The chief god is called _Ndengei_. Besides him there is a host of good and evil gods, who are always warring in the attempt to help or to hurt mankind. One of these gods of the infernal regions is said to sit upon the brink of a huge fiery cave, into which he casts the spirits of the dead. Another, the one-toothed Lord, is described as living in the figure of a man, with wings instead of arms, and claws instead of fingers, to snatch his victims. His tooth is so large that it reaches above his head, and he throws out sparks of fire as he flies through the air. [Illustration: POLYNESIAN IDOL AND ITS DEVOTEES.] Among this people there is a priesthood, and their temples, or “spirit-houses,” are called _Mbure_. They are exceedingly devout in their way and superstitious. Their religious ideas enter into their every-day life. They have some interesting traditions, from which a few selections may be used as illustrative of the whole. TRADITIONARY ORIGIN OF HUMAN PRIESTHOOD. The gods first spake to man through the small land-birds; but their utterances were too indistinct to guide the actions of mankind. To meet this emergency, an order of priests was set apart, the gods actually taking up their abode, for the time being, in their sacred persons. Priests were significantly named “god-boxes” (pia-atna), generally abbreviated to “gods,” _i. e._, living embodiments of these divinities. Temples were naturally conjoined with priesthood, but they were usually of the rudest and simplest sort. [Illustration: A FIJIAN BURE TEMPLE.] Whenever consulted, a present of the best food, accompanied with a bowl of intoxicating “piper mythisticum,” was indispensible. The priest, throwing himself into a frenzy, delivered a response in language intelligible only to the initiated. A favorite subject of inquiry was “the sin why so-and-so was ill;” no one being supposed to die a natural death unless decrepit with extreme old age. If a priest cherished a spite against anybody, he had only to declare it to be the will of the divinity that the victim should be put to death, or be laid on the altar for some offense against the gods. The best kinds of food were sacred to the priests and chiefs and they were never slow to make use of it. Although unsuited for the delivery of oracles, birds were ever regarded as the special messengers of the gods to warn individuals of impending danger, each tribe having its own feathered guardians. POLYNESIAN NOTION OF THE SUN AND MOON. A curious myth obtained in the now almost extinct Tongan tribe relative to the origin of the sun and moon. Vátea and Tonga-ita quarreled respecting the parentage of the first born of Papa, each claiming the child as his own. At last the child was cut in two. Vátea, the husband of Papa, took the upper part as his share, and forthwith squeezed it into a ball and tossed it into the heavens, where it became the sun. [Illustration: IDOL OF SOUTH SEA ISLANDS.]