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2.Background
<br /> It was decided by the king and the captains who conveyed the chiefs to Hawaii that the Keoua should
<br /> be filled with sandalwood and sold with its cargo, for it was showing signs of age. The articles
<br /> obtained through the sale were to belong to the king.A fine haole man from one of the foreign ships
<br /> took it to China.
<br /> Before the king and chiefs went to Kahaluu for a year,there were seen some strange coconut trees
<br /> in the midst of a coconut grove. The leaves of some of them had been bent over the dried nuts and
<br /> plaited from the base of the leaf to the trunk, thereby holding up the nuts. This was truly an
<br /> uncommon procedure and one not seen by Ii anywhere else. We were told that no one was allowed
<br /> to take the dried coconuts. All the chiefs who owned groves were on Oahu, and perhaps that was
<br /> why caretakers of the land protected each chief's grove.Not long afterwards,when the people who
<br /> were to consume the nuts returned,such bound-up trees were seen no more. Soon after the decision
<br /> was made to sell the Keoua,the masts of the king's canoes were erected,and it was told aboard that
<br /> he was sailing for Kahaluu. So those who were going,either by canoe or by foot,made themselves
<br /> ready.
<br /> The boy accompanied his young chief in the canoe fleet his father had brought from Honolulu,and
<br /> landed at Kahaluu. However, when the sun was about to set and the father was ready to return to
<br /> Kailua,the boy insisted on going with him. The father was opposed to the idea of Ii's leaving the
<br /> young chief,but the boy said"That may be so,but you and Kaleiheana are being allowed to stay at
<br /> Kailua as you wish.Though we have come to this island for the same reason,to serve Liholiho,the
<br /> chief is not yet settled. Therefore, it would be well for us to go back together until we know what
<br /> he is going to do." At these words Kaleiheana agreed that the boy go with them. They landed at
<br /> Kailua,at their place in Papaula.
<br /> The following days were ones of intense famine in Kailua, and the followers of the young chief
<br /> suffered. The boy and his father went to stay for several days with a resident from nearby Keopu.
<br /> It was here that Kaiwikokoole, a makuakane of the boy, met the lad and his father when he came
<br /> with the king's farmers from Kuahewa. They brought food from the store houses of the king,kept
<br /> for just such times as this.
<br /> This makuakane[Kaiwikokoole]of the boy conversed with his father about their living in the house
<br /> of a friend,and he asked permission to take the boy and keep him for some days because of the great
<br /> famine. So it was decided that the boy should go with him, leaving his father in the house of their
<br /> friend. In the upland of Kuahewa he lived on a farm where the tree ferns grew, located above the
<br /> long trail mentioned before. This was a war trail when Umi the chief was victorious in battle. On
<br /> the huge farm was a large number of 'al alo (men who ate in the king's presence) appointed by
<br /> Kamehameha to take charge of the work.
<br /> The boy lived in the upland [Kuahewa] with Kaiwikokoole for some time before Kaleiheana
<br /> [another uncle] sent a messenger to fetch him. The messenger was named Kalaikane and he was a
<br /> kaikunane relative of the boy's mother,whose name was the same.
<br /> Papa's [`I'i's uncle and namesake who was the kahu of Kamehameha I] health had become much
<br /> worse after the king and chiefs had left for Kahaluu. His friends and the boy's father gathered at
<br /> Pahoehoe in Kaumalumalu,near Kailua,to be with him.The boy and his companion arrived there
<br /> at dusk,to find that Papa could no longer speak clearly.
<br /> Papa, who wanted to go to Hookena, his land in South Kona, was carried aboard a canoe in the
<br /> harbor [Kailua], but the time for the makahiki celebration was drawing near and canoes were
<br /> prohibited from sailing. They were waiting for the gods to be set up before the Hikiau heiau after
<br /> their circuit of the island.Everyone was filled with fear of the kapu,but the boy's father felt a great
<br /> pity for Papa, who fretted aboard the canoe, so he made ready to sail. However, he was strongly
<br /> urged to wait until the chiefs had heard of Papa's wish.
<br /> When the king and chiefs heard how Papa was they gave permission for him to leave,knowing that
<br /> this was his last illness. However, when he received permission from his chiefs to sail, Papa no
<br /> longer wished to do so because the wooded makahiki gods were about to arrive. Or perhaps his
<br /> desire ceased when permission was granted.
<br /> After the kapu days had passed,the gods arrived at Hikiau the most important heiau in the district
<br /> of Kona. This was,I believe,the King's first year on Hawaii after his return from Oahu. It has been
<br /> CIA for the Ld'Ipala Makai Planned Unit Development,Kapala`alaea 2,North Kona,Hawaii 23
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