BECKWITH] INTRODUCTION Sly 
It is the double canoe of Kaumaielieli, 
Keakamilo the outrigger, 
Halauloa the body, 
Luu the part under water, 
Aukuuikalani the bow; 
and so on to the names of the cross stick, the lashings, the sails, the 
bailing cup, the rowers in order, and the seat of each, his paddle, 
and his “seagoing loin cloth.” There is no wordplay perceptible 
in this chant, but it is doubtful whether the object is to record a 
historical occurrence or rather to exhibit inspired craftsmanship, the 
process of enumeration serving as the intellectual test of an inherited 
gift from the gods. 
Besides technical interests, the social and economic life of the 
people centers close attention upon the plant and animal life about 
them, as well as upon kinds of stone useful for working. Andrews 
enumerates 26 varieties of edible seaweed known to the Hawaiians. 
The reciters avail themselves of these well-known terms, sometimes 
for quick comparison, often for mere enumeration. It is interesting 
to see how, in the “Song of Creation,” in listing plant and animal 
life according to its supposed order of birth—first, shellfish, then 
seaweed and grasses, then fishes and forests plants, then insects, 
birds, reptiles—wordplay is employed in carrying on the enumera- 
tion. We read: 
“The Mano (shark) was born, the Moana was: born 
in the sea and swam, 
The Mau was born, the Maumau was born 
in the sea and swam, 
The Nana was born, the Mana was born 
in the sea and swam.” 
and so on through Nake and Make, Napa and Nala, Pala and Kala, 
Paka (eel) and Papa (crab) and twenty-five or thirty other pairs 
whose signification is in most cases lost if indeed they are not en- 
tirely fictitious. Again, 16 fish names are paired with similar names 
of forest plants; for example: 
“The Pahau was born in the sea, 
Guarded by the Lauhau that grew in the forest.” 
“The Hee was born and lived in the sea, 
Guarded by the Walahee that grew in the forest.” 
Here the relation between the two objects is evidently fixed by the 
chance likeness of name. 
On the whole, the Hawaiian takes little interest in stars. The 
“ canoe-steering star,” to be sure, is useful, and the “net of Makalii” 
(the Pleiads) belongs to a well-known folk tale. But star stories 
do not appear in Hawaiian collections, and even sun and moon 
