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THE MYTHOLOGY OF THE EFATESE. 763 
Ill. THE ADVENT OF LIGHT. 
This story is told by a Mai man. There is a place on Mai 
called Lim. Formerly there was no light, and a man living here 
was annoyed at this, and at the consequent dampness and 
muddiness that prevailed. He took a club called ta, or maltalia, 
and smote at the sky, or floor of heaven. Five times he swung 
his club, and five times missed. The sixth time his blow was 
effective, splitting open the sky and letting in the Sun and Light. 
IV. THE SEPARATION OF THE SKY FROM THE EARTH. 
In the primeval times, the sky was close to the earth. A woman 
was raking the stones in her oven with a long pole. The top of 
the pole came against the sky, interrupting her work. Angry, 
she smote the sky with the pole, bidding it, with a loud voice, 
“ Ascend!” The sky immediately began to ascend, and, not- 
withstanding that she entreated it to stop, it kept on ascending 
till it reached the position which it now occupies. 
V. THE ADVENT OF NIGHT. 
A chief of Mel had two children who were always crying, and 
as the sun was always shining in that primeval time, he could get 
no rest because they never went to sleep. He therefore set out 
on a journey in quest of Darkness and Night. He went round 
the island by way of Havannah Harbour, calling at the various 
villages. W hen he called at a village, the people—(this part of 
the narrative is sung)—asked him where he came from? He 
replied, “I come from the lower side of the island.” ‘ What 
have you come in search of?” “TI have come in search of Night 
and Darkness.” He went on and on till he came near to the most 
eastern point of the island, or south-eastern. Here the people 
directed him to a jutting promontory, called Baulelo, as to where 
he should obtain the object of his search. Provided with a 
bamboo vessel, he lay in wait on this promontory, and having 
seized Night-Darkness and enclosed it securely in his bamboo, 
started triumphantly on his return journey. Again he called at 
the various villages, and in return for the hospitality accorded 
him, and at tbe end of the meal, sang a song of complete satis- 
faction, took out from his bamboo a portion of the Night-Darkness 
and covered the land with it. Then the swpe, or ancestral chief, 
wound up by falling into a sweet sleep. 
VI. MAN, THE LORD OF CREATION. 
In the beginning, it was still undecided whether man or some 
other should be superior in the world. They tied up man as if 
