The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1883-08-18
"AHUULA."
A Legend of Kanikaniaula and of the
First Feather Cloak "Ahuula."

ElTSC EeaCner ClOdk hnuuId'
Eleio was a kukini "a trained runner) in tn,
service of Kakaalaneo, King of Mani, severa
being always kept by each King or Ali of con
sequence. These kukinis, when sent on any
errand, always took a Decline for their destina
ton, climbing up hills Will the agility of goats
jumping over rocks and streams and leapine
from precipices. They were so fleet that the
common illustration of that fact among the ma
tives was the saying that when a kukini was
| sent on an errand that would ordinarily take a
day and night, fish wrapped in Xxi leaves, and
known as 'lawalu," if put on the fire on his
starting, would not be cooked sufficiently to be
turned before he would be back. Being so SER
viceable to the Aliis, kukinis always enjoyed a
high degree of consideration, freedom and i'm
punity from the strict etiquette and unwritten
laws of a Hawaiian court There was hardly
anything too valuable in their masters pos
session that they couldn't have if they wished
I believe they were generally shOrt-lived.
Eleio was sent to Hama to fetch ava for the
King, and was expected to be back in time for
the Kings supper Kakaalaneo was then living
at Loinui, in Lahaina.
Now, Eleio was not only a kukini but was also
q kakuna, and had been initiated in the cere-
monies and observances by which he was
enabled to see spirits or wraiths, and was skilled
in medicines, charms, ETC., and could return n
wandering spirit to its body if decomposition
had not set in.
Soon after leaving Olowalu, and as he COM
menced the ascent of Aalaloloa, beyond Olo-
walu, he saw a beautiful young woman ahead of
him. He naturally fastened his steps, intend
ing to overtake such a charming fellow-traveler
but do what he would, she kept always just 50
much ahead of him. Now, he was the heetest
and most renowned kukini of his time, and it
reused his professional pride to be outrun by n
woman, even if only for Il short distance so he
was determined to catch her, and gave himself
entirely to that effort. The young woman led
him a weary chase over rocks, hills, mountains,
deep ravines, precipices, gorges and dark
streams, till they came to the Lac of Hanamahu-
loa at Kahikinui, beyond Kaupo, when he canght
her just at the entrance to a puoa.
A puoa was a kind of tower, generally of bam-
boo, with a platform halfway up, on which the
dead bodies of persons of distinction, belonging
to certain families or classes, were exposed to
the clements custom possibly derived from
some Parsee ancestors of the race. When Eleio
caught the young woman she turned to him and
cried, "Let me live. j am not human, but a
spirit, and inside this enclosure is my DWELLING
He answered. 81 have been aware for some time
of your being a spirit, No human being could
have so outrun me-" She then said, "Let us
be friends. In yonder house live my parents
and relatives. Go to them and ask for a hog,
kapas, some fine mats, and a feather cloak.
Describe me to them, and tell them / give all
those things to you. The feather cloak is un-
finished. 1t is new only a fathom and a half
square and was intended to be two fathoms.
There are enough feathers and netting to finish
it in the house. Tell them to finish it for you."
The spirit then disappeared.
Eleio entered the puoa, climbed on to the
platform. and saw the dead body of the girl,
She was in every way as beautiful as the spirit
had appeared to him, and apparently decompo-
sition had not yet set in.
He left the puoa aud hurried to the house
pointed out by the spirit as that of her friends,
and saw a woman wailing, who from the resem-
blance he at once knew to be the mother of the
girl, so he saluted her with an "aloha." He
then said, 81 am a stranger here, bat l had a
travelling companion, who guided me to yonder
puoa and then disappeared At these strange
words the woman stopped wailing and called her
husband, to whom she repeated what the stran-
ger had said. The latter then asked them,
GO does this house bsIon8 to yOu?' Husband
and wife wondering, answered at once, sit
does.' "Then," slii Eleio, "my message is
to you. Ny travelling companion has a hog, a
fathom in length, in your care also a pile of
fine kapas of Paula and others of fine quality
also a pile of fine mats and an unfinished feather
cloak, now a fathom and a half in length, which
you are to finish, the materials being in the
H0aoa All fIaga tL.,-- ,Lo L.. H., a.. -
and sent me to you for them" Then he began
to describe the young woman.
Both parents recognized the truthful ness of
the description, and willingly agreed to give up
the things which their beloved daughter must
have herself given away. Bat when they spoke
of killing the hog and making an ahaaina 0east)
for him, whom they had Immediately resolved
to adopt as a son, he said, " Wait a little and
let nae ask Are all these people I see around
this place your friends?" They both answered,
"They are our relatives-unoles, aunta and
cousins to the spirit, who seems to have adopted
you either as husband or brother" will they
do your bidding in eVerything?" he asked
They answered that they could be relied on
So he directed them to build a large lanai, CT
arbor, to be entirely covered with ferns, ginger,
MALE and ieie-the sweet ard odoro1s foliage
green's of the islands. An altar was to be erectel
at one end Of the lanai and appropriately deco
rated. The order was willingly carrisd oat,
men, women and children working with a will,
and the whole structure was finished in a couple
of hours.
Eleio now directed the hog to be cooked. He
also ordered cooked red and white fishes, red,
white and black cocks. and bananas of the Lele
and Maoli varieties, to be placed on the altar
He ordered all women and children to enter
their houses and to assist him with their pray
es all pigs, chickens and dogs to be tied in
dark huts, to keep them quiet, and that the mos
profound silence should be kept. The men whc
were working were asked t. remember thei
Gods and their hearts, and to invoke their assist
ance for Eleio. He then started for Hama, pulled
up a couple Of bushes of the ava of Kaeleku
famous for its medicinal properties, and wa