1777* THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 15 5 



trine, if a man refrain from all connection with 

 women some months before death, he passes imme- 

 diately into his eternal mansion without such a previ- 

 ous union ; as if already, by this abstinence, he were 

 pure enough to be exempted from the general lot. 



They are, however, far from entertaining those 

 sublime conceptions of happiness which our religion, 

 and, indeed, reason, gives us room to expect here- 

 after. The only great privilege they seem to think they 

 shall acquire by death, is immortality ; for they speak 

 of spirits being, in some measure, not totally divested 

 of those passions which actuated them when com- 

 bined with material vehicles. Thus, if souls who 

 were formerly enemies, should meet, they have many 

 conflicts ; though, it should seem, to no purpose, as 

 they are accounted invulnerable in this invisible state. 

 There is a similar reasoning with regard to the meet- 

 ing of man and wife. If the husband dies first, the 

 soul of his wife is known to him on its arrival in the 

 land of spirits. They resume their former acquaint- 

 ance in a spacious house, called Tourooa, where the 

 souls of the deceased assemble to recreate themselves 

 with the gods. She then retires with him to his se- 

 parate habitation, where they remain for ever, and 

 have an offspring ; which, however, is entirely spi- 

 ritual ; as they are neither married, nor are their 

 embraces supposed to be the same as with corporeal 

 beings. 



Some of their notions about the deity are extra- 

 vagantly absurd. They believe, that he is subject to 

 the power of those very spirits to whom he has given 

 existence ; and that, in their turn, they frequently 

 eat or devour him, though he possess the power of 

 recreating himself. They doubtless use this mode 

 of expression, as they seem incapable of conversing 

 about immaterial things without constantly referring 

 to material objects to convey their meaning. And in 

 this manner they continue the account, by saying, 

 that, in the Toitrooct, the deity inquires, if they in- 



