Only a few kilometers away from Lihue on Road 51 - the continuation of Waapa Road and Hulemalu Road - a vantage point is reached near Nuimalu, from which the Menehune Fish Pond, also known as Alakoko Pond, can be seen. The vantage point affords a wonderful view of the Huleia River, Nawiliwili Port, with the 2297ft/700m-high Haupu in the background and further elevations of the Hoary Head Range.
The pond, whose stone edging is in many places up to 10ft/3m high and 31in/80cm thick, was used originally for the breeding of fish. Now part of it is used as an oyster-bed.
The Menehune are reputed to have built the 886ft/270m-long fish pond for a Hawaiian royal couple. The edge was built from stones which the Menehune transported across a distance of 25 miles/40km by standing in a line and passing them from hand to hand. According to legend, they insisted that no one watched them carrying out the work - but the prince and princess climbed the mountainside overlooking the pond and secretly watched them.
However, the Menehune spotted the royal couple and changed them into pillars of rock, which can still be seen above the south side of the pond. The Menehune, legendary builders of temples and fish ponds, are seen as the original inhabitants of Hawaii. They are supposed to have lived on the Hawaiian islands and, above all on Kauai, even before the first Polynesians. Dwarf-like people, somewhat like goblins or gnomes, the Hawaiians called them keiki o ka'aina, which roughly means "children of the country". One of their characteristics was that they were only active at night.
Many Hawaiians still believe in their existence today. In the 18th c. King Kaumualii of Kauai reported that 65 Menehune were to be found in his kingdom, apparently living in Wainiha Valley on the north coast of Kauai. Their size was given as between 2ft/60cm and 2ft 71/2in/80cm, their bodies were very muscular and hairy. They could not speak but could only make sounds which resembled barking dogs. Excellent stonemasons, they built temples and moats overnight and disappeared before daybreak.
Other South Sea Islands know similar beings to the Hawaiian Menehune by such names as Manahune, Manahua or Makahua (this word is said to be of Tahitian origin) and even the Maoris in New Zealand have similar night creatures which they call Patupai-arehe. The similarity of such legends owes much to the relationship of the Hawaiians with the other Polynesian tribes.
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