The Hawaiian gazette., 1893-10-31
ONE OF TIE LONG VOYAGES OF
THE ANCIENT HAWAIIANS.
Read Before Hawaiian Historical So
ciety by DR.. y. B. Emerson.
MOIKEHA.

Moikeha is q name distinguished
not alone as great navigator, but also
as the head of family of navigators.
| He stands as the central figure repre-
senting the period of intercourse in
the mid-height of its activity. By
the time he appears on the stage,
Hawaii must have been able to form
more definite conceptions of the eoun-
tries that had been vaguely described
as "Kukulu Kahiki." His story is
of interest, not so much as opening up
the log-book of an enterprising mari
ner, as being the record of a life
checkered with the same passions and
disappointments that affect mankind
today.
The story of the voyage of twenty
three hundred miles to Tahiti is no
longer charged with the early mystery
and terror of the ocean; these have
fallen into the background and given
place to the emotions that control
human action at all times.
In Moikeha we see man moving
in the dim perspective of an age, re-
mote and utterly foreign to us in all
its thoughts, under the tragic influ-
ence of the passion of love. Moikeha
and his older brother, Olopana, who
was chief of district that included
the valley of Waipio on Hawaii, loved
the same woman, Luukia, she being
the wife of Olopana. q
q The Hawaiian language recog-
nizes this relation, and applies to the
two men the name "punalua."
"In Saturn's reign
Such mixtures were not held stain.n
If we remember that the time was
five centuries ago, and the place dark
Polynesia, we shall not be surprised
at this Saturnian state of morals. The
relations between the brothers was
most friendly, and continued so. Moi
keha was the highest subject in the
land, the prime minister and trusted
friend of King Olopana. Heavy rains
and floods having brought desolation
to the valley of Waipio, the brothers
embarked their all on fleet and sailed
away to Kukulu Kahiki, where they
settled, and Olopana gained sover-
eighty over land, or district, called
Moa-ula-nui-akea
% There have been much discus
sion and conjecture as to the location
of the land bearing this highly signi-
ficant name. There is, if mistake
not, an island, or district on the Mar
quesan group named OmOa. May not
this be the same place as this Moa-ula-
nui-akea?
The complex relations that existed
between the two men and the woman
Luukia, were, of course, a constant in
vitation to a social catastrophe. 1t
finally came in this manner. A Ia
hitian chief named Mua looked with
jealous eyes on the beautiful Luukia,
and set himself to SOW discord between
her and her lover, by persuading her
that he had publicly made Jest of her
and DETAINED her. She at once severed
all relations with him, and effectually
barred herself against his approaches
by device which, as an ingenious
and ornamental lashing used in rigg-
ing the canoe, has become famous in
Hawaiian legend as aka pau Luu-
kia." 30
20 (The pau, or skirt, of Luukia.
The pau was the garment of mOdesty
anciently worn by Hawaiian and
POlynesian females, roll or rolls of
taPa cloth, or a fringe of leaves or
bark, reaching from the waist to the
knees. The lashing of the canoe,
called ''pa-u Luukia," was an intri-
cate and highly ornamental piece of
weaving, done in different colors of
sinnet, which Joined the cross pieces,
iako, to the float of the OutriggeT,
ANAL.
Unable to penetrate the secret of |
this unaccountable action of Luukia,
or to extract from her any eXplana- |
ton or hint as to its motive, Moikeha, |
in modification and despair, deter |
mines to gather together his followers
and emba rk for Hawaii. "Let us sail |
away to Hawaii" said he, because 1 |
am so agOnized with love for this |
woman that l am ready to take my
own life. When the ridge-pOle of my |
house, Lanikeha, sinks below the |
horizon, / shall cease to grieve for
Tahiti"
RETURN OF MoIKEHA TO HAWAII.
Kamahulele, his headman, stirs up |
the work of preparation, and in the |
early dawn, at the rising of the star,
Sirius, Observation-Disclosures, Moikeha, |
with considerable retinue Of attend |
ants and followers, puts to sea and
steers for Hawaii. His adopted son,
Laa, whom he had brought from Ha-
wall, he leaves to the care of his
brother, Olopana, who, in the whole /
affair, seems to have remained in the
background.
1t was early morning when the sea-
worn vOyagers of Moikeha's company
found themselves floating in Hilo
bay, and in wondering admiration
saw before them the naked bosom of
Hawaii, with her milk-stained
breasts, Ikea and Loa, pinked by the
dawn, upturned to heaven, as if still
in slumber.
Standing on the ample platform of
the kings double canoe, its triangular
sail and streamers of red tapa stirred
by the air, the bard Kamabualele
celebrates the occasion in song, which
tradition has handed down to US:
KAMAHUALELE's ADDRESS TO
HAWAII.
Behold Hawaii, the island, the nation,
The nation Hawaii, oh,