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POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES. 
ment were thrown over its varied scenes. The sentiment 
of the poet that— 
“ Millions of spiritual creatures walk the earth 
Unseen, both when we wake, and when we sleep,’^ 
was one familiar to their minds; and it is impossible not 
to feel interested in a people who were accustomed to 
consider themselves surrounded by invisible intelligen¬ 
ces, and who recognized in the rising sun, the mild and 
silver moon—^the shooting star—the meteor’s transient 
flame—^the ocean’s roar—the tempest’s blast, or the even¬ 
ing breeze—^the movements of mighty spirits. The 
mountain’s summit, and the fleecy mists that hang upon 
its brows—the rocky defile—the foaming cataract—and 
the lonely dell—were all regarded as the abode or resort 
of these invisible beings. 
An eclipse of the moon filled them with dismay; they 
supposed the planet was natua^ or under the influence of 
the spell of some evil spirit that was destroying it. 
Hence they repaired to the temple, and offered prayers 
for the moon’s release. The shape and stability of their 
islands they regarded as depending on the influence of 
spirits. The high and rocky obelisks, and detached pieces 
of mountain, were viewed as monuments of their power. 
The large mountain on the left-hand side of the 
entrance to Opunohu, or Taloo harbour, which separates 
this bay from Cook’s harbour, and is only united 
to the island by a narrow isthmus, was ascribed by 
tradition to the operations of those spirits, who like 
the spirits in most other parts of the world, prefer 
the hours of darkness for their achievements. This 
mountain, it is stated, was formerly united with the 
mountains of the interior, and yielded in magnitude to 
none 5 but one night, the spirits of the place determined 
