During our stay at Rarotonga, I obtained information from the natives upon a variety of subjects, some of which were both curious and instructive. The first I shall mention is, a legend in reference to the peopling of their island. Upon this subject the natives have several traditions, in one of which there is a strange account of Apopo iva roa, or the long-boned giant, who is said to have walked to the island upon the sea; but this, with many others, I shall pass over and confine myself to the following, which, divested of those portions that are evidently fabulous, I regard as the correct account. It states that Karika, the ancestor of the present Makea family, came originally from an island to the westward, named Manuka. This Karika was a mighty warrior, a “man-killer” and a great navigator, who, in his peregrinations at sea, discovered the island of Rarotonga. On landing, he found it uninhabited; and, after remaining there some time, he again put to sea, and, in his voyage, met with Tangiia. This man was a chief of Faaa, a district in Tahiti, who, by cutting down a favourite bread-fruit tree, had given offence to his brother, Tutabu aru roa, (or Tutabu the insatiable pursuer,) who was so much enraged that he determined to put Tangiia and all his family to death.