nothing far surpasses their comprehension. They observed, however, that every animal and every plant produced others, and adopted the idea; hence it is necessary to suppose two original beings, one of whom they called Ettoomoo, and the other, which they say was a rock, Tepapa. These, at some very remote period of time, produced men and women, and from their children is derived all that is seen or known to us. Some things, however, they imagine, increased among themselves, as the stars, the different species of plants, and even the different divisions of time—the year, say they, produced the months, who in their turn produced the days.
Their gods are numerous, and are divided into two classes, the greater and the lesser gods, and in each class some are of both sexes. The chief of all is Tarroatiettoomoo, the father of all things, whom they emphatically style the "Causer of Earthquakes"; his son, Tane, is, however, much more generally invoked, as he is supposed to be the more active deity. The men worship the male gods, and the women the females; the men, however, supply the office of priest for both sexes.
They believe in a heaven and a hell: the first they call Tavirua l'orai, the other tiahoboo. Heaven they describe as a place of great happiness, while hell is only a place enjoying less of the luxuries of life: to this, they say, the souls of the inferior people go after death, and those of the chiefs and rich men go to heaven. This is one of the strongest instances to show that their religion is totally independent of morality, no actions regarding their neighbours are supposed to come at all under the cognisance of the diety: a humble regard only is to be shown him, and his assistance asked on all occasions with much ceremony and some sacrifice, from whence are derived the perquisites of the priests.
The Tahowa, or priest, is here a hereditary dignity. These priests are numerous: the chief of them is generally the younger brother of some very good family, and ranks next to the king. All priests are commonly more learned than the laity: their learning consists chiefly in knowing well
