The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1900-07-02

theme of "Hiwa' Is drawn. Hiwa Is the
daughter of Papaakahi. King OF the ISL
and OF Hawaii. Upon his deathbed Ia
paakahi calls his daughter to his side
and tells her that she must marry her
only brother ii. While IL was not un-
common among the ancient Hawaiians
for brothers and sisters of royal rank 10
marry. Hiwa detests this alliance. for l.
is a besotted youth. utterly her inferior
physically and mentally. and, moreover
she Is already in love with A>aanaana,
chief of lower rank than that OF the
kings but one of the bravesJ and most
powerful OF the island. But Papaakahl
fears the power Of "A, his brother, head
I of the priestly clan. and he knows that
should Hiwa marry any but her brother,
"A would attempt to dispossess III, ana
civil war would follow. This he tells
her. but Hiwa asks:
/ Father. why civil war;
Because / am old and must soon be
hidden in a cave. and your first-born
son would come before any child OF
your brothers as heir TO the kingdom.
You know our law; the child takes the
rank of it's mother instead OF the rank
Of its father for ala men know its moth
er and no man knows its father. You
yourself take divine rank from your
mother. who was my sister,
Il Later in their conversation he says;
Iii shall be your husband. and Kama
ana your lover. / have always loved
you above all others, and next 10 you i
love Kaanaana, and would choose him
for your husband IL he were OF the blood
of the gods
So Hiwa yields and agrees to marry a.
and for her complaisance Papaaka... re-
wards her by telling her Of the hidden
crater in the great mountain and the pas
sage TO IL beneath the sea, a secret known
only TO the mois and by them handed
down by word of mouth from generation
to generation.
After Papaakahi's death Hiwa marries
her brother, but not long thereafter she
is tempted and eats of the banana. the
forbidden fruit. and for this transgres-
sion OF the law OF tabu and offense
against the great god Ku, she is hunted
from the aialo or court by her uncle.
"A, the high priest. and forced to fly for
her life over the hills TO the sea. Here
she seizes the canoe OF an astonished
and terror-stricken fisherman and pad
dies franticaly down the coast toward
the great mountain where was the hid
den crater Sharply pursued by IA and
his men, she is forced at length to leap
from the boat, and as she fails to appear
after her dive. "A believes that UkanipO,
the shark god, has seized her, and aban-
dons the chase.
But Hiwa had found the secret en-
trance beneath the sea leading TO the
, crater. and she energies at last in safety
.
on the bank OF a little stream in the
vast crater her child is born. the child
: Of Eaanaana. In gratitude for her de-
? Ifverance from her enemy, she names
! her boy Aelani, the Pledge from Heaven,
= and she vows that she win bring him
up To manhood and make him moi Of the
land, and IL this Is permitted her she
swears that she win offer herself upon
the altar of Ku, to appease the dread
god for her sin In breaking the tabu.
The canoe she had abandoned had beer
left to drift to destruc,- IN by IA and
his followers as tabu, but Hiwa dives
forth from her place OF refuge and saves
:. IL. filling it with heavy stones and thus
= bringing H. by unheard-Of labor, through
Y the underwater passage to the crater.
g Here for years she lives I'm seclusion,
bringing her boy up TO young MANHOOD
+. The crater Is vast in extent and plants
of all kinds and trees grow in its floor
. furnishing her with ali things needful to
2 sustain life. As Aelani grows older, sh'
e teaches him to swim, to throw the spear
n to Jump and to run, and she instruct;
: him in the folklore of the land. She
: tells him who be Is; that he is the right
full lord OF the island and must wa0
: strong and skilful with arms and IN al
manly exercises in order that he may b,
{ fit to rule the land when he comes &c
II mans estate.
n When Aelani is Is years Of age Hiwa
: takes him forth one night and show:
: him the royal city where her brother
: rules AS they overlook the place they
:, hear an outcry and lamentations, anc
: Hiwa Immediately concludes that Ii !.
: dead. She knows that "A will attempt
to assume the kingdom, so TO prepar,
a the people for the corning OF her son
$ she makes her way by stealth to the out
e skirts of the city. and, appearing there
a so that people snail believe she is spir
eha haf "A mi shall
: / who will overthrow "A and rule I'm MS
] stead. Then she returns with her son tC
z their hiding place. The next night IIiws
n swims forth again. this time to the CAM
q of her one time lover, kaanaana, who
n had long mourned her as dead. She ap
: pears to him as flesh and blood and they
o two swim back to the Greater and Kaa-
n mama meets his son. The following day
: the three take the canoe forth from tbs
= 4crater and proceed to Kaanaana's camp
+" Here his followers rany about Aelan
and ne is proclaimed moi. The little
troop then marches over the mountains
/ and. attacking Aa's forces. defeats then
q although much inferior I'm numbers. a;
/ is killed and in the hour of victory iii
: wa mandates herself upon the altar Of
= Ku. and Kaanaana. unable TO live with
y out her, dies on her body.
II The interest OF the story clings entire
" Is about Hiwa and her son. no attemp
e being made to draw the other character
j. at all clearly. There is mention mad,
> in purely incidental fashion of a younl
!, maiden whom Hiwa believes to be tn
= daughter of her own twin sister. VIII,
= had bee7 taken away at her birth an,
left TO die. as IL was supposed. in &C
q cordance with the barbaric usage o
d those days. This girl Aelani sees on tn
Ie night Of his first pilgrimage to the cit,
II OF his fathers, and he falls i'm love witt
70 her. She Is mentioned but once or twic
= in the book, just enough TO sustain tn,
love interest" but like the other char
acters, aside from Hiwa and Aelani sh
- is drawn but family and cuts small fig
sr ure in the story.
ie on the whole, the tale Is a pretty on
'e very well told and will bear readin
IS more than once. There is much valuabl
information on the history. mythology
fauna and fora OF the Islands wove
\, neatly into the fabric of the story. Blu
in his zeal for irnparting information
: Mr. Dole goes once or twice too palpabl
~ out Of his way. As. for example at tn
Pr opening Of one OF his chapters He Ia