LEGEND OF THE BREAD-FRUIT. 69 
god; he has power, and he will enable me to do 
it.” Accordingly, he repaired to the family marae, 
and presented his petition to the deity. A favour¬ 
able answer was given to his prayer, and in the 
evening he called his wife to him, and said, “ I 
am about to die; when I am dead, take my body, 
separate it, plant my head in one place, my heart 
and stomach in another, &c. and then come into the 
house and wait. When you shall hear first a sound 
like that of a leaf, then of a flower, afterwards of 
an unripe fruit, and subsequently of a ripe round 
fruit falling on the ground, know that it is I, who 
am become food for our son.” He died soon after. 
His wife obeyed his injunctions, planting the 
stomach near the house, as directed. After a 
while, she heard a leaf fall, then the large scales 
of the flower, then a small unripe fruit, afterwards 
one full grown and ripe. By this time it was day¬ 
light ; she awoke her son, took him out, and they 
beheld a large and handsome tree, clothed with 
broad shining leaves, and loaded with bread-fruit. 
She directed him to gather a number, take the first 
to the family god and to the king; to eat no more 
red earth, but to roast and eat the fruit of the tree 
growing before them.—This is only a brief outline 
of the tradition which the natives give of the origin 
of the bread-fruit. The account is much longer, 
and I wrote it out in detail once or twice from the 
mouth of the natives ; but though not unpleasant 
as a specimen of the natives* faculty of invention, 
it is ill adapted to afford information. It was 
probably invented by some priest, to uphold the 
influence of the gods, and the tribute of first- 
fruits paid to the king. The origin of the cocoa- 
nut, chesnut, and yam, are derived from similar 
sources; the cocoa-nut having grown from the 
