Photo: Ku'ialuaopuna
Ruling Chiefs
of Hawaii
(Revised Edition)
SAMUEL M. KAMAKAU
KAMEHAMEHA SCHOOLS PRESS • HONOLULU
Copyright © 1961
Revised Edition Copyright © 1992
by Kamehameha Schools
pgs.270-296
Ruling Chiefs of Hawaii
At the close of the war learning to read became popular. The chiefs saw the value of education and of the observance of the Sabbath. They learned to repeat the Lord's prayer, and teachers were sent all about the country districts. Every chief's household had a teacher, some of them women. There were as many as forty such schools in Honolulu and an equal number at Waikiki, and education spread widely in those few years. After the death of Ke-opu-o-lani her husband Hoa-pili was the leading representative of the Christian faith. Later Ka-ʻahu-manu and Ka-lani-moku and their households followed suit. . . .* The young king was fully determined to have his people educated. Ka-ʻahu-manu and Ka-lani-moku supported his wish. Harriet Nahi-ʻenaʻena also urged chiefs and commoners to live upright lives. The wish of the king, his sister, and his guardians acted upon the people like a lightning flash stimulating all hearts. The study of letters was taken up universally from the king's own household to the remotest country dwelling. Schools were established all over Oahu conducted like the schools of the hula in old days. After the second or third week they would hold all-night and all-day sessions, and as April 19 of each year approached, when all gathered for the yearly exhibition (ho1ʻike), from Kepukaki you could see lights burning all the way from the Nuʻuanu Pali to Kaimuki. Each school vied with the others to make the best showing on the day of the exhibition, and the winner would receive acclaim from the public. Those schools that excelled became famous; those that made a poor showing were objects of derision.
The subjects taught were spelling in unison; reciting syllables of two letters†; reciting a refusal to keep wooden gods; names of lands, names of months; a recitation relating the emotion of the people over the death of a king in a foreign land; portions of the books of Matthew, Psalms, Acts of the Apostles, and Luke; questions relating to God; the Ten Commandments; questions prepared for the exhibition;
the desire of the rulers proclaimed at Honuakaha; the first hymn about ʻOpu-kaha-ʻia; and the arithmetical processes of adding, multiplication tables, division, and fractions. It was Mr. Chamberlain who first taught figures. Some schools taught how to get ready, to stand, to speak out, to take up a slate, how to place the pencil on the slate, thus: "Attention, get ready, wait, stand up, speak, give greeting." These were some of the many things taught in old days which gave reading such prestige. Ka-ʻahu-manu, Kekua-i-piʻia Na-mahana, Kinaʻu, Ka-lani-pauahi, Ke-ka-ulu-ohi, all the nieces of Ka-ʻahu-manu and all the chiefs were taught to read. All the old chiefs, even those who were toothless, recited from memory certain questions and answers and the commandments of God given on Mount Sinai. King Kau-i-ke-aouli laid great stress on the progress of education among the whole people and he continued attending school. Mr. Bingham was one of his teachers as were also Mr. Kahuhu and Mr. Kuke of Borabora.* He took up singing and sang in the choir on Sunday with Ke-liʻi-ahonui and others at Kawaiahaʻo. Until his last days he never ceased working for the uplifting of his people.† When the High School at Lahainaluna opened, he sent some of his teachers, Ka-maunu, Ka-wai-lepolepo, Mahune, and others, to learn deeper wisdom and become leaders in the affairs of the government. Ka-ʻahu-manu also sent her teachers to this school and so did Kinaʻu, Ke-ka-ulu-ohi, Ka-iki-oʻewa, Hoa-pili, Kua-kini, Keoua, and ʻAi-kanaka. The spread of knowledge was very rapid in Hawaii.
Why were Pohukaina and Haliʻimaile made palace grounds for the king's dwelling? It was the desire of the chiefs to hear the word of God and be near where the missionaries lived. Waikiki had been the old place of residence for rulers. Honolulu was seldom used in Ka-lani-ku-pule's day. In Kamehameha's time the chief lived half his time at Waikiki and half in Honolulu. Liholiho made Honolulu his usual place of residence. He used to live at Kamanuwai. Houses were built above the stream of Kikihale down to Kapuʻukolo and to Kaʻaloa House, the warehouse owned by Ku-i-helani, above which was Pula-holaho, the land owned by Ka-ʻahu-manu which the British seized; on the beach called today Mokuʻaikaua and at Kaluaokapili and at ʻApua, Kaʻoaʻopa', and all the way to Honuakaha. Within these bound-aries there were a few buildings, in Kauanonoʻula, Honokaʻupu, old Honolulu, and Sailors' Home. The maika grounds called Kalanikahua ran from the Kikihale stream in front of William Stevens' place, southeast along John Meek's place to Polelewa (Bethel Church) and along Ka-makea's coconut grove. A watercourse ran from Kaʻakopua [Central Grammar School] to the fishponds of Kahoʻikekanaka makai of Honuakaha. The center was occupied by a few scattered houses where the foreigners lived. Liholiho and his chiefs lived at Pakaka [the end of Fort Street] and at places near the fort, where also lived the influential people and the soldiers who guarded the fort. Pohukaina and its vicinity were overgrown with vines and brambles. Ka-lani-moku's and Ka-ʻahu-manu's acceptance of the word of God was their reason for living on the plain of Apahuʻa. Ka-lani-moku built a large enclosure, of forest timber, adjoining King Street on the makai side and almost reaching Richards Street on the ʻEwa side, leaving the boundary of Ha-liʻimaile on the mauka side and running along the road leading to Waikiki as far as to the edge of Punchbowl Street on the ʻEwa side of the stone house of the Rev. Mr. Ellis (Eleiti) down King Street to where it joined Haliʻimaile. He also erected a large stone house, named Pohukaina, mauka of King street and on the ʻEwa side of the burial place of the kings. It was in this enclosure that Kau-i-ke-aouli's house stood and also Ka-ʻahu-manu's and the house of her nieces Kinaʻu, Ka-lani- pauahi, Ke-ka-ulu-ohi, and of their guardian, Kahala-iʻa, who was the king's kahu. Haliʻimaile was the home of Boki and Liliha. The house of Lilia Na-mahana, or Piʻia as she was called, was on the Waikiki side of the Pohukaina enclosure; and near to this where Punchbowl Street runs were Wala-wala-i-honua and Ka-polohau, and it was there that Ruth Ke-eli-kolani was reared.*
The Pohukaina enclosure was surrounded inside and out by the homes of the chiefs, the high and the lesser chiefs and the counselors and the old chiefs who desired to know about God. So great was the desire to join the church that men and women flocked in from the country districts neglecting their duties to those at home. A wife would leave her husband or a husband his wife in order to devote himself to the service of God. Such a seeker after membership in the church would come first to Ka-ʻahu-manu, braving the fear the people had of her because of her blood-red eyes, and would be sent on to another; perhaps at midnight they would be sent on elsewhere and their faith questioned. Finally
they were told that they must see one of the teachers who explained the word of God, for only so could their faith be known. It was these difficulties put in the way of their own simple manner of expressing their faith that made the chiefs and people so devoted to the word of God in the old days.
After the bodies of Liholiho and his queen had arrived from England, and the Council of chiefs had met and Kau-i-ke-aouli had been proclaimed king at Honuakaha, Boki was continued in the office of governor of the island of Oahu which he held under Kamehameha I and Liholiho. He put his younger cousin, Manuia, in command of Fort Ke-kua-nohu, of the fortified hill of Punchbowl, and the harbor of Kou, and made him Chief Marshall with power over life and death. Ke-ku-anaoʻa he put in command of the troops. These two, Boki's cousins, held the highest positions perhaps because they had both been to England and on state occasions were dressed in spick and span uniforms trimmed with gold. Na-wai-lau, Ke-aniani, Uwahi-nui, Hinau, and Ka-leo-hano also held high rank. Boki assured the chiefs that of all the information he had gained in England as to how affairs were operated in that famous nation, the things that impressed him most were the great importance given to the word of God as expressed in the cathedrals and churches of London, of which Saint Paul's seemed to him "to my mind the foundation on which was built her fame"; and the fact that those who were educated and learned in letters were the important people of the country, compared to whom the common people were like dust under their feet. The king of England [he said] lived in a way similar to the tabu chiefs of old, and he had extended his hand to them in friendship. These remarks of Boki delivered to Ka-ʻahu-manu and Ka-lani-moku in the presence of the chiefs made an immense impression. They redoubled their efforts in the study of letters and of the word of God, and Boki and Liliha and the Maui chiefs Hoa-pili and his wife and Harriet Nahi-ʻenaʻena, for whom Hoa-pili had selected Mr. Richards as foster parent and teacher, showed great zeal in learning to read and write. The chiefs at Kailua, namely: Kua-kini and Keoua, Maheha Ka-pu-likoliko, Ka-hahana and Makulu, Ke-pupu-ohi, and all the rest were equally diligent, as were Na-ihe, Ka-piʻo-lani, Ka-makau and his wife, and the other chiefs at Kaʻawaloa and Napoʻopoʻo.* The Hilo chiefs like Piʻopiʻo and Ke-aho-lawaiʻa as well. All the chiefs from Kauai also, as well as from Hawaii, such as Ka-iki-o-ʻewa and his wife Keawe-a-mahi, Ka-ʻuʻuku- aliʻi and ʻOle-loa, Ka-ʻiu and Ke-kai-haʻa-kulou, made great strides in knowledge of the word of God.
Boki, because of his familiarity with English customs, was appointed chief counselor to the young king and had control over all the affairs of the kingdom. At first he conducted these with great success and was praised for his good work, even by the foreigners. It was his association with some of them which later caused his downfall. Boki heard from Kauai that Kalai-wohi, a younger cousin of Ka-ʻahu-manu, was plotting to depose Ka-iki-o-ʻewa and seize Kauai for himself. Boki therefore made a visit to Kauai on the ship Paʻalua. Anchoring off the lower end of Poʻo, he went ashore at Waimea, and met Ka-iki-o-ʻewa, Ahu-kai Ka-ʻuʻuku-aliʻi, her mother Ka-ʻili-naoa, Na-mahana and other chiefs of Kauai. After the wailing he informed the chiefs that his errand was to take back Kalai-wohi with him to Oahu. This chief was the elder brother of the blind Ka-ʻeo, sons of Ka-ʻai-malolo and cousins to Ka-ʻahu-manu. He had been put in charge of the fort Hipo and lived on the other side at Laʻauakala. He was now summoned to Papaʻenaʻena and Boki said, "I want you to return with me to Oahu." "It is for him (indicating the chief) to give his consent to our going," answered Kalai-wohi. Ka-iki-o-ʻewa said to Boki, "We will remain with our nephew and you return alone to Oahu." After two days Boki proposed an inspection of the fort. The place had been well stocked with cannon and muskets and Ka-umu-aliʻi's men knew how to change the angles and range of the cannon, but after the capture of the fort by the men of Hawaii the arms had been removed to Oahu, Maui and even to Hawaii. In this examination Boki found that the [restock of] muskets had been taken away outside the fort and knew that Kalai-wohi was guilty, and Ka-iki-o-ʻewa finally consented to Kalai-wohi's removal to Oahu.
In 1826 an epidemic of cough and bronchitis carried off several chiefs and commoners. The symptoms were a parched throat, followed by fever with pains in head and chest. Among those who died of this illness were Ka-lani-pauahi, mother of Ruth Ke-ʻeli-kolani, and George Humehume, son of Ka-umu-aliʻi of Kauai, who died in Honolulu. Ka-haku-haʻakoi Wahine-pio also died of it at Mokuʻula, Maui. She was the sister of Ka-lani-moku and Boki, daughter of Ka-maka-huki-lani and Ke-kua-manoha' and mother of Ka-halaiʻa and Ke-kau-ʻonohi.
Kahala-iʻa was her son by Kalai-mamahu.' He was said to be perfectly formed from head to foot and so good to his people that in time of food scarcity he would sit down and share everything he had with them. Because of his personal attractions the tabu wives of Liholiho,
Ka-meha-malu and Ka-lani-pauahi, fell in love with him, and Liholiho had once entertained the notion of disposing of Kahala-iʻa as Kamehameha had of Ka-niho-nui, but he had too many influential relatives, the ruling counselors among them. "It is as easy for him to get women as to gather the thick-growing seaweed." (Ua like no laua me Limunui) was the chant sung on this occasion for Kahala-iʻa. When Ka-lani-moku was ill Kahala-iʻa came and wept over him and said, "I have refrained from taking the kingdom while you are alive, but after you are gone I shall take it." His anger was chiefly aroused against Ka-ʻahu-manu. Ka-lani-moku repeated Kahala-iʻa's words to her and his feelings toward her were well known. It came to be said of him, "The little crook in the Bent-over-one on the night that the nose is bitten" (O ua keʻe nei paha iloko o Haʻaloʻu-o-ka-po-nahunahu-ihu), [meaning that his wrath was of no importance.]
After Kahala-iʻa's death, Boki became the young king's chief kahu and also controlled the affairs of government while Ka-ʻahu-manu worked constantly to educate the people, assisted by Ka-lani-moku, Ke-kua-i-piʻia Namahana, and others. In 1825 she made her first trip around the island holding meetings, exhorting the people, and teaching the Lord's prayer and the confession of sin. The people were taught to go into secret places and there offer up supplication to God; they were taught of God in the heavens and of the Trinity and urged to confer with Mr. Bingham and Mr. Chamberlain (Kamalani) who accompanied [Ka-ʻahu-manu] on this trip. On this and other trips Ka-ʻahu-manu showed her humility by holding meetings with the humblest, and entering the poorest and meanest huts. She was not a member of the church until 1826 when she joined it with several other chiefs and was christened Elizabeth Ka-ʻahu-manu. She made a trip around the island after this event and the wheel of her carriage fell into the stream of Makawai between Kaneʻohe and Kualoa. In September of the same year she sailed for Maui and from there went to attend the dedication of the church of Mokuʻaikaua at Kailua* which occurred on September 22, 1826. In 1827, after the death in Kailua of Ka-lani-moku, Ka-ʻahu-manu returned and made a third trip about Oahu preaching the word of God. She stayed at Waialua where the young king was living at Waoʻala, and it was at this time that the sparkle of a diamond was seen on the beach at Mokule;ʻia.
Boki, whose conduct of the government was for a few months so admirable, fell under the influence of certain foreigners like Consul John Jones, Mr. Stephen Reynolds (Lanai), and the British consul, who feared the conversion of the chiefs and commoners to the word of God and used to remark, "If the missionaries stay we shall have to go, if they go we will remain." The respectable foreigners did not share this feeling, for the chiefs were becoming interested in the word of God. Manuia was intimate with the foreigners, who esteemed him highly; and all three, Boki, Manuia, and Ke-ku-anaoʻa, became attached to these foreigners who were hostile to the mission. Ke-ku-anaoʻa became mixed up in this hostility because it was through Boki's influence that he had married Ka-ʻahu-manu's niece, the tabu chiefess Kinaʻu who was to have been the king's wife when he came of age, and both Manuia and Ke-ku-anaoʻa depended for their positions upon Boki whose power no high chief dared dispute. Had not Kinaʻu married Ke-ku-anaoʻa he might have disappeared with Boki and two of our kings might never have been born. Thus God in his wisdom brought about this marriage between Kinaʻu and Ke-ku-anaoʻa.
Boki, then, became the friend of these foreigners and they would ply him with liquor and when he was intoxicated give him goods on credit. Thus he would buy whole bolts of cloth and boxes of dry goods and present them to the chiefs and favorites among his followers, and these flattered him and called him a generous chief. In this way he became even more heavily indebted to the foreigners for goods than the king [himself, through his] purchases. In some things he was farsighted, for he had several buildings put up on Kauai, Maui, and Hawaii for the sale of sandalwood and paid the men [who cut it] in cloth; and so the mountains where the sandalwood grew were full of people working for cloth. Boki also established several stores in Honolulu where cloth was sold, "Deep-in-debt" (Aʻienui) they were called because of his heavy debts. At Pakaka was a large wooden building belonging to Liholiho. Boki's was a smaller building which had been moved and was called "Little-scrotum" (Pulaholaho). The weighing of the sandalwood was done by foreigners who went from place to place for the purpose. The foreigners, finding Boki friendly and obliging, proposed a more profitable way of making money, and both Boki and Manuia erected buildings for the sale of liquor, Boki's called Polelewa and Manuia's Hauʻeka. Since Liholiho's sailing to England lawlessness had been prohibited, but with these saloons and others opened by the foreigners doing business, the old vices appeared and in a form worse &t;han ever. Polelewa became a place where noisy swine gathered. Drunkenness and licentious indulgence became common at night, and the people gathered in these places for hulas and filthy dances. The foreigners came to these resorts to find women, and Ka-ʻahu-manu and the missionaries were discussed there.
Boki and Liliha moved from Haliʻimaile to live on Beretania (Pelekane) and the British consul also bought a house there, but the king remained at Pohukaina where the king's house at that time stood. Ka-lani-moku felt very uneasy lest Boki attempt to seize the government and depose their niece and the king. He told Ka-ʻahu-manu of his suspicions and of his fear lest Boki try to make way with them. "You have no cause to be uneasy; it is I who should fear most," she said. He continued, "I have no one whom I can trust to watch him. All the chiefs as well as the commoners, great and small, follow him. But I have a plan to put up a small house (papaʻihale) mauka of Kawananakoa, and in case he moves to his canefield up Manoa I will set up my little house mauka of Makiki, and as Ke-ku-anaoʻa goes back and forth to visit him and has compassion on my loneliness, I might drop him a word." These men of old could reason well, but those who were following the foreigners were letting the strangers do their thinking for them. ... It is this intimate relation with the foreigners and the controversies over religion which have been the occasion for all the troubles in our country since the time of Kamehameha III until today. Had the chiefs and those who attained learning ruled wisely, no nation could have interfered with our independence. Hoahine, Raiatea, and Borabora are still ruled by their own chiefs without interference from the French, and so are the Tuamotus. Only at Tahiti and Taha'a do the French rule according to the treaty; the other islands are ruled by their own chiefs, Kaululai and Kapoa, and no foreigners hold official positions. Chiefs and people are reported to be on the increase and there has been no conflict with foreign powers.
Because of Ka-lani-moku's illness from the dropsy and the shame and worry which Boki's wasteful and drunken habits and his plots against the life of Ka-ʻahu-manu occasioned Ka-lani-moku sought relief in a trip to Hawaii. He took with him his foreign doctor, John Pellham by name, and on February 8, 1827, Ka-lani-moku died at Kai-lua in the fifty-ninth year of his age. He was born on the summit of Kaʻuiki in Hana, Maui, and had been Chief Counselor (kuhina nui) with the power over life and death under Kamehameha with whom he was a great favorite. He had acted as Kamehameha's treasurer, divided up the lands, and served as war leader. Some said that he even excelled Kamehameha as a warrior. He had become a God-fearing chief and was the cable which held fast the nation; at his death that stay was broken. Ka-ʻahu-manu, Kua-kini and his wife Keoua, Na-ihe and Ka-piʻo-lani, Hoa-pili and his wife, Ke-kau-ʻonohi, and other chiefs were present and wept bitterly at his death . . . Some expressed their grief in extravagant ways to the terror of Dr. Pellham. One man named Kiaʻi-moku hung himself head down from the ridge of the house where Ka-lani-moku's body was laid, and wailed bitterly. Many persons were suspected of having caused his death.
Ka-lani-moku had been interested in the cultivation of cotton and had, in 1825 and 1826, planted large areas in cotton from one end of the group to the other. In 1826 the cultivation of sugar was begun in Manoa valley by an Englishman. Boki and Ke-ku-anaoʻa were interested in this project and it was perhaps the first cane cultivated to any extent in Hawaii. When the foreigner gave it up Boki bought the field and placed Kinepu in charge. A mill was set up in Honolulu in a lot near where Sumner (Keolaloa) was living. For this action Boki is to be commended.
During this year an unfortunate incident took place in the murder by Kama-kea, who had been one of Kahala-iʻa's attendants before his death, of a Spaniard employed as a laborer by Don Paula y Marin. Kama-kea was drunk at the time. People going home from Polelewa saw him and Ka-mumuku holding the man under water and dragging him in the mud in the pond in the brickyard of Waiakemi. The men were arrested and placed in the fort. Ka-mumuku ran away and was afterwards pardoned; Kama-kea refused to escape. This incident led Ka-ʻahu-manu and Ka-lani-moku to enact a law making murder punishable by death. Strangely enough there was no trial and no sentence of hanging passed. No doubt it was Manuia's idea. In the dark hours of morning a rope was strung between two coconut trees, a block and tackle fastened in thecenter and Kama-kea was led out. As the soldiers made ready to hang him he asked John Big-feet (Wawaenui) to wait until he had offered prayer and sung a hymn. After singing the hymn, "Onward, my ever living soul," he put the hymnal inside his shirt, the loop was placed over his head, and the rope drawn. He died without a struggle. Although he had prayed and confessed his sins no minister of the gospel was there to make his last hours pleasant . . .
Kau-i-ke-aouli's assumption of control was marked by the selection of a group of young chiefs and children of important persons, of resident foreigners, and of commoners, to become his favorites, friends, members of his household, and soldiers and sailors to form his bodyguard. After Kahala-iʻa's death all repaired to the uplands of Waia-lua adjoining Waimea, to upper Kolokini, Waoʻala, ʻAikanaka, Kaloka in upper Makaleha, and to upper Mokuleʻia, to cut sandalwood. Kau-i-ke-aouli was but a boy in his thirteenth year while cutting at upper Waoʻala and lower Maeaea, but he attended to the work himself and their grief in extravagant ways to the terror of Dr. Pellham. One man named Kiaʻi-moku hung himself head down from the ridge of the house where Ka-lani-moku's body was laid, and wailed bitterly. Many persons were suspected of having caused his death.
Ka-lani-moku had been interested in the cultivation of cotton and had, in 1825 and 1826, planted large areas in cotton from one end of the group to the other. In 1826 the cultivation of sugar was begun in Manoa valley by an Englishman. Boki and Ke-ku-anaoʻa were interested in this project and it was perhaps the first cane cultivated to any extent in Hawaii. When the foreigner gave it up Boki bought the field and placed Kinepu in charge. A mill was set up in Honolulu in a lot near where Sumner (Keolaloa) was living. For this action Boki is to be commended.
During this year an unfortunate incident took place in the murder by Kama-kea, who had been one of Kahala-iʻa's attendants before his death, of a Spaniard employed as a laborer by Don Paula y Marin. Kama-kea was drunk at the time. People going home from Polelewa saw him and Ka-mumuku holding the man under water and dragging him in the mud in the pond in the brickyard of Waiakemi. The men were arrested and placed in the fort. Ka-mumuku ran away and was afterwards pardoned; Kama-kea refused to escape. This incident led Ka-ʻahu-manu and Ka-lani-moku to enact a law making murder punishable by death. Strangely enough there was no trial and no sentence of hanging passed. No doubt it was Manuia's idea. In the dark hours of morning a rope was strung between two coconut trees, a block and tackle fastened in thecenter and Kama-kea was led out. As the soldiers made ready to hang him he asked John Big-feet (Wawaenui) to wait until he had offered prayer and sung a hymn. After singing the hymn, "Onward, my ever living soul," he put the hymnal inside his shirt, the loop was placed over his head, and the rope drawn. He died without a struggle. Although he had prayed and confessed his sins no minister of the gospel was there to make his last hours pleasant . . .
Kau-i-ke-aouli's assumption of control was marked by the selection of a group of young chiefs and children of important persons, of resident foreigners, and of commoners, to become his favorites, friends, members of his household, and soldiers and sailors to form his bodyguard. After Kahala-iʻa's death all repaired to the uplands of Waia-lua adjoining Waimea, to upper Kolokini, Waoʻala, ʻAikanaka, Kaloka in upper Makaleha, and to upper Mokuleʻia, to cut sandalwood. Kau-i-ke-aouli was but a boy in his thirteenth year while cutting at upper Waoʻala and lower Maeaea, but he attended to the work himself and when he sailed in his two-masted boat to Mokuleʻia or other places after sugarcane, sweet potatoes, melons, pigs, and fowl, he handled the boat in true sailor fashion, dressed in his sailor blouse and cap. He hauled the ropes and helped heave the anchor, saying, "Kamehameha's kingdom of work has come." While they were in upper Waolani the men contracted a skin disease like the white pits found on the bark of the sandalwood tree, so the king's men called Hulumanu, who were in the habit of wasting their substance on women, and were called "foul rain" (ua wekaweka), got the name of "Birds with foul feathers" (Hulumanu-weka). Such a huge amount of sandalwood was cut that they could not load it all onto their own ships and had to put part on a Portuguese three-master to carry to Honolulu. The king's ship, Ka-ʻai-noa-nui, was loaded down and put in charge of Manuia and a young Englishman named Roberts to convey to Macao, but the two managed to lose the ship and all it contained in the transaction and returned on the Koli under Captain Kolo without anything to show for the expedition. The king bought a larger vessel, a brig owned by John Meek's company, which was renamed the Kamehameha and had a figurehead of that chief dressed in a tight Norfolk jacket with a white hat on the head. The king took a trip to Maui and Hawaii to test her speed. Afterwards she was converted into a man-of-war and carried eighteen guns.
It was at this time that Kinaʻu and Ke-ku-anaoʻa were married. Ka-ʻahu-manu was furious; she ground her teeth and spit fire. Here is a comic song for the occasion which pleased the young king.
Kau ke keha o Kona i ka malie, Kona's head rests on the pillow in
the calm.
Hiololua i ka laʻi a Ehu-ka-ipo, A double peace is the peace of
Ehu-the-lover.
Huliʻole ka waʻa ke holo i ka pohu, No canoe overturns when it sails in
the calm.
Hehi i ka palahalaha a ka malie, The sea lies smooth and peaceful,
Like ka mala a Kona e waiho nei. Lies as still as the food patches of
Kona.
Waiho nui iho la no i ka la ilaila. The sun shines down on all.
Mai Lanihau no a Keopu-e From Lanihau to Keopu
Opu iho la iloko o ka hinaʻi komo Vacant is the fish basket into which
ʻole. no fish enter.
He maunu ʻole nana e hoʻowale- There is no bait tempt them,
wale,
E komo ai ka iʻa hei i ka'upena. So that the fish may be caught in
the net.
Scarcely had this excitement died down when Ka-ʻahu-manu's stepson Ke-liʻi-ahonui, on Maui, ran away with that mischievous girl Ke-kau-ʻonohi, but angry as Ka-ʻahu-manu was she said nothing to this match because of the affair with Kinaʻu. It was not until Kinaʻu became pregnant with her first child that Ka-ʻahu-manu became reconciled to what had taken place. At his birth she herself took charge of the infant, who was named David Kamehameha. A second grandchild whom she had charge of at this time was Ruth Ke-ʻeli-kolani.
After the king's return from Waialua, Boki set the whole district of ʻEwa, headed by Kane-pa-iki, hauling posts and rafters for a new king's house, afterwards called "The-fern-house" (Ka-hale-uluhe) because it was first covered from the top of the roof to the posts with uluhe ferns tied down neatly inside, and then thatched outside with grass.* About the time that the king went to live in this house, a Russian warship bearing a kind letter from Alexander of Russia arrived in the harbor and anchored in line with the warship Kamehameha ... In this year Lahaina was fired upon by a British warship commanded by Captain Clark, and the breadfruit trees were withered by the shots; the people retreated into the valleys of Kauaʻula, Kanaha, and Kahoma . . . In the same year there came up to John Jones's wharf a British vessel commanded by a captain blind in one eye. He brought as a great curiosity two human heads belonging to two Maori chiefs, which had been cut off during the war being carried on at that time between the British and the New Zealanders. [These heads had been] preserved in alcohol in such a way as to show their handsome features, dark tattoo prints on the cheeks, and fine long hair.
In this same year the Rev. William Richards was brought to Honolulu to be tried on complaint of Captain Buckle, commander of a British whaler, the same man who had commanded the ship that took Liholiho and his company to England. Captain Buckle had on former occasions found the nation living in ignorance. The sailors used to pay for women with a piece of cloth, a small mirror, or a pair of shears, beads, a small piece of steel, a plug of tobacco, or a small coin; and for these things the women paid in venereal diseases which left them with red scalps. At the time when Mr. Richards came to live in Lahaina the pious chiefess Ke-opu-o-lani died, but Hoa-pili and his wife and other prominent chiefs and commoners had become converted and looked upon Mr. Richards as a father. When he taught them that it was wrong and against the will of God to thus prostitute themselves they listened to him and made laws against these practices for the protection of the island. The whaleships came in [at Lahaina] and found that they could no longer have women, and the captains began to abuse the missionaries. In 1826 Captain Buckle's ship arrived and when he heard of the prohibition he said, "It is a missionary law and a missionary tabu," but when he tried to test it out and allowed the men shore leave, they found that it was indeed a fact. The men therefore resolved to wait until dark and then go and tear down the house and beat up Mr. Richards, but the chiefs and people guarded him night and day. When Mr. Richards wrote Captain Buckle complaining of this abuse and requesting him to prevent it, Captain Buckle replied that if he would give women to his men there would be peace in Lahaina. To this Mr. Richards would not consent, and Captain Buckle was compelled to purchase outright a woman named Leo-iki, whom he took with him to Oahu.
In October, 1827, Captain Buckle received a letter from a brother in England who wrote, "A story has appeared in the papers here telling of your improper action toward Mr. Richards and how you purchased a woman of Maui with gold money." Unable to cover his shame, Captain Buckle tried to ruin Mr. Richards and made charges against him to the British consul in Honolulu, Mr. Richard Charlton, accusing Richards of libel. Mr. Charlton joined him in the charges. What was the attitude of the American consul? This same Jones had many times more than four wives, yet he walked the street with his silk top hat set on the side. He was known to be against the missionaries, and some of the foreign merchants and the deputy American consul, Mr. Stephen Reynolds (Lanai), the white-haired American, were with him in this opposition. Mr. Charlton made complaint to Boki, Ka-lani-moku's successor, and Boki, who was the king's premier, and Manuia, who was in charge of the fort on Oahu, took the part of the consul. Boki had questioned John Young as to Mr. Richards' guilt and Young had shaken his head and mumbled, "England is very big to offend; a libelous letter is very wrong." Boki therefore informed Ka-ʻahu-manu and the king of Young's answer and they too and the chiefs decided that Richards must be in the wrong. The chiefs therefore wrote to Maui, "You chiefs of Maui, greetings to you. If Captain Buckle, Captain Clark, and the British consul come to get your teacher let them have him. It is a foreigner against a foreigner; let them have it out between them." The chiefs of Oahu were willing to place Mr. Richards in the jaws of the shark.*
Ka-ʻahu-manu was like a mother to the people of that community, and the missionaries and their teaching were like her beloved children. Her heart was grieved over the charges made against one she loved, and her tears fell. Nor was she pleased to have her enemies act according to their own will. She therefore wrote to the chiefs of Maui, Hawaii, and Kauai to come together in Honolulu, and some of the church people also accompanied Mr. Richards. A council of chiefs was held at the king's home at Pohukaina above the house of Ka-lani-moku to decide whether Mr. Richards was guilty or not. They were ignorant of the English law in the matter. They knew that when a man committed murder he forfeited his life. If Mr. Richards were now to die for this crime it was a pity. For two days they deliberated but could find no way to save Mr. Richards from being put to death, since both John Young and Boki had pronounced against him. The government had at that time no constitution ensuring a legal trial with witnesses presented on both sides to decide such a question, hence their uncertainty.
At noon of the day following David Malo and Ka-naʻina [father of King Lunalilo] met Ka-ʻahu-manu, Hoa-pili, and Ka-ka-ulu-ohi in secret in one of the rooms of the Council House, which they entered by a private entrance. Ka-ʻahu-manu addressed David Malo while her tears flowed, saying, "Alas! I see no way to save our teacher. Young and Boki both say he is guilty of writing to America." Malo replied, "Is that what he is accused of?" "Yes." "How these foreigners contradict themselves! [Malo exclaimed] They say it is wrong to worship God, but all right to learn writing, and now they say it is all wrong for Mr. Richards to write a letter." Again Malo asked, "Suppose you had a spoon stolen and some one should inform you who had stolen it, who would be to blame, the one who stole the spoon or the one who told you who was the thief?" "The one who stole it." "You were Kamehameha's wife and Ka-niho-nui forced you to sleep with him. Luheluhe informed Kamehameha. Now, I ask, which of the two did Kamehameha execute? Was it Luheluhe?" "It was Ka-niho-nui." "Is there any country in the world where the wrongdoer is commended and the informant against him pronounced guilty?" "Nowhere!" Light was fast beginning to break in upon the chiefess' mind. Malo continued, "Why should Mr. Richards be convicted and Captain Buckle who committed wrong go free?" "It is plain to me that Mr. Richards is in the right and we have been very ignorant," Ka-ʻahu-manu replied. She then went before the chiefs and presented her views.
The next day the king, Boki, Manuia, Ke-ku-anaoʻa, the British consul, and Captain Buckle presented themselves all dressed in gold-trimmed uniforms. When Manuia urged Mr. Richards' imprisonment within the fort, and Boki and the consul also urged this upon the Council, Ka-ʻahu-manu spoke up and said, "The chiefs have consulted about the charge against Mr. Richards, who has been brought to trial by the British consul because of an alleged wrong committed against a British subject within the kingdom of Hawaii. This is our decision: Mr. Richards is not guilty of the charge made; he is innocent and we release him."*
The queen by this decision made enemies for herself of the consul and the foreign merchants and of Boki and Manuia of her own people. Manuia and the consul went out shaking their heads and waving their swords in the air, and the captains retired crestfallen. The two captains who had fired on Lahaina became Ka-ʻahu-manu's worst enemies. The consul beat up one of her keepers who had chased away the consul's cattle which roamed at large all the way to Pawaʻa and were eating Ka-ʻahu-manu's plantings at Kapukaʻomaʻomaʻo in Manoa. This man, Kane-kuahine, was roped about the neck by the consul and dragged behind his carriage, tossed up and down all along the plains, his chin and ribs broken, and was only saved from being killed by getting his hand inside the noose. Englishmen are certainly oppressive to the weak! It was not the missionaries alone who suffered but the Hawaiians much more .... I have seen with my own eyes the heads of the New Zealand chiefs dropped into the sea at the wharf near Kapapoko. In Mr. John Jones' store Mr. George Wood, the husband of Ka-maunu, threw the water in which those heads had been washed at the people who came to look at the chiefs' heads. A very cruel act!
On March 30, 1828, a three-masted ship anchored in the harbor bringing a second reinforcement of missionaries together with some Hawaiians who had been educated through the kindness of the American pople. The missionaries included the Rev. E. W. Clark (Kalaka), the Rev, P. J. Gulick (Kulika), the Rev. Jonathan S. Green (Kerina), the Rev. Lorrin Andrews (Aneru), Mr. Gerrit P. Judd (Kauka), a physician, Mr. Shepherd (Kapaki), a printer, their wives, and a single woman, Miss Maria Ogden. There were others who later went as missionaries to the Rocky Mountains in Oregon. The Hawaiians were John Palu, Haia, Ka-laʻau-lana, ʻUkali-moa, and Ka-lima-Hana.† Some of these assisted the missionaries and others lived like any of the people. John Palu became a favorite with Boki and married the daughter of George Holmes and Mrs. Pale.
A few months later the king, accompanied by his chiefs, Boki among them, his Hulumanu, and sailors, went to Hawaii on his warship Ka-mehameha, attended by other vessels, for his first visit to that island since leaving it for Honolulu. At Lahaina they were well feasted and met Nahi-ʻenaʻena, Ke-kau-ʻonohi, Hoa-pili, Ka-hekili, Kau-kuna, and all the other chiefs of that place. Here they witnessed a tragic occurrence; a man out surf riding at ʻUo was killed by a shark which bit off his limbs and left his body floating. At Hilo the party met but a poor reception. Here were Piʻopiʻo, his wife Maʻalo, and other chiefs, but they gave nothing but cooked food, held onto their lands, and did not offer them to the king as was the custom . . . Boki gave the district of Hilo to the king to divide among his followers and thus uphold his dignity at this place, but the other chiefs were not pleased at Boki's action. The king went with his sister Harriet Nahi-ʻenaʻena and others to pay his first visit to the volcano and spent the night at Waiʻoweʻowe' above ʻOmaʻolaulau some distance mauka of Kapuʻeuhi. He was preceded, by two days, by a black man (lascar) by the name of Kinikona who had made an oath to leave his hair in the keeping of Pele and who had then joined the king's party.
Soon after the king's return to Oahu one of his ships, the Mikapaka, arrived from Borabora bringing home the high chief Ke-ʻaki-lawa, his wife Ka-hope-kahu, and a chief from Tahiti named Paraita, one of the company of Tati, grandfather of Ninito, who had given Tahiti to the French. The ship brought back coconut oil in barrels and bamboo joints, and many other valuables all of which were placed in the hands of Boki. Another of the king's ships, the Ka-mahole-lani under Captain Paul Sumner, arrived with Carlos Marin, younger brother of Paula, who brought back another wife, a chiefess of the Wallis (Uvea) islands, a group situated near the cannibal islands of Fiji. The ship brought also the wife's parents and Lohiʻau, former wife of Carlos Marin. This was the first time that any Wallis islanders had been seen in Hawaii. They appeared to be somewhat civilized as they wore dresses woven like cloth, and outside of their outer garment both men and women wore another reaching to the feet and gathered at the back. The little fingers of the hands were amputated. The ship also brought mother-of-pearl, sponges, sea shells, and many other articles of value for the king. The ship itself was condemned as unseaworthy, and a two-masted boat was constructed at Pakaka and turned over to Carlos Marin to return to the Wallis Islands, accompanied by some Hawaiians. There he was made ruler, but he made the people work too hard constructing forts and wooden houses for himself; and the chiefs and his father-in-law, William Ka-niʻau, who had come to Hawaii with him rose up and killed him and ten Hawaiians. . . .
When Ka-ʻahu-manu and the higher chiefs heard how Boki had divided up his lands in the district of Hilo among the chiefs and the king's men, they suspected him of conspiracy, for they held that the lands were really under their control. They therefore agreed not to hold the government responsible for debts contracted by him or Kuini Liliha his wife, but to consider them his personal indebtedness. The old debts contracted in the time of Kamehameha I and II and those of the ruling king, yet unpaid, all of which had with interest accrued reached the sum of $150,000 to $200,000, were alone to be included in the indebtedness of the kingdom. Of this debt the greater part was owed to American merchants. There was a rumor that the kingdom was to be taken over by the United States. This might have happened had not a constitutional form of government been declared and government revenues conserved so that its debts could be paid in full. Certain of the foreign teachers who loved the Hawaiian people, the chiefs, and the whole nation, were taken into the government, and it became an easy thing to pay these debts and deal with other abuses that had been heaped upon the government. But Boki when he heard what Ka-ʻahu-manu had said about his paying his own debts said, "This is strange! I thought that the king was mine, that the government of the whole group was under my control, and that whatever I thought right would be accepted by the king, the chiefs, and the whole people! . . . The woman who is so fond of God said that one should disregard things of the body and think upon things of the spirit. I thought she cared for spiritual riches and looked upon earthly wealth as trash. Here is a proof of it! She went to Hawaii to dismantle Hale-o-Keawe, had the chiefs' bones burned, the house broken down, and the hidden bones of the chiefs brought out and shown publicly. Perhaps if she knew where Kamehameha was buried she would have his bones too made public. I know that the kings of England take excellent care of the bones of their fathers, and so were the bones of our ancient chiefs cared for. They were hidden under oath by a trusted person."
The year 1828 is notable for the visit of Ka-ʻahu-manu to Hawaii to fulfill a vow that she had made to attempt the recovery of the bones of Lilinoe on Mauna Kea where her body was said to have lain for more than a thousand years in a. well-preserved condition, not even the hair having fallen out. Others deny this and say her body was too well-hidden ever to have been found. Her offspring count from Hua-nui-i-ka-laʻilaʻi; she was the ancestress of ruling chiefs, and from her line was born ʻUmi-ka-lani [father of the Mahi family on Hawaii], son of Keawe-nui-a-ʻUmi by Hoʻopili-a-Hae. It is said that Ka-ʻahu-manu did not find the bones of Lilinoe, but only those of Liloa, Lono-i-ka-makahiki, Kauhola, and Lole at Waipiʻo, and these she removed to Kaʻawaloa. She also removed to Kaʻawaloa the bones of all the chiefs up to the time of Ka-lani-opuʻu and Kiwalaʻo which had been netted into baskets (kaʻai) and which completely filled the Hale-o-Keawe, and she destroyed the remaining bones with fire. It was this act which embittered Boki further against her.
Another cause of complaint against Ka-ʻahu-manu arose when Ka-iki-o-ʻewa, finding himself deep in debt to Mr. French and other foreign merchants, was arranging to pay his debts by giving over the lands of Kewalo and Kulaokahuʻa to Mr. French. This merchant never made any complaints in business matters, but took all the sandalwood which others refused, even white wood or small wood. He was accordingly called "Grab-all" (Hapuku), and several of the chiefs were indebted to him. He accepted Ka-iki-o-ʻewa's offer and made ready to erect a wooden frame building at Kulaokahuʻa on the Waikiki side at a point where the ʻolohe* had sunk some time before.† Ka-ʻahu-manu heard of this and sent a man to forbid Mr. French's building on the land and issued an order that none of the chiefs was to dispose of lands or give over any to the foreigners in payment of debts, for the king alone had the power of disposing of land anywhere in the group. She was then obliged to assume the indebtedness of all the chiefs, and when the chiefs discovered that the government was assuming the debts, there was a rush to turn them over to her. This added to Boki's discomfiture.
There was also a quarrel over the succession. One of Ka-ʻahu-manu's attendants, named Ka-pau, said to Boki, "Say, [Boki] Ka-maʻuleʻule, Ka-ʻahu-manu says that her foster child is a grandniece of your foster child" (the king). Boki asked, "What did that boastful woman say about our lord?" "She was talking to Ke-ka-ulu-ohi, and we sat listening, and she said, ʻPerhaps when my grandchild [Ruth Ke-ʻeli-kolani] is grown she may become ruler.' ʻHow?' asked Ke-ka-ulu-ohi. ʻDon't you understand that Ka-ʻo-lei-o-Ku was Kamehameha's first child, and that Pauahi was his daughter, and she [pointing to Ruth] is Pauahi's daughter? She is therefore the grandniece of Kau-i-ke-aouli on the Kamehameha side.'" When Boki heard this he conceived the wish to dispose of Ka-ʻahu-manu, but he said nothing openly. One day however when he was under the influence of liquor and Harriet Nahi-ʻenaʻena had arrived from Maui and was with the king at Boki's house at Ka-ʻopua-ua just above the king's house, Ka-pa-moʻo, Boki said to the king, "You two should be married and have children so that I might bring one up as your heir and successor; then the chiefs would not dare urge your grandniece as your possible successor!" and he recounted all that he had heard. Paʻalua Ka-lani-moku went in tears to Ka-ʻahu-manu where she sat with Hoa-pili, Kua-kini, and other chiefs in the large grass house at Pohukaina. "What are you crying about"? the chiefs asked. She said to Hoa-pili, "What do you think! Boki is trying to make the rulers marry each other in order to have a successor." "He and I are of the same mind," remarked Kua-kini. Hoa-pili said, "What business is it of his ? It is her place [Ka-ʻahu-manu's] to make the match!" Others among the chiefs spoke sarcastically, saying, "What wonder that the one ʻgirdled with the intestines of Kamehameha' should fancy himself the chief to arrange the marriage of Kamehameha's grandchildren!" All these remarks Paʻalua, who was herself a high chiefess and an attendant upon Harriet Nahi-ʻenaʻena, repeated to Boki, and Boki was of course furious and prepared for a tussle with Ka-ʻahu-manu. Now you all know the reason why Boki was angry wth Ka-ʻahu-manu! I am the only one who had that knowledge, and had I kept it to myself and God had taken me from you, the next generation would have remained ignorant of it, and that would have been a pity.
The allusion to the girdle had reference to the rumor that Boki Ka-maʻuleʻule was the son of Ka-hekili ʻAhu-manu, and that the father because of his hatred for Kamehameha had sworn over the child that he should have the intestines of Kamehameha to serve as his loin cloth. It was because of this hatred of Ka-hekili for Kamehameha that he has left no issue while Kamehameha has several descendants living, possibly preserved by God because he was a pure-minded chief. Kamehameha knew of Ka-hekili's oath and of his hatred for him because he had killed Kiwalaʻo and seized the rule. Sometimes when Boki came back from bathing he would say to him, "Here is your loin cloth."
Boki was a chief of very high descent on both father's and mother's side. [Of him could be said,]
0 nahili ka po loloa ia Manuʻa, The tabu chiefs of divine rank met
together in Manuʻa,
O ka pu kaukama i Hawaii akea, To them was born a son in great
Hawaii,
O ka pulei akea a Kiha-nui-a- A mighty descendant of Kiha-nui,
Piʻilani, son of Piʻilani,
A Kauhi a Kalana-honua-akea, Of Kauhi, son of Kalana-honua-
akea,
A ka makalena ʻiolena uahi lena, Of the yellow-garbed one supreme
in the yellow rain.
A ka hoʻohaulani moku i o He stands supreme over the
islands.
A kela kanaka hoʻali mauna, A man under whose tread the
mountains divide,
O Ka-lani-nui-kuʻi-hono-i-ka- Is this Ka-lani-nui-kuʻi-hono-i-ka
moku. . . . moku. . . .
Boki therefore claimed the king as his child and his own personal ruler whom he himself had reared, and the other chiefs who were his guardians as the king's kahu because of their relation to Kamehameha. Ke-opu-o-lani was connected on all sides with the Ke-kau-like line. While Kamehameha was alive Ulu-maheihei had acted as guardian to the rulers, and his word was supreme; he alone could give orders that Kamehameha obeyed. This power held also in Kau-i-ke-aouli's time. If any of the chiefs, older relatives, or kahu wished to consult the king about some matter, and access to the king was not to be had, they would consult Ulu-maheihei instead. This was part of his duty which had remained his from the time of Kamehameha, who had given him this position because Ulu-maheihiei was the child of Ka-meʻe-ia-moku and of Koa-hou the child of Ka-manawa, two of the chiefs through whose help Kamehameha had gained the rule. For the same reason Haʻae was a great man during the time of Ka-lani-nui-a-Mamao and in the time of Keʻe-au-moku and of Alapaʻi-nui, son of Ka-uaua. So was Lono-i-ka-haʻupu in the time of Keawe. Ke-ku-anaoʻa held a similar position under the Ka-mehamehas during his old age when the old days lived again in Hawaii.
Several months passed and Boki, urged on by such foreigners as Richard Charlton and some of the merchants who hated the missionaries, determined to put an end to Ka-ʻahu-manu. There was scarcely a good word said of her by these foreigners; Boki they made much of and called "a good fellow."* Their anger was especially stirred by certain laws promulgated by Ka-ʻahu-manu to be observed throughout the kingdom, and supported by the chiefs from all over the group except Boki. [These were the laws:]
1. You shall not commit murder; he who puts another to death shall himself die.
2. You shall not commit adultery; he who commits this crime, man or woman, shall be banished to Kahoolawe.
3. You shall not practice prostitution; anyone guilty of this shall be imprisoned and beaten across his back with a rope, and if he still fails to keep the law shall be banished to Kahoolawe.
4. Natives and foreigners are forbidden to manufacture, sell, or drink liquor.
Ka-ʻahu-manu made many laws verbally which carried weight and were observed throughout the kingdom. She prohibited the planting and drinking of ʻawa, and ʻawa cultivation ceased throughout the group, and peace reigned. She prohibited the practice of ancient worship, and all this ceased, and peace reigned. But at this time when so many laws, innumerable laws, laws upon laws were made, there was no peace; there was bitterness everywhere. Murder was committed, theft, adultery, worshiping of gods, drunkenness, ʻawa drinking, rum drinking, and deceit.
These swept the island out as far as to the coral beds of Waialua. As the old saying is:
0 ka popo ʻauhuhu kuʻi aku ia, Pound a ball of fish-poison weed,
Nana e noke aku a wali, Leave it alone to do its work.
Koʻeke iho lena kahakai e, The beaches will turn yellow,
Lena kohola i ka peʻapeʻa i [And] the shallow pools with its
juice,
Hola ia ʻole iʻa kaheka. Even to the sea pools.
E o no ka e hola i heʻe ai na ʻaina, The land was poisoned and did its
deadly work
He luahi kahiko, ua noa i ka haʻi Long ago; now it is open for an-
iʻa. other's fish.
Ua laumiloʻia naʻuhane, The spirits of these have been
snuffed out,
Ua lele i ka luapau, They have leaped into the pit of
death,
Aia i ka lua mihi ʻole. The pit where there is no repent-
ance.
And here is another:
Ua lilo ka ea me ka hanu, Life and breath are gone,
Ua haʻalele loa ke aho, The last breath has been drawn.
Haʻalele lakou i ka la ka mehana, They have left the sunlight and
warmth,
Lilo lakou i ka po i kahi anu, And gone into the night where it is
cold,
Kaʻa ka haka po i kahi koʻekoʻe, Passed into the night where it is
chilly,
Lilo ka la ka mehana i mahana Leaving the sun alone with its
warmth.
and again:
Lumia Hilo i kaulu o ka make Hilo is twisted in the wind of
death,
Lele make Hilo. Death flies over Hilo.
Hilo ka make ana a Hilo Paliku. Twisted about in death is Hilo of
the cliffs.
Ke uwe mai nei o Hilo-one nei la Hilo of the sandy beach mourns in
make, death,
Make loa Hilo nalo i ka poli oia. Hilo is seized by death and hidden
away in its bosom.
[The place name Hilo is here because "hilo" means "twisted in agony"]or "writhing."] There were a great many such prayers used for sorcery by these people and their kia prayers became an evil thing for the whole race.
Some of the laws were changed, the punishment of adultery, for example, to hard labor on the roads. But Boki kept prostitutes in the town of Honolulu, brought in profit to the country thereby, and was therefore popular with the whites, and praised in the columns of American and English newspapers. Boki was the younger brother of Ka-lani-moku, premier for the first and second Kamehamehas. Mr. Charlton, the British consul, and John Jones, the American consul, and all the other foreigners had great faith in Boki. Gray-headed Mr. Reynolds (Lanai), the American vice-consul, also upheld Boki. Mr. Jones who had children by many women who were not his wives acted as chaplain for the seamen and other American citizens who died on the island, just as if there were no American ministers to preside on such an occasion. Thus encouraged in his purpose Boki sent word by Hakiki to Ke-kahi-moku, husband of Kau-mea-lani and land agent for Boki in charge of Waikiki, to make food ready for the soldiers who were coming that night for drill. Ka-hi-lauhele lived at the streams of Piʻinaio and ʻApuakehau and was Ka-ʻahu-manu's retainer and fisherman. Boki went to Waikiki that evening, and the soldiers arrived that night equipped with guns and ammunition as if for war and some white men with them. The land of Kahaloa was covered with them.
People carried the news to Ka-ʻahu-manu and told her that the soldiers and white people were coming to kill her. Some of the people, the chiefs, and members of the church joined her, but most of the soldiers stayed with Boki. Ka-ʻahu-manu said, "I do not fear death planned by this son of ours, but he will have to [come] himself to kill me and these grandchildren of mine who will stay by me." These were Ruth Ke-ʻeli-kolani and David Kamehameha, [the latter] the firstborn child of Kinaʻu and Ke-ku-anaoʻa, whose birth had reconciled her to her niece's match and whom she and Ke-ka-ulu-ohi had adopted.
When Ke-ku-anaoʻa, and Ka-naʻina, Ka-ʻahu-manu's nephews-in-law, heard the rumor of Boki's purpose they started on horseback for Waikiki, but at Kawelo near Maʻalo, a little distance from Pawaʻa, Ka-naʻina became frightened and turned back to encourage their wives and Ka-ʻahu-manu while Ke-ku-anaoʻa proceeded alone. He went through the stream of Piʻinaio, on to Kaihikapu and Kawehewehe, entered the coconut grove between there and Helumoa, and went down the mouth of ʻApuakehau Stream to the kou growth at Kahaloa. It was full of people as far as the grass house of Kekahimoku close to Kualalua. Boki was there close to Kapuni with some of the chiefs and soldiers. When the people saw Keku-anaoʻa they shouted his name and then were silent, though a few greeted him with "aloha." He noticed that they were armed. Boki was angry and would not look at him. Even when Ke-ku-anaoʻa reached out for his hand and kissed him he would not extend his hand. Ke-ku-anaoʻa led him away to a secluded place and said, "Here am I, your younger brother, whom you commanded to remain at Ka-ʻahu-manu's house and to be obedient to the voices of those whose house it was. I would not have gone there except for your command because I did not wish your words to be in vain. I have found no fault in the house of the aunt-in-law. I have heard that you were coming to kill Ka-ʻahu-manu and I have left her weeping over this plot of yours." Boki answered, "I will not put those of her household to death, but I am jealous of her because of our lord" [the king]. . . .* Much more was said between the two, and Boki gave up the idea of declaring war against Ka-ʻahu-manu.
Boki returned and lived at his place at Beretania and devoted himself to medicine, in which he was proficient, and all those joined him who were skilled in placing pebbles [in diagnosis], such Kaao, Kuauau, Kinopu, Kahiole, Nahinu, Kekaha, Hewahewa, and their followers and other kahunas besides. Early in 1829 Boki started work on a government road running from the west gate of the Beretania place at Kahehune (the Royal School) to ʻAuwaiolimu (where the Buddhist church stands on Punchbowl) and to the Pauoa stream, then on to the opposite side of Kalokohonu, down Kaheiki, rising to ʻAlekoki and then running straight to Kawananakoa. The Keanini road began at the mouth of Nuʻuanu [Valley] and ran down to the hau grove of Kahaukomo. Here the trees grew thick and overarched the way with their shade, leaving it in old days muddy like a taro patch. It is said that in old days from Kahapa-ʻakai clear to Hapuʻu it was a beautiful highway through charming villages with manienie grass on either side of the road and garden patches where grew taro, potatoes, bananas, ʻawa, wauke, sugarcane, olona and all the fat things of the land. Between Kahapaʻakai clear to the mouth of the valley were situated many celebrated heiaus (luakini waihau) where people went to worship. [These had been] erected in ancient days as war heiaus or heiaus for purifying the land; for Nuʻuanu had been a magnificent battleground in those old times. Here Pele-io-holani fought against Alapaʻi-nui, ruling chief of Hawaii, and so fought chiefs before and after his day. But when the hau trees grew so thick as to cover the road, the lovely place became a swamp where thieves and robbers took refuge. Keanini was the first to clear and widen the road and let in the light of the sun. He improved the road in order to draw lumber for building the Kawaiahaʻo church. The logs were cut in Koʻolauloa, brought by canoe to Kaneʻohe, and hauled over the Pali.
Boki started to work at the makai road leading to Kaʻalaʻa and when he reached the stream of Kaheiki there stood a great rock over the stream blocking the way. Boki was trying to remove it when a man came forward and said, "Hear, O chief! leave that rock alone. The god made this rock a guardian for this place and his house is yonder (pointing upward to Kaheiki). It is a guardian for the house of the god and its name is Hoʻeu. The nature of this rock is that if you move it aside it will make you move to a foreign land and you will no longer live in Hawaii. Lucky for you if a year passes before you depart." Boki's pipe lighters, Hohopa and Hukiki, reproved the man, to whom he answered, "Take care lest you be thrown onto a bed of thistles!" While working on the Luakaha road Boki found a long, pointed rock in his way and was starting to remove it when a divining kahuna named Luʻau who was skilled in pointing out locations came forward and said to him, "Do not disturb this rock; it is named Ku-of-exceeding-great-mana (Ku-manamana) and Rock-of-exceeding-great-mana (Pohaku-manamana). Not even a high chief should disturb that rock, for it covers the waters of Ka-papa-i-kawa-luna which lie below it and supply the waters of Kunawai, Kahoa-kane, Koʻula, and Kewalo." Boki instantly ordered the men to remove the rock, but it extended into the soil so far that when they had dug some ten fathoms down and about the same distance either way, he gave up in despair. Luʻau also showed him Kukui-puka and other kupua objects mauka of this place.
The building of Kawaiahaʻo church was completed in 1829 while Boki was cultivating taro in the uplands of Nuʻuanu from Kahapaʻakai to Makuku and at Keawawapuʻahanui. Cutting of the logs for the building had been begun in 1825 at Paupalaʻai in Wahiawa while Keanini was chief in Koʻolaupoko, and the finishing timbers were had from Koʻolau-poko and Koʻolauloa. The building was begun in the latter part of 1828, and early in 1829 it was completed. The pulpit was built, and covered with red velvet with candlesticks on either side. The ship Vincennes, under Captain Finch, arrived with the chaplain, Rev. Charles S. Stewart who had been one of Ke-opu-o-lani's teachers on Maui. The king and some of the chiefs sailed to Maui to bring the king's sister, Harriet Nahi-ʻenaʻena, and the Maui chiefs to the dedication of the church. . . . Another ship sailed to bring the chiefs from Hawaii . . . and those from Kauai were also ordered to Honolulu to witness the grand display of the king and his sister. . . . The dedication took place on Friday, July 3, 1829, and was conducted with great ceremony. The king and his sister were seated on a litter some three fathoms long and a fathom and a half wide with heavily padded seat draped with fancy tapas soaked in perfumed waters, and covered with the feather cloak named Halakea-o-Tahu (white pandanus of Tahu). Harriet [was] in front, and the king wearing a gold-trimmed suit and a feather cloak [was] seated farther back. Boki and all the other chiefs of rank carried the litter on their shoulders while Ka-ʻahu-manu, Kinaʻu, and the other high chiefesses held up the edges of the trailing tapas. Kahili were placed along the sides of the litter and the famous old kahili, ʻEleʻele-ua-lani and Hawaiʻi-loa, were brought out for the occasion. Ku-hoʻoheihei Paki made himself famous that day by carrying alone the great kahili of Ke-opu-o-lani, called ʻEle-ʻele-ua-lani. Ka-ʻahu-manu also did honor to her grand niece Ruth Ke-ʻeli-kolani, who had also a high seat and her kahili Poʻo-uliuli, as well as a number of smaller kahili. The procession extended for a mile. Native soldiers and sailors from the ship accompanied the march, and Captain Finch, the ship's officers, and a band of sixty pieces joined the procession. All the missionaries were assembled. After a song, the Rev. Hiram Bingham dedicated the church. Songs were sung to the solemn notes of flute and drum, the congregation was dismissed, and the royal pair were borne out of the church.* The courteous treatment of the king and chiefs by the captain and chaplain of the Vincennes and the kind and religious attitude of her crew made that ship famous in Hawaii. The captain allowed the warship to take the chiefs back to Maui and Hawaii, accompanied by the king and his attendants. The captain and chaplain associated with the chiefs and were often consulted in official matters.
While Boki was engaged on his cultivation up in Nuʻuanu he heard that Kau-i-ke-aouli's favorites were gone to the mountains of Wahiawa, Haleʻauʻau, and Lihuʻe to cut sandalwood and that Paki and ʻAi-kanaka had been placed in command. He and Kuini Liliha immediately returned to their Beretania place, and the chief prepared to go to Wahiawa to cut sandalwood. He announced his plan to his brothers and all the kinsmen of Ka-lani-moku and their retainers and bought axes of all descriptions and warm flannels for his men from the stores of the white people. Just as the party was about to leave for the mountains, a British ship arrived under Captain Blind-eye (Makapaʻa), the same captain who had brought the skulls of the two New Zealand chiefs, and he spoke to some white men about an island in the South Seas where sandalwood grew from the mountains to the sea. Mr. Roberts and Jack Red-face (Maka-paʻula), the two foreigners employed in Boki's store, brought this news to Boki, and Boki immediately sent for the captain to ascertain the facts of the story. The captain said, "The island is that of Nanapua (Eromango) in ʻAinawohi (New Hebrides) south of the equator. We anchored there and my men went ashore after wood and brought back a boatload of sandalwood. It grew from the beach up into the mountains. If sandalwood were made a business, boats would touch there." "What kind of people are the inhabitants of that island?" asked Boki. "The people are wild. It would be wise to go well armed."
Boki now changed his plans and prepared to sail to the New Hebrides. He picked out men from the Okaka, ʻAi-ʻohiʻa, Uouo, Nuku-moʻo, and other divisions of the soldiery and equipped them with arms and ammunition as if it were a war expedition and not one after sandalwood. Undoubtedly Boki had the idea of ruling in this new island and of hiding his bones there as was the old custom in order to prevent an enemy from ridiculing one's bones after death. Boki's younger cousins, Hinau, who was named for the hair of Kekaulike, and Kaleohano, who was named for the voice of Ka-hekili, Boki himself, whose name Kamaʻuleʻule was for the fainting spells of Ka-hekili, his cousin Ka-wohi-moku, his favorite cousin Manuia, Ka-huhu, the commander of the soldiery, Ka-po-kini of the ships, and other prominent men of the land made up the company. Manuia was cutting sandalwood at Puʻukuo in Honouliuli when Boki asked him to join them. Counting chiefs and their retainers, ten of each chief, there were five hundred or more. The people were greatly excited. "Let us sail to Nanapua to cut sandalwood," Boki proposed, and chiefs and people cried, "Very well! there is no harm in doing that. The king's debt will soon be paid, then we will cut for ourselves and trade for clothing and money. The chief has been kind to us and fed us well. How else can we repay him?" Nothing else was thought of but the expedition after sandalwood, and more offered to enlist than the ship would hold.
For two weeks the provisioning of the ship with dried taro, poi, hard tack, flour, rice;, pork, meat, raw and dried fish, water, and meats of all kinds went on. Boki gave up drinking and gay living. On the afternoon of March 28 the Kamehameha, a large low boat carrying eighteen guns, launched out ahead with a large number of chiefs and their retainers. This was Saturday and Boki attended a meeting at the church at which the king, chiefs, and people were present. He said, "Chiefs, teachers, relatives, and all those who have offered me help, listen to my thought (manaʻo). My sins are known to you, my stink has gone out from Hawaii to Kauai. My sins are many; I myself am responsible for them. I am going on account of the king's debt, not for idle pleasure. Pray God to guard me." When Boki's cousins Kinaʻu, Auhea, and the others, heard these words they wept, and all the people with them because they loved him.* The girls, Liliha, and the king surrounded him and tried to prevent his going. On Sunday night Boki escaped from them and went by canoe to the Kamehameha, which was waiting off Waikiki. Manuia's ship Ke-o-koʻi, was not yet stocked, so the Kamehameha waited about for five days, and all this time the king wept and refused food. On December 2 Ke-ku-anaoʻa went out to the boat under orders from the sisters and the king to bring Boki back and not to let him sail away. As soon as Ke-ku-anaoʻa had gone on board he ran up to Boki, caught his hands, and tried to force him to the canoe. The two struggled until exhausted and then sat down to talk it over. Ke-ku-anaoʻa said, "The king has taken no food since you ran away, and the girls are worried. Come back with me. Besides, your sister Ka-ʻahu-manu has not seen you." Boki answered, "I will not go back; I am ashamed because Ka-ʻahu-manu has ordered all the high chiefs' debts to be paid except mine." "That is not her fault. She repeatedly asked all those who had debts to make the amount known to her. All the other chiefs told their debts, you kept yours to pay yourself. Now let us go back and wait for Ka-ʻahu-manu's return, you can arrange everything with her, and your debts will be paid with the others." But Boki refused, saying, "Tell our lord the king I am going to cut sandalwood to pay our debts. Let his aunts serve him. Give my regards to him and also to his aunts," and this message was brought back by Ke-ku-anaoʻa to the king, and there was much wailing for Boki and those who accompanied him.
On December 3, 1829, Manuia and his wife Ka-ʻupena went on board the ship Ke-o-koʻi with two hundred others. They sailed out to Mamala to join the Kamehameha, and a final shot was fired as their last salute to the land they were leaving. Scarcely had the ship disappeared south of Leahi when Ka-ʻahu-manu arrived with her party from Kauai where she had gone to preach the word of God. On this island the chiefs were religious and made theselves thin in order to wear tight dresses. Ka-ʻuʻuku-aliʻi, Ke-kai-haʻa-kulou, Na-mahana, Keawe-mahi, Ka-ʻili-naoa Ka-iki-o-ʻewa among the chiefs, as also Daniel ʻOle-loa and Simeon Ka-ʻiu, became the religious leaders of Kauai under the influence of Ka-ʻahu-manu, and the word of God nourished there. She had been unaware of what was happening at home and when she heard of the departure she put her hands over her head and said, "It was unkind of Boki to abandon our king!"
After two or three months the Ke-o-koʻi returned. A lunatic had previously cried through the streets, "Manuia has gone crooked; Ke-o-koʻi is the ship!" (Kapakahi Manuia o Ke-o-koʻi ka moku). The ship stood off Mamala with her flag at half mast, and when the pilot went out to her he returned with the report that this was indeed the Ke-o-koʻi, but that almost the whole party were dead. Manuia's body was being brought home, but the rest had been thrown out to sea. Boki and his company were lost. At this news there sounded the wailing of the people both night and day. Those who had survived were the captain, and Mika Bala, Mr. Kelewali, Ke-aloha-ʻai, Kahi-lona, and a few others. Their story was as follows: The ships had sailed within a short distance of each other until they left Rutuma, where they stopped to buy food—pork, coconuts, yams, and other provisions. The Kamehameha went out ahead, but the anchor of the Ke-o-koʻi caught in the reef, and the Kamehameha sent one of her divers, Kahilona, who succeeded in loosening the anchor, and they hoped to join the other ship at the New Hebrides. Upon reaching the place they saw nothing of Boki's company. While they awaited his arrival they were stricken with an epidemic which carried off almost the entire company (although eye-witnesses say the men were often alive and breathing when thrown into the sea, and that Mika Bala objected and had a quarrel with the captain in consequence). Some of the sick were left at Rutuma, and Kukui-nui and Kekeni afterwards returned from there. The captain and Ke-aloha-ʻai were suffering from swollen stomachs and falling hair. Of the two hundred who had gone on board when the boat sailed, only these few survived. Of Boki and his company they had seen nothing since leaving Rutuma, and what their fate was can only be surmised. Some say that they died, others that the boat exploded and a portion of its stern was picked up by another ship.*
* Ka Nupepa Kuʻokoʻa, July 18, 1868.
* Mr. Kuke of Borabora was born in Huahine, Society Islands in 1781 and was named after Cook, the British navigator. He was connected with the Pomare family and was a favorite of King Pomare. During his missionary work in Hawaii he served as chaplain to Kamehameha III until that king's death. He resided for some thirty-two years in Hawaii and died December 3, 1858. (See 23).
†Ka Nupepa Kuʻokoʻa, Apr. 25, 1868.
* Pohukaina and Haliʻimaile include the old palace grounds, now those of the Executive Building, and part of the land where the Library of Hawaii stands. Ka-manuwai is on Beretania near Nuʻuanu, running over toward River Street. Kikihale is on the Waikiki side of Nuʻuanu Stream running from River Street to Ke-kaulike between Hotel and King Streets.
* This story is by Dibble 10, pp. 197-198, and Remy 27, pp. 217-225.
* An ʻolohe was a rude dugout canoe.
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