The Daily bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Hawaii]) 1882-1895, 1885-06-29

an old man with the head closely
shaved except a narrow strip of hair
in the middle, extending from the
forehead TO the neck to represent
| helmet.
Not to shave the head indicated
want of respect. They also prac-
tised self.torturc in order to show
their great love and grief Knocking
out the teeth was very common, and
sometimes il was the case that men,
when they came to middle life, had
very few teeth left. Another practice
was that of tatooing the tongue.
There were many traditions and
legends concerning Pele, the goddess
of kllauea. From these we learn
that the ideas of the people in re-
gard to the crater itself, were, that
ii had been in n state of activity
from the beginning, that is, ever
since the period Of darkness and
chaos; but it was not supposed to
be inhabited by volcanic deities
until after the deluge. Tradition
states regarding the flood that, at
one time, the whole islands were
overlooked by the sea, except one
high peak on Mauna Kea where two
persons only were saved.
1t was supposed that volcanic
family of deities from Tahiti then
took possession of the fiery abode.
Of this family, the names are given
of five brothers and nine sisters, of
whom Pele was the principal god
dess. The volcano was supposed to
be their chief abode, though they
were thought TO have dwellings on
different parts of the island, to
which they sometimes went. Their
visits were always announced by
earthquakes, eruptions, and thunder
and lightning. The object of these
visits was to receive gifts or to eX-
ecute judgment. The natives felt
in duty bound to pay their tribute,
and large numbers of hogs Giving
or dead) were thrown into the
craters, and into the streams of red
hot lava flowing down the mountain
side, to appease the wrath of the
gods. The offerings of the fisher
folk were naturally fish, and when
the people did not offer sufficient
quantity, they were punished by
having their fish and fishing grounds
destroyed by volcanic fire and lava.
The ohelo berry, which is found on
the road to the volcano and also
around it, was considered sacred to
Pele, and people dared not eat any
of the fruit until Pele herself had
been presented with portion of it.
The holua, a very popular amuse-
ment of the ancient Hawaiians, was
sliding down hill on narrow sled.
Those who, by strength or skill, came
out ahead of the rest, won the
victory. This sled consisted of two
narrow runners. from seven to eigh-
teen inches long and two or three
inches deep, tapering to sharp points
in front. These runners were placed
parallel to each other, about six
inches apart at the forward end, and
twelve inches at the rear. They
were held in place by short pieces
of wood fastened crosswise. Two
long, stout sticks were fastened
lepgthwise over these cross pieces
and sometimes a narrow piece of
mating was thrown over the upper
surface of the sled for the body to
rest upon. The person about to
slide grasps the side sticks firmly,
and, having prepared himself by
running short distance to the brow
of the hill, throws himself forcibly
forward, fiat, on the narrow surface
between the runners, still keeping
tight hold of the sticks and bracing
his feet against the last crosspiece.
One of the legends is that of Pele's
encounter with Kahawali. In the
reign of one of the ancient kings of
Hawaii, chief of Puma, Kahawah
by name, went one day with one of
his companions to engage in the
holua. Great crowds of people, be-
sides musicians and dancers, gather
ed to see the sport, and among them
was Pele, who had come down from
Kilauea to watch the contest. In
the form of woman she stood OIL
the summit of the hill and challenged
Kahawali to slide with her. He
accepted the challenge and they set
off together down the hill. AS Pele
did not so we'll understand the art OF
balancing herself upon the sled,
Kahawali won the race, and was
cheered by the people. Pele then
asked that an exchange of sleds
might be made before second trial.
Kahawali, thinking her no more than
common woman, answered beI
roughly in the negative, and in g
fash was on his sled and off down