anybody who would receive him. His wanderings at length brought him to the large, well-watered and fertile valley of Waipio, where he could easily sustain himself on the bananas that grew spontaneously in its wilds.
At this time the two great gods, Kane and Kanaloa, who are always represented as associated, were living together in Alakahi, one of the five tributary valleys that debouch into Waipio. Though surrounded by the countless lesser deities (Kini-a-ke-Akua, Mano-a-ke-Akua, Lehu-a-ke-Akua),[1] sprites and elves that peopled the wilderness, their bounden servants, whose duty it was to wait upon them, and fetch and carry at their bidding, Kane and Kanaloa lived in democratic simplicity, waiting upon themselves, plucking and roasting their own bananas.
One day, while these great gods were thus engaged preparing a frugal meal, Maui crept up, and by means of a long pole, such perhaps as the ancient bird-catchers were wont to use in snaring birds, reached across the narrow torrent that rushes through rocky Alakahi, and dexterously spearing the roasted fruit, secured them for himself. One of the gods noticed that the bananas were gone and said, "Who is this that has stolen our bananas?" "It is that thievish Maui; he is up to another of his tricks." But Kanaloa, Who was of violent temper, leaped across the stream, caught Maui, dragged him forth from his hiding-place, and dashed him against the cliff of Alakahi, staining the wall with his blood.
Thus ended the adventures of Maui. When the Alakahi stream is discolored by the red, ochrous, soil washed down from the cliffs, the natives say: "Look at the blood of Maui." Certain red-colored shrimp that abound in the waters of this romantic place are popularly said to be tinted with the blood of Maui. An old man relating the story of this mythological hero, ascribed the red color in the rainbow to his blood that had bespattered the heavens.
- ↑ In archaic Hawaiian, Kini meant 40,000, i. e. an indefinitely large number; Mano, 4,000; Lehu, 400,000, and was the highest in the Hawaiian series of numbers, representing a countless multitude. This multitude of minimal gods, which infested every Hawaiian wilderness, were capable ot great mischief and must be propitiated with appropriate offerings before any important work was undertaken.
