CHAPTER IV.

Departure from Molokai.—The Names of the Six Districts of Hawaii.—The King Desires Kuapakaa to Accompany Him.—The Boy Consents Under Conditions.—They Start Off.—Meeting With Adverse, Cold Winds, the Two Sailing Masters Fall Overboard.

By this expression used by the chiefs, it was their intention to delay their sailing until the change of the Milky Way, after midnight, when they would make the start. Hearing this expression, Kuapakaa again called out; this time naming the six different districts of Hawaii, and also the six chiefs.

THE NAMES OF THE DISTRICTS.

Arise, Kona, land of the calm seas! The shady clouds of Keei are flying. The clouds are like ridge poles over Weli. How long you have indeed slept! When I mentioned you the fact, You sit calmly and make no stir.

Make a move, Kohala, arise! Make a move, Kohala, thou of the solid step, Causing Papa the begetter of the isles, to hearken, The one who gave birth to Koolau.

Arise, Hilo! Hilo of the incessant rains of the sharp head. The flower of the lehua is withered By the pelting down of the rain, Prepare the ki leaf [129] in the calm For the net-fishing of the nehu at Punahoa.

Arise, Puna! Puna the land made fragrant by the hala From one end to the other, To the very breadfruit trees of Kailua That stand unmolested by the winds of Kau.

Arise, Kau! Kau the large windy land, Land where the current draws to Alae, Where the canoes sail here and there, To Kailikii, to Kaulana, Sailing singly, sailing in pairs, Sailing by threes, sailing by fours, Sailing by fives, sailing by sixes, Sailing by sevens, sailing by eights, Sailing by nines, sailing by tens. They all sail, the small canoes, The canoes of the chiefs must sail.

After this call of the boy, the chiefs and the men arose about midnight, boarded their canoes and set sail, and when out at sea they hove to and awaited for the canoe of Keawenuiaumi, which was to come later; for the king had given them his order to go to sea and await his coming. In waiting for the king, the chiefs allowed their canoes to drift away; and in drifting they all fell asleep. The men who were anxious to get back home then headed the canoes for Kawaihae in Kohala, Hawaii; at daylight the next day, the chiefs awoke and when they looked about them they saw that the land in sight was Hawaii. Instead of getting angry, they felt happy, for they knew that they were about to see their wives and children; they, however, felt some regrets, for they loved their king, Keawenuiaumi.

At daylight, a man came to Kuapakaa from the king with the request that he go to the king. When Kuapakaa came before Keawenuiaumi the king said: “I have sent for you to ask you that you accompany me to Kaula and back.” Kuapakaa replied: “I cannot go with you, for I would be leaving my old man by himself and he is very weak.” But since the king kept on urging him, Kuapakaa agreed to accompany the king. This by the way was the wish of Kuapakaa. In giving his consent, Kuapakaa made his going conditional, saying: “I am willing to go with you, if you will take my things along. If you allow this, I will accompany you; but if you will not allow my things to go along, I will not go with with you.” The king gave his consent, [130] saying: “I am willing that you go with your things.” Keawenuiaumi then told the men to take the things belonging to the boy and place them on the canoe, believing that this would allow the boy to accompany him.

When the men came to the place where the boy’s things were, they looked and saw a large log of wood as long as the double canoe of the king. When the men saw this log they expressed their doubts as to its being able to be carried by the double canoe for they feared that it would be too much of a load. The men, however, took it up with some difficulty and placed it on the canoe, which set the canoe deep in the water. The boy then pointed to another thing, a rock, with a groove cut around it; thus making two things the boy wished placed in the canoe.

This large log of wood was hollow and contained food and various other things. Because of this large log, the men gave the boy the name, “The boy of Kaluakoi with the large package.” After the things belonging to the boy had been placed on the double canoe, Keawenuiaumi and Kuapakaa, as well as the rest of the men, boarded it and set sail.

In setting out, they experienced pleasant winds, called Kaao; Kuapakaa at once looked at the two sailing masters and asked that they give him one of the paddles, but they refused, saying: “We cannot give you one because this is our sign of authority. We will be blamed if we surrender it to you.” By this Kuapakaa wanted to place the responsibility upon their own heads, in case of coming disaster, for these were the very men who had made things so unpleasant for his father, Pakaa, who was forced to go away from the presence of Keawenuiaumi.

The canoe sailed on and passed to the lee of Oahu, then on into the sea of Kaieiewaho, [131] where they saw Kauai; after a time they went past Waimea. At this place Kuapakaa uncovered his wind calabash, Laamaomao and immediately they were encompassed by a terrible storm. In meeting this storm the king did not worry for he had the boy with him. When they were beset with this storm, Keawenuiaumi asked of the sailing masters: “What are we to do?” The two were unable to make answer, at that time, for the waves were beating into the canoe, and it was only being kept afloat through the exertion of the bailers. Soon after this the storm increased and the wind and rain were terrible; the thunder and lightning too was severe, and they began to drift away until Kauai was almost lost to their sight.

As the storm increased, Keawenuiaumi turned to the boy and asked: “What about this storm?” Kuapakaa answered: “I have nothing else to meet it, except this rock; it must be cast out to serve as an anchor to hold the canoe and in that way prevent our being blown away by the wind and lose sight of land.” At this, Keawenuiaumi surrendered the entire command of the canoe to Kuapakaa; it was his to carry them to destruction or to safety. Kuapakaa then opened out one end of the log, and taking out a rope he fastened it to the rock, and threw it into the sea, and they were held in one place.

When Kuapakaa saw that the men and the king were shivering from the intense cold, that their hair hung down straight and every one was suffering, he took out some palm leaves [132] from the log and gave the men one apiece and one to the king; but he did not give the sailing masters, Hookeleihilo and Hookeleipuna, any. Soon after this he took out food and meat from the log, and gave some to the men and to the king; but he again refused to give anything to the sailing masters.

By this action of Kuapakaa the two sailing masters were in great distress, for they were shivering with the cold and were in great need of food. Not very long after this, Hookeleihilo fell overboard, unable to withstand any longer the terrible sufferings. At this the man who sat in front of Hookeleiho called out: “Hookeleihilo has fallen overboard.” Not very long after this, Hookeleipuna succumbed and he too fell overboard, dead; thus were the two sailing masters disposed of.