and from their legends and myths. These present in an obscure and shadowy
form, a few materials of history, whose value is to be measured by the
consideration, that they are all we have to tell the story of a noble and
interesting race of men.

Their traditions speak of the creation of the world, the formation of man,
and the destruction of the world by a deluge. They suppose the existence
originally of two worlds, an upper and lower. The upper completed and
filled with an intelligent order of beings, the lower unformed and
chaotic, whose surface was covered with water, in which huge monsters
careered, uncontrolled and wild. From the upper there descended to the
lower a creating spirit, in the form of a beautiful woman. She alighted on
the back of a huge tortoise, gave birth to a pair of male twins and
expired. Thereupon the shell of the tortoise began to enlarge, and grew
until it became a "_big island_" and formed this continent.

These two infant sons became, one the author of _good_, the other of
_evil_. The creator of _good_ formed whatever was praiseworthy and useful.
From the head of his deceased mother he made the sun, from the remaining
parts of her body, the moon and stars. When these were created the water-
monsters were terrified by the light, and fled and hid themselves in the
depths of the ocean. He diversified the earth by making rivers, seas
and plains, covered it with animals, and filled it with productions
beneficial to mankind. He then formed man and woman, put life into them,
and called them Ong-we Hon-we _a real people_. [Footnote: This term is
significant of true manhood. It implies that there was nothing of sham in
their make up.]

The creator of _evil_ was active in making mountains, precipices,
waterfalls, reptiles, morasses, apes, and whatever was injurious to, or in