340 HAWAIIAN ROMANCE OF LAIEIKAWAI | ETH. ANN. 33 
of Ku, and in a descriptive passage in which the abrupt height is 
described : 
Shooting up to heaven is Kauwiki, 
Below is the cluster of islands, 
In the sea they are gathered up, 
O Kauwiki, 
O Kauwiki, mountain bending over, 
Loosened, almost falling, Kauwiki-e. 
Finally, Puna, the easternmost district of the six divisions of 
Hawaii, is a region rich in folklore. From the crater of Kilauea, 
which lies on the slope of Mauna Loa about 4,000 feet above sea 
level, the land slopes gradually to the Puna coast along a line of 
small volcanic cones, on the east scarcely a mile from the sea. The 
slope is heavily forested, on the uplands with tall hard-wood trees of 
ohia, on the coast with groves of pandanus. Volcanic action has 
tossed and distorted the whole district. The coast has sunk, leaving 
tree trunks erect in the sea. Above the bluffs of the south coast le 
great bowlders tossed up by tidal waves. Immense earthquake 
fissures occur. The soil is fresh lava broken into treacherous hol- 
lows, too porous to retain water and preserving a characteristic vege- 
tation. About this region has gathered the mysterious lore of the 
spirit world. “ Fear to do evil in the uplands of Puna,” warns the old 
chant, lest mischief befall from the countless wood spirits who haunt 
these mysterious forests. Pélé, the volcano goddess, still loves her 
old haunts in Puna, and many a modern native boasts a meeting with 
this beauty of the flaming red hair who swept to his fate the brave 
youth from Kauai when he raced with her down the slope to the sea 
during the old mythic days when the rocks and hills of Puna were 
forming. 
