310 CAPTAIN COOK'S VOYAGES 



the morals, are commonly loaded with fruits and animals, 

 but there are few houses where you do not meet with a 

 small place of the same sort near them. Many of them 

 are so religiously scrupulous, that they will not begin a 

 meal without first laying aside a morsel for the Eatooa. 



" They believe the soul to be both immaterial and fan- 

 mortal. They say that it keeps fluttering about the lips 

 during the pangs of death, and that then it ascends and 

 mixes with, or as they express it, is eaten by the deity. In 

 this state it remains for some time ; after which it departs to 

 a certain place, destined for the reception of the souls of 

 men, where it exists in eternal night. They have no idea 

 of any permanent punishment after death, for the souls 

 of good and of bad men are eaten indiscriminately by 

 God. 



" Some of their notions about the Deity are extravagantly 

 absurd. They believe that he is subject to the power of 

 those very spirits to whom he has given existence, and that, 

 in their turn, they frequently eat or devour him, though he 

 possess the power of re-creating himself. When the moon 

 is in its wane, it is said that they are then devouring their 

 Eatooa, and that as it increases he is renewing himself. 



" They have traditions concerning the creation which, as 

 might be expected, are complex and clouded with obscurity. 

 They say that a goddess, having a lump or mass of earth 

 suspended in a cord, gave it a swing and scattered about 

 pieces of land, thus constituting Otaheite and the neigh- 

 bouring islands, which were all peopled by a man and woman 

 originally fixed at Otaheite. The spots observed in the 

 moon are supposed to be groves of a sort of trees which 

 once grew in Otaheite, and being destroyed by some 

 accident, their seeds were carried up thither by doves where 

 they now flourish." 



" Monday, December the 8th, after leaving Bolabola, I 

 steered to the northward," says Captain Cook, " with the 

 wind generally eastward, till after we had crossed the line, 

 and had got into north latitudes. 



" Seventeen months had now elapsed since our departure 

 from England. With regard to the principal object of my 

 instructions, our voyage was at this time only beginning ; 

 and therefore my attention to every circumstance that 

 might contribute toward our safety and success, was now 

 to be called forth anew. As soon as I had got beyond the 

 extent of my former discoveries, I ordered a survey to be 

 taken of all the stores that were in the ships, that I might 

 know how to use them to the greatest advantage. 



" On the 24th, after passing the line, land was discovered. 

 Upon a nearer approach it was found to be one of those low 



