864 cook's second voyage may, 



at whose shrine, on these occasions, many offerings 

 were made by her numerous votaries. This, I be- 

 lieve, was one great inducement to her father's giving 

 us these entertainments so often. 



Early in the morning of the 30th, I set out with 

 the two boats, accompanied by the two Mr. Forsters, 

 Oedidee, the chief, his wife, son, and daughter, for 

 an estate which Oedidee called his, situated at the 

 north end of the island. There I was promised to 

 have hogs and fruit in abundance ; but when we came 

 there we found that poor Oedidee could not command 

 one single thing, whatever right he might have to the 

 Whenooa, which was now in possession of his brother, 

 who soon after we landed, presented to me, with the 

 usual ceremony, two pigs. I made him a very hand- 

 some present in return, and Oedidee gave him every 

 thing he had left of what he had collected the time he 

 was with us. 



After this ceremony was over, I ordered one of the 

 pigs to be killed and dressed for dinner, and attended 

 myself to the whole operation, which was as follows : 

 They first strangled the hog, which was done by three 

 men ; the hog being placed on his back, two of them 

 laid a pretty strong stick across his throat, and pressed 

 with all their weight on each end ; the third man held 

 his hind legs, kept him on his back, and plugged up 

 his fundament with grass, I suppose to prevent any 

 air from passing or repassing that way. In this man- 

 ner they held him for about ten minutes before he was 

 quite dead. In the mean time, some hands were 

 employed in making a fire, to heat the oven, which 

 was close by. As soon as the hog was quite dead, 

 they laid him on the fire, and burnt or singed the 

 hair, so that it came off with almost the same ease as 

 if it had been scalded. As the hair was got off one 

 part, another was applied to the fire till they had got 

 off the whole, yet not so clean but that another ope- 

 ration was necessary ; which was to carry it to the 

 sea-side, and there give it a good scrubbing with sandy 



