wn as a
_Reinga vaerua_ or "leaping-place of souls." One of them was at Oneroa,
where a rocky bluff stands out by itself like a giant looking towards
the west. To it a band of souls from the great cavern of Auraka used to
go in mournful procession, and from it they leaped one by one to a
second and much smaller block of stone resting on the inner edge of the
reef; thence they passed to the outer brink of the reef, on which the
surf beats ceaselessly, and from which at sunset they flitted over the
ocean to sink with the great luminary into the land of the dead.

Such appears to have been the general notion of the people concerning
the departure of human souls at death in Mangaia. Similar ideas
prevailed in the other islands of the group, in all of which the
"leaping-place of souls" was regularly situated on the western coast of
the island.[65]

[65] W. W. Gill, _Myths and Songs from the South Pacific_, pp.
159 _sq._

The teaching of the priests added many particulars to this general
account of the journey of the soul to the nether world. According to
them the souls of the dying, before life was quite extinct, left their
bodies and travelled towards the edge of the cliff at Araia, near the
sacred grove (_marae_) of Rongo, which faced westward. But if on its way
to this fatal bourne the soul of the dying chanced to meet a friendly
spirit who cried to it, "Go back and live," the departing soul would
joyfully return to its forsaken body, and the sick man or woman would
revive. This was the native explanation of fainting. But if no friendly
spirit intervened to save the passing soul, it pursued its way to the
edge of the cliff. On its arrival a great wave of the sea washed the
base of the crag, and a gigantic _bua_ tree (_Beslaria laurifolia_),
covered with fragrant blossoms, sprang up from Avaiki to receive the
ghost. The tree had as many branches as there were principal gods in
Mangaia, and every ghost had to perch on the particular branch allotted
to members of his or her tribe; the worshippers of the great gods, such
as Motoro and Tane, had separate boughs provided for their
accommodation; while the worshippers of the lesser deities huddled
together on a single big branch.[66]

[66] W. W. Gill, _Myths and Songs from the South Pacific_, pp.
160 _sq._; _id._, "Mangaia (Hervey Islands)," _op. cit._ p. 346.

No sooner had the ghost perched on the place appointed for him than down
plumped the tree with hi