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All who jumped were killed by striking on rocks or by drowning, all but the real prophet, who did not leave the shore till the boats were a mile or so away from land. Paao answered his thunderous hail by an equally thunderous refusal to return, as to go back after starting was bad luck, but added, "There is room for you, if you will fly to us."
The sacerdotal order had its origin in Paao, whose descendants have always been regarded as the Kahuna maoli. Paao came from a distant land called Kahiki. According to several chiefs, his genealogy must be more correct than that of the kings.
The advent of Paao and his erection of this heiau are so ancient, according to the old men, that Night helped the priest raise the temple: Na ka po i kukulu ae la Mokini, a na Paao nae. These sayings, in the native tongue, indicate the high antiquity of Paao.
Before sailing, Paao revenged himself for his own folly by killing a son of Lonopele. The latter discovered the murder too late to retaliate with weapons, so he summoned the powers of magic to his aid.
The Kahuna, especially those of the race of Paao, were the natural depositaries of history, and took the revered title of Mo'olelo, or historians. Some individuals of this stock still exist, and they are all esteemed by the natives, and regarded as the chiefs of the historical and priestly caste.
If an islander was impious enough to cultivate the meadow of Paao, the people believe that a terrible punishment would be the inevitable consequence of that profanation. Disastrous rains, furious torrents, would surely ravage the neighboring country.
Putting all his strength into his arms and legs, the prophet swam through the air and reached the boats without injury. The real Paao is said to have been a Spanish priest who was cast away on the islands by the wreck of the galleon Santo Iago in 1527. The ship was bound from Acapulco to Manila with shrines and images.
It came about that Lonopele had missed a quantity of his choicest fruit, which was conveyed away at night, and although he could see visions and tell fortunes for others, he could not reveal for his own satisfaction so simple a matter as the source of these disappearances. In a foolish rage he accused his nephew, the son of Paao.
Some Hawaiians pretend that there exists another sacerdotal race besides that of Paao, more ancient even than that, and whose priests belonged at the same time to a race of chiefs. It is the family of Maui, probably of Maui-hope, the last of the seven children of Hina, the same who captured the sea-monster Piimoe. The origin of this race, to which Naihe of Kohala pretends to belong, is fabulous.
Paao, who afterward became a high priest in Hawaii, migrated thither in the eleventh century from Samoa, after a quarrel with his brother, Lonopele. Both of these men were wizards, and were persons of riches and influence.
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