[Footnote 283: _Mahana-lua_, literally to see double, was an
accepted test of satisfactory drunkenness. It reminds the
author of an expression he once heard used by the comedian
Clarke in the play of Toodles. While in a maudlin state from
liquor he spoke of the lighted candle that was in his hand as
a “double-barreled candle.”]
[Footnote 284: _Lani-kaula_ was a prophet who lived on Molokai
at a place that still bears his name. He had his residence in
the midst of a grove of fine kukui trees, the remnants of
which remain to this day. Torches made from the nuts of these
trees were supposed to be of superior quality and they
furnished the illumination for the revelries of Kane and his
fellows.]
[Footnote 285: _He kaula no Kane_. A literal translation would
be, a prophet of Kane.]
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
BULLETIN 38 PLATE XIV
[Illustration: HAWAIIAN TRUMPET, PU (CASSIS MADAGASCARENSIS)]
[Page 131]
Kane, the chief god of the Hawaiian pantheon, in company with
other immortals, his boon companions, met in revelry on the
heights bounding Wai-pi’o valley. With each potation of awa
they sounded a blast upon their conch-shells, and the racket
was almost continuous from the setting of the sun until
drowsiness overcame them or the coming of day put an end to
their revels.
The tumult of sound made it impossible for the priests to
perform acceptably the offices of religion, and the pious
king, Liloa, was distressed beyond measure. The whole valley
was disturbed and troubled with forebodings at the suspension
of divine worship.
The chief offender was Kane himself. The trumpet which he
held to his lips was a conch of extraordinary size (pl. XIV)
and credited with a divine origin and the possession of
supernatural power; its note was heard above all the others.
This shell, the famed Kiha-pú, had been stolen from the heiau
of Paka’a-lána, Liloa’s temple in Waipi’o valley, and after
many adventures had come into the hands of god Kane, who used
it, as we see, for the interruption of the very services that
were intended for his honor.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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