Pele and her family sailed northeast of Tahiti for a long time before she came upon the Hawaiian Islands. She quickly passed by the small northern islands because they were too flat for her to find any mountains that would hold fire. Even on Ni`ihau the big pit that Pele dug was a failure.
Upon arriving on the shores of Kaua`i, Pele felt more confident because of its high mountains. She went in search of a dry place for a home. She dug an even bigger fire pit than on Ni`ihau. But it too failed and the waters from Mount Wai`ale`ale drained into it.
Finding this island too wet, Pele came back to the shore to discover that one of her brothers had let the strong waves destroy their canoe. So she had a new canoe built. Upset at her inattentive brother, she left him behind on Kaua`i as she set sail to continue her search for a home.
