[58] He ki ho'iho'i kanawai. The ki is said, to my surprise, to be the thong with which a door was made fast, ho'iho'i, in the olden times of Hawaii. I cannot but look upon this statement with some suspicion.
[59] Leo, the voice; articulate speech. Leo o ka kanaka hookahi. This one supreme man was Kane. The poet evidently had in mind the myth which is embodied in a certain Kumu-lipo, or song of creation: Kane, the supreme one, looking from heaven, saw Chaos, or the god of Chaos, Kumu-lipo, spread out below and he called to him to send his voice--leo--to the east, to the west, to the north and to the south. Kumu-lipo, thus roused from inaction, despatched the bird Halulu, who flew and carried the message to the east, to the west, to the north and to the south.
[60] Ka manu, the bird Halulu, above mentioned.
[61] Kai-nu'u a Kane. This expression is an allusion to god Kane's surf-riding, which is often mentioned in Hawaiian mythology. Huli refers to the curling or bending over of the breaker's crest; Nu'u to the blanket of white and yeasty water that follows as the wake of the tumbling wave. The Hawaiians who are best informed in these matters have only vague ideas on the whole subject.
[62] Amama, a word frequently used at the end of a prayer in connection with the word noa (free), as in the expression amama, ua noa. The evident meaning is it (the tabu) is lifted, it is free. I conjecture that the word amama is derived from, or related to, the word mama, light, in the sense of levitation.
[63] Kui-hanalei, a region in Puna, not far from the caldera of Kilauea, said to be covered now with pahoehoe and aa.
[64] Pu'u-lena, a wind that blows in the region of the volcano.
[65] Ke-ka-ko'i (literally, the ax-maker), the name of the guide and path-finder to the company.
[66] Ka-maiau, their trumpeter who carried a conch.
[67] Hinihini, a poetical name for a land-shell, probably one of the genus Achatinella, which was popularly believed to give a shrill piping note.
[69] Ale ula, a cloud of steam and smoke, such as accompanied an eruption.
[70] Ale lani, the patches of blue sky between masses of clouds.
[71] Pu-ko'a, a column of steam and smoke bursting up from a volcanic eruption.
[72] A'aka, a column of lapillae, accompanied by hot vapor and smoke, such as jet up from a volcanic crater or fissure.