288 ^ A Letter on Otaheite. '^ 



creation of minds wholly savage and uncultivated, must necessarily 

 be considered as the result of profound reasoning, and of a philoso- 

 phy, the existence of which, it is impossible to suppose, except 

 among people in a high state of mental cultivation. Of this, any 

 one may easily satisfy himself, not only by their system of creation, 

 but by all the ideas, on these subjects, which are contained in their 

 traditions, and, which, however, imperfectly comprehended by the 

 present inhabitants, must have been as intelligible to their prede- 

 cessors, as they seem clearly expressed and easily understood by us. 

 Their description or account of Tah-ah-ro-ah, or the infinite being, 

 may be adduced as a striking example. Is it not the most sublime, 

 that the human mind can conceive ? " An uncreated being, self-ex- 

 istent, the supreme intelligence,^^ the source of existence, of anima- 

 tion to the universe. The Sovereign Lord of nature ; from whom 

 all substance, all being, is derived ; to whom the hierarchy of heav- 

 en, owe their existence ; in the presence of whom, agreeably to their 

 view, the most powerful of the other Gods, and those whom they 

 most dread, reign only by his permission in the different parts of the 

 universe ; and although in some measure, partaking of his divine na- 

 ture, and associated to a certain extent in his power, are merely sub- 

 alterns, intermediate divinities, with limited authority ; whom he 

 created, and whom he can in like manner, annihilate. 



What I have said, can only serve to give you a very imperfect 

 idea of the interesting nature of the matters, which are the subject 

 of the single article referred to. But, as my letter is growing long, 

 I will merely remark, that according to their traditions, Tah-ah-ro- 

 ah, who existed alone in a state of rest in Chaos, is all that came af- 

 terwards to constitute the universe ; and that light, motion, the 

 heavens, in short, every thing that exists, consists in him alone, and 

 that the universe, the whole creation, is nothing more than the de- 

 velopement of his immensity. In their own language, " the great, 

 the holy creation, is nothing but the envelope {or shell) of Tah-ah- 

 ro-ah. It is he that moves it, and causes its harmony ; or causes its 

 harmonious movements." 



I am sorry, that I cannot furnish you with more adequate concep- 

 tion of these matters, nor give you more full information of a system 

 of religion, which is sublime and astonishing, nor have room for fur^- 

 ther extracts from the traditions, which I have discovered in relation 

 to it, and which contain a complete view of it. 



