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In the same way, Umi, unless you render your sovereign the homage you owe him, if you rebel against him, it will be for you two to decide your lot." Soon after, having made known his last wishes, Liloa gave up the ghost.
To avoid a sort of scourge which followed the royal steps, Umi made his abode in the mountains, in order that the robberies of his attendants might no longer cause the tears of the people to flow. In his retreat Umi lived, with his retainers, upon the tribute in kind which his subjects brought him from all parts of the coast.
They were already in league with Umi, and this was but a ruse to dissipate the king's forces.
Tell him you are his child, and show him, in proof of your words, these tokens which he left with me." Umi, proud enough of the revelation of his mother, at once departs, accompanied by Koi and Omakamau. The palace of Liloa was surrounded by guards, priests, diviners, and sorcerers. The kapu extended to the edge of the outer inclosure, and no one might pass on penalty of death.
In time of famine, his servants went through the forest and collected the hapuu, a nourishing fern which then took the place of poi. Umi, however, did not spend all his time in the mountains. He came to live at various times on the sea-shore at Kailua.
When King Liloa died he left his younger son, Hakau, to rule Hawaii in his place, but an older and natural son, Umi, whose mother had been a farm-worker among the hills, he appointed as guardian of the temples and their sacred statues. Umi had not learned of his royal parentage until he had grown to be a fine stout fellow.
This victory completely rid Umi of his last rival; he reigned henceforth as sole ruler of Hawaii; and to transmit to posterity the remembrance of this remarkable battle, he caused to be erected on the battle-field, by the people of the six provinces, Hilo, Hamakua, Kohala, Kona, Ka'u, and Puna, a singular monument, composed of six polyhedral piles of ancient lava collected in the vicinity.
He had been slain by the very hand of the vigorous foster-son of the priest. Umi ruled in place of Hakau. His two aikane, Koi and Omakamau, had joined him, and resided at his court. Piimaiwaa of Hilo was his most valiant warrior. Ia ia ka mama kakaua to him belonged the bâton of war, a figurative expression denoting the general-in-chief.
It is probable that there was only one high chief of this name, that he was the son of Umi, and was called Keawe the Great Keawe nui a Umi. David Malo was interested, as the natives know, in swelling the genealogy of the alii, and he wished to flatter both nobility and people by distinguishing Keawe nui, of the race of Umi, from another Keawe. There are two Keawe, as seven Maui, and nine Hina.
There are still seen, scattered in various places, the hewn stones of King Umi, na pohaku kulai a Umi. It is natural to suppose that they used to hew these hard, and very large stones with other tools than those of Hawaiian origin. Iron must have been known in the time of Umi, and its presence is explained by the wrecks of ships which ocean currents may have drifted ashore.
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