INFERIOR DIVINITIES. 
327 
of his birth; hence that was honoured as the place 
of his nativity, and became celebrated for his wor¬ 
ship. Taaroa afterwards created the wife of Oro, 
and their children were also gods. 
After the birth of Oro, Taaroa had other sons, 
who were called brothers of Oro, among whom 
were the gods of the Areois. These were the four 
orders of celestial beings worshipped in the Lee¬ 
ward Islands. The different classes only have 
been mentioned ; an enumeration of the individual 
deities, and their offices or attributes, would be 
tedious and useless. 
These objects of fear and worship were exceed¬ 
ingly numerous, and may be termed the chief 
deities of the Polynesians. There was an inter¬ 
mediate class between the principal divinities and 
the gods of particular localities or professions, but 
they are not supposed to have existed from the 
beginning, or to have been born of Night. Their 
origin is veiled in obscurity, but they are often 
described as having been renowned men, who 
after death were deified by their descendants. 
Roo, Tane, Teiri, probably Tairi, the principal idol 
of the Sandwich Islanders, Tefatu, Ruanuu, Moe, 
Teepa, Puaua, Tefatuture, Opaevai, Haana, and 
Taumure. These all received the homage of the 
people, and were on all public occasions acknow¬ 
ledged among Tahiti's gods. 
Their gods of the ocean were not less numerous; 
this was to be expected amongst a people almost 
amphibious in their habits, dwelling in islands, 
and deriving a great part of their sustenance from 
the sea. The names of fourteen principal marine 
divinities were communicated by the first Mission¬ 
aries ; others have been subsequently added, but 
it is unnecessary to enumerate them here. They 
