156 ETHNOGRAPHY. 



The principal person present was an old man, whom they called 

 Taufaingd. They said that he was a priest, and was fakatapu 

 (sacred), or fakai o debolo (like a god). This word debolo surprised 

 us, being nearly the form of the Sandwich Island term for devil; but 

 our inquiries could elicit nothing more from them than that ' O 

 Debold 1 was an ancient god (atua tafito}. The name of the god of 

 the island was Tu-Tokelau, or Tui-Tokelau, and his residence was in 

 the skies. The great deity of Polynesia was also mentioned by them, 

 with the customary addition, ' Tangaloa i lunga i te langi,' Tangaloa 

 above in the heavens. We were supposed to have come from the 

 same place, and they could not be convinced that we were not deities, 

 but men only (tangata lava}. 



" Notwithstanding this impression, their thievish disposition mani- 

 fested itself very strongly. Several trifling articles were pilfered, 

 and if any thing was dropped by accident, or suffered to be out of 

 sight for a moment, one of the natives instantly covered it with his 

 foot, or with the branch of a tree. 



" At length they began to move towards their canoes, saying that 

 they were hungry, and must go to the town. We therefore returned 

 to our ship, and remained on board until the following day, when we 

 again started, at about noon, for the islet on which the town is situated. 

 When we came near, a crowd of natives appeared on the beach 

 awaiting our approach. We landed with some difficulty from the 

 surf, and walked towards them. Behind a little pile of cocoa-nuts 

 and mats were seated about twenty old men, and the rest of the crowd 

 (above a hundred in number) stood in the rear-ground, all singing, 

 shouting, and gesticulating, in a state of the highest excitement. 

 As we came up, they spread mats for us, and insisted upon our sitting 

 down, at the same time giving us to understand that the articles 

 collected there were a present to us. Their chief, who was seated 

 foremost, was an elderly man, with a grave and sickly look, his legs 

 much swollen with the elephantiasis. He was very pale, and trem- 

 bled with fear and agitation, which could not be quieted until the 

 captain sat down by him, and succeeded in assuring him of our 

 peaceful intentions; and even then he continued to repeat tremulously 

 the words ' nofo kilalo ; mataku au,' sit down ; I am afraid, with 

 others which we could not understand. Their evident desire was 

 that we should take the presents and depart, for they frequently 

 pointed to the sun, which was now past the meridian, and said 'ua 

 po,' it is night. When we expressed a wish to go into the town, 



