CHAPTER V

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HOW UMI BECAME THE KING OF HAWAII.

We have now seen the death of Hakau, and have also seen how Umi became the king of the whole of Hawaii. After the death of Hakau the people who had been sent up to the mountain returned with their sticks. When they arrived they saw Umi with his men in possession of everything. They then knew that their king Hakau must be dead, so they wept for him; but those who did this were but few, for Hakau in his day was ever a cruel king, one who killed his men without cause.

It is said that when Hakau was king he used to do the following things: Whenever a man was praised for his good looks, or a woman for beauty, he would cause the death of that person. If the head of a person was praised for being flat, [161] the head would be cut off; and if the body was praised, then the body was cut up; if the eyes were praised they would be gouged out, and so on. Once upon a time one of the priests of Hakau, upon seeing a young boy, said to his parents: “This child has a very fine body; he has not a single blemish.” When Hakau heard this remark, he immediately sent a messenger to bring the boy to his presence. When the boy arrived Hakau then cut the boy in two. When the parents heard that Hakau had cruelly killed their child, the father made a prophecy, saying: “He has cut my son; [162] his kingdom shall also be cut from him. This shall happen on the day to be declared kapued for his god. He will die on that day.” This prophecy was, therefore, fulfilled.

In the night of Muku, that being the last day of the month, the priests with their men went out ulua fishing. Upon arriving at the place where the canoes were kept, a tatu beat was sounded on the edge of the canoes. [163] As the men came up one of them would be caught and killed and the great hook Manaiakalani [164] was put into the dead body and it was taken to the temple. If no one came to the canoes, instructions were given that a great ball of seaweeds be gotten and the hook was placed in it. This custom was favorable to Kaoleioku.

When Umi became the king of the whole of Hawaii he made a division of all the lands amongst his chiefs as follows: Kau he gave to Omaokamau; Puna he gave to a friend of his; [165] Hilo he gave to Kaoleioku; Hamakua he gave to Piimaiwaa; Kohala he gave to Koi; and Kona he gave to Ehu.

HOW KAOLEIOKU WAS MADE PRIEST TO KING UMI.

After Umi had divided the lands amongst his chiefs, Kaoleioku one day stood up in the presence of the king, who was surrounded by his men, and said:

“O king, harken unto me. I am standing in your presence And in the presence of your people. You have, O king, Made me your priest this day. As you have heard me in the past Predict words that have been fulfilled this day, I will prove to you that God has assisted you. You have triumphed over poverty, And you are this day the great king of Hawaii, With men living under you. If you will rule wisely, Then you will rule forever. But if you should behave like your older brother, Then you will be despised. To refuse to take heed is death; To take heed is life.”

At the close of this chant of Kaoleioku to Umi he again addressed the king and Omaokamau.

We will here see whether the appointment of Kaoleioku as the high priest by Umi was a wise thing, and we will also see how true was the prophecy made by him before the king and people.

Kaoleioku said: “O king, stand up.” After Umi had arisen he said: “Omaokamau, stand up.” They were about eight fathoms apart from each other. This action of Kaoleioku was to test the king Umi, as to whether he would hold the kingdom firm or not.

While the two were thus standing, Omaokamau was given the spear called Kaniaupiiikalani, which he took and held in his right hand. This spear was never used for any other purpose except that of making tests, such as this, where the priest wished to determine the length of time a king was to reign. Kaoleioku then said to Omaokamau: “Say, Omaokamau, use all your strength and throw the spear at the king’s middle.” Kaoleioku was well aware that Omaokamau was a great spearsman, being of great strength. At this order, Omaokamau raised the spear, poised it and then threw it at Umi with all his might. [The thrust was known as “wahie.”] As the point of the spear came near Umi’s middle, Umi warded it off causing the spear to go glancing to his rear; while the spear was still on its flight Umi caught it by the point and held it.

In thus catching the spear Kaoleioku saw not only the dodging of Umi but also the seizure of the spear and holding it in his hand. When Kaoleioku saw these acts performed by Umi, each one followed by the other in such short time, he was much pleased and in praise of Umi said: “O king, I see you have acted wisely in my presence and you have taken heed to my instructions. To you, the king, and to these your men I must say, that I can see how you will hold on to your kingdom. This day I will place myself under your feet and will give you my assured word, O king, that your kingdom will never be taken away from your hands.” Kaoleioku then explained more fully to the people his remarks, as well as to Umi himself. In explanation Kaoleioku said: “I will predict to you what the gods have told me in the matter of the test that we have just seen. By warding off the spear away from you so successfully, so shall trouble be warded off from your kingdom until death overtakes you. Just as you caught the spear and held it at the end, so shall your kingdom fall to your son, your grandson, your issue, your offspring until the very last of your blood.”

At the close of the remarks of Kaoleioku Umi asked: “Where are the two old men, Nunu and Kakohe?” Some one answered: “They are here.” Umi then said: “You tell them to come to my presence now.” Upon the arrival of the two old men, Umi said to them: “Have you come?” “Yes,” the old men replied.

HOW UMI GAVE LANDS TO NUNU AND KAKOHE, THE OLD MEN.

We will here see the wisdom of Umi and his great cunning, in the awarding of lands to the two old men. When Nunu and Kakohe arrived in the presence of Umi he stood up and, accompanied by the two, they started off without telling any one where they were going. On this journey Omaokamau, Koi, Piimaiwaa and a few others accompanied them. They proceeded along the road leading up the cliff out of the valley of Waipio until they arrived on the heights of Koakea, a land adjoining Waipio. At this place Umi said to Nunu, one of the old men: “You run from here toward Hamakua. If you fall, get up and keep on running; if you get tired and sit down, I will kill you.”

When Umi said this, the old man was greatly frightened, but he stood up and started off running, following the order of the king. After Nunu had started, Omaokamau followed him to see how much ground he would cover, wondering what the king was about. In running the old man’s feet became entangled soon after he started and he fell down, but he got up and kept on running; but he tripped on his feet and again fell, face down, breathing very heavily. When Umi and the other old man, Kakohe, came up to where he was lying face downward, Umi said to him: “Say, are you exhausted?” All Nunu could say was “Hu.” After waiting for a while Nunu recovered himself, and so Umi said to him: “From the point where you started to this place where we are standing, covering two ahupuaas, is the width of your land.” In making this remark to Nunu, Kakohe heard it, so he said to himself: “So, that is the way the king is going to give lands to his people. They must run until they fall down. He is indeed justified in doing this, for we must bear our burden even as he did when we made him work for us.” Umi then turned to Kakohe and said: “Now you must run.” Kakohe then started off and Piimaiwaa accompanied him. They ran until one ahupuaa was passed, when Kakohe fell down to the ground and he remained there exhausted. When Umi arrived at the place where Kakohe was lying, he said: “Exhausted, are you?” Kakohe said “Hu.” This expression, “hu”, was intended to be for “u”, meaning “yes”, but being so exhausted, the “u” was changed into “hu”. Umi then said to Kakohe: “This is your land, one ahupuaa, while Nunu has two ahupuaas. You two will make your own arrangements in reference to their use.” Turning to both the old men, Umi continued: “All of the things that are growing on your lands are yours, and you two shall do what you wish with your lands without any reference to me; and you can leave the same to your heirs after you.” [166] At the close of these remarks to the old men they all returned to the Waipio Valley where they lived.

It became a common thing to see Umi practicing the art of throwing the spear with his immediate followers, Koi, Omaokamau and Piimaiwaa. These three men were the bravest of his followers and because of this fact they were made his chief warriors. The one who was the strongest and most skilful of the three, the one whose left arm was as good as his right, was Piimaiwaa. Koi was good with his left and weak with his right arm, and this was the case with Omaokamau.

After Umi had been in Waipio for some time, Kaoleioku said to him: “O king, I believe it most proper that you should make a trip around Hawaii.” When Umi heard this he was much pleased at the suggestion and directed Piimaiwaa to go on ahead and notify the different landlords of the proposed trip to be made by the king, and to order them to prepare food and meat. Piimaiwaa then set out, and as he came to the different landlords he would deliver to them the orders of the king, to the six different districts, those of Hilo, Puna, Kau, Kona, Kohala and Hamakua.

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