Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1893-02-23
MYTHS OF THE SOUTH SEAS.
Curious Folk Lore OF the Natives of Pacific
Islands.

Islands
The savage islanders of the south Pa
cifc believe that the world is cocoa
nut shell of enormous dimensions, at
| the top of which is a single aperture
communicating with the upper air,
where human beings dwell. At the
very bottom of this imaginary shell is a
stem gradually tapering TO a point,
which represents the beginning of all
things. This point is spirit, or de-
mon. without human form, whose name
is Root of all Existence BY him the
entire fabric of creation is sustained.
In the interior of the cocoa nut she'll,
at it's very bottom, lives female de-
mon So narrow is the space into
which she IS crowded that she is OBJ
liged to sit forever with knees and chin
touching. Her name is 1.-THE Very Be
ginning" and from her are sprung nu-
merous spirits. They inhabit five diff
ferent floors. into which the great CO.
coanut is divided. From certain of
these spirits mankind is descended.
The islanders, regarding themselves as
the only real men and women, were
formerly accustomed to regard strang-
ers as evil spirits in the guise of hui
manity, whom they killed when they
could, offering them as sacrifices.
According to their belief, the sky was
blue vault of solid stone, around the
bottom of which were a number of
holes Through these the wind spirit
blew. The gods first spoke to man
through certain small birds, but, be-
8 th..t. t,,1 faEs Ja,-
Of priests had to be set apart, the gods
taking up their abode in these sacred
persons. Priests were accordingly
named god boxes" From the glut-
tonous habits in which they INDUCED
the phrase ito gormandize like a god"
is derived Their power was well-nigh
unlimited Anybody whom they dis
liked they could designate for sacrifice.
Human sacrifices were very common,
some families being devoted for genera
ton after generation to furnishing such
offerings
One popular myth expresses the very
poetical belief that the island of Tom
gareva was flashed out of the bottom of
the sea by god, who used for the pur-
pose the tail OF the constellation "Scor-
pio," batting this remarkable hook with
a star. Another divinity accomplished
a work of great beneficence by regulat-
ing the sun. The orb of day used to
have a trick of setting almost as soon
as it had risen, so that it was impos-
sible to get through any work. Even
an oven of food could not be prepared
and cooked before darkness came on.
CO 4ha Iaff,r AIa,tt 1los 81
great ropes Of strong cocoanut fiber,
making nooses in the hole at the edge
of the sky through which the sun
climbs up from the neither world each
morning. At this point of exit from
the land of ghosts into the heavens the
six nooses were placed They en-
trapped the sun and that luminary was
glad to agree to be in future more de-
liberate in his movements, so as to en-
able the Inhabitants of the earth to get
through their employments.
Originally the heavens almost touched
the earth, but Maui and another god
named Ru pushed them up to their
present lofty position. However, the
work was not complete, for the surface
of the sky was very irregular. So they
each took a big stone adze and with
them Clipped off the rough parts of the
sky, thus giving it perfectly oval APP
pearance. Then they procured finer
AIDES, chipping away with them at the,
vault of blue stone until it became
faultlessly smooth and beautiful, as it
is now. There are ten heavens, one
above another, which are the abode of
warriors who have persisted in battle.
Giant killers and destroyers of mon
sters are found in the folk lore of these
islands as well as in that of other peo-
Pile In the fairyland of Kupolu lived
the renowned chief, Rata, who started
on an exploring expedition in great
double canoe. He took with him
youth, named Nganaoa, who was
famous hand at Staying monsters, and
this was very fortunate, because on the
third day of their voyage an enormous
clam rose out of the deep, its shell wide
open to grab them. One shell was
ahead, the other astern-the canoe and
all on board lying between. In an
other moment they would have been
crushed between the two fearful valves,
but Nganaoa quickly drove his spear
down into the animal, so that it sank
TO the bottom. Soon afterward an octo-
pus of extraordinary dimensions en-
circled the boat with its tentacles, but
Nganaoa thrust his spear through its
head and killed it. Next a mighty
whale attempted to gulp down the
canoe, but Nganaoa broke his long
spear in two, and at the moment when
the monster was about to crush them
he inserted both sticks inside the gaping
mouth so that the enemy could not close
It's jaws
Having accomplished this feat Nga-
naoa nimbly jumped into the mouth of
The whale and looked down into its
Lo! there sat his long lost
iather and mother, who had been swal-
owed alive while fishing by the mon
'ter. The old lady and gentleman