st headland;
I shall catch the wind.
I will cast my net
At the second headland;
I shall catch a tempest.
I will cast forth my net
At the third headland;
I shall get the south wind.
I will cast forth my net
At the fourth headland;
I shall take above, below,
Land and sea--
I shall take Uhumakaikai.
At a single word of Hina
He shall fall; hard pressed
Shall be the neck of Uhumakaikai.

In the sixteenth verse of this second canto Kawelo invokes the owl, which
the Hawaiians regarded as a god. In extreme perils, if the owl made
its cries heard, it was a sign of safety, as the voice of this bird
was sacred; and more than once has it happened that men, destined to be
immolated on the altar of sacrifices as expiatory victims, have escaped
death merely because the owl (_Pueo_) was heard before the immolation. It
is easy to understand, after this, the invocation that Kawelo made to Pueo
when he found himself in combat with the terrible Uhumakaikai.

In the third canto Kawelo endeavors to destroy the monster. He commences
by saying that he, a chief (_ka lani_), does not disdain to work as a
simple fisherman. Then he pays a tribute to those who have woven the
net he is going to use to capture the monster of the sea. The olona
(_Boehmeria_), a shrub whose bark furnishes the Hawaiians with an
excellent fibre, was regarded as a sort of deity. Before spinning its
fibres, they made libations, and offered sacrifices of hogs, fowls, etc.
Kawelo refers to all this in his song.

PAHA EKOLU.

Huki kuu ka lani
Keaweawekaokai honua,
Kupu ola ua ulu ke opuu.
Ke kahi 'ke olona.
Kahoekukama kohi lani.
O kia ka piko o ke olona,
Ihi a ka ili no moki no lena,
Ahi kuni ka aala,
Kunia, haina, paia,
Holea, hoomoe ka Papa,
Ke kahi ke olona,
Ke kau ko opua,
Ke kea ka maawe
Kau hae ka ilo ka uha,
Ke kaakalawa ka upena:
O kuu aku i kai,
I kai a Papa; ua hina,
E hina, kohia i ka aa
O Uhumakaikai.

CANTO III.

I, a chief, willingly
Cast my net of olona;
The olona springs up, it grows,
It branches and is cut down.
The paddles of the chief beat the sea.
Stripped off is the bark of the alona,
Peeled is the bark of the yellow moki.
The fire exhales a sweet odor;
The sacrifice is ready.
The bark is peeled, the board[F] is made ready,
The olona is carded,
And laid on the board.
White is the cord,
The cord is twisted on the thigh,