Note 1 — Chapter VI · Bird and Serpent Myths
Reading edition
The Polynesian Mo-o or Mo-ko (dragon) had, as was shown in the last chapter, a connection with pearls. “On Maui”, writes W. D. Westervelt,1 “the greatest dragon of the island was Kiha-wahine. The natives had the saying, ‘Kiha has mana, or miraculous power, like Mo-o-inanea’. She lived in a large, deep pool on the edge of the village Lahaina, and was worshipped by the royal family of Maui as their special guardian.” Royal families were invariably the descendants of intruding conquerors. It is of special interest, therefore, to find the Polynesian dragon-god connected with a military aristocracy.