A LIFUAN TRADITION.

Waka Maori, Volume 10, Issue 13, 30 June 1874, Page 162

A LIFUAN TRADITION.

The following is from a book written by the Rev. S. McFarlane, on the Lifu Missions. Lifu is one of a group called the Loyalty Islands, and is situated about sixty miles north-east of a large island called New Caledonia (now occupied by the French), and about 1,400 miles north of New Zealand. It is a tradition of the islanders which, it will be seen, has a remarkable resemblance to the Bible account of Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden : " The natives have no idea of the origin of the first man; they only know that his name was Walelimene; that he had a wife and sons ; and that he lived in peace amidst plenty. At that time there was not any sickness or death, and it was not necessary to work in plantations, because the food grew up spontaneously and in abundance. It appears that the sons of old Walelimene had the power of changing themselves into birds, beasts, and reptiles at pleasure. " On one occasion the eldest son, in the form of a rat, went on an exploring expedition, boring his way through the earth till he came to the residence of an old man, the chief of the lower regions. This old chief lived upon yams, of which there were not any at that time in Lifu. The Lifuan observed that the old man kept the yams to himself, and offered him other food. He asked to taste the yams, but was told that they were for the chief alone, and that to take them would cost him his life. The son of "Walelimene, however, did not believe this; and, watching his opportunity, picked up a yam, and made for the surface of the earth again. On his way he tasted the yam, and found it very good. On his arrival home, he called one of his brothers and told him all. His brother tasted the yam, and expressed his delight at the discovery of such excellent food. They then went to their father, who, with the whole of the family, tasted, and were all equally pleased at the new discovery. It was then arranged that all the sons should go in a body and steal a quantity of yams from the old chief below, and plant them on Lifu, in order that they might live on this superior food. They did so, but were discovered before they could get away. The old chief was angry with them, and told them that as they had taken his yams, he would henceforth live upon human flesh. Death should reign on Lifu in order to supply him with food. "It was then that the Lifuans proposed to supply the old chief with human flesh in exchange for his yams ; and to this day some of the old men believe that there are more deaths when there is a good yam harvest, the old chief requiring the bodies of men in proportion to the quantity of yams that they obtain. It was then labour commenced, for having begun planting yams, they found it necessary to cultivate every other article of food; nothing would grow spontaneously as before but weeds. Thus yams, their principal food, were introduced, but with them came labour and death."' Our Maori friends will notice the close resemblance between the above and G-od's command to Adam," Of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt

not eat of it; for in the day that thou eatest thereof Thou shalt surely die; " and again : "Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, thou shalt not eat of it. Cursed is the ground for thy sake ; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken; for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return."