l/E R I N ' S Kj N G- ^^S) NEWELL '.-KA> K^ K^ /7 s KAM E H AM E H A THE CONQUERING KING THE MYSTERY OF HIS BIRTH, LOVES, AND CONQUESTS A ROMANCE OF HAWAII ^ KNIGHT COMPANION OF THE ROYAL ORDER OF KAPIOLANI ; AUTHOR OF " KALANI OF OAHU," " PEHE NU-E," ETC. NEW YORK & LONDON G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS 1885. COPYRIGHT BY C. M. NEWELL 1885 All rights reserved Press of G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS New York Bancroft Library "J (Vws, \TVA }f\ yvs )W. &S TO HER MAJESTY QUEEN KAPIOLANI THIS ROMANCE OF THE RENOWNED KING IS DEDICATED BY ROYAL PERMISSION, WITH KIND ALOHA / TO HERSELF AND HER SUNNY ISLES BY THE AUTHOR PREFACE. THE greater part of this Romance is a truthful narra- tion of the real history of this most remarkable of Poly- nesian kings. The account of the destruction of Keoua's army by means of Pele's volcanic eruption is trust- worthy, both as to the number destroyed and as to the terrible circumstances of their death ; and equally his- torical are the dramatic incidents of the assassination of the brave king, together with seven of his royal chiefs. Truly, history repeats itself, for this was a repetition of Pompey's death on the Egyptian shore. None of the battles described, or of the personal com- bats of Kamehameha, are fictitious, though the historian has depended for his details upon the traditions of the priests and the chants and meles of the ancient bards, each of whom seized upon the most dramatic epochs of his theme, to the exclusion of all intermediate incidents these being left for the modern narrator to conceive. Thus, while we have freely romanced with one of the many legendary stories of Kamehameha's birth and boy- hood, we have held strictly to all known records of history, making a connective narrative as best we could. What the still unknown secret of the " Iron Mask " was to the reign of Louis XIV., the romantic and yet un- solved mystery of our hero's birth fathered by a trio of kings was to the contemporary historians of Hawaii. For half a century prior to his birth prophets had pre- dicted the coming of a great chief, and bards had sung vi Preface. of a renowned warrior who should conquer the "Eight Isles," and forever end the cruel wars between the six kingdoms. Of the several traditional birth-stories related to us by the bards and chiefs forty years ago, we have chosen the most romantic, if the least authentic. Our chosen version of this long-disputed question has the merit of showing why Kalaniopuu, the ruling king, came to divide his kingdom between his known and his unknown heirs Kiwalao and Kamehameha. It is but fair to state that the legend which found most favor half a century ago was told in this wise : One stormy night a famous chiefess gave birth, in the war-camp of King Alapai's army, to a lusty boy. Priests, prophets, and bards at once pronounced the young Alii to be the coming man. Tempted by this belief, Naeole, a great chief, stole the babe that night from the sleeping mother's side, and secreted him for five years. Then Alapai ordered the chief to bring the boy to court. In fear lest the king meant to kill him, Naeole delivered the wrong child, still keeping the real one secreted until he was twenty years old. Some years after Alapai secretly killed prince Keoua. This led Kalaniopuu to think the king would soon make away with the boy, and he made an attempt by force of arms to take the youth from court. A severe battle was fought, and Kalaniopuu was beaten without rescuing the boy. This " wrong boy " gave rise to the erroneous story that the high-born Kame- hameha was of low origin. A glossary of Hawaiian names and phrases will be found at the close of the book. THE AUTHOR. BOSTON, May, 1884. CONTENTS. PAGE I WAIMANU VALLEY I II WAILELE I THE ROMANCE OF HER BIRTH . 9 III THE MYSTERY OF A HUNDRED YEARS . 14 IV THE PERILOUS DESCENT INTO WAIMANU . 24 V PRIEST-GIRLS ANOINTING THE DOGS . 34 VI HOW TO WOO A PROUD WOMAN . . 47 VII MYSTERIOUS SACRIFICE BY MOONLIGHT . 60 VIII MOON-SPIRITS IN THE VALLEY . 66 IX LAST INTERVIEW OF THE LOVERS . . 70 X WOOED AND WON, AND PARTED FOREVER, 75 XI UMI, THE GOD-BORN CHIEF ... 86 XII BOYHOOD DAYS OF UMI, NOW KAM^HA- MEHA ....... 95 XIII HUMAN SACRIFICE IN THE TEMPLE . . 105 XIV MIDNIGHT INCANTATIONS AMONG THE GHOSTS Il6 XV KAMEHAME"HA'S PILGRIMAGE TO THE GODS, 126 XVI THE KING AND HIS COURT AT WAIPIO . 141 XVII THE FEAST OF THE WARLIKE KINGS . . 150 XVIII THE MAN-KILLERS ON THE CHIEF-BOY's TRACK ....... l6l XIX PEPEHI REBUKED BY THE GODDESS OF MUK1NI 172 XX KAME*HAME"HA VISITS WAIPIO TO CLAIM HIS BIRTHRIGHT ..... l8o XXI COMMOTION AT WAIPIO .... 187 vii viii Contents* PACK XXII LIFE OR DEATH FOR THE KING'S SON . igi XXIII COMBAT WITH SPEARS BETWEEN THE PRINCES ...... 197 XXIV THE COURT AT WAIPIO . . . 203 XXV QUEEN NAMAHANA'S TRAGIC STORY . 209 XXVI VIEW OF WAIPIO VALLEY FROM THE PALI . . . . . .215 XXVII SATAN CONFRONTING THE YOUNG PRINCE 222 XXVIII KAAHUMANU INTRIGUES FOR A THRONE ...... 233 XXIX THE WAR WITH MAUI .... 240 XXX THE COMING AND DEATH OF CAP- TAIN COOK 251 XXXI THE QUARREL OF THE PRINCES . . 268 XXXII HAWAII'S NEW KINGS . . . 273 XXXIII ROYAL LOVERS ON THE MOONLIT SHORE 285 XXXIV WAR WITH THE KINGS OF HILO AND KAU 292 XXXV THE CONQUEST OF MAUI . . . 302 XXXVI BRILLIANT NAVAL VICTORY OF KO- HALA 315 XXXVII THE TRAGEDY OF KEOUA AND HIS ARMY ...... 321 XXXVIII THE TIME OF THE GOOD VANCOUVER . 334 XXXIX THE INVASION OF OAHU . . . 347 XL THE BATTLE OF NUUANU : KAIANA SLAIN 353 XLI BATTLE OF THE PALI AND DEATH OF KALANI 367 XLII CONCLUSION 378 KAMEHAMEHA THE GREAT. I. WAIMANU VALLEY. WHEN approaching the great island of Hawaii from the sea, one is enchanted by the mystery and majestic beauty of its three gigantic mountains, one of which often bursts upon the delighted vision of the weary wanderer while yet he is a hundred and fifty miles away. Thus they appeared to their discoverer, Juan Gaetano, when approaching " La Mesa Islas " from New Spain. Coming from the eastward, bowling down before the strong trade-wind, with every white-breasted sail exulting in the breeze, the coast line is usually shut out from view by dark nimbus .clouds, until the vessel sails quite near in to the land. But the nimbus is an earth-loving cloud, which never rises even to a mile's height, and one must look for the mountain tops above even the fleecy-white cumuli, which often creep joyfully up the mountain side two and a half miles high, and there lie slumbering in the sun, like sheep in a fold. Mauna Kea is generally the first of the trio of moun- tains to appear. How impatiently we wait the joyful cry of " Land O ! " on that eventful day ! With what thrills 2 Kamthamtha the Great. of delight we at length behold the snow-crowned moun- tains, looming clear and distinct above a sheeny-white cumulus, and glowing like the silver dome of some temple of the gods in the morning sun ! Silently we gaze upon the mountain crest, awed by its vastness and sublimity, and made humble and prayerful by its look of majestic repose. How softly the hoary-headed monarch lies pillowed against the exquisite turquoise of the tranquil sky, brood- ing like some fabled god of the enchanted isle in divine reverie ! Drawing near to the windward shores of Hawaii, one is amazed at the countless streams, cascades, and gigantic waterfalls that tumble seaward ; threading the evergreen slopes, leaping the cliffs, and supplied by the exhaustless reservoirs of mountain snows. The tiny rivulets blend in streams ; these seek companionship in torrents, and they in turn become formidable rivers. One and all run wildly upon devious courses, seeking outlet through the numerous ravines that are riven deeply in these rock- bound shores. These deep, dark gorges, originally rent by earthquakes through the enormous cliffs of the iron-bound coast, have widened with time, and deepened by the constant attrition of floods, until some of them have become beauti- ful valleys. One of these, the charming valley of Waipio, or " Cap- tive Waters," had been the seat of empire for the ruling chiefs and kings for a thousand years. It is still the garden-land of this ever fruitful island of Hawaii, where flowers and fruits blossom and ripen throughout the year. But it is not to the Eden-land of Waipio that I would now draw the reader's attention. There is another val- The Stupendous Pdli. 3 ley, deeper, darker, and more inaccessible, which we must see : the Valley of Waimanu, where the heroic sub- ject of our story came upon the scene and passed his boyhood days. There he acquired from the old war- chiefs of the valley such mastery of weapons as to aston- ish the island world. Very few of its people had ever heard of such a person as Kamehameha* until he stalked proudly into their midst at a mighty tournament of kings, and took rank as a knight-errant against all com- petitors of his own age. This romantic and inaccessible valley of Waimanu the opening scene of our story is one of the numerous river-washed ravines on the windward coast of Hawaii, and is undoubtedly the most remarkable human abode in the knowledge of man ; the deepest, greenest, weird- est valley in the world. It is one of the sixty profound chasms originally rent by the primal earthquakes during the parturient throes of the embryo island. An amazing fissure, cleft into the basalt a half mile deep, extend- ing three miles back into the coast-flank of Mauna. Kea. Walled in as it is on three sides by a stupendous pdli (precipice) of gray lava-rock grown gray by the fret of ages with a perpendicular height of from two to three thousand feet above the valley, surely none but winged creatures, or some desperate adventurer, would seek to pass its barriers, either from the land above, or from the vale below. Yet these rocky battlements are not bereft of vegeta- tion, for, strange to say, from every chink spring hardy grasses and tender ferns, while from out the deeper clefts in the precipitous walls grow stunted shrubs, and occa- * This name, often mispronounced, is to be sounded Kah-may-hah- may-hah : it is thus pronounced by the islanders themselves. 4 Kame'hame'ha the Great. sionally stout trees, like the silvery kilkiii or candle-nut tree, and the gnarled pandanus or screw-pine, whose hundred aerial roots serve well to brace and support the venturesome tree. It grows where no other plant of its size could cling. The narrow water-front of Waimanu Valley opens through gigantic crags upon the blue Pacific. Here its scant mile of pebbly beach and frequent boulders is strongly barricaded by sharp black lava rocks, threaten- ing destruction to all comers from the sea. And as if to make the strong valley doubly secure, the most gigantic surf of the whole rock-bound coast thunders angrily against these caverned cliffs, its billows floundering like hungry demons on the black-pebbled shore. It is indeed a strange habitation for man ; it is a darkly beautiful sight, whether we look down from its highest pdii, four thousand feet above its numerous villages of neat grass houses, showing small as beehives from the cliff, and built along the flowery banks of the smooth- flowing river or embowered among the shrubbery, or whether we peer into the deep cool valley from the hot sunshine of the wave-rocked ocean. From the sea how cool and inviting are the dark shadows of the /#'/// Looking through the long, droop- ing fronds of the palms that grow thickly along the shingly beach, the reedy banks of the shallow river are seen clothed in brightest verdure. The rich meadow- lands and thrifty taro patches reach back to the cliff. The river-houses are embowered among dark-leaved bread-fruit, the red-leaved ohia and flowering hau trees ; the houses back in the fields are almost hidden from view by the dense growth of bananas, guavas, and sugar-cane. And still other houses of the lordly chiefs Waimdnu from the Sea. 5 are surrounded with clusters of palms, and groves of fruit-laden orange and papaya trees, the last two being exotics brought hither a century since by Spanish voya- gers from other tropic lands. Seen thus from the sea, the profile view of the towering precipice along the valley sides seems everywhere green with tenacious grasses and hardy shrubs ; while tough vines, strong as cables, hang pendent over the cliff, swaying in the wind five hundred feet from where they are rooted deep in the crevices, for a century's growth. It is but an unsatisfying glimpse one catches while thus sailing by this enticing solitude, but it is all-sufficient to arouse one's deepest curiosity in the weird, wild mysteries of by-gone ages which have been enacted here ! It now becomes our province to search out the most romantic of these old histories, and impart them to the world. With reference to the narrative, a knowledge of the extreme upper valley of Waimanu, with its marvellous surroundings, is most needful for a clear understanding of coming events. Standing on the mountain side three miles inland, we look down upon five stupendous cataracts, leaping over the black pdli into the wooded vale below, three thou- sand feet of unimpeded fall. So high are these magnifi- cent falls, that they seem rather to burst headlong from the clear blue sky, than to flow from the snows above that veil the seven eternal snow-crests of Mauna Kea. Waimanu is the scene of the first Spanish wreck upon these islands. Many a wreck strewed the rock-bound shores of Hawaii when adventurous men began their traffic between the gold mines of Mexico and the spice isles of the East Indies. Here the old Spanish priest, Paao, was shipwrecked 6 Kamtkamtka the Great. on Waimdnu rocks, during the stormy year of 1527,* and was the only survivor of a numerous crew. The quaint galleon had belonged to the famed navy of Spain, and was one of three stout vessels selected to bear the costly shrines, images, and cathedral decorations of gold sent from Acapulco to Manila. Two of the three treasure vessels were lost upon these yet unknown islands. Finding himself the sole survivor with the exception of several hogs and dogs, which, not being weighted with bullion, reached the river mouth in safety the wise old priest set about making himself popular with the hospi- table people of this unknown land. His first act of im- portance was to induce his followers to build a strong- walled heidu, the first heathen temple of its kind built on Hawaii. f This temple, called Mukini, was of great strength. It had walls twenty feet thick, and was built ostensibly for a " City of Refuge " in times of war and when was not war raging in this turbulent land ? Assuming control of this sacerdotal castle from the first, and daily increasing his authority over the super- stitious people by a display of occult arts and by foretelling astronomical events, Paao gave his own glit- tering shrines, altars, and sacred images to the fabulous gods of the Hawaiians. Thus, with artful dissembling from the outset, this crafty old priest also adopted the vile Tabii rule of the country then too revolting to bear description by a * The Hawaiian Islands were subsequently discovered in 1555 by- Juan Gaetano, of Spain. The vessel wrecked in 1527 was the " Santa lago," one of Don Alvaro de Saavedra's fleet. See " Spanish Archives." \ The more ancient Heiaus were flat-topped pyramids, not walled enclosures. P&do the Spanish Priest. 7 Christian pen.* Modifying its lustful tenets, and enno- bling its heathenish rites, Paao restrained the frightful practice of kdpu kdne or human sacrifices. And, as much as a foreigner dared, he endeavored to bring the chiefs to use greater humanity toward their inferiors, and more courteous language and affability of manner among themselves. And that Paao attained to a considerable degree of success in all these delicate innovations, shows that he was of no common order of man. Marrying a royal chiefess of great rank among her people, and of rare wisdom and beauty, Paao, the cleri- cal celibate in his own country, begot children as famous as himself. Among the most noted of his progeny was Opili, whose descendants have ever since presided over the Mukmi,\ and many other heidus in distant parts of the island. It was this noble line of chief-priests that eventually ennobled their class. They raised it from the standing of the vile magicians and sorcerers who ranked below * The antiquity of the Tabu system is coeval with the superstitions of Polynesia. A more cogent religious despotism could not have been devised by heathen ingenuity. Unless powerful friends interfered, the slightest breach of these ecclesiastical restrictions was punished with death. Some were burned, strangled, or despatched with clubs or stones ; others were sacrificed in a more dreadful manner by scoop- ing out the eyes, breaking their limbs, or other exquisite torture, in- flicted for days before the final stroke was given. Jarves' " History," p. 57 ; Ellis' " History," p. 367. f While traditions agree that Paao landed on Hawaii before the reign of Umi, they differ as to where he was wrecked. Some native historians assert that he first landed in Puna ; but while the majority agree that the wreck occurred on Kohala coast, they differ as to the exact spot. Most authorities fix it at Puuepa, rather than Waimanu. But we have assumed the author's right in matters that are indiffer- ent, and have chosen the latter place as best answering the purpose of our story. 8 Kame'hame'ha the Great. the petty chiefs, to the high caste of the Alii Kapu, or tabii chiefs, who were second only to the members of the royal family. Among the most famous of all this long line of kahiina maole high-caste priests none were ever more deservedly popular than Wailele, the beautiful Priestess of Mukini, the prophetess and spir- itual adviser of wise old kings from all the islands. II. WAIL^LE THE ROMANCE OF HER BIRTH. WAIL^LE, the Priestess of this famous temple of Hawaii, was the child of her father's old age. Born an Alii pio nui y she was of the highest possible rank, with one exception. Only an Alii Niaupio 2. e., one born of a married brother and sister who were themselves of the highest rank, was yet more exalted. Wailele was reared in pious seclusion and with the utmost tenderness during her adolescent years. The story of the Priestess' birth is a romance in itself, and so well illustrates the strange customs of the times that it is well worth relating. So exalted was the rank of this tabued chiefess, that the sun was never permitted to shine upon her. Nor was she allowed to wander in the fields, unless the sun was too low to touch her sacred head, lest its beams should blemish her exquisite com- plexion. Though the real mystery of Wailele's birth was known to but few in her day, yet the most famous bards of her time learned enough of her history to compose chants and weave charming legends about her wisdom and beauty. One of these enthusiastic poets has given her a euphonious name in one of his melodious me/es, a name containing as many letters as the English alphabet.* * Before Kalola became the wife of Keoua, and the queen of Kalani- 9 io Kamthamtka the Great. Wailele's father, Wahupu, the great High-Priest of the temple of Mukini, was a lineal descendant of Paao, and the highest high-caste priest of Hawaii. His prophecies were much sought after by old and young throughout the islands. Kings, chiefs, and most noble chiefesses made frequent pilgrimages to Waimanu, seeking some divination from Wahupu's auguries, or marvellous pre- diction from his occult art ; for he alone of all the land could predict the coming occultation of a star, or an eclipse of the sweet-faced moon. It was an age of great gallantry at all the island courts. Blood-rank was esteemed above all other worldly posses- sions. The noble-born of both sexes visited from court to court, accompanied by their household bards to chant their family Ndne, or pedigree, seeking to secure the noblest mate, thus to exalt their children a degree higher in rank. For it was an irrevocable rule of the great Ahu Alii " Council of Nobles," that a chief, whatever sta- tion in life he might acquire by meritorious deeds, could assume no higher rank among them than that to which he was born. But the most singular feature of the Hawaiian system was the following : A child took rank from its mother, rather than its father. A chiefess was therefore privileged to pay court to whomsoever she would. It was by no means deemed indelicate for a noble lady of royal family to " prospect " for a husband in a foreign court. The most beautiful princess of her time was Kalola, the highest tabd chiefess of the Maui court. She was a descendant, through her mother, of a long line of Ha- opuu, she became mother of a girl (no parentage given) named Kalanikauikikilokalaniakua, one of the highest tabii chiefesses, on whom the sun was not permitted to shine. Fornander's " Polynesian Races," vol. II., p. 212. The Romantic Marriage. 1 1 waiian queens, chiefesses who ruled in their own right, or were coordinate with a king of less rank than them- selves. Kalola's father was the great king Kekaulike ; her mother was Queen Kekuiapoiwa Nui, a daughter of Keawe, of Hawaii. The princess was also sister to the famous Kahekili. Her father's court was thus much frequented by gal- lants from the other islands, who came to seek her hand. Being of a religious turn of mind, and having scruples about marrying either of her brothers the usual method of imparting exalted rank to the progeny, Kalola left Maui and came to Waimanu, seeking a wandna or proph- ecy from the venerable Wahupu of Mukini. Wise and beautiful, Kalola wished a good husband, that she might rear a chieftain imbued with her own noble qualities ; one who could redeem his country from useless wars and the cruel persecution of the people. Solemnly entering upon his auguries, after profound deliberation with the princess, Wahupu uttered this divination : " The chiefs of Maui are brave and warlike, but they are far too treacherous and cruel ever to better the con- dition of their country. Alas! I foresee that the dynasty of Maui will end within the memory of living men. Wed not with the princes of the doomed house of your father. There are noble chiefs of Hawaii with whom Kalola may beget children. In the second generation, their progeny shall rule over all the Eight Isles ; and their posterity shall rule for a century of time." In further talk with Kalola, the priest advocated Kalaniopuu and his handsome brother Keoua as suitors offering the best qualifications for good husbands, as princes by whom it were possible to bear children that the gods would bless with redeeming qualities. 12 Kamthamtha the Great. It is well known that in her ardor for a hero Kalola.did subsequently marry each and both of these royal chiefs. Many days passed in these pious deliberations at the great heidu of Mukini. The marvellous beauties of the historic valley of Waimanu, together with the saintlike gentleness and purity of Wahupu's holy life at the temple, completely captivated this high-born princess, until, most strange to tell, she lost her young heart to the priest, and demanded as was her birthright that the holy man should himself take her to wife, and beget the child of promise which she so ardently desired. The result of this romantic marriage was a high-born girl, afterwards a tabu chiefess, named Kekuiapoiwa after Kalola's queen mother, Kekuiapoiwa. The Chris- tian name, Wailele (water-fall), was subsequently added to the family name because of the proximity to the vast cataracts, which Kalola loved so well. So great were Kalola's regrets that her pious marriage had not been blessed with a chief, that with the tenderest affection, Wahupu admonished his loved young wife to leave the temple and seek in the gay court of the bril- liant Alapai Nui a husband more fitted to be her mate. There Keoiia and Kalaniopuu had been established from their youth. Alapai married their mother, and usurped their kingdom ; and having killed Keoria's father in battle, a weakling king, not hardy and warlike enough for the rough-handed times in which he lived, the mon- arch now sought to cherish the royal boys.* Putting Wailele in the care of a kdhu guardian who had been her own nurse, and receiving the farewell * Or, perhaps, to spy upon their political ability, for Keoiia was subsequently poisoned at Alapai's court. Fornander's ' ' Polynesian Races," p. 142. The Romantic Marriage. 1 3 blessings of her noble priest-husband, Kalola departed for the Hawaiian court, at Waipio, ten miles away. There she wedded the noble prince Keoua. But again the beautiful princess was doomed to disappointment ; she bore a chiefess, and named her Liliha. Again assuming the right of her high rank, she left Keoua and married Kalaniopuu, who, at the death of Alapai soon after, became king of Hawaii. Years passed before Kalola bore another child, the frivolous and petulant Kiwalao, who was far removed from a hero and a conqueror. But the methods of the gods often accomplish their ends in indirect ways. Kalola lived to see her two daughters bear progeny who in turn became the future king and queen of the united kingdoms.* Liliha became the mother of Keopuolani, the future state queen of Kamehameha, and the mother of two kings. Wailele bore the long-looked-for hero, whose praises bards had sung in many an epic chant before he was born. The prophecy of many a venerated priest had foretold his coming. Thus in an indirect way, the famous wandna or prophecy of Wahupu proved a faithful prediction, when he declared to Kalola : " A conquering hero shall be born to you, in the second generation, who shall rule over the " Eight Isles " and better the condition of the people. * Queen Kalola fled to Molokai after the battle of lao, in which Kamehameha destroyed the Maui army and took possession of the kingdom. There Kamehameha sought an interview with the queen, and begged that she and her daughter, Liliha, and her granddaugh- ter, Keopuolani, would go back to Hawaii. Kalola consented, but was taken sick and died before she could jeave Molokai. Her fami- ly and followers returned with Kamehameha to Hawaii, where Keo- puolani became the state queen, and bore the two kings that suc- ceeded Kamehameha. "Polynesian Races." III. THE MYSTERY OF A HUNDRED YEARS. r I ^HE rosy dawn of a tropic day was fast nearing the mountain isle of Hawaii. The summer moon, now nearly at her full, had gone down over Mauna Kea's lofty snow-crest, fringing the snow peaks of the gigantic mountain with a halo of violet, crimson, and palest gold. A reflection of this weird lunar light shone upward into the purple sky above the mountain, showing verily like some half-disclosed vision of glory in the realm beyond the stars. Just at the opportune moment before the waning moon- light was quenched in the east, the tall figure of a gigan- tic chief suddenly appeared on the southern brink of the precipice which walls in the upper valley of Waimanu. This pdli was made dreadful by its stupendous height nearly a half mile of perpendicular cliff, but yet more so by its cruel tabu law of Death to all comers below the rank of tabil chief. This ban was promulgated two hun- dred years before the date of our story, by the arrogant high-caste priests of the temple of Mukini, in the vale below. The well-defined outline of this adventurous person was only seen for a moment in the moon-setting ere he was again hidden from view by that mysterious hour of dark- ness which ever preludes a tropic dawn. Yet, alas, even such a moment of disclosure had cost many a common 14 The Tabued Pdli. 15 man and petty chief his life, for thus spying down upon this most ancient of all the tabued heidus of Pele. The upper valley was hedged in by a dreadful kapu e make (death tabu). But the penalty for spying down upon it was not simply death ; it was death accompanied by tor- tures too fiendish to relate. Some historians have claimed that even a tabti chief, being exempt from the ban of the tabu, would not have risked prowling about the verge of a frightful precipice in the darkest of all darkness, an hour before dawn ; and it is well known that few common Kanakas have suf- ficient courage to risk the kapu e make, when prompted by mere curiosity. Moreover, this superstitious class not only knew of the pdli's being guarded by \\\Qpepehi kdne men-killers of the priests ; they also believed that there was a yet more dreadful enemy to contend with in the lynx-eyed Invisibles in the service of the gods. These were malicious creatures who delight in cruelty to man. There was also, so they believed, a black demon, made up of darkness and lava fire, having eyes lurid with consuming flame ; a demon so noiseless in movement, that he would steal upon the spy and hurl him headlong over the cliff before he could glance into the sacred vale. The natives also knew that if they should escape the boding watch-fiends of the/^7/ they were sure to be de- tected by the dreadful kilo, or sorcerers, who are never content but when praying people to death. They dis- covered the guilty ones by the trick of wai-halulu, the " shaking waters," or by roasting some beast-offering over fires of poisonous wood. The stranger on the pdli came from the direction of Waipio, ten miles away. There Kalaniopuu held his barbaric court, and gathered about him his most notable 1 6 Kame'hame'ha the Great. chiefs, after the cunning custom of other kings, lest some of the most turbulent of the haughty nobles should find time to plot against his peaceful rule. Who was this chieftain that had taken a two-hours' walk from Waipio in the moonlight, and had timed his arrival upon the brink of a dangerous precipice just be- fore dawn ? This has been a grave matter of dispute among native historians for a century past. That he was among the noblest of chiefs and most gal- lant of men, all have agreed. For he alone successfully descended the tabued precipice of Mukini, and suc- ceeded in winning the vestal love of the beautiful Priestess, so famed throughout the land. Numerous other chiefs had visited the noted heiau, ostensibly to procure oracles in matters of state. Their visits had ended in prayers of love to the maiden Priestess ; but without once touching her obdurate heart. Among the host of the wooers, three at least of the gal- lants were kings, one of whom, it is now universally be- lieved, was the successful wooer of this most charming celibate of Mukini. The new-comer was evidently a stranger to the peril- ous path that he secretly traversed. He groped watch- fully and warily along the dizzy brink, lest he should be discovered from below. But his manner of grasping his huge war-spear, and occasionally clutching the hilt of his long dagger, as he glanced sharply about him at the rustling of the wind, or a falling stone, was that of a man who feared neither visible nor invisible foes, if only he were warned of their coming. Planting the polished staff of his curiously carved war-spear against the crumbling lava-rock before him, he felt his way cautiously through the stunted fern bush The Mysterious Chief. 17 and scanty growth of hardy grasses that found precarious life on the barren verge of the cliff. The point sought by the wary chief was evidently a huge pandanus or screw-pine, which marks the lowest part of the precipice along the whole three miles of southern pdli. A remarkable tree was this great pan- danus, for it had already grown a long century of peril- ous years, thus leaning out over the frightful gulf. Among the few daring spirits in the past ages who had descended to the valley, here two thousand feet deep, many had found their well-earned graves, now marked by a darker green and a thriftier growth of flowers. As it was yet too dark for a stranger to grope about in search of a particular object, the majestic chief came to a stand beneath a small kiikiii, or candle-nut tree, and leaning thoughtfully on his stout spear, looked down with eager eyes and swelling bosom upon the wondrous vision of beauty in the vague half-light below. Sombre and silent the stalking shadows crouched over the whole sweep of this priest-ridden valley. Its funereal stillness was everywhere peopled with the dark-boding spirits of disembodied souls. They had been sacrificed by the murderous priests of Pele, the supreme but venge- ful goddess of the isles.* The Hawdiians believe there are dual souls ; and there is a universal belief that after death one soul flies to its abode in Akea, the land of the blessed, where spirits feed on lizards and butterflies ; or, if it is a bad soul, its abode is in Po, the place of night, where they are forever cooked and eaten by the gods ; while the ghost of the second soul always lingers on earth, gently ministering to *The Hawaiians cherish the idea of the Au Makua ghost-spirits of dead ancestors ever being present. 1 8 Kam/hamJka the Great. the loved ones. But more especially does this ghost de- light to haunt dark places and sepulchres, stealing abroad at night to strangle the enemies of the dead during sleep, and to inflict all manner of harm on those who speak evil of the dead.* Well might the superstitious chief shudder with awe, as he peered down into the ghoul-haunted valley at this unseasonable hour. It was strange to think of thousands of innocent human beings slumbering in the unearthly stillness below, all unmindful of the spirit-peopled gloom about them ; sleeping as peacefully as the countless dead slept who were sepulchred in the black caverns high upon the pdli walls, sealed up in rocky tombs hid- den behind the curves of the plunging cataracts. The ceaseless rumble of the falls serves well to drown the wails of these unwilling dead, these murdered victims of the altar, secreted there by priestly hands in unhallowed graves. Directly beneath the stranger lay the Mukini, half veiled in the gloom, the far-famed temple built in past centuries by the Spanish priest, Paao. The tabti grounds belonging to Mukini were about a mile square, highly cultivated with gardens and taro patches, and adorned with the rarest of flowering shrubs, and the largest and most thrifty fruit-trees known in all the land. These consecrated grounds are shut in from * Dibble relates a case in point. " The following may serve as an instance of this belief. One dark night I heard a horrid shriek in the street. A strong, athletic man was running with all speed, both hands clutching at his throat, endeavoring to tear some imaginary ghost away. He reached our house, burst through the door, and felt on the floor terrified to faintness and insensibility. He said the ghost of a dead chief had a grip on his throat, and was trying to strangle him." " Sandwich Islands," p. 99. The Mysterious Chief. 19 intrusion of the outer world by a half-mile belt of impene- trable forest, which reached from cliff to cliff across the whole width of the valley. The only accessible entrance through this dense ever- glade of forest-trees and tangled vines is by wading up the shallow waters of the gently running river. But even this inviting water-gate is guarded by a dread line of tabued flags planted on the river banks at the forest edge, and out in mid-stream, a warning of " Death to All." * So that below the rank of Alii Kapu tabu chief none of all the ten thousand people of Waimanu dared ascend the sacred water-path. There are times, however, when this extreme restric- tion is modified so as to permit chiefs of a lower rank, with their families, to attend during feast-days, and on the Makahiki the New-Year's festival at the heidu. The one sublime object which most attracts the stranger on the pall, as he gazes into the deep, dark vale, is the fivefold cataract plunging like a milky-way from the starlit sky. The glassy curves of the water-falls reflect the starlight so brightly that they illuminate the ghostly gloom. Like the white hand of an avenging God, its five shining fingers clutch downward through the dark- ness toward the ghost-spirits of the inhuman priests, who are said still to haunt the unhallowed scenes of their long- past crimes. At length day dawned upon the cheerful upper world, revealing the statuesque figure of the chief. Spear in hand, he stood on the sun-gilded verge of the precipice ; a large grand-looking man of fifty well-kept years, of noble mien and most commanding presence. His long * The priests used small white flags to tabu property and places. Jarves' " History," p. 56. 2O Kamthamtha the Great. black hair waved gently in the cool damp breeze that welled upward from the depths of the pdli. His only in- signia of rank were a lei and niho palaoa, worn about his neck. These ornaments, wrought from one large and two small whale teeth, were of great value in those days ; they were enough to turn the tide of battle, in a coming year when king met king at Keei, contending for a king- dom. He was armed with a stout spear and a long Koa- wood dagger, edged with sharks' teeth. A gay-colored garment of tapa was flung carelessly across his left shoulder, and knotted loosely beneath the right arm, deftly arranged so as to conceal his insignia. His only other article of apparel was that worn by all men, the malo, a strip of bark cloth girded about the loins, and passed between the thighs. This served also for a belt for a dagger nearly two feet long. Nothing was visible in the simple garb of the stranger to denote whether he were priest, chief, or king ; yet in his haughty bearing there was evidence enough of rank. But a humble man dared not, on peril of his life, wear even the kihei, or tapa cape, which clothed him. Though he lacked the golden-yellow mamo, or feather cloak,* the state robe of the Hawaiian kings, or even the red mama of high-priest or lordly chief, yet in the half- nude Hawaiian before us, we behold a man of mark in the state, a mighty warrior in the hour of battle. He was a man who carries his nobility in his right arm and in his * Some of the gorgeous war cloaks of kings, sun-gold in color, re- quired nine generations to fabricate. But two tiny feathers are found beneath each wing of the O-o, and the liwi. The birds are caught by smearing their perches with a gum from the bread-fruit tree, and are given their liberty after the feathers are plucked. The stems of the rare feathers are woven into the fine network of a previously formed cape. The Huge Pandanus. 21 handsome face, and who does not need even his much prized lei and /#/# where your kaMna wahine invokes the gods she adores, and prays for the king she loves." " Aloha ! Pele, guard the life of my darling. Aloha, Wailele ! thou art grand as the mountain above thee, and gentle as the river by our side. To have known you, dear Wailele, will make me more brave in the hour of battle, and more humane to my people through all my life." And the chieftain gave into the hands of the Priestess his richly-carved spear, and his ivory necklace, the rarest decoration in the kingdom over which he ruled. Hold- ing her throbbing hands, he eagerly awaited the last mes- sage from his darling, which she could not yet find voice to impart. Her lips moved as for speech, but her tongue was dumb. Emotions stirred her soul as with a tempest. At length she found voice, but hoarsely, as if speaking from her tomb. " Farewell, dear king we have met not wholly in vain. You have taught Wailele that the love of a noble man for woman is the crowning glory of her life. You have wooed me for your queen ; do not hate me because I refuse to wed. Know, Alii rnoi, that your loving Kahiina is wedded to a greater than mortal her holy shrine. Believe that woman's adoration for the deity that prompts her to prayer is a greater bridal for a pure heart than wedded love, even with a king." Aloha, Forever. 79 And together the royal pair walked hand in hand down the river to the canoe, in which the old king seated him- self, while the priest-girls seized their paddles, awaiting the signal to go. " Aloha, queen of my heart ! " "Aloha, dearest and best of men! Farewell to the only mortal Wailele has learned to love. Aloha, forever and forever ! " And the weeping Priestess flung the king's hand from her strong grasp, as if doubting her power to give him up, and rudely pushed the canoe into the stream, waiting with compressed lips and clenched hands to see the loved one depart, though her young heart should be rent by the separation. The king refused to give the order to go ; the eyes of the proud chief were as full of tears as were his dar- ling's. With a cry of bitter anguish he appealed to her to come and be his queen. The proud woman waved her hand for him to go. Yet again and again he called to her to come, but called in vain. Then in soft tones of appeal, such as only a breaking heart could utter, he pleaded for her to go with him as far as the tabii line. It was with a lingering hope that she could not find courage to leave him there. How strong is the power of one noble heart over an- other ; how resistless the sweet influence of man over the woman he loves ! Wailele, the proud and arrogant Priestess, softened to the appeals of love, as the cold mist of the morning leaps at the touch of the sun. Springing into the river with outstretched arms she swam to the waiting canoe, her long black hair streaming behind like the pinions of some black demon who had lent her his wings to fly away from her heathen shrine. 8o Kame'hame'ha the Great. She reached the canoe, drawn by an impulse stronger than the cable-tow of a frigate. Stretching her hand out of the stream to the grasp of the king, she bade the wahines paddle swiftly down the river. But she reso- lutely refused to enter the boat. The agile wahines plied their paddles vigorously, and the canoe soon entered the deep arcade of the forest. Wailele swam easily beside the canoe, and neither king nor Priestess spoke as they sped down the river toward the Tribute Rock. Tender were the appealing glances in the old king's eyes, as he watched every movement of the strong and beautiful swimmer. Wailele gazed into those dear per- suasive eyes, and her heart confessed those sweet emo- tions that transcend all other joys in life. What passed in Wailele's mind during that half hour in the river, she never told ; so we can never know. But at times, as she swam there beside the canoe, her answering glances became irresolute and yielding, as if she were charmed to the very verge of willing captivity. It was the stage of sweet abandonment that all women love to indulge toward one noble heart. The canoe neared Tribute Rock. The monarch's hand clasped hers more firmly, and his fond eye dwelt upon her with a delicious hope of detaining her. Wai- lele's mobile face grew strong and resolute again. But the eyes lost their tenderness, and a touch of the old imperiousness came into them at the thought that the king might possibly attempt coercion. But that passed in an instant. Perhaps it was but the shadow of a cloud passing across the sun, for the next emotion depicted on the maiden's face, as they drew still nearer to the rock, was a look of supplication that this dear man's love should not wholly forsake her. Waittles Strong Agony. 8 1 There comes a touching look into the eyes of woman when thus aroused by the strong agony of grief or love, an eloquence before which the tongue of man grows dumb. It was an expression so agonizing, an attitude of such unspeakable sorrow, that the chieftain half relaxed his grasp of her hand, while an appealing wish welled into his eyes, that spoke his desire to clasp the dear one to his bosom, ere they should part so cruelly. Brief and beautiful was the moment's response which lit up the glowing face of Wailele as she interpreted the king's wish. Then a deathly pallor usurped the color on lips and cheeks and brow, and the tender love-look in her eyes was displaced by an expression in which culminated all the agonies that the heart can bear. Suddenly, and with a strength almost superhuman, Wailele tore her hand from the grasp of her lover and plunged beneath the surface, that she might not hear his appeals. Then, with long, strong strokes, she swam up the river under water. She turned a little tree-clad point on the north shore of the stream before coming to the surface. Then Wailele rose and turned to look back down the river. The canoe was out of sight ! Then indeed she real- ized that her separation was complete ; that the king and his dearly-loved Kahiina were parted forever. Climbing to the river-bank and seating herself in the kindred gloom of the forest, Wailele gave way to the first great grief of her life. Only by articulate wails and a deluge of tears can a strong woman drain the depths of such a sorrow as this. What the sun is to bud and blossom and the ripening of the fruit in the floral world, love is to woman. With- out it she pines like a plant in the desert. Fill her soul 82 Kame'hame'ha the Great. if only for an hour with its brightness, and she is crowned with beauty and glory as when a star is born in the sky. Rob her, when once it has been tasted, of this enchanted cup, and she quaffs instead the bitterest chalice in the whole domain of sorrow. Burying his head in dejection, the sorrowing king bade the wahines speed on down the river. He sat in the stern of the canoe with his tapa covering drawn over his grief-stricken face, his massive hands clenched in the visible agony of a strong man who has lost his all. Not a boat was seen on the usually busy river ; not a human soul of all the ten thousand people living in the valley. The grassy banks and flowery nooks of the pleasant river were deserted. A tabu had been pro- claimed from Mukini for the day, by the display of the tabu flag from the highest tree in the forest, and it needed but a brief half hour to make the land a desert. When the kapu e make was announced in the morning, while the king's canoe was made ready for his departure, the first native who saw the flag from the lower valley gave the alarm, crying lustily to all within his hearing : " Kapu e make ! kapu e make J" In an instant the sorrowing wail was taken up by a thousand voices, bearing the fearful knell over the whole valley in a few minutes' time. Whoever was laboring in his taro patch, or fishing or bathing in the river, hurried home to his thatched house, there to hide throughout the day ; not knowing, nor likely ever to know, why the tabu had been promulgated. Boys who had climbed a hundred feet up the swaying mast of the palm-tree, and who were twisting off cocoa- nuts for the coming meal, left their task half finished, slid down with precipitate haste to the ground, and fled The Universal Horror. 83 homeward, full of wildest apprehension of the deadly tabii cry. Girls swimming in flocks along the flowing river bank, sporting with one another in the crystal waters, or diving for objects among the fine dark sands of the bottom, heard the death-cry sweeping down the valley, and looked aghast into each other's faces. Darting through the water for the shore, they seized their paus from the bank, and ran to their homes undressed. Some ghostly mon- ster, born of their own superstitious terrors and the tabti cry, pursues their lovely nude figures to their very doorways. Fishermen out upon the sea, tanning their brown skins in the sun while they patiently watch their lines sound the tranquil waters below, caught the anguished tabii cry, or saw the dread flag fluttering in the land-wind from the cliff. Instantly they cut adrift from their much- prized lines, and paddled with desperation for the shore ; some, still more terror-stricken, paddled far out to sea, fearing that they were personally wanted by the Pepehi Kanaka to take part as corpses in the cruel sacrifices of the day. What many of these sudden taJnis are for, none but the few connected with the neighboring heidu ever know, or can ever guess, for the solemn behests of a priest are as well kept as the secrets of the grave. Not even a dog or a stray hog was discovered while the king was being paddled three miles down the river. A funereal hush lay over the sequestered valley. Even the sun shrouded himself with unusual frequency behind the clouds that floated landward upon the soft trade- wind ; and the birds sang mournful strains from out their secret coverts, as if it were the sepulture of some mighty dead. 84 Kame'hame'ha the Great. The river canoe was too frail to encounter the huge surf ever rolling upon the shore. But ample provision had been made for the occasion. A strong double canoe awaited the king's coming ; it was secured to the river bank near the high intervening ridge of boulders above the beach. In this stout sea-going craft the king took his seat, followed by the four priest-girls, who carefully avoided treading upon the monarch's shadow, an offence which is death if he choose to make good the tabii. At a mo- tion from the king the canoes were pushed out from the bank and down the river mouth, where they met the inrolling sea. As they came into the spent waters of the gigantic breakers, here floundering noisily on the shore, the real peril of the attempt to pass out aroused the old monarch from his grief sufficiently for him to view the situation. He was familiar with surf from his boyhood. But through such a surf as this, thundering upon jagged rocks, he had never sought to pass before. The king seized upon a strong steering-paddle, and nerved him- self to act as pilot during the dangerous passage to the sea. By a few backward strokes of their paddles the four fear- less wahines held the canoe in the harmless wash of the surf, and watched patiently until three of the largest succes- sive breakers had rolled in with the shock of an earth- quake, their angry roar echoing from cliff to cliff. Then, as the third breaker thundered on the beach, ere the stranded foam-bubbles had burst, the brave maidens bent to their task with a stern resolve mantling over their lovely faces, like those who appreciate the peril, but fear not the danger. Dash through the Surf. 85 Steady and strong was the even dip of their four paddle blades. Such a triumph of quivering nerve and muscle could not but bring a smile of approval to the sad face of the king. He looked kindly upon the comely priest-girls ; they were the last links between him and Wailele. Dashing up over the inrolling breakers with quick, strong paddle strokes, the canoe sometimes pointing to the sun, sometimes to the bottom of the sea, they weathered one after another of the great rollers. In- creasing the strength of their strokes, now to port and now to starboard, as rocks barred their way, at length they gained the open sea, and headed south for a ravine five miles away. The change from the deep cool valley to open water was marked and uncomfortable. There was a hot metal- lic glint on the calm surface of the sea, for though the land-breeze blew too lazily to invade the ocean far out from shore, yet the trade-wind had not yet asserted its daily power. At the end of a brief pull the king was landed in a neighboring valley, and after a brief exchange of kind farewells, the tired wahines put up their sail, and sped back to Waimanu without mishap. XI. UMI, THE GOD-BORN CHIEF. NEARLY a year had passed since the mysterious visit of the royal chief to Mukini. Ten happy months had sped over the devoted priestess and her pious household, ever busy with her religious duties at the altar of sacrifice, or within her shrine of prayer. The day had been passed in observing the annual re- ligious feast, that of the Makahiki, and the usual tabii rites of the new-year's day. The sun was now dropping down the west, and would soon be hidden behind the snow crest of Mauna Kea. Most of the Waimanu people had already dispersed down the river in canoes, or waded in gossiping groups to their homes beyond the tabued forest, gladdened by the joyous events of the day at Mukini. A few privileged families of the great chiefs of the valley, those of sufficient rank to witness the final re- ligious rites within the temple, had remained at the request of Wailele, and were collected on the divans of mats about the altar. The final sacrifice of the kapu hua was about to take place. It consisted of offerings of the first fruits and first flowers of the new-born year, which were now clustered tastefully upon the lele (altar), around which the six rosy priest-girls marched, themselves adorned with floral leis and garlands of vines. Circling about the lele y they sang 86 The God-Born Chief. 87 thanksgivings for the happy past and songs of greeting to the new year, ending with hopeful predictions for the future. Wailele, after giving her directions to the maidens, had retired into the anu, or shrine, there to plead with gentle Lono, the god of peace and plenty, fruit and flowers. Though in this enclosure of fine basket-work she was quite invisible, yet her supplications and her songs were distinctly heard by those without ; her clear voice was in sweet accord with every melody sung by her maiden- satellites. Each one of them had been chosen, not only for her high rank, but for the rare melody of her voice. But now, while the six wahines were singing the last vesper-melody of the day, chanting soft and low, as if the heart of each pious maiden were breathing her own requiem with that of the dead old year, suddenly a small new voice joined in the solemn chorus. To the astonish- ment of all, it came from within the shrine of prayer, making a novel discord with the sacred chant without. It was the cry of an infant, new-born with the year ! Still the voice of the priestess faltered not in a single note; she sang as if she were unaware of the precious gift bestowed upon her by the gods, the divine gift from Pele to the beautiful Priestess of Mukini ! Surprise and astonishment mantled on the faces of the grim old chiefs and their dumpy dames. Wonder and fear seized upon the priest-girls, until every voice broke, wandered, and ceased entirely, as they stared at one another in apprehension and amazement. And the sud- den, soft baby cry again piped up distinctly within the holy of holies. It was as if a Peri from heaven had found its way to their temple, and now essayed to take part in their Kamthame'ha the Great. worship. So had some of the huge idols on the walls of the heidu, when prompted by the gods, opened their wooden mouths in vocal gesticulations, as if they too were appealing to the people.* Rebuked by Wailele's unfaltering continuation of her chant, and in fear of the displeasure of their haughty Priestess in any thing pertaining to their religious duties, one by one the six abashed young girls again dropped into song ; but with wide open eyes, and ears alert for some possible evidence of Pele's supernatural apparition among them, as she had often come to their mistress in times of prayer. When the songs and tabu rites were ended, one after another of the grim old chiefs and their dames rose from their seats and gathered about the central altar, each face full of pantomimic dismay. What meant the voice of the god-born child thus joining in the chorus of the altar songs ? But when their last note had died on the air, and every eye was turned upon the anu full of expectation of something supernatural, Wailele flung wide the lattice door of her sacred shrine, and stepped proudly forth to confront the hundred questioning eyes. The beautiful face of the vestal was lighted up with a glory only known to a young mother in the first hour of exultation over her new-born joy. Walking to the altar, bearing the child proudly in her arms, Wailele placed her baby boy tenderly among the flowers. There all eyes could behold him, and become witness to his par- entage on the mother's side, from which Hawaiian heredity acquires its strongest claim, whether in the * It was a not uncommon trick of the priests to open and shut the mouths of idols while some apt ventriloquist did the talking. Baby's Birth-Bath. 89 inheritance of rank or of property. Solemnly uttering her wandna (prophecy), she sprinkled wai oha (holy water) on herself and her child, a baptismal rite.* Dropping upon her knees in earnest prayer, the happy Priestess called aloud upon Pele with a young mother's full heart, in solemn thanksgiving and praise. While proffering her god-born boy as an alii kapu, she dedi- cated him to Pele, as one given her for the regeneration of his priest-ridden and war-worn country. Completing this first religious rite by dedicating her child as a chief tabued to his country's shrine, Wailele rose and took her rosy babe in arms and walked swiftly to the river, into which she plunged, joyous as a dolphin long deprived of its element. Tossing her new-born darling into the water for his first lesson in aquatics, the happy mother frolicked about her child, playful as a mother fish among her brood. The stoical indifference of a Hawaiian infant to its customary birth-bath though the aqueous element chance to be the briny sea is no more wonderful than the merry mood and painless maternity of the Polynesian mother during the parturient hour. Following the example of the glorified Priestess, after the usual custom of the country, a hundred other sportive swimmers were soon seen disporting in the river. Fat chiefs and rosy chiefesses, together with young men and maidens belonging to the great families, dipped and dove and swam about the juvenile centre of attraction. All were eager to witness the preternatural feats of the * During these pious rites the Hindu laves with sacred waters from the Ganges. The Hebraic laver was the holy water of India, compounded of we know not what. The Hawaiian wai oha or holy water was simply consecrated sea-water (or salt and sulphur mixed with fresh water), and sanctified by prayer. 90 Kame'hame'ha the Great. god-born child, who, though left to squirm and sink down upon the soft dark sands of the bottom, as a falling leaf sways and dips and flutters to the ground, was yet fearless and alert to clutch the long black hair of his sportive mother, and pull himself up to the surface as she swam upwards in playing with her darling, as a new-born babe is as much at home under water as in the air.* To the pertinent questions of the feminine gossips as to who conferred this charming gift upon the virgin mother for alas, even Kanaka wahines can scent a delicious morsel of scandal, Wailele's ready answer was merry and wise : " Pele, the goddess whom we adore ! She is both godmother and godfather to my child." And from this response the diligent gossips derived their various cues. While the affectionate priest-girls were among the foremost to believe that Umi was a god- gift from Pele, having frequently heard the supplications of their loved young mistress, praying that a god-born chief might be given to her country, one having the goodness and power to give peace to Hawaii Nei in her hour of need, thus the wahines spoke as of their own knowledge. As the sun's latest beams were now glinting upon the south pdli, and pressing his farewell kiss on the upper arc of the cataracts, the chief people came to the river bank and rubbed noses with Wailele, blessed her child, and took their canoes and sped homeward down the * As long, that is to say, as the foramen ovale in the infant's heart remains unclosed, the orifice through which the prenatal circulation passes without use of the lungs a babe may dispense with pulmonary circulation for a time after birth. The New -Born Hero. 91 river. And what a stirring message was that which they carried forth to the outer world ! Umi, the baby chief, a god-born child, had been given to the beautiful Kahilna of Mukini : and because he was god-born, he was entitled to go nude through life, thus outranking every alii kapu throughout the valley of Waimanu. During the following days thousands of eager visitors came to pay homage to Umi. All among the ten thou- sand in the valley who were privileged to pass the tabued line in the river blessed the beautiful boy, and heaped the Tribute Rock with willing gifts for the mother of the new-born hero, of whom so much was expected in the coming years. Not all born of woman in other lands have found even one tender bosom to nurture them in the helpless days of infancy, in these vicious days of artificial foods. But it was this infant's happy lot to have bounteous auxiliaries in the nursery. The six vestals loved the pretty nurs- ling devotedly ; and in the intervals of their duty toward the sacred young dogs, they vied with each other in caring for Umi, their future master. So the royal urchin was fed by the seven, played with the puppies, and daily swam with dogs and wahines in the river ; and grew, in short, as never child had grown before in the kindly vale of Waimanu. The fame of the chief-boy's birth went out over the land, and but for the remote seclusion of the valley, countless numbers would have brought tribute to Mukini for the godson of Pele. Every priest in the islands made frequent reference to this wondrous event, this divine mystery, glorifying the dread goddess of Kilauea. The birth of Umi is the only modern exemplification of Pele's power in the divine conception of god-men. In 92 Kame'hame'ha the Great. the long-gone days, sung of in the ancient meles, this had happened. One instance occurred when Kane and Kanaloa, two ancient deities, made the first man of hot lava. When the lava cooled it was but a stone-man. But Pele breathed her spirit into the stone, the stone be- came flesh, the flesh breathed, and a living man took possession of the earth. This man was named Wakea. And because Wakea looked so godlike, and the human in him was so tempt- ing, Papa, a beautiful goddess, sought him out to enjoy his human love. She became his wife, and helped to people Hawaii according to the commands of Pele. At infrequent times during the early summer mornings in the coming years, ere the gray mists rose above the river, or the ghost-haunted shadows fled from the ap- proach of day, the figure of a solitary man was sometimes seen on the verge of the pdli above Mukini. It needed but a glance to see that he was a noble chief, standing there reverently in the gray dawn ; and always by the great pandanus tree, where he had once risked his life. The chief carried a spear, on which he leaned as on the first morning we saw him. He looked like one medi- tating another perilous descent into Waimanu. But a danger so terrible never wholly quits the memory ; once tried it begets a strength of wisdom that surmounts even the love of a beautiful woman, or a father's yearning affection for his unseen child. The great heart of Wailele beat wildly as she looked up from her morning prayers, and saw the loved figure of the royal chief, who had won her young heart by his manly bearing and his dear persuasive smiles. No wonder that she sometimes prays to the pandanus, having included it among her gods, as it ever stands Watching for his Child. 93 there before her eyes during her morning orisons to Pele.* That tree had felt his loved hand pressed upon its gnarled side, the kingly hand that had stroked her own dark hair, and patted the rose on her cheek until it flushed as it had never flushed before. Yet, when all unexpectedly she catches a sudden half glimpse of the dear form on the/d//, growing clearer and clearer with the morning light, ah, how leaps the warm heart in her bosom ! How yearns her soul for wings to fly to him, that she may clasp him to her heart woman's one dear solace for a thousand ills ! What, then, to her were all the ambitions of priesthood to one loving moment with yon man in the heavens above ? He stood there like a god, rimmed about by the yellow dawn-light. How she would illumine his whole being with her wild love, could she but hold him to her heart now beating so wildly ! When Wailele sees she has attracted the attention of her lover, then she catches up her baby, Umi, and holds him aloft to view. And only she can know who it is that looks down so lovingly upon mother and child ; holding out his arms with a very frenzy of affection for the noble woman and the darling boy. Waving his great war-spear in farewell salutation, as day breaks in the upper world, the chief makes the royal sign of " Kulia i Ka Nuu" as he turns sadly away, the secret pass- words known only to high-caste priests and to the reign- ing kings, members of the Ahu Alii. \ Even with her undying love for the noble monarch, Wailele does not chide him for not coming again to Mu- * The Hawaiians made a god of any object which attracted them, bird, beast, or tree. f The Council of Nobles created by Paao centuries before. 94 Kamthamdha the Great. kini, and disturbing her sacred duties of priesthood with his sweet human love. And yet none better than she knows the untold value of such an affection. Dear soul ! how little it matters what the daily task may be, if the one sweet avocation of love is denied her. Whether the vassalage of women is to holy church or intriguing state, debar her of love the alchemic element of her existence and the heart corrodes and the soul dwindles into insignificance, deprived of its power to soar in search of the immortal. XII. BOYHOOD DAYS OF KAM^HAM^HA. WHEN attained to his fifth year, Umi had ac- quired the stature of a boy of ten ; and was strong enough to wrestle, paddle, and swim with his girl companions for competitors. But in his eighth year he rightly demanded companionship with the chief-boys of the lower valley ; and a few, of noble birth, brothers of the priest-girls, were occasionally permitted to come to Mukini. Of these well-trained boys Umi learned his first feats with warlike weapons ; together with, all the manly sports needed to develop his strength and mature his mind. Not until the age of eight did Umi meet his uncle, the High-Priest of Puukeekee. This kahtina was called in at that time to preside over the Mahele of Umi, a religious rite similar to the Hebrew custom, but usually performed upon Polynesian youth of adolescent years. It was an occasion for feasting and all kinds of athletic games for the young chiefs, with dancing and singing for the chief- esses. The next event in boy-life was the tattooing ; and this was a more painful piece of surgery than the Mahele* Umi had heard terrible things of his cruel old uncle of * Kahekili, King of Maui, sent requesting that the child should be tattooed over half his body, after his own example. 95 g6 Kamtkamtka the Great. Puukeekee. He was a savage old kahtina, addicted to drinking awa, and gloating over frequent human sacri- fices upon the most trivial occasions. Pepehi, " man- killer," Avas his dreadful name, and, as we have seen, he was the most murderous tabu kahuna in all the land. Wailele had schooled her boy about his uncle. She had taught Umi to show respect to him, whatever his dislike might be for the wicked man, for to offend him seriously would be followed by a dreadful vengeance which no human being could escape. The old priest was a kilo-kilo, or sorcerer, as well as a kahuna, and would pray his enemies to death by fiendish devices of witchcraft too foul and terrible to be de- scribed. But oftener it was his policy to set his pepehi man-killer to waylay and assault or kidnap the of- fending person ; and when brought to the mountain heiau, Pepehi would glut his ferocity by himself slaughter- ing the delinquent in the name of the gods of his temple. So wholly unscrupulous was this savage old man, that the kahuna of Puukeekee was quoted by Hawaiian mothers to their rebellious children, as wolves and bears are threatened in other lands. Even the king and his great chiefs dare not confront Pepehi openly, lest he should pray to his great poison god, Kalaipahoa, when they would immediately sicken and die. This poison god, a huge idol, three times as large as life, was made from a fatal upas tree called Nioi, that was once found on the island of Molokai, and nowhere else. It was so deadly that a little dust scraped from the idol and put in food or drink would kill instantly. The story of this dreadful idol is thus told by Pepehi : " Failing to find out who had procured the sickness of Pepehis Poison God. 97 several great chiefs by using the ' shaking waters ' and the ' broiling fire,' I dreamed one night that an idol made from the poison tree of Molokai would always disclose the wicked person ; and when he was found would serve to destroy him by means of a little of its dust put into his food. " The god in the dream said : ' Go and find the tree on Molokai.' And when I did go, and found the tree, the tree spoke to me in a frightful voice, saying : 'Priest, bring offerings and worship me. Make a great idol of me, large as two giants. Place me in Puukeekee, within the holy place, and make offering of ten men to me ; and let them be fat men ; and each year offer me ten more fat men, and you shall have power to know all secrets, and may kill whomsoever you choose.' " The wicked old Pepehi did as he was bid, and hence- forth the poison god of Puukeekee was the most dread- ful of all the heathen idols of the islands. Arrogant chiefs came to seek its aid against rival chiefs. Wicked people from every part of the group came, seeking to be rid of their enemies. Jealous women sought its aid against profligate husbands, and unruly men against their too faithful wives, in a land where wives of the lower classes were bartered like fish and/0/. The treasures of the land were brought to the moun- tain heiau in exchange for a tiny pinch of dust scraped from Pepehi's poison god. Thus it became even the beautiful sister of the old kah-dna to beware of offending such a demon, and to teach her god-born child to show him a respect that he could not feel, lest the days of his youth should be early numbered. From the feast-day of Mahele to the age of ten, Umi became a moody, reflective boy. Reared among the 98 KamJhamtha the Great. charming priest-girls, Umi seemed to join with his whole heart in the merry sports of the wahines; yet in his fits of musing the boy ever yearned for more stirring scenes in the great world above Mukini. Until his tenth year Umi's pastimes had been those of his wahine playmates : sporting in the river, swimming into the caves that extended beneath its precipitous banks, diving into the deep pools from their rocky heights ; fishing, bird-hunting, berrying ; climbing the forest trees for nuts and fruits, and gathering the rarest flowers from the high-running vines ; in all of which accomplishments the agile chief-maidens were as great adepts as their young master. But now came a time when the strong youth could out- paddle his playmate girls, dart weightier bird-spears, and twang a stronger bow than any wahine about the temple.* He was no longer content with the girls and the few chief-boys who occasionally came to Mukini. He longed to enter the coveted world down the river, and attest his youthful powers and skill with his equals. From that day Umi was permitted to pass the forest limits and join in the sports of the Waimanus boys, though at first always accompanied by his kahu alii guardian chiefess the wise and witty Pemilani, sent to report how the noble youth conducted himself among the sons of the haughty chiefs of the lower valley. The need of such espionage soon proved uncalled for, as the old war-chiefs showed great respect for the royal boy, and a loving reverence for his mother, while the youth of either sex could never quite divest themselves of awe while in Umi's presence, because of the divine mys- * The Hawaiians never used bow and arrows as weapons of war, but only to shoot rats, mice, and birds with in pastime. Boyhood Days. 99 tery of his birth, of which they were ever reminded by his going unclothed from his birth.* Though the young chief had sometimes been haughty and overbearing with his girl-mates looking upon all womankind but his imperious mother as inferior beings, yet the tact and keen good-sense of the boy curbed his pride of birth during every proof of athletic skill with his mates in Waimanu. Umi's superiority in all feats of strength over boys of nearly twice his own age was soon evident. It was taken as a thing to be expected in one of his exalted rank and divine birth. But his modesty was equally re- markable. It charmed his companions to loving him. It thus happened that in a few years the courteous manner and judicious conduct of the young prince won him a strong following of chief-boys from among the noblest families of Waimanu. To these Umi told his ambitious day-dreams, instilling into their hot blood something of his own ambition for the strife of battle, and of his love of glory in noble deeds. Thus passed the uneventful years of the youth. Among the mystic doings and religious rites of the pagan temple grew up this strange wise boy. From his reflec- tive and retiring habit he received the title, now so famous, of KAMHAMEHA,| or " The Lonely One." His juvenile mind was ever alert to question the mys- teries of Mukini. He watched and wondered over the * To go naked in public was deemed either a sign of madness or the mark of divine birth. Kings were sometimes attended by these nude men, sprung from the gods. The people said : " He akua ia," he is a god. (See M. Remy's "Venerable Savage," p. 15.) f Pronounced Kah-may' hah-may' ha, with the accent on the second and fourth syllables. Kahekili falsely claimed to have named the boy after his elder brother, King Kamehamehanui. loo Kame'hame'Iia the Great. pious acts of the priestly mother he adored, and some- times he questioned the lesser statellites who had been the nurse-girls of his childhood and the loved playmates of his youth. He grew fast beyond their companion- ship ; yet as they had loved and nurtured the bright-eyed boy, so they now looked with pride, and almost with adoration, upon the manly chief, whose voice had become deep and resonant, and was now as musical as a bird- song to their ears. So often had he heard that his mother had personal interviews, on momentous occasions, with Pele, that his desire to behold the dread goddess became the all-per- vading thought of his life. This desire so grew upon him that it begot an ardent wish to join Wailele in her daily worship at Pele's shrine. It also impelled him to acquire greater proficiency in the art of war, that he might attract Pele's attention by deeds of valor. Often when " The Lonely One " sought the deep seclu- sion of the adjacent forest, and climbed to the topmost boughs of the great ohia trees, he climbed less to pluck the crimson apples than with intent to harmonize his young mind with the silence and the mystic bird-notes of his deep-foliaged retreat, ever hopeful that he might some time call down Pele from her mountain throne in the mighty crater of fire. Or, if this great revelation could not be, perhaps some of her lesser gods would answer the ambitious promptings of his heart. Fear of supernatural things, good or evil, was never an ingredi- ent of Kame'hameha's soul. His constitutional fear- lessness was derived from his mother. Already it was needed, for many and startling were the revelations that now dawned upon him as he lay pondering in the tree- tops. The Ghost-Loving Boy. 101 Ghostly apparitions sometimes peopled the Waimanu forest ; whisperings like distant bird-songs vibrated upon the stillness, full of answers to his questionings. When once the least vision of the hidden arcanum is made known to us, then its remotest mystery awaits our endeavors. It was so with Umi. When at length he propounded to the mystic powers about him solemn questions pertaining to his coming life-work, answers were vouchsafed by the Invisibles. Thus with his mother's wise teachings in the gloom of the heidu, and his own enquiries made in the ghost- haunted valley, Umi came to the knowledge of many mysteries. Such was his courage, and so eager was he to know the supernatural, that he now nightly sought the basins where the resounding cataracts fell, where grim, shadowy apparitions of long-gone kahunas swim in the black pools and ride down the falls from the rocky fastnesses above.* But the long-coveted vision of Pele still continued to elude the keenest scrutiny of his ear and eye. Failing in his persistent purpose of an interview with the gods, which had now become the strongest motive of his life, Umi finally contemplated a pilgrimage to the volcano of Kilauea, the dread habitation of the supreme Goddess of Hawaii. When the boy's courageous design was unfolded to his mother, the proud woman's heart showed its delight in her eyes. Holding out her beautiful brown arms, Wai- le"le caught the manly boy to her bosom, forgetting the austere manners of a kahuna of Pele. The mother's love overmastered the dignity of priesthood for the mo- * The Au Makua, ghost spirits of dead ancestors which the Hawaiians think remain on earth. IO2 Kame'hame'ha the Great. ment ; she wept tears of joy over the ambitious daring of her Umi. For none but stern priests and the bravest of men dared venture upon such a pilgrimage alone, least of all when bent upon a midnight interview with the Goddess of the Volcano. On that auspicious day the brave boy of twelve was officially made an alii kapu, or tabu chief, with solemn rites ; three other chief-boys were also confirmed. A strict tabti was promulgated throughout the valley on the occasion, and a few of the great chief-families were called in to take part in the ceremony. Proper oblation was made to Pele, and a large puaa hea (sacred hog) was offered in sacrifice upon the altar. As the company knelt about the sacred lele where the offering was being roasted, and the grateful odor of the sandal-wood fire filled the dome-shaped temple, the Priestess and her six wahines marched round the altar singing anthems to the Goddess. Within the charmed circle knelt the four handsome chief-boys, joining in the hymn, while the audience from the lower valley knelt in an outer circle round about them all. The heart of Umi in that exultant hour burst the bonds of boyhood ; henceforth his was a boy's heart no more. To treat a youth with wise consideration above his years, is to exalt him into the proud domain of man- hood. Umi was confirmed as tabu-chief ; as Kame- hameha, "The Lonely One," because by that newly acquired name the unseen spirits had always addressed him. This was thought to be ominous of good.* The names of the three other alii kapu were Kameeimoku, f * The family name of his mother, Kakuiapoiwa, was added to his own to constitute his full title. f This chief was the noble ancestor of King Kalakaua, and one of Message from Pele. 103 Kamanawa, and Miomio. They all in after-years became most efficient warriors under the reign of their young master. After the ceremony about the lele had been com- pleted, the Priestess immured herself in the wahi kapi^ or sacred place, to hold personal communion with Pele, and to transmit the oracles, whether signs or sayings, to the kneeling audience without. It was hours before the Goddess deigned to answer the supplications of her loved Kahuna. But at length the divine message came from the far-away crater, Hale- mau-mau, and with joyful heart was interpreted to Kame- hameha and his boy-companions : " Aloha ! love and greeting to Wailele of Mukini ! Pele discovers a new worshipper at her shrine in the deep vale of Waimanu. It was good to make the god- born youth an alii kapu for he is not a stranger to the gods about Kilauea. A great destiny is recorded for Kamehameha on my tablets of fire. Witness whoever hath eyes ! Because of this event yet another peak shall be added to the six snow crests of Mauna Kea ; an eternal token that ' The Lonely One ' is loved of the gods, and shall rule among men. "Aloha! my kahtina. Aloha! my keike alii" (king's son). As long waiting brought no further response for the other boy chiefs, Wailele came out from the sacred place, and after embracing her son, led the way without the heidu to see if Pele's word was fulfilled. All eyes were instantly turned to the majestic moun- tain top, towering three miles into the air above the Kamehameha's most formidable warriors. He captured the "Fair American," whose cannon won several battles during the conquest. IO4 Kamthame'ha the Great. valley, and with a shout of joy it was announced by every voice : " 'T is there ! 't is there ! " And there indeed was a seventh snow-crowned peak* pointing with icy finger to the blue heavens ; the eternal sanction of the gods to the forthcoming greatness of Kamehameha, the god-born son of Wailele Kakuia- poiwa. From that hour till the day of his death Kamehameha lived in closest bonds of brotherhood with those three knight-companions. The first of the number became the noble ancestor of a new dynasty of kings who came to the throne a century later.f * On the truncated top of Mauna Kea, within a circumference of six miles, there are seven snow-capped peaks, from 800 to 1,000 feet high ; the central and westernmost peaks being the highest. f Kameeimoku and Kamanawa were the tabued twins of Kekau- like, of Maui, and were thus half-brothers of Kahekili, the reigning king ; who, when he heard the wonderful promise of Kamehameha, sent these two royal aliis to become his life-long kahus, or guardian companions. This is evidence that Kahekili greatly loved Wailele, and perhaps really believed that his ardent love had inspired her to invoke the deities for a god-born hero. ("Polynesian Races," p. 261.) XIII. HUMAN SACRIFICE IN THE TEMPLE. AMEHAMEHA'S second interview with his savage old uncle was at the ripening age of ten. Their first introduction had been two years before, during the religious rite of Mahele, when the grim old Kahuna performed the right of circumcision for his nephew. Pepehi now came to the valley on business with the great war chiefs, demanding more tribute from their rich vale for the heidu of Puukeekee. Coming to Mukini to visit his sister the only being of whom he was proud, the keen-eyed old monster started with surprise to see what a promising lad Kamehameha had become. He at once suggested that the boy should return with him to his mountain heidu. Wailele blanched to an ashy paleness at the thought of parting with her boy, trembling to think of consigning him to such murderous hands. For there were now indi- cations of a temper developing in her boy that she feared to think of. He had fits of passion upon small provoca- tion when the rights of others were encroached upon, though he was rarely aroused by any intrusion upon his own rights. The passionate boy would often burst into tears at the suffering of others ; but he bore pain like a Stoic himself. How could a mother trust such a boy with Pepehi, one so sensitive to the suffering of others, so ferocious in 105 106 Kamthamdha the Great. righting others' wrongs ? Yet the intuitive tact of the wise woman came to her aid, and she remembered the yet greater danger of arousing the venomous dislike of the old Kahuna, which would become a more certain peril to her darling. At their previous interview the hideous old priest had failed to inspire the boy either with respect for his holy office, or fear of his man-killing propensities. Such want of reverence, if shown by any other youth, would have aroused the deadly hatred of the old Kahuna. But at that time the crusty priest seemed to enjoy the imperious spirit of his loved sister's child, and instead of the boy's doings awakening vindictiveness, they rather quickened Pepehi's interest in the precocious youth, and awakened something almost akin to love for the fearless boy. If the arrogant old man chid the child for disobedience to some savage command, the dark eyes of the chief-boy flashed with fierceness equal to his own. And not until the corrugated face of the priest softened into a smile of approbation at the boy's fearlessness, would Umi do the thing he had been bidden. Sometimes the mystified old priest would snatch the boy to his arms and fondle him with almost paternal tenderness. At such times Umi, always won by affection, would suffer his uncle to stroke his dark hair with his long lank fingers, stained with the blood of a thousand victims, and grown talon-like by strangling men with tigerish delight to see them die. How strange it seems that even the most cruel soul will sometimes disclose a beam of affection coming like a sun burst from a storm-cloud when thus confronted with the spontaneous witchery of a noble child. It is the The Tabii Creed. 107 one reminder which takes him back to the prattling days at the mother's knee. Never in the knowledge of man was this crusty old Kahuna known to love any one but his beautiful sister and her fearless child. But the kindly impulse was ever brief, and produced a terrible reaction. The monster al- ways selected some innocent victim for sacrifice on his way back to Puukeekee, as the peculiarly colored smoke of his altar fire made known immediately after his return. The priest's fondness for the boy resulted in giving him not a little information about the upper world with which he so longed to mingle in the great events of life. Pepehi taught him, among other things, the origin and history of the ancient tabii. His first lesson, imparted at the Mahele as part of the religious rite, was as follows: " The tenets of the original tabii" said the Priest, " are these : " " i. Certain rights are tabii to the king, and certain other rights to the queen. So with all men and their wives. " 2. Woman shall not eat with man, else she die. " 3. The first fish, fruit, and flesh is consecrated to the gods, and it is death for woman to eat thereof. " 4. Build heiatis to Ku, Lono, Kane, Kaneloa, and Pele, and worship the 40,000 idols. Temples are tabii to wo- men except they are born of an alii kapu, and dedicate their lives to priesthood. " 5. Pork, bananas, cocoa-nuts, turtle, and all rare kinds of fish are tabii to women, and instant death shall over- take her if she eat thereof. " 6. There shall be four regular tabiis in the month, which must be strictly kept lest the gods rend our island with their wrath : " a. Kapu-Ku, the set or fixed tabii, at Hilo or the new moon, and for two nights after. io8 Kame'hame'ha the Great. " b. Kapu-Hua, the fruit tabti, at Mohalu, or the first gibbous moon, and one night after. " c. Kapu-Kaola, the cooking tabii, for the two nights from Olepau, or the second gibbous moon, coming after the full. " d. Kapu-Kane, the man tabti ; for the three nights from Kane to Mauli, when a man must be sacrificed in every heidu of Pele." This first lesson from Pepehi was kept fresh in Kame"- hameha's memory by the priest-girls, as even a boy is held responsible for breaking a tabti after his Mahele. Though the noble chief-boy could be overbearing to one of dictatorial manners, or unjust assumption, like the priest, yet he possessed an innate courtesy and an intui- tive dignity of speech when in the presence of people noble by birth or made eminent by heroic achievements. This ingenious perception of character by children is of unfailing accuracy. In the young chief it was derived from his high-born mother. It will be seen that there was abundant cause for Wailele's anxiety in trusting such a sensitive boy in the hands of one so inconsiderate as her hard-hearted old brother. Nevertheless, as the least of present evils, it was thought best to consent to the lad's going with his uncle. And with a proud mother's appeal for watchful care and safe return, Kamehameha was permitted to go with the priest. Parting from his mother and the weeping priest-girls at the river side, with last words of warning from all in the ears of the boy, the craft sped down the river to the sea-shore, where stout men with a stout sea-going canoe awaited the Kahuna. Though born in the valley, it was the first time that Kamehameha had ever been to the river Visit to Puukeekee. 109 mouth. It was all a new world to him. And he was soon to climb the mountain which he had worshipped as a shrine from out his valley home. Their perilous dash through the surf and quick move- ments to avoid the rocks, which showed in the trough of the seas like monsters lurking for prey, was a severe test to the boy's courage. The eyes of the old Kahtina were upon him, curious to watch this first trial of his mettle in the presence of a new danger. But to this god-born youth the moving grandeur of the breakers, and the turbulent fret and whirl of the foam as it towered above them, rolling shoreward with power sufficient to jar the cliffs, was an inspiring scene. The flash of his eye and the curl of his lip showed something of the wild exulta- tion which possessed him. Landing at the next valley southward from Waimanu, from which, egress was found leading up the mountain side, the gnarled old Kahuna and the strong, active boy climbed their toilsome way up to Puukeekee. The priest expressed surprise at the endurance of the lad, who lent a strong hand to assist the waddling steps of his uncle. As they sat down to rest after the tussle up the steepest places, the Kahuna took occasion to sound the thoughts of his bright-eyed nephew. Gratified by what he said, and perhaps by the comfort of having such a helpful hand in time of need for there is too often a modicum of selfishness in the benefactions of a loving uncle, the cunning old wretch hinted at the probability of making a high-priest of the boy, if he should prove respectful and obedient. Some one, clearly, would have to take the Kahuna's place in the near future ; for though he was still strong and lusty, his years were many. no Kame'hame'ha the Great. But Kamehameha had taken his lesson from his mother. He regarded the situation as one suitable for his first attempt at diplomacy, though the odds of Pepehi's age and long experience were much against the boy. Without rudely rejecting the proposal, he left the wily old Kahtina to believe that he would favorably con- sider the matter, and defer his decision until he should be old enough to choose for himself. This was a mis- taken, even a dangerous, step to take in dealing with a man in power. Difficulties in life are easiest strangled in their infancy. The* danger may be destroyed by a word fitly spoken at the time ; but difficulties grow with delay, and often become matter for contending armies. Within his wise young head the chief-boy despised the cruel old priest, and hated the brutal manner in which he perpetrated his butcheries for sacrifice. And perhaps it would have amazed the Kahuna to know that th-e boy had already mapped out a larger and loftier field of action than priesthood for his young ambition. Little did he dream that " The Lonely One " aspired to become, not the head of a heathen heidu, but " The Lord of the Four Seas," as the broad channels between the Hawaiian Islands are called, and monarch of the entire group. As quiet reigned at the heidu for several days after the young Alii's arrival, Pepehi took the trouble to initiate his prospective heir into the deeper mysteries of the tabti. He was surprised to find how readily the youth comprehended its crafty policy as applied to governing the church and strengthening the state. To make thorough work the aged priest began at the creation of the world. " Boy, if you are to become the Kahtina maole of Puukeekee, you must know all things from the begin- The Hawdiian Adam. 1 1 1 ning. For a Kahuna must also be a mo-o-le-lo histo- rian as Pepehi has been the Moo-Kahuna of Hawaii in his day. " In the beginning, the first thing was Poeleele, or Night. It was so dark that when the volcano was not burning the earth was black everywhere about. " Wakea was our first parent, the Adam of the world. He was made by the gods from hot lava, to which Pele gave life of her life, and she saw her work was good. As man was not made to see in the darkness, when Loa was not. burning, Pele sent to Tahiti for La* the sun. When Kana first brought the bright thing home to Hawaii, it was hung aloft in the sky, as you see it now. Papa, a goddess of great beauty, saw Wakea and loved him, and the man took the divine creature for his wife, and she bore him many children. "The tabti was originated by Satan and Wakea, the king. The tabu was made to cover the great original sin of our first parent. After a hundred years of happy wedded life, Papa bore her last daughter, a child of re- markable beauty. Hoohuku-kalani was as beautiful as your mother ; so attractive was the girl that when she grew up, Wakea, her own father, came to look on her with unnatural affection, and told the queen he should marry her. "The jealous Papa became justly indignant, and for- bade the incestuous act ; and threatened terrible ven- geance from the gods with whom she was connected. But the wicked Kahiko, king of Mi/u, the lower world, appeared to Wakea and tempted him on to evil. "Wakea demanded of the archfiend a religious creed which should permit man to put away his wife and marry * This word is probably identical with the Sanskrit Ra. 112 Kamthamtha the Great. whom he liked. Kahiko devised the kapu for the bene- fit of the king and the coming priests (for there were no priests until after that time), and he succeeded so well that Wakea made him High-Priest of Hawaii, because of satanic services. " Hence arose the tabu system, which made the priest vicegerent of the gods, and compelled man to sacrifice his fellows as the wages of sin. It imparts power to in- flict death on whomsoever evades the oracles of the gods as transmitted through the priests. The tabu grants po- lygamy to men and polytheism to women. It prohibits women eating with their husbands, and forbids her many of the best kinds of food. This I taught you at the Ma- hele. " Tabii sanctions separation of husband and wife at the pleasure of the man. It permits the union of father and daughter, brother and sister, and the marriage of one man to many sisters,* all of which unnatural bonds are now held in great esteem among the high chiefs in all the islands. " As may be seen, priest-power has sometimes become strong enough to overshadow and overthrow the secular power, making use of some divine mandate imparted by the gods. Hence, to elevate kings above the malice and cunning intrusion of priest-craft in affairs of state, mon- archs now assume the sacred title of Alii Kapu tabu chief and take upon themselves the headship of church as well as state. " For appearance' sake the kahuna-nut (high-priest) * Which unholy tenet Kamehameha subsequently made good use of by marrying three sisters from one royal family, Kaahumanu be- ing the first. And great was her indignation when Kalakua was brought home as a second bride ; soon followed by Namahana, the third sister, all daughters of Keeaumoku. Human Sacrifice. 113 is always suffered to occupy the anu (holy of holies) during religious ceremonies, while the king and great chiefs sit without to interpret the oracle and perhaps re- cast the god-given message for the people which the petty chiefs are to distribute to the heralds outside of the heidu. " I will now make known the tabti rules of sacrifice at the death of a king or great chief. Before the corpse is removed from the death-bed, one man is sufficient for sacrifice. If taken from the house where he died, four Kanakas are required to satisfy the gods. If sacrifice is delayed until the grave is prepared, then ten men are called for. But if the corpse is already deposited in the sepulchre, then fifteen Kanakas must be immolated to appease the growing anger of the gods ; and if the delay is made for one day after the priest has promulgated a general tabu over the land, then forty men must die, or the island will be rended in twain with earthquakes, and the volcanoes will devastate the land with their rivers of fire." Just here the tipsy old Kahuna fell asleep, for he had been constantly sipping awa and eating sugar-cane, while he was instructing his nephew. These days of quiet were soon followed by sudden ac- tivity, caused by news of the death of a great chief at Waipio, the residence of the king. The herald who brought the news was soon followed by natives from Waipio, bringing baked hogs, dogs, and/0/, sent as trib- utes to the priest and to his people about the heidu. But Pepehi's man-killers had chanced to be at Waipio when the death occurred ; and a few hours afterward they came to Puukeekee, each one of them dragging a Kanaka by a lasso, ready for the coming sacrifice. The 1 14 Kamthamtka the Great. faithful servants had not waited orders from their master to select their victims for the coming obsequies. When a lean fellow was brought in, the priest muttered a frightful malediction on the head of the executioner who brought him. But the next being fat and young a toothsome subject the murderous old Kahuna rubbed his shrivelled hands with the utmost satisfaction. Eagerly seizing a laau palau, or war-club, he beat out the brains of his victim with the ferocious eagerness of a shark who tears his prey. One young Kanaka, who had been entrapped at some distance up the mountain, was brought in dead, having become exhausted from fear and rough usage. This handsome young fellow was from Waimanu. It was his business to gather pulu (fern wool) from the fern trees on the mountain, and he had been caught while descending with his load of the golden fibre, which is used for stuff- ing pillows and cushions. Kako was a brother of one of the priest-girls, and had been a friend of our hero. Kamehameha questioned the inebriated priest why so good a man should perish be- cause of the death of a stranger chief at Waipio ? The exigency of the state was the only reason, said the priest. And having given this explanation, he added in a surly voice : " Remember, boy, you were born a chief. Never forget to uphold the privileges of your class without a question." The live prisoners who were not wanted for immediate use were bolted into a strong stone cell in one of the great rock-built pyramids. There the poor wretches awaited their turn to be disembowelled and roasted on the altar. Once entrapped, none are ever reprieved ex- cept by order of the king or some powerful chief. Killing the Victims. 115 The dead were prepared for sacrifice as sheep for the shambles, piled one beside another on the altar with the pigs and dogs to insure the quick passage of the de- parted soul to the realms of Akua. This part of a priest's duties was usually well performed ; for he dreaded the dual ghost-soul which otherwise might remain on earth to strangle the enemy of the dead. Altogether this was too sickening a scene for the young chief to look upon, and as the priest was too busy gloat- ing over the victims to watch him, Kamehameha passed quietly out of the heidu and kept secluded in the moun- tain until the dreadful sacrificial scene was over. Not quite daring to go home to Waimanu without per- mission from the old Kahuna, Kamehameha returned to the heidu for his uncle's leave. To all appearance he had not been missed by the blood-stained wretches, every one of whom had gorged himself with human flesh, roast- ed to the turn that suited the experienced palate of each. At the chief's request for permission to depart, the surly old Kahuna bid him begone, muttering that the dog-fed cub was too pampered to relish human flesh. But the priest so far aroused himself as to think of the boy's safety, for his mother's sake, and ordered one of the least drunk of his executioners to accompany the lad, lest some other of his man-killers should entrap the youth, deeming him a good subject for a roast at Puukeeke. From \hepepehi who escorted him down the mountain, Kamehameha learned that thirteen victims had been caught, or killed and left where they were slain ; five out of the number having been disembowelled and sacrificed. The brutal man-killer inadvertently admitted that the choice of subjects for immolation was always made with a view to obtaining a tender morsel for the priest's palate. XIV. MIDNIGHT INCANTATIONS AMONG THE GHOSTS. GLAD indeed was the anxious priest-mother to see her boy again after his visit to Puukeekee. She knew by the smoke that a human sacrifice was taking place at the heidu, and well she understood what her boy must look upon ere his return. The priestess remem- bered her own childhood, and the sickening horrors that she had seen, though her father, the venerable Kahuna of Mukini, had never permitted unnecessary brutality with his victims during kapu kane. Pepehi's love of cruelty, even in boyhood, had led his father to send him to his uncle at Puukeekee, whose place the young priest took when the uncle died ; while Wailele had been trained for the priesthood of Mukini before the death of her father. Sad were the mother's reflections when told of the savage demeanor of Pepehi to her boy, the effect of in- toxicating awa. When Kamehameha told of the sacrifice of the Waimanu native, a piteous wail filled the temple for the dead, for he was a near relative of one of the priest-girls, and they knew him well. The grief-stricken girl was permitted to go down the river in a canoe to acquaint his parents and friends with the dead boy's cruel end. Pepehi's design of making Kamehameha the high- priest of the heidu was not approved by Wailele, and his 116 Skill with Spears. 117 exasperation when refused would involve a deadly peril which must be provided for at any risks. Wailele could only repeat that he must be gently dealt with, put off from time to time, until until Why his mother should so frequently end her wise in- junction so abruptly, and why her lovely face should flush at what was left untold, the dutiful boy could not conjecture. In answer to his questioning glance she would always fold him in her arms and whisper : " Some time my noble boy shall know all. It is enough now to know that you are very dear to your mother." Kamehameha was urged to give daily attention to ac- quiring the utmost proficiency in the arts of warfare, that whatever the occasion and whoever his foe might be, he should be found equal to the emergency. Little need was there of prompting her lusty chief-boy, who was al- ready the champion of the valley, and who soon after his return from Puukeekee acquired the new name of Puhi- kapa " Strangler of sea-snakes." This cognomen arose from the boy's attacking a snake- like monster which came into the river and drove every- body out in dismay. He grappled with the frightful creature and killed him. It was one of many instances of the boy's remarkable strength. In after years he could crush a man's skull or break his leg by the mere grip of his gigantic hands. Waimanu Valley had a high reputation for skilled war- riors, and the lad could find no better teachers than in his native valley. And that the god-born chief of Mu- kini gave such attention to learning the use of war wea- pons imparted a new impulse to athletic and martial ex- ercises. A recent disastrous battle with the king of Maui made 1 1 8 Kame'hame'ha the Great. it probable that a new accession of young warriors would soon be called for, and all were eager to go. Kame- hameha's remarkable proficiency stimulated new valor in every chief-boy in the valley. So the next coming years passed, and the chief-boy of Mukini grew to be a young giant ; not only herculean in strength and stature, but fearless of every known form of danger. His dexterous power in the use of arms amazed the grim old war-chiefs of the valley. He was so cool and unflinching in the presence of danger, so agile and flexible in his movements that a dozen sharp spears could be hurled furiously at his naked breast without touching him. This game of spears became a daily pastime for the heroic boy. It was an exercise requiring strong nerves, steady eye, and a marvellous motility. To duck, dodge, swerve, or to stand immovable when a well-directed spear was to be parried or caught in the hand instead of being avoided, these were the accomplishments which decided for life or death in the combats of the Hawaiian war- riors.* Kamehameha had now become so popular that he al- ready had a following of more than a hundred young chiefs from among those of highest rank in Waimanu. Though he became the champion athlete of them all, he still remained modest enough to seek out the famed old war chiefs and practise to catch their special quality of fence or thrust, or to learn their management of the mas- sive war clubs, by which they had won many a battle. Yet with all the boy's love of warlike exercise and knowledge of state-craft, the fierce, strong lad liked well * A dozen or more spears would be cast at a chief, which he could nimbly avoid or catch and hurl back upon the foe. (" Jarves' His- tory," page 66.) Conjuring the Ghosts. 119 to be with his mother on all special occasions of worship. He questioned Pele and the other gods, with the aim of learning so to comport himself that he might be blessed with a vision of the supreme deity of Hawaii. All this was as practically thought out as his art of war ; for, if he were to be a leader in the land, he wished access to di- vine wisdom ; he needed that every act of his life might be directed by the gods ; for nothing short of supreme power would satisfy his ambition for fame. Even at this age the young Alii was wise enough to know that he must first become a priest-chief, or a chief warrior, in order to attain the supreme power that he sought. Which should it be ? This was a question that he wished the gods to decide for him. With such grave problems ever in his mind, no wonder " The lonely One " frequented the old heidu at hours when all others were asleep. Kneeling by torchlight successively to every gigantic idol in the temple, the fearless chief nightly sought to conjure up some dark spirit, good or evil, from whom he could elicit some guiding precept. Sometimes he would leave his bed to steal into the lonely heidu and uncover its most secret sepulchres, caverned beneath the stone niches where stood the great idols in the thirty-foot wall. Exhuming the long-buried bones of some famous war-chief,* he placed them upon one of the three altars, and invoked the war-ghost of him who had owned them, seeking to conjure up that one of the dual souls which lingered about the dead remains. How his heart beat and his eyes gleamed, as he watched * The long bones of great chiefs were tied up in bundles, wrapped in black tapa cloth and decorated with red or yellow feathers accord- ing to their rank. I2O Kamthamtha the Great. in the darkness for dread spirits to confront him in an- swer to his summons ! What incentive he gained from these incantations in the heidu, the forest haunts, or among the dreadful catacombs behind the water-falls, we may never know. But these midnight visits to the several ghoul-haunted places were the severest tests of human courage ; and they served well to prepare the fearless chief for the more fearful experiences that awaited him. The time had now come when Kamehameha could no longer be restrained from seeking Pele in her dread palace of fire. To a Hawaiian the Hale-mau-mau " house of everlasting fire " is a place too dreadful for any but a kahiina to think of approaching, unless to lay their dead friends by the crater and hasten away with fear. To intrude upon this sacred habitation of Pele for an interview was a thing unheard of. But the fear of personal danger from the gods was far from his thoughts. He was a tabii chief, and from his knowledge of the tabil creed was far above the low superstitions of his play- mates. By his mother's advice his pilgrimage should be made alone. She taught him that the gods never show themselves to the multitude. Pele had promised the pious priest-mother to receive her boy, if he should be found worthy ; but by what tests he was to be tried in her fiery realm not even the priestess could tell. Provided with a heavy tapa to shield him against the night cold on the mountain, a pair of shark- skin sandals, and a single baked kalo root slung to his spear for provision in a place where no food but wild berries could be found, the brave boy parted with the household and sprang into his canoe. Only his much- loved Pemilani accompanied him to bring back the waa (canoe) from the shore. The Pilgrimage to Pele. 1 2 1 At the river mouth a thousand friendly people were gathered to see their god-born chief depart on his pil- grimage to Pele. Some of the more timid chief-boys begged their loved leader not to go, relating well-founded stories of many who had never come back. Other bolder chiefs among the youthful heroes wrung his hand with affection ; rubbing noses with high admiration of his courage, and offering appreciative sympathy. Sheltered in boat-houses belonging to the Mukini there were always strong double canoes, with crews attached to each. But when Kamehameha had made his choice, and the paddlers had launched the canoe in the river, a hundred of the noblest chief-boys begged him to choose his crew from among them, and to let them paddle him wherever he wished to go. Fearing to offend the many by such a choice the sagacious chief named one leader, and bade him select a crew of twenty paddlers. This done he made a brief address to all ; then leapt into his canoe and ordered his young nobles to dip paddles and away. Passing through the surf without accident, the canoe skirted the shore to the west, seeking the most available place to land on the rock-bound coast. Laupahoehoe offered a passable landing, and the canoe was shot into the small creek. Bidding good-bye to his companions and receiving an affectionate aloha from all, Kame- hameha watched them pass safely back through the surf, and then took his way upward toward the mountain valley of Waimea, across which lay his path to the crater of Kilauea. At length the tired boy climbed to the northern foot- hills of Mauna Kea, and sat down on the green slope of the mountain in ardent contemplation of the marvellous 122 Kame'hame'ha the Great. new world spread out at his feet. To the eastward lay the Eden lands of Waipio and Wiamanu, ever fresh and fruitful, three thousand feet below him, in strongest con- trast to the barren desolation about Kawaihae Bay on the rainless western coast. To the southward lay the green rolling valley of Waimea a high plateau, bounded on the east, south, and west by gigantic mountains. The lofty dome of Mauna Loa rose heavenward thirty miles away in the south, its two gigantic volcanoes now slum- bering in brief quiescence. Still farther away appeared the blue heights of Hualala, while towering above his head, higher than both, was reared the stm-gilded snow crest of Mauna Kea, the loftiest monarch of them all. What rapture rilled the young chief's heart as he drank in the scene before him ! The mountains and the boundless blue ocean begirting his island home ! It was probably the grandest panoramic view in all the world. There is an unrivalled grandeur, an almost hu- man semblance of conscious pride, visible in Hawaii's lofty mountains, an aspect of eternal peace and majestic repose, a sublimity only vouchsafed to the mountains of the gods. Seen against the enchanting blue of the up- per air, thus crowned with the snows of ages, the vener- able mountains look grandly down over the green land and the blue Pacific, gold-fringed with sunset clouds, until they impress the beholder with a sense of their spiritual kinship with man. What wonder that the enthusiastic boy's young soul was filled with beauty, as when the golden portals open to admit the blessed ! Just before sunset the brilliant arch of the vast rain- bow spanned the evening sky. Bisecting the sun-tinted snow crown of Mauna Ke"a, its northern foot rested on His First Sunset. 123 the tree-clad mountain top of Kohala, while far in the south it touched the plain of Waimea at the foot of Mauna Loa.* Time passed swiftly as the Waimanu boy pondered over the picture. At length the gorgeous spirits of a tropic night gathered in the west to bid farewell to the departing sun. It was the first true sunset Kamehameha had ever beheld, for from the deep valley where he was reared the mountain shut out the sun in mid-afternoon. And now for the first time he saw the whole west arrayed in its glory. Robed in chameleon colors of purple, crimson, and gold, the scene was so beautiful that he knelt down and clasped his hands in fervent prayer to the Deity to some great unknown God of whom he had never been taught. A flush of awe crept over him as he witnessed the final parting of the sun. It seemed as if he were spying down on a sacred meeting of spirits, and saw them change their festal robes to funeral vestments, as the dying dolphin doffs his gaudy hues and dons the purple raiment of death. The fires of sunset were hardly dimmed in the west before the full moon rose resplendent over Kohala Point, gilding the calm waters of Kawaihae Bay until it glimmered like a mirror. So clear was the twilight air, so cloudless the purple hue of the evening sky, that the snow-capped mountains shone like silver thrones over the tranquil land. Peaceful were the thoughts awakened by the ennobling scene in the reverent chief-boy. His ambitious schemes of future greatness took on the hue of the tranquil night and the hallowed hour. * Various travellers have seen this remarkable rainbow spanning Ke'a at sunset, a reflection cast up from the glassy waters of Kawai- hae Bay. 124 Kam&am/ka the Great. How long the young Alii mused he knew not. Sud- denly the low rumble of an earthquake was heard rever- berating in the distance. The whole island rocked until trees swayed and fell, cliffs loosened and rolled valley-ward with a sullen thunder. A strange illumina- tion now burst upon the night and flung its angry glare athwart the sky. Preluded by the earthquake, Loa had rent his rocky mountain top, and was now hurling his red fountain a thousand feet above the snowy dome. Flickering and flaring against the shimmering gloom of moonlight, the red lava glare shone far out over the ocean, two hundred miles toward every point of the compass, and lighting the quivering landscape as by a sudden sunburst. And soon the fountain stream of lava could be seen rushing headlong across the white snow line and down the rocky declivity in the direction of Hilo, fast broadening into a wide river of fire which engulfed every thing beneath it. Awakened by the earthquake, ten thousand people came forth from the villages of Kohala to gaze upon the eruption ; the dismal wail of their voices came creeping up the mountain like the roar of breakers from an angry sea. Before the eruption had disturbed his quiet reflections, Kamehameha had watched the rising moon glinting softly down the Upolu Sea, driving the shadows away from the western shore, and turning the spirit-peopled night into a softer day. Absorbed in the tranquil scene before him, his young heart was prompted to seek great- ness only through humanity to his fellow-man. But alas ! what a change now came over the boy; as he watched the furious flash of Pele's red scimitar in the evening sky ! He saw the gory stroke of the volcanic fire gash through the placid waters of Kawaihae Bay, Rousing the L ion. 125 and smite the night gloom far out over the ocean, and it roused a new-born lion in the chief-boy's heart, a ruthless demon which evermore possessed his soul. In an instant the vaunting ambition of the young hero overleaped all barriers to a throne. The calm, ennobling influence of the tropic night was gone ; gone were his pensive mu- sings on human greatness won through human goodness. Forever gone were all the schemes of the hour before, when the moon and the star-flecked sky imbued his young soul with peace and good-will. Never again from that terrible moment did Kame- hameha's fierce ambition cease to lure him on to achieve the utmost greatness in the compass of his island world. In that hour of Loa's volcanic fury, the fearless boy con- ceived his first idea of approaching Pele in her loftiest abode of fiery splendor, the summit crater of Moku-a- weo-weo* an abyss over which the foot of mortal had never stood, scorning the dreadful legend : " Whoever approaches the summit craters shall be turned to stone ! " He was thus prompted to give up his intended visit to Kilauea, Pele's usual abode, by the current belief that the goddess could only be found where the volcanic action was the most furious. There he would climb to confront her, that she might either prompt or condemn his schemes of greatness. From that weird hour, for Kamehameha to conceive a plan of action, was but brief prelude to some bold act of accomplishment. Without even waiting for daylight, the chief-boy now sought the wild trail across Waimea that led toward Mauna Loa. He vowed to abide there un- til he could win full recognition from Pele in exchange for a lifetime of fealty to her shrine. * "A red gash in the mountain." XV. KAMEHAMHA'S PILGRIMAGE TO THE GODS. GUIDED by the strong light from the pillar of fire, and by the shimmer from the blood-red stream which glowed against the sky, the tireless boy pressed forward through the long night hours, his young heart aglow with the unearthly scene and with the daring pur- pose that had aroused his soul. The footpath he fol- lowed led southward toward the district of Kau, winding along among rank grass and occasional clusters of ohia trees, from which he quenched his thirst with the juicy apples as he tramped along. Kamehame"ha approached the river of fire toward dawn. While yet miles away, he heard thunder-peals like the dis- charge of artillery, and furious explosions that shook the earth. These detonations increased as he neared the scene of action, until at length he came to the borders of the swift- rushing lava flow. Climbing to a rocky hillock two hun- dred yards away, as near as the terrific heat would permit him to approach, Kamehameha sat dazed with wonder and awe as he watched the seething river rush down the mountain, melting every thing before it as it swept over the old lava beds. Sometimes a lateral stream of molten lava followed an underground fissure until it struck some obstruction, when a singular phenomenon would take place. The pent-up current slowly lifted the earth- crust above, until at length the imprisoned lava and 126 Appalling Scenes. 127 gases would explode with loud detonations, tearing the ground to pieces with the throes of an earthquake as the red current burst forth. Just in front of the boy the lava had come to a high mass of rocks and trees, around which it divided and ran on either hand, joining again below the mound of trees. As he watched the grass, shrubs, and trees take fire, he saw the rocky border begin slowly to melt and sink, until the flame-encompassed island, its rocky foundations com- pletely fused, suddenly gave way and floated down the crimson river, tossing like a light-ship on a stormy sea. But a greater surprise was in store for him. The ledge of lava rock on which he sat continued to tremble and quiver with the vibration of the roaring flood. Suddenly he felt a motion beneath him ; but spurning the thought of danger he kept his seat. Presently the rocks moved more perceptibly under his feet, groaning and grating as if disturbed in their beds. He stood up, and found himself reeling and rocking as if in a canoe. The trees swayed and bowed as if about to fall. Then he leaped down the declivity and ran to another position near at hand, still half ashamed of his retreat. A moment after the rocky hillock rose, swelled, and swayed ; then, with a roar, a jet of lava burst out from its top. It gave vent to the caverned mass below, melting the rocks and set- ting the trees afire ; and soon the whole ledge fell in and the grove of flaming trees floated away to join the main stream of raging lava.* Alert to avoid a danger like this the lad again plodded upward. The track leading to Kau now diverged to the west, and compelled Kamehameha to leave it and to take *See descriptions of similar scenes in " Life in Hawaii," by the Rev. Titus Coan, pp. 76, 283. 128 Kamtkamtha the Great. his course into a completely unknown wilderness. He followed the cooled beds of ancient lava flows, and wherever the nature of the ground permitted, walking on the edges of the streams. The jagged lava tore his shark-skin sandals. In the belt of ancient forest through which he passed charred stumps of koa trees rose every- where about him, the record of ancient eruptions. Many large trees had been burnt to ashes, leaving deep circular pits in the lava, traps from which one never could emerge if he should fall into them. Great caution was needed to avoid this danger. Much of the old lava flow which had burnt through the forest of koa, ohia, and sandal wood trees was jfra/ioe- hoe, or " satin " lava, over which Kamehameha found passable walking. At times he came upon great masses of scoria and "clinkers, too jagged and sharp to walk upon, the so-called a-a, or broken-glass lava. This he had to flank at whatever cost of travel. At times deep fissures, many yards wide, drove him a half mile or more out of his way. After passing the timber belt at 7,000 feet, only stunted koa and diminutive ohia trees were found. Straggling tufts of coarse grass and gray lichens were found up to a height of 10,000 feet. Here the real toil of the ascent began. Here morning dawned. Before the tired climber rose the vast volcanic dome of Loa, sharp and clear against the crimson sky. How long he had watched that plu- tonic mass as he climbed, rising two miles above him into the heavens ! The whole vast mountain side now opened upon him, a wild waste of volcanic rocks, where every species of lava was to be found, from the hard, sharp clinker-stone to the frothy pumice that crumbles beneath the feet. Among the Snow Fields. 129 For miles about him ancient lava streams had cooled into hills, hummocks, terraces, and long, undulating waves. These were only passable by avoiding the abrupt hillocks and bottomless fissures. In places the previous flows had been obstructed or spent their force, cooling at the front of the flow, and piling up into vast terraces that could not be scaled. The observant boy soon learned that the path to choose was where some swift incandescent flow had lev- elled its way through the congealed mass of older lava. The caverns and crevasses are thus filled up, " evened off," and made passable if the material be pahoehoe or " satin " lava ; while if it be a-a or scoria, neither man nor beast can pass over it. But even the smoothest flows of the most favorable kinds of lava are often made impassable by countless earthquake rents, mile-long fis- sures, out of which deathly sulphurous fumes well up from the seething lava deep in the mountain. After a few hours' rest, taken, because of the intense cold, in dangerous proximity to the lava flow, the half- nude chief toiled upward and onward again. His face became flushed with fever, and his pulse leaped wildly from the violent exertion and from the rarefaction of the air at the height he had attained. Nothing but the sul- phur fumes and the clear morning breeze prevented his now being exhausted by the usual mountain sickness experienced by all travellers. When he came to the snow line, at 12,000 feet, he sat down upon it to ponder over the marvellous substance. All his life long he had lived in sight of snow on Kea's crest ; but he had never touched it, for few dared to bring down the god-born element. Tasting it cautiously, he soon found that its singular coldness tempered his 130 Kame'hame'ha the Great. fever and allayed his thirst. He pressed his hot fore- head upon it ; then, growing cold from lying upon the new-fallen snow, he approached near to the lava stream. To his surprise he found that the frozen substance was melting into water, and flowed spluttering and steaming into the fiery river. He was delighted to learn that snow was frozen water. After quenching his thirst he set himself to his task again. The cold increased so fast that but for the warmth of the flowing lava he must have frozen upon the mountain side. Yet on he climbed with a hero's determination to attain his end unless he should be con- gealed to stone as the legend had warned him. The legend was now solved. It was the cold that made the stone image, but he had discovered that fire was stronger than cold, for he had seen it melt both rocks and snow. The keen-witted boy rejoiced in his growing wisdom. As he struggled up into still higher altitudes, new emo- tions suddenly awakened in his soul. The panoramic view of the great world widened as he climbed. How thrilling were his sensations as he looked proudly down upon the broadening sweep below ! Is it not this sense of expanding vision which delights the half-freed souls of the dying, when they reach back the farewell hand- clasp to their weeping ones, while expressions of raptur- ous anticipation glow in their faces, as if they were looking back to us from a heavenly mountain ? Approaching at last the summit crater, the source of the lava stream, Kamehameha beheld a scene which appalled him to look upon. A hundred yawning fissures had been rent in the rocky mountain side, where now the vast fountain of gold-tinted lava* hurled itself a * The color of the eruptions, when they first break from the higher aiountain, is golden, not red. Gold- Tinted Lava. 131 thousand feet into the air. The jet came principally from one monstrous fissure a mile in extent, and from one to five hundred feet wide. Rocky hills had been split asunder and rent into a thousand tattered frag- ments. Fifty acres of old lava crust had been blown off and flung thousands of feet away. Such an exhibition of titanic force filled the young mind with horror. If such were the terrific force and fury of upheaving fusion at the very top of a mountain three miles above the sea, and whose base could not be less than three miles below its level, who could imagine the terrible dynamics of the subterranean laboratory six miles down beneath the mountain top ? At length the heroic chief-boy stood on the snow-clad summit of Loa. Human foot had never before trodden this solitude. Before him stretched a lava plain of sixty miles in area. Looking back in the direction from which he had come, he was surprised to see that dense fleecy clouds had gathered a mile below, shutting out every visible thing except the kindred snow peaks of Mauna Kea in the north. The red lava stream ran down the declivity, disappearing under the cloud, which glowed above the fire river with the blood-red hues of a stormy sunset. Though the ancient crater which he sought could not be far away, yet he could not see a vestige of steam or smoke to mark its position. Only a roaring as of dis- tant breakers and the low rumble of muffled thunder could guide him to the abode of Pele. But that abode must be found, for his mission was solely with the goddess he adored. Resting his weary limbs for an hour before quitting the life-giving warmth of the lava-flow, the resolute boy 132 Kamtkamtka the Great. hurried on in the direction of the crater. It was indi- cated by the furious detonations that now shook the mountain, as if the hour of final destruction had come. The sun, at this elevation, bereft of both warmth and brightness, now hung a lurid red ball just above the rim of the mountain plain, casting a human look upon the lonely boy. He thought it lingered until he should have time to find the crater. Following hastily along a wide fissure, filled to the brim with frozen snow, Kamehameha suddenly came to the brink of the abyss of Moku-a-weo-weo, a gulf sunk a thousand feet below the plateau of the mountain sum- mit. Falling upon his knees with a sense of utmost humility, the reverent boy called aloud upon Pele as a child calls for his devoted parent in times of peril. His young soul was filled with horror at the scene he beheld. As the boy pleaded for the goddess to come forth at his call, the darkening sky above the crater brightened as if it were on fire. Fifty volcanic flames and crimson lava jets burst forth from as many huge vent cones of the fiery lake in the crater below. Night was rapidly approaching. The crater was visible stretching miles away toward the south, and disappearing among sulphur- ous vapors. There was but little ebullition in the burn- ing lake, except an occasional lava jet of from one to three hundred feet high, which caused much rocking and rumbling. The general level of the crater fires remained equal, a constantly sufficient supply for the fountain below. The friendly face of the sun was gone. The young chief was alone in a frightful solitude ; he felt a measure of loneliness which has no name. The glare of the two volcano fires bade defiance to night and made a brighter A Night by the Crater. 133 radiance than the sun-lit day. Patches of snow and ice were everywhere about him, piled in the lava fissures, or lying in isolated drifts over all the black lava plain ; but the heat from the crater before him and the lava jet behind imparted all-sufficient warmth for the nude boy, who otherwise would have frozen to death in a few hours. Not a moment's sleep came to him throughout that terrible night. He lay in a lava crevasse, with only the moon for a companion ; half deafened by the rumble and roar and sharp detonations surging up from the crater, the thundering crash of the lava behind him, and the vibrating effect of the falling masses as of a thousand gigantic water-falls. Aside from the supernatural terrors of the place, this pandemonium of noises was enough to craze an older brain. Sometimes hideous black objects rose up in groups on the incandescent surface of the lake. By their groans and shrieks, and by other dismal noises, the observant boy believed that monsters from the fiery depths were sent to frighten him away from the rocky battlement. But though he called to them aloud that his mission was to the goddess, or to whomsoever she would send, whether demon or fire-god, from the crater, no voice came back in reply. Only mocking leers and demoniacal laughter assailed his ear.* Having eaten his last mouthful of kalo, and failing to * Science disputes the supernatural visions of the days of which we write. Other visitors, in later years, see these same black demons appear on the lake surface during the night, disappearing and coming again and again. They tell us that the cooled lava crust congeals in small patches for a moment, melting again with the next influx of hot lava which comes with dismal noises. Let those who wish take this version of the case ; the scenes we describe are truthful. 134 Kame'hameha the Great. call up Pele or any spirit of the desolate place, it became necessary for him to hasten his return down the moun- tain while yet strength remained to him. As he walked gloomily back to the lateral crater on the mountain side, the friendly moon appeared from the clouds. Yellow as the goldent tint of sunset rose the vast lava jet as he approached it ; wholly unlike the blood-red color of the river of fire seen far down in the valley below. Higher and higher leaped the fountain of molten gold, as if it were the melted bullion of the whole financial world dis- playing its incandescent beauty to the mountain gods, and careless of being seen by watchful human eyes. Next to the blinding glory awaiting us about the judg- ment-seat of God, such terrific outbursts from the fiery laboratory of earth must ever remain the most beautiful and awe-inspiring scenes known to mortal. Solitude and desolation are dismal companions ; but one who can master his fears among such elements of grandeur and beauty may become so utterly oblivious of all else, so unconscious of his own existence in the flesh, that it may seem to him at length as if all the world had been destroyed by fire, and that he, alone of all created things, is left to see the charred remains and tread upon the embers of earth's destruction. Something of this thought filled the chief's mind as he reached the edge of the summit on the side of the lava flow opposite to that by which he had come on the prev- ious day. The white clouds had dispersed from the valley, and the whole fire-lighted land lay clearly visible below him. The flow had struck the foot-hills of Mauna Kea, and branched to the right and left ; one stream running toward Hilo, the other flowing across Waimea Valley to the west. - Ground Lightnings. 135 Looking in the direction of Puna, Kamehameha could distinguish the red gleam of Kilauea to the southeast, sixteen miles away. Rejoiced to see the course he must take to reach Pele's usual place of abode, a yet more important question arose. Would the increasing cold permit of his descending the mountain by any other route than that of the lava flow ? He must await the dawn to decide. Morning dawned cold and clear upon the lonely boy, too cold for him to venture far away from the warmth of the lava into an unknown wilderness. Without food or raiment, excepting a light tapa mantle, to be long de- tained upon the mountain would be to die of hunger and cold. Thus his downward course must be determined by the lava flow. Following along the south bank of the rushing stream of liquid fire, where it coursed its rapid way down the steep declivity, Kamehameha passed the snow region easily in an hour. Beyond tfie limit of snow the pathless way was rough and toilsome down to the upper belt of forest, where the cold became less intense, and the stunted trees and hardy grasses once more gladdened his eyes. Plucking some of the coarse grass from the thin soil, Kamehameha devoured the bitter roots, hoping to allay the gnawings and sickening sensations of hunger. While thus employed his ear was suddenly invaded by the furious crash of approaching thunder. Though he was yet at an altitude of two miles, a dense dark cloud was settling down over Waimea Valley and rolling on up the mountain above him. The pent-up clouds crept along the ground about him, heavy with blackness, and gleaming with electric fire. The full-charged mists crept up the mountain, ablaze with lightning. Hundreds of great 136 Kamtkamtha the Great. forest trees were cut down, and others burned like torch- lights for miles about the wondering chief. He had seen many a thunder-storm above his native valley ; but here was one which left the heavens and played upon the ground. The lava rocks were ploughed up, and the crash of falling trees was appalling to his ear. The rain fell in torrents for an hour.* As he sat there in a clump of ohia shrubs, within reach of the friendly warmth of the hot lava, which hissed past in the rain, suddenly an outburst took place in a cluster of stunted trees close at hand. A graceful lava fountain rose twenty feet above the tree tops, falling about on every side of the scanty foliage of the hardy trees. Not a drop of lava flowed away ; but cooling where it fell, it slowly built up a wall of red lava about the trees, without burning a leaf or a twig on the mountain shrubs. Watching with interest to see the molten fluid thus build up a lava tower, Kamehameha's superstitions were not fairly aroused until he noticed that the ohia trees were not burnt either by the yellow lava rising from among them, or by the red-hot wall that girdled them about. Still .the fountain played, and the red lava walls rose into the air and covered the trees, closing gradually in about the fountain top, until the golden lava jet could barely be seen above the crimson tower. Just then the figure of a fair woman rose up on the crest of the fountain, and looked down with soft blue eyes on the wondering boy below. Hair of the yellowest gold fell gracefully about her white arms and alabaster shoulders, a color so blended with the orange hue of the fountain that one was lost in the other. It was Pele ! * See the Rev. Titus Coan's " Life in Hawaii " (p. 272) for a de- scription of a similar thunder-storm, at an elevation of 8,000 feet. Vision of God. 137 She spoke to the astonished chief-boy. He fell upon his knees and laid bare his heart to the beautiful goddess who had thus come to acknowledge his adoring love. And she suffered this strange boy to gaze upon her celestial beauty at his will without blinding his vision by her glory. She bent with tender solicitude above the god-born chief ; her beneficent smile warmed the very rocks about him. Kamehameha soon grew calm and collected as the greatness of the occasion dawned fully upon him. Yet his fluent tongue grew dumb when he became assured that this was indeed the august deity whom he had come to invoke. But there is ever an aggressive quality in man's ambi- tion which fails not to exalt him to the pinnacle of god- head. Thus when Pele repeated her question : " Why comes my young hero in quest of his god ? " he reverently replied : " Is the son of Wailele known to the gods ? " " It is recorded in tablets of fire that my Kahtina of Mukini is mother of the mightiest of men." " If one worship Pele for life, will it not prosper his ambitious schemes for greatness ? " " Whoever makes much sacrifice to Pele shall win in battle, though he worship in fear and trembling. But whoso immolates offerings upon my altar because of great love for Pele, he shall not die by the hand of man." "Is the wisdom of Wailele inspired by the gods ?" "Wailele is the wisest and best of my worshippers. Only for one hour in her priesthood has the noble wa- hine been won to desert my shrine for another. Caught in the mystic arms of Luna at midnight, her oblations were once forgotten, and the fires burnt low on her altar in the time of sacrifice. But as the mountain stream is 138 Kante'hame'ha the Great. purified by the attrition of rocks and water-falls, so the worship of deity grows stronger in the heart of woman by the vehemence of her love for a mortal." Not comprehending the figurative meaning of Pele's oracular reply, Kamehameha continued : " Beautiful deity ! Is your god-son designed for priest of Mukini, or to rank among the rulers of his country, to which he aspires ? " " One New Year's Day, when the people gathered to worship at Mukini, there came the wail of a baby-boy from the sacred anu. It was Pele who willed the birth of the hero in that hour ; and because of the holy birth of the Alii he is loved of the gods, and was born to supreme rule over the destinies of men." How long he would have importuned the Goddess we know not, had not his tongue been suddenly struck dumb, and his keen eyes blinded by the sudden brilliance before him. The wind waved the golden tresses of the deity, and the whole mountain side seemed ablaze as with vivid lightning. The fountain sprang higher and higher, until the red tower built itself up and closed over the divine form of the Goddess. The fountain dis- appeared. Then suddenly the tower of hot lava ex- ploded with a tremendous crash and was seen no more. When the blinding light had passed away, the clump of ohias where the tower had stood was green and beau- tiful again, untouched by the fiery lava ; buds and blos- soms and ripened fruit hung plentiful on the trees, inviting the starving chief to quench his thirst and allay his hunger. Though the beautiful face of deity was gone, it still seemed present to the ardent boy, beaming down upon him from the fire-fountain as tenderly as a human Descending the Mountain. 139 mother. A delicious vision, one that could never be snatched from his gaze, had been vouchsafed him. It would live in his heart a whole life long. The musical voice of Pele still rang in his ear, lingering like a soft bewildering strain of music in his soul. He was like one who had dreamed of a choir of angels, and awakes amazed and bewildered with the miraculous vision that has passed away. And the words of the Goddess would serve as a rallying cry in many a dark hour of his tem- pestuous life ; " Because of the holy birth of the Alii he is loved of the gods, and shall rule supreme over the destinies of men ! " It was hours before Kamehameha could bring himself to think of his situation, and the danger of remaining longer upon the mountain. Toiling down through miles of dead leaves, with painful foot travel, he came at length to the level piain, where the lava flow ran slowly and broadened out into a fiery lake. The surface lava cooled, bridging over the flood with a black shining crust, until it ran as through a vast tunnel constructed out of its own materials. When this tunnelled lava flow struck the foot-hills of Mauna Kea its progress was checked for some hours, during which time it dammed itself up thirty feet high along a front of fifteen miles. When at length the fiery fusion burst through the black crust it flowed to the south and west in two lateral streams ; this compelled Kamehameha to double around the lava flow to the south of Mauna Kea, and to take the homeward path along the east side of the mountain. Having seen Pele, there was now no necessity of going to Kilauea. A few hours after he had left the slow-moving lava, he came to a hamlet of hospitable natives, who, learning 140 Kam/hamtka the Great. that he was the god-born chief of Mukini, pressed him to tarry a few days, and feast upon their plenty, and rest after his dreadful toil. When he again renewed his journey homeward, re- freshed and strong, it was with a feeling of just pride and joyous exultation that is rarely allotted to a young mortal. Knowing the exalted destiny which awaited him, there was henceforth not an hour in which his young mind was not planning for the future kingdom over which he was to rule. XVI. THE KING AND HIS COURT AT WAIPIO. TIME passes rapidly in the lives of historic men. We have come to the twenty-second year of Kalaniopuu's reign, about 1774, when the exhaustive wars with the Leeward Islands had for a time given place to a precarious peace between the kings of Hawaii and Maui. This peace, as often happened in the lands of chivalry two centuries earlier, led to the interchange of civilities and friendly jousts among the arrogant kings and their courtiers. Nor need we think that these cour- tesies among recent enemies were extended wholly for the purpose of spying out their rivals' resources. They sprang more often from an honest curiosity and a real admiration of the recent antagonist, as well as from a wish to become better acquainted with those whom they had met in valiant combat, or against whom they had practised all their strategy. On one of these balmy days during the mid-reign of Kalaniopuu, Kahekili, the warlike king of Maui, unex- pectedly announced his wish to visit his royal cousin and brother-in-law of Hawaii. Though the request was made with all courtesy, yet the unlooked-for event caused a ripple of anxiety among the ruling minds ; while the greatest delight was manifested by the irresponsible ones about the Hawaiian court. Kiwalao, the young prince of sixteen, and his brother 141 142 Kame'hameha the Great. Keotia, were out on the high pdli which fronts the wind- ward sea to the north of Waipio, when they descried the sunlight flashing on the white tapa sail of a large canoe in the distant northwest toward Maui. But the boys con- tinued to practise with their slings and bird-spears upon the clouds of sea-birds swarming up the cliff from the sea below, and entirely forgot the canoe, so absorbed were they in the enjoyment of their sport ; when suddenly Keoiia exclaimed, with consternation upon his handsome young face : * " He waapalua nut ! A great double canoe ! " " Auwe ! what can they want ? " asked Kiwalao. And well might the lads express surprise at seeing the craft urged on by forty paddlers and a press of sail ; for in those years a great war canoe was more likely to come with intent of mischief than with messages of peace. The royal boys were now alert with curiosity. " Let us run down to Waipio and tell the news," said Keoua, full of boyish trepidation. " No ! Go you to the king and report what we have seen," said Kiwalao, assuming his usual arrogant tone, the prerogative of an heir apparent in times of sudden danger. " I '11 watch here, while you go and tell the moi that there are sixty Kanakas in the great waa. Run, wikij wiki ! quick, quick ! " And away went the fleet- footed lad to the valley side of the / he abruptly left the heidu. He soon met a royal courier from Waipio as he passed out, who informed him that great events were about to occur at court, and asked where he could find Pepehi. Hastening down the mountain path on his lonely way to Waimanu, the fearless chief was not above the prudence of keeping to the most open trail to be found, lest some ambuscade of his affectionate uncle's assassins might be laid for him. It had not escaped the observation of the keen-eyed boy, that immediately after he left the heidu, Pepehi made vigorous tabu signals, meaning : Urgent need of victims. Kamehameha well knew, in spite of all the priest's pro- fessions of friendliness, that he could never again feel secure from his vengeance. Satanic craftiness was the strongest trait of the Kahuna ; he would follow a trail of blood like a sleuth-hound until his revenge was sated. Most likely the murderous man-killers were prowling about Waipio. But as there was little commu- nication with the inaccessible valley of Waimanu, the alert young Alii saw no cause for alarm. Striding rapidly along the south pdli until he reached the great pandanus, he there made signal for a canoe, and was almost in- stantly answered by a dozen upraised hands at Mukini. A general uneasiness had been felt on account of his long absence, and one or more of the priest-girls were on 1 68 Kame'hame'ha the Great. the watch along the south pdli for his coming. Waile'le had been impressed with some deadly peril awaiting him. Whether her maternal instinct had been aroused by what had already occurred at the heidu, or the pro- phetic insight of the priestess had forecast coming events, it is not easy to say. This much is certain, the watchful eyes at Mukini had already discovered two burly man-killers following on Kameliameha's trail, a moment after he left the pandanus, tracking swiftly along the/df// 'J edge about half a mile behind the chief. The foremost pepehi had a lariat in his hand, ready looped to noose and strangle his victim, while the less powerful assassin carried a short sharp spear which had drunk the heart-blood of hundreds of innocents. None understood better than the anxious priest-mother and wahines this dreadful portent. These inhuman creat- ures followed a trail as cunningly as serpents, and as noiselessly as ghosts, and they struck their fatal blows with the certainty of long experience. A second canoe was manned by some of the lusty slave men belonging to the heidUy and dispatched with all haste to the river mouth. But the previous canoe had lost no time, and was already out through the breakers, and speeding swiftly for the adjacent valley, about two miles away. It was ardent friendship for Kamehameha, not fear of his safety, that impelled these swift paddles. All unconscious of the danger on his track, Kame*- hameha arrived safely at the shore. The canoe from Waimanu awaited him, manned by twenty of his devoted chief-friends. They were full of joy to see their young leader again, and wild with impatience to learn the suc- cess of his mission to Pele. Embarking after all had rubbed noses and embraced Returning to Waimdnu. 169 him, Kameliameha was somewhat startled on looking back to see a glistening spear-point among the banana trees skirting the beach, and soon after, as the canoe receded swiftly from the shore, two beastly-looking faces were thrust cautiously out from among the bushes. One of them he remembered as Pepo, the gigantic pepehi who had once guided him down from Puukeekee. The first impulse of the indignant chief was to return to the shore and give battle to the wretches, but on second thought he concluded that they must have been lurking there before he came, and were not sent to en- trap him. As the canoe sped along the shore Kamehame'ha could not resist the importunity of the chief-boys to relate his pilgrimage to the gods. When he told them of his climbing Mauna Loa by the light of the lava flow, and passing a night by the dreadful crater, and de- scribed the black demons in the lake of fire, every pad- dle was suspended, and every face displayed horror at the supernatural dangers from which he had escaped. Without betraying its special import, he briefly related his interview with Pele, which for ever sanctified him in the esteem of every chief of Waimdnu. When they knew he was loved by the gods, and that his ambitious schemes were sanctioned, every arm that could wield a spear was ready to battle for him. As they approached Waimanu River, their shouts col- lected hundreds of other chiefs, until the river bank was thronged. They changed canoes and paddled up to Tribute Rock, where other crowds had gathered to cry their glad Aloha. There hundreds of enthusiastic young souls were heard, vowing eternal allegiance to their young Alii. 170 KamtkamSka the Great. This reception affected the noble boy to tears. As- suming the prerogative of a priest of Mukini, for he was ennobled by his interview with Pele, he permitted the canoe which bore him and his twenty companions to pass the tabii line at Tribute Rock, and paddle on up to the garden entrance of Mukini. There Wailele and the whole family of priest-girls, with their yelping nurslings, were waiting to receive their young lord. Glad indeed was the meeting. One after another of the wahmes, after the stately priest-mother had welcomed her boy with mingled pride and love, took their young Alii in their arms. The excited chief-boys had hastened to relate Kamehameha's adventures in brief epitome, ere the canoes touched the shore, and from that hour he was sanctified in their eyes. A sumptuous supper was served for Kamehameha and his chiefs, after which all gathered with the wahines upon the veranda to listen to a more detailed account of the traveller's story. Great was the mother's pride in her boy as she listened to his wonderful adventures ; his struggles in climbing the mountain, whose vast summit none other had ever approached ; his courage in invad- ing the tabued snow line, and approaching the forbidden crater in defiance of the howling demons of Mokua-weo- weo. And when he related his vision of the divine Pele, and the condescension of the deity to her child, the mother's heart burst forth in adoration of the gracious goddess for conferring such high honor upon her off- spring. When the chiefs had returned down the river, and the greetings of the household retainers were over, Kame- hameha took his fond mother aside to unfold a less pleasant part of his experience. The story of the quar- Guarding the Temple. 171 rel at Puukeekee he had purposely reserved. When he had related every thing which happened, and repeated every word that was spoken by the murder-loving priest, the transition of Wailele's emotions from reverence to rage was dreadful. The beautiful face of the Priestess turned to a pallor that her boy had never seen before. Grief filled her flashing eyes with tears ; then came rage at the indignity Pepehi had put upon herself and her child. Woe to the old priest should he come within Wailele's grasp in such an hour of resentment ! These emotions were followed by yet another one of greater import to her tender heart. Terrible as it was to contemplate the deadly peril from which her boy had escaped, the mother's anxiety for the future now surs mounted all else. The old Kahuna was an experienced assassin ; seldom did he fail to avenge an offence by the death of his antagonist. And now the man-killers of Puukeekee had been already set upon his trail ; Wailele well knew that nothing but divine interposition could save her child. But before she slept, unknown to Kame- hameha, the Priestess set her most faithful slave soldiers to guard every approach to the heidu through the night, with orders to kill on the instant all who should fail to give the countersign. And lest her proud Alii should think that some of her emotions were due to the exist- ence of just cause for the insulting epithet put upon his birth, the beautiful mother bid him know that he was not only legitimate, but of yet greater paternal rank than he knew, and that in proper time all- the world should be informed who he was, and would gladly bend the knee to his power and rank. XIX. PEPEHI REBUKED BY THE GODDESS. BEFORE noon on the following day the people of Mukini were unpleasantly surprised by a visit from Pepehi. His coming was made the more suspi- cious and unwelcome because he was accompanied by his most savage pepehi ; for bloodshed rarely failed to follow the presence of the gigantic Pepo. Wailele was struck dumb with consternation when she saw the murderous pair coming up the river path to- gether. Before the priest could reach the heidu she found time to arm herself with a dagger, meaning to de- fend her boy with her life. Her first source of anxiety was for Kamehameha, who fortunately was absent at the cataracts, bathing in the lava basins in the dash of the water-fall. Pemilani was sent at once to hasten his return to the heidU) taking his spear, in addition to the dagger he constantly wore, and to bid him keep constantly upon his guard against Pepo, the pepehi. A few strong slave guards were ordered out to meet their young master as he returned, and to be guided by his wishes. Another wahine was sent hurriedly down the river to invite a half dozen of the old war chiefs to the rescue, with orders to come armed and to act on the instant in case of need. The gigantic old priest was apparently in the best of humor ; gracious to every one, most affectionate and 172 The Man-Killer, Pepo. 173 smiling to the Priestess. But none were deceived by his manner. Pepehi's pleasantry was well known to be more ominous than his rage. Wailele received her half-brother with becoming dig- nity, bridling her rising anger until her guards should be collected and Kamehameha have time to return. Gladly humoring his affability, she attended to his polite de- mands for breakfast, in order to gain time and to delay the coming crisis until she could meet it with a stronger hand. Having finished his deliberate meal, growling a little because of the insufficient amount of awa furnished him, he asked the Priestess into the heidu for a private inter- view. As Wailele had received information that four of the high chiefs were in sight on the river, and would soon land, and as Pepehi continued his efforts to quiet her indignation, she led the way into the greater seclusion of the temple. Avoiding all allusion to the quarrel with his nephew, the priest came at once to the secondary object of his visit his primary object being murder if he could not carry his point, urging with many arguments the neces- sity of Kamehame'ha's becoming the priest of Puukeekee. From this exalted position, he said, the young prince could best make his way in the world. Listening with impatience to the end, the arrogant Priestess replied that this scheme did not accord with her wishes nor with the ambition of her boy, and after further decided protest, sternly averred that she would rather bury her son than consent to have him live at Puukeekee. The sunken eyes of the old Kahuna gleamed with a lurid light as Wailele let loose the pent volcano of her Kamdhame'ha the Great. wrath upon his aged head. His tall, gaunt figure swayed and writhed with suppressed anger, as he listened to her savage rejection of his beastly companionship for her noble boy. Crouching lower and lower with a scarce restrained impulse to spring upon her, Pepehi clutched his dagger with nervous frenzy, contemplating the use of his one unfailing argument to end a debate. But recov- ering his self-control, he cast a withering look upon Wailele and turned to leave the heidu. Kamehameha entered hurriedly at that moment, with an angry frown upon his face. Turning back to Wailele with a malicious expression on his wrinkled visage, Pepehi cried : " Here comes your proud poolua ! If his precious life is spared make of him what you " Further insult was stopped by a powerful blow from Kamehameha. The gigantic priest tumbled headlong upon the stone pavement like a felled ox. With the howl of a maniac, the ferocious Kahuna called aloud for Pepo, as he sprang up and drew his long dag- ger. The two combatants sprang at each other with fire- flashing eyes that meant a death grapple for both. With the bound of a tigress alarmed for her young, Wailele sprang between them at the risk of receiving both their blows. Grasping the uplifted dagger-hands of the two by the wrist, with the supernatural strength of a giant mother battling for her child, she shook the weapons from their strong grasp, as if they had been children ; calling fiercely to Pepehi : " Hold ! villain, murderer ! Would you strike a royal Alii the god-born son of your king ? Down on your knees and ask pardon of your future lord and master, or the woman's hand that disarms you shall crush you to the earth and trample you beneath her feet ! " Pele Rebuking the Priest. 175 While her arm was raised in act to strike the mad priest down, lo ! a sudden whirr of invisible wings filled the temple, as it were of an angel hovering in their midst. A blinding radiance of divine glory burst forth and filled the place, admonishing them of the awful pres- ence of a god. It was Pele who stood before them ! By the lightning flashes of her yellow hair ; by her blue eyes, more beau- tiful than the stars ; by the divine beauty of her person, softly wrapped about with a garment of lambent flame golden as her tresses, they knew that the supreme woman- goddess of Hawaii was there. Priest, Priestess, and royal Alii together fell upon their knees under the blind- ing light. A hush as of death filled the temple ; then the dread goddess spoke to the awed supplicants at her feet: " Peace ! peace ! " she cried, with a voice that vibrated through Kamehameha's soul like strains of music. " Be- hold ! you are in the presence of your god ! Hush your brawling passions, and hearken to my words. Let every voice proclaim this Alii as beloved of Pele, * god-born ' in answer to the prayers of noble monarch and pious priestess. Greet him henceforth as ' High Priest of Mukini,' a priest outranking every living kahtina in the land! " Hearken ! that you may hear. Whom the gods love shall be exalted above all men in wisdom, and become foremost in war. From this hour, neither poisoned dag- ger of treacherous priest nor spear of honest foeman shall pierce his heart, because of this divine decree. " Priestess of Mukini, send forth the young Alii into the world. Events which will instruct him for his future mission are about to happen ; events without name, full Kame'hame'ha the Great. of unspeakable wonder. Men unknown to our land are approaching ; people with strange white faces are com- ing in mighty ocean craft to land upon our shores. Great wars are also impending, in which Kameliameha must take part. He must become skilled above all war- riors, against the happy end to come when all wars shall cease forever." Then turning sternly to the old priest, who grovelled and trembled on the pavement, Pele expressed her dis- approbation of himself and his doings : " Pepehi of Puukeekee ! You have lived a life useless to Hawaii and displeasing to the gods. Henceforth keep strictly to your mountain heidu, and come not here again, you nor your/^/fo", into the sacred valley of Wai- manu. In the moment when you defame these noble ones of Mukini either by word or deed, in that moment you shall die, shrivelled instantly to a fiery cinder. " And you, beloved mortals ! Aloha oe, Wailele ! Aloha oe, loved young king ! " The beautiful vision of deity wavered and swayed like a strong expiring flame, and was gone. A floating perfume as of sandalwood incense only remained. Wailele stood proudly by her young King and Priest, her eyes filled with proud tears of joy. A noble exultation glowed on Kamehameha's face at being thus sanctified by the supreme god of the land. The contrite old Kahuna, dis- armed of his dagger, knelt at his feet. Extending his hands in supplication, he cried out : " Praise to Pele ! My old eyes behold a great future for Kamehame'ha, the warrior, the conqueror, the king. There rises before me a vision filled with the glory of his deeds. I behold great armies thundering into battle at his bidding. The mighty kings of the isles bend in The Dead Man-Killer. 1 77 supplication before him ; but the clemency of a con- queror must be tempered with daggers for the uncon- querable. I behold a canoe full of royal chiefs lying dead on the boiling sands of Kawaihae.* A dead king lies among them, and it is the will of Pele ; for together the royal dead are piled on the altar of a new heidu, not yet built with hands. " What vision is this ? Stupendous battles come ; they are fought with weapons of fire and thunder, that scatter the fleets of combined kings as birds are scattered by a storm. How fast the island kingdoms fall ! I be- hold but one kingdom and one king ; it is for the first time in a thousand years. The altars of the ' Eight Isles ' cease to smoke as of old, and a hallowed peace pervades all the lands, such glory as dwells only among the stars. " This is my vision. This is the prophecy which flames up before me, vivid as the night-fires on Mauna Loa. Aloha f I go to Puukeekee, never more to return to the valley of my birth. It is the will of Pele ; it is the command of the gods." Ere the crushed and penitent old priest went from among them forever, Wailele came generously forward to greet him, blessing him with tearful eyes for his prophecy. For none other in all the land could see with more prophetic vision than Pepehi in his moments of sober inspiration. Kamehameha gave the Kahrina his hand in full forgive- ness of his revengeful mission to Mukini. The young Alii disclosed the newly awakened pride of his heart in his glad utterance to the aged prophet who still knelt before him. * Sulphur water bubbles through the sand at high- water mark, near the heidu where Keoiia was slain. (Ellis, p. 376.) 178 Kame'hameha the Great. " Aloha, Kahuna ! You have made a man's heart beat in a boy's breast. Your words have but faintly de- scribed my own dreams of greatness. None but this darling mother knows how lofty are my plans for my country. I shall accomplish them all ! The triumph of my valor in battle shall make a peaceful land, wherein old men shall lie down on the highways in safety."* Fire flashed from the eyes of the stern old Kahuna as his own keen insight followed the vaulting ambition and the seer-like vision of the young chief. Pepehi rose up and departed, ashamed of his mission to Mukini, and crushed by the rebuke from his god, yet kindling with a glow of pride in Pele's adoption of his nephew. As he came out upon the veranda, followed by Wailele and Kamehameha, he meekly called for Pepo, and gathered his tapa about him to depart. Four of the grim old warriors of the valley were sitting quietly upon the veranda eating raw fish and poi. One of them delayed his repast long enough to point contemptuously down the path. There lay Pepo's body righteously transfixed by four huge spears. He had made a persistent attempt to rush into the heidu at Pepehi's call, and received his death. For one instant the fierce old Kahuna forgot himself, and turning furiously upon the chiefs, savagely de- manded : "Who bid you do harm to my best /^olding. Each, large island was allotted its governor, who ap- * See Jarves' " History," p. 182. Kamehameha lost 6,000 of his troops, \nd the enemy's loss was far greater. 378 Lord of Eight Isles. 379 pointed the head chiefs, tax-collectors, and other petty officers, subject to the approval of the king. The islands were divided into districts, districts into towns and vil- lages, and these, in turn, were subdivided into farms and plantations, each being duly apportioned with mountain, valley, and forest land, with fair allotments of sea-shore and fisheries for all the people. Governors and coun- cillors were chosen from the most trusty of his warriors. A regular cabinet and a minister of state were appointed, and merit more than rank was the passport to favor. The gigantic Keeaumoku, who had rendered the most distinguished services of any of his chieftains and who was also the father of three of his queens * remained chief councillor and head of the army. Kalaimoku, the most sagacious statesman among the nobles, though he was of inferior rank and descended from the Maui kings, was proclaimed Kuhina mti, or premier, and retained his office long after the death of his benefactor. Keone Ana was made Governor of Hawaii, assuming his office immediately after the rebellion of Namakeha, brother of the traitor Kaiana, and held it to the satisfac- tion of Kamehameha and of his successors to the day of his death. Kameeimoku was made governor of Maui, while Kananawa, Hoapili, Na,ihe, Kekuanoa, Kuakini, and his brother, the younger Keeaumoku, were greatly distinguished for faithful services. Several " wise men " of great talent, though of inferior rank, were selected to assist in organizing laws best adapted to the minor affairs of the kingdom. Kamehameha had not only the intuitive perception of character which enabled him to choose efficient men for every department of government, but he also possessed * Kaahumanu, Kalakua, and Namahana. 3 So Kame'hame'ha the Great. the faculty of inspiring others with his own generous sentiments ; and thus he secured hearty cooperation in his wise undertakings. Famine, caused by the destruc- tion of fruit-trees and vegetable foods during the long successive wars, bore heavily upon the oppressed people for a time. Natives starved to death, or sometimes were burnt alive by their chiefs for stealing food for their starving families.* Yet in no way did the king show his humanity and administrative ability more conspicuously than by the example which he gave of tilling the land with his own hands, and raising his own sustenance during the famine. \ In public affairs he consolidated his power, and brought order out of chaos. Turbulent and seditious chiefs of the old dynasties, whose ambitious views threat- ened to disturb the new order of thyigs, were withheld from their hereditary estates and retained about the court, being compelled to follow in the king's train wherever he went. With these refractory nobles most dangerous men to deal with after their training in mur- derous misrule the king affected a more haughty mien and greater state. The most arbitrary customs of the ancient kings were revived and rigidly enforced, humili- ating ceremonies, which were intended to increase the awe of his peaceful subjects and humble the unsubmissive chiefs. It was proclaimed that heads and shoulders must be bared whenever the king passed, or when one approached the palace or other abode honored by the sovereign for * See Jarves, p. 182. f See Jarves, p. 201. He labored for his own food, and compelled his followers to work likewise. The spot he tilled is at Halawa, on Hawaii. A Wise Despotism. 381 the time. The penalty was death for crossing the shadow of the king, or of his house. To assume a position above where he was standing was the highest crime ; and for paying too special attention to Kaahumanu, a chief of high rank and a priest both lost their lives.* By this uniform system of despotism Kamehameha broke the power of the petty lords and greatly ameliorated the op- pressed condition of the people. Though chiefs were permitted retinues suitable to their rank, they were for- bidden to overtax or overwork their tenants, or to main- tain bodies of armed men. By suitable rewards the king encouraged skilful artisans among the various handi- crafts. Nothing was too trivial for him to investigate ; nothing that affected the welfare of the people escaped this lynx-eyed man. Never, indeed, was there more urgent need of the iron hand of a despot to weld together the conflicting ele- ments of a conquered people. Having assumed the headship of the Church as well as of the State (much to the annoyance of Hewahewa), Kamehameha held both the scheming priests and the refractory chiefs to an equally strict account. He maintained the tenets of the tabti creed to the last, though he confessed to foreigners his unbelief in the divine origin of his heathen gods. But alas ! it was his misfortune never to commune with a mind of sufficient religious ability to convince him of his error and show him evidence of the one true God. For him idolatry was a subtle power by which to govern a superstitious people, and priestcraft contained for him more of policy than of piety. * Jarves', Honolulu edition, p. 48. Kamehameha strangled the high chief, Kanihonui, and executed a priest for this offence, even at the risk of a rebellion. This was in 1809. 382 Kame'hame'ha the Great. But the stern bigotry of the king was often overmas- tered by his humanity, as in the case where Hewahewa doomed a fine boy for sacrifice on a certain day. The lad fell sick in contemplating his cruel fate, and was likely to die from terror before the allotted time. Shocked at such an insult to the gods, the priest ordered his man-killer to strangle him upon the altar at once. The king heard of this decree, and ordered the kahuna to bring the sick boy to the palace. With his own hand Kamehameha cared for the lad, and he recovered, re- maining one of the royal family until the king's death. Possibly this act of humanity was meant for a check upon the priestly arrogance of Hewahewa.* Peace and good laws were at length everywhere estab- lished, and so complete a change was brought about that a truly golden age dawned upon the once rebellious land. All open opposition to Kamehameha's rule was completely subdued, and the only secret conspiracy known to the government was personally suppressed by him in a characteristic way.f Knowing that the powerful chiefs of the old dynasties would lose no opportunity of plotting against the new regime, the sagacious monarch would not trust the sus- pected aliis to collect the taxes, or other " sinews of war," on their own estates. In such cases female chiefs were appointed tax-gatherers. They were also made secret detectives in the pay of government, w r ith in- structions to spy secretly upon the doings of all the seditious nobles. Wonderfully well did some of these chiefesses perform their detective duties. * See Jarves' " History," p. 197. f Compare this method of subduing a conspiracy with Kahekili's ' ' waipio kimopo" (general assassinations) of a whole community of nobles, innocent as well as guilty. The Conspiracy. 383 One day the king was about to sit down to his evening repast when a spy, one of the chiefesses, claimed private audience. Trembling at what she had to disclose for some of her dearest friends were involved she reported a formidable conspiracy against the king. Fifty of the powerful old-line chiefs of Ewa, Waianai, and Waialua were to meet in secret that night at a lonely house in Puuloa (Pearl River) to concert plans for an immediate rebellion. Quieting her fears with a promise of dealing fairly with her friends, Kamehameha dismissed the pretty chiefess, and bade her paddle home in her canoe as she came. Though a sumptuous repast was spread in the eating- house of the king, and numerous chiefs of the old and new dynasties were present, waiting to grace the evening meal, the stern monarch was too full of the sudden dis- closure to remain. It was necessary, however, that the old-line chiefs should be kept from following him, or learning the cause of his absence. Bidding all present to be seated, and appointing Keeaumoku to preside over the feast until his return, the king excused himself on the plea of important business of state. He permitted none of his attendant chiefs to accompany him. Taking down his ponderous war-spear from the roof-tree of his sleeping-house, he started alone in the darkness for the place of secret meeting fifteen miles away. The gloom following a tropic twilight had just ushered in the stars, and the sea-gulls were at roost upon rock and reef along the shore, as the black-browed king left Pulaholaho. His rapid walk could be traced by the crowd of screaming sea-birds that rose with a startled cry over the beach as he strode by, trusting to the awe- 384 Kame'hame'ha the Great. inspiring might of his military renown to quell a rebel- lion of savage chieftains. When the beach failed to lead in the direction he was going, he chose a pathless track across the wilds, delving into deep ravines and swimming, spear in hand, over lagoons and rivers. It was nearly midnight when he reached the desolate moor and stealthily approached the lonely house. There he saw fifty ferocious chiefs of the conquered land, assembled in secret conclave and plot- ting treason. Listening attentively until the conspirators had fully unfolded their plans, chosen their leaders, and fixed time and place for immediate action, the angry monarch tar- ried just long enough to thrust his huge spear, point downward, in the sand of the bleak moor, about four feet from the only door of the house, and departed. The spear was the well-known I he nui of the king, the beautifully carved souvenir which Kalaniopuu left with Wailele before Kamehameha was born, the most costly weapon in the land. There would be no mistaking as to who had given the mysterious warning of death. Kamehameha strode homeward beneath the midnight stars, with longer steps and greater vehemence than he came. He had listened to treason declaimed by nobles who had fawned about his court with such a profusion of friendly professions that he had made generous restora- tion of their estates, adding . " Go, and be faithful. Remember tjiat the all-seeing eye of Pele is upon you, and the ' I he o Kamehameha ' will find you out in the evil hour." When the king reached the palace he dismissed the wondering guests without a word of explanation, for none had dared disobey his command by leaving the eating-house before his return. He retired as if nothing We must Die. 385 unusual had occurred, and the noble chiefs were not enlightened about the indignity put upon them until the next morning. The treasonable meeting at Puuloa broke up soon after the departure of the king. The first of the con- spirators to leave the secret conclave was the newly chosen leader, Kaneoneo, a haughty chieftain of the treacherous race of Kahekili. As the tapa curtain was flung from before the door, a glare of light from the candle-nut torches within flashed out upon the shining spear-staff. The nervous conspirator, already startled by his own black shadow standing gaunt and grim in the night-gloom before him, stood aghast with awe at the sight. Then, with a look of consternation, he plucked the great spear from the sand, rushed back among the assembled conspirators, who were still in earnest discus- sion, exclaiming in a voice hoarse with terror : "The ear of the dread Giant has listened at the door. This is the * Ihe o Kamehamtha ! ' Our plans are known to the king ; we must die ! " " Yes, it is the Ihe nui of the Hawaiian king," echoed many voices from the groups of savage men. " Who has done this foul treachery ? Who has be- trayed us ? " bellowed a ferocious chief, maddened by the thought of treason within treason, as he sprang out from among his fellows, flourishing his long-bladed dag- ger, glaring about among the fear-stricken faces, and ready to take vengeance upon any suspected one. "Alii! " exclaimed the leader. " It is none of our num- ber. It is the dread Pele who has disclosed our secret to the Hawaiian, and we are as good as dead men." " Auwe ! Auwe / " was the doleful exclamation of all. The pallor of death was upon every face. Each war- rior grasped spear or dagger, and glanced furtively into 386 Kamdhame'ha the Great. dark crannies and toward the door, aghast with the ex- pectation of seeing the Giant stalk into their midst and execute the stroke of death upon them all. Each chief among them was a strong, brave man, ready to risk his life in any warlike enterprise ; but there was something dread and supernatural in finding the black The at the door of their secret rendezvous. They were appalled and terror-stricken, for they believed it to be the work of in- visible hands. With whispered messages and brief fare- wells most of the terrified aliis dispersed to their homes ; while others fled to the mountain wilds, or took canoe for the distant island of Kauai. After brief reflection, the most sagacious among them bethought them of the well-known humanity of the con- queror ; and at early dawn, in accordance with an ancient custom, many of the conspirators approached the palace of the king, crawling upon their hands and knees, and crying : " E ola au ! E ola au ! Let us live ! Let us live, most noble king !" The gigantic leader, with greater humility than his fellows, crept close up to the monarch and laid the ponderous spear at his feet, bowing his head upon the ground, and patiently waiting the death-stroke he justly deserved. But the wrath of the king was abated ; while in fur- therance of the supernatural fears of the conspirators, he briefly addressed the cringing nobles before his door : " Base men, treacherous aliis ! Who among you thought to hide his evil doings from the all-seeing Pele ? Begone ! away to your homes, and beware of evil ways, for the god-born of Mukini has possessed himself of your lands forever." The repentant conspirators failed not to keep fealty with their liege lord. They remained faithful to their allegiance all their lives long, and went to their graves A loha and Farewell. 387 in the unfaltering belief that the " I he o Kamthameha " was placed at their door by the agency of the gods, in dread league with the king. As the savage's highest conceptions of deity are ascribed to physical attributes, what wonder that the Hawaiians deified and adored their warrior-king for his surpassing strength, courage, and deeds of prowess ? He was a very demi-god to his people ! Whether we view Kamehameha's perfected work by the light of his military renown, or contemplate his strongly centralized government, welded together from many lesser despotisms, we can but marvel at the genius which conceived and matured such an enterprise in youth, which organized and maintained a stupendous army, and which handled it with the strategic ability of a born general. In boyhood, as we have seen, Kame'hame'ha acquired the name of Puhi-kapa, " strangler of sea-snakes." So completely did he strangle every rebellion among the old dynasties, that his government was established more thoroughly than the mailed Norman's in Britain, or the still greater Corsican's in Gaul. ********* Since the conquest of Oahu, the Nuuanu Valley has been deemed classic ground by all true lovers of the Hawaiian Islands. It is a most romantic spot, justly held dear for its precipitous cliffs, jutting crags, and ro- mantic gorges. Its picturesque beauty and matchless view of surf and sea, its lakes and groves and flowery meadows, together impart a charm which fascinate the resident and stranger alike. What an arena of savage grandeur is the Pali for the final Thermopylae of Hawaii ! What sacred memories flood the mind when we recall the tragic incidents of 388 Kame'hame'ha the Great. that dreadful battle ! The heart thrills as we contem- plate its life-like visions of historic drama come and go before our wondering eyes. Here bare the head and bless the hour for what you see to-day, for, towering like an eagle's eyrie, the pdli now overlooks a paradise of Christian homes, a bewitch- ing panorama of peaceful lands, bounded by land-locked mountains and enclosed by a surf-lashed shore. These are Nature's best balm to dispel our sadness and assuage our tears after sorrowing over a nation's bereavement, when standing where a once martial kingdom was lost and won. Stand with us on the dizzy brink of the precipitous pdli, over which the Giant Guard spear-tossed a thou- sand defeated soldiers into the plain below. Hark to the wild clang of that long-gone battle of savage men ! It rings down the century as if it were fought but yester- day. Its final clash of spears still echoes among the wooded crags above us, where the screaming tropic-birds circle about their nests to-day as on that day of battle. Here, on this bare black rock, Oahu's youthful hero fought and fell. And here Love still lies bleeding upon her dead king, as when their loved island was made a kingless land. Look through your blinding tears and see his golden mamo stabbed through and through by a score of daggers. There, above you, hangs the beetling crag where Kalani's newly-wedded queen crouched among her maidens, watching through her tears to see her royal lover fight and fall ; then leaping like a wild antelope from the high crag, in answer to his dying call, Kupule died broken-hearted on the pierced breast of her dead king, in the first flush of her beauty and in the dawn of her love. A HAWAIIAN GLOSSARY. The ancient language had but twelve letters, in the following order : A, E, I, O, U, H, K, L, M, N, P, W. The vowel sounds are uniform, varying only as they are long or short. A, has the sound of a in father ; e, of a in fate ; i, of e in me ; o, of o in note ; and u, of oo in good. Neither words nor syllables ever end in consonants. Most syllables contain but one or two letters, never more than three. Words are mostly accented on the penult, and are pronounced, in spelling, as O-a-hu, A-16-ha, and Ho-no-lu-lu, A'-a, hard lava, or pumice A'-e, an assent, yes Ai, to eat Ai-a-lo, privileged to eat with the king Ai-Kanaka, man-eater, cannibal Ai-ka-ne, friend of same sex Ao, a cloud, the day Ao-kea, white cloud Ao-ula, red cloud Ao-uli, blue cloud Ao-le, no, not ; a universal negative Au, the time Au-moe, time to sleep Au-we, alas ! oh ! A'-hi, fire, fiery A'-hu A'-lii, Council of Chiefs 389 390 Glossary. A'-hu Ula, red feather cloak ; the color worn by chiefs A-ke, to tattle ; to tell lies A-ku-a, God, the Deity ; any supernatural being A'-lii, a chief A'-lii Nii-i, a great chief A'-lii Ka-pu, a tabu chief, a priest A'-lii Pio, chief of high rank A'-lii Ni-au-pio, the highest rank, born of brother and sister A-lii wo-hi, chief of rank next the king A-16-ha ! love to you ; a greeting or a farewell A-na-a'-na, praying to god Ouli to kill A'nu, a sacred enclosure. The " Holy of Holies " A'-pu, a cup made of cocoa-nut shell A'-wa, a plant ; an intoxicant made from its root A-la-pai, path to justice. An ancient king 'E, yes, synonymous with A-e E-a, the spirit, the breath, the life E'-e, distant, out of sight E-le-le, a herald, an embassador E-le-e-le, dark, black, brown E'-pa, false, deceitful I-a-o, name of a noted valley and river on Maui la-lo'-a, to embalm the dead I-i'-wi, a red bird, from which chiefs' cloaks were made I-6-le, a mouse ; iole nui, a rat I'-he, a spear I-le-na, a general burial-place I-li-o, dog ; I-li'-o po-li, breast-nursed dog I'-mu, a baking-place, an earth-oven I'-no, bad, sinful I-nu, to drink, to be drunk I-pu, a gourd cup O, of ; also an imperative prefix O-a-hu, to split. The island O'-e, thou, you O'-o, a royal tabued bird O'-he, bamboo, a hollow reed Glossary. 391 O-he-lo, whortleberry O-he-lo pa-pa, strawberry O-hi-a, a red apple, the tree O'-ho, hair, scalp-lock O-hti, fog, mist, smoke O'-le, no, not ; used after a noun, as Ao-le is used before it O'-li, joy, pleasure O'-li-o'-li, to sing joyfully O-lu-lo, shipwreck O-mo, to nurse O'-no, sweetness O'-pu, the belly, which is deemed the seat of thought ; the soul O-wai, who ? what person ? U, the breast, breast-milk U'-a, to weep, to mourn U-ao, a cat, to mew as a cat U-ha-ne, the soul ; a spirit, a ghost U'-la, red, color of a flame U'-lu, bread fruit U'-mi, keep the secret ; hide your emotions. Name of several great chiefs U-po-lu, name of a cape Hae, a flag, a banner Ha-6-le, a foreigner Ha-ku, lord, master Ha-le, house Ha-le a-ka-la, House of the sun. Crater on Maui Ha-le mau-mau, House of everlasting fire. The crater Ha-ma-kua, gap in the ridge. A district on Hawaii Ha-wai-i, the island He-le, go, move on Hei'-au, a heathen temple He-le mai, come here Bancroft Library He-6-ha, scalping the dead He-wa, sin, wrong He-wa-he-wa, "crazy." Kamehameha's high-priest Hi-lo, new moon, to twist Hii-la-we, to " carry in arms." The famous falls of Waipio 392 Glossary. Ho-a-no, sacred, holy Ho-ao, marriage to test the affections H6-e, to row, to paddle Ho-ku, a star, the young moon H6-pe, or Ho-pe-na, the end, finish Ho-no-lu-lu, a " calm spot." Town of Hoo-pa-lau, single combat, betrothed Hu-a, fruit, an offspring Hu-a oo, ripe fruit Hti-hu, to be angry, to offend Hu-la-a-na, " to swim round the cliff." The great pdli of Wai- manu where the naval battle was fought by the three kings Hu-la, music, dancing, singing Hu-na-ke-le, hiding the dead chief's bones Ka, definite article, but spelled Ke before nouns beginning with K Ka ! exclamation of surprise, anger, a profane curse Kai, the sea Kai-koo, high surf Kai'-ko, constable Ka-i'-li, the king's war god Ka-6, a peace-maker Kau, the season. Name of a district Kau-ai, fruitful season Ka-u, mine, to me Ka-hu, guardian, nurse Ka-hu-na, priest, a professor Ka-lo (taro), an esculent root Ka-pu (tabu), sacred, holy, forbidden. System of heathen worship Ka-pu we'-la, "prostrate or die," " bow to the chief or be burnt " Ka-pa (tapa), bark cloth, a garment Ka-pu Ka-ne, human sacrifice Ka-pu hii-a, fruit sacrifice Ka-pii pu-a-a, hog sacrifice Ka-ne, a male. The god Ka-na-ka, a common man Kau-lua, double canoe Kau-wa, a servant Kau-la, a prophet Glossary. 393 Ka-hi'-li, fly brush Ke, article the Ke-a, white. Name of the mountain Ke-i'-ki, a child of either sex Ke-la, that Ki' (ti), a shrub with sweet root and healing leaves Ki-ai, a guard Ki-ai-poo, King's guard during sleep Ki-u, a spy, to spy Ki-ha Pu, the shell trumpet to call up the genii Ki'-hei, a tapa cape Ki'-lo, a magician, a judge Kii, an idol, statue, picture Ki-mo-po, plot to assassinate, a secret rebellion Ki-pa, a rebel, a revolt Ko, sugar, sugar-cane Ko-a, the great canoe tree Ko-i', an adze, an axe Ko-ha-na, naked, destitute Ko-ko-lo, to creep or bow down when saluting the king Koo-lau, falling leaf Ko-na, S. or S. W. wind Kii, right, proper Ku-ku-i, candle-nut tree, a torch Kuu-la, the god of fishermen Ku-li-a, a beauty, desire for beauty Ku-kii-ni, to burn in sacrifice Ku-lou, to bow in grief (LIST OF IMPORTANT NAMES AND THEIR MEANING.) Ka-me-ha-me-ha (Kah-may-hah-may-hah), " The Lonely One " Ka-la-ni, " heavenly." The last king of Oahu Ka-la-ni-o-puu, "budding heaven." Last king of Hawaii before the conquest Ka-he-ki'-li, the " Thunderer." Last king of Maui Ka-pi-o-la-ni, " Captive of Heaven." The heroic wife of Nai'-he Kai-a-na, "sea of trouble." The traitor chief who deserted to Kalani Ka-lai-mo-ku, " quiet the land." The premier, Billy Pitt 394 Glossary. Ka-lai-ma-no, the shark. Chief who killed Captain Cook. Ka-lai-pa-hoa, the poison god, made from the Nioi tree Ka-lo'-la, " neglected." Queen of Hawaii, and mother of King Kiwalao Ka-lo'-le, " woven cloth," a chief ess Ka-la-ma, " torchlight," Queen of K. III. Kaa-hu-ma-nu, "Feather Mantle." The love-queen of the Con- queror Ka-la-ku-a, "way of the gods." Sister of Feather Mantle and wife of K. I. Ka-6-lei-6-ku, the " secret garland." A natural son of K. I., who was spared at the assassination of Keoua Kai-lu-a, " two seas." Place where the old king died Ka-la-kau-a, "day of battle." The present king Ka-mee-i-mo-ku, the pirate chief who captured the " Fair American " Ka-ma-ne-wa, this, and the last-mentioned chief, were the " Maui Twins," sent by Kahekili to guard Kamehameha in his youth Ka-wai-hae, " torn waters," Town of Kee-au-mo-ku, " swim to the ship." The giant chief who did most to establish the Conqueror. Father of " Feather Mantle," and two other wives of the king. Who killed Kiwalao at the battle of Keei. Who assassinated Keoua and seven companion chiefs after they had surrendered Ke-o-ua, ' ' rain-food. " The warrior-king who resisted Kamehameha for nine years. Pele having destroyed 400 of his army, he surren- dered and was assassinated at Kawaihae Ke-ku-hau-pi f -o, " captive winds." The renowned general whom Cook shot in the thigh, while protesting his brother Ka-li'-mu's death by Cook's boats. He who taught the art of war to Kame- hameha Ke-6-pu-o-la'-ni, " clouds in the heaven." Kiwalao's widowed queen. State queen of K. I. Mother of K. II. and K. III. Ke-a-we, ancient king of Hawaii Ke-ao, a "legend." King of Kauai Ke-kau-li'-ke, to " hang even." An ancient Maui king Ke-6-ne A'-na, John Young, the white chief Ke-ku-pu-6-hi, a queen and poetess Ke-ei, town where the king fought his first battle Glossary. 395 Ki-lau-e-a, " shooting fire." The active volcano Ki-wa-la-o, " rebellious." Left as joint king with Kamehameha Ko-ni-a, "disobedient," wife of Paki, and mother of Mrs. Bishop Ku-a-ki'-ne, Gov. Adams Ku-pu-le, "prayerful." Kalani's queen La, the sun La-au, trees La-e, a cape or headland La-e loa, long cape Lau, a leaf, an herb Lau-a, dual, they two, we two Lau-ha-la, the Pandanus La-ni, heaven, heavenly La-pu, a night-coming spirit Le'i (lae), a wreath, necklace of beads, shells, or flowers Le-hu-a, the first slain ; to be sacrificed Le-a-hi, " wreath of fire." Diamond Head Le-le, an altar, to leap Le-pa, the tabu flag placed to guard sacred places Li'-li, jealousy Li-li'-o, gluttonous Li'-lo, lost, gone, taken Li-li'-ha, "fat of hogs." A chiefess L6-a, long, a measure of time or distance. The mountain L6-mi, or lomi-lomi, to rub, knead the body L6-no, the god of fruit and flowers Lu'-a, to kill by breaking the bones Lu-a, a pit Lu-a Pe-le, a volcano Lu-ku, beaten, slaughtered in battle Ma, at, by, in, through Ma-a, a sling used in battle Maa-le'-a, cunning, crafty. Bay of Ma-i, come Mai-a, banana Mai-ka, a stone used in bowling Mai'-kai, good, handsome, correct Mai-ko-la, worthless, contemptible 396 Glossary. Ma-6-li, true, pure Mau-na, mountain Ma-u-ka, inland from the sea i ^ in constant use Ma-kai, toward the sea f Ma-he-le, to cut, divide, circumcision Ma-hi'-na, the moon Ma-ho-pe, behind, after Ma-hu-a, to mock, to deride Ma-ka'-po, blindness Ma'-ke, death, to die, the dead Ma-ka-hi'-ki, New-Year Ma-li'-e ! hush, be quiet, be calm Ma-li-hi'-ni, a stranger Ma'-lo, a strip of tapa cloth worn about the loins Ma'-mo, the yellow war cloak of royalty. Red cloaks were worn by the chiefs ; black, by the priests Ma-na-o, a thought, plan, purpose Ma-na-o la-ni, a heavenly thought Ma-na-o la-na, a floating thought Me-a, a thing, a person Me-ha, alone, lonely Me-ha-me-ha, "Lonely One" Me-le, a song, to sing Me-le i-n6-a, to chant one's pedigree Mi-o-mi-o, sloping. A companion of the king's Mi'-hi, to eat poi with the fingers Mi'-lu, Hell, the place of departed spirits Mo'-a, a fowl Moa-a-lii, the sea god to whom sacrifice was made Mo'-e, a bed, to sleep Mo-e-pu, companion in death M6-i, the sovereign chief, the king Mo-6, a lizard Moo-o-le-lo, history, tradition Moo-ka-hu-na, historian, or history-making priest Mo-hai, to sacrifice Mo'-ku, an island, a ship Mu'-ki, to kiss Mu-li-wai, a river Glossary. 397 Mo-ku-a-weo-weo, a "red crack in the land." Crater on Mauna Loa Mo-lo-kai, " parting the seas." The island Mo-ka-pu, broken tabu. N. cape of Oahu Na, the plural sign placed before nouns Na-au-a6, a teacher ; a person of enlightened bowels Na-au-po, dark-hearted Na-lo, a fly Na-lu, the surf, a billow Na-na, to bark Na-ne, a pedigree told in allegory Na-ni, glorious, beautiful Ni-6-i, poison tree of Molokai Ni-ho, a tooth Ni-ho pa-la-6-a, an ivory tooth Ni-u, cocoa-nut, the tree No, of, for ; same as O or ko No-a, to release from tabu N6-ho, a chair, a seat N6-ni, a plant used to sanctify the dying Nu-i, large, great, much, many Nu-u-lu, a shade, an umbrella Nai'-he, " the spear." The great national orator Na-ma-ha-na, "warm-hearted." The Maui queen; mother of Feather Mantle and two other wives of K. I. Na-ma-ke-ha, "puffed with pride." Brother of Kaiana, also a traitor to the king Nuu-a-nu, " even temperature." The valley Pa, a wall, an enclosure Pad, keep secret, be silent Pa-ao, the "guard wall." The renowned priest, and first white man known to Hawaii Pa-e, to land, to go ashore Pa-e-pu, roar of the sea Pa-he-lo, to throw a spear Pa-hi, sword, edged with shark's teeth Pa-h6-a, a dagger Pa-hu, a drum used at the heiaus 398 Glossary. Pa-f-na, to eat Pa-ki, a ti hedge Pa-ki, to divide the water. The chief Pa-kii, a curtain Pa-la-6-a, an ivory ornament. Insignia of rank Pa-li, a precipice Pa-pu, a fort Pa-u, a tapa petticoat Pau-a-hi, "consumed by fire." The chief ess Mrs. Bishop Pe-le, the fabled goddess of volcanoes ; the dominant deity of Hawaii Pe-pe-hi, " man-killer." The priest Pe-po, black. Pepehi's assassin Pi-li-ki-a, trouble, difficulty, danger Pi'-o, a captive, a prisoner P6, night, darkness ; in distinction to A6, day. Nights are named after three phases of the moon P6 Hi-lo (first phase), new moon, seen on the west side of the island at eve. Po Mo-ha-lu, moon at quarter, seen over the islands at sunset Po H6-ku, full moon, rising at sunset Poe-ho-e-ho-e, satin lava P6-i, food made from taro, potatoes, bread-fruit Po-la, platform of a double canoe Po-li, the bosom, the breast Po-16-lu, a long spear P6-no, good, right, proper Poo-lu-a, a bastard Po-wa, to rob, a robber Pu, a shell horn, a gun Pu-a, a blossom, a flower Pu-a-a, a hog Pu-a-li, a life-guard, company of soldiers Pu-a-wai, flowing from. The " Punch-Bowl" crater at Honolulu Pu-ka, a door, a gate Pu-ka pa-ka-ka, private door, sacred to the king. Pu-ko-ha-la, "the gun begets sin." Heiau built by K. I. Pu-le, a prayer ; to pray Pu-lu, the silk of fern trees Glossary. 399 Pu-na, coral Pu-na-wai, a spring, a well Pu-na he-le, a bosom friend Pu-pu-le, insane Puu-ho-nu-a, " City of Refuge." A retreat during war Pu-wa-hi, tapa flag of war canoes Wa, private talk, gossip about others Wa-a, a canoe Wai, fresh water ; distinct from kai, sea-water Wai O'-ha, holy water Wai-o'-li, singing water Wai-u, breast-water or milk Wai-ki-ki, spouting water. Town of Wai-le-le, leaping water, water-fall. The Priestess Wai-lvi-a, two waters Wai-lu-ku, destructive waters Wai-lii-lu, shaking water Wai-ma-nu, water bird. The valley of Wa-hi-ne, a woman, a wife. Wa-hii-pu, " reason without anger." The priest, father of Wailele Wa-na-na, prophecy ; the will of God W r ai-pi-o, captive water. The valley of Wi, famine, destitution Wi-ki, quick Wf-ki wi'-ki, quicker, hurry Wi-wo, timid, modest Wi-wo 6-le, fearless FINIS.