p. 458. The
same four gods, with names only dialectically different, were,
as we shall see later on, the principal deities of the Sandwich
Islanders, the most distant geographically from the Maoris of
all the Polynesians. The coincidence furnishes an example of the
homogeneity of religion which prevailed among the various
branches of the Polynesian race.

The word which the Maoris applied to a god, whether a personification of
nature or the spirit of a dead ancestor, was _atua_. The name is not
confined to the Maori language, but is the common word for god
throughout Polynesia.[84] When the Maoris attempt to define the nature
of an _atua_, they have recourse to the same comparisons with a shadow
and with breath which appear to underlie their conception of the human
soul.[85] But though "god" is the nearest English equivalent of the word
_atua_, we must beware of assuming that the Maori idea of godhead
coincided with ours. On this subject one of our best authorities tells
us that the term "god" is really not applicable to the _Atua Maori_, the
so-called gods of the Maoris. For these beings, he says, "were, with few
exceptions, malignant demons, to be feared and placated or conciliated,
but not worshipped. Their principal task seems to have been the
inflicting upon mankind of diverse evils, pains, and penalties. Of the
few good offices performed by them, the warning of the people in regard
to coming troubles, seems to have been the most important. The vast
majority of the so-called gods of the Maori were simply deified
ancestors."[86]

[84] E. Tregear, _Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary_, pp.
30 _sq._, _s.v._ "Atua."

[85] J. Dumont d'Urville, _Voyage autour du Monde et a la
recherche de la Perouse, Histoire du Voyage_ (Paris, 1832-1833),
ii. 516 _sq._

[86] Elsdon Best, "Notes on the Art of War as conducted by the
Maori of New Zealand," _Journal of the Polynesian Society_, vol.
xi. no. 2 (June 1902). pp. 63 _sq._

In order to illustrate the difference between the Maori conception of
deity and our own, I will quote the words of another eminent authority
on the native religion of the New Zealanders. He says, "Before the
mythology of the Maori is further considered, it will be necessary
briefly to state what were the ideas of God entertained by the natives.
The word _atua_, or spirit, which is used for God, formerly had various
significations; a plague or