76 Fornandcr Collection of Haivaiian Folk-lore. 



7. KNOWLEDGE OF A DIVINER PRIEST RELATING TO HOUSE POSITIONS. 



Supposing that three houses are erected on the same ground, and that one of the 

 houses stands in the rear of the other two houses (as in Figure i A), then the diviner 

 priest will come and look upon them standing thus and remark: "The positions of the 

 houses are improper; the consequence to said houses will be constant quarreling be- 

 cause one house stands behind the other two ; the house which stands in the rear will be 

 the one to raise the tumult, which can only discontinue by breaking up the rear house." 



Supposing that two houses are built in line (as shown in Figure i B ). If a chief 

 of the island or a division chief owns the lower house, and a farmer, a low farmer, owns 

 the taller house, when the ])riest comes and finds the houses standing thus, he will say: 

 "One of these houses will be profitable; it is the taller house; the fortunes of the owner of 

 the lower house will be i)ossessed by the owner of the higher one." But if the houses 

 stand alike and of the same height, the diviner priest will ])ronounce the houses good, 

 because they are not in opposition to each other. And if several houses in one or two 

 rows were all alike, having similar positions and corresjwnding heights excejit one, 

 which towers above the others in the rows of houses, then the jjricst will come, and 

 if he finds them standing thus, he will say: "Of all those houses one will be profitable; 

 the one with the high roof is their lord, and the one who will rule over the i)eople (those 

 who own the lower houses)." 



If, however, two houses are standing in one place facing each other, the en- 

 trance to one house being directly opposite to that of the other, when the diviner priest 

 finds the houses standing thus, if one belongs to a division overseer and the other to a 

 section overseer, the priest will say: "One of them will lose his stewardship." This, 

 liowever, refers onl}- to the owners of the houses so standing. 



8. DIVINING A LOCATION UPON WHICH TO BUILD A HOUSE. 



There are various locations for the building of a house; it is not proper for a 

 house to be built without a diviner priest being sent for. 



The location. Supi)osing that a house is standing on the side of a ]M-ecipice, with 

 the front of the house facing the clifif and its entrance is directly opposite said clifif, when 

 the diviner priest comes and finds the house standing in such a position, he will say: 

 "That is a bad situation, the name of it being a lelcopn" location. There are two im- 

 portant significations in its position : either the occupants will all die, or they will remove 

 to some other locality, which will make the place desolate." If a house is built upon a 

 knoll or hill the predictions are the same as the house standing on the side or edge of a 

 preci]}ice. This location has two appellations, leleopu and liolua.^' If the diviner priest 

 finds that the locations are improper, but discovers a way of making them favorable, then 

 houses may be Iniilt thereon. Should a house be built at the foot of a knoll, with bluffs on 

 one side, then the character of the location is the same as that of the lelcopn and holua. 



"Leleopu, this ttrnied iinfavoraljle house situation is ''Holiuu tlie name of a sled and game tlierewith in 



based on the supposition that the spirits from the cliffs coasting down hill; also its runway, or path. Its appli- 



could leap upon and too readily enter the dwelling to cation to a house located as described might be the fear 



dispossess its tenants. or possibility of its sliding down the hill, though it 



would not apply to the next paragraph. 



