Note 407 — XXVIII.—THE HULA MÚ’U-MÚ’U

Footnote 407: (return) Opihi. An edible bivalve found in the salt waters of Hawaii. Pele is said to have been very fond of it. There is an old saying, He akua ai opihi o Pele—“Pele is a goddess who eats the opihi.” In proof of this statement they point to the huge piles of opihi shells that may be found along the coast of Puna, the middens, no doubt, of the old-time people. Koéle was a term applied to the opihi that lives well under water, and therefore are delicate eating. Another meaning given to the word koele—opihi koele,—line 17—is “heaped up.”