87. Ma-nu

[Pages 244-245] Played on a diagram cut on a stone, consisting of four rectangles placed around a square to form a cross, the squares all being crossed with intersecting lines. Thirteen stones (pa-ka) are arranged as shown in Plate XI, b.

One of the two players, called pu-ni-pe-ki, points with a stick (la-au) to one of the unoccupied points. The stones move one square at a time and endeavor to pen up the pu-ni-pe-ki, who in turn tries to capture the stones. The stick moves one square and jumps over an adjacent piece when the next square beyond is vacant. The player then cries, Pe-pe-hi ka-na-ka! When the stick is cornered the opponent cries, Paa! ("tight").

This is no doubt the game referred to by Andrews under the name of pu-ni-pe-ki (bo-ne-pa-te, bu-ni-be-ti), "a game like fox and geese." It may be that this is a Hawaiian rendering of "Bonaparte," the object of the game being to pen him up. The name ma-nu, "bird," is explained by the moves of the stick. Andrews gives le-le-pu-ni, "a kind of play with white and black stones on a board," probably referring to this game.