land of
Kauai. She then moved on to Oahu, hoping for better results;
but though she tried both sides of the island, first mount
Ka-ala--the fragrant--and then Konahuanui, she still found
the conditions unsatisfactory. She passed on to Molokai,
thence to Lanai, and to West Maui, and East Maui, at which
last place she dug the immense pit of Hale-a-ka-la; but
everywhere she was unsuccessful. Still journeying east and
south, she crossed the wide Ale-nui-haha channel and came to
Hawaii, and, after exploring in all directions, she was
satisfied to make her home at Kilauea. Here is (_ka piko o ka
honua_) the navel of the earth. Apropos of this effort of
Pele to make a fire-pit for herself, see the song for the
hula kuolo (p. 86), "A pit lies (far) to the east."

_Mele_

A Kauai, a ke olewa [332] iluna,
Ka pua lana i kai o Wailua;
Nana mai Pele ilaila;
E waiho aku ana o Aim.[333]
5 Aloha i ka wai niu o ka aina;
E ala mai ana mokihana,
Wai auau o Hiiaka.
Hoo-paapaa Pele ilaila;
Aohe Kau [334] e ulu ai.
10 Keehi aku Pele i ka ale kua-loloa,

He onohi no Pele, ka oaka o ka lani, la.
Eli-eli, kau mai!

[Translation]

_Song_

To Kauai, lifted in ether,
A floating flower at sea off Wailua--
That way Pele turns her gaze,
She's bidding adieu to Oahu,
5 Loved land of new wine of the palm. 5
There comes a perfumed waft--mokihana--
The bath of the maid Hiiaka.
Scene it was once of Pele's contention,
Put by for future attention.
10 Her foot now spurns the long-backed wave; 10
The phosphor burns like Pele's eye,
Or a meteor-flash in the sky.
Finished the prayer, enter, possess!

[Footnote 332: _Olewa_. Said to be the name of a wooded region
high up on the mountain of Kauai. It is here treated as if it
meant the heavens or the