencies by Kaululaau, his friend, the venerable high-priest, Waolani, told him that they would avail him nothing against the more powerful and malignant of the demons of Lanai.Disheartened at the declaration, Kaululaau was about to leave theheiauto embark for Lanai, when Waolani, after some hesitation, stayed his departure, and, entering the inner temple, soon returned with a small roll ofkapain his hand. Slowly uncording and removing many folds of cloth, an ivory spear-point a span in length was finally brought to view. Holding it before the prince, he said:“Take this. It will serve you in any way you may require. Its powers are greater than those of any god inhabiting the earth. It has been dipped in the waters ofPo, and many generations ago was left by Lono upon one of his altars for the protection of a temple menaced by a mighty fish-god who found a retreat beneath it in a great cavern connected with the sea. Draw a line with it and nothing can pass the mark. Affix it to a spear and throw it, and it will reach the object, no matter how far distant. Much more will it do, but let what I have said suffice.”The prince eagerly reached to possess the treasure, but the priest withdrew it and continued:“I give it to you on condition that it pass from you to no other hands than mine, and that if I am no longer living when you return to Maui—as you some day will—you will secretly deposit it with my bones. Swear to this in the name of Lono.”Kaululaau solemnly pronounced the required oath. The priest then handed him the talisman, wrapped in thekapafrom which it had been taken, and he left the temple, and immediately embarked with a number of his attendants for Lanai.Reaching Lanai, he established his household on the south side of the island. Learning his name and rank, the peopletreated him with great respect—for Lanai was then a dependency of Maui—assisted in the construction of the houses necessary for his accommodation, and provided him with fish,poi, fruits and potatoes in great abundance. In return for this devotion he set about ridding the island of the supernatural pests with which it had been for years afflicted.In the legend of “Kelea, the Surf-rider of Maui,” will be found some reference to the battles of Kaululaau with the evil spirits and monsters of Lanai. His most stubborn conflict was with the gnome god Mooaleo. He imprisoned the demon within the earth by drawing a line around him with the sacred spear-point, and subsequently released and drove him into the sea.More than a year was spent by Kaululaau in quieting and expelling from the island the malicious monsters that troubled it, but he succeeded in the end in completely relieving the people from their vexatious visitations. This added immeasurably to his popularity, and the choicest of the products of land and sea were laid at his feet.His triumph over the demons of Lanai was soon known on the other islands of the group, and when it reached the ears of Kakaalaneo he despatched a messenger to his son, offering his forgiveness and recalling him from exile. The service he had rendered was important, and his royal father was anxious to recognize it by restoring him to favor.But Kaululaau showed no haste in availing himself of his father’s magnanimity. Far from the restraints of the court, he had become attached to the independent life he had found in exile, and could think of no comforts or enjoyments unattainable on Lanai. The women there were as handsome as elsewhere, the bananas were as sweet, the cocoanuts were as large, theawawas as stimulating, and the fisheries were as varied and abundant in product. He had congenial companionship, and bands of musicians and dancers at his call. The best of the earth and the love of the people were his, and theapapanisang in the grove that shaded his door. What more could he ask, what more expect should he return to Maui? His exile had ceased to be a punishment, and his father’s message of recall was scarcely deemed a favor.However, Kaululaau returned a respectful answer by his father’s messenger, thanking Kakaalaneo for his clemency, andannouncing that he would return to Maui some time in the near future, after having visited some of the other islands of the group; and three months later he began to prepare for a trip to Hawaii. He procured a large double canoe, which he painted a royal yellow, and had fabricated a number of cloaks and capes of the feathers of theooandmamo. At the prow of his canoe he mounted a carved image of Lono, and at the top of one of the masts a place was reserved for the proudtabustandard of anaha alii. This done, with a proper retinue he set sail for Hawaii.II.On his visit to Hawaii, Kaululaau was accompanied by a number of companions of his own disposition and temperament. Among them was Kamakaua, a young Maui chief, who had followed him into exile and was thoroughly devoted to his interests. He was brave, courtly and intelligent, and in personal appearance somewhat resembled the prince. The crew and most of the attendants of the prince had been selected by Kamakaua, including the chief navigator and astrologer; and however competent they may have been in their respective stations, it was discovered during the voyage that they were no less efficient as musicians and dancers. Hence there was no lack of amusement as the huge double canoe breasted the waves of Alenuihaha Channel, and on the morning of the third day stood off the village of Waipio, in the district of Hamakua, Hawaii.At that time Kauholanui-mahu, father of the noted Kiha, was king of Hawaii. His wife was Neula, a chiefess of Maui, who had inherited very considerable possessions in the neighborhood of Honuaula, on that island. As the climate of the locality was salubrious, and the neighboring waters abounded abundantly in fish, the royal couple made frequent and sometimes lengthy visits thither. These visits were usually made without the knowledge of Kakaalaneo, and the unexplained attachment of the Hawaiian king to the comparatively small inheritance of his wife on a neighboring island began to be regarded with suspicion, and had become a theme for speculation and inquiry at the court of Lahaina.At the time of the visit of Kaululaau to Waipio, Kauholanuihad been absent for some months on Maui, leaving Neula in charge of the government of Hawaii. Attributing the absence of the king to deliberate neglect, Neula had become greatly dissatisfied, and whispers of coming trouble were rife throughout the island. All this was doubtless known to Kaululaau, and, as the royal residence was at Waipio, it was upon the beach below it that he landed with his party and drew up his double canoe.The presence and state of the strangers were soon heralded to the queen, and she promptly despatched messengers, courteously inviting the prince and his personal retainers to become her guests at the royalhale, at the same time giving orders for the accommodation of the humbler of his attendants and followers, as was the hospitable custom of the time.Accepting the invitation, Kaululaau and four of his chiefly companions were provided with quarters within the palace enclosure, and their food was served from the royal table. In the afternoon Kaululaau was accorded an audience with the queen, during which he presented his friends, including Kamakaua.The prince whiled away nearly a month at Waipio, and many formal entertainments were given in his honor. Neula was unusually agreeable, and was soon on terms of friendly intimacy both with the prince and Kamakaua. This was exactly what Kaululaau desired, since it enabled him to devise and assist in the execution of a scheme for bringing the king back from Maui and keeping him thereafter within his own kingdom.Under the instructions of Kaululaau, Kamakaua assumed to be greatly smitten with the charms of the queen. As she was a comely woman, and somewhat vain of her personal appearance, the conquest of the handsome chief gratified her; but his attentions developed the fact that he had a rival in Noakua, a chief of Kohala. This discovery simplified the plans of the prince, and relieved Kamakaua of a dangerous duty in the end. In pressing his suit he found a pretext for informing the queen that the continued absence of the king was due to the fact that he had taken another wife, with whom he was living at Honuaula, and that he had ceased to care either for his kingdom or his family.While Kamakaua was pouring this poison into the ears of Neula, Kaululaau, who had made the acquaintance of Noakua, was planting in the mind of that chief the seeds of sedition. He flattered him with the opinion that he was made to rule, and bydegrees developed to him a plan through which, with the favor of the queen, he could seize the government, unite the principal chiefs in his support, and prevent Kauholanui from returning to Hawaii.The ambition of Noakua, and anger of the queen at the presumed neglect and infidelity of her husband, soon harmonized them in a plot against the absent king. Preparations for the revolt began to be observed, when Kaululaau, not wishing to be openly identified with the dangerous movement, quietly embarked with his party for Hilo, where he remained to watch the progress of the struggle which he had been instrumental in originating.The prince had been in Hilo but a few days when alunapaiarrived from Waipio, summoning the chief of the district to repair thither with eight hundred warriors, and announcing the assumption of the sovereignty of the island by Neula. Similar notifications were sent to the chiefs of the other districts of the kingdom, and soon all was excitement from Kau to Kohala.Hearing of the revolt, Kauholanui, who had been engaged in constructing a fish-pond at Keoneoio, in the neighborhood of Honuaula, left Maui at once with less than a hundred spears, and, landing in Kona, whose chief could be relied upon, he started overland for Waipio. The revolution was unpopular, and with great unanimity the chiefs and people rallied to the standard of the king. The struggle was brief. A battle was fought near Waimea, resulting in the defeat of the rebel army and the death of Noakua.This ended the revolt. As a punishment to Neula the king took another wife. But the object of Kaululaau was accomplished, for Kauholanui never again visited Maui, although the queen spent much of her time thereafter at Honuaula, where her favorite guest and friend was Kamakaua.Leaving Hilo, Kaululaau and his party leisurely drifted along the coasts of Puna until they reached the borders of Kau, when they landed at Keauhou to spend a few days in fishing and surf-riding.Weary of the sport, Kaululaau left the bathers in the surf, one afternoon, and threw himself under the shade of ahalatree near the shore. Watching the clouds and the sea-birds circling in the heavens above him, he fell asleep, and when he awoke his eyes fell upon a beautiful woman sitting upon a rock not more than ahundred paces distant, and silently watching the swimmers as they came riding in on the crests of the rollers. Her skirts were apauspangled with crystals, and over her shoulders hung a short mantle of the colors of a rainbow. Her long hair was held back by aleiof flowers, and her wrists and ankles were adorned with circlets of tiny shells of pink and white.The appearance of the woman dazzled him, and after gazing for some time, and rubbing his eyes to be sure that he was not dreaming, he rose to his feet and approached the radiant being. Advancing within four or five paces of the woman, apparently unobserved, he stopped, and with a cough attracted her attention. Turning her face toward him, he greeted her courteously, and requested permission to approach nearer and converse with her. Her appearance indicated that she was a person of rank, and he did not feel like trespassing uninvited upon her privacy. She did not deign to make any reply to his request, but, after scanning him from head to foot, turned her face toward the sea again with a contemptuous toss of the head.He hesitated for a moment, and then turned and strode rapidly down to the beach, where his double canoe had been safely drawn up on the sands. “In the guise of a bather,” thought the prince, “she evidently mistakes me for a servant. I will approach her in the garb to which my rank entitles me, and see what effect that will have.”Entering the canoe, he girded his loins with a gaudymaro, hung round his neck apalaoa, and threw over his shoulders a royal mantle of yellow feathers. Then, crowning his head with a brilliant feather helmet, he selected a spear of the length of six paces and stepped from the canoe. As he did so he stumbled. “This means that I have forgotten or omitted something of importance,” said the prince to himself, stopping and in detail scanning his equipments. At that moment a lizard ran across his path and entered a hole in the earth. This brought to mind his battle with the gigantic gnome on Lanai, and with a smile he re-entered the canoe. Taking from a calabash, where it had been for months secreted, the charmed spear-point of Lono, he affixed it firmly to the point of a javelin, and, thus equipped, again sought the presence of the fascinating being by whom he had been repulsed.Advancing as before, he once more craved permission toapproach near enough to drink in the beauty of her eyes. But she seemed to be in no mood to consent. Scanning him in his changed apparel, with an air of indifference she said:“You need not have taken the trouble to bedeck yourself with royal feathers. I knew you before, as I know you now, to be Kaululaau, son of Kakaalaneo,moiof Maui. I do not desire your company.”“Since you know who I am, I must claim the right to insist upon my request, unless you can show, indeed, that you are of equal or better rank.” Saying this, the prince took a step forward.“Then come,” replied the woman, “since you are rude enough to attempt it. Sit at my feet and tell me of your love, and I will search the caves for squid and beat thekapafor you.”The prince advanced joyfully, and was about to seat himself at the feet of the lovely being, when with a cry of pain he sprang back. The rock he had touched was as hot as if it had just been thrown from the crater of a volcano.“Come,” said the woman tauntingly; “do you not see that I am waiting for you?”Again the prince advanced, but the earth for two or three paces around her was glimmering with heat, and he hastily withdrew to where the ground and rocks were cool. He was now satisfied that he was dealing with some one wielding supernatural powers, and resolved to test the efficacy of the charmed point of his javelin.“Why do you not come?” continued the woman in a tone of mingled defiance and reproach.“Because the earth where you are sitting is too warm for my feet,” replied the prince, innocently. “Come where I am standing, and I will sit beside you.” And with the point of his javelin he marked upon the ground the boundaries of a space around him.“Retire some paces, and I will do so,” replied the woman, confidently. The prince withdrew, as requested, and she quietly removed to the spot where he had been standing.“Now come,” said the woman, reseating herself; “perhaps you will find it cooler here.”“I hope so,” returned the prince, as he began cautiously to advance. He crossed the line marked by the point of his javelin,and felt no heat. He took three more steps forward, and the earth was still cool. Another step, which brought him within two paces of the enchantress, convinced him that her powers were impotent within the boundaries of the line he had drawn, and with a sudden leap forward he caught her in his arms.Astounded at the failure of her powers, and humiliated at her defeat, the woman struggled to free herself from the embrace of the prince; but within the charmed circle she possessed but the strength of a simple woman, and was compelled to yield to the supreme indignities of superior force.Exasperated beyond measure, she at length succeeded in eluding his grasp and springing beyond the fatal line. The prince followed, but she was now herself, and he could neither overtake nor restrain her. Retreating some distance up the hill, she suddenly stopped and awaited his approach. She permitted him to advance within forty or fifty paces of her, when in the space of a breath she abandoned her captivating disguise and stood forth in the form of Pele, the dreadful goddess of Kilauea. Her eyes were bright as the midday sun, and her hair was like a flame of fire.The prince stopped in dismay. The goddess raised her hand, and at her feet burst forth a stream of molten lava, rolling fiercely down upon the prince, as if to engulf him. He started to escape by flight, but the stream widened and increased in speed as it followed. Fearful that it would overtake him before he could reach the sea, he thought of his javelin, and with the point hastily drew a line in front of the advancing flood. Continuing his flight and looking back, he discovered, to his great relief, that the stream had stopped abruptly at the line he had drawn, and could not pass it. Passing into a ravine, the angry flow sought to reach the sea through its channel, and thus cut off the retreat of the prince; but he crossed the depression, marking a line as he went, and the fiery avalanche was stayed at the limit.Observing that she was thwarted by some power whose element seemed to be of the earth, Pele summoned her brother Keuakepo from Kilauea, and a shower of fire and ashes descended upon Kaululaau and his companions. Leaping into the sea to avoid the fire, they dragged the double canoe from its moorings, and, swimming and pushing it through the breakers, escaped from the coast with but little injury.III.Having embroiled himself with the divine and political powers of Hawaii, Kaululaau rounded the southern point of La Lae and set sail for Molokai. He spent a month on that island with the royal relatives of his mother, by whom he was appropriately received and entertained. He visited the home of Laamaomao, the wind-god, the poisoned grove of Kalaipahoa, and the demolished fortress on the promontory of Haupu, where the gallant Kaupeepee, of whose blood he was, met his dramatic death. He then set sail for Oahu.The island of Oahu was at that period one of the most prosperous in the group. It was under the government of Kalona-iki, one of the two sons of Mailikukahi, who during his reign had instituted a code of laws giving better protection to the poor, making theft punishable with death, and claiming as the wards of the government the first-born male children of all families, without regard to rank or condition.Kalona continued the peaceful and intelligent policy of his father, and his court was noted alike for the brilliancy of its chiefs and the beauty of its women. His principal place of residence was Waikiki, although he had sumptuous temporary resorts at Ewa and Waialua.Kaululaau first touched at Waialua, but, learning that the king was at Waikiki, he ordered his canoe to proceed around to the south side of the island in charge of his chief navigator, while he and Kamakaua concluded to make the journey overland. Dispensing with all insignia of rank, and habited like simple commoners, the prince and his companion started unattended for Waikiki. Both were armed with javelins, but the one borne by Kaululaau was tipped with the charmed point of Lono.Proceeding along the foot of the Kaala range of mountains, in the afternoon they sat down to rest in the shade of ahalatree. In a ravine below them five or six men were working, and scattered along its banks were a number of huts. Soon a tumult of screams reached them, and men, women and children were seen running hither and thither in a state of great excitement.The travelers sprang to their feet, and as they did so a gigantic bird swept immediately over their heads and winged its waytoward the hills. It passed so closely that the branches of thehalatree were swayed by the motion of its mighty pinions, and its outspread wings seemed to measure scarcely less than twenty long steps from tip to tip.While watching the monster with amazement, a woman approached, and to the questions of the prince replied, between wails of anguish, that the great bird—thePueoalii, as she called it—had just killed her only child in front of her hut, with a stab to the heart resembling the cut of a knife. She hurriedly gave the additional information that for many years past the same bird had at intervals visited different districts of the island, killing children, pigs and fowls, and that the priests had declared it to be apueo, or owl, sacred to the gods, and which could not, therefore, be molested with safety, even if harm to it were possible from human hands.Better learned in the inspiration and purposes of such visitations—since he had been instructed by the eminent high-priest Waolani—and having had many conflicts with malignant spirits, he doubted that the monster he had just seen was of the sacredpueofamily, and requested that he be shown the dead child. Proceeding to the hut and inspecting the wound, he observed that the fatal cut was upward, and not downward, as it would have been had it been made by the beak of an owl. This confirmed him in the correctness of his first impression, and, requesting Kamakaua to follow him, he started toward the hills in the direction taken by the bird.They could still see it in the distance, like a dark cloud against the mountain. After following it for some time the bird swooped down to commit some fresh depredation, and then rose and alighted upon a rocky ridge with precipitous face sweeping down from the main summit of Kaala.“Why go farther?” said Kamakaua. “We cannot reach the bird, and, if we could, our spears would be like straws to such a monster.”As if by a strong hand, the javelin in the grasp of the prince forcibly turned and pointed toward the bird. Smiling at the augury, Kaululaau replied:“Look you carefully back and see if we are followed.”Kamakaua turned his face in compliance, and as he did so the prince poised his javelin and hurled it in the direction of the bird.In twenty paces the point did not droop; in forty it did not fall to the ground; in a hundred a new energy seized it, and like a flash of light it sped out of sight. A moment later the prince saw the bird sink and disappear.“I can see no one,” said Kamakaua, after carefully scanning the ground over which they had passed. “Nor can I now see the bird,” he continued, looking toward the ridge. “Where can it be?”“At the foot of the cliff,” replied the prince, “with the point of my javelin in his heart.”Having been with the prince on Molokai, Kamakaua received the strange information without question or great wonder, and, hastening to the base of the precipice, they found the monster dead, with the javelin buried in its breast. Removing the weapon, they cut off the head and one of the feet of the bird, pulled from its wings four of the longest feathers, and with them returned to thehalatree under which they had found shelter from the sun. The burden taxed their strength to the utmost. The weight of the head, which was borne by the prince, was scarcely less than that of his own body, while the feathers were seven paces in length, and the claws two paces between their extreme points.Great excitement followed the spreading of the news thatPueoaliihad been killed by strangers. The sufferers through its visitations were disposed to commend the act, and others condemned it as an insult to the gods, which would probably bring broadcast calamity upon the whole island. To placate the anger of the gods it was proposed to sacrifice the strangers at the nearestheiau, and, respectfully wrapping the head of the bird inkapa, Kaululaau and his companion were conducted with their trophies to the sacred temple of Kukaniloko, which was not far distant. They were accompanied by a crowd which constantly swelled in numbers as they proceeded, and on arriving at theheiauthey were surrounded by four or five hundred men and women, many of them armed and clamoring for their blood.Kaululaau was in nowise alarmed, but rather enjoyed the situation. The high-priest of the temple appeared and the matter was laid before him. Looking at the foot and mighty feathers of the bird, he turned to the strangers and said:“You have slain a creature sacred to the gods, and my thought is that you should be sacrificed to avert their wrath.”“Be careful in your judgment, priest,” replied the prince. “How know you that the bird was sacred?”“For years it has been so regarded,” returned the priest. “How know you that it was not?”“Does it become the high-priest of Kukaniloko to ask such a question?” said the prince. “But I will reply to it when you answer this: With the javelin now in my hand I killed the bird at a distance farther than from where we stand to yonder hills. Could it have been done by human hand without the especial favor of the gods. If not, then how have the gods been angered?”The priest was confounded, and when the prince proposed to submit the question of his guilt to the king, the suggestion was accepted. It now being near nightfall, Kaululaau and his companion were removed within the enclosure of the temple for safe-keeping, and, knowing that they would be deprived of their weapons, the prince removed the charmed point from his javelin and secreted it in the folds of hismaro.Early next morning the high-priest and his two prisoners, who were kept under no marked restraint, accompanied by a large concourse of people carrying the head, foot and feathers ofPueoalii, started for Waikiki. Every one seemed to know that the great bird had been killed, and many stood by the wayside to see the feathers that had been torn from its wings, and catch a glimpse of its destroyer.Near the middle of the day the great gathering arrived at Waikiki. As many carried spears, it resembled an army in its march, and messengers were despatched by the king to ascertain its meaning. Halting near the shores of the harbor, and not far from the royal mansion, to report the arrival of the prisoners and learn the pleasure of the king, the prince observed his double canoe drawn up on the beach, and requested permission to approach it, that he might secure the counsel of his master, Kaululaau, son of themoiof Maui.The favor could not well be denied, and, under guard of two inferior priests of Kukaniloko, the prince was conducted to the canoe. As but three or four of the crew were present, and their attention was wholly absorbed in the gathering around the royalhale, the prince stepped, unobserved by them, into the canoe, and passed quickly into his private quarters—a closewicker-work apartment eight or ten feet in length by the breadth of both canoes, and with a height of six feet or more from their bottoms to the top screen.Hurriedly investing himself with his regalia of rank, including helmet, feather mantle and spear, he stepped into view and sounded a blast upon a shell. Soon a number of his attendants made their appearance, and, with such following as befitted a prince, he started for the royal mansion. The guards who escorted him to the canoe did not recognize him as he left it, and after passing the crowd surrounding the palace his name and rank were announced to the king. He was promptly met and courteously welcomed at the door by Kalona, and informed that messengers of greeting and invitation would have been despatched to him had his presence at Waikiki been known.Kaululaau then apprised the king that he had but just arrived overland from Waialua, while his double canoe had been sent around to meet him at Waikiki, and that it was his purpose to spend some days on Oahu. The hospitalities of the royalhalewere then tendered and accepted, after which the king explained to his distinguished guest the cause of the large gathering around the palace, and invited him to an inspection of the head, feathers and claws of the mightyPueoalii, and to listen to the story of the slayer of the sacred bird, should he deem it of sufficient interest.Kaululaau accompanied the king to a large dancing pavilion within the royal enclosure, to which had been conveyed the severed parts of the gigantic bird. After the claws and feathers had been examined with awe and amazement, the king ordered the slayer of the bird to be brought before him. The high-priest of Kukaniloko bowed and turned to execute the order, when the guards placed over the prince came from the beach with the information that their prisoner had escaped.The priest was savage in his disappointment. “Either find him or take his place upon the altar!” he hissed to the unfortunate guards, and then led Kamakaua before the king, with the explanation that the other prisoner had managed to elude the vigilance of his guards, but would doubtless soon be found.Kamakaua discovered the prince at the side of the king, and could hardly restrain a smile. When questioned he denied thathe killed the great bird, but admitted that he assisted in removing the head, feathers and one of the feet.“This is trifling,” said the king, turning to the priest with a scowl. “Where is the other prisoner?”“He is here, great king!” exclaimed Kaululaau, bowing before Kalona, to the astonishment but great relief of the priest. “Favored by the gods, I slew the malignant monster your priests call by the sacred name ofPueoalii. Their skill should have instructed them differently. Will the king favor me by ordering thekapacovering to be removed from the head?”The order was given, and the uncovered head was raised beak upward before the king.In a moment it was observed that the head was not of apueo, or owl; nor did it bear resemblance in form to that of any bird known. It was narrow between the eyes, which in color were those of a shark, and its long and pointed beak, both of the upper and under jaws, turned sharply upward.“It is not apueo!” was the general exclamation.“Are you satisfied, priest?” inquired the prince.“I think it is not apueo,” responded the priest, reluctantly.“Youthinkit is not apueo!” exclaimed the king, indignantly. “Do you notknowit? Whatpueoever had such eyes and such a beak?”The priest hung his head in confusion, and the prince, having completely discomfited him, now came kindly to his relief by remarking:“The mistake might well have been made, for on the wing and at a distance the bird much resembled apueo.”“You are kind to say so, prince,” said the king; “but the priests andkaulashave been greatly at fault. For years the bird has preyed upon the people, and no one has dared to molest it. Since you killed it, knowing that it was not sacred, perhaps you may be able to tell me something of its unnatural birth and appetites.”Thus appealed to, Kaululaau modestly replied:“If I may rely upon what seemed to be a dream last night, the bird was possessed by the spirit of Hilo-a-Lakapu, one of the chiefs of Hawaii who invaded Oahu during the reign of your royal father. He was slain at Waimano, and his head was placed upon a pole near Honouliuli for the birds to feed upon. He wasofakuablood, and through a bird-god relative his spirit was given possession of the monster which the gods enabled me to slay.”The spirit of Hilo had been brought in with the head of the dead bird, and with the utterance of these words by the prince the eyes rolled, the ponderous jaws opened and closed, and with a noise like the scream of analaethe malignant spirit took its departure.The truth of the dream of Kaululaau thus being verified, the king publicly thanked him for ridding the island of the monstrous scourge, and ordered especial honors to be paid him by all classes so long as it might be his pleasure to remain in the kingdom. In return the prince presented to the king the head, claws and feathers of the bird, the latter to be made into a mammothkahili, and then made Kamakaua known to him, together with such other chiefs in his train as were entitled to royal recognition.Kaululaau became at once the hero of the court as well as the idol of the people. He remained more than a month on Oahu, enjoying the unstinted hospitality of the king and his district chiefs. He was a favorite with the fairest women of the court; but he gave his heart to the beautiful Laiea-a-Ewa, sister of the wife of Kalona, and with her returned to Maui.Landing at Lahaina after his long absence, he was joyfully welcomed home by his royal father, who had heard of his adventures and fully forgiven the faults of his youth. With grief he learned that his friend the high-priest, Waolani, had died some months before. Remembering his oath, he found the burial place of the priest, and with his remains secretly deposited the sacred spear-point of Lono, which had served him so effectively. He devoutly kissed the relic before he hid it for ever from view, and afterwards knelt and thanked Lono and the priest for its use.Lands were given him in Kauaula, where he resided until the end of his days. Laiea was his only wife, and they were blessed with six children, whose names alone are mentioned by tradition.

CHARACTERS.Kakaeand}jointmoisof Maui.Kakaalaneo,Kahekili, son of Kakae.Kaululaau, son of Kakaalaneo.Waolani, a high-priest of Maui.Kalona-iki, king of Oahu.Laiea-a-Ewa, sister of the queen of Oahu.Kamakaua, a companion of Kaululaau.Kauholanui-mahu, king of Hawaii.Neula, queen of Hawaii.Noakua, a chief of Kohala, Hawaii.Pele, goddess of Kilauea.Keuakepo, brother of Pele.Mooaleo, a gnome-god of Molokai.Pueoalii, a winged demon of Oahu.THE SACRED SPEAR-POINT.THE ADVENTURES OF KAULULAAU, PRINCE OF MAUI.

CHARACTERS.Kakaeand}jointmoisof Maui.Kakaalaneo,Kahekili, son of Kakae.Kaululaau, son of Kakaalaneo.Waolani, a high-priest of Maui.Kalona-iki, king of Oahu.Laiea-a-Ewa, sister of the queen of Oahu.Kamakaua, a companion of Kaululaau.Kauholanui-mahu, king of Hawaii.Neula, queen of Hawaii.Noakua, a chief of Kohala, Hawaii.Pele, goddess of Kilauea.Keuakepo, brother of Pele.Mooaleo, a gnome-god of Molokai.Pueoalii, a winged demon of Oahu.

THE SACRED SPEAR-POINT.THE ADVENTURES OF KAULULAAU, PRINCE OF MAUI.

THE SACRED SPEAR-POINT.

THE ADVENTURES OF KAULULAAU, PRINCE OF MAUI.

I.Kaululaau was one of the sons of Kakaalaneo, brother of, and joint ruler with, Kakae in the government of Maui. The latter was the legitimate heir to themoiship, but, as he was weak-minded, Kakaalaneo ruled jointly with him and was the real sovereign of the little kingdom. The court of the brothers was at Lele (now Lahaina), and was one of the most distinguished in the group.The mother of Kaululaau was Kanikaniaula, of the family of Kamauaua, king of Molokai, through his son Haili, who was the brother or half-brother of Keoloewa and Kaupeepee. The latter, it will be remembered, was the abductor of the celebrated Hina, of Hawaii, and the family was of the old strain of Maweke.Kaululaau was probably born somewhere between the years 1390 and 1400. He had a half-sister, whose name was Wao, and a half-brother, Kaihiwalua, who was the father of Luaia, who became the husband of a daughter of Piliwale,moiof Oahu, and brother of Lo-Lale. He doubtless had other brothers and sisters, since his father was blessed with two or more wives, but the legends fail to refer to them.Kahekili, son of Kakae, and who became his successor in themoiship, was of near the age of his cousin, Kaululaau, and the two princes grew to manhood together. They were instructed by the same teachers, schooled in the same arts and chiefly accomplishments, and chanted the same genealogicalmeles. Yet in disposition and personal appearance they were widely different.From his youth Kahekili was staid, sober and thoughtful. Bred to the knowledge that he would succeed his father asmoiof the island, he began early in life to prepare himself for the proper exercise of supreme authority, and at the age of twenty was noted for his intelligence, dignity and royal bearing. He had been told by a prophet that one of his name would be the last independentking of Maui, and the information rendered him solicitous for his future and drove many a smile from his lips. Yet, with all his austerity and circumspection, he was kind-hearted and affectionate, and his pastimes were such as comported with his dignity. In height he was somewhat below the chiefly medium, and his features were rugged and of a Papuan cast; but all knew that he was royal in heart and thought, and the respect due to him was not withheld.Kaululaau was unlike his royal cousin in almost every respect. He was noted alike for his intelligence, his manly beauty and his rollicking spirit of mischief and merriment. He did not covet the sceptre. He thought more of a wild debauch, with music, dancing and a calabash ofawa, than the right to command “downward” or “upward the face”; and since Kahekili was the designated successor of his father, he claimed the right, as a favored andtabusubject of the realm, to enjoy himself in such manner as best accorded with his tastes. As he could not make laws, he found a pleasure in breaking them. He was neither wantonly cruel nor malignant, but recklessly wild and mischievous, and neither the reproofs of his father nor the mild persuasions of his cousin were sufficient to restrain him. His bantering reply to the latter was: “When you become king I will act with more propriety. Twomoiscan afford one wild prince.”He had a congenial following of companions and retainers, who assisted him in his schemes of mischief. With feasting andhuladancing he would keep the village in an uproar for a dozen consecutive nights. He would send canoes adrift, open the gates of fish-ponds, remove the supports of houses, and paint swine black to deceive the sacrificial priests. He devised an instrument to imitate the death-warning notes of thealae, and frightened people by sounding it near their doors; and to others he caused information to be conveyed that they were being prayed to death.Notwithstanding these misdemeanors, Kaululaau was popular with the people, since the chiefs or members of the royal household were usually the victims of his mischievous freaks. He was encouraged in his disposition to qualify himself for the priesthood, under the instruction of the eminent high-priest and prophet, Waolani, and had made substantial advances in the calling, when he was banished to the island of Lanai by his royal father for an offence which could neither be overlooked nor forgiven.At that time Lanai was infested with a number of gnomes, monsters and evil spirits, among them the giganticmoo, Mooaleo. They ravaged fields, uprooted cocoanut-trees, destroyed the walls of fish-ponds, and otherwise frightened and discomfited the inhabitants of the island. That his residence there might be made endurable, Kaululaau was instructed by thekaulasand sorcerers of the court in many charms, spells, prayers and incantations with which to resist the powers of the supernatural monsters. When informed of these exorcising agencies by Kaululaau, his friend, the venerable high-priest, Waolani, told him that they would avail him nothing against the more powerful and malignant of the demons of Lanai.Disheartened at the declaration, Kaululaau was about to leave theheiauto embark for Lanai, when Waolani, after some hesitation, stayed his departure, and, entering the inner temple, soon returned with a small roll ofkapain his hand. Slowly uncording and removing many folds of cloth, an ivory spear-point a span in length was finally brought to view. Holding it before the prince, he said:“Take this. It will serve you in any way you may require. Its powers are greater than those of any god inhabiting the earth. It has been dipped in the waters ofPo, and many generations ago was left by Lono upon one of his altars for the protection of a temple menaced by a mighty fish-god who found a retreat beneath it in a great cavern connected with the sea. Draw a line with it and nothing can pass the mark. Affix it to a spear and throw it, and it will reach the object, no matter how far distant. Much more will it do, but let what I have said suffice.”The prince eagerly reached to possess the treasure, but the priest withdrew it and continued:“I give it to you on condition that it pass from you to no other hands than mine, and that if I am no longer living when you return to Maui—as you some day will—you will secretly deposit it with my bones. Swear to this in the name of Lono.”Kaululaau solemnly pronounced the required oath. The priest then handed him the talisman, wrapped in thekapafrom which it had been taken, and he left the temple, and immediately embarked with a number of his attendants for Lanai.Reaching Lanai, he established his household on the south side of the island. Learning his name and rank, the peopletreated him with great respect—for Lanai was then a dependency of Maui—assisted in the construction of the houses necessary for his accommodation, and provided him with fish,poi, fruits and potatoes in great abundance. In return for this devotion he set about ridding the island of the supernatural pests with which it had been for years afflicted.In the legend of “Kelea, the Surf-rider of Maui,” will be found some reference to the battles of Kaululaau with the evil spirits and monsters of Lanai. His most stubborn conflict was with the gnome god Mooaleo. He imprisoned the demon within the earth by drawing a line around him with the sacred spear-point, and subsequently released and drove him into the sea.More than a year was spent by Kaululaau in quieting and expelling from the island the malicious monsters that troubled it, but he succeeded in the end in completely relieving the people from their vexatious visitations. This added immeasurably to his popularity, and the choicest of the products of land and sea were laid at his feet.His triumph over the demons of Lanai was soon known on the other islands of the group, and when it reached the ears of Kakaalaneo he despatched a messenger to his son, offering his forgiveness and recalling him from exile. The service he had rendered was important, and his royal father was anxious to recognize it by restoring him to favor.But Kaululaau showed no haste in availing himself of his father’s magnanimity. Far from the restraints of the court, he had become attached to the independent life he had found in exile, and could think of no comforts or enjoyments unattainable on Lanai. The women there were as handsome as elsewhere, the bananas were as sweet, the cocoanuts were as large, theawawas as stimulating, and the fisheries were as varied and abundant in product. He had congenial companionship, and bands of musicians and dancers at his call. The best of the earth and the love of the people were his, and theapapanisang in the grove that shaded his door. What more could he ask, what more expect should he return to Maui? His exile had ceased to be a punishment, and his father’s message of recall was scarcely deemed a favor.However, Kaululaau returned a respectful answer by his father’s messenger, thanking Kakaalaneo for his clemency, andannouncing that he would return to Maui some time in the near future, after having visited some of the other islands of the group; and three months later he began to prepare for a trip to Hawaii. He procured a large double canoe, which he painted a royal yellow, and had fabricated a number of cloaks and capes of the feathers of theooandmamo. At the prow of his canoe he mounted a carved image of Lono, and at the top of one of the masts a place was reserved for the proudtabustandard of anaha alii. This done, with a proper retinue he set sail for Hawaii.

I.

Kaululaau was one of the sons of Kakaalaneo, brother of, and joint ruler with, Kakae in the government of Maui. The latter was the legitimate heir to themoiship, but, as he was weak-minded, Kakaalaneo ruled jointly with him and was the real sovereign of the little kingdom. The court of the brothers was at Lele (now Lahaina), and was one of the most distinguished in the group.The mother of Kaululaau was Kanikaniaula, of the family of Kamauaua, king of Molokai, through his son Haili, who was the brother or half-brother of Keoloewa and Kaupeepee. The latter, it will be remembered, was the abductor of the celebrated Hina, of Hawaii, and the family was of the old strain of Maweke.Kaululaau was probably born somewhere between the years 1390 and 1400. He had a half-sister, whose name was Wao, and a half-brother, Kaihiwalua, who was the father of Luaia, who became the husband of a daughter of Piliwale,moiof Oahu, and brother of Lo-Lale. He doubtless had other brothers and sisters, since his father was blessed with two or more wives, but the legends fail to refer to them.Kahekili, son of Kakae, and who became his successor in themoiship, was of near the age of his cousin, Kaululaau, and the two princes grew to manhood together. They were instructed by the same teachers, schooled in the same arts and chiefly accomplishments, and chanted the same genealogicalmeles. Yet in disposition and personal appearance they were widely different.From his youth Kahekili was staid, sober and thoughtful. Bred to the knowledge that he would succeed his father asmoiof the island, he began early in life to prepare himself for the proper exercise of supreme authority, and at the age of twenty was noted for his intelligence, dignity and royal bearing. He had been told by a prophet that one of his name would be the last independentking of Maui, and the information rendered him solicitous for his future and drove many a smile from his lips. Yet, with all his austerity and circumspection, he was kind-hearted and affectionate, and his pastimes were such as comported with his dignity. In height he was somewhat below the chiefly medium, and his features were rugged and of a Papuan cast; but all knew that he was royal in heart and thought, and the respect due to him was not withheld.Kaululaau was unlike his royal cousin in almost every respect. He was noted alike for his intelligence, his manly beauty and his rollicking spirit of mischief and merriment. He did not covet the sceptre. He thought more of a wild debauch, with music, dancing and a calabash ofawa, than the right to command “downward” or “upward the face”; and since Kahekili was the designated successor of his father, he claimed the right, as a favored andtabusubject of the realm, to enjoy himself in such manner as best accorded with his tastes. As he could not make laws, he found a pleasure in breaking them. He was neither wantonly cruel nor malignant, but recklessly wild and mischievous, and neither the reproofs of his father nor the mild persuasions of his cousin were sufficient to restrain him. His bantering reply to the latter was: “When you become king I will act with more propriety. Twomoiscan afford one wild prince.”He had a congenial following of companions and retainers, who assisted him in his schemes of mischief. With feasting andhuladancing he would keep the village in an uproar for a dozen consecutive nights. He would send canoes adrift, open the gates of fish-ponds, remove the supports of houses, and paint swine black to deceive the sacrificial priests. He devised an instrument to imitate the death-warning notes of thealae, and frightened people by sounding it near their doors; and to others he caused information to be conveyed that they were being prayed to death.Notwithstanding these misdemeanors, Kaululaau was popular with the people, since the chiefs or members of the royal household were usually the victims of his mischievous freaks. He was encouraged in his disposition to qualify himself for the priesthood, under the instruction of the eminent high-priest and prophet, Waolani, and had made substantial advances in the calling, when he was banished to the island of Lanai by his royal father for an offence which could neither be overlooked nor forgiven.At that time Lanai was infested with a number of gnomes, monsters and evil spirits, among them the giganticmoo, Mooaleo. They ravaged fields, uprooted cocoanut-trees, destroyed the walls of fish-ponds, and otherwise frightened and discomfited the inhabitants of the island. That his residence there might be made endurable, Kaululaau was instructed by thekaulasand sorcerers of the court in many charms, spells, prayers and incantations with which to resist the powers of the supernatural monsters. When informed of these exorcising agencies by Kaululaau, his friend, the venerable high-priest, Waolani, told him that they would avail him nothing against the more powerful and malignant of the demons of Lanai.Disheartened at the declaration, Kaululaau was about to leave theheiauto embark for Lanai, when Waolani, after some hesitation, stayed his departure, and, entering the inner temple, soon returned with a small roll ofkapain his hand. Slowly uncording and removing many folds of cloth, an ivory spear-point a span in length was finally brought to view. Holding it before the prince, he said:“Take this. It will serve you in any way you may require. Its powers are greater than those of any god inhabiting the earth. It has been dipped in the waters ofPo, and many generations ago was left by Lono upon one of his altars for the protection of a temple menaced by a mighty fish-god who found a retreat beneath it in a great cavern connected with the sea. Draw a line with it and nothing can pass the mark. Affix it to a spear and throw it, and it will reach the object, no matter how far distant. Much more will it do, but let what I have said suffice.”The prince eagerly reached to possess the treasure, but the priest withdrew it and continued:“I give it to you on condition that it pass from you to no other hands than mine, and that if I am no longer living when you return to Maui—as you some day will—you will secretly deposit it with my bones. Swear to this in the name of Lono.”Kaululaau solemnly pronounced the required oath. The priest then handed him the talisman, wrapped in thekapafrom which it had been taken, and he left the temple, and immediately embarked with a number of his attendants for Lanai.Reaching Lanai, he established his household on the south side of the island. Learning his name and rank, the peopletreated him with great respect—for Lanai was then a dependency of Maui—assisted in the construction of the houses necessary for his accommodation, and provided him with fish,poi, fruits and potatoes in great abundance. In return for this devotion he set about ridding the island of the supernatural pests with which it had been for years afflicted.In the legend of “Kelea, the Surf-rider of Maui,” will be found some reference to the battles of Kaululaau with the evil spirits and monsters of Lanai. His most stubborn conflict was with the gnome god Mooaleo. He imprisoned the demon within the earth by drawing a line around him with the sacred spear-point, and subsequently released and drove him into the sea.More than a year was spent by Kaululaau in quieting and expelling from the island the malicious monsters that troubled it, but he succeeded in the end in completely relieving the people from their vexatious visitations. This added immeasurably to his popularity, and the choicest of the products of land and sea were laid at his feet.His triumph over the demons of Lanai was soon known on the other islands of the group, and when it reached the ears of Kakaalaneo he despatched a messenger to his son, offering his forgiveness and recalling him from exile. The service he had rendered was important, and his royal father was anxious to recognize it by restoring him to favor.But Kaululaau showed no haste in availing himself of his father’s magnanimity. Far from the restraints of the court, he had become attached to the independent life he had found in exile, and could think of no comforts or enjoyments unattainable on Lanai. The women there were as handsome as elsewhere, the bananas were as sweet, the cocoanuts were as large, theawawas as stimulating, and the fisheries were as varied and abundant in product. He had congenial companionship, and bands of musicians and dancers at his call. The best of the earth and the love of the people were his, and theapapanisang in the grove that shaded his door. What more could he ask, what more expect should he return to Maui? His exile had ceased to be a punishment, and his father’s message of recall was scarcely deemed a favor.However, Kaululaau returned a respectful answer by his father’s messenger, thanking Kakaalaneo for his clemency, andannouncing that he would return to Maui some time in the near future, after having visited some of the other islands of the group; and three months later he began to prepare for a trip to Hawaii. He procured a large double canoe, which he painted a royal yellow, and had fabricated a number of cloaks and capes of the feathers of theooandmamo. At the prow of his canoe he mounted a carved image of Lono, and at the top of one of the masts a place was reserved for the proudtabustandard of anaha alii. This done, with a proper retinue he set sail for Hawaii.

Kaululaau was one of the sons of Kakaalaneo, brother of, and joint ruler with, Kakae in the government of Maui. The latter was the legitimate heir to themoiship, but, as he was weak-minded, Kakaalaneo ruled jointly with him and was the real sovereign of the little kingdom. The court of the brothers was at Lele (now Lahaina), and was one of the most distinguished in the group.

The mother of Kaululaau was Kanikaniaula, of the family of Kamauaua, king of Molokai, through his son Haili, who was the brother or half-brother of Keoloewa and Kaupeepee. The latter, it will be remembered, was the abductor of the celebrated Hina, of Hawaii, and the family was of the old strain of Maweke.

Kaululaau was probably born somewhere between the years 1390 and 1400. He had a half-sister, whose name was Wao, and a half-brother, Kaihiwalua, who was the father of Luaia, who became the husband of a daughter of Piliwale,moiof Oahu, and brother of Lo-Lale. He doubtless had other brothers and sisters, since his father was blessed with two or more wives, but the legends fail to refer to them.

Kahekili, son of Kakae, and who became his successor in themoiship, was of near the age of his cousin, Kaululaau, and the two princes grew to manhood together. They were instructed by the same teachers, schooled in the same arts and chiefly accomplishments, and chanted the same genealogicalmeles. Yet in disposition and personal appearance they were widely different.

From his youth Kahekili was staid, sober and thoughtful. Bred to the knowledge that he would succeed his father asmoiof the island, he began early in life to prepare himself for the proper exercise of supreme authority, and at the age of twenty was noted for his intelligence, dignity and royal bearing. He had been told by a prophet that one of his name would be the last independentking of Maui, and the information rendered him solicitous for his future and drove many a smile from his lips. Yet, with all his austerity and circumspection, he was kind-hearted and affectionate, and his pastimes were such as comported with his dignity. In height he was somewhat below the chiefly medium, and his features were rugged and of a Papuan cast; but all knew that he was royal in heart and thought, and the respect due to him was not withheld.

Kaululaau was unlike his royal cousin in almost every respect. He was noted alike for his intelligence, his manly beauty and his rollicking spirit of mischief and merriment. He did not covet the sceptre. He thought more of a wild debauch, with music, dancing and a calabash ofawa, than the right to command “downward” or “upward the face”; and since Kahekili was the designated successor of his father, he claimed the right, as a favored andtabusubject of the realm, to enjoy himself in such manner as best accorded with his tastes. As he could not make laws, he found a pleasure in breaking them. He was neither wantonly cruel nor malignant, but recklessly wild and mischievous, and neither the reproofs of his father nor the mild persuasions of his cousin were sufficient to restrain him. His bantering reply to the latter was: “When you become king I will act with more propriety. Twomoiscan afford one wild prince.”

He had a congenial following of companions and retainers, who assisted him in his schemes of mischief. With feasting andhuladancing he would keep the village in an uproar for a dozen consecutive nights. He would send canoes adrift, open the gates of fish-ponds, remove the supports of houses, and paint swine black to deceive the sacrificial priests. He devised an instrument to imitate the death-warning notes of thealae, and frightened people by sounding it near their doors; and to others he caused information to be conveyed that they were being prayed to death.

Notwithstanding these misdemeanors, Kaululaau was popular with the people, since the chiefs or members of the royal household were usually the victims of his mischievous freaks. He was encouraged in his disposition to qualify himself for the priesthood, under the instruction of the eminent high-priest and prophet, Waolani, and had made substantial advances in the calling, when he was banished to the island of Lanai by his royal father for an offence which could neither be overlooked nor forgiven.

At that time Lanai was infested with a number of gnomes, monsters and evil spirits, among them the giganticmoo, Mooaleo. They ravaged fields, uprooted cocoanut-trees, destroyed the walls of fish-ponds, and otherwise frightened and discomfited the inhabitants of the island. That his residence there might be made endurable, Kaululaau was instructed by thekaulasand sorcerers of the court in many charms, spells, prayers and incantations with which to resist the powers of the supernatural monsters. When informed of these exorcising agencies by Kaululaau, his friend, the venerable high-priest, Waolani, told him that they would avail him nothing against the more powerful and malignant of the demons of Lanai.

Disheartened at the declaration, Kaululaau was about to leave theheiauto embark for Lanai, when Waolani, after some hesitation, stayed his departure, and, entering the inner temple, soon returned with a small roll ofkapain his hand. Slowly uncording and removing many folds of cloth, an ivory spear-point a span in length was finally brought to view. Holding it before the prince, he said:

“Take this. It will serve you in any way you may require. Its powers are greater than those of any god inhabiting the earth. It has been dipped in the waters ofPo, and many generations ago was left by Lono upon one of his altars for the protection of a temple menaced by a mighty fish-god who found a retreat beneath it in a great cavern connected with the sea. Draw a line with it and nothing can pass the mark. Affix it to a spear and throw it, and it will reach the object, no matter how far distant. Much more will it do, but let what I have said suffice.”

The prince eagerly reached to possess the treasure, but the priest withdrew it and continued:

“I give it to you on condition that it pass from you to no other hands than mine, and that if I am no longer living when you return to Maui—as you some day will—you will secretly deposit it with my bones. Swear to this in the name of Lono.”

Kaululaau solemnly pronounced the required oath. The priest then handed him the talisman, wrapped in thekapafrom which it had been taken, and he left the temple, and immediately embarked with a number of his attendants for Lanai.

Reaching Lanai, he established his household on the south side of the island. Learning his name and rank, the peopletreated him with great respect—for Lanai was then a dependency of Maui—assisted in the construction of the houses necessary for his accommodation, and provided him with fish,poi, fruits and potatoes in great abundance. In return for this devotion he set about ridding the island of the supernatural pests with which it had been for years afflicted.

In the legend of “Kelea, the Surf-rider of Maui,” will be found some reference to the battles of Kaululaau with the evil spirits and monsters of Lanai. His most stubborn conflict was with the gnome god Mooaleo. He imprisoned the demon within the earth by drawing a line around him with the sacred spear-point, and subsequently released and drove him into the sea.

More than a year was spent by Kaululaau in quieting and expelling from the island the malicious monsters that troubled it, but he succeeded in the end in completely relieving the people from their vexatious visitations. This added immeasurably to his popularity, and the choicest of the products of land and sea were laid at his feet.

His triumph over the demons of Lanai was soon known on the other islands of the group, and when it reached the ears of Kakaalaneo he despatched a messenger to his son, offering his forgiveness and recalling him from exile. The service he had rendered was important, and his royal father was anxious to recognize it by restoring him to favor.

But Kaululaau showed no haste in availing himself of his father’s magnanimity. Far from the restraints of the court, he had become attached to the independent life he had found in exile, and could think of no comforts or enjoyments unattainable on Lanai. The women there were as handsome as elsewhere, the bananas were as sweet, the cocoanuts were as large, theawawas as stimulating, and the fisheries were as varied and abundant in product. He had congenial companionship, and bands of musicians and dancers at his call. The best of the earth and the love of the people were his, and theapapanisang in the grove that shaded his door. What more could he ask, what more expect should he return to Maui? His exile had ceased to be a punishment, and his father’s message of recall was scarcely deemed a favor.

However, Kaululaau returned a respectful answer by his father’s messenger, thanking Kakaalaneo for his clemency, andannouncing that he would return to Maui some time in the near future, after having visited some of the other islands of the group; and three months later he began to prepare for a trip to Hawaii. He procured a large double canoe, which he painted a royal yellow, and had fabricated a number of cloaks and capes of the feathers of theooandmamo. At the prow of his canoe he mounted a carved image of Lono, and at the top of one of the masts a place was reserved for the proudtabustandard of anaha alii. This done, with a proper retinue he set sail for Hawaii.

II.On his visit to Hawaii, Kaululaau was accompanied by a number of companions of his own disposition and temperament. Among them was Kamakaua, a young Maui chief, who had followed him into exile and was thoroughly devoted to his interests. He was brave, courtly and intelligent, and in personal appearance somewhat resembled the prince. The crew and most of the attendants of the prince had been selected by Kamakaua, including the chief navigator and astrologer; and however competent they may have been in their respective stations, it was discovered during the voyage that they were no less efficient as musicians and dancers. Hence there was no lack of amusement as the huge double canoe breasted the waves of Alenuihaha Channel, and on the morning of the third day stood off the village of Waipio, in the district of Hamakua, Hawaii.At that time Kauholanui-mahu, father of the noted Kiha, was king of Hawaii. His wife was Neula, a chiefess of Maui, who had inherited very considerable possessions in the neighborhood of Honuaula, on that island. As the climate of the locality was salubrious, and the neighboring waters abounded abundantly in fish, the royal couple made frequent and sometimes lengthy visits thither. These visits were usually made without the knowledge of Kakaalaneo, and the unexplained attachment of the Hawaiian king to the comparatively small inheritance of his wife on a neighboring island began to be regarded with suspicion, and had become a theme for speculation and inquiry at the court of Lahaina.At the time of the visit of Kaululaau to Waipio, Kauholanuihad been absent for some months on Maui, leaving Neula in charge of the government of Hawaii. Attributing the absence of the king to deliberate neglect, Neula had become greatly dissatisfied, and whispers of coming trouble were rife throughout the island. All this was doubtless known to Kaululaau, and, as the royal residence was at Waipio, it was upon the beach below it that he landed with his party and drew up his double canoe.The presence and state of the strangers were soon heralded to the queen, and she promptly despatched messengers, courteously inviting the prince and his personal retainers to become her guests at the royalhale, at the same time giving orders for the accommodation of the humbler of his attendants and followers, as was the hospitable custom of the time.Accepting the invitation, Kaululaau and four of his chiefly companions were provided with quarters within the palace enclosure, and their food was served from the royal table. In the afternoon Kaululaau was accorded an audience with the queen, during which he presented his friends, including Kamakaua.The prince whiled away nearly a month at Waipio, and many formal entertainments were given in his honor. Neula was unusually agreeable, and was soon on terms of friendly intimacy both with the prince and Kamakaua. This was exactly what Kaululaau desired, since it enabled him to devise and assist in the execution of a scheme for bringing the king back from Maui and keeping him thereafter within his own kingdom.Under the instructions of Kaululaau, Kamakaua assumed to be greatly smitten with the charms of the queen. As she was a comely woman, and somewhat vain of her personal appearance, the conquest of the handsome chief gratified her; but his attentions developed the fact that he had a rival in Noakua, a chief of Kohala. This discovery simplified the plans of the prince, and relieved Kamakaua of a dangerous duty in the end. In pressing his suit he found a pretext for informing the queen that the continued absence of the king was due to the fact that he had taken another wife, with whom he was living at Honuaula, and that he had ceased to care either for his kingdom or his family.While Kamakaua was pouring this poison into the ears of Neula, Kaululaau, who had made the acquaintance of Noakua, was planting in the mind of that chief the seeds of sedition. He flattered him with the opinion that he was made to rule, and bydegrees developed to him a plan through which, with the favor of the queen, he could seize the government, unite the principal chiefs in his support, and prevent Kauholanui from returning to Hawaii.The ambition of Noakua, and anger of the queen at the presumed neglect and infidelity of her husband, soon harmonized them in a plot against the absent king. Preparations for the revolt began to be observed, when Kaululaau, not wishing to be openly identified with the dangerous movement, quietly embarked with his party for Hilo, where he remained to watch the progress of the struggle which he had been instrumental in originating.The prince had been in Hilo but a few days when alunapaiarrived from Waipio, summoning the chief of the district to repair thither with eight hundred warriors, and announcing the assumption of the sovereignty of the island by Neula. Similar notifications were sent to the chiefs of the other districts of the kingdom, and soon all was excitement from Kau to Kohala.Hearing of the revolt, Kauholanui, who had been engaged in constructing a fish-pond at Keoneoio, in the neighborhood of Honuaula, left Maui at once with less than a hundred spears, and, landing in Kona, whose chief could be relied upon, he started overland for Waipio. The revolution was unpopular, and with great unanimity the chiefs and people rallied to the standard of the king. The struggle was brief. A battle was fought near Waimea, resulting in the defeat of the rebel army and the death of Noakua.This ended the revolt. As a punishment to Neula the king took another wife. But the object of Kaululaau was accomplished, for Kauholanui never again visited Maui, although the queen spent much of her time thereafter at Honuaula, where her favorite guest and friend was Kamakaua.Leaving Hilo, Kaululaau and his party leisurely drifted along the coasts of Puna until they reached the borders of Kau, when they landed at Keauhou to spend a few days in fishing and surf-riding.Weary of the sport, Kaululaau left the bathers in the surf, one afternoon, and threw himself under the shade of ahalatree near the shore. Watching the clouds and the sea-birds circling in the heavens above him, he fell asleep, and when he awoke his eyes fell upon a beautiful woman sitting upon a rock not more than ahundred paces distant, and silently watching the swimmers as they came riding in on the crests of the rollers. Her skirts were apauspangled with crystals, and over her shoulders hung a short mantle of the colors of a rainbow. Her long hair was held back by aleiof flowers, and her wrists and ankles were adorned with circlets of tiny shells of pink and white.The appearance of the woman dazzled him, and after gazing for some time, and rubbing his eyes to be sure that he was not dreaming, he rose to his feet and approached the radiant being. Advancing within four or five paces of the woman, apparently unobserved, he stopped, and with a cough attracted her attention. Turning her face toward him, he greeted her courteously, and requested permission to approach nearer and converse with her. Her appearance indicated that she was a person of rank, and he did not feel like trespassing uninvited upon her privacy. She did not deign to make any reply to his request, but, after scanning him from head to foot, turned her face toward the sea again with a contemptuous toss of the head.He hesitated for a moment, and then turned and strode rapidly down to the beach, where his double canoe had been safely drawn up on the sands. “In the guise of a bather,” thought the prince, “she evidently mistakes me for a servant. I will approach her in the garb to which my rank entitles me, and see what effect that will have.”Entering the canoe, he girded his loins with a gaudymaro, hung round his neck apalaoa, and threw over his shoulders a royal mantle of yellow feathers. Then, crowning his head with a brilliant feather helmet, he selected a spear of the length of six paces and stepped from the canoe. As he did so he stumbled. “This means that I have forgotten or omitted something of importance,” said the prince to himself, stopping and in detail scanning his equipments. At that moment a lizard ran across his path and entered a hole in the earth. This brought to mind his battle with the gigantic gnome on Lanai, and with a smile he re-entered the canoe. Taking from a calabash, where it had been for months secreted, the charmed spear-point of Lono, he affixed it firmly to the point of a javelin, and, thus equipped, again sought the presence of the fascinating being by whom he had been repulsed.Advancing as before, he once more craved permission toapproach near enough to drink in the beauty of her eyes. But she seemed to be in no mood to consent. Scanning him in his changed apparel, with an air of indifference she said:“You need not have taken the trouble to bedeck yourself with royal feathers. I knew you before, as I know you now, to be Kaululaau, son of Kakaalaneo,moiof Maui. I do not desire your company.”“Since you know who I am, I must claim the right to insist upon my request, unless you can show, indeed, that you are of equal or better rank.” Saying this, the prince took a step forward.“Then come,” replied the woman, “since you are rude enough to attempt it. Sit at my feet and tell me of your love, and I will search the caves for squid and beat thekapafor you.”The prince advanced joyfully, and was about to seat himself at the feet of the lovely being, when with a cry of pain he sprang back. The rock he had touched was as hot as if it had just been thrown from the crater of a volcano.“Come,” said the woman tauntingly; “do you not see that I am waiting for you?”Again the prince advanced, but the earth for two or three paces around her was glimmering with heat, and he hastily withdrew to where the ground and rocks were cool. He was now satisfied that he was dealing with some one wielding supernatural powers, and resolved to test the efficacy of the charmed point of his javelin.“Why do you not come?” continued the woman in a tone of mingled defiance and reproach.“Because the earth where you are sitting is too warm for my feet,” replied the prince, innocently. “Come where I am standing, and I will sit beside you.” And with the point of his javelin he marked upon the ground the boundaries of a space around him.“Retire some paces, and I will do so,” replied the woman, confidently. The prince withdrew, as requested, and she quietly removed to the spot where he had been standing.“Now come,” said the woman, reseating herself; “perhaps you will find it cooler here.”“I hope so,” returned the prince, as he began cautiously to advance. He crossed the line marked by the point of his javelin,and felt no heat. He took three more steps forward, and the earth was still cool. Another step, which brought him within two paces of the enchantress, convinced him that her powers were impotent within the boundaries of the line he had drawn, and with a sudden leap forward he caught her in his arms.Astounded at the failure of her powers, and humiliated at her defeat, the woman struggled to free herself from the embrace of the prince; but within the charmed circle she possessed but the strength of a simple woman, and was compelled to yield to the supreme indignities of superior force.Exasperated beyond measure, she at length succeeded in eluding his grasp and springing beyond the fatal line. The prince followed, but she was now herself, and he could neither overtake nor restrain her. Retreating some distance up the hill, she suddenly stopped and awaited his approach. She permitted him to advance within forty or fifty paces of her, when in the space of a breath she abandoned her captivating disguise and stood forth in the form of Pele, the dreadful goddess of Kilauea. Her eyes were bright as the midday sun, and her hair was like a flame of fire.The prince stopped in dismay. The goddess raised her hand, and at her feet burst forth a stream of molten lava, rolling fiercely down upon the prince, as if to engulf him. He started to escape by flight, but the stream widened and increased in speed as it followed. Fearful that it would overtake him before he could reach the sea, he thought of his javelin, and with the point hastily drew a line in front of the advancing flood. Continuing his flight and looking back, he discovered, to his great relief, that the stream had stopped abruptly at the line he had drawn, and could not pass it. Passing into a ravine, the angry flow sought to reach the sea through its channel, and thus cut off the retreat of the prince; but he crossed the depression, marking a line as he went, and the fiery avalanche was stayed at the limit.Observing that she was thwarted by some power whose element seemed to be of the earth, Pele summoned her brother Keuakepo from Kilauea, and a shower of fire and ashes descended upon Kaululaau and his companions. Leaping into the sea to avoid the fire, they dragged the double canoe from its moorings, and, swimming and pushing it through the breakers, escaped from the coast with but little injury.

II.

On his visit to Hawaii, Kaululaau was accompanied by a number of companions of his own disposition and temperament. Among them was Kamakaua, a young Maui chief, who had followed him into exile and was thoroughly devoted to his interests. He was brave, courtly and intelligent, and in personal appearance somewhat resembled the prince. The crew and most of the attendants of the prince had been selected by Kamakaua, including the chief navigator and astrologer; and however competent they may have been in their respective stations, it was discovered during the voyage that they were no less efficient as musicians and dancers. Hence there was no lack of amusement as the huge double canoe breasted the waves of Alenuihaha Channel, and on the morning of the third day stood off the village of Waipio, in the district of Hamakua, Hawaii.At that time Kauholanui-mahu, father of the noted Kiha, was king of Hawaii. His wife was Neula, a chiefess of Maui, who had inherited very considerable possessions in the neighborhood of Honuaula, on that island. As the climate of the locality was salubrious, and the neighboring waters abounded abundantly in fish, the royal couple made frequent and sometimes lengthy visits thither. These visits were usually made without the knowledge of Kakaalaneo, and the unexplained attachment of the Hawaiian king to the comparatively small inheritance of his wife on a neighboring island began to be regarded with suspicion, and had become a theme for speculation and inquiry at the court of Lahaina.At the time of the visit of Kaululaau to Waipio, Kauholanuihad been absent for some months on Maui, leaving Neula in charge of the government of Hawaii. Attributing the absence of the king to deliberate neglect, Neula had become greatly dissatisfied, and whispers of coming trouble were rife throughout the island. All this was doubtless known to Kaululaau, and, as the royal residence was at Waipio, it was upon the beach below it that he landed with his party and drew up his double canoe.The presence and state of the strangers were soon heralded to the queen, and she promptly despatched messengers, courteously inviting the prince and his personal retainers to become her guests at the royalhale, at the same time giving orders for the accommodation of the humbler of his attendants and followers, as was the hospitable custom of the time.Accepting the invitation, Kaululaau and four of his chiefly companions were provided with quarters within the palace enclosure, and their food was served from the royal table. In the afternoon Kaululaau was accorded an audience with the queen, during which he presented his friends, including Kamakaua.The prince whiled away nearly a month at Waipio, and many formal entertainments were given in his honor. Neula was unusually agreeable, and was soon on terms of friendly intimacy both with the prince and Kamakaua. This was exactly what Kaululaau desired, since it enabled him to devise and assist in the execution of a scheme for bringing the king back from Maui and keeping him thereafter within his own kingdom.Under the instructions of Kaululaau, Kamakaua assumed to be greatly smitten with the charms of the queen. As she was a comely woman, and somewhat vain of her personal appearance, the conquest of the handsome chief gratified her; but his attentions developed the fact that he had a rival in Noakua, a chief of Kohala. This discovery simplified the plans of the prince, and relieved Kamakaua of a dangerous duty in the end. In pressing his suit he found a pretext for informing the queen that the continued absence of the king was due to the fact that he had taken another wife, with whom he was living at Honuaula, and that he had ceased to care either for his kingdom or his family.While Kamakaua was pouring this poison into the ears of Neula, Kaululaau, who had made the acquaintance of Noakua, was planting in the mind of that chief the seeds of sedition. He flattered him with the opinion that he was made to rule, and bydegrees developed to him a plan through which, with the favor of the queen, he could seize the government, unite the principal chiefs in his support, and prevent Kauholanui from returning to Hawaii.The ambition of Noakua, and anger of the queen at the presumed neglect and infidelity of her husband, soon harmonized them in a plot against the absent king. Preparations for the revolt began to be observed, when Kaululaau, not wishing to be openly identified with the dangerous movement, quietly embarked with his party for Hilo, where he remained to watch the progress of the struggle which he had been instrumental in originating.The prince had been in Hilo but a few days when alunapaiarrived from Waipio, summoning the chief of the district to repair thither with eight hundred warriors, and announcing the assumption of the sovereignty of the island by Neula. Similar notifications were sent to the chiefs of the other districts of the kingdom, and soon all was excitement from Kau to Kohala.Hearing of the revolt, Kauholanui, who had been engaged in constructing a fish-pond at Keoneoio, in the neighborhood of Honuaula, left Maui at once with less than a hundred spears, and, landing in Kona, whose chief could be relied upon, he started overland for Waipio. The revolution was unpopular, and with great unanimity the chiefs and people rallied to the standard of the king. The struggle was brief. A battle was fought near Waimea, resulting in the defeat of the rebel army and the death of Noakua.This ended the revolt. As a punishment to Neula the king took another wife. But the object of Kaululaau was accomplished, for Kauholanui never again visited Maui, although the queen spent much of her time thereafter at Honuaula, where her favorite guest and friend was Kamakaua.Leaving Hilo, Kaululaau and his party leisurely drifted along the coasts of Puna until they reached the borders of Kau, when they landed at Keauhou to spend a few days in fishing and surf-riding.Weary of the sport, Kaululaau left the bathers in the surf, one afternoon, and threw himself under the shade of ahalatree near the shore. Watching the clouds and the sea-birds circling in the heavens above him, he fell asleep, and when he awoke his eyes fell upon a beautiful woman sitting upon a rock not more than ahundred paces distant, and silently watching the swimmers as they came riding in on the crests of the rollers. Her skirts were apauspangled with crystals, and over her shoulders hung a short mantle of the colors of a rainbow. Her long hair was held back by aleiof flowers, and her wrists and ankles were adorned with circlets of tiny shells of pink and white.The appearance of the woman dazzled him, and after gazing for some time, and rubbing his eyes to be sure that he was not dreaming, he rose to his feet and approached the radiant being. Advancing within four or five paces of the woman, apparently unobserved, he stopped, and with a cough attracted her attention. Turning her face toward him, he greeted her courteously, and requested permission to approach nearer and converse with her. Her appearance indicated that she was a person of rank, and he did not feel like trespassing uninvited upon her privacy. She did not deign to make any reply to his request, but, after scanning him from head to foot, turned her face toward the sea again with a contemptuous toss of the head.He hesitated for a moment, and then turned and strode rapidly down to the beach, where his double canoe had been safely drawn up on the sands. “In the guise of a bather,” thought the prince, “she evidently mistakes me for a servant. I will approach her in the garb to which my rank entitles me, and see what effect that will have.”Entering the canoe, he girded his loins with a gaudymaro, hung round his neck apalaoa, and threw over his shoulders a royal mantle of yellow feathers. Then, crowning his head with a brilliant feather helmet, he selected a spear of the length of six paces and stepped from the canoe. As he did so he stumbled. “This means that I have forgotten or omitted something of importance,” said the prince to himself, stopping and in detail scanning his equipments. At that moment a lizard ran across his path and entered a hole in the earth. This brought to mind his battle with the gigantic gnome on Lanai, and with a smile he re-entered the canoe. Taking from a calabash, where it had been for months secreted, the charmed spear-point of Lono, he affixed it firmly to the point of a javelin, and, thus equipped, again sought the presence of the fascinating being by whom he had been repulsed.Advancing as before, he once more craved permission toapproach near enough to drink in the beauty of her eyes. But she seemed to be in no mood to consent. Scanning him in his changed apparel, with an air of indifference she said:“You need not have taken the trouble to bedeck yourself with royal feathers. I knew you before, as I know you now, to be Kaululaau, son of Kakaalaneo,moiof Maui. I do not desire your company.”“Since you know who I am, I must claim the right to insist upon my request, unless you can show, indeed, that you are of equal or better rank.” Saying this, the prince took a step forward.“Then come,” replied the woman, “since you are rude enough to attempt it. Sit at my feet and tell me of your love, and I will search the caves for squid and beat thekapafor you.”The prince advanced joyfully, and was about to seat himself at the feet of the lovely being, when with a cry of pain he sprang back. The rock he had touched was as hot as if it had just been thrown from the crater of a volcano.“Come,” said the woman tauntingly; “do you not see that I am waiting for you?”Again the prince advanced, but the earth for two or three paces around her was glimmering with heat, and he hastily withdrew to where the ground and rocks were cool. He was now satisfied that he was dealing with some one wielding supernatural powers, and resolved to test the efficacy of the charmed point of his javelin.“Why do you not come?” continued the woman in a tone of mingled defiance and reproach.“Because the earth where you are sitting is too warm for my feet,” replied the prince, innocently. “Come where I am standing, and I will sit beside you.” And with the point of his javelin he marked upon the ground the boundaries of a space around him.“Retire some paces, and I will do so,” replied the woman, confidently. The prince withdrew, as requested, and she quietly removed to the spot where he had been standing.“Now come,” said the woman, reseating herself; “perhaps you will find it cooler here.”“I hope so,” returned the prince, as he began cautiously to advance. He crossed the line marked by the point of his javelin,and felt no heat. He took three more steps forward, and the earth was still cool. Another step, which brought him within two paces of the enchantress, convinced him that her powers were impotent within the boundaries of the line he had drawn, and with a sudden leap forward he caught her in his arms.Astounded at the failure of her powers, and humiliated at her defeat, the woman struggled to free herself from the embrace of the prince; but within the charmed circle she possessed but the strength of a simple woman, and was compelled to yield to the supreme indignities of superior force.Exasperated beyond measure, she at length succeeded in eluding his grasp and springing beyond the fatal line. The prince followed, but she was now herself, and he could neither overtake nor restrain her. Retreating some distance up the hill, she suddenly stopped and awaited his approach. She permitted him to advance within forty or fifty paces of her, when in the space of a breath she abandoned her captivating disguise and stood forth in the form of Pele, the dreadful goddess of Kilauea. Her eyes were bright as the midday sun, and her hair was like a flame of fire.The prince stopped in dismay. The goddess raised her hand, and at her feet burst forth a stream of molten lava, rolling fiercely down upon the prince, as if to engulf him. He started to escape by flight, but the stream widened and increased in speed as it followed. Fearful that it would overtake him before he could reach the sea, he thought of his javelin, and with the point hastily drew a line in front of the advancing flood. Continuing his flight and looking back, he discovered, to his great relief, that the stream had stopped abruptly at the line he had drawn, and could not pass it. Passing into a ravine, the angry flow sought to reach the sea through its channel, and thus cut off the retreat of the prince; but he crossed the depression, marking a line as he went, and the fiery avalanche was stayed at the limit.Observing that she was thwarted by some power whose element seemed to be of the earth, Pele summoned her brother Keuakepo from Kilauea, and a shower of fire and ashes descended upon Kaululaau and his companions. Leaping into the sea to avoid the fire, they dragged the double canoe from its moorings, and, swimming and pushing it through the breakers, escaped from the coast with but little injury.

On his visit to Hawaii, Kaululaau was accompanied by a number of companions of his own disposition and temperament. Among them was Kamakaua, a young Maui chief, who had followed him into exile and was thoroughly devoted to his interests. He was brave, courtly and intelligent, and in personal appearance somewhat resembled the prince. The crew and most of the attendants of the prince had been selected by Kamakaua, including the chief navigator and astrologer; and however competent they may have been in their respective stations, it was discovered during the voyage that they were no less efficient as musicians and dancers. Hence there was no lack of amusement as the huge double canoe breasted the waves of Alenuihaha Channel, and on the morning of the third day stood off the village of Waipio, in the district of Hamakua, Hawaii.

At that time Kauholanui-mahu, father of the noted Kiha, was king of Hawaii. His wife was Neula, a chiefess of Maui, who had inherited very considerable possessions in the neighborhood of Honuaula, on that island. As the climate of the locality was salubrious, and the neighboring waters abounded abundantly in fish, the royal couple made frequent and sometimes lengthy visits thither. These visits were usually made without the knowledge of Kakaalaneo, and the unexplained attachment of the Hawaiian king to the comparatively small inheritance of his wife on a neighboring island began to be regarded with suspicion, and had become a theme for speculation and inquiry at the court of Lahaina.

At the time of the visit of Kaululaau to Waipio, Kauholanuihad been absent for some months on Maui, leaving Neula in charge of the government of Hawaii. Attributing the absence of the king to deliberate neglect, Neula had become greatly dissatisfied, and whispers of coming trouble were rife throughout the island. All this was doubtless known to Kaululaau, and, as the royal residence was at Waipio, it was upon the beach below it that he landed with his party and drew up his double canoe.

The presence and state of the strangers were soon heralded to the queen, and she promptly despatched messengers, courteously inviting the prince and his personal retainers to become her guests at the royalhale, at the same time giving orders for the accommodation of the humbler of his attendants and followers, as was the hospitable custom of the time.

Accepting the invitation, Kaululaau and four of his chiefly companions were provided with quarters within the palace enclosure, and their food was served from the royal table. In the afternoon Kaululaau was accorded an audience with the queen, during which he presented his friends, including Kamakaua.

The prince whiled away nearly a month at Waipio, and many formal entertainments were given in his honor. Neula was unusually agreeable, and was soon on terms of friendly intimacy both with the prince and Kamakaua. This was exactly what Kaululaau desired, since it enabled him to devise and assist in the execution of a scheme for bringing the king back from Maui and keeping him thereafter within his own kingdom.

Under the instructions of Kaululaau, Kamakaua assumed to be greatly smitten with the charms of the queen. As she was a comely woman, and somewhat vain of her personal appearance, the conquest of the handsome chief gratified her; but his attentions developed the fact that he had a rival in Noakua, a chief of Kohala. This discovery simplified the plans of the prince, and relieved Kamakaua of a dangerous duty in the end. In pressing his suit he found a pretext for informing the queen that the continued absence of the king was due to the fact that he had taken another wife, with whom he was living at Honuaula, and that he had ceased to care either for his kingdom or his family.

While Kamakaua was pouring this poison into the ears of Neula, Kaululaau, who had made the acquaintance of Noakua, was planting in the mind of that chief the seeds of sedition. He flattered him with the opinion that he was made to rule, and bydegrees developed to him a plan through which, with the favor of the queen, he could seize the government, unite the principal chiefs in his support, and prevent Kauholanui from returning to Hawaii.

The ambition of Noakua, and anger of the queen at the presumed neglect and infidelity of her husband, soon harmonized them in a plot against the absent king. Preparations for the revolt began to be observed, when Kaululaau, not wishing to be openly identified with the dangerous movement, quietly embarked with his party for Hilo, where he remained to watch the progress of the struggle which he had been instrumental in originating.

The prince had been in Hilo but a few days when alunapaiarrived from Waipio, summoning the chief of the district to repair thither with eight hundred warriors, and announcing the assumption of the sovereignty of the island by Neula. Similar notifications were sent to the chiefs of the other districts of the kingdom, and soon all was excitement from Kau to Kohala.

Hearing of the revolt, Kauholanui, who had been engaged in constructing a fish-pond at Keoneoio, in the neighborhood of Honuaula, left Maui at once with less than a hundred spears, and, landing in Kona, whose chief could be relied upon, he started overland for Waipio. The revolution was unpopular, and with great unanimity the chiefs and people rallied to the standard of the king. The struggle was brief. A battle was fought near Waimea, resulting in the defeat of the rebel army and the death of Noakua.

This ended the revolt. As a punishment to Neula the king took another wife. But the object of Kaululaau was accomplished, for Kauholanui never again visited Maui, although the queen spent much of her time thereafter at Honuaula, where her favorite guest and friend was Kamakaua.

Leaving Hilo, Kaululaau and his party leisurely drifted along the coasts of Puna until they reached the borders of Kau, when they landed at Keauhou to spend a few days in fishing and surf-riding.

Weary of the sport, Kaululaau left the bathers in the surf, one afternoon, and threw himself under the shade of ahalatree near the shore. Watching the clouds and the sea-birds circling in the heavens above him, he fell asleep, and when he awoke his eyes fell upon a beautiful woman sitting upon a rock not more than ahundred paces distant, and silently watching the swimmers as they came riding in on the crests of the rollers. Her skirts were apauspangled with crystals, and over her shoulders hung a short mantle of the colors of a rainbow. Her long hair was held back by aleiof flowers, and her wrists and ankles were adorned with circlets of tiny shells of pink and white.

The appearance of the woman dazzled him, and after gazing for some time, and rubbing his eyes to be sure that he was not dreaming, he rose to his feet and approached the radiant being. Advancing within four or five paces of the woman, apparently unobserved, he stopped, and with a cough attracted her attention. Turning her face toward him, he greeted her courteously, and requested permission to approach nearer and converse with her. Her appearance indicated that she was a person of rank, and he did not feel like trespassing uninvited upon her privacy. She did not deign to make any reply to his request, but, after scanning him from head to foot, turned her face toward the sea again with a contemptuous toss of the head.

He hesitated for a moment, and then turned and strode rapidly down to the beach, where his double canoe had been safely drawn up on the sands. “In the guise of a bather,” thought the prince, “she evidently mistakes me for a servant. I will approach her in the garb to which my rank entitles me, and see what effect that will have.”

Entering the canoe, he girded his loins with a gaudymaro, hung round his neck apalaoa, and threw over his shoulders a royal mantle of yellow feathers. Then, crowning his head with a brilliant feather helmet, he selected a spear of the length of six paces and stepped from the canoe. As he did so he stumbled. “This means that I have forgotten or omitted something of importance,” said the prince to himself, stopping and in detail scanning his equipments. At that moment a lizard ran across his path and entered a hole in the earth. This brought to mind his battle with the gigantic gnome on Lanai, and with a smile he re-entered the canoe. Taking from a calabash, where it had been for months secreted, the charmed spear-point of Lono, he affixed it firmly to the point of a javelin, and, thus equipped, again sought the presence of the fascinating being by whom he had been repulsed.

Advancing as before, he once more craved permission toapproach near enough to drink in the beauty of her eyes. But she seemed to be in no mood to consent. Scanning him in his changed apparel, with an air of indifference she said:

“You need not have taken the trouble to bedeck yourself with royal feathers. I knew you before, as I know you now, to be Kaululaau, son of Kakaalaneo,moiof Maui. I do not desire your company.”

“Since you know who I am, I must claim the right to insist upon my request, unless you can show, indeed, that you are of equal or better rank.” Saying this, the prince took a step forward.

“Then come,” replied the woman, “since you are rude enough to attempt it. Sit at my feet and tell me of your love, and I will search the caves for squid and beat thekapafor you.”

The prince advanced joyfully, and was about to seat himself at the feet of the lovely being, when with a cry of pain he sprang back. The rock he had touched was as hot as if it had just been thrown from the crater of a volcano.

“Come,” said the woman tauntingly; “do you not see that I am waiting for you?”

Again the prince advanced, but the earth for two or three paces around her was glimmering with heat, and he hastily withdrew to where the ground and rocks were cool. He was now satisfied that he was dealing with some one wielding supernatural powers, and resolved to test the efficacy of the charmed point of his javelin.

“Why do you not come?” continued the woman in a tone of mingled defiance and reproach.

“Because the earth where you are sitting is too warm for my feet,” replied the prince, innocently. “Come where I am standing, and I will sit beside you.” And with the point of his javelin he marked upon the ground the boundaries of a space around him.

“Retire some paces, and I will do so,” replied the woman, confidently. The prince withdrew, as requested, and she quietly removed to the spot where he had been standing.

“Now come,” said the woman, reseating herself; “perhaps you will find it cooler here.”

“I hope so,” returned the prince, as he began cautiously to advance. He crossed the line marked by the point of his javelin,and felt no heat. He took three more steps forward, and the earth was still cool. Another step, which brought him within two paces of the enchantress, convinced him that her powers were impotent within the boundaries of the line he had drawn, and with a sudden leap forward he caught her in his arms.

Astounded at the failure of her powers, and humiliated at her defeat, the woman struggled to free herself from the embrace of the prince; but within the charmed circle she possessed but the strength of a simple woman, and was compelled to yield to the supreme indignities of superior force.

Exasperated beyond measure, she at length succeeded in eluding his grasp and springing beyond the fatal line. The prince followed, but she was now herself, and he could neither overtake nor restrain her. Retreating some distance up the hill, she suddenly stopped and awaited his approach. She permitted him to advance within forty or fifty paces of her, when in the space of a breath she abandoned her captivating disguise and stood forth in the form of Pele, the dreadful goddess of Kilauea. Her eyes were bright as the midday sun, and her hair was like a flame of fire.

The prince stopped in dismay. The goddess raised her hand, and at her feet burst forth a stream of molten lava, rolling fiercely down upon the prince, as if to engulf him. He started to escape by flight, but the stream widened and increased in speed as it followed. Fearful that it would overtake him before he could reach the sea, he thought of his javelin, and with the point hastily drew a line in front of the advancing flood. Continuing his flight and looking back, he discovered, to his great relief, that the stream had stopped abruptly at the line he had drawn, and could not pass it. Passing into a ravine, the angry flow sought to reach the sea through its channel, and thus cut off the retreat of the prince; but he crossed the depression, marking a line as he went, and the fiery avalanche was stayed at the limit.

Observing that she was thwarted by some power whose element seemed to be of the earth, Pele summoned her brother Keuakepo from Kilauea, and a shower of fire and ashes descended upon Kaululaau and his companions. Leaping into the sea to avoid the fire, they dragged the double canoe from its moorings, and, swimming and pushing it through the breakers, escaped from the coast with but little injury.

III.Having embroiled himself with the divine and political powers of Hawaii, Kaululaau rounded the southern point of La Lae and set sail for Molokai. He spent a month on that island with the royal relatives of his mother, by whom he was appropriately received and entertained. He visited the home of Laamaomao, the wind-god, the poisoned grove of Kalaipahoa, and the demolished fortress on the promontory of Haupu, where the gallant Kaupeepee, of whose blood he was, met his dramatic death. He then set sail for Oahu.The island of Oahu was at that period one of the most prosperous in the group. It was under the government of Kalona-iki, one of the two sons of Mailikukahi, who during his reign had instituted a code of laws giving better protection to the poor, making theft punishable with death, and claiming as the wards of the government the first-born male children of all families, without regard to rank or condition.Kalona continued the peaceful and intelligent policy of his father, and his court was noted alike for the brilliancy of its chiefs and the beauty of its women. His principal place of residence was Waikiki, although he had sumptuous temporary resorts at Ewa and Waialua.Kaululaau first touched at Waialua, but, learning that the king was at Waikiki, he ordered his canoe to proceed around to the south side of the island in charge of his chief navigator, while he and Kamakaua concluded to make the journey overland. Dispensing with all insignia of rank, and habited like simple commoners, the prince and his companion started unattended for Waikiki. Both were armed with javelins, but the one borne by Kaululaau was tipped with the charmed point of Lono.Proceeding along the foot of the Kaala range of mountains, in the afternoon they sat down to rest in the shade of ahalatree. In a ravine below them five or six men were working, and scattered along its banks were a number of huts. Soon a tumult of screams reached them, and men, women and children were seen running hither and thither in a state of great excitement.The travelers sprang to their feet, and as they did so a gigantic bird swept immediately over their heads and winged its waytoward the hills. It passed so closely that the branches of thehalatree were swayed by the motion of its mighty pinions, and its outspread wings seemed to measure scarcely less than twenty long steps from tip to tip.While watching the monster with amazement, a woman approached, and to the questions of the prince replied, between wails of anguish, that the great bird—thePueoalii, as she called it—had just killed her only child in front of her hut, with a stab to the heart resembling the cut of a knife. She hurriedly gave the additional information that for many years past the same bird had at intervals visited different districts of the island, killing children, pigs and fowls, and that the priests had declared it to be apueo, or owl, sacred to the gods, and which could not, therefore, be molested with safety, even if harm to it were possible from human hands.Better learned in the inspiration and purposes of such visitations—since he had been instructed by the eminent high-priest Waolani—and having had many conflicts with malignant spirits, he doubted that the monster he had just seen was of the sacredpueofamily, and requested that he be shown the dead child. Proceeding to the hut and inspecting the wound, he observed that the fatal cut was upward, and not downward, as it would have been had it been made by the beak of an owl. This confirmed him in the correctness of his first impression, and, requesting Kamakaua to follow him, he started toward the hills in the direction taken by the bird.They could still see it in the distance, like a dark cloud against the mountain. After following it for some time the bird swooped down to commit some fresh depredation, and then rose and alighted upon a rocky ridge with precipitous face sweeping down from the main summit of Kaala.“Why go farther?” said Kamakaua. “We cannot reach the bird, and, if we could, our spears would be like straws to such a monster.”As if by a strong hand, the javelin in the grasp of the prince forcibly turned and pointed toward the bird. Smiling at the augury, Kaululaau replied:“Look you carefully back and see if we are followed.”Kamakaua turned his face in compliance, and as he did so the prince poised his javelin and hurled it in the direction of the bird.In twenty paces the point did not droop; in forty it did not fall to the ground; in a hundred a new energy seized it, and like a flash of light it sped out of sight. A moment later the prince saw the bird sink and disappear.“I can see no one,” said Kamakaua, after carefully scanning the ground over which they had passed. “Nor can I now see the bird,” he continued, looking toward the ridge. “Where can it be?”“At the foot of the cliff,” replied the prince, “with the point of my javelin in his heart.”Having been with the prince on Molokai, Kamakaua received the strange information without question or great wonder, and, hastening to the base of the precipice, they found the monster dead, with the javelin buried in its breast. Removing the weapon, they cut off the head and one of the feet of the bird, pulled from its wings four of the longest feathers, and with them returned to thehalatree under which they had found shelter from the sun. The burden taxed their strength to the utmost. The weight of the head, which was borne by the prince, was scarcely less than that of his own body, while the feathers were seven paces in length, and the claws two paces between their extreme points.Great excitement followed the spreading of the news thatPueoaliihad been killed by strangers. The sufferers through its visitations were disposed to commend the act, and others condemned it as an insult to the gods, which would probably bring broadcast calamity upon the whole island. To placate the anger of the gods it was proposed to sacrifice the strangers at the nearestheiau, and, respectfully wrapping the head of the bird inkapa, Kaululaau and his companion were conducted with their trophies to the sacred temple of Kukaniloko, which was not far distant. They were accompanied by a crowd which constantly swelled in numbers as they proceeded, and on arriving at theheiauthey were surrounded by four or five hundred men and women, many of them armed and clamoring for their blood.Kaululaau was in nowise alarmed, but rather enjoyed the situation. The high-priest of the temple appeared and the matter was laid before him. Looking at the foot and mighty feathers of the bird, he turned to the strangers and said:“You have slain a creature sacred to the gods, and my thought is that you should be sacrificed to avert their wrath.”“Be careful in your judgment, priest,” replied the prince. “How know you that the bird was sacred?”“For years it has been so regarded,” returned the priest. “How know you that it was not?”“Does it become the high-priest of Kukaniloko to ask such a question?” said the prince. “But I will reply to it when you answer this: With the javelin now in my hand I killed the bird at a distance farther than from where we stand to yonder hills. Could it have been done by human hand without the especial favor of the gods. If not, then how have the gods been angered?”The priest was confounded, and when the prince proposed to submit the question of his guilt to the king, the suggestion was accepted. It now being near nightfall, Kaululaau and his companion were removed within the enclosure of the temple for safe-keeping, and, knowing that they would be deprived of their weapons, the prince removed the charmed point from his javelin and secreted it in the folds of hismaro.Early next morning the high-priest and his two prisoners, who were kept under no marked restraint, accompanied by a large concourse of people carrying the head, foot and feathers ofPueoalii, started for Waikiki. Every one seemed to know that the great bird had been killed, and many stood by the wayside to see the feathers that had been torn from its wings, and catch a glimpse of its destroyer.Near the middle of the day the great gathering arrived at Waikiki. As many carried spears, it resembled an army in its march, and messengers were despatched by the king to ascertain its meaning. Halting near the shores of the harbor, and not far from the royal mansion, to report the arrival of the prisoners and learn the pleasure of the king, the prince observed his double canoe drawn up on the beach, and requested permission to approach it, that he might secure the counsel of his master, Kaululaau, son of themoiof Maui.The favor could not well be denied, and, under guard of two inferior priests of Kukaniloko, the prince was conducted to the canoe. As but three or four of the crew were present, and their attention was wholly absorbed in the gathering around the royalhale, the prince stepped, unobserved by them, into the canoe, and passed quickly into his private quarters—a closewicker-work apartment eight or ten feet in length by the breadth of both canoes, and with a height of six feet or more from their bottoms to the top screen.Hurriedly investing himself with his regalia of rank, including helmet, feather mantle and spear, he stepped into view and sounded a blast upon a shell. Soon a number of his attendants made their appearance, and, with such following as befitted a prince, he started for the royal mansion. The guards who escorted him to the canoe did not recognize him as he left it, and after passing the crowd surrounding the palace his name and rank were announced to the king. He was promptly met and courteously welcomed at the door by Kalona, and informed that messengers of greeting and invitation would have been despatched to him had his presence at Waikiki been known.Kaululaau then apprised the king that he had but just arrived overland from Waialua, while his double canoe had been sent around to meet him at Waikiki, and that it was his purpose to spend some days on Oahu. The hospitalities of the royalhalewere then tendered and accepted, after which the king explained to his distinguished guest the cause of the large gathering around the palace, and invited him to an inspection of the head, feathers and claws of the mightyPueoalii, and to listen to the story of the slayer of the sacred bird, should he deem it of sufficient interest.Kaululaau accompanied the king to a large dancing pavilion within the royal enclosure, to which had been conveyed the severed parts of the gigantic bird. After the claws and feathers had been examined with awe and amazement, the king ordered the slayer of the bird to be brought before him. The high-priest of Kukaniloko bowed and turned to execute the order, when the guards placed over the prince came from the beach with the information that their prisoner had escaped.The priest was savage in his disappointment. “Either find him or take his place upon the altar!” he hissed to the unfortunate guards, and then led Kamakaua before the king, with the explanation that the other prisoner had managed to elude the vigilance of his guards, but would doubtless soon be found.Kamakaua discovered the prince at the side of the king, and could hardly restrain a smile. When questioned he denied thathe killed the great bird, but admitted that he assisted in removing the head, feathers and one of the feet.“This is trifling,” said the king, turning to the priest with a scowl. “Where is the other prisoner?”“He is here, great king!” exclaimed Kaululaau, bowing before Kalona, to the astonishment but great relief of the priest. “Favored by the gods, I slew the malignant monster your priests call by the sacred name ofPueoalii. Their skill should have instructed them differently. Will the king favor me by ordering thekapacovering to be removed from the head?”The order was given, and the uncovered head was raised beak upward before the king.In a moment it was observed that the head was not of apueo, or owl; nor did it bear resemblance in form to that of any bird known. It was narrow between the eyes, which in color were those of a shark, and its long and pointed beak, both of the upper and under jaws, turned sharply upward.“It is not apueo!” was the general exclamation.“Are you satisfied, priest?” inquired the prince.“I think it is not apueo,” responded the priest, reluctantly.“Youthinkit is not apueo!” exclaimed the king, indignantly. “Do you notknowit? Whatpueoever had such eyes and such a beak?”The priest hung his head in confusion, and the prince, having completely discomfited him, now came kindly to his relief by remarking:“The mistake might well have been made, for on the wing and at a distance the bird much resembled apueo.”“You are kind to say so, prince,” said the king; “but the priests andkaulashave been greatly at fault. For years the bird has preyed upon the people, and no one has dared to molest it. Since you killed it, knowing that it was not sacred, perhaps you may be able to tell me something of its unnatural birth and appetites.”Thus appealed to, Kaululaau modestly replied:“If I may rely upon what seemed to be a dream last night, the bird was possessed by the spirit of Hilo-a-Lakapu, one of the chiefs of Hawaii who invaded Oahu during the reign of your royal father. He was slain at Waimano, and his head was placed upon a pole near Honouliuli for the birds to feed upon. He wasofakuablood, and through a bird-god relative his spirit was given possession of the monster which the gods enabled me to slay.”The spirit of Hilo had been brought in with the head of the dead bird, and with the utterance of these words by the prince the eyes rolled, the ponderous jaws opened and closed, and with a noise like the scream of analaethe malignant spirit took its departure.The truth of the dream of Kaululaau thus being verified, the king publicly thanked him for ridding the island of the monstrous scourge, and ordered especial honors to be paid him by all classes so long as it might be his pleasure to remain in the kingdom. In return the prince presented to the king the head, claws and feathers of the bird, the latter to be made into a mammothkahili, and then made Kamakaua known to him, together with such other chiefs in his train as were entitled to royal recognition.Kaululaau became at once the hero of the court as well as the idol of the people. He remained more than a month on Oahu, enjoying the unstinted hospitality of the king and his district chiefs. He was a favorite with the fairest women of the court; but he gave his heart to the beautiful Laiea-a-Ewa, sister of the wife of Kalona, and with her returned to Maui.Landing at Lahaina after his long absence, he was joyfully welcomed home by his royal father, who had heard of his adventures and fully forgiven the faults of his youth. With grief he learned that his friend the high-priest, Waolani, had died some months before. Remembering his oath, he found the burial place of the priest, and with his remains secretly deposited the sacred spear-point of Lono, which had served him so effectively. He devoutly kissed the relic before he hid it for ever from view, and afterwards knelt and thanked Lono and the priest for its use.Lands were given him in Kauaula, where he resided until the end of his days. Laiea was his only wife, and they were blessed with six children, whose names alone are mentioned by tradition.

III.

Having embroiled himself with the divine and political powers of Hawaii, Kaululaau rounded the southern point of La Lae and set sail for Molokai. He spent a month on that island with the royal relatives of his mother, by whom he was appropriately received and entertained. He visited the home of Laamaomao, the wind-god, the poisoned grove of Kalaipahoa, and the demolished fortress on the promontory of Haupu, where the gallant Kaupeepee, of whose blood he was, met his dramatic death. He then set sail for Oahu.The island of Oahu was at that period one of the most prosperous in the group. It was under the government of Kalona-iki, one of the two sons of Mailikukahi, who during his reign had instituted a code of laws giving better protection to the poor, making theft punishable with death, and claiming as the wards of the government the first-born male children of all families, without regard to rank or condition.Kalona continued the peaceful and intelligent policy of his father, and his court was noted alike for the brilliancy of its chiefs and the beauty of its women. His principal place of residence was Waikiki, although he had sumptuous temporary resorts at Ewa and Waialua.Kaululaau first touched at Waialua, but, learning that the king was at Waikiki, he ordered his canoe to proceed around to the south side of the island in charge of his chief navigator, while he and Kamakaua concluded to make the journey overland. Dispensing with all insignia of rank, and habited like simple commoners, the prince and his companion started unattended for Waikiki. Both were armed with javelins, but the one borne by Kaululaau was tipped with the charmed point of Lono.Proceeding along the foot of the Kaala range of mountains, in the afternoon they sat down to rest in the shade of ahalatree. In a ravine below them five or six men were working, and scattered along its banks were a number of huts. Soon a tumult of screams reached them, and men, women and children were seen running hither and thither in a state of great excitement.The travelers sprang to their feet, and as they did so a gigantic bird swept immediately over their heads and winged its waytoward the hills. It passed so closely that the branches of thehalatree were swayed by the motion of its mighty pinions, and its outspread wings seemed to measure scarcely less than twenty long steps from tip to tip.While watching the monster with amazement, a woman approached, and to the questions of the prince replied, between wails of anguish, that the great bird—thePueoalii, as she called it—had just killed her only child in front of her hut, with a stab to the heart resembling the cut of a knife. She hurriedly gave the additional information that for many years past the same bird had at intervals visited different districts of the island, killing children, pigs and fowls, and that the priests had declared it to be apueo, or owl, sacred to the gods, and which could not, therefore, be molested with safety, even if harm to it were possible from human hands.Better learned in the inspiration and purposes of such visitations—since he had been instructed by the eminent high-priest Waolani—and having had many conflicts with malignant spirits, he doubted that the monster he had just seen was of the sacredpueofamily, and requested that he be shown the dead child. Proceeding to the hut and inspecting the wound, he observed that the fatal cut was upward, and not downward, as it would have been had it been made by the beak of an owl. This confirmed him in the correctness of his first impression, and, requesting Kamakaua to follow him, he started toward the hills in the direction taken by the bird.They could still see it in the distance, like a dark cloud against the mountain. After following it for some time the bird swooped down to commit some fresh depredation, and then rose and alighted upon a rocky ridge with precipitous face sweeping down from the main summit of Kaala.“Why go farther?” said Kamakaua. “We cannot reach the bird, and, if we could, our spears would be like straws to such a monster.”As if by a strong hand, the javelin in the grasp of the prince forcibly turned and pointed toward the bird. Smiling at the augury, Kaululaau replied:“Look you carefully back and see if we are followed.”Kamakaua turned his face in compliance, and as he did so the prince poised his javelin and hurled it in the direction of the bird.In twenty paces the point did not droop; in forty it did not fall to the ground; in a hundred a new energy seized it, and like a flash of light it sped out of sight. A moment later the prince saw the bird sink and disappear.“I can see no one,” said Kamakaua, after carefully scanning the ground over which they had passed. “Nor can I now see the bird,” he continued, looking toward the ridge. “Where can it be?”“At the foot of the cliff,” replied the prince, “with the point of my javelin in his heart.”Having been with the prince on Molokai, Kamakaua received the strange information without question or great wonder, and, hastening to the base of the precipice, they found the monster dead, with the javelin buried in its breast. Removing the weapon, they cut off the head and one of the feet of the bird, pulled from its wings four of the longest feathers, and with them returned to thehalatree under which they had found shelter from the sun. The burden taxed their strength to the utmost. The weight of the head, which was borne by the prince, was scarcely less than that of his own body, while the feathers were seven paces in length, and the claws two paces between their extreme points.Great excitement followed the spreading of the news thatPueoaliihad been killed by strangers. The sufferers through its visitations were disposed to commend the act, and others condemned it as an insult to the gods, which would probably bring broadcast calamity upon the whole island. To placate the anger of the gods it was proposed to sacrifice the strangers at the nearestheiau, and, respectfully wrapping the head of the bird inkapa, Kaululaau and his companion were conducted with their trophies to the sacred temple of Kukaniloko, which was not far distant. They were accompanied by a crowd which constantly swelled in numbers as they proceeded, and on arriving at theheiauthey were surrounded by four or five hundred men and women, many of them armed and clamoring for their blood.Kaululaau was in nowise alarmed, but rather enjoyed the situation. The high-priest of the temple appeared and the matter was laid before him. Looking at the foot and mighty feathers of the bird, he turned to the strangers and said:“You have slain a creature sacred to the gods, and my thought is that you should be sacrificed to avert their wrath.”“Be careful in your judgment, priest,” replied the prince. “How know you that the bird was sacred?”“For years it has been so regarded,” returned the priest. “How know you that it was not?”“Does it become the high-priest of Kukaniloko to ask such a question?” said the prince. “But I will reply to it when you answer this: With the javelin now in my hand I killed the bird at a distance farther than from where we stand to yonder hills. Could it have been done by human hand without the especial favor of the gods. If not, then how have the gods been angered?”The priest was confounded, and when the prince proposed to submit the question of his guilt to the king, the suggestion was accepted. It now being near nightfall, Kaululaau and his companion were removed within the enclosure of the temple for safe-keeping, and, knowing that they would be deprived of their weapons, the prince removed the charmed point from his javelin and secreted it in the folds of hismaro.Early next morning the high-priest and his two prisoners, who were kept under no marked restraint, accompanied by a large concourse of people carrying the head, foot and feathers ofPueoalii, started for Waikiki. Every one seemed to know that the great bird had been killed, and many stood by the wayside to see the feathers that had been torn from its wings, and catch a glimpse of its destroyer.Near the middle of the day the great gathering arrived at Waikiki. As many carried spears, it resembled an army in its march, and messengers were despatched by the king to ascertain its meaning. Halting near the shores of the harbor, and not far from the royal mansion, to report the arrival of the prisoners and learn the pleasure of the king, the prince observed his double canoe drawn up on the beach, and requested permission to approach it, that he might secure the counsel of his master, Kaululaau, son of themoiof Maui.The favor could not well be denied, and, under guard of two inferior priests of Kukaniloko, the prince was conducted to the canoe. As but three or four of the crew were present, and their attention was wholly absorbed in the gathering around the royalhale, the prince stepped, unobserved by them, into the canoe, and passed quickly into his private quarters—a closewicker-work apartment eight or ten feet in length by the breadth of both canoes, and with a height of six feet or more from their bottoms to the top screen.Hurriedly investing himself with his regalia of rank, including helmet, feather mantle and spear, he stepped into view and sounded a blast upon a shell. Soon a number of his attendants made their appearance, and, with such following as befitted a prince, he started for the royal mansion. The guards who escorted him to the canoe did not recognize him as he left it, and after passing the crowd surrounding the palace his name and rank were announced to the king. He was promptly met and courteously welcomed at the door by Kalona, and informed that messengers of greeting and invitation would have been despatched to him had his presence at Waikiki been known.Kaululaau then apprised the king that he had but just arrived overland from Waialua, while his double canoe had been sent around to meet him at Waikiki, and that it was his purpose to spend some days on Oahu. The hospitalities of the royalhalewere then tendered and accepted, after which the king explained to his distinguished guest the cause of the large gathering around the palace, and invited him to an inspection of the head, feathers and claws of the mightyPueoalii, and to listen to the story of the slayer of the sacred bird, should he deem it of sufficient interest.Kaululaau accompanied the king to a large dancing pavilion within the royal enclosure, to which had been conveyed the severed parts of the gigantic bird. After the claws and feathers had been examined with awe and amazement, the king ordered the slayer of the bird to be brought before him. The high-priest of Kukaniloko bowed and turned to execute the order, when the guards placed over the prince came from the beach with the information that their prisoner had escaped.The priest was savage in his disappointment. “Either find him or take his place upon the altar!” he hissed to the unfortunate guards, and then led Kamakaua before the king, with the explanation that the other prisoner had managed to elude the vigilance of his guards, but would doubtless soon be found.Kamakaua discovered the prince at the side of the king, and could hardly restrain a smile. When questioned he denied thathe killed the great bird, but admitted that he assisted in removing the head, feathers and one of the feet.“This is trifling,” said the king, turning to the priest with a scowl. “Where is the other prisoner?”“He is here, great king!” exclaimed Kaululaau, bowing before Kalona, to the astonishment but great relief of the priest. “Favored by the gods, I slew the malignant monster your priests call by the sacred name ofPueoalii. Their skill should have instructed them differently. Will the king favor me by ordering thekapacovering to be removed from the head?”The order was given, and the uncovered head was raised beak upward before the king.In a moment it was observed that the head was not of apueo, or owl; nor did it bear resemblance in form to that of any bird known. It was narrow between the eyes, which in color were those of a shark, and its long and pointed beak, both of the upper and under jaws, turned sharply upward.“It is not apueo!” was the general exclamation.“Are you satisfied, priest?” inquired the prince.“I think it is not apueo,” responded the priest, reluctantly.“Youthinkit is not apueo!” exclaimed the king, indignantly. “Do you notknowit? Whatpueoever had such eyes and such a beak?”The priest hung his head in confusion, and the prince, having completely discomfited him, now came kindly to his relief by remarking:“The mistake might well have been made, for on the wing and at a distance the bird much resembled apueo.”“You are kind to say so, prince,” said the king; “but the priests andkaulashave been greatly at fault. For years the bird has preyed upon the people, and no one has dared to molest it. Since you killed it, knowing that it was not sacred, perhaps you may be able to tell me something of its unnatural birth and appetites.”Thus appealed to, Kaululaau modestly replied:“If I may rely upon what seemed to be a dream last night, the bird was possessed by the spirit of Hilo-a-Lakapu, one of the chiefs of Hawaii who invaded Oahu during the reign of your royal father. He was slain at Waimano, and his head was placed upon a pole near Honouliuli for the birds to feed upon. He wasofakuablood, and through a bird-god relative his spirit was given possession of the monster which the gods enabled me to slay.”The spirit of Hilo had been brought in with the head of the dead bird, and with the utterance of these words by the prince the eyes rolled, the ponderous jaws opened and closed, and with a noise like the scream of analaethe malignant spirit took its departure.The truth of the dream of Kaululaau thus being verified, the king publicly thanked him for ridding the island of the monstrous scourge, and ordered especial honors to be paid him by all classes so long as it might be his pleasure to remain in the kingdom. In return the prince presented to the king the head, claws and feathers of the bird, the latter to be made into a mammothkahili, and then made Kamakaua known to him, together with such other chiefs in his train as were entitled to royal recognition.Kaululaau became at once the hero of the court as well as the idol of the people. He remained more than a month on Oahu, enjoying the unstinted hospitality of the king and his district chiefs. He was a favorite with the fairest women of the court; but he gave his heart to the beautiful Laiea-a-Ewa, sister of the wife of Kalona, and with her returned to Maui.Landing at Lahaina after his long absence, he was joyfully welcomed home by his royal father, who had heard of his adventures and fully forgiven the faults of his youth. With grief he learned that his friend the high-priest, Waolani, had died some months before. Remembering his oath, he found the burial place of the priest, and with his remains secretly deposited the sacred spear-point of Lono, which had served him so effectively. He devoutly kissed the relic before he hid it for ever from view, and afterwards knelt and thanked Lono and the priest for its use.Lands were given him in Kauaula, where he resided until the end of his days. Laiea was his only wife, and they were blessed with six children, whose names alone are mentioned by tradition.

Having embroiled himself with the divine and political powers of Hawaii, Kaululaau rounded the southern point of La Lae and set sail for Molokai. He spent a month on that island with the royal relatives of his mother, by whom he was appropriately received and entertained. He visited the home of Laamaomao, the wind-god, the poisoned grove of Kalaipahoa, and the demolished fortress on the promontory of Haupu, where the gallant Kaupeepee, of whose blood he was, met his dramatic death. He then set sail for Oahu.

The island of Oahu was at that period one of the most prosperous in the group. It was under the government of Kalona-iki, one of the two sons of Mailikukahi, who during his reign had instituted a code of laws giving better protection to the poor, making theft punishable with death, and claiming as the wards of the government the first-born male children of all families, without regard to rank or condition.

Kalona continued the peaceful and intelligent policy of his father, and his court was noted alike for the brilliancy of its chiefs and the beauty of its women. His principal place of residence was Waikiki, although he had sumptuous temporary resorts at Ewa and Waialua.

Kaululaau first touched at Waialua, but, learning that the king was at Waikiki, he ordered his canoe to proceed around to the south side of the island in charge of his chief navigator, while he and Kamakaua concluded to make the journey overland. Dispensing with all insignia of rank, and habited like simple commoners, the prince and his companion started unattended for Waikiki. Both were armed with javelins, but the one borne by Kaululaau was tipped with the charmed point of Lono.

Proceeding along the foot of the Kaala range of mountains, in the afternoon they sat down to rest in the shade of ahalatree. In a ravine below them five or six men were working, and scattered along its banks were a number of huts. Soon a tumult of screams reached them, and men, women and children were seen running hither and thither in a state of great excitement.

The travelers sprang to their feet, and as they did so a gigantic bird swept immediately over their heads and winged its waytoward the hills. It passed so closely that the branches of thehalatree were swayed by the motion of its mighty pinions, and its outspread wings seemed to measure scarcely less than twenty long steps from tip to tip.

While watching the monster with amazement, a woman approached, and to the questions of the prince replied, between wails of anguish, that the great bird—thePueoalii, as she called it—had just killed her only child in front of her hut, with a stab to the heart resembling the cut of a knife. She hurriedly gave the additional information that for many years past the same bird had at intervals visited different districts of the island, killing children, pigs and fowls, and that the priests had declared it to be apueo, or owl, sacred to the gods, and which could not, therefore, be molested with safety, even if harm to it were possible from human hands.

Better learned in the inspiration and purposes of such visitations—since he had been instructed by the eminent high-priest Waolani—and having had many conflicts with malignant spirits, he doubted that the monster he had just seen was of the sacredpueofamily, and requested that he be shown the dead child. Proceeding to the hut and inspecting the wound, he observed that the fatal cut was upward, and not downward, as it would have been had it been made by the beak of an owl. This confirmed him in the correctness of his first impression, and, requesting Kamakaua to follow him, he started toward the hills in the direction taken by the bird.

They could still see it in the distance, like a dark cloud against the mountain. After following it for some time the bird swooped down to commit some fresh depredation, and then rose and alighted upon a rocky ridge with precipitous face sweeping down from the main summit of Kaala.

“Why go farther?” said Kamakaua. “We cannot reach the bird, and, if we could, our spears would be like straws to such a monster.”

As if by a strong hand, the javelin in the grasp of the prince forcibly turned and pointed toward the bird. Smiling at the augury, Kaululaau replied:

“Look you carefully back and see if we are followed.”

Kamakaua turned his face in compliance, and as he did so the prince poised his javelin and hurled it in the direction of the bird.In twenty paces the point did not droop; in forty it did not fall to the ground; in a hundred a new energy seized it, and like a flash of light it sped out of sight. A moment later the prince saw the bird sink and disappear.

“I can see no one,” said Kamakaua, after carefully scanning the ground over which they had passed. “Nor can I now see the bird,” he continued, looking toward the ridge. “Where can it be?”

“At the foot of the cliff,” replied the prince, “with the point of my javelin in his heart.”

Having been with the prince on Molokai, Kamakaua received the strange information without question or great wonder, and, hastening to the base of the precipice, they found the monster dead, with the javelin buried in its breast. Removing the weapon, they cut off the head and one of the feet of the bird, pulled from its wings four of the longest feathers, and with them returned to thehalatree under which they had found shelter from the sun. The burden taxed their strength to the utmost. The weight of the head, which was borne by the prince, was scarcely less than that of his own body, while the feathers were seven paces in length, and the claws two paces between their extreme points.

Great excitement followed the spreading of the news thatPueoaliihad been killed by strangers. The sufferers through its visitations were disposed to commend the act, and others condemned it as an insult to the gods, which would probably bring broadcast calamity upon the whole island. To placate the anger of the gods it was proposed to sacrifice the strangers at the nearestheiau, and, respectfully wrapping the head of the bird inkapa, Kaululaau and his companion were conducted with their trophies to the sacred temple of Kukaniloko, which was not far distant. They were accompanied by a crowd which constantly swelled in numbers as they proceeded, and on arriving at theheiauthey were surrounded by four or five hundred men and women, many of them armed and clamoring for their blood.

Kaululaau was in nowise alarmed, but rather enjoyed the situation. The high-priest of the temple appeared and the matter was laid before him. Looking at the foot and mighty feathers of the bird, he turned to the strangers and said:

“You have slain a creature sacred to the gods, and my thought is that you should be sacrificed to avert their wrath.”

“Be careful in your judgment, priest,” replied the prince. “How know you that the bird was sacred?”

“For years it has been so regarded,” returned the priest. “How know you that it was not?”

“Does it become the high-priest of Kukaniloko to ask such a question?” said the prince. “But I will reply to it when you answer this: With the javelin now in my hand I killed the bird at a distance farther than from where we stand to yonder hills. Could it have been done by human hand without the especial favor of the gods. If not, then how have the gods been angered?”

The priest was confounded, and when the prince proposed to submit the question of his guilt to the king, the suggestion was accepted. It now being near nightfall, Kaululaau and his companion were removed within the enclosure of the temple for safe-keeping, and, knowing that they would be deprived of their weapons, the prince removed the charmed point from his javelin and secreted it in the folds of hismaro.

Early next morning the high-priest and his two prisoners, who were kept under no marked restraint, accompanied by a large concourse of people carrying the head, foot and feathers ofPueoalii, started for Waikiki. Every one seemed to know that the great bird had been killed, and many stood by the wayside to see the feathers that had been torn from its wings, and catch a glimpse of its destroyer.

Near the middle of the day the great gathering arrived at Waikiki. As many carried spears, it resembled an army in its march, and messengers were despatched by the king to ascertain its meaning. Halting near the shores of the harbor, and not far from the royal mansion, to report the arrival of the prisoners and learn the pleasure of the king, the prince observed his double canoe drawn up on the beach, and requested permission to approach it, that he might secure the counsel of his master, Kaululaau, son of themoiof Maui.

The favor could not well be denied, and, under guard of two inferior priests of Kukaniloko, the prince was conducted to the canoe. As but three or four of the crew were present, and their attention was wholly absorbed in the gathering around the royalhale, the prince stepped, unobserved by them, into the canoe, and passed quickly into his private quarters—a closewicker-work apartment eight or ten feet in length by the breadth of both canoes, and with a height of six feet or more from their bottoms to the top screen.

Hurriedly investing himself with his regalia of rank, including helmet, feather mantle and spear, he stepped into view and sounded a blast upon a shell. Soon a number of his attendants made their appearance, and, with such following as befitted a prince, he started for the royal mansion. The guards who escorted him to the canoe did not recognize him as he left it, and after passing the crowd surrounding the palace his name and rank were announced to the king. He was promptly met and courteously welcomed at the door by Kalona, and informed that messengers of greeting and invitation would have been despatched to him had his presence at Waikiki been known.

Kaululaau then apprised the king that he had but just arrived overland from Waialua, while his double canoe had been sent around to meet him at Waikiki, and that it was his purpose to spend some days on Oahu. The hospitalities of the royalhalewere then tendered and accepted, after which the king explained to his distinguished guest the cause of the large gathering around the palace, and invited him to an inspection of the head, feathers and claws of the mightyPueoalii, and to listen to the story of the slayer of the sacred bird, should he deem it of sufficient interest.

Kaululaau accompanied the king to a large dancing pavilion within the royal enclosure, to which had been conveyed the severed parts of the gigantic bird. After the claws and feathers had been examined with awe and amazement, the king ordered the slayer of the bird to be brought before him. The high-priest of Kukaniloko bowed and turned to execute the order, when the guards placed over the prince came from the beach with the information that their prisoner had escaped.

The priest was savage in his disappointment. “Either find him or take his place upon the altar!” he hissed to the unfortunate guards, and then led Kamakaua before the king, with the explanation that the other prisoner had managed to elude the vigilance of his guards, but would doubtless soon be found.

Kamakaua discovered the prince at the side of the king, and could hardly restrain a smile. When questioned he denied thathe killed the great bird, but admitted that he assisted in removing the head, feathers and one of the feet.

“This is trifling,” said the king, turning to the priest with a scowl. “Where is the other prisoner?”

“He is here, great king!” exclaimed Kaululaau, bowing before Kalona, to the astonishment but great relief of the priest. “Favored by the gods, I slew the malignant monster your priests call by the sacred name ofPueoalii. Their skill should have instructed them differently. Will the king favor me by ordering thekapacovering to be removed from the head?”

The order was given, and the uncovered head was raised beak upward before the king.

In a moment it was observed that the head was not of apueo, or owl; nor did it bear resemblance in form to that of any bird known. It was narrow between the eyes, which in color were those of a shark, and its long and pointed beak, both of the upper and under jaws, turned sharply upward.

“It is not apueo!” was the general exclamation.

“Are you satisfied, priest?” inquired the prince.

“I think it is not apueo,” responded the priest, reluctantly.

“Youthinkit is not apueo!” exclaimed the king, indignantly. “Do you notknowit? Whatpueoever had such eyes and such a beak?”

The priest hung his head in confusion, and the prince, having completely discomfited him, now came kindly to his relief by remarking:

“The mistake might well have been made, for on the wing and at a distance the bird much resembled apueo.”

“You are kind to say so, prince,” said the king; “but the priests andkaulashave been greatly at fault. For years the bird has preyed upon the people, and no one has dared to molest it. Since you killed it, knowing that it was not sacred, perhaps you may be able to tell me something of its unnatural birth and appetites.”

Thus appealed to, Kaululaau modestly replied:

“If I may rely upon what seemed to be a dream last night, the bird was possessed by the spirit of Hilo-a-Lakapu, one of the chiefs of Hawaii who invaded Oahu during the reign of your royal father. He was slain at Waimano, and his head was placed upon a pole near Honouliuli for the birds to feed upon. He wasofakuablood, and through a bird-god relative his spirit was given possession of the monster which the gods enabled me to slay.”

The spirit of Hilo had been brought in with the head of the dead bird, and with the utterance of these words by the prince the eyes rolled, the ponderous jaws opened and closed, and with a noise like the scream of analaethe malignant spirit took its departure.

The truth of the dream of Kaululaau thus being verified, the king publicly thanked him for ridding the island of the monstrous scourge, and ordered especial honors to be paid him by all classes so long as it might be his pleasure to remain in the kingdom. In return the prince presented to the king the head, claws and feathers of the bird, the latter to be made into a mammothkahili, and then made Kamakaua known to him, together with such other chiefs in his train as were entitled to royal recognition.

Kaululaau became at once the hero of the court as well as the idol of the people. He remained more than a month on Oahu, enjoying the unstinted hospitality of the king and his district chiefs. He was a favorite with the fairest women of the court; but he gave his heart to the beautiful Laiea-a-Ewa, sister of the wife of Kalona, and with her returned to Maui.

Landing at Lahaina after his long absence, he was joyfully welcomed home by his royal father, who had heard of his adventures and fully forgiven the faults of his youth. With grief he learned that his friend the high-priest, Waolani, had died some months before. Remembering his oath, he found the burial place of the priest, and with his remains secretly deposited the sacred spear-point of Lono, which had served him so effectively. He devoutly kissed the relic before he hid it for ever from view, and afterwards knelt and thanked Lono and the priest for its use.

Lands were given him in Kauaula, where he resided until the end of his days. Laiea was his only wife, and they were blessed with six children, whose names alone are mentioned by tradition.

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