454 MYSTIC ISLES 



the orero at the marae where Tetuanui, Brooke, and I 

 stood, would have forced the successor of Moses to have 

 withdrawn his book from circulation, as too dull. 



The Polynesian creator put on earth hogs, dogs, and 

 reptiles. There were many kinds of dogs in their my- 

 thology, including the "large dog with sharp teeth," and 

 the "royal dog of God." Among reptiles was Moo, a 

 terrible dragon living in caverns above and beneath the 

 sea, who was dreaded above all dangers. He was to 

 them the monster that guarded the Hesperides garden, 

 and the beast that St. George slew ; but as the common 

 lizard was the largest reptile in Polynesia, this, too, was 

 an heirloom from another land. In the old Havaii — 

 probably Java — they must have known those fierce 

 crocodiles that I have seen drag down a horse drinking 

 in the river at Palawan, and noted swimming in the open 

 sea between Siassi and Borneo. 



The chief and Brooke and I sat in the shade of the 

 etoa-trees, and conversed about these ancient stories. 

 Fixed in the mind of the race by the repetition of ages, 

 they are the most difficult of all errors to erase, and the 

 professors of this wisdom stamp it upon the heart and 

 brain of the child in almost indelible colors, and make it 

 tabu, sacrilege, or treason to deny its verity. Half a 

 century ago repairs became necessary to Mohammed's 

 tomb at Medina, and masons were asked to volunteer to 

 make them, and submit to beheading immediately after. 

 There was no lack of desirous martyrs. One descended 

 into the mausoleum, finished the task, and, reaching the 

 air again, knelt, turned his face toward Mecca, and bent 

 his head for the ax. The Mussulman keepers of the 

 tomb justified their act, as, the forbidding telling the 



