HAWAIIAN HISTORY.

NUMBER 2.

Pertaining to the mooring of Lono at Kealakekua, and his death.

When Lono was out of sight from Maui, he arrived outside of Kohala, Hawaiʻi. It was on the 2nd of December that he arrived there, and the mountains were covered in snow. He moored near Kukuipahu, and the people went out to see the ship, and saw the haole eating melons. At which point the people exclaimed, “They are gods! They are eating the flesh of man! Fire burns in their mouths.” Lono purchased pigs there; one pig for one iron hoop, for fashioning into adzes, and into hooks.

Lono sailed outside of Hāmākua, and Hilo, and Puna, and Kaʻū, and nearly circled Hawaiʻi, and stopped outside of Kealakekua in Kona on the 17th of January, in the year 1779. The time Lono’s ship stopped here, Kalaniʻōpuʻu was the ruler of Hawaiʻi. However at that time, Kalaniʻōpuʻu was on Maui at war with Kahekili. That time when Lono moored were days that sailing on canoe was prohibited, because of the makahiki kapu.

However with the mooring of Lono, people believed that it was good to sail, for the god Lono sailed here on his ship. The people were sure that Lono indeed was a god and his ship was his temple. They saw a number of haole inserting rope into the side of the ship, and those haole were called Mokuhāliʻi folk, the gods of canoe making. And they saw a number of haole with fire in their mouths, and they were called Lonopele. Because they were believed to be gods, a lot of people came to worship Lono.

The women went in droves to the ship to have unclean relations with the haole; the haole gave them iron and mirrors, and when the women saw their reflection in the mirror, they were frightened and looked in mirrors no more. What a pity for them not knowing.

Being that the people believed that Lono was a god, they greatly worshipped him with respect. They gave him pigs, and vegetable foods, and kapa, and all things, as one would give to gods; they did not sell. The kahuna approached him bowing; they placed a red kapa upon his shoulders, stepped back slightly, gave the pigs and this and that, and spoke at length, with quick delivery. It was praying and worship.

When Lono went inland, most people would go about in fear, and the rest would bow down and worship him. Lono was led to the house of the gods, and into the heiau, where he was worshipped. Lono went along with his being worshipped; like Herod, he did not protest. Perhaps it can be thought that it was because of this transgression of Lono, along with him spreading the sinful disease that God smote him and he died.

On the 24th of January, Kalaniʻōpuʻu returned from Maui, and canoe were made kapu. Women were not to go to the ocean, and the haole came inland in great crowds for prostitution. Kalaniʻōpuʻu treated Lono generously, and he [Kalaniʻōpuʻu] gave him several bird-feather garments, along with kāhili. Kalaniʻōpuʻu worshipped Lono. On the 4th of February, Lono sailed until outside of Kawaihae and noticed one of the masts of his ship was rotting; he returned to Kealakekua to make repairs. The ship anchored once again, and the people came to associate, but this time they did not associate much like before.

The sinful association of the haole with the women continued for a long time, and some of the women had aloha for the haole, thus the men went against Lono, and all of his men. They began to revolt, the haole quickly shot their firearms. The haole seized the canoe of an aliʻi named Palea. He resisted and a haole struck him with a canoe paddle and he fell. Whereupon his men turned against them and threw stones. Palea got up and feared that they would be killed by Lono, so he put an end to the skirmish.

Later, Palea made off with a skiff from the ship; he stole perhaps because he was angry, and also perhaps because he wanted the iron, and that is why there was a battle. Lono ordered Kalaniʻōpuʻu to find the skiff and to bring it back to the ship. He could not return the skiff because it was demolished so the men could get the iron. Lono came ashore with his men and firearms, to fetch Kalaniʻōpuʻu and to take him to the ship, to have him remain there until the skiff was returned.

When Lono went to bring back Kalaniʻōpuʻu to the ship, Kekūhaupiʻo sailed to Kaʻawaloa from Keʻei, and another aliʻi went by another canoe. The haole aboard the ship fired the cannon and the aliʻi died. His name was Kalimu. Kekūhaupiʻo witnessed the death of Kalimu, and he quickly landed at Kaʻawaloa. It was he who detained Kalaniʻōpuʻu from sailing on the ship. When the people heard that an aliʻi had died, they urged to fight. A man with a dagger in his hand approached Lono; Lono was frightened and shot off his firearm, and a battle ensued.

Lono struck with his saber, slashing an aliʻi, whose name was Kalanimanookahoʻowaha. That aliʻi with his powerful hands grabbed Lono without injuring him, for he believed Lono was immortal, being that he was a god; but because Lono cried out when he fell, Kalanimanookahoʻowaha realized Lono was a man. He no longer believed Lono was a god, so he beat Lono until dead. The haole who remained on the skiff shot their guns killing many. The people used mats to block the bullets, but the bullets were not stopped by the mats. The cannons on the ship were fired off and more people died.

Therefore, Kalaniʻōpuʻu and the aliʻi and all of the men fled inland, with Lono and the four haole who had died, until they were upon the cliffs of Kaʻawaloa. Then Kaleiʻōpuʻu [aka Kalaniʻōpuʻu] sacrificed Lono, and after this, they stripped the bones of Lono, and his bones were reserved, along with his hands and the intestines to be used for cordage.

They burned his flesh in fire. The intestines of Lono were eaten by some children, but they mistakenly believed that it was dog intestines, and that is why they ate it. It was Kupa, Mohoʻole, and Kaiwikokoele who ate it. Some of Lono’s bones were returned to the ship, while some were retained by kāhuna and the bones were worshiped. On the 23rd of February, the ship sailed from Kealakekua, and on the 29th of that month, the ship stopped at Kauaʻi, and from Kauaʻi on to Niʻihau, and on the 15th of March is when it sailed out of sight.

(Not complete.)