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good works and whose business is to watch and protect them, while on earth — and as they beleive that evry man shall be rewarded with happiness in the Next world, so they take leave of this without any anxiety, and when they Die take leave of their Friends with as much composure as if they were going on a Journey. As they beleive in a Future state so they also beleive that those who have been good Men and have been liberal to the Gods shall have the highest place, but think of none worse then Earth — they say when they Dream that the soul is absent, and talking of Dreams they say ’My soul saw such a soul &c.’ — and when any one Dies they say their soul is fled, and that it Flies to the Deity who (as they express it) eats it — that it then comes out through him and partaking of His Divinity is sent to take care of some other Mortal who may be born at the same time, or suffered to roam at large through the Heavenly Mansions where it wants for Nothing. They also beleive that there is an Evil Deamon whom they call Tee but that his power extends no farther then by being able to punnish them on Earth by getting into them, and causing Madness, Fits &ca. but that he cannot enter without the leave of their Angel who can only drive him out — for this reason as soon as they fall sick they instantly apply to the Deity to remove the Cause by prayer and offerings and apply to the priests for their assistance — and enquiring of themsel ves, they endeavour to rectify any 1 ittle affair that may have caused a misunderstanding by sending a peace offering to those who they think they have offended, and when they have given all they have away to the Priests & Deitys and can-not appease their anger they Call their Friends about them and recommend them to the Care of their Guardian angels, desiring them to be careful how they should Offend them and to be mind-, ful that they make much of their Chiefs and be generous and Good to strangers and frequently dye without a Groan t [h]o reduce [d] to the last by pain & Suffering.
They beleive that the Sun & Moon are the original parents of all the Stars, and when they are in eclipse they say they are in the act of Generation and that evry thing on earth is produced in the same Manner and that evry thing made by the Deitys at first is disolved and drop’d away and that others are producd in their rooms and that the whole systim of nature keeps constantly Changing, and in support of these arguments they say dont we see some Die, and sopie born evry day, the rivers run to the Sea, the Trees rot, and the Rocks fall from the Mountains—all which, has Continued
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Indigenous Histories |  |
© Derived from the 1935 Print Edition edited by Owen Rutter, page 177, 2004
Published by kind permission of the Library
To cite this page use: https://paulturnbull.org/project/southseas/journals/-morrison-049.html