ui, Brooke, and I stood, would
have forced the successor of Moses to have withdrawn his book from
circulation, as too dull.

The Polynesian creator put on earth hogs, dogs, and reptiles. There
were many kinds of dogs in their mythology, including the "large dog
with sharp teeth," and the "royal dog of God." Among reptiles was
Moo, a terrible dragon living in caverns above and beneath the sea,
who was dreaded above all dangers. He was to them the monster that
guarded the Hesperides garden, and the beast that St. George slew;
but as the common lizard was the largest reptile in Polynesia, this,
too, was an heirloom from another land. In the old Havaii--probably
Java--they must have known those fierce crocodiles that I have seen
drag down a horse drinking in the river at Palawan, and noted swimming
in the open sea between Siassi and Borneo.

The chief and Brooke and I sat in the shade of the etoa-trees, and
conversed about these ancient stories. Fixed in the mind of the race
by the repetition of ages, they are the most difficult of all errors
to erase, and the professors of this wisdom stamp it upon the heart
and brain of the child in almost indelible colors, and make it tabu,
sacrilege, or treason to deny its verity. Half a century ago repairs
became necessary to Mohammed's tomb at Medina, and masons were asked
to volunteer to make them, and submit to beheading immediately
after. There was no lack of desirous martyrs. One descended into
the mausoleum, finished the task, and, reaching the air again,
knelt, turned his face toward Mecca, and bent his head for the
ax. The Mussulman keepers of the tomb justified their act, as, the
forbidding telling the truth about religion and government, about
war and business, is justified. Their words were:

"We picture those places to ourselves in a certain manner, and for
the preservation of our holy religion, and the safety of society,
there must not be any one who can say they are otherwise."

It was noon when Brooke and I--Tetuanui having gone to instruct his
gang--plunged into the sea in front of the chefferie, and laughed
in the joy of the sweet hour. He had written lines of beauty that
interpreted our humor:

Tau here, Mamua,
Crown the hair, and come away!
Hear the calling of the moon,
And the whispering scents that stray
About the idle warm lagoon.
Hasten, hand in human hand,
Down the dark, the flowered way,
Along the whiteness of the san