Page:Twenty years before the mast - Charles Erskine, 1896.djvu/253

 Kapiolani lived in this village. She was the woman who ate berries which were sacred to Pele, and even stood on  the brink of the crater, before her people, and threw  stones in at the goddess. Addressing her people she said:

"Jehovah is my God; he kindled these fires. I fear not Pele. Should I perish by her anger, then you may

HAWAIIAN TEMPLES AND GODS.

fear her power; but if Jehovah saves me when breaking her tabus, then must you fear and serve Jehovah. The gods of Hawaii are vain. Great is the goodness of Jehovah in sending missionaries to turn us from these  vanities to the living God."

The people, seeing that the power of Pele was broken, and that the tabus of the goddess were vain, returned to  the village with their leader. Kapiolani was truly a genuine heroine.