Interspersed with legends of the fire goddess Pele, the lightning goddess Hiiaka, and others, are nuggets of related geological and historical information. First published in 1916, this book has a four-page appendix and notes on Polynesian language.

The Maui story probably contains a larger number of unique and ancient myths than that of any other legendary character in the mythology of any nation. There are three centers for these legends, New Zealand in the south, Hawaii in the north, and the Tahitian group including the Hervey Islands in the east. In each of these groups of islands, separated by thousands of miles, there are the same legends, told in almost the same way, and with very little variation in names. The Maui legends form one of the strongest links in the mythological chain of evidence which binds the scattered inhabitants...

This book contains an account of the legends of Maui, a demi-god whose story probably contains a larger number of unique and ancient myths than that of any other legendary character in the mythology of any nation. There are three centres of this story: new Zealand in the south, Hawaii in the north, and the Tahitian group in the east; and what makes this ancient legend so interesting is that it forms one of the strongest links in the mythological chain of evidence which binds the scattered inhabitants of the pacific into one nation, existing intact or in part in Anietyum, Bowditch, Efate,...