| Waikane (Water-of-Kane) has a sizable stream running well back into the valley. Here, along the upper reaches of Kane`ohe Bay, the land sweeps deeply inward towards the more distant mountain valleys of the Ko`olau range. This valley, in its arable aspects and with its abundant rainfall, is the most nearly comparable to the ahupua`a of Kahana and of Punalu`u, but it has less stream resources to draw upon for irrigation. Its areas suitable for wet-taro cultivation were considerably fewer than those characteristic of the broad flat lands of Waiahole, Ka`alaea, Kahalu`u and He`eia the ahupua`a which lie to the south between Waikane and Kane`ohe. Nevertheless, Waikane was a major source of Ko`olau taro, especially in the broad area between the highway and the sea, and as much as half a mile inland there was extensive lo`i cultivation. The northern (and larger) section, extending mauka for two or more miles, used to have cultivated lo`i and home sites all along its Waikane Stream. The southern section of the valley, divided off by a low ridge, comprises a gulch where there were old terraces watered by Waike`eke`e Stream, no longer cultivated in taro. The main Waikane Stream is formed by two large streams flowing down from the 3,000-foot Ko`olau range. |