A few days ago, a Hawaiian woman went out to spear squid [octopus] outside of Kalia, but while she was searching, she saw something huge floating on the sea in the shallows, and when she looked good at what that big thing she saw was, she realized that it was a turtle. Continue reading
Laupahoehoe, July 26—Some days ago, there was person who said he was lucky and caught a big ulua at the same place. As for this, these men, whose names are Bill Maikui, a worker for the railway; Lopaka Mae; Akoni Jarda and Ned Rice; spoke about their luck in catching a large honu.
One day Bill Maikui noticed a big honu swimming by beneath the cliffs upon which they live. He fastened meat upon his fishing line and threw it down the cliff; perhaps this cliff is not very high. When he threw over his fishing line, the flippers [ekekeu] of that turtle soon was entangled in the line; and being that the honu was huge indeed, he called his friends to go down and secure a heavy line and pull it up to where he lives. It was with great difficulty that they pulled up this honu caught in the fishing line up the cliff where Maikui lives. Continue reading
TURTLE THAT TRAVELLED FAR INLAND.
O Hae Hawaii:
Aloha to you:—I am informing you about a Turtle at Polihua, Lanai: on the 18th of January of this month, a Turtle travelled from within the ocean; it went from the wet sands to the dry sands; passed the dry sands until where the pili grass grows. A woman saw this Honu, and called some people who were elsewhere, a man and his wife; the Turtle heard the voice of the woman that was calling out, and it turned back to return to the sea; it came upon a sandy cliff [kipapali one?] and the Honu slid and flipped over; the three got what they were after, but if it had not flipped over they wouldn’t have caught it; it was a muku¹ in width; the Honu was huge; the shell was removed by R. K_____, who said to me that this was something not heard of; so it is important that the Hae Hawaii covers news from all over so that all from Hawaii to Kauai can know.
With appreciation, S. R. LOHEPONO.
Kulaokahua, 20 Feb. 1857.
¹Muku is when you stretch out both arms, the length from the fingertips of one hand to elbow of other arm.
(Hae Hawaii, 3/4/1857, p. 1)
Ka Hae Hawaii, Buke 2, Ano Hou.—Helu 1, Aoao 1. Maraki 4, 1857.
On the evening of the 7th of this month, that being a Friday, a couple of small children were bathing in Mokuhinia Pond in Lahaina, close to the bridge [uapo], when the sun was going down.
One of them continued to bathe, his name was Lono; he was almost eight years old, and his height was four feet. Right then after, this boy plain disappeared, but his parents did not think that he disappeared in the water.
A woman named Paahao saw a long fish in the water like an Swordfish [Auau], and its belly was white; she called out to the mother of the boy, “There is a long fish in the water with a white belly.” The mother named Kaohe said, “You must be confusing it with a Turtle.” The other responded, “Let’s go and see.” Kaohe went, and lo and behold, it was as Paahao had seen. Paahao went to go see the fish from atop the bridge while Kaohe continued to watch the fish; after a little time, Kaohe’s eyes were struck [temporarily blinded? “paia mai la ka maka”] and the water turned white, and the fish disappeared from her sight. As for Paahao, she arrived atop the bridge and the fish sprayed up dust, and it disappeared.
Then after, the two thought of Lono, and that he disappeared in the water. And they concluded that this was a moo that had revealed itself for Lono. They searched and went to look on the bridge, but it was not seen.
The father of the boy arrived, named Maalewa. He looked under the bridge, and come to find out, he saw the boy in the water where he was hidden by the moo; his body was attached to the coral and his hair was all that could be seen on the surface of the water.
The father grabbed him by the hair, and pulled him up, and he was almost dead; his body was stiff from top to bottom, and his eyes could not see, and his skin was slimy, which was believed to be the slime of the moo.
He was massaged by his parents until seven in the evening, whereupon he got slightly better but did not say a word, but later he revived.
Therefore, this was something miraculous to see; let it be known to all our friends from Hawaii to Kauai.
T. W. NAKAIKUAANA, PUAA.
Lahaina, Maui. June 8, 1861.
This is the remarkable thing; the foolishness of man. The women saw the child shaking in the water, close to dying, and they did not grab him and save him; but they just stood there saying, “A moo! A moo!” Auwe! the foolishness and heartlessness of some people. If the father had not arrived then, the child would be dead.
[I posted this article a long time ago on the Hoolaupai Facebook page, but because it has such bad search capabilities, i can’t find it. That is one of the reasons i started this blog. Searching for names or places or subjects, etc., is so much easier to do!
I am not sure what the commentary at the bottom is referring to, about the women seeing the boy shaking in the water…
For more on Mokuhinia and the work being done to restore this historic place, see: Friends of Mokuula.]
(Hae Hawaii, 6/12/1861, p. 41)
Ka Hae Hawaii, Buke 6, Ano Hou.—Helu 11, Aoao 41. Iune 12, 1861.
nupepa 