322 THE EVOLUTION OF THEOLOGY vm 



has been justified by all the knowledge of 

 Polynesian life \\hich has been subsequently 

 acquired. 



It is desirable, therefore, to pay close attention 

 to that which Mariner tells us about the theo- 

 logical views of these people : 



The human soul, 1 after its separation from the body, is 

 termed a hotooa (a god or spirit), and is believed to exist in the 

 shape of the body ; to have the same propensities as during life, 

 but to be corrected by a more enlightened understanding, by 

 which it readily distinguishes good from evil, truth from false- 

 hood, right from wrong ; having the same attributes as the 

 original gods, but in a minor degree, and having its dwelling 

 for ever in the happy regions of Bolotoo, holding the same rank 

 in regard to other souls as during this life ; it has, however, 

 the power of returning to Tonga to inspire priests, relations, or 

 others, or to appear in dreams to those it wishes to admonish ; 

 and sometimes to the external eye in the form of a ghost or 

 apparition ; but this power of reappearance at Tonga par- 

 ticularly belongs to the souls of chiefs rather than of matabooles 

 (vol. ii. p. 130). 



The word " hotooa " is the same as that which 

 is usually spelt " attia " by Polynesian philologues, 

 and it will be convenient to adopt this spelling. 

 Now under this head of " Atuas or supernatural 

 intelligent beings " the Tongans include : 



1. The original gods. 2. The souls of nobles that have all 

 attributes in common with the first but inferior in degree. 

 3. The souls of matabooles 2 that are still inferior, and have rot 



1 Supposed to be "the. finer or more aeriform part of the 

 body," standing in "the same relation to the body as the 

 perfume and the more essential qualities of a flower do to the 

 more solid substances" (Manner, vol. ii. p. 127). 



2 A kind of "clients" in the Roman sense. 



