Arrived at the spot, he directed his comrades to lower him into the
abyss called by the Hawaiians the _Lua o Milu_. Taking with him his
cocoanut-shell and seating himself astride of the cross-stick of the
swing, or kowali, he was quickly lowered down by the long rope of
kowali vines held by his friends in the canoe above.

Soon he entered the great cavern where the shades of the departed were
gathered together. As he came among them, their curiosity was aroused
to learn who he was. And he heard many remarks, such as "Whew! what
an odor this corpse emits!" "He must have been long dead." He had
rather overdone the matter of the rancid oil. Even Milu himself,
as he sat on the bank watching the crowd, was completely deceived by
the stratagem, for otherwise he never would have permitted this bold
descent of a living man into his gloomy abode.

The Hawaiian swing, it should be remarked, unlike ours, has but one
rope supporting the cross-stick on which the person is seated. Hiku
and his swing attracted considerable attention from the lookers-on. One
shade in particular watched him most intently; it was his sweetheart,
Kawelu. A mutual recognition took place, and with the permission of
Milu she darted up to him and swung with him on the kowali. But even
she had to avert her face on account of his corpse-like odor. As they
were enjoying together this favorite Hawaiian pastime of _lele kowali_,
by a preconcerted signal the friends above were informed of the success
of his ruse and were now rapidly drawing them up. At first she was too
much absorbed in the sport to notice this. When at length her attention
was aroused by seeing the great distance of those beneath her, like
a butterfly she was about to flit away, when the crafty Hiku, who was
ever on the alert, clapped the cocoanut-shells together, imprisoning