SOME FOLK-SONGS AND MYTHS FKOM SAMOA. 119 



34. Makes fun ; 'ua fa'i atiga i tagata'; lit., 'he makes small-crumbs of 

 men.' In English we have a similar expression, ' he made him look very 

 small.' 



40. The boys; this was very bad conduct in them. 



43. He struck him; one blow with this weapon was enough; see above ;, 

 the lapa-lapa, ' the stem of a cocoa-nut leaf,' is hard, heavy, and strong. 



45. Food; 'fono'; see above. 



47. And he lived ; another version of this solo makes Pava first say in 



penitence — 



Tangaloa ua fa'i tonusia ; o ita lava ia ola. 

 ' Tangaloa has done what is right ; as for myself, let me live.' 



48. The solo now breaks off to speak of Sina's capture ; see p. 106. 



54. Branching leaves, sc, of a fern, the ' lau-maga-maga,' the Polypodium 

 phymatoides. 



58. To catch Sina; persons of very high rank and the sick are carried 

 on a ' fata/ a sort of hand-chair or litter ; cf. our own triumphal pro- 

 cessions. 



Solo X. 



Line 4. The ' fala '; this fruit, when cut, somewhat resembles a piece 

 of pine-apple ; the Samoans make a sort of bread of it. 



5 — 7. Fasa-fasa, faga-faga, beautiful native trees ; the fasa is a ' pan- 

 danus,' the faga is a ti tree ; and the sigano is the blossom of the fasa. 



9 — 15. Necessary preliminaries ; see Solo IX. 



16. Green cocoa-nut ; the liquid of a green, immature, cocoa-nut is a 

 common drink. 



18. Wild taro, 'pula'a'; tava leaf, 'lau tava.' 



Solo XI. 



Line 3. One group; the solos declare that the people of all the Samoan 

 islanders are of one common origin. 



5. Borabora is one of the Society islands. 



6. Early in the morning ; that is, as the Tcava has such a long journey 

 to go, it ought to start early. 



10. Thy price ; the solo here asserts that Savai'i bought the Tcava from 

 Saua, and the price was a brood-hen, ' tina manaf a/ (manafa, ' having 

 chickens,' c prolific ') . 



20. Ruling lands ; ' lau-mua '; there are three ruling or leading lands 

 in Upolu. 



28. Fue and Fang a, 'Creeping -plant' and 'Bay,' were the parents of 

 the Pava of Solo IX. 



30 — 37. The Tcava is ready, but fish must be caught to eat with it. 



32. It was evening ; they fish by moon-light. 



36. Malau-tea ; there is a great variety of fishes that are called malau, 

 each with a descriptive adjective attached, as here ; they belong to the 

 genera f Myripristis ' and e Holocentrum.' 



