s, and gave it such a wrench that it
broke off. He then seized the other arm, and was going to twist it off
next when Mafuie declared himself beaten, and implored Ti'iti'i to
have mercy, and spare his left arm.

"Do let me have this arm," said he; "I need it to hold Samoa straight
and level. Give it to me, and I will let you have my hundred wives."

"No, not for that," said Ti'iti'i.

"Well, then, will you take _fire_? If you let me have my left arm you
shall have _fire_, and you may ever after this eat cooked food."

"Agreed," said Ti'iti'i; "you keep your arm, and I have _fire_."

"Go," said Mafuie; "you will find the fire in every _wood_ you cut."

And hence, the story adds, Samoa, ever since the days of Ti'iti'i, has
eaten cooked food from the fire which is got from the friction of
rubbing one piece of dry _wood_ against another.

The superstitious still have half an idea that Mafuie is down below
Samoa somewhere; and that the earth has a long handle there, like a
walking-stick, which Mafuie gives a shake now and then. It was common
for them to say, when they felt the shock of an earthquake, "Thanks to
Ti'iti'i, that Mafuie has only one arm: if he had two, what a shake he
would give!"

The natives of Savage Island, 300 miles to the south of Samoa, have a
somewhat similar tale about the origin of fire. Instead of Talanga and
Ti'iti'i, they give the names of Maui, the father, and Maui, the son.
Instead of going through a rock, their entrance was down through a
reed bush. And, instead of a _stipulation_ for the fire, they say that
the youth Maui, like another Prometheus, _stole_ it, ran up the
passage, and before his father could catch him, he had set the bush in
flames in all directions. The father tried to put it out, but in vain;
and they further add, that ever since the exploit of young Maui, they
have had _fire_ and cooked food in Savage Island.

2. The Samoans have their stories of _a golden age_ of intelligence
long long ago, when _all_ things material had the power of speech.
They not only spoke, but they had evil natures as well, and quarrelled
with each other and fought, very much like the races of mankind. We
have already referred to the early battles of cosmogony, and to the
wars of the rocks and fires and earth and stones. It was the same with
the flora and fauna. Or to give it in their own words: "The small
stones fought with the grass, the stones were beaten and the grass
conquered. The short g