Turner’s Nineteen Years in Polynesia, gives the following Samoan traditions:
Origin of Fire. Mafuie, the god of earthquakes, lived under the earth and kept a constant fire. Talanga used to go down to Mafuie’s place through a rock, singing out: “Rock divide, I am Talanga.” His son Tiitii found out his secret, descended and got some fire from Mafuie, but when he had lighted his oven Mafuie blew it up and blew out the fire. Tiitii then went down for more, fought Mafuie, broke off his right arm and obtained fire, Mafuie telling him to find it in every wood he cut.
Savage island has a similar tradition, changing the names of Talanga and Tiitii into “Maui” (father) and “Maui” (son).
Cosmogony. In the beginning the earth was covered with water and the heaven alone inhabited. Tangaloa, the great god, sent his daughter in the form of the bird kuri (snipe) to look for dry land. She found a spot, and as it was extending, she visited it frequently. At one time she brought down some earth and a creeping plant. The plant grew, decomposed and turned into worms, and the worms turned into men and women.
Another account says that Tangaloa rolled two great stones down from heaven, one became the island of Sawaii, the other, Upolo.
Of old the heavens fell down and people had to crawl about. The plants grew and pushed the heavens up a little from the earth. The place where this happened is called Te’enga-langi and is thus pointed out. One day a man came along and offered [[352]]to push the heavens up for a drink of water from a woman’s gourd. He did so and got the water. Another account calls the man’s name Tiitii.
About the Moon. Two men Punifanga and Tafaliu started to visit the moon. The former thought to reach it by climbing a tree; the latter kindled a large fire, raised a great column of smoke, and climbed up to the moon on that, and got there long before the other.
A woman named Sina, during famine time, seeing the moon rising one evening wished a bite of it. The moon grew indignant and came down and picked her up, her child, her tapa board and mallet, and there they have remained until this day and are plainly to be seen.
About the Sun. A woman called Mangamangai became pregnant by looking at the sun. Her son, called child of the sun, climbed a tree and with a rope and noose caught the sun one morning and obtained from him a basket of blessings. Another account says that he and his mother were annoyed at the sun’s going so fast; so, after having caught the sun with his rope, he stipulated as a condition of liberating the sun, that it should travel slower after that, which has been duly performed.
The god of the lower regions was called Feé.