a game at
club exercise, and thought in that way to kill them off at
once. This too was accepted by the strangers. First of all
Tangaloaatevalu, "Eight-livered-Tangaloa," or Tangaloa the
_plucky_, stepped forward with his club, and up rose Tuimulifanua,
"King-of-the-end-of-the-island," club in hand also to fight with
him. Every blow was well aimed, struck off a liver, and made
Tangaloa reel. By-and-by seven were gone, and as he had only one
_pluck_ left he called out: "Enough, enough! I am beaten; let me
seek something to give you for my life." He went off and brought
a fine mat cloth to wear round the body. Tuimulifanua put it
round his loins, but it trailed on the ground, and had to be
lifted up; hence it was called Lavasii, or "Cloth-lifted-up." He
could not be troubled with the long train, and gave it to another
of the party called Tuimuaiava, "King-of-the-first-harbour," who
kept it and brought it down to the earth. Its name, Lavasii,
became a title of chief ruler, and that title has remained in
that particular family to this day. One of the Samoans killed in
1876 in a skirmish with the marines of H.M.S. _Barracoutta_ had
at that time the title of Lavasii.

When the party returned from the heavens they came down on the rising
ground referred to at Lefanga, whence they dispersed, and ever since
the place has been called Taape, or Dispersion.

CHAPTER XXII.

POLITICAL DIVISIONS AND PLACES OF NOTE ON SAVAII.

There are three principal divisions of Savaii:--

1. THE FAASALELEANGA.--In prose and poetry this part of the island,
and even the whole of Savaii, is often called _Sa Lafai,_ or sacred to
Lafai, and among the legends that chief, Lafai, has an early place.
Tupailelei, or Tupai the good, married a daughter of the king of
Tonga, and her father ordered that she should go to Tonga some months
after her marriage. She started for Tonga, but the canoe was driven by
adverse winds to Fiji, and in remembrance of that she called her first
child _Vaasiliifiti,_ "Canoe drifted to Fiji."

She remained there for a time, but again set out to try and reach her
father in Tonga, but again they missed their destination and could
only fetch Samoa. As Samoa appeared in the horizon her second child
was born, and so she named the girl Samoauafotu, or "Samoa in sight."
It was afterwards abbreviated to Safotu. Afterwards they went to
Tonga, but again returned to Samoa with Vaasiliifiti, who was now a
young man and married