gether.
The men solemnly promised to obey Maui and at once proceeded to their
new task. The island now known as Maui was selected for the first
attempt. Maui fastened his magic fish-hook into that part of the land
nearest Hawaii, and at his command the strong men and chiefs paddled
with all their might. Slowly the island moved behind them.
No one dared look around, though all were burning with curiosity to
see the result of their struggles. Long and steadily they paddled
until the two islands were only a few feet apart. Then one of the
chiefs could no longer control his curiosity and looked around.
In an instant the charm was broken. The island slid back through the
sea to its former position in spite of all that Maui, chiefs and
strong men could do to stop it. Only a small piece of land was
left--that in which the fish-hook was still deeply imbedded. Today
that bit of land is covered with lauhala trees and coconut palms, and
is known as Coconut Island.
So great was Maui's disappointment at this his first failure in any
important enterprise that he would not try again. He said his
fish-hook had lost its charm and sorrowfully he took it away with him
in his canoe. He carried it up the Wailuku River to his home behind
Rainbow Falls, where he grieved for many days over the unsuccessful
attempt. Later, having no more use for the hook, he carried it away
from the cave and threw it into the forest near his home, where it lay
undisturbed until the haole came.
To those early settlers the magic fish-hook of Maui was of less
interest as such than as material for masonry, and not a piece of it
remains. At the forks of the Piihonua-Kaumana road one may, however,
see the peculiar-shaped depression where it lay for so long before
civilization's vanguard swept the tangled jungle of Maui's time from
its hiding-place.
[Illustration: Drawn by Will Herwig. Paradise Eng.
But the Strange Woman Smiled and Told Them to Uncover the Imu.]
HINA KEAHI.
Just mauka of the Hilo Boarding School are three large, rounded hills
which, centuries ago, were mud craters. Covered with the green of
rustling cane-tops, at a distance they appear to be soft, grassy
mounds. Many a tourist, gazing from the deck of an incoming ship, has
yearned to "stroll over those smooth, rolling hills," only to find the
pastime quite impossible on nearer view, which revealed the "velvety
grass" as lusty sugar cane stalks ten to fifteen fe
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