is not stated; but tradition avers that the fleet was equipped under the superintendence of Moikeha's famous prophet and astrologer, Kamahualele; and, with the priest Mookini, Laamaomao, the director of the winds, and a large party of chiefs and retainers, the expedition set sail for Hawaii, the young chief Laa being left behind with Olopana.
It was one of the most imposing fleets that had ever sailed out of the harbor of Opoa. The large double canoe bearing Moikeha and his priests, gods, astrologer, principal navigator, wind director and personal attendants, was the same in which he had sailed for Kahiki. The kaulua was nearly a hundred feet in length, and afforded ample accommodations for the forty or more persons assigned to it. It was painted red, and at the masthead floated the pennon of a Polynesian alii.
Moikeha embarked with a number of distinguished companions, but the most noted was Laamaomao—a name signifying, perhaps, the sacred bluish green or wind clouds. He was the director of the winds, which were stored in his ipu, or calabash, and went forth at his bidding. He bore a close resemblance to the Æolus of the Greeks. After accompanying Moikeha to the Hawaiian Islands he took up his abode near a place called Hale-a-Lono, a well-known eminence of Kaluakoi, on the island of Molokai, and was subsequently deified and worshipped as an aumakua, or god of the winds.
With musicians and drummers to enliven the spirits of the voyagers, and favoring winds from the ipu of Laamaomao, the journey seems to have been prosperous, and no incident of note occurred until the island of Hawaii was sighted. As the green hills of Kau came to view songs and shouts of joy went up from the canoes. A voyage of over twenty-five hundred miles in open boats had tested the patience of the party, and land at last was a joyous sight to them all. Many leaped into the water and swam beside the canoes. Mookini, the high-priest, burned incense before the gods, at the same time addressing them a prayer of thanksgiving, and Kamahualele, the astrologer and poet, recited an inspiring chant in further celebration of the occasion. The chant has been preserved by tradition.
Some of the early poetic accounts of the first appearance of the islands of Hawaii above the surface of the ocean mention Hawaii, the largest of the group, as suddenly rising from the great deep and becoming a part of a row or cluster of islands "stretching to the farthest ends of Kahiki," from which it is conjectured that, centuries back in the past, islands now no longer existing marked the way at intervals between the Society and Hawaiian groups. The other islands of the Hawaiian cluster are referred to as natural births, their parents being demigods or distinguished chiefs. Thus, in the language of an old chant:
"Rising up is Hawaii-nui-akea!
Rising up out of the night (Po)!
Appeared has the island, the land,
The string of islands of Nuuamea,
The cluster of islands stretching to the farthest ends of Kahiki.
To Kuluwaiea of Haumea, the husband,
To Hina-nui-a-lana, the wife,
Was born Molokai, a god, a priest,
The first morning light from Nuuamea.
Up stands Akuhinialaa,
The chief from the foreign land;
From the gills of the fish
From the overwhelming billows of Halehale-kalani,
Born is Oahu, the wohi,
The wohi of Akuhinialaa,
And of Laamealaakona the wife."
Kamahualele began by repeating an ancient story of the origin of the several islands of the group, and concluded his chant with these hopeful words:
"O Haumea Manukahikele,
O Moikeha, the chief who is to reside,
My chief will reside on Hawaii—a!
Life, life, O buoyant life!
Live shall the chief and priest,
Live shall the seer and the slave,
Dwell on Hawaii and be at rest,
And attain old age on Kauai.
O Kauai is the island—a!
O Moikeha is the chief!"
Thus sang the poet, with his face toward the verdant slopes of Kau, while the canoes of the fleet gathered around him, that all might hear the words of one who read the fate of mortals in the stars.
II.
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