Note 451 — XXXIII.—THE HULA PUA’A

Footnote 451: (return) “The Hawaiian tradition of Pele, the dread goddess of the volcanic fires,” says Mr. Fornander, “analogous to the Samoan Fe’e, is probably a local adaptation in aftertimes of an elder myth, half forgotten and much distorted. The contest related in the legend between Pele and Kamapua’a, the eight-eyed monster demigod, indicates, however, a confused knowledge of some ancient strife between religious sects, of which the former represented the worshipers of fire and the latter those with whom water was the principal element worthy of adoration.” (Abraham Fornander, The Polynesian Race, pp. 51, 52, Trubner & Co., London.)