La" among the Polynesians, like the word "Ra" among the Egyptians,
means "sun" or "day" or "sun-god"--and the mountain where the son of
Hina won his victory over the monster of the heavens has long borne the
name Hale-a-ka-la, or House of the Sun.

Hina of Hilo soon realized the wonderful deed which Maui had done. She
spread out her fine tapas with songs of joy and cheerily performed the
task which filled the hours of the day. The comfort of sunshine and
cooling winds came with great power into Hina's life, bringing to her
renewed joy and beauty.

XIII.

HINA AND THE WAILUKU RIVER.

There are two rivers of rushing, tumbling rapids and waterfalls in the
Hawaiian Islands, both bearing the name of Wailuku. One is on the Island
of Maui, flowing out of a deep gorge in the side of the extinct volcano
Iao. Yosemite-like precipices surround this majestically-walled crater.
The name Iao means "asking for clouds." The head of the crater-valley is
almost always covered with great masses of heavy rain clouds. Out of the
crater the massed waters rush in a swift-flowing stream of only four or
five miles, emptying into Kahului harbor. The other Wailuku river is on
the Island of Hawaii. The snows melt on the summits of the two great
mountains, Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa. The water seeps through the porous
lava from the eastern slope of Mauna Loa and the southern slope of Mauna
Kea, meeting where the lava flows of centuries from each mountain have
piled up against each other. Through the fragments of these volcanic
battles the waters creep down the mountain side toward the sea.

[Illustration: Rainbow Falls, Hina's Home.]

At one place, a number of miles above the city of Hilo, the waters were
heard gurgling and splashing far below the surface. Water was needed for
the sugar plantations, which modern energy has established all along the
eastern coast of the large island. A tunnel was cut into the lava, the
underground stream was tapped--and an abundant supply of water secured
and sluiced down to the large plantations below. The head waters of the
Wailuku river gathered from the melting snow of the mountains found
these channels, which centered at last in the bed of a very ancient and
very interesting lava flow. Sometimes breaking forth in a large,
turbulent flood, the stream forces its way over and around the huge
blocks of lava which mark the course of the eruption of long ago.
Sometimes it courses in a tunnel left by the fl