The Story of Hawaii: History, Customs, Mythology, Geography & Archaeology. Fowke Gerard

Waiakea. A river in Hilo, and the land through which it flows.

¹³² Hana-kahi. A land on the Hamakua side of Hilo, also a king whose name was a synonym for profound peace.

¹³³ Olo-kea. To be invited or pulled many ways at once; distracted.

¹³⁴ Lele-iwi. A cape on the north side of Hilo.

¹³⁵ Maka-hana-loa. A cape.

¹³⁶ Kaele-papa. A large, round, hollowed board on which to pound taro in the making of poi. The poi-board was usually long and oval.

¹³⁷ Kaele. In this connection the meaning is surrounded, encompassed by.

¹³⁸ Waiau. The name given to the stretch of Wailuku river near its mouth.

¹³⁹ Moku-pane. The cape between the mouth of the Wailuku river and the town of Hilo.

¹⁴⁰ Wai-anue-nue. Rainbow falls and the river that makes the leap.

¹⁴¹ Kolo-pule-pule. Another branch of the Wailuku stream.

¹⁴² Pili-kau. To hang low, said of a cloud.

¹⁴³ Haili. A region in the inland, woody, part of Hilo.

¹⁴⁴ Pa-ieie. A well-wooded part of Hilo, once much resorted to by bird-hunters; a place celebrated in Hawaiian song.

¹⁴⁵ Mokau-lele. A wild, woody region In the interior of Hilo.

¹⁴⁶ Malua. Name given to a wind from a northerly or northwesterly direction on several of the islands. The full form is Malua-lua.

¹⁴⁷ Pu'u-eo. A village in the Hilo district near Puna.

¹⁴⁸ Iwi-honua. Literally a bone of the earth: a projecting rock or a shoal; if in the water, an object to be avoided by the surf-rider. In this connection see note e, p. 36.

¹⁴⁹ Hale-kai. A wild mountain, glen back of Hanalei valley, Kauai.

¹⁵⁰ Ma'alewa. An aerial root that formed a sort of ladder by which one climbed the mountain steeps; literally a shaking sling.

¹⁵¹ Moana-nui-ka-lehua. A female demigod that came from the South (Ku-kulu-o-Kahiki) at about the same mythical period as that of Pele's arrival--If not in her company--and who was put in charge of a portion of the channel that lies between Kauai and Oahu. This channel was generally termed Ie-ie-waena and Ie-ie-waho. Here the name Moana-nui-ka-lehua seems to be used to indicate the sea as well as the demigoddess, whose dominion it was. Ordinarily she appeared as a powerful fish, but she was capable of assuming the form of a beautiful woman (mermaid?). The title lehua was given her on account of her womanly charms.

¹⁵² Mali'o. Apparently another form of the word malino, calm; at any rate it has the same meaning.

¹⁵³ Lehua. An allusion to the ill-fated' young woman Hopoe, who was Hiiaka's intimate friend. The allusion is amplified in the next line.

¹⁵⁴ Hopoe-lehua. The lehua tree was one of the forms in which Hopoe appeared, and after her death, due to the jealous rage of Pele, she was turned into a charred lehua tree which stood on the coast subject to the beating of the surf.

¹⁵⁵ Maka'u ka lehua i ke kanaka. Another version has it Maka'u ke kanaka i ka lehua; Man fears the lehua. The form here used is perhaps an ironical allusion to man's fondness not only to despoil the tree of its scarlet flowers, but womanhood, the woman it represented.

¹⁵⁶ Kea-au. Often shortened in pronunciation to Ke-au, a fishing village in Puna near Hilo town. It now has a landing place for small vessels.

¹⁵⁷ Hoolono. To call, to make an uproar, to spread a report.

¹⁵⁸ Ia hoo-nee-nee ia pili mai. A very peculiar figure of speech. It Is as if the poet personified, the act of two lovers snuggling up close to each other. Compare with this the expression No huli mai, used by another poet in the thirteenth line of the lyric given on p. 204. The motive is the same in each case.

¹⁵⁹ Hi'u-o-lani. A very blind phrase. Hawaiians disagree as to its meaning. In the author's opinion, it is a word referring to the conjurer's art.

¹⁶⁰ Ua o Hilo. Hilo is a very rainy country. The name Hilo seems to be used here as almost a synonym of violent rain. It calls to mind the use of the word Hilo to signify a strong wind:

      Pa mai, pa mai,

Ka makani a Hilo!¹⁶⁸ Waiho ka ipu iki, Homai ka ipu nui!

      [Translation]

      Blow, blow, thou wind of Hilo!

      Leave the little calabash,

      Bring on the big one!

¹⁶¹ Pua-lani. The name of a deity who took the form of the rosy clouds of morning.

¹⁶² Mahele ana. Literally the dividing; an allusion to the fact, it is said, that in Hilo a rain-cloud, or rain- squall, as it came up would often divide and a part of it turn off toward Puna at the cape named Lele-iwi, one-half