out face;
Advance toward the sea;
Advance toward the land,
Toward the pit that is Pele's,
Portentous consumer of rocks in Puna.
35 Pi and Pa chirp the cricket notes
Of Pele at home in her pit.
Have done with restraint!

The imagery and language of this mele mark the hula to which
it belonged as a performance of strength.
[Page 216]

XXIX.--THE HULA KOLANI

For the purpose of this book the rating of any variety of
hula must depend not so much on the grace and rhythm of its
action on the stage as on the imaginative power and dignity
of its poetry. Judgedin this way, the _kolani_ is one of the
most interesting and important of the hulas. Its performance
seems to have made no attempt at sensationalism, yet it was
marked by a peculiar elegance. This must have been due in a
measure to the fact that only adepts--_olohe_--those of the
most finished skill in the art of hula, took part in its
presentation. It was a hula of gentle, gracious action, acted
and sung while the performers kept a sitting position, and
was without instrumental accompaniment. The fact that this
hula was among the number chosen for presentation before the
king (Kamehameha III) while on a tour of Oahu in the year
1846 or 1847 is emphatic testimony as to the esteem in which
it was held by the Hawaiians themselves.

The mele that accompanied this hula when performed for the
king's entertainment at Waimanalo was the following:

He ua la, he ua,
He ua pi'i mai;
Noe-noe halau,
Halau loa o Lono.
5 O lono oe;
Pa-a-a na pali
I ka hana a Ikuwa--
Poha ko-ele-ele.
A Welehu ka malama,
10 Noho i Makali'i;
Li'i-li'i ka hana.
Aia a e'e-u,
He eu ia no ka la hiki.
Hiki mai ka Lani,
15 Nauweuwe ka honua,
Ka hana a ke ola'i nui:
Moe pono ole ko'u po--
Na niho ai kalakala,
Ka hana a ka Niuhi