forma- o f an.ifle between Tercera and St. Michael; i f we compare the
t io n of .
i s l e s . T rata ana ftrudure o f thefe- new ifles,- and o f fome in the Atlantic,
and the South-Seas; i f we recoiled, fthat fome of thefe ifles have
Rill volcanos, and that others are flail fubjed to earthquakes; we
cannot help fufpedting, -'that- thefe ifles might probably have had the
fame origin, by-being-Taifed from the bottom o f the ocean by a fire,
or, as I may call it, alub—marine volcano. Th e O - T a h e i t e a n s
and inhabitants o f the Society Ifles feem to be very well acquainted
with -earthquakes. Their mythology acknowledges a God, called
O-Maoowe, whom they think- to be-the God and Creator o f the
fun, .and.who in his anger fhakes the earth, and caufes earthquakes;
which they exprefs by .the phrafe O-Maoowe toorore te
whennoa, (i. e .) Maoowe fhakes the earth; which certainly
feems to me-to prove, that they-are not quite ftrangers'to this
tremendous phenomenon.
I mufb-nbt aflert that the foregoing obiervations, make it certain
• that thefe ifles- were raifed by earthquakes and fire; but I think the
* opinion probable; nor do I imagine that all 'the high ifles,' were
thus thrown up by fire and earthquakes, from the bottom o f the
lea. Many of them may have exifted before, nay, " they have
.perhaps conftituted greater. lands, and .-were only-difmembered by
the finking o f the intermediate parts: -and as- we have already once
.entered into, the land. of. fables and. mythology, I muft’ beg leave
to
H 9
to return again to it. Th e natives o f the Society Ifles, pretend their form a -
ifles were produced when O-Maoowe dragged a'great land from, is l e s . .
Weft to Eaft through the ocean, which they ftill imagine to be
fituated to the Eaftward of their iflands :.- all that time they fay, ,
their ifles were broken off as little, fragments, and left .in. the midft.
o f the ocean. This tradition feems to indicate, that the inhabitants
themfelves: have fome idea o f a great revolution, which-happened'
to their ifles. The.god of earthquakes, .mentioned before, proves,
that they fome how. refer the preient condition o f their ifles, to a.
great earthquake as a general .caufe : and the great land-they-remember,
and. of . which their ifles are'. fragments;, feems to imply,•-
that .they .have not forgotten that their habitations, formerly-were-
parts o f a great continent, deftroyed by earthquakes, and a violent,
flood, which the dragging of the land through the fea feems to -,
indicate.
C II A P.