666 Poniaudcr CoUcction of Hmvaiian Polk-lorc. 



is the time to plant the stalks. He plants them in this way: he first distributes the 

 stalks among the hills, eight to each hill ; then he plants them. When this is done he 

 waits until the stormy months are over, and long after that, in the month of Kaaona, 

 he goes to throw up the earth on the hills of the potatoes ; when he first obtains po- 

 tato, whether in between hills or from the running vine, he returns with wood, lights 

 the fire in the imu and cooks the potato until it is done. He prays in this manner: 

 "Keaonui, hanging below the eye of the narrow pointed clouds, come to partake of the 

 food." \\'hen the months of Welehu,-''' Makalii-^ and Hinaiaeleele are past, and dur- 

 ing the month of Nana on the day called Mauli, he shows ofif before men and women, 

 and placing a wreath of flowers on his head, he would sally forth to dig potatoes in 

 the ])resence of these men and women. Then the improvidents would call out, "Say, 

 this is my potato hill;" [and another] "And this is mine;" they would forbid each other 

 by saving, "Don't you come to get mine." They would then dig and obtain potatoes, 

 r.ut they are not of large size; they are small. There is one way of keeping the fam- 

 ily in food, [that is] to care for the leaves [of the potato] ; that is the food with which 

 to feed the family if there be no tubers. One would say thus: "Anyway, these are 

 not the months when potatoes bear plentifully ; these are months when leaves grow rank 

 and the stalks swell large. This month is the time to plant in order to bear." On the 

 day called Hilo the planter obtains some stalks, the ones called kola, nika, piikeleazvc, 

 Itiiaka, lapa, and liuaiiioa.-'' Prepare them in the manner previously stated. When the 

 day called Hoaka arrives then is the time to plant ; set them out in the manner explained 

 above; and when Ikiiki is past the planter would be relieved, for he realizes that his 

 family is saved ; the days called Olekukahi, Olekulua and Olekupau are the days dur- 

 ing which to hill up potatoes ; then he waits until the days called Mohalu, Hua, Akua, 

 Hoku, Mahealani and Kulu, and the last day, Akua, he visits the potato field at the 

 time that the constellation called Taurus rises; arriving at the corner of his field, he 

 prays in this manner; "O Kanepuaa,-" root towards the mountain, root towards the 

 sea; root towards the wind, root towards the calm, root in the middle of this our potato 

 field ! O Kanepuaa ! do thou root from that corner to this corner, from that border to 

 this border, from that side to this side, so fruit would appear at the end of the stalk, 

 along the stalk, and the roots which creep between hills." 



After he has finished this prayer he waits until Kaloakukahi, Kaloakulua, and 

 Kaloapau are past, and on the day called Kane, the husband and the wife prepare ko-ko 

 (nets) for the potatoes; on the day called Lono, prepare for digging the potatoes. 

 There are only three potatoes in a hill ; large indeed. ( An old man showed me the 

 measure, and when I measured it, it was three feet in circumference; it made me feel 

 like cultivating potatoes on account of those big tubers.) The husband and wife then 

 return and cook a pig with the potatoes. 



[unfinished.] 



"'Welehu, October- November. "More varieties of sweet potatoes. 



"Malcalii, November-December. ""Kanepuaa, a god of agriculture. 



