262 Fornander Collection of Hawaiian Folk-lore. 



to himself: "It looks as though the hoy will some day go contrary to all the laws that 

 have heretofore governed the apportioning of lands, and I wonder what this chief will 

 do after he has grown up." 



Sometime after this Lonoikamakahiki entered the temple with his retainers 

 and there saw the images standing up in one of the corners, when he asked of his 

 retainers: "Who are those persons standing there within the wall?" His parents and 

 retainers replied : "They are not persons ; the}/ are the gods of our parents, your grand- 

 parents." When Lonoikamakahiki heard that the images were gods he was sore 

 afraid ' and held on to his parents with all his strength, for he had been told by his 

 playmates that ghosts were things to be avoided and feared, and he thought the images 

 were the ghosts. Because Lonoikamakahiki held on to his parents they said to him: 

 "You must not be afraid; what j'ou see are not ghosts; they are the gods who own 

 this place." Lonoikamakahiki then asked of his parents: "What are they good for?" 

 The parents made reply : "The reason why they are kept is this : If in case of battle 

 one is taken captive or defeated, they offer a prayer to the gods, and then the gods will 

 direct the person to safety. If, on the other hand, a canoe is capsized out in mid-ocean, 

 prayers are offered to the gods and those in the canoe will be saved. If a season of 

 famine should come, pra3'ers are offered to the gods and the food would again appear 

 out of the earth. These are some of the benefits why a god should be kept." Lono- 

 ikamakahiki then said to his father, Keawenuiaumi: "That makes three things in your 

 keeping that are of value. I will take care of these things." 



Sometime after Lonoikamakahiki had outgrown his childhood days and had 

 almost attained manhood, he began to learn the art of dodging and throwing the spear; 

 he also learned how to box and wrestle. These things were in time mastered by him. 

 When he became proficient in these arts of defense and of war, the teachers who had 

 charge of his training in these matters then held the last customary ceremonies, as a 

 sign of foretelling how he would act in life. The signs were favorable in all the differ- 

 ent arts with one exception, that of boxing, which, not being favorable in this one thing, 

 he was advised to eliminate this one art from the list of those he was to participate in. 

 In other words, he was forbidden from ever going into any boxing contest. Because of 

 this Lonoikamakahiki relinquished his claims as a boxer. It was in the art of wrest- 

 ling, however, that Lonoikamakahiki proved himself to be the most proficient. 



CHAPTER II. 



How Lonoikamakahiki Searched Into the Most Useful Things. 



When Lonoikamakahiki became older and more matured in thought he ex- 

 pressed a desire to know the things that would be of the most use to him, especially in 

 the games, so he tried each one of them, as well as the different arts of warfare indulged in 

 by his father, the things that were told him by his retainers as the things most desired. 



'This alleged ignorance of idols in one at Lono's age, so closely related to the head of the system, is difficult to 

 understand, unless it was purposely designed by his kcihus (guardians) until he had reached the j^ears of discretion, 

 when he was to be made familiar with the idols and their supposed significance and powers. It was not so in the 

 case of Liholiho who assumed some of the temple services of his father, Kamehameha, at a very early age. 



