1769 RELIGION 



173 



nothing far surpasses their comprehension. They observed, 

 however, that every animal and every plant produced others, 

 and adopted the idea ; hence it is necessary to suppose two 

 original beings, one of whom they called Ettoomoo, and the 

 other, which they say was a rock, Tepapa. These, at some 

 very remote period of time, produced men and women, and 

 from their children is derived all that is seen or known to 

 us. Some things, however, they imagine, increased among 

 themselves, as the stars, the different species of plants, and 

 even the different divisions of time the year, say they, 

 produced the months, who in their turn produced the days. 



Their gods are numerous, and are divided into two 

 classes, the greater and the lesser gods, and in each class 

 some are of both sexes. The chief of all is Tarroatiettoomoo, 

 the father of all things, whom they emphatically style the 

 " Causer of Earthquakes " ; his son, Tane, is, however, 

 much more generally invoked, as he is supposed to be the 

 more active deity. The men worship the male gods, and 

 the women the females ; the men, however, supply the 

 office of priest for both sexes. 



They believe in a heaven and a hell : the first they call 

 Tamrua 1'orai, the other tiahoboo. Heaven they describe as 

 a place of great happiness, while hell is only a place enjoy- 

 ing less of the luxuries of life : to this, they say, the 

 souls of the inferior people go after death, and those of 

 the chiefs and rich men go to heaven. This is one of the 

 strongest instances to show that their religion is totally 

 independent of morality, no actions regarding their neigh- 

 bours are supposed to come at all under the cognisance of 

 the diety : a humble regard only is to be shown him, and 

 his assistance asked on all occasions with much ceremony 

 and some sacrifice, from whence are derived the perquisites 

 of the priests. 



The Tahowa, or priest, is here a hereditary dignity. 

 These priests are numerous : the chief of them is generally the 

 younger brother of some very good family, and ranks next 

 to the king. All priests are commonly more learned than 

 the laity : their learning consists chiefly in knowing well 



