OF THE SOUTH SEAS 213 



But dear or near as the sea might be to such a man 

 as I, a mere traveler upon it to reach a goal, to the Ta- 

 hitian it was life and road and romance, too. Leg- 

 ends of it filled the memories of those old ones who, 

 though in tattered form, preserved yet awhile the deeds 

 of daring of their fathers and the terrors of storm and 

 sea monster, of long journeys in frail canoes, of dis- 

 coveries and conquerings, of brides taken from other 

 peoples, and of the gods and devils who were in turn 

 masters of the deep. 



Once a Tahitian stopped the sun as it sank beyond 

 Moorea not to wage war, as Joshua, but to please his old 

 mother. The sea and the heavens are brothers to the 

 Tahitian. The sky had two great tales for him — guid- 

 ance for his craft and prophecies for his soul ; but he did 

 not inhabit it with his gods or his dead, as do Christians 

 and other religionists, for the mountains, the valleys, 

 and the caves were the abiding-places of spirits, and the 

 Tahitian had named only those stars which blazed forth 

 most vividly or served him as compass on the sea. He 

 did, however, mark the various phases of the sky, and 

 in his musical tongue named them with particularity. 



The firmament is te ao, te rai, and the atmosphere 

 te reva, and when peaceful, raiatea. This is the name 

 of one of the most beautiful islands of this Society 

 group, "Raiatea la Sacree," it is called, "Raiatea the 

 Blessed," and its own serenity is betokened in its name. 



E hau maru, e maru to oe rai 

 E topara, te Mahana 

 I Ra' i-atea nei! 



So ran the rhyme of Raiatea : 



