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2. Crabs live close to the water edge and to find the opposite creatures we have either to look deep down in the ocean or high up in the trees. The latter alternative could be the correct one because kea is the Hawaiian version of tea.

There are suspiciously few items for kea in Churchill, and I think the reason is that its meaning is basically the same as tea.

Tea

1. Light, fair, whitish. 2. To rise (of the moon, the stars); ku-tea-á te hetu'u ahiahi, the evening star has risen. Vanaga.

1. To shine, be bright, brilliant, white; tea niho, enamel of the teeth; ata tea, dawn; teatea, white, blond, pale, colorless, invalid; rauoho teatea, red hair; hakateatea, to blanch, to bleach. P Pau.: faatea, to clear, to brighten. Mgv.: tea, white, blanched, pale. Mq.: tea, white, clear, pure, limpid. Ta.: tea, white, brilliant. 2. Proud, vain, haughty, arrogance, to boast; tae tea, humble; teatea, arrogant, bragging, pompous, ostentatious, to boast, to show off, haughty; hakateatea, to show off. Mgv.: akateatea, pride, vanity, ostentatious, to be puffed up. Ta.: teoteo, boastful, proud, haughty. 3. Mgv.: teatea, heavy rain. Ha.: kea, the rain at Hana and Koolau. Churchill.

1. White, clear; fair-complexioned person, often favorites at court; shiny, white mother-of-pearl shell, cfr. keakea, kekea, Mauna Kea. Po'o kea, towhead, gray-haired person. One kea, white sand (this is shortened to ōkea or kea, as in the expression kea pili mai, drift gravel - vagabond). (PPN tea). 2. Breast milk. See Nu'a-kea. 3. A variety of sugar cane, among Hawaiians one of the best-known and most-used canes, especially in medicine: clumps erect, dense, of medium height; pith white. Ua ola ā 'ō kō kea, living until kea cane tassels (until the hair turns gray). 4. Name listed by Hillebrand for kolomona (Mezoneuron kavaiense); see uhiuhi. Wehewehe.

When Metoro said kea instead of tea (a word he often used), then it should be referring to a special kind of tea, maybe a bird living in the trees like the thrush. Notably, though, kea was on Marquesas instead the name of a fish (maybe a species not living close to the surface of the sea):

Kea

Mgv.: kea, a fish. Mq.: kea, id. Ha.: ea, id. Churchill.

Ta.: ea, the thrush, aphthæ. Mq.: kea, id. Sa.: 'ea'ea, id. Ha.: ea, id. Churchill.

According to Barthel kea was explained as 'macrouse' by Bishop Jaussen.