es 5
planets. For notes upon Polynesian astronomy consult Journal of the
Polynesian Society, iv, 236. Hawaiian priestly hierarchies recognize
special orders whose function it is to read the signs in the clouds, in
dreams, or the flight of birds, or to practice some form of divination with
the entrails of animals. In Hawaii, according to Fornander, the soothsayers
constitute three of the ten large orders of priests, called Oneoneihonua,
Kilokilo, and Nanauli, and these are subdivided into lesser orders. _Ike_,
knowledge, means literally "to see with, the eyes," but it is used also to
express mental vision, or knowledge with reference to the objective means
by which such knowledge is obtained. So the "gourd of wisdom"--_ka ipu o ka
ike_--which Laieikawai consults, brings distant objects before the eyes so
that the woman "knows by seeing" what is going on below. Signs in the
clouds are especially observed, both as weather indicators and to forecast
the doings of chiefs. According to Westervelt's story of _Keaomelemele_,
the lore is taught to mythical ancestors of the Hawaiian race by the gods
themselves. The best analysis of South Sea Island weather signs is to be
found in Erdland's "Marshall Insulaner," page 69. Early in the morning or
in the evening is the time for making observations. Rainbows,
_punohu_--doubtfully explained to me as mists touched by the end of a
rainbow--and the long clouds which lie along the horizon, forecast the
doings of chiefs. A pretty instance of the rainbow sign occurred in the
recent history of Hawaii. When word reached Honolulu of the death of King
Kalakaua, the throng pressed to the palace to greet their new monarch, and
as Her Majesty Liliuokalani appeared upon the balcony to receive them, a
rainbow arched across the palace and was instantly recognized as a symbol
of her royal rank. In the present story the use of the rainbow symbol shows
clumsy workmanship, since near its close the Sun god is represented as
sending to his bride as her peculiar distinguishing mark the same sign, a
rainbow, which has been hers from birth.]

[Footnote 2: Moerenhout (I, 501-507) says that the Areois society in
Tahiti, one of whose chief objects was "to preserve the chants and songs
of antiquity," sent out an officer called the "Night-walker," _Hare-po_,
whose duty it was to recite the chants all night long at the sacred
places. If he hesitated a moment it was a bad omen. "Perfect memory for
these chants was a g