474 Foriiaiidcr Collection of Haivaiian Folk-lore. 



spirit then whispered and at the same time making motions with the hands to remove 

 the dead bodies and pointed down in the bottom of the hole. The wife followed the in- 

 strnctions until she found the bod}^ of Pumaia beneath, all ragged and torn. She then 

 collected the pieces and put them in the kapa cloth, in the form of a bundle, put it on 

 her back and returned home. Upon her arrival at the house Pumaia's spirit told the 

 wife, at the same time pointing at the floor of the house, to remove the mats, dig a hole 

 and conceal the body, before the arrival of the people who would search for the body 

 the next da3^ The wife did as she was told. On the next day a searching party ar- 

 rived looking for the body of Pumaia. The searchers asked Pumaia's wife: "Did you 

 not go and remove the bod}' of your husband last night?" "I do not know anything 

 about it nor have I removed it. Is Pumia then dead? This is the first that I have 

 heard of his death." When the searchers heard this they were certain that the wife 

 could not have removed the body, so they returned [to the king]. 



On the second night, the spirit of Pumaia again came to the wife. The reason 

 for this coming was this: The wife that day looked at her daughter and said: "Yes, I 

 am grieving at our fate as our bones still need blood, not your father as his bones have 

 no blood." At this Pumaia's spirit asked: "What are you two talking low about?" 

 The wife replied: "Nothing, we are just talking about death, not of you of the bloodless 

 bones." Pumaia's spirit then spoke to the wife: "Let us get away from this place. 

 Take me out and take me along." After the bod}- had been dug up, they left Pukoula 

 and walked toward the mountains along the road leading to the junction of Pauoa and 

 the road that leads to the Alekoki pool. They then continued on up toward Maemae, 

 and by dawn of [the next day] they reached Nuuanu. 



On the top of the left hand peak of the Nuuanu Pali where you come down toward 

 Hoowahapohaku and look towards the eastern peaks of the pali and right at the top of 

 this left hand peak is a cave. The spirit of Pumaia flew to this cave and lit there 

 flaming. The wife with the bones of Pumaia and the daughter then climbed up the 

 cliff' until they arrived at the cave, where they made their dwelling. At the end of 

 the fourth day, the last finger' of food for the daughter was eaten up when the mother 

 said: "I am distressed at 3'our fate, the one having bones that need blood. Here we 

 are following after the bones that have no blood, and have left food and meat." When 

 thej' woke up the next morning they saw food, meat and other articles such as kapas, 

 skirts and various other things. All these things had been brought by the spirit of 

 Pumaia from Waikiki. In that one night the spirit had traveled over the whole district. 

 This was carried on for several nights and the food and animals, the fish in the ponds and 

 the growing food were brought to the cave. The spirit of Pumaia kept up these raids 

 until at last it began to raid Kualii's own lands. All the different properties were taken, 

 even the canoes, mats, war helmets, feather capes, calabashes, water gourds and various 

 other things of the house and the land. At night, while the people were asleep, Pumaia's 

 spirit would enter the house, carry out the sleepers and then empty the house of their 

 valuables. Upon waking up in the morning the people would find themselves out of 

 doors and their houses robbed of all the things of value; even the growing crops in the 



■ Illustrative of the ancient custom of hiding dead bodies, despite hardships and difficulties. 

 ' Mikiai, the term for the last fingerful of poi from the calabash. 



