Note 25 — Chapter IV · MYTHS AND LEGENDS

A third legend about fire given by Mr Man is associated by him with another legend about a flood that once overwhelmed the ancestors. According to Mr Man’s version the fires were all extinguished by the flood, so that the few survivors were left without fire. “At this juncture one of their recently deceased friends appeared in their midst in the form of a bird named Luratut. Seeing their distress he flew up to Mo̱ro, the sky, where he discovered Puluga seated beside his fire; he thereupon seized and attempted to carry away in his beak a burning log, but the heat, or weight, or both, rendered the task impossible, and the blazing brand fell on Puluga, who, incensed with pain, hurled it at the intruder; happily for those concerned, the missile missed its mark and fell near the very spot where the survivors were deploring their condition. As Luratut alighted in their midst at the same moment, he gained the full credit for having removed the chief cause of their distress25.”