144 DAHLGREN, THE DISCOVERY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 



of romance. 1 Other notices of the visits of foreigners to Hawaii would hardly seem worthy 

 of mention, as even those who reported them have not ascribed to them any importance. 

 It is alleged by David Malö 2 that stränge ships were more than once seen far out 

 a t sea without having made any attempt to land; while Ellis says that, with one single 

 exception, to which lie did not attach any trutli, "all the natives we have conversed 

 with on the subject, and we have conversed with many, declare that they had no idea 

 of a ship before Captain Cook was seen off Kauai". 3 



Finally, the above-told (p. 18) story of Kualii and his visit to a foreign land would 

 seem to deserve a fuller account in this connection, because in this case, as distinct from 

 the others, we have a verbatim report of the tradition and thus have some means of 

 estimating whether its meaning has been rightly interpreted. 



According to Fornander, 4 Kualii, a widely known king on Oahu, would seem to have 

 died some time before the year 1730 at a very advanced age, about ninety. The story 

 of his life and exploits is found in a mele or song, one of the longest known chants in the 

 Hawaiian anthology, and one which was "widely known among the élite and the priesthood 

 at the time of Captain Cook's arrival". From this song Fornander quotes some verses 

 in the original, to which lie appends the following translation: — 



Kahiki, land of the far-reaching ocean, 

 Land where Olopana dwelt! 



Within is the land, outside is the sun; 5 

 Indistinct is the sun and the land when approaching. 

 Perhaps you have seen it? 

 I have seen it. 



1 have surely seen Kahiki. 



A land with a stränge language is Kahiki. 



The men of Kahiki have ascended up 



The backbone of heaven; 



And up there they trample indeed, 



And look down on below. 



Kanakas (men of our race) are not in Kahiki. 



One kind of men is in Kahiki — the Haole (white man). 



He is like a god; 



I am like a man; 



A man indeed, 



1 Kiana: a Tradition of Hawaii, by James J. Jarves, Boston & Cambridge 1857. — We here meet 

 the shipwrecked brother and sister under the names of Juan and Beatriz Alvirez, the priest Paao represented 

 by the Spanish monk Olmedo, etc. 



2 See the French translation by Jules Remy, p. 11. 



3 Op. cit., p. 448. 



4 Op. cit., II, pp. 278—288. 



5 "Indicating that the land was to the eastward of the voyager''. 



