t a very sharp angle, thus making a kind of barb. Hooks
like this have been made for ages among the Polynesians.

Maui and his brothers went fishing for eels with bait strung on the
flexible rib of a cocoanut leaf. The stupid brothers did not fasten the
ends of the string. Therefore the eels easily slipped the bait off and
escaped. But Maui made the ends of his string fast, and captured many
eels.

The little things which others did not think about were the foundation
of Maui's fame. Upon these little things he built his courage to snare
the sun and seek fire for mankind.

In a New Zealand legend, quoted by Edward Tregear, Maui is called
Maui-maka-walu, or "Maui with eyes eight." This eight-eyed Maui would be
allied to the Hindoo deities who with their eight eyes face the four
quarters of the world--thus possessing both insight into the affairs of
men and foresight into the future.

Fornander, the Hawaiian ethnologist, says: "In Hawaiian mythology,
Kamapuaa, the demigod opponent of the goddess Pele, is described as
having eight eyes and eight feet; and in the legends Maka-walu,
'eight-eyed,' is a frequent epithet of gods and chiefs." He notes this
coincidence with the appearance of some of the principal Hindoo deities
as having some bearing upon the origin of the Polynesians. It may be
that a comparative study of the legends of other islands of the Pacific
by some student will open up other new and important facts.

In Tahiti, on the island Raiatea, a high priest or prophet lived in the
long, long ago. He was known as Maui the prophet of Tahiti. He was
probably not Maui the demigod. Nevertheless he was represented as
possessing very strange prophetical powers.

According to the historian Ellis, who previous to 1830 spent eight years
in the Society and Hawaiian Islands, this prophet Maui clearly
prophesied the coming of an outriggerless canoe from some foreign land.
An outrigger is a log which so balances a canoe that it can ride safely
through the treacherous surf.

The chiefs and prophets charged him with stating the impossible.

He took his wooden calabash and placed it in a pool of water as an
illustration of the way such a boat should float.

Then with the floating bowl before him he uttered the second prophecy,
that boats without line to tie the sails to the masts, or the masts to
the ships, should also come to Tahiti.

[Illustration: Hawaiian Bathing Pool.]

When English ships under Captain Wallis and