EMERSON] UNWRITTEN LITERATUEE OF HAWAII 189 



first stop was at the little island of Ka-iila, belonging to the Hawaiian 

 group. She tunneled into the earth, but the ocean poured in and put 

 a stop to her work. She had the same experience on Lehua, on 

 Niihau, and on the large island of Kauai. She then moved on to 

 Oahu, hoping for better results; but though she tried both sides of 

 the island, first mount Ka-ala — the fragrant — and then Konahuanui, 

 she still found the conditions unsatisfactory. She passed on to 

 Molokai, thence to Lanai, and to to West Maui, and East Maui, at 

 which last place she dug the immense pit of Hale-a-ka-la ; but every- 

 where she was unsuccessful. Still journeying east and south, she 

 crossed the Avide Ale-nui-haha channel and came to Hawaii, and, 

 after exploring in all directions, she was satisfied to make her home 

 at Kilauea. Here is {ha pik-o o ha honua) the navel of the earth. 

 Apropos of this effort of Pele to make a fire-pit for herself, see the 

 song for the hula kuolo (p. 86), "A pit lies (far) to the east." 



Mele 



A Kauai, a ke olewa " ihma, 

 Ka piia laiia i kai o Wailna ; 

 Nana mai Pele ilaila ; 

 E waiho aku ana o Ahu.* 

 5 Aloha i ka wai niu o ka aina; 

 E ala mai ana mokihana, 

 AVai auau o Hiiaka. 

 Hoo-paapaa Pele ilaila ; 

 Aohe Kan ^ e ulu ai. 

 10 Keelii aku Pele i ka ale kua-loloa, 



He onohi no Pele, ka oaka o ka lani, la. 

 Eli-eli, kau mai ! 



[Translation] 



Song 



To Kanai, lifted in ether, 

 A floating flower at sea off Wailua — 

 That way Pele turns her gaze. 

 She's bidding adieu to Oahu, 

 5 Loved land of new wine of the palm. 



There comes a perfumed waft— mokihana — 

 The bath of the maid Hiiaka. 

 Scene it was once of Pele's contention, 

 Put by for future attention. 

 10 Her foot now spurns the long-backed wave ; 

 The phosphor burns like Pele's eye. 

 Or a meteor-flash in the sky. 

 Finished the prayer, enter, possess I 



° Oleica. Said to be the name of a wooded region high up on the mountain of Kauai. 

 It is here treated as if it meant the heavens or the blue ether. Its origin is the same 

 with the word leica, the upper regions of the air. 



^ Ahu. In this instance the article still finds itself disunited from its substantive. 

 To-day we have Oahu and Ola'a. 



" Kau. The summer ; time of warm weather ; the growing season. 



