328 cook's first voyage dec* 



primed. If the officer takes one of these amocks, 

 or mohawks, as they have been called by an easy 

 corruption, alive, his reward is very considerable, 

 but if he kills them, nothing is added to his usual 

 pay ; yet such is the fury of their desperation, that 

 three out of four are of necessity destroyed in the 

 attempt to secure them, though the officers are pro- 

 vided with instruments like large tongs, or pincers, 

 to lay hold of them without coming within the reach 

 of their weapon. Those who happen to be taken 

 alive are generally wounded, but they are always 

 broken alive upon the wheel, and if the physician 

 who is appointed to examine their wounds, thinks 

 them likely to be mortal, the punishment is inflicted 

 immediately, and the place of execution is generally 

 the spot where the first murder was committed. 



Among these people, there are many absurd prac- 

 tices and opinions which they derive from their 

 pagan ancestors : they believe that the devil, whom 

 they call Satan, is the cause of all sickness and ad- 

 versity, and for this reason, when they are sick, or 

 in distress, they consecrate meat, money, and other 

 things to him, as a propitiation. If any one among 

 them is restless, and dreams for two or three nights 

 successively, he concludes that Satan has taken that 

 method of laying his commands upon him, which, if 

 he neglects to fulfil, he will certainly suffer sickness 

 or death, though they are not revealed with sufficient 

 perspicuity to ascertain their meaning : to interpret 

 his dream, therefore, he taxes his wits to the utter- 

 most, and if, by taking it literally or figuratively, 

 directly or by contraries, he can put no explanation 

 upon it that perfectly satisfies him, he has recourse 

 to the cawin or priest, who assists him with a com- 

 ment and illustrations, and perfectly reveals the mys- 

 terious suggestions of the night. It generally ap- 

 pears that the devil wants victuals or money, which 

 are always allotted him, and being placed on a little 

 plate of cocoa-nut leaves, are hung upon the branch 



4 



