Strong Rain and Wind.

O Hae Hawaii:

Aloha oe:—On the 4th of April, it was a calm day; it was a day that Hana people drove in flying fish [malolo] into nets, and the young flying fish came  back; in the evening, Kaanaana and Malulu went deep water fishing with hook and line, and not long after, the wind and rain came; Kaanaana quickly pulled up the anchor [pohaku], and Malulu urged Kanaana, “Cut the line and let’s paddle at once.” Kaanaana pulled up all the line into the canoe. They paddled for shore, but they did not reach it; there was a lot of rain and wind and they could not paddle away, the canoe went back, and the shore grew dark and could not be seen; they  were lost at sea, it became dark, there was great rain and wind, and great lightning and thunder that night. They flipped over twice and the opening of the canoe was turned underneath, and they righted the canoe, and Malulu lost his paddle and the canoe only had one left. The canoe turned over with the billows and they were in danger of death for the second time. That night became day, that was the fith day, and the canoe did not turn over that day. That day turned into night; there was no calm and the land could not be seen; there was much rain and wind. They nearly died twice that night, and the ama of the canoe came off; Kaanaana jumped to it and binded the ama fast; they sat and the canoe was once again overturned by the billows, and they  were in danger of death again; that was the fourth time they were in peril. It became day, and it was the sixth day; the wind died down a bit but the rain was strong; they sat in the canoe without food or clothing.

When evening came that day, the rain calmed down, and Malulu saw a cloud and they thought it was perhaps land, and they paddled, and the cloud disappeared. Malulu said, it wasn’t that cloud. They floated calmly until that day became night, without seeing land. That night and the following day, they did not face danger once again; that was the seventh day; that day was very calm, there was no wind and there was no rain; they saw land and they thought it was Molokai. They paddled from morning until night; the land rose high and it became dark. They thought it was Molokai. They paddled until close to the land and saw a hill rising from the sea and thought it was Mokuonoiki; when they came close to land, they saw the breaking of the waves, Honokalani was seen, and thought it was the hill of Alau; they paddled and came into Kapueokahi; Venus [hoku loa] of dawn came out and they landed at Punahoa.

They went and stayed at the house of Kamakaikuha, and in the morning, I heard that they arrived on land alive, and I went quickly to see the two of them with aloha, and it was they who told the story of their being blown away by the wind.

They have landed [? pai, ? pae] alive. These were lost to the wind for four days without food and without clothes. When I met with the two of them, Kaanaana said, “I was constantly guided by prayer when we were in distress,” while trusting that God only wanted that right be done. That is what Kaanaana said. That man is a brethren, and here he is living; God did not abandon this brethren in this great distress.

There are many houses that were toppled by the wind; seven houses blew down here in Hana; it was in the night that they fell. The bell tower of the French in Puuiki that was shingled fell with the bell, but the bell was not damaged.

S. KAMAKAHIKI.

Wananalua, Hana, April 8, 1859.

(Hae Hawaii, 4/27/1859, p. 16)

Ka Hae Hawaii, Buke 4, Ano Hou.—-Helu 4, Aoao 16. Aperila 27, 1859.