the watchful Niheu, and
the turtle is slain by the stroke of the magic rod. All this was
during the night. At last, just as the edge of the morning lifted
itself from the deep, their mast became entangled in the branches of
the trees. Niheu flung upward a stone. It struck. The branches came
rattling down, and the mast was free. On they went till the canoes
gently stood still. On this, Niheu cried out, "Here you are, asleep
again, O Kana, and the canoes are aground!"

Kana felt beneath; there was no ground. He felt above; the mast
was entangled in weeds. He pulled, and the weeds and earth came down
together. The smell of the fresh-torn weeds was wafted up to Hale-huki,
the house where Kapeepeekauila lived. His people, on the top of Haupu,
looked down on the canoes floating at the foot. "Wondrous is the size
of the canoes!" they cried. "Ah! it is a load of _opihis_ (shell-fish)
from Hawaii for Hina," for that was a favorite dish with her.

Meantime, Kana despatched Niheu after his mother. "Go in friendly
fashion," said the former.

Niheu leaped ashore, but slipped and fell on the smooth rocks. Back
he went to the canoes.

"What sort of a coming back is this?" demanded Kana.

"I slipped and fell, and just escaped with my life," answered Niheu.

"Back with you!" thundered Kana.

Again the luckless Niheu sprang ashore, but the long-eyed sand-crabs
(_ohiki-makaloa_) made the sand fly with their scratching till his
eyes were filled. Back to the canoes again he went. "Got it all in
my eyes!" said he, and he washed them out with sea-water.

"You fool!" shouted Kana; "what were you looking down for? The
sand-crabs are not birds. If you had been looking up, as you ought,
you would not have got the sand in your eyes. Go again!"

This time he succeeded, and climbed to the top of Haupu. Arriving at
the house, Hale-huki, where Hina dwelt, he entered at once. Being asked
"Why enterest thou this forbidden door?" he replied:

"Because I saw thee entering by this door. Hadst thou entered some
other way, I should not have come in at the door." And behold,
Kapeepeekauila and Hina sat before him. Then Niheu seized the hand
of Hina and said, "Let us two go." And she arose and went.

When they had gone about half-way to the brink of the precipice,
Kapeepeekauila exclaimed, "What is this? Is the woman gone?"

Mo-i, the sister of Kana, answered and said, "If you wish the woman,
now is the time; you and I fight."

Great was the l