The Famous Singing Group “Kawaihau”

They Left for Afar.

“E nihi ka helena mai hoopa; [Tread carefully, don’t touch;]
Mai pulale i ka ike a ka maka [Don’t get excited by what the eye sees:]
Hookahi no makamaka o ke ALOHA [There is but one companion, that is ALOHA];
A hea mai ia Kawaihau e kipa. [Calling out to Kawaihau to come visit.]”¹

Aboard the deck of the steamship Alameda that moved swiftly on to the Golden Gate of California on the morning of Wednesday was seen the members of the famed singing group “Kawaihau” standing like officers of the ship while garlands of fragrant flowers of the beloved land hung about their necks; they wore the lei like a beloved sweetheart ever imbuing fragrance in their bosom. They were seen inhaling for the last time the adornment familiar to them as they were leaving for the great sea headed for foreign lands; and they were seeing for the last time the verdure of the land which disappeared from their eyes for who knows how long.

Not just them, but also there were the companions to curl up together in the cold nights—their wives, there to kiss their cheeks for the last time, which they sealed threefold with love, as

“O ka hao a ka ua i na pali [The assault of the rain in the cliffs]
Pale oe, pale au, pale kaua.” Aloha no! [I fend off, you fend off, we both fend off.”² Aloha!]

Just as reported earlier in the Kuokoa of last week, so did this group carry out, and today they are travelling over the ocean to fulfill the contract made with them.

This past Monday that dance advertised earlier in the Kuokoa was held, and the venue where the event took place was filled with the multitudes of Honolulu; perhaps they knew that this gathering would be the last they’d hear the singing of the performers of this group, and that is probably why Honolulu’s people thronged there and gave their aloha to the boys of the band.

In the picture above, you can see the boys who went, although some of them are currently with the Hawaiian Band in San Francisco and will meet up with their companions who left.

¹Play on the chorus of Kalakaua’s “E Nihi ka Hele.”
²Anyone know what mele this might come from?

[This is who played at that huge wedding celebration in Pauoa attended by Kaiulani in 1898 (the articles posted yesterday)]

(Nupepa Kuokoa, 9/22/1905, p. 1)

Ka Nupepa Kuokoa, Buke XLIII, Helu 38, Aoao 1. Sepatemaba 22, 1905.