218 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bill. 38 



Ikuwdf Welehii, JlakaWi (verses 7, 0, and 10). These Avere months 

 in the Hawaiian year corresponding to a part of September, October 

 and November, and a part of December. The Hawaiian year began 

 when the Pleiades {MakalPi) rose at sunset (about November 20), 

 and was divided into twelve lunar months of twenty-nine or thirty 

 days each. The names of the months differed someAvhat in the 

 different parts of the grouj:*. The month Iluwd is said to have been 

 Fo named from its being the season of thunderstorms. This does not 

 of itself settle the time of its occurrence, for the reason that in Hawaii 

 the procession of the seasons and the phenomena of weather follow 

 no definite order; that is, though electrical storms occur, there is 

 no definite season of thunderstorms. 



Mala-Wi (verse 10) was not only the name of a month and the 

 name applied to the Pleiades, but was also a name given the cool, 

 the rainy, season. The name more commonly given this season was 

 Iloo'do. The Makahiki period, continuing four months, occurred at 

 this time of the year. This was a season when the ]:)eople rested from 

 unnecessary labor and devoted themselves to festivals, games, and 

 special religious observances. Allusion is made to this avoidance of 

 toil in the words LPiWi ha hana (verse 11). 



One can not fail to perceive a vein of gentle sarcasm cropping up 

 in this idyl, softened, however, by a spirit of honest good feeling. 

 Witness the following: Noe-noe (verse 3), primarily meaning cloudy, 

 conA^eys also the idea of agreeable coolness and refreshment. Again, 

 AAdiile the multitude that folloAvs the king is compared to the raA^enous 

 man-eating Niuhi (verse 19), the final remark as to the rarity of the 

 king's Adsits, He loa o Ji'O. hiM''na (verse 21), may be taken not only as 

 a salve to atone for the satire, but as a sly self-gratulation that the 

 affliction is not to be soon repeated. 



