CRYING FOR THE DEAD. 
CHAPTER VI. 
MYTHOLOGY. 
The mythology of an isolated race, like that of the Maori, 
is an important aid in ascertaining the locality from whence 
it originally sprang ; embodied in it, the most ancient re- 
mains of its history are to be found, as well as peculiarities 
of its religion; and it is there, amongst fables and foolish 
tales, that some faint remains of ancient truth are to be 
discerned. 
In fact, mythology is the natural measure of the unen- 
lightened mind ; it contains the aspirings of the soul after 
higher objects, which are beyond its reach, and its efforts to 
realize the dim images faintly formed in the mind, as the 
man wandering in darkness strives to give shape to the 
objects indistinctly seen to connect them together. 
Of their traditions it may be remarked, that the most 
ancient are those which are common to other islands, as 
they evidently belong to a period anterior to their arrival in 
