16 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 38 



assemblage of wild youth who might see fit to take the work in hand. 

 There were formalities that must be observed, songs to be chanted, 

 prayers to be recited. It was necessary to bear in mind that when 

 one deflowered the woods of their fronds of ie-ie and fern or tore 

 the trailing lengths of maile — albeit in honor of Laka herself — the 

 body of the goddess was being despoiled, and the despoiling must be 

 done with all tactful grace and etiquette. 



It must not be gathered from this that the occasion was made sol- 

 emn and oppressive with weight of ceremony, as when a temple was 

 erected or as when a tabu chief Avalked abroad, and all men lay with 

 their mouths in the dust. On the contrary, it was a time of joy and 

 decorous exultation, a time when in prayer-songs and ascriptions of 

 praise the poet ransacked all nature for figures and allusions to be 

 used in caressing the deity. 



The following adulatory prayer (kdnaende) in adoration of 

 Laka was recited while gathering the woodland decorations for the 

 altar. It is worthy of preservation for its intrinsic beauty, for the 

 spirit of trustfulness it breathes. We remark the petitions it utters 

 for the growth of tree and shrub, as if Laka had been the alma mater 

 under whose influence all nature budded and rejoiced. 



It would seem as if the physical ecstasy of the dance and the sen- 

 suous joy of all nature's finery had breathed their spirit into the as- 

 piration and that the beauty of leaf and flower, all of them familiar 

 forms of the god's metamorphosis — accessible to their touch and for 

 the regalement of their senses — had brought such nearness and dear- 

 ness of affection between goddess and worshiper that all fear wa? 

 removed. 



He kanaende no Laka 



A ke kua-liiwi, i ke kua-lono. 

 Ku ana o Laka i ka mauua : 

 Noho ana o Laka i ke po'o o ka ohu. 



Laka kumu hula, 



5 Nana i a'e ka wao-kele," 



Kahi, kahi i raoli'a i ka pua'a, 



1 ke po'o piia'a, 



• He pua'a hiwa na Kane.* 



» Wao-k61e. That portion of the mountain forest where grew the monarch trees was 

 called wao-kele or wao-maukele. 



* T^a Kane. Why was the offering, the black roast porkling, said to be for Kane, who 

 was not a special patron, au-makua, of the hula? The only answer the author has been 

 able to obtain from any Hawaiian is that, though Kane was not a god of the hula, he was 

 a near relative. On reflection, the author can see a propriety in devoting the reeking 

 flesh of the swine to god Kane, while to the sylvan deity, Laka, goddess of the peaceful 

 hula, were devoted the rustic offerings that were the embodiment of her charms. Her 

 image, or token — an uncarved block of wood — was set up in a prominent part of the 

 kuahu, and at the close of a performance the wreaths that had been worn by the actors 

 were draped about the image. Thus viewed, there is a delicate propriety and significance 

 in such disposal of the pig. 



