CHAPTER I

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It is commonly spoken of in the history of Moikeha that he came from the land known as Moaulanuiakea, and that he was a great chief; that he had lived with Kapo, from whom a child was born to whom he gave the name of Laamaikahiki. That upon the arrival of Olopana and his wife Luukia in Tahiti from Hawaii, Moikeha became infatuated with Luukia and soon after took her as his paramour. Olopana, the husband of Luukia, harbored no ill feeling at this action of Moikeha, but looked on without showing his disapproval, and was, in fact, of one mind with his friend.

Some time after this Olopana became the prime minister of all the lands of Tahiti. At about this time Mua, a Tahitian Prince, also became infatuated with Luukia, but his approaches were not approved, or, rather, were not encouraged by Luukia, although he, upon several occasions, pressed his suit with great vigor. When he saw that although his suit was being rejected, that of Moikeha’s was being accepted, he thereupon made up his mind to sow discord between her and her lover, and in that way persuade Luukia to be separated from Moikeha.

Moikeha was a chief who was very fond of athletic sports and often joined in the games of pahee, [110] olohu, [111] and various other games. It was often the case at these places where the games were held for people to gather and to cheer the winners. In the course of these games the cheering and commotion were often heard by Luukia.

One day Mua, in order to carry out his designs to sow discord between Moikeha and Luukia, happened to be in the presence of Luukia when the cheering at the games was heard, and, believing that the opportune moment was come, asked Luukia: “Say, Luukia, do you hear the cheering at the king’s games?” Luukia answered: “Yes, I hear the cheering.” Mua then remarked to Luukia: “You must not for one moment think that that cheering at all means well for you. No, Moikeha is publicly defaming you. That cheering is not intended for your good.”

Upon hearing these words of falsehood, Luukia took them to heart and believed them to be true, so she grew angry at Moikeha and made up her mind not even to live with him as in days gone by. Luukia thereupon ordered her immediate attendants to lash herself in such a way as to bar herself against his approaches. Luukia was then corded with a fine rope from her waist to the middle of her thighs, and the ends of the rope were then fixed in such a way as to make them almost impossible to be found. This cording, spoken of as the “pau of Luukia”, [112] is used as a covering for water-gourds, and it is also used in the lashing of the single as well as of the double canoe, and is spoken of as such even at this present generation.

After Moikeha had enjoyed himself in the games, he came home without at all thinking that anything wrong had taken place in his domestic affairs; but in this he was disappointed. Upon Moikeha’s arrival at home he met Luukia, and although there was some small change in his reception, still on the whole he was treated in the usual manner, Luukia entering into conversation with him. It was only after Moikeha had discovered that Luukia had been lashed that she ceased speaking to him. Immediately upon arriving at the palace, Moikeha saw that there was something wrong by Luukia’s countenance, and he at once began to ponder within himself as to the probable cause of the trouble.

That night, while in their preparation to retire, Moikeha was surprised at seeing Luukia retiring with her pau still on, something entirely unusual with her, she not having done anything of the kind during their peaceful days. Moikeha, however, did not show his surprise by any utterance, but bided his own time for four nights with the determination if possible to find out the cause of this extraordinary behavior on the part of Luukia. On the fourth night Moikeha saw no change, Luukia still wore the pau on retiring. The next night, Moikeha, with a desire to ascertain the cause of this queer behavior, undertook to unfasten the pau, and after it was unfastened he saw that Luukia had been corded from her waist to the middle of her thighs. Upon making this discovery, Moikeha asked Luukia why she had done this, but she made no reply. From evening until midnight Moikeha urged her to tell him the cause of this lashing, but she utterly refused to even say one word. All through the rest of the night Moikeha pondered over this recent change that came over Luukia and said to himself: “Your actions are indeed strange. Here we have been living right along in peace, and now you will not even speak to me. What fault have I committed that you should cause yourself to be lashed in this manner? Very well then, I am going to absent myself from you and shall go to some other land, and thus give you a chance to have your wish fulfilled.”

Thereupon, Moikeha directed his foster-son to make ready the double canoe in the following words: “Let us sail for Hawaii, because I am so agonized for love of this woman (Luukia). When the ridge-pole of my house, Lanikeha, disappears below the horizon, then I shall cease to think of Tahiti.” Kamahualele then directed the paddlers to get the double canoe ready. As soon as this was done Moikeha took his sisters, Makapuu and Makaaoa, his two younger brothers, Kumukahi and Haehae. He also took his priest Mookini [113] and the chief men who wait on him, such as his navigators and sailing masters, his immediate attendants and favorites, and also his spies who were to spy out the land.

One early morning at dawn, just at the rise of the star Sirius, Moikeha boarded his double canoe, taking with him all his attendants and followers, and set out from Tahiti. From that morn until sunrise when they first beheld Hilo all went well, whereupon Kamahualele stood up and prayed [114] by way of a mele their voyage hither. Upon their arrival at Hilo, Kumukahi and Haehae became charmed with Hilo, and so expressed to Moikeha their desire to remain there, whereupon Moikeha allowed them to take up their residence at Hilo.

Moikeha soon after set sail from Hilo, sailing along the north coast of Hawaii until they arrived at Kohala, when Mookini and Kaluawilinau expressed their desire to take up their residence at Kohala. Moikeha therefore landed them there. On leaving Kohala they sailed along the eastern coast of Maui until they reached Hana, when one of his men, Honuaula, expressed his desire of making this his place of residence, so he too was allowed to remain behind. From this last place they sailed on until they were between Lanai and Molokai. When directly opposite Kawela, Kamahualele spied a canoe directly out from the Kalaau Point, when their course was changed and the canoe was steered towards this canoe by Kamahualele. Upon their arrival at the place where the canoe was floating, they found it was Kakakauhanui. This man’s usual occupation was fishing, and it was his daily custom to come to this place for this purpose.

When Moikeha saw this man who was large and well built, and had the appearance of being a powerful and fearless man, Moikeha took him to be his friend, and upon leaving him gave the following instructions: “I am going to leave you here, while I continue on to look for a place for us to reside in, when I shall send some one to bring you to me.” After giving the above instructions, Moikeha and his people left Kalaau Point and continued on their journey. Upon arriving at Oahu, Moikeha’s sisters expressed their wish to remain in Oahu and make their homes here, so Makapuu and Makaaoa requested Moikeha to allow them to remain, saying: “We wish to make this our place of residence, where we can see the cloud drifts of Tahiti.” Because of this desire on the part of the two sisters, Makapuu and Makaaoa, they were allowed to remain on Oahu, thus leaving Moikeha, his foster-son Kamahualele, the two paddlers Kapahi and Moanaikaiaiwe, Kipunuiaiakamau and his companion, and the two spies Kaukaukamunolea and his companion, to continue on the journey.

They then set sail from Oahu and continued on their way until they arrived at Wailua. This was late in the evening, being dark when they arrived, so they did not land, but moored their double canoe all that night until the next day. Early in the morning the people saw this double canoe floating in the sea with the kapu sticks of a chief aboard. About this time the canoes made for the landing and were lifted up and deposited on the shore. When the travelers landed, the people were gathering in great numbers to go surf-riding at the surf of Kamakaiwa. In this gathering of people were the two daughters of the king of Kauai, who were on their way to ride the surf; they were Hooipoikamalanai and Hinauu. Upon seeing the people on their way to ride the surf, Moikeha and his companions also followed along to take

## part in this morning exercise. Moikeha was a goodly man to look upon,

he had dark reddish hair and a tall commanding figure.

When Hooipoikamalanai and her sister saw Moikeha they immediately fell in love with him, and they then and there made up their minds to take him to be their husband. Moikeha in the meantime was also struck with the beauty and grace of the two sisters, and he, too, fell in love with them and decided to take one of the girls to be his wife. After enjoying the surf for a time, Hooipoikamalanai and her sister returned home and informed their father of what they had seen, and said: “We wish to take that young chief as a husband for one of us.”

Upon hearing the wish of his daughters, the father decided to send for Moikeha, so orders were issued that he be brought to the house of the two princesses. Moikeha and his company were thereupon sent for and were brought in the presence of the king. The love on the part of the young people being mutual, Hooipoikamalanai and Hinauu took Moikeha to be their husband. So Moikeha thus became king of Kauai after the death of his father-in-law.

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