the one devoted to Laka, the other to
Kapo. The following facts will throw light on the question.
On either side of the approach to the altar stood,
sentinel-like, a tall stem of hala-pepe, a graceful, slender
column, its head of green sword-leaves and scarlet drupes
making a beautiful picture. (See p. 24.) These are said to
have been the special emblems of the goddess Kapo.

The following account of a conversation the author had with
an old woman, whose youthful days were spent as a hula
dancer, will also help to disentangle the subject and explain
the relation of Kapo to the hula:

"Will you not recite again the prayer you just now uttered,
and slowly, that it may be written down?" the author asked of
her. "Many prayers for the kuahu have been collected, but
this one differs from them all."

"We Hawaiians," she answered, "have been taught that these
matters are sacred (_kapu_) and must not be bandied about
from mouth to mouth."

"Aye, but the time of the tabus has passed. Then, too, in a
sense having been initiated into hula matters, there can be
no impropriety in my dealing with them in a kindly spirit."

"No harm, of course, will come to you, a _haole_ (foreigner).
The question is how it will affect us."

"Tell me, were there two different classes of worshipers, one
class devoted to the worship of Laka and another class
devoted to the worship of Kapo?"

"No," she answered, "Kapo and Laka were one in spirit, though
their names were two."

"Haumea was the mother of Kapo. Who was her father?"

"Yes, Haumea was the mother, and Kua-ha-ilo [86] was the
father:"

"How about Laka?"

[Footnote 86: _Kua-ha-ilo._ A god of the _kahuna anaana;_
meaning literally to breed maggots in the back.]
[Page 48]
"Laka was the daughter of Kapo. Yet as a patron, of the hula
Laka stands first; she was worshiped at an earlier date than
Kapo; but they are really one."

Further questioning brought out the explanation that Laka was
not begotten in ordinary generation; she was a sort of
emanation from Kapo. It