Concerning a river of specially black lava, which runs into the sea
to the south of this house, the following legend is told:--
"A withered old woman stopped to ask food and hospitality at the
house of a dweller on this promontory, noted for his penuriousness.
His kalo patches flourished, cocoa-nuts and bananas shaded his hut,
nature was lavish of her wealth all round him. But the withered hag
was sent away unfed, and as she turned her back on the man she said,
'I will return to-morrow.'
"This was Pele, the goddess of the volcano, and she kept her word,
and came back the next day in earthquakes and thunderings, rent the
mountain, and blotted out every trace of the man and his dwelling
with a flood of fire."
Maui is very "foreign" and civilised, and although it has a native
population of over 12,000, the natives are much crowded on
plantations, and one encounters little of native life. There is a
large society composed of planters' and merchants' families, and the
residents are profuse in their hospitality. It is not infrequently
taken undue advantage of, and I have heard of planters compelled to
feign excuses for leaving their houses, in order to get rid of
unintroduced and obnoxious visitors, who have quartered themselves
on them for weeks at a time.
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