ach would have to pass these potato or taro
patches, and it was Nanaue's habit to accost them with the query of
where they were going. If they answered, "To bathe in the sea," or,
"Fishing," he would answer, "Take care, or you may disappear head and
tail." Whenever he so accosted any one it would not be long before
some member of the party so addressed would be bitten by a shark.

If it should be a man or woman going to the beach alone, that person
would never be seen again, as the shark-man would immediately follow,
and watching for a favorable opportunity, jump into the sea. Having
previously marked the whereabouts of the person he was after, it was an
easy thing for him to approach quite close, and changing into a shark,
rush on the unsuspecting person and drag him or her down into the
deep, where he would devour his victim at his leisure. This was the
danger to humanity which his king-father foresaw when he cautioned
the mother of the unborn child about feeding him on animal flesh,
as thereby an appetite would be evoked which they had no means of
satisfying, and a human being would furnish the most handy meal of
the kind that he would desire.

Nanaue had been a man grown some time, when an order was promulgated
by Umi, King of Hawaii, for every man dwelling in Waipio to go to
_koele_ work, tilling a large plantation for the King. There were to
be certain days in an _anahulu_ (ten days) to be set aside for this
work, when every man, woman, and child had to go and render service,
excepting the very old and decrepit, and children in arms.

The first day every one went but Nanaue. He kept on working in his
mother's vegetable garden to the astonishment of all who saw him. This
was reported to the King, and several stalwart men were sent after
him. When brought before the King he still wore his _kapa kihei_
or mantle.

The King asked him why he was not doing koele work with every one
else. Nanaue answered he did not know it was required of him. Umi
could not help admiring the bold, free bearing of the handsome man,
and noting his splendid physique, thought he would make a good warrior,
greatly wanted in those ages, and more especially in the reign of Umi,
and simply ordered him to go to work.

Nanaue obeyed, and took his place in the field with the others, and
proved himself a good worker, but still kept on his kihei, which it
would be natural to suppose that he would lay aside as an incumbrance
when engaged in hard