200 I'oniaiulcr i'ollccfioii of FJa^vaiiaii I'olk-Iorc. 



kill all the chiefs he did not intend to kill Keavvenuiamui, because, as he reasoned, Kea- 

 wenuiaunii was already well on in years. But Keawenuiaumi' was afraid of Kalaepuni 

 and he made his plans to escape and to get out from the presence of Kalaepuni. 



Shortly after the events narrated above, Kalaepuni went out fishing with some 

 of Keawenuiaumi's fishermen to the fishing grounds outside of Kalahiki; they went out 

 shark fishing. After some of the bait was thrown out the sharks began to gather under 

 the canoe, when the baited hooks were let down and several sharks were caught and 

 hauled into the canoe. While Keawenuiaumi's men were hauling the sharks up, Kalae- 

 ])uni jumi^ed out amongst the sharks that were gathered under the canoe and began to 

 fight them/ killing them all. After killing all the sharks, Kalaepuni began boasting, say- 

 ing: "Henceforth I shall use my hands as hooks for catching sharks and shall make all 

 sharks as dust in my hands." 



After they had been fishing for some time they returned and landed their canoe 

 at Honaunau where a large kou tree was standing. This was a very large tree requir- 

 ing three men to span its girth. Kalaepuni, however, took hold of the tree and pulled 

 it up by the roots' as though it was but a blade of grass, so resistless was it. After 

 ])ulling up the tree he again boasted, saying: "I am going to turn my hands into an axe 

 for the cutting down of trees for canoes in Hilo." 



Because of these feats of great strength shown by Kalaepuni before the king, 

 Keawenuiaumi became more and more afraid of him and he went and hid himself in a 

 ])lace back of the Hualalai mountain, between Maunaloa and the Kona mountain. The 

 ])lace after this became famous because it was here that Keawenuiaumi lived in hiding, 

 near the Ahu-a-Umi" as can be seen to this day, lying back of the Kona mountain and 

 in the eastern part of that district. 



Before Keawenuiaumi went off to hide himself, he left word with one of his 

 servants, Maunaloa by name, as follows: "I am now on my way. If Kalaepuni comes 

 while you are here, tell him that 1 am dead."' The servant consented to do this. Kea- 

 wenuiaumi then de]:)arted on his way to the ])lace mentioned above. After the depar- 

 ture of Keawenuiaumi, Kalaepuni arrived at the house and asked Maunaloa as to the 

 whereabouts of the king. Maunaloa answered that the king was dead. Kalaepuni then 

 took charge of the whole island of Hawaii and he reigned as king in place of Keawe- 

 nuiaumi. 



While Keawenuiaumi w'as in the mountain he one day said to his high priest,* 

 Mokupane: "You nuist invoke the gods for the death of Kalaepuni that 1 may again 

 reign as king of the whole of Hawaii." Soon after this request of the king was made, 

 Mokupane the priest sent two forties of men to Kahoolawe on canoes to dig a welT ten 

 fathoms in depth and to ])lace large rocks around the mouth of the well. The name of 



"This successor of Unii seems to have lost all his habitations, the purpose or object of which is not fully 



father's power and strength of character. known. 



'This act, showing courage anj skill, has its couiUer- 'A falsehnud ihat Kal.iriiuni quickly took advantage 



part in various traditions. In this case it materially of, as his successor, 



aided his game of bluff. 'Evidently a period of quiet meditation induced sober 



'.-K story indicative of his great strength, aimed to ad- second thought tliat called for prie^lly .aid to strengthen 



vance his fame and interests, and intimidate the king. the throne. 



"This memorial pile of king Unii, on the plateau of "Well digging was uiuisual among llawaiians. Prob- 



central Hawaii at an elevation of some sooo feet, is ably the only instance known up to the dawn of civiliza- 



remarkable in several features. It not only is the sole tion in these islands, was the attempt by Kamehameha 



structure of the kind, of hewn stone, hut isolated from to sink a well near the south point of Hawaii. 



