wandering
disembodied spirits, who were believed to come up at midnight and
exhibit the ghastly wounds by which they had met their fate.[59]

[59] W. W. Gill, _Life in the Southern Isles_, pp. 71 _sq._ As
to the settlement of a Tongan colony in Mangaia, see _id._,
_Myths and Songs from the South Pacific_, pp. 287 _sq._ In
native tradition the colonists were spoken of as "Tongans
sailing through the skies" (_Tongaiti-akareva-moana_). Their
leader was the first high-priest of the god Turanga.

Sec. 7. _The Fate of the Human Soul after Death_

The home of the departed spirits was believed to be a vast subterranean
region called Avaiki. The natives of Mangaia believed that this
mysterious region was situated directly under their island. "As the dead
were usually thrown down the deepest chasms, it was not unnatural for
their friends to imagine the earth to be hollow, and the entrance to
this vast nether world to be down one of these pits. No one can wonder
at this who knows that the outer portion of Mangaia is a honeycomb, the
rock being pierced in every direction with winding caves and frightful
chasms. It is asserted that the Mission premises at Oneroa are built
over one of these great caverns, which extends so far towards the sea
that the beating of the surf can be distinctly heard, whilst the water,
purified from its saline particles, continually drips from the stony
roof." The inland opening into the infernal regions was believed to be
the great cavern of Auraka, in which, as we have just seen, so many of
the dead were deposited.[60]

[60] W. W. Gill, _Myths and Songs from the South Pacific_, pp.
152-154.

However, Avaiki was not the home of the ghosts alone; it was tenanted
also by the gods, both the greater and the lesser, with their
dependants. There they married, and multiplied, and quarrelled, just
like mortals. There they planted, cooked, fished, and inhabited
dwellings of exactly the same sort as exist on earth. Their food was no
better than that of mortals. There might be seen birds, fish, and rats,
likewise the mantis, centipedes, and beetles. There the coco-nut palm,
the pandanus, and the myrtle flourished, and yams grew in abundance. The
gods committed murder and adultery; they got drunk; they lied; they
stole. The arts and crafts were also practised by the deities, who
indeed taught them to mankind. The visible world, in short, was but a
gross copy of the spiritual an