100 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 38 



Mele 



(Ko'ihonua) 



O Wanahili " ka po loa ia Mann'a,^ 

 O ka pii kau kama ^ i Hawaii akea ; 

 O ka pu leina ^ kea a Kiha — 

 O Kiha nui a Pii-lani — ^ 

 5 O Kaiihi kalana-lionu'-a-Kama -J 



O ka maka ioleua s ke hoobaulani i-6 ! 

 O kela kanaka hoali niauna,'' 



Ka Lani kii'i hono i ka nioku.^ 



1 waibona Ivapualii kanaka eha,^' 

 10 Ai' i Kauai, i Oahu, i Maui, 



I Hawaii kahiko o Keawe euaeua,''^ 

 Ke a-a mai la me ke o-liol^o, 

 Ke lapa-lapa la i ka makaui, 

 Makani kua, he Naulu.' 

 15 Kua ka Waihoa i ka Mikioi, 



" Wanahili. A princess of the mythological period belonging to Puna, Hawaii. 



^Manu'a. A king of Hilo, the son of Kane-hili, famous for his skill in spear-throwing, 

 »na("AY(-rolIing, and all athletic exercises. lie was united in marriage, ho-ao, to the lovely 

 princess Wanahili, Tradition deals with Manua as a very lovable character. 



'^ Pu kau kama. The conch (pu) is figured as the herald of fame. Kau is used in the 

 sense of to set on high, in contrast with such a word as waiho, to set down. Kama is the 

 word of dignity for children. 



•^ Pu leina. It is asserted on good authority that the trlton (pu), when approached in its 

 ocean habitat, will often make sudden and extraordinary leaps in an effort to escape. There 

 is special reference here to the famous conch known in Hawaiian story as Kiha-pn. It was 

 credited with supernatural powers as a kupua. During the reign of Umi, son of I>iloa, it 

 was stolen from the heiau in Waipio valley and came into the hands of god Kane. In his 

 wild awa-drinking revels the god terrified Umi and his people by sounding nightly blasts 

 with the conch. The shell was finally restored to King Umi by the superhuman aid of the 

 famous dog Puapua-leua-lena. 



« Kiha-nui a Piilani. Son of Piilani, a king of Maui. He is credited with the formidable 

 engineering work of making a paved road over the mountain palis of Koolau, Maui. 



f Kauhi kalana-honu'-a-Kama. This Kauhi. as his long title indicates, was the son of 

 the famous king, Kama-lala-walu, and succeeded his father in the kingship over Maui and, 

 probably, Lanai. Kama-lala-walu had a long and prosperous reign, which ended, however, 

 in disaster. Acting on the erroneous reports of his son Kauhi, whom he had sent to spy 

 out the land, he invaded the kingdom of Lono-i-ka-makahiki on Hawaii, was wounded and 

 defeated in battle, taken prisoner, and offered up as a sacrifice on the altar of Lono's god, 

 preferring that death, it is said, to the ignominy of release. 



9 I-olena. Roving, shifty, lustful. 



'■ Kanaka lioaJi muunu. Man who moved mountains ; an epithet of compliment applied 

 perhaps to Kiha. above mentioned, or to the king mentioned in the next verse, Kekaulike. 



* Ku't hono i ka nioku. Who bound together into one (state) the islands ISIaui, Molokai, 

 Lanai, and Kahoolawe. This was, it is said, Kekaulike, the fifth king of Maui after Kama- 

 lala-walu. At his death he was succeeded by Kamehameha-nui — to be distinguished from 

 the Kamehameha of Hawaii — and he in turn Ijy the famous warrior-king Kahekili. who 

 routed the invading army of Kalaniopuu. king of Hawaii, on the sand plains of Wailuku. 



i I waihona kapuahi kanaka ehd. This verse presents grammatical difiiculties. The word 

 I implies the imperative, a form of request or demand, though that is probably not the 

 intent. It seems to be a means, authorized by poetical license, of ascribing honor and tabu- 

 glory to the name of the person eulogized, who, the context leads the author to think, was 

 Kekaulike. The island names other than that of Maui seem to have been thrown in for 

 poetical effect, as that king, in the opinion of the author, had no power over Kiiuai. Oahu, 

 or Hawaii. The purpose may have been to assert that his glory reached to those islands. 



^ Keaue enaena. Keawe, whose tabu was hot as a burning oven. Presumably Keawe, 

 the son of Umi, is the one meant. 



' Naulu. The sea-breeze at Waimea, Kauai. 



