6. Menehune Fishpond

NAWILIWILI HARBOR.   Legend has it that an industrious race of small-statured peoples once inhabited the islands, predecessors to the Polynesians who now populate the archipelago. Known as the menehune, they were master craftsmen who could build with great skill and speed. This fish pond was supposedly constructed by them at the request of a prince and princess, who were given the dictate that no one could watch them work. The order was disobeyed, and the menehune fled, leaving the pond to be completed by human workers. The Hawaiian name for the pond, Alekoko, means "rippling blood" and is said to commemorate the menehune washing their hands (cut by lava rock) in the waters. N.B. The fishpond is on private property and is currently overgrown and not easily accessible.   (© 10Best)

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