boast _he lala kamahele no ka
laau ku i ka pali_ is uncertain. I take it to be a punning reference to
the Pali family from whom the chief sprang, but it may simply be a way
of saying "I am a very high chief." Kamahele is a term applied to a
favorite and petted child, as, in later religious apostrophe, to Christ
himself.]

CHAPTER VI

[Footnote 37: The _puloulou_ is said to have been introduced by Paao
some five hundred years ago, together with the ceremonial taboo of which
it is the symbol. Since for a person of low rank to approach a sacred
place or person was death to the intruder, it was necessary to guard
against accidental offences by the use of a sign. The _puloulou_
consisted of a ball-shaped bundle of white bark cloth attached to the
end of a staff. This symbol is to be seen represented upon the Hawaiian
coat of arms; and Kalakaua's _puloulou_, a gilded wooden ball on the end
of a long staff, is preserved in the Bishop Museum.]

[Footnote 38: Long life was the Polynesian idea of divine blessing. Of
Kualii the chanter boasts that he "lived to be carried to battle in a
net." The word is _kaikoko_, "to carry on the back in a net," as in the
case of old and feeble persons. Polynesian dialects contain a full
vocabulary of age terms from infancy to old age.]

[Footnote 39: Chickens were a valuable part of a chief's wealth, since
from their feathers were formed the beautiful fly brushes, _kahili_,
used to wave over chiefs of rank and carried in ceremonial processions.
The entrance to the rock cave is still shown, at the mouth of Kaliuwaa
valley, where Kamapuaa's grandmother shut up her chickens at night, and
it was for robbing his uncle's henroost that this rascally pig-god was
chased away from Oahu. This reference is therefore one of many
indications that the Laieikawai tale belongs with those of the ancient
demigods.]

[Footnote 40: Mr. Meheula suggested to me this translation of the
idiomatic allusions to the canoe and the coral reef.]

CHAPTER VIII

[Footnote 41: A peculiarly close family relation between brother and
sister is reflected in Polynesian tales, as in those of Celtic, Finnish,
and Scandinavian countries. Each serves as messenger or go-between for
the other in matters of love or revenge, and guards the other's safety
by magic arts. Such a condition represents a society in which the family
group is closely bound together. For such illustrations compare the
Fornander stories of _H