318 HAWAIIAN ROMANCE OF LAIEIKAWAI [ETH. ANN. 33 
stories are rare, all belonging to the older and more mythical tales. 
Clouds, however, are very minutely observed, both as weather indica- 
tors and in the lore of signs, and appear often in song and 
story.’ 
Besides differentiating such visible phenomena, the Polynesian 
also thinks in parts of less readily distinguishable wholes. When 
we look toward the zenith or toward the horizon we conceive the dis- 
stance as a whole; the Polynesian divides and names the space much 
as we divide our globe into zones. We have seen how he conceives 
a series of heavens above the earth, order in creation, rank in the 
divisions of men on earth and of gods in heaven. In the passage 
of time he records how the sun measures the changes from day to 
night; how the moon marks off the month; how the weather changes 
determine the seasons for planting and fishing through the year; 
and, observing the progress of human life from infancy to old age, 
he names each stage until “ the staff rings as you walk, the eyes are 
dim like a rat’s, they pull you along on the mat,” or “they bear you 
in a bag on the back.” 
Clearly the interest aroused by all this nomenclature is emotional, 
not rational. There is too much wordplay. Utility certainly plays 
some part, but the prevailing stimulus is that which bears directly 
1In the Hawaiian Annual, 1890, Alexander translates some notes printed by Kamakau 
in 1865 upon Hawaiian astronomy as related to the art of navigation. The bottom of a 
gourd represented the heavens, upon which were marked three lines to show the north- 
ern and southern limits of the sun’s path, and the equator—called the “ black shining 
road of Kane” and ‘“ of Kanaloa,” respectively, and the “road of the spider” or ‘“ road 
to the navel of Wakea”’ (ancestor of the race). A line was drawn from the north star 
to Newe in the south; to the right was the “ bright road of Kane,’ to the left the 
“much traveled road of Kanaloa.” Within these lines were marked the positions of all 
the known stars, of which Kamakau names 14, besides 5 planets. For notes upon 
Polynesian astronomy consult Journal of the Polynesian Society, iv, 236. 
Hawaiian priestly hierarchies recognize special orders whose function it is to read 
the signs in the clouds, in dreams, or the flight of birds, or to practice some form of 
divination with the entrails of animals. In Hawaii, according to Fornander, the sooth- 
sayers constitute three of the ten large orders of priests, called Oneoneihonua, Kilokilo, 
and Nanauli, and these are subdivided into lesser orders. Ike, knowledge, means literally 
“to see with the eyes,” but it is used also to express mental vision, or knowledge with 
reference to the objective means by which such knowledge is obtained. So the ‘ gourd 
of wisdom "—ka ipu o ka ike—which Laieikawai consults (p. 610), brings distant objects 
before the eyes so that the woman ‘“ knows by seeing’’ what is going on below. Signs 
in the clouds are especially observed, both as weather indicators and to forecast the 
doings of chiefs. According to Westervelt’s story of Keaomelemele, the lore is taught 
to mythical ancestors of the Hawaiian race by the gods themselves. The best. analysis 
of South Sea Island weather signs is to be found in Erdland’s ‘ Marshall Insulaner,” 
page 69. Early in the morning or in the evening is the time for making observations. 
Rainbows, punohu—doubtfully explained to me as mists touched by the end of a rain- 
bow—and the long clouds which lie along the horizon, forecast the doings of chiefs. A 
pretty instance of the rainbow sign occurred in the recent history of Hawaii. When 
word reached Honolulu of the death of King Kalakaua, the throng pressed to the palace 
to greet their new monarch, and as Her Majesty Liliuokalani appeared upon the balcony 
to receive them, a rainbow arched across the palace and was instantly recognized as a 
symbol of her royal rank. In the present story the use of the rainbow symbol shows 
clumsy workmanship, since near its close the Sun god is represented as sending to his 
bride as her peculiar distinguishing mark the same sign, a rainbow, which has been 
hers from birth. 
