disease was also _he atua_, or God; a thief
was an _atua_, thus also a thievish dog was _he kuri atua_, a god-like
dog, so also _he tangata atua ki te muru_, a man equal to a god in
stealing; a child who pilfered was _he tamaiti atua_, a divine child;
there were great spirits and small ones, a man's spirit was an _atua
pore pore_, a little spirit, but Maru Rongomai and other gods were _Atua
nui_, great gods; there were _atua ika_, reptile or fish gods; a great
chief was called _He ika_, a fish, sea monster, or reptile, and was
regarded as a malignant god in life, and a still worse one after death;
there were likewise _Atua marau_, as the _toroa_, albatross, the _ruru_,
owl; and _karu karu_, the film which shades its eye from the light, was
also an _atua_; male and female spirits presided over dreams, and were
regarded as _atuas, Ko nga atua moe moea o te poko_, the gods of dreams;
_Tunui a rangi_, a male, _Pare kewa_, a female deity, both were prayed
to as gods; the _atua kore_ and _atua kiko kiko_ were inferior gods. The
_Atua ngarara_ or reptile gods were very abundant, and were supposed to
be the cause of all diseases and death, being always ready to avail
themselves of every opportunity of crawling down the throat during
sleep, and thus preying upon the lives of unfortunate creatures. _Atuas_
or spirits of the deceased were thought to be able to revisit the earth
and reveal to their friends the cause of their sickness. Everything that
was evil or noxious was supposed especially to belong to the gods; thus
a species of euphorbium, whose milk or juice is highly poisonous, is
called _wai u atua_, the milk of the gods."[87] "In fact, in the
accounts which the natives give of their gods and their exploits, we
have but a magnified history of their chiefs, their wars, murders, and
lusts, with the addition of some supernatural powers; they were
cannibals; influenced by like feelings and passions as men, and were
uniformly bad; to them were ascribed all the evils incident to the human
race; each disease was supposed to be occasioned by a different god, who
resided in the part affected; thus, Tonga, the god who caused headache,
took up his abode in the forehead; Moko Titi, a lizard god, was the
source of all pains in the breast; Tu-tangata-kino was the god of the
stomach; Titihai occasioned pains in the ankles and feet; Rongomai and
Tuparitapua were the gods of consumption, and the wasting away of the
legs and arms; Koro-kio-ew