114 
MYTHOLOGY. 
The Atua o te po, the gods of Hades or darkness, be- 
ing in existence before the heaven was lifted up from the 
earth, were the first and most ancient, as darkness pre- 
ceded light; then followed the gods of light, Nga Atua 
o te Ra. Of the former the chief was Hine-nui-te-po, great 
mother night. Rangi and Papa,* or Heaven and earth, were 
the grand parents of them all. The general idea of Heaven 
was that it was a solid and opaque body, spread out upon the 
earth, which was flat as a board ; Papa, the earth, bears this 
signification. The two parts thus joined together formed a 
globe, the heaven being one half of a sphere, the earth being 
the other.fi 
There were ten Heavens the lowest was separated from 
* Heaven was also called Rangi nui e tu nei, the great sky which stands 
above. The earth was named Papa tua nuku, the great surface spread out 
below. 
t The account of the mundane egg, given in the “ Laws of Menu,” closely 
resembles that of the Maori : “ In that egg the. great power sat inactive a whole 
year, at the close of which, by his thought alone, he caused the egg to divide 
itself, and from the two divisions he framed the heaven and the earth, in the 
midst, the subtle ether, the eight regions, and the permanent receptacle of 
waters.” — “ Laws of Menu” in Sir W. Jones’ Works, vol. iii, page 66. 
t Tawaki's Ascent to Heaven. 
Piki ake Tawaki i te Rangituatahi, 
E rongo te Mahaki. 
Piki ake Tawaki i te Rangituarua, 
E rongo te Mahaki. 
Piki ake Tawaki i te Rangituatoru, 
E rongo te Mahaki. 
Piki ake Tawaki i te Rangituawa, 
E rongo te Mahaki. 
Piki ake Tawaki i te Rangituarima, 
E rongo te Mahaki. 
Piki ake Tawaki i te Rangituaono, 
E rongo te Mahaki. 
Piki ake Tawaki i te Rangituawitu, 
E rongo te Mahaki. 
Piki ake Tawaki i te Rangituawaru, 
E rongo te Mahaki. 
Piki ake Tawaki i te Rangituaiwa, 
E rongo te Mahaki. 
Piki ake Tawaki i te Rangituarea, 
E rongo te Mahaki. 
Pipiri moko, pipiri moko, raraumoko raraumoko, 
Rarauki taha tu o te rangi. 
