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Chapter X. It is very remarkable that the New Zealanders attribute the creation of man to their three principal deities acting together; thus exhibiting in their barbarous theology something like a shadow of the Christian Trinity. What is still more extraordinary is their tradition respecting the formation of the first woman, who, they say, was made of one of the man’s ribs; and their general term for bone is hevee, or, as Professor Lee gives it, iwi* a sound bearing a singular resemblance to the Hebrew name of our first mother. Particular individuals and places would also seem to have their own gods. When the “Active” was in the river Thames, a gale of wind, by which the ship was attacked, was attributed by the natives on board to the anger of the god of Shoupah,f the Areekee who resided in the neighbourhood. Korro-korro, who was among them said that as soon as he got on shore he would endeavour to prevail upon the Areekee to propitiate the offended deity. When Marsden asked the people of Kiperro|| if they *The Maoris and Hawaiians use the word “iwi” for a bone; the Samoans, Tahitians, and other islanders say “ivi.” tProbably Tupa. 11Probably Kaipara. 176
