THE ANCIENT SAMOAN GOVERNMENT. 
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-committed to a select class, who were very careful and jealous of the 
honourable and responsible function they held. Of course, having no 
knowledge of writing, the chronicles were retained in their memories 
alone, and thus handed down from one generation to another. They 
were entrusted with the duty of instructing young chiefs in their 
genealogical history and chronicles. As aids to memory certain fine 
mats (ie tonga ) were woven to commemorate important family events, 
and handed down as heirlooms in the family. In native genealogies 
of the kings of Eastern Polynesia it was a common custom to trace 
their origin to the gods or heavenly powers — like the Greeks and' 
Homans and other ancient nations. 
The common Samoan myth regarding the creation and peopling 
of their world assigns the first act to the god <£ Tangaloa,” who, while 
fishing, hauled up a rock from the ocean deep, which afforded a resting- 
place for his daughter on a visit to the lower world. On a subsequent 
visit she found the rock covered by an ocean creeping-plant. The 
creeper afterwards perished and produced worms, and in the course 
of rapid evolution the worms became men and women. This myth 
varies on different islands. In the eastern islands there is an account 
of a succession of rocks which are personified, and the first man, 
Le Tang at a, was the offspring of these rocks ; he was also named 
“Tupu-fua’* (arising spontaneously). He married a daughter of the 
supreme deity Tangaloa-langi . Their son, named Lu, became king 
of heaven. He descended to the earth, and a son was born to him 
who was called “Tui-Atua” (lord of Atua). He married his sister, 
“ Langi-tuavalu ” (eight heavens), and their son became a Tui-Atua. 
This is the mythical genealogy of the Tui-Atua ; thence the table 
proceeds on a plain historical record. 
The Tui-Aana sprang from the family of a high chief named 
Le Samoa-na-ngalo, who married the daughter of the King of Tonga. 
Their second son was Le Sanga-alala. In the genealogy of Samoa- 
na-ngalo it is recorded that, after several generations of chiefs who 
retained their separate chieftainships, a son was born to Tui-Aana- 
tama-a-le-langi, who was named Salamasina, and in this son the several 
high titles (go) of Atua, Aana, and Le Tuamasanga were united, and 
Salamasina thereupon became King (Tupu-o- Samoa) . Then the title 
descended through the female line, and the genealogical chain passes 
on to Sina, a grand-daughter of Salamasina. Her son was Eaumuina, 
who retained the royal titles. The second wife of Eaumuina was 
Ata-mu-lau, a Tongan lady. A third wife was Eala-leomalie, a 
daughter of Mata’utia, a high chief of Aleipata, a superior town of 
Atua. Quarrels arose among the children of these different wives, 
and the sons of Eaumuiua fought several battles. These quarrels caused 
a dispersion of the royal titles, which were redistributed to the respec- 
tive districts from which they had been obtained, and for a time the 
kingship was loosely held, as none now possessed the united titles, 
and therefore were not recognised by the respective divisions of Samoa. 
In this state of things wars were frequent in the struggle for 
supremacy; and Eonoti, the son of Faumuina and Eala-leomalie, 
became King by conquest. Eonoti married Euatino, a chief lady of 
Easito’otai, in Aana, and their son was Muangututi’a, who became a 
high chief of Aana, and by marriage a high chief of Atua also. Their 
