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POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES. 
tion was diverted by any means^ so that the prayer was 
hai^ or broken^ the whole was rendered unavailable, he 
must prepare other victims, and repeat his prayers over 
from the commencement. 
The history of our first parents was frequently brought 
forward. Sometimes they wanted to know what was 
the colour of Adam and Eve’s skin, or what language 
they spoke j with regard to the former, their opinions 
were in accordance with those of the late Bishop Heber 5 
they said it was very likely they were brown or olive- 
coloured, and, as their descendants, or the descendants of 
Noah, travelled to hotter climates, they became darker | 
while those, whose information had removed the belief 
that our colour was the effect of disease, acknowledged 
the plausibility of our ancestors having become white 
from the influence of cold, and a clouded atmosphere, 
whereby they were shaded from the sun. 
More important matters concerning them were how¬ 
ever often the subjects of inquiry. They felt interested 
in their destiny, and asked whether, after the fall, and 
expulsion from Paradise, they had repented and obtained 
pardon; and at one time, when, in answer to this ques¬ 
tion, it had been stated that there was reason to believe 
that they had obtained forgiveness, and were now in 
heaven, the native immediately inquired further, how 
Adam’s crime could affect his posterity, after the guilt 
contracted by it had been removed even from the per¬ 
petrators of that crime ? The origin of moral evil was 
sometimes introduced. It has been asked at meetings 
where I have been present. Would Satan have tempted 
Eve, or would man have fallen, if God had not forbidden 
our first parents to eat of the fruit of the tree of know¬ 
ledge ? To which it was answered, That if God had not 
