Note 670 — Chapter X · HAPPY ENGLAND
Reading edition
Among the Maoris potent powers were supposed to reside in the human eye. “When a warrior slew a chief, he immediately gouged out his eyes and swallowed them, the atua tonga, or divinity, being supposed to reside in that organ; thus he not only killed the body, but also possessed himself of the soul of his enemy, and consequently the more chiefs he slew, the greater did his divinity become.”—Taylor, R., Te Ika A Maui, or New Zealand and its Inhabitants.