224 Fo)ua)ider Collection of Haivaiian Folk-lore. 



Up througli the mountains of Mauna Kea and right back of Kaumana, running 

 towards Hilo, was a short cut over the mountains to the trail of Poliahu and the well 

 of Poliahu at the top of Mauna Kea, the trail leading down to Hilo. It was an old 

 road for those of Hamakua, of Kohala and of Waimea to take when going to Hilo. 

 Therefore, preparations were made and the army ascended the Mauna Kea mountain 

 and descended on the upper side of Hilo, and encamped right back of the stream of 

 Waianuenue, the people of Hilo not knowing that war was coming from the upper 

 side. The Hilo chiefs were therefore unprepared. 



There was a great fisherman from Puueo engaged with a large net at the hee- 

 nehu ' fishing grounds, who noticed the dirty water of the sea and was surprised at the 

 fact. He thought that there was war in the mountains which was the cause of the 

 dirt in the stream. Others contradicted: there was no war; the dirt in the water was 

 the result of a cloudburst causing the muddy stream which flowed down to the sea. 

 But in this the man would not agree with them; he held to the idea that the discolor- 

 ation of the water was caused by the feet of men. He hurriedly pulled his net into 

 his canoe and returned to the shore. He did not wait to dry his net, but seized a long 

 spear, also some taro and a few nehu, and throwing a ki-leaf fishing coat over his back, 

 immediately set out toward the mountain. Nau was the name of the man. 



Nau proceeded till he reached the uppermost retreat of Kaumana, where was a 

 stretch of pili grass. Above this was where the army was encamped. There was a 

 flat stone in the stream on which the man sat and eat of his taro and little fishes. 

 The warriors of Umi-a-Liloa saw that Nau, the great fisherman of Puueo, had taro for 

 food and little fish for his meat. In this place the people of Umi-a-Liloa were in 

 great difficulty ; the road was narrow, and the men of Umi had to come down the pili 

 trail in single file. As they came to the narrowest part each man had to lower 

 himself, feeling for a landing with his feet, while the man's place in hiding was 

 favorable to him, being curved inward, and when the person from the other side made 

 their descent this man would only have to thrust out his long spear, sending him over 

 the cliff to his death. 



This continued for some time and many men were killed by this one man 

 because of the narrowness of the trail, and of its nearness to Kauamoa. Forty men 

 were thus killed. Piimaiwaa, therefore, went to the top of the cliff and on looking 

 down he saw only one man, hugging close to the bank. Then Piimaiwaa muttered to 

 himself: "I'll kill you;" whereupon he leaped down the cliff and caused his [Nan's] 

 death. When Nau was killed there was no one to warn the chiefs of Hilo, and when 

 night came the fighting was being carried down to Hilo. Umi's army were provided 

 with torches, and Umi-a-Liloa knew the king's house in Hilo as also that of the 

 daughter of Kulukulua; these were surrounded by Umi's men, the chiefs of Hilo killed, 

 the daughter of Kvilukulua preserved, and the famous royal ivory necklace of Nanikoki 

 recovered. As the cause of the war was the much desired ivor}^ necklace, at the end 

 of the conflict Hilo and Hamakua became united, with Umi as king. 



1 • 



'A variety or species of small fish, Anchovia purpurea. 



