194 cook's second voyage SEPT. 



he answered in the affirmative. I then asked, if they 

 sacrificed men to the Eatua? he answered, Taata ena ; 

 that is, bad men they did, first Tiparrahy, or beating 

 them till they were dead. 1 then asked him, If good 

 men were put to death in this manner ? his answer was, 

 No, only Taata eno. I asked him, Lf any Earees were ? 

 he said, they had hogs to give to the Eatua, and again 

 repeated Taata eno. I next asked him, If Towtows, 

 that is, servants or slaves, who had no hogs, dogs, or 

 fowls, but yet were good men, if they were sacrificed 

 to the Eatua ? His answer was, No, only bad men. 

 1 asked him several more questions, and all his an- 

 swers seemed to tend to this one point, that men for 

 certain crimes were condemned to be sacrificed to 

 the gods, provided they had not wherewithal to 

 redeem themselves. This, I think, implies that, on 

 some occasions, humaYi sacrifices are considered as 

 necessary ; particularly when they take such men as 

 have, by the laws of the country, forfeited their lives, 

 and have nothing to redeem them ; and such will 

 generally be found among the lower class of people. 

 The man of whom I made these inquiries, as well 

 as some others, took some pains to explain the whole 

 of this custom to us ; but we were not masters enough 

 of their language to understand them. I have since 

 learnt from Omai, that they offer human sacrifices to 

 the Supreme Being. According to his account, 

 what men shall be so sacrificed, depends on the 

 caprice of the high priest, who, when they are assem- 

 bled on any solemn occasion, retires alone into the 

 house of God, and stays there some time. When he 

 comes out he informs them, that he has seen and con- 

 versed with their great God (the high priest alone 

 having that privilege), and that he has asked for a 

 human sacrifice, and tells them that he has desired 

 such a person, naming a man present, whom most 

 probably the priest has an antipathy against. He is 

 immediately killed, and so falls a victim to the priest's 

 resentment, who, no doubt, (if necessary) has address 



