. The sky, which they regard as solid, the
heavenly bodies, and the ocean were in being before the habitable earth.
The Tonga islands were drawn up out of the depth of the sea by the god
Tangaloa one day when he was fishing with a line and a hook.

They believed that mankind, according to a partial tradition, came
originally from Bolotoo, the chief residence of the gods, a fabulous
island situated to the north-west of the Tongan archipelago. The first
men and women consisted of two brothers, with their wives and
attendants. They were commanded by the god Tangaloa to take up their
abode in the Tonga islands, but of their origin or creation the Tongans
professed to know nothing.[50]

[50] According to a later account, "on Ata were born the first
men, three in number, formed from a worm bred by a rotten plant,
whose seed was brought by Tangaloa from heaven. These three were
afterwards provided by the Maui with wives from the Underworld."
See E. E. V. Collocot, "Notes on Tongan Religion," _Journal of
the Polynesian Society_, xxx. (1921) p. 154.

They believed that all human evil was inflicted by the gods upon mankind
on account of some neglect of religious duty, whether the neglect is the
fault of the sufferers or of the chief whom they serve. In like manner
the Tongans apparently referred all human good to the gods, regarding it
as a reward bestowed by the divine beings on men who punctually
discharged the offices of religion.[51]

[51] So apparently we must interpret Mariner's brief statement
"and the contrary of good" (_Tonga Islands_, ii. 98).

They believed that nobles had souls, which existed after death in
Bolotoo, not according to their moral merit, but according to their rank
in this world; these had power like that of the original gods, but less
in degree. The _matabooles_, or ministers of the nobles, also went after
death to Bolotoo, where they existed as _matabooles_, or ministers of
the gods, but they had not, like the gods and the souls of dead
noblemen, the power of inspiring the priests with superhuman knowledge.
Some thought that the _mooas_, who ranked next below the _matabooles_ in
the social hierarchy, also went after death to Bolotoo; but this was a
matter of great doubt. As for the _tooas_ or commoners, who formed the
lowest rung in the social ladder, they had either no souls at all or
only such as dissolved with the body after death, which consequently
ended their