The head was deemed a very sacred part, and in olden days the bodies of chiefs were often buried near their houses until decomposition had set in, when the head was cut off and interred in some family burying-place inland, to save it from insult in time of war. This interment of the head was accompanied with feasts, dances, and sham-fights. The skull was borne to the appointed place on a kind of stage, attended by a troop of armed men. With these sham-fights Dr. George Brown, who records the custom, compares the sham-fights which used to take place among the Melanesians of the Duke of York Island when the body of a chief was laid on a high platform in front of his house, one company of warriors striving to deposit the corpse on the platform, while their adversaries attempted to prevent them from doing so.[164] The meaning of these curious sham-fights is obscure. Perhaps the attacking party represented a band of evil spirits, who endeavoured to snatch away the chief's body, but were defeated in the nefarious attempt.
One or two families of chiefs in the island of Upolu used to practise a rude kind of embalming. The work was done exclusively by women. The viscera having been removed and buried, the women anointed the body daily with a mixture of oil and aromatic juices. To let the fluids escape, they punctured the body all over with fine needles. Finally, wads of native cloth, saturated with oil or resinous gums, were inserted in the abdomen, the apertures were closed up, and the body wrapt in native cloth. The face, hands, and feet were left exposed, and were repeatedly anointed with oil, mixed with turmeric powder, to give a fresh and life-like appearance to the mummy. The whole process lasted about two months. On its completion the mummy was placed in a house built specially for the purpose, where, loosely covered with a sheet of native cloth, it rested on a raised platform. Strangers were freely admitted to see it. Four of these mummies, laid out in a house, were to be seen down to about the year 1864. They were the bodies of a chief, his wife, and two sons. Dr. George Turner judged that they must have been embalmed upwards of thirty years, and although they had been exposed all that time, they were in a remarkably good state of preservation. The people assigned no particular reason for the practice, further than that it sprang from an affectionate desire to keep the bodies of their departed friends with them, as if they were still alive.[165]
With regard to the fate of human souls after death the Samoans appear to have believed in their immortality, or at all events in their indefinite survival. On this subject Dr. Brown observes: "All souls survived after death, and so far as I know they had no idea of their dying a second death or being destroyed. I do not think that a Samoan could give any reason for his belief that the soul does not perish with the body, but he certainly does believe this, and I never heard any one question the fact."[166] Thus, according to Dr. Brown the Samoans, unlike the Tongans, drew no invidious distinction between the souls of noblemen and the souls of commoners, but liberally opened the doors of immortality to gentle and simple alike. So far, they carried their republican or democratic spirit into the world beyond the grave.
However, according to the American ethnologist, Horatio Hale, some of the Samoans agreed with the Tongans in taking an aristocratic view of the destiny of souls after death; and as he had good opportunities for acquainting himself with the Samoan religion during the prolonged stay of the American Exploring Expedition at Samoa in 1839, when the islands were as yet but little affected by European influence, I will quote his account. He says: "All believe in the existence of a large island, situated far to the north-west called Pulótu, which is the residence of the gods. Some suppose that while the souls of the common people perish with their bodies, those of the chiefs are received into this island, which is described as a terrestrial elysium, and become there inferior divinities. Others hold (according to Mr. Heath) that the spirits of the departed live and work in a dark subterraneous abode, and are eaten by the gods. A third, and very common opinion is, that the souls of all who die on an island, make their way to the western extremity, where they plunge into the sea; but what then becomes of them is not stated. The rock from which they leap, in the island of Upolu, was pointed out to us; the natives term it 'Fatu-asofia,' which was rendered the 'jumping-off stone.'"[167]
Of these various opinions described by Hale the third would seem to have been by far the most prevalent. It was commonly believed that the disembodied spirit retained the exact resemblance of its former self, by which we are probably to understand the exact resemblance of its former body. Immediately on quitting its earthly tabernacle it began its solitary journey to Fafa, which was the subterranean abode of the dead, lying somewhere to the west of Savaii, the most westerly island of the group. Thus, if a man died in Manua, the most easterly of the islands, his soul would journey to the western end of that island, then dive into the sea and swim across to Tutuila. There it would walk along the beach to the extreme westerly point of the island, when it would again plunge into the sea and swim across to the next island, and so on to the most westerly cape of Savaii, where it finally dived into the ocean and pursued its way to the mysterious Fafa.[168]
At the western end of Savaii, near the village of Falealupo, there are two circular openings among the rocks, not far from the beach. Down these two openings the souls of the dead were supposed to go on their passage to the spirit-world. The souls of chiefs went down the larger of the openings, and the souls of common people went down the smaller. Near the spot stood a coco-nut tree, and if a passing soul chanced to collide with it, the soul could not proceed farther, but returned to its body. When a man recovered from a deep swoon, his friends supposed that his soul had been arrested in its progress to the other world by knocking against the coco-nut tree, and they rejoiced, saying, "He has come back from the tree of the Watcher," for that was the name by which the coco-nut tree was known. So firmly did the people of the neighbourhood believe in the passage of the souls near their houses, that at night they kept down the blinds to exclude the ghosts.[169] The "jumping-off stone" at the west end of Upolu was also dreaded on account of the passing ghosts. The place is a narrow rocky cape. The Samoans were much astonished when a Christian native boldly built himself a house on the haunted spot.[170] According to one account, the souls of the dead had not to make their way through the chain of islands by the slow process of walking and swimming, but were at once transported to the western end of Savaii by a band of spirits, who hovered over the house of the dying man, and catching up his parting spirit conveyed it in a straight course westward.[171]
The place down which the spirits of the dead were supposed to descend to the nether world was called by a native name (Luaō), which means "hollow pit." "May you go rumbling down the hollow pit" was a common form of cursing. At the bottom of the pit was a running stream which floated the spirits away to Pulotu. All alike, the handsome and the ugly, old and young, chiefs and commoners, drifted pell-mell on the current in a dazed, semi-conscious state, till they came to Pulotu. There they bathed in "the Water of Life" and recovered all their old life and vigour. Infirmity of every kind fled away; even the aged became young again. The underworld of Pulotu was conceived on the model of our upper world. There, as here, were heavens and earth and sea, fruits and flowers; there the souls of the dead planted and fished and cooked; there they married and were given in marriage, all after the manner of life on earth.[172]
However, it appears that according to a widespread belief the world of the dead was sharply discriminated into two regions, to wit, an Elysium or place of bliss called Pulotu, and a Tartarus or place of woe named Sā-le-Fe'e. The title for admission to one or other of these places was not moral worth but social rank, chiefs going to Elysium and commoners to Tartarus. The idea of the superiority of the chiefs to the common people was thus perpetuated in the land of the dead.[173] The king of the lower regions was a certain Saveasiuleo, that is, Savea of the Echo. He reclined in a house in the company of the chiefs who gathered round him: the upper part of his body was human, the lower part was like that of a fish and stretched away into the sea. This royal house of assembly was supported by the erect bodies of chiefs, who had been of high rank on earth, and who, before they died, anticipated with pride the honour they were to enjoy by serving as pillars in the temple of the King of Pulotu.[174]
But the souls of the dead were not permanently confined to the lower world. They could return to the land of the living by night to hold converse with members of their families, to warn and instruct them in dreams, and to foretell the future. They could cause disease and death by entering into the bodies of their enemies and even of their friends, and they produced nightmare by sitting on the chests of sleepers. They haunted some houses and especially burying-grounds. Their apparitions were visible to the living and were greatly dreaded; people tried to drive them away by shouts, noises, and the firing of guns. But the ghosts had to return to the nether world at daybreak. It was because they feared the spirits of the dead that the Samoans took such great pains to propitiate dying people with presents; this they did above all to persons whom they had injured, because they had most reason to dread the anger of their ghosts.[175] However, the souls of the departed were also thought of in a more amiable light; they could help as well as harm mankind. Hence prayers were commonly offered at the grave of a parent, a brother, or a chief. The suppliant, for example, might pray for health in sickness; or, if he were of a malignant turn, he might implore the ghost to compass the death of some person at whom he bore a grudge. Thus we are told that a woman prayed for the death of her brother, and he died accordingly.[176] In such beliefs and practices we have, as I have already observed, the essential elements of a regular worship of the dead. Whether the Samoans were on the way to evolve such a religion or, as Dr. George Brown preferred to suppose,[177] had left it behind them and made some progress towards a higher faith, we hardly possess the means of determining.
But while the Samoans thought that the dead return to earth to make or mar the living, they did not believe that the spirits come back to be born again in the form of men or animals or to occupy inanimate bodies; in other words they had no belief in the transmigration of souls.[178] The absence of such a belief is significant in view of Dr. Rivers's suggestion that Melanesian totemism may have been evolved out of a doctrine of metempsychosis, human souls being supposed to pass at death into their totem animals or plants.[179] We have seen that the Samoan system of family, village, and district gods bears strong marks of having been developed out of totemism; and if their totemism had in turn been developed out of a doctrine of transmigration, we should expect to find among them a belief that the souls of the dead appeared in the shape of the animals, plants, or other natural objects which were regarded as the embodiments of their family, village, or district gods. But of such a belief there is seemingly no trace. It appears, therefore, unlikely that Samoan totemism was based on a doctrine of transmigration. Similarly we have seen reason to think that the Tongan worship of animals may have sprung from totemism, though according to the best authorities that worship was not connected with a theory of metempsychosis.[180] Taken together, the Samoan and the Tongan systems seem to show that, if totemism ever flourished among the Polynesians, it had not its roots in a worship of the dead.
[1] Ch. Wilkes, Narrative of the United States Exploring Expedition, New Edition (New York, 1851), ii. 117; J. B. Stair, Old Samoa (London, 1897), pp. 21 sq.; F. H. H. Guillemard, Australasia, ii. (London, 1894) p. 500; G. Brown, Melanesians and Polynesians (London, 1910), pp. 1, 360.
[2] J. B. Stair, Old Samoa, pp. 27 sq.; F. H. H. Guillemard, op. cit. pp. 500, 504.
[3] J. E. Erskine, Journal of a Cruise among the Islands of the Western Pacific (London, 1853), p. 110; T. H. Hood, Notes of a Cruise in H.M.S. "Fawn" in the Western Pacific (Edinburgh, 1863), p. 40; J. L. Brenchley, Jottings during the Cruise of H.M.S. "Curaçoa" among the South Sea Islands in 1865 (London, 1873), pp. 37-39, 61 sq.; F. H. H. Guillemard, Australasia, ii. 502 sq.; John B. Stair, Old Samoa, pp. 26 sqq.
[4] J. B. Stair, Old Samoa, pp. 31 sq., 52 sq.
[5] Violette, "Notes d'un Missionnaire sur l'archipel de Samoa," Les Missions Catholiques, iii. (1870) pp. 71 sq.; F. H. H. Guillemard, Australasia, ii. 502 sq.; J. B. Stair, Old Samoa, p. 34; G. Brown, Melanesians and Polynesians, pp. 1 sqq.
[6] F. H. H. Guillemard, op. cit. ii. 504; J. B. Stair, Old Samoa, p. 43.
[7] G. Brown, Melanesians and Polynesians, p. 3.
[8] J. B. Stair, Old Samoa, pp. 33 sq.; G. Brown, Melanesians and Polynesians, p. 171.
[9] T. H. Hood, Notes of a Cruise in H.M.S. "Fawn" in the Western Pacific (Edinburgh, 1863), p. 145; J. B. Stair, op. cit. pp. 41 sq.
[10] Ch. Wilkes, Narrative of the United States Exploring Expedition, ii. 118; Violette, "Notes d'un Missionnaire sur l'archipel de Samoa," Les Missions Catholiques, iii. (1870) p. 72 (who, however, affirms that the climate is not unhealthy); T. H. Hood, Notes of a Cruise in H.M.S. "Fawn" in the Western Pacific (Edinburgh, 1863), pp. 144 sq.; J. B. Stair, Old Samoa, pp. 16, 35 sqq.
[11] Ch. Wilkes, Narrative of the United States Exploring Expedition, ii. 124 sq.; J. B. Stair, Old Samoa, pp. 165 sq., 169 sq.; G. Brown, Melanesians and Polynesians, pp. 180 sqq.
[12] S. Ella, "Samoa," Report of the Fourth Meeting of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science, held at Hobart, Tasmania, in January 1892, p. 622.
[13] Ch. Wilkes, Narrative of the United States Exploring Expedition, ii. 72; Violette, "Notes d'un Missionnaire sur l'archipel de Samoa," Les Missions Catholiques, iii. (1870) p. 72; F. H. H. Guillemard, Australasia, ii. 504; J. B. Stair, Old Samoa, pp. 38-41.
[14] Horatio Hale, Ethnography and Philology of the United States Exploring Expedition (Philadelphia, 1846), pp. 119 sqq.; J. E. Erskine, Journal of a Cruise among the Islands of the Western Pacific, pp. 102 sq.; J. B. Stair, Old Samoa, pp. 271 sqq. (compare id. p. 34 as to the timber and canoe-building of Savaii); G. Brown, Melanesians and Polynesians, pp. 358, 371 sq.; A. C. Haddon, The Wanderings of Peoples (Cambridge, 1919), p. 36; A. H. Keane, Man Past and Present (Cambridge, 1920), p. 552. That the Samoan language, alone of the Polynesian dialects, retains the S sound, is affirmed by Ch. Wilkes (Narrative of the United States Exploring Expedition, ii. 123). In some of the islands the name of the ancient fatherland of the race (Hawaiki, etc.) has been applied or transferred to the spirit-land to which the souls of the dead are supposed to pass as their final abode. See S. Percy Smith, Hawaiki, pp. 46 sqq.; E. Tregear, Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary, pp. 56 sqq., s.v. "Hawaiki."
[15] G. Brown, Melanesians and Polynesians, pp. 360 sq. As to the Fijian colony in Savaii, compare T. H. Hood, Notes of a Cruise in H.M.S. "Fawn" in the Western Pacific (Edinburgh, 1863), pp. 117 sq.
[16] S. Percy Smith, Hawaiki, pp. 114 sq.
[17] Horatio Hale, Ethnography and Philology of the United States Exploring Expedition, pp. 10 sq.; Ch. Wilkes, Narrative of the United States Exploring Expedition, ii. 125 sq.; J. E. Erskine, Journal of a Cruise among the Islands of the Western Pacific, pp. 41, 51; C. E. Meinicke, Die Inseln des Stillen Oceans (Leipzig, 1875-1876), ii. 110 sq.; G. Turner, Samoa, p. 3; J. B. Stair, Old Samoa, p. 58; G. Brown, Melanesians and Polynesians, pp. 55 sq.
[18] S. Ella, "Samoa," Report of the Fourth Meeting of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science, held at Hobart, Tasmania, in January 1892, p. 634.
[19] T. H. Hood, Notes of a Cruise in H.M.S. "Fawn" in the Western Pacific (Edinburgh, 1863), pp. 59 sq.
[20] J. E. Erskine, op. cit. p. 110
[21] Ch. Wilkes, op. cit. ii. 125; J. E. Erskine, op. cit. p. 110
[22] Ch. Wilkes, op. cit. ii. 148; Violette, " Notes d'un Missionnaire sur l'archipel de Samoa," Les Missions Catholiques, iii. (1870) p. 156; J. L. Brenchley, op. cit. p. 77; S. Ella, op. cit. pp. 628 sq.; G. Brown, op. cit. pp. 43, 410.
[23] G. Brown, op. cit. p. 410.
[24] For some evidence of the practice see John Turnbull, Voyage round the World (London, 1813), pp. 363 sq.; C. S. Stewart, Journal of a Residence in the Sandwich Islands (London, 1828), pp. 251 sqq.; P. Dillon, Voyage in the South Seas (London, 1829), ii. 134; William Ellis, Polynesian Researches, Second Edition (London, 1832-1836), i. 248 sqq.; J. Williams, Narrative of Missionary Enterprises in the South Sea Islands (London, 1838), pp. 479-486. According to Stewart, in those parts of Hawaii to which the influence of the missionaries had not penetrated, two-thirds of the infants born were murdered by their parents within the age of two years. In Tahiti three women, questioned by Mr. Williams, acknowledged that they had killed twenty-one of their children between them. Another, at the point of death, confessed to him, in an anguish of remorse, that she had destroyed sixteen of her children.
[25] G. Turner, Samoa, p. 79. Compare J. Williams, op. cit. p. 479; S. Ella, op. cit. p. 621; G. Brown, Melanesians and Polynesians, p. 47.
[26] G. Brown, Melanesians and Polynesians, p. 219.
[27] G. Turner, Samoa, pp. 201 sq. Compare G. Brown, Melanesians and Polynesians, pp. 230 sq.; J. Williams, Narrative of Missionary Enterprises in the South Sea Islands, p. 471; J. B. Stair, Old Samoa, p. 210.
[28] J. Williams, Narrative of Missionary Enterprises in the South Sea Islands, p. 456.
[29] G. Turner, Samoa, pp. 108-111; G. Brown, Melanesians and Polynesians, pp. 149 sq., 290; J. E. Erskine, op. cit. pp. 39, 101 sq.; W. T. Pritchard, Polynesian Reminiscences (London, 1866), pp. 125 sq.; Violette, "Notes d'un Missionnaire sur l'archipel de Samoa," Les Missions Catholiques, iii. (1870) p. 168; J. B. Stair, Old Samoa, pp. 240 sq.
[30] J. B. Stair, Old Samoa, pp. 91 sqq.; G. Brown, Melanesians and Polynesians, pp. 288-291. Compare Violette, "Notes d'un Missionnaire sur l'archipel de Samoa," Les Missions Catholiques, iii. (1870) pp. 119, 120.
[31] S. Ella, "Samoa," Report of the Fourth Meeting of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science, held at Hobart, Tasmania, in January 1892, p. 633.
[32] G. Brown, Melanesians and Polynesians, p. 245. Compare S. Ella, op. cit. p. 638.
[33] See, for example, E. W. Smith and A. M. Dale, The Ila-speaking Peoples of Northern Rhodesia (London, 1920), i. 252 sqq.
[34] G. Brown, Melanesians and Polynesians, p. 348.
[35] J. Williams, op. cit. p. 456; Ch. Wilkes, op. cit. ii. 150 sq.; W. T. Pritchard, Polynesian Reminiscences, p. 61; J. B. Stair, Old Samoa, pp. 247 sqq.; G. Brown, Melanesians and Polynesians, pp. 170, 172 sq. Dr. Brown here speaks as if captive women were regularly spared and married by the victors. As to the elaborate civilities which passed between the vanguards of two hostile armies at their first meeting, see Dr. Brown, op. cit. pp. 166 sq.
[36] J. Williams, op. cit. p. 458.
[37] J. Williams, op. cit. pp. 286 sq., 456; J. B. Stair, Old Samoa, pp. 254-258.
[38] Ch. Wilkes, op. cit.. ii. 145 sqq.; J. E. Erskine, op. cit. pp. 45-47; T. H. Hood, Notes of a Cruise in H.M.S. "Fawn" in the Western Pacific (Edinburgh, 1863), p. 32; Violette, "Notes d'un Missionnaire sur l'archipel de Samoa," Les Missions Catholiques, iii. (1870) p. 135; G. Turner, Samoa, pp. 152 sqq.; S. Ella, op. cit. pp. 634 sq.; J. B. Stair, Old Samoa, pp. 105 sqq., 153 sqq.; G. Brown, Melanesians and Polynesians, pp. 24 sqq.
[39] Ch. Wilkes, op. cit. ii. 147; W. T. Pritchard, Polynesian Reminiscences (London, 1866), pp. 126-128; Violette, "Notes d'un Missionnaire sur l'archipel de Samoa," Les Missions Catholiques, iii. (1870) pp. 87 sq.; G. Turner, Samoa, pp. 105-107; J. B. Stair, Old Samoa, pp. 53-55; G. Brown, Melanesians and Polynesians, pp. 130 sqq. According to Dr. Brown, there are generally three crops of bread-fruit in the year, one of them lasting about three months.
[40] Violette, "Notes d'un Missionnaire sur l'archipel de Samoa," Les Missions Catholiques, iii. (1870) p. 188; S. Ella, op. cit. p. 635; J. B. Stair, Old Samoa, pp. 54 sq.; G. Brown, Melanesians and Polynesians, pp. 130 sqq., 338 sqq.
[41] G. Turner, Samoa, pp. 157 sqq., 162 sqq.; J. B. Stair, Old Samoa, pp. 141 sqq., 145 sqq., 153 sqq., 157 sqq.; G. Brown, Melanesians and Polynesians, pp. 268, 305-308. Compare Ch. Wilkes, op. cit. ii. 143 sqq.; Violette, op. cit. pp. 134 sq.; S. Ella, op. cit. pp. 635 sq.
[42] Ch. Wilkes, Narrative of the United States Exploring Expedition, ii. 142 sq.; J. E. Erskine, Journal of a Cruise among the Islands of the Western Pacific, pp. 109 sq.; W. T. Pritchard, Polynesian Reminiscences, pp. 129-132; Violette, "Notes d'un Missionnaire sur l'archipel de Samoa," Les Missions Catholiques, iii. (1870) p. 135; G. Turner, Samoa, pp. 119-121; S. Ella, "Samoa," Report of the Fourth Meeting of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science, held at Hobart, Tasmania, in January 1892, p. 636; J. B. Stair, Old Samoa, pp. 143 sq.; G. Brown, Melanesians and Polynesians, pp. 304 sq., 305, 315, 434.
[43] G. Turner, Samoa, pp. 176 sq.; J. B. Stair, Old Samoa, pp. 83 sq.; G. Brown, Melanesians and Polynesians, pp. 287 sq., 314, 339.
[44] G. Turner, Samoa, pp. 160 sq.; G. Brown, Melanesians and Polynesians, pp. 247, 262 sq., 434.
[45] J. Williams, Narrative of Missionary Enterprises in the South Sea Islands, p. 454; H. Hale, Ethnography and Philology of the United States Exploring Expedition, p. 29; T. H. Hood, Notes of a Cruise in H.M.S. "Fawn" in the Western Pacific (Edinburgh, 1863), p. 118; G. Turner, Samoa, p. 173; S. Ella, "Samoa," Report of the Fourth Meeting of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science, held at Hobart, Tasmania, in January 1892, p. 631; J. B. Stair, Old Samoa, pp. 83 sq., 89; G. Brown, Melanesians and Polynesians, p. 333.
[46] H. Hale, op. cit. p. 28; Violette, op. cit. p. 168; G. Turner, Samoa, pp. 173 sqq.; J. B. Stair, Old Samoa, pp. 65 sqq.; G. Brown, Melanesians and Polynesians, pp. 283, 430.
[47] G. Brown, Melanesians and Polynesians, p. 431.
[48] G. Brown, Melanesians and Polynesians, pp. 280, 283, 285; Violette, op. cit. p. 168 (as to chiefs too holy to be seen by day).
[49] J. B. Stair, Old Samoa, pp. 127 sq. Compare Violette, op. cit. p. 168; G. Brown, Melanesians and Polynesians, pp. 231, 280, 285. In this work Dr. Brown remarks (p. 231) that there is no clear explanation of the custom of sprinkling coco-nut water as a purificatory rite. But the explanation given by Stair, which I have quoted in the text, is clear and satisfactory, and elsewhere (p. 285) Dr. Brown implicitly adopts the same explanation, where he says that the man who had served kava to a sacred chief "sprinkled himself all over to wash away the sacredness (paia)."
[50] H. Hale, Ethnography and Philology of the United States Exploring Expedition, pp. 28 sq.; Violette, "Notes d'un Missionnaire sur l'archipel de Samoa," Les Missions Catholiques, iii. (1870) p. 190; J. B. Stair, Old Samoa, pp. 67 sqq.; G. Brown, Melanesians and Polynesians, pp. 380 sq. Compare G. Turner, Samoa, p. 175.
[51] G. Brown, Melanesians and Polynesians, pp. 280, 381.
[52] J. E. Erskine, Journal of a Cruise among the Islands of the Western Pacific, p. 44.
[53] G. Turner, Samoa, pp. 174 sq.; S. Ella, "Samoa," Report of the Fourth Meeting of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science, held at Hobart, Tasmania, in January 1892, pp. 631 sq.; J. B. Stair, Old Samoa, p. 70; G. Brown, Melanesians and Polynesians, p. 286.
[54] J. B. Stair, Old Samoa, p. 70; G. Brown, Melanesians and Polynesians, p. 286.
[55] J. Williams, Narrative of Missionary Enterprises in the South Sea Islands, p. 454; H. Hale, Ethnography and Philology of the United States Exploring Expedition, p. 28; Violette, "Notes d'un Missionnaire sur l'archipel de Samoa," Les Missions Catholiques, iii. (1870) p. 119; G. Turner, Samoa, p. 177; J. B. Stair, Old Samoa, pp. 71 sqq.
[56] Violette, op. cit. p. 119; G. Turner, Samoa, p. 174; S. Ella, op. cit. p. 631; G. Brown, Melanesians and Polynesians, pp. 282, 286, 430.
[57] Violette, op. cit. pp. 118 sq.; J. B. Stair, Old Samoa, pp. 65 sqq.; G. Brown, Melanesians and Polynesians, p. 283. Compare H. Hale, Ethnography and Philology of the United States Exploring Expedition, p. 29.
[58] S. Ella, "Samoa," Report of the Fourth Meeting of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science, held at Hobart, Tasmania, in January 1892, p. 631.
[59] H. Hale, op. cit. p. 28; Ch. Wilkes, op. cit. ii. 152; Violette, op. cit. p. 119; S. Ella, op. cit. p. 629; J. B. Stair, Old Samoa, pp. 70 sq.; G. Brown, Melanesians and Polynesians, pp. 285 sq., 287.
[60] J. B. Stair, Old Samoa, pp. 74 sq.; G. Brown, Melanesians and Polynesians, p. 432.
[61] G. Turner, Samoa, p. 173.
[62] G. Turner, Samoa, p. 180; G. Brown, Melanesians and Polynesians, p. 333.
[63] Violette, "Notes d'un Missionnaire sur l'archipel de Samoa," Les Missions Catholiques, iii. (1870) pp. 119 sq.
[64] G. Turner, Samoa, pp. 173, 180 sq. A third local division, intermediate between the village and the district, is mentioned by Stair, who calls it a settlement (Old Samoa, p. 83); but the other authorities whom I have consulted appear not to recognise such an intermediate division.
[65] J. B. Stair, Old Samoa, p. 83.
[66] H. Hale, Ethnography and Philology of the United States Exploring Expedition, p. 29; Ch. Wilkes, Narrative of the United States Exploring Expedition, ii. 153 sq.; Violette, "Notes d'un Missionnaire sur l'archipel de Samoa," Les Missions Catholiques, iii. (1870) p. 119; G. Turner, Samoa, pp. 177 sqq., 180 sqq.; S. Ella, op. cit. pp. 632 sq.; J. B. Stair, Old Samoa, pp. 84 sqq.; G. Brown, Melanesians and Polynesians, pp. 286 sq., 288 sqq.
[67] G. Brown, Melanesians and Polynesians, p. 319; G. Turner, Samoa, p. 158; J. B. Stair, Old Samoa, pp. 146, 149, 154, 159. As to the wooden dibbles, see Ella, op. cit. p. 635 (above, p. 166).
[68] G. Turner, Samoa, pp. 111 sq.; G. Brown, Melanesians and Polynesians, p. 130.
[69] G. Brown, Melanesians and Polynesians, p. 129.
[70] John Williams, Narrative of Missionary Enterprises in the South Sea Islands, pp. 465 sq.
[71] W. T. Pritchard, Polynesian Reminiscences (London, 1866), pp. 106 sqq.; T. H. Hood, Notes of a Cruise in H.M.S. "Fawn" in the Western Pacific, p. 141; G. Turner, Samoa, pp. 16 sqq.; J. B. Stair, Old Samoa, pp. 211, 215 sqq.
[72] J. Williams, Narrative of Missionary Enterprises in the South Sea Islands, p. 468; Ch. Wilkes, Narrative of the United States Exploring Expedition, ii. 131 sq.; T. H. Hood, Notes of a Cruise in H.M.S. "Fawn" in the Western Pacific, p. 141; W. T. Pritchard, Polynesian Reminiscences, pp. 106 sqq.; Violette, "Notes d'un Missionnaire sur l'archipel de Samoa," Les Missions Catholiques, iii. (1870) p. 111; G. Turner, Samoa, pp. 16 sqq., 40, 50 sq.; J. B. Stair, Old Samoa, pp. 211, 216 sq.; G. Brown, Melanesians and Polynesians, pp. 137, 218. The account of these deities given by Dr. G. Turner is by far the fullest and best.
[73] G. Turner, Samoa, pp. 67 sq.
[74] W. T. Pritchard, op. cit. p. 107. Similarly some people had pig's heart for their god, or the embodiment of their god, and they scrupulously avoided eating pigs' hearts lest pigs' hearts should grow in their bodies and so cause their death. See G. Turner, Samoa, p. 72.
[75] G. Turner, Samoa, pp. 31 sq.
[76] G. Turner, Samoa, pp. 38, 58, 59, 69 sq., 72.
[77] J. B. Stair, Old Samoa, pp. 216 sq.
[78] G. Turner, Samoa, p. 58.
[79] J. Williams, op. cit. p. 469.
[80] G. Turner, Samoa, p. 57.
[81] G. Turner, Samoa, p. 75.
[82] J. Williams, op. cit. pp. 373 sq.
[83] J. Williams, op. cit. p. 375.
[84] G. Turner, Samoa, pp. 21, 26, 60 sq. Compare W. T. Pritchard, Polynesian Reminiscences, pp. 110 sq.
[85] G. Turner, Samoa, p. 20.
[86] G. Turner, Samoa, pp. 24 sq.
[87] G. Turner, Samoa, p. 20; W. T. Pritchard, Polynesian Reminiscences, pp. 121 sqq.
[88] G. Brown, Melanesians and Polynesians, p. 229.
[89] G. Turner, Samoa, pp. 20, 26, 29, 41, 44, 47, 53, 57.
[90] G. Turner, Samoa, pp. 20 sq.
[91] G. Turner, Samoa, pp. 20, 26, 29; W. T. Pritchard, Polynesian Reminiscences, p. 123.
[92] G. Turner, Samoa, p. 57.
[93] G. Turner, Samoa, p. 41.
[94] G. Turner, Samoa, p. 47.
[95] G. Turner, Samoa, pp. 25 sq.
[96] G. Turner, Samoa, pp. 70 sq.
[97] G. Turner, Samoa, pp. 47 sq.
[98] G. Brown, Melanesians and Polynesians, p. 229.
[99] G. Brown, Melanesians and Polynesians, pp. 229 sq.
[100] G. Turner, Samoa, pp. 25 sq.
[101] G. Turner, Samoa, p. 60.
[102] G. Turner, Samoa, pp. 52, 61, 65.
[103] G. Turner, Samoa, pp. 35, 51, 54 sq., 64.
[104] G. Turner, pp. 46 sq.
[105] G. Turner, Samoa, p. 49.
[106] G. Turner, Samoa, p. 29.
[107] G. Turner, Samoa, p. 35; compare p. 43.
[108] G. Turner, Samoa, pp. 59 sq.
[109] G. Turner, Samoa, p. 35.
[110] G. Turner, Samoa, p. 55.
[111] G. Turner, Samoa, pp. 25 sq.
[112] G. Turner, Samoa, p. 64.
[113] G. Turner, Samoa, p. 34.
[114] G. Turner, Samoa, p. 72.
[115] G. Turner, Samoa, p. 71.
[116] G. Turner, Samoa, p. 63.
[117] G. Turner, Samoa, p. 67.
[119] G. Turner, Samoa, p. 18. For the offering of kava to the household god, compare id. p. 51.
[120] G. Turner, Samoa, p. 20. For a full account of the priesthood, see J. B. Stair, Old Samoa, pp. 220 sqq. As to the Samoan war-gods, see G. Turner, Samoa, pp. 23, 25 sq., 27 sq., 28, 32, 33, 35, 42, 46 sq., 48, 49, 51, 52, 54 sq., 55, 57, 60, 61, 64, 65; J. B. Stair, Old Samoa, pp. 215 sq.
[121] J. B. Stair, Old Samoa, pp. 70, 222 sq., 225; G. Brown, Melanesians and Polynesians, pp. 228, 246 sq.
[122] J. B. Stair, Old Samoa, pp. 223-225; G. Brown, Melanesians and Polynesians, pp. 246 sq.
[123] J. B. Stair, p. 223; G. Brown, Melanesians and Polynesians, pp. 228, 246 sq.
[124] J. B. Stair, Old Samoa, pp. 226-228.
[125] G. Turner, Samoa, p. 19.
[126] J. B. Stair, Old Samoa, pp. 227 sq.
[127] G. Turner, Samoa, pp. 29 sq.
[128] G. Turner, Samoa, p. 49.
[129] G. Turner, Samoa, p. 55.
[130] G. Turner, Samoa, pp. 56 sq.
[131] G. Turner, Samoa, pp. 54 sq.
[132] G. Turner, Samoa, p. 53.
[133] W. T. Pritchard, Polynesian Reminiscences, pp. 119-121; Violette, "Notes d'un Missionnaire sur l'archipel de Samoa," Les Missions Catholiques, iii. (1870) p. 112; G. Turner, Samoa, p. 31; J. B. Stair, Old Samoa, p. 228; G. Brown, Melanesians and Polynesians, p. 220.
[134] H. B. Sterndale, quoted by R. A. Sterndale, "Asiatic Architecture in Polynesia," The Asiatic Quarterly Review, x. (July-October 1890) pp. 347-350. The writer of this article reports the discoveries of his brother, Mr. Handley Bathurst Sterndale.
[135] H. B. Sterndale, op. cit. pp. 351 sq.
[136] H. B. Sterndale, op. cit. p. 352.
[137] G. Turner, Samoa, pp. 17, 78 sq.
[138] G. Brown, Melanesians and Polynesians, pp. 137, 218, 334.
[139] W. H. R. Rivers, "Totemism in Polynesia and Melanesia," Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, xxxix. (1909) pp. 159 sq.
[140] W. T. Pritchard, Polynesian Reminiscences, pp. 111 sq.; J. B. Stair, Old Samoa, pp. 211 sq.
[141] J. B. Stair, Old Samoa, p. 212.
[142] G. Turner, Samoa, p. 7.
[143] G. Turner, Samoa, pp. 7 sq.; J. B. Stair, Old Samoa, pp. 212-214. The bird turi or tuli is spoken of by Turner as the daughter, but by Stair as the son, of Tangaloa. According to Turner, the bird is a species of snipe; according to Stair, a species of plover. As to Tangaloa and the stories told about him, compare John Williams, Narrative of Missionary Enterprises in the South Sea Islands, pp. 469 sq.; H. Hale, Ethnography and Philology of the United States Exploring Expedition, p. 22; Violette, "Notes d'un Missionnaire sur l'archipel de Samoa," Les Missions Catholiques, iii. (1870) pp. 111 sq.; E. Tregear, Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary, p. 463, s.v. "Tangaroa."
[144] Ch. Wilkes, Narrative of the United States Exploring Expedition, ii. 131; W. T. Pritchard, Polynesian Reminiscences, pp. 112, 114 sqq.; G. Turner, Samoa, pp. 209-211; J. B. Stair, Old Samoa, pp. 238 sq.
[145] J. Williams, op. cit. p. 379.
[147] G. Turner, Samoa, pp. 62 sq. The town or village of Matautu is in the island of Savaii. According to G. Turner, the sacred tree of Tuifiti was the Afzelia bijuga.
[148] J. B. Stair, Old Samoa, pp. 210 sq., 215.
[149] G. Turner, Samoa, pp. 8, 16; J. B. Stair, Old Samoa, p. 220; G. Brown, Melanesians and Polynesians, pp. 218 sq.; E. Tregear, Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary, p. 26, s.v. "Ata."
[150] G. Brown, Melanesians and Polynesians, pp. 170 sq., 218 sq.; G. Turner, Samoa, pp. 150 sq.; S. Ella, "Samoa," Report of the Fourth Meeting of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science, held at Hobart, Tasmania, in January 1892, pp. 641 sq.; J. B. Stair, Old Samoa, p. 184. According to Brown and Stair the ceremony described in the text was observed when a man had died a violent death, even when the relatives were in possession of the body, and in that case the insect, or whatever it might be, was buried with the corpse. I have followed Turner and Ella in supposing that the ceremony was only observed when the corpse could not be found. As to the fear of the spirits of the unburied dead, see also W. T. Pritchard, Polynesian Reminiscences, pp. 58 sq., 151.
[151] S. Ella, op. cit. pp. 639, 643; G. Brown, Melanesians and Polynesians, pp. 223 sq., 402.
[152] W. T. Pritchard, Polynesian Reminiscences, pp. 146 sq.; G. Turner, Samoa, pp. 140 sq.; S. Ella, op. cit. p. 639; J. B. Stair, Old Samoa, pp. 180 sq.; G. Brown, Melanesians and Polynesians, pp. 223 sq., 401.
[153] W. T. Pritchard, op. cit. pp. 147, 150 sq.; G. Turner, Samoa, pp. 141 sq., 146; S. Ella, op. cit. p. 639; J. B. Stair, Old Samoa, p. 180; G. Brown, Melanesians and Polynesians, pp. 220, 401, 405 sq.
[154] J. B. Stair, Old Samoa, pp. 181 sq.
[155] W. T. Pritchard, Polynesian Reminiscences, p. 148; G. Turner, Samoa, p. 144; S. Ella, op. cit. p. 640; J. B. Stair, Old Samoa, p. 182; G. Brown, Melanesians and Polynesians, pp. 401 sq.
[156] W. T. Pritchard, Polynesian Reminiscences, pp. 148 sq.; G. Turner, Samoa, pp. 144 sq.; J. B. Stair, Old Samoa, 182; G. Brown, Melanesians and Polynesians, p. 402.
[157] G. Turner, Samoa, p. 145; W. T. Pritchard, op. cit. p. 149; S. Ella, op. cit. p. 640; J. B. Stair, Old Samoa, p. 182; G. Brown, Melanesians and Polynesians, p. 402.
[158] J. B. Stair, Old Samoa, pp. 178 sq.
[159] W. T. Pritchard, Polynesian Reminiscences, pp. 150 sq.; G. Turner, Samoa, pp. 146 sq.; S. Ella, op. cit. pp. 640 sq.; J. B. Stair, Old Samoa, pp. 179 sq., 182 sq.; G. Brown, Melanesians and Polynesians, p. 403.
[160] G. Turner, Samoa, p. 146
[161] J. B. Stair, Old Samoa, pp. 183 sq.
[162] W. T. Pritchard, Polynesian Reminiscences, pp. 149 sq.; S. Ella, op. cit. p. 642; G. Brown, Melanesians and Polynesians, pp. 403 sq.
[163] G. Turner, Samoa, p. 149; S. Ella, op. cit. pp. 640 sq.; G. Brown, Melanesians and Polynesians, p. 402.
[164] G. Brown, Melanesians and Polynesians, pp. 388 sq., 404 sq.
[165] G. Turner, Samoa, pp. 148 sq.; S. Ella, op. cit. p. 641; J. B. Stair, Old Samoa, pp. 184 sq.; G. Brown, Melanesians and Polynesians, p. 405.
[166] G. Brown, Melanesians and Polynesians, pp. 220 sq.
[167] H. Hale, Ethnography and Philology of the United States Exploring Expedition, p. 27.
[168] J. B. Stair, Old Samoa, pp. 218 sq. Compare G. Turner, Samoa, p. 257; S. Ella, op. cit. pp. 643 sq.
[169] G. Turner, Samoa, pp. 257 sq.; S. Ella, op. cit. pp. 643 sq.; G. Brown, Melanesians and Polynesians, p. 221.
[170] J. B. Stair, Old Samoa, p. 219.
[171] G. Turner, Samoa, p. 257; S. Ella, op. cit. p. 643.
[172] G. Turner, Samoa, pp. 258 sq.; G. Brown, Melanesians and Polynesians, p. 222.
[173] J. B. Stair, Old Samoa, pp. 217 sq.; G. Brown, Melanesians and Polynesians, p. 221. On the question whether the Samoans held a doctrine of moral retribution after death, Dr. Brown observes: "I do not remember any statement to the effect that the conduct of a man in this life affected his state after death. They certainly believe this now, but whether they did so prior to the introduction of Christianity I cannot definitely say. I am inclined, however, to believe that they did not believe that conduct in this life affected them in the future" (Melanesians and Polynesians, pp. 261 sq.). Elsewhere, however, Dr. Brown seems to express a contrary opinion. He says: "It was generally understood that the conditions of men in this life, even amongst the common people, had an effect on their future conditions. A good man in Samoa generally meant a liberal man, one who was generous and hospitable; whilst a bad man was one who was mean, selfish, and greedy about food" (op. cit. p. 222).
[174] G. Turner, Samoa, pp. 259 sq.; S. Ella, op. cit. p. 644.
[175] G. Turner, Samoa, p. 259; S. Ella, op. cit. p. 644; G. Brown, Melanesians and Polynesians, pp. 219, 221, 222.
[176] G. Turner, Samoa, p. 151.
[177] G. Brown, Melanesians and Polynesians, pp. 245, 282.
[178] G. Brown, Melanesians and Polynesians, p. 221, "They had no belief in the transmigration of souls either into animals, inert bodies, or into different human bodies."
[179] W. H. R. Rivers, The History of Melanesian Society, ii. 358 sqq.