e. Even the fish of the sea were supposed to be possessed and
unusually savage in this month. May is often an unhealthy month, being
the time of transition from the wet season to the dry, and hence the
_crushing_ sickness and superstitious vagaries.

2. Called also on one island Sina, or _white_, from the worship of a
goddess of that name there.

JUNE.

This month was called Oloamanu, or _the singing of birds_, it was thus
named from the unusual joy among the birds over a plentiful supply of
favourite buds and berries. The bright scarlet flowers of the
"_Erythrina indica_" begin then to come out and attract a host of
parrakeets and other happy chirpers.

JULY.

Called Palolo mua, or _the first of Palolo_. This is the first month
of the half year, called the Palolo season in contradistinction to the
other half, which is called the Trade-wind season. Palolo (_Palolo
virides_) is that singular worm which swarms out from certain parts
of the barrier reefs for three days in the course of a year, of which
the natives are very fond, and all the more so from its rareness. If
the last quarter of the moon is late in October palolo is found the
day before, the day of, and the day after, that quarter. If the last
quarter of the moon is early in October palolo does not come till the
last quarter of the November moon. The middle day, or the day of the
quarter, is the principal day for gathering these swarms of marine
worms.

AUGUST.

This month was called Palolo muli, or _after Palolo_. Pa means to
burst, and lolo, fatty or oily, and hence probably the origin of the
name in the fatty or oily appearance of the worms as they break,
burst, and are mixed up in the heaps directly after they are taken.
They are only found for about half an hour before sunrise, after
sunrise they disappear.

SEPTEMBER.

1. Mulifa was the name given to this month which means _end of the
stem_ of the talo, or "arum esculentum." The month being unusually dry
and parching, the scorching rays of the sun left little of the talo
stem but a small piece at the end.

2. The _end_ of the season for catching the fish called _Fa_, is
another derivation of Mulifa given by some.

OCTOBER.

This month was called Lotuaga, or _rain prayers_. It was so called
from the special prayers which were then offered to the gods for rain.

NOVEMBER.

Taumafamua was the name of this month, _the first of plenty_, that
means, fish and other food became ple