s
genealogy must be more correct than that of the kings. Common tradition
declares that Paao came from foreign countries, landing on the north-west
shore of Hawaii (Kohala), at Puuepa, in the place where, to this day, are
seen the ruins of the Heiau (temple) of Mokini, the most ancient of all
the temples, and which he is said to have built. The advent of Paao and
his erection of this heiau are so ancient, according to the old men, that
Night helped the priest raise the temple: _Na ka po i kukulu ae la Mokini,
a na Paao nae_. These sayings, in the native tongue, indicate the high
antiquity of Paao.[7]

To build the temple of Mokini, which also served as a city of refuge, Paao
had stones brought from all sides, even from Pololu, a village situated
four or five leagues from Mokini or Puuepa. The Kanakas formed a chain the
whole length of the route, and passed the stones from one to another--an
easy thing in those times--from the immense population of the
neighborhood.

Paao has always been considered as the first of the Kahuna. For this
reason his descendants, independently of the fact that they are regarded
as _Mookahuna_, that is, of the priesthood, are more like nobles in the
eye of the people, and are respected by the chiefs themselves. There are,
in the neighborhood of Mokini, stones which are considered petrifactions
of the canoe, paddles, and fish-hooks of Paao.

At Pololu, toward the mountain, are found fields of a very beautiful
verdure. They are called the pastures, or grass-plots, of Paao (_Na mauu a
Paao_). The old priest cultivated these fields himself, where no one since
his time has dared to use spade or mattock. If an islander was impious
enough to cultivate the meadow of Paao, the people believe that a terrible
punishment would be the inevitable consequence of that profanation.
Disastrous rains, furious torrents, would surely ravage the neighboring
country.

Some Hawaiians pretend that there exists another sacerdotal race besides
that of Paao, more ancient even than that, and whose priests belonged at
the same time to a race of chiefs. It is the family of Maui, probably
of Maui-hope, the last of the seven children of Hina,[8] the same who
captured the sea-monster Piimoe. The origin of this race, to which Naihe
of Kohala pretends to belong, is fabulous. Since the reign of Kamehameha,
the priests of the order of Maui have lost favor.

The second class of the clergy was composed of the prophets (_Kaula_)