19(3 BUREAU or AMEEICAN ETHNOLOGY • [ulll. 38 



Scats at the bow and aiiii<lshii)s, 

 Ami the stcersinaii sittinj: astern; 

 Their stroke stirs the ocean to foam — 

 The myth-craft. Kau-meli-eii I 

 10 Now look, the white gleam of an eye — • 

 It is Nilien. the turbnlent one — 

 An eye like the white sandy shore. 

 Amen, possess me ! 



The melc now to be given h;is the form of a serenade. Etiquette 

 forbade anj^one to Avake the king b}^ rude touch, but it was permissi 

 ble for a near rehitive to touch his feet. AMien the exigencies of 

 business made it necessary for a messenger, a herald, or a courtier to 

 disturb the sleeping monarch, he took his station at the king's feet 

 and recited a serenade such as this : 



Mclc HouJn (no ka Huhi Pelc) 



E ala, e Kahiki-kn; ^ 

 E ala, e Kahiki-moe; ''^ 

 E ala, e ke apapa nu'u ; * 

 E ala, e ke apajia lani.^ 

 5 Kia ka hoala non, e ka lani " la, e-e! 

 E ala oe ! 



V. .Mia, na ao. na fnalamalama, 



Ain o Kai)e"a ma.** la, i-lnua ; 



Vw hiki niai ka niaka o Unnlan;" 



« riawaii.ins conooivcd of the dome of heaven as a solid structure suppoi-ted 1i.v walls 

 that rested ou the earth's plahi. Different names were given to different sections of the 

 wall. Kahiki-ku and Kahiki-moc were names applied to certain of these sections. It 

 would, however, be too much to expect any Hawaiian, however intelliRent and well versed 

 in old lore, to indicate the location of these regions. 



''The words aptipa nii'ii and np<ipa hnii. which conve.v to the mind of the author the 

 picture of a series of terraced plains or steppes — no doubt the original meaning — here 

 mean a famil.v or order of gods, not of the highest rank, at or near the head of which stood 

 I'ele. Apropos of this subject the following lines have been quoted : 



Hanau ke apapa nu'u ; 

 I-Ianau ke apapa lani ; 

 Hanau Pele. ka hihi"o na lani. 



[Translation] 



Begotten were the gods of graded rank ; 

 Begotten were the gods of heavcni.v rank ; 

 Begotten was I'ele, quintessence of heaven. 



This same expression was sometimes tised to mean an order of chiefs, (ilii. Apapa lani 

 was also used to mean the highest order of gods, Kii, Kiinc. Kaiialoa. Loiio. The kings 

 also were gods, for which reason this expression al times applied to the alii of highest 

 rank, those, for instance, who inherited the rank of ninu-pi'o or of uolu. 



•^ Lani. Originally the heavens, came to mean king, chief, aiii. 



''There is a difference of ojiinion as to the meaning of Kapc'o ma. After hearing diverse 

 opinions the author conclndes that it refers to the rays of the sun that precwle its 

 rising — a (Jreek idea. 



<■ Unulau. A name for the trade-wind which, owing to the conformation of the land, 

 often sweeps down with great force throu.gh the deep valleys that seam the mountains of 

 west Maui between Lahaina and Maalaea bay; such a wind squall was called a mumtOcu. 



