CHAPTER VII.

THE SIZE OF KAUAHOA.—IS KILLED BY KAWELO IN A CLUB ENCOUNTER.—KAWELO VANQUISHES AIKANAKA.

We will here give a description of Kauahoa, his height and width. His height was eight times five yards, or forty yards, or one hundred and twenty feet. He was also compared to the size of eight streams, and his strength was equal to that number of streams or to eight companies of forty men each, or to three hundred and twenty men.

After Kawelo had chanted to Kauahoa, he looked toward his wife Kanewahineikiaoha and chanted as follows:

Say, Kanewahineikiaoha, Your pikoi, throw it up, At Helelua, at Helelua At the ridge-pole of Hanalei. Arise thou, Hanalei, Until Kauahoa thou hast killed, When Hanalei thou shalt possess, And the mats of Niihau thou shalt wear, And the birds of Kaula thou shalt eat.

At the close of this chant, Kawelo said to his younger brother, Kamalama, and to his adopted sons Kaeleha and Kalaumeki: “Where you see the sun shine, there you must stand, so that when Kauahoa strikes his club, you will not be under it, and in that way escape death.” As soon as this instruction was given, as Kauahoa was raising his club, Kawelo jumped back out of its reach and stood behind Kauahoa, so that the club dropped in front of Kauahoa. Kauahoa then reached down to pick up the club, and, while in a stooping position, Kawelo raised his club and struck Kauahoa a blow, cutting him in two and killing him. As the body was almost severed, Kawelo’s club, Kuikaa, was reluctant [to finish] on account of the bad odor of Kauahoa’s body. Thus was Kauahoa killed, the last of Aikanaka’s great warriors.

At sundown that day, Kawelo said to Kamalama and to the rest of his men: “My wife and I are going to climb the Nounou hill. When you see a fire burning on the hill this night, Kauai is ours.” Kawelo and his wife then climbed the hill until they came to the ladder, where Kawelo chanted as follows:

Say, Aikanaka, chief of this height, Who lives on the hill of Nounou, Come and let us make friends, When we will together take possession of Kauai, [63] And sleep on the mats.

When Aikanaka heard the chant, he said: “That is Kawelo.” The rest of the people denied this, saying: “He cannot come as he must be weary from the fight of this day; therefore he must be sleeping.” Aikanaka said: “That is Kawelo’s voice that I hear chanting.” While they were disputing over this, Kawelo again chanted as follows:

Are you the only people? Are there none others there above?

When Aikanaka heard this, he replied: “There are some people yet left on the hill, their names are:

Kaehuikiawakea, Wakea 1, Wakea 2, Kamakaokahoku, Paoa 1, Paoa 2, Hilinuiwawaeahu, Ahua 1, Ahua 2, Kapinaonuianio, Koinanaulu 1, Koinanaulu 2.

“These are all the men that are left on the hill,” continued Aikanaka. “Not very many. All the men are dead.” After Aikanaka had told Kawelo of this, he then addressed his priests, fortune-tellers and astrologers: “I must go down and meet Kawelo.” [64] Said Aikanaka to the priests: “I thought this land that Kawelo is battling for belonged to him, but [I see] it is not. It is my own; I am above, he is underneath.” The priests then said to Aikanaka: “How can you go and meet Kawelo, for you are a king and he is a servant. His grandfather was nothing but a counter of cockroaches who lived in the uplands of Kulahuhu, Nahanaimoa by name.”

When Kawelo heard the remarks made by the priests, he rolled down the cliff. [65] When Kanewahineikiaoha saw Kawelo roll down the cliff, she threw out her pikoi which Kawelo caught hold of. His wife asked him: “What is the matter with you, Kawelo?” Kawelo replied: “I was ashamed for you, [66] because they said I was a born servant.” Kanewahineikiaoha then said: “How strange of you! You must first consider whether you are a born servant. Had I not seen you, you would have been killed.” Kawelo then thought for a while, and chanted as follows:

The chicken is the king, The chicken roosts on the house, And sits over your head, Aikanaka. The chicken wakes you up in the morning. The chicken is a king, it is a king.

At the end of this chant, Aikanaka said to his priests: “Kawelo says that a chicken is a king.” The priests said to Aikanaka: “You tell Kawelo that chickens are servants.” When Kawelo heard these remarks repeated by Aikanaka, he again chanted as follows:

The feathers of the chickens are plaited Into kahili, that stand in the presence of kings. Your back, Aikanaka, is brushed by the kahili. Therefore chickens are kings, Chickens are kings, Aikanaka, And not servants.

At the close of this chant, Kawelo heard no more replies from the top of the hill. [67] This was because they were afraid of Kawelo, and they had secretly left the hill and had proceeded to the uplands of Hanapepe, at Koula, where Aikanaka took up his residence.

When Kawelo and his wife arrived on the top of the hill, they saw no one, not even Aikanaka the king. Kawelo then lighted a fire [68] which was seen by Kamalama and the adopted sons, Kaeleha and Kalaumeki.