Their account of the creation of 

 their islands. 



THE SAMOANS. 



Their traditions and superstitions. 

 Their dances. 



109 



likewise Mesua, Faana, Tinitini, Lamamau, who 

 are gods of lightning, rain, whirlwinds, &c. These 

 gods are said to reside on an island to the west- 

 ward, from which quarter their bad weather 

 usually comes. 



They had, likewise, many inferior gods, who 

 watched over particular districts. These various 

 gods owned certain animals, reptiles, fish, and 

 birds. Tn some few districts inanimate objects 

 were worshipped, thus : a branch of bamboo, with 

 a bunch of cocoa-nut fibres tied on the top, was 

 worshipped in Manono. They also had carved 

 blocks of wood and stone erected in memory of 

 dead chiefs, which they worshipped. 



The account they give of the creation of their 

 island is as follows : 



Taugaloa, their great god, who lives in the sky, 

 sent down the bird Tuli (a kind of snipe), his 

 daughter, to look what was below. She reported 

 to her father that she saw nothing but sea. Tan- 

 galoa then rolled a stone from heaven, which be- 

 came the island of Savaii, and another which 

 produced Upolu, and the same for the others. 



This did not suit Tuli, who returned to ask for 

 inhabitants. He gave her orders to plant the 

 wild vinos (fuefue), which after growing were 

 ordered by him to be pulled up and thrown into 

 heaps, from which worms were produced. Then 

 it was desirable that they should become human. 

 Spirits were accordingly sent to them by Tuli, and 

 the worms became man and woman. 



Their notions of a future existence are quite 

 vague. They believe, however, in a happy future 

 state, where every tiling good is provided. Some 

 say that it is on their own island, others on distant 

 islands, and for the chiefs at the residence of the 

 gods on Pulotu, an island to the westward. They 

 also believe that the spirit goes there immedi- 

 ately after death ; that in these places it never 

 rains ; that they eat and drink there without 

 labour, and are waited upon by the most beautiful 

 women, who are always young, or as a chief ex- 

 pressed it to one of our officers, " whose breasts 

 never hang down." 



The spirits, according to their belief, often come 

 down to wander about at night around their 

 former dwellings; some spirits are believed to die, 

 while others are immortal; some dwell in subter- 

 ranean abodes, and are eaten by the gods. Some 

 persons believe that after death they become 

 " aitus," or inferior gods. 



They believed in many omens, which were care- 

 fully watched. If the black stork, called matuu, 

 flew before them on a war expedition, in the direc- 

 tion they were going, they deemed it betokened 

 success; but if in any other direction, it was an ill 

 omen. ' If a dim moon, or very bright starlight, or 

 comet, were observed, it always indicated the 

 death of a chief; and a raiubow was a sign of 

 war. 



The squeaking of rats was an unfortunate omen. 

 Sneezing was also considered unlucky ; if any one 

 of a party sneezed on a journey, their further pro- 

 gress was postponed. 



I was told that the Samoans have a great dread 

 of being abroad in the dark, and that when obliged 

 to pass about their villages by night, they use 

 flambeaux made of the dried stalks of the cocoa-nut 

 leaf to light them on their way. This fear is partly 

 owing to superstition, which makes them fearful 



of encountering some spirit or aitu, with which 

 their imaginations people the groves, springs, rocks, 

 trees, &c. They are in the habit of occasionally 

 making 1 a feast for the king's aitu, when a number 

 of pigs are prepared, and a quantity of taro, fruit, 

 &c. is gathered. The portion for the aitu is placed 

 near his supposed dwelling-place, and the de- 

 pendants and others enjoy themselves on the 

 remainder. 



They were formerly in the habit of presenting 

 their first fruits to the aitus and chiefs. This cus- 

 tom still continues among the heathen, but the 

 Christian party present theirs to the missionaries. 

 The ceremony usually takes places in January or 

 February. In drinking ava, the first cup was al- 

 ways presented to the gods. 



There is an account of a lai-ge lizard which 

 dwells on the south side of the island, and is 

 worshipped as an aitu. The description given of 

 it makes it two fathoms long and as large round 

 as a cocoa-nut tree, with huge scales, and a mouth 

 filled with sharp teeth. It is said to dwell in a 

 stream near Safata, into which the natives frequently 

 throw meat. Some of them declare that they have 

 seen him, and that he has dwelt there upwards of 

 fifty years. 



It is not remarkable, however, that they should 

 have this tradition ; and this circumstance affords 

 an. additional proof that they have had frequent 

 intercourse with the Tonga, or Friendly Islands, 

 where a similar tradition is spoken of in Mariner's 

 Tonga Islands. 



Among their other superstitions is that of a 

 malignant spirit that resides in the vicinity of 

 Apolima, in the shape of an enormous eel, of from 

 six to ten fathoms long, and large in proportion, 

 which attacks canoes and drags them down. 



A story is told that is said to have happened 

 only a few years ago. While two natives of Ma- 

 nono were swimming across the channel in the 

 reef, they were drowned in the sight of many 

 others ; immediately a large canoe was manned, 

 and went in quest of them; the crew of this canoe 

 encountered the monster, and wounded it. The 

 canoe was upset, and although a few saved them- 

 selves by swimming to the shore, the greater part 

 of them were destroyed. When asked if it was 

 not a shark, (of which they have two kinds, the 

 tanifa, or great white shark, and the masi, or small 

 blue one,) they replied, it was a monstrous pasi, 

 which is the name applied to the murosna or con- 

 ger eel. 



Their dances and other amusements are in a 

 great degree abolished, but they are still practised 

 in the heathen villages ; and even the Christian 

 women may still be induced to exhibit the former, 

 which they call siva. The mode of performing it 

 differs from that of the Tahitians, but is like it, 

 lascivious ; and neither of them would be called 

 dances in our sense of the term. The dance is 

 usually performed by young girls, who stand up 

 before the audience, throwing their arms, legs, 

 feet, and hands, in numerous strange attitudes, 

 which are any thing but graceful. The others 

 who are present sing amusing words, in two or 

 three parts, while a third or fourth part is kept up 

 in a coarse grunt or guttural sound, in the bass 

 clef. The words are comprised in short sentences, 

 each of which finishes suddenly with a staccato 

 note, and a violent gesture. 



