214 DAY SYMBOLS OF THE MAYA YEAR [ETH. ANN. 16 
It will not be out of place here to refer to a superstition pervading 
the islands of the Pacific ocean, which seems strangely coincident with 
the conception of the physical symbol of this day. This is a mytholog- 
ical monster known in some sections by the name Taniwha, and in 
others as moko or mo’o. 
Dr Edward Tregear! speaks of it as follows: 
Taniwha were water monsters generally. They mostly inhabited lakes and 
streams, but sometimes the sea. Sometimes the beast was a land animal, a lizard, 
ete, but the true taniwha is a water kelpie. 
Mr Kerry Nichols,’ speaking of these monsters, says: 
With the other fabulous creations of Maori mythology were the taniwhas or evil 
demons, mysterious monsters in the form of gigantic lizards, who were said to inhabit 
subterranean caves, the deep places of lakes and rivers, and to guard tabued dis- 
tricts. They were on the alert to upset canoes and to devour men. Indeed, these 
falulous monsters not only entered largely into the religious superstitions, but into 
the poetry and prose of Maori tradition. 
The Hawaiian Mo’o or Moko appears, from the following statement 
by Judge Fornander, to have been applied ‘sometimes to this mytholog- 
ical monster : 
The Mo’o or Moko mentioned in tradition—reptiles and lizards—were of several 
kinds—the mo’o with large, sharp, glistening teeth; the talking mo’o, moo-olelo: the 
creeping mo’o, moo-kolo; the roving, wandering mo’o, moo-pelo; the watchful mo’o, 
moo-kaala; the prophesying mo’o, moo-kaula ; the deadly mo’o, moo-make-a-kane. The 
Hawaiian legends frequently speak of mo’o of extraordinary size living in caverns, 
amphibious in their nature, and being the terror of the inhabitants.® 
According to the Codex Fuen-leal, at the beginning of things the 
gods made thirteen heavens, and beneath them the primeval water, in 
which they placed a fish called cipactli (queses como caiman). This 
marine monster brought the dirt and clay from which they made the 
earth, which, therefore, is represented in their paintings resting on the 
back of a fish. 
A similar conception is found both in Malay and Hindu mythology, 
differing somewhat in details, but always relating to some monster rep- 
tile. In the Manek Maya, one of the ancient epics of Java, Anta Boga, 
the deity presiding over the lowest region of the earth, is a dragon-like 
monster with ninety nostrils. The same conception is found also among 
other peoples. 
In the Tonga language moco is ‘‘a species of lizard;” in Hawaiian 
mo’o or moko is “the general name for lizards,” and the same word sig- 
nifies “lizard” in Samoan; moko-moko is the New Zealand (Maori) name 
for a small lizard. Taylor‘ says that moko-titi was a “lizard god.” 
It is therefore evident that a superstition regarding some reptilian 
water monster prevailed throughout the Pacific islands. It is true 
also that the Nahuatl cipactli certainly means some amphibious or 
1 Jour. Anthrop. Inst. G. B. and I., November, 1889, p. 121. 
2 Thid., 1885, p, 199. 
3 Polynesian Race, vol. I, pp. 76-77. 
4Rev. Richard Taylor, Te-Ika-a-Maui; London, 1870. 


