SOME FOLK-SONGS AND MYTHS FKOM SAMOA. 215 



of a round table ; hence the fable, that it was by the growth of a pro- 

 digious tree of this Tacca genus the heavens were raised, aloft. Can the 

 sacredness of the Dodonean oak and of the Norse Ygdrasil have originated 

 in some such idea as this ? Masoa seems to be used here as a synonym 

 for the name of some one of the islands of the Pacific. 



27. The Teve is also a variety of the arrow-root tree ; but the root of it 

 is so acrid that criminals are compelled to bite it as a punishment. The 

 bite causes severe blistering of the lips and mouth. 



28. Fatu-le-gae'e means the ' immoveable seed-stone.' For ' immove- 

 able,' see note 24, supra. The fatu is 'the hard stone of a fruit, the 

 kernel '; it suggests the idea here that Manuka had a heavenly seed 

 dropped into its bosom, which sprang up and became a mighty tree, 

 spreading its branches into all the islands of the Pacific. 



Fatu, as an adjective, means ' hard/ and is quoted as a proof that the 

 Polynesians are of Malay origin, for the Malay word batu means ' hard.' 

 But on the same reasoning, the Papuans of the New Hebrides must also 

 be Malays, for the Aneityumese say inhat (i e., in-fat) for ' stone,' and the 

 Eromangans say nevat (i.e., ne-vat) ; the negroid natives of New Britain 

 and of the Duke of York Island must also be Malays, for they say wat, 

 ' a stone,' and pat-ina, ' the hard seed of a fruit.' I observe also that the 

 New Hebrideans treat ' stone ' as a word of their own, for they give it 

 the prefix-formatives which belong to words used as nouns in their own 

 languages. The same word is found in New Zealand ; there whatu is 

 ' hail/ 'the pupil {i.e., kernel) of the eye/ and ko-whatu is ' stone.' 



29. Manuka consists of rocky islets, uplifted by volcanoes. (See note 

 3, page 203). The population of the three is now about 1,200. 



For the full story of Alele, see page 203. ' Pretence of justice,' lit., 

 'he caused the blows (of justice) to glance aside '; this describes him as a 

 perverber of justice, for he was a plunderer. 



The Rock. How the Samoans came to regard ' the Rock ' — a hard 

 parent — as their first progenitor, I cannot tell. In the ' Genealogy of 

 the kings of Samoa/ the very first words are ' Papa-tu (' standing-rock ') 

 married Papa-ele ('earth-rock') and their son Ma'a-taanoa ('loose-stone') 

 married Papa-pala ('mud-rock'). I suppose man has always been ' of 

 the earth, earthy/ for Adam was ' red ' earth. 



But in the mythology of the Hervey Islanders, 'Papa' is a woman, 

 the last of the primary gods. Her name there means 'foundation,' and 

 that is more appropriate than ' rock ' in Samoan. 



30. The fono, in this and all the other names, corresponds, in its use, to 

 the Latin Appii-/oritm and the English Market- Bos worth. The Samoan 

 word is malae (=marae), but fono has been used in the translation, for 

 convenience' sake, to mean ' a place where assemblies of the people could 

 be held.' Every village had a malae, or open space, where the villagers 

 came together for public purposes,, but only certain places had the right 

 to hold a/ono or general assembly for the discussion of weightier matters. 



31. He is called Tufuga, 'the carpenter, builder/ two lines below. 

 Tufunga is not now a word of dignity ; it would not now be applied even 

 to a chief, much less to a god. This fact, and other similar words in the 

 poem, go to prove its antiquity. Is ' chiefs' language ' a recent thing ? 



32. Literally, 'but (they were) very quiet.' Compare with this, the 

 Homeric Councils. 



33. This first libation to the gods is well-nigh universal. 



31. To the Polynesian islanders canoe-building is the most important 

 of all architectural achievements ; and so, they will prosper in it, if they 

 have first shown, by libations, due reverence for the gods. 



