Hula of Haena.

O Lahui Hawaii; Aloha to you:—

While living here in the village of Haena, gazing at the cliff faces of Makana, and enjoying the softly blowing winds of the land, and reveling in the leaves of the kawelu grass; what I am fond of is the beautifully breaking waves, those companion waves which Lohiau surfed in days past, in our old stories. Then I see men, women, and children of this unfamiliar land in which I live, parading to the hula house. How dismaying! O Haena—don’t agonize, but think. Time now has moved forward, and here you are reverting backwards, and stumbling at Kanapo[?]. Here we are, the devout, seeing how truly horrifying the hula is of the people here who are going in droves down into the whirlpool, just as the saying goes, “Kohala is crowded to the very opening.” As soon as the assembly conch is blown, they run and disappear.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” [Mataio 11:28] And look at James 5:5. Therefore I am concerned over what was said by the prophet, Ezekiel 33:3–5. Look to this teaching.

With aloha,
D. P. Puniawa,
Haena, Kauai, Oct. 11, 1875.

(Lahui Hawaii, 10/21/1875, p. 2)

Lahui Hawaii, Buke I, Helu 43, Aoao 2, Okatoba 21, 1875.