17/4. ROUND THE WORLD. 36l 



going forward, my old friend Oreo the chief, and several 

 more, came to see us. The chief came not empty. 



Next day we warped the ship into, and moored her 

 in, a proper birth, so as to command all the shores 

 around us. In the mean time a party of us went 

 ashore to pay the chief a visit, and to make the cus- 

 tomary present. At our first entering his house, we 

 were met by four or five old women, weeping and 

 lamenting, as it were, most bitterly, and at the same 

 cutting their heads, with instruments made of sharks 

 teeth, till the blood ran plentifully down their faces 

 and on their shoulders. What was still worse, we 

 w T ere obliged to submit to the embraces of these old 

 hags, and by that means were all besmeared with 

 blood. This ceremony (for it was merely such) being 

 over, they went out, washed themselves, and immedi- 

 ately after appeared as cheerful as any of the company. 

 Having made some little stay, and given my present 

 to the chief and his friends, he put a hog and some 

 fruit into my boat, and came on board with us to 

 dinner. In the afternoon, we had a vast number of 

 people and canoes about us, from different parts of the 

 island. They all took up their quarters in our 

 neighbourhood, where they remained feasting for 

 some days. We understood the most of them were 

 Eareoys. 



The 26th afforded nothing remarkable, excepting 



that Mr. Forster, in his botanical excursions, saw a 



burying-place for dogs, which they called Marai no 



te Oore. But, I think, we ought not to look upon 



this as one of their customs ; because few dogs die a 



natural death, being generally, if not always, killed 



and eaten, or else given as an offering to the gods. 



Probably this might be a Marai or altar, where this 



sort of offering was made ; or it might have been the 



whim of some person to have buried his favourite dog 



in this manner. But be it as it will, I cannot think it 



is a general custom in the nation ; and, for my own 



part, I neither saw nor heard of such a thing before. 



