282 JOHN FEASER. 



room for Ilu and Mamao to work ; this is the First Heavens ; in it are 

 placed the Sun and Night and Day. Ilu and Mamao then bear again, 

 and the Sky (' le lagi ') , according to the myth, is produced ; this probably 

 means the region above the clouds, for the Polynesian myth-makers must 

 have noticed the difference between cloud-land and the higher sky ; this 

 Tui propped up, and it was the Second Heavens. 



Remained there; i.e., in the Third Heavens, which they peopled. The 

 heavens above the Third are, in the myth, produced (fanau) by Langi, 

 the f sky' personified, but they were all peopled by Ilu and Mamao. The 

 notion that the stars in the heavens are gods and men and beasts and 

 trees, &c, is a very old one. 



22. Tangaloa sat still. In the ' Solo o le Va/ he is represented as a quiet, 

 contemplative god, who delights in tranquillity and peaces — the Polynesian 

 Brahma, the origin and source of all things. In his active manifestations 

 he is fa' a-tutupu-nuu (see notes on par. 13), ' the creator of lands"; but in 

 his dealings with men, he works by intermediary emanations from himself } 

 which are all of them persons and called Tangaloa ; le fuli is the ' im- 

 moveable ' {le ' not/ fuli, ' to turn over,' 'to capsize'); asi-asi-nu'u, ' the 

 omnipresent ' (asi, ' to visit '; asi-asi, a frequentative ; nu'u, ' a district, a 

 country, a people '); tolo-nu'u, 'the extender of lands, or peoples' (tolo, 'to 

 spread out '; it applies to reefs that run out into the sea, branches that 

 spread out from the tree, or roots running along on the surface of the 

 ground); sdvdli, ' the ambassador or messenger ' (sdvdli means 'to walk'). 



Tuli and Longonoa both mean ' deaf ' or ' deafness,' but that meaning 

 cannot apply to these workers of Tangaloa. In the ' Solo o le Va/ Tuli 

 is the bird-'ata' or emblem of Tangaloa; so also here, I believe. As to 

 Longonoa, the simple verb logo, means ' to report'; hence I take Longonoa, 

 to be ' the reporter/ the one who carries tidings up to Tangaloa ; logonoa 

 means ' to hear/ and logo-logod is 'famous, renowned.' Logonoa would 

 thus be used as a verbal adjective ; and in form it corresponds with such 

 verbs as tala-noa from tola. The Longo-noa here may be the same as the 

 Eongo of other islands. 



24. They should go up. The context means that Savali, ' the messenger/ 

 was sent down to summon a fono or council of the gods whose stations 

 had been appointed in the various heavens below, and tell them that they 

 should go up to the Ninth Heavens to deliberate there. This was a council 

 of chiefs, for these gods are called ali'i, 'chiefs.' Tne fono determined 

 to send Savali down with a message to Night and Day. 



25. Langi-uli, 'the dark, cloudy heavens'; Laigi-md, 'the bright clear 

 heavens/ called also Langi-l&lei (lelei, 'good, beautiful'). . Uli means 

 ' black/ ' dark blue/ 



26. Last injunction ; mavaega, ' a parting command/ 



27. Manu'a and Samoa. The pride of race comes in here ; Manu'a is 

 the child of Night and Day, and is the brother of the Sun and Moon* 



