Art. XLVI.—Polynesian Folk-lore.—Part II.: The Origin of Fire.

By E. Tregear, F.R.G.S.

Read before the Wellington Philosophical Society, 19th October, 1887.]

In my first paper on the subject of Polynesian Folk-lore,^* I compared the stories treating of the adventures of Hina, the Sister of Maui. I will now attempt to compile the different Versions of the legend relating the procuring by Maui of fire for the use of man. This tradition is related everywhere in the Polynesian islands with wonderful faithfulness—wonderful when we consider how many centuries must have elapsed since the dispersion of the Maori tribes in the Pacific. I believe that a vast extent of time lies between the parting of New Zealander and Samoan, of Tahitian and Hawaiian; but if the opinions of some scholars (Hale, the American philologist, notably) should be verified concerning the comparatively late departure of the New Zealanders from some South Sea island, still the lapse of Sears necessary to account for the widely differing customs kingship, idols, tattooing, tapu, etc.) and the divergence of dialect, must be very great. The more I become conversant with he Polynesian languages, the more thoroughly I feel assured of very ancient branchings in the meaning of expressions common to all; and that it is only those investigators who are satisfied with comparing the most common and vital words (such as whose for fire, water, etc.) who can consider the dispersion or [unclear: nigration] as recent.

However that may be, we have in the story of the Polynesian Maui, in his character of Prometheus, a tradition more [unclear: lear] and faithful than any which treat of his labours as [unclear: Hercules]—the solar mythologists claim Maui, with I do not know how much reason. Maui is pre-eminently the Hero of Polynesia : sometimes Maui the cunning, the evil; sometimes the kind (atamai) and the benefactor. In the "origin of fire" story he is the benefactor. The legends I have gathered together are those which have been told in New Zealand, Samoa, Manihiki, Mangaia, and Nukuhiva (Marquesas). In commencing the New Zealand story I must preface the actual tradition with a short Extract from a prior part of the Maui legends; this extract relating to the power Maui possessed of turning himself into a bird at pleasure.^† This is necessary, because the bird-dress of Maui plays an important part in the legends of obtaining fire, as told in the South seas. I will quote Sir George Grey's version as the classical one:—

^* "Trans. N.Z. Inst.," vol. six., p. 486.

^† See "Trans. N.Z. Inst.," vol. xix., p. 502.

page 370

"His brothers felt quite surprised and pleased [unclear: with] little brother when they heard him talk in this way; aud [unclear: w] after a little time they had recovered from their [unclear: amazem] they told him to try and find their father and mother. [unclear: S] said he would go. It was a long time ago that he had finish his first labour, for when he first appeared to his relatives their house of singing and dancing, he had on that [unclear: occas] transformed himself into the likeness of all manner of birds every bird in the world, and yet no single form that [unclear: he] assumed had pleased his brothers: but now when he [unclear: sho] himself to them, transformed into the semblance of a [unclear: pig] his brothers said: 'Ah, now indeed, oh brother, you [unclear: do] very well indeed, very beautiful, very beautiful, [unclear: much] beautiful than you looked in any of the other forms [unclear: which] assumed, and then changed from, when you first discovered [unclear: y] self to us.' What made him now look so well in the [unclear: shap] assumed was the belt of his mother, and her apron, which had stolen from her while she was asleep in the house: [unclear: for] very thing which looked so white upon the breast of the [unclear: pie] was his mother's broad belt, and he also had on her little [unclear: a] of burnished hair from the tail of a dog; and the fastening [unclear: of] belt was what formed the beautiful black feathers on his [unclear: thr] He had once changed himself into this form a long [unclear: time] and now that he was going to look for his father and [unclear: mot] and had quitted his brother to transform himself into the [unclear: ness] of a pigeon, he assumed exactly the same form as [unclear: on] previous occasion; and when his brothers saw him thus [unclear: a] they said, 'Oh brother! oh brother! you do look [unclear: really] indeed;' and when he sat upon the bough of a tree, oh [unclear: dear] never moved or jumped about from spray to spray, [unclear: but] quite still, cooing to himself, so that no one who had [unclear: seen] could have helped thinking of the proverb, 'A stupid [unclear: pigeon] on one bough, and jumps not from spray to spray.' [unclear: E] the next morning, he said to his brothers, as was first [unclear: sts] 'Now do you remain here, and you will hear something [unclear: of] after I am gone; it is my great love for my parents that [unclear: le] me to search for them : now listen to me, and then say [unclear: whe] or not my recent feats were not remarkable. For the [unclear: fac] transforming oneself into birds can only be [unclear: accomplished] man who is skilled in magic, and yet here I, the youngest [unclear: of] all, have assumed the form of all birds; and now, [unclear: perhaps,] all, I shall quite lose my art, and become old and weakened the long journey to the place where I am going.' His brother answered him thus: 'That might be, indeed, if you were [unclear: g] on a warlike expedition, but, in truth, you are only going [unclear: to] for those parents who we all so long to see; and if they are [unclear: f] by you, we shall ever after all dwell happily, our present [unclear: so] will be ended, and we shall continually pass [unclear: backwards] page 371 forwards between our dwelling-place and theirs, paying them happy visits.'

"He answered them, 'It is certainly a very good cause which leads me to undertake this journey, and if, when reaching the place I am going to, I find everything agreeable and nice, then I shall perhaps be pleased with it; but if I find it a bad disagreeable place, I shall be disgusted with it.' They replied to him,' What you say is exceedingly true, depart then upon your journey, with your great knowledge and skill in magic.' Then their brother went into the wood, and came back to them again, looking just as if he were a real pigeon. His brothers were quite delighted, and they had no power left to do anything but admire him.

"Then off he flew, until he came to the cave which his mother had run down into, and he lifted up the tuft of rushes. Then down he went, and disappeared in the cave, and shut up its mouth again so as to hide the entrance. Away he flew very last indeed, and twice he dipped his wing, because the cave was so narrow. Soon he reached nearly to the bottom of the cave, and flew along it; and again, because the cave was so narrow, he dips first one wing and then the other, but the cave now widened, and he dashed straight on.

"At last he saw a party of people coming along under a grove of trees; they were manapau trees,^* and flying on, he perched upon the top of one of these trees, under which the people had seated themselves; and when he saw his mother lying down upon the grass by the side of her husband, he guessed at once who they were, and he thought, 'Ah, there sit my father and mother right under me,' and he soon heard their names as they were called to by their friends, who were sitting with them. Then the pigeon hopped down, and perched on another spray a little lower, and it pecked off one of the berries off the tree and dropped it gently down, and hit the father with it gently on the forehead; and some of the party said, 'Was it a bird that threw that down?' but the father said, 'Oh no, it was only a berry that fell by chance.' Then the pigeon again pecked off some of the berries from the tree, and threw them down with all its force, and struck both father and mother so that he really hurt them. Then they cried out, and the whole party jumped up and looked into the tree, and as the pigeon began to coo, they soon found out from the noise where it was sitting among the leaves and branches, and the whole of them, the chiefs and common people alike, caught up stones to pelt the pigeon with, but they threw for a very long time without hitting it. At last the father tried to throw up at it. Ah! he struck it; but Maui

^* "The manapau was a species of tree peculiar to the country whence the people came, where the priests say it was known by this name."—Grey.

The manapau is a tree of Samoa.—Tregear.

page 372 had himself contrived that he should be struck by the [unclear: stone] father threw; for, hut by his own choice, no one could [unclear: have] him. He was struck exactly upon his left leg, and [unclear: down] fell, and as he lay fluttering and struggling upon the ground they all ran to catch him, but lo, the pigeon had turned [unclear: in] man!

"Then all those who saw him were frightened at his [unclear: fie] glaring eyes, which were red, as if painted with red [unclear: ochre,] they said : 'Oh, it is now no wonder that he so long sat [unclear: still] in the tree; had he been a bird he would have flown off [unclear: la] before, but he is a man and some of them said, 'No, [unclear: ind] rather a god—just look at his form and appearance, the [unclear: like] never been seen before, since Rangi and Papa-tu-a-nuku [unclear: w] torn apart.' Then Taranga said, 'I used to see one who [unclear: loo] like this person every night when I went to visit my [unclear: children,] what I saw then excelled what I see now : just listen [unclear: to] Once as I was wandering upon the sea-shore, I premature gave birth to one of my children, and I cut off the long [unclear: tres] of my hair and bound him up in them, and threw him [unclear: into] foam of the sea, and after that he was found by his great [unclear: ances] Tama-nui-ki-te-Rangi;' and then she told his story [unclear: nearly] the same words that Maui-the-infant had told it to [unclear: herself] his brothers in their house, and, having finished his history Taranga ended her discourse to her husband and his friends.

"Then his mother asked Maui, who was sitting [unclear: near] 'Where do you come from? from the westward?' [unclear: and] answered, 'No.' 'From the north-east, then?' [unclear: 'N] 'From the south-east, then?' 'No.' 'From the south, [unclear: the] 'No.' 'Was it the wind which blows upon me, which [unclear: bro] you here to me, then?' When she asked this, he [unclear: opened] mouth and answered, 'Yes.' And she cried out, 'Oh, [unclear: th] this is indeed my child,' and she said 'Are you [unclear: Maui-ta] He answered, 'No.' Then said she, 'Are you Maui-tikitiki Taranga?' and he answered 'Yes.' And she cried [unclear: alo] 'This is indeed my child. By the winds and storms and [unclear: was] uplifting gales he was fashioned and became a human being welcome, oh my child, welcome! by you shall [unclear: hereafter] climbed the threshold of the house of your great [unclear: ances] Hine-nui-te-po, and death shall henceforth have no power man.'"

I now pass over the parts of the legend treating [unclear: of] wonderful feats performed by Maui, and take up the [unclear: thread] the tradition concerning the search for fire.

"The hero now thought that he would [unclear: extinguish] destroy the fires of his ancestress Maliu-ika. So he got [unclear: up] the night, and put out the fires left in the cooking-houses of [unclear: ea] family in the village: then, quite early in the morning, he [unclear: cal] page 373 aloud to the servants, 'I hunger, I hunger; quick, cook some food for me.' One of the servants thereupon ran as fast as he could to make up the fire to cook some food, but the fire was out; and as he ran round from house to house in the village to get a light, he found every fire quite out—he could nowhere get a light. When Maui's mother heard this, she called out to the servants and said, 'Some of you repair to my great ancestress Mahu-ika: tell her that fire has been lost upon earth, and ask her to give some to the world again.' But the slaves were alarmed, and refused to obey the commands which their masters, the sacred old people, gave them; and they persisted in refusing to go, notwithstanding the old people repeatedly ordered them to do so.

"At last Maui said to his mother : 'Well, then, I will fetch down fire for the world; but which is the path by which I must go?' And his parents, who knew the country well, said to him: 'If you will go, follow that broad path that lies before you there, and you will reach at last the dwelling of an ancestress of yours; and if she asks you who you are, you had better call out your name to her, then she will know you are a descendant of hers; but be cautious and do not play any tricks with her, because we have heard that your deeds are greater than the deeds of men, and that you are fond of deceiving and injuring others, and perhaps you even now intend in many ways to deceive this old ancestress of yours; but pray be cautious not to do so.'

"But Maui said: 'No; 1 only want to bring fire away for men, that is all, and I will return again as soon as I can do that.' Then he went, and reached the abode of the goddess of fire; and he was so filled with wonder at what he saw, that for a long time he could say nothing. At last he said : 'Oh, lady! would you rise up? Where is your fire kept? I have come to beg some from you.' Then the old lady rose right up, and said: 'Au-e! who can this mortal be?' And he answered, It's I.' 'Where do you come from?' said she; and he answered, 'I belong to this country.' 'You are not from this country,' said she, 'your appearance is not like that of the inhabitants of this country. Do you come from the northeast?' He replied, 'No.' 'Do you come from the southeast?' He replied, 'No.' 'Are you from the south?' He replied, 'No.' 'Are you from the westward?' He answered, 'No.' 'Come you then from the direction of the wind, which blows right upon me?' and he said: 'I do.' 'Oh, then,' Cried she, 'you are my grandchild! What do you want here?' He answered, 'I am come to beg fire from you.' She replied : 'Welcome, welcome! here, then, is fire for you.'

"Then the aged woman pulled out her nail; and, as she pulled it out, fire flowed from it, and she gave it to him. And when Maui saw she had drawn out her nail to produce fire for page 374 him, he thought it a most wonderful thing! Then he [unclear: we] short distance off, and, when not very far from her, he put fire out, quite out; and returning to her again, [unclear: said:] light you gave me has gone out; give me another.' [unclear: Then] caught hold of another nail, and pulled it out as a [unclear: light] him; and he left her, and went a little on one side, and that light out also; then he went back to her again, [unclear: and] 'Oh, lady, give me, I pray you, another light, for the [unclear: last] has also gone out.' And thus he went on and on, until [unclear: she] pulled out all the nails of the fingers of one of her [unclear: hands;] then she began with the other hand, until she had pulled [unclear: all] finger-nails out of that hand too; and then she commenced the nails of her feet, and pulled them also out in the [unclear: sa] manner, except the nail of one of her big toes. [unclear: Then] aged woman said to herself at last: 'This fellow is [unclear: su] playing tricks with me.'

"Then out she pulled the one toe-nail that she had [unclear: left,)], too, became fire, and as she dashed it down on the [unclear: gro] the whole place caught fire. And she cried out to Maui, [unclear: 'Th] you have it all now!' And Maui ran off, and made a [unclear: rush] escape; but the fire followed hard after him, close behind [unclear: hi] so he changed himself into a fleet-winged eagle, and flew [unclear: w] rapid flight; but the fire pursued, and almost caught him [unclear: as] flew. Then the eagle dashed down into a pool of water; [unclear: be] when he got into the water he found that almost [unclear: boiling.] forests just then also caught fire, so that he could not [unclear: ali] anywhere; and the earth and the sea both caught fire [unclear: too,] Maui was very near perishing in the flames.

"Then he called on his ancestors, Tawhiri-matea and [unclear: W] tiri-matakataka, to send down an abundant supply of [unclear: wate] and he cried aloud, 'Oh! let water be given to me to [unclear: que] this fire which pursues after me;' and, lo! then [unclear: appea] squalls and gales, and Tawhiri-matea sent heavy, lasting [unclear: rai] and the fire was quenched; and before Mahuika could [unclear: reach] place of shelter she almost perished in the rain, and her [unclear: shri] and screams became as loud as those of Maui had been [unclear: when] was scorched by the pursuing fire: thus Maui ended this proceeding. In this manner was extinguished the fire of [unclear: Mahui] the goddess of fire; but before it was all lost she saved a [unclear: f] sparks which she threw, to protect them, into the kaikomako [unclear: a] a few other trees, where they are still cherished; hence [unclear: men] use portions of the wood of these trees for fire when [unclear: th] require a light."

Many versions of this story are related in New [unclear: Zealand;] they differ little, and in no essential particular. Taylor [unclear: gives] brief account of the legend^* and enumerates the trees [unclear: whi]

^* "Te Ika a Maui," Rev. Richard Taylor, ed. 1870, p. 130.

page 375 contain the "seed of fire"—these are the patete, kaikomako, mahoe, totara, and pukatea; the trees which refused to admit the seeds of fire were the rata, hinau, kahikatea, rimu, matai, and miro. The late Rev. Mr. Wohlers, a missionary long resident in the South Island, relates the story as preserved; among the southern natives, and told in the Murihiku dialect;^* there is little variation except in the concluding portion. Mr. John White gives many versions of the story in the second volume of his "Ancient Maori History;" but they are all coincident with the tales told by Sir George Grey and Mr. Wohlers; the only important point which is new being that (at page 71): "Te-raka was the father and Mahuika the mother of Maui. The kahu (Circus gouldi) was also her child, and was the god of fire, The feathers of the kahu resemble fire, whence their red colour originated." Here we have a direct reference to the hawk-god (Ra) of ancient history, and a point is lost when Grey and Wohlers (for poetry-sake, doubtless) translate kahu as "eagle." The eagle is unknown in New Zealand, and the hawk is mythologically the right bird. These legends of Grey, White, and Wohlers are the principal forms of the New Zealand tale; but there is another version sometimes to be heard among the Natives in which Mahuika is represented as a male deity. I so heard the story many years ago, but cannot give authority.

We will now pass to the Samoan story,^† "The Samoans say that there was a time when their ancestors ate everything raw, and that they owe the luxury of cooked food to one Ti'iti'i, the son of a person called Talaga. This Talaga was high in favour with the earthquake god, Mafuie, who lived in a subterranean region where there was fire continually burning. On going to a pertain perpendicular rock, and saying, 'Rock, divide, I am Talaga: I have come to work!' the rock opened and let Talaga in; and he went below to his plantation in the land of this god Mafuie. One day Ti'iti'i, the son of Talaga, followed his father, and watched when he entered. The youth, after a time, went up to the rock, and feigning his father's voice, said, 'Rock, divide! I am Talaga; I have come to work!' and was admitted too. His father, who was at work in his plantation, was surprised to see his son there, and begged him not to talk loud, lest the god Mafuie should hear him, and be angry. Seeing smoke rising, he inquired of his father what it was. His father said it was the fire of Mafuie. 'I must go and get some,' said the son. 'No,' said the father, 'he will be angry. Don't you know that he eats people?' 'What do I care for

^* "Trans. N.Z. Inst.," vol. vii., pp. 7 and 38.

^† The' of Samoa is a soft catch of the breath, denoting a lost k; thus Ti'iti'i is the the New Zealand Tikitiki. The g is ng of Maori.

page 376 him?' said the daring youth; and off he went, humming song, towards the smoking furnace. 'Who are [unclear: you?'] Mafuie. 'I am Ti'iti'i, the son of Talaga. I am come some fire.' 'Take it,' said Mafuie. He went back to father with some cinders, and the two set to work to bake [unclear: s] taro. They kindled a fire, and were preparing the taro [unclear: t] on the hot stones, when suddenly the god Mafuie blew [unclear: u] oven, scattered the stones about, and put out the fire. [unclear: 'N] said Talaga, 'did I not tell you Mafuie would be [unclear: ang] Ti 'iti 'i went off in a rage to Mafuie, and without [unclear: any] mony commenced with, 'Why have you broken up [unclear: our] and put out our fire?' Mafuie was indignant at such [unclear: a] and language, rushed at him, and there they wrestled [unclear: with] other. Ti 'iti 'i got hold of the right arm of Mafuie, [unclear: graspe] with both hands, and gave it such a wrench that it [unclear: broke] He then seized the other arm, and was going to twist it [unclear: off] when Mafuie declared himself beaten, and implored Ti 'iti 'i have mercy, and spare his left arm. 'Do let me [unclear: have] arm,' said he; 'I need it to hold Samoa straight and [unclear: le] Give it to me, and I will let you have my hundred [unclear: wi] 'No, not for that,' said Ti'iti'i. 'Well, then, will [unclear: you] fire? If you let me have my left arm you shall have [unclear: fire,] you may ever after this eat cooked food.' '[unclear: Agreed,'] Ti'iti'i;' 'you keep your arm, and I have fire.' 'Go,' a Mafuie; 'you will find the fire in every wood you [unclear: cut.'] hence, the story adds, Samoa, ever since the days of Ti'iti'i has eaten cooked food from the fire which is got [unclear: from] friction of rubbing one piece of dry wood against [unclear: another. . .] The Natives of Savage Island, 300 miles to the south Samoa, have a somewhat similar tale about the origin [unclear: of] Instead of Talaga and Ti'iti'i, they give the names of [unclear: Maui] father, and Maui the son. Instead of going through a rock, [unclear: th] entrance was down through a reed bush. And instead of a [unclear: lation] for the fire, they say that the youth Maui, like another Prometheus, stole it, ran up the passage, and, before his [unclear: fat] could catch him, he had set the bush in flames in all direction The father tried to put it out, but in vain; and they [unclear: fur] add, that ever since the exploit of young Maui, they [unclear: have] fire and cooked food in Savage Island."^*

The Bowditch Islanders (Tokelau Islands) also [unclear: knew] legend, and called the fire-goddess Mafuike; but she was [unclear: bla] a fact coincident with other versions related further on.

In the Hervey Islands the legend is (at Mangaia) [unclear: as] lows:—

"Originally fire was unknown to the inhabitants [unclear: of] world, who of necessity ate raw food. In the [unclear: nether]

^* "Samoa, a Hundred Years ago," G. Turner, LL.D., p. 209.

page 377 (Avaiki)^* lived four mighty ones: Mauiki, god of fire; the sun-god R?; Ru, supporter of the heavens; and, lastly, his wife Buataranga, guardian of the road to the invisible world.

At these words the rock divided, and Buataranga descended. Maui carefully treasured up those magic words; and without delay started off to see the god Tane, the owner of some wonderful pigeons. He earnestly begged Tane to lend him one; but the proffered pigeon, not pleasing Maui, was at once returned to its owner. A better pigeon was offered to the fastidious borrower, but was rejected. Nothing would content Maui but the possession of Akaotu, (or 'Fearless,') a red pigeon specially prized by Tane. It was so tame that it knew its name, and, fancier wherever it might, it was sure to return to its master. Tane, who was loth to part from his pet, extracted a promise from Maui that the pigeon should be restored to him uninjured. Maui now set off in high spirits, carrying with him his red pigeon, to the place where his mother had descended. Upon pronouncing the magic words which he had overheard, to his great delight the rock opened, and Maui entering the pigeon descended. Some assert that Maui transformed himself into a small dragon-fly, and perched upon the back of the pigeon made his descent. The two fierce guardian demons of the chasm, enraged at finding themselves imposed upon by a stranger, made a grab

^* The Hervey Islanders drop h; hence Avaiki—Maori Hawaiki.

page 378 at the pigeon, intending to devour it. Fortunately, [unclear: however,] the borrower, they only succeeded in getting possession [unclear: of] tail, whilst the pigeon, minus its beautiful tail, pursued its [unclear: fl] to the shades. Maui was grieved at the mishap [unclear: which] overtaken the pet bird of his friend Tane.

"Arrived at nether-land, Maui sought for the home [unclear: of] mother. It was the first house he saw : he was guided to [unclear: it] the sound of her cloth-flail. The red pigeon alighted on [unclear: an] house, opposite to the open shed where Buataranga was [unclear: bea] out cloth. She stopped her work to gaze at the red [unclear: pig] which she guessed to be a visitor from the upper world, [unclear: as] of the pigeons in the shades were red. Buataranga said [unclear: to] bird, 'Are you not come from "daylight?" 'The pigeon [unclear: no] assent. 'Are you not my son Maui?' inquired the old woman Again the pigeon nodded. At this, Buataranga [unclear: entered] dwelling, and the bird flew to a bread-fruit tree. Maui [unclear: resu] his proper human form, and went to embrace his [unclear: mother,] inquired how he had descended to nether-world, and the [unclear: ob] of his visit. Maui avowed that he had come to learn the [unclear: se] of fire. Buataranga said, 'This secret rests with the [unclear: fire-] Mauike. When I wish to cook an oven, I ask your father [unclear: R] beg a lighted stick from Mauike.' Maui inquired [unclear: where] fire-god lived. His mother pointed out the direction, [unclear: and] it was called Are-aoa = house of banyan-sticks. She [unclear: entre] Maui to be careful 'for the fire-god is a terrible fellow, of [unclear: a] uncertain temper.' Maui now walked up boldly towards the [unclear: ho] of the fire-god, guided by the curling column of smoke. [unclear: Mau] who happened at the moment to be cooking an oven of [unclear: f] stopped his work, and demanded what the stranger [unclear: war] Maui replied, 'A fire-brand.' The fire-brand was given. [unclear: M] carried it to a stream running past the bread-fruit tree, and [unclear: t] extinguished it. He now returned to Mauike, and obtained second fire-brand, which he also extinguished in the [unclear: stream,] third time a lighted stick was demanded of the fire-god; [unclear: he] beside himself with rage. Baking the ashes of his [unclear: over,] gave the daring Maui some of them on a piece of dry [unclear: w] These live coals were thrown into the stream, as the [unclear: for] lighted sticks had been.

"Maui correctly thought that a fire-brand would be of [unclear: l] use unless he could obtain the secret of fire. The brand [unclear: w] eventually go out; but how to reproduce the fire? His [unclear: ob] therefore, was to pick a quarrel with the fire-god, and [unclear: com] him by sheer violence to yield up the invaluable secret, [unclear: as] known to none but himself. On the other hand, the [unclear: fire-] confident in his own prodigious strength, resolved to [unclear: des] this insolent intruder into his secret. Maui, for the [unclear: fourth] demanded fire of the enraged fire-god. Mauike [unclear: ordered] away under pain of being tossed into the air, for Maui was [unclear: s] page 379 of stature. But the visitor said he should enjoy nothing better than a trial of strength with the fire-god. Mauike entered his dwelling to put on bis war girdle (ume i tona maro); but on returning found that Maui had swelled himself to an enormous size. Nothing daunted at this, Mauike boldly seized him with both hands, and hurled him to the height of a cocoanut-tree. Maui contrived in falling to make himself so light that he was in no degree hurt by his adventure. Mauike, maddened that his adversary should yet breathe, exerted his full strength, and next time hurled him far higher than the highest cocoanut-tree that ever grew. Yet Maui was uninjured by his fall; whilst the fire-god lay panting for breath. It was now Maui's turn. Seizing the fire-god, he threw him up to a dizzy height, and caught him like a ball with his hands. Assured that this was but a preparation for a final toss, which would seal his fate, the panting and thoroughly exhausted Mauike entreated Maui to stop and to spare his life. Whatever he desired should be his.

"By the time this song was completed, Maui, to his great joy, perceived a faint smoke arising out of the fine dust produced by be friction of one stick upon another. As they persevered in heir work the smoke increased; and, favoured with the fire-god's breath, a slight flame arose, when the fine cocoanut fibre was called into requisition to catch and increase the flame. Mauike now called to his aid the different bundles of sticks, and speedily got up a blazing fire, to the astonishment of Maui. The grand secret of fire was secured. But the victor resolved to be revenged for his trouble, and his tossing in the air, by setting fire to his fallen adversary's abode. In a short time all page 380 nether-world was in flames, which consumed the fire-god all he possessed. Even the rocks cracked and split with heat: hence the ancient saying,—

'The rocks at Orovaru (in the shades) are burning.'^*

"Ere leaving the land of ghosts, Maui carefully [unclear: pick] the two fire-sticks, once the property of Mauike, and [unclear: hast] to the bread-fruit tree, where the red pigeon, 'Fearless,' [unclear: qu] awaited his return. His first care was to restore the [unclear: tail] bird, so as to avoid the anger of Tane. There was no [unclear: ti] be lost, for the flames were rapidly spreading. He [unclear: re-en] the pigeon, which carried his fire-sticks one in each [unclear: clav] flew to the lower entrance of the chasm. Once more nouncing the words he learnt from Buataranga, [unclear: the] parted, and he got safely back to this upper world. [unclear: Thr] the good offices of his mother, the pigeon met with no [unclear: opption] from the fierce guardians of the road to the [unclear: shades.] again entering into light, the red pigeon took a long [unclear: s] alighting eventually in a lovely, secluded valley, which thenceforth named Rupe-tau, or "the pigeon's [unclear: resting-pl] Maui now resumed his original human form, and [unclear: hasten] carry back the pet bird of Tane.

"Passing through the main valley of Keia, he [unclear: found] the flames had preceded him, and had found an [unclear: apertu] Teaoa, since closed up. The Kings Rangi and Mokoiro [unclear: t] a bled for their land: for it seemed as if everything would destroyed by the devouring flames. To save Mangaia [unclear: from] destruction, they exerted themselves to the utmost, and [unclear: f] succeeded in putting out the fire. Rangi thenceforth [unclear: ad] the new name of Matamea, (or "watery-eyes,") to [unclear: commem] his sufferings; and Mokoiro was ever after called [unclear: Au] "smoke"). The inhabitants of Mangaia availed themselve the conflagration to get fire, and to cook. But after a time fire went out, and as they were not in possession of the [unclear: s] they could not get new fire. But Maui was never without [unclear: f] his dwelling: a circumstance that excited the [unclear: surprise] Many were the inquiries as to the cause. At length [unclear: he] compassion on the inhabitants of the world, and told [unclear: the] wonderful secret: that fire lies hidden in the Hibiscus, [unclear: the] argentea, the tauinu, and the banyan. This hidden fire [unclear: m] be elicited by the use of fire-sticks, which he produced. [unclear: Fi] he desired them to chant the "Fire-god's Song," to give [unclear: eff] to the use of the fire-sticks. From that memorable day [unclear: al] dwellers in this upper world used fire-sticks with [unclear: success,] enjoyed the luxuries of light and cooked food. . . .

^* Equivalent to saying: "The foundations of the world are on fire."

page 381 Rarotonga, Buataranga becomes Ataranga; at Samoa, Talaga. in the Samoan dialect, Mauike becomes Mafuie."^*

Manihiki is an island situated about 600 miles north of Rarotonga. They possess the fire-gaining legend, with some difference of detail. It runs as follows:—

The pillar immediately opened, and Manuahifare descended, That same day the four children of Manuahifare went back to their old game of hide-and-seek. This time Maui the Younger told his brothers and sister to go outside the house, whilst he should look for some place to hide in. As soon as they were out

^* "Myths and Songs from the South Pacific," Rev. W. W. Gill, B.A., p. 51, et seq.

^† See "Hina's Voyage to the Sacred Isle," Tregear, "Trans. N.Z. Inst.," vol. xix, p. 486.

page 382 of sight, he went up to the post through which his [unclear: father] disappeared, and pronounced the magic words he had [unclear: o] heard. To his great joy the obedient post opened [unclear: up,] Maui boldly descended to the nether regions. [unclear: Manuahifare] greatly surprised to see his son down there, but after [unclear: saluf] (literally, "smelling,") him, quietly proceeded with his work.

"Maui the Third went on an exploring tour through [unclear: th] unknown subterranean regions, the entrance to which [unclear: he] lucidly discovered. Amongst other wonderful things, he [unclear: fell] with a blind old woman bending over a fire, where her [unclear: food] being cooked. In her hand she held a pair of tongs (i.e green cocoanut mid-rib, split open). Every now and [unclear: then] carefully took up a live coal and placed it on one side, [unclear: suppo] it to be food, whilst the real food was left to burn to [unclear: cinder] the fire! Maui inquired her name, and to his surprise [unclear: found] was Inaporari, (or Ina-the-Blind,) his own grandmother! [unclear: T] clever grandson heartily pitied the condition of the [unclear: poor] creature, but would not reveal his own name. Close to [unclear: wh] he stood watching the futile cooking of Ina-the-Blind grew [unclear: fo] nono trees (Morindo citrifolia). Taking up a stick, he [unclear: ge] struck the nearest of the four trees. Ina-the-Blind [unclear: ang] said: 'Who is that meddling with the nono belonging to [unclear: M] the Elder?' The bold visitor to nether-world then walked to the next tree and tapped it gently. Again the ire of [unclear: Ina-th] Blind was excited, and she shouted: 'Who is this meddling with the nono of Maui the Second?' The audacious boy [unclear: str] a third tree, and found it belonged to his sister, [unclear: Inaika.] now exultingly tapped the fourth and last nono tree, and [unclear: hes] his old grandmother ask: 'Who is this meddling with [unclear: the] of Maui the Third?' 'I am Maui the Third,' said the [unclear: visito] 'Then,' said she, 'you are my grandson, and this is your tret

"Now when Maui first looked at his own nono-tree, [unclear: it] entirely destitute of leaves and fruit: but after Ina-the-B had spoken to him, he again looked, and was surprised to see covered with glossy leaves and fine apples—though not [unclear: rip] Maui climbed up into the tree and plucked one of the apple Biting off a piece of it, he stepped up to his grandmother [unclear: a] threw it into one of her blind eyes. The pain was excruciating but sight was at once restored to the eye which had so long [unclear: bee] blind. Maui plucked another apple, and, biting off a [unclear: piece] it, threw it into the other eye of his grandmother: and lo! sigh again was restored to it also. Ina-the-Blind was [unclear: delighted] see again, and, in gratitude, said to her grandson, 'All above and all below (=All on earth and all in spirit-land) are subject to thee, and to thee only.' Ina, once called 'the Blind,' a instructed Maui in all things found within her territory: [unclear: th] as there were four species of nono, so there are four [unclear: varieties] cocoanuts and four of taro in Avaiki—i.e., one for each [unclear: child] page 383 Manuahifare. Maui asked Iua, 'Who is lord of fire?' She replied, 'Thy grandfather, Tangaroa-tui-mata' (or Tangaroa-of-the-tattooed-face). 'Where is he?' inquired Maui. 'Yonder,' rejoined his grandmother; 'but do not go to him. He is a terribly irritable fellow; you will surely perish.' But as Maui persisted, the grateful goddess Ina said, 'There are two roads to his dwelling. One of these is the path of death; whoever unwittingly approaches the Great Tangaroa by this path, dies: he other is the common (or "safe," noa) road.' Maui disdained to tread the path of safety. Knowing his own prowess, he boldly trod the path of death. Tangaroa-of-the-tattooed-face, seeing Maui advancing, raised his right hand to kill him—that hand which as yet had never failed to destroy its victim. But Maui, nothing daunted, lifted his right hand. At this, Tangaroa, not liking the aspect of Maui, raised his right foot, for the purpose of kicking to death the luckless intruder. But Maui was prepared to do the same to the Lord of Fire with his right foot. Astounded at this piece of audacity, Tangaroa demanded his name. The visitor replied, 'I am Maui the Younger.' The god now knew it to be his own grandson. 'What did you come for?' 'To get fire,' was the response of Maui. Tanga-roa-of-the-tattooed face gave him a lighted stick, and sent him away. Maui walked to a short distance, and finding some water, like that dividing the two islets collectively called Mani-hiki, extinguished the lighted stick. Three times this process was repeated. The fourth time all the firebrands were gone, and Tangaroa had to fetch two dry sticks to rub together, in order to produce fire. Maui held the under one for his grandfather : but just as the fine dust in the groove was igniting, the impudent Maui blew it all away. Tangaroa, justly irritated at this, drove Maui away, and summoned a kakaia (or 'tern,') to come to his assistance, to hold down the lower piece of wood, whilst Tangaroa diligently worked away with the other stick. At last, to the infinite joy of Maui, fire was obtained. It was no longer a mystery. Maui suddenly snatched the upper stick, one end of which was burning, out of the hand of Tangaroa. The patient bird of white plumage still firmly clutched with her claws the under fire-stick, when Maui purposely burnt either side of the eye of the bird. The indignant tern, smarting at this ill-requital, fled away for ever. Hence the black marks, resembling a pair of eyebrows, on either side of the eye of this beautiful bird to this day. Tangaroa reproached his grandson with having thus wantonly deprived him of the valuable services of his favourite bird. Maui deceitfully said, 'Your bird will come back.' Maui next proposed to Tangaroa that they should both fly up to daylight, through the hole by which the bird had escaped. The god inquired how this could be accomplished. Maui at once volunteered to show the way, and actually flew to page 384 a considerable height like a bird. Tangaroa-of-the-tattooed-face was greatly delighted. Maui came down to the ground, and urged his grandfather to imitate his example. 'Nothing,' said Maui, 'is easier than to fly.' At his grandson's suggestion, Tangaroa put on his glorious girdle, by mortals called the rainbow, and, to his immense delight, succeeded in rising above the loftiest cocoanut tree. The crafty Maui took care to fly lower than Tangaroa, and getting hold of one end of the old man's girdle, he gave it a smart pull, which brought down poor Tangaroa from his giddy elevation. The fall killed Great Tangaroa.

"Pleased with his achievement in getting the secret of fire from his grandfather, and then killing him, he returned to his parents, who had both descended to nether-land. Maui told them that he had got the secret of fire, but withheld the important circumstance that he had killed Tangaroa. His parents expressed their joy at his success, and intimated their desire to go and pay their respects to the supreme Tangaroa. Maui objected to their going at once. 'Go,' said he, 'on the third day. I wish to go myself to-morrow.' The parents of Maui acquiesced in this arrangement. Accordingly, on the next day, Maui went to the abode of Tangaroa, and found the body entirely decomposed. He carefully collected the bones, put them inside a cocoanut shell, carefully closed the tiny aperture, and finally gave them a thorough shaking. Upon opening the cocoanut shell, he found his grandfather to be alive again. Liberating the divinity from his degrading imprisonment, he carefully washed him, anointed him with sweet-smelling oil, fed him, and then left him to recover strength in his own dwelling. Maui now returned to his parents, Manuahifare and Tongoifare, and found them very urgent to see Tangaroa. Again, Maui said, 'Wait till to-morrow.' The fact was, he greatly feared their displeasure, and had secretly resolved to make his way back to the upper world he had formerly inhabited, whilst his parents were on their visit to Tangaroa. Upon visiting the god on the morning of the third day, Manuahifare and Tongoifare were greatly shocked to find that he had entirely lost his old proud bearing, and that on his face were the marks of severe treatment. Manuahifare asked his father Tangaroa the cause of this. 'Oh,' said the god, 'your terrible boy has been here ill-treating me. He killed me; then collected my bones and rattled them about in an empty cocoanut shell; he then finally made me live again, scarred and enfeebled, as you see. Alas! that fierce son of yours.' The parents of Maui wept at this, and forthwith came back to the old place in Avaiki in quest of their son, intending to scold him well. But he had made his escape to the upper world, where he found his two brothers and his sister Inaika in mourning for him, whom page 385 they never expected to see again. Maui the Third told them that he had made a grand discovery—he had obtained the secret of fire. He had found a new land. 'Where is it situated?' inquired they. 'Down there,' said Maui the Younger. 'Down where?' they demanded. 'Down there,' again shouted Maui. The fact was, they were not aware of the secret opening in their house leading to Avaiki. At the earnest solicitation of Maui, they all consented to follow him. Accordingly, he went to the old post of their dwelling, and said as before:—

'O pillar! open, open up,
That we may all enter, and descend to nether world.'

At these words the wonderful pillar at once opened, and all four descended. Maui showed them all the wonders of spirit world; and when at length their curiosity was perfectly satisfied, he conducted them back to the upper world of light, to which they all properly belonged."^*

The last version of the story to be compared is that from the Marquesas. It is, in composition, extremely rough and primitive.^†

"Mahuike, or Mauike, 'goddess of fire, of earthquakes, and volcanoes,' dwelt in Havaiki. She had no child but one, a married daughter who lived on earth : that daughter was the grandmother of Maui. Maui lived with his father and mother upon the promontory of an island, the name of which is unknown.

^* "Myths and Songs," page 63, et seq.

^† I present the following lines as an example, with a literal interlinear translation:—

"Aitu mea ma to Maui kite te kui heke i Havaiki. [Hawaiki.
"The breaking-tapu affair by which Maui saw his mother descend to

To Maui tata i te kui,
Maui near his mother.

To te kui kite—uaua to ue i te tama i te oioi.
The mother looked—poured out tears on the child who slept.

Te tama tivava te hiamoe.
The child lied (pretended) sleep.

Tekao i te tama, Maui?" Te tama aoe tekao : hiamoe tivava.
Said to the child, "Maui?" The child did not speak: shammed sleep.

Te vahine tekao i te vahana, Aue! hakavaa.
The woman said to her husband, "Alas! he wakes!"

To te vahine tekao, Aue! taa au!
The woman said, "Alas! he sees me!"

Vahana tekao, "Aoe; Maui hiamoe."
Husband says, "No; Maui sleeps."

To te vahana tekao i te vahine, "Amai."
The husband says to his wife, "Let us go."

To te kui me te metua putamai aanui mea oa.
The mother, with the father, went towards the road—a distant thing.

Te kui kukamai veinehae to te kui to ia."
The mother thought spectre of her mother." Etc., etc.

page 386 He was an only child (poiti). He had already pondered over the want of fire, and he was tired of eating his food raw. The frequent absences of his parents during the night perplexed him; he was convinced that they went to get fire, for they always had cooked food. On one occasion his mother said to him, 'Child, remain here; I shall return soon.' 'I want to go with you,' said the child. 'You cannot, pet (poiti); I am going to seek for fire.' Said Maui, 'I want to go also.' His mother said, 'Your ancestress will kill you if you follow me.' When the mother went, the child followed afar off. Near the entrance to the path which led to Havaiki the mother was stopped by a bird, perched upon a kaku tree;^* thinking that it was a patiotio (a bird now tapu in the Marquesas), she called her husband, and they threw stones at the bird. They could not strike it; and the woman conceived the idea that it was the form of her grandmother concealed within the bird. From this notion she was dissuaded by her husband, and they continued to throw stones, till at last they struck the winged intruder. Maui then spoke through the bird and declared his identity. The parents went on towards Havaiki by a long and winding road, the mother chewing a stick of sugar-cane as she went. Maui also penetrated through the aperture where commenced the path to the nether world; bat almost at his first step perceived his grandmother, who guarded the entrance. He begged her to let him pass, but she refused to do so, and was hardened against all his entreaties. Maui asked where his mother had gone, and was answered that she had journeyed into the interior of the country. Maui, finding that she was obdurate, and would not permit him to pass, killed her. At that moment some spots of blood fell on the breast of Maui's mother as she journeyed along; and she said to her husband, 'Someone has killed my mother.' Maui, finding no further obstacle, descended into the bowels of the earth and went on his way. Not far on he met his mother, coming back. When she saw him, she said, 'What have you done? You have killed my mother.' 'Yes,' said Maui, 'she would not let me pass; I want to get fire, and I am determined to obtain it: His father said, 'Do not kill or injure the old goddess.' Maui promised that he would not, and then went on till he arrived at the dwelling of Mauike. Maui said to the fire-goddess, 'Give me some fire.' The answer came: 'Is it for you?' 'No,' said Maui, 'it's for your daughter.' The old woman replied,' Why do you come for it? What do you want with it?' Maui said,' I want to cook some bread-fruit.' The goddess asked him together some husk of cocoanut. He procured this, and she then gave him fire drawn from her toes. There are several kinds of fire:

^* This is the only tree in Nukuhiva the wood of which does not ignite by friction.

page 387 fire drawn from the knees, from the navel, etc.; of these the worst kind is that taken from the feet or legs; the sacred fire is from the head. So Maui took this fire which had issued from the toes of Mauike, and quenched it in some water. Then he returned, and asked the old woman for more. She took the cocoanut husk, and this time drew fire from her knees; this she gave to Maui, who took it away and extinguished it, as he had done with the other fire she had given him. Maui went back, and asked again. The fire-deity said: 'You fatiguing child, you wicked boy, what have you done with the fire?' 'I have fallen into the water, and hurt myself,' said Maui. Maui then received fire from her back; this he put out. Then she gave him the cocoanut husk ignited with fire from her navel; this also he extinguished. The goddess then became violently angry, and put on a most terrifying and awful aspect, a lurid and unearthly spectral form. But Maui was undaunted, and said: 'I know all the secrets of witchcraft, and care nothing for your magical powers;' then he took a sharp stone, and with it he cut off her head. Maui then returned to his parents, and told them what he had done. They were very angry, and lamented the death of their great relative. Maui then took the fire he had obtained : he did not at first understand its properties, but tried to kindle stones, water, etc.; at last he tried trees, and kindled the fau (Hibiscus), the vevai (cotton-wood), the keika, aukea, etc., and all trees, except the kaku tree, on which Maui had rested when he took the bird's shape."

These are the principal legends I have been able to procure on the subject of the origin of fire, or the art of procuring it. These traditions share in a general groundwork, and in the most important points of interest. The scene is laid in Hawaiki, and the path downward shows that this Hawaiki is no earthly locality, but the dim under-world of shadowy myth. There is, however, one very important difference between the New Zealand legends and those of the other islands: in the New Zealand story, fire is already in the dwellings of men; it is only when that fire becomes extinguished by accident (or, as in Maui's case, wilfully,) that it becomes necessary for one to proceed into the bowels of the earth in order to procure a new supply; and Maui's gift to man is not of fire whereby food may be cooked, but of the knowledge concerning the ignition of wood by friction. It would seem consistent, not only with the legend but with commonsense, that in the primitive days of the human race fire was already to be seen in the dwellings of men, ages before the art of procuring fire by friction of wood or by percussion of flint had been discovered. In very many parts of the world fire is to be found, not only during violent outbreaks of pent-up energy, as in volcanic eruptions, but issuing from rifts and fissures in the ground, and burning with steady and page 388 long-continued action. It would be easy to procure from such natural agencies sufficient fire to become the source of warmth to the body, and to ignite fuel for cooking food. This, too, may explain why it was necessary to go downward to regain the lost element; below was the great fire-source, plain to the sense of the primitive man as to our perceptions.^* Whether the Maori race had its cradle in some land where such natural fires were procurable, has yet to be proven; but we must not forget that one of the most learned of our Polynesian scholars expressly affirms his opinion, that the Hawaiki of the Polynesian race (whether as source, or as temporary resting-place,) was a land near a great volcano. Judge Fornander, of Hawaii, considers that Hawa-iki was a name of Java (Hawa), translating iki in its South Marquesan sense, as "raging, furious with heat;" and then the author quotes from an ancient Marquesan song concerning this Hawaii, or Hawaiki: "Tai mamao, uta oa tu te ii"—"a distant sea (or far-off region), away inland stands the volcano."^†

The Island of Hawaii (Sandwich Islands) may also have been thus named, after the prior locality, by reason of its great volcano, Kilauea.

It would seem that no such tribal or racial locality of birthplace is necessary to account for the use of fire before the discovery of its production by the friction of wood. The classical form of the fire-raising story, as given by the oldest Greek and Latin writers, has many resemblances in detail to the Polynesian tradition. Prometheus was, like Maui, not only "the thief of fire from heaven," but also, like Maui, "surpassed all mankind in cunning and fraud" (Lempriere). This, however, does not detract from the excellence of their character in the eyes of our simple forerunners; cunning, like that of Odysseus, had its fair share of admiration; in the words of one of our distinguished critics of Greek literature, "Even the highest conception of deity in Homer does not exclude the element of fraud."^‡ This cunning displayed itself in Prometheus by his deception of Zeus, when the choice of sacrifices was offered; and it was on account of this sacrilegious disrespect that Zeus took fire away from the earth. Thus it would seem, from the legend, that Prometheus, like Maui, only recovered the fire which had disappeared from the world. Again, Prometheus brought the sacred fire back to men "at the end of a ferula," a phrase almost certainly meaning the end of the pointed rubbing-

^* cf. Tongan mofuike, "earthquake," with Mafuie, "the fire-goddess."

^† "Polynesian Races," vol. i., p. 6. I, however, think ii is equivalent to Maori riri, "angry," the Marquesans dropping the r, but not k; ii, then, is not iki..

^‡ "Juventus Mundi," by the Eight Hon. W. E. Gladstone, p. 208.

page 389 stick used for procuring fire.^* The wisdom or "cunning" of Prometheus was used for the good of men: he taught us to build cities, to use letters, to tame for service the ox and horse, to cull herbs for medicine, to navigate the sea, etc.: as, on his part, Maui proved himself a benefactor to his race by lengthening the days, (in noosing and "slowing down" the sun's too-rapid course,) in drawing up land from the ocean, and in sacrificing himself to the Great Daughter of Night (Hine-nui-te-Po) in the attempt to gain immortality for men.

It is difficult to get at an accurate idea of the true parentage of Maui, if we view the whole story, not as a solar myth, but as a tradition concerning an actual personage, round about whom the mists of mythology have collected. We have, in the tales I have brought together in this paper, several different accounts of his birth and parentage. In New Zealand, the most reliable legends give Taranga as the mother, and Makeatutara as the father. In Samoa, Ti 'iti 'i is the hero, and Talaga (Taranga) is his father. In Mangaia, Ru was the father^† and Buataranga (Bu-a-taranga) the mother of Maui. In Manihiki, Maui's father is Manuahifare, and his mother Tongoifare. The Marquesan legend does not give the name of either parent. In the Ulu genealogy of Hawaii,^‡ which contains the names of many of our New Zealand heroes, etc., we find Mahuika, the fire-goddess (as Hina-mahuia), falls into her proper place as Maui's grandmother, being in the twentieth generation (so-called) from Wakea (Vatea, Atea, "Daylight") and Papa, ("the Earth,") the primal pair. Mahuika's son is called Akalana, (A-Taranga, or Ka-Taranga,) and his wife is Hinakawea, their son being Mauiakalana, (Maui-a-Taranga,) our Maui. In some islands where Talanga or Taranga is neither father nor mother, it is he himself who procures fire; while the hero Ti'iti'i, of Samoa, in New Zealand becomes only the top-knot (tikitiki) in which Maui's mother wrapped the boy soon after his birth. I think it highly probable that our version concerning Maui being so wrapped up is a local addendum engrafted on the original story, as an effort to explain etymology of an obscure term—a source of mythology from which has flowed a constant current of legends; this especially, as none other of the Polynesian accounts allude to it, so far as I can find. Tiki is a venerable name in the Pacific. In New Zealand, Tiki appears either as the Creator of man, or else as himself the first man created by Tane; and his carved

^*

"Hid in a hollow cane the fount of fire
I privately conveyed, of every art
Productive, and the noblest gift to man."
Æschylus.—" Prometheus Bound.'

^† In New Zealand, Ru is the earthquake-god. In Tahiti, Ru is the brother of Hina, and is either Rupe or Maui himself.

^‡ Fornander, loc. cit., page 191.

page 390 simulacrum was the most widely-diffused religious emblem in these islands, tiki being used as a common name for all such carvings. To the farthest bounds of Eastern Polynesia the same cult extended. Moërenhoüt, writing of Easter Island, says that on visiting the little island of Ravaivai he there found precisely similar statues to those of Easter Island, and they were in the same neglected condition. The figures, like those at Easter, Libuai, Pitcairn, Tubuai, etc., were raised on platforms at extremities of the low lands. The natives called them Tii-one and Tii-papa, (Tiki-one and Tiki-papa,) "guardians of earth and rock;" in fact, the Latin Termini. They were, apparently, not gods of the highest order, but tikis, marking boundaries, and keeping the limits of gods and men, dead and living.^* A Marquesan legend also states that Tiki was the name of the lord or chief of the canoes when the migration from the westward arrived at Nukuhiva: his name appears in the genealogies of all Polynesian peoples.^†

Before quitting this part of the subject, it would be well not to forget that Taranga's personal identity is somewhat shaken by the Hawaiian tradition that the land whence the Polynesians came was called Kahiki-ku (in Maori letters, Tawhiti-tu), or "the large continent to the east of Kalana-i-Hau-ola," or "the place where the first members of mankind were created."^‡ This last-named place would read in Maori as Taranga-i-hau-ora, or "Taranga with the life-breath;" and would make Maui's mother (or father) a mere locality-name, although of a very sacred character. According to Mr. John White, the Hau-ora (or Wai-ora) is the name of the third heaven, and is

^* See "Les Polynesiens," Lesson, p. 294.

^† It would also seem that, in comparison with the New Zealand words: tiki, "a deity;" tikitiki, "a top-knot," etc., we should consider as a variant our tiketik", "high, lofty:" the Samoan ti'eti'e, "to be seated on high;" the Hawaiian kiekie, "high, lofty, exalted, holy;" the Tahitian faa-tietie, "glory, honour, to boast," etc.; this concurrence appearing to show a radical (✓Tik) implying a supreme chief and leader. As a possible explanation, I therefore offer a suggestion (and a suggestion only) that Maui's title implies that he was the leader of the Polynesian expedition into the Pacific. Ka is Hawaiian for the definite article "the" (which in Maori letters would be ta, perhaps an old form of te); thus, Maui-Tikitiki-a-ta-ranga would mean "Maui, Chief of the Fleet." In Sanscrit, taranga means "a waving, a motion to and fro;" tarana, "a raft or boat"—both these evidently connected with tara, "who or what passes over or beyond; passing over; a crossing; a passage"—thus giving an Asiatic value to this word as signifying "migration." I offer this idea to those of the realistic school who abhor the solar myth theory; the "Euhemerists." (See "Primitive Culture," Tylor, vol. i., p. 252.) On the other hand, to their opponents, I offer a possible explanation of Maui's name as perhaps meaning "Light-seeker," Ma-ui; ma, or mah, being a very widely-spread name for "light" in the ancient world, and ui meaning "to inquire." It would be a most appropriate name for our fire-seeking hero.

^‡ Fornander, loe. cit, p. 23.

page 391 the place whence the spirit of a man comes to him at birth.^* There is also a curious coincidence in Tiki being "the Creative Being," or "the first created being;" and Taranga (Kalana), "the place of creation," while Maui unites both in his title—Maui-tikitiki-a-Taranga.

A remarkable variation of the parent-name is given in the Manihiki legend, in which Maui's father is called Manuahifare. Literally, the name means "Bird-fire-house," and this gives a wonderfully succinct and abbreviated précis of the whole story. But manu means not only "a bird," but something of far greater consequence: it means "a spirit"—sometimes a spirit incarnate in the bird, but also sometimes a spirit in its invisible possession,^†

Thus, in the Mangaian story of Ina,^‡ "a divine spirit (manu) entered and took possession of Ina;" and again, "it was the might of Tinirau that inspired her with a manu, or strange spirit."^§ Maui became either a dove or a hawk when on this adventure in search of fire. In Mr. Wohlers' fire-getting tradition (before spoken of), Maui is a dove when seeking the fire, and a hawk when returning; and Mr. White especially notices that the hawk was the child of Mahuika (as Maui was), and itself the god of fire. We must look to very ancient beliefs for explanation, if we wish to find out why Maui assumed the bird-dress when descending to the bowels of the earth, and why this bird-dress was that of the dove. I have already called attention, in the story of Hina, to the similarity between the transformation of Maui and his brother Rupe into doves having Aryan affinities in the Teutonic stories of swan-maidens, dove-maidens, etc.^‖

But the choice of this form for a deity or demi-god, especially in the fire-gaining story, goes deeper still:—

(Egypt.)—The spirits wore the forms of human-headed birds. The bird was an emblem of breath, or soul. The breath was the mover to and fro in the body; and in death, its types—the bird and the feather—were clung to as emblematical of the spirit. . . . The dove was retained in Israel as the bird of breath, the type of the soul. In the Osirian cult, the hawk was the symbol of the soul. The sun was depicted with the hawk-head, but in the 12th chapter of the 'Metamorphoses,' Ritual 76-88, the turtle-dove is one of the types into which Osiris, the deceased, makes his transformation."^*

I think it, therefore, by no means a mere story-teller's fancy that gave to Maui first the dove-shape, then that of the "hawi of soul," or fire.

That certain trees should have been selected by the Polynesians (differing in each legend according to the vegetable growth of the locality) as those into which "the seed of fire" was placed by Maui, is but natural; it would not escape the observation of the shrewd natives that certain kinds of timber were more inflammable than others. But the expression "seed of fire" is remarkable as being an idiom preserved among

^* "Book of the Beginnings," Massey, vol. ii., pp. 92, 93. See also former paper, "Polynesian Alphabets," Tregear (p. 353, ante).

page 393 Europeans, and with curious word-relationships in Polynesia. As examples of European use, I may quote the "Legendary Fictions of the Irish Celts," by P. Kennedy :—

"Just as the plough-irons were becoming red-hot, someone tried the latch of the door, and immediately they saw the face of the witch outside the window. 'What do you want, good woman?' 'The seed of the fire, and I want to help you at the churning,'" etc. (p. 152.) Again, "But every Holy Eve during their lives they threw the water out as soon as their feet were washed, unhanded the wheel, swept up the house, and covered the big coal to have the seed of fire next morning" (p. 165).

In the sacred books of the ancient Persians the same idea may be found. The xviii. Fargard of the "Vendidad" (Zend-Avesta), 52 (112), says: "Then shalt thou call his name 'Fire-creature,' 'Fire-seed,' 'Fire-offspring,' 'Fire-land,' or any name wherein there is fire." Thus it would appear that "fire-seed" was an idiom well-known to both the European and Asiatic branches of the Aryan stock. In Maori the word purapura, meaning "seed," is evidently connected in some way with "fire."^* In New Zealand, pura does not mean fire; but in composition it does so, as may be seen in kapura and mapura (ka-pura and ma-pura), both words for "fire."* In Hawaiian, pula means "a small particle" of anything, as dust; pulapula is (1) "the tops of sugar-cane cut for planting," (2) "a devotee," (3) "anger," "revenge;" in this dialect the connection both with "seed" and "fire" has been weakened. In Samoan we have pula, "to shine," "to be yellow," as ripe fruit; but in Tahitian we have the fullest sense on both sides of the word: pura means "a spark of fire," "a flash of fire or light," "to flash," "to blaze;" purara, "dispersion;" faa-purara, "to scatter," "spread abroad;" haa-purara (whaka-purara), "to make sparks fly," "to spread abroad," "a disperser." It seems almost certain that the sowing, scattering abroad as of seed, is the scattering of sparks, the "fire-seed" in its original sense. I have in a former paper ("Hina," etc.) expressed my belief that the Maori ura, "to glow," is from the original world-spread root ur, or, aur, etc., used all over the ancient world. I find that certain scholars consider that the Latin uro had originally a b before it, from the words found in composition, as comburo, amburo, bustum, etc. I do not think that this is altogether proven, as I believe the root bur to be ur with the digamma sound prefixed; but should it prove to be the case, then buro compares with the Greek pur or pyr (πΰρ), "fire," and is a sister of the Polynesian pura, "fire." There is a clear connection between gold and sun-worship; gold, the or (aurum) of old days: "The sacredness of gold seems indicated by Pindar, who,

^* Mura, mumura, etc., "to blaze," is the m to p (the mb or mp) variant.

page 394 invoking Theia, the mythical mother of the sun-god, exclaims: 'Through thee it is that mortals esteem mighty gold above all things else!"'^*

Mr. Robert Brown, F.S.A., in his learned and interesting treatise, "The Myth of Kirkê,"^† remarks: "The links between gold and solar divinities are endless, and the circumstances supplied a natural basis for the commercial value of the metal." Elsewhere the same writer observes:^‡ "The bright solar divinities are, of course, rich in gold, a metal originally owing its importance to its yellow (sun) colour, which made it at once semi-sacred and symbolic long ere it received an artificial commercial value."^§

None of the radicals in classic languages show the etymological relation between sun and gold, but the Maori ura, "to glow," discloses the ra of Ra, "the sun," with the ur, "shining, glowing," word. I do not by this mean to imply that the Polynesians were acquainted with gold (though no one can disprove even this), but I think that there is a high probability that the word, in its Polynesian form, was applied to that metal when discovered and used by men in Central Asia.

In referring to the "Cosmogony of Sanconiathon," said to be a history from the sacred books of the Phœnicians, after mentioning how Phos, Pur, and Phlox (Light, Fire, and Flame) made the discovery of fire by rubbing wood, Mr. Blackett says:^‖ "And Usous having taken a tree and broken off the boughs, made a boat, and first ventured on the sea. And he consecrated two pillars to 'fire' and 'the wind,' and worshipped them, and poured out upon them the blood of wild beasts which he took in hunting; and when these men were dead consecrated rods to them and worshipped the pillars." This is a singular coincidence of ancient ceremonial with that of the Maoris; they in their worship setting up rods (mauri or toko-mauri) in their small temples or shrines (tuaahu). If the pillars were set up to "Fire" and "Wind," a similar word to the Maori hau, "wind," was probably used (hau was a very common word in old Maori incantations, as whangai-hau, etc.), some cognate word being used ages ago in Asia: "I there drew attention to the Assyrian name for 'wind,' aiv (hair), au (hau), root ✓ 'to blow.'"^¶ And the pillar to Fire, if not called pur (see Blackett, l.c,) Trvp, or pu-ra, would also probably be called ra, as even to-day

^* Pind. Isthm., iv., 1.

^† Page 159 (Note).

^‡ "Eridanus," p. 49 (Note 4).

^§ "Gold-worship," Dr. F. A. Paley, "Contemp. Review," Aug., 1884, p. 271.

^‖ "Lost Histories of America," p. 104.

^¶ "The Cuneiform Inscriptions and the Old Testament," Eberhard Schrader, p. 25.

page 395 in Central Asia this word obtains. Referring to pillars made of stones placed on each other in regular order, it is said : "This emblem is also to be found in China and Thibet inscribed with Sanscrit letters, which serve further to designate the parts. Thus the lowest, marked a, means the 'earth;' the circle, va, stands for 'water;' the triangle, ra, 'fire.'"^* (Maori, cf. ao, "the earth;" wai, "water;" ra, "sun.")

The ura word descended from antiquity into the most common of those Aryan myths which have given us such lovely stories as the bases of classic poetry. If the theory of the solar mycologists is correct, the myths of the Dawn, and of the Sun chasing the Dawn and conquering the Darkness, are the foundations of the greater part of our pre-historic legends. Max Müller says : "Hence we find that names beginning with uru in Sanscrit and with ϵυρυ in Greek are almost invariably names of the Dawn, or Twilight.^† Names of the Dawn are Euryphaessa, the mother of Helios; Eurykyde, or Eurypyle, the daughter of Endymion; Eurymede, the wife of Glaucus; Eurynome, the mother of the Charites; and Eurydike, the wife of Orpheus."^‡

But side by side with the polished versions deifying the shining light, existed an actual worship of the sun and fire deities which we are not accustomed to consider as descending to almost modern days. We are apt to forget that the Romans, though acknowledging a whole pantheon of deities, (and not absolutely fire-worshippers in the sense in which the Parsees are thus to be considered,) paid the very greatest respect to those fire-deities having charge of the domestic hearth—the Vesta, or Hestia worship; the devotion to the Lares. It may be urged that the Lar-worship was entirely a worship of the spirits of ancestors, however cloaked under differing names—as the Genius, Lares, Penates, Vesta, or Manes. The pitris, or "fathers," were worshiped by the Sanscrit-speaking peoples, the Sama-Veda being devoted to the ceremonial directions. The old Slavonians also paid their devotion to the ancestral spirits: "There is no doubt as to their belief that the souls of the fathers watched over their children, and their children's children; and that, therefore, departed spirits, and especially those of ancestors, ought always to be regarded with pious veneration, and sometimes solaced by prayer and sacrifice."^§

Dr. Shortland has very ably^‖ shown the close parallelism between the worship of the manes and of the Maori ancestral

^* "Tree and Serpent Worship," Fergusson, p. 115.

^† cf. Maori uru, "the west."—E.T.

^‡ "Chips from a German Workshop," vol. ii., p. 112.

^§ "Songs of Russia," Ralston, p. 126.

^‖ "Maori Religion and Mythology," chap. i.

page 396 spirits; but there is more in the subject of interest unexhausted particularly the connection between the house spirit and fire "In the "Avesta" (Spiegel's "Avesta," by Bleeck, vol. iii.,; p. 181), Asha-Vashista, the genius of fire, is designated as "the house-companion of human beings." The Latin writers us "hearth" and "lar" as synonymous. Virgil^* uses the terms: "Lares" and "Penates"^† indifferently, as the verse [unclear: happens] require, and habitually associates the house spirit with the [unclear: f] on the hearth, and the "canæ penetralia Vestæ."^‡

"'The true temples of the Etruscans,' it has been observed 'were the tombs' (Taylor's "Etruscan Researches," p. 49) practically, the real objects of their worship were the [unclear: Lares,] spirits of their ancestors. Each house had its lararium, [unclear: whe] the master of the household offered prayer and worship every morning, and sacrifice occasionally. In the Theodosian [unclear: code] was provided that no one should any longer worship his lar [unclear: wi] fire (nullus Larem igne veneretur)."^§

"Men worshipped the house spirit on the hearth at a [unclear: ti] when they perfectly understood that Dyaus meant 'the [unclear: bl] sky,' and that Varuna, or Ouranos, was 'the arch of heaven Centuries after the common apartment of the primitive house had disappeared, and separate rooms were assigned in [unclear: spacio] mansions for the purpose of domestic life, the old altar, the symbol of the holy hearth, survived, as the houses of [unclear: Pompe] still show, undisturbed, in the atrium. All the [unclear: changes] thought and feeling which marked the rise of the empire [unclear: we] impotent against the Lar. Horace, Ovid, Petronius, ([unclear: See] "Cité Antique," p. 24) free-thinkers in principle and sensualist in practice, duly celebrated the worship of the hearth."^‖

Even when the ancestral spirits had been degraded [unclear: in] mere domestic goblins and pixies, it was with the hearth [unclear: th] had special connection. Speaking of the German House-[unclear: Spin] the Kobold, Grimm^¶ says: "We can often trace in [unclear: them] special relation to the hearth of the house, from beneath which they often came forth, and where the door of their [unclear: subterrane] dwelling seems to have been : they are peculiarly hearth-gods, From these examples, it will be clearly seen that if the Aryans were not fire-worshippers, pure and simple, they [unclear: p]

^* Æneid, v., 743, and ix., 259.

^† In lar, probably, the vowel sound ā lias been broadened [unclear: from] lar. If so, then compare Maori ra, Hawaiian la, Tongan laa, all meaning "the Sun;" also with penates, "the care-takers." (cf. the Maori [unclear: pena,] take care of," "to cherish.")

^‡ "The Aryan Household," W. E. Hearn, p. 51.

^§ "Religions of the Ancient World," G. Rawlinson, p. 194.

^‖ Hearn, loc. cit., p. 56.

^¶ "Deutsche Mythologie," vol. i., p. 468.

page 397 somewhat of adoration to that element, and to the θϵoι, or "gods of the hearth." This comes out most strongly in the accounts of the religious ceremonies wherein the fire—the "new-fire," or "need-fire," agni, or by whatever name called, was bom from the friction of one piece of wood against another. "Emile Burnouf, in his excellent work, "La Science des Religions," just published, says: 'The 卍 (swastika) represents the two pieces of wood laid upon one another before the sacrificial altars, in order to produce the holy fire (agni), and whose ends were bent round at right angles and fastened by means of iron nails 卍 so that this wooden scaffolding might not be moved. At the point where the two pieces of wood were joined there was a small hole, in which a third piece of wood in the form of a lance (called pramantha), was rotated by means of a cord made of cow's hair and hemp, till fire was generated by friction. The father of the holy fire (agni) is; Twastri, i.e., the divine carpenter who made the swastika and the pramantha, by the friction of which the divine child was produced. The pramantha was afterwards transformed by the Greeks into Prometheus, who they imagined stole fire from heaven, so as to instil into earth-born man the bright spark of the soul. The mother of the holy fire is the divine Maja, who represents the productive forces in the form of a woman;^* every human being has his maja. Scarcely has the weak spark escaped from its mother's lap—that is from the swastika, which is likewise called mother, and is the place where the divine Maja principally dwells—when it, agni, receives the name of child."^*

It is of interest to note that the name given as that of the feather of Fire is Tvastri (spelt sometimes Tvachtri, Twachtrei, etc., by European writers). The word means "a carpenter," and is referred to as possessing this meaning by many philologists and mythologists, such as Kuhn, Max Müller, and others. It is Tvastri who forges the thunderbolts of Indra, and all the different implements peculiar to the deities of Hindustan, but he is sometimes regarded as being himself the Creator. That he, as Creator, was spoken of by such a title as "the Carpenter" is certain, since so many eminent Sanscrit scholars declare this to be the fact; but I cannot believe that any such mode of thought was even possible to a primitive people. A nation must have advanced a long way up the scale of progress and improvement for an artisan, working either in wood or metals, to have existence, much more for the name to have acquired honour as an appellative. We must look back through these misleading mists of civilization to try

^* Maja, Maia, or Maya. cf. the Tahitian maia, "a midwife," and : Maori maea, "to emerge."

^* "Troy and its Remains," Schliemann, p. 103.

page 398 and catch some glimpse of a race just emerging from the [unclear: deepes] barbarism, unacquainted with any forces except natural [unclear: forces] and it is among the names of these natural forces that we should look for that of the great Father of Fire. I believe [unclear: that] suggestion which I now make will receive very grave consideration, in regard to the meaning of this name of Tvastri. [unclear: T] effects of lightning were not known to the ancient world: it was the thunder in which mischief was supposed to reside: [unclear: th] thunderbolt from the hand of Jove, of Indra, or of [unclear: Perkuna] That the Thunderer, the wielder of Celestial Fire, should be father of the earth-born fire caused by the friction of wood would be in perfect keeping with all we can imagine of [unclear: applicability] in the primitive mind. That the word might afterward grow to mean "artificer" or "workman" (in a secondary or tertiary sense) is possible; but that the Creator and the [unclear: Wielder] the Thunderbolt should be considered as one and the same person is not only highly probable, but we have direct testimony [unclear: fro] Oriental and European classics that such was the case. [unclear: W] should look, then, to a language having internal [unclear: evidence] simplicity, if we seek for simple names of natural forces, [unclear: and] shall find no such language for our purpose so good as the Polynesian, the untainted speech of an isolated people. Here we have the thunder-deity as Whaitiri, or Whatitiri. Is [unclear: it] possible to trace a phonetic connecting link between Tvastri ad Whaitiri? If we turn to a comparative table of Polynesian dialects, in the Appendix to Mr. Turner's "Samoa, a Hundred Years Ago," we shall find a very close link. In the [unclear: Island] Vaté (or Faté), lying in the track between us and Asia, the word for thunder is vatshiri. The connection between [unclear: Whaiti] vatshiri, and Tvastri must be undoubted: an important [unclear: poi] being that only in Maori is the etymology of the word [unclear: tras] parent.^*

To return for a short time to the fire-cross. Mr. N. [unclear: Jo] says: "In his interesting work upon the origin of [unclear: fire (] Herabkunst des Fetters') Adalbert Kuhn always designates [unclear: t] swastika [shown with two different diagrams—E.T.] by [unclear: t] name of arani, and he considers them both as the principal religious symbols of our Aryan ancestors." He adds: [unclear: "Th]^†

^* The Malay, who has many Sanscrit words (most of late introduction with the Brahminical, Buddhistic, etc., religions), calls the thunder [unclear: g] This word is probably akin to the Tongan gulu, "to make a muttering grumbling sound;" in New Zealand Maori, nguru, "to rumble." [unclear: If] Malay guruh is akin to the Sanscrit gulu, "great," "extended," it [unclear: be] some relation to the ✓tan, "stretched out," which philologists say [unclear: is] origin of the thunder-words in Aryan. (See Skeat, "Ety. Dict.," p. 75 "Science of Thought," Max Müller, App.) Tangi, the Maori [unclear: word] wail, lament," is in the Tongan tagi, "to lament," but tagitagi is [unclear: "stret] out to the uttermost."

^† "Man before Metals," p. 189.

page 399 process of kindling fire naturally led man to the ideas of sexual reproduction.^* This is what we see in a hymn of the 'Rig Veda,' where the pramantha evidently represents the male," etc.^†

If we consider this arani symbol as a fact, we shall find significance in the words of Sir H. Rawlinson,^‡ when he says: "The primitive meaning of ar was 'fire.' . . . The Aryans generally appear to have been sun-or fire-worshippers, and probably they received their name from the fact. This would seem more probable than the ordinary derivation from the root ar, 'to plough;' and it would include the sense of 'noble' preferred by Mr. Peile, 'children of the sun' being usually a special title of the priestly or royal caste."

Can we find these Arani in Polynesia? I will take the evidence of the late M. Lesson.^§ He, quoting P. A. Lesson in the "Voyage aux Iles Mangareva," says that it is idle to attempt to give a date for the establishment of the Polynesian race on these islands. They report themselves as "a colony of immigrants descended from a great people called Arani." Who were these Arani from whom the Polynesians were descended? Is it certain that there is no connection between them and the Aryan users of the Arani "fire-symbol?"