MARQUESAS. 



From the Hiwaoa traditions and meles, collected by Mr. William Lawson. sev- 

 eral cosmogonies seem to have existed among the Marquesans. I notice : 



1. The I'aiiaita iia Tanaoa relates, that in the beginning there was no life, light 

 or sound in the world: that a boundless night, Po (darkness ) enveloped everything, over 

 which Tanaoa and Mutuhei (silence) ruled supreme. Atea (light) sprang from Ta- 

 naoa, made war on him, drove him away and confined him within limits. Ono (sound) 

 sprang from Atea and broke up Mutuhei. From the struggles between Tanaoa and 

 Atea, Ono and Mutuhei, arose Atanua (shade). 



Atea and Ono ruled the universe together as body and spirit {tiiio and uliaiic). 

 Atea took Atanua for wife and begat their first-born, Tumea. 



2. The legend of the pcna-pcna. creation, relates that Atea, the husband of Ata- 

 nua, was the cause, root and begetter of all things. ("Atea te pepenua o te Aui te 

 Fenua.") From him were evolved or created the host of inferior deities, with pJir- 

 ticular attributes or occupations. On the orders of Atea, they broke through or picked 

 through earth and sky, fenua and ani, and the land, papa appeared and was planted. 

 The winds blew from V^evau to Hawaii, and back from Hawaii to Vevau, cooling and 



refreshing. 



Pu te metani me Vevau 

 A-anu te tai o Hawaii 

 Pu atu te metani me Hawaii 

 A-anu te ao o Vevau 

 Nui-ia te papa e moe ana. 



Atanua then conceived and bore the Night, Po-nui-o-Atca; after that she bore 

 the Moon, Mcaiiia; after that she bore the Day-break (dawning), Ata; after that the 

 Day, A-nui-o-Atca; and last of all was born Sound, Ono-niii-o-Afca. The scene of 

 these series of creations seems to have extended from Vevau to Hawaii, "O Vcx'au mc 

 Hawaii" forming the refrain of each act of creation. 



3. The legend of Maitikiiki relates that Mauiki was the older brother and Mau-ii 

 was the younger. The younger one stove a hole in the head of the older one, and 

 thus caused the sacred fire {alii fapii) to flow all over the land. Through the hole in 

 the skull of Mauiki, the fires and furies (na ii) rose up to the sky, but they were met by 

 Kamaiko, the god of cold, who hurled them back again; and diverting them into the 

 rocks, the soil, etc.. put them out. The lord {tc fat it) then gave to Mauiki a wife called 

 Hina-te-Ao-ihi, or Hina-te-Ao-Tuakiina. When Mauiki feels wrathy and furious his 

 inwards are soon cooled by strong winged winds, na metani si kclieii; Mauiki hav- 

 ing thus been quieted and peace restored, Atea proceeds with the work of creation, and 

 all manner of animals, big and small, are created. 



4. The legend Taikoko (the flood) states that the sea was rising; a house was 

 built on the ocean for the preservation of life and animals; that the animals were mar- 

 shalled l)y one man before and one man behind, the former called Fetu-Amo-Amo, the 

 latter Ta-Fetu-Tini. 



The following individuals arc mentioned: Flina-touti-Ani, Hina-te-Ao-ilii and 



