10. FATUPUAA MA LE FEE--_The pig's heart and the octopus._
Another family supposed that two of their gods were embodied in the said heart and octopus. Men, women, and children of them were most scrupulous never to eat either the one or the other, believing that such a meal would be the swallowing of a germ of a living heart or octopus growth, by which the insulted gods would bring about death.
This is the name of a large tree (_Hernandia Peltata_). A family god of the same name was supposed to live in it, and hence no one dared to pluck a leaf or break a branch.
The same god was also supposed to be incarnate in the octopus, and also in the land crab. If one of these crabs found its way into the house, it was a sign that the head of the house was about to die.
This was the name of a family god. It was seen in the turtle, the sea eel, the octopus, and the garden lizard. Any one eating or injuring such things had either to be _sham_ baked in an unheated oven, or drink a quantity of rancid oil as penance and a purgative. This god predicted that there was a time coming when Samoa would be filled with foreign gods.
1. In one place the member of the family supposed to be the priest of the god was noted for cannibalism. At times he would cry out furiously and order those about him to be off and get him some of his "sacred food." He professed to be doctor as well as demon. A great chief when ill was once taken to him, and the doctor's bill for a cure was the erection of a mound of stones, on the top of which a house was to be built. The bill was paid by the retinue of the chief.
2. In another family it was supposed that their god Satia had the power to become incarnate in a man or a woman. If he wished to go to a particular woman, he became a man; and if he desired a man, he changed into a woman.
An old man named Sengi, or _snatch_, was an incarnation of this household god. All the fine mats and other valuables were in some mysterious way under his control. On returning from any kind of daily work in the bush every one on entering the house had to salute him, as the representative of the god, in some apologetic phrase, such as "I beg your pardon." If any one omitted this mark of respect, the penalty was the disappearance of a fine mat from the family bundle without any one knowing how it was taken.