ird did not appear at
noon owing to the glare of the sun. The priest interpreted to the
family the meaning of the _chirps_ as his inclination or fancy
dictated.

7. _Long Moso_ was the name of another family god. The turtle and the
mullet were sacred to him, and eaten only by the priest. The family
prayed to him before the evening meal.

8. The Fai, or stinging ray fish, and also the mullet were
incarnations of _Moso the strong_ in another family. If visitors or
friends caught or brought with them either of these fish, a child of
the family would be taken and laid down in an unheated oven, as a
peace-offering to Moso for the indignity done to him by the strangers.
If any member of the family tasted of these sacred fish he was
sentenced by the heads of the family to drink a cupful of rancid oil
dregs as a punishment and to stay the wrath of Moso.

16. NAFANUA--_Hidden inland._

This was the name of the goddess of a district in the west end of
the island of Savaii. She was the daughter of Saveasiuleo, the
god of Pulotu, and was _hidden_ inland, or in the bush, when an
infant by her mother, who was ashamed of the illegitimate birth.
She came from Pulotu, the Samoan haedes, at a time when the
ruling power was so oppressive as to compel the people to climb
cocoa-nut trees with their feet upwards, their heads downwards,
and to pluck the nuts with their toes. As she passed along she
saw a poor fellow struggling up a tree with his head downward,
and calling out in despair that he could endure it no longer. She
told him to come down, and that she would put an end to it. She
summoned all to battle, took the lead herself, and completely
routed the enemy, and raised the district to a position of honour
and equality. When she went to the fight she covered her breasts
with cocoa-nut leaflets that the enemy might not see she was a
woman, and the distinguishing mark or pass-word of her troops was
a few cocoa-nut leaflets bound round the waist. After the battle
in which she conquered, she ordered cocoa-nut leaflets to be tied
round the trees, marking them out as hers, and defying the enemy
or any one else to touch them. To this day a strip of cocoa-nut
leaflets encircling a tree is a sign that it is claimed by some
one for a special purpose, and that the nuts there are not to be
indiscriminately plucked without permission.

2. Nafanua was also the name of a village god on the island of Upolu.
In a case of concealed theft, all