110 Bernicc P. Bishop Museum — Bulletin 



PUU KA MO-O 



now LIZARDS CAME TO xMOLOKAI 



In one of the valleys of Molokai lived the most beautiful woman of 

 the island. It happened that every night she was visited by a man who 

 always left before daylight so that she was not able to discover who he 

 was. This suspense began to tell on her and she slowly wasted away. 



In their anxiety her parents summoned a kahuna to see if he could 

 tell the cause of their daughter's ill health. He made known the girl's 

 secret and said that during the day this nightly visitor was a mo-o, or 

 monster lizard; only at night could he take a human form. 



The kahuna arranged this plan to destroy the girl's tormentor. He was 

 to hide in the house where the girl slept. The girl was to keep her visitor 

 awake as long as possible, so that when he slept he would sleep soundly. 

 Then when deep sleep held him the kahuna would tie white tapa rags to 

 his back. At daylight the man would be turned into a mo-o, and crawl off, 

 through the bushes, leaving his trail marked by white tapa rags. 



This plan was carried out. The kahuna and his men followed the 

 trail of the mo-o until they came to a rocky hill still known as Puu ka 

 Mo-o.« 



There, surrounded by stones, they saw the monster l)ing in the sun fast 

 asleep. All the people were ordered to collect wood. This was placed 

 around the mo-o and set afire. As the heat of the fire burned the 

 body of the mo-o, it burst open and myriads of small mo-o were thrown 

 out and ran away among the bushes. 



Thus was the beautiful girl saved from her nightly visitor, and thus 

 were the little worm-like lizards introduced into the islands. The hill is 

 still known as Puu ka Mo-o, the Hill-of-the-Monster-Lizard. 



"Pmi ka Mo-o is situattd about a mile and a quarter northwest of Iilr. George 

 Cooke's home, Kauluwai. 



