374 



Fornander Collection of Hawaiian Folk-lore. 



Like the sea-gull flapping its wings when 



about to fall.' 

 Kauai, 

 Great Kauai inherited from ancestors.^ 



Sitting in the calm of Waianae 

 no Kaena is a point,' 



Kahulcu is hala-wreathed. 



Covered with dew is the back of Kaala;'' 



There below doth Waialua sit, 



That is Waialua. 

 1 15 Mokuleia with its dish of Kahala; 



A fish-pond, like cooked' shark, 



The tail of the hammer-headed shark is 

 Kaena, 



The shark that travels at the bottom of 

 Kauai, 



At the bottom of Kauai my land; 

 120 O Kauai ! 



Ku is sailing to Kauai 



To see the worm-eyed oopu of Hanaka- 

 piai; 



Ku is returning to Oahu 



To see the transient oopu,*" 

 125 The shameful fish of Kawainui 



Floating near the surface of the water. 



When the hala is ripe the neck becomes 

 red;' 



'Tis a sign of Ku, 



He has now landed. O Kauai! 

 130 Great island of lehua is Kauai; 



Like a moving island in the sea. 



Like a moving island toward Tahiti — 



Looking from Tahiti while Wakea"^ has 

 the sun — 



Invited, « Kona first meets the eye, 

 135 Growing up as though from Kumuhonua, 



Rattling the foundations of Hawaii of Kea,'° 



Pointing to the early rays" of the sun; 



Kona is visible to the eye — 



Kona is plainly seen, 

 140 Kohala stretches forth'^ in the distance. 



Tahiti! Whose is Tahiti? 



For Ku indeed. 



Tahiti, that island stretched far across the 

 ocean. 



Land where Olopana'^ once dwelt. 

 145 Within is the land, without is the sun; 



Approaching that land the sun hangs low.'< 



Perchance you have seen it? 



I have seen it — 



I have indeed seen Tahiti, '^ 

 150 Tahiti where the language is strange. 



To Tahiti belong the people who ascend 



To the backbone''' of heaven. 



And while above they tread 



And look down below. 

 155 There are none like us in Tahiti. 



Tahiti has but one kind of people, the 

 haole.'' 



They are like unto gods; 



I am like a man. 



A man indeed, 

 160 Wandering about, and the only one who 

 got there.''* 



Kukahi is past, Kulua comes next; 



'■Kala'ina — kala ia ana e hina, loosened that it fall. 



^ Kuapapa, an inheritance or fixed residence. 



^The northwesterly point of Oahu. 



'Kaala, the high mountain of the Waianae range; 

 the ridge running down to the sea, suggesting the form 

 of a shark. 



^ Lawalu is to cook in ti-leaf. 



•■The oo/i?< (gobies) of Kawainui were famed for not 

 swimming away from the hand of the fisher, but rather 

 clinging to one's skin in the water. 



' Referring to the wreaths of hala, or pandanus fruit. 



'U'akea, Kea, the god of below; not Wakea the king. 

 Tahiti is used here in a double sense, as referring not 

 only to foreign lands, but also to the east (hikina), i. e., 

 the coming or rising of the sun. 



'> Kolohia — konoia, i.e., the sun is invited. Kona, on 

 Hawaii, suggested by the above allusion to the east. 



^^ Papa, the foundation table of I.onononuiakea. 



" k'uhia — kii/iiia, )itiw the upper portion, the rays 

 pointing upward at sunrise; same word as the budding 

 of plants. 



" A'f Made in former published versions, rendered 

 darkness, is here given as ke moe la which, in contrast 

 to Kona plainly seen, is, Kohala stretches forth in the 

 dim distance. 



^^ Olopana, a foreign chief who visited Hawaii and 

 left again. 



^' Aloalo, the receding of the sun far to the south; evi- 

 dently referring to some voyagers who had been to the 

 north. This is a most remarkable passage of ancient 

 poetry. — C. J. Lyons. If aloalo is the elusive, mirage 

 idea, suggested by Fornander, it would imply that the 

 Tahiti dealt with here was a mysterious receding island, 

 not borne out by the conte.Yt. 



'^ Kualii had been to foreign lands. 



"" A'tiamoo, lizard back — path. Compare the old story 

 of Pha;ton. 



"This is supposed to be the first reference to for- 

 eigners. 



"A lone voyager in a strange land of stranger people. 

 The foreign land referred to as Tahiti is often confused 

 with Tahiti of the Society Islands. 



