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Niuē-fekai (or Savage) Island and its People

Astronomy

Astronomy

I could not learn from the present generation if they had the same knowledge of the stars, &c., as most other branches of the race. The sun is lā, the moon mahina, the stars fetu. Venus, as a morning star, is Fetu-aho, and in the evening Tu-atiafi.* Mataliki is a constellation, but whether applied to the Pleiades as everywhere else I could not ascertain. The following is a saying about the moon and death:—

Mate a mahina, mate ala mai: mate a kumā, mate fakaoti.

To die like the moon, is to die and rise again: to die like the rat, is endless death.

* Whetu-ao and Tu-ahiahi are the Maori names.