the United States
Exploring Expedition_, ii. 131; W. T. Pritchard, _Polynesian
Reminiscences_, pp. 112, 114 _sqq._; G. Turner, _Samoa_, pp.
209-211; J. B. Stair, _Old Samoa_, pp. 238 _sq._

[145] J. Williams, _op. cit._ p. 379.

It seems to be doubtful whether among the Samoan gods are to be numbered
the souls of deceased ancestors. Certainly the evidence for the practice
of a worship of the dead is far less full and clear in Samoa than in
Tonga. On this subject Dr. George Brown writes as follows: "Traces of
ancestor worship are few and indistinct. The word _tupua_ is supposed by
some to mean the deified spirits of chiefs, and to mean that they
constituted a separate order from the _atua_, who were the original
gods. The word itself is the name of a stone, supposed to be a petrified
man, and is also generally used as the name of any image having some
sacred significance, and as representing the body into which the deified
spirit was changed. What appears certain is that ancestor worship had
amongst the Samoans gradually given place to the worship of a superior
order of supernatural beings not immediately connected with men, but
having many human passions and modes of action and life. There are,
however, some cases which seem to point to ancestor worship in olden
days, as in the case of the town of Matautu, which is said to have been
settled by a colony from Fiji. Their principal deity was called Tuifiti,
the King of Fiji. He was considered to be the head of that family, and a
grove of trees, _ifilele_ (the green-heart of India), was sacred to him
and could not be cut or injured in any way."[146] This god was supposed
to be incarnate in a man who walked about, but he was never visible to
the people of the place, though curiously enough he could be seen by
strangers.[147]

[146] G. Brown, _Melanesians and Polynesians_, p. 223.
See also above, p. 192.

[147] G. Turner, _Samoa_, pp. 62 _sq._ The town or
village of Matautu is in the island of Savaii. According to G.
Turner, the sacred tree of Tuifiti was the _Afzelia bijuga_.

However, another experienced missionary, J. B. Stair, who knew Samoa a
good many years before Dr. Brown arrived in it, speaks apparently
without hesitation of the _tupua_ as being "the deified spirits of
chiefs, who were also supposed to dwell in Pulotu," where they became
posts in the house or temple of the gods. Many beautiful emblems, he
says, were chosen t