“ I have often hearid' the natives exclaim, while watching
a vessel sailiri^in or out of the harbour, Te vact a Maui e !
Ta vaa ama <yre, ‘ Oh the canoe of Maui ! The outrigger-
less canoe.’ ”
Like "most other nations, they have their tradition of an
universal deluge. In the principal facts these traditions are
the same in the different groupés of islands, but the ƒ differ in
several particulars. Thé Tahitian story is, that Taaroa, being
angry with men on account of their disobedience, overturned
thé world into the sea, excepting a few projecting pointSy or
aunts, which constituted the present Cluster of islands. Thé
tradition among the inhabitants of Eimeo is that aftër the
flood a man landed from a canoe near TtataOpuay iil^fheir
island, and built an altar, or marae, in honour of his’god•
“ The tradition in the Leeward "Islands is much tliesame
with that of Raiatea. Soon after the peopling of the world
by the descendants of Taata, Rudhatu, the Neptune of the
South Sea Islanders, was reposing in his coralline giÖvës in
the depths Öf the Ocean. A fisherman, regardless o f the itaM,
and sacrednéss of the place, lowered his hooks, which became
entangled in the hair of the sleeping god. For à long
time he strove in vain to draw them up' again- ; and at last
the god, roused from his slumbers, appeared at the surface,
upbraided him for his impiety, and declared that thé“ land
should be destroyed for the sin. The affrighted fisherman
implored forgiveness, and Ruahatu, moved by his prayers,
directed him to proceed With his wife and child to a small
island called Toa-marama, which is situated within the reefs
on the eastern side of Raiatea, where he might find a safe
refuge. The man obeyed, and took with him to the place
appointed, not only his wife ànd child, but, as some say, a
friend also, and a dog, pig, and a pair of fowls. They reached
the refuge before the close" of the day, when the waters
began to rise, drove thé inhabitants of the shores from their
dwellings, and gradually increased, till in the morning only
the tops of the mountains appeared ; these were afterwards
covered, and all the people perished. When, they had subsided,
the fisherman and his family took up their abode £>n
the main land, and became the progenitors of the present
inhabitants.”
• The priesthood among,„the . Tahitians is said to hstye been
a. distinct hereditary The priests were regarded as
mediators batiweerp men and the.gods, k
i The morais or sepulchres ©f the Tahitians were places of
worship as well as of buri&l. Perhaps,,as in Tonga, only the
secondary rank of Hotooas, or,-/, as they were termed by the
Tahitians, iEatpoas,,nwere worshipped . in these sepulchral
temples, which were,raised with greater,labour,.and case than
those-of the-Tongans. Pyramid spwete&e^cted? ir^ {them, of
^Construction resembling., the ^Egyptian, though op a small
scale, formed of huge blocks of hewn and polished1 coral-stone.
animals andt ocq^sipnally of human victims were
celebrated in them.
The following. description of the persons o f the Tahitians
appears to have been drawn withjgre^t skill and apcur^cy by
Mr. Ellis,y who dpring an aboda^pf. six, years dn Tahiti had
abundant opportunities of observation.*. y
“ The inhabitants of these islands, are generally ahojt^ the
middle:stature; but their limbs are less mpscjuler and. firm than
those of .the Sandwich Islanders, whom in .many respects they
resemble-. They are, at the same time,.more robust than the
Marquesans, whq are the most light and agile of tfiq inhabitants
of Eastern Polynesia. In size and. .physical, power ^.hey are
inferior to the |||w Zealanders, and probablyre^eiqble in person
the Friendly Islanders,: as much as any others ip the Pacific ;
exhibiting, however,, neither the gravity of.the latter.npr the
vivacity of the Marquesans. Their minds are well formed,
and although where corpulency prevails there is a degree of
sluggishness in their actions, they arp generally active in their
movements, graceful and stately in their gait, and perfectly
unembarrassed in their address* Those who reside in the
interior, or frequently visit the mountainous parts of the islands,
form an exception to. this .remark. The constant use of their
naked feet in .climbing the st,eep sidps .of, the rocks, or the
narrow defiles of the ravines* prpbpbly in^pces them to turn
their toes inwards, which renders their gplt j exceedingly
awkward.”
‘‘ Their countenance is. said to be open and prepossessing,
though their features are bold. and sometimes prominent. The