XVI. THE RED MOUTH GUN KA-PU-W AHA-ULAULATHE Red Mouth Gun is the name given by the Hawaiians to the great canoe battle fought off Waipio, Hawaii, in the year 1791, according to Fornander. This was the first naval battle in which guns were the prominent weapons used by the Hawaiian chiefs.
Ka-meha-meha I, in 1789, had gained the adherence of the noted chief Kaiana, who had already visited China and purchased guns and ammunition. This was probably the best stroke of diplomacy exercised by him during all his great work of welding the scattered islands into a united kingdom. Kaiana's real relations were with Kauai rather than Hawaii. In transferring Kaiana's arsenal from Kauai to Hawaii Kameha-meha secured an advantage over all the other chiefs of the islands. The man who has material at han
