The author of this mele, apparently under the sanction of his poetic license, uses toward the great god Ku a plainness of speech which to us seems satirical; he speaks of him as _makole_, red-eyed, the result, no doubt, of his notorious addiction to awa, in which he was not alone among the gods. But it is not at all certain that the Hawaiians looked upon this ophthalmic redness as repulsive or disgraceful. Everything connected with awa had for them a cherished value. In the mele given on p. 130 the cry was, “Kane is drunken with awa!” The two gods Kane and Ku were companions in their revels as well as in nobler adventures. Such a poem as this flashes a strong light into the workings of the Hawaiian mind on the creations of their own imagination, the beings who stood to them as gods; not robbing them of their power, not deposing them from the throne of the universe, perhaps not even penetrating the veil of enchantment and mystery with which the popular regard covered them, at the most perhaps giving them a hold on the affections of the people. [Translation.] _Song_ Look forth, god Ku, look forth! Huh! Ku is blear-eyed! Aye, weave now the wreath— A wreath for the dog Pua-lena; 5 A hala plume for Kahili, Choice garlands from Niho-kú. [Page 226] There was a scurry of clouds, earth groaned; The sound of your baying reached Hawaii the verdant, the pet of the gods; 10 A portent was seen in the heavens. You were kept in a cradle of gourd, Water-gourd of the witch Kilioe, Who haunted the cliffs of Haena— The fiery blasts of the crater 15 Touch not Kamoho-alii’s cliff. Your travel reaches Waipi’o, The sacred cliff of god Kane. Sleep fled the bed of the king At the din of the conch Kiha-pú. 20 The king was tormented, depressed; His messenger sped on his way; Found help from Kauai of Máno— The marvelous foster child, By Waiuli, Kahuli, upreared; 25 Your answer, a-o-a, a-o-a!— ’Twas thus Kauahoa made ready betimes, That hero of old Hanalei— “Strike home! then sleep at midday!” “God fend a war between kindred!” 30 One flower all other surpasses; Twine with it a wreath of kai-o’e, A chaplet to crown Pua-lena. My labor now has its reward, The doorsill of Pa-ka’a-lana.