<54 EEV. M. EELLS, ON THE WORSHIP AND TRADITIONS OP 



(and they are alincst as universal as sickness, among the 

 heathen, as they behevc that sickness is botli caused and 

 cured in this way) there is a beUef in demons. 



The most fearful deity at the Sandwich Islands was Pele, 

 who dwelt in tlio i^reat volcano.* 



II. — Man as a Spikitual Being. 



(a) Immortalitij. — This idea, though perhaps not universal 

 is very wide-spread. The ]\Iaoris of New Zealand believed 

 that the spirit survives the body, and retires to some place 

 under the earth.-|- Among the Tongas the nobles were 

 allowed to possess souls, but not the common people ; for 

 them there was no future.^ The Tahitians believed that the 

 soul is immortal, and that according to its degree of virtue 

 and piety would be its honour and happiness in the next 

 world. § Near their dead they placed food, fruits and flowers 

 daily, and they supposed that their food was spiritual, which 

 they could smell, as well as having a material past.|| 



Some of the Fijiaiis, says Mr. Williams, speak of a man 

 as having two spirits ; his shadow is called the dark spirit, 

 which they say goes to Hades; the other is his likeness 

 reflected in the water or a looking glass, and is supposed to 

 stay near the place where the man dies.lF Iw fact all that is 

 said in the last part of this paper about a future state gives 

 additional evidence of their belief in the immortality of the 

 soul. 



{h) Man as a sinner. — In a paper read before this Institute 

 (already referred to) Dr. John Frascr describes a custom 

 among the x\ustralians called the Bora, which individuals 

 pass through, and after this is done, he comes forth another 

 man, having washed away the badge of darkness and evil, 

 and having assumed the livery of the children of light. 

 They are thus purified and devoted to the service of good, 

 and freed from the power of evil. The novice enters the 

 outer circle painted red, but at its close ho Avashes himself 

 in a pool, and thereby is cleansed, after wliicli \\v paints him- 

 self white. 



* .Jarves' Sand^lnch Islands, p. 27. 



t Encijdopcedia Britt., art., " New Zealand." 



t Coral Islands, vol. ii, p. 153. 



§ Pohpiesian Researches, p. 308. 



II Smithsonian Report, 1819, p. 35.'5. 



if Malte Brun's (Jeog., vol. ii, p. 40G. 



