Composed by Queen Liliuokalani. Click here to listen an old version by the Royal Hawaiian orchestra.
Ha'aheo ka ua i na pali,
Proudly sweeps the rain clouded by the cliffs,
Ke nihi a'e la i ka nahele,
As onward it glides through the trees,
E uhai ana paha i ka liko,
It seems to be following the liko,
Pua ahihi lehua a o uka.
The ahihi lehua of the vale.
Aloha 'oe, aloha 'oe,
Farewell to thee, farewell to thee,
E ke onaona noho i ka lipo,
Thou charming one who dwells among the bowers.
One fond embrace a ho'i a'e au,
One fond embrace before I now depart
Until we meet again.
Until we meet again.
The Death of Kamehameha I, King of Hawaii
 |
| Kamehameha I |
"E
'oni wale no 'oukou i ku'u pono 'a'ole e pau"
("Endless is the good that I have given to you to enjoy") - Kamehameha
I
"The illness of Kamehameha became so
great, that the native doctors could not cure him. Then said the priest, I It is
best to build a house for your god, that you may recover.) The chiefs,
sustaining the advice of the priest, built a sacred house for his god
Kukailimoku-and a, kapu took place, at evening. The people, apprehending that
the priest and chiefs were urging Kamehameha to have men sacrifaced to his god
for his recovery, were seen to fly, through fear of death, and remained in their
hiding places till the tabu -was over. Probably the king did not assent To 'he
proposition, but was heard to say, I men are tabu. for the king -alluding to his
son. After the worship, the king's disease increased, and he became helpless.
When another tabu day arrived for the new temple, be said to Liholiho, I Go to
the worship of your god-1 cannot go.) Then was ended his praying to his
feather-god, Kukailimoku (an image of Juggernaut-like form,-made of net-work and
feathers). But he assented to the proposition of another worshipper, who, having
a bird-god, called Pua, said, The sick will
be cured by it,' though the body of the god was the bird alae, that is eaten.
Two houses were, therefore, erected ; but while occupying them, lie ceased to take food, and became extremely weak. His wives, children, and chiefs, perceiving this, after three days, conveyed him to his dwelling-house. . On account of the tabu of that period, there were six kinds of houses, a house of worship ; a front or eating-house for men; an eating-house for women ; a sleeping house ; a rear house for beating kapa, and a house for the seclusion of women at certain periods. In the evening, the feeble king was borne from his sleeping-house to the front house~, and took a, mouthful of poi and a; little water. The chiefs asked him for his final charge ; but he made not the. least answer. He was lifted back to his sleeping-house; and near midnight, brought again to the front house, where he took another mouthful of food with water. Kaikioewa then addressed him thus, Here are we all, your younger brethren, your king, and your foreigner; lay down for us your charge, that your king" and sisters may hear.* Not fully comprehending, he with difficulty inquired, ' What do you ask? The chief repeated, 'Your charge for us'. He made an effort, and said, I Proceed only according to my policy, until-' not able to finish his sentence, he embraced the neck of the foreigner and drew him down for a kiss.
Hoapili was another whom he embraced, and
pulling him down, whispered in his ear, and was then carried back to his
sleeping-house. In an hour or two, he was borne again. partially, into the front
house, while most of his body remained in his sleepinghouse. He was once more
replaced ; and about two o'clock,-(May 8th,1819), he expired. .
Soon, the chiefs held a consultation, and without announcing his death, or even
letting it be known abroad, one of the chiefs was heard to say, I This is my
thought-let us dissect him. Kaahumanu faintly replied, I Not, perhaps, for us is
the body, but for the king (the successor)-our part the breath (his power to
command us)-has gone ; his body is the king's.
" After this consultation, he war, borne to the front house for the uko
ceremony to be performed by the high-priest and the young king. When the uko hog
was baked, the high priest made an offering to him who was dead; he was a
god-the body without a soul lying there. The king offered the consecrating
prayer. The priest made an address to the king and chiefs, and said, I will tell
you of the human sacrifice for him here-to sacrifice now, it is one-but if we go
out, and the sacrifice is made there, four men ; but if we carry him near the
lua (pit), and the sacrifice be offered there, ten men are to die ; but if he is
quite in the pit^, and the sacrifice be made there, fifteen are to suffer, and
if this night should pass, and a tabu occur, should the human sacrifice be made
then, forty are to die.' The ceremony of that priest closed. The high priest
stood with the hog, and performed his ceremony, and smote the hog. His ceremony
also ended. Then Hewahewa, the high priest demanded, Where shall the king
be buried?
He is a god."
The chiefs said, I Where indeed P You are the one that knows. I The priest
said, "There are two places, in one Of which it is proper for the king to
dwell, Kau and Kohala, but it is not proper for him to remain here, in Kona, for
it is wholly polluted. Such was the tabu of that period concerning a dead body.
If a king died, that whole district was polluted, and his heir went into
another. When the body was disposed of according to custom, and the bones firmly
bound in a bundle, the pollution ceased. But if the dead was not a king, to the
house only the pollution extended-when buried) the pollution was ended.
The chiefs agreed to the young king's residing at Kohala. The morning light
arose, and Liholiho, with his servant~ and several chiefs, hastened thither. The
chiefs and people indulged in frantic lamentations, and rioting and revelry,
like maniacs and brutes, and their proceedings were too atrocious and revolting
to admit of being described.
" As the chiefs were bearing the body to the place for detaching the bones,
Keamahulihia, a friend of the deceased, met them, anct desiring to die with him,
perhaps on account of his affection, attempted. repeatedly to leap upon them,
(apparently offering himself for immolation), but was repulsed by the chiefs. In
like manner, Kalanimoku resolved on immolation, but was repulsed by Hookio."
These appeared to have offered themselves as victims, acording to the
declaration of the priests, but were both rejected by the chiefs. Multitudes
indulged the apprehension that the king had been the victim of some unknown
sorcerer, and professors of sorcery put their art in operation, and kindled
their fires in vain, tD destroy or detect the author of the king's death. The
chief, Keeaumoku, brother of Kaahumanu, approaching intoxicated, broke the
sorcerers' flag wand, which they had set up near the place of their fire. Then,
people conjectured that Kaahumanu and her party had been the means of the king's
death, and reviled them Unjustly.
In the evening after the death of the king, a woman ate a forbidden cocoanut,
and several men ate with women, contrary to the tabu, but this was rather
attributable to the anarchy of the season of mourning for the dead; yet, as the
gods did not bring on them evil consequences, it may have indicated the
uselessness of the restriction.
After the bones of the king had been stripped and bundled according to custom,
and some days had passed, Kaahumanu and Kalanimoku sent for Liholiho, at Kohala,
to return to Kailua ; but he declined, because Kekuaokalani, his relative, more
devoted to the gods than the dissipated young king, fearing he would break tabu
and perish, objected. They-sent again ; and the messenger, Eeka, said to
Liholiho Thl, guardians say, Return thou. He assenting, said to Kekuaokalani,
" Let us both return 11 but the latter replied, 14 Let us both remain-there
is fish at the' sea-side, there is food inland; death is afraid in the
-wilderness"---(imply,ing that they would be safer in their retreat than
with the multitude at Kailua). Liholiho, however, returned to Kailua, and was
inaugurated with ceremony and pomp; for which Kaahumanu had made arrangements.
The chiefs and all the personal attendants of Kamehameha, with muskets, and the
plebeians of Kona assembled at Kailua, in order that Kaahumanu might commit the
kingdom to Liholiho. Then came forth L.iholiho from the idol temple, robed in
scarlet and a feathered mantle, with several chiefs on either side with kihili
and spittoon, having on his head a princely hat from Britain. That day was
Liholiho in his glory. Kaahumanu, (guardian of the realm), whom her husband had
commissioned to take the kingdom and mana ' (re it herself, if his son failed to
do it well, met her step-son, and (addressing him somewhat in the Chinese style
by the title, Kalani, the heaven or the celestial) said 0 Kalani, I report to
you what belonged to your father-Here are the chiefs, and the men of your
father-there are your guns, and this is your land; but you and I will share the
land together.' ' Liholiho gave his assent, and was established over the
kingdom."
- published in the Mooolelo, Hawaii, in
1838 and quoted by
Hiram
Bingham