46 FUNAFUTI ATOLL. 



In some of the Northern Atolls the natives were adepts at 

 singlestick and wrestling. Some of these men showed me a 

 variety of adroit tricks, whereby an unarmed man might safely 

 seize a knife from his enemy's hand, break down his guard, or trip 

 him. This skill at fence was taught them by the Gilbert Islanders. 



A British Protectorate was proclaimed over the Ellice Group 

 in Sept., 1892, by Captain Gibson of H.M.S. " CuraQoa." 



HEATHEN WORSHIP. 



To-day Paganism claims not a single adherent throughout the 

 Archipelago. Christianity has now been embraced for a quarter 

 of a century, and the memory of- the old rites is rapidly 

 vanishing. In a few years the knowledge of these that might 

 still be gleaned will have become extinct. I have therefore 

 added to my own gatherings a digest of information relating to 

 the Ellice previously published. The religious customs of this 

 Group, no doubt, were closely approximated to those of the 

 Tokelaus described by Turner.* 



On the subject of heathen worship, and indeed upon Funafuti 

 lore in general, I owe most of the information gathered to the 

 unwearied kindness of Mr. John O'Brien, who during forty years' 

 residence has acquired a greater knowledge of native manners 

 and customs than the younger generation of natives possesses. 

 Mr. O'Brien kindly supplemented his recollections by questioning 

 and interpreting from aged men on my behalf. 



The first objects to which worship was addressed seem to have 

 been Thunder and Lightning. A spirit, Tufokoula, was worshipped 

 in the form of a sea bird. The Areva or cuckoo (Urodynamis 

 iaitensis, Sparrm.) was sacred on Nanomana.f For the interest- 

 ing superstition regarding this bird on the Gilberts, see a paper 

 by Mr. A. J. North. J To this succeeded ancestor worship. 

 Toa, one of the traditionary " Kaounga," or first inhabitants, 

 believed to have swum from Samoa, was one of the earliest 

 deified. Erivada, son of Erikobai, a famous and powerful priest 

 of the olden time, appears to have arranged the rites and deities. 

 Firafi, a former king and famous warrior, was introduced as an 

 object of worship, and any distinguished tribesman was on his 

 death added to the Funafuti pantheon. "They appear," remarks 

 Newell, " to have had more elaborate religious rites than other 



* Turner loc. cit., p. 267. f Gill Jottings, p. 25. 



JProc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W. (2), ix., p. 585. 



Turner writes (loc. cit., p. 285) the name "Foilape," and adds that 

 he was also one of the principal gods of Nukufetau. The reigning chief 

 of Nukufetau when the " Peacock " visited the group bore his name. 

 Newell says (Joe. cit.), " Foilape was a man of enormous physical strength 

 and a fearful despot. He had to flee for his life to Vaitupu, where he 

 was honoured as a god, after he had been murdered as a despot." 



