these two were Ao, the son of Echo, and the powerful deity Ake. Ao had his home in the pure fresh water, for he had been born in the limestone caves where the crystal drops are ever running down the white columns of the stalactites. Ake’s realm was the great boundless sea, and his work as a god was to keep constantly treading down its floor and making it deeper, thus forever enlarging his submarine abode. Ake called to his assistance Raka the god of the rushing winds, who aided him by causing a terrific hurricane to hurl masses of water upon the bulwarks of the island until it seemed almost buried in the foaming, churning waves. Tiko and Tane, the twin children of Raka, also helped with their forces in the endeavour to submerge the island; Tiko having command of the surf line, the great curling waves leaping and dashing over the reefs, while Tane rode the solitary high-crested storm-wave, which though seldom seen is the messenger of terror to all who behold it. On came the armies of the deep; foot by foot they gained, and mounted a hundred yards above the level of the ordinary tides. But Ao also was at work. Torrents of rain he caused to fall for five nights and days, pitiless pelting rain that washed away the clay and stones towards the
