XXITI.— THE HULA PA-TIUA 



The hula pa-hua was a dance of the classical times that has long 

 been obsolete. Its last exhibition, so far as ascertained, was in tiie 

 year 1846, on the island of Oahu. In this performance both 

 the olapa and the hoopaa cantillated the mele, while the latter s(itiat- 

 ted on the floor. Each one was armed with a sharp stick of wood 

 fashioned like a javelin, or a Hawaiian spade, the 0-6; and with 

 this he made motions, thrusting to right and to left ; whether in 

 imitation of the motions of a soldier or of a farmer could not be 

 learned. The gestures of these actors were in perfect time with the 

 rhythm of the mele. 



The dance-movements performed by the olapa, as the author has 

 heard them described, were peculiar, not an actual rotation, but a 

 sort of half-turn to one side and then to the other, an advance fol- 

 lowed by a retreat. While doing this the olapa, who were in two 

 divisions, marked the time of the movement by clinking together 

 two pebbles which they held in each hand. 



The use of the pebbles after the manner of castanets, the division of 

 the dancers into two sets, their advance and retreat toward and away 

 from each other are all suggestive of the Spanish bolero or fandango. 

 The resemblance went decider than the surface. The prime motive 

 of the song, the mele, also is the same, love in its different phases 

 even to its most frenzied manifestations. 



Mele 



Pa au i ka ihe a Kane ; "■ 

 Nana ka maka ia Koolau ; ^ 

 Kail ka opua '^ ma ka nioaua. 

 Lu'u a e-a, lu'u a e-a,* 

 5 Hiki i Wai-ko-loa. 

 Aole loa ke kula 

 I ka pai-lani a Kane.^ 

 Ke kane ^ ia no hoi ia 

 Ka liula pe-pe'e 



" Ihe a Kane. The spear of Kane. What else can this lie than that old enemy to 

 man's peace and comfort, love, passion ? 



'> Koolau. The name applied to the weather side of an island ; the direction in which 

 one would naturally turn first to judge of the weather. 



<■ Opua. A bunch of clouds ; a cloud-omen ; a heavenly phenomenon ; a portent. In this 

 case it probably means a lover. The present translation is founded on this view. 



''Lu'u a c-a. To dive and then come up to take breath, as one does in swimming out 

 to sea against the incoming breakers, or as one might do in escaping from a pursuer, or 

 in avoiding detection, after the manner of a loon. 



* A Kane and Ke kane. Instances of word-repetition, previouslj' mentioned as a fashion 

 much used in Hawaiian poetry. See instances also of the same figure in lines 13 and 14 

 and iu lines 10 and 17. 



18M 



