_Oli_

Ku ka punohu ula i ka moana;
Hele ke ehu-kai, uhi i ka aina;
Olapa ka uila, noho i Kahiki.
Ulna, nakolo,
5 Uwa, ka pihe,
Lau[122] kanaka ka hula.
E Laka, e!

[Translation]

_Tiring Song_.

The rainbow stands red o'er the ocean;
Mist crawls from the sea and covers the land;
Far as Kahiki flashes the lightning;
A reverberant roar,
5 A shout of applause
From the four hundred.
I appeal to thee, Laka!

[Footnote 122: _Lau_ (archaic). Four hundred.]
[Page 56]
The answering song, led by the kumu, is in the same
flamboyant strain:

_Oli_

Lele Mahu'ilani[123] a luna,
Lewa ia Kauna-lewa![124]

[Translation]

_Song_

Lift Mahu'ilani on high;
Thy palms Kauna-lewa a-waving!

[Footnote 123: _Mahu'ilani_. A poetlcal name for the right
hand; this the _olapa_, the dancing girls, lifted in
extension as they entered the halau from, the dressing room.
The left hand was termed _Kaohi-lani_.]

[Footnote 124: _Kauna-lewa_. The name of a celebrated grove of
coconuts at Kekaha, Kauai, near the residence of the late Mr.
Knudsen.]

After the ceremony of the pa-u came that of the lei, a wreath
to crown the head and another for the neck and shoulders. It
was not the custom in the old times to overwhelm the body
with floral decorations and to blur the outlines of the
figure to the point of disfigurement; nor was every flower
that blows acceptable as an offering. The gods were jealous
and nice in their tastes, pleased, only with flowers
indigenous to the soil--the ilima (pl. VI), the lehua, the
maile, the ie-ie, and the like (see pp. 19, 20). The ceremony
was quickly accomplished. As the company knotted the garlands
about head or neck, they sang:

_Oli Lei_

Ke lei mai la o Ka-ula i ke kai, e!
Ke malama