n into Ava-iki in the
evening, and also raised up out of shadow-land in the morning."

Another legend from the Society Islands is related by Mr. Gill:

Maui tried many snares before he could catch the sun. The sun was the
Hercules, or the Samson, of the heavens. He broke the strong cords of
cocoanut fibre which Maui made and placed around the opening by which
the sun climbed out from the under-world. Maui made stronger ropes, but
still the sun broke them every one.

Then Maui thought of his sister's hair, the sister Inaika, whom he
cruelly treated in later years. Her hair was long and beautiful. He cut
off some of it and made a strong rope. With this he lassoed or rather
snared the sun, and caught him around the throat. The sun quickly
promised to be more thoughtful of the needs of men and go at a more
reasonable pace across the sky.

A story from the American Indians is told in Hawaii's Young People,
which is very similar to the Polynesian legends.

An Indian boy became very angry with the sun for getting so warm and
making his clothes shrink with the heat. He told his sister to make a
snare. The girl took sinews from a large deer, but they shriveled under
the heat. She took her own long hair and made snares, but they were
burned in a moment. Then she tried the fibres of various plants and was
successful. Her brother took the fibre cord and drew it through his
lips. It stretched and became a strong red cord. He pulled and it became
very long. He went to the place of sunrise, fixed his snare, and caught
the sun. When the sun had been sufficiently punished, the animals of the
earth studied the problem of setting the sun free. At last a mouse as
large as a mountain ran and gnawed the red cord. It broke and the sun
moved on, but the poor mouse had been burned and shriveled into the
small mouse of the present day.

A Samoan legend says that a woman living for a time with the sun bore a
child who had the name "Child of the Sun." She wanted gifts for the
child's marriage, so she took a long vine, climbed a tree, made the vine
into a noose, lassoed the sun, and made him give her a basket of
blessings.

In Fiji, the natives tie the grasses growing on a hilltop over which
they are passing, when traveling from place to place. They do this to
make a snare to catch the sun if he should try to go down before they
reach the end of their day's journey.

This legend is a misty memory of some time when the Polynesian people
we