MYTHOLOGY. 
147 
Let her be baptized by Puanga, 
With the day which glides, 
Which glides away, which lingers. 
Let her be baptized, let the water cover her, 
Let her be baptized, let the wave fall over her, 
Let her be baptized to Tu, 
With the wave following after as a companion 
With the water of Pnanga mata kurae, 
Of Puanga with the sliding day, 
Glancing day, lingering day. 
Such is a portion of a very long myth ; a great deal of which 
will not bear repeating ; it is interesting as shewing what ideas 
were entertained of their gods, and heaven, which, from this 
account, differed little from the earth, having its dwellings and 
cultivations ; its inhabitants likewise had their labors, quarrels, 
passions, need of food, as other men ; the persons alluded to, 
were chief gods. The way they manifested themselves to 
men was various — the whirlwind indicated the presence of a 
deity ; the rain bow was exclusively the property of Uenuku ; 
the lightning and thunder belonged to Whiro ; meteors, or 
any unaccountable noise, were tokens of the presence of a 
god. Sometimes they manifested themselves in the forms 
of spiders, moths, and flies; but chiefly by the mouths of 
their priests, of which they took possession ; during that 
period, the person thus possessed appeared quite frantic, 
uttering the most fearful cries, and distorted in every limb ; 
whilst in this state, everything he said, or did, was con- 
sidered as the immediate act of the god within him. 
Heroes were thought to become stars, of greater or less 
brightness, according to the number of their victims slain 
in fight ; they scooped out their eyes and swallowed them, 
in order to obtain the spirit and power of the enemy slain. 
The spirit of a chief, thus consuming those of the slain, 
was raised above men ; he became a god even upon earth, 
and, after death* a bright luminary of heaven. 
Of the gods of the night, Hine-nui-te-po ranks the high- 
est, more being spoken of her than of all the others ; and 
yet, she only appears to be a personification of night and 
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