"Behold my witness," said the kahuna, with a triumphant air; "these birds came from the sea!" Hua, in confusion, fell into a terrible rage, and massacred Uluhoomoe on the spot.

The gods avenged the death of the priest by sending a distressing famine, first on the island of Maui, then on Hawaii.

Hua, thinking to baffle the divine vengeance, went to Hawaii to escape the scourge; but a famine more terrible yet pursued him there.

The chief vainly traversed every quarter of the islands; he starved to death in the temple of Makeanehu (Kohala).

His bones, after death, dried and shrunk in the rays of the burning sun, to which his dead body remained exposed.
This is the origin of the Hawaiian epigram always quoted in recalling the famine which occurred in the reign of Hua, an epigram which no one has understood, and which has never been written correctly: _Koele na iwi o Hua i ka la_--The bones of Hua are dry in the sun.[E] On the island of Hawaii are many places called by the name of this celebrated chief.