Nuhou, Volume I, Number 8, 21 March 1873 — PUHIOKAALA; OR THE SPOUTING CAVE OF KAALA [ARTICLE]

PUHIOKAALA; OR THE SPOUTING CAVE OF KAALA

Lanai ie an i«land of raanj Iogen(l«» Btories and Bongs. 5 lt wae tho firet-born of .t-he goddetJB Pahulu; and the gods of the kanakae of the oldeii times ooming from Tahiti, first eet foot on its «horeß. Here dweīt Kane, who crōßeed the Beas from western and who, when named Janej had a etilJ older houie in Asia, the mother land of men and gods. His kindred, Kanekoa, Kaneloa; and those fish god.6, thc Neptunes of the Pacific, had their chosen seat among the bold blufis upon the oeean beaten eoaBt of Uluiaau, the ancient name of Lanai. Ic a eacred iele, and its central land s named Kealia Kapu, or Tabooed Kealia, was a Pahonua, or plaee of refuge, Upon its Boil and that of the bordering land of Kaunolu aro thc remains of a greattemple, whieh onee was a shelter to the fugitive vanquished warrior—to thc servant fleeing from a ohiePe anger f and oven to the victim escaping from bloodj gacrifice. Ite niine are etill revered by ancients of the is!e, But a little while ago when the Fifth Kamehameha was there, the iiativee, at his command, moved and hid away its great etone fish god; and in thcse verj dayB anxious fishers' have - been known to make their flecret oflering6 within the temple grounds in ord§r to propitiate the olden dciof the eeas. This temple, or Ileiau of Kaunolu, i& on the uouthwestem eoast of Lanai. Its ruine lie within the mouth of a deep ravine, whoee extending baoks run out into the eea and form a bold, biuft-bound ba v% On the top of the wostern b|nk thereis a stone-paved platform, ealled the iKuaha, or Floor of Oflering. Outeide ol this, and eeparated by a narrow alley way, there runs a broad high wall, whieh quite eucirelee the Kuaha. Other walla and Btructures lead do\vii the bank, and the slope is terraced and paved down to the tide-worn etonetj of the ever 80undin« w abore. At the beaeh there ie a bre ik; a great Moek of the blufi* has been rent awav bv eoine earth ehake, aud 6tands out like a lone tower, divided from tlie inain by a gulf of the Bea. lts high red walk beetle froui their tope, upon to whieh ueither man noi gi>at ean eliaib. But you ean behold on the fiat Bummit of thie ielet- bluff portione of ancient work, of altars aud walk, and no doubta part of the mainland temple, to whieh this fragment onee was joined. But man ean visit this lone tower'B top no more ? and hi» feefc ean never tilitob its overha.nging walla. , Inland from the temple there are iuany remuins of the halets, or hutt? of the people of the pa«t, Thefetotfe fbundation6 of thoir eahine, the enekmnre6 fbr ewine, tno round earth uveuin ? aiikl other traees of a throng of people, eover mauy uered of beach and hill-*idv\ This was a kulanakauhale, or town, famed as an abode of gode and a refuge for tho£e who 3led for their lives; hut it drew itē peopie mainly through the faiue of its hbhing ground, whieh ewarmed with kala, ohua, bonito, aud the variediife <jf the liawaiian tcas. To thi« fameit,fiBhing grouud eame the great hero of Ilawaii to tax the deop, when he had *#übducd thib and the other He eaiue with hi« llcctes of war with Ih6 faithful koāb or ftghtiDg men, with his ehieft« t aud prie*t<?» and, women, and their traiu«. He had a hale herc, Upou tho oraggy bluC īhat forute ihe ea*tern bank of ihe bav there is a louc!y pa, or wall t and i*|" au-aneirnt halepakui, or iort. over-

tbe teiuple t town and bay; TLe k maka ! of tbiB;daj epeake of it with fubduod voico, at:d ' he stcpk carefallj arouod tais ground afc Lc polutt ] out to the Lanai houie of the conqueror of I the eigbt lande and eeae, Eamehameha the Great.! j The etout Son of Unii eame to Eealia for sport 4 ! rather than fbr worship, Who so Io?ed to throw j | the maika hall , or hurl the Bpear> or thruat abide ! the manv ja?eline fluug at his naked cheBt, as the : ! chief of Kohala ? He rode gladly oo the creets f iOf the eurf waves» He delighted to drive hi; j eanoe a«lone outinto the Btorm s He fought with| I the inonsters of the deep, as well as with men. ■ !He captured the great mano» the ehark that, j abounds in the baj; and he would elutch in the |fearfui grip of his hands the deadlj puhi, the| \ great jāwed eel or snake of the«c seas # the terror j jof fieh and men; and henee bīs dread naine of ! i Puhikapa, the Be?ourer of the Seas. ; j Wheia this warrior king eame to Kaunolu, thej I islanders thronged to the shore to paj homage to | I tho great chiefy and to laj at the feet of their sov- j | ereign, as was their wont, and ae thej do at thie !day on the vieit of his illu6trious grandson, # the , lproducte of the ielei the taro, the jam, the pala, j ! the eoboanut s ohelo, banana and sweet potato. I Tliej p!led up a mound of food tbe door of I the king'e pakui, along w ith a clamorous multi-| 1 tude of fat poi-fed dogs, andof fathom long awine. j ! Besides this tribute of the men, the workers ofi | the land, the women filled the air with the sweet i iodors of their floral offerings. The maidens fwere twmed from head to waist with leis or I wreathes of the nauu, whieh is Lanai'e own lovelj ; IjesBamine—a rare gardenm, whōee sweefc aromaj | ladene the breeze, and leads jou to the bush when | seeking it afar off. These garlands were fastened ' ito the plaited pili thatch of the king's pakui;! i thej were plaeed on the necks of the joung war-; | riorB, who stood around the Chief; and around; j his rojal brows thej twined an odorous ero\vn of i maile. ; The brightest of the girlish ihrong who stood j be(bre the dread i4 Lord of the Isles " was Kaala, jor Sweet Scented ? whose fifteen mua had just | burniBhed her sweet brown faee with a boft irulden ! ! gloss; and her large, round, tender ejes knew jet: jno wilting fires. ller neek and arms, and all of' her joung bodj not covered bj the leafj pa-u, waa tinted with a soft sheen like unto a risim:' O ; moon. Her skin g!owed with the glorj of vouth,; !and mingled its de!icate ovdur of heaith with the' ! blooms of the groves, so that the perfuuie of her * preeenee received fittinglj the uame of Fra^rauee. In those rude dajs the island niee was souud and elean, The eupple round limbs were mado! bright and efcrong bv the eonstant bath and the j tenq>erate bree?:e. Thej were not eumbered wlth! elouk? and they wore na long, j tH>mbre. sweating gowns, that now eover np the blotches and sears of their eivilked filth and soret?,' bnt theīr smooth their ] mm % whieh gave them eueli a rieh and dusky ehann. Perhap6 aneh a raēē eatmot long wear all our; and live. They are best elothed wlth geaj loam, or with the ga.rlai»dB' of their gro?e6, How i Bwectly b!eud the brown aud greeu, aiul wheu youn£, #oft, amber-tinted ehe«k? f glowing \\itu the eriniKon tide beneath, ari- wroathei.l wiUi the j odototw evergroens of the ide«, \ou 6ee the poe«ty of our ktnd, aod the b\vet wilu graee that dueh [ in thc Klden Paradiee ] j " K:»IUCh(UUt V, I {7 •' *■ ( | S5- ' *