A luna au o Wai-pi'o, Kilohi aku k'uu maka ilalo; Hele ho'i ke ala makai o Maka'u-kiu; Hele ho'i ke ala mauka o Ka-pu-o'a-- Pihapiha, he'e i ka welowelo, I ka pu'u Kolea, i ka ino, e-- Ino Mahiki: Ua ike ka ho'i au, he ino Mahiki, He ino, he ino loa no, e!
As I journeyed above Wai-pi'o Mine eyes drank in that valley-- The whole long march as far as from The sea-fight at Maka'u-kiu Till the trail climbs Ka-pu-o'a. There soggy the road and glairy, And there do flaunt and flourish, On Plover Mount, the cursed Mahiki. For I am convinced that that crew Are bad, as bad as bad can be!
Hiiaka's march to encounter the Mahiki was interrupted for a short time by an incident that only served to clinch her resolution. An agonizing cry of distress assailed her ear. It came from a dismantled heap of human flesh, the remains of two men who had been most brutally handled--by these same Mahiki, perhaps--their leg and arm-bones plucked out and they left to welter in their misery. It was seemingly the cruel infliction of the Mahiki. The cry of the two wretches could not be disregarded:
E Hiiaka-i-ka-poli-o-Pele, e, E ki'i mai oe ia maua; E ka hookuli i ka ualo, e! Ka opu aloha ole, e-e!
O Hiiaka-of-Pele's-heart, Come thou and assist us. Turn not a deaf ear to our cry! Be not of hard and unfeeling heart!
Hiiaka, with a skill that did credit to her surgery, splinted the maimed limbs, inserting stems from her favorite ti plant to take the place of the long bones that had been removed. She left them seated in comfort at the roadside at Pololú.
The Mahiki, on seeing Hiiaka advance into their territory, threw up the dirt and dust in their front, to express their contempt for such an insignificant body of trespassers. Hiiaka, paying no attention to their insolence, pressed on. Her purpose was to strike directly at Mo'o-lau, the leader of the horde, to whom she addressed this incantation:
A loko au o Mahiki, Halawai me ke Akua okioki po'o. Okioki ino, la, i kona po'o; Kahihi a'e la i kona naau; Hoale mai ana i kona koko i o'u nei. E Lau e, Lau e-e! No'u ke ala, i hele aku ho'i, e-e!
I enter the land of Mahiki; I counter the head-hunting witch. See me pluck the head from her body; See me tear out her very heart, Till her blood surges round me in waves-- Blood of the monster that's legion. Mine is the common right of way: The traveler's right to the road!