idents in the story of Puapua-lenalena alluded to in
the mele do not exactly chime with any version of the legend
met with. That is not strange. Hawaiian legends of necessity
had many variants, especially where, as in this case, the
adventures of the hero occurred in part on one and in part on
another island. The author's knowledge of this story is
derived from various independent sources, mainly from a
version given to his brother, Joseph S. Emerson, who took it
down from the words of an intelligent Hawaiian youth of
Kohala.

English literature, so far as known to the author, does not
furnish any example that is exactly comparable to or that
will serve as an illustration of this nonterminal rhyme,
which abounds in Hawaiian poetry. Perhaps the following will
serve the purpose of illustration:

'Twas the swine of Gadara, fattened on _mast_.
The _mast_-head watch of a ship was the last
To see the wild herd careering past,

Or such a combination as this:

He was a mere _flat_,
Yet _flat_tered the girls.

Such artificial productions as these give us but a momentary
intellectual entertainment. While the intellectual element in
them was not lacking with the Hawaiians, the predominant
feeling, no doubt, was a sensuous delight coming from the
repetition of a full-throated vowel-combination.
[Page 228]

XXXIII.--THE HULA PUA'A

The hula _pua'a_ rounds out the number of animal-dances that
have survived the wreck of time, or the memory of which has
come down to us. It was a dance in which only the olapa took
part without the aid of instrumental accompaniment. Women as
well as men were eligible as actors in its performance. The
actors put much spirit into the action, beating the chest,
flinging their arms in a strenuous fashion, throwing the body
into strained attitudes, at times bending so far back as
almost to touch the floor. This energy seems to have invaded
the song, and the cantillation of the mele is said to have
been done in that energetic manner called _ai-ha'a_.