1777- TH]: PACIFIC ocean.. S3 



staratly addressed himself; and sometimes asked several 

 questions, seemingly with respect to the propriety 

 of his having been killed. At other times he made seve- 

 ral demands, as if the deceased either now had power 

 himself, or interest with the divinity to engage him 

 to comply with such requests. Amongst which, we 

 understood, he asked him to deliver Eimeo Maheine, 

 its chief, the hogs, women, and other things of the 

 island, into their hands; which was, indeed, the ex- 

 press intention of the sacrifice. He then chanted 

 a prayer, which lasted half an hour, in a whining, 

 melancholy tone, accompanied by two other priests ; 

 and in which Potatou and some others joined. In 

 the course of this prayer, some more hair was 

 plucked by a priest from the head of the corpse, and 

 put upon one of the bundles. After this, the chief 

 priest prayed alone, holding in his hand the leathers 

 which came from lowha. When he had finished, he 

 gave them to another, who prayed in like manner. 

 Then all the tufts of feathers were laid upon the 

 bundles of cloth ; which closed the ceremony at this 

 place. 



The corpse was then carried up to the most con- 

 spicuous part of the moral* with the feathers, the 

 two bundles of cloth, and the drums ; the last of 

 which beat slowly. The feathers and bundles were 

 laid against the pile of stones, and the corpse at the 

 foot of them. The priests having again seated 

 themselves round it, renewed their prayers; while 

 some of the attendants dug a hole about two feet 

 deep, into which they threw the unhappy victim, 

 and covered it with earth and stones. While they 

 were putting him into the grave, a boy squeaked 

 aloud, and Omai said to me, that it was the Eatooa. 

 During this time, a fire having been made, the dog 

 before mentioned w r as produced and killed, by twist- 

 ing his neck and suffocating him. The hair was 

 singed off and the entrails taken out and thrown into 

 the fire, where they were left to consume. But the 



vol. VI. D 



