i.]

[Page 125]

[Translation]

_Song_

Kahiki-nui, land of wind-driven smoke!
Mine eyes gaze with longing on Kona;
A fire-wreath glows aback of the district,
And a robe of wonderful green
5 Lies the sea that has aproned my loins
Off the point of Hana-malo.
A dark burnished form is Hawaii,
To one who stands on the mount--
A hamper swung down from heaven,
10 A beautiful carven shape is the island--
Thy mountains, thy splendor of herbage:
Mauna-kea and Loa stand (in glory) apart,
To him who looks from Maile-hahei;
And Kilohana pillows for rest
15 On the shoulder of Hu'e-hu'e.

This love-song--_mele hoipoipo_--which would be the
despair of a strict literalist--what is it all about? A
lover in Kahiki-nui--of the softer sex, it would appear--
looks across the wind-swept channel and sends her thoughts
lovingly, yearningly, over to Kona of Hawaii, which district
she personifies as her lover. The mountains and plains,
valleys and capes of its landscapes, are to her the parts and
features of her beloved. Even in the ocean that flows between
her and him, and which has often covered her nakedness as
with a robe, she finds a link in the chain of association.
[Page 126]

XVIII.--AN INTERMISSION

During the performance of a hula the halau and all the people
there assembled are under a tabu, the imposition of which was
accomplished by the opening prayer that had been offered
before the altar. This was a serious matter and laid everyone
present under the most formal obligations to commit no breach
of divine etiquette; it even forbade the most innocent
remarks and expressions of emotion. But when the performers,
wearied of the strait-jacket, determined to unbend and
indulge in social amenities, to lounge, gossip, and sing
informal songs, to quaff a social bowl of awa, or to indulge
in an informal dance, they secured the opportunity for this
interlude, by su